<font color='black' size='4' face='Times New Roman, Times, serif'>
<div style="font-family:arial,helvetica;font-size:10pt;color:black">
<div id="AOLMsgPart_2_881527d0-ea52-4f2a-be4f-dcdadee666a7">
<div class="aolReplacedBody"><font color="black" size="4" face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">
<div style="font-family:arial,helvetica;font-size:10pt;color:black">
<div id="AOLMsgPart_2_059c3a21-a630-4e53-9262-571a13074cf4">
<div class="aolReplacedBody">
<div id="rootDiv">
<div id="footerContainer" align="center" style="background-color:#ffffff;">
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;">The Disciples as Tourists</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;"><br>
</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;">Tourists. As Mark 13 opens, the disciples are like tourists, gawking at the more striking features of "the big city" that they were visiting for the high and holy festival of Passover. If there had been cameras in those days, you can almost picture the disciples mugging for the camera in front of the magnificent opulence of the Temple. Little bands of tourists wearing bright orange hats would be milling through the plazas and colonnades of the Temple as tour guides with bullhorns shouted forth impressive statistics. "Some of these foundation stones weigh 5 tons and were brought into the city through the massive efforts of thousands of masons and slaves."</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;"><br>
</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;">Appreciative "Ooohs" and "Ahhhs" would follow each stunning stat.</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;">It was, all in all, a heady atmosphere. You couldn't help but look up to see the towering heights. When I've been in places like Chicago and New York City, I know full well that standing on a sidewalk and staring up at the towering heights of the Sears Tower or the Empire State Building is the surest way possible to have me be easily identified as a tourist. But I can't help it! I don't want to look like some hick from the outback who is bowled over by skyscrapers, but they are just so impressive. They simply dwarf you! And so I steal as many heavenward glances as I can.<br>
<br>
The disciples were like that. They don't want to look like simple fishermen from Galilee and the like, but let's face it: you just don't see stonework like this back on the farm. Their enthusiasm is so great that they cannot resist pulling Jesus into the action. Their master seems oddly unmoved by the ramparts and architectural heights of Jerusalem. He is the only one NOT craning his neck and mugging for the camera. So the disciples try to bring him around. "Teacher! Lookee here - isn't this one massive hunk of limestone!? Isn't the craftsmanship on these carvings impressive? Can you imagine what it must have taken to raise up such a high edifice!?"<br>
<br>
But Jesus meets their breathless enthusiasm with a shrug of his shoulders. "Yes, I see them. But you know what? Even the biggest of these stones will soon fall and be thrown down. One day, there won't be a single building to look at here."<br>
<br>
Scott Hoezee, comments and observations on Mark 13:1-8.<br>
_________________________________________<br>
<br>
Humor: False Prophets and Messiahs</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;"><br>
</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;">Several years ago, Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks did a comedy skit called the "2000 Year Old Man". In the skit, Reiner interviews Brooks, who is the old gentleman. At one point, Reiner asks the old man, "Did you always believe in the Lord?"</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;"><br>
</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;">Brooks replied: "No. We had a guy in our village named Phil, and for a time we worshiped him."</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;">Reiner: You worshiped a guy named Phil? Why?</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;">Brooks: Because he was big, and mean, and he could break you in two with his bare hands!</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;">Reiner: Did you have prayers?</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;">Brooks: Yes, would you like to hear one? O Phil, please don't be mean, and hurt us, or break us in two with your bare hands.</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;">Reiner: So when did you start worshiping the Lord?</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;">Brooks: Well, one day a big thunderstorm came up, and a lightning bolt hit Phil. We gathered around and saw that he was dead. Then we said to one another, "There's somthin' bigger than Phil!"</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;"><br>
</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;">Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks, 2000 Year Old Man</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;">__________________</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;"><br>
</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;">Is The Mule For Sale?</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;"><br>
</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;">Once upon a time there was a woman married to an annoying man. He would complain about everything. One day he went to the creek with his mule. He complained so much that the mule got annoyed and kicked him to death. At the funeral, when all the men walked by the wife she shook her head yes and every time the women walked by she shook her head no.</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;">The minister asked "Why are you shaking your head yes for men and no for women?" Her response was, "The men would say how sorry they felt for me and I was saying, "Yes, I'll be alright." When the women walked by, they were asking if the mule was for sale . . . "</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;"><br>
