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<DIV>Sermons for Proper 5: </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> Luke 7:11-17 –
<STRONG>“How to Rise above Discouragement” </STRONG></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> Galatians 1:11-24 –
<STRONG>“Are You Paying Too Much For Your Whistle?” </STRONG>by Leonard
Sweet</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Luke 7 the sermon titled "How to Rise above
Discouragement" </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">It's a dramatic scene when you think about it
-- I mean -- a funeral procession halted and the trip to the cemetery
interrupted. Of course it was not anything like our scene -- a black Cadillac
hearse, followed by one or more black Cadillac limousines, followed perhaps by
several cars, lights on, concerned not to lose their place in the line in the
traffic.<BR><BR>No, this scene was at once more primitive and personal. No city
traffic to contend with in this procession. No indifferent motorists disturbed
that they were delayed a few minutes for the funeral. No, this is a village
scene, people on foot, following the widowed mother who is following the
professional mourners with their cymbals, flutes and high-pitched shrieking and
wailing.<BR><BR>It is a Palestinian village scene in Nain, just a short distance
from Nazareth (Jesus' hometown), and a day's walk from Capernaum (Jesus' new,
adopted town). The pallbearers are carrying the body of a young man in a long
wicker basket covered by a shroud for burial outside the city. Except for very
important people, ancient Jews buried their dead outside the city, usually on
the day of death or the next day. Embalming was not practiced.<BR><BR>For
modern, indifferent eyes and blasé people, the scene was dramatic enough by
itself. Think of it: the dead man was the only son of his mother, and she was a
widow. The pathos and sorrow of the ages is contained in that statement. In a
patriarchal society orphans, such as this young man, and widows, like his
mother, were regarded as vulnerable, weak and without much opportunity for
economic support. Nonetheless, a great crowd followed the procession, indicating
sympathy and support at least for the time being.<BR><BR>That's drama enough --
a large crowd of caring people -- but now there is more. Jesus approaches,
apparently coming from Capernaum where he just healed the Roman Centurion's
slave. He saw the widowed, desolate mother, had compassion for her, thinking
perhaps of his own mother reputedly widowed at an early age.<BR><BR>"Do not
weep," he told her. Her tears for her son no doubt now intermingling with the
endless salty tears shed for her husband. And in the continuing drama risking
ceremonial impurity, he reached out, touched the bier and possibly the body, and
the procession halted.<BR><BR>Can you see the modern setting -- someone halting
the hearse, opening the door of the limousine, telling the widowed mother in
mourning black not to weep, and then saying beside the coffin, "Young man, I say
to you, arise." Startling indeed, and startling enough in first century
Palestine which had a tradition of miracle stories of great prophets like Elijah
and Elisha raising widows' sons from the dead. And the young man sat up and
began to speak, and like Elijah and Elisha before Jesus, the new great prophet
gave the son back to his mother.<BR><BR>Talk about rising above discouragement!
Talk about overcoming the greatest obstacle to human fulfillment. Talk about
overcoming life's defeats: this was it -- Jesus raising this young man from the
dead as he had Jairus' daughter and Lazarus, brother of Mary and
Martha.<BR><BR>He didn't raise everybody physically from the dead of course,
just as he didn't heal everybody. But what he did do then and still does today,
is to help everyone rise above discouragement. And that's where we focus today
-- rising above discouragement. </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">1. We Must Not Deny Reality</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">2. We Must Consider the Alternatives</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">3. We Must Allow Ourselves to Be Touched by
Christ</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The rest of this sermon following the outline
above can be obtained by joining <A title=blocked::www.eSermons.com
href="http://mail.churchmail.com/lists/admin/FCKeditor/editor/dialog/www.eSermons.com">www.eSermons.com</A>.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Galatians 1:11-24 the sermon titled “Are You
Paying Too Much for Your Whistle?”] </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">What is the first thing you remember buying
with your own hard-earned money? Can you remember what it was?</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Every kid has had some longed-for, worked-for,
saved-for dream. For me as a kid it was a scratch-built Indie race car made out
of plywood. I can still see it in my mind’s eye today. I went to sleep at night
deciding what colors I would paint it — when I wasn’t striking out every batter
in the New York Yankees lineup. I knew that such a car would make me happy
forever.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">I never got it.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">But the things we did save up for and get as a
kid? How’d that work for you? Did life’s earliest purchases always work out
well?</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The ninja warrior “action figure” doesn’t
actually DO anything. Bummer.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The BB gun jams and never fires again after the
first six shots. Bummer.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The sea monkeys float in the water for a minute
then sink into the silt never to be seen again. Bummer.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Benjamin Franklin never forgot the first
purchase he ever made. It was a tin whistle. When he was a little child he saw
it in a store window and coveted it, and finally got the money and went and
bought it. Almost as soon as he had purchased it, he knew he had been cheated.
