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<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
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<P>Sermon Resources for Proper 21: Part 2 of 2</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">I Love You More than Salt<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><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 ancient king once asked his three daughters how much
they loved him. One daughter said she loved him more than all the gold in the
world. One said she loved him more than all the silver in the world. The
youngest daughter said she loved him more than salt. The king was not pleased
with this answer. But the cook overheard the conversation, so the next day he
prepared a good meal for the king, but left out the salt. The food was so
insipid that the king couldn't eat it. Then he understood what his daughter
meant. He understood the value of salt. <BR><BR>In the ancient world salt was a
valuable and scarce commodity. It was used as currency in some countries even
into modern times. During an invasion of <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">Ethiopia</st1:country-region></st1:place>, in the late 19th century,
Italian soldiers found blocks of salt stored in bank vaults along with other
familiar forms of currency. Jesus was paying his disciples a compliment when he
called them salt.<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">King Duncan, Collected Sermons, <A
href="http://www.sermons.com/">www.Sermons.com</A> <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 Fellowship of the Bearers of Cold
Water<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 old man named Calvin had lived a good life as a
farmer for years. One day an evangelist came to the community, and, in the
course of his stay, visited Calvin and asked him what denomination he
was. Calvin answered the question like this: "When my grain gets
ready for selling, after I've harvested it and packaged it, I can take it to
town by any one of three roads ” the river road, the dirt road, or the highway.
But when I get my grain to town and go to the buyer to sell him what I have, he
never looks at me and asks, ˜Calvin, which road did you take to get your grain
to town?' What he does do is ask me if my grain is any good."
<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">Friend, is your grain good - the grain of your
discipleship? That's all that really matters. When we get to Heaven we will
probably find some (Roman Catholics) and some (Baptists) and some
(Presbyterians). And they'll be just as surprised to see us as we will to see
them. But we will all belong to just one fellowship. Let's call it the
Fellowship of the Bearers of Cold Water. We will all be people who have lived
out our discipleship through acts of kindness to
others.<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">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">The Cumulative Effect of
Sin<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">Time-lapse photography compresses a series of events
into one picture. Such a photo appeared in an issue of National Geographic.
Taken from a <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Rocky</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Mountain</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> peak during a
heavy thunderstorm, the picture captured the brilliant lightning display that
had taken place throughout the storm's duration. The time-lapse technique
created a fascinating, spaghetti-like web out of the individual bolts. In such a
way, our sin presents itself before the eyes of God. Where we see only isolated
or individual acts, God sees the overall web of our sinning. What may seem
insignificant -- even sporadic -- to us and passes with hardly a notice creates
a much more dramatic display from God's panoramic viewpoint. The psalmist was
right when he wrote, "Who can discern his [one's own] errors? Forgive my hidden
faults. Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me."
(Psalm 19:12-13).<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">Designed to Be Lived Up<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">Ted Engstrom of World Vision fame tells how one day he
was cleaning out an old desk drawer. He found a flashlight he hadn't used in a
year. He turned it on but there was no light. He shook it, and then he unscrewed
one end to release what were probably dead batteries. The batteries wouldn't
come out, but finally, after some effort, he shook them loose. What a mess he
found! Corroded batteries with liquid acid seeping all over the mechanism - all
because he hadn't used the flashlight regularly!<BR><BR>Batteries are designed
to be turned on, to be used, not neglected or ignored. What you and I refuse to
use we will surely lose. We're meant to he turned on, too. Our gifts are to be
used! Our lives are not meant to be "waited out" but to be lived up! Are you and
I living up to the gifts and talents God has given us? What kind of commitment
do we have to ourselves and to the graces within
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">Richard W. Patt, Partners in the Impossible, CSS
Publishing Co., Inc.<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">Where to Put the Pies<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 was in a small rural church one time that had a major
dispute about where the pies should be placed in the kitchen prior to serving
them for the annual turkey supper. One woman actually left the church community
because several new comers to the church had convinced the rest of the women
working in the kitchen that it would be more efficient to put the pies on the
counter beside the sink instead of the counter next to the refrigerator. "It's
not the right way to do it", she said. "We've never done it that way before, and
I am not going to be part of doing it that way now. I won't have any part of
that kind of thing. Those new people are going to ruin this church. They don't
know anything. They aren't even from around here."<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">Sound familiar to anyone? <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 apostle John came up to Jesus one day.
"Jesus", he said, "I was walking down the road with the rest of the disciples,
and we saw someone casting out demons in your name. We tried to stop him because
we don't know who he is; we tried to stop him because he's not one of
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">Richard J. Fairchild, Working
Together<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">Are We Askew, Too?<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 style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">One pastor tells about
listening to his father tell a story about a neighbor whose barn had burned
down. The entire community gathered to help rebuild it. His father and some
other men were told to saw the rafters. They first cut a rafter and then traced
around it with a pencil and cut another one. They based the third rafter on the
second the fourth on the third and so on. What they didn't take into account was
the width of the pencil mark. Each rafter was one pencil mark wider than the one
before. After a while, this can add up to quite a difference. By lunch time they
looked at the barn and discovered it was going up at a very strange angle
because they had deviated from the original standard. Do you not sense
that our barn is a little askew today, too? <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">Feeding Sin<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">In 1939, a coast guard vessel was cruising the Canadian
Arctic when the men spotted a polar bear stranded on an ice floe. It was quite a
novelty for the seamen, who threw the bear salami, peanut butter, and chocolate
bars. Then they ran out of the food. Unfortunately, the polar bear hadn't run
out of appetite, so he proceeded to board their vessel. The men on ship were
terrified and opened the fire hoses on the bear. The polar bear loved it and
raised his paws in the air to get the water under his armpits. We don't know how
they did it, but eventually they forced the polar bear to return to his ice
pad…<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 21 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></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>