</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;">Staff, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.sermons.com/" style="color: blue; cursor: pointer;">www.Sermons.com</a>.</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;">__________________</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;"><br>
</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;">"I Would Plant an Apple Tree"</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;"><br>
</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;">Martin Luther was once asked what he would do if he knew that the world was coming to an end tomorrow, and he said: "I would plant an apple tree." In other words, Luther, trusting in God's gracious, unmerited mercy would live life just as he had been living it. When John Wesley was asked the same thing, being an obsessive-compulsive type, he said that he would arise at 4:00 AM, preach at 5:00 visit the sick at 7:00, go to communion at 8:00...etc., until the questioner realized that that was exactly what Wesley had planned to do tomorrow anyway! Because we believe that God is like Christ, we can dare to live in faith and hope and love now; trusting God for whatever the future holds, because we believe that God holds the future, and that God's Name and God's Nature are love.</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;"><br>
Donald B. Strobe, Collected Words, <a shape="rect" style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline; cursor: pointer;">www.Sermons.com</a></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;">_____________________</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;"><br>
</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;">Don't Panic</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;"><br>
</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;">"Don't panic!" Those are the words I frequently say when someone has come to see me and they are in the midst of a crisis. They may have lost their job, had a marital crisis, a problem with a child, or found themselves in serious financial trouble. They are anxious. It seems like the world is caving in on them. They feel lonely and afraid. They can't see any way out of their predicament.</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;"><br>
</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;">It has been my experience over the years as a pastor that when folks are desperate they tend to run, quit or act in haste. I am not discounting their pain or minimizing the crisis, rather I am merely helping them to see that their perceptions have exaggerated the crisis. Or, they have a distorted perception of reality.</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;"><br>
</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;">This was the case with the disciples. They were being persecuted by an oppressive government. They were powerless and under immense pressure. All seemed dark and hopeless, so much so that they wondered if the "end" was near. They were desperate, blinded by their anxiety and totally unable to see into the future.</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;"><br>
</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;">They are no different than us. Whenever things are happening in the world of epic proportions, like hurricanes, wars, catastrophes or plagues there are those who believe that the world is coming to an end.</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;"><br>
</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;">Keith Wagner, Are You Having an Anxiety Attack?</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;">____________________</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;"><br>
</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;">History Is Going Somewhere</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;"><br>
</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;">William Barclay wrote in his book The Mind of St. Paul, "The great value of the doctrine of the Second Coming is that it guarantees that history is going somewhere. We cannot tell how it will happen. We cannot take as literal truth the Jewish pictures of it which Paul used. We need not think of a physical coming of Christ in the clouds, or a physical trumpet blast. But what the doctrine of the Second Coming conserves is the tremendous fact that there is one divine, far-off event to which the whole creation is moving; there is a consummation; there is a final triumph of God."</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;"><br>
</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;">William Barclay, The Mind of St. Paul, New York: Harper and Bros. 1958, p.229</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;">____________________</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;"><br>
</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;">Gollum's Riddle</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;"><br>
</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;">In the Hobbit by JRR Tolkien Bilbo Baggins has met Gollum for the first time. Bilbo is lost and needs to find his way out of Gollum's cave. Gollum will show him the way out if he can answer a riddle.</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;"><br>
</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;">This thing all things devours,</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;">Birds, beasts, trees, flowers;</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;">Gnaws iron, bites steel;</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;">Grinds hard stone to meal;</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;">Slays king, ruins town,</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;">And beats high mountain down.</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;"><br>
