It was the best of times. A time of prosperity and confidence, a time of relative peace, a time when most everything looked pretty good, a time when most everyone felt pretty good. It was a time maybe not unlike our own time. In such a time, among such a people, naysayers are hardly welcome. Who wants to hear about the bad that could be coming in the future when what’s going on in the present looks so good? Who wants to hear protests when the prevailing winds of prosperity are blowing so strongly? Who ...
Many of us have had them, those times when we felt like we were on top of the world, really happy, confident that we knew all the answers, could solve any problem that came up. Or we felt that we were really close to God, really in tune with God’s plan for us. In those moments we were excited and alive, and everything seemed new. The moment might have come at some exciting event in your life: graduation, baptism, your first kiss, your first day on your first job, your wedding, the birth of a child, even ...
“If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.” (John 15:22) What strange words are these! Especially the part where Jesus says, “If I had not come...” What would it be like, I wonder, if Christ had not come? Would it really make that much difference? Are we right in dating all human history from the birth of Christ, so that everything that has happened before He came is called “B.C.” (before Christ) and everything that has happened since then is ...
It is a familiar scene in courtrooms, families arguing over an estate. It is an especially ugly scene when dividing the inheritance divides the family. That is the scene that opens our text for this morning, the gospel lesson from Luke. A man came up to Jesus, and said, "Make my brother divide the inheritance with me." The request was crass and boorish, but probably not uncommon, for Jesus was known as a Rabbi. In fact, in this passage, he is addressed as Rabbi: "Teacher, make my brother divide the ...
The French philosopher, Jean Jacques Rousseau, once said, "Happiness is a good bank account, a good cook, and a good digestion." That is what he would call today "the good life." There are many today who would agree with him. There are some who say that the good life is physical. They believe it just doesn't get any better than a hot tub, a back rub, and a drink at the pub. But then there are others who say the good life is material. They think that if you've got the mansion, the Mercedes, and the money, ...
Without question, two of the most fascinating and famous (and at least in one case, infamous) figures of the 20th Century are Elvis Presley and O. J. Simpson. Until a couple of years ago no one would have said that O. J. Simpson had, or ever would achieve, the stature of Elvis Presley. But all of that was changed Friday, June 17, 1994, when an entire nation was transfixed by a television scene that was more real than any fantasy. Two men were in a white bronco, traveling, it seemed, in slow motion down a ...
When it comes to millionaires, America has a monopoly. We have more millionaires than anyone else in the world; we have more people who want to be millionaires than anyone else in the world; and we have more people who can become millionaires than anyone else in the world. Recently USA Today ran a cover story entitled, "Everyone Wants a Shot at Being a Millionaire." The story begins this way: We live in a society gone millionaire mad. Our national fable used to be: Any kid can grow up to be President. Now ...
In 1938 the United States Congress passed a law called "The Fair Labor and Practice Act." That law affects millions and tens of millions of lives to this very day, because it established for the first time in our history a minimum wage. Believe it or not, it was set at 25 cents an hour. I can remember working when I was in high school in a Five & Dime Store for $1 an hour. The only reason he paid me that much was because he had to, because he would tell me many times I wasn't worth that. That law was ...
The Rev. Douglas L. Meyer tells of working at a college radio station during his undergraduate day. These were the days before computers and CDs. They were a small operation so the deejays also read the news. The news they read each hour came in on two teletype machines which clattered away constantly. What he remembers most was that these machines had bells attached that the broadcaster could hear faintly even in the broadcast booth. These bells would go off when a particularly important story came over ...
The famous preacher and poet, John Donne said nearly 500 years ago, “No man is an island; no man stands alone. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less. Any man’s death diminishes me.” When God Almighty created the world and everything that is in it, he failed to get it just right the first time around. He who made the beasts of the field and the birds of the air discovered Adam lacked a suitable helper. The Lord God said to himself, “It is not good for man to be alone, I will make a helper ...
Somewhere I read of an art show that featured a unique introduction. The entry area of the gallery featured what appeared at first to be four paintings. Actually the paintings were on mirrors and as you looked at each of them, it was your mirrored image that became dominant. It was an imaginative statement about the nature of art. It was an invitation to enter the paintings —— not to remain aloof to an indifferent viewer, but to identify. I want us to look at our scripture lesson today as a gallery of ...
Albert Camus, distinguished French author, once described a fellow-writer who kept searching for the right word. Because he could never find it, he was last seen sitting motionless before a blank piece of paper. I feel like that sometime in my sermon preparation - sitting motionless before a blank piece of paper. What I want to communicate is so important, I must not fail. I feel the powerful impact of the scripture. The truth of it is so crucial, and I’m so committed to being faithful in preaching God’s ...
I once had a student whose dad was a pilot for a major airline who told me this true story. Her father flew DC-10s from St. Louis to the east coast. There were certain business people who took the same flights on a regular basis and, while certainly not friends, he recognized them enough to exchange pleasantries. One of these frequent travelers was visually impaired and used a guide dog. On one occasion, the flight was so delayed that it was decided to let the passengers back off the plane to wait in the ...
