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Ephesians 2:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... there is nothing that you and I have done to merit God's grace, God's love, God's salvation. "For by grace you have been saved," writes Paul, "and this is not your doing; it is the gift of God ” not the result of works, so that no one may boast." Art Linkletter in the ... the First Presbyterian Church in Spartanburg, SC, newsletter, "First News" Sept.17-23, 1995 by Rev. Curtis Fussell, Richlands Presbyterian Church, Richlands, VA. 5. Kevin A. Miller, "Coming in Second," MARRIAGE PARTNERSHIP, Fall 1996, p ...

2. Can A Christian Brag?

Ephesians 2:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... . It may be a delivery girl, it may be your boss, it may be your spouse, it may be your best friend, or it may be St. Paul. Paul was writing to Christians at Ephesus. Ephesus was a prosperous city on a major trading route. It was the local capital city with many wealthy and prominent ... at Church: And How to Fix It," (Group Publishing: Loveland, CO 1996). Contributed by Curtis Fussell. 5. Charles Colson with Nancy Pearcey, A DANGEROUS GRACE (Dallas: Word Publishing, 1994), p. 53. 6. "Our Christological Crisis," by Dr. ...

3. Get Off The Orphan Train

Romans 8:18-27

Sermon

King Duncan

... of today's message. Rather, I want to suggest to you today that THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE STILL RIDING THE ORPHAN TRAIN. Listen again to the words of St. Paul as he writes: "All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into ... DEATH, (Harper & Row: New York 1990), p.19. Contributed by Rev. Curtis Fussell, Richlands Presbyterian Church, Richlands, VA. 7. Steven R. Mosley, GLIMPSES OF GOD, (Sisters, Oregon: Questar Publishers, Inc., 1990), pp. 170- ...

4. Greed - Putting Things In Their Proper Perspective

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

R. Curtis Fussell

Mr. Jones had a job that gave him a comfortable income. He enjoyed fishing and motorhome camping. Every year or so he would buy a new combination fish and ski boat, not some little dinghy, but a really nice, fancy boat. Every couple of years Mr. Jones would buy a new motorhome camper. It was obvious that several other men in the neighborhood envied Mr. Jones and tried to keep up with his new toys. They too would buy and sell boats and campers. It was obvious that keeping up with Mr. Jones was a priority in ...

5. Bloody Doorposts

Exodus 12:1-30

Sermon

When I was about twelve years of age I attended a state Boy Scout jamboree. We camped out in the mountains for an extended weekend. We had to bring food with us to eat, but we were told our Saturday evening meal would be provided. But what we did not know was how it would be provided. About four o'clock in the afternoon we were summoned to the road head. There by the side of the road was a tractor-trailer loaded with live chickens! At our campsite we were divided into groups of three, and from that truck ...

6. Salvaging Our Lives

Genesis 29:15-30

Sermon

If you have ever made an in-depth investigation of your family history, a genealogy, then you probably came across some ancestors who would qualify as so-called "black sheep of the family." Among my own ancestors my father came across a family will dating back to shortly before the Civil War. In that will it speaks of my great-great-great-grandmother selling off slaves. In fact, the will indicates that the slave family she owned was to be divided up at her death. When I first heard about this I was shocked ...

7. Anger - Eleven Ways To Blow Up, Seven Ways To Cool Off

Matthew 5:21-26

Sermon

R. Curtis Fussell

What is your AQ? Not your IQ, which is your so-called intelligence quotient, but your AQ, your Anger Quota? Everyone has an AQ. Everyone has a point, a threshold, whatever you call it. If the right buttons are hit, you will get angry and start to growl, and that's your AQ, your Anger Quota. Of course, you and the people sitting around you don't look like you could be angry. As far as you and I can tell, everyone here looks calm, relaxed, quiet, and composed. But under that cool composure there's the ...

8. Pride: The Deadliest of the Seven Deadly Sins

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

R. Curtis Fussell

Girolamo Savonarola was one of the great preachers of the fifteenth century. He preached in the great cathedral of Florence, Italy, which contained a magnificent marble statue of the blessed virgin Mary. When Savonarola started preaching at this great cathedral, he noticed one day an elderly woman praying before this statue of Mary. He then began to notice that it was her habit to come every day and pray before the statue. Savonarola remarked one day to an elderly priest who had been serving in the ...

