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Sermon
Leonard Sweet
Even though it happened years ago, many of us here this morning can still recall the tragedy as if it were yesterday. Remember the way a whole country held its breath, prayed its prayers, and sat glued to the television set? We watched, spellbound, as the Herculean efforts of hundreds of firefighters, engineers, mining experts, and emergency services specialists, labored to save the life of one tr...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
Albert Einstein is noted for his work in the field of physics. That’s where he got his Nobel Prize in 1921. But one of his most famous quotes is one that appears to have nothing to do with physics. Einstein is reported to have said, when asked what is the most powerful force in the universe, “The most powerful force in the universe is compound interest.” What is “the secret of life?” When asked ...
3. I Found It!
Luke 15:1-7, Luke 15:8-10
Sermon
Carl B. Rife
"Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.' Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." Luke 15:8-10...
4. Which Ones Were Lost?
Luke 15:1-7, Luke 15:8-10
Sermon
Merle G. Franke
The first time I set eyes on that grand old church building was in the cool of a January evening. Since it was in a southern state, there was no chilling cold to make me hurry back into my host's car, so the two of us casually made our way around the empty building. He was a synod president, and I was a churchwide senior staff person on an official visit to his synod. The beautiful old building wa...
5. Museum or Mission?
Luke 15:1-7, Luke 15:8-10
Sermon
Wallace H. Kirby
An inner city church, located in an area of the downtown where there were few residents, was forced to a decision. A large corporation was offering them a great deal of money for their site, on which the corporation wanted to put a parking lot. The money would enable the church to move to another part of the inner city where they would find many more people to serve. Even though this was exciting ...
6. The Hands And Arms Of Grace
Luke 15:1-7, Luke 15:8-10, Luke 15:11-32
Sermon
Glenn E. Ludwig
There is a wonderful story out of the Middle Ages that goes something like this. It seems people were putting pressure on the Pope, saying to him, "Your Holiness, this is the capital of Christendom. There ought to be only Christians in Rome. Let's get rid of the Jews." The Pope however, replied, "I don't know. Before I do anything, I will have a theological discussion with the chief rabbi of Rome....
7. Lost and Found
Luke 15:1-10
Sermon
J. Howard Olds
A group of boys and girls were trying to find a game to play. “Why don’t we play Hide and Seek?” asked Billy. “No way,” said Sally. “I’m afraid I’ll get hid and nobody will be able to find me. Then everybody will go home and I will be lost.” “Lost and Found.” It’s such a common predicament that the classifieds run a special section for it each day. In Nashville this weekend somebody lost a small,...
8. Seeker-Friendly
Luke 15:1-10
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
Jesus came to seek and save ... those who are lost. A family that wasn't in the practice of going to church attended the large, formal wedding of a friend. The family's youngest child, age three, sat perched on his father's knee watching all the comings and goings with great interest. There came a time in the service when a hymn was to be sung, and the organist crashed confidently into the openin...
Sermon
Billy D. Strayhorn
There's an old, old story, that I think is still funny. The phone rings and a little boy answers in a whisper: "Hello?" The caller says: "Hi, is your Mommy there? "Yes!" "Can I talk to her?" "No!" "Why not?" "She's busy." "What about your Daddy, can I talk to him?" "No! He's busy." "Well, is there anyone else there?" "My little sister." "Is there anyone else there? Another adult?" "Uh, ...
Sermon
Donald B. Strobe
Visitors to Michigan never fail to be amused when they discover that our state contains both a Hell and a Paradise, Michigan.  Paradise is in the Upper Peninsula, and Hell is not too far from Ann Arbor.  I have no idea what that means.  The first week I arrived in Ann Arbor, I recall reading a startling headline in the Ann Arbor News.  I kid you not, this is what it said: “Dam water recedes; Hell ...
Sermon
John G. Lynn
A few years ago on a small farm in Ohio, a young woman waited anxiously for her husband to come home. Usually he returned about 5:30 for supper, but not this day. Linda called his place of business. He had left at the regular hour. Six thirty came. Still no husband. At 7:30 she put her two small children to bed. As she peered through the window toward the setting sun, the fields were rich with bud...
Sermon
King Duncan
It is one of the great adventure stories of all time. A man named Thor Heyerdahl wanted to test the theory that people from South America could have settled the Polynesian Islands in the South Pacific long before Columbus sailed to the New World. So Heyerdahl took a small team of men to Peru, where they constructed a raft out of balsa logs. These logs were tied together with rope much as a group ...
Sermon
King Duncan
A marine tells about a field exercise he was participating in at Camp Lejeune, N.C. His squad was on a night patrol making their way through some thick brush. Halfway through, they realized they’d lost their map. The patrol navigator informed the rest of the squad that their odds were 1 in 359 that they’d succeed in getting back to their base of operations. “How did you come up with that figure?”...
