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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">Releasing the Pain, Spreading the Message</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">A
young seminarian who lost both her parents at an early age shared a way
of praying that helped her through the worst of times. She shared that
in those most painful of days, she used to sit with her grandmother.
Together, they would read the Bible, focusing on two particular
passages. </span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">First
was the one that follows directly after the Bartimaeus story we heard
this morning -- the story of Jesus approaching Jerusalem, when he asks
two of his disciples to go ahead and find a colt for him, on which they
place their cloaks. </span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">The
second is Jesus’ invitation in Matthew 11: “Come to me, all you that
are weary and are carrying heavy burdens and I will give you rest. Take
my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in
heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my
burden is light.”<br>
<br>
The woman used these two images together to prayerfully imagine Jesus
inviting her to take his yoke of love, in exchange for the heavy load of
grief, loss, and doubt that she carried. She pictured releasing the
pain she carried, which was placed by Jesus on the back of the young
colt in exchange for the yoke of spreading the message of Christ’s love
in word and action. <br>
<br>
Suzanne Watson</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">The Blind Pastor</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">Pastor
Steven E. Albertin told the following story. He said, in my church
secretary's office there hangs a modernistic picture composed of a maze
of colors and shapes. I realized these sophisticated, modern, and
abstract pictures were supposed to contain some profound artistic or
philosophical message, but I never was able to figure it out. It just
looked like a jumbled mass of confusion. If there was a message there, I
was blind to it.</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">One
day while I was standing in the office, waiting for the copier to warm
up, one of the congregation's kindergarten-age boys, Adam, stood beside
me and said, "Do you see what I see?"</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">"Do
you see something in that picture? I sure don't." Adam looked at me
with glee in his eye, "Pastor, can't you see him? It's Jesus hanging on
the cross." I stared as hard as I could, until my eyes actually hurt
from staring. I wanted to believe Adam and that there actually was the
image of Jesus hanging on the cross hidden somewhere in that mass of
color and shapes, but I couldn't see Jesus anywhere. "Adam, I'm sorry
but I must be blind. You will have to help me see."</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">Directing
his finger to a mass of color in the center of the picture, Adam said,
"There, Pastor. Do you see what I see? There is Jesus, his face, his
arms outstretched on the cross." And then, like an epiphany, the image
began to appear. Yes, there hidden somehow "behind" the colors and the
shapes was the barely visible image of Jesus, hanging with arms
outstretched on the cross. "It's amazing, Adam. You have helped one
blind pastor to see Jesus. Yes, I can see what you see, Adam."</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">Steven E. Albertin, Against the Grain, CSS Publishing Company, Inc.</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">_____________________</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">Define the Problem</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">Thousands
of years ago a young Chinese emperor called upon his family's most
trusted advisor. "Oh, learned counselor," said the emperor, "you have
advised my father and grandfather. What is the single most important
advice you can give me to rule my country?" And Confucius replied, "The
first thing you must do is to define the problem." <br>
<br>
Many unhappy people cannot put their finger on what is really causing
their distress. Many unfulfilled people cannot even tell you what it
would take to satisfy them. Many of us have no clear idea or conception
what our real needs, our real desires, and our real priorities are. And
because we have never defined the problem or clarified our goals, we
spend a lifetime anxiously wandering with very little to show for the
pilgrimage. <br>
<br>
King Duncan, Collected Sermons, <a __removedlink__165995549__href="http://www.Sermons.com" target="_blank">www.Sermons.com</a></span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">________________________</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">Some People Are Never Satisfied</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">It
is like the beggar in the movie “Monty Python’s Life of Brian.” Brian
and his mother are walking through town and get hit up by a beggar.
“Alms for an ex-leper. Alms for an ex-leper, please.” And Brian says:
“What do you mean an ex-leper?” And the leper says: “Well I was cured”
“Who cured you?” Brian says. And the leper says: “That Jesus fellow.” He
says: “Now I have a hard time making a living, all I’ve ever known how
to do is beg.” And Brian says: “Well why don’t you go back and ask him
to make you a leper again?” And the leper says: “Well, I might not like
that. Maybe he could just make me a leper during working hours or
something.”</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">So
Brian just sighs, drops a coin into his cup and walks away. And the
ex-leper looks into his cup and says: “A half a dinari! Look at this -
he only gives me a half a dinari!” And Brian says: “Some people are
never satisfied.” To which the leper replies: “That’s just what Jesus
said!”</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">Now
Monty Python might be on to something. Jesus may not have said exactly
these words but he certainly ran into people who were unappreciative.
