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<DIV>Sermons for Advent 1:<o:p></o:p></DIV>
<DIV class=Section1>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal> Luke 21:25-36 – <B>“Lift Up Your
Heads”</B> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal> 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13 – <B>“If This
Is Your Faith, Tell Me Your Stories”</B> by Leonard Sweet<B><o:p></o:p></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Luke 21 - sermon titled "Lift Up Your Heads"]
<o:p></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><STRONG><SPAN
style="COLOR: black"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></STRONG></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="COLOR: black">A. J. Gordon was the
great Baptist pastor of the Clarendon Church in Boston, Massachusetts. One day
he met a young boy in front of the sanctuary carrying a rusty cage in which
several birds fluttered nervously. Gordon inquired, "Son, where did you get
those birds?" The boy replied, "I trapped them out in the field." "What are you
going to do with them?" "I'm going to play with them, and then I guess I'll just
feed them to an old cat we have at home." When Gordon offered to buy them, the
lad exclaimed, "Mister, you don't want them, they're just little old wild birds
and can't sing very well." Gordon replied, "I'll give you $2 for the cage and
the birds." "Okay, it's a deal, but you're making a bad bargain." The exchange
was made and the boy went away whistling, happy with his shiny coins. Gordon
walked around to the back of the church property, opened the door of the small
wire coop, and let the struggling creatures soar into the blue. The next Sunday
he took the empty cage into the pulpit and used it to illustrate his sermon
about Christ's coming to seek and to save the lost -- paying for them with His
own precious blood. "That boy told me the birds were not songsters," said
Gordon, "but when I released them and they winged their way heavenward, it
seemed to me they were singing, 'Redeemed, redeemed, redeemed!'"<BR><BR>This is
Advent. And the message of these times is the song of those wild birds. It's the
song sung in every carol this season: Redeemed! It’s the meaning behind every
gift given under the tree: Redeemed! It's the Word the shepherds heard:
Redeemed! It's the assurance Mary received: Redeemed! It's the star the Wisemen
followed: Redeemed! [Depending on your style you might omit the repetition of
"Redeemed" at the end of each sentence but allowing it at the end of this
paragraph.] You and I have been trapped by sin, but Christ has purchased our
pardon. He who has this hope in his heart will sing, and you know the song:
"Redeemed, redeemed, redeemed!"<BR><BR>Will YOU hear the song this season? Will
YOU see the signs this Christmas? You can, if you will stand up and lift up your
heads. It is all around. Don't you know that…<BR><BR>1. Our Redemption Is
Written in the Heavens.<BR>2. Our Redemption Is Witnessed on Earth.<BR>3. Our
Redemption Is Wrapped in Our Hearts.</SPAN><o:p></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="COLOR: black"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></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">www.eSermons.com</A>.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>_______________________<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal>1 Thessalonians - sermon titled "If This Is Your Faith, Tell
Me Your Stories" </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>We are used to dividing time into two different eons: “B.C.”
and “A.D.” or as the secular world now calls them, “BCE” and “CE.” To say we
live in 2009 A.D. or C.E. gives us a sense of the passage of time, a feeling of
where we stand in the flow of events. But such designations don’t distinguish
much else about the changes the centuries have brought. <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>After a fearsome November storm season across North America
it seems one designation that might help describe the changes time has brought
is to divide life “B.E.” and “A.E.” — “Before Electricity” and “After
Electricity.” There is nothing like an extended power outage to remind us just
how dependent we are on the power grid for our life-styles and
livelihoods.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>When the power goes out everything is work. Making a cup of
coffee requires a fire, a cast iron kettle, a lot of time, and gives sad, gritty
results. Creating a whole meal can take a whole day. <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>But there are other changes that occur when the power is out
that aren’t all bad. Without the TV, computer, video games, and music downloads,
families who are hunkered down against a storm have to find something else to
do. Off-the-grid days are the days when we drag out the old board games, find a
deck of cards, start a giant jigsaw puzzle. As soon as the batteries run out on
the iPod and the cell phone, talking to each other are the only voices that we
have to listen to.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>That is why in “B.E.” time the most important members of a
community were the storytellers. The storytellers were revered for their wisdom
and honored for their knowledge. The storytellers were responsible for telling
people who they were, where they stood in the world, how they came to be, and
what they should be doing.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Even in these “A.E.” days, the things we learn as stories
stick with us become a part of us, far more than any lesson we learn by rote.