</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;">Bilbo is stumped. He doesn't know the answer to the riddle and after being pressured by Gollum says, "Give me time." Gollum hears the word "time" and mistakenly takes it as Bilbo's answer, which of course is right. Time devours all things, even massive Temples.</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;"><br>
</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;">This and many additional illustrations, sermons, and commentary for this week and for the whole church year can be accessed at <a target="_blank" href="http://www.sermons.com/" style="color: blue; cursor: pointer;">www.Sermons.com</a>.</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;"> </div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;">Please visit <a shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001-EYYL87AdCj-H9VJckGTqeKM1cHAiMEX2PTRH8bP5vCKbsEH81jTrGxICSDi7w3Ard0KZIJ4Db3iaHtYeAiZNDG-PTPS0QLjRo2W8EgrR54C4VNFQKURRR8M82_qkPWN7GsrHEVC-VQwdoOsd1Q0VjfbelCE3KTroaROUnGQzeNnsN5OMZqxcg==&c=xpreudDbGUAlqduyXGNktZp5XBc0NYq5cIuemz7zPhB4bCdXwQoqRg==&ch=fEeerxMHYwJqt9SNftAYBGZqzUIj1G5QtzKrc37QG6uBWOBPNB9P3Q==" style="color: blue; cursor: pointer;"></a><a target="_blank" href="http://www.sermons.com/signup%C2%A0" style="color: blue; cursor: pointer;">http://www.Sermons.com/signup </a>;to subscribe to our library of resources.</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: -webkit-left;"><br>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<style>#AOLMsgPart_2_881527d0-ea52-4f2a-be4f-dcdadee666a7 td{color: black;} .aolReplacedBody #AOLMsgPart_2_059c3a21-a630-4e53-9262-571a13074cf4 td{color: black;} @media only screen and (max-width:480px) { .aolReplacedBody .aolReplacedBody { align:center; topmargin:0; leftmargin:0; marginheight:0; marginwidth:0; width:100% !important; min-width:100% !important; padding: 0px 0px 0px 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust:100%; -ms-text-size-adjust:100%; } .aolReplacedBody .aolReplacedBody table { border-collapse:collapse; mso-table-lspace:0pt; mso-table-rspace:0pt; } .aolReplacedBody .aolReplacedBody td[class="MainWidth"] { width:100% !important; } .aolReplacedBody .aolReplacedBody table[class="HideInMobile"],.aolReplacedBody .aolReplacedBody img[class="HideInMobile"],.aolReplacedBody .aolReplacedBody td[class="HideInMobile"] { display: none !important; } .aolReplacedBody .aolReplacedBody td[class~="OneColumnMobile"],.aolReplacedBody .aolReplacedBody table[class~="OneColumnMobile"] { width: 100% !important; } .aolReplacedBody .aolReplacedBody td[class~="OneColumn"],.aolReplacedBody .aolReplacedBody table[class~="OneColumn"] { width: 100% !important; display:block !important; } .aolReplacedBody .aolReplacedBody .BodyPadding { padding: 15px 5px 15px 5px !important; } .aolReplacedBody .aolReplacedBody .BorderWidth{ padding: 1px 1px 1px 1px !important; } .aolReplacedBody .aolReplacedBody .PreheaderContent { padding: 10px 20px 10px 20px !important; } .aolReplacedBody .aolReplacedBody .PreheaderText { font-size: 12px !important; } .aolReplacedBody .aolReplacedBody .Logo { padding: 8px 0px 9px 0px !important; } .aolReplacedBody .aolReplacedBody .Image { padding: 0px 0px 0px 0px !important; } .aolReplacedBody .aolReplacedBody .SectionHeadlinePadding { padding: 8px 0px 9px 0px !important; } .aolReplacedBody .aolReplacedBody .SectionHeadlineContent { padding: 10px 20px 10px 20px !important; } .aolReplacedBody .aolReplacedBody .SectionHeadlineText { font-size: 24px !important; } .aolReplacedBody .aolReplacedBody .HeadlineContent { padding: 10px 20px 10px 20px !important; } .aolReplacedBody .aolReplacedBody .HeadlineText { font-size: 20px !important; } .aolReplacedBody .aolReplacedBody .SubheadlineContent { padding: 10px 20px 10px 20px !important; } .aolReplacedBody .aolReplacedBody .SubheadlineText { font-size: 16px !important; } .aolReplacedBody .aolReplacedBody .Content { padding: 10px 20px 10px 20px !important; } .aolReplacedBody .aolReplacedBody .FeaturePadding { padding: 10px 10px 10px 10px !important; } .aolReplacedBody .aolReplacedBody .FeatureContent { padding: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important; } .aolReplacedBody .aolReplacedBody .LeftImage { padding: 10px 0px 10px 0px !important; } .aolReplacedBody .aolReplacedBody .RightImage { padding: 10px 0px 10px 0px !important; } .aolReplacedBody .aolReplacedBody .FeatureHeadlineText { font-size: 20px !important; } .aolReplacedBody .aolReplacedBody .FeatureText { font-size: 16px !important; } .aolReplacedBody .aolReplacedBody .FeatureLink { font-size: 16px !important; } .aolReplacedBody .aolReplacedBody .ArticlePadding { padding: 10px 20px 10px 20px !important; } .aolReplacedBody .aolReplacedBody .ArticleHeadlineText { font-size: 20px !important; } .aolReplacedBody .aolReplacedBody .MainText { font-size: 16px !important; } .aolReplacedBody .aolReplacedBody .MainLink { font-size: 16px !important; } .aolReplacedBody .aolReplacedBody .ButtonContent { padding: 10px 20px 10px 20px !important; } .aolReplacedBody .aolReplacedBody .ButtonText { font-size: 16px !important; } .aolReplacedBody .aolReplacedBody .DividerPadding { padding: 10px 20px 10px 20px !important; } .aolReplacedBody .aolReplacedBody .CouponPadding { padding: 10px 20px 10px 20px !important; } .aolReplacedBody .aolReplacedBody .CouponHeadlineText { font-size: 24px !important; } .aolReplacedBody .aolReplacedBody .CouponHeadlineWidth { width: 100% !important; } .aolReplacedBody .aolReplacedBody .CouponContent { padding: 10px 20px 10px 20px !important; } .aolReplacedBody .aolReplacedBody .CouponText { font-size: 16px !important; } .aolReplacedBody .aolReplacedBody .SocialMediaPadding { padding: 10px 20px 10px 20px !important; } .aolReplacedBody .aolReplacedBody .SocialMediaText { font-size: 16px !important; } .aolReplacedBody .aolReplacedBody .SocialMediaIcon { padding: 5px 10px 0px 10px !important; } .aolReplacedBody .aolReplacedBody .SpacerHeight { padding-bottom: 9px !important; } } </style></font></div>
</div>
</div>
</font>