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Sermon
Leonard Sweet
How many of us have a garage that can no longer be parked anymore because it is filled up with so much other “stuff?” How many of us have an off-site storage unit because we have too much “stuff” to keep in our homes, so we arrange for visitation rights to see our “stuff?” The late comedian George Carlin famously did an entire monologue on this “stuff” — proclaiming that the “meaning of life is ...
Sermon
David E. Leininger
A fool and his money are soon parted, right? Someone has rewritten it to suggest that "A fool and his money are some party!" Of course, this link between a fool and money (or possessions) goes back at least as far as our gospel lesson. The story is prompted by a man from the crowd that has been surrounding Jesus: "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me" (Luke 12:13). Apparently...
Sermon
J. Howard Olds
In Tennessee Williams’ play, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Big Daddy and his son, Brick, are in the basement sorting through stuff while the other children are upstairs arguing about the family inheritance. Big Daddy says to Brick, “You know what I’m going to do before I die? I’m going to open all these boxes.” Then, realizing he doesn’t have enough time left for that task Big Daddy says, “There’s one th...
29. Stuff!
Luke 12:13-21
Sermon
It's everywhere you look. Stuff! From garage sales, to trunk sales and flea markets, to dumpsters, to folks riffling through your trash to find something of value ... and if they're lucky, something with your social security number on it. Stuff is everywhere. Don't get me wrong. I love stuff. By most measures I have too much of it. When Nancy and I were first married the only reason she could dr...
Sermon
David E. Leininger
I came home from work last evening, greeted the family, changed clothes, and began reading the mail. This week's Newsweek was there, so I began flipping through. Early on I came to this rather striking ad: it said, "It's 1998. You're DEAD. What do you do now? Just for a minute, think the unthinkable. Think about when suddenly you're not there." And then the ad goes on to try to sell life insurance...
Sermon
Carveth Mitchell
Note, first, that God did not say this man was evil. God said he was a fool. Note, secondly, that most of us would not say he was a fool. We’d say he was an obviously successful businessman. We esteem abundance. Jesus said, "A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." We act as though a man’s life does consist in the abundance of his possessions. We have a saying, "If you’...
Sermon
Ewart E. Turner
"There is nothing more beautiful than the golden sea which spreads in all directions from my cupola. And best of all, it’s mine, all mine." The speaker was the seated Mr. Barnes, high up in the cupola of his farm manor. His golden fields of wheat stretched out toward every horizon. The only other objects in sight were his barns; massive barns, bulging with the grain of past harvests. A frown cre...
Sermon
Wallace H. Kirby
When I went away to college I took along my recording of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto in C Minor. The quiet second movement provided a helpful background by which to study. It had a sense of peace that stilled the confusions and stresses of university life. Two melodic themes from this concerto became popular ballads. One of them was, "Full Moon and Empty Arms," and in it the crooner bewailed his...
34. Controlling Our Cravings
Luke 12:13-21, Exodus 20:1-21
Sermon
Bill Bouknight
When I was 12 or 13 years old, I worked one summer as a general flunky at a service station. Often I assisted a young country boy who worked in the grease pit. As he worked he sang a song, probably a popular country music hit of that time. Don't worry. I'm not going to sing the song, but here are some of the words: "How many times have you heard someone say, If I had his money, I could do things ...
Sermon
Brett Blair
Comedian Jack Benny, from TV’s Golden age, had a skit which illustrated how we place money ahead of everything. He is walking down the street when suddenly he is approached by an armed robber, "Your money or your life!" There is a long pause. Jack does nothing. The robber impatiently queried, "Well?" Jack replied, "Don't rush me, I'm thinking it over." This morning I would like us to think a few ...
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
In New England, there is the grave of an old Yankee skinflint. While he was alive, he offered his future heirs their legacy in advance if they would give him 12 ½% interest on it. When he died, they put this epitapth on his tombstone: Here lies old 12 percent The more he saved, the less he spent The less he spent, the more he saved Oh Lord, can Ichabod be saved? Now that’s a good question, and w...
37. All the Pretty Horses
Luke 12:13-21, Luke 12:1-12, 1 Kings 3:16-28
Sermon
Lori Wagner
Storing up! When we hear that parable that Jesus told, we immediately think of silos and cornfields and harvest and grain. And that’s exactly the metaphor Jesus uses to describe “storing up” to the man in the crowd who approached him about help to get his deserved portion of inheritance. But it’s too easy merely to say, don’t put your security into money but into God. “Be on guard against all k...
38. Are You a Lemming or a Lassie?
Luke 12:13-21, Luke 12:22-34, Luke 12:35-48, Luke 12:49-53, Luke 12:54-59
Sermon
Lori Wagner
Prop: red scarves or pieces of red material to pass out during the altar call Some stories just tug at our hearts and warm our toes. Stories about animals seem to do that a bit more than not. In a particular story written in 1859 by Elizabeth Gaskell, two brothers venture out together along with their loyal and beautiful collie dog. Soon, they are lost as a vicious snowstorm whips up around them....
39. We Fools
Luke 12:13-21
Sermon
Will Willimon
Do you remember that scene in the movie, ''Jaws'' when they catch and kill a huge shark, the animal called ''a vast eating machine''? They take the shark into a marine laboratory, cut it open. Out of the stomach comes a bunch of half-eaten fish, an old tire, bones, a piece of a boat, a clock. A priest I know says, at that point in the movie he exclaimed, ''That's my congregation!'' We are so hun...
Sermon
King Duncan
Have you ever stopped to notice the things that you worry about? If you were to make a list of the last three things you worried about, what would be on it? I ask this question because most of us live fairly insulated lives. We have a place to live. We have enough food to eat. We are not in danger of starvation or homelessness or dying from a simple infection because we can’t afford antibiotics. W...
Sermon
Dave Zuchelli
Apparently, Jesus wasn’t crazy about the idea of helping people squabble over their possessions. Truth be told, Jesus didn’t seem to be all that crazy about having many possessions in the first place. I once heard someone say that Jesus spoke more about money and possessions than about any other single subject (except for hell). Frankly, I don’t know if that’s true or not. I’ve never counted. I s...
Sermon
Lori Wagner
Have you ever seen a hoarder? A true hoarder? I don’t mean someone who collects teacups, baseball cards, or precious stones. A collector displays selected objects for all to see. A real hoarder stuffs things away for fear of not having enough. In fact, a hoarder never has enough! Hoarding is a very private disorder, one that usually accompanies isolation, fear, and phobia. A psychological disorder...
Showing 26 to 42 of 42 results