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Illustration
Object:
Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4
A poor mother in early twentieth-century India sends her child to a British boarding school. The Indian child hates boarding school; he is teased by the other children, he is far away from his mother; he does not like the cold, wet English climate. He writes letters home, begging to come back, pleading with his mother to let him quit his circumstances. Although his mother would love to have him back in her arms, she knows that his pain is only temporary. His British education will give him more opportunities than a life in India will. He will be able to return and help the people in his community or go into the world and do something better. For now, his life is miserable, but his perseverance will pay off in the end. His future just has not been revealed yet.
Leah T.
Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4
Nine years. Colonel Floyd "Jimmy" Johnson survived the longest stint as prisoner of war in United States history. He was a member of a Special Forces team whose assignment was to gather intelligence. He was operating out of Khe Sanh, Vietnam, when, in March 1964, he went on an observation flight over enemy positions. Johnson kept asking the pilot to fly lower so he could have a better view, when suddenly the plane was fired upon and crashed. The pilot was killed and Johnson was taken prisoner. The colonel was subjected to long periods of physical and mental torture. He was kept in solitary confinement for four years. To survive this ordeal he kept telling himself he was one of the good guys, fighting for the right cause. He was also placed for long hours in a cage, where he could neither stand nor stretch. While in the cage, in order to remain sane, he built two complete homes in his mind. One nail and one tile at a time, he built his imaginary houses.
The Vietnamese kept playing for him broadcasts of war protesters back in the United States, but Johnson dismissed the tapes as another form of mental torture. It was not until he was transferred to the infamous Hanoi Hilton that he learned America was divided over the war. In 1973, Johnson was released, along with the others held in captivity.
It was a vision that there was a future that sustained Colonel Johnson during the long ordeal of captivity. It was a belief that there would be freedom and the imaginary house would become a real home for his wife and four children. This is the message that Habakkuk shared with his people, as they suffered the ordeal of living in the devastated land of Judah. He offered a vision of redemption, with such assurance that he wrote it on a tablet so large that a runner could read it without pausing. But, Habakkuk cautioned, "Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay." As Johnson waited nine years to build his home, the people of Judah would have to wait for the city of Jerusalem to be rebuilt after its destruction by the Babylonians.
Ron L.
2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12
It was one of those moments when we ask ourselves "What am I doing here?" Pam was clearly out of her comfort zone, helping to repair a home in rural Virginia. What stressed her out the most that first day was that she had no reception for her cell phone. She felt cut off from the rest of the world, or at least her family and friends. She did not have experience cutting 2x4s or nailing them in place. She did her best to help.
Pam and her group worked all week on two homes. From time to time residents would watch them work, which made Pam all the more self-conscience. They would smile at Pam and the others. Pam thought they could tell that she was out of her element. She learned many new skills that week in home repair, caulking windows and cutting wood straight with a power saw.
Near the end of her week she reflected on what had brought her to this place. She remembered praying that God would be able to use her along with her desire to try something new. When a friend from church invited her to help with this weeklong mission trip Pam felt that it was an answer to prayer. The aches and pains she felt that week were an answer to her prayer. This was one of the most rewarding weeks of her life -- as she helped others.
The apostle Paul writing to believers in Thessalonica gave thanks to God for their faithfulness. Paul knew first hand the power of prayer and God's amazing grace in his life. His prayer for the believers, "asking that our God will make you worthy of his call and will fulfill by his power every good resolve and work of faith."
Tim S.
2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12
Samuel Taylor Coleridge was perhaps one of the most brilliant literary minds of the nineteenth century. His poems, "Kubla Khan" and "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" are still considered to be some of the best of classic English poetry. However, his legacy has become one of lost potential. He had a reputation for procrastination and distraction. He had so many ideas, but he lacked the drive and willpower to bring those ideas into reality. Sadly, we will never know what contributions to literature and philosophy Coleridge could have made.
In this passage, Paul encourages the Thessalonian church to not make the same mistake as Coleridge: "To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ" (vv. 11-12). He didn't want those believers looking back on their lives wondering what more they could have done for Jesus. Perhaps we should keep that in mind in our own lives, as well.
Craig K.
