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<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small">Hope<SPAN
class=430521203-24012013> </SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small"><SPAN
class=430521203-24012013> </SPAN></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 remember the story of Pandora's Box in Greek
Mythology? The lovely Pandora was sent by Zeus to be the bride of Epimetheus.
One of Pandora's more endearing charms was her curiosity, but that quality also
proved to nearly be her undoing. One day Mercury, the messenger, sent a box to
the young couple. It was meant for them to enjoy, but under no circumstances
were they to open it. Well, of course, it is the old story of the forbidden
fruit. Told that she could not do it, it became the thing that she desired to do
the most. So one day she pried it open and peeked inside. Suddenly out flew
swarms of insects that began attacking them. Both lovers were stung with the
poison of suspicion, hatred, fear and malice. Now the once happy couple began to
argue. Epimetheus became bitter and Pandora wept with a broken heart. But in the
midst of the quarreling, they heard a tiny voice cry out: Let me ou t, to sooth
your pain. Fearfully they opened the box again, and this time a beautiful
butterfly flew out. It touched the couple and miraculously their pain was healed
and they were happy again. The butterfly we are told was hope. It is hope that
sustains us; it is hope that sooths our pain.<SPAN
class=430521203-24012013> </SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small"><SPAN
class=430521203-24012013> </SPAN></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">Staff, www.eSermons.com.</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">_____________________<SPAN
class=430521203-24012013> </SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small"><SPAN
class=430521203-24012013> </SPAN></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">Called to Action<SPAN
class=430521203-24012013> </SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small"><SPAN
class=430521203-24012013> </SPAN></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">At Christmas I received as a gift the book, Holy Sweat,
by Tim Hansel. I enjoyed it very much. He tells of a guest preacher in a rather
large church who began, “There are three points to my sermon.” Most people
yawned at the point. They’d heard that many times before. But he went on. “My
first point is this. At this time there are approximately two billion people
starving to death in the world.” The reaction through the congregation was about
the same, since they’d heard that sort of statement many times before, too. And
then he said, “My second point…” </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">Everybody sat up. Only 10 or 15 seconds had passed, and
he was already on his second point? He paused, then said, “My second point is
that most of you don’t give a damn!” He paused again as gasps and rumblings
flowed across the congregation, and then said: <SPAN
class=430521203-24012013> </SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small"><SPAN
class=430521203-24012013> </SPAN></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">“And my third point is that the real tragedy among
Christians today is that many of you are now more concerned that I said ‘damn’
than you are that I said two billion people are starving to death.” Then he sat
down. </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">The whole sermon took less than a minute, but it is in
many ways one of the most powerful ones ever given. He was reminding us we are
called not to mere piety but to genuine morality. We are called to action, not
to fancy words. Jesus preached a short sermon. But what a sermon! He clearly
denotes the kind of ministry he came to pursue. It is to be a ministry to the
poor and outcast, the blind and unaffirmed.</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">James T. Garrett, God’s Gift, CSS Publishing
Company.<SPAN class=430521203-24012013> </SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small"><SPAN
class=430521203-24012013> </SPAN></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">_________________________ <SPAN
class=430521203-24012013> </SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small"><SPAN
class=430521203-24012013> </SPAN></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">Love Is an Action<SPAN
class=430521203-24012013> </SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small"><SPAN
class=430521203-24012013> </SPAN></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">Newspaper columnist and minister George Crane tells of
a wife who came into his office full of hatred toward her husband. "I do not
only want to get rid of him, I want to get even. Before I divorce him, I want to
hurt him as much as he has me."</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">Dr. Crane suggested an ingenious plan "Go home and act
as if you really love your husband. Tell him how much he means to you. Praise
him for every decent trait. Go out of your way to be as kind, considerate, and
generous as possible. Spare no efforts to please him, to enjoy him. Make him
believe you love him. After you've convinced him of your undying love and that
you cannot live without him, then drop the bomb. Tell him that you're getting a
divorce. That will really hurt him." With revenge in her eyes, she smiled and
exclaimed, "Beautiful, beautiful. Will he ever be surprised!" And she did it
with enthusiasm. Acting "as if." For two months she showed love, kindness,
listening, giving, reinforcing, sharing. When she didn't return, Crane called.