Sermon
King Duncan
Kent Crockett, in his book, I Once Was Blind, but Now I Squint includes A Pessimist's Commentary on Psalm 23. The author is listed as "Ima Whiner." It is admittedly a spoof. But it is a good way for us to begin our thinking about today's text. The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. "Shall not want?" Says Ima Whiner. "Give me a break. I want lots of things. I'd like to have a nicer house, a b...
Sermon
King Duncan
Last year, newspapers around the world carried the story of Eric Abbott, a British sailor who makes a habit of getting lost. On August 10, 2000, the British coast guard rescued Eric Abbott for the sixth time after he sailed off course and ran aground. You would think after all these mishaps, he would give up sailing. No way. Abbott plans on hitting the water again soon. Some would admire Abbott fo...
Sermon
King Duncan
As most of you know, actor Paul Newman started a food company several years ago. Many products now bear the name, "Newman’s Own." With profits from this business, Newman helped build a camp for critically ill children. It’s called the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp. The name was taken from his film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Newman was sitting at a table one day with a camper who asked him wh...
17. Where's George?
Luke 15:1-7, Luke 15:8-10
Sermon
King Duncan
In the early 1930s, George Burns and Gracie Allen were enjoying moderate success with their new television show, but they weren't drawing in the audiences like they wanted to. They needed some way to get people interested in the show. The solution came, improbably enough, from one of Gracie's scatterbrained comedy routines. George knew that one way to get the comedic juices flowing was to ask Grac...
18. About Unclaimed Luggage
Luke 15:1-7, Luke 15:8-10, Luke 15:11-32
Sermon
King Duncan
Have you ever been on a flight where the airline lost your luggage?  It’s a helpless feeling. In most cases, the lost piece of luggage is returned . . . eventually.  But every year, thousands of items are lost or left behind on America’s airlines and never claimed.  Eventually, all those lost items end up in the small town of Scottsboro, Alabama, at a store called the Unclaimed Baggage Center. Th...
19. Lost In America
Luke 15:8-10, Luke 15:1-7
Sermon
King Duncan
Bruce Kimball was a 1984 Silver Medalist in the Olympics. Bruce was involved in an accident sometime back. We are told he was intoxicated at the time. Two people were killed. Bruce withdrew from life because of that tragedy. He was depressed. He secluded himself in a trailer home with his father. He had the shades drawn. He turned inward. He was feeling sorry for himself. He could not sleep at nig...
Sermon
Ron Lavin
A woman approached her pastor with a question: "Where is the lost and found department in our church? I've lost my glasses and I just can't see well." The pastor replied, "We don't actually have a lost and found department. You might check the secretary's desk. Maybe you'll find your glasses there." After the woman left, the pastor rethought his answer. "Actually, the whole church is a lost and f...
Sermon
James Merritt
For two days in October of 1987, not just a community, not just a state, not just a nation, but the entire world was watching with bated breath the drama of a little girl named Jessica McClure. We all learned all over again just how valuable the life of one person can be, as we watched the monumental rescue efforts that were focused on this eighteen-month-old little girl who had dropped twenty-two...
Sermon
Bill Bouknight
Every place where the public gathers has to have a lost and found collection. The church is no exception. Worshippers are always leaving things. We have volunteers at Christ Church who tidy up the worship areas after each service. They bring me interesting things they find. Often they find notes written on bulletins. Surely these were not written during sermon times. A typical message will say so...
Sermon
James W. Moore
He called himself Father Gabriel. He was a “self-proclaimed” modern-day prophet of God. He came to the town… where we were living… in the early 1980’s. He set up shop in a store-front and announced pompously that he had special gifts from God… which no other living person in the world possessed. With TV and radio spots, with Billboards and newspaper ads, he proclaimed boldly that all who followed...
24. Lost
Luke 15:1-7
Sermon
James Merritt
Have you ever lost something of value that was really, really important that really mattered to you and you couldn’t find it? Once you realized it, what did you do? You dropped everything you were doing and immediately went looking for it. Do you remember when you found it? Do you remember the joy, the relief and the happiness that you felt? Maybe it was your car keys or your wallet or a credit ca...
Sermon
David E. Leininger
This text appears in the lectionary cycle just about the time of the America's remembrance of the September 11 attacks in 2001. "Life will never be the same again," we heard over and over, and that prediction has more or less proven true, although probably not in the ways that any of the pundits assumed. Many folks say they live in fear of more attacks, and it does not take a prophet to see that m...
Showing 1 to 25 of 92 results