<font color='black' size='4' face='Times New Roman, Times, serif'><font color="black" face="Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="4">
<div style="font-family:arial,helvetica;font-size:10pt;color:black">
<div id="AOLMsgPart_1_f31473ec-ca33-4ecb-9d75-f5ba6b520b6f">
<div id="rootDiv" align="center"><table style="background-color:#FFFFFF;" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td rowspan="1" colspan="1" align="center"><table style="width:600px;" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="600"><tbody><tr><td rowspan="1" colspan="1" width="100%"><br>
</td></tr><tr><td style="background-color:#000033;" rowspan="1" colspan="1" bgcolor="#000033" height="8"><br>
</td></tr><tr><td style="background-color:#E6E6E6;" rowspan="1" colspan="1" bgcolor="#E6E6E6" valign="bottom" width="100%"><table style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" id="content_LETTER.BLOCK2" bgcolor="#ffffff" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td style="TEXT-ALIGN: left" rowspan="1" colspan="1" align="left"><br>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td rowspan="1" colspan="1" width="100%">
<table style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff; MARGIN: 5.5px 0px" id="content_LETTER.BLOCK3" bgcolor="#ffffff" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman, Times, serif; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; TEXT-DECORATION: none" rowspan="1" colspan="1" align="left" width="380">June 17, 2012</td><td style="color:#FFFFFF;font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif;text-decoration:none;font-size:12pt;TEXT-ALIGN: right; PADDING-RIGHT: 5px" rowspan="1" colspan="1" align="right" width="180"><br>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background-color:#E6E6E6;" rowspan="1" colspan="1" bgcolor="#E6E6E6" width="100%">
<br>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background-color:#E6E6E6;" rowspan="1" colspan="1" align="center" bgcolor="#E6E6E6" width="100%">
<table border="0" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" width="100%">
<tbody><tr>
<td rowspan="1" colspan="1"><hr size="1"></td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<table style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff; DISPLAY: table" id="content_LETTER.BLOCK5" bgcolor="#ffffff" border="0" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman, Times; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: 12pt" rowspan="1" colspan="1" align="left">
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px">Mark 4:26-34<span> -<strong> "The Kingdom and the Seed"</strong></span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px">Mark 4:26-34 <span>- <strong>"</strong></span><strong>Celebrate the Small Stuff"</strong><span> by Leonard Sweet</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>Mark 4 the sermon title "The Kingdom and the Seed" </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>Most of us have planted a garden or lived on or near a farm. In my case, I grew up in Chicago where they have to put cows in zoos because so many city people are shielded from agricultural life and would never otherwise get to see one. But for eleven years I served as the pastor of a church in the agriculturally-oriented community of Davenport, Iowa. Davenport is located in Scott County which is Mississippi River land. It is reported to be some of the richest soil in the world. I learned a lot about farming while living there. I learned about soil and seeds. I learned about the need for cooperation and balance between the various parts of nature - the sun, the soil, and the rain. Having returned recently from a trip to Iowa, I was very mindful of the soil</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 sermon can be obtained by joining <a shape="rect">http://www.sermons.com/signup</a> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>Click here: <a shape="rect">http://www.sermons.com/signup</a> or call 1-800-777-7731 to join.</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> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>The full text of the following sermon is available at <a href="http://www.Sermons.com" target="_blank">www.Sermons.com</a>.</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>Sign up today at: <a shape="rect">http://www.sermons.com/signup</a> Or call: 1-800-777-7731.