Sermon and Worship Resources

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Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9

Sermon

Will Willimon

... Their values, what everybody else says is right, is not necessarily right. You must decide. You must choose. This we named Situation Ethics. There was an influential book by that title by Joseph Fletcher. I read it my Sophomore year of college. Ethics, Fletcher said, consists of a string of decisions. "What ought I to do? How should I choose?" Fletcher said that it's a mistake to decide on the basis of what you've always done, or what your parents or your society told you. How could they know your situation ...

2. What Do You Want To Be Like When You Are 65?

Proverbs 3:1-35

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... about right and wrong without a point of reference, without having a goal and purpose for your life is the opponent of that problem. It's like having flags, but no flag poles. This raises the whole question of what has been called "situation ethics". Joseph Fletcher made the popular case for it in a book way back in 1966. His primary contention was that every situation called for a new decision -- that decision could not be based on what you have always done, or what your parents or your society told ...

3. Epiphany 6

Deuteronomy 30:11-20

Sermon Aid

... ," "do not commit adultery," "do not swear (God's name is holy)." ' " These constantly remind us of what God expects of his people, and they condemn us when we break God's commands. But we have been affected by, and have bought into, the residue of Joseph Fletcher's situation ethics. His theological system was not devised as much for the age we live in as it was by the theological mind-set of people living in this era. What remains of the older and time-tested moral and ethical standards of the Bible? Is ...

4. Like Buoys In The River

Exodus 19:1-25

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... has been to persuade people that the Ten Commandments are outdated or irrelevant. TV network owner Ted Turner refers to the Ten Commandments as outmoded. He suggests that they be replaced by "Ten Voluntary Initiatives." Back in 1966 Professor Joseph Fletcher produced a book entitled "Situation Ethics." His basis thesis was that nothing is universally right or wrong. Ethics are governed by each particular situation. Our secular culture has embraced that outlook with enthusiasm. TV and movie producers are the ...

5. Is Conscience the Best Guide?

John 16:5-16

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... us what is right. For that, we must have some standard outside of ourselves. But where shall we go? How is it possible for us to tell right from wrong, if our consciences are so easily corrupted? I have found the following to be helpful: Ethicist Joseph Fletcher sees conscience not as a faculty, but as a function. He says, "The traditional error lies in thinking about conscience as a noun instead of a verb. There is no conscience," he says. "'Conscience' is merely a word for our attempts to make decisions ...

6. The Short List

Micah 6:1-8

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... verbs at that. They're verbs that inevitably ask the questions What, How and Who. What are you DOING? How and who are you LOVING? And How and with Whom are you WALKING? I. Do A. Do justice. What is justice? And how do you do justice? Joseph Fletcher said, "Justice is nothing other than love working out its problems." (2) Benjamin Disraeli said, "Justice is truth in action." (3) I think justice is doing what is right simply because it's even if it's uncomfortable or not popular. Let me give you an example ...

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