[Propertalk] Fwd: Sermon Resources for July 22 - Part 1

Tue Jul 17 09:04:21 EDT 2012

July 22, 2012

Mark 6:30-34, 53-56 - "Hurry Hinders Ministry"
Ephesians 2:11-22 - "Zombie Zone or Beulah Land?" by Leonard Sweet

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Mark 6, the sermon title "Hurry Hinders Ministry"  

An ethics professor at Princeton Seminary asked for volunteers for an extra assignment. About half the class met him at the library to receive their assignments. The professor divided the students into three groups of five each. He gave the first group envelopes telling them to proceed immediately across campus to Stewart Hall. He told them that they had 15 minutes and if they didn't arrive on time, it would affect their grade. A minute or two later, he handed out envelopes to five others. They were also to go over to Stewart Hall, but they had 45 minutes. The third group had three hours to get to Stewart Hall. The students weren't aware of it, but the professor had arranged for three drama students to meet them along the way. Close to the beginning of their walk, one of the drama students had his hands on his head and was moaning aloud as if in great pain. About half way to Stewart Hall, on the steps of the chapel, the seminary students passed a man who was lying face down as if unconscious. Finally, on the steps of Stewart Hall, the third drama student was acting out a seizure. In the first group of students, those who had only 15 minutes to get across campus, no one stopped to help. In the second group, two students stopped to help. In the last group, the one that had three hours for their assignment, all of the students stopped to help at least one person. The professor had clearly shown these seminarians that hurry hinders ministry...

The rest of this sermon can be obtained by joining http://www.sermons.com/signup 
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Ephesians 2:11-22, the sermon titled "Zombie Zone or Beulah Land?" by Leonard Sweet   

There is nothing like escaping to a cool movie theater on a hot summer night. If you are a high school or college kid on break from school, there is no better stuffy, hot night escape than a scary movie that makes your blood run cold. 

Ever since the dawn of movies there have been "fright films." Frankenstein, Dracula, and the Wolfman were first on the silver screen. Later on mythical monsters were replaced by urban monsters, and the "teenage slasher" movie was born - where lonely baby-sitters and popular football players were the special focus of crazed creatures with hockey masks or with really long fingernails. But the most popular "scare-bearer" these days seems to be a creature you can't even wish were dead because it already is . . . zombies!

Wait a minute, you say. I didn't come to church to hear about zombies. Well, you not only need to hear about them if you are to understand the mission field God has put us in. But you need to hear about them if you are to understand our text for this morning, a text about "aliens and strangers"...

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

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Humor: Walking on Water

There is an old story that has often been re-told in especially the Eastern Orthodox part of the church. According to the tale, a devout abbot from a monastery decided to take a prolonged spiritual retreat in a small cabin located on a remote island in the middle of a large lake. He told his fellow monks that he wanted to spend his days in prayer so as to grow closer to God. For six months he remained on the island with no other person seeing him or hearing from him in all that time. But then one day, as two monks were standing near the shore soaking up some sunshine, they could see in the distance a figure moving toward them. It was the abbot, walking on water, and coming toward shore. After the abbot passed by the two monks and continued on to the monastery, one of the monks turned to the other and said, "All these months in prayer and the abbot is still as stingy as ever. After all, the ferry costs only 25 cents!"

Humor aside, the point of the story is that it's amazing how easily we may sometimes miss the significance of something that is right in front of us. We think we know the meaning of this incident of Jesus' walking on the water, but do we really?

Scott Hoezee, Comments and Observations on Mark 6:30-56.
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We Are Sheepdogs

Thirty years ago, when I was a beginning seminarian, my pastoral supervisor in my fieldwork parish reminded me that the word "pastor" means shepherd. But then he said, "The people already have a Good Shepherd in Jesus." He said it was as English mystic Evelyn Underhill had written some time before, that the best that could be said of clergy is that we are sheepdogs. Sometimes we do a good job helping the Good Shepherd, and sometimes we just bark a lot and cause general confusion among the flock.

Samuel D. Zumwalt, Jesus Means Compassion

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Close the Door to Turn on the Light

One evening years ago a speaker who was visiting the United States wanted to make a telephone call. He entered a phone booth, but found it to be different from those in his own country. It was beginning to get dark, so he had difficulty finding the number in the directory. He noticed that there was a light in the ceiling, but he didn't know how to turn it on. As he tried again to find the number in the fading twilight, a passerby noted his plight and said, "Sir, if you want to turn the light on, you have to shut the door." To the visitor's amazement and satisfaction, when he closed the door, the booth was filled with light. He soon located the number and completed the call.  

A writer in the devotional, Our Daily Bread, commenting on this story, writes, "In a similar way, when we draw aside in a quiet place to pray, we must block out our busy world and open our hearts to the Father. Our darkened world of disappointments and trials will then be illuminated. We will enter into communion with God, we will sense His presence, and we will be assured of His provision for us. Our Lord often went to be alone with the Heavenly Father. Sometimes it was after a busy day of preaching and healing, as in today's Scripture reading. At other times, it was before making a major decision." (Luke 6:12). And so should we.

King Duncan, www.Sermons.com
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Deus Interruptus

Jesus and the disciples had been headed for Bethsaida when the evening's storm blew them to Gennesaret instead. Notice our Lord's response. He does not tell the Apostles to set out to sea and try again. Instead, he disembarks and begins to minister to the people around him. Christ's response is to see the storm as God's will and to minister appropriately wherever he lands.

How do I respond when my day is blown off course? Do I respond to daily (or even major life-changing) "inconveniences" by looking for God's purposes or do I become angry and frustrated at the "interruption" of my plans and purposes?

I have found that the higher my personal agenda; the less I am able to see God's purpose in my daily "interruptions." Yet, I have also found that when make myself available to "Deus Interruptus," incredible and miraculous things frequently happen. Have you ever considered beginning your day by "giving God permission to alter your agenda at any moment and any time? 

"Dearest God, feel free to interrupt my agenda today with yours at anytime or in any place."

Jerry Goebel, Sheep without a Shepherd
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