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<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">I Will Be More Alive</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">One of my favorite quotations, one I have used
over and over again at funerals, comes from that great evangelist of the last
century, Dwight L. Moody. Moody said, "One day you will read in the newspaper
that D. L. Moody of East Northfield, Massachusetts is dead. Well, don't believe
a word of it. I will have gone up higher, that's all. Out of this old clay
tenement into a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. And at that
moment, I will be more alive than I have ever been."</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">David E. Leininger, Collected Sermons,
www.Sermons.com</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">_________________________</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Out of the Tomb</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Unfortunately, a lot of people are like
mummies, all wrapped up in themselves. And they don't want to become unwrapped.
All they do is come unwound at the thought of coming out of their safe tomb or
stepping out in faith. But Jesus calls us out of the tomb, sets us free and
calls us to move beyond ourselves into a life of faith, commitment, obedience
and service.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">On the old Merv Griffin Show. There was a time
when he was interviewing some body builders. As he was standing there looking at
these guys with all these muscles, he asked a powerful question: "What do you
use these muscles for?"</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">One guy answered by flexing his muscles in one
of those body builder stances. But Merv said, "No, you don't understand. What do
you USE all those muscles for?" The guy said, "I'll show you." And he flexed
again in another stance.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Again Merv said, "No. You still don't
understand my question. Read my lips. What do you USE them FOR?" The guy posed
again.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Jesus calls us out of the tomb, sets us free
and calls us to move beyond ourselves into a life of faith, commitment,
obedience and service. When we just come to Church and sometimes read our Bibles
and just enjoy the fellowship but nothing else, then we're like those body
building guests. We're like mummies, still wrapped up in ourselves. Jesus calls
us to move beyond self to a life of faith and committed service.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Billy D. Strayhorn, Resurrection Living</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">__________________________</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Daylight Lasts Longer</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">There is a couple in Arkansas who have given
their six-year-old son strict instructions to come home from playing every
afternoon no later than 5 p.m. He is allowed to play with his friends, but his
parents are quite serious about his curfew. If he is not home by 5 p.m., they
begin to worry and call around the neighborhood to find out where he is. The boy
knows this, though, and is careful to arrive every day on time.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">One March Monday, however, the day after
Daylight Saving Time went into effect, the boy was late coming home. When he
finally arrived, a few minutes before 6 p.m., his mother scolded him for being
late. "You know you are to be home by five," she said, "and here it is nearly
six."</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Puzzled, the little boy pointed out the window.
"But the light," he protested, "the light; it's the light that tells me when to
come home."</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Realizing what had happened, his mother smiled
and gently explained that the day before the time had been changed, that
everyone had reset their clocks and, now, the daylight lasted longer. The boy's
eyes narrowed. "Does God know about this?" he asked suspiciously.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">In a childlike way, this little boy shared
John's theological vision. Martha Jesus wants you to know that with God daylight
last longer than death.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Adapted from Thomas G. Long,"When Jesus Arrives
Late," Whispering the Lyrics, CSS Publishing Company</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">_______________________</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Still in Tune and Still in Step</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The Call to Worship had just been pronounced
starting Easter Sunday Morning service in an East Texas church. The choir
started its processional, singing "Up from the Grave He Arose" as they marched
in perfect step down the center aisle to the front of the church. The last lady
was wearing shoes with very slender heels. Without a thought for her fancy
heels, she marched toward the grating that covered that hot air register in the
middle of the aisle.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Suddenly the heel of one shoe sank into the
hole in the register grate. In a flash she realized her predicament. Not wishing
to hold up the whole processional, without missing a step, she slipped her foot
out of her shoe and continued marching down the aisle. There wasn’t a hitch. The
processional moved with clock-like precision. The first man after her spotted
the situation and without losing a step, reached down and pulled up her shoe,
but the entire grate came with it! Surprised, but still singing, the man kept on
going down the aisle, holding in his hand the grate with the shoe attached.
Everything still moved like clockwork. Still in tune and still in step, the next
man in line stepped into the open register and disappeared from sight. The
service took on a special meaning that Sunday, for just as the choir ended with
"Alleluia! Christ arose!" a voice was heard under the church shouting..."I hope
all of you are out of the way ’cause I’m coming out now!" The little girl
closest to the aisle shouted down the register, "Come on, Jesus! We’ll stay out
of the way."</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Traditional Humor, <A
href="http://www.esermons.com/"><FONT color=#ff6600>www.eSermons.com</FONT></A>
<BR><BR>__________________<BR><BR>Mr. Hooper Is Dead</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">In the summer of 1981, Will Lee, the actor who
played an adult character named Mr. Hooper on the children's television show
SESAME STREET, died. This posed a difficult set of issues for The Children's
Television Workshop, producers of the show. Should they deal at all with the
subject of death? If so, how would they explain it to their 10 million viewers,
most of whom are under the age of six? A staff writer describes it this way: “We
asked ourselves: What do we want the kids to know? What can they absorb? What
might open up things we can't answer? We try to create boundaries around what we
can safely teach without doing any damage.”<BR><BR>Child-development experts who
specialize in loss and separation provided some specific don'ts for dealing with
death on the show: Don't say Mr. Hooper got sick and died, because you don't
always die when you get sick. Don't say he was old, because children think their
parents are old. Don't say he went to the hospital and died, because people go
to the hospital all the time. The staff also decided to avoid religious issues,
such as saying that Mr. Hooper had gone to heaven. What about the do's? Early on
they decided they were going to say a few basic things. He's gone--acknowledge
the reality. He won't be back. He'll be missed.<BR><BR>They also wanted the cast
to express how they felt about Will. And they wanted the kids to know that death
stimulates a full range of emotions. You're sad, you're angry, you're
frustrated--all at the same time. The show that resulted aired on Thanksgiving
so that parents could watch with their children. <BR><BR>In one segment, Big
Bird walks on camera and says to the cast: “I just drew pictures of all my
grown-up friends on Sesame Street and I'm going to give them to you.” He passes
out sketches and the cast members ooh and ahh over the likenesses. He's left
with Mr. Hooper's picture. “I can't wait till he sees it,” says Big Bird. “Say,
where is he? I want to give it to him.” <BR><BR>One cast member explains: “Big
Bird, don't you remember? We told you…</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV 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="COLOR: #7f7f7f; FONT-SIZE: 8pt"><A
href="http://www.sermons.com/"><SPAN
style="COLOR: purple; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">www.Sermons.com</SPAN></A></SPAN><SPAN
style="COLOR: black">.</SPAN></DIV>
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