[Propertalk] Fwd: Sermons.com Sermon for September 11

[Joe Parrish]

Sermon Opener for 9/11
 
Romans 14:1-12  - "Make a 119 Call" by Leonard Sweet
 
The full text of the following sermon is available at www.Sermons.com.


 
Romans 14 the sermon titled "Make a 119 Call" by Leonard Sweet  
 
 "God hath not promised
Skies ever blue,
Flower-strewn pathways
All our lives through;
God hath not promised
Skies without rain,
Joy without sorrow,
Peace without pain.
 
"But God hath promised
Strength for the day,
Rest for the labor,
Light for the way,
Grace for the trials,
Help from above,
Unfailing sympathy,
Undying love." - Annie-Johnson Flint 
 
When I went to seminary, we were required to learn "active listening" skills. One required exercise was to interview another student and draw out of them a conflict story of a family member. 
 
My interviewee, "Bob," talked about conflicts with his Dad. They were as different as chalk and cheese. Bob was Triple A: athletics, academics, arts. What's more, he was the "life-of-the-party" kind of guy. "Bob's" dad had dropped out of high school, worked a series of hands-on, bent-back jobs throughout his life, and had many physical problems. He was quiet and rarely showed his emotions - positive or negative. 
 
But despite their differences, Bob and his Dad always watched a weekly football game together on the saggy old family room couch. And at some point during the game, Bob's Dad would reach over and hold his son's hand for a few moments, squeezing it a couple of times and then releasing it. Those football games were Bob's Dad's way of communicating the love he had for his son, the love he could not express with words.
 
Today is the 10th anniversary of 9/11. It is also the first day of official NFL Sunday afternoon football. I confess to you this morning that I am not up to the task of giving you words that will address the horror and heritage of 9/11 in any way that is consoling or convincing. But as we struggle to find images and stories that might reveal the depth of our emotions on this tenth anniversary of that day of infamy, believe it or not we can connect with some of those feelings by holding hands and watching a football game. 
 
The first four televised games of the 2011 NFL season were specifically chosen to commemorate the events of 9/11. 
 
*At 1 p.m. there is a game between Pittsburgh and Baltimore - midway between those two cities is Shanksville, PA, the site of the crash of flight 93, which the terrorists had destined for the White House. 
 
*Later in the afternoon there is a game between the New York Giants and the Washington Redskins, played only a few miles from the site of the Pentagon plane crash/attack. 
 
*This afternoon there is also a game between Carolina and Arizona, which will feature ceremonies honoring Pat Tillmon, the Cardinals player who left a lucrative pro-football career to join the military after the 9/11 attacks and who was killed in action in Iraq. 
 
*Finally the Dallas Cowboys will play the New York Jets just across the Hudson River in full view of where the Twin Towers fell...
 
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