[Propertalk] Fw: Sermon Resources for December 13th

[Joe Parrish]

Sermons for Advent 3:

     Luke 3:7-18 - "The Divine Opportunity"
     Luke 3:7-18 - "Every Kiss Begins with K" by Leonard Sweet

Luke 3, the sermon titled "The Divine Opportunity"

Opportunity comes with so many different faces that we often don't
recognize it. That's probably why we sometimes miss its call. A previous
generation said that opportunity comes dressed in overalls. And they were
largely right, for nothing succeeds like hard work. Our generation thinks
that opportunity comes with a college diploma. It may, but there's no
guarantee.

The divine opportunity comes in what is, to our human eyes, the most
unlikely garb of all. It's no wonder we don't recognize it; or that,
recognizing it, we resist it. This Advent season is an especially good
time to experience the divine opportunity. Any time is God's season; but
because you and I find certain settings and circumstances especially
hospitable to religious experience, Advent and Lent are particularly
attractive.

The first Advent preacher, John the Baptizer, offered opportunity in a
compelling, almost ferocious way. When you read his words, you don't think
he's offering opportunity; I expect that if we had heard him in person, we
would have been even more doubtful. William Barclay said that John's
message "was not good news; it was news of terror" (The Gospel of Luke,
Westminster John Knox Press, p. 28). I understand what Professor Barclay
was saying, but I see it differently. It seems to me that good news must
sometimes come dressed in rough clothing.

That was surely the nature of John's approach. When we read the brief
gospel summaries of his messages, we wonder why people went to so much
trouble to hear him. Were they masochists courting abuse, or did they
perhaps hope to hear him thunder against the sins of their neighbors? One
way or another, the crowds flocked to him. And largely, I think, because
they felt, in the integrity of his message, an opportunity which they had
sought for a long time. His was a message of judgment; but in the judgment
was opportunity. And opportunity was wrapped up in the word repent.

1.      John's Message of Judgment and Opportunity.
2.      The Opportunity of Repentance.

The rest of this sermon following the outline above can be obtained by
joining www.eSermons.com.
_______________________


Luke 3:7-18, a sermon titled "Every Kiss Begins with K

We're still in Advent, but who can resist singing Christmas carols? They
are either fun, boisterous and bouncy. Or they are sentimental and sweet.

"Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," "Deck The
Halls" fit the fun, boisterous and bouncy theme. "Away in a Manger" and
"Silent Night" fit into the sentimental and sweet category. Although I do
admit that as much as I love Christmas music, by about now in the Advent
season I start identifying with the 17th century English poet John Donne:
"I need thy thunder, O God; thy songs do not suffice me."

But there is one well known carol that defies all categories: "We Three
Kings of Orient Are." [If you can get your choir to sing it here, or
invite the congregation to sing it, all the better.] It is cast in a minor
key. Its message is not very perky. It sounds different from all the other
Christmas music. And if you really listen to the words, some of them are
downright downers.

The carol tells of journey and mission of the "magi." We will celebrate in
liturgy their star-led journey in January, but since Christmas giving
traces its origins to their gifts, and this sermon is about gift-giving,
we need to say a few things this third Sunday in Advent about those better
known as "wise men" or the "three kings." The song was composed in 1857 by
the Rev. John Henry Hopkins for the Christmas pageant that year at General
Theological Seminary in New York City. But why is it so different, in
tone, in timbre, in theme?

Perhaps it is because those "kings" themselves were so different from the
rest of the Christmas crowd that this carol strikes such an unusual chord.

The rest of Leonard Sweet's sermon can be obtained by joining 
www.Sermons.com
___________________________

Seeing God

There is a story going around about a man who wanted to see and hear God.
So he went out to a hilltop and yelled and pleaded with God. "Speak to
me!" And a bird sang. And disappointed he again begged God to speak to him
and all he heard was the sound of children playing in the distance.
"Please God, touch me!" he cried and the wind blew across his cheek. And
discouraged at not having his plea answered the man prayed, "God, show
yourself to me!" And a butterfly flew across his path. And when he got
home, convinced that God had forsaken him, his daughter ran out to greet
him, but he felt abandoned by God.

