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

[Joe Parrish]

February 5, 2012



        
        
    



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