Read a paragraph about unemployment and poverty rates and you might nod off.
Hear the story of “The Grasshopper and the Ant,” and you never forget why we all
must work for a living. <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>But stories only live on when they are told and re-told. Each
new generation must learn the stories of its people, its family, its nation, and
its faith, or the stories are lost forever.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Just inside the main entrance to Harrods, the great London
department store, there is a statue of Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed (whose
father owns Harrods). As my twelve-year-old daughter and I stood in front of it,
Soren innocently asked, “Who is Princess Diana?” The woman who had been the most
recognized icon of the eighties and nineties was a complete mystery to her, an
unknown nobody, because Soren had never heard her story.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>In the same way all of the Christian faith is always just one
generation away from extinction--unless we tell our stories. No one is “born” a
Christian. Christians can only be “born again” after they hear and inhabit the
stories that tell of God’s love for the world…<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=http://www.sermons.com/
href="http://www.sermons.com/">www.Sermons.com</A><SPAN style="COLOR: navy">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>___________________________<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>An Advent Promise: Goodness and Mercy Will Win<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>As some of you know, Fiorello LaGuardia was mayor of New York
during the Depression, and he was quite a character. He would ride the city fire
trucks, take entire orphanages to baseball games and whenever the city
newspapers went on strike, he would get on the radio and read the Sunday
"funnies" to the children.<BR><BR>At any rate, one bitter cold winter's night in
1935, Mayor LaGuardia turned up in a night court that served the poorest ward in
the city, dismissed the judge for the evening and took over the bench himself.
After he heard a few cases, a tattered old woman was brought before him, accused
of stealing a loaf of bread.<BR><BR>She told LaGuardia that her daughter's
husband had deserted her, her daughter was sick and her grandchildren were
starving. But the shopkeeper, from whom the bread was stolen, insisted on
pressing charges. "My store is in a very bad neighborhood, your honor," he said.
"She's got to be punished in order to teach other people a lesson."<BR><BR>The
mayor sighed. He turned to the old woman and said, "I've got to punish you," he
said. "The law makes no exception - ten dollars or ten days in jail."<BR><BR>But
even as he spoke, LaGuardia was reaching into his pocket and pulling out a ten
dollar bill. "Here is the woman's fine," he said, "and furthermore, I'm going to
fine everyone in this court room fifty cents for living in a city where a person
has to steal bread so that her grandchildren can eat. Mr. Baliff, collect the
fines and give them to the defendant."<BR><BR>The following day, the New York
Times reported that $47.50 was turned over to the bewildered old woman. It was
given by the red-faced store owner, some seventy petty criminals, people with
traffic violations and city policemen - and they all gave their mayor a standing
ovation as they handed over their money.<BR><BR>That's how it will be with God's
world. Just when it seems that all hope is lost, and goodness and mercy shall
never win, the Great Judge will come to set things right, deciding for the
hungry and the meek of the earth. Yes, there is also an Advent promise for the
nations of the world in perplexity and distress: "Look up and raise your heads,
because your redemption is drawing near."<BR> <BR>Erskine White, Together
in Christ, CSS Publishing Company <o:p></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt"
class=MsoNormal><BR>_______________________________________<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>A Bit of Contrast<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt" class=MsoNormal>A bit of a contrast, isn't it?
The sweet strains of "Away in a Manger" followed by "...distress among
nations...the roaring of the sea...People will faint from fear and
foreboding...the powers of the heavens will be shaken." Ho, ho, ho! Where is
Santa when we need him? So why in the world would the church choose a Gospel
lesson such as this to begin Advent and our preparation for the coming of the
Christ child? <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Good reason. The sad truth that all of us who are old enough
knows is we do not live in a "Santa Claus" world. Children's visions of sugar
plums are washed away with the hot tears of grown-up disappointment and despair.