Now hearing a story like this, it is easy to see God. But in this story
this man was as certain about what it means to see and hear God as we are
about the end of the stories we heard today.

Sally Sedgwick
____________________________________

Time to Act

Once the eminent philosopher John Dewey found his son in the bathroom. The
floor was flooded and he was mopping furiously trying to contain the water
in that room, keeping the damage to a minimum. The professor began
thinking, trying to understand the deeper ramifications of the situation.
After a few moments, the son said, "Dad, this is not the time to
philosophize. It is time to mop!"

Baptism is our statement that we are ready to stop philosophizing and
ready to start mopping. Zig Ziglar reminds us that the largest locomotive
in the world can be held in its tracks while standing still simply by
placing a single one-inch block of wood in front of each of the eight
drive wheels. The same locomotive moving at 100 miles per hour can crash
through a wall of steel reinforced concrete five feet thick, but it must
be moving first.

King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.sermons.com
________________________________________


The Wayward Bus

In John Steinbeck's story "The Wayward Bus" a dilapidated old bus takes a
cross country shortcut on its journey to Los Angeles, and gets stuck in
the mud. While the drivers go for assistance, the passengers take refuge
in a cave. It is a curious company of people and it is obvious that the
author is attempting to get across the point that these people are lost
spiritually as well as literally. As they enter into this cave, the author
calls the reader's attention to the fact that as they enter they must pass
a word that has been scrawled with paint over the entrance. The word is
repent. Although Steinbeck calls that to the reader's attention it is
interesting that none of the passengers pay any attention to it
whatsoever.

All too often this is our story. Yet, John the Baptist calls upon us to
take our sinning seriously. Why? Because God does? Repentance is not just
changing our minds, or feeling sorry for something that we have done, or
even making bold resolves that we will never participate in certain
conduct again. Instead, repentance means to turn around and go in another
direction. What John the Baptist wanted his audience to hear was: Turn
your life toward this one called Messiah. This is not negative or
down-faced. Rather, it breaks the chains of oppression and death that hold
us back.

Repent Your Way to a Merry Christmas, Brett Blair and Staff
________________________________

Preparation

A few years ago as the world watched the beginning game of the World
Series in San Francisco there was suddenly an interruption of the opening
interview. The screen blinked and went blank. When the program resumed: A
Special News Bulletin. The San Francisco metropolitan area had experienced
a serious earthquake. We all watched the live pictures as the huge fire in
the Marina area burned. A remote camera crew was there and we saw the
firemen fighting the fires. The scene I remember the most, however, was a
group of people standing around just looking at the destruction and
looking at the fire. All of a sudden a cop came up to the crowd and yelled
out to them: What are you people doing just standing there. You must get
prepared immediately. Go home and fill your bathtubs up with water. Be
prepared to live without city services for 72 hours. The sun will set in
another hour and your time is running out. Go hence and get prepared.

A long, long time ago a man came on the scene by the name of John the
Baptist. John's message was not told in soft monotones, but rather there
was an urgent screaming in his voice. "Why are you not getting ready?" he
yelled to the Hebrews. Why are you just standing there. Don't you see that
your time is running out on you. You need to be preparing the way. Making
the path straight. Go and get ready.

That message may sound very strange to our modern ears, but the simple
truth is that is Jesus were standing here in the flesh this morning and we
asked him to give a list of the preachers who were most instrumental upon
him, he would have listed the name of John the Baptist. There is just
simply no question about that. There was no single human being who was
more influential upon the life and career of Jesus than John.

Staff, www.eSermons.com.
__________________

Christian Hope Had Changed His Life

Some years ago a military airplane crashed at Sonderstrom Air Force Base
in Greenland. Twenty-two people were killed. The runway and the nearby
fields were strewn with bodies. It was a tragic and horrible moment. There
was only one chaplain on the base at the time. and the entire burden was
laid on him to bring comfort and the Word of Christ to a shocked community
staggered by the horrendous accident. But there was little time to mourn
that day. The grisly task of gathering up and identifying the bodies
needed to be done.

