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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric">Control</div>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric">A
wealthy family from Massachusetts used to take a month’s vacation every
summer to the coast of Maine, taking their maid with them. The maid had
an annual ritual at the beach. She wore an old-fashioned bathing suit,
complete with a little white hat, and carried enough paraphernalia to
stock Wal-Mart. She would settle herself on the beach, cover every inch
of her exposed flesh and journey down to the water’s edge. There she
would hesitate while taking deep breaths and working up her courage to
enter the icy-cold water. Finally, she would daintily extend one foot
and lower it slowly into the water until she barely had her big toe
submerged. Then she repeated the act with the other foot. Then, having
satisfied her minimal urge for a swim, she would retreat to her chair
and umbrella and spend the remainder of the vacation curled around a
book.<br>
<br>
I’m afraid that may be a parable of our Christian commitment. Are we
afraid to give in to the Pentecost experience, fearful that we might
lose control? That’s what it is really all about, isn’t it? Control. We
want to be in control. Well, if Pentecost is to do nothing else, it
should remind us that we are not in control, not even - or perhaps I
should say especially - of ourselves.<br>
<br>
Randy L. Hyde, Time to Deliver <br>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric">They All Come Together<br>
<br>
John Ortberg tells the story of a friend who made his first trip south
of the Mason-Dixon Line from Chicago to Georgia. On his first morning in
the South he went into a restaurant to order breakfast, and it seemed
that every dish included something called grits...which, as my Tennessee
friends tell me, is exactly the way God intended it. Not being familiar
with this southern delicacy, he asked the waitress, "Could you tell me,
exactly what is a grit?" Looking down on him with a mixture of
compassion and condescension, she said, "Sugar, you can't get just one
grit. They always come together."<br>
<br>
John Wesley knew there was no personal holiness without social holiness,
and Pulitzer Prize winner Annie Dillard says, "You can no more go to
God alone than you can go to the North Pole alone." We're just like
grits...you can't get just one. They come together.<br>
<br>
John E. Harnish, Collected Sermons, <a target="_blank" __removedlink__238108935__href="http://mail.churchmail.com/lists/lt.php?id=Kk8DAAQLDgVWC0kCBwNKDAtXUVw%3D"><font color="#0000ff">www.Sermons.com</font></a> <br>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric">Peace</div>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric">The peace Jesus gives to us through the Holy Spirit is more than we can ever imagine:</div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric">Peace means the cessation of all warfare, but it also means much more.<br>
Peace means a feeling of inner well-being, but it also means much more.<br>
Peace means an end to psychological tensions, but it also means much more.<br>
Peace means halting interpersonal conflicts, but it also means much more. <br>
Peace means the settling of silence on the soul, but it also means much more.</div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric">In
Valyermo, California , the Benedictines converted a 400-acre ranch into a
religious community called St. Andrew's Priory. As you enter the
grounds, you find that the land is posted: "No Hunting Except for
Peace."</div>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric">The world is hunting for peace. What will we give it?</div>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric">Leonard Sweet, Collected Sermons, <a __removedlink__238108935__href="http://www.Sermons.com" target="_blank">www.Sermons.com</a></div>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric">The Church on Fire</div>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric">Two
persons were talking together before a large church which was being
destroyed by fire. The first man spoke in a voice which could be heard
above the voice of the firemen: "This is the first time I ever saw you
at church." To this the second responded: "This is the first time I ever
saw the church on fire." There are many prophets of doom saying that
the age of the Christian Church is over - that it has lost its zeal!
We're taking a beating right now in this country and around the world.
Our theology is being questioned. Everyone is writing a critical book
against the organized church. We have had to take some unpopular stands
on social issues. Magazines are attacking the ministry, and it isn't the
thing to do anymore to join the church. John Kelman said, however, "God
pity the nation or city whose factory smokestacks rise higher than her
church spires."</div>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric">Why Belong To The Church?, anthology, CSS Publishing Company, Inc.</div>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric">Waves of Worry</div>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric">Several
years ago a submarine was being tested and had to remain submerged for
many hours. When it returned to the harbor, the captain was asked, "How
did the terrible storm last night affect you?" The officer looked at him
in surprise and exclaimed, "Storm? We didn't even know there was one!"