</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>Members: Mark 4 the sermon titled "Celebrate the Small Stuff" by Leonard Sweet </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>Every book on change says the same thing. Change has changed. Change is no longer incremental. Change is exponential. </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>Here is what no one will tell you: change is not just incremental, or exponential. Change is infinitesimal. </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>So you gained a pound or two this year. It happens. Then it happens again next year. And the next year. Suddenly a decade has passed and you realize that "a pound or two" has compounded into two sacks of flour sitting on your hips! Infinitesimal change has caught up with you. </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>In the early 1950s farmer Clarence Mauerhan was known as the "Chili Pepper King" of Orange County ("Anaheim peppers," anyone?). A mysterious buyer was paying top dollar for all the farms in the area, but farmer Mauerhan would have none of it. He was the lone holdout against payments for land that no one had dreamed were possible</span><span>...</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>Click here: <a shape="rect">http://www.sermons.com/signup</a> or call 1-800-777-7731 to join.</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"> </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>A Riddle</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>About ten years ago, the youth director on our staff told me a riddle, and then he left town on a week-long camping trip without telling me the answer. He told me the riddle, and then he said "Oh yeah, only 17% of Stanford graduates figured out this riddle, but 80% of kindergarteners knew the answer." And then he left! I could have strangled him! But here' the riddle:<br>
<br>
"What is stronger than God, <br>
more evil than the devil, <br>
poor people have it, <br>
rich people don't need it, <br>
and if you eat it, you'll die?" <br>
(Repeat)<br>
<br>
The answer is: "Nothing." I knew I should have gone to Stanford!<br>
<br>
Literally, the word parable means "a riddle." They are stories that leave the listener with the responsibility of figuring out just what they mean. Jesus told more than 40 parables during his ministry, and he only explained one of them to his disciples, so that left the disciples with a lot of figuring out to do. And then Jesus took the answers with him when he ascended into heaven. So here we are, some 2000 years later, still pondering what Jesus must have meant when he told the story of The Wedding Feast, or The Dishonest Steward, or The Good Samaritan.<br>
<br>
Steven Molin, Yup, Them Are Mustard Seeds<br>
_________________________________________</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<br>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table border="0" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" width="100%">
<tbody><tr>
<td rowspan="1" colspan="1"><hr size="1"></td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background-color:#E6E6E6;" rowspan="1" colspan="1" bgcolor="#E6E6E6" width="100%">
<br>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background-color:#000033;" rowspan="1" colspan="1" align="center" bgcolor="#000033" width="100%">
<table style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #008000; MARGIN: 3px 0px" id="content_LETTER.BLOCK7" bgcolor="#008000" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; COLOR: #ffffff; FONT-SIZE: 8pt; TEXT-DECORATION: none" rowspan="1" colspan="1" align="center">
<div><strong>(800) 777-7731</strong></div>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding-top:10px;" rowspan="1" colspan="1" align="center" height="10" width="100%">
<br>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="background-color:#ffffff;" align="center">
<table style="text-align:left;" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
<tbody><tr>
<td rowspan="1" colspan="1">
<div style="font-weight:bold;font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:8pt;color:#000000;background-color:#ffffff;padding-bottom:10px;"><font style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:8pt;color:#000000;" color="#000000" face="tahoma,sans-serif" size="1"><a shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://ui.constantcontact.com/sa/fwtf.jsp?llr=aelnpceab&m=1103889869952&ea=joeparrish%40compuserve.com&a=1110212692203"><br>
</a></font></div>
<table style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:11px;color:#2f2f2f;background-color:#ffffff;" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="619">
<tbody><tr>
<td rowspan="1" colspan="1"><br>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:12px;color:#000000;background-color:#ffffff;padding-top: 12px;" id="LETTER.PHYSICALADDRESS" align="left"><font style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:12px;color:#000000;" color="#000000" face="tahoma,sans-serif" size="1">Sermons.com<span style="color: #bababa;"> | </span>904 Pomelo Ave.<span style="color: #bababa;"> | </span>Sarasota<span style="color: #bababa;"> | </span>FL<span style="color: #bababa;"> | </span>34236</font></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<img src="http://r20.rs6.net/on.jsp?t=1110212692203.0.1103889869952.45429&ts=S0781&o=http://ui.constantcontact.com/images/p1x1.gif" height="1" width="1">
</div>
<!-- end of AOLMsgPart_1_f31473ec-ca33-4ecb-9d75-f5ba6b520b6f -->
</div>
</font></font>