Some years ago, The Archbishop of Canterbury was rushing to catch a train in London. In his haste, he accidentally jumped on the wrong passenger car and found himself on a car full of inmates from a mental hospital. They were all dressed in mental hospital clothing. Just as the train pulled out of the station, an orderly came in and began to count the inmates, “1-2-3-4…”… when suddenly he saw this distinguished looking gentleman there wearing a business suit and a clerical collar and he said: “Who are you ...
Today is Stewardship Sunday. It marks the beginning of our Every Member Canvas campaign for financial support of our church's ministry. It will culminate next week on Loyalty Sunday with our members affirming their loyalty to Christ through their membership vows and their support of His Church. I am well aware that for the pastor to speak about stewardship, especially as it may relate to money, makes some members a little up tight, nervous and uneasy. Uneasy, perhaps because things are getting a bit too ...
Some years ago, The Archbishop of Canterbury was rushing to catch a train in London. In his haste, he accidentally jumped on the wrong passenger car and found himself on a car full of inmates from a mental hospital. They were all dressed in mental hospital clothing. Just as the train pulled out of the station, an orderly came in and began to count the inmates, “1-2-3-4…”… when suddenly he saw this distinguished looking gentleman there wearing a business suit and a clerical collar and he said: “Who are you ...
Comedian Jack Benny, from TV’s Golden age, had a skit which illustrated how we place money ahead of everything. He is walking down the street when suddenly he is approached by an armed robber, "Your money or your life!" There is a long pause. Jack does nothing. The robber impatiently queried, "Well?" Jack replied, "Don't rush me, I'm thinking it over." This morning I would like us to think a few moments about our money and our life. Let’s see what Jesus has to say about these two subjects. The background ...
Jesus said: "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give alms; provide yourselves with purses that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. "Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the marriage feast, so that they’ may open to ...
Can any of you tell me what time it is? It’s all right to look at your watches now. (Just don’t start looking at them and shaking them when I get into the middle of this sermon!) How do you know what time it is, or what time itself is? There is a mystery in the concept of time that is difficult to comprehend. The one obvious fact about it is that it is related to perceptions of change. If there were no change, would the concept of time have any meaning? Actually, we cannot answer such a question because ...
Let not your hearts be troubled; believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so would I have told you? And when I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. (John 14:1-3) When Have You Heard These Words Many of us have heard these words at another time and place. I have spoken them often to you in your living room, or when sitting at a kitchen table in your house on the occasion of the death of ...
Lk 15:1-10 · Hos 4:1-3, 5:15--6:6 · 1 Tim 1:12-17 · Ex 32:7-14
Sermon Aid
John R. Brokhoff
COMMENTARY Hosea 4:1-3, 5:15--6:6 Yahweh calls to his wicked people to return to him. Speaking to the northern kingdom in the eighth century B.C., Hosea describes the deplorable moral conditions in Israel. Because of this, Yahweh has "a bone to pick" with his people. Until they have a change of heart, Yahweh will return to heaven. In their distress of being without God, they decide to return to him. But apparently it was superficial. In despair Yahweh asks, "What shall I do with you?" They return by ...
Lk 6:27-38 · 1 Cor 15:45-49 · 1 Sam 26:1-25 · Gen 45:3-11, 15
Sermon Aid
John R. Brokhoff
COMMENTARY Genesis 45:3-11, 15 Joseph discloses his identity to his brothers. How does a person who has reached the zenith of success in terms of prestige, power, and authority deal with those who put him down to nothing but a slave and a prisoner falsely accused? In the story of Joseph, we have the dramatic moment when Joseph reveals himself to his brothers who sold him into slavery. One could expect retaliation and revenge, but Joseph returns good for evil, loves his enemies, and does good to them by ...
Let us pray: Gracious and everliving Father, on this day which is greater than all the days, we come seeking to understand the eternal message of the gospel and how it may transform our lives. May we in these moments not only come to know that Jesus lives, but may we come to know him as brother and friend. In Christ's holy name we pray, Amen. The philosopher Sidney Hook writes in an article titled "In Defense of Voluntary Euthanasia" about how at one point in his life he was near death. The treatment for ...
In our fast-paced and advertisement-oriented world, it is easy to get trapped. In fact, there are people who specialize in trapping the public. The invitation comes in the mail. You are invited to visit a new condominium complex at some beach or lake or mountain setting. They'll give you gas money to drive there. They'll give you free lodging and free meals. Why, you even have guaranteed prizes waiting on you, perhaps a new Oldsmobile Cutlass or a color television. Of course, you could also wind up with a ...
THEOLOGICAL CLUE Beyond the natural progression of the Pentecost cycle/season, with its eschatological emphasis, there is no clear and definitive clue from the church year. The insertion of these particular readings within the theological framework of the church year does, however, tend to emphasize realized eschatology as much as it does any future eschatology. The latter, of course, is always present, if only in the Eucharist with its "as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the ...
