[Propertalk] Fwd: Sermon Resources for August 26 - Part

[Joe Parrish]

Aug 26, 2012



        
        
    
        
                

    
    
        
        
        
            

        
        
        


John 6:56-69 - "Backsliding"
Ephesians 6:10-20 - "It's Humble or the Umbles" by Leonard Sweet


John 6, the sermon title "Backsliding"  
 
There was once a term frequently used in the church. In the old days it was used often. You rarely ever hear it today. Indeed, in all my years in the ministry I have never preached a sermon on the topic until now. Despite the infrequency with which it is mentioned, the concept, I think, is still valid. It is backsliding.

The term backsliding, I discovered in my research, was popularized in the 1600's by John Bunyan in his very famous allegory Pilgrim's Progress. In the story, you may recall, the character of Christian and Hopeful are on their religious pilgrimage. While on the journey they begin to discuss an individual by the name of Temporary. He had started the pilgrimage, but along the way he fell by the wayside, or, as Bunyan worded it, backslid. That term was picked up, particularly, but not exclusively by the Methodists in early America and became a stock phrase. It referred to those once faithful individuals who had lost interest in their Christian pilgrimage...
 
The rest of this sermon can be obtained by joining http://www.sermons.com/signup
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The full text of the following sermon is available at www.Sermons.com. Sign up today at: http://www.sermons.com/signup Or call: 1-800-777-7731.
 
Members: Ephesians 6 the sermon titled "It's Humble or the Umbles" by Leonard Sweet   
 
You know you've crossed into some new station in your life when you visit the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art and realize as you are leaving that you completely skipped all the paintings. That's right, the entire Renaissance wing just was not on the agenda. Suddenly it hits you: You are no longer a student, or a tourist, or an art lover. No, you are a parent of small, squirming children who need to see something big, and strong, and hard-hitting.
 
So your museum tour was through the pyramids. Your museum circuit consisted of huge tombs and temples, the mummies and the caskets of ancient Egypt. But perhaps most importantly, you meandered through the mists of the medieval ages. This means rooms and rooms of ancient, awful-looking weaponry, and the Met's huge collection of all types of "awesome" armor. There are over 15,000 pieces of ancient armor and weapons in the Metropolitan's collection-dating from 400 BCE, through the heavily weighted years of medieval Europe, and including a huge collection of Japanese implements and armories, from the fifth through the nineteenth centuries.
 
As you wander around the Museum complete coats of heavy iron armor stand at attention all over the place...



The rest of this sermon can be obtained by joining http://www.sermons.com/signup


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Commitment: A Solitary Ember
 
A church member who had been devoutly active for many years suddenly was absent. One cold winter evening the pastor knocked at his door. Actually, the pastor and the church member had been long-time good friends. 
 
As they watched the wood burn in the fireplace, the minister mentioned the parishioner's absence from church. The man candidly confessed that he had decided he was just as well off without the church as with it. The minister didn't say a word. He took the tongs from the rack, reached into the fire, pulled out a flaming ember, and laid it down by itself on the hearth. He still said nothing. 
 
Both men sat in silence and watched the glowing ember lose its glow and turn slowly into a crusty, black lump. After some moments of thoughtful silence, the man turned to his pastor and said, "I get the message, my friend, I see what you mean; I'll be back next Sunday." And he was. 
 
Commitment begins with decision, but commitment is never a once-in-a-lifetime decision. 

Charles R. Leary, Mission Ready! CSS Publishing Company 
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Join the Winning Side!
 
Jim Wallis writes that when the South African government canceled a political rally against apartheid, Desmond Tutu led a worship service in St. George's Cathedral. The walls were lined with soldiers and riot police carrying guns and bayonets, ready to close it down. Bishop Tutu began to speak of the evils of the apartheid system -- how the rulers and authorities that propped it up were doomed to fall. He pointed a finger at the police who were there to record his words: "You may be powerful -- very powerful -- but you are not God. God cannot be mocked. You have already lost."

Then, in a moment of unbearable tension, the bishop seemed to soften. Coming out from behind the pulpit, he flashed that radiant Tutu smile and began to bounce up and down with glee. "Therefore, since you have already lost, we are inviting you to join the winning side."

The crowd roared, the police melted away and the people began to dance. Don't go away, Paul says. Put on your armor and dance. I am inviting you to join the winning side.

John Ortberg, "Roll Call," article in The Christian Century, August 9, 2003, p.16. 
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