There's something very special about Christmas pageants, even those in which everything seems to go wrong. Robert Fulghum tells about one such Christmas pageant. Trying to outdo previous years they decided to rent a live donkey for Mary to ride on. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Have you ever noticed that a lot of things "sound like a good idea at the time?" The day of the pageant arrived. The congregation sang beautifully some Christmas carols and the angel choir, complete with haloes, got ...
One long hot summer in a place called St. Johns, there came into town a man with a big tent which he set up at the corner of Lombard and Clarendon, with a sign posted in front: THE GREAT MARCEL AND HIS FABULOUS SNAKE SHOW. He was dapper and slim, and he wore a stovepipe hat and a cutaway coat. And when the crowds thronged around the tent that night and oil torches flickered their light over a lithe young lady dancing with snakes, Marcel told of his wonderful oil ” oil extracted from snakes that cured every ...
If you knew you were going to die tonight, would that cause you to change your use of time today? Most of us would have to say, "Yes, it would." John Krahn had a friend, named Art, whose doctor diagnosed him as having a terminal illness that would claim his life within a year. After a month, the doctor discovered he was mistaken and told Art that his condition was not terminal after all. As Art reflected on the month he had spent under this mistaken death sentence, he acknowledged the negative, painful ...
Dr. Carlyle Marney was one of the great preachers in the South during the time after the Second World War. He was a mentor and role model to many pastors. One of the stories attributed to the rich legacy he left behind took place on a seminary campus where he was invited to be the speaker for a distinguished lectureship. One of the students asked, "Dr. Marney let us hear you say a word or two about the meaning of the resurrection." It was a fair question and an appropriate one from a future preacher to one ...
J. Wallace Hamilton, one of the great voices of Methodism, once shared an old story that I want to use to open our sermon today. "An old Chinese farmer had one prized workhorse for his small farming enterprise. For example, when it was time to plow, he hooked the animal up to the plow and it broke the ground for planting. When it was time to take the harvest to the market, he would hitch the horse to a wagon. When he wanted to travel any great distance, he would put a saddle on it and ride the horse. The ...
Dick Sheppard was one of the great preachers of England in another generation. He was really one of the British church, a great preacher prophet. His preaching often set all of Britain aflame. The morning after he died, almost all of England mourned his passing, and a London newspaper proclaimed a great truth. The paper carried a picture of the pulpit of the church where Dick Sheppard preached, St. Martin’s in the Field. A soft light shone down on the reading desk where there was an open Bible, and in the ...
Dick Sheppard was one of the great preachers of England in another generation. He was really one of the British church, a great preacher prophet. His preaching often set all of Britain aflame. The morning after he died, almost all of England mourned his passing, and a London newspaper proclaimed a great truth. The paper carried a picture of the pulpit of the church where Dick Sheppard preached, St. Martin’s in the Field. A soft light shone down on the reading desk where there was an open Bible, and in the ...
Every so often, toward the end of a hot, still, muggy day here in the Midwest, we'll have a television show interrupted by an alarming beep and a printed message scrolling across the bottom of the screen. It's tornado season, and so the message usually features one of two words from the National Weather Service. It's either a "watch" or it's a "warning." A tornado watch means that the atmospheric conditions are ripe for the development of a funnel cloud. A tornado warning, on the other hand, means that a ...
Out of all of the Ten Commandments, only one contains no negative word whatsoever. The fifth commandment is a totally positive commandment. All of the other nine commandments tell us not to do something. This is the only commandment without one negative word. It is also the only commandment that comes with a promise. The first four commandments dealt with our relationship to God. The second six commandments deal with our relationship to others. It is not coincidental that God begins with our relationship ...
One of my favorite actors is Tom Hanks. He recently starred in a movie that I have yet to see called Castaway. It is the story of a man who survives a plane crash over the ocean and lands ashore on a deserted island. He spends years there not only trying to survive physically, but primarily emotionally and mentally, as he is totally separated from the outside world. Every person on earth is born a "castaway." We have all crashed landed on an island called sin. Because of our sin we, too, have been ...
Chuck Swindoll tells the story of the time when his children were smaller and they were going on a long trip, and trying to break the boredom, they decided to play a game called "What if?" The question was "What if you could be anybody on earth—who would you like to be?" Well, one of his daughters said, "I would like to be the bionic woman." The other children followed suit and thought of someone famous they would like to be. But his youngest child, Chuck, Jr., never said a word. As they pulled up to a ...
Many of you will remember the name of a one-hit wonder called Milli Vanilli. From 1988 to 1989 they sold 30 million singles and 14 million albums. In January of 1990 they won a Grammy award for the album, "Girl, You Know It's True," and were recognized as the best new artist of that year. The only problem was it wasn't true. They had lip-synced the entire recording, and had to return the Grammy award. Jimmy Bowen, President of Capitol Records, their record company, said: You have to remember that music is ...
One of the most exciting events in track and field is the relay races. It takes a combination of speed, timing, precision, and teamwork in order for a relay team to be victorious. Now the suspense is much greater than an individual race because in an individual race the fastest person always wins. In a relay race the fastest team can lose if one thing happens - they fail to pass the baton. Any track coach will tell you that relay races are won or lost not in the sheer speed of the team, but in the transfer ...
