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<td style="font-family: arial; font-size: 10px;"><center> Mary Austin</center></td>
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<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; font-family: arial; margin-top: 4px; font-weight:bold;">The Treat in the Trick</span><br>
As long as
there have been prizes to win in life, there has been cheating. The
story of Jacob reveals tricks at every turn, as he schemes to inherit
the family fortune and make off with his father's blessing. Recent
events in the news business give us an unlikely parallel to Jacob's
story, and a chance to think about the place of tricks and deceit in our
lives now. The unfolding story of News Corp (the global media empire
owned by Rupert Murdoch) and the tricks used by its flagship British
tabloid <i>The News of the World </i>to collect the latest news have prompted several high-level executives to resign, and even cast doubt on the <i>Wall Street Journal</i>,<i> </i>the venerable American paper owned by the parent company<i>. </i>Deceit and deception served <i>The News of the World </i>well
for a long time, and fed our collectively insatiable appetite for
tidbits about celebrities and royal figures. The paper and it
s editors -- and Murdoch's entire media conglomerate -- are now facing a
reckoning very much like the one Jacob encounters in this story from
Genesis....<a target="_blank" __removedlink__1957348916__href="http://thisweek.sermonsuite.com/phplist/lt.php?id=f08MAwJVAgUATwACHwAFBwI%3D">more</a></td></tr></tr></tbody></table><font color="black" face="Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="4"><font color="black" face="Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="4"><span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; font-family: arial; margin-top: 4px; font-weight:bold;">Treasure and Trash</span><br>
Once there
was a childless king who was dying. Anxious to choose a successor, he
called for applicants to be considered. The first prospect said, "I have
strong legs and sure feet. With them I will visit every home in the
land. I will give my feet to the kingdom."<br>
Another
applicant said, "I have strong hands, They are fit to do the work of a
king. I offer them to the kingdom." A third claimed, "I have many
talents and am more gifted than any other man in the realm. I feel I
should be king so badly, that I will give all my riches to the
kingdom."...<a target="_blank" __removedlink__1957348916__href="http://thisweek.sermonsuite.com/phplist/lt.php?id=f08MAwJVAgUATwACHwAFBwI%3D">more<br>
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<td style="font-family: arial; font-size: 10px;"><center> Wayne Brouwer</center></td>
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<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; font-family: arial; margin-top: 4px; font-weight:bold;">Belonging</span><br>
<span>
When I was in high school a new music teacher came to
town. He was fresh out of college and full of ambition. But here he was,
stuck in a very rural community where people didn't put up with (as
they called it) "long-haired music," either from the Beatles or
Beethoven.<br>
Still,
he was determined to teach us good music. We were going to sing
selections from Handel's Messiah for our Christmas concert. Most of us
had never heard of Georg Frederic Handel, and when we first tried to
sight-read through the selections we became convinced we didn't like his
music....<a target="_blank" __removedlink__1957348916__href="http://thisweek.sermonsuite.com/phplist/lt.php?id=f08MAwJVAgUATwACHwAFBwI%3D">more</a></span></td></tr></tr></tbody></table><font color="black" face="Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="4"><font color="black" face="Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="4"><a target="_blank" __removedlink__1957348916__href="http://thisweek.sermonsuite.com/phplist/lt.php?id=f08MAwJVAgUATwACHwAFBwI%3D"><font color="black" face="Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="4"><span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; font-family: arial; margin-top: 4px; font-weight:bold;"></span><span><a target="_blank" __removedlink__1957348916__href="http://thisweek.sermonsuite.com/phplist/lt.php?id=f08MAwJVAgUATwACHwAFBwI%3D"><br>
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<td style="font-family: arial; font-size: 10px;"><center> C. David<br>
McKirachan</center></td>
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<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; font-family: arial; margin-top: 4px; font-weight:bold;">Jerry Springer</span><br>
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The first time I stumbled across the show that courts and
rewards insanity in front of millions of open-mouthed viewers is a dim
recollection. It had to do with a sojourn away from work because of the
flu. Every once in a while fever and a cough that rattles the toe nails
demand that I stop; working, reading, writing, driving, functioning as a
productive person. At such moments I have just enough energy to push
the channel button once every few minutes and stare at the emptiness of
day-time television. If I’m lucky there are reruns of Star Trek,
X-files, or some movie that allows me to relax enough to drift off and
indulge in dreams that resemble science fiction fantasies. On one such
occasion, I tripped over Jerry Springer. There are few things I can’t
imagine but one of them is why people watch s
uch things....<a target="_blank" __removedlink__1957348916__href="http://thisweek.sermonsuite.com/phplist/lt.php?id=f08MAwJVAgUATwACHwAFBwI%3D">more</a></span></td></tr></tr></tbody></table><a target="_blank" __removedlink__1957348916__href="http://thisweek.sermonsuite.com/phplist/lt.php?id=f08MAwJVAgUATwACHwAFBwI%3D"><a target="_blank" __removedlink__1957348916__href="http://thisweek.sermonsuite.com/phplist/lt.php?id=f08MAwJVAgUATwACHwAFBwI%3D"><font size="4"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><br>
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<td style="font-family: arial; font-size: 10px;"><center> Janice Scott </center></td>
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<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; font-family: arial; margin-top: 4px; font-weight:bold;">Sleep On It!</span><br>
One very good way of solving apparently insoluble problems, is
to sleep on them. My parents taught me from a very young age that if I
wasn't sure what to do about something, I should sleep on it. And this
was especially true in relationships. If someone had upset me and I
wanted to hit back, the message was always the same - sleep on it. By
the next day everything always felt a lot better and I was able to view
things more dispassionately.....<a target="_blank" __removedlink__1957348916__href="http://thisweek.sermonsuite.com/phplist/lt.php?id=f08MAwJVAgUATwACHwAFBwI%3D">more</a></td></tr></tr></tbody></table><br>
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<td style="font-family: arial; font-size: 10px;"><center> Leah Thompson </center></td>
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<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; font-family: arial; margin-top: 4px; font-weight:bold;">One Pearl</span><br>
<b>Object: a pearl necklace or a picture of a pearl</b><br>
Today our
gospel lesson talks about the kingdom of heaven. What do you think the
kingdom of heaven is like? (<i>allow answers</i>) In the gospel, Jesus
compares the kingdom of heaven to a lot of different things. One of the
things he says is this: "The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in
search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and
sold all that he had and bought it."...<a target="_blank" __removedlink__1957348916__href="http://thisweek.sermonsuite.com/phplist/lt.php?id=f08MAwJVAgUATwACHwAFBwI%3D">more</a></td></tr></tr></tbody></table><font size="4"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">- - - - -<br>
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