Love your enemy? These days? Possible perhaps, but not likely. In fact, we would prefer not to. Especially when we see those television images of the jetliners barreling into the Twin Towers for the thousandth time, when we see the occasional videos of Islamic extremists calling for our eradication, when we see quietly weeping families at the graveside of their young son or daughter killed by terrorists. It is hard to find anything resembling love in our hearts for such barbarians as would do such things. ...
A couple retired to a small Arizona ranch and acquired a few sheep. At lambing time, it was necessary to bring two newborns into the house for care and bottle-feeding. As the lambs grew, they began to follow the rancher’s wife around the farm. She was telling a friend about this strange development. “What did you name them?” the friend asked her. “Goodness and Mercy,” she replied with a sigh. (1) She was referring of course to a line in everyone’s favorite Psalm, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me ...
According to a recent report from the BBC News, inhabitants of a village in northern Nigeria are celebrating the renaming of their village. The old name of the town was “Area of Idiots.” Wonder why they wanted to change it? “Area of Idiots.” The new name of the village is “Area of Plenty.” I believe you will agree with me that’s an improvement. The local emir announced the name change after residents complained that they had been mocked for years because of that name and were ashamed to tell people where ...
If I were to start a sentence with the words, “There are two types of people in the world . . .,” how would you finish that sentence? “There are two types of people in the world . . .,” Somebody once said, “There are two types of people in the world—those who divide the world into two types of people and those who do not.” What say you? I think if I were to divide people into two types, I would say, there are rule keepers and rule breakers. Some people just have an internal compulsion to follow the rules, ...
The more we read the Bible, the more we see things we might wish Jesus never said. This passage is one of them: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” Did any of us come to church today to hear him say that? This is the season for family reunions. Most of us have been in gatherings that include fathers, mothers, grandparents, and children. It it is somewhat disturbing to come to church today and hear Jesus say, “I have come to set a man ...
Dear friends in Christ, grace to you, and peace, from God our Father, and his Son, our Lord Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. He walked into my office with all the confidence of corporate CEO, this fifteen-year old confirmation student. Without much fanfare, he announced, “I don’t think Mike Stevens should be confirmed.” I didn’t know Randy well; I had only been the pastor of that church for about four months, but it was clear that he and Mike had a little competition going between them. Randy grew up in that ...
She opened our eyes to the way that civilizations unfold and develop. Cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead became the talk of society with her study, Coming of Age in Samoa. For decades she toured the world, explaining what she had observed as children were born, how they were raised, what families and groups did to reinforce certain behaviors, what happened to non-conformists, what marriage looked like, and how people aged and died. When Ms. Mead was speaking at a university, one student asked her what ...
I love you, Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. (Psalm 18) Props: river stones (rocks) passed out among the people at the beginning of the service or beginning of the sermon OR small tools (such as small hammer, nails, concrete trowel) OR bricks Setting: Consider holding your service outdoors on the lawn today. One option may be to read the entirety of Jesus’ sermon (scriptures ...
Watch Out for False Teachers Peter began this letter by speaking of the divine provision for a godly life (1:1–11). He went on to stress the divine inspiration of Scripture truths (1:12–21). Now he warns against those who are threatening the church’s spiritual well being by the way they falsely treat these matters (2:1–22). 2:1 In some respects times do not change. All prophecy, whoever gives it and in whatever circumstances, needs to be interpreted. Furthermore, just as in the period of the OT there were ...
Psalm 14:1-7, 1 Timothy 1:12-20, Jeremiah 4:5-31, Luke 15:8-10, Luke 15:1-7
Sermon Aid
William E. Keeney
Recovering The Lost Most of us have experienced loss. It may be money or something else of value. It may be a pet or an animal we were raising. It may be a person who rebelled against the family or cut all ties with church and community. Loss always results in sadness. If the loss is due to our carelessness or our actions, we probably have a sinking feeling in the pit of our stomach. It is a combination of guilt and sadness at the same time. Even if the loss may not be of great value, we may spend hours ...
What do Richard Nixon and Shirley Temple have in common? While they may have shared many common interests and traits, isn't it true that neither one ever outlived their pasts? When Richard Nixon was buried behind the house that his father built, he went to his grave as the president that was forced to resign in the face of humiliation and scandal. Even amid his remarkable rehabilitation which included significant contributions to the world's conversation about public policy, Nixon may as well have had " ...
There are two very different ways to think about baptism. The first approach recognizes the time of baptism as a saving moment in which the person being baptized accepts the love and forgiveness of God. The person then considers herself "saved." She may grow in the faith through the years, but nothing which she will experience after her baptism will be as important as her baptism. She always will be able to recall her baptism as the time when her life changed. The second approach wouldn't disagree with any ...