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<DIV><FONT size=4>John Woolman, the colonial Quaker, traveled throughout the
South urging the Society of Friends to free their slaves a century before
emancipation, warning that a refusal to do so would result in a broken
nation. He was right. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Wasn't Rosa Parks acting prophetically when she refused to
move to the back of the Cleveland Avenue bus in Montgomery, Alabama, on that
December day over half century ago? Her quiet, determined response to one
of the great signs of American racism was a prophetic indictment of Jim Crow
culture. We're clearly not yet home yet where racism is concerned in
America, but we are a long, long way from Montgomery, Alabama, 1955.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>...John. He seemed lean and mean, direct and outspoken,
like most of the Texas evangelists I grew up hearing, a revival preacher in
camel skin. My grandmother told me we had to like John. He was a
Baptist, after all. There is that great story of the two frontier
preachers arguing over whose church was the most biblically correct. The
Baptist preacher, feeling himself bested, finally exclaimed: "Well, they didn't
call him John the Presbyterian, did they?"</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><A href="http://day1.org/2541-pursuing_the_prophetic"><FONT
size=4>http://day1.org/2541-pursuing_the_prophetic</FONT></A></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Bill J. Leonard, 2011</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - - </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>In 1957 , he was elected president of the newly formed
Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), the vanguard of the nonviolent
struggle for justice in the South. This contemporary "lamb of God" was
spit upon, ridiculed, jailed, fire-bombed, yet he kept on moving -- across the
South, then on to Washington for his famous "I Have a Dream" in August of 1963,
and then to Oslo, Norway, where he was hailed by the world as the Nobel Peace
Prize recipient for 1964, somewhat as Jesus was hailed as he entered Jerusalem
riding a donkey on that last fateful journey. The more threatening Jesus
became to those in power in Jerusalem, the more they plotted to end his
life. So too for Dr. King. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.ipj-ppj.org/Reflections%20-%20Advocacy%20Suggestions%20-%20Lesson%20Plans/A%20Call%20to%20Discipleship%20--%20MLK%20Liturgies.htm">http://www.ipj-ppj.org/Reflections%20-%20Advocacy%20Suggestions%20-%20Lesson%20Plans/A%20Call%20to%20Discipleship%20--%20MLK%20Liturgies.htm</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Institute for Peace and Justice</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>
<P>Could this story be telling us something the disciples don't know yet
themselves? What people are looking for is not information, answers to questions
such as "Who is Jesus?" or "Is this the one?" Or "Am I right about this church
business?" Not even the answer to the question of why stories of meeting this
man have captured the human heart for generations.</P>
<P>What we are all looking for without even knowing it is a place to stay, a
place to remain always. Jesus is that place, a person who is himself a home, a
place to belong, a whole way of life. Jesus knows that what the disciples really
want is a place to belong.</P></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://day1.org/1078-what_are_you_looking_for">http://day1.org/1078-what_are_you_looking_for</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Catherine Taylor, 2008</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Jesus answered, “Come and see.” And the word, “see,” is
meaningful. The Greek word is not “blepo” which means come and physically see.
Bu the Greek word is “orapo” which is not physical sight but spiritual
insight.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.sermonsfromseattle.com/series_b_andrew.htm">http://www.sermonsfromseattle.com/series_b_andrew.htm</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Edward F. Markquart</FONT><FONT face=Arial><BR>- - - -
-</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>...when Jesus looks at Simon and says, "You are..." Jesus gets
personal. It's almost as if he's saying, "I know you, I know you." <B>What do
you have when you have Jesus? You have a friend who confronts you with the
reality of yourself today.</B></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>When Jesus says, "You are," he emphasizes the crucial need for
self-knowledge.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.csec.org/csec/sermon/reaves_4209.htm">http://www.csec.org/csec/sermon/reaves_4209.htm</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Benjamin Reaves</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV align=left><SMALL><FONT size=4>Another thing about children's drawings is
that they can be very powerful statements about a child's identity. I discovered
just <EM>how</EM> powerful some years ago as a part of a team that worked with
families in an alcoholism treatment center. A social worker asked a little
boy to draw a picture of his family. The boy's father was half way through
a 30 day residential treatment program. In the lad's picture, it was
raining. Mom was taller than the house and dad was shorter than both mom
and the house. A sister was holding mom's hand. There were no smiles
on the faces. And it seemed the boy was missing from the
picture.</FONT></SMALL></DIV>
<DIV align=left><SMALL><FONT size=4>The social worker said, "This is a very nice
picture Eric. I see mom and dad and sister, but I don't see you. Why
isn't Eric in the picture?"</FONT></SMALL></DIV>
<DIV align=left><SMALL><FONT size=4>The boy pointed to a small black scribble in
the corner of the drawing and said, "There I am!"</FONT></SMALL></DIV>
<DIV align=left><SMALL><FONT size=4>All of us (the social worker, the
psychologist and myself) became misty eyed when Eric spoke those words. The
issue of identity for this child will be a life long struggle. Can you imagine
feeling like a small black scribble in the wider picture of your
life?</FONT></SMALL></DIV>
<DIV align=left><SMALL><FONT size=4><></FONT></SMALL></DIV>
<DIV align=left><SMALL><FONT size=4>Wouldn't it be wonderful if young children
like Eric could have a deep sense within that says, "I am a child of God."
Instead of, "I'm a little black scribble." There is value and hope
and comfort in knowing who I am in relationship to Christ. When I see
myself in light of my relationship of love with the One who made the universe, I
gain courage to disregard the identity other people want to hang on
me</FONT></SMALL></DIV>
<DIV align=left><SMALL><FONT size=4><></FONT></SMALL></DIV>
<DIV align=left><SMALL><FONT size=4>The only information we have about Andrew
comes from John's gospel where all three instances that mention him have to do
with Andrew bringing someone to Jesus.</FONT> </SMALL></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.lectionarysermons.com/jan17ser99.html">http://www.lectionarysermons.com/jan17ser99.html</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>John Jewell,<SPAN lang=en-us> 1999</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></FONT></DIV>
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