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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Humor: The Peacemakers</span></div>
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<a class="spell" title="Click here to replace with: Dane, Dawned, Dawn, Danes, Dante, Diane, Duane" id="sp-35" href="DisplayMessage.aspx?ws_popup=true#">Dawne</a> Olson, a South Dakota mother of four, was preparing to give a talk on unity at her women'<a class="spell" title="Click here to replace with: S, Ms, as, is, ms, ns, sc" id="sp-36" href="DisplayMessage.aspx?ws_popup=true#">s</a>
Bible study. She woke up early to type out the scripture verses. She
wasn't quite finished when her four children began coming downstairs
asking for breakfast. She could hear the children just around the corner
in the kitchen as they rummaged through the refrigerator and cupboards
for something to eat. At some point they discovered half of a toaster
pastry on the counter from the night before. They all began screaming
and fighting; each claiming the half-eaten Pop Tart.<br>
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As <a class="spell" title="Click here to replace with: Dane, Dawned, Dawn, Danes, Dante, Diane, Duane" id="sp-37" href="DisplayMessage.aspx?ws_popup=true#">Dawne</a>
made a couple of futile attempts to quiet them down, she finished
typing the verse in Matthew 5:9 that says, "Blessed are the peacemakers
for they shall be called sons of God." Taking her cue from scripture,
she hollered into the kitchen above the noise, "Would somebody PLEASE be
the peacemaker?!"<br>
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There was a moment'<a class="spell" title="Click here to replace with: S, Ms, as, is, ms, ns, sc" id="sp-38" href="DisplayMessage.aspx?ws_popup=true#">s</a> silence and then Garret, age 6, piped up, "I'll be the piece maker, Mom!"<br>
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Then to his brother and sisters he said: "Here'<a class="spell" title="Click here to replace with: S, Ms, as, is, ms, ns, sc" id="sp-39" href="DisplayMessage.aspx?ws_popup=true#">s</a> a piece for you and you, and a piece for you and one piece for me."<br>
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Needless to say, <a class="spell" title="Click here to replace with: Dane, Dawned, Dawn, Danes, Dante, Diane, Duane" id="sp-40" href="DisplayMessage.aspx?ws_popup=true#">Dawne</a> had her opening illustration on unity and peace for that evening'<a class="spell" title="Click here to replace with: S, Ms, as, is, ms, ns, sc" id="sp-41" href="DisplayMessage.aspx?ws_popup=true#">s</a> Bible study!<br>
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Billy D. <a class="spell" title="Click here to replace with: Stray horn, Stray, Estragon, Stratton, Astray, Saturator, Triathlon" id="sp-42" href="DisplayMessage.aspx?ws_popup=true#">Strayhorn</a>, I Go to Prepare a Place for You<br>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Making Anyone Laugh</span></div>
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The great American humorist, Will Rogers, had the reputation that he
could make anyone laugh. President Calvin Coolidge, on the other hand,
had the reputation that he never laughed. Want to know what happened the
time those two met? Rogers was invited to visit the White House and as
was the custom, the president'<a class="spell" title="Click here to replace with: S, Ms, as, is, ms, ns, sc" id="sp-43" href="DisplayMessage.aspx?ws_popup=true#">s</a>
assistant brought Rogers into the Oval Office. As was the custom as he
entered, the assistant said, "President Coolidge, this is Will Rogers.
Mr. Rogers, this is President Coolidge." To which Rogers leaned forward
and said, "I'm sorry. I didn't catch the name." With that, President
Coolidge cracked up and started laughing.<br>
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Don't you wish you were as quick on your feet as he was? Quick with a
comeback, quick with just the right thing to say. Well, of all the
things that Jesus said, some of the most significant are the words in
today'<a class="spell" title="Click here to replace with: S, Ms, as, is, ms, ns, sc" id="sp-44" href="DisplayMessage.aspx?ws_popup=true#">s</a> Gospel reading, when Jesus says, "I am the way and the truth and the life."<br>
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Lee <a class="spell" title="Click here to replace with: Goriness, Egress, Grimes, Gripes, Ogress, Rises, Greases" id="sp-45" href="DisplayMessage.aspx?ws_popup=true#">Griess</a>, Return to the Lord, Your God, <a class="spell" title="Click here to replace with: CS'S, CASS, CS, CESS, CUSS, CASES, CASKS" id="sp-46" href="DisplayMessage.aspx?ws_popup=true#">CSS</a> Publishing Company, Inc <br>
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An Evening Prayer</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">A
century ago John Henry Newman wrote an evening prayer which expresses
well the whole spirit in which we see the present in the light of that
place which Christ has prepared for us:<br>
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Support us, O Lord, all the long day of this troubled life until the
shadows lengthen, and the evening comes, when the busy fever of life is
hushed, and our work is done. Then in thy mercy grant us a safe lodging,
a holy rest, and peace at the last, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen<br>
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Dean <a class="spell" title="Click here to replace with: Lucking, Lurking, Blueing, Clueing, Leaking, Sleeking, Clucking" id="sp-47" href="DisplayMessage.aspx?ws_popup=true#">Lueking</a>, From Ashes to Holy Wind, <a class="spell" title="Click here to replace with: CS'S, CASS, CS, CESS, CUSS, CASES, CASKS" id="sp-48" href="DisplayMessage.aspx?ws_popup=true#">CSS</a> Publishing Company <br>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">When We Glimpse Paradise</span></div>
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In 1816, Lord Byron wrote a narrative poem that has become a classic. The poem is titled, "The Prisoner of <a class="spell" title="Click here to replace with: Chill on, Chill, Chilling, Chillum, Cahill, Chilblain, Schilling" id="sp-49" href="DisplayMessage.aspx?ws_popup=true#">Chillon</a>," and it is the story of a man incarcerated in the dungeon at the Castle of <a class="spell" title="Click here to replace with: Chill on, Chill, Chilling, Chillum, Cahill, Chilblain, Schilling" id="sp-50" href="DisplayMessage.aspx?ws_popup=true#">Chillon</a> near Lake Geneva, Switzerland.<br>
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The prisoner was in a narrow, cramped dungeon cell for such a long time
that he began to think of it as home. He made friends with the spiders,
insects, and mice that shared his cell. They were all inmates of the
same dungeon and he was monarch of each race.<br>
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The years in the dark dungeon cell had taken their toll. He was no
longer unhappy or uncomfortable. He had grown accustomed to his
environment and came to think of his chains as friends.<br>
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One day a bird perched on the crevice of the ledge above and began to
sing. It was the sweetest music he had ever heard. Suddenly, the desire
to see the outside world overwhelmed him. He grabbed the walls of his
cell, and began climbing and struggling up the wall so that he could
look out of the little window. In that moment, he saw a world that he
had forgotten…</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The conclusion to this illustration and for many additional illustrations and sermons for Easter 5 can be accessed at <a target="_blank" __removedlink__1221456927__href="http://www.sermons.com/">www.Sermons.com</a>.</span></div>
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