... . (4) A parable, perhaps, of what can happen to us as a church or as individuals. We can put our emphasis on the outward facade and neglect the inner reality. That brings us to the last thing to be said for the day. THE ONLY ONE WE ULTIMATELY HAVE TO IMPRESS IS GOD. St. Paul says, "You can see that I am not trying to please you by sweet talk and flattery; no, I am trying to please God. If I were still trying to please men I could not be Christ's servant." Here is a paradox. The harder you ...
... word or speech, but in truth and actions.” We spend so much time and energy loving with our language, telling what we’re thinking and believing about love, that we have little time and energy left to love “in truth and actions.” Paul’s “first impression” is a talk walk, a witness that becomes a withness, a position that became a posture, an attitude that became an action. These actions took three forms: 1) The focused power of faith; 2) the moving presence of the Holy Spirit; 3) the passion of ...
... thought the Pharisee was much closer to God, but on the inside it was the tax collector who was close to God. Because the Bible says in Ps. 34:18, "The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit." What impressed God so much was this man was willing to humble himself without waiting on God to do it for him. Did you know that God has a way of humbling you if you don't take the first step of humbling yourself? God delights in exalting the humble, and in ...
... of God's mosaic. He became a part of our family so that we could become a part of His. Just as God used two ordinary women named Ruth and Mary to make an impact on the world that still lasts today God can use you to make a lasting impression on others by your living for Him and loving Him and doing His will. If you don't believe that, there are a lot of pieces in God's mosaic in Matthew and Luke that would love to show you how. [1] www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13662242
... on earth. She asked what they would like for their meal, where they would like to eat it, what would be the music, who would be the chef, and who would be in attendance. In other words, what would they like to leave as their “last impression” on this world if they could orchestrate that moment and all their desires would come true. A few chefs chose a menu of elaborate cuisine and exotic places. But by far the majority of these “rich and famous” folks chose something else. They chose family, they ...
During his first visit to the United States, Albert Schweitzer found himself at Pennsylvania Station in New York City, waiting for a train that would take him, his wife, and some friends to Colorado. It was the first time he had seen an immense American railroad station, and there was much to do and look at while they waited. Then Schweitzer saw a broom and, in the middle of the big crowded place, quietly began to sweep up the rubbish on the ground. After a little while he realized that in the meantime the ...
... as well, better than we know ourselves. God knows the heart; he knows our intent. The tax collector is a sinful man. He is broken and realizes the errors of his life. This man, as Jesus says, went home justified, because he was honest and made no attempt to impress God. Hosea says in the First Reading that there are only two things that God is looking for in us, love and knowledge of God. If we fill ourselves with these ideas then we have all that we need. An attitude of haughtiness, one that tries to make ...
... dark. When asked the meaning of what he was doing, he replied, "I do this so I can know how it really feels when I come before the thousands of persons who will see me in the play as I carry Christ's cross up Golgotha's hill." That IS impressive. A man so dedicated to his pursuit that he wants to become totally absorbed in it, allow it to be a genuine part of his experience. This is what separates the genuine article from the synthetic. The Bible says that the "WORD BECAME FLESH," and that "in all ways ...
... the Truth of God that he was attempting to expound, and pray that, if they agreed with me, I hope, much more important, that God agreed with me. So we have come to worship in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. You want to be impressed? Well, then, think! Allow the awesome fact to seep into your consciousness that you, my friend, stand in the presence of your Creator! That's an awesome fact before which I shrivel. I hope you do. You are not here to worship yourself, nor am I, any more than ...
... these folks. They're not bad folks. They just don't have the heart of Jesus. Do you? It's more important what God thinks of you than what your friends think of you. In the long run doing the right thing will make the best impression. Showing compassion for those less fortunate than you is always the right thing to do. 1. (Colorado Springs, CO: Navpress, 1998). 2. Ed Peacher's "˜Laughter for a Saturday' - Email
... what I was thinking. “I guess that's the last meal we will have here." New people visit our worship services every weekend of the year. Some find a good experience and return, eventually join and make this a church home. But others are not so favorably impressed. The sermon was dull, the music was not what they expected, no one bothered to speak to them and they spoke to no one. We will not likely get another chance to reach those people. I was listening to a speaker describe the people of Brentwood not ...
... writes in 2 Timothy 1:7, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” Wholesome faith in Christ gives us a sound mind. It is interesting how the story ends. The people of the village were impressed to see Many sitting there with a placid expression on his face and fully clothed, but they were frightened by the power of Christ, and they were infuriated by the loss of their pigs. So they drove Jesus from their midst. Many wanted to go with Jesus, but Jesus ...
... is the Master of the raging winds, and he is Lord, and they are not. There is at least one very important difference between a painting and a photograph. The photograph is an actual reproduction of a scene; the painting is the artist’s interpretation or impression of it. The photograph is a record of what is actually there; the painting is what the artist sees as being there. Of course we have no technique by which we can photograph the future. You cannot photograph what isn’t there, and the future isn ...
