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| Summary: The First Sunday of Advent is a day for taking stock of the pain of the world, for recognizing that the world is still far from the reign of God. On this day, we begin again our long vigil for the return of Christ. But in the midst of this wait, the apostle Paul offers words of grace and peace that place our suffering within the context of God. |
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| Summary: As we begin the season that our culture thinks of as gift-giving time, let's not neglect the gifts God has brought us in Jesus the Christ. We don't want to leave these gifts unopened. |
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| Summary: In one of his final prayers for us, Jesus prayed that his followers might be at one with each other. Unfortunately, Christian communities can often reflect the very antithesis of such a vision by the divisions that they maintain, sometimes even in the name of the very God who calls us to oneness. If we would learn more thoroughly about and come to believe more deeply in the love that God has for each of us, such divisions would begin to shrink. |
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| Summary: It is only as we live “in Christ” that we overcome disunity and quarrelsomeness with others. Focusing upon God will prevent us from being self-righteous, petty and small-minded. |
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| Summary: The church can be understood in many ways, but our post-Vatican II era asks that we see the church as the People of God. We are not individuals, but must work together to build God’s kingdom in our world. We are called to transform attitudes and perform work that demonstrate that we are a true community that cares. We do so in imitation of Jesus, who provided the model for our church and our lives. |
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| Summary: Paul’s lecture to the Corinthian church on food and fornication has ultimately to do with the relationship between body and spirit. It confronts a false understanding of spirit/body separation, and the argument that “as long as I’m not hurting anybody else, what I do with my body is only my business!” As such, it applies today as much as it did 2,000 years ago. |
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| Summary: God sometimes uses our physical bodies as a means of getting our attention and entering our lives. |
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| Summary: If we are friends of Christ, we need to introduce others to him. |
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| Summary: The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread. |
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| Summary: We are likely to come to the Maundy Thursday service not thinking of what the name of the occasion means -- and thus, not beginning to fulfill its potential in our own lives, and in our congregations. |
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| Summary: What is truly important in life? Many fine and varied answers could be proffered, but in the end, it is our Christian faith that is most important. Today the Christian community begins to celebrate its tradition in the Eucharist and in the challenge we have to be the Eucharist, the presence of Christ, to one another. |
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| Summary: Celebration of Holy Communion is a vital part of Christianity — and thus a vital part of every Christian’s faith walk. From the lips of Jesus to the writings of Paul to modern-day practices, Christians are given the mandate to “do this and remember ....” The command implies that as we “do this,” there are other things we should not do. |
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| Summary: The celebration of the ancient feast of Corpus Christi reminds us of the greatness of our Christian tradition. Jesus fed those he encountered with the Bread of Life, but he also provided the word and the Spirit to lead and assist us on the path to eternal life. As Jesus feeds us so we are called as God’s holy people to feed others through the donation of our time, talent and treasure to meet the many and varied needs of our sisters and brothers in Christ. |
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| Summary: Paul told the Corinthian Christians, “As often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” That is responsibility and our blessing. |
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| Summary: The startling message that Jesus died and yet lives is proclaimed every time the Lord’s Supper is celebrated. That’s true even though it may be hard for people to see how that reality saves us, changing condemnation to salvation. Preaching must use the resources of scripture to expound the “how.” And the fact that we share together in the Lord’s Supper is a sign that we are not saved simply as individuals but as a community.
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| Summary: Because we humans forget so easily, and because remembering is so important to our faith, God has given us three means of remembering, all associated with Communion. |
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| Summary: Remembering Jesus is more than just thinking about him. Literally, to remember something is to make it come alive. It’s the opposite of dismembering, the separating of the members one from another. Remembering puts them back together. Our remembering of Jesus should be reflected in our daily lives. |
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| Summary: Paul’s letters to the Corinthian church were, at times, painfully honest. In this passage Paul shares Jesus’ instructions for celebrating the Lord’s supper. It’s in a context where painful descriptions of the Corinthian church “bookend” our scripture for today. This intentional placing of today’s word in that setting gives us an honest look at what the church sometimes is, and what the church can be. |
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| Summary: Collaborators in a musical may end up working against each other instead of with each other when they fail to recognize and appreciate the gifts of their partners. The same is true in the life of the church. Each of us brings something special to the mix, but when we fail to recognize the Holy Spirit as the author of our life together, we may drive each other away. |
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| Summary: God’s gifts always and forever have strings attached. Yet, they’re not the sort of strings that can be used to yank the gift back again. Rather, they connect us to one another, in community — and to God. |
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| Summary: Paul uses the analogy of a human body with many parts in service to the one body to describe the church. The message of this passage to us, today, is that we, the church, are called to present a united face and a united front to the world, with our many different “members” all working together to present the body of Jesus Christ to the world. It is upon this unity that the church will stand — or fall. |
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| Summary: Paul described the church as the body of Christ and individual Christians as different parts of that body. A football team with players at different positions can illustrate the same truth. Because they are members of one team, they can each be as good as possible at their individual tasks. The concept of “team spirit,” which holds individuals together in a single entity, can also help us to understand the role of the Holy Spirit in the church. |
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| Summary: A child is a joy to watch as he or she plays freely in a field, rolling down the hill, laughing and smiling. All adults need to have this side of their personality in raising their children. Many of us have forgotten how to be children.
But there is another kind of childish behavior which disrupts and destroys our homes ... actions such as pouting and blaming, yelling, and physically acting out rage when we don’t get our way.
When St. Paul wrote his famous chapter in Corinthians on the meaning of love, he concluded the descriptions by saying that now that he was an adult, he had no more use for childish ways. Can we as fathers say that about the love we show our family? In this sermon we will look at some of these behaviors which Paul was referring to, but more importantly, cover how the Holy Spirit can help us grow up as fathers. |
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| Summary: It is possible to focus on what appears to be the main event of a gospel story and miss the subtle but important message around the event. This is true as we read about the large number of fish the disciples caught with Jesus in their boat. There is so much more to this story. Trying the story on for ourselves by role playing the various people in the crowd and even Simon in his boat may help to bring some of these messages to the surface. |
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| Summary: Paul was compelled to pass on an important message: that Jesus died for our sins, was buried and on the third day was raised from the dead. Like a game of “hot potato,” that message is passed on to us who in turn must pass it on to others. In the same way that Paul could take ownership of being an Apostle with a capital “A” by the grace of God, we are apostles with the same mission. |
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| Summary: It is possible to focus on what appears to be the main event of a gospel story and miss the subtle but important message around the event. This is true as we read about the large number of fish the disciples caught with Jesus in their boat. There is so much more to this story. Trying the story on for ourselves by role playing the various people in the crowd and even Simon in his boat may help to bring some of these messages to the surface. |
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| Summary: Jesus told us that “Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.” For Christians, that is a great truth. We, like most, will indeed have times of sorrow and hurt. But because we believe in a God who wills the best for each of us, we can look beyond our tears to our times of happiness. God grants us joy in the midst of our pain. We know, without question, that we can never be separated from the love of God. So be of good cheer. We are winners after all. |
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