<font color='black' size='4' face='Times New Roman, Times, serif'><span style="font-size: small">The Royal Doors Are Opening!</span>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">In
the Orthodox Church, the sanctuary is separated from the congregation
by a wall pierced by several doors. The central ones, known as the
royal doors, are opened at certain critical points in the service.<br>
<br>
Eugene Trubetskoy, a Russian prince and a religious philosopher, made
reference to this in his dying words, when he cried out, "The royal
doors are opening! The great Liturgy is about to begin." [Quoted in
George Every, Richard Harries, and Kallistos Ware, eds., The Time of the
Spirit: Readings through the Christian Year (Crestwood, New York: St.
Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1984), p. 43.] What he had seen so often in
the church's liturgy on earth was now apparent to him in the liturgy
which takes places in heaven. The royal doors were opening in a new and
astounding way.<br>
<br>
We might do well, all of us, especially in this time of Advent, to
recognize how the death of a Christian is like that. The royal doors
open. The great Liturgy is about to begin.<br>
<br>
Charles Hoffacker, God's Doorman <br>
__________________________<br>
<br>
The President as a Mouse</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">This
may sound ridiculous but it gives us an idea of what it means when we
say God became human and made his dwelling among us. Imagine the most
powerful and prestigious person in the world, let's say the president of
the United States, of his own free-will becomes a mouse – small, furry,
insignificant, and extremely helpless and vulnerable. He chooses to
become a mouse because he wants to live among all other mice. He leaves
the White House, and the prestige and honor that go with his office. He
becomes a mouse in order to help all other mice.<br>
<br>
You see, there are mousetraps in kitchens all around the world. The
people who own these kitchens are determined to kill every last mouse.
And one after another the mice are killed. The President shouts at the
mice until he is hoarse to warn them of the danger and shoos them away
but the smelly cheese on the deadly mousetraps is just too inviting. And
so the most powerful man in the world happily becomes a mouse because
he loves all mice and wants to do something to save them.<br>
<br>
In a similar way and in a more radical way the all-powerful and eternal
God has chosen to plunge himself into the arena of human life as you and
I live it, and take on the flesh and bones of our humanity.<br>
<br>
Vince Gerhardy, God Has a Word for You<br>
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<br>
</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">What Are You Looking For?</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">Chaim
Potok was an intensely religious man; a Jew who explored the dimensions
of faith in our lives. From an early age, Potok knew he wanted to be a
writer. But his mother wasn't so sure. When he went away to college she
said, "Son, now I know you want to be a writer. But I want you to think
about brain surgery. You'll keep a lot of people from dying. And you'll
make a lot of money." To which Potok responded, "No, Mama, I want to be a
writer."<br>
<br>
But, "No," is not what Mama wanted to hear. So, every vacation break for
four years she would repeat her comments about his becoming a brain
surgeon and keeping people from dying and making a lot of money, and
always his response was the same. Finally the son had enough, and, when
the same mantra began, he cut off his mother with exasperation, and with
great passion he told his mother, "Mama, I don't want to keep people
from dying, I want to show them how to live." <br>
<br>
This morning's Gospel Lesson from John is a "call" story, but unlike so
many call stories in scripture this one is not crisp, dramatic, or
decisive. Today there is no flashing light, no booming voice, no clear
instructions as to what the disciples are to do. Instead, what we hear
is Jesus asking a question - a strange, penetrating question. But it is
the question that forms the foundation for understanding "call" for
understanding vocation. The question is: "What are you looking for?"<br>
<br>
Susan R. Andrews, Sermons for Sundays: In Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany: The Offense Of Grace, CSS Publishing Company, Inc.<br>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">Open Up to the Living God</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">Some
time ago, a young executive of the '60s generation came up to me and
said, "You know, I think my generation emphasized external, societal
morality while the previous generation emphasized internal, personal
morality. That generation believed a moral person would produce a moral
society. My generation believed a moral society would produce a moral
person." But John addressed both. If his was a voice that spoke out for
social justice and structures of morality, it was also a voice that
spoke inwardly for individual integrity. If it was a mistake to believe
moral people automatically produce a moral society, it was also a
mistake to believe a moral society will produce moral people. A good
structure administered by corrupt people can produce corruption. And a
good person administering a bad structure can still produce corruption.
