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John B. Jamison served as a pastor of United Methodist churches in Illinois for over twenty years. He holds a Master of Divinity from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary as well as a Masters and a Ph.D. in Education. John spent extended time studying in the Holy Land and uses that experience as a source for his sermons and children's sermons. John has written for radio and television, has authored three novels, and is an award-winning children’s book author. When he is not writing, John enjoys painting, gardening, playing the guitar, and spending time with his wife Patricia, their adult daughter, Tricia, and two grandchildren, Ben and Emily.

Second Sunday of Advent - C

John Jamison
Object: A shovel, rake, or hoe, or all three.

* * *

Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Excellent! Let’s hear our story!

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John Jamison
Object: A shovel, rake, or hoe, or all three.

* * *

Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Excellent! Let’s hear our story!

StoryShare

Peter Andrew Smith
Jean sat by the hospital bed watching her brother sleep. She was relieved that the pain medication they gave Vic was working and he was finally resting. This all seemed so sudden. His health had been poor this past year but she hadn’t realized how sick he really was until she got the call that he had been rushed to the hospital.

Emphasis Preaching Journal

Mark Ellingsen
Bonnie Bates
Bill Thomas
Frank Ramirez
Baruch 5:1-9 or Malachi 3:1-4
Both of these scriptures (as well as the New Testament lesson) give us guidance preparing for the holiday. I am taking these insights from the Charting the Course Installment I wrote for this week.
Frank Ramirez
Ready or not, the holidays are rushing upon us. In many ways I’m sure they are already here. The question is – how should one prepare, and what attitude is required? Will this be just a holiday, or will it also be a holy day?

Baruch 5:1-9 or Malachi 3:1-4

The Immediate Word

Thomas Willadsen
Christopher Keating
Dean Feldmeyer
Mary Austin
Katy Stenta
George Reed
For December 8, 2024:

The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott
Call to Worship:

As John the Baptist called people to prepare themselves for the coming of the Messiah, so let us prepare ourselves in our worship today for the coming of the Messiah into our hearts and lives.

Invitation to Confession:

 Lord Jesus, we are often unprepared to meet with you.

Lord, have mercy.

 Lord Jesus, help us to repent and turn to you again.

Christ, have mercy.

 Lord Jesus, make us clean.

Lord, have mercy

Reading:

SermonStudio

Richard A. Jensen
Terry Anderson is probably the best known of the American hostages kept in Lebanon. Anderson, an Associated Press journalist, was held hostage for 2,454 days! His ordeal began innocently enough on March 16, 1985. As he dropped off his tennis partner after a morning match he noticed a green Mercedes pulled up just ahead of where he was stopped. Suddenly three young men came charging out of the car. Each had a 9-mm pistol hanging loosely on their hip. In a flash they were at Anderson's car window. "Get out," one of the men shouted. "I will shoot." Anderson got out.
John A. Tenbrook
Thespian Theological Thoughts

Very often, John the Baptizer is portrayed as a loud, abrasive, in-your-face kind of guy -- and when he confronted the hypocrites, he probably was loud and abrasive and in-your-face.

But what if there had been electronic mass media in John's day? And what if a Larry King had invited John to be on his show? Isn't it at least possible that John would have delivered God's message with a little of that wild honey on his tongue?

I don't know. What do you think?
Schuyler Rhodes
Jesus has many names. Even a brief pause to imagine it conjures up an ever-lengthening list. The task would be an interesting one, but not our focus just now. The one particular name for Jesus that comes to mind in this Advent time is "Prince of Peace." Taken from Isaiah's prophecy (Isaiah 9:6), this name heralds one who can and will lead us to peace, if only we would let him. Into a world fractured with the horrors of war, this baby Jesus comes to "guide our feet into the way of peace," as the prophecy of Zechariah puts it. But the real question is, will we let ourselves be guided?
John T. Ball
The congregation at the Macedonian city of Philippi was the first church established by Paul in Europe. Like all our "firsts" it had a special place of affection. We remember fondly our first car, our first job, the first home and community in which we lived, and our first romance. We still can recall our first excitement with hearing the first song or rock band that gained our attention, and those first moments when Christ became both a frightening challenge, as well as an abiding consolation.

Mary S. Lautensleger
Preparing the way can become an all-consuming endeavor. Unforeseen obstacles often have a way of getting in our way to hamper progress and sidetrack us. Then, Murphy's Law goes into effect: "If anything can go wrong, it will." Plans for the Paris subway system were begun in 1845, but the actual work was not begun until much later. A civil engineer, Fulgence Bienvenue (1852-1936), was assigned the task of preparing the way. His first big task was to dig the network of underground tunnels for the trains.

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