Sermon Illustratins for Advent 2 (2012)
Illustration
Object:
Malachi 3:1-4
Advent is a time for looking ahead, a time to plan for the future, just like Malachi plans for the coming of the Lord (v. 1). Looking ahead, planning, preparing, and working for the better day that by God's goodness and grace lies ahead is one of the best, healthiest things we human beings can do. Martin Luther says that this kind of preparing for the future is a clearing out of the way whatever will be an obstruction. In short, we need to get ourselves out of the way, because more often than not we are the chief obstacles to the new thing God plans for the future (Luther's Works, Vol. 17, p. 9). When we make ready for the future in this way our brains and bodies are rewarded. New connections of brain cells are forged (a process that postpones aging) and the new cellular connections are rewarded/stimulated by the brain's secreting the feel-good chemical dopamine (Kelly Bulkeley, ed., Soul, Psyche, Brain, pp. 138ff; Seriwin B. Nuland, The Art of Aging, esp. pp. 233ff). Preparing for the future God has in store is a healthy, happy way to live.
Mark E.
Malachi 3:1-4
Though in the pastorate for a number of years, John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, still harbored doubts about his faith and the assurance of his salvation. At five in the morning on May 24, 1738, he awoke and randomly opened his Bible, as was his custom, and read these words: "Thus he has given us, through these things, his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may escape from the corruption that is in this world because of lust, and may become participants of the divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4). Yet he felt no exceedingly great promises within his own spiritual state.
That evening he attended a Methodist meeting at Aldersgate Street in London. There he heard a layman reading from Luther's Preface to the Epistle to Romans. Later Wesley recorded in his journal the transformation of his soul: "about a quarter before nine, while the leader was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ alone for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death." The assurance that had so long eclipsed him had now shone brightly.
"I felt my heart strangely warmed" has become the mantra of Methodism. It is the sensation that we all experience when we experience the "refiner's fire and a fuller's soap."
Ron L.
Philippians 1:3-11
Advent is a time of waiting, longing, expecting, hoping. The people of Israel were continually waiting for God to work out their salvation in and through the messiness of their historical circumstances. From Egyptian slaves to Promised Land freedom; from a loose confederation of tribes to a kingdom; from a single nation to a divided nation to a nation in exile to a nation returned. So much to go through, and they held on to their hope that God was not through with them. Paul has the same hope for his Christian friends -- that God is not through with them. He encourages them with hope-filled words about God bringing to completion in them what God had begun in them. Can we learn from this? Can we look at one another, our nation, even our world and offer a positive word of hope that God is not finished with us and is working in us to bring to completion what was begun long ago? Remember, there is no such thing as a hopeless situation unless we become a hopeless people.
Mark M.
Philippians 1:3-11
I always like the way Paul begins all his epistles with a compliment. He lets them know of his love and prayers for them and his appreciation for what they are doing for the Lord.
I try to do the same when I write my children. I always start with the good things they have done. I have a son who was in jail for his drinking and of course, that is a major concern to me. But when I write or phone him, I first mention the good things I know about him. He had served as a counselor and I met some whom he had counseled and they loved him because of his care and loving support for them. When he was sober he was a very kind and caring person. He took care of his mother whose mind was going and needed his help. I started at the good things before mentioning that my pray was for him to go back to those days when I was so proud of him. We are still very close because of that. It is the way to keep any relationship open.
There is a missionary who served in Africa. His daughter became engaged to a Muslim boy. His folks liked the boy as a person but the idea of her marrying a Muslim was so disturbing to them that they had alienated her with their ranting and shouting. It was cutting off any opportunity for reconciliation. Now she doesn't want to talk with them, even though she tells me that she still loves them.
When I think of all the churches I have served, I remember kind thoughts about many of the people whom I served. I can't remember the names of everyone, but when I write them, I let them know how much I appreciated all the support they had given me when I served them. If I could think of any thing specific, I mentