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<DIV>The following are SermonWriter materials for Sep. 20 (Proper 20B). They
focus on Mark 9:30-37, where Jesus says, "Whoever welcomes one such child in my
name welcomes me."<BR><BR>NO PASSWORD REQUIREMENT: We are posting these
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<DIV>Dick Donovan<BR><BR><BR>A THOUGHT ON PREACHING: The young preacher
has been taught to lay out all his strengths on the form, taste, and beauty of
his sermon as a mechanical and intellectual product. We have thereby
cultivated a vicious taste among the people and raised the clamor for talent
instead of grace, eloquence instead of piety, rhetoric instead of revelation,
reputation and brilliancy instead of holiness. (E. M.
Bounds)<BR><BR><BR>TITLE: Welcoming Children -- Welcoming
Christ<BR><BR><BR>SERMON IN A SENTENCE: Christ calls us to meet the needs
of children -- and promises that, when we do, he will treat our hospitality as
if we had rendered it to him.<BR><BR><BR>SCRIPTURE: Mark
9:30-37<BR><BR><BR><></DIV>
<DIV><BR>(NOTE TO THE PREACHER: I believe that the church needs to make a
stronger emphasis on ministry to children from dysfunctional homes. If you
plan to talk about this in your sermon, do a little homework. Find out
what your denomination is doing -- in your state, nationally, and
internationally. Google "children's homes Methodist" or "children's homes
Lutheran" or whatever your denomination. There might be people in your
congregation who could take in a foster child. There might be some who
could take in young people ages 18-20 who have aged out of the welfare
system. But don't twist arms. This is an important but sometimes
difficult ministry. Anyone who opts to participate needs to go in with
their eyes open -- and their hearts as well.)<BR><BR>(IF YOU LIVE OUTSIDE THE
U.S., you will have to adapt the above to fit the situation in your
country. The principle will be the same -- Jesus expects us to take care
of children. But the particular need and the potential solutions might be quite
different.)<BR><BR><BR>FOR MORE SERMONS ON THIS TEXT, GO TO:<BR><BR><A
href="http://www.lectionary.org/SermLinks/NT/NT02_Mark.htm">http://www.lectionary.org/SermLinks/NT/NT02_Mark.htm</A><BR><BR>Scroll
down to Mark 9. There are at least three sermons on this text posted
there.<BR><BR><BR>A BIT OF HUMOR:<BR><BR>Linus asks Charlie Brown, "So you don't
think Jesus ever owned a dog?"<BR><BR>Charlie Brown responds, "No, I doubt
it."<BR><BR>Lucy asks, "But why?"<BR><BR>Snoopy thinks, "If he had a dog, all of
the apostles would have wanted one."<BR><BR><BR>TRUE STORY:<BR><BR>Did you know
that Babe Ruth had a troubled childhood? He and his parents lived above
the Baltimore saloon that his father owned. His parents, like so many
parents today, were busy with many things, and had little time for him. He
said that he hardly knew them.<BR><BR>At some point, Ruth ended up in St. Mary's
Industrial School, which he characterized as a combination orphanage and reform
school. The kids there were tough, and Ruth could easily have gone from
there to a life of crime.<BR><BR>But there was a man there -- Brother Matthias
-- whom Ruth characterized as "the greatest man I know." Matthias saw
Ruth's talent for baseball, took him under his wing, and began training
him. Ruth said, "He used to back me into a corner of the big yard at St.
Mary's and then would bunt a ball to me by the hour, correcting the mistakes I
made with my hands and feet."<BR><BR>Because of Brother Matthias, Ruth was able
to leave St. Mary's in 1914 to play professional baseball with the Baltimore
Orioles.<BR><BR>Ruth wasn't known as a religious man, but he claimed never to
have forgotten the religious training he received at St. Mary's. He said,
"That's why all through the years, even when the big money was rolling in, I'd
never forgot St. Mary's, Brother Matthias, and the boys I left behind. I
kept going back."<BR><BR><BR>THOUGHT PROVOKERS:<BR><BR>Only when the bud of the
flower<BR>receives warmth from the sun<BR>and nourishment from the soil<BR>will
it open and expose all of the beauty<BR>that is latent within it.<BR><BR>So too
a person at the beginning of life<BR>must receive the warmth of human
love,<BR>assurance and the nourishment of parental affection<BR>if he is to open
up and show the beauty<BR>that God has placed within him.<BR><BR>John Powell,
Why Am I Afraid to Love<BR><BR>* * * * * *
* * * *<BR><BR>Children are like wet cement.<BR>Whatever falls
on them makes an impression.<BR><BR>Haim Ginott<BR><BR>* * *
* * * * * * *<BR><BR>The most deadly sin of
all sins<BR>is the mutilation of a child's spirit.<BR><BR>Eric
Erikson<BR><BR>* * * * * * * *
* *<BR><BR>There are no illegitimate children --<BR>only illegitimate
parents.<BR><BR>Leon R. Yankwich,<BR>a U.S. District Court Judge<BR><BR>*
* * * * * * * * *<BR><BR>God's
model for teaching truth to our children<BR>calls not only for a constant
process<BR>but for honest, meaningful relationships.<BR>We are to teach
diligently<BR>when we sit, walk, lie down, and rise up.<BR>In other words, God
wants us to teach His truths<BR>in every interaction with our children