It had cost him too much. It wasn’t worth what he had paid for it.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">But if he paid too much for the whistle, he
didn’t pay too much for the lesson it taught him. It stayed with him all through
his life. And ever after he would look at men and women, friends and
acquaintances, politicians and statesmen, absorbed in the pursuit of power, or
of fame, or of wealth, and see that they were all getting too little for what it
was costing them. Never one to be shy, Ben would say to them, “You are paying
too much for your whistle!”</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">How much are you paying for your whistle? The
first lesson in Economics 101 should be that everything in life comes at a cost.
Everything exacts a price.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Want to get into a great college?</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Start spending your hours and days studying
hard, investing in knowledge, compounding your cognitive abilities.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Want the best-looking lawn on the block?</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Start feeding the grass, researching nutrients,
mowing, watering, mulching, aerating. The cost will be time, sweat equity, and
not a little moolah.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Want your family -- your marriage, your
children, your relatives -- to be strong and whole and healthy?</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">It doesn’t just happen by happenstance. You
have to make special time for each person you love. You have to listen to each
concern and care about every problem. You have to watch Barbie go shopping
instead of the basketball game. You have to be able to know the names of the
Jonas brothers and the four kinds of Pokemon and how to find out anything about
anyone on Facebook.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Life costs. The question of life is this: is
the whistle you are investing in worth it? And if it is, how high a cost are you
ultimately willing to pay for your whistle?</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The apostle Paul paid a lot for his “whistle.”
Eventually he paid the ultimate price. Actually, Paul bought two “whistles” in
his life — and he paid a heavy price for both…</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The rest of Leonard Sweet's sermon can be
obtained by joining <A title=http://www.sermons.com/
href="http://www.sermons.com/"><FONT
color=#800080>www.Sermons.com</FONT></A></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">___________________________</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Pre-Publication Announcement:</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><STRONG>Jesus Manifesto </STRONG>by Leonard
Sweet and Frank Viola</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">“Christians have made the gospel about so many
things … things other than Christ.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Jesus Christ is the gravitational pull that
brings everything together and gives them significance, reality, and meaning.
Without him, all things lose their value. Without him, all things are but
detached pieces floating around in space…”</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><STRONG>Jesus Manifesto </STRONG>brings Jesus
back to the center of the church. This new book refocuses our attention on
Christ as the driving force behind our spiritual truth.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><STRONG>Jesus Manifesto </STRONG>by Leonard
Sweet and Frank Viola will be available Tuesday, June 1<SUP>st</SUP> at <A
href="http://www.amazon.com/"><FONT color=#800080>www.Amazon.com</FONT></A> with
an amazing publication day discount. Order on Tuesday! </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">______________________</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Jesus Can, Jesus Will</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">You know, I passed a funeral on the road the
other day: a hearse followed by a long line of cars all burning their headlights
in broad daylight. I followed our quaint Southern custom of pulling off the road
and stopping until they were past to honor the deceased and show respect to his
loved ones. Because I did not know the people involved, I hardly gave it a
second thought, and continued on my way as soon as they were past. But Jesus, as
it were, flipped on his own lights, turned his car around, and joined the
procession to the gravesite. <BR> <BR>As a Minister of the Gospel I have
often had to preside at funerals. There one has the great privilege of offering
comfort, sympathy, support, and hope based on the glorious Gospel of salvation
in Jesus Christ. But there is also in such moments a feeling of impotence. I can
offer hope for the future, but I cannot reverse what has happened in the
immediate past. I can offer comfort for the present, but I cannot fill the gap
that has been left in people's lives. But the point of this passage is that
Jesus could. The point of this passage is that Jesus can. The point of this
passage is that Jesus will.<BR> <BR>Donald T. Williams, The Widow of Nain's
Son</DIV>
<DIV
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><BR>____________________________________<BR><BR> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The Power of Death Reversed</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Alfred Krupp, a famous munitions maker, lived
in constant fear of death. Everyone throughout his entire company was strictly
forbidden to refer to the subject of death in conversation. He ran from his own
house because a relative of his wife's suddenly died there. And when Mrs. Krupp
objected, Alfred became so enraged that he initiated what was to be a lifelong
separation. During his last sickness, he offered his doctor a million dollars to
prolong his life. But, of course, that was impossible. </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Death has very real power. Money and prestige
and position aren't going to change that. Visits and phone calls and sympathy
cards aren't going to change that. Preachers and churches and expensive funerals
aren't going to change that. </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Jesus enters into the situation with strange
words and even stranger actions, words and actions that at first glance seem
totally out of place. He says to the widow, "Don't cry." And then He touches the
funeral board, so that all attention will be focused on Him as He addresses the
carefully wrapped corpse. "Young man I say to you, get up!" Jesus doesn't
wrestle in prayer to His Father. He doesn't struggle in deep spiritual warfare.
