Sermon and Worship Resources

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Luke 17:11-19

Sermon

James W. Moore

... that works in practical daily living. It is not just some last resort. It is the way to live. It is the way to relate to other people. It is the way to serve and honor God. One of this generations finest novelists was a man named Walker Percy. Walker Percy became a Christian when he was 30. He confessed his faith in Christ and joined the church and was a faithful member until his death. Many of his fellow-writers and critics were harsh and critical of him. They mocked him and ridiculed him. They said he ...

2. Whispering The Lyrics

John 14:15-31

Sermon

Thomas Long

... continuity not of our own making. Where we have no faithful memory, God remembers, and by the grace of God, the Spirit whispers the lyrics of the saving gospel in our ears. __________ 1. Fred B. Craddock, John (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1982), p. 113. 2. Walker, Percy, Lost In The Cosmos: The Last Self-Help Book (New York: Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux, 1983), pp. 17-19. 3. I am grateful to the Rev. Joanna Adams of Atlanta, Georgia, for this story. 4. The story, from Oliver Sacks, The Man Who Mistook His Wife ...

3. Sent From The Mountain

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

William G. Carter

... of Jesus Christ and ignored it. The question is: have those of us in this nation done much better? Do we really bear the very News that we so proudly want to give to the nations? That is the challenge of our commission. Some years ago, novelist Walker Percy spoke to a group of graduating seniors at a Catholic college. He saluted their dedication to study. In glowing terms, he affirmed their call to spread the gospel to people around the world. Yet he couldn't help but note the difficulty of the task. At one ...

4. Whispering The Lyrics (revised)

John 14:15-31

Sermon

Thomas Long

... discloses that our loss of memory is not a momentary lapse. Having lost our memory, we now choose forgetfulness again and again, preferring the oblivion of amnesia to the sharp accountability of remembering the commandments. In his book Lost In The Cosmos: The Last Self-Help Book, Walker Percy describes a frequent device of soap operas, movies and novels. A principal character will develop amnesia. He or she is in a new place, with a new job, a new set of friends, perhaps a new lover. This plot device, says ...

5. Liberating Truth

John 8:31-41

Sermon

William G. Carter

... that a good education will make us better people. In some ways, it might. But an education provides no assurance we will be more obedient or truthful. Neither can we expect schooling to guarantee peace of mind or unity among enemies. The southern novelist Walker Percy was trained as a physician. His medical training gave him the ability to diagnose a variety of diseases which reflect a deeper malaise in our culture. In one of his articles, he noted: The deeper we get into the century, the more sense people ...

6. At War with Myself

Romans 7:15-25a

Sermon

William G. Carter

... gifts of the Holy Spirit. He knows this; yet it is one thing to know it, it is another to live it day to day. He says, "I detect another force at work in my life." Even his best efforts can be corrupted. Such is the power of sin. Walker Percy once asked: Why is it that the self - though it professes to be loving, caring, to prefer peace to war, concord to discord, life to death; to wish other selves well, not ill - in fact secretly relishes wars and rumors of war, news of plane crashes, assassinations, mass ...

7. God Is a Mystery

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

... His wonders to perform." That’s one of the lessons which can be learned from this passage of Scripture. Many novelists are writing about the mystery of God and its effect upon us. It is good to try to hear them. Will Barrett is the main character of Walker Percy’s novel, The Second Coming, and throughout the book Will struggles to "nail down" God. He finds it impossible to live with a God who is a mystery, a God who may speak or remain silent, a God who may appear obvious on one occasion and completely ...

8. How To Be Truly Wealthy

1 Timothy 6:3-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... and he had it in abundance. So why does he sound so hopeless? Then Yancey recalled that modern-day existentialist literature, which is steeped in apathy and despair, had its start in Paris during a time of great prosperity and peace too. Author Walker Percy clears up the mystery when he points out that hard times often bring out the best in people, like courage, determination, and a sense of humor. But prosperity and abundance often lead to misplaced priorities, boredom, and apathy. (7) Comedian Joan Rivers ...

9. The Irrational Season

Romans 14:1--15:13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... , of Acceptance, of Accolades. This is the Second Sunday in the Season of Advent. We humans are an odd on-again/off-again species. We want everything new, glitzy, and brightly-lit. Yet we want everything old-shoe, old-school, and comfortable. Walker Percy put it like this: “We don’t coincide with ourselves.” Human beings are an interwoven mare’s nest of conflicting needs and wants, dreams and desires. There is no “one thing” that we want. There is only “everything” that we want. And ...

10. America: Fight For Your Country

Illustration

William J. Bennett

... external and the worldly. Acedia also is the seventh capital sin sloth but it does not mean mere laziness. The slothful heart is stepped in the worldly and carnal, hates the spiritual and wants to be free of its demands. When the novelist Walker Percy was asked what concerned him most about America's future, he answered, "Probably the fear of seeing America, with all its great strength and beauty and freedom...gradually subside into decay through default and be defeated, not by the communist movement, but ...

11. Homecoming

Hosea 14:1-3a

Sermon

Will Willimon

... reason why we have a high tolerance for homelessness, and maybe one reason why we don't want to think too much about the plight of the homeless is that many of us are, more than we want to admit, homeless. "Lost in the cosmos," Walker Percy called us. Anonymous bureaucrats send us computerized letters, "Dear Mr. Willison." They explain the rules, made not just for us, but for everybody. We wanted equality; we got anonymity. We fought for, and got, the right to be treated like everyone else. A person like ...

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