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<DIV><FONT size=4>He who asks seriously the question of the truth that
liberates, is already on his way to liberation. He may still be in the bondage
of dogmatic self-assurance but he has begun to be free from it. He may still be
in the bondage of cynical despair, but he has already started to emerge from it.
He may still be in the bondage of unconcern about the truth that matters, but
his unconcern is already shaken. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.religion-online.org/showchapter.asp?title=375&C=21">http://www.religion-online.org/showchapter.asp?title=375&C=21</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Paul Tillich, 1955</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Thus we find that Jesus, Lord of all, is hidden, yet present
as he dies on the cross. And with our eyes thus opened, we are able to see
much more of what our God has hidden and planted in our world: peace, justice
and life for us to harvest and manifest in our lives. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><A
href="http://www.predigten.uni-goettingen.de/predigt.php?id=145&kennung=20070406en"><FONT
size=4>http://www.predigten.uni-goettingen.de/predigt.php?id=145&kennung=20070406en</FONT></A></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Luke Bouman,<FONT lang=0> 2007</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>...a quiet voice spoke back to Sam’s inner spirit: “No
deals, Sam. No deals. No manipulations. I rule over you in
<EM>all </EM>times of your life.” </FONT>
<P><FONT size=4>So here we were at this banquet, and Sam went on to say:
“God has called me to be his servant in my turf, the National Football
League. He rules over all aspects of my life, when <EM>winning</EM> or
<EM>losing</EM>, in<EM> triumphs</EM> and <EM>tragedies</EM>. How about
you? Where is your turf? Does God rule you there in your turf, in
your situation? Not just when you’re winning, but when you are
losing. Not just during the triumphs but during the tragedies of your
life? Does God rule you then?” ... There was silence, a
profound silence, echoing the silence from the book of Job. No, this was
no “jock for Jesus” speech. ... Does God rule in our losing? In our
tragedies? </FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4><></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4>...one day his [East Berlin] school principal confronted him,
“Mr. Offeldt, communism teaches that there is no God, that God is a figment of
our imagination.” To which Dietrich replied, “God is not the figment
of my imagination. God created my imagination and yours.”
</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4><></FONT></P>
<P><EM><FONT size=4>Yes, Jesus is Lord. He holds the sun and the moon, the
earth and the stars, the girls and the boys, and the little bitty babies in his
hand. </FONT></EM></P>
<P><A
href="http://www.sermonsfromseattle.com/series_b_christ_the_king.htm"><FONT
size=4>http://www.sermonsfromseattle.com/series_b_christ_the_king.htm</FONT></A></P></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Edward F. Markquart</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4> I get tears in my eyes every time I remember the
memorial in Neuendettelsau, Germany, to the retarded people who were taken from
this Lutheran city of refuge to the gas chambers by the Nazis because they made
no meaningful contribution to society and probably created problems for it! In
more educated societies, we like to think we are free from this. However,
without becoming politically radical, you and I can name peoples and individuals
who, within the last two years, have been scapegoated by our government and our
society in general because we have been unwilling to address some of the causes
for evil in our world which lie not outside us, but within our very selves.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><A
href="http://www.predigten.uni-goettingen.de/archiv-7/050325-8-e.html"><FONT
size=4>http://www.predigten.uni-goettingen.de/archiv-7/050325-8-e.html</FONT></A></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>David Zersen, 2005</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>In spite of the harassment to which she was subjected, she
worked at presenting proposals that would improve the quality of life in the
town.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>As she drew attention the
problems, even people outside her district became more aware of the inefficiency
of the town council. When the next election came around, people in other areas
came forth to challenge the “old timers.” Eventually the town council became
more representative of the community and the woman who started it all became the
mayor.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><O:P><A
href="http://www.agreeley.com/hom03/nov23.htm">http://www.agreeley.com/hom03/nov23.htm</A></O:P></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><O:P></O:P></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><O:P>Mary Durkin</O:P></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><O:P>- - - - -</O:P></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><O:P></O:P> </DIV>
<DIV><O:P><FONT size=4>Pilate says to Jesus' response, "So then you are a king."
In the Greek text, this can be a statement of affirmation (as my translation) or
a question (as in the RSV and NRSV). Once again it would appear that Jesus
accepts Pilate's words as a statement and not a question as Jesus affirms to
Pilate "You say that I am a king" (18:37).<BR><BR>Jesus' witness brings the text
to a crescendo witness: "For this I was born, and for this I have come into the
world, to bear witness to the truth. Every one who is of the truth hears my
voice" (18:37). The scene between Jesus and Pilate is the height of the gospel's
irony as Pilate does not question Jesus' kingship or guilt of the charges
brought before him. Pilate rather affirms Jesus' kingship as his title on the
cross witnesses and his resolve against the chief priests not to change the
title in Hebrew (Aramaic), Latin and Greek: "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the
Jews" (19:19-22).<BR><BR></FONT><A
href="http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?lect_date=11/22/2009&tab=4"><FONT
size=4>http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?lect_date=11/22/2009&tab=4</FONT></A></O:P></DIV>
<DIV><O:P><FONT size=4></FONT></O:P> </DIV>
<DIV><O:P><FONT size=4>Paul S. Berge, 2009</FONT></O:P></DIV>
<DIV><O:P><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></O:P></DIV>
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