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Sermon
Thomas Slavens
Unity • Week of Prayer for Christian Unity • On October 31, 1517, an event occurred which changed the course of Christian experience. On that date Martin Luther tacked ninety-five theses for debate on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. That action eventually led to the Protestant Reformation. Although in 1517 the church was already divided between east and west, the Reformation ...
Sermon
Glenn E. Ludwig
Solomon Grundy, Born on Monday, Christened on Tuesday, Married on Wednesday, Took ill on Thursday, Worse on Friday, Died on Saturday, Buried on Sunday. This is the end of Solomon Grundy. It is an old nursery rhyme that some of you may recall. Now, I'm not suggesting that we use it to replace the gospel text for today, but I did begin with it because it picks up one of the central themes of our te...
Sermon
Carl Jech
My dear children, I am only to be with you a little longer. You will seek me; (but) "Where I am going you cannot come." A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you. (John 13:33-34) Has it occurred to you that in those parts of the United States where it comes on at 11:30 p.m., "Saturday Night Live" is also Sunday Morning Live? It might be good if we could ...
Sermon
Lee Griess
A junior high music teacher had just organized a band in her school. The principal was so proud of the music teacher's efforts that without consulting her he decided that the band should give a concert for the entire school. The music teacher wasn't so sure her young musicians were ready to give a concert, so she tried to talk the principal out of holding the concert, to no avail. Just before the ...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
Love is less what you feel than what you do. A recent USA Today (September 16, 1994) article prescribed an interesting course of treatment for medical professionals. In order to make patients feel better about their doctors and doctors feel better about their patients, some analysts are suggesting acting lessons. As accomplished actors, physicians who find themselves too swamped, stressed-out an...
6. A New Command
John 13:31-38
Sermon
Lee Griess
In his book Life Looks Up, Charles Templeton remarks how ironic it is that the course of human history has been affected so positively and negatively by events that have occurred in two small upper rooms. One of them is a drab flat in London's Westside, dirty, curtainless, with stacks of articles on the table and worn manuscripts, aborted attempts wadded up in the trash can. Seated at the table a ...
Sermon
Robert Bachelder
"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another ..." The love which Christians show for one another has always been a compelling, even unanswerable argument for the truth of our faith. Jesus said: "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." So well did the early Christians follow Jesus’ prescription that it was said of them: "See how they l...
Sermon
James Merritt
Many of you either have heard of or remember the famous daredevil Evil Knievel. He was famous for jumping motorcycles over cars, trucks, tractor trailers, and even tried to jump a rocket propelled motorbike over the Grand Canyon. Before all of his jumps he would look into the camera and give this disclaimer: “Kids, don’t try this at home.” The following story I am going to tell you is true, but if...
Sermon
King Duncan
"Johnny," said a teacher to one of her young pupils, "do you think you could explain to the class the difference between ˜like' and ˜love'?" "Well," said Johnny, "I like my parents . . . but I love Milk Duds." This is Mother's Day. It is a day when we show our mothers that they are at least as important to us as Milk Duds. I must tell you, though, that one Mom had a most revealing experience on...
Sermon
King Duncan
Someone has made a collection of the thoughts of children about romance. They call it: "Kids say the darndest things . . . about love": What do most people do on a date? "On the first date, they just tell each other lies, and that usually gets them interested enough to go for the second date." (Mike, age 10) When is it okay to kiss someone? "You should never kiss a girl unless you have enough bu...
Sermon
King Duncan
People do some really strange things to get their names into the Guinness Book of World Records. Every year, the Guinness organization publishes a book that lists the latest world records for such feats as walking the greatest distance on stilts, or eating the most M&Ms with chopsticks. Very few of us aspire to setting records like that. One particularly noteworthy entry in the 2004 edition of Gui...
Sermon
King Duncan
Former President Reagan told a humorous story during the last days of his administration. It was about Alexander Dumas, author of The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo. It seems that Dumas and a friend had a severe argument. The matter got so out of hand that one challenged the other to a duel. Both Dumas and his friend were superb marksmen. Fearing that both men might fall in such ...
Sermon
King Duncan
(Mother's Day) Have you ever noticed that, across time and space, mothers everywhere share certain similarities? Someone compiled a list of possible sayings of Biblical mothers. See if any of these sound familiar: DAVID! I told you not to play in the house with that sling! Go practice your harp. We pay good money for those lessons! ABRAHAM! Stop wandering around the countryside and get home for ...
