[Propertalk] Fwd: Sermon Resources for November 18 - Part 1

[Joe Parrish]

Sermons for Proper 28
 
Mark 13:1-8 - "Bedrock Faith"
Mark 13:1-8 - "The Temple of Doom and the Bridegroom" by Leonard Sweet
 
Mark 13 - the sermon title "Bedrock Faith"  
 
Have you ever tried to make a prediction? Here are some predictions from the past. All from people who were trusted individuals: 
 
Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, in 1943 said, "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." 
 
Popular Mechanics magazine in 1949 made this prediction: "Where a calculator on the ENIAC is equipped with 18,000 vacuum tubes and weighs 30 tons, computers in the future may have only 1,000 vacuum tubes and weigh only 1.5 tons." 
 
There was an inventor by the name of Lee DeForest. He claimed that "While theoretically and technically television may be feasible, commercially and financially it is an impossibility." 
 
The Decca Recording Co. made a big mistake when they made this prediction: "We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out." That was their prediction in 1962 concerning a few lads form Liverpool. Their band was called the Beatles. 
 
As the disciples walked out of the Temple in Jerusalem Jesus paused, looked back at the Temple and predicted, "Do you see all these great buildings. Not one stone will be left on another." To the disciples this was bedrock. Nothing could bring down these walls. "Look, teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!" they said to Jesus.
 
The smallest stones in the structure weighed 2 to 3 tons. Many of them weighed 50 tons. The largest existing stone, part of the Wailing Wall, is 12 meters in length and 3 meters high, and it weighs hundreds of tons! The stones were so immense that neither mortar nor any other binding material was used between the stones. Their stability was attained by the great weight of the stones. The walls towered over Jerusalem, over 400 feet in one area. Inside the four walls was 45 acres of bedrock mountain shaved flat and during Jesus' day a quarter of a million people could fit comfortably within the structure. No sports structure in America today comes close.
 
You can then understand the disciples' surprise...
 
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: See Mark 13 for the sermon titled "The Temple of Doom and the Bridegroom" by Leonard Sweet   
 
If you've ever had your wallet or purse stolen you know that the worst "loss" is not the cash (who has it!) or the credit cards (you just cancel them). The worst loss is all those personal, "heart" things you keep close to you. 
 
*Your ancient Social Security card that you got at age 15. 
*Photos of parents, kids, and siblings that are faded and creased from being carted about for years. 
*Those little "oddments" that remind you of who you are and where you come from - a broken piece of jewelry, a note giving life-changing good or bad news, a "charmed" bill or check you never cashed. 
 
All those things that are not worth anything to anyone else...but are priceless to you.
 
The only theft worse than that of your carry-about life space is that of your personal living place. Even if no one was home, the feeling of invasion and violation is huge. Our homes are divided up into bedrooms, bathrooms and kitchens. But there is always some central gathering space. Whether you call it the "living room," or the "family room," the "recreation room" or the "great room," - it is the space in your home where your family comes together, amidst all your favorite things and most family-connecting artifacts, to celebrate togetherness and unity.
 
Today's reading is about Jesus' relationship to the "Temple"...
 
The rest of this sermon can be obtained by joining http://www.sermons.com/signup  


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Just Stay in the Race
 
Mary Hollingsworth tells a story about the noted director of biblical epics, Cecil B. DeMille. When they began working on the movie Ben Hur, DeMille talked to Charlton Heston--the star of the movie--about the all-important chariot race at the end. He decided Heston should actually learn to drive the chariot himself, rather than just using a stunt double. Heston agreed to take chariot-driving lessons to make the movie as authentic as possible.

Learning to drive a chariot with horses four abreast, however, was no small matter. After extensive work and days of practice, Heston returned to the movie set and reported to DeMille.

"I think I can drive the chariot all right, Cecil," said Heston, "but I'm not at all sure I can actually win the race."

Smiling slightly, DeMille said, "Heston, you just stay in the race, and I'll make sure you win." 
 
Those are the words of God to everyone through a time of tumultuous change: "John, Mary, Heather, you just stay in the race, and I'll make sure you win." Look for God's hand. If you cannot see it in the event itself, look for it in the aftermath when you are putting your life back together. I promise you, God's hand will be there.
 
King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com 
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The Disciples as Tourists
 
Tourists. As Mark 13 opens, the disciples are like tourists, gawking at the more striking features of "the big city" that they were visiting for the high and holy festival of Passover. If there had been cameras in those days, you can almost picture the disciples mugging for the camera in front of the magnificent opulence of the Temple. Little bands of tourists wearing bright orange hats would be milling through the plazas and colonnades of the Temple as tour guides with bullhorns shouted forth impressive statistics. "Some of these foundation stones weigh 5 tons and were brought into the city through the massive efforts of thousands of masons and slaves." 
 
Appreciative "Ooohs" and "Ahhhs" would follow each stunning stat.
 
It was, all in all, a heady atmosphere. You couldn't help but look up to see the towering heights. When I've been in places like Chicago and New York City, I know full well that standing on a sidewalk and staring up at the towering heights of the Sears Tower or the Empire State Building is the surest way possible to have me be easily identified as a tourist. But I can't help it! I don't want to look like some hick from the outback who is bowled over by skyscrapers, but they are just so impressive. They simply dwarf you! And so I steal as many heavenward glances as I can.

The disciples were like that. They don't want to look like simple fishermen from Galilee and the like, but let's face it: you just don't see stonework like this back on the farm. Their enthusiasm is so great that they cannot resist pulling Jesus into the action. Their master seems oddly unmoved by the ramparts and architectural heights of Jerusalem. He is the only one NOT craning his neck and mugging for the camera. So the disciples try to bring him around. "Teacher! Lookee here - isn't this one massive hunk of limestone!? Isn't the craftsmanship on these carvings impressive? Can you imagine what it must have taken to raise up such a high edifice!?"

But Jesus meets their breathless enthusiasm with a shrug of his shoulders. "Yes, I see them. But you know what? Even the biggest of these stones will soon fall and be thrown down. One day e're long, there won't be a single building to look at here."

Scott Hoezee, Comments and Observations 
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