[Propertalk] Gospel tips - John 13:31-35 - Part 2

[Joe Parrish]

...Fritz ...had been a refugee from Germany after World War II. He came to the United States and became a steel worker in Indiana. But more than this, he was the most tireless advocate for the world's hungry people that I have ever known. A common layman, he didn't have a high school education. His own schooling in Germany had been cut short by the war, and after the war he lived for months outdoors with his friends, stealing potatoes from farmers' fields and trying not to get shot in the process. After he became established in the United States, he began working with his own congregation volunteering, organizing them, and then going to other congregations to organize and challenge them to raise money for the poor, urging, coaxing, cajoling them to look beyond their own needs and to join in God's holy labor of giving life and hope to the poor around the world. Single-handedly, over the course of 25 years, Fritz was instrumental in raising millions of dollars to feed the hungry in dozens of countries. 

http://day1.org/630-sermon_for_the_5th_sunday_in_easter

David Miller, 2001 
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"Exactly how did this one, who became what we are so we could understand more fully who God is, actually and realistically love?" 
St. Augustine has given me two clues to such a question. He once observed that Jesus loved each one he had ever met as if there were none other in all the world to love. In other words, Jesus radically individualized the affection he acted out toward others. 
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The second clue St. Augustine offers is that Jesus loved all as he loved each. The way he loved was not only individualized, but it was also incredibly universal. 

http://day1.org/464-loving_as_jesus_loved

John R. Claypool, 2004 
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Some years ago, Albert Schweitzer, who served Christ by bringing medical skills to Africa, visited Chicago.  A group of reporters cornered him on a railroad platform, seeking an interview about his self-effacing work in Africa. As they spoke, an elderly lady walked by, struggling with a heavy suitcase.  Schweitzer excused himself for a moment, gently took the woman's suitcase and accompanied her to her railway car.  When Schweitzer returned to where he had left the reporters, not a single one of them was still standing there.  They were each trying to find some elderly lady whose suitcase they could carry.

http://desperatepreacher.com/sermonbuilder/

David Rogne
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Mother Teresa used to say that "we can do no great things -- only small things with great love."

http://desperatepreacher.com/sermonbuilder/

Randy R. Quinn
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I sat with an elderly man in hospital yesterday. He was talking about going to heaven. I asked him how long he had been a Christian. "For 45 years," he replied. Then he told me how he had sat through revival meetings almost every night for one month and heard the gospel. "It went in one ear and out the other," he continued. On the final Thursday night one of the evangelists sang a song and through one line of that song God really spoke to him. I asked, "What were the words?" He recited them with all the strength that his weak frame could muster, "When you pass the last milestone on earth, where will your soul be?" That night he stayed back and asked Jesus to forgive him and to come into his life. He's nearing the last milestone but he knows where his soul will be when he ends his journey here.

http://www.nph.com/nphweb/html/pmol/webapr23.htm

Philip McAlister, 2006
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The movie and the play, GODSPELL, certainly picks up the mood of this scene well. GODSPELL shows the twelve disciples saying goodbye to Jesus. The scene is very touching. In the play and movie, there was a clown named, Pip. Jesus was saying goodbye to each of his disciples, one at a time. There were the traditional, expected, emotional hugs. Jesus finally came to Pip, the clown. Pip put out his arms to hug Jesus and say farewell, but then Pip unexpectedly turned away. Pip walked away from Jesus. Jesus stood there. Pip turned towards him but then looked away again. One more time, Pip looked at Jesus and after putting on a solid, stoic front of coolness, Pip finally broke down and ran to hug Jesus and say goodbye. It was a very touching and emotional scene. This scene was well done in GODSPELL. It was tough to say goodbye.

http://www.sermonsfromseattle.com/series_b_it_is_hard_to_say_goodbye.htm

Edward F. Markquart
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