[Propertalk] Fwd: Sermons for Epiphany 7, 8, and 9

Thu Feb 17 11:24:10 EST 2011

Greetings from Sermons.com!

Easter is very late this year, and as a result, for the first time in years we will celebrate the weeks of Year A, Epiphany 7, 8, and for the Roman Catholic Lectionary, Epiphany 9.   We know many of you are planning ahead and are working through these weeks - perhaps for the first time.  This Epiphany season presents us with an opportunity to really spend some time with Jesus' Sermon on the Mount.  Here are a few sermon openers for the upcoming weeks of exciting preaching.   

Grace and Peace,
Rev. Brett Blair 

Sermon Opener for Epiphany 7 

Matthew 5:38-42 - "Going the Second Mile" By James Merritt

The full text of the following sermon is available at www.Sermons.com.

Matthew 5 the sermon titled "Going the Second Mile"  

Mark Twain once said this about the Bible: "I have no problem with those parts of the Bible I don't understand. It's those parts of the Bible I do understand that gives me fits." The passage that we are going to study certainly fits into that category.

This passage illustrates something I bet most of you have never thought about before. One of the easiest things in the world to do is to become a Christian. It is ridiculously easy. All you have to do is confess you are a sinner, repent of your sin, believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sin and was raised from the dead, and surrender your life to Him as your Lord and Savior; and you become a Christian immediately and instantaneously. There is not an easier thing in the world than to become a Christian. But at the same time, one of the most difficult things in the world is to be a Christian, and you're going to see that illustrated this morning.

What Jesus says is totally antithetical to the typical attitude in America. Years ago there was a bumper sticker that became rather popular that simply said two words: "I Want." Now that tag would fit on just about every car in America. We live in the country of "I want." I want my rights; I want my happiness; I want my way; I want my money.
Rights are considered as American as apple pie. This is a country where citizens have rights. The best known part of the Constitution is the Bill of Rights.  I'm all for the right kind of rights, but today rights don't so much protect the innocent as they promote the guilty. If you're going to be a real Christian you're going to have to give up some rights. 

Bill Walton learned that to play basketball for John Wooden you had to give up some rights. Coach Wooden had a rule against facial hair. If you played for him no facial hair was allowed. After a ten day break from school, Bill Walton came to practice wearing a beard. Coach Wooden walked up to him and said, "Bill, have you forgotten something?" Walton replied, "Coach, if you mean the beard, I think I should be allowed to wear it, it's my right." 

Coach Wooden said, "Do you really believe in that?" He said, "Yes, I do, very much." Coach Wooden looked at him and said, "Bill, I have great respect for individuals who stand up for those things in which they believe. I really do. If you believe that is your right, I would die for your right to defend that right." Bill Walton said, "Thank you, Coach." Then Wooden said, "I just want you to know the team is really going to miss you."

We've all heard the expression, "Do your duty." Well, the Lord Jesus once again tells us something that no human would have ever thought of. He is going to tell us, "Do what is not your duty," and "Do more than your duty." That is going the second mile. What does this mean?

I. Be Willing To Get Worse Than You Deserve
II. Be Willing to Give More Than You Are Asked
III. Be Willing to Go Farther Than You Are Required
IV. Be Willing To Grant All That Is Needed

The rest of this sermon following the outline above can be obtained by joining http://www.sermons.com/signup
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Sermon Opener for Epiphany 8 

Matthew 6:25-34 - "Don't Worry! Be Happy!" By King Duncan 

The full text of the following sermon is available at www.Sermons.com.
Sign up today at: http://www.sermons.com/signup Or call: 1-800-777-7731.

[Members: Please see Matthew 6 the sermon titled "Don't Worry! Be Happy!"]  

There is a familiar story of a man who was a worrier. It showed in his face and his posture. He seemed to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders. 

However, one day this man changed. He had a bounce to his step. It was as if he had not a care in the world. A friend asked what had happened. 

