[Propertalk] Fw: SermonWriter: Aug. 9 (Proper 14B) John 6:35, 41-51

[Joe Parrish]

The following are SermonWriter materials for Aug. 9 (Proper 14B). They focus 
on John 6:35, 41-51, where Jesus says, "I am the bread of life."

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<>
Dick Donovan


A THOUGHT ON PREACHING:  I would not have preachers torment their hearers, 
and detain them with long and tedious preaching. (Martin Luther)


TITLE:  Food from Home


SERMON IN A SENTENCE:  When we climb the mountain of illusion, the Eucharist 
calls us back home.


SCRIPTURE:  John 6:35, 41-51


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FOR ANOTHER SERMON ON THIS TEXT, GO TO:

http://www.lectionary.org/SermLinks/NT/NT04john.htm

Scroll down to John 6.  There is one additional sermon on this text posted 
there.


TRUE STORY:

In his book, Growing Spiritually, E. Stanley Jones tells of a guide taking 
his group through a grand cavern.  There were many beautiful stalactites 
hanging from the roof and stalagmites growing up from the floor.  The 
stalactites and stalagmites are formed by water dripping from the ceiling. 
Each drop of water, having percolated through layers of rock, had a tiny 
amount of minerals dissolved within.  As those drops of water dripped from 
the stalactites (the ones that hang from the roof), each one deposited a 
molecule or two of mineral on the stalactite or the stalagmite.  Over the 
years, those little bits of dissolved mineral formed those beautiful 
stalactites and stalagmites -- some of them many feet in length.

But the guide told them that the water traveled through the center of the 
stalactites -- not on the outer surface.  He said that when that channel 
becomes clogged, that stalactite stops growing.

Stanley Jones commented that we are like that.  Many people "are spiritual 
stalactites with channels clogged."  He went on to say, "We need perpetually 
to get rid of the things that clog mind and spirit."


THOUGHT PROVOKERS:

No person in this world attains to freedom from any slavery
except by entrance into some higher servitude.
There is no such thing as an entirely free person conceivable.

Phillips Brooks


*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Our disciplines at Church of the Saviour are that we will worship each 
Sunday.  We will have an hour of devotion each morning.  We will be in one 
of the mission groups of the church, engaged with the world at some place of 
need.  And we will tithe proportionately, beginning with a tenth of our 
income.  As I began to practice these, my faith deepened and grew and has 
ever since..

(Don't disciplines drive people away?  Some.  They attract others.)  We 
recognize this in every other area of life.  Take medical students.  They 
accept immense disciplines!  Think of what they go through in order to 
obtain their medical degree.  To think we Christians can grow in faith and 
grow into the full stature of Christ without disciplines is a kind of folly.

Elizabeth O'Connor, in Context, March 1, 1989

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Christians today bear little resemblance to those of the first century.
We twentieth-century Christians have become soft.
We have become absorbed with the world,
until it is now difficult to tell the difference
between the Christian and the worldling.
The Bible teaches that every Christian is to live a life of self-discipline.
We Christians need to tighten our belts
and harden ourselves for the trials that lie ahead.

Billy Graham


*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *


Self-discipline never means giving up anything -- 
for giving up is a loss.
Our Lord did not ask us to give up the things of earth,
but to exchange them for better things.

Fulton J. Sheen

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

I discover an arrant laziness in my soul.
For when I am to read a chapter in the Bible,
before I begin I look where it endeth.
And if it endeth not on the same side,
I cannot keep my hands from turning over the leaf,
to measure the length thereof on the other side;
if it swells to many verses, I begin in grudge.
Surely my heart is not rightly affected.
Were I truly hungry after heavenly food,
I would not complain of meat.

Scourge, Lord, this laziness of my soul;
make the reading of thy Word not a penance
but a pleasure unto me;
so I may esteem that chapter in Thy Word the best
which is the longest.

Thomas Fuller

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *



BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Barclay, William, The Daily Study Bible, "The Gospel of John," Vol. 1 
(Edinburgh: The Saint Andrew Press, 1955)

Borchert, Gerald L., New American Commentary: John 1-11, Vol. 25A 
(Nashville: Broadman Press, 1996)

Bruce, F. F., The Gospel of John (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing 
Co., 1983).

Brueggemann, Walter; Cousar, Charles B.; Gaventa, Beverly R. and Newsome, 
James D., Texts for Preaching: A Lectionary Commentary Based on the 
NRSV--Year B (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1993)

Carson, D. A., The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel of John 
(Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1991).

Craddock, Fred R.; Hayes, John H.; Holladay, Carl R.; and Tucker, Gene M., 
Preaching Through the Christian Year B (Valley Forge: Trinity Press 
International, 1993)

Gossip, Arthur John and Howard, Wilbert F., The Interpreter's Bible, Volume 
8 (Nashville: Abingdon, 1952)

Howard-Brook, Wes, Becoming the Children of God: John's Gospel and Radical 
Discipleship (New York: Maryknoll, 1994)

Hoyer, Robert J., Lectionary Bible Studies: The Year of Mark, Study Book

Kostenberger, Andreas J., Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: 
John (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2004)

Lincoln, Andrew T., Black's New Testament Commentary: The Gospel According 
to Saint John (London: Continuum, 2005)

Morris, Leon, The New International Commentary on the New Testament: The 
Gospel According to John (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 
1995).

O'Day, Gail R., The New Interpreter's Bible, Volume IX (Nashville: Abingdon, 
1995)

Ridderbos, Herman (translated by John Vriend), The Gospel of John: A 
Theological Commentary (Grand Rapids:  William B. Eerdmans Publishing 
Company, 1997)

Sloyan, Gerald, "John," Interpretation (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1988)

Smith, D. Moody, Jr., Abingdon New Testament Commentaries: John (Nashville: 
Abingdon, 1999)

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