[Propertalk] FW: Sermon Resources for January 27 - Epiphany 3 - Part 2

[Joe Parrish]

Hope 
 
Do you remember the story of Pandora's Box in Greek Mythology? The lovely
Pandora was sent by Zeus to be the bride of Epimetheus. One of Pandora's
more endearing charms was her curiosity, but that quality also proved to
nearly be her undoing. One day Mercury, the messenger, sent a box to the
young couple. It was meant for them to enjoy, but under no circumstances
were they to open it. Well, of course, it is the old story of the forbidden
fruit. Told that she could not do it, it became the thing that she desired
to do the most. So one day she pried it open and peeked inside. Suddenly out
flew swarms of insects that began attacking them. Both lovers were stung
with the poison of suspicion, hatred, fear and malice. Now the once happy
couple began to argue. Epimetheus became bitter and Pandora wept with a
broken heart. But in the midst of the quarreling, they heard a tiny voice
cry out: Let me ou t, to sooth your pain. Fearfully they opened the box
again, and this time a beautiful butterfly flew out. It touched the couple
and miraculously their pain was healed and they were happy again. The
butterfly we are told was hope. It is hope that sustains us; it is hope that
sooths our pain. 
 
Staff, www.eSermons.com.
_____________________ 
 
Called to Action 
 
At Christmas I received as a gift the book, Holy Sweat, by Tim Hansel. I
enjoyed it very much. He tells of a guest preacher in a rather large church
who began, "There are three points to my sermon." Most people yawned at the
point. They'd heard that many times before. But he went on. "My first point
is this. At this time there are approximately two billion people starving to
death in the world." The reaction through the congregation was about the
same, since they'd heard that sort of statement many times before, too. And
then he said, "My second point." 
Everybody sat up. Only 10 or 15 seconds had passed, and he was already on
his second point? He paused, then said, "My second point is that most of you
don't give a damn!" He paused again as gasps and rumblings flowed across the
congregation, and then said:  
 
"And my third point is that the real tragedy among Christians today is that
many of you are now more concerned that I said 'damn' than you are that I
said two billion people are starving to death." Then he sat down. 
The whole sermon took less than a minute, but it is in many ways one of the
most powerful ones ever given. He was reminding us we are called not to mere
piety but to genuine morality. We are called to action, not to fancy words.
Jesus preached a short sermon. But what a sermon! He clearly denotes the
kind of ministry he came to pursue. It is to be a ministry to the poor and
outcast, the blind and unaffirmed.
James T. Garrett, God's Gift, CSS Publishing Company. 
 
_________________________  
 
Love Is an Action 
 
Newspaper columnist and minister George Crane tells of a wife who came into
his office full of hatred toward her husband. "I do not only want to get rid
of him, I want to get even. Before I divorce him, I want to hurt him as much
as he has me."
Dr. Crane suggested an ingenious plan "Go home and act as if you really love
your husband. Tell him how much he means to you. Praise him for every decent
trait. Go out of your way to be as kind, considerate, and generous as
possible. Spare no efforts to please him, to enjoy him. Make him believe you
love him. After you've convinced him of your undying love and that you
cannot live without him, then drop the bomb. Tell him that you're getting a
divorce. That will really hurt him." With revenge in her eyes, she smiled
and exclaimed, "Beautiful, beautiful. Will he ever be surprised!" And she
did it with enthusiasm. Acting "as if." For two months she showed love,
kindness, listening, giving, reinforcing, sharing. When she didn't return,
Crane called. "Are you ready now to go through with the divorce.  
 
"Divorce?" she exclaimed. "Never! I discovered I really do love him." Her
actions had cha  nged her feelings. Motion resulted in emotion. The ability
to love is established not so much by fervent promise as often repeated
deeds. 
 
J. Allan Petersen 
_______________ 
 
Act As If You Do Love 
 
In his book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis wrote, "Do not waste your time
bothering whether you 'love' your neighbor act as if you did. As soon as we
do this, we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you
loved someone, you will presently come to love him. If you injure someone
you dislike, you will find yourself disliking him more. If you do him a good
turn, you will find yourself disliking him less."
C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity 
_______________ 
 
The Opening Moments of Jesus' Ministry 
 
Every four years the new president of the United States gives his inaugural
address. In it, he articulates his program or his plan of action for his
term of office. See if you recognize the President who made the following
remarks:

"With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right
as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are
in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the
battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and
cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations." -
Abraham Lincoln, 1865.

"This great nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will
prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing
we have to fear is fear itself--nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror
which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance." - Franklin
D. Roosevelt, 1933.

"And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you --
ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask
not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the
freedom of man." - John F Kennedy, 1960.

Today's Scripture is Luke's version of the opening moments of Jesus' public
ministry. We might call this his inaugural sermon.

Mickey Anders, Jesus' Mission and Ours 
_____________________________

The Future is God's Gift 
 
Let me tell you about a commencement speech that was addressed to Harvard's
Senior Class. On the morning of their graduation, seniors gather in Memorial
Church to hear the minister offer words of solace and encouragement as they
leave "the Yard" to take their places in the world. 

The 1998 senior class heard the unvarnished truth from the Rev. Peter Gomes,
minister at Harvard and the author of several books on the Bible. Doctor
Gomes took no prisoners that day. He began: "You are going to be sent out of
here for good, and most of you aren't ready to go. The president is about to
bid you into the fellowship of educated men and women and, (and here he
paused and spoke each word slowly for emphasis) you know just - how - dumb -
you - really - are." 

The senior class cheered in agreement. 

"And worse than that," Doctor Gomes continued. 
 
The rest of this illustration and many additional illustrations and sermons
for this week and the rest of the year can be accessed at www.Sermons.com.  
 
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