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<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Transforming Love </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">We need to be able to look into a mirror and not
only see, but fully believe, that the reflection we view is a child of God. We
need to believe in ourselves and we can with the assistance of another. A good
example of such transformation is found in the story of Dulcinea, one of the
principal characters in the popular Broadway musical, Man of la Mancha. The
audience learns that Don Quixote, the chief protagonist, lives with many
illusions, most especially his idea that he is a knight errant who battles
dragons in the form of windmills. At the end of the play as he lays dying, Don
Quixote has at his side a prostitute, Aldonza, whom he has called throughout the
play Dulcinea - Sweet One - much to the laughter of the local townsfolk. But Don
Quixote has loved her in a way unlike she has ever experienced. When Quixote
breathes his last Aldonza begins to sing "The Impossible Dream." As the echo of
the song dies away, someone shouts to her, "Aldonza!" But she pulls away proudly
and responds, "My name is Dulcinea." The crazy's knight's love had transformed
her. <BR> <BR>Richard E. Gribble, Sermons for Sundays: In Lent And
Easter: Building Our Foundation On God, CSS Publishing Company</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">_______________________________ </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The Rewards of Risk</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">A temporary office-help agency in Washington DC
recently began offering a $100 bonus to the employee who makes the biggest
mistake of the month. He doesn't get a reprimand. He doesn't get demoted. He
gets a $100 bonus.<SPAN> </SPAN>I read about an executive for a company
called Sara Lee Direct who thought he was getting a great deal on a shipment of
belts, so he acted quickly and bought a whole warehouse full. Only later did he
discover that what he bought was not manufacturing belts for the conveyor system
at the factory, but a bunch of those three-inch-wide paisley belts from the
1960s. Instead of getting fired, he was awarded a bronze plaque that proudly
commemorated the "Worst Buy of the Year."</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">When I read these stories, I had two reactions.
My first was: Are these businesses nuts? Have they gone crazy, or what? And then
my second thought was that maybe I could talk the church council into adopting a
similar policy. Maybe there could be a bonus for the worst sermon of the month.
I could use some extra cash!</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Seriously though, there's a strategy behind
rewarding mistakes. The president of that temporary help company explained it
this way: "The object is to get people to take risks." An official at Sara Lee
Direct where the employee got promoted instead of fired for making that terrible
purchase put it this way, "If you don't go up to the plate and swing hard,
you're never going to hit a home run. If you're not willing to make a mistake,
you're not really trying."</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The bottom-line is that risk-taking is the only
road to success. And companies are finding that it's worth rewarding a few
mistakes along the way if it encourages their people to take the kind of risks
that can bring huge rewards. And the same is true for people of faith.</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">How much faith does it take to follow? How much
risk are we willing to take? That's the crux of the discussion between Jesus and
Nicodemus. That's what Jesus meant when he said you must be reborn.</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Lee Griess, Return to The Lord, Your God, CSS
Publishing Company, Inc.</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">______________________________</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Always Ready </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The great baseball manager Leo Durocher was once
asked who was the all-time favorite player he had coached. Lots of people were
shocked when he named Dusty Rhodes. Rhodes was a little known pinch hitter, not
a really big name player. Durocher was asked, "What was so special about Dusty
Rhodes?" He replied, "In a tight game when I looked down the bench for a pinch
hitter, some players would avert their gaze and refuse to look in my direction.
But Dusty Rhodes would look me right in the eye, smile, and tap on his bat." He
was always available. New birth is more likely to happen to persons who make
themselves available to God. </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Bill Bouknight, Collected Sermons, <A
style="COLOR: #800080"
href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=aelnpceab&et=1104828865565&s=45429&e=001gNOQ0FObTji9dmpgvmRSoeGBZTUjHumRqyg_xYke5tpOxnbKC-nWFj7CpTU6xOOZGcT4LHOE3_t0CFF5YiPl3Aqy9WJEtVfrgh1mZVzhyb28IQXW2mvd1Q=="
shape=rect target=_blank>www.Sermons.com</A> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">______________________ </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Taking Risks </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Nicodemus took a huge risk in his secret night
time visit to see the Teacher Jesus, but risks are sometimes necessary for
growth and change. Alex Haley, the author of "Roots," said this about taking
risks, "Nothing is more important. Too often we are taught how not to take
risks. When we are children in school...we are told to respect our heroes....
