[Propertalk] Fwd: Sermon Resources for March 7

[Joe Parrish]

Forwarded:

ermons for Lent 3:
     Luke 13:1-9 - "God Doesn't Ask a Fig Tree to Produce Bananas"
    Isaiah 55:1-9  - "Live and Learn" by Leonard Sweet
Luke 13, the sermon titled "God Doesn't Ask a Fig Tree
o Produce Bananas"
A man borrowed a book from an acquaintance. As he read through it, he was
ntrigued to find parts of the book underlined with the letters YBH
ritten in the margin. When he returned the book to the owner, he asked
hat the YBH meant. The owner replied that the underlined paragraphs were
ections of the book that he basically agreed with. They gave him hints on
ow to improve himself and pointed out truths that he wished to
ncorporate into his life. However, the letters YBH stood for "Yes, but
ow?"
Those three letters could writ on the margins of ours souls: "I ought to
now how to take better care of myself, but how?" "I know I ought to spend
ore time in scripture reading and prayer, but how?" "I know I ought to be
ore sensitive to others, more loving of my spouse, more understanding of
he weaknesses of others, but how?" These are all good qualities and we
now that, but how can we acquire them? As Christian people we know the
ind of life we ought to live, and most of us have the best of intentions
o do so, but how? We are afraid because we know where the road paved with
nly good intentions leads!
This morning we hear Jesus' parable of the fig tree, telling us to repent
nd bear good fruit. We know what the Christian life requires of us and
et, if we are honest with ourselves, we also know how far short we fall.
o the question that confronts us this morning is: "Yes, but how?"
It's a dilemma that has confronted God's people throughout the ages. Even
aint Paul found himself trapped. In Romans 7 Paul writes: It seems to be
 fact of life that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what
s wrong. I love to do God's will so far as my new (redeemed Christian)
ature is concerned; but there is something else deep within me, in my
ower nature, that is at war with my mind and wins the fight and makes me
 slave to the sin that is still within me. In my mind, I want to be God's
illing servant, but instead I find myself enslaved to sin. So you see how
t is; my new life (the redeemed life in Christ) tells me to do right, but
he old nature that is still inside me (my sinful human self) loves to
in. Oh, what a terrible predicament I'm in! Who will free me from this
lavery to sin? Thank God! It has already been done by Jesus Christ our
ord. He has set me free!
"Repent," Jesus says. "Acknowledge your sinfulness." That's the first step
n beginning to live the Christian life. None of us is without fault. And
et how difficult it is for us to admit that. We know better than to
penly admit our wrongs. If we want to get ahead in this world and be
ccepted by others, it's generally better to conceal our shortcomings and
ut on a good front for others.
Who goes into a job interview and declares, "I have to tell you. I have a
abit of missing work, of criticizing my supervisors and others, and I
njoy listening to office gossip?" Who goes on a date and confesses to the
ther person, "Listen. I have to tell you I tend to be difficult to live
ith and I can be a real bore at times"?
However imperfect we may be, we've learned from life around us that it's
etter not to parade our imperfections out in public. As the little girl
aid to her classmate who had to sit in the corner, "To err is human, but
o admit it is just plain stupid!"
How ironic it is then, that Jesus would tell us to repent. Instead of
ffering a word of support and understanding for our all-too-human
endency to cover up our wrongdoings, Jesus tells us to disclose the evil
ithin us, to admit that we have failed. The apostle John tells us the
ame thing very clearly when he writes, "If we say we have no sin, we
eceive ourselves and the truth is not in us."
Whoever we are, whatever we do, we all share one thing in common and that
s that we are sinful. Saint Augustine once wrote, "Whatever we are, we
re not what we ought to be." Mark Twain, with his characteristic sense of
umor, tells us how he understands that when he wrote, "Man was made at
he end of the week, when God was....
The rest of this sermon following the outline above can be obtained by
oining www.eSermons.com.
______________________
Isaiah 55, the sermon titled "Live and Learn"
When Moses appeared before Pharaoh, demanding that the Egyptian god-king
let my people go," he threw down his staff in Pharaoh's face and it was
iraculously transformed into a roiling, writhing serpent. Pretty
mpressive, right?
Well, some of the servants and royal attendants surely gasped in
mazement. But one group of onlookers was completely bored. Who were they?
he royal magicians. They snickered and summarily dismissed such a basic
arlor trick.
Trained magicians - whether in the court of Ramses or onstage at some Las
egas venue - are the last people to actually "believe" in magic, in
iracles, or in any kind of paranormal mystery. Magicians know too much.
hey know "magic" is tricks and techniques, smoke and mirrors.
As each new plague swept over the land, it was explained away by Pharaoh's
ll-knowing magician-advisors. After all, they knew everything there was
o know about magic. Unfortunately for all of Egypt's first-borns, they
new nothing about God.
