[Propertalk] Fwd: Sermon Resources for January 22

Tue Jan 17 09:04:00 EST 2012

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Joseph Parrish <joeparrish at compuserve.com>
> Date: January 17, 2012 5:28:00 AM PST
> To: propertalk.topic at ecunet.org
> Subject: Fwd: Sermon Resources for January 22
> 

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> Begin forwarded message:
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>> 
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>> Having trouble viewing this email? Click here
>> Sermons for Epiphany 3
>> 
>> January 22, 2012	
>>  
>> Mark 1:14-20 - "The Adventure of Discipleship"
>> Mark 1:14-20 - "Are You Better at Wearing or Bearing Crosses?" by Leonard Sweet
>>  
>> Mark 1 the sermon title "The Adventure of Discipleship"] 
>>  
>> Today's Gospel is about Jesus' calling of his first four disciples. It is about the first people who were called to hold the job which we hold today. Mark's story is not very elaborate. It is short and to the point. There is a certain note of adventure as the four men leave their fishing business to go with Jesus, but there is not much in the story that seems terribly upsetting. 
>>  
>> What the story doesn't tell about is what those men were getting in for by becoming followers of Jesus. To find out what was really in store for them, we have to keep reading. And what we discover is that being a disciple was not glamorous. In fact, it was downright dangerous. 
>>  
>> Later in Mark we hear Jesus say, "Whoever loses his life for my sake and the sake of the gospel will find it." Matthew includes another comment: "Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword." Those are disturbing statements, especially for those of us who are today's disciples. 
>>  
>> He was saying that being his disciple is not an easy task. He was saying that the gospel is a disturbing force in the world which can upset individuals and nations alike. It brings change and new experiences to all who hear it. Being his disciple will not be easy because the task of the disciple is to be the bearer of this revolutionary gospel message. 
>>  
>> We know what happened to Jesus. His message disturbed those in power and they tried to silence him. Of the four men in this gospel text, three were also executed for their witness. The powers that ruled the ancient world were upset by the gospel, and they tried to silence its voices. I'd like to be able to say that's all ancient history, but there are still governments today which oppose the gospel. 
>>  
>> It is important for us to realize that the truth of the gospel is like a two-edged sword: it is both comforting and disturbing. The messengers of this gospel may find themselves similarly regarded by those who don't want to hear that message, even in countries where Christianity is protected by law. 
>>  
>> Jesus' two-edged sword also strikes close to home...
>>  
>> The rest of this sermon can be obtained by joining http://www.sermons.com/signup
>>   
>> Click here: http://www.sermons.com/signup or call 1-800-777-7731 to join.
>>  
>> _______________________
>>  
>> 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: Mark 1 the sermon titled "Are You Better at Wearing or Bearing Crosses?" by Leonard Sweet]
>>  
>> How would you describe a color to someone who had been blind since birth?
>>  
>> [This would make a great moment to walk down into the congregation and turn your "audience" into "participants," or you can continue on probing the question yourself.]
>>  
>> What can you say about "blue" or "red" or "green" to someone who has no concept of color, of bright, light, or dark?
>>  
>> Well, you would almost have to use examples from the sense the blind person did have - touch, scent, sound, taste.
>>  
>> Blue is "cold" compared to a "hot" red.
>> Green is smooth and sweet, while yellow is sharp and pungent.
>> Purple has the depth of a bruise.
>> Orange may not rhyme with anything, but is feels like the sun on your face on a warm day.
>>  
>> Explaining the impossible to the unknowing describes much of the mission and message of Jesus.
>>  
>> How could he communicate the vastness of divine love to individual human hearts?
>> How could he present the fullness of time to a world parsed into days, hours, minutes, seconds?
>> How could he reveal the unity of all creation to warring nations, cracked communities, and fractured families?
>>  
>> To get his message across Jesus clothed the utterly unique work of God through Christ in language that seemed deceptively familiar. Jesus' preaching and teaching was all about "the kingdom of God." The first-century world understood the concept of "kingship" all too well. The nations of the world were ruled by kings, and kings were absolute authority figures with unquestioned control over their subjects. The Old Testament refers to the kingship of God more than any other divine quality. Israel was God's first kingdom, but in an eschatological future all the nations would recognize God's ruling status and bow down before him.
>>  
>> So when Jesus spoke of the "kingdom of God' his audience, especially the Torah-learned Jews, thought they knew what he was talking about.
>>  
>> Surprise. They didn't.
>>  
>> Jesus was not talking about establishing a place with borders, a kind of divine fiefdom. The kingdom of God wasn't a political polis or an eschatological, pie-in-the-sky, far-and-away dreamscape...
>>  
>> Click here: http://www.sermons.com/signup or call 1-800-777-7731 to join.
>>  
>> _____________________
>>  
>> Saving the Shipwrecked
>>  
>> On a dangerous seacoast where shipwrecks often occur there was once a crude little life-saving station. The building was just a hut, and there was only one boat but the few devoted members kept a constant watch over the sea, and with no thought for themselves went out day and night tirelessly searching for the lost. Some of those who were saved, and various others in the surrounding area, wanted to become associated with the station and give of their time and money and effort for the support of its work. New boats were bought and new crews trained. The little life-saving station grew.
