Sermon and Worship Resources

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Mark 9:2-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... first baseman for the New York Yankees who brought not only glory, but honor to the game. For twelve seasons in the 20s and 30s, he batted over 300, before being stricken with the dread disease, ALS, which is known to this day as “Lou Gehrig disease.” The story is told that in 1937 Gehrig was in Chicago for a game with the White Sox. Someone asked him to go to the Children’s Hospital there, and visit a ten-year-old boy named Tim who had polio. Tim was despondent over his condition and refused to try ...

2. The Competitor

Genesis 25:19-34

Sermon

King Duncan

... I am, but it's a subject I've studied." "All right," McCarthy said, "I'll give you a test." McCarthy said that a few years before he'd had a problem and had gone to Frankie Crosetti, his shortstop. "Frank," McCarthy said, "I'm not satisfied with the way Lou Gehrig is playing first base. He's too lackadaisical. I want you to help me. From now on, charge every ground ball. When you get it, fire it as quickly and as hard as you can to first base. Knock ...

3. Wakeup Call

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Staff

4. The Iron Horse

Illustration

Dale E. Galloway

... the time has come to take me out." His consecutive game record ended at 2,130, a record that may never be equaled. Doctors discovered that Lou had a rare and fatal disease called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The next two years, as life ebbed from him, he refused to give in to the disease. On July 4, 1939, Lou was honored at Yankee Stadium. The spectators fell silent as Gehrig stepped to the microphone and said, "I may have been given a bad break, but I’ve got an awful lot to live for: I consider myself ...

5. The Ice Bucket Challenge

Romans 13:8-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... :" young people of middle school, high school, college, post college age groups. Before they took the challenge, they researched the disease themselves, learning the medical fundamentals while experiencing social media fun. Most of them had never heard of "Lou Gehrig" before being tagged. The "IceBucket Challenge" was a non-classroom based, peertopeer, largely online learning experience. Second, the "Ice Bucket Challenge" was an exercise in online giving. Most of the 40+ million dollars raised so ...

6. Standing in the Forecastle

1 Thessalonians 5:12-28

Sermon

Ron Love

... by everyone by now. Remember it? You challenged a friend to have a bucket of ice water dumped on their head, and then make a donation to the find a cure for Lou Gehrig’s Disease. The 2014 challenge raised $220 million. The person who started it, the Boston College baseball captain, Pete Frates, who had Lou Gehrig’s Disease, received the NCAA 2017 Inspirational Award. The award was a way for the basketball community and society at large to say thanks. Let us leave the sanctuary today dedicating ourselves ...

7. Becoming A Faithful Witness

Isaiah 50:1-11

Sermon

Douglas J. Deuel

... vindication that will come when God's kingdom is established in all of its fullness. There is no need to retaliate or to justify one's witness. That will come on the final day of reckoning. A minister told me of a member of his church who had Lou Gehrig's disease. The minister visited this man for about six months before he finally died. Each time he visited, it seemed to him that less of the man was there. He was losing weight quickly, he was becoming more and more confined to his bed, and his breathing ...

8. Easter 7

John 17:6-19, Acts 1:12-26, 1 John 5:1-12

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... status and power can lead to death (spiritual and physical). 4. Matthias was second string he wasn't a star but he was apparently an effective team player. 5. Fill the position God calls you to, with honor. Cal Ripken, the shortstop for the Baltimore Orioles, broke Lou Gehrig's record by having played in 2,131 consecutive games as of September 6, 1995. A downpour of praise for the stalwart player seemed to go on and on but nobody went running for cover. When he took off his jersey and cap and presented it ...

9. A Claim to a Crown

Matthew 24:36-51

Sermon

George Bass

... wrote about the illness and death of a man, Russ Skoe, who lived a rather remarkable kind of life as a pharmacist in northern Minnesota. Despite all the good things he had done, and the whole and healthy person that he was, he was struck down by Lou Gehrig’s disease. He and Klobuchar had been on bicycle trips together and, after their last trip, he told the columnist: "You don’t do much for yourself or for people around you by brooding over what’s ahead ... But you can’t feverishly pack mementos and ...