"Well," he confided, "as you know I have always been one to worry. I have decided that this is both unwise and unhealthy, so I have hired someone to do my worrying for me." 
"But how much does this cost you?" the friend asked. 
"Oh, about $1,000 a week," the man replied. 
"But how can you afford to pay this man who worries for you?" was the astonished response. 
The man answered calmly, "That's his worry!" 

I wish it was that easy for some of us to get rid of our worries, don't you?

In a Peanuts cartoon, Linus tells Charlie Brown, "When I hear those coyotes howling at night, it totally depresses me. I start to feel lonely . . . Then I get scared."
Charlie Brown says, "I thought holding onto that blanket made you secure."
Linus replies, "I think the warranty has run out." 
That's the problem with most security blankets. Their warranty runs out.

Erma Bombeck once told about a little guy named Donald. Donald was worrying about going to school. Here is how he expressed his anxieties: "My name is Donald. I don't know anything. I have new underwear, a loose tooth, and I didn't sleep last night because I'm worried. What if a bell rings and a man yells, 'Where do you belong,' and I don't know? What if the trays in the cafeteria are too tall for me to reach? What if my loose tooth comes out when we have our heads down and are supposed to be quiet? Am I supposed to bleed quietly? What if I splash water on my name-tag and my name disappears and no one knows who I am?"

Poor Donald. Poor us. Worry. Worry about big things and little. Worry about the future. Worry about the past. Worry about our finances, worry about our family. It is for people like Linus and Donald and you and me that Jesus once spoke these words: 

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? 

The rest of this sermon following the outline above can be obtained by joining http://www.sermons.com/signup
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Sermon Opener for Epiphany 9 

Matthew 7: 24-29 - "Building According to Code" By Brett Blair

Matthew 7 the sermon titled "Building According to Code "   

It is significant that Jesus ended the Sermon on the Mount with the parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders. Throughout the long day Jesus had been preaching to the vast multitude. They listened to him with amazement and awe. But Jesus warned them that that was not enough. It is never enough simply to listen to the words of Jesus, even though we may listen with reverent approval. If His words are to have any genuine effect in our lives we must not only hear them but also act upon them. We must incorporate them in the events of our day-to-day living.

To drive the point home Jesus told the compelling story of two builders who each built a home. Standing inside these homes, going from room to room, there was little to no difference between. Even from the outside one might say they were virtually indistinguishable from one another. But, said Jesus, the foundations, one built upon the rock and the other upon sand. When Jesus spoke about houses and foundations he knew what he was talking about. He was a stonemason by trade and his family was most likely in the construction business.

The people there, listening to Jesus' teaching, understood well the significance of building upon rock verses sand. But very few people in ancient Palestine wanted to live in the rocks. It meant grading the side of a slope and hauling up materials. Living in the hills made for more difficult travel. Water had to be toted and winter winds were colder. Most people followed the path of least resistance and built along the riverbeds. The scenery more pleasant, the water more conveniently located, and the house was sheltered from the cold winds of winter. And though flooding was a danger, most of the year the streams trickled pleasantly down the hillsides into the river nearby.

But on rare occasions, perhaps only once a generation, the 100-year flood would come. There would be a combination of an unusually heavy snow, a quick spring thaw, a torrential downpour. The result was a vicious flashflood which swept away everything in its path. Entire hamlets washed away. House after house gone and great would be the fall. 

That's the image drawn here in Matthew 7. It comes from the life of these people gathered around Jesus on that day he delivered this sermon. Jesus was not simply telling here what I call a preacher story. A preacher story is an illustration that may very well fit the point that is being made, but one that doesn't sound very believable. On the contrary, Jesus was talking about a situation that was very real in the life of the people.

What are some points that we may conclude from this story?
1.  First, it suggests that we are all involved in building, and that the house that we build is built according to a code.
2. Secondly, everyone must occupy the house they build.
3. Third, the parable suggests the real test in life comes when the storms are upon us.

The rest of this sermon following the outline above can be obtained by joining http://www.sermons.com/signup

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