[Propertalk] Fw: Sermon Writer - Proper 10 - July 11, 2010
Joe Parrish
joeparrish at compuserve.com
Sat Jul 10 06:04:44 EDT 2010
Sermon
Writer
Resources for Lectionary Preaching
Proper 10
(Ordinary Time 15)
Year C
July 11, 2010
A THOUGHT ON PREACHING: Keep one foot in your tradition and one foot in the slippery muck of life. Do a careful exegesis of your text; then throw it away and write a sermon for the people. Learn to laugh at yourself and give your people permission to enjoy life. Don't tell stories that make you look better than you are. Keep sermons short and use frequent illustrations. Don't offer advice you wouldn't accept. Tell your congregation guilt was made to be redeemed. Read modern storytellers, religious magazines, and move into the congregation yourself. Set up clergy support groups. Demand an adequate salary and generous vacations. (Clark Morphew)
TITLE: See, Feel, Act
SERMON IN A SENTENCE: In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus teaches us to see the wounded person, to feel compassion for that person, and to take action to relieve his or her suffering.
SCRIPTURE: Luke 10:25-37
FOR MORE SERMONS ON THIS TEXT, GO TO:
http://www.lectionary.org/SermLinks/NT/NT03luke.htm
Scroll down to the correct chapter and verse.
TRUE STORY:
Philip Hallie, in his book, Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed, tells the story of Andre Trocme, a Huguenot pastor in France, who inspired the people of his community, Le Chambon, to rescue thousands of Jews during the German occupation of France.
Trocme arrived in Le Chambon in 1934 –– several years before the outbreak of war. He founded a school, and soon became the community's spiritual leader. People learned to respect him –– even to love him.
Trocme taught the people of Le Chambon to exercise passive resistance against violence. He called them to eliminate in their minds any distinction between Christians and Jews. If anyone needed help, the rest of the community should help.
So when the Vichy government started rounding up Jews, the people of Le Chambon started hiding Jews. When the government began to hand over Jews to the Nazis, the people of Le Chambon began preparing Jews to flee to Switzerland.
In the summer of 1942, an official of the Vichy government came to demand that the people tell him where the Jews were hiding, but Trocme told them that he didn't have the names of any Jews –– and that he wouldn't hand over a list even if he did have them. The police searched the town, but failed to find the hidden Jews.
Trocme was imprisoned for a time, and then released. At that point, he went into hiding, but continued to do his work underground. His cousin, Daniel, was arrested, sent to a concentration camp and died there. Everyone in the community understood that they were taking that kind of risk when they sheltered the Jews.
One old woman, who had faked a heart attack when the Nazis came to search her home, explained her involvement this way. She said: "Pastor always taught us that there comes a time in every life when a person is asked to do something for Jesus. When our time came, we knew what to do."
A BIT OF HUMOR:
I read about a tourist who went on a sightseeing tour of Jerusalem. His guide pointed out an ancient inn and said that that inn was where the Good Samaritan had taken the wounded traveler.
The tourist, however, knew his Bible better than most, so he told the guide that the Good Samaritan was just a character in one of Jesus' parables –– not a real person.
The guide didn't dispute that –– but he recovered quickly. He said, "In that case, it was this inn that Jesus had in mind."
THOUGHT PROVOKERS:
Though we do not have our Lord with us in bodily presence,
we have our neighbor,
who, for the ends of love and loving service,
is as good as our Lord himself.
Teresa of Avila
* * * * * * * * * *
To truly care for people
requires not caring too much
about their approval or disapproval.
John Ortberg
* * * * * * * * * *
It is discouraging to try to be a good neighbor
in a bad neighborhood.
William R. Castle
* * * * * * * * * *
The ultimate measure of a man
is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience,
but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
The true neighbor will risk his position, his prestige, and even his life
for the welfare of others.
In dangerous valleys and hazardous pathways,
he will lift some bruised and beaten brother
to a higher and more noble life.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
* * * * * * * * * *
Bread for myself is a material question;
bread for my neighbor is a spiritual question.
Jacques Maritain
* * * * * * * * * *
HYMN STORY: Christ for the World We Sing
Samuel Wolcott was the pastor of the Plymouth Congregational Church in Cleveland, Ohio when the local branch of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) asked to hold a meeting in his sanctuary. Wolcott not only agreed to allow their meeting, but also made it a point to attend. As he listened to the speakers, he couldn't help but notice the large banner that the YMCA sponsors had hung over the pulpit to announce the theme of the rally. The banner read, "Christ for the World and the World for Christ."
"Christ for the World and the World for Christ" –– Wolcott was very much in sympathy with that motto, having served as a missionary for several years. He knew the need that existed in other countries, but he also thought of Cleveland and the other cities of this country as part of the world that needed Christ.
Wolcott had tried his hand at hymn-writing on a previous occasion, and was surprised when his hymn was published. Seeing the motto, "Christ for the World and the World for Christ," he was inspired to write this hymn, "Christ for the World We Sing."
Verses one and two of this hymn speak of those in need of Christ –– "The poor, and them that mourn, The faint and overborne, Sinsick and sorrow worn."
Verse three anticipates that those whom Christ has redeemed from dark despair (v. 2) will share the work of spreading the Gospel.
Verse four celebrates the joy of seeing people who previously lived in darkness enjoying the light of their new lives as Christians. (NOTE: Check your hymnal. The verses could be different in some hymnals.)
Wolcott wrote two hundred hymns during his lifetime, but this is the only one in common usage today.
