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<DIV>Sermon Resources for August 16 - Part 3 of 3</DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Bread
from Home<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">I'm reminded of a true story of a soldier who was
severely wounded. When he was out of surgery, the doctors said that there was a
good chance for recovery, except that the soldier wouldn't eat anything. The
nurses and nuns tried everything, but he refused all food-drinking only water
and juice.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">One of his buddies knew why the soldier wouldn't eat-he
was homesick. So, his friend, since the hospital wasn't too far from the
soldier's home, offered to bring the young man's father to visit him. The
commanding officer approved and the friend went to the parents' home. As the
father was about to leave for the hospital, the mother wrapped up a loaf of
fresh bread for her son.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Well, the patient was very happy to see his father but
he still wouldn't eat-that is, until the father said; "Son, this bread was made
by your mother, especially for you". The boy brightened and began to
eat.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">I think that you can guess where I'm going with that
story. You and I are that boy. We are the ones who have been wounded in the
battle of life. We are the ones who've been wounded by sin, by trials and pains,
by loss and by our forgetfulness of God.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">We lose our taste for the food that will strengthen our
souls. Holy Communion gives us life, spiritual life, God's life. It gives us
spiritual healing and spiritual strength.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">There was nothing 'magic' about the mother's bread
unless, that is, one feels that 'love' is magic--which, of course, it
is.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Author unknown<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">____________________<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> The Communion of Empty
Hands<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">There's a beautiful incident recorded by Thomas
Pettepiece, a Methodist pastor, who was a political prisoner, a prisoner of
conscience. Pettepiece writes of his first Easter Sunday spent in prison. He was
among 10,000 prisoners. Most of the men had lost everything: their homes, their
jobs, their furniture, their contact with their families. It was Easter Sunday,
and they wanted to celebrate Communion. But, they had no cup for Communion. They
had no wine for Communion. They didn't even have water for Communion. Nor did
they have any bread for the Sacrament.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">So, they practiced the Communion of Empty Hands. "This
meal in which we take part," Pettepeice said, "reminds us of the imprisonment,
the torture, the death and final victory of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The bread is the body which he gave for humanity. The fact that we have none
represents very well the lack of bread in the hunger of so many millions of
human beings. The wine, which we don't have today, is his blood, and represents
our dream of a united humanity, of a just society, without difference of race or
class."<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Then Pettepiece, the pastor, held out his empty hand to
the next person on his right, and passed on the imaginary loaf. Each one took a
piece and passed it on. Then he said, "Take, eat, this is my body, which is
broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me." And together they ate the
imaginary bread, trying to imagine tasting it.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">After a moment they passed around the non-existent
chalice, each imagining he was drinking from it. "Take, drink, this is the blood
of Christ which was shed for you ... Let us give thanks, sure that Christ is
here with us, strengthening us."<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">They gave thanks to God and then stood up and embraced
each other. And a while later, one of the non-Christian prisoners came up to
them and said, "You people have something special, which I would like to have."
And the father of a girl who had died came up to Pettepiece and said, "Pastor,
this was a real experience. I believe that today I discovered what faith is ..."
(from Visions of a World Hungry, quoted in A Guide To Prayer, Rueben P. Job and
Norman Shawchuck, editors, The Upper Room, p. 143).<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Alex Gondola, Jr., Come As You Are, CSS Publishing
Company.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">________________________<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Togetherness in the
Eucharist<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Bread suggests togetherness, care and love, hopes and
dreams, fun and adventure. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Let’s say some new friends invite you to their house for
a meal. When you are a guest in their home, they are sharing their intimacy with
you. They are sharing with you some of the privacy of that place where they live
every day, eat every day, love every day, work on their problems, argue from
time to time, sleep and depart for work and pleasure and return for rest, every
day. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">After graciously receiving you, they show you around
their home in which they take deep pride. Then you go to the dining room for the
meal. You find the table set with care, the food exceptionally delicious, and
the conversation flows easily. Simply put, it becomes a lovely evening and you
leave feeling full in every way. You enjoy bread from the kitchen, but much
more. You enjoy the bread of being graciously received, the bread of informed
and lively conversation, and the bread of being in beautiful
surroundings.. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Magnify that thousands of times and you begin to have a
glimmer of what the church perceives the Holy Eucharist to be. In the Eucharist
Jesus and “Bread of Life” are one. In the Eucharist bread and wine are the
elements that nurture faith in God.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Charles R. Leary, <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:place
w:st="on">Mission</st1:place> Ready!, CSS Publishing Company
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">_____________________<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Full Devotion<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Several years ago a couple of reporters conducted an
