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<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>There Is Nothing More Tempting Than a Lonely Place.</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>There is nothing
more tempting than a lonely place. A lonely place where phones do not
ring and loud voices all shouting at once do not compete for our
attention. A lonely place where we can hear ourselves think, feel our
own calmed breathing, rediscover the inner rhythms which seek in vain to
regulate our lives. A lonely place where we can listen to the wind
rippling through the trees or, perhaps, to the full and wise sound of
stillness. A lonely place free from the cant of television and the
condemnation of calendars. A place of tranquil rest and blessed retreat.
There is nothing more tempting than a lonely place.</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span><br>
"And in the
morning," Mark tells us, "a great while before day, Jesus rose and went
out to a lonely place, and there he prayed" (Mark 1:35).</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>Thomas G. Long, Shepherds and Bathrobes, CSS Publishing Co., Inc.</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>______________________________</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>We Will Be Made Whole</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>How can you know
when you have been healed? Seems like an odd question. For many, the
answer is obvious: when the pain is gone, the fever has come down, and
the disease is no more. But the Gospel gives a better answer. "The fever
left her," we are told of Peter's mother-in-law, "and she began to
serve them." As she was healed, she immediately began to serve others.
When we are ready to help others in their need and focus once again
outside ourselves we will know that we too have been cured. We will no
longer be slaves to our hurts and resentments. We will at last be made
whole. And we shall live.<br>
<br>
Frank Hegedus <br>
_______________________________</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>Personal Prayer Time</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>We live in a
hi-tech, fast pace, workaholic world where no one rests. We are
constantly on the road, running errands, going places. We stuff
ourselves with "fast food," overbook our lives with a myriad of things
to do, and at the end of the day we are totally exhausted. We live (and
die) by the clock. We are controlled by the need to produce. Time is
money, time is how we keep in control of our lives. We resist quiet time
by keeping the radios, televisions and computers on. The very thought
of being alone, praying, scares us to death. We want professionals to do
that for us. We haven't learned that relaxation and mediation breaks
will empower us to do even greater things. Thus, we continue to be busy.
Consequently we are on a path to self-destruction, unable to help
others, let alone help ourselves.<br>
<br>
I know that I need to build in
personal prayer time, time to relax, time to "get away." This story has
reminded me to make time for myself a high priority. But, I have also
learned something more important. The story tells us that Jesus took
time away to pray and be refreshed. That is explicit. What we fail to
see is that Jesus set aside this time to yield to the power of God. I
believe we need to learn to yield to the power of God too. That means
being free from all other distractions so that God can empower us and
refresh us. Then and only then can we help others as the power of God
flows through us.<br>
<br>
Keith Wagner, Help Me, I'm Falling! <br>
________________________________</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>How Clearly Can You See?</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>This is a story
about a small seacoast village in England that routinely would become
covered by dense fog. The pride of that village was a lighthouse that
had been built on the north end of town where the harbor was navigable
and free from the huge rocks that dotted the rest of the coast. One
night the villagers had gathered on the south end of town to celebrate a
local holiday. Part of that celebration included the building of a
large bonfire on the beach. </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>That same night, a
ship in the vicinity developed engine trouble. The ship's captain, after
checking his maps and charts, decided to locate on the beam from that
village lighthouse and put in at that harbor for repairs. As he scanned
the horizon through the fog, he caught sight of a faint glimmer of
light. Thinking it to be the beam from the lighthouse, he set his course
on it to go ashore. </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>As he came closer
to land, he began to see the light more clearly and realized it was not
the lighthouse but the bonfire. Quickly he changed course, later
discovering that he had been only 100 yards away from one of the largest
sunken boulders in that area and certain destruction of his ship. It
made a difference how clearly he could see! </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>How clearly can you see Jesus? What do you see? </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>Paul E. Flesner, Sermons for Sundays in Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany, CSS Publishing Company</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>__________________________________</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>Missing the Meaning of Success</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>When Hamilton
College celebrated its centennial, one of its most famous alumni,
Alexander Woolcott, was asked to give a major address. Horace Fenton
Jr., remembers that Wolcott opened his speech in this way: "I send my
greetings today to all my fellow alumni of Hamilton College, scattered
all over the world. Some of you are successes, and some of you are
failures--only God knows which are which!"</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>We don't always know success when we see it.</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>J. Ellsworth Kalas, If Experience Is Such a God Teacher Why Do I Keep Repeating The Course?, Nashville: Dimensions.</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>_____________________</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>Solitude - Avoiding Burnout</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>The moment you wake
up each morning, all your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like
wild animals. And the first job each morning consists in shoving it all
back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of
view, letting that other, larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing
in.</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>C.S. Lewis</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>______________________</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>Solitude and Silence</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>A father took his
small son with him to town one day to run some errands. When lunchtime
arrived, the two of them went to a familiar diner for a sandwich. The
father sat down on one of the stools at the counter and lifted the boy
up to the seat beside him. They ordered lunch, and when the waiter
brought the food, the father said, "Son, we'll just have a silent
prayer." Dad got through praying first and waited for the boy to finish
his prayer, but he just sat with his head bowed for an unusually long
time. When he finally looked up, his father asked him, "What in the
world were you praying about all that time?" With the innocence and
honesty of a child, he replied, "How do I know? It was a silent prayer."</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>Our Daily Bread, Adapted.</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>_______________________</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>Alfred Lord Tennyson </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>_______________________</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>Coping with Pressure</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>Countless icebergs
float in the frigid waters around Greenland. Some are tiny; others tower
skyward. At times the small ones move in one direction while their
gigantic counterparts go in another. Why is this? The small ones are
pushed around by the winds blowing on the surface of the water, but the
huge ice masses are carried along by deep ocean currents.</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>Unknown</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>_______________________</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>The Coronary and Ulcer Club</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>The "Coronary and Ulcer Club" lists the following rules for members...</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>1. Your job comes first. Forget everything else.<br>
2. Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays are fine times to be working at the office. There will be nobody else there to bother you.<br>
3.
Always have your briefcase with you when not at your desk. This
provides an opportunity to review completely all the troubles and
worries of the day.<br>
4. Never say "no" to a request. Always say "yes."<br>
5. Accept all invitations to meetings, banquets, committees, etc.</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span>The rest of this list and many additional illustrations and sermons, including our sermon series for Lent, can be accessed at <a __removedlink__1722220245__href="http://www.Sermons.com" target="_blank">www.Sermons.com</a>.</span></div>
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