14. Loving Made Real
John 13:1-17, John 13:31-38
Sermon
David & Marian Plant
The lectionary gives us two types of traditional texts for our Maundy Thursday services over the span of the three cycles. One type is before us tonight: the text of the foot washing, the text of Jesus clearly demonstrating the importance of his love for us and our call to love others. The other is what you and I call the “last supper”: how the ritual, the practice, of our meal together, whether t...
15. Should We Wash One Another's Feet?
John 13:31-38, John 13:1-17
Sermon
King Duncan
A pastor named Kwanza Yu tells a beautiful story of the death of his father in Seoul, Korea. All six of Pastor Yu’s brothers and sisters were present for his father’s last hours. He says that all of them could feel the pain of his struggle as he tried to communicate with them. But their father had lost the ability to speak. Finally, says this pastor, their father motioned toward their oldest broth...
16. The Darkness Before the Dawn
John 13:18-30, John 13:31-38
Sermon
J. Howard Olds
Cartoonist Charles Schultz charmed the world for years with his cartoons. His gospel according to Peanuts includes a character by the name of Snoopy who longs to be a writer. Snoopy begins every story he writes with those familiar words, “It was a dark and stormy night." Maundy Thursday, so long ago, was a dark and stormy night. The Bible says in John 13:30, “After receiving the bread, Judas went...
Sermon
King Duncan
A group of boys and girls, ages 4‑8 was asked, “What does love mean?” Here are some of their answers: “Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.” Karl - age 5 “Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross w...
Sermon
Donald Charles Lacy
Recognition of people, places, and things is a fundamental prerequisite of successful living. We count on signs to guide us. Most of us take it for granted. We move through life in various speeds and count on our powers to recognize who and what is about us. It is so simple and pervasive that we hardly notice. The obvious is with us and yet is it so obvious? Our talents of interpretation and, yes...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
Anybody here this morning remember what it used to be like to drive a car . . . before power steering? before automatic transmission? before air conditioning? before seat belts? Let's stop there for a moment. Before seat belts, parents could pack eight kids into a family car, ages one week to 18 years, with no restraining thoughts or devices. Automobile safety is much more regulated than it used...
Sermon
Billy D. Strayhorn
A wealthy old farmer was asked by the newspaper reporter to reveal the secret of his success. The farmer shared a story about one of his old roosters. "This rooster was the best at everything he did. He was better at fighting, flying, pecking, jumping and crowing than any of the other roosters on the farm. Unfortunately, he still lost fights to much weaker birds. The trouble was that just as he w...
Sermon
David E. Leininger
Maundy Thursday is a strange term. One night when daughter, Erin (the one to whom this volume is dedicated), was little, my wife was trying to tell her about Maundy Thursday. Erin said, "Monday Thursday." "No," said Christie, "Maundy Thursday." "Right," responded Erin, "Monday Thursday." Christie gave up. The designation "Maundy Thursday" comes from an ancient Latin anthem traditionally sung at...
Sermon
R. Robert Cueni
Jesus and the apostles were celebrating that last supper together. Because Jesus was aware Judas was going to betray him, the Lord confronted him. It is an especially uncomfortable conversation that Jesus concluded by telling Judas, “Do quickly what you must do” (13:27). After the apostle of betrayal slithered out of the room, Jesus turned his attention to those who remained. After a few prelimin...
23. No Greater Love
John 13:1-17, 31b-35
Sermon
Robert Leslie Holmes
"When Jesus Christ calls a man, he bids him, 'Come and die!' " Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor and theologian wrote that sentence in his cell on April 9, 1945. He was within hours of the hangman's rope being placed around his neck in the Flossenburg concentration camp in Nazi Germany. Son of a leading authority on psychology, neurology, and a university professor, as a young man Dietrich ha...
Sermon
King Duncan
Churches are funny places. You know that by now. I always love a good story about funny things that happen in church. Some of them you couldn’t make up. I read recently about a “Women’s League” in a certain church that wanted to announce a new project for the church. The president announced the project on a Sunday morning to the congregation. After a brief description, she asked all of the ladies...
Sermon
John K. Bergland
The eloquent preacher Tom Long tells the story of a small church-related college that held an annual event called Christian Emphasis Week. It was the task of the Christian club on campus to invite a speaker who would come and lead a college revival. This particular year they invited a preacher who had come highly recommended. They were told of his dynamism and his unique way of communicating the g...
Showing 1 to 25 of 39 results