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<DIV><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Sermons for Proper 18:</SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> Luke 14: 14:25-33 – </SPAN><STRONG><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">“The Cost of Discipleship”</SPAN></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> Luke 14: 14:25-33 – <STRONG>“True Blood”
</STRONG>by Leonard Sweet</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Luke 14 - the sermon titled "The Cost of Discipleship"
</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">The mark of a great leader is the demands he makes upon
his followers. The Italian freedom fighter Garibaldi offered his men only hunger
and death to free Italy. Winston Churchill told the English people that he had
nothing to offer them but "blood, sweat, toil, and tears" in their fight against
the enemies of England. Jesus demanded that his followers carry a cross. A sign
of death.</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Andrew died on a cross</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Simon was crucified</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Bartholomew was flayed alive</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">James (son of Zebedee) was beheaded</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">The other James (son of Alphaeus) was beaten to
death</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Thomas was run through with a lance</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Matthias was stoned and then beheaded</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Matthew was slain by the sword</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Peter was crucified upside down</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Thaddeus was shot to death with arrows</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Philip was hanged</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">The demands that Jesus makes upon those who would follow
him are extreme. Christianity is not a Sunday morning religion. It is a
hungering after God to the point of death if need be. It shakes our foundations,
topples our priorities, pits us against friend and family, and makes us
strangers in this world. We sing, "What a Friend We Have in Jesus." But, we must
come to see that on many occasions he is not our friend but our
adversary.</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">One day, as Jesus was being followed by a large crowd,
he turned on the them, sensing that the demands of discipleship were not getting
through, he told two parables. In these parables we learn the three great
requirements of Christianity. To follow Jesus:</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">1. We must establish our priorities.</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">2. We must count the cost.</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">3. We must pay the price.</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">The rest of this sermon following the outline above can
be obtained by joining www.eSermons.com.</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">_______________________</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Luke 14 - the sermon titled “True Blood” by Leonard
Sweet </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">The most famous journalist saying of all time is
arguably “if it bleeds, it leads.” </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Rolling Stone magazine decided to take that adage
literally. The 18 August 2010 cover of Rolling Stone magazine featured a bloody
mess--and it was a huge hit, creating a big stir, selling lots of copies.
Wearing nothing but dripping, smeared, puddling blood, the three young stars of
"True Blood" posed in way meant to sell magazines rather than report on the
series. "True Blood" is an American television drama series. It premiered on HBO
exactly two years ago, on September 7, 2008. (please be careful: you must
see this magazine cover before mentioning it in the pulpit. Only you know the
sensitivities of your people, and while your people will see this magazine cover
at the newsstand, they may not want to see it in church. Only you know how best
to deal with controversial issues like the growing nudity and violence in our
culture.)</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> “True Blood” is one of a growing number of vampire
soap operas, and there are a bumper crop of these teenage-vampire-love-story
shows. Anne Rice sold 80 million copies of her “Vampire Chronicles” to boomers
and Gen-Xers in the late 70s, 80s, and 90s. But the last five years have
belonged to Stephenie Meyer, whose red-hot “Twilight” series reignited
vampire-mania among newer generations, especially those twenty and under. The
blood-thirsty, blood-sucking “undead” have become the darlings of young adults
everywhere. Vampires aren’t creepy, they’re cool. Or in the bad-is-good language
of pop culture, “Vampires Suck” (a current movie playing in cinemas everywhere).
</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">In fact, as mere mortals in all these “love stories”
come to believe, vampires are “to die for.”</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">If teens and twenty-somethings are attracted to these
blood-smeared sweethearts, their parents and grandparents are notoriously
“hemophobic.” We have a tendency to get weak-kneed and wobbily at the mere
mention of blood. </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Don’t believe me? Want proof?</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Check your hymnbook. When was the last time (or first
time?) you sang “There Is A Fountain Filled With Blood” or “Power In The Blood.”
Have you ever even heard “Alas and Did My Savior Bleed,” or “Oh, The Blood Will
Never Lose Its Power”? Fanny Crosby’s hymn “Redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb”
is long forgotten, as is “Nothing but the Blood.” How ironic that the more the
most bloody century in history (160 million people died in 20th century wars)
was bloodied by a killer blood disease (HIV/AIDS), the more the church became
squeamish around blood and even hemophobic. Like the neatly packaged, plastic
wrapped meat packets we bring home from the supermarket, any suggestion of
sacrificial lifeblood left Christians skittish…</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">The rest of Leonard Sweet's sermon can be obtained by
joining www.Sermons.com </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">_______________________</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">A Picture of Discipleship Drawn from the
Military</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Jesus draws a picture of discipleship from the military.
To be a soldier means getting into battle, risking your life. In other words,
Christianity isn't lived in a vacuum. There are struggles and conflicts. Our
hymn, "Onward Christian Soldiers," reflects the fact that we must fight when
demonic forces attack us in life. A Christian must be willing to do spiritual
battle for Christ. That's a high cost.</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Soren Kierkegaard said that there are a lot of
parade-ground Christians who wear the uniforms of Christianity, but few who are
willing to do battle for Christ and his kingdom. When it comes to doing battle
for the Lord, too many church members are just sitting on the premises instead
of leaning on the promises of God.</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Ron Lavin, Sermons for Sundays After Pentecost (Middle
Third): Only the Lonely, CSS Publishing Company, Inc. </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">_____________________________________________<BR> </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">A religion that gives nothing, costs nothing, and
suffers nothing, is worth nothing.</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Martin Luther</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">_________________________</SPAN></DIV>
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