10. A Reason For All To Be Thankful

Romans 8:28-39

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... that are spread somewhat randomly along our pathways will be transformed by a loving God to serve useful purposes. The toughest challenge I have ever had as a pastor was in ministering to a beautiful young wife and mother who was slowly dying of Lou Gehrig's disease. Jill's mind remained sharp and perceptive even as her body wasted away with excruciating slowness. She confessed to me at times that what she really wanted was a gun with which to end it all. She noticed painfully when her five- year ...

11. Reverence For Life

Exodus 20:1-21, Matthew 5:21-26

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... of suicides, the victim is in such depression that he is not responsible for his action. The issue of suicide and mercy killing or euthanasia is back on front burner because of lengthy illnesses that are currently without cures, like Alzheimers, AIDS, Lou Gehrig's disease, and certain forms of cancer. Dr. Kavorkian and his suicide assistance continue to be in the news. The faith community must affirm consistently that no human being has the right to terminate life. Christians are well advised to prepare ...

12. I Believe In Prayer

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

Robert Allen

... is an inner openness to God which allows his divine power to be released in us. Ultimately, the power of prayer is not that we succeed in changing God, but that God succeeds in changing us. I called for some time on a young man who suffered from Lou Gehrig’s Disease, or ALS. I suppose that this is one of the most debilitating illnesses known. Over a period of time, all of the muscles of the body become useless. But, the mind remains clear and sharp - trapped in a body that cannot move. Of course, this man ...

13. The Inner Galaxy

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

... of great joy to all people.' " And Harriet Ritchie remembered the needy people in her upscale neighborhood, and I remembered our neighborhood. Over here is a family whose house burned down with a mother and child inside. Over there is an athlete and attorney with Lou Gehrig's disease, who breathes with a ventilator and talks through a computer. Over here is a woman whose aged father had died -- a father for whom she cared and with whom she had become an adult friend. Over there is a young man about to have ...

14. When God Overdoes It

Lamentations 1:1-22

Sermon

David E. Leininger

A couple of years ago, a fascinating book by Mitch Albom hit the bestseller lists. You may have read it - Tuesdays with Morrie. The author had learned that his old teacher was slowly dying of Lou Gehrig's disease, and after an absence of many years, the two reconnected and began to get together every Tuesday. The book shares some of the great lessons that emerged from those weekly conversations. For example: "Okay, question," I say to Morrie. His bony fingers hold his glasses across his chest, ...

15. Redefining Life

2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... from him. All God said was, "My grace is sufficient." Paul would never be overwhelmed by his thorn, he would never be undone by it, never scandalized by it. God's grace was sufficient. In the year 2000, Pastor Ed Dobson was diagnosed with ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease. He asked a pastor friend to anoint him with oil and pray for his healing. The two men discussed the fact that sometimes God answers a prayer for healing just the way we want Him to, and sometimes He doesn't. Sometimes we receive spiritual ...

16. That Believing Ye Might Have Life

John 20:24-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... the audience had to be written by an interpreter because he could not write. Today, Hawking cannot even turn the pages of a book; he has been rendered almost completely helpless by a neurological disease called ALS, which is more commonly known as "Lou Gehrig's disease." Yet he is considered by many of his peers to be the most brilliant physicist since Einstein. His early academic career was undistinguished, to say the least. He loafed through college and failed the entrance test to graduate school. He was ...

17. For Those Who Have Received Much (Father's Day)

Matthew 10:5-8

Sermon

King Duncan

... came into our world to show us how much we are loved. And now it is our job to take that love to others. “Freely you have received, freely give.” In 1995 Cal Ripken, Jr. broke what many believed was baseball’s unbreakable record--Lou Gehrig’s record for consecutive games played (2,130). Known as baseball’s all‑time Iron Man, Ripkin retired from baseball in 2001 after 21 seasons with the Baltimore Orioles. His name appears in the record books repeatedly, most notably as one of only seven players ...

