There is a wonderful device that all of us have in our homes that reveals to us the solution to all of the problems we have in life. Some of you may think I am talking about the Bible, but I am not. While the Bible does reveal to us the spiritual truths that will make our lives whole, there is another more fundamental device that shows us who it is who can solve all of the problems we face every day. The answer is simple. It is a mirror. If you gaze into it, you will have the answer to all of the problems ...
This past week I had a new adventure. I did some plumbing work I had never done before. But I got out my handy homeowner's guide, and followed along step by step. It took longer than I thought it would. But at last it was almost complete. Close to the very end came the time when I put on the nuts and bolts that held it all together. As we reach toward the end of this series, we are approaching the step that tightens down and holds in place all the other work. The 11th step is: "Sought through prayer and ...
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 ...
Let’s face it: some folks come to church on Sunday morning with the expectation that, sooner or later, if they pay close attention, the preacher is going to step on their toes. It’s unavoidable; it’s inevitable; it just can’t be helped. In fact, it’s something some folks look forward to, in a masochistic sort of way. I heard a friend of mine say from the pulpit one Sunday, "Well, folks, I’ve been here about 5 years now. And if I haven’t stepped on your toes yet, be patient – I’ll get around to you sooner ...
Perhaps you saw the story on the news about a couple who had adopted a little girl when she was only two or three weeks old. They accepted the child into the home. They grew to love the child. They watched her grow and develop. But, for some reason, the little girl didn't grow and develop normally. She is now two-and-one-half years old and the doctors have told these adoptive parents that their little girl is mentally retarded and she will never be the normal child they wanted. The reason this story made ...
Object: None How many boys and girls know what I mean when I talk about reminders? Can anyone think of something which we might call a reminder? (Let the children give you some things which they think of as reminders.) That's pretty good. When I think of a reminder I can't help but think of a string that my mother used to tie around my finger so that I would not forget about the time that I was supposed to be home or the job that she wanted me to do. That was one kind of reminder but there are a lot of ...
The Lord said: "I came to cast fire upon the earth, and would that it were already kindled! I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how I am constrained until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division; for henceforth in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against her mother, mother-in-law ...
The Bible says that there is no peace for the wicked. It is also true that there is no peace for the righteous, for the two are ever in conflict with each other. For this reason we refer to the church on earth as the church militant. It is ever at war with evil in the world. Jesus once said, "I have not come to bring peace but a sword ..." Paul thinks of a Christian as a soldier who is to put on "the whole armor of God" that he may stand up against the principalities and powers of the world. Among our ...
COMMENTARY Isaiah 50:4-7 Yahweh's servant faces suffering confident of his help. This pericope constitutes the third of the four Servant Songs in Isaiah. Yahweh's servant hears his voice and is therefore fortified with determination to suffer mental agony in terms of ridicule, false accusations, humiliation, and shame. He suffers confidently because he believes Yahweh will vindicate, help, and pronounce him innocent. Philippians 2:6-11 Jesus' humiliation and God's exaltation of him. Paul is pleading for ...
I hope you noticed the sermon title today, and I hope even more that it made you wonder what this preacher could possibly say about it. "Helping People Fall Down." Does that even make any sense? I think most of us could understand something like "helping lift up people when they have fallen" or "raising their spirits when they are low." That sounds like work which Christ would call us to. But to help someone fall down? I hope that surprised and perhaps puzzled you. I hope it made you think. I hope that, ...
Some of the gifts we receive have a way of dramatically altering our lifestyles. Remember the day a well-meaning friend gave your children that cute little puppy? No household can just accept a new puppy and go on with life as usual. Certain changes are inevitable. Or to consider even more profound lifestyle changes, think of what happens when a baby is born into a family. Long gone are the nights of eight hours of uninterrupted sleep; soon the refrigerator is filled with jars of strained beets; and you ...
The Roman legions crossed the English Channel, and landed their small ships at the foot of the cliffs of Dover. The Britons looked down and saw them. They laughed, thinking these Romans could pose no real threat to them. But, the Roman commander ordered his soldiers to burn their boats. There would be no turning back. They were there to stay. They had left their boats for good. When I read that, it brought to mind that scene early in the Gospel of Mark where Jesus is walking along the beach. Little waves ...
Object: Some roots from either trees or plants. Good morning, boys and girls. Today we are going to take a look at the way we belong to Jesus. How many of you think that you belong to Jesus? (Let them answer.) All of you belong to Jesus, and that's good. Do you know how you became a part of his life? (Let them answer.) That's right, Jesus died for our sins. But I think the thing that I want you to know about today is how we stay a part of his life everyday, and how we grow up with Jesus. First of all, we ...
