[Propertalk] Fw: SermonWriter: Apr. 25 (Easter 4C) John 10:22-30

[Joe Parrish]

The following are SermonWriter materials for Apr. 25 (Easter 4C). They focus 
on the Gospel lesson, John 10:22-30, where Jesus says, "My sheep hear my 
voice, I know them, and they follow me."


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http://www.lectionary.org/SW/04-25p3/John.10.22-30.doc

HTML file (web page):
http://www.lectionary.org/SW/04-25p3/John.10.22-30.htm

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Dick Donovan


A THOUGHT ON PREACHING:  The gospel must be preached afresh and told in new 
ways to every generation, since every generation has its own unique 
questions.  The gospel must constantly be forwarded to a new address, 
because the recipient is repeatedly changing his place of residence. (Helmut 
Thielicke)


TITLE:  Winter in Jerusalem


SERMON IN A SENTENCE:    We who have chosen to believe in Jesus are the 
sheep of his hand -- forevermore in his loving care.


SCRIPTURE:  John 10:22-30


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Note: "They'll Know We Are Christians by Our Love" is a lovely song that 
would compliment the lesson.  Optional activity. For the words, go to:

http://www.angelfire.com/co/inspiration/byourlove.html


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As you know, the Chinese government has been quite hostile to religion --  
has made it difficult to believe.  But when Michael Card, a Christian 
musician, visited China this is what he found.  He says:

"Again and again in China I talked to people
who had never heard of Christianity,
never heard of Jesus,
never heard a single word from the Bible.
Yet through nature and their God-given conscience,
many believed in God.

Not only did they believe God existed,
they had derived some understanding about His loving character
because he provided food, water, and a beautiful world.

One old woman told me, 'I've known him for years.
I just didn't know his name'."

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Toward the end of his life, Victor Hugo, the French writer, reflected on the 
life that he had lived -- and the life that lay before him, yet to be lived. 
He spoke of life beyond the grave.  He said:

"I feel within me that future life.
I am like a forest that has been razed;
the new shoots are stronger and brighter."

Isn't that lovely imagery!  "I am like a forest that has been razed; the new 
shoots are stronger and brighter."  Most of us have seen a place where a 
forest has been cut or burned -- or where a field has been burned.  Places 
like that look ugly for awhile, but then new life begins to sprout -- and 
soon the new life takes over.

Hugo went on to say:

"I feel I haven't given utterance
to the thousandth part of what lies within me.
When I go to the grave I can say, as others have said,
'My day's work is done.'
But I cannot say, 'My life is done.'
My work will recommence the next morning.

The tomb is not a blind alley;
it is a thoroughfare.
It closes upon the twilight but opens upon the dawn."

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MORE SERMONS ON THIS TEXT:  For more sermons on this text, go to:

http://www.lectionary.org/SermLinks/NT/NT04john.htm


A TRUE STORY:

Anthony Flew was a well-known philosopher who was atheist for most of his 
life.  However, at the age of 81, he changed his mind -- and even wrote a 
book entitled, There Is a God:  How the World's Most Notorious Atheist 
Changed his Mind.

At some point, he came to the conclusion that it was impossible to explain 
"the DNA of the first reproducing species" by naturalistic means.

- He wrote, "A deity or a 'super-intelligence' (is) the only good 
explanation for the origin of life and the complexity of nature."

- He found a "growing empathy with the insight of Einstein and other noted 
scientists that there had to be an Intelligence behind the integrated 
complexity of the physical universe."

Flew never did become a Christian -- he described himself as a deist. 
Nevertheless, his conversion from disbelief to belief was encouraging.  It 
shows that a person with hardened disbelief can become a believer.


THOUGHT PROVOKERS:

Understanding is the reward of faith.
Therefore seek not to understand that thou may believe,
but believe that thou may understand.

Augustine

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Let the convinced Christian believe,
for that is the duty he has taken upon himself.
The non-Christian has forfeited the grace of faith.
(Perhaps he was cursed from birth
in not being able to believe
but only to know.)

Carl Gustav Jung, psychiatrist

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Men may believe what they cannot prove.
They may not be put to the proof
of their religious doctrines or beliefs.
Religious experiences which are as real as life to some
may be incomprehensible to others.

William O. Douglas, the late Supreme Court Justice

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Belief is not dependent on evidence and reason.
There is as much evidence that the miracles occurred
as that the Battle of Waterloo occurred.

George Bernard Shaw

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

There are two things to do about the Gospel --
believe it and behave it.

Susannah Wesley

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

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HYMN STORY:  Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us

We don't know who wrote the words to "Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us."  It 
first appeared in a children's hymnal compiled by Dorothy Thrupp in 1836, so 
some people think that Mrs. Thrupp wrote it -- but that is far from certain.

But it is clear enough what inspired the words.  Two scriptures come to 
mind.  The first is Psalm 23, which begins, "The Lord is my shepherd, I 
shall not want."  The second is the tenth chapter of the Gospel of John, 
where Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd."

And we know who wrote the music.  His name is William Bradbury.  Bradbury 
was a gifted teenage music student in Boston when he met Lowell Mason at the 
Bowdoin Street Church.  Mason was a well-known musician who wrote the music 
for "Joy to the World" and a number of other hymns.  Mason took Bradbury 
under his wing, nurturing his musical abilities.  After finishing school, 
Bradbury moved to New York City, where he worked as a church musician 
specializing in children's music.  He wrote the music for what must be the 
favorite children's hymn of all time -- "Jesus Loves Me."  He intended 
"Savior Like a Shepherd Lead Us" to be a children's hymn, but it turned out 
that adults enjoyed singing it too.

A story related to this hymn is told about Ira Stankey, a musician who 
worked closely with Dwight L. Moody.  On one occasion, Stankey sang this 
song, "Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us" at a public gathering.  Afterwards, 
one of the guests pulled him aside and asked if Stankey had served on guard 
duty on a particular night in a particular place.  Stankey, who had served 
in the Union army, said that he had.  The other man said that he had served 
in the Confederate army.  On the evening in question, he had started to 
shoot a Union soldier when the Union soldier began to sing "Savior, Like a 
Shepherd Lead Me." The Confederate soldier, who had often heard his mother 
sing that song, couldn't do it.  Singing "Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us" 
had saved Stankey's life.


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Richard Niell Donovan