experiment on the streets of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on">Miami</st1:City>, <st1:State
w:st="on">Florida</st1:State></st1:place>. They printed up a copy of the Bill of
Rights in the form of a petition, put it on a clipboard, and then stopped people
on the sidewalk and asked them to sign it. As you know, the first ten amendments
to the United States Constitution are the Bill of Rights, and they were adopted
and put into effect in December of 1791. The reporters were surprised at
people's reaction when asked to add their names to the so-called petition. Most
people glanced at the document, shook their heads, and walked on by without
signing. Several people became angry with the reporters and accused them of
being radical enemies of the American way of life. In fact, the experiment ended
when the reporters found themselves surrounded by a dozen or so passers-by who
were shaking their fists at them and calling them subversive Communists who
ought to be thrown in jail.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">What the experiment demonstrated is what we already
know. Many citizens of the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">United States</st1:country-region></st1:place> pay lip service to
their country and its heritage. They claim to be loyal and patriotic in every
way. They say they are proud to belong to a country as great as ours. And yet at
the same time they haven't the vaguest notion what the United States
Constitution actually says, and they consider the Bill of Rights to be a
radical, anti-American document. In other words, these people claim citizenship,
but they have not internalized the basic meaning of being a citizen. They claim
the privilege, but they will not eat and drink the ethos of <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">United States of
America</st1:country-region></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">The same sort of thing is described in today's Gospel.
Jesus says, I am the living bread that came down from heaven. . . Unless you eat
the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Most
people probably think Jesus is talking about communion. He isn't. He's talking
about the difference between external lip service and internal embodiment. He's
talking about the difference between admiring him and actually taking up one's
cross and following him. He's talking about the difference between acting like a
Christian on the outside and being a Christian on the
inside.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Edwin D. Peterman<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">_________________<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Christ in Me and I in Him<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">There is an story about minister walking along the ocean
with his small son. The boy questioned his father about Sunday's sermon. The boy
said, "Dad, I cannot understand how Christ can live in us and we live in him at
the same time." Further down the beach, the father noticed an empty bottle with
a cork in it. Taking the bottle, he half filled it with water, re-corked it and
flung it out into the ocean.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">As they watched the bottle bob up and down he said,
"Son, the sea is in the bottle and the bottle is in the sea. It is a picture of
life in Christ. You live under the Lordship of Christ and He lives in
you."<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Traditional<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">___________________________________<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">ILLUSTRATIONS FOR EPHESIANS
5:15-20<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">___________________________________<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Unwise and Wise Living<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Jewish rabbis tell a poignant story that drives home the
point of Proverbs 18:21. As the story goes (and five versions of this appear in
Greek literature), Rabbi Simeon ben Gamaliel one day asked his servant to go to
buy some good food for him in the market. When the servant returned home, he
presented the rabbi with a tongue.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">The next day, the rabbi told the servant to go to the
market to buy some bad food. Again, the servant returned with a
tongue.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">When the rabbi asked the servant why he returned with a
tongue both times, the servant made this astute observation: "Good comes from it
and bad comes from it. When the tongue is good, there is nothing better, and
when it is bad, there is nothing worse."<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">William R. Baker, Sticks & Stones: The Discipleship
of Our Speech, <st1:place w:st="on">Downers Grove</st1:place>: InterVarsity
Press, 1996), p. 17.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">_________________<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Experience comes from what we have done. Wisdom comes
from what we have done badly.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Theodore Levitt, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Harvard</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Business</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">School</st1:PlaceType></st1:place><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">_________________<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Wisdom<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">An angel appears at a faculty meeting and tells the dean
that in return for his unselfish and exemplary behavior, the Lord will reward
him with his choice of infinite wealth, wisdom or beauty. Without hesitating,
the dean selects infinite wisdom.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">"Done!" says the angel, and disappears in a cloud of
smoke and a bolt of lightning. Now, all heads turn toward the dean, who sits
surrounded by a faint halo of light. At length, one of his colleagues whispers,
"Say something."<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">The dean looks intently at his colleagues gathered
around him and says…<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">The conclusion to this
illustration and many additional illustrations and sermons for Proper 15 can be
accessed at <A title=blocked::http://www.sermons.com/
href="http://www.sermons.com/">www.Sermons.com</A>.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV></BODY></HTML>