--<BR>even the most mundane.<BR><BR>Josh McDowell<BR><BR>* * *
* * * * * * *<BR><BR><><BR>HYMN
STORY: Jesus Loves Me<BR><BR>Some years ago, I was privileged to tour the
grounds of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York. I remember
standing at the Academy cemetery on the high bank of the Hudson River -- a place
of great beauty. Our guide pointed to an island on the other side of the
river -- Constitution Island -- and told us of Anna Warner, who wrote "Jesus
Loves Me." He said that Anna and her sister, Susan, had lived on that
island. Their uncle, the Rev. Thomas Warner, had been the Academy
Chaplain, and the sisters had taught Sunday school classes for cadets for a
number of years. It is thought that Dwight D. Eisenhower was one of the
last cadets to attend their classes. We don't know that that is true, but
we know that it is possible. Eisenhower graduated in 1915, and Anna died in that
same year.<BR><BR>When the sisters died, the Academy honored them by providing
for them to be buried at the Academy cemetery -- an unusual exception to the
rules -- a high honor, indeed!<BR><BR>When I heard that story, I thought of the
sister's ministry to those cadets, and wondered if the officer who made possible
their burial in that cemetery might at one time have been cadets in their Sunday
school classes. I also found myself wondering whether the sister's humble
ministry might have affected world history at some point through the influence
they had on the lives of those cadets.<BR><BR>The words to this popular song
were written originally as a poem in Anna's novel, Say and Seal. In the
book, the words were spoken to comfort a dying child. In 1861, William
Bradbury set the words to music and added the chorus, "Yes, Jesus loves
me!" The joyful tune and simple words soon became favorites around the
world.<BR><BR>Stories that have grown up around this song. One is that
someone asked Karl Barth, the great theologian, to summarize the essence of the
Christian faith in a few words, and he responded, "Jesus loves me, this I know,
for the Bible tells me so." Another is that, at the height of persecution
in Communist China, a Christian sent a message to a friend. The message
escaped the attention of the censors, because it said simply: "This I know
people are well" -- but that phrase, the "this I know people" clearly identified
the Christian community in China. It assured the friend that the church in
China was alive and well.<BR><BR>We, too, are "This I Know"
people.<BR><BR>NOTE: See other hymn stories at <A
href="http://www.lectionary.org/hymnstories.htm">http://www.lectionary.org/hymnstories.htm</A><BR><BR><BR><BR>BIBLIOGRAPHY:<BR><BR>Barclay,
William, The Daily Study Bible: Gospel of Mark (Edinburgh: The Saint Andrew
Press, 1954)<BR><BR>Boring, M. Eugene, The New Testament Library, Mark, A
Commentary (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2006)<BR><BR>Brooks, James
A, The New American Commentary: Mark (Nashville: Broadman Press,
1991)<BR><BR>Brueggemann, Walter; Cousar, Charles B.; Gaventa, Beverly R.; and
Newsome, James D., Texts for Preaching: A Lectionary Commentary Based on the
NRSV -- Year B (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1993)<BR><BR>Craddock,
Fred B.; Hayes, John H.; Holladay, Carl R.; Tucker, Gene M., Preaching Through
the Christian Year, B (Valley Forge: Trinity Press International,
1993)<BR><BR>Edwards, James R., The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel
According to Mark (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.,
2002)<BR><BR>Evans, Craig A., Word Biblical Commentary: Mark 8:27 -- 16:20
(Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2001)<BR><BR>France, R.T., The New
International Greek Testament Commentary: The Gospel of Mark (Grand Rapids:
William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2002)<BR><BR>Geddert, Timothy J., Believers
Church Bible Commentary: Mark (Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 2001)<BR><BR>Grant,
Frederick C. and Luccock, Halford E., The Interpreter's Bible, Vol. 7
(Nashville: Abingdon, 1951)<BR><BR>Hare, Douglas R. A., Westminster Bible
Companion: Mark (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1996)<BR><BR>Hooker,
Morna D., Black's New Testament Commentary: The Gospel According to Saint Mark
(Hendrickson Publishers, 1991)<BR><BR>Hurtado, Larry W., New International
Biblical Commentary: Mark (Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers,
Inc., 1983, 1989)<BR><BR>Lane, William L., The New International Commentary on
the New Testament: The Gospel of Mark (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans
Publishing Co., 1974)<BR><BR>Moule, C.F.D., The Cambridge Bible Commentary on
the New English Bible: The Gospel of Mark (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1965)<BR><BR>Perkins, Pheme, The New Interpreter's Bible, Vol. VIII
(Nashville: Abingdon, 1995)<BR><BR>Williamson, Lamar Jr., Interpretation: Mark
(Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1983)<BR><BR><A
href="http://www.sermonwriter.com/">www.sermonwriter.com</A><BR><BR><A
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