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Sermon

Michael J. Anton

PENTECOST I’m tired. I’m tired of slugging it out every day in that office or on that line where nobody really cares whether I live or die. I’m tired of being treated like a number. I’m tired of being called nosey when I’m just trying to help. I’m tired of being unappreciated and taken for granted. I’m tired of being an armchair psychologist and trying to figure people out. I’m tired of yelling an...

2. A Reason to Hope

Lamentations 3:1-66

Sermon

Michael J. Anton

HOPE Lamentations 3:18-24 "Sometimes I feel like a motherless child." I suppose every generation could write its own book of lamentations. At least most of us seem to find enough to gripe about. Of course, many of our complains are about the people we don’t like because they don’t see life our way, or about the taxes that never seem to go down, or the noise the kids make, or the fact that they don...

3. Behold Your God

Isaiah 40:1-31

Sermon

Michael J. Anton

People without a country. Fathers and mothers trying to hold their frustrated families together by telling and re-telling the ancient stories of the good old days in far-off Jerusalem, now lying in ruins, the smoke of her ashes still twisting to the sky. People trying to eke out the best existence possible under the thumb of their Babylonian overlords. Those are the people to whom these glorious ...

4. Christmas Is for -

Sermon

Michael J. Anton

CHRISTMAS Christmas is for kids. Ever said that? Many have. And like most slogan-statements that catch on with some regularity, this one contains some grains of truth. Christmas would definitely not be the same without those saucer-sized eyes that just seem to grow larger with each additional package put under the tree. Those eyes that fairly sparkle and dance in the reflection of reds and greens ...

5. Crossing the Great Divide

Matthew 27:11-26

Sermon

Michael J. Anton

"It’s his fault. It’s her fault. It’s their fault." "It’s not my fault. The devil made me do it." Since the first bad trip in the Eden garden, humans have made it a regular practice to pass the buck. From the man who pointed to his questionable helpmate and said, "The woman you gave me, she made me eat that fruit," to the woman who could literally say, "the devil made me do it," to Herod who could...

6. Free to Be

Acts 4:23-31

Sermon

Michael J. Anton

INDEPENDENCE DAY For 197 years this country called America has attempted to provide the soil and the climate in which freedom and independence can grow. For almost two centuries the U. S. of A. has become a haven of refuge for immigrants seeking an escape from repression. Our country has been a mecca for persons interested in breathing the fresh air of freedom. This experiment in democracy, of c...

7. God Bless America! Well ... Uhh

Sermon

Michael J. Anton

THANKSGIVING DAY A pilgrim’s hat, a turkey and the bust of an Indian. These are the items our son brought home from his preschool class this week. These treasures have been in the making for a week or so now, in preparation for this day. They were made, of course, to help the children of his class learn something about this history of this American holiday. And these symbols do tell us that our Am...

8. Growing Up

Judges 17:1-13

Sermon

Michael J. Anton

NEW YEAR’S DAY Last night the final day of the Lord came one step closer. In assorted ways and with a mixture of feelings we watched the hands on the clock make their last revolution and inch their way into the new year. No one really looks different, and the scenery hasn’t changed between yesterday and today, but we have that feeling of climax, knowing yesterday is last year. In the mind’s eye,...

9. Let the Son Shine in

1 John 1:5--2:14

Sermon

Michael J. Anton

Are you a Christian? Now, that’s a ridiculous question from a Christian pulpit to a Christian congregation on a Sunday morning set aside by the Christian Church for Christian worship. Perhaps so. But there is an important question yet to ask. How do you measure your faith? How do you test your relationship with God? If a person who is not a member of the Family asks you to produce the evidence fo...

10. Like a Mother’s Trust

Sermon

Michael J. Anton

STEWARDSHIP SUNDAY We can talk about money in the Church - as long as we drive in first gear. Moving beyond that speed puts us in danger. Somehow we can discuss the stewardship of time and talents all year long with no repercussions, but when we pull the string on the pocketbook, we have hit the sciatic nerve. But let’s just take that chance and throw caution to the wind. Indeed let’s depend on th...

11. Snoring through Sermons

Sermon

Michael J. Anton

TRINITY (General) As you may have noticed, the theme listed in today’s bulletin after "sermon" is Snoring Through Sermons. I suspect some might read that line with some delight, wondering what we’re really going to say about the guy who’s been sitting in front of us, nodding Sunday after Sunday. And the guy who has been doing the nodding may well be sitting in fear and trepidation, wondering what ...

12. So that I Can Tell

Sermon

Michael J. Anton

EASTER Recently one of our members asked a question I think has crossed the mind of most Christians at one time or another. The question: Why has God chosen to allow me to discover the joy of knowing and trusting Jesus the Christ as my Lord while others are walking on by, rejecting this Christ? Why has God made me part of the Body of his son while others around me refuse to come close to him? Why ...

13. This Is Our Song

Psalm 121:1-8

Sermon

Michael J. Anton

You are pilgrims. I am a pilgrim. This is our song: "I lift up my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from?" Like all pilgrims, I’m on a journey. It’s a very important trip. It’s not just a quickie weekend jaunt, in and out of a motel. It’s more than an overnight camp out. It’s even longer than a sweepstakes winning tour of the world. I’m on a journey every day of my life; life is that kin...

14. Three-Dimensional Christianity

James 1:19-27

Sermon

Michael J. Anton

Most of us have probably either heard it or said it about a fellow Christian: "Boy, he really knows his Bible." Sometimes an extra line is added, "He knows the Bible better than most preachers." I suppose that extra line could make pastors a bit defensive, sort of like "them’s fightin’ words." But on this National Bible Sunday there is something much more important than arguing over who may know ...

15. Wearing the Ashes

Jonah 3:1-10

Sermon

Michael J. Anton

If we had saved our palm leaves from last Palm Sunday, we could follow an ancient Lenten tradition this evening. We could burn the palm leaves and then apply the palm ashes to our foreheads in the sign of a cross. The ashen cross upon our forehead would be a sign and symbol of where we stand under the mighty hand of God’s judgment. Lent itself is a time for facing up to God’s judgment. A time fo...

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