Luke 19:1-10
Levi Johnson is quite a character, which is to say he has no character. His attitude and antics makes him the perfect cover story for any tabloid. Having fathered Tripp without benefit of marriage was newsworthy because of the child's grandmother, Sarah Palin. The story could have stopped there, only if Levi would have chosen fatherhood over media stardom. He made the round of morning talk shows. He has made commercials with sexual innuendoes. He undressed for Playgirl magazine. He is trying to secure the rights to his memoir, recounting his years with Bristol, the child's mother. And he has hired an entertainment agent. Of course, this is between court appearances for failing to pay child support.
Then suddenly and unexpectedly the twenty-year-old reveals to People magazine that he told some lies to the media after his break-up with Bristol. He did so against his "better judgment." But, because he was "unhappy and a little angry" at his former fiancee he told the stories anyway. He stated, "I owe it to the Palins to publicly apologize."
The cynical side of us would dismiss this as another publicity stunt. We would approach it cautiously thinking Levi had just discovered another opportunistic moment to further his machismo. Yet, can we be so quick to judge? Is it not equally possible that after working with the staff of Playgirl and the sternness of a judge that he really has had a change of heart? Is it not possible that he really has gained a new perspective on life? The truth will only really be known as we observe his behavior through the coming years.
When Zacchaeus, after dining with Jesus, stood-up and said he would repay fourfold anyone he defrauded, I am sure the cynics believed he was doing nothing more than appeasing his dinner guest. When Jesus walked out of town, so would the promise. As it turned out, Zacchaeus was serious and kept to his word. As much as our human nature desires otherwise, we need to accept the real possibility that an individual can change. Otherwise, what is the meaning of conversion?
Ron L.
Luke 19:1-10
"Zacchaeus was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he!" Many Sunday school students know the story of Zacchaeus because of this Bible school song. But they don't know the entire story. The song ends with Jesus deciding to go to Zacchaeus' house -- it doesn't go so far as to tell us that Zacchaeus decides to give all his possessions to the poor. Admittedly, it kind of makes Zacchaeus look like a tool. He seems to be saying this just to make people like him. But this won't just be a ploy for acceptance that Zacchaeus can conveniently forget about later. Jesus is going to hold him to this announcement. There's no way Zacchaeus can back out now that Jesus has endorsed his decision. What's a fellow to do?
Leah T.
A poor mother in early twentieth-century India sends her child to a British boarding school. The Indian child hates boarding school; he is teased by the other children, he is far away from his mother; he does not like the cold, wet English climate. He writes letters home, begging to come back, pleading with his mother to let him quit his circumstances. Although his mother would love to have him back in her arms, she knows that his pain is only temporary. His British education will give him more opportunities than a life in India will. He will be able to return and help the people in his community or go into the world and do something better. For now, his life is miserable, but his perseverance will pay off in the end. His future just has not been revealed yet.
Leah T.
Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4
Nine years. Colonel Floyd "Jimmy" Johnson survived the longest stint as prisoner of war in United States history. He was a member of a Special Forces team whose assignment was to gather intelligence. He was operating out of Khe Sanh, Vietnam, when, in March 1964, he went on an observation flight over enemy positions. Johnson kept asking the pilot to fly lower so he could have a better view, when suddenly the plane was fired upon and crashed. The pilot was killed and Johnson was taken prisoner. The colonel was subjected to long periods of physical and mental torture. He was kept in solitary confinement for four years. To survive this ordeal he kept telling himself he was one of the good guys, fighting for the right cause. He was also placed for long hours in a cage, where he could neither stand nor stretch. While in the cage, in order to remain sane, he built two complete homes in his mind. One nail and one tile at a time, he built his imaginary houses.
The Vietnamese kept playing for him broadcasts of war protesters back in the United States, but Johnson dismissed the tapes as another form of mental torture. It was not until he was transferred to the infamous Hanoi Hilton that he learned America was divided over the war. In 1973, Johnson was released, along with the others held in captivity.
It was a vision that there was a future that sustained Colonel Johnson during the long ordeal of captivity. It was a belief that there would be freedom and the imaginary house would become a real home for his wife and four children. This is the message that Habakkuk shared with his people, as they suffered the ordeal of living in the devastated land of Judah. He offered a vision of redemption, with such assurance that he wrote it on a tablet so large that a runner could read it without pausing. But, Habakkuk cautioned, "Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay." As Johnson waited nine years to build his home, the people of Judah would have to wait for the city of Jerusalem to be rebuilt after its destruction by the Babylonians.
