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<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
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<DIV><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Sermon
Resources for Proper 20:<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal>Passing by the Children<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">A persistent judgment leveled against parents today is
this: they gladly provide their children with every resource: Leaders, coaches,
teachers, tutors, and youth workers. Certainly children should be happy and
well-adjusted. They have everything money can buy. But they do not have the
listening ear of Mom and Dad. "Too busy, later, not now, I'm working hard for
your good." Recall the old saying:<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">"For the want of a nail the shoe was lost;
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">for the want of a shoe the horse was lost;
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">for the want of a horse the rider was lost;
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">for the want of the rider the battle was
lost."<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">It is still true. For want of a quiet, caring intimacy,
a child's primary sense of self-worth is lost. And for want of security and
self-worth, the child is lost. In most churches I've known, members find it
quite easy to pass a youth by; they are more timid to engage a child than a
stranger in conversation. Frequently, when youth are on committees, little
sensitivity is expressed toward making them comfortable and enabling them to
contribute.<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">Thomas Peterson, The Needle's Eye, 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"> Something Which Time Cannot
Efface<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">Life is a matter of building. Each of us has the
opportunity to build something -- a secure family, a good reputation, a career,
a relationship to God. But some of those things can disappear almost overnight
due to financial losses, natural disasters and other unforeseen
difficulties.<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 are we to do? Daniel Webster offered excellent
advice, saying, "If we work on marble it will perish. If we work on brass, time
will efface it. If we rear temples, they will crumble to dust. But if we work on
men's immortal minds, if we imbue them with high principles, with just fear of
God and love of their fellow-men, we engrave on those tablets something which
time cannot efface, and which will brighten and brighten to all
eternity.<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">Morning Glory <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">Teaching<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 mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains.
The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher
inspires.<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 A. Ward<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">Carry Someone with 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">There was a tribe of Indians who lived a long time ago
in the state of <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State
w:st="on">Mississippi</st1:State></st1:place>. They lived next to a very swift
and dangerous river. The current was so strong that if somebody happened to fall
in or stumbled into it they could be swept away downstream. <BR>One day the
tribe was attacked by a hostile group of settlers. They found themselves with
their backs against the river. They were greatly outnumbered and their only
chance for escape was to cross the rushing river. They huddled together and
those who were strong picked up the weak and put them on their shoulders; the
little children, the sick, the old and the infirm, those who were ill or wounded
were carried on the backs of those who were strongest. They waded out into the
river, and to their surprise they discovered that the weight on their shoulders
carrying the least and the lowest helped them to keep their footing and to make
it safely across the river. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><BR>Jesus is trying to
teach the disciples an object lesson about greatness, about servanthood, about
leadership. He is saying to them and to us, "Have you lost the childlike joy and
love and faith that once were yours?" He is also saying to them and to us, "If
you want to walk on secure ground in this world it helps to carry someone with
you." <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">King Duncan, Collected Sermons,
www.Sermons.com<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">Mastering the Virtue of
Humility<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 do you think of the candidates?" That's what a
reporter for a news magazine asked a young woman at <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Dartmouth</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">University</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> after a debate among
presidential hopefuls. She didn't say a word about their positions on the issues
or their skill at debate. She simply remarked, "None of them seems to have any
humility."<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">Benjamin Franklin, the early American statesman, made a
list of character qualities that he wanted to develop in his own life. When he
mastered one virtue, he went on to the next. He did pretty well, he said, until
he got to humility. Every time he thought he was making significant progress, he
would be so pleased with himself that he became
proud.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Humility is an elusive virtue. Even Jesus' disciples
struggled with it. When Jesus learned that they had been arguing about who was
the greatest, He responded, "If anyone desires to be first, he should be last of
all and servant of all" (Mk. 9:35). Then He took a little child in His arms and
indicated that we need to humbly serve others as if we were serving
Christ.<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">If a news reporter were to talk to our friends,
neighbors, or fellow church members and ask them to describe us, would they use
the word humble?<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"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Our Daily Bread<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">Would That Get Me Into Heaven?
<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">"If I sold my house and my car, had a big garage sale
and gave all my money to the church, would that get me into Heaven?" I asked the
children in my Sunday School class.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">"NO!" the children all
answered.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">"If I cleaned the church every day, mowed the yard, and
kept everything neat and tidy, would that get me into
Heaven?"<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Again, the answer was, "NO!"
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">"Well, then, if I was kind to animals and gave candy to
all the children and loved my wife, would that get me into Heaven?" I asked them
again…<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 20 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=4 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p>[Punchline: ..you
have to die first...]</o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT size=4 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT size=4 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT> </P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>