And so, the chaplain, along with a young lieutenant who had been assigned
the duties of a mortuary officer and a group of volunteers went about the
awful business of picking up the mutilated bodies and trying to identify
the dead, so that their families and loved ones back home could be
notified. It was a heart-breaking and exhausting task, but it had to be
done. The people worked in shocked silence well into the night until they
almost dropped from fatigue. When every last remnant of death had been
picked up, they each went silently to their individual rooms.

That night, after midnight, there was a knock on the chaplain's door.
Outside stood the young lieutenant, the Mortuary Officer. He said nothing.
He just stood there and wept. After some moments, the young lieutenant
spoke through his tears and he said to the chaplain, "As we were picking
up the bodies today, I realized something. I realized that the only other
people out there with us were the people who go to church here. I have
always been an unbeliever, and I used to ridicule these same people who
were out there with us. Yet they are the only persons who would, or
perhaps could, do what we had to do today. It must have been their
Christian spirit that could help them see beyond the horror to the hope."

That tragic day turned around the life of that young lieutenant. As he had
admitted, he had never been religious, had seldom gone to church except
for weddings and funerals, but from that time on he was a new man. Christ
was born in his heart. From that time forward, he took an active part in
the Christian ministry of that base. Then he did an unheard thing - he
extended his tour of duty in Greenland for an extra year. He was the first
person in the history of that base to do that. He did it because he wanted
to be able to tell others the story of how the power of the Christian Hope
had changed his life.

If you want to give your loved ones a great Christmas present this year,
give them the gift of Christian Hope. On page after page of the New
Testament we find it: the Good News that God will win, that nothing can
defeat Him; that ultimately God and goodness will have the victory and
that when we put our hope in Him, nothing, not even death, can separate us
from His watch care and His love and His triumph. Once each year,
Christmas comes along to renew our hope and to remind us that the darkness
of this world cannot overcome the light of the world.

James W. Moore, ChristianGlobe Sermons
_________________________

Blessed Are They Who Find Christmas.

Blessed are they who find Christmas in the age-old story of a babe born in
Bethlehem. To them a little child will always mean hope and promise to a
troubled world.

Blessed are they who find Christmas in the Christmas star. Their lives may
ever reflect its beauty and light.

Blessed are they who find Christmas in the joy of giving lovingly to
others. They shall share the gladness and joy of the shepherds and wise
men of old.

Blessed are they who find Christmas in the fragrant greens, the cheerful
holly and soft flicker of candles. To them shall come bright memories of
love and happiness.

Blessed are they who find Christmas in the happy music of Christmas time.
They shall have a song of joy ever singing in their hearts.

Blessed are they who find Christmas in the message of the Prince of Peace.
They will ever strive to help him bring peace on earth, goodwill to men
(author unknown).

James T. Garrett, God's Gift, CSS Publishing Company
____________________

Rich Is What You Have Beside You

Back during World War II, four young American soldiers who had been on the
front lines of battle for some time, were sent back away from the fighting
to a small French village for a little R & R. When they arrived safely in
the village, they suddenly realized that it was Christmas Eve. They began
to discuss how they would like to spend Christmas. One of the soldiers
said, "You know, as we were coming into town earlier today, I noticed an
orphanage on the outskirts of the village. Why don't we go there in the
morning and take some Christmas joy to those children?" The others liked
the idea and the more they talked about it, the more excited they became.
So they went out and bought all kinds of toys and candy and clothing, food
and books and games, and early the next morning, they showed up at the
front door of the orphanage with wonderful Christmas presents for all the
children.

The orphanage director was pleased and all the children were delighted as
they opened their gifts. All the children that is, except for one little
girl who stood quietly off to the side. She appeared to be 5 or 6 years
old and her face looked so very sad. One of the American soldiers noticed
that she was not participating, and he asked the orphanage director about
the little girl.

The conclusion to this illustration and for many additional illustrations
and sermons for Advent 3 can be accessed at www.Sermons.com.