"Are you ready now to go through with the divorc<SPAN
class=430521203-24012013>e. </SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small"><SPAN
class=430521203-24012013></SPAN></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">"Divorce?" she exclaimed. "Never! I discovered I really
do love him." Her actions had cha<SPAN
class=430521203-24012013> </SPAN></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small"><SPAN class=430521203-24012013> </SPAN>nged her
feelings. Motion resulted in emotion. The ability to love is established not so
much by fervent promise as often repeated deeds.<SPAN
class=430521203-24012013> </SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small"><SPAN
class=430521203-24012013> </SPAN></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">J. Allan Petersen </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">_______________<SPAN
class=430521203-24012013> </SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small"><SPAN
class=430521203-24012013> </SPAN></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"></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small">Act As If You Do Love<SPAN
class=430521203-24012013> </SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small"><SPAN
class=430521203-24012013> </SPAN></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">In his book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis wrote, "Do
not waste your time bothering whether you 'love' your neighbor act as if you
did. As soon as we do this, we find one of the great secrets. When you are
behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him. If you
injure someone you dislike, you will find yourself disliking him more. If you do
him a good turn, you will find yourself disliking him less."</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">C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity </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">_______________<SPAN
class=430521203-24012013> </SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small"><SPAN
class=430521203-24012013> </SPAN></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">The Opening Moments of Jesus’ Ministry<SPAN
class=430521203-24012013> </SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small"><SPAN
class=430521203-24012013> </SPAN></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">Every four years the new president of the United States
gives his inaugural address. In it, he articulates his program or his plan of
action for his term of office. See if you recognize the President who made the
following remarks:<BR><BR>"With malice toward none, with charity for all, with
firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to
finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who
shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which
may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all
nations." - Abraham Lincoln, 1865.<BR><BR>"This great nation will endure as it
has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my
firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself--nameless,
unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert
retreat into advance." - Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1933.<BR><BR>"And so, my fellow
Americans: ask not what your country can do for you -- ask what you can do for
your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for
you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man." - John F Kennedy,
1960.<BR><BR>Today's Scripture is Luke's version of the opening moments of
Jesus' public ministry. We might call this his inaugural sermon.<BR><BR>Mickey
Anders, Jesus' Mission and Ours </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small">_____________________________</SPAN></DIV><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small">
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><BR>The Future is God’s
Gift<SPAN class=430521203-24012013> </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
class=430521203-24012013> </SPAN></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">Let me tell you about a commencement speech that was
addressed to Harvard’s Senior Class. On the morning of their graduation, seniors
gather in Memorial Church to hear the minister offer words of solace and
encouragement as they leave "the Yard" to take their places in the world.
<BR><BR>The 1998 senior class heard the unvarnished truth from the Rev. Peter
Gomes, minister at Harvard and the author of several books on the Bible. Doctor
Gomes took no prisoners that day. He began: "You are going to be sent out of
here for good, and most of you aren't ready to go. The president is about to bid
you into the fellowship of educated men and women and, (and here he paused and
spoke each word slowly for emphasis) you know just - how - dumb - you - really -
are." <BR><BR>The senior class cheered in agreement. <BR><BR>"And worse than
that," Doctor Gomes continued…<SPAN
class=430521203-24012013> </SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small"><SPAN
class=430521203-24012013> </SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: small"></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: small">The rest of this illustration and <SPAN
style="COLOR: black">many additional illustrations and sermons for this week and
the rest of the year can be accessed at www.Sermons.com. <SPAN
class=430521203-24012013> </SPAN></SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: small"><SPAN style="COLOR: black"><SPAN
class=430521203-24012013> </SPAN></SPAN></SPAN></DIV></BODY></HTML>