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<DIV>Archbishop Phillip Frier quoted the 13th Century St Gregory of Sinai to
those being baptised or confirmed at the Easter, “Become what you already
are, find him who is already yours, listen to him who never ceases speaking to
you, own him who already owns you.” </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT size=2>A sermon on John 20:19-29 by Jill Friebel 30 March
2008</FONT></EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT size=2></FONT></EM> </DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT size=2><A
href="http://www.laughingbird.net/ComingWeeks.html">http://www.laughingbird.net/ComingWeeks.html</A></FONT></EM></DIV>
<DIV>- - - - -</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Angus sobbed, “how do I know there’s a pilot there?” “You<BR>can’t see the
pilot”, said his dad, “but we know that there is a pilot behind<BR>that door way
up the front of the plane. The plane wouldn’t be moving if the<BR>pilot wasn’t
there.” But Angus got more and more upset and he kept saying<BR>between sobs
that he wanted to see if the pilot really was there. A very kind<BR>flight
attendant heard what Angus was saying and she offered to take him up<BR>front to
see the pilot for himself. And that’s what happened. Angus talked to<BR>the
pilot and was shown all the dials and equipment needed to fly the plane<BR>and
to get it back on the ground safely. After that, Angus was happy to sit<BR>back
in his seat and he even fell asleep and slept nearly all the way to
Brisbane.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><A
href="http://www.liturgiesonline.com.au/liturgies/main/index.php?ch_table=link6&PID=11&SID=&year=C">http://www.liturgiesonline.com.au/liturgies/main/index.php?ch_table=link6&PID=11&SID=&year=C</A></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><A
href="http://www.liturgiesonline.com.au/liturgies/staff/moira@liturgiesonline.com.au"
target=_self><FONT color=#000000>Moira B Laidlaw</FONT></A> </DIV>
<DIV>- - - - -</DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT size=2></FONT></EM> </DIV>
<DIV>We drove across town to a large hospital. We walked through the corridors
and found the room of the patient whom I was sent to visit. The patient was a
young doctor in his late 30s who was dying of an inoperable cancer. As we
entered the room, we noticed all the medical equipment hooked up to his body,
but he was very conscious of our presence and wanted to talk. We talked for a
moment about life and death. I read Scripture, and we prayed together. My
doubting friend was there with me and stood at the foot of the bed as I stood at
the patient's side. The entire process in the room took about 15-20 minutes.
There were tears in the eyes of the patient in the bed as we turned to leave. We
went down the hall to the elevator and then out to the parking deck before
either one of us said another word. Finally, on the way back to the church my
doubting Thomas turned and said, "I see things entirely differently now.
Eternity has broken into my life, and I want to start all over with
Christ."</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><A
href="http://day1.org/1038-doubtthe_prelude_to_faith">http://day1.org/1038-doubtthe_prelude_to_faith</A></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Bill Self, 2007</DIV>
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<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Several years ago my congregation's choir planned a trip to Southern
Africa. We are a mid-sized congregation in a neighborhood that has many economic
and social challenges. When people heard about our plans, they laughed. They
said, “You are too small, too poor to make such a trip. You’ll never raise the
money for 40 people to travel two weeks in Africa." Well, the circumstances
seemed too great to conquer and the obstacles too many to overcome. But we
believed. We believed that God was with us in our desire to make this journey
and we believed that with that vision would come provision. That with the dream
would come the means. So we took the first step and began to raise funds. Not
only did we raise enough for our journey, but we gave a tithe of what we raised
to our sisters and brothers in Africa. Our faith and trust in God's faithfulness
was not disappointed.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><A
href="http://www.csec.org/csec/sermon/bullock_4912.htm">http://www.csec.org/csec/sermon/bullock_4912.htm</A></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Wyvetta Bullock, 2006</DIV>
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<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>Garrison Keillor said, "We always have a backstage view of ourselves." We
let the audience see only the neatly arranged stage. But behind the curtain all
kinds of things are lying around: old failures, hurts, guilt and shame, We hear
that we are living in a shameless society, and that people are no longer
bothered by shame. I don’t believe it. Shame plagues our souls. Psychologists
tell us that shame sweeps over us when we overstep our abilities, or when our
fantasy about who we would like to be encounters the backstage reality of who we
really are.</DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><A
href="http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=3138">http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=3138</A></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Craig Barnes, 2004</DIV>
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