He simply commands the corpse to get up. And catch this. His command reverses
the powers of darkness and death! His command transforms a funeral procession
into a family reunion.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Ron Luchies, A God With Heart</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">__________________________________</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Death is not extinguishing the light from the
Christian; it is putting out the lamp because the dawn has come.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">____________________________________</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Ah, that’s the reason a bird can sing</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">On his darkest day he believes in Spring.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Douglas Malloch (1877-1938), You Have to
Believe</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">_____________________</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Two Processions</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Two processions – one going into Nain and
headed up by Jesus, the Lord of Life; the other going out of Nain and headed up
by death.<BR><BR>The two processions are on a collision course. Can't you just
see it?! This kinds of reminds me of two freight trains hurtling towards each
other on the same track. Or, it reminds me of the movie, "The Patriot" starring
Mel Gibson with a long line of British Redcoats and a long line of American
Revolutionaries charging towards each other. You know something has to
give.<BR><BR>Most people have come to believe that death never gives way. We've
always been told that the two certain things in life are death and taxes. Death
comes upon every person. The statistics are most impressive, 100% of those who
have ever been born have died. And again, with a few exceptions, most of those
who have died have stayed dead. Death is certain and death is immovable. When
the young man entered death, it was his final step. When death takes hold of a
person, there is no return, no going back, no appeal, no argument. Death is the
end and it has the last word. And in our Scripture passage we see that it has
spoken on the life of the only son of a widow in Nain.<BR><BR>However, coming to
meet the procession headed by death is the procession headed by Jesus. Jesus
also came to have the last word. Jesus is life Himself and He came that people
should have life and have it to the full.<BR><BR>What will happen when these two
processions meet at the town gate of Nain? Will it be the procession headed by
Jesus or will it be the procession headed by the coffin and the corpse that
gives way?<BR><BR>Adrian Dieleman, Don't Cry
<BR>_______________________________</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Don’t Deny the Existence of Trouble</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Any daily newspaper recounts tragic story after
story of premature deaths, fractured relationships, and broken dreams. Indeed,
we need not turn to any newspaper for an accounting of the world's troubles and
sorrows. We have only to look at our own friends and neighbors and families. We
have only to look into our own lives and hearts. Jesus, the healer and
power-giver, never insulted people by telling them their problems weren't real.
He never told the sick they were never really sick or that their illness had no
pain or reality. He never told people that death wasn't real, nor did he offer
this widowed mother Pollyannaish pabulum to soothe her grieving heart.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">I am reminded of a friend of mine living in
Indiana where tornadoes are frequent. His young son had a special fear of
storms. One day, when a storm threatened, the father took his son to the front
of their lovely, substantial home, pointed out across the neighborhood, and said
to the boy, "There, you see everything is okay. These are solid homes and we are
safe and dry in them." About that time a tornado touched down a block away and
utterly destroyed several of these "substantial" homes. The storms of the
natural world are real just as are the storms of the spiritual, psychological
world. Trouble and tragedy are real. Evil and death are real. Jesus never said
to his disciples on the stormy Sea of Galilee, "This is no storm. The storm is
in your mind." He never said that. Instead he said to the storm, "Peace, be
still." And it was. Are you out of a job? Did your home decline in value? Are
your financial resources dwindling? Do you have a serious illness? Is your
marriage not right? Is there a real problem with the children? Are you enslaved
in a debilitating habit? Then don't deny it, says Jesus. The widow never said
her son wasn't dead. Admit the problems. Don't deny them.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Maurice A. Fetty, The Divine Advocacy, CSS
Publishing Company</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">__________________________________</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV></BODY></HTML>