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<DIV>Sermon Resources for Proper 23, Part 1 of 2:<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></DIV>
<DIV class=Section1>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal> <SPAN class=style3><B>Mark
10:17-31 - </B></SPAN><STRONG>What Must I DO to Receive
Life?</STRONG><B><BR><SPAN class=style3> </SPAN>Mark
10:17-31<SPAN class=style3> </SPAN>- When Too Much Can Be Too
Little<o:p></o:p></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"> </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">by Leonard
Sweet<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Mark 10, the sermon titled “What Must I DO to Receive Life"
</P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>I heard about an expert in diamonds who happened to be seated
on an airplane beside a woman with a huge diamond on her finger. Finally, the
man introduced himself and said, "I couldn't help but notice your beautiful
diamond. I am an expert in precious stones. Please tell me about that stone."
She replied, "That is the famous Klopman diamond, one of the largest in the
world. But there is a strange curse that comes with it." Now the man was really
interested. He asked, "What is the curse?" As he waited with bated breath, she
replied, "It's Mr. Klopman."<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Some of you may wish to re-evaluate your diamonds on that
basis. But seriously the true curse of any kind of valuable possession is its
capacity to steal our hearts and souls. The rich young ruler is one of those
unique characters from the Bible that have come to represent greed. So unwilling
was he to part with earthly wealth that he sold his soul in order to keep his
money. He wanted to be saved but not at the expense of losing his possessions.
The first thing that impresses me when I read this story is that the rich young
ruler was so near to the Kingdom. He asked all the right questions. He
understood the Law and he understood Jesus’ teaching. But in the end love
of money kept him out. We see him as a moral coward. <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>But that conclusion is too simple. The fact is there are a
lot of good things that can be said of him. I'm impressed with the fact, for
example, that having talked with him only a few minutes, Mark tells us that
Jesus looked upon him and loved him. That doesn't sound like a scathing
criticism to me. And, I think that we also need to remember that to this young
boy Jesus was not the Son of God. He was simply a new prophet, with an exciting
message, a magnetic personality, and eyes that gripped you when you spoke to
him. He was certainly not the Christ of the Apostles' Creed. At this point in
his ministry, not even the disciples looked upon Jesus in that regard. The stone
of Easter had not yet been rolled away.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>And so for a few moments this morning I would like to
champion the cause of this underdog and reassess his character. And then I want
to look at his fatal flaws. First let’s look at the positive. These are things
that brought him to the master, qualities that made him interested in Jesus’
teachings.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>1. The first positive thing is: he was
courageous.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>2. The second positive thing is: he was
humble.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>3. The third positive thing is: he was
religious.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Now let’s look at the negative. These are things that
made him turn away from the master.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>1. The first negative thing is: he was looking for a rule to
keep.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>2. The second negative thing is: he loved his
money.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>3. The third negative thing is: he walked
away.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>The rest of this sermon following the outline above can be
obtained by joining <A title=blocked::www.eSermons.com
href="">www.eSermons.com</A>.<SPAN style="COLOR: #1f497d"><BR></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>__________________________________<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Second Sermon by Len Sweet<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Mark 10, the sermon entitled ‘When Too Much Can Be Too
Little’ </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Our parents complained that "the world is going to hell in a
hand basket." <BR>It's closer to the truth to say that "the world is going to
hell in a shopping cart."<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Your soul not to mention your budget is in mortal danger as
you approach the grocery store checkout lane. You say, "How?"<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>You've carefully filled your cart with the needed items
outlined on your list. You patiently wait in line, always seeming to pick the
one that's slowest. Yet somehow, by the time the checker begins tallying up the
items in your cart, it has suddenly filled up with a pack of gum, a box of
Tic-Tacs, a new TV Guide, a four-pack of AA batteries, three candy bars and a
magazine for enquiring minds.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>If your 5-year-old is along, you may also have accumulated a
new Pez dispenser, a mylar balloon with a Disney character on it and a plastic
"cellular" telephone filled with tiny bubble-gum pieces. Stores purposefully
pack this kind of junky, funky, consumer gunk into the narrow gauntlet we must
run to get to the checkout counter. Things we would never intentionally have
gone in search of now languish under our fingertips inviting, no insisting, that
we grab them.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Although impulsively buying a pack of gum or a candy bar
hardly seems earth-shattering or soul-threatening, the truth is that the
increasingly voracious appetites of this consumer culture are being methodically
nurtured and stimulated by a crass and crushing consumerism. The worldwide
ramifications of such little things as a checkout gauntlet are
ominous.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>After a bad day, our parents sighed, "The world is going to
hell in a hand basket." Today we can sigh even more deeply on a daily basis that
the whole world is "going to hell in a shopping cart." For an increasing number
of people, self-identity and life-purpose are summed up by the mantra "I shop,
therefore I am." Raging consumerism has left Descartes' "I think, therefore I
am" far behind. Consumer culture has never even heard of, much less considered,
God's revelation to Moses, "I am who I am; therefore, you are."<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Like the rich young man in today's gospel text, we know
ourselves, we identify ourselves, we define ourselves, by our possessions, our
things, our "stuff." This young man was so possessed by his "stuff" that he
could unstuff himself neither for the sake of the poor, nor for his own sake and
his quest for eternal life. Faced with the choice between his old secure,
in-control, in-charge self and the unknown possibilities of life as a disciple
of Jesus, the rich man clung to his human illusions of power and
control…<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>The rest of Leonard Sweet's sermon can be obtained by joining
<A title=blocked::www.eSermons.com href="">www.eSermons.com</A>.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P
class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p>_______________________________<o:p></o:p></P>
<P style="TEXT-AUTOSPACE: ideograph-numeric"
class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>The Freedom to Sing <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>The French have a story about a millionaire in his palace who
spent his days counting his gold. Beside the palace was a poor cobbler who spent
his days singing as he repaired people's shoes. The joyful singing irritated the
rich man. One day he decided to give some gold coins to the cobbler. At first
the cobbler was overjoyed, and he took the coins and hid them. But then he would
be worried and go back to check if the coins were still there. Then he would be
worried in case someone had seen him, and he would move the coins and hide them
in another place. During all this, he ceased to sing. Then one day he realized
that he had ceased to sing because of the gold coins. He took them back to the
rich man and said, "take back your coins and give me back my
songs."<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Gerry Pierse, Detachment and
Freedom<o:p></o:p></P></DIV></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>