[Propertalk] Fw: SermonWriter: Nov. 29 (Advent 1C) Luke 21:25-36

[Joe Parrish]

The following are SermonWriter materials for Nov. 29 (Advent 1C). They focus on Luke 21:25-36, where Jesus talks about his Second Coming.


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Microsoft Word file:
http://www.lectionary.org/SW/11-29be/Luke_21.25-36.doc

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http://www.lectionary.org/SW/11-29be/Luke_21.25-36.htm

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http://www.lectionary.org/SW/11-29be/Luke_21.25-36.wpd


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If that doesn't work, RIGHT-CLICK on the link.  You should get a sub-menu.  Hopefully, "Save Target As" will be one of the options.  Click on that.  Then save the file wherever you want on your hard drive.


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Dick Donovan


A THOUGHT ON PREACHING:  Life with Christ is an alternative, not a complement, to other so-called "lifestyles." The Christian life demands amendment of life precisely because it incorporates people into God's life, first gaining their trust through the forgiveness of sin. (Ellen Charry -- courtesy of Fr. Charles Hoffacker)


TITLE:  Your Redemption Draweth Nigh!


SERMON IN A SENTENCE:  Jesus' promise is that, for the faithful, his Second Coming will be a great moment of redemption -- a setting right of a world gone wrong.

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SERMON:

In 1898, H.G. Wells published a science fiction novel entitled The War of the Worlds.  It depicted an invasion of England by Martians -- octopus-like creatures -- equipped with ray guns which they used to incinerate people who went out to meet them.

Forty years later (1939), Orson Welles adapted the idea for radio.  Instead of a regular radio drama, Welles envisioned the broadcast as a regular program interrupted by news bulletins about a Martian invasion at Grover's Mill, New Jersey.  These fake news bulletins told of tentacled Martians incinerating people with Heat-Rays.

The governor called out the state militia, which found itself hopelessly outclassed by the Martians.  A news reporter told of the Martians invading New York City, and said that poison gas was spreading across the city and people were "falling like flies."  Then his voice went silent as he succumbed to the gas.  Finally, a ham radio operator was heard saying, "2X2L calling CQ.  Isn't there anyone on the air?  Isn't there anyone on the air?  Isn't there... anyone?"

Many listeners, who tuned in too late to hear the beginning of the program, thought that they were listening to a real newscast describing a real Martian invasion.  People panicked, especially in New Jersey and New York City -- the focus of the attacks.

However, panic also spread across the country.  In the little town of Concrete, Washington, an electrical substation exploded with a bang and flash of light, plunging the town into darkness.  People who had been listening to the program gathered their families and headed for the hills.  One Catholic man decided that he had to get absolution from his priest in Bellingham.  He went to the gas station to fill his tank and drove off without paying, telling the attendant that it wouldn't make any difference, because "everyone is going to die."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_of_the_Worlds
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_of_the_Worlds_(radio)#Public_reaction

I tell that story, because it captures the mood that people most often associate with Jesus' Second Coming -- a mood of disaster and panic.

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FOR MORE SERMONS ON THIS TEXT, GO TO:
http://www.lectionary.org/SermLinks/NT/NT03luke.htm

Scroll down to the correct chapter and verse.


THOUGHT PROVOKERS:

We are not a post-war generation,
but a pre-peace generation.
Jesus is coming.

Corrie ten Boom

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Christ designed that the day of his coming
should be hid from us,
that being in suspense,
we might be as it were upon the watch.

Martin Luther

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

The primitive church thought more about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ
than about death or about heaven.
The early Christians were looking
not for a cleft in the ground called a grave,
but for a cleavage in the sky called Glory.
They were watching not for the "undertaker"
but for the "Uppertaker."

Alexander Maclaren

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

On being told that the end of the world was coming, Ralph Waldo Emerson replied, "The end of the world will not affect me; I can live without it."

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

The immense step from the Babe at Bethlehem
to the living, reigning triumphant Lord Jesus,
returning to earth for his own people --
that is the glorious truth proclaimed throughout Scripture.
As the bells ring out the joys of Christmas,
may we also be alert for the final trumpet that will announce his return,
when we shall always be with him.

Alan Redpath

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HYMN STORY:  Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence

The origins of this hymn are lost in the haze of antiquity.  It probably comes from the fifth century and probably originated in the Orthodox churches -- but those are simply our best guesses.
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NOTE:  See other hymn stories at http://www.lectionary.org/hymnstories.htm


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