What we are not told is that these leaders...were in fact rule-breakers. They
were risk-takers in the best sense of the word; they dared to be different"
(Alex Haley quote is taken from Walter Anderson, The Greatest Risk of
All). </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Brett Blair, <A
href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=aelnpceab&et=1104828865565&s=45429&e=001gNOQ0FObTjhNEzw8laGYXaFsINmpgbB-tZ1sYEvSO4_DxAwtFMcLNKyOjrF4QYY-RmBdeHL5xOZSrMwdvWdMbR6LQafS7acTR5WXT-Dtw0RplGi-lz5tbdp3NuAkqjSmy4PN63kdXsLEcQqnPNX4eg=="
shape=rect target=_blank>www.eSermons.com</A> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">__________________________________ </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The Gift of the Breeze </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">I remember growing up in the South, in cotton
country, in the summer, before air conditioning became something almost every
home had. Several of those summers I spent working on my uncle's cotton farm,
down in the Mississippi delta, just outside of my birthplace, Cleveland,
Mississippi. It was hot work, hard work, bringing in a cotton crop. It
still is, but technology has made it a lot easier than it was back
then. </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">When the crop had been tended for another day,
the weeds chopped from between the cotton plants, in the evening everyone would
gather on the front porch. We would rock and talk and laugh in a futile attempt
to escape the ever-present heat and humidity. And sometimes, on a really good
day, the leaves of the trees would begin to rustle. And the conversation would
die down, and everyone would just sit back and enjoy the summer breeze, the gift
of the breeze. We didn't know where it came from. We didn't know where it was
going. But we knew it was there, because we could feel it. </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Johnny Dean, <A
href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=aelnpceab&et=1104828865565&s=45429&e=001gNOQ0FObTjhNEzw8laGYXaFsINmpgbB-tZ1sYEvSO4_DxAwtFMcLNKyOjrF4QYY-RmBdeHL5xOZSrMwdvWdMbR6LQafS7acTR5WXT-Dtw0RplGi-lz5tbdp3NuAkqjSmy4PN63kdXsLEcQqnPNX4eg=="
shape=rect target=_blank>www.eSermons.com</A> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">______________________ </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Ascribing Greatness to God </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Martin Luther summarized the nature of Christian
life, what it is like to be born again, very well in one of his lectures in
1535. He reported that his teacher, John von Staupitz, said to him: " 'It
pleases me very much that this doctrine of ours gives glory and everything else
solely to God and nothing at all to men; for it is as clear as day that it is
impossible to ascribe too much glory, goodness, etc., to God.' ... And it is
true that the doctrine of the gospel takes away all glory, wisdom,
righteousness, etc., from men and gives it solely to the Creator, who makes all
things out of nothing. Furthermore, it is far safer to ascribe too much to God
than to man." </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Mark Ellingsen, Preparation and Manifestation,
CSS Publishing Company, Inc.</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">___________________________ <BR> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Experiencing Salvation </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Noted evangelist Billy Graham says that he can
point back to a definite time in his life when he experienced conversion. But
his wife, Ruth, says that she grew gradually into the faith and can point to no
definite starting point. Her experience is similar to the testimony of Count Von
Zinzendorf to John Wesley. When Wesley asked him if he knew when he was saved,
he replied, "I have always been saved!" A very famous churchman's reply to the
same question was, "I was saved nearly two thousand years ago, on a hill called
Golgotha, outside the city of Jerusalem." And this is the main point of the
biblical witness: Our Salvation was accomplished nearly two thousand years ago
in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the one true Son of God.
The meaning that this past event has for us today, our response to that event,
and our willingness to believe is crucial for us. It doesn't matter so much when
we come to believe as it does that we believe. </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Robert V. Dodd, Remember That You Are Not Alone,
Faith Is for Sharing, CSS Publishing. </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">________________________ </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The Promises of God Are True </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Tom Long says that while he was at Princeton, he
went to a nearby Presbyterian church that prides itself on being an academic,
intellectual church. Early on, he said, he went to a family night supper and sat
down next to a man, introduced himself, told him he was new, and said, "Have you
been here long?" </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">"Oh yes," the man said. "In fact I was here
before this became such a scholarly church. Why I'm probably the only
non-intellectual left. I haven't understood a sermon in over 25
years." </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">"Then why do you keep coming," Tom
asked? </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">"Because...</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="COLOR: black">The conclusion to this
illustration and for many additional illustrations and sermons for Lent and
Easter can be accessed at </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; COLOR: #7f7f7f; FONT-SIZE: 8pt"><A
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; COLOR: purple; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"
href="http://www.Sermons.com" shape=rect
target=_blank>www.Sermons.com</A></SPAN><SPAN style="COLOR: black">.</SPAN></P>
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