>>  
>> Some of the members of the life-saving station were unhappy that the building was so crude and poorly equipped. They felt that a more comfortable place should be provided as the first refuge of those saved from the sea. They replaced the emergency cots with beds and put better furniture in the enlarged building. Now, the life-saving station became a popular gathering place for its members, and they decorated it beautifully and furnished it exquisitely, because they used it as a sort of club.
>>  
>> Fewer members were now interested in going to sea on lifesaving missions, so they hired life-boat crews to do this work. The life-saving motif still prevailed in this club's decoration, and there was a symbolic life-boat in the room where the club initiations were held.
>>  
>> About this time a large ship was wrecked off the coast, and the hired crews brought in boat loads of cold, wet and half-drowned people. The beautiful new club was in chaos. So the property committee immediately had a shower house built outside the club where victims of shipwreck could be cleaned up before coming inside.
>>  
>> At the next meeting, there was a split in the club membership. Most of the members wanted to stop the club's life-saving activities as being unpleasant and a hindrance to the normal social life of the club. Some members insisted upon life-saving as their primary purpose and pointed out that they were still called a life-saving station. But they were finally voted down and told that if they wanted to save lives of all the various kinds of people who were shipwrecked in those waters, they could begin their own life-saving station down the coast. They did.
>>  
>> As the years went by, the new station experienced the same changes that had occurred in the old. It evolved into a club, and yet another life-saving station was founded. History continued to repeat itself, and if you visit that sea coast today, you will find a number of exclusive clubs along that shore. Shipwrecks are frequent in those waters, but most of the people drown.
>>  
>> That's a pretty graphic tale of some folks who forgot what they were supposed to be about. Sometimes I think we are like those folks. It's as if we think Jesus didn't really mean it when he said, "Go fish." We think other things he said are surely important, but not reaching out and bringing people to Jesus Christ.
>>  
>> Mickey Anders, Go Fish
>> _______________________________
>>  
>> The Need for Courage
>>  
>> Years ago Richard Cardinal Cushing wrote about the church's need for courage. He said:
>>  
>> If all the sleeping folks will wake up, and all the lukewarm folks will fire up, and all the disgruntled folks will sweeten up, and all the discouraged folks will cheer up, and all the depressed folks will look up, and all the estranged folks will make up, and all the gossiping folks will shut up, and all the dry bones will shake up, and all the true soldiers will stand up, and all the church members will pray up, and if the Savior of all will be lifted up . . . then we can have the greatest renewal this world has ever known.
>>  
>> Eric S. Ritz
>> __________________________
>>  
>> Three Fishing Stories
>>  
>> 1. An old-timer sat on the river bank, obviously awaiting a nibble, though the fishing season had not officially opened. A uniformed officer stood behind him quietly for several minutes. "You the game warden?" the old-timer inquired.
>>  
>> "Yup."
>>  
>> Unruffled, the old man began to move the fishing pole from side to side. Finally, he lifted the line out of the water. Pointing to a minnow wriggling on the end of the line, he said, "Just teaching him how to swim."
>>  
>> 2. Mark Twain once spent a pleasant three weeks in the Maine woods. On his way home making himself comfortable in the train to New York, a sour-faced man sat down next to him, and the two struck up a conversation. "Been to the woods, have ye?" asked the stranger.
>>  
>> "I have indeed," replied Twain. "And let me tell you something. It may be closed season for fishing up here in Maine, but I have a couple of hundred pounds of the finest rock bass you ever saw iced down in the baggage car. By the way, who are you, sir?"
>>  
>> "I'm the state game warden. Who are you?"
>>  
>> Said Twain, "Pleased to meet you. Who am I? Only the biggest liar in these United States."
>>  
>> 3. Two ardent fishermen met on their vacation and began swapping stories about the different places they had fished, the kind of tackle used, the best bait, and finally about some of the fish they had caught. One of them told of a vicious battle he once had with a 300-pound salmon. The other man listened attentively. He frankly admitted he had never caught anything quite that big. However, he told about the time his hook snagged a lantern from the depths of a lake. The lantern carried a tag proving it was lost back in 1912. But the strangest thing of all was the fact that it was a waterproof lantern and the light was still lit.
>>  
>> For a long time the first man said nothing. Then he took one long deep breath. "I'll tell you what I'll do," he said slowly. "I'll take 200 pounds off my fish, if you'll put out the light in your lantern."
>>  
>> Fish stories. Gotta love 'em.
>>  
>> Jacob M. Braude, Braude's Treasury of Humor, (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1964)
>>  
>> ________________________
>>  
>> Tips for Fishing
>>  
>> What are some of the tips we need to remember as we fish for disciples?
>>  
>> Go where the fish are. Be with people on their own turf.
>> Be real, be vulnerable, and be honest.
>> Be creative. We don't have to do things the same old way.
>> Be spiritual, but not "churchy".
>> Be patient
>> Be ready for surprises!
>> Be willing to step out of your comfort zone.
>> Be on the lookout for where God is at work.
>> Be praying.
>>  
>>  
>> 
>> 
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