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1. Home And Temple
Luke 2:41-52
Sermon
James Garrett
Columnist Erma Bombeck tells of a Supermom who is perfection itself. She did everything right: kept a perfect home; kept her husband happy. Always had a copy of Bishop Fulton Sheen’s latest book on the coffee table, and answered the door pregnant when the priest came by. One day, I asked her how she did it, and she said, “I emulate the Blessed Virgin Mary,” and I said, “Marge, it’s a little bit la...
Sermon
King Duncan
We give God thanks today for another New Year. We are eternal optimists, are we not? We somehow expect that this year will be better than last year. Deep in our hearts we agree with Lucy in the PEANUTS cartoons when she says, "I don't want ups and downs. I want ups and ups and ups!" We are more realistic than that. Still, we hope for more ups than downs. There is an old Eskimo blessing that goes...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
In just a few days we will all be faced with the annual challenge: learning to write a new year date on all our important papers, letters, checks. '07 will become '08. I don't know about you, but my neurons are still not comfortable with whole "0" thing. Every now and again I have a brain fritz (as opposed to an ice induced brain freeze) and find myself writing 1996 or 1987 or some other decade-de...
4. Back to School
Luke 2:41-52
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
In November 1987, Time carried a cover story entitled "Who's in Charge?" The magazine answered its own question with these words: "The nation calls for leadership, and there is no one home." How can the church assert leadership in the world today? In many churches the Sunday after Christmas is also "Student Recognition Sunday" - the reason being that on this Sunday there is probably a pretty...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
The ultimate resolution a Christian can make is to live in the light of divine intentions, not human inventions. Did anyone come down to breakfast this morning and announce "I'm so hungry, I feel as if I haven't eaten since last year!"? It's fun to play with all the brand-new possibilities open to you on January 1. Go jogging this morning, and you've exercised every day this year. Get throug...
Sermon
Charles H. Bayer
Rearing children is never easy. My worst nightmare is having to go back and do it again. Grandchildren are super. We love to have them visit. We can spoil them rotten, and in two or three days they go home! I spend a considerable part of my week listening to parents worry about their children. Either they are lazy, or they are into heaven knows what. They are stupid, or too smart for their own go...
Sermon
Susan R. Andrews
A few years ago I revisited the places of my childhood. Sim and I piled the kids into the car and traveled to LaCrosse, Wisconsin, where I was born, and then to Erie, Pennsylvania, where I lived from the age of five until the age of twelve. Together the four of us explored what Sim fondly called the Seven Sacred Susie Sightings: the house where I was born, the two elementary schools I attended, th...
Sermon
Gary L. Carver
What do our children need of us really, as adults, as parents, and as the community of faith called the church? I found myself asking that question when the newborn infants of this congregation were brought before us and both the parents and our Sunday school teachers were gathered here at the front. The children looked so tiny — none of them able to walk or feed themselves or do hardly anything. ...
9. Family Matters
Luke 2:41-52
Sermon
King Duncan
Pastor Tom Rietveld tells about a wedding he performed several years ago. There was a very precocious little seven-year-old boy who was the ring bearer. At the wedding rehearsal, the soloist asked Pastor Tom when she should begin singing. He told her, “After the vows.” She wanted a more specific answer, so she asked: “What are the vows? I’ll need a cue.” And at that point, the little boy turned ...
Sermon
J. Howard Olds
Back in the 1980’s, popular author Stephen Covey said the key to managing life is distinguishing between the urgent and the important. Urgent matters clamor for our attention. Important matters shape our lives. Before cell phones and Blackberries became a part of our anatomy, Covey warned that a phone call most likely will feel urgent, but it may not be very important. On the other hand, a call fr...
Sermon
J. Howard Olds
The thing I like most about working in a church is the opportunity to connect with people of all ages and stages of life. We baptize babies and conduct funerals. We celebrate weddings and visit hospitals. Confirmation begins in a few weeks for our 6th graders and the PEP Club meets monthly for our seniors. Faith is important at every phase of life. So it is that Luke's gospel includes a few child...
Sermon
King Duncan
Today we’re going to be talking about the Christian family. I believe most of us will agree that raising a family can be challenging. In fact, raising a family changes with each baby. Someone has made a list of the ways having a second and third child is different from having your first. See if any of you can identify with these differences: For example, if you are a mom, your clothes change. Wit...