... a significant impact. And then one day while John is preaching and baptizing and having all kinds of success, out of the crowd steps Jesus. And John knows. He knows that here is one who is gifted in the ways of God far beyond his own gifts. John is so impressed by Jesus that he is reluctant to even baptize him. I wonder how John felt, don't you? We have turned Biblical figures into people so holy, so virtuous, so remote from our lives, that we don't think of them having real feelings. It's not easy, though ...
... wear a cross; I only want to ask, “Have your darkest appetites been crucified so that the cross around your neck is an exercise in honest advertising? Are you living under the same cross you display?” Don’t impress me with the car you drive or the clothes you wear or who you know or where you’ve been; impress me with a record of tithes and offerings, with a life full of the gifts and fruits of the Spirit, passion for Christ, and willingness to sacrifice not to lose your desire for more of him. I’m ...
... description of the car. Within a fast 30 seconds a television ad bombards you not with relevant information but with glamorous images, flashing at you with split-second speed. The goal is not to educate you, but to leave your brain with an impression that you want this product. Television advertisers use celebrities and gorgeous people, because they know such people make an impact on you even though your brain knows that the celebrity is just paid to make the ad and probably has never used the product ...
... was a child who would never see Christmas," says Williams. Young cried when Hoffman called to tell her the news. "I didn't know what I was going to do," she says. "I would have been lost without those officers." (4) Maybe such stories don't impress you. But they impress me. This is what Christmas is all about. God has reached into space and time to show us the meaning of love. And today, two thousand years later, the ripples of love first born in the manger of Bethlehem, still radiate out into the world ...
... the talk. His name was Gottfried Osei-Mensah. He was a leader of a church in Africa. Osei- Mensah was brought to Christ by an English missionary. The missionary was the headmaster at the mission school Gottfried attended as a young man. The first thing that impressed Gottfried about this headmaster was that he called him by name. He said most of the English men and women never bothered to learn the African’s names. You have to care about somebody before you bother to learn his or her name. It made an ...
... outdoors and a young man from the upper classes comes running to him and kneels before him. Quite a sight. And the young man asks Jesus a question, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Wow! Who would not be impressed? Well, Jesus, for one. Jesus was not impressed. For one thing this young man tried to flatter the wrong person. This wealthy young man asks, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" and Jesus stops him in his tracks, "Why do you call me good? No one is good ...
... years, although he earned a good salary and enjoyed many of the "toys" of adulthood, he never once paid the child support for Amber that a court ordered him to pay. As Rob Smitty's gift of a kidney to a stranger did not impress his daughter, so God is not impressed with any sacrifice not born of a heart that honors him. The biggest heart problem in the church in our generation cannot be made better by any cardiologist's prescription. The heart's biggest problem is that it does not always follow what God ...
... did not help them, they would be hungry or homeless. And yet, in spite of her low status and her poverty, she gave all her money—all she had to live on—to the temple treasury. She didn’t draw attention to her sacrifice. She didn’t do it to impress anyone. If it hadn’t been for Jesus, no one would have known how great a sacrifice she made. Why did she do it? Because she trusted God’s character and she obeyed God’s commands. Because loving God is its own reward. And the greater we love God, the ...
Matthew 6:1-4, Matthew 6:5-15, Matthew 6:16-18, Matthew 6:19-24
Sermon
Harry N. Huxhold
... you on to do what has to be done. We do not have to waste one ounce of energy or one breath in trying to impress God or to impress others. To look upward is to look to God for help and the assurance of his support in getting done what has to be done. ... how well we are doing, but what needs to be done. Self-denial in Lent for us is the occasion for us again, not to impress others, but to engage in that kind of introspection and physical training that help us to be fighting trim against all the evil forces and ...
... declared, "I have not witnessed such faith, even in all Israel." Moreover, as insensitive as it may sound, it would appear that the immediate healing of the servant is almost incidental to the faith-filled abandon exhibited by the centurion. He impresses us as a good man, compassionate, and humble. A man of authority, figuratively prostrating himself in the presence of Supreme authority. Power of the Spoken Word Jesus consented to the centurion's request. However, the centurion, fully aware of the power ...
... barefoot orphan boy and saw only a field hand. None of the estimations were accurate because everything had not been taken into account. God's blessing of the resources, using what was available - such as it was - made the difference. It always does. III. Mistaken Impressions Don't you see, just being close to a situation doesn't necessarily mean we have gathered it all in! Recently, my wife and I were driving down one of the highways leading into Little Rock. As we approached the city limits, we were ...
... only one boy and I remained in the car, I spotted a man I knew on the street. "See that man?" I said to Paul. "Yeah, that one; the one in jeans and boots and with the hybrid seed corn hat." Paul could see him, but he obviously wasn't impressed. "He and his two brothers," I went on, "own four sections of land west of town. That's over 2500 acres. At today's prices that land is worth about four million dollars." There was a long pause. Then Paul said, "He sure doesn't spend much of it on ...