Today's Gospel Reading reminds us once again that Jesus' journey has a destination. He is moving, slowly but surely, toward the holy city. Today we watch and listen as Jesus comes into Bethany, and his journey toward Jerusalem comes ever closer. Geographically, Jesus is probably somewhere between Samaria and Galilee. The miracle that happens here is not in keeping with his other miracles. The miracle has an unusual skew to it. We have learned to expect Jesus to heal someone and for that healing to happen ...
One of the most obvious things about the night sky is the moon, especially the full moon. The full moon transforms not only the sky, but the earth, creating a dimmer, second kind of day, casting long shadows, and providing some guidance to those who find themselves outdoors. Certainly, it is one of the things that children first notice about the sky. They can point to the moon, ask what it is, stare at it in wonder. And then, a few days later, the child can wonder - where did it go? The sun, after all, ...
Lk 7:1-10 · Gal 1:1-10 · 1 Ki 8:22-23, 41-43 · Ps 96
Sermon Aid
John R. Brokhoff
COMMENTARY Old Testament: 1 Kings 8:22-23, 41-43 At the dedication of the temple Solomon prays that Yahweh will hear the prayers of foreigners. Hearing of the glory of God and the splendor of Solomon's temple, non-Jews come from distant places such as the Queen of Sheba from Ethiopia and Naaman from Syria to pray in the temple at Jerusalem. The temple made provision for Gentiles to worship in a court of nations located in the outer precincts of the temple. Solomon prays that Yahweh will hear the prayers of ...
A few years ago author Bennett Cerf was addressing an audience of doctors in San Diego. Afterwards one of these doctors told him about an operation he had performed on an ill‑tempered lady of about eighty. The woman came through the surgery with flying colors despite all her dire prognostications. Nevertheless she became quite agitated when the doctor told her that in accordance with the rules of the hospital, she’d have to walk ten minutes the very first day after her surgery and would have to get out ...
The single theme of the first block of teaching material is developed in dialogue form, with a series of questions and answers (13:36–14:24) ending with a postscript in the form of a monologue (14:25–31). Each question is occasioned by a previous statement of Jesus, so that each interchange has three parts: Jesus’ initial statement, the question that it occasions, and Jesus’ answer to the question. In all, four disciples take their turn as inquirers: Peter, Thomas, Philip, and Judas (not “the son of Simon ...
Big Idea: The emphasis here is on family life in the new kingdom community. Jesus states that the easy-divorce policy advocated by many rabbis was not God’s will, and that divorce was allowed only because of their stubborn sin. He further teaches that children are models for kingdom living; to enter life with God, all must have a childlike faith. Understanding the Text There is both geographical and thematic movement in this section. Geographically, Jesus continues south, moving through Galilee and across ...
Big Idea: This section is about choices and the effects emanating from them. The wealthy man chooses his possessions and therefore will be “last” in God’s kingdom. Those disciples who choose to “leave everything” will be made first, blessed now and vindicated for all eternity. Understanding the Text Wives and children (10:1–16) had very little social status, and Jesus elevated their place in God’s new community. Now he turns to rich and poor. The rich man, though with high moral standards, chooses the ...
25:1–29:27 Review · The Later Colomonic: A second “Solomonic” proverbial collection begins in 25:1, extending through 29:27. These were “compiled” or edited two centuries after the reign of Solomon, during the reign of Hezekiah. 25:1–27:27 Review · The first subsection of this collection is on relating wisely to rulers, neighbors, family, and social menaces. In these chapters God is rarely mentioned (only 25:2, 22) and numerous comparisons are used (in the NIV, “like” occurs more frequently in chaps. 25–27 ...
In Joseph Heller's book Catch-22, an Air Force bombardier is desperately seeking relief from going out on the deadly missions he must fly each day. As he gets close to the number of missions that will allow him to be rotated, the number of missions needed for rotation keeps changing. He concludes that only a crazy person would keep flying those dangerous missions. He thinks he must be crazy, and therefore he should be sent home. His superiors agree with him that a crazy person should be sent home but only ...
The single theme of the first block of teaching material is developed in dialogue form, with a series of questions and answers (13:36–14:24) ending with a postscript in the form of a monologue (14:25–31). Each question is occasioned by a previous statement of Jesus, so that each interchange has three parts: Jesus’ initial statement, the question that it occasions, and Jesus’ answer to the question. In all, four disciples take their turn as inquirers: Peter, Thomas, Philip, and Judas (not “the son of Simon ...
“Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.” (Deuteronomy 8:2) Back in 1984, when Sting was with the Police, he had a stalker. So Sting wrote an ode to his stalker called “Every Breath You Take.” For those of you who never heard of Sting, or the Police, or the year 1984, it went like this: [either play a stanza of the song or read out these lyrics] Every ...
We are heading into the second half of 2021, and I think it’s a good time to check in with our expectations for this year and see if anything needs to be re-adjusted. Some of us have had a better year than we expected; some of us have had it worse. All of us have certain plans and expectations for how the rest of the year will go. Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the next five months? Pastor Daniel D. Chambers learned an expression from a college professor: “Expectation is the mother of regret.” ...