In the first "Men In Black" movie, Will Smith ("J") at first refuses to
elieve Tommy Lee Jones ("K") that the earth is playing host to thousands
f creatures from other planets. K dismisses J's "knowledge":
Fifteen hundred years ago everyone KNEW the world was the center of the
niverse, five hundred years ago everyone KNEW the earth was flat, and
ifteen minutes ago you KNEW we were alone on this planet. Imagine what
ou'll KNOW tomorrow!
What do you really know?
If you've ever been involved in teaching, whether it is teaching history
o a room full of bored eighth graders, or teaching dog obedience to a
unch of frisky pups and their masters, or teaching a Lenten Bible study,
ou quickly come to one conclusion: the more you endeavor to become
earned, the more you define yourself a learner.
The more we "know," the more embarrassingly obvious it becomes how much we
ave to learn..
The rest of Leonard Sweet's sermon can be obtained by joining 
ww.Sermons.com
__________________________
Our Chaotic Life
This notice appeared in the window of a coat store in Nottingham, England:
We have been established for over 100 years and have been pleasing and
ispleasing customers ever since. We have made money and lost money,
uffered the effects of coal nationalization, coat rationing, government
ontrol and bad payers. We have been cussed and discussed, messed about,
ied to, held up, robbed and swindled. The only reason we stay in business
s to see what happens next."
Unknown
__________________
Becoming What We Are
Somerset Maugham said it best in his autobiography, Summing Up, "I knew
hat I had no lyrical quality, a small vocabulary, little gift of
etaphor. The original and striking simile never occurred to me. Poetic
lights...were beyond my powers. On the other hand, I had an acute power
f observation, and it seemed to me that I could see a great many things
hat other people missed. I could put down in clear terms what I saw...I
new that I should never write as well as I could wish, but I thought,
ith pains, that I could arrive at writing as well as my natural defects
llowed." Somerset Maugham discovered the secret of genius.
The point is that life does not ask us to become what we are not. The fig
ree was only required to produce figs. No more. You and I are asked only
o accomplish what our natural gifts allow, but we are asked to accomplish
ust that.
King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com
_______________________________________
Turning a Life Around Begins with the Christ Event
The autobiography of G. Stanley Jones is titled A Song of Ascent, and is
onsidered to be one of the spiritual classics. Jones was a great man: a
issionary to India, a friend to Gandhi, a tireless world traveler, and a
reat writer and speaker.
Now, what is amazing to me is that this book was actually his third
ttempt at an autobiography. And he was 83 at the time. He had actually
ritten two previous books but had been unwilling to publish them. The
irst, he said, was too filled with the little events of his life --
hings he judged not worth telling. In the second attempt, he tried to
ake the events of his life and to use them to philosophize about life in
eneral. But even this, he decided, was not the right focus. The third
ime, he determined, he was going to begin with Jesus, and that's what he
id. You see, what he discovered after two bad attempts was that he had
een working backwards; he had been working from events to the Christ
vent. And now, in his third attempt, he found he had it wrong. As he
ould say in his introduction to that third book: "Christ has been, and
s, to me the Event.
There is a story that Stanley tells about an African, who, after he was
aptized, changed his name, calling himself 'After.' What he was saying
as everything happened 'after' he met Christ. Stanley said that that was
escription of his own life. Everything that happened to me happened to me
fter I met Christ.
In his first two attempts, said Jones, he had been too events-centered and
ot enough Event-centered. In the third and successful book he
oncentrated on the Event and worked back to the events, understanding his
wn life in the light of Christ.
Glenn E. Ludwig, Walking To - Walking With, CSS Publishing. Adapted.
__________________
Using Up the Ground
Soil was at a premium in Israel. It was not unusual for a vineyard owner
o give a little bit of his soil up for a fruit tree but the tree took up
he best soil, the deepest soil, and required the most water. A fig tree
oesn't grow fruit until three years after planting. The owner in this
tory, had given the tree "due season" to bear fruit and yet the tree bore
o fruit. It took up valuable space and resources. The owner questioned
hy the tree was allowed to "even use up ground."
God had given the Israelites the choicest ground. Their land possessed
verything necessary to make themselves a great nation, indeed, a light to
ll nations. They were strategically positioned to send the fruit of God
orth and south, east and west; but instead, in-fighting continued to make
hem a worthless fruit tree.
Everyone one of us and all of our churches will have to answer (from God's
erspective) this same question; "Why does it even use up the ground?"
Jerry Goebel, Why Does HE Even Use up the Ground?
______________________
Becoming Christian
Garrison Keillor warns us, "You can become a Christian by going to church
ust as about easily as you can become an automobile by sleeping in a
arage." What we're speaking of is the danger of presumed spiritual
ecurity. Our parable says that we're not called just to be here. It is a
lear warning against a fruitless existence in the light of God's grace
iven to us.
