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<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"> </div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px">Mark 6:30-34, 53-56<span> - <strong>"</strong></span><strong>Hurry Hinders Ministry"</strong></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px">Ephesians 2:11-22 <span>- <strong>"</strong></span><strong>Zombie Zone or Beulah Land?"</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>_________________________________________</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>Mark 6<font size="4"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">,</font></font> the sermon title "</span>Hurry Hinders Ministry<span>" </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>An ethics professor
at Princeton Seminary asked for volunteers for an extra assignment.
About half the class met him at the library to receive their
assignments. The professor divided the students into three groups of
five each. He gave the first group envelopes telling them to proceed
immediately across campus to Stewart Hall. He told them that they had 15
minutes and if they didn't arrive on time, it would affect their grade.
A minute or two later, he handed out envelopes to five others. They
were also to go over to Stewart Hall, but they had 45 minutes. The third
group had three hours to get to Stewart Hall. The students weren't
aware of it, but the professor had arranged for three drama students to
meet them along the way. Close to the beginning of their walk, one of
the drama students had his hands on his head and was moaning aloud as if
in great pain. About half way to Stewart Hall, on the steps of the
chapel, the seminary students passed a man who was lying face down as if
unconscious. Finally, on the steps of Stewart Hall, the third drama
student was acting out a seizure. In the first group of students, those
who had only 15 minutes to get across campus, no one stopped to help. In
the second group, two students stopped to help. In the last group, the
one that had three hours for their assignment, all of the students
stopped to help at least one person. The professor had clearly shown
these seminarians that hurry hinders ministry...</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" target="_blank" __removedlink__1863863720__href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=00133inlpX3P8WNm7HS5pPRKI1hoTaY3UgQUtBcnIQeg-NlWkTEqNOoqtpZqzoJWmZRjWmFJM7Cnm1TJDiN1P1gKzSMRzWMiO0dRg6S0Wuj0WuHtW5rhV7tT_8_arqK_S8Q">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> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>Ephesians 2:11-22<font size="4"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">,</font></font> the sermon titled "Zombie Zone or Beulah Land?" 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>There is nothing
like escaping to a cool movie theater on a hot summer night. If you are a
high school or college kid on break from school, there is no better
stuffy, hot night escape than a scary movie that makes your blood run
cold. </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>Ever since the dawn
of movies there have been "fright films." Frankenstein, Dracula, and
the Wolfman were first on the silver screen. Later on mythical monsters
were replaced by urban monsters, and the "teenage slasher" movie was
born - where lonely baby-sitters and popular football players were the
special focus of crazed creatures with hockey masks or with really long
fingernails. But the most popular "scare-bearer" these days seems to be a
creature you can't even wish were dead because it already is . . .
zombies!</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>Wait a minute, you
say. I didn't come to church to hear about zombies. Well, you not only
need to hear about them if you are to understand the mission field God
has put us in. But you need to hear about them if you are to understand
our text for this morning, a text about "aliens and strangers"...</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" target="_blank" __removedlink__1863863720__href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=00133inlpX3P8WNm7HS5pPRKI1hoTaY3UgQUtBcnIQeg-NlWkTEqNOoqtpZqzoJWmZRjWmFJM7Cnm1TJDiN1P1gKzSMRzWMiO0dRg6S0Wuj0WuHtW5rhV7tT_8_arqK_S8Q">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>________________________</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>Humor: Walking on Water</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>There is an old
story that has often been re-told in especially the Eastern Orthodox
part of the church. According to the tale, a devout abbot from a
monastery decided to take a prolonged spiritual retreat in a small cabin
located on a remote island in the middle of a large lake. He told his
fellow monks that he wanted to spend his days in prayer so as to grow
closer to God. For six months he remained on the island with no other
person seeing him or hearing from him in all that time. But then one
day, as two monks were standing near the shore soaking up some sunshine,
they could see in the distance a figure moving toward them. It was the
abbot, walking on water, and coming toward shore. After the abbot passed
by the two monks and continued on to the monastery, one of the monks
turned to the other and said, "All these months in prayer and the abbot
is still as stingy as ever. After all, the ferry costs only 25 cents!"<br>
<br>
Humor
aside, the point of the story is that it's amazing how easily we may
sometimes miss the significance of something that is right in front of
us. We think we know the meaning of this incident of Jesus' walking on
the water, but do we really?<br>
<br>
Scott Hoezee, Comments and Observations on Mark 6:30-56.<br>
__________________________________</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>We Are Sheepdogs</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>Thirty years ago,
when I was a beginning seminarian, my pastoral supervisor in my
fieldwork parish reminded me that the word "pastor" means shepherd. But
then he said, "The people already have a Good Shepherd in Jesus." He
said it was as English mystic Evelyn Underhill had written some time
before, that the best that could be said of clergy is that we are
sheepdogs. Sometimes we do a good job helping the Good Shepherd, and
sometimes we just bark a lot and cause general confusion among the
flock.<br>
<br>
Samuel D. Zumwalt, Jesus Means Compassion<br>
<br>
________________________________________</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span><br>
Close the Door to Turn on the Light<br>
<br>
One
evening years ago a speaker who was visiting the United States wanted
to make a telephone call. He entered a phone booth, but found it to be
different from those in his own country. It was beginning to get dark,
so he had difficulty finding the number in the directory. He noticed
that there was a light in the ceiling, but he didn't know how to turn it
on. As he tried again to find the number in the fading twilight, a
passerby noted his plight and said, "Sir, if you want to turn the light
on, you have to shut the door." To the visitor's amazement and
satisfaction, when he closed the door, the booth was filled with light.
He soon located the number and completed the call. <br>
<br>
A writer in
the devotional, Our Daily Bread, commenting on this story, writes, "In a
similar way, when we draw aside in a quiet place to pray, we must block
out our busy world and open our hearts to the Father. Our darkened
world of disappointments and trials will then be illuminated. We will
enter into communion with God, we will sense His presence, and we will
be assured of His provision for us. Our Lord often went to be alone with
the Heavenly Father. Sometimes it was after a busy day of preaching and
healing, as in today's Scripture reading. At other times, it was before
making a major decision." (Luke 6:12). And so should we.<br>
<br>
King Duncan, <a shape="rect">www.Sermons.com</a></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>Deus Interruptus<br>
<br>
</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>Jesus and the
disciples had been headed for Bethsaida when the evening's storm blew
them to Gennesaret instead. Notice our Lord's response. He does not tell
the Apostles to set out to sea and try again. Instead, he disembarks
and begins to minister to the people around him. Christ's response is to
see the storm as God's will and to minister appropriately wherever he
lands.</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>How do I respond
when my day is blown off course? Do I respond to daily (or even major
life-changing) "inconveniences" by looking for God's purposes or do I
become angry and frustrated at the "interruption" of my plans and
purposes?</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>I have found that
the higher my personal agenda; the less I am able to see God's purpose
in my daily "interruptions." Yet, I have also found that when make
myself available to "Deus Interruptus," incredible and miraculous things
frequently happen. Have you ever considered beginning your day by
"giving God permission to alter your agenda at any moment and any time? </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>"Dearest God, feel free to interrupt my agenda today with yours at anytime or in any place."</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>Jerry Goebel, Sheep without a Shepherd</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>_______________________________________</span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span> </span></div>
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