Spring shipping would begin to move when the sealanes opened up again to commerce about the beginning of March - early spring in the Mediterranean. At that time a ship from Alexandria, which had wintered at Malta’s main port was ready to sail. Centurion Julius, with his soldiers and prisoners, was eager to complete the final leg of his journey. Paul and the others were therefore taken aboard the "Twin Brothers" or "Twin Gods" for the trip northward past Sicily and up the west coast of Italy to Rome. The ...
"Moreover I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold in bondage and I have remembered my covenant. Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment, and I will take you for my people, and I will be your God.’ " When someone does not care, bitterly we say in the vernacular, "He does not ...
PROVIDING MUSICAL BACKGROUND This program is most effective if all the narrations, dialogues, readings, and drama are given with background music. We used a combination of two types of musical background: (1) various record selections, which we recorded on a high-quality tape, and (2) live organ music. Taped Background In this area of the production, creativity can be unlimited. Simple music from records may be taped, or more complicated music that requires timing of appropriate words. For example, the ...
It is possible to be overweight spiritually: groggy, sluggish. Perhaps we need to work out on the weights or to start jogging. The story goes that when a man was asked how he was feeling, he answered: "I just feel medium." "What do you mean by medium?" "Well, I feel worse than I felt yesterday; but not nearly as bad as I’m going to feel tomorrow." Or it’s like an old song I heard last night: "I’m down in the depths on the ninetieth floor." These people need some spiritual calisthenics. Even Paul admitted ...
Sometimes want to cry when hear non-Christians say that they have rejected the church because of its divisions. They may mean denominational divisions on occasion, and that is bad enough. But more frequently they mean the internal strife that characterizes all too many congregations. For it is, after all, on the local level that most people encounter the church, and when they see discord and argumentation marking a congregation, they want nothing to do with that. I want to cry because the very body of ...
Thus far we have studied Paul’s doctrine of salvation in objective terms. Salvation is the work of divine grace, centering in the atoning death of Christ on the cross and bringing about a change in the relation of mankind to God, a change described as redemption, justification, and reconciliation. We turn now to the subjective and personal aspect of salvation, to Paul’s answer to the question, "What must I do to be saved?" Faith When this question was asked by the Philippian jailer, Paul replied, "Believe ...
Many years ago when I was a young preacher, I noticed that a new family had moved into a neighborhood not far from our church. So I dropped by late one afternoon. I noticed that one car was parked in the carport. I went to the side door, the one opening onto the carport. I had rung the door bell only once when I heard a deep, bass growl that sounded like the rolling of thunder. It was coming from the back of the carport and it made the hair on the back of my neck stand straight up. I glanced to my left and ...
Dear mothers, today is your day! If you are a mother or step-mother or guardian, please stand and let us affirm you. The New York Times did a job analysis recently. They found that being a mother was the most demanding vocation they could find. It requires at least seventeen distinctive job skills, including that of psychologist, nutritionist, financial manager, and conflict mediator. In view of the skills required, the Times estimated that the job should pay $500,000 per year. Moms, you are underpaid! (1 ...
Water! Water is the most distinguishing characteristic of our planet from the others in our solar system and, from all we know to date, from any other heavenly body in all creation. Water covers most of the earth, and is the reason that, from a vantage point in space, it has a distinctly blue color. Most school children know that now, thanks to a very popular NASA photograph taken from space of this beautiful blue planet with shining oceans, swirling clouds and gleaming polar ice. The ancient creation ...
The following classified advertisement appeared in a recent edition of a major city newspaper: HOT TUB - For sale, complete w/plumbing. Will trade for pick-up truck. Call _________ after 5:00 p.m. One does not have to possess a Ph.D. in clinical psychology to suspect that, behind those few words, there lies a life in major transition. Away with the hot tub, the gold chains, the Brut, the Alfa Romeo, the wine coolers, and the avocado dip. In with the baseball cap, the Budweiser, the flannel shirt, the Old ...
Teachers and teaching have existed as long as humankind. Early man taught his children how to survive -- how to hunt, how to plant and harvest, how to provide shelter and protection, how to fight, how to raise his family in the tribal ways. Learning and teaching took a great stride forward in classical Greece 450 years before Christ with the arrival of Socrates and his brilliant student, Plato. The radiant light of learning was passed on from Plato to Aristotle, and the world ever since has been their ...
Shortly before the turn of the century, Reverend Theodore Cuyler authored a little book titled "Cedar Christians," a volume which contains personal ruminations upon various scriptural themes. Elaborating upon Paul’s admonition, "Quench not the Spirit," Cuyler focuses attention upon a party of Artic explorers. The gathering darkness finds them exhausted following a long, treacherous march through driving snow storms and bitter cold. They huddle together beneath an ice ledge to draw forth the single match ...
"The message of Christ’s death on the cross is nonsense ..." 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 Characters: Lector Announcer Antagonist Protagonist (Participants enter and take their places in the chancel. As they come forward, the congregation sings the hymn "Take My Life and Let It Be Consecrated." When the hymn is completed, the drama begins.) LECTOR: The message about Christ’s death on the cross is nonsense to those who are being lost; but for us who are being saved, it is God’s power. For the scripture says, "I ...