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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">Humor: Missing the Rocks</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">There
is a joke concerning this text that has gone around for years about
three ministers out fishing together in a small boat. One of them,
suddenly realizing that he had left his tackle box in the cabin, stepped
out of the boat, and walked on the water over to shore. Just then, the
second one said he had forgotten his faithful fishing hat on the front
seat of the car. He too stepped out of the boat and walked on the water
over to shore. When they had both returned, the third minister who had
watched this remarkable demonstration with mouth open and eyes wide,
reasoned to himself "My faith is as strong as theirs. I can do that
too." </span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">So
he stepped out of the boat and promptly sank to the bottom. His two
companions dragged him out, but once they got him in the boat, he was
determined not to be shown up. He stepped out once more, and immediately
sank again. As his friends pulled him out, he sputtered, "My faith is
as strong as yours. Why can't I walk on the water?"<br>
<br>
The first two looked at each another and one finally said, "We'd better
tell him where those rocks are before he drowns himself."<br>
<br>
David E. Leininger, Mayday!<br>
____________________________________</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">Do Not Be Afraid</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">“Do
not be afraid.” The scriptures make this announcement over and over
again. These are usually the first words out of angel’s mouths.
Abraham, Moses, Mary, Joseph, shepherds tending their flocks, Paul
sitting in a jail cell, the women looking for Christ’s body at Easter
and disciples rowing a boat in the strong wind all hear these words. In
all, these words occur almost 100 times in the scriptures. Apparently,
humans are very fearful creatures and we are in need of faith to
function properly in the world.<br>
<br>
Todd Weir, Do Not Be Afraid</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">_____________________________</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">Unbounded Faith </span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">This
summer, I took part in a chaplaincy program at Crouse hospital, where
one of my assigned units was the neonatal intensive care unit. There I
watched babies born 1, 2, 3 months early, struggle for their lives,
struggle to eat, to breathe, to gain even an ounce. The mothers there,
whether they considered themselves religious or not, suddenly found
themselves having to rely on faith, suddenly found themselves believing
in, hoping for, depending on miracles. It was hard for an outsider, even
a chaplain, to understand the kind of faith required in this special
nursery. </span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">At
first I would look at some of the tiniest babies, some of the 1 lb.
babies, and try to be realistic. To prepare myself for the grief I might
experience, I tried to expect the real possibility that the smallest
babies might not make it. I hoped for the best, but I tried to balance
my hopes with realism, with the reality confronting me, so that I
wouldn't be disappointed if a miracle didn't happen, so that I wouldn't
be hurt if I did have to confront sorrow and loss. But the mothers there
would tell you that my attitude wasn't what was needed there - they
would tell you that no matter what the odds, they had to hope for a
miracle, with all their heart, with all the faith they could muster.
There was nothing practical about their faith, no consideration for
realism in what they dreamed of happening. Perhaps this was the kind of
faith Jesus was asking of Peter out on the sea that day. Unbounded
faith,
unrestrained, unmeasured, uncalculated. Perhaps this is the kind of
faith Jesus is asking, demanding, expecting of us. </span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">Beth Quick, What Did You/do We Expect?</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">Now I Know Why Jesus Walked!</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">This
is a familiar story. Mark Twain refers to it in one of his books. He
recalls a visit to the Holy Land and a stay in Capernaum. It was a
moonlit night, so he decided to take his wife on a romantic boat ride on
the Sea of Galilee. Twain asked a man in a rowboat how much he would
charge to take them out on the water. The man saw Twain's white suit,
white shoes and white hat and supposed he was a rich Texan. So he said
the cost would be twenty-five dollars. Twain walked away as he said,
"Now I know why Jesus walked." </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">David Leininger, Stay in the Boat!, <a href="http://www.esermons.com/" target="_blank">www.eSermons.com</a></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">____________________________________</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">Motorcycle Churches</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">Even
churches can know what it is to walk on the water. Wes Seliger is an
unconventional Episcopal clergyman who loves motorcycles. He tells about
being in a motorcycle shop one day, drooling over a huge Honda 750 and
wishing that he could buy it. A salesman came over and began to talk
about his product. He talked about speed, acceleration, excitement, the
attention-getting growl of the pipes, racing, risk. He talked about how
the good-looking girls would be attracted to anyone riding on such a
cycle.<br>
<br>
Then he discovered that Wes was a minister. It always happens, doesn't
it? Immediately the salesman changed his language and even the tone of
his voice. He spoke quietly and talked about good mileage and
visibility. It was indeed a "practical" vehicle.<br>
<br>
Wes observed: "Lawnmower salespersons are not surprised to find
clergypersons looking at their merchandise; motorcycle salespersons are.
Why? Does this tell us something about clergypersons and about the
church? Lawnmowers are slow, safe, sane, practical, and middle-class.
Motorcycles are fast, dangerous, wild, thrilling." Then Wes asks a
question: "Is being a Christian more like mowing a lawn or like riding a
motorcycle? Is the Christian life safe and sound or dangerous and
exciting?" He concludes, "The common image of the church is pure
lawnmower--slow, deliberate, plodding. Our task is to take the church
out on the open road, give it the gas, and see what the old baby will
do!" <br>
<br>
Is our church a lawn mower church or a motorcycle church? Maybe it's time we took more risks for God.</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">King Duncan, Don’t Look Down, <a target="_blank" href="http://mail.churchmail.com/lists/lt.php?id=Kk8FCwECCgEfDgMETAIPCwFd">www.eSermons.com</a></span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">___________________________</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">Augustine on Miracles</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">"Miracles are not a contradiction of nature. They are only in contradiction to what we know of nature."</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">St. Augustine</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">Trust in the Father in the Midst of the Storm</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">One
night a house caught fire and a young boy was forced to flee to the
roof. The father stood on the ground below with outstretched arms,
calling to his son, "Jump! I'll catch you." He knew the boy had to jump
to save his life. All the boy could see, however, was flame, smoke, and
blackness. As can be imagined, he was afraid to leave the roof. His
father kept yelling: "Jump! I will catch you." But the boy protested,
"Daddy, I can't see you." The father replied, "But I can see you and
that's all that matters."</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">Traditional Story</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">______________________________</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">Staring at the Cross</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">Alexander
Solzhenitsyn said that only once during his long imprisonment in a
labor camp in the Soviet Union did he become so discouraged that he
thought about suicide. He was outdoors, on a work detail, and he had
reached a point where he no longer cared whether he lived or died. When
he had a break, he sat down, and a stranger sat beside him, someone he
had never seen before and would never see again. For no apparent reason,
this stranger took a stick and drew a cross on the ground. Solzhenitsyn
sat and stared at that cross for a long while. He later wrote, "Staring
at that cross, I realized that therein lies freedom”…</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">The conclusion to this list and for many additional illustrations and sermons for Proper 14 can be accessed at <a target="_blank" href="http://mail.churchmail.com/lists/lt.php?id=Kk8FCwECCgMfDgMETAIPCwFd">www.Sermons.com</a>.</span></div>
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