Although we have heard it many times, the poem about the old violin never fails to touch my heart. Myra Brooks Welch penned this masterpiece entitled, "The Touch of the Master’s Hand." "Twas battered and scarred, and the auctioneer thought it scarcely worth his while to waste much time on the old violin, but held it up with a smile. ‘What am I bidden, good folks,’ he cried. ‘Who’ll start the bidding for me? A dollar, a dollar’; then, ‘two! Only two? Two dollars, and who’ll make it three? Three dollars, ...
Object: A map. Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you have had a vacation this summer, or are going to take a vacation somewhere away from home? Do you like to visit an uncle or aunt, or go to a ballgame and stay overnight in some town a long way off? [Take out your map.] Here we are on the map, or at least here is the town that we live in, and we can see a number of other towns that some of you have visited. [Name a number of towns that are close by and some further out.] Suppose that instead of ...
My husband John tells of attending a football game a few seasons back in Knoxville, Tennessee, where the battle was between Army and the University of Tennessee. Before the game started, there were some preliminary features. Each side showed off his mascot. UT proudly displayed a beautiful high-stepping horse. A pretty young girl, dressed in riding garb, rode it around the stadium. The horse’s tail was high, his head held high, he lifted his legs proudly as he trotted around the area to the applause of ...
There are four highly accredited ways to study the Bible. First, study the beauty spots, the familiar passages. Second, study the individual books and master them. Third, study the great biographies and know them. And fourth, study the structural ideas of the book as they are developed. Now this last method is unquestionably the most rewarding and likewise the most adequate way of knowing the Bible, but it isn’t the most interesting. The most interesting way to study the Bible is by studying the ...
In such tense and terrible times as these, every sincere minister of Christ who takes seriously the prophetic function of his vocation, must readily recognize the cogent relevancy of this theme and the importance of dealing with it practically and realistically. To that end I have raised with myself four obvious questions: Why? What? When? How? Why preach unpopular truth? Why not be adroit, skillful, wise, enough to avoid issues that are controversial, disturbing, and inevitably provocative of trouble? ...
Most of you know that great country comedian from McComb, Mississippi, named Jerry Clower. He is a former fertilizer salesman and a devoted Baptist layman. Jerry tells about a lady he knew down in Amite County. She lived near a construction site where workers were putting a tar roof on a building. This lady had sixteen children--or "young'uns," as Jerry called them. One day she lost one of her children. She hunted around and found that he had fallen into a fifty-gallon drum of black roofing tar at the ...
I heard it just this past week from a lady in our congregation, and she said it with absolute and unshakable conviction. Her husband has just recovered from an illness which, very often, can be incurable. So she put it this way: "My husband was cured by the power of prayer. There’s no other way of explaining it. Hundreds of people I know were praying for him, and their prayers were answered. No one will ever change my mind about that." All right. That is one point of view. Let’s look at another. This week ...
On this Labor Day weekend, I think it appropriate to tell an old story about a man named Smith. He died and then regained consciousness in the next world. He looked out over a vast expanse of pleasant country. After resting comfortably for a while in a delightful spot, he called out, “Is anybody around here?” An attendant, dressed in white, appeared and said gravely, “What do you want?” Smith asked, “What can I have?” The attendant replied, “You can have anything you want.” Smith named some of his favorite ...
One evening I ran into the cleaners to pick up my shirts. They had told me they would be ready, but now they couldn’t find them. They began searching and I stood there thinking, "This is great. Every dress shirt I own is at the cleaners - except for the one I’m wearing." While I was waiting for them to find my shirts, a woman walked in carrying an old laundry basket. Inside the laundry basket, lying on a green towel were five little puppies. They were about five or six weeks old - cute little balls of ...
Was I there, did you ask? Yes, I was there all right. I had to be. I was the man in charge of the soldiers who crucified Jesus of Nazareth. It was a day I’ll never forget, the day when the sun refused to shine. You won’t find my name in the Bible, but if you study any of the traditions associated with the death of Jesus, you may learn that I was called Longinus. But my name is not important. What you should know is that I carried out the arrangements for the crucifixion. As I did my job and watched what ...
Today, in our Old Testament journey to Easter, we make a significant adjustment both in time, geography, and attitude. We are at that momentous year of 587 B.C. (or slightly beyond) when the country of Judah is no more. The beautiful temple, built in the great days of King Solomon is no more. This holy, awesome temple has been sacked and its priceless art treasures carried off to the wicked country of Babylon. The monarchy, reaching back to the golden days of King David is no more. The holy city of ...
Do you love God? Wait a moment. Wait a moment before you answer, and think, because you are in danger of perjuring yourselves. Quite frankly, I’m deeply suspicious of people who are always running around saying how much they love God. You see, I remember the words of our Lord: "You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you when he said, ‘This people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.’" I am confronted with the fact that such a man as Saint Paul was constantly tortured by the ...