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Sermon
King Duncan
According to Greek mythology, Sisyphus was once a cruel King of Corinth. And when he died, he was eternally condemned to push a giant boulder to the top of a steep hill. The closer he got to the top, the steeper the hill became, and the harder it was to push the boulder. Every time he had almost gotten the boulder to the top of the hill, he would lose control of it. It would roll over him and down...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
“I want to be alone.” That was the famous declaration made by the early Swedish film star and glamour girl Greta Garbo (1905-1990). But it was that declaration that jinxed her search for solitude. A vast cast of has-been, over-the-hill actors and actresses struggled to stay in focus but swiftly faded out of the limelight and into obscurity. But Garbo, by her very insistence on alone-time, was hou...
Sermon
Donald B. Strobe
Rejection can be one of the most painful experiences any of us can have.  Ralph Keyes in his book “Is There Life after High School?” writes that Mia Farrow has never forgotten the time every girl but Mia was asked to dance.  Nor has Charles Schulz of “Peanuts” cartoon fame ever forgotten that the yearbook staff rejected his every cartoon.  Movie actress Ali McGraw confesses she doesn’t forget the ...
4. A Mother's Love
Mark 7:24-30
Sermon
James W. Moore
Dr. Tony Campolo is a well-known and highly-respected, inspirational speaker.  Over the last several years, Tony Campolo has spent much of his time traveling around the world on speaking tours. Meanwhile, his wife, Peggy, has chosen to stay home and give herself and all that she has to the "Bringing Up" of their two children, Bart and Lisa.  On those rare occasions when Peggy does travel with Ton...
Sermon
David E. Leininger
Our text introduces us to a remarkable woman. She is courageous. She is clever. She is cool. But most of all she is a loving momma who will do anything to help her sick baby girl. The story itself has always been one that I would just as soon skip over because, at first blush, it makes Jesus come off like some insensitive jerk. This does not sound like the Jesus I know. In fact, I wonder why such...
Sermon
Brett Blair
What would you think if I told you that on your tombstone would be inscribed a four-word epitaph? Well, you might respond, it would depend on who would write this epitaph--an enemy or a loved one. It might also depend, you might say, on how well this person knew and understood you. If a newspaper critic wrote of a concert pianist the four words: He was a failure, you could always say: That was his...
Sermon
Rick McCracken-Bennett
I don't know why but for the longest time I never thought of Jesus getting tired. Silly of me I suppose, but I kind of thought of him, in the brief time his ministry was going to last, going at it full tilt until the end. Stopping to pray, of course. But not going away, taking a break, not wanting anyone to know he was there. But now I get it. I was at Wendy's the other day. I was tired. I needed...
8. The Inconcealable Christ!
Mark 7:31-37, Mark 7:24-30
Sermon
Robert Leslie Holmes
In this amazing passage of two miracles, we find just one message. The first miracle is the healing of the daughter of a Greek woman, born in Syrian Phoenicia. In many ways, it is among the most significant of Jesus' miracles not just because the child received healing. Syrophoenicia is not a candidate region for the zip code 90210. The "pretty people" do not take up residence there. In fact, they...
9. The Pardoning of Jezebel
Mark 7:24-30, 1 Kings 9:10-28
Sermon
Lori Wagner
One of the most traumatic practices of some churches of the past (and sadly, in some cases, the present) is shunning. In fact, shunning today might be considered a form of emotional abuse. Shunning occurs when someone is labeled as having transgressed the rules and guidelines of the church in some way. When someone in the church is “shunned,” they are stamped as a sinner and dismembered from the b...
10. Syrophoenician Lives Matter!
Mark 7:24-30, Matthew 15:21-28
Sermon
Lori Wagner
“It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” (Isaiah 49:6) Animators (Props): cornucopia….apples…..pumpkins As we enter the fall season, we prepare for a lot of celebrations. Halloween, All Saints Day, Thanksgiving, Adv...
11. Apples, Onions, and Cheese
Mark 7:1-23, Mark 7:24-30
Sermon
Lori Wagner
The word of the Lord Almighty came to me. This is what the Lord Almighty says: “The fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh and tenth months will become joyful and glad occasions and happy festivals for Judah. Therefore, love truth and peace.” This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Many peoples and the inhabitants of many cities will yet come, and the inhabitants of one city will go to another and say,...
12. A Mother · A Canaanite Woman
Mt 15:21-28 · Mk 7:24-30
Sermon
Gordon Pratt Baker
Like the woman of Samaria the mother from Canaan whose story Matthew and Mark have preserved for us was a foreigner. Tradition calls her Justa and names her daughter Bernice. One scholar describes her as "by language a Greek, by nationality a Canaanite, and by residence a Syro-Phoenician." So, too, she was probably Greek by religion. Coming from the Phoenician coast as she did she was very likely ...