Ron L.
2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12
It was one of those moments when we ask ourselves "What am I doing here?" Pam was clearly out of her comfort zone, helping to repair a home in rural Virginia. What stressed her out the most that first day was that she had no reception for her cell phone. She felt cut off from the rest of the world, or at least her family and friends. She did not have experience cutting 2x4s or nailing them in place. She did her best to help.
Pam and her group worked all week on two homes. From time to time residents would watch them work, which made Pam all the more self-conscience. They would smile at Pam and the others. Pam thought they could tell that she was out of her element. She learned many new skills that week in home repair, caulking windows and cutting wood straight with a power saw.
Near the end of her week she reflected on what had brought her to this place. She remembered praying that God would be able to use her along with her desire to try something new. When a friend from church invited her to help with this weeklong mission trip Pam felt that it was an answer to prayer. The aches and pains she felt that week were an answer to her prayer. This was one of the most rewarding weeks of her life -- as she helped others.
The apostle Paul writing to believers in Thessalonica gave thanks to God for their faithfulness. Paul knew first hand the power of prayer and God's amazing grace in his life. His prayer for the believers, "asking that our God will make you worthy of his call and will fulfill by his power every good resolve and work of faith."
Tim S.
2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12
Samuel Taylor Coleridge was perhaps one of the most brilliant literary minds of the nineteenth century. His poems, "Kubla Khan" and "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" are still considered to be some of the best of classic English poetry. However, his legacy has become one of lost potential. He had a reputation for procrastination and distraction. He had so many ideas, but he lacked the drive and willpower to bring those ideas into reality. Sadly, we will never know what contributions to literature and philosophy Coleridge could have made.
In this passage, Paul encourages the Thessalonian church to not make the same mistake as Coleridge: "To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ" (vv. 11-12). He didn't want those believers looking back on their lives wondering what more they could have done for Jesus. Perhaps we should keep that in mind in our own lives, as well.
Craig K.
Luke 19:1-10
Levi Johnson is quite a character, which is to say he has no character. His attitude and antics makes him the perfect cover story for any tabloid. Having fathered Tripp without benefit of marriage was newsworthy because of the child's grandmother, Sarah Palin. The story could have stopped there, only if Levi would have chosen fatherhood over media stardom. He made the round of morning talk shows. He has made commercials with sexual innuendoes. He undressed for Playgirl magazine. He is trying to secure the rights to his memoir, recounting his years with Bristol, the child's mother. And he has hired an entertainment agent. Of course, this is between court appearances for failing to pay child support.
Then suddenly and unexpectedly the twenty-year-old reveals to People magazine that he told some lies to the media after his break-up with Bristol. He did so against his "better judgment." But, because he was "unhappy and a little angry" at his former fiancee he told the stories anyway. He stated, "I owe it to the Palins to publicly apologize."
The cynical side of us would dismiss this as another publicity stunt. We would approach it cautiously thinking Levi had just discovered another opportunistic moment to further his machismo. Yet, can we be so quick to judge? Is it not equally possible that after working with the staff of Playgirl and the sternness of a judge that he really has had a change of heart? Is it not possible that he really has gained a new perspective on life? The truth will only really be known as we observe his behavior through the coming years.
When Zacchaeus, after dining with Jesus, stood-up and said he would repay fourfold anyone he defrauded, I am sure the cynics believed he was doing nothing more than appeasing his dinner guest. When Jesus walked out of town, so would the promise. As it turned out, Zacchaeus was serious and kept to his word. As much as our human nature desires otherwise, we need to accept the real possibility that an individual can change. Otherwise, what is the meaning of conversion?
Ron L.
Luke 19:1-10
"Zacchaeus was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he!" Many Sunday school students know the story of Zacchaeus because of this Bible school song. But they don't know the entire story. The song ends with Jesus deciding to go to Zacchaeus' house -- it doesn't go so far as to tell us that Zacchaeus decides to give all his possessions to the poor. Admittedly, it kind of makes Zacchaeus look like a tool. He seems to be saying this just to make people like him. But this won't just be a ploy for acceptance that Zacchaeus can conveniently forget about later. Jesus is going to hold him to this announcement. There's no way Zacchaeus can back out now that Jesus has endorsed his decision. What's a fellow to do?
Leah T.