These days we don't like John's message of personal
repentance. If we have the courage, we much prefer to talk about
problems out there -- about political and economic reform, about
accountability, efficiency, and effectiveness in our educational system,
about urban renewal and social action. These should be talked about.<br>
<br>
But John presses his message of change even further, right on into the
heart of every hearer. And the message is -- repent, turn around, open
up, make God the center of your life instead of self, or family, or
business, or profession, or sports, or success, or power, or money, or
popularity, or status. Turn away from those lifeless, death-dealing
idols, says John. Open up to the living God. Make a straight path to
your heart for him. <br>
<br>
Maurice A. Fetty, How to Profit from Prophets, CSS Publishing Company<br>
_____________________________________</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">Advent: Time to Listen</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">Barbara
Brown Taylor tells about the day W. H. Auden read some of his poetry at
Princeton . The hall was packed with hundreds of students and faculty.
They had come to hear "the great one." But when Auden (then an old man)
began to read, his voice was so soft that even the microphone couldn't
pick him up. So people began whispering to their neighbor: "What did he
say?" And those who thought they had heard a part of what he'd said,
whispered back the part they'd heard - or what they remembered from a
prior reading of Auden, triggered (in that moment) by what they thought
they'd heard. While others, not quite hearing - and not quite knowing -
guessed at what he was saying. And pretty soon, the whispers drowned
out the poet. </span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">Which,
if you ask me, is what sometimes happens in our churches, else why
would there be so much interest in the word of God, yet so little
clarity about the word of God? Unless, of course, we all whisper better
than we listen. </span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">Sometimes
I wish God would scream. Or shout. At least raise his voice. Getting in
my face, as it were. As to why God doesn't, I have no answer. I wish I
did. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">What
I do know is what I just read. That God came to the world (with the
barest hint of a whisper) in the form of a child. A speechless child.</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">William A. Ritter, Collected Sermons, <a __removedlink__1454367832__href="http://www.Sermons.com" target="_blank">www.Sermons.com</a></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">_______________________________________</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">The Harvest of Love</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">That
blessed saint, Helen Keller once wrote: "Christmas is the harvest time
of love. Souls are drawn to other souls. All that we have read and
thought and hoped comes to fruition at this happy time. Our spirits are
astir. We feel within us a strong desire to serve. A strange, subtle
force, a new kindness animates man and child. A new spirit is growing in
us. No longer are we content to relieve pain, to sweeten sorrow, to
give the crust of charity. We dare to give friendship, service, the
equal loaf of bread and love."<br>
<br>
Peace, power and purpose. "The light shines in the darkness…" In these
very busy days of preparation, may His peace, His power and His purpose
dwell in our hearts.<br>
<br>
Helen Keller </span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">Only When I'm Alone</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">It
may be that one of our own challenges is to know who we aren't. There's
a story about a woman finding herself alone in an elevator with the
famous and very handsome Robert Redford. As the elevator moved up the
floors, the woman, like many of us might, found herself uncontrollably
staring at the movie star. Finally, in her excitement and nervousness,
she blurted out: "Are you the real Robert Redford?" To which Redford
responded, "Only when I'm alone."</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">That
story reveals that Robert Redford is not simply another pretty face,
but he has grown into a wisdom that must serve him well. For like John
the Baptist, he obviously knows who he is not. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small"> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">Mary Lynn Tobin, Finding Our Voice </span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">__________________________</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">Letting God Bless You</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small"> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">In his book Letting God Bless You John Killinger concludes with the challenge:</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">Permit
God to bless you. Don’t look around you and think how hard life is.
Look around and see how filled with mystery and goodness it is. See how
wonderful the world looks when you know God is at work redeeming it and
setting up the anti-structures, so that humility and purity and
compassion and longing for justice and peace will all be fulfilled and
rewarded in the eternal scheme of things. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small"> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">Give thanks to God for the richness of existence.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">Then look around to see who you can share it with.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">That will make you even richer.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small"> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">If
you will learn to live this way every day, you will always have a song
in your heart and the path before you will be lined with flowers. Joy
will spring up inside you like a fountain, and you will lie down to
sleep at night with peace in your soul…</span></div>
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<div><span style="font-size: small"><span style="color: black">The conclusion to this illustration and many additional illustrations and sermons for Advent and Christmas can be accessed at <a __removedlink__1454367832__href="http://www.Sermons.com" target="_blank">www.Sermons.com</a>.<br>
<br>
</span></span></div>
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