[Propertalk] Fwd: Sermon Resources for October 3 - Part 1

[Joe Parrish]

Sermons for Proper 22:
 
 Luke 17:5-10 – “Three Small Steps in Our Journey of Faith”
 2 Timothy 1:1-14 – “Acquired Taste” by Leonard Sweet
 
Luke 17, the sermon titled "Three Small Steps in Our Journey of Faith"
 
One day the great Michelangelo attracted a crowd of spectators as he worked. One child in particular was fascinated by the sight of chips flying and the sound of mallet on chisel. The master was shaping a large block of white marble. Unable to contain her curiosity, the little girl inquired, "What are you making?" He replied, "There is an angel in there and I must set it free."

Every Christian at their confirmation or conversion is handed a large cold white marble block called religion. We must then take the mallet in hand and set to work. Religion is not our goal but we must first start there. Now there are many names for religion. At times we do call it religion but we often use other words and images to describe it. Sometimes we call it our faith. Jesus spoke in terms of the Kingdom of God. We say we are the Church, Christians, or Disciples. There are many names with varying nuances of meaning but in the end they all describe the same thing. We are a people of Faith, faith in Christ to be sure, but faith nonetheless.

We are not a business or institution. We do not sell or produce anything. We advocate no earthly cause. We serve no worldly authority. We come to a church building made by men. And to do what? Practice our faith. But we just as well could have met on a hillside or cave.

Our leader is not here, not so that I can show him to you or offer irrefutable evidence of his existence. That means faith is all we have. We are born through faith, live by faith, and die in faith. After my death, then and only then will I know in full, as the Apostle Paul says, when I see Jesus face to face. Until then I had better understand this religion thing. Now that sounds pretty daunting doesn’t it? Here’s the good News. It’s not all that difficult. Religion is a marble slab and we have to find, like Michelangelo, the angel inside. Chisel with me a few minutes this morning and let the chips fly, and let’s find the faith that lives inside. Faith: it is the angel of our religion. Faith can set us free if we know how to live it. How do you practice your faith and not just religion? Jesus outlined faith in Luke 17. He explained there are three simple ways to exercise faith. Three small steps make up our journey of faith.
 
1. The First Step Is Learning to Forgive. 
2. The Second Step Is Learning to Believe. 
3. The Third Step Is Learning to Serve.
 
The rest of this sermon following the outline above can be obtained by joining www.eSermons.com.
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The full text of the following sermon is available at www.Sermons.com.
2 Timothy 1:1-14, the sermon titled “Acquired Taste” by Leonard Sweet  
 
Some of you here this morning remember when "TV dinners" were fast food. Those were the days . . . when Sara Lee sold frozen baked goods to families with the double negative promise "Nobody doesn't like Sara Lee." They were right. What wasn't to like? Sweet treats like cheesecake and pies and cakes--even frozen cubes of white dough that magically morphed in the oven into hot cubes of white bread. 

Check out any freezer case in the supermarket these days and what do you find? A lot more than simple Sara Lee goodies. As time has changed, so have our tastes. There is more than pizza and chicken nuggets in our freezers. There are whole sections of vegetarian and vegan offerings, Thai food, Mexican fiestas, panini sandwiches, Buffalo wings, Szechuan spicy noodles. 

That is not to say everybody likes all these foods. Some cuisines are definitely an acquired taste. 

Think about some of the foods you've learned to enjoy, even though their first trip into your mouth might have been less than pleasant. Here is a recent list of the Top Ten "acquired tastes" in food: Raw oysters, Coffee, Alcohol, Kimchi, Anchovies, Olives, Lutefisk, Haggis, Vegemite, Blue Cheese. 

I don't know about you, but as far as I'm concerned the delicacy known as an "oyster shooter"-a raw oyster spiced with Tabasco and lemon and tossed down in a single gulp-looks like something that should be disposed of discretely in a tissue, not put into your mouth. 

Or remember your first cup of coffee? Bitter and biting, no matter how much milk and sugar you dumped into it. And why is it that the chunk of cheese that accidentally got lost in the bottom of the fridge for a month is stinky garbage, while you pay....
 
The rest of Leonard Sweet's sermon can be obtained by joining www.Sermons.com 
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Go Ahead and Do It
 
Slowly I have realized that I do not have to be qualified to do what I am asked to do. That I just have to go ahead and do it, even though I can't do it as well as I think it ought to be done. This is one of the most liberating lessons of my life.
 
Madeleine L'Engel
 
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For Lovers, Duty Is Only Natural

Ask any parent who gets up at 2:00 a.m. and then at 3:00 a.m. and then at 3:30 a.m. to answer the cry of a sick baby. Lovers never ask, "What’s the least I can do?"

Ask any man whose income is so limited that after he pays his rent and buys his groceries he has only pennies to spare. But his sweetheart has a birthday the next month and he has his eye on something that means he’ll have to go without lunch for three weeks. So he buys it.

Boys’ Town near Omaha has made capital of a poster showing a little guy toting a tyke nearly as big as he is, saying, "He’s not heavy; he’s my brother."

Are any of these lovers looking for a medal? No. They’re only doing their duty. And it’s only natural.

Our relationship to Christ is like that. For although Jesus may have been cracking a small joke when he portrayed how ludicrous it could have been if the master served the slave, yet that ridiculous reversal of roles is just what took place in the Upper Room when the Master served the disciples, washing their feet. It was symbolic of his entire ministry, including the cross. 
 
Alvin Rueter, Freedom to Be Wrong, CSS Publishing Company
 
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Accept the Fact
 
The great theologian Paul Tillich used to say, "Accept the fact that you're accepted." And we might add, "When you do, you will accept all others too and serve them. And no one will owe you anything." And you won't mind that at all. 


Richard W. Patt, All Stirred Up, CSS Publishing
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The Size of Faith
 
The size of faith doesn’t matter because God is the one doing the moving.

If it is my faith that moved the mountain, then the bigger the mountain the more faith I would need to move it.

The bigger the obstacle the more strength I’d need to climb it.

The more serious the illness a faith even greater would be required to overcome it.

The more serious the sin the more faith I would need in order to have it forgiven.

That kind of thinking kind of makes sense, but that’s not how faith works. In fact, faith doesn’t do the work at all. And thank God for that.

God is the one doing the work through faith. Think of faith as the key that opens the door to God acting in our lives. If I have a bigger key ring than you do, does it matter? The size of a key ring doesn’t matter – key rings don’t open doors but it’s that little key on the ring that opens doors. Even a little faith opens the door for God to move the mountains and trees and even our hearts.

Vince Gerhardy, Faith the Size of a Mustard Seed
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