Blind Bartimaeus was not one of them. Upon receiving his sight he
immediately began to follow.</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">Brett Blair, <a __removedlink__165995549__href="http://www.eSermons.com" target="_blank">www.eSermons.com</a>. Adapted from The Catholic Apologetics Network</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">____________________</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">Meeting Christ</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">History
records a time when two people met each other on July 25, 1807, at a
spot in the Tilsit River in Prussia. It was a dramatic meeting to
discuss matters which carried serious consequences. In the middle of
that stream Napoleon and Alexander held a much publicized private
conference. It was widely described in advance as a meeting which would
"arrange the destinies of humankind." Cannons boomed, and the shouts of
thousands of soldiers gathered on each side of the river added to the
noise as the conference began. There the Treaty of Tilsit was drawn up
which allied Russia and Prussia with Napoleon. World history and
millions of lives were forever changed.</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">Bartimaeus
had an opportunity to meet Christ, one on one, and took advantage of
it. As a result, he was greatly blessed. You and I have the same
privilege of meeting with Christ, one on one. Christ is calling you.
Will you come? Such an encounter, for each one of us, is by far the most
important in our lives, for it will arrange the destiny of your life.</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">Brett Blair, <a __removedlink__165995549__href="http://www.esermons.com" target="_blank">www.esermons.com</a>, Adapted form Harold H. Lentz, Preaching The Miracles, CSS Publishing.</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">__________________</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">Born of the Spirit Not the Process</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">Duke
University psychiatrist Redford B. Williams has written a book called
The Trusting Heart (New York: Random House). What he has discovered is
that Type A behavior will not kill you. Grueling schedules, workaholism,
stress, hurriedness - all these "Type A" personality syndromes are not
predictive of early death. Only hostility, cynicism, aggression, and
orneriness - these are the killers. People who cannot trust, people who
can only control, are in more than spiritual jeopardy. Their health is
on the line as well. </span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">The
crowd that tried to quiet the boisterous blind man was evidently
embarrassed by Bartimaeus' loud, direct method of expressing his needs
and petitioning his desires. There were established channels by which to
petition the Lord for healing or forgiveness - why didn't Bartimaeus
submit to them? The crowd, like so many of us, preferred to put its
trust in the Process instead of in the Spirit. But Jesus did not say to
Nicodemus, "You must be born of the Process." In fact it is only when we
free ourselves from the deep ruts that "following the process" has
carved into our lives that we become able to trust in and follow the
wings of the Spirit, wherever it may lead.</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">Leonard Sweet, Collected Works, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt"><a target="_blank" __removedlink__165995549__href="http://mail.churchmail.com/lists/lt.php?id=Kk8CCggDDQBQDEkNAA9KDAtXUVw%3D"><span style="font-size: small"><span style="color: purple">www.Sermons.com</span></span></a></span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">Triumph in the Rubble</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small">Carlton
Fletcher tells about his Uncle Walter who lived in Waldorf, Germany,
during the Second World War. Uncle Walter was the descendant of
Huguenots that had run away from France during the persecution of the
Protestants in the 1600's. During the war he wanted to build himself a
house, but all the necessary materials were reserved for the army. You
couldn't build a house for yourself. To a member of Germany's
middleclass, a house is most important. Building a house and getting out
of an apartment is a priority. And nothing -even a world war - would
deter Uncle Walter, even if it meant building a house and hiding it
under a junk pile. <br>
<br>
Here is how he did it…</span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small"><span style="color: black">The rest of this illustration, as well as many additional illustrations and sermons for the whole year, can be accessed at </span></span><span style="color: black"><a target="_blank" __removedlink__165995549__href="http://mail.churchmail.com/lists/lt.php?id=Kk8CCggDDQBQDEkNAA9KDAtXUVw%3D"><span style="font-size: small"><font color="#0000ff">www.Sermons.com</font></span></a></span><span style="font-size: small"><span style="color: black">. </span></span></div>
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