18. Resurrected Obedience (Series: Living on the Resurrection Side of Life)

John 14:15-31

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... to work it out on your own salvation with self justification? Why not trust Him? Why not trust Him now? C. Trust the present to God’s Care. Tuesday’s with Morrie is the moving account of visits between Morrie Schwartz, who is dying with Lou Gehrig’s disease, and his former student, Mitch Albom, who flies from Detroit to Boston each Tuesday to meet with Morrie. One day Mitch asks Morrie, “Do you feel sorry for yourself?” Morrie responds, “Sometimes in the morning, that’s when I mourn. I feel ...

19. Reassessing Our Laughter (Series: Questioning Our Values)

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... . “Dear God, I will gladly give one day of my life for Dr. Olds to be healed.” Sandy and I were working in the yard at our cabin last Monday when our neighbor stopped by. He was in a golf cart, on an air mattress, in the last stages of Lou Gehrig’s disease. I didn’t know he was still alive, but this couple who have gone through hell for years now, stopped to see how I was doing. Slowly, he partially raised his hand to take my hand and said, “I pray for you often.” That’s compassion. There is ...

20. Furnishing It with Love

1 John 4:7-18

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... behalf, then I am more than ready to go. Surely the presence of the Lord is filling this place. I can feel His mighty power and His grace. Our hearts overflow with love for each of you. In the book, Tuesdays with Morrie, Morrie, who is dying with Lou Gehrig ’s disease, says to his former student, Mitch, who is rubbing his back, “When we are infants we need people to survive. When we are dying we need people to survive. But here’s the secret, Mitch. In between we need each other even more. We must love ...

21. Mentoring Matters

1 Thessalonians 2:9-13

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

... of his television set, flipping through channels, he paused on Nightline long enough to catch a glimpse of his former teacher and friend, Morrie Schwartz. He saw Morrie explaining to Ted Koppel that he had been diagnosed with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), or Lou Gehrig's disease, and that he was learning how to die. Mitch had not seen Morrie since graduation day at Brandeis. We sometimes have to schedule our significant others into our day in order to be certain that those who ultimately matter most ...

22. Disillusioned Thomas

John 20:24-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... is apt to follow. A few years ago, a fascinating book by Mitch Albom hit the bestseller lists. You may have read it. It was titled, Tuesdays with Morrie. Here’s the story. The author learns that his old teacher is slowly dying of Lou Gehrig’s disease. After an absence of many years, the two reconnect and begin to get together every Tuesday. The book shares some of the great lessons that emerge from those weekly conversations. For example, here is a sample exchange that blends humor and pathos ...

23. Living in The Present

Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12

Sermon

Thomas Lentz

... written asking why we should have to suffer. But psychologist Nathaniel Branden has said that suffering is just about the easiest of human activities. Being happy is just about the hardest. The brilliant scientist, Stephen Hawking, said that until he developed Lou Gehrig's disease he had never really learned to appreciate his life but had wasted much of it in meaningless activity. Faith teaches us we can befriend our suffering. Suffering cleanses us from human pride. It redirects our focus from frivolity to ...

24. Oops! I Did It Again

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

... Italy. They were standing just inside St. Peter’s Basilica, the second largest church in the world. The tour guide explained, “This church is so large that no man on earth could hit a baseball from one end to the other not Lou Gehrig, not Babe Ruth, not even Mark McGuire.” The group stared in silence at the beautiful marble sculptures, intricate paintings, and glorious mosaics all around the enormous building. Then a certain college girl interrupted the silence with an astonished question: “You mean ...

25. Dealing With Life's Setbacks

Illustration

... a member of Hungary's world-champion pistol shooting team and sergeant in the army, lost his right hand when a grenade he was holding exploded. But Takacs did not give. up. He learned to shoot left-handed and won gold medals in the 1948 and 1952 Olympics. Lou Gehrig was such a clumsy ball player that the boys in his neighborhood would not let him play on their team. But he was committed. He did not give up. Eventually, his name was entered into baseball's Hall of Fame. Woodrow Wilson could not read until he ...

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