9. Deadly Sins - A Matter Of Sutton's Law

Romans 7:14-25

Sermon

R. Curtis Fussell

You have said it before and I have, too, to a friend, your husband or wife: "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that. I'm just not myself today." And then maybe you have heard it said: "He's not really a bad boy; he's just trying to find himself." Or perhaps you have used this expression: "He's not human, he's an animal." Perhaps also you have said this about your boss: "He thinks he's God Almighty."1 All these expressions describe the contradiction that plagues all of us -- that I am not, you are not, what ...

10. The Honor Of A Limp

Genesis 32:22-32

Sermon

Richard Sears was a young man when his father died, and so he had to go to work to support the family. He took a job on the railroad and worked his way up to station agent in North Redwood, Minnesota. To earn extra money he sold coal and lumber. One day a box full of watches was delivered to his station by mistake. The local jeweler decided he didn't want the watches. But instead of sending the watches back to the company, Richard Sears decided to buy the watches himself and proceeded to sell them. In a ...

11. Envy - Where Is The Grass Greener?

Gn 4:1-26, Mt 20:1-16, Philip 4:10-20

Sermon

R. Curtis Fussell

I have a friend by the name of Robert who has always enjoyed playing jokes, especially at the expense of others. One day Robert was expecting a visit from his childhood friend Larry, whom he hadn't seen in over ten years. In their teens Robert and Larry had a friendly rivalry going between them. So Robert came up with this idea of trying to impress Larry that he had become extremely wealthy. There was a very exclusive neighborhood in town with many magnificent homes which would be ideal for this scheme. ...

12. God Sends Us Ahead

Genesis 45:1-28

Sermon

This is it. The moment we've all been waiting for. The moment when all the people who thought you'd never amount to anything watch you come out on the stage. The spotlight hits you. The audience stands and the entire hall reverberates with their applause. This is that moment when a man dressed in the finery of the Egyptian court makes himself known to his impoverished brothers. "It's me, Joseph! It's me! Remember me? The brother you threw into a pit? Don't you remember me, Judah? You suggested that you ...

13. Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are!

Exodus 1:1-22, 2:1-10

Sermon

Moses was a master of masquerade! He lived a good portion of his life in disguise. From the time he was three months old he went into hiding. At three months he was placed in a basket among the Nile reeds. The infant princess Elora Danan, in the movie Willow, was placed in a basket made of river sticks which quickly became a boat. The little boat was pushed off from the shore seconds before the Queen's death dogs converged on the child's caretaker. Her basket was an escape to a safe land. Moses' basket, ...

14. Growing No Feathers

Exodus 3:1-22

Sermon

When Imelda Marcos was criticized for having 3,000 pairs of shoes in her closet, her excuse was: "Everybody kept their shoes there. The maids ... everybody."1 When Zsa Zsa Gabor slapped a Beverly Hills policeman, her excuse was: "I am from Hungary. We are descendants of Genghis Khan and Attila the Hun. We are Hungarian freedom fighters."2 Moses balked when God spoke directly to him, asking him to go liberate a nation of slaves. Moses' excuse was, "I'm not very good with words." None of these excuses worked ...

15. Going Through The Waters

Exodus 13:17--14:31

Sermon

I suppose when we hear this passage about the parting of the Reed Sea, many of us cannot help but recall that scene in the movie The Ten Commandments. There is Moses, played by Charlton Heston, in a flowing black robe, long hair blowing in the wind, and his arms lifted up with one hand holding the staff that God had given him. The sea suddenly heaves and parts, creating a path with rolling walls of water on either side. Then, Israel marches through on dry land, barely ahead of the pursuing Egyptian army. I ...

16. It's Not Over When The Fat Lady Sings

Exodus 17:1-7

Sermon

Consider this list: a local restaurant under construction, a high school dropout, the cross-stitch I've been working on for six years, a young person killed in an accident. All of these have one thing in common: they describe something that has gone unfinished. A building, an education, a craft, a life. There are thousands of things and thousands of people around us that go unfinished. Some people start something and stop because they can't take criticism. Others stop because they're content with what they ...

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