Wiley Stephens, Missing Is Not Final
_______________________
Not Nearly as Big a Man
It seems that the University of Tennessee coach bought a bolt of cloth
hinking he would have a suit made out of it. He took the material to his
ailor in Knoxville where the tailor measured him, examined the bolt of
loth, did some computations on a piece of paper, and said, "I'm sorry,
oach, there just isn't enough material in this bolt to make a suit for
ou." The coach was disappointed, but he threw the bolt of cloth in the
runk of his car, wondering what he was going to do with it.
A couple of weeks later he was in Tuscaloosa, Alabama -- the home of the
rimson Tide -- arch enemies of the Vols. He was on his way to the coast
or a vacation. Driving down the main street in Tuscaloosa, he noticed a
ailor shop, which reminded him that he had that bolt of cloth in the
runk. He stopped, thinking he would give it a try. He told the tailor he
ad bought this bolt of cloth and wondered if he could do anything with
t. The tailor measured him, measured the bolt of cloth, did some
omputations. Finally he said, "Coach, I can make you a suit out of this
olt. What's more, I can make you an extra pair of pants. And if you
eally want it, I can give you a vest out of this, too." The coach was
umbfounded. "I don't understand," he said. "My tailor in Knoxville told
e he couldn't even make one suit out of this bolt of cloth." The tailor
aid, "Coach, here in Tuscaloosa, you are not nearly as big a man as you
re in Knoxville."
I tell the story to make the point that things are not always what they
eem. Our Scripture lesson -- the parable of the fig tree -- is clearly a
arable of judgment. But at the very heart of it is a marvelous word of
race.
Maxie Dunnam, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com
_________________________________________
Never Give Up!
n the middle of WWII on October 29, 1941 Winston Churchill delivered a
hort address at the Harrow School. England had been through some of its
arkest days. But Churchill was equal to the task. He said to the
tudents:
You cannot tell from appearances how things will go. Sometimes
magination makes things out far worse than they are; yet without
magination not much can be done. Those people who are imaginative see
any more dangers than perhaps exist; certainly many more than will
appen; but then they must also pray to be given that extra courage to
arry this far-reaching imagination. But for everyone, surely, what we
ave gone through in this period - I am addressing myself to the School -
urely from this period of ten months this is the lesson: never give in,
ever give in, never, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small,
arge or petty - never give in except to convictions of honor and good
ense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming
ight of the enemy. We stood all alone a year ago, and to many countries
t seemed that our account was closed, we were finished. All this
radition of ours, our songs, our School history, this part of the history
f this country, were gone and finished and liquidated.
Churchill continues:] Very different is the mood today. Britain, other
ations thought, had drawn a sponge across her slate. But instead our
ountry stood in the gap. There was no flinching and no thought of giving
n; and by what seemed almost a miracle to those outside these Islands,
hough we ourselves never doubted it, we now find ourselves in a position
here I say that we can be sure that we have only to persevere to
onquer."
he church at times forgets that this is also God's message. God has
romised never to give up on us. Old Testament and New Testaments
ogether, are a record of how God never, never, never, gave up.
 Adam and Eve disobeyed the very First Rule. But God never gave up.
 Abraham wandered, and Sarah laughed. But God never gave up.
 Moses hid and shook with fear. But God never gave up.
 Saul went insane. But God never gave up.
 David plotted against Uriah. But God never gave up.
 Ahaz sold out to Assyria. But God never gave up.
 Israel fell into pieces. But God never gave up.
 The Jewish people became exiles. But God never gave up.
 John the Baptist was beheaded. But God never gave up.
 Peter denied he even knew him. But God never gave up.
 The disciples all ran away. But God never gave up.
God never, never, never gave up and he has not given up today!
Brett  Blair, www.eSermons.com. The full speech can be viewed at:
ttp://www.winstonchurchill.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=423
__________________
He Has One More Move
A story is told of former world chess champion Bobby Fischer when he was a
oung boy. His mother took him to a museum, and he happened upon a
ainting that caught his eye. It depicted a bedraggled, exhausted older
an slumped over a chessboard. Few of his pieces were left on the board,
nd he was conceding the game. On the other side of the board was his
resh and snappy opponent, Satan. The painting was entitled Checkmate.
lready a chess prodigy, young Bobby Fischer stood looking at the painting
or a long time. His mother soon tired of it and moved around the
emainder of the gallery, finally returning to find Bobby still entranced
y that painting. "Come now, Bobby, we have to go." Bobby Fischer did not
top staring, thinking.
The conclusion to this illustration and for many additional illustrations
nd sermons for the Lent 3 can be accessed at www.Sermons.com.


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