Sermon
King Duncan
Having a family is a challenge. One poor mom described the challenge she has keeping a clean house like this, “Cleaning house with kids around,” she said, “is like brushing your teeth with Oreos.” Yucky! Sounds kind of gross to me. Those of you with small children, however, will have to tell me if she got it right. Humorist Robert Orben asks, “Who can ever forget Winston Churchill’s immortal word...
Sermon
King Duncan
The Rev. Rosemary Brown tells of something that happened in a church she once served. One night she received a phone call that two of the little boys from her church were missing. The boys’ family lived across the street from the church. It was already pitch dark. Mom and Dad were in a panic. They searched everywhere and couldn’t find the boys. Rev. Brown opened the door to the church and was goi...
Sermon
Cynthia Cowen
Tradition is defined as an inherited, established, or customary pattern of thought or action. Take for instance a cooking method. Sarah asked her mother, "Why do you always cut the turkey in half and put it in two small roasters?" "Because my mother always did. It's a tradition handed down through our family," responded her mother. "But Mom, did you ever think they didn't have big roasters back ...
Sermon
Mark Trotter
I selected this lovely hymn this morning, "Once in Royal David's City," because of its reference to the childhood of Jesus. It is one of the few places where you will find any reference to the fact that he grew up the way we have to. The third verse reads, "Jesus is our childhood's pattern; day by day, like us he grew." The hymn was part of a fascinating project, one of a series of hymns written ...
Sermon
Richard D. Campbell
One Christmas morning, a young widow was doing her best to make Christmas happy for her two little boys. This was their first Christmas without their father. Unexpectedly, someone knocked at the door. "Who could that be?" she wondered. When she opened the door, she found her pastor standing with his arms full of toys and candy. This man, who was one of the most renowned preachers of his era, said ...
Sermon
William G. Carter
Laura was going home for the holidays. As she sat in O’Hare Airport one Christmas morning, she bristled with anticipation. Her vacation would last only two and a half days, but two bags of luggage were stuffed with presents. She had finally gotten the first job that paid any real money, and she was eager to go home and lavish gifts upon people she loved. Her family met her at the airport and took...
Sermon
J. Ellsworth Kalas
Although I have been privileged to travel in the Holy Land three times, I have been to Nazareth only once, and that was a hurried visit. Now and then I tell myself that I want to go to Israel again some day, and that when I do, I will decide (not the travel agent) how long I will stay in each place. If that ever happens, I will spend more time in Nazareth. If you go to Nazareth today, you will fi...
Sermon
King Duncan
How many of you made New Year's resolutions this year? Hold up your hand. Now, how many of you have already broken at least one of those resolutions? Weight Watchers and Nutri-System and all the other diet plans have their biggest months in January. Did you hear about the notice that appeared in a church bulletin: "Weight Watchers will meet this Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. Please use the large double do...
Sermon
King Duncan
One of my favorite pieces of irreverent humor concerns a sign outside a First United Methodist Church. The sermon titles for the coming Sunday were listed: 11:00 a.m. "Jesus: Walking on the Water"; 7:00 p.m. "Searching for Jesus." More to the point is a news story from sometime back. It was about a 5-year-old Texas boy who was accidentally left behind at a Nashville, Tennessee, service station. Ty...
Sermon
King Duncan
The September 2002 issue of More magazine carried an article titled, "The Day I'll Never Forget." It was an interview with prominent people about where they were and what they remember from the most momentous events in American history. Janice Aldrin recalled the giant, rocket-shaped cake her family and friends ate to celebrate the day when her dad, astronaut Buzz Aldrin, first set foot on the moo...
Sermon
King Duncan
The pastor of the Baptist Church had been trying for months to get little Johnny to come to church to be with his third grade Sunday school class. Finally, after talking to Little Johnny and his mother for what seemed to be the hundredth time, Johnny finally agreed to go this next Sunday. The pastor came by the house and picked him up and Johnny did seem to enjoy all of the proceedings except as t...
Sermon
King Duncan
A young woman named Donna who got good grades in high school was in her first year of college. She had done poorly on one of her courses. In an attempt to prepare her parents she wrote her mother, "If you see an unfamiliar letter on my report card, remember it's just my first initial. Signed, Donna." As the time neared for grades to be sent home, Donna began to worry. Her worst fears were confirme...
Sermon
Richard A. Wing
This is the time of year that we look toward 2016 with new resolve, or observe how far we have wandered from last year's resolutions. Have you ever noticed that New Year's resolutions look strangely familiar? As a matter of fact, don't they most often look exactly like last year's resolutions? Too often in this season we look at the resolutions we made for our lives that we never got started. I w...
Showing 1 to 25 of 33 results