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<div><span style="font-size: small">Sermons for Proper 7 </span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: small">Mark 4:35-41<span style="color: black"> - <strong>"Calming of the Tempest"</strong></span></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: small">Mark 4:35-41 <span style="color: black">- <strong>"</strong></span><b>Stand by Me<strong><span style="color: black">"</span></strong></b><span style="color: black"> by Leonard Sweet</span></span></div>
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<div><span style="font-size: small"><span style="color: black">Mark 4<font size="4"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">,</font></font> the sermon title "Calming of the Tempest" </span></span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">Victor
Hugo, who is famous for his novel the Hunchback of Notre Dame, also
wrote a story called "Ninety-Three." It tells of a ship caught in a
dangerous storm on the high seas. At the height of the storm, the
frightened sailors heard a terrible crashing noise below the deck. They
knew at once that this new noise came from a cannon, part of the ship's
cargo, that had broken loose. It was moving back and forth with the
swaying of the ship, crashing into the side of the ship with terrible
impact. Knowing that it could cause the ship to sink, two brave sailors
volunteered to make the dangerous attempt to retie the loose cannon.
They knew the danger of a shipwreck from the cannon was greater than the
fury of the storm.<br>
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That is like human life. Storms of life may blow about us, but it is not
these exterior storms that pose the gravest danger. It is the terrible
corruption that can exist within us which can overwhelm us. The furious
storm outside may be overwhelming but what is going on inside can pose
the greater threat to our lives. Our only hope lies in conquering that
wild enemy…<br>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">1. Storms Come Suddenly.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">2. Storms Can Make You Lose Direction.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">3. Our Fear of the Storm Has the Power to Paralyze.</span></div>
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<div><span style="font-size: small"><span style="color: black">_______________________</span></span></div>
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<div><span style="font-size: small"><span style="color: black">Members: Mark 4 the sermon titled “Stand by Me" by Leonard Sweet </span></span></div>
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<div><span style="font-size: small">As summer heats up it is important to always bring a sweater with 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">Huh?! (Yes, I know a sweater is something your mother puts on you when she is cold!) </span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">Likewise if you head to Minnesota in mid-winter you would be wise to bring something lightweight and with short sleeves. </span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">Crazy?! </span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">These
seemingly illogical suggestion are actually good ideas. Why? Because
our culture is addicted to “climate control.” Air conditioning and
central heating make it possible for us to create any kind of climate,
any sort of indoor “weather,” we want. Since we still cannot control
what kind of weather we encounter outside, in the real world, we
over-compensate in our encapsulated climates — our homes, shopping
malls, restaurants, office buildings, airplanes…</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small"> </span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: small"><span style="color: black">The rest of this sermon can be obtained by joining <a __removedlink__1532787757__href="http://www.sermons.com/signup" target="_blank">http://www.sermons.com/signup</a></span></span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">Unanswered Prayer</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small">To
someone like me, who was rescued from drowning in wind and wave, the
imagery is very powerful without even descending to a symbolic level. I
can recall being physically tossed about by powerful waves and buffeted
by the cold wind; I know what it is like to be sinking in the sea for
what seems to be the very last time, although in my case I didn’t have
the benefit of a boat to slow my demise. I understand with absolute
clarity how the disciples must have felt as disaster overtook them while
their Master slept. <br>
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I lived out this Bible story on March 12, 1967 in a very literal way. <br>
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Since then, I have had several occasions to live it out in a
metaphorical way, and I am ashamed that I still haven’t learned my
lesson despite all these years. <br>
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You know what I am talking about: there are times in your life when you
know a great upheaval is coming. The wind rises ominously and the clouds
don’t look right. People suddenly start doing and saying strange things
and you know something is afoot. Relatives fall prey to strange
persuasions; your health might even fail. The news on television starts
sounding Biblical, and there are rumors the like of which you haven’t
heard before. Your life is tossed upon the waves like a small ship on an
angry sea. Panic sets in as you decide that the end of something is
near; if not your family, if not your finances, if not your career, then
maybe the whole world! <br>
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“Master, Master,” you cry to God, “Don’t you even care that I am perishing?” <br>
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And you sit in your quiet room and stare at the ceiling, as if all your
prayers never got past that point, and the silence from heaven is
deafening. At most points in your life, if you heard an audible voice in
answer to your prayer, you’d smile and look for the person who’s
playing a joke on you. Or perhaps you’d search the yellow pages for a
good psychiatrist who specializes in auditory hallucinations; but today
in your distress there is a part of you that demands to hear what you’ve
never heard, to see what you’ve never seen, because you are scared to
your innermost being and you need comfort and rescue, and you need it
now. <br>
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How impudent of God not to answer. Doesn’t He know what you’re going through? <br>
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Kenneth W. Collins, 'Unanswered' Prayer? <br>
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