[Propertalk] FW: Sermon Resources for February 5 - Part 1

Tue Feb 7 00:24:37 EST 2012

February 5, 2012

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Mark 1: 29-39 - "Everyone Is Searching for You" 

Mark 1: 29-39 - "Sandbox First, Soapbox Second" by Leonard Sweet

Mark 1 - the sermon title "Everyone Is Searching For You!" 

The great architect Frank Lloyd Wright was fond of an incident that may have
seemed insignificant at the time, but had a profound influence on the rest
of his life. The winter he was 9, he went walking across a snow-covered
field with his reserved, no- nonsense uncle. As the two of them reached the
far end of the field, his uncle stopped him. He pointed out his own tracks
in the snow, straight and true as an arrow's flight, and then young Frank's
tracks meandering all over the field. "Notice how your tracks wander
aimlessly from the fence to the cattle to the woods and back again," his
uncle said. "And see how my tracks aim directly to my goal. There is an
important lesson in that."

Years later the world-famous architect liked to tell how the experience had
contributed to his philosophy in life. "I determined right then," he'd say
with a twinkle in his eye, "not to miss the things in life, that my uncle
had missed."

Frank Lloyd Wright saw in those tracks what his uncle could not: It is easy
to let the demands of life keep us from the joys of living. 

We all recognize that any goal in life worth achieving demands a great deal
of our energy. If you are a doctor you must spend vast hours alone and in
residency studying the human body. The life of your patient demands it. If
you are a teacher you must live in the library researching and preparing for
your lecture. The mind of your student demands it. If you are a carpenter
you must patiently measure the building before you drive the first nail. The
integrity of the structure depends on it. If you are a mother you must
sacrifice your life for another. Your children require it.

We could not live if we did not set goals and work to fulfill them. No sane
person would argue otherwise. But here's what young Wright discovered at the
tender age of 9, and what some don't learn until 59: The objective in life
is not the goal but the journey on the way to the goal. The whole city had
gathered around the door, pressing in to see Jesus. The demands on him were
already piling up. He cured many, cast out demons, and taught constantly.
And his disciples didn't help matters. When he left in the morning early to
pray, they went searching for him. And when they found him they said, "What
are you doing, everyone is searching for you?" 

How do we enjoy the journey when everyone and everything is searching for
you, wanting a piece of you, and demanding your time?

1. Hard Work Is Required.

2. Do Not Let Others Define Your Goal.

3. Remember to Pray!

The rest of this sermon can be obtained by joining
http://www.sermons.com/signup
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=aelnpceab&et=1109181819576&s=45429&e=001avM0z
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cdnrCk3cpWcUlg7FGntZCdpkg3BEaZ7snW0fjycpfYeFWsd>  

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Mark 1 - the sermon titled "Sandbox First, Soapbox Second" by Leonard Sweet 

This sermon has a very simple, but very difficult, message: Faith is a
social practice, but one that requires solitude. 

Genesis 2:18 reads: "It is not good for man to be alone."

Daniel 10:8 reads: "I was left alone, and saw the great vision."

Sometimes society, sometimes solitude. Sometimes it is not good to be alone.
Sometimes we need to be left alone to see what God has for us to see. 

The most talked about movie at the time of this sermon's composition is "The
Artist," a 2011 French comedy-drama film shown in black and white and mostly
silent. In January 2012 it was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, including
Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor in a Leading Role. The story
takes place between 1927 and 1932, and revolves around the relationship
between a declining film star and a rising actress. 

The most celebrated movie star of the "Silent Era," however, was Swedish
actress Greta Garbo (1905-1990). She famously declared her own life's desire
in her epic film "Grand Hotel" (1932), when "Garbomania" reached its peak:
"I just want to alone." True to her word, Garbo "retired" at age 36 and went
on to be a renowned recluse, living paradoxically as a hermit in the social
center of New York City until her death at age 84. 

"Loners" are, in this age of social media, an increasingly rare breed.
Consider how often in your day you are actually "alone." 

When are you alone? 

Not when you are at work. 

Not when you are on the phone. 

Not when you are on-line. 

Not when you are awaiting a return text-message. 

Not when you are watching TV. 

Not when you are listening to the news. 

How often are you really intentionally cut off from all outside influences
and are genuinely alone? Actual aloneness is about as available as imported
glacier water, volcanic artesian water, and Cuban cigars. It is a commodity
you can get - but only at a very high price.

So why is it so many of us suffer from desperate loneliness while we live
very busy lives with rafts of responsibilities?...

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All Our Strength

The story is told of a little boy and his father. They were walking along a
road when they came across a large stone. The boy looked at the stone and
thought about it a little. Then he asked his father, "Do you think if I use
all my strength, I can move that rock?"

The father thought for a moment and said, "I think that if you use all your
strength, you can do it."

That was all the little boy needed. He ran over to the rock and began to
push on it. He pushed and he pushed, so hard did he try that little beads of
sweat appeared on his forehead. But the rock didn't move - not an inch, not
half an inch. 

After a while, the little boy sat down on the ground. His face had fallen.
His whole body seemed to be just a lump there on the earth. "You were
wrong," he told his dad. "I can't do it." 

His father walked over to him, knelt beside him, and put his arm around the
boy's shoulder. "You can do it," he said. "You just didn't use all your
strength. You didn't ask me to help." 

The world in which we live tells us that it is all up to us. It tells us
that we have to be strong and independent. It tells us we can't and
shouldn't count on anyone or anything else. And yet, what faith tells us and
what Jews and Christians have known forever is that we have a ready resource
in God, strength for those who ask.

Donald M. Tuttle

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There Is Nothing More Tempting Than a Lonely Place.

There is nothing more tempting than a lonely place. A lonely place where
phones do not ring and loud voices all shouting at once do not compete for
our attention. A lonely place where we can hear ourselves think, feel our
own calmed breathing, rediscover the inner rhythms which seek in vain to
regulate our lives. A lonely place where we can listen to the wind rippling
through the trees or, perhaps, to the full and wise sound of stillness. A
lonely place free from the cant of television and the condemnation of
calendars. A place of tranquil rest and blessed retreat. There is nothing
more tempting than a lonely place.

"And in the morning," Mark tells us, "a great while before day, Jesus rose
and went out to a lonely place, and there he prayed" (Mark 1:35).

Thomas G. Long, Shepherds and Bathrobes, CSS Publishing Co., Inc.

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