[Propertalk] Fwd: Sermon Resources for September 12 - Part 1

Tue Sep 7 20:58:20 EDT 2010

Sermons for Proper 19: 
 Luke 15:1-10 – “Seeking the Lost”
 Luke 15:1-10 – “Compound Interest Your Life” by Leonard Sweet

Luke 15 - the sermon titled "Seeking the Lost" 

The Gospel reading begins with these words: Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to Jesus. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, "This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them." (Luke 15:1-2)

That is the framework for all that follows in chapter fifteen: the story of a shepherd and his sheep, of a widow and her coins, of a man and his two sons. It is important to remember the situation which prompted Jesus to tell these stories and to ask - "whom do I identify with in this situation?" That's what we do when we read a novel or watch a movie. We tend to identify with someone in it. So, which group or character do you identify with in today's gospel reading? 
With Jesus, the good guy, who tries to straighten out the religious folks? Who calls into question all they believe? Who reaches out and loves everyone, especially the most unloved?
With the Pharisees, the ones who rightly saw the dangers of too close an association with the "wrong crowd." For what parent has not worried about a child falling in with the "wrong crowd"? But here the Pharisees go beyond looking out for people. They are convinced that they and they alone understand God and man's relationship to Him. They are right and no one else.

With the tax collectors and sinners, those traitors, the tax collectors who worked for the Romans, robbing their own people? With the sinners, the people of the land who never attended synagogue and seemed to lack even basic morality?

1. Which one are you?
2. What ought we to do?

The rest of this sermon following the outline above can be obtained by joining www.eSermons.com.
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Luke 15 - -the sermon titled “Compound Interest Your Life” by Leonard Sweet 

Albert Einstein is noted for his work in the field of physics. That’s where he got his Nobel Prize in 1921. But one of his most famous quotes is one that appears to have nothing to do with physics. Einstein is reported to have said, when asked what is the most powerful force in the universe, 

“The most powerful force in the universe is compound interest.” 

What is “the secret of life?” When asked that question at a men’s retreat, “Mike,” a successful entrepreneur whose start-up company went public, making him very wealthy very young, smiled confidently and replied without hesitation: “compound interest. Compound Interest is the 8th Wonder of the World.”

“Mike” wasn’t just a rich man gloating over his gold. “Mike” has used his personal wealth to lavishly fund “orphan disease” medical research (money for deadly diseases that were not well known or widespread). He has built a series of Christian schools in rural areas. And he supports his community in multitudes of silent ways. But “Mike” knew he would never have to worry about “making” money again, only giving money away, because his wealth was “making” it for him through the monetary magic of compound interest. For “Mike,” compound interest was the secret of an unself-interest life, a “Jesus is Lord” life. For Mike compound interest is about giving more, not getting more. 

Compound Interest occurs when interest added to the principal itself earns interest. Here is the magic formula for compound interest

A = P (1 + r/n)nt 

P = Principal
r = annual rate of interest (as a decimal)
t = number of years
A = amount of money accumulated, including interest.
n = number of times interest is compounded per year

John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist tribe, organized that formula into a working prescription for a compound interest life:

Make all you can.
Save all you can.
Give all you can. 

For example, if you were to plan ahead for your church or charity, and wanted to provide them an annuity, you could set aside $10 weekly. At 10% interest, that would amount to a gift of $3,370 in 5 years, and a gift of $99,149 in 30 years. That’s the power of compound interest.

Some of you are giving to the church $20/week. If you were to put that same amount of money aside for your church as a gift in your will, that $20 weekly at 10% interest amount to $6,740 in 5 years and $198,298 in 30 years. That’s the power of compound interest.

Or if you were to set aside $50 weekly at 10% interest, that amounts to $16,850 in 5 years, or $495,746 in 30 years. That’s the power of compound interest. 

Jesus preached his own form of compound interest. In fact, for him compound interest was the secret to a holy life…

The rest of Leonard Sweet's sermon can be obtained by joining www.Sermons.com ________________________

Someone with Skin On

There's an old story, about a little boy who cried out in the night. "Daddy, I'm scared!" Half awake Daddy said, "Don't be afraid, Daddy's right across the hall." There was a brief pause and the little boy called out, "I'm still scared." So Daddy pulled out the big guns, "You don't have to be afraid God is with you. God loves you." The pause was longer but the little boy called out again, "I don't care about God, Daddy; I want someone with skin on!" 

God knew we needed that assurance of someone with skin on. So God wrapped all the glory of heaven into the flesh and blood of Jesus and stepped into this world as the Good Shepherd just to show us how much we are loved. The Good Shepherd isn't satisfied until all of the sheep are safely gathered into the flock. Not even a one percent margin of loss was acceptable. Jesus came to find the lost. 

Billy D. Strayhorn, Lost and Found Department
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Parts of the Whole

The lost sheep and the lost coin are more than the prized possessions of their owners; they are also parts of a whole. The sheep belongs to the flock and the coin to the purse; without them the whole is not complete. The search, then, is a quest for restoration and wholeness. In this sense, all of us who are part of God’s creation should be just as anxious as God until the lost are restored and we are made whole again by their presence. Then, with brooms in hand, we can answer God’s call, "Rejoice with me."

Jennifer E. Copeland, "Clean Sweep," article appearing in The Christian Century, September 7, 2004, p. 20.
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Unconditional Love

What is your view of God? The scowling judge waiting to convict you? The disapproving parent whose love you have to earn? Your view of God affects every decision and relationship in your life. Kathleen Chesto wrote to Catholic Digest to tell them about an incident that occurred in her family. Her five-year-old child approached her one day in the kitchen and asked, "Mom, is God a grown-up or a parent?" 

Mom was a little puzzled by the question. "I'm not sure what you mean," she said. "Is there a difference between a grown-up and a parent?" "Oh yes," her five-year-old answered quickly. "Grown-ups love you when you are good and parents love you anyway." I know this sounds trite to some of you, but have you ever really come to appreciate the wonder of God's unconditional love? I dare say that there are some people in this room who don't really believe in unconditional love. You have never received it, and you have never given it. Some of you are still trying to earn your way to heaven. And you are expecting others to earn their way as well. Relax, my friend, and let God love you. Jesus is trying to tell us in this parable that God's love doesn't depend on our goodness; it depends on God's character. Here is this truth expressed in I John 4: 10, "This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." 

King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com

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