Sermon
King Duncan
A few years ago when corporate America was emphasizing excellence in the workplace a story was circulating about a widower who had for years been eating at the same restaurant. On this particular night, he sat down at his usual table and his waiter, as usual, put before him, as usual, a bowl of chicken soup. As he started leaving, Mr. Smith called out, “Waiter!” “What?” said the waiter. “Please...
Sermon
Frank Ramirez
In Tobit, one of the books of the Apocrypha, the hero Tobias sets out on a journey to call in a loan owed to his father, who has gone blind. He will return with a bride and a cure for his father’s blindness. But he sets out on the journey with a young man — who he does not recognize as an angel — and a faithful dog. Well, sort of. There are several versions of this apocryphal book. In the version...
Sermon
Lori Wagner
“Curiosity killed the cat,” goes the old folk saying. We’ve all heard it. We all know it. Except that’s not what the proverb originally was. The true proverb read, “Care killed the cat.” So where did this new phrase come from? Why the revision? And what did the original phrase mean? On 23 December 1912, a printed reference to the new variation of the proverb was printed in The Titusville Herald n...
16. Did Jesus Say What I Think He Said?
Mark 7:24-37 · James 2:1-9 · Isaiah 35:5-6 · Psalm 146
Sermon
Thomas C. Willadsen
This morning’s gospel lesson may be the most troubling passage in the gospels because Jesus said a lot of provocative things to the religious authorities. The crowds were delighted with the clever ways he always seemed to best them in battles of wits. This morning’s gospel passage is different — very different. Jesus and his disciples needed a break. Just before today’s passage begins, Jesus had a...
17. Beloved
Mark 7:24-37
Sermon
Lori Wagner
We are all connected; To each other biologically To the earth, chemically To the rest of the universe atomically. --deGrasse Tyson Last week, we saw Jesus letting us know what it means to be “holy” or “different” as opposed to “common.” Hint. It’s not about our perceived physical or biological differences! This week, we see him once again affirming the strength of what binds us together as a “comm...
Sermon
Thomas Peterson
A jungle tribe walks down a path. They come upon a man lying beside the path with mushroom stems around him. The chief asks the youth, “What do you see?” One young man replies, “A man dead.” “What else?” “Mushroom pieces.” “Well, but what do you see?” the chief repeats. The answer comes back. “A man dead and mushroom pieces.” The chief grows impatient, “I mean what do you see?” The youth look puzz...
Sermon
Richard Patt
And all who heard were completely amazed. "How well he does everything!" they exclaimed. "He even causes the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak!" (v. 37) An interesting aerial photograph was printed on the front page of our city’s evening newspaper recently. You must have noticed it. In a single, striking frame, the entire shoreline of Lake Michigan from Milwaukee to Sheboygan was pictured. The ph...
Sermon
The healing of the deaf and mute person becomes a metaphor for a deeper and more difficult healing, the changing (if not the character, then at least the attitudes) of those touched by the Healer. And all have been touched. This sermon suggests that being deaf (being closed) happens in more than one way. Biblical and contemporary examples flavor the meaning of the biblical "Be opened," and the con...
Sermon
Brett Blair
In ancient Greece it was customary for peddlers who walked the streets with their wares to cry out, "What do you lack?" The idea was to let people know they were in the vicinity, and also rouse the curiosity of the people. Coming out of their houses they would want to know what the peddler was selling. It might be something they lacked and needed, or simply something they desired. What do you lac...
Sermon
Donald Macleod
Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, through the region of the Decapolis. And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech; and they besought him to lay his hand upon him. And taking him aside from the multitude privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue; and looking up to heaven, ...
Sermon
Michael B. Brown
A quick look at any medical journal reveals thousands of phobias that afflict people ... not discomforts or unpleasantries, but full-blown, pulse-raising, sweat-inducing, emotionally debilitating phobias. They come in all shapes and sizes. We find arachnaphobia (the fear of spiders) and musophobia (the fear of mice). There are claustrophobia (the fear of confined spaces with no visible exit) and ...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
There is only one way to sell a vacuum cleaner turn it on and use it. There is only one way to evangelize turn on your faith and use it! Jesus used a variety of methods sometimes strange, sometimes plain, sometimes controversial to bring wholeness and wellness into people's lives. Jesus tailored his healing techniques to the needs of the person or community, but there was one unchangeable and uns...
Sermon
King Duncan
An elderly man stopped at a hearing aid center and asked about prices. "We have them from $25,000 on down to $1.50," the salesman said. "What’s the $25,000 one like?" asked the elderly man. "Well, it translates three languages and is the latest in electronics," the salesman replied. "And what about the one for $1.50?" the customer asked. "It’s this button attached to a string," said the sales...
Showing 1 to 25 of 40 results