[Propertalk] Fw: SermonWriter materials for July 18 (Proper 11C)

[Joe Parrish]

THE FOLLOWING are SermonWriter materials for July 18 (Proper 11C). They focus on the Gospel lesson, Luke 10:38-42, the story of Martha and Mary.


NO PASSWORD REQUIREMENT: We are posting these materials on the web with no password.  To access those files, you MUST use the following links.  If clicking on the link fails to work, copy the link and paste it in the address window near the top of your browser.  Then hit the ENTER key or click GO.


Microsoft Word file:  
http://www.lectionary.org/SW/07-18gf/Luke.10.38-42.doc

HTML file (web page): 
http://www.lectionary.org/SW/07-18gf/Luke.10.38-42.htm

WordPerfect file:  
http://www.lectionary.org/SW/07-18gf/Luke.10.38-42.wpd



A TIP: If you want the Word or WordPerfect files, LEFT-CLICK on the link and see what happens.  That should bring up a dialog box that asks if you want to open the file or save it.  Choose OPEN.  Then save it wherever you like on your hard drive.

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.

            Dick Donovan
           
     
            A THOUGHT ON PREACHING:  I never heard a sermon but what I got some good out of it.  However, I had some mighty close calls.  (Dr. Pierce Harris)



           
            TITLE:  Passionate Spirituality

           
            SERMON IN A SENTENCE:  Jesus calls us to passionate spirituality -- the practice of faith with joy and enthusiasm. 
           
            SCRIPTURE: Luke 10:38-42
           
            FOR MORE SERMONS ON THIS TEXT, GO TO:

            http://www.lectionary.org/SermLinks/NT/NT03luke.htm 

            Scroll down to the correct chapter and verse.  There should be links to several sermons on this text posted there.

           
            TRUE STORY:  

            The great Leopold Stokowski was conducting a dress rehearsal of Bach's "St. Matthew's Passion," when he suddenly stopped and tapped for silence.  He waited for the auditorium to become perfectly still, and then he said:
             

            "Well, I guess you know the notes well enough. 
            But the spirit is lacking. 
            I want each of you to sit down tonight with your Bible
            and read St. Matthew's account of the life of Christ. 
            Try to grasp it all. 

            Who knows -- perhaps that message is just what our listeners need
            in a time of doubt and despair. 
            Then let's come back to our performance
            and try to convey to our audience
            the meaning and inspiration of these sacred words."


            His comment surprised the musicians, but they began picking up their instruments and leaving.  Many of them did as Stokowski had advised.  They went home and read the Gospel of Matthew from beginning to end.  They struggled to understand this man Jesus.

            The following night, at the concert, they gave an inspired performance.

           
            THOUGHT PROVOKERS:   



            This age will die, not from sin, 

            but from lack of passion!



            Soren Kierkegaard



            *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *



            Little things come daily, hourly, within our reach, 

            and they are not less calculated to set forward our growth in holiness 

            than are the greater occasions which occur but rarely.  



            Moreover, fidelity in trifles, 

            and an earnest seeking to please God in little matters, 

            is a test of real devotion and love.  



            Let our aim be to please our dear Lord perfectly in little things, 

            and to attain a spirit of childlike simplicity and dependence.



            Jean Nicolas Grou



            *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *



            Fire is the chosen symbol of heaven for moral passion.  

            God is love; God is fire.  The two are one.  

            The Holy Spirit baptizes in fire.  

            Spirit-filled souls are ablaze for God.  

            They love with a love that glows.  

            They believe with a faith that kindles.  

            They serve with a devotion that consumes.  

            They hate sin with a fierceness that burns.  

            They rejoice with a joy that radiates.  

            Love is perfected in the fire of God.



            Samuel Chadwick



            *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *



            Beware of anything that competes with loyalty to Jesus Christ.  

            The greatest competitor of devotion to Jesus is service for him.



            Oswald Chambers



            *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *



            The most holy practice, the nearest to daily life, 

            and the most essential for the spiritual life, 

            is the practice of the presence of God, 

            that is to find joy in his divine company 

            and to make it a habit of life, 

            speaking humbly and conversing lovingly with him 

            at all times, every moment, 

            without rule or restriction, 

            above all at times of temptation, distress, dryness, and revulsion, 

            and even of faithlessness and sin.



            Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God
           

      HYMN STORY:  Take Time to Be Holy 

      This hymn is a good example of the Lord making more of our work than we could have expected. 

      The man who wrote the words to "Take Time to Be Holy" was neither a pastor nor a songwriter.  William Longstaff was an English businessman -- a Christian layman who took his faith seriously. 

      Hearing a sermon on the text, "Be ye holy, for I am holy," Longstaff was inspired to write a poem, "Take Time to Be Holy."  Being a good businessman, Longstaff had a practical mind.  That is reflected in this hymn, which offers many practical suggestions for becoming holy.  

      · He says, "Take time to be holy," which reflects his understanding that holiness, like every virtue, requires time and attention to develop it.  

      · He says, "Speak oft with the Lord," reflecting his personal experience that prayer deepens faith.  

      · He says, "Take time to be holy; Be calm in your soul; Each thought and each motive, Beneath His control," telling us that we can face adversity calmly if we look to Christ for guidance. 

      Longstaff managed to get his poem published in a Christian newspaper, but that was the end of it -- or so it seemed.  But as it turned out, George Stebbins, a Christian musician, had seen the poem and had clipped and filed it.  Years later, needing a hymn on the subject of holy living, he remembered the poem and set it to music.  It has been a favorite now for more than a century. 

      I don't know whether Longstaff ever knew that Stebbins had set his poem to music.  I don't know that he ever heard it sung.  I know only that he felt called to write the poem -- and that God took it from there.  When we do something good -- something for God -- we might never know the full measure of good that we have accomplished.  We can only know that God will take what we offer, great or small, and make of it a treasure. 

      NOTE:  See other hymn stories at http://www.lectionary.org/hymnstories.htm



      www.sermonwriter.com

      www.lectionary.org

      Richard Niell Donovan
     
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