Disease and death are constant companions. The fear and foreboding of which
Jesus spoke greet us at every turn. Somehow we need to be reminded that this
misery is not the end of the story. <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>David E. Leininger, Eyes Up!<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>________________________<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>The Hope of a New Birth<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Unfortunately, our gospel lesson doesn't at first seem to
instill us with any sense of hope at all. In fact, after reading this passage,
we can be overwhelmed with a sense of hopelessness. This passage sounds a bit
like the one we heard two Sundays ago, only this one has more doom and gloom,
more destruction, more chaos and catastrophe. We hear of these mysterious signs
in the sun, moon and stars. There are images of people fainting. Heaven and
earth pass away, there is talk of a trap, and our hope for escape, and by the
end of the reading, it seems the walls are closing in on us. <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>And yet, in the midst of the chaos of this reading, if you
look closely enough, calmly enough, there are some words of hope in the midst of
the confusion. Jesus says, "when these things begin to take place, stand up and
raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near . . . when you see
these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near." He speaks
of fig trees, an image which may not communicate much to us, but his hearers in
that time knew that the fig tree was a symbol of life out of death, a symbol of
the hope that comes after the winter, the hope of new birth.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Beth Quick, Ready or Not….<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 5pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 0in; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: 5.0pt"
class=MsoNormal>________________________________________<o:p></o:p></P>
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class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
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<P
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class=MsoNormal>________________________________________<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Peace: Good Is Not Far Away<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>What anxious people need more than anything is peace,
especially peace of mind. On Black Friday I went into a Fossil store that sells
watches. The store was crowded and I could barely make my way to the counter. I
was on a mission. I had a fossil watch that needed a battery. I was certain that
the last thing any clerk wanted to do on the busiest shopping day of the year
was to install a new battery in a watch. Much to my surprise the man said he
would be glad to put in a new battery. I could leave it and pick it up later.
When I came back, again much to my surprise, he only charged me $5. In the midst
of all that craziness I experienced the reality that life goes on and the
simplest of things continue in spite of all the craziness. I gratefully left the
store, watch in hand, ticking along, marking time for years to come. I felt a
sense of peace that God is still in the midst of all the chaos.<BR><BR>What this
all says to me is that no matter how anxious the times we live in, God is not
far away. The problem is that we are so afraid we miss God’s presence. We let
those who use scare tactics mislead us. We allow doom and darkness to dominate
our lives rather than hope and light. Jesus is telling us that “to understand
the world’s troubles as omens of doom is to misread them. The world’s
tribulations and our personal trials can be understood as reasons for us to
remain faithful, hopeful and optimistic.” (Homiletics, December, 2006, pg.
33)<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Keith Wagner, Hope for the Overwhelmed<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>____________________________<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Keeping Spiritually Dressed<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>When Eisenhower was president of the United States, he once
visited Denver. His attention was called to a letter in the local newspaper
saying that a six-year-old boy dying with cancer expressed a wish to see the
president. One Sunday morning a black limousine pulled up in front of the boy's
house. Ike stepped out of his car and knocked on the front door. The father,
Donald Haley, opened the door wearing faded jeans, an old shirt, and a day's old
beard. Standing behind him was the boy. Ike said, "Paul, I understand you want
to see me. Glad to see you." Then he took the boy to the limousine to show it to
him, shook hands, and left. The family and neighbors talked about the
President's visit for a long time before the father always remembered it with
regret because of the way he was dressed. He lamented, "What a way to meet the
President of the United States." If we keep in fellowship with God through
prayer, we will keep ourselves spiritually dressed for Christ's coming at any
time.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>John R. Brokhoff, Wrinkled Wrappings, CSS Publishing Company.
<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>__________________<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>When Everything Becomes "Merely"<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Virginia Owens in her book, And The Trees Clap Their Hands,
suggests that we lose the wonder of it all, because along the way everything
becomes "merely." Things are "merely" stars, sunset, rain, flowers, and
mountains. Their connection with God's creation is lost. During this Advent
season many things are just "merely." It becomes "merely" Bethlehem, a stable, a
birth -- we have no feeling of wonder or mystery. That is what familiarity can
do to us over the years.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Owens goes on to say that it is this "merely" quality of
things that leads to crime. It is "merely" a thing -- I'll take it. It is
"merely" an object -- I'll destroy it. It is this "merely" quality of things and
life that leads to war. We shall lose "merely" a few thousand men, but it will
be worth it. Within the Advent narrative nothing is "merely." Things are not
"merely" things, but are part of God's grand design. Common things, such as
motherhood, a birth, a child, now have new meaning. This is not "merely" the
world, but a world that is charged with the beauty and grandeur of God's design.
