[Propertalk] Fw: Sermon Resources for March 20 - Part 1

[Joe Parrish]

Sermons for the Lent 2:



    John 3: 1-17 - "Nicodemus"  

    Romans 4:1-5, 13-17 - "The Lenten License to Steal, Drink, Lie and Swear" 

        by Leonard Sweet



John 3:1-17 the sermon titled "Nicodemus" 



For years, the opening of "The Wide World of Sports" television program illustrated "the agony of defeat" with a painful ending to an attempted ski jump. The skier appeared in good form as he headed down the jump, but then, for no apparent reason, he tumbled head over heels off the side of the jump, bouncing off the supporting structure down to the snow below.

What viewers didn't know was that he chose to fall rather than finish the jump. Why? As he explained later, the jump surface had become too fast, and midway down the ramp, he realized if he completed the jump, he would land on the level ground, beyond the safe sloping landing area, which could have been fatal. Surprisingly, the skier suffered no more than a headache from the tumble. To change one's course in life can be a dramatic and sometimes painful undertaking, but change is better than a fatal landing at the end.

This is the problem Nicodemus is having. Jesus tells Nicodemus that he is facing a fatal landing if he does not change directions. But Nicodemus knows only one way and that is the way of earth. It is the only way that any of us knows. Suddenly Jesus appears on the scene and begins speaking of Heaven, of being Born Again. Nicodemus hears the words "You must be born again," but he is confused. So he asks, "How can a person go back into his mother's womb and come out again?"

It is surprising to us that Nicodemus is so confused. He's a religious leader and should understand spiritual lessons but somehow he feels he has missed some crucial truth. And, there is a reason he is going to Jesus. He has an inkling that Jesus might be able to provide that missing important detail. Nicodemus has somehow been headed in the wrong direction and now he must change his course. This he knows but Nicodemus seems hesitant. He seems uncertain about making such a drastic change. Why? What makes this remarkable man slow to take Jesus at his word? What is confusing him?



1. Nicodemus was a religious man.

2. Nicodemus was a powerful person.

3. Nicodemus was a man of pedigree.

4. Nicodemus was an educated man.



The rest of this sermon following the outline above can be obtained by joining www.Sermons.com. 

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Romans 4, the sermon titled "The Lenten License to Steal, Drink, Lie and Swear" by Leonard Sweet  



The world is divided into two kinds of people. Those who like cruises and those who don't. Or to be more precise: those who think a cruise is a foretaste of heaven, and those who think a cruise is the aftertaste of hell.



The world is divided into two kinds of people. Those that suck the life out of every day, and those that let every day suck the life out of them.



The world is divided into two kinds of people. Those who walk into a room and say, "There you are!" and those who say, "Here I am!" (Thanks! Abigail Van Buren)



The world is divided into two kinds of people. Those with the courage that hangs on, and those with the courage that lets go. 



The world is divided into two kinds of people. Pitchers and catchers . . . . 



The world is divided into two kinds of people. Those who finish what they start and so on...(Thanks! Robert Byrne)



The world is divided into two kinds of people. Those who divide the world into two kinds of people, and those who don't. 



Can you take one more?



The world is divided into two kinds of people. Those who are "control junkies," and those who are "out of control." 



Any control freaks here this morning?



We control freaks count every contingency, manage every moment. Each step we take in life is precisely plotted, its trajectory traced, before our foot leaves the ground. By controlling the actions of others around us we live the illusion that we are in control of our own lives, and our own future is fixed. 



The truth? We "control freaks" are no more in control of our lives than anyone else. On March 11th, 2011 all of Japan was dreadfully reminded how little control we actually wield. When the earth shifts suddenly and unpredictably, everyone for hundreds of miles stumbles.



Last week's earthquake and tsunami may have made the "out of controllers" among us feel justified. By taking big risks, refusing to plan ahead, springing into spur of the moment decisions, "out of control" people might seem to be embracing the unknown, courting chaos. Yet in reality "out of control" people have simply found a different way to control their own lives. They plan to have no plan. "Out of control" people lead the way and live their way. They cannot follow another.



So the "control freaks" and the "out-of-controllers" are really just flip sides of the same disc. The repeating message of this one control disc is "This is my life and I will live it my way." 



But there is a true opposite to this "control central" attitude. We encounter the alternative in the archetype Abraham. Instead of "control" Abraham opted for faith. Already an old man, wandering in a land where he was a resident alien, Abraham listened to the words and promises of a deity he barely knew and in the crucible of that commencing relationship, "Abraham believed God."..



The rest of this sermon following the outline above can be obtained by joining www.Sermons.com. 

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Playing It Safe



Once there was a small jazz club in New Orleans. In a corner of that club sat an old dilapidated piano. All of the jazz artists complained about this antiquated instrument. The piano players dreaded playing on it. The vocalists dreaded singing with it. And all of the combos that played the club wished that they could bring in their own piano - just like they could a saxophone or a trumpet. 



Finally, after years of listening to these jazz musicians complain about his piano, the owner of the club decided to do something about it. He had the piano painted. 



Father Henri Nouwen, reflecting on the story of Nicodemas, writes, "I love Jesus but want to hold on to my own friends even when they do not lead me closer to Jesus. I love Jesus but want to hold on to my own independence even when that independence brings me no real freedom. I love Jesus but do not want to lose the respect of my professional colleagues, even though I know that their respect does not make me grow spiritually. I love Jesus but do not want to give up my writing plans, travel plans, and speaking plans, even when these plans are often more to my glory that to the glory of God." 

Upon reflection Father Nouwen realizes that he isn't all that different from Nicodemus. He writes, "So I am like Nicodemus, who came by night, and said safe things about Jesus to his colleagues." Even a great Christian like Father Henri Nouwen is sometimes content to paint the old piano. 

There's an element of Nicodemus in all of us. It's always easier to play it safe and keep Jesus off in the distance than to call him the Lord of our life. We need to know, however, that we cannot always put him off.



King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com

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