NOTE: See other hymn stories at http://www.lectionary.org/hymnstories.htm
www.sermonwriter.com
www.lectionary.org
Richard Niell Donovan
A THOUGHT ON PREACHING: Keep one foot in your tradition and one foot in the slippery muck of life. Do a careful exegesis of your text; then throw it away and write a sermon for the people. Learn to laugh at yourself and give your people permission to enjoy life. Don't tell stories that make you look better than you are. Keep sermons short and use frequent illustrations. Don't offer advice you wouldn't accept. Tell your congregation guilt was made to be redeemed. Read modern storytellers, religious magazines, and move into the congregation yourself. Set up clergy support groups. Demand an adequate salary and generous vacations. (Clark Morphew)
TITLE: See, Feel, Act
SERMON IN A SENTENCE: In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus teaches us to see the wounded person, to feel compassion for that person, and to take action to relieve his or her suffering.
SCRIPTURE: Luke 10:25-37
FOR MORE SERMONS ON THIS TEXT, GO TO:
http://www.lectionary.org/SermLinks/NT/NT03luke.htm
Scroll down to the correct chapter and verse.
TRUE STORY:
Philip Hallie, in his book, Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed, tells the story of Andre Trocme, a Huguenot pastor in France, who inspired the people of his community, Le Chambon, to rescue thousands of Jews during the German occupation of France.
Trocme arrived in Le Chambon in 1934 –– several years before the outbreak of war. He founded a school, and soon became the community's spiritual leader. People learned to respect him –– even to love him.
Trocme taught the people of Le Chambon to exercise passive resistance against violence. He called them to eliminate in their minds any distinction between Christians and Jews. If anyone needed help, the rest of the community should help.
So when the Vichy government started rounding up Jews, the people of Le Chambon started hiding Jews. When the government began to hand over Jews to the Nazis, the people of Le Chambon began preparing Jews to flee to Switzerland.
In the summer of 1942, an official of the Vichy government came to demand that the people tell him where the Jews were hiding, but Trocme told them that he didn't have the names of any Jews –– and that he wouldn't hand over a list even if he did have them. The police searched the town, but failed to find the hidden Jews.
Trocme was imprisoned for a time, and then released. At that point, he went into hiding, but continued to do his work underground. His cousin, Daniel, was arrested, sent to a concentration camp and died there. Everyone in the community understood that they were taking that kind of risk when they sheltered the Jews.
One old woman, who had faked a heart attack when the Nazis came to search her home, explained her involvement this way. She said: "Pastor always taught us that there comes a time in every life when a person is asked to do something for Jesus. When our time came, we knew what to do."
A BIT OF HUMOR:
I read about a tourist who went on a sightseeing tour of Jerusalem. His guide pointed out an ancient inn and said that that inn was where the Good Samaritan had taken the wounded traveler.
The tourist, however, knew his Bible better than most, so he told the guide that the Good Samaritan was just a character in one of Jesus' parables –– not a real person.
The guide didn't dispute that –– but he recovered quickly. He said, "In that case, it was this inn that Jesus had in mind."
THOUGHT PROVOKERS:
Though we do not have our Lord with us in bodily presence,
we have our neighbor,
who, for the ends of love and loving service,
is as good as our Lord himself.
Teresa of Avila
* * * * * * * * * *
To truly care for people
requires not caring too much
about their approval or disapproval.
John Ortberg
* * * * * * * * * *
It is discouraging to try to be a good neighbor
in a bad neighborhood.
William R. Castle
* * * * * * * * * *
The ultimate measure of a man
is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience,
but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
The true neighbor will risk his position, his prestige, and even his life
for the welfare of others.
In dangerous valleys and hazardous pathways,
he will lift some bruised and beaten brother
to a higher and more noble life.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
* * * * * * * * * *
Bread for myself is a material question;
bread for my neighbor is a spiritual question.
Jacques Maritain
* * * * * * * * * *
HYMN STORY: Christ for the World We Sing
Samuel Wolcott was the pastor of the Plymouth Congregational Church in Cleveland, Ohio when the local branch of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) asked to hold a meeting in his sanctuary. Wolcott not only agreed to allow their meeting, but also made it a point to attend. As he listened to the speakers, he couldn't help but notice the large banner that the YMCA sponsors had hung over the pulpit to announce the theme of the rally. The banner read, "Christ for the World and the World for Christ."
"Christ for the World and the World for Christ" –– Wolcott was very much in sympathy with that motto, having served as a missionary for several years. He knew the need that existed in other countries, but he also thought of Cleveland and the other cities of this country as part of the world that needed Christ.
Wolcott had tried his hand at hymn-writing on a previous occasion, and was surprised when his hymn was published. Seeing the motto, "Christ for the World and the World for Christ," he was inspired to write this hymn, "Christ for the World We Sing."
Verses one and two of this hymn speak of those in need of Christ –– "The poor, and them that mourn, The faint and overborne, Sinsick and sorrow worn."
Verse three anticipates that those whom Christ has redeemed from dark despair (v. 2) will share the work of spreading the Gospel.
Verse four celebrates the joy of seeing people who previously lived in darkness enjoying the light of their new lives as Christians. (NOTE: Check your hymnal. The verses could be different in some hymnals.)
Wolcott wrote two hundred hymns during his lifetime, but this is the only one in common usage today.
NOTE: See other hymn stories at http://www.lectionary.org/hymnstories.htm
www.sermonwriter.com
www.lectionary.org
Richard Niell Donovan
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://stsams.org/pipermail/propertalk_stsams.org/attachments/20100710/aeba86e2/attachment.htm>
More information about the Propertalk
mailing list