It is a world so loved by God that God gave his only Son. What is so great about
the Advent season is that everything appears charged with the beauty and
grandeur of God. <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>John A. Stroman, God's Downward Mobility, CSS
Publishing.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>________________<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Exchanging Our Eschatological Heritage<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Neill Hamilton, who taught at Drew University for many years,
once observed how people in our time lose hope for the future. It happens
whenever we let our culture call the shots on how the world is going to end. At
this stage of technological advancement, the only way the culture can make sense
of the future is through the picture of everything blowing up in a nuclear
holocaust. The world cannot know what we know, that everything has changed in
the death and resurrection of Jesus, that the same Christ is coming to judge the
world and give birth to a new creation. And so, people lose hope. As Hamilton
puts it: This substitution of an image of nuclear holocaust for the coming of
Christ is a parable of what happens to Christians when they cease to believe in
their own eschatological heritage. The culture supplies its own images for the
end when we default by ceasing to believe in biblical images of God's triumph at
the end.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>The good news of the gospel is this: when all is said and
done, God is going to win.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>William G. Carter, No Box Seats in the Kingdom, CSS
Publishing.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>___________________<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Sound Theology<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>In the Peanuts comic strip, Linus and Lucy are standing at
the window looking out at the rain falling. Lucy says to Linus, "Boy, look at it
rain...What if it floods the earth?" Linus, the resident biblical scholar for
the Peanuts, answers, "It will never do that...in the ninth chapter of Genesis,
God promised Noah that would never happen again, and the sign of the promise is
the rainbow." With a smile on her face, Lucy replies, "Linus, you've taken a
great load off my mind." To which Linus responds, "Sound theology has a way of
doing that."<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Charles Schultz, Peanuts, adapted by David E.
Leininger<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>___________________________<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Second Coming and Faithfulness<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>During his 1960 presidential campaign, John F. Kennedy often
closed his speeches with the story of Colonel Davenport, the Speaker of the
Connecticut House of Representatives: On May 19th, 1780 the sky of
Hartford darkened ominously, and some of the representatives, glancing out the
windows, feared the end was at hand. Quelling a clamor for immediate
adjournment, Davenport rose and said, "The Day of Judgment is either approaching
or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause for adjournment. If it is, I
choose to be found doing my duty. Therefore, I wish that candles be brought."
Rather than fearing what is to come, we are to be faithful till Christ returns.
Instead of fearing the dark, we're to be lights as we watch and
wait.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Harry Heintz <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>__________________<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Preparation for Christ's Coming<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Maybe you've heard the story of the little boy who decided to
write a letter to God one Christmas. He started out by writing: "Dear God, I've
been a really good boy this year." Unfortunately, he remembered that God was all
knowing and all seeing and he decided that he couldn't lie to God. So, he
crumpled up that letter and started over. This time he wrote: "Dear God, I know
I haven't done everything I should have, but I really tried to be good." He
stopped and crumpled up that letter, too. It was obvious that he was struggling
with what to write to God.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>As he sat there thinking he looked up and saw his mother's
favorite piece of sculpture on the mantel. It was a beautiful rendition of the
Madonna, the mother of Christ. The boy perked up and ran out of the room. He
came back with a towel and a shoebox. He walked over, carefully picked up the
Madonna, gently wrapped it in the towel, carefully put it in the shoebox and
then hid it in the closet. He immediately went back to the table and wrote:
"Dear God, if you ever want to see your mother again . . ."<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>It's time the Church took back Christmas. And we do. Every
year we take it back and bring back the meaning and the purpose. The world tries
to hold it for ransom each year, with its multiplicity of gadgets and this
year's list of must have toys; the world tries to make demands and hold
Christmas for ransom but it never works. The birth of the Christ child is just
too powerful, even for Wall Street. The sight and the sounds and the remembrance
of this child born so long ago changes all the rules. His very presence makes
the glitter of our Christmas presents pale in comparison.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Billy D. Strayhorn, Stay On Your Toes<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>__________________<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>Luther on Signs of Christ's Coming<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>I do not wish to force any one to believe as I do; neither
will I permit anyone to deny me the right to believe that the last day is near
at hand. These words and signs of Christ compel me to believe that such is the
case. For the history of the centuries that have passed since the birth of
Christ nowhere reveals conditions like those of the present. There has never
been such building and planting in the world. There has never been such
gluttonous and varied eating and drinking as now. Wearing apparel has reached
its limit in costliness. Who has ever heard of such commerce as now encircles
the earth? There have arisen all kinds of art and sculpture, embroidery and
engraving, the like of which has not been seen during the whole Christian era…
<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal>The conclusion to this illustration and for many additional
illustrations and sermons for Advent 1 can be accessed at <A
title=http://www.sermons.com/
href="http://www.sermons.com/">www.Sermons.com</A>.<o:p></o:p></P>
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