The sub had been so far beneath the surface that it had reached the area
known to sailors as "the cushion of the sea." Although the ocean may be
whipped into huge waves by high winds, the waters below are never
stirred.</div>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric">This,
I believe, is a perfect picture of the peace that comes from Christ's
Spirit. The waves of worry, of fear, of heartbreak, cannot touch those
resting in Christ. Sheltered by His grace and encouraged by His Spirit,
the believer is given the perfect tranquility that only Christ can
provide.</div>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric">Adrian Dieleman, Receive the Holy Spirit</div>
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<br>
Humor: How Were You Attired?</div>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric">Recently,
a judicial friend was presiding over a case in a small, rural county.
The defendant was charged with drunk driving and trying to assault the
police officer who arrested him. To convict the defendant on the assault
on an officer charge, the District Attorney had to proved that the
defendant knew the person he was assaulting was a police officer. And
the easiest way to do that is to show that the officer was wearing a
police uniform, and therefore the defendant knew that this was a police
officer.<br>
<br>
So the District Attorney asked the officer on the witness stand "And how were you attired when you pulled the defendant over?"<br>
<br>
The witness looked at him blankly. It was clear he didn't know what the
District Attorney meant by "attired". Everyone saw this but the District
Attorney.<br>
<br>
"Would you repeat the question, please?"<br>
<br>
In a slightly irritated voice the District Attorney said, "And how were you attired when you pulled the defendant over?"<br>
<br>
The witness still was puzzled. "Say that again", he pleaded.<br>
<br>
"How were you attired when you pulled the defendant over?" barked the District Attorney.<br>
<br>
My friend said you could suddenly see the light bulb come on in the
officer's head, and he proudly proclaimed "I was traveling on standard
issue radial tires!"<br>
<br>
This officer needed an interpreter even within the English language!<br>
<br>
That's what I'm getting at: We all need our own personal interpreter,
full time, 24/7. So much of what we hear, even within the English
language, we don't understand. And nowhere is that truth more evident
than with people who are new to the church.<br>
<br>
Leonard Sweet, Collected Sermons, <a __removedlink__238108935__href="http://www.Sermons.com" target="_blank">www.Sermons.com</a><br>
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<br>
Lost and Found<br>
<br>
Picture a little girl lost in a big city. There she sits, crying on the
curb. A policeman finds her, puts her in his cruiser and drives her up
and down the streets, hoping she'll recognize something familiar. Which,
at last, she does. She sees a steeple with a cross on it. Tears vanish.<br>
Speech returns. "That's my church," she says. "I can find my way from here."<br>
<br>
You're not the only one, little girl.<br>
<br>
William A. Ritter, Collected Sermons, <a target="_blank" __removedlink__238108935__href="http://mail.churchmail.com/lists/lt.php?id=Kk8DAAQLDgVWC0kCBwNKDAtXUVw%3D"><font color="#0000ff">www.Sermons.com</font></a></div>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric">What Is Your Other Plan?<br>
<br>
Erasmus, the famous Renaissance scholar, once told a classic story which
was designed to emphasize how important it is that we take up the torch
of Christ’s ministry with great commitment. In the story, Jesus returns
to heaven after His time on earth. The angels gather around Him to
learn what all happened during His days on earth. Jesus tells them of
the miracles, His teachings, His death on the cross, and His
resurrection.</div>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric">When He finishes his story, Michael the Archangel asks Jesus, “But what happens now?”</div>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric">The rest of this illustration, as well as many other sermons and illustrations for Pentecost Sunday, can be found at <a target="_blank" __removedlink__238108935__href="http://mail.churchmail.com/lists/lt.php?id=Kk8DAAQLDgVWDUkCBwNKDAtXUVw%3D">www.Sermons.com</a>.</div>
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