[Propertalk] Thoughts for sermons - Advent 4, Part 1

[Joe Parrish]

Remember how the writer Rabelais joked. He said, "I never sleep comfortably except when I am at a sermon." The reason we sleep is to dream. The reason we sleep is to dream. The reason we have relationships is so that we will have someone who will believe our dreams.

http://day1.org/1070-believe_in_the_dreams_of_the_person_you_love

Samuel G. Candler
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It did not matter what the world said.  Ridicule and derision could be carried with the belief that the pain and the hardship were worth it.  The life of this child was too valuable to forsake.  Anything would be endured so that this child would be heard and known and shared with the world.
Churches are not made up of building or programs.  They are not measured by the size of the budget or the dulcet tones of the choir.  Instead, wherever two or more come together with the understanding and belief that there is a life and message so precious and so wonderful that anything can be endured so that all may share in the joy of this news, then there is a church.

http://day1.org/2387-the_blind_leap

Daniel P. Matthews, Jr.
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Do you know that you have only eleven shopping days before Christmas? Do you know that you only have eleven more days to spend eleven billion dollars? Do you know that during the twenty-five days of Christmas that we Americans will spend twenty-five billion dollars? Do you know that this is the biggest spending binge of the year for the American economy? Do you know that many corporations make fifty percent of their profits during the lucrative Christmas shopping season? 
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...we estimate that Christ was born somewhere between 6-4 BC.  
Also, there was an unusual conjunction of the planets Jupiter and Saturn in 7 BC.  You can see a replica of the Christmas sky at many planetariums during this time of the year and at a planetarium, you will see this unusual movement between Jupiter and Saturn that many people think may have been the star of the magi. So, Christ was born in about 7-4 BC.  If you type in "Jupiter, Saturn and the birth of Christ" in the Google search engine, you will find more than 10,000 sites dedicated to this astronomical research for the star of Bethlehem. 
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In Carthage, there was a man by the name of Hippolyitus, living in about the year 220 CE.  He was the father of confirmation; that is, he originated a three-year study program after which people could be baptized.  Well, Hippolytus, a great theologian, believed that Christ died on March 25th, in the year 29 CE.  He believed he had knowledge of that fact.  He also believed that Jesus was conceived on the same day he died, that is, on March 25th.  So if Jesus was conceived on March 25th, he was born on ...December 25th.  In other words, the Savior of the world was born on the same day that the world itself was born. 

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

Edward F. Markquart
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The purpose of the story for today is not to tell us that Joseph was religious or righteous. The primary purpose of the story today is to tell us that Joseph was not the biological father of Jesus.  That is the point of the story. Joseph was not the biological father of Jesus. Joseph was the legal father. Joseph was the adopted father. But he was not the biological father of Jesus and that is what the story is all about. 
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In his prayer life, Jesus always called God, "abba," which is translated papa or father.
Do you realize that in the history of civilization, nobody had ever called God, "Father," in prayer until Jesus of Nazareth did? In the history of the world, nobody had ever called God, "Father," in prayer. Jesus did this all the time. "Abba" is the common address that Jesus used when calling on God in prayer. The story of the virgin birth reaches the same conclusion, as do the stories of his prayer life; that God is the Father of Jesus.

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

Edward F. Markquart
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...it was clear that not all was well with "Romeo and Juliette."  They went to opposite ends of the large sofa in my office and plunked themselves down. They sat silently -- looking glum. It was clear I was going to have to jump start the conversation for these two usually bubbly people. 
"What's up?" I tendered.

She glares at him, "You tell him!"

"I gave her her Christmas present."

"That's a bad thing?" I respond.

She continues, "Tell him what you gave me!"

"Let me explain." He's obviously wounded. "I gave her the gift early because she needed it..."

"You gave me a set of tires!" she blurts out!"

"They were Michelins!" he responds, "Sheess!"  

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http://www.lectionarysermons.com/ADV4-98.html

John Jewell, 1998
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The Christmas stories in the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Luke are not meant to be literal history, like, let us say, detailed descriptions of the Battle of Gettysburg. Rather they are theological stories designed to tell us that with the birth of Jesus a new phase of the history of humankind had begun. 

http://www.agreeley.com/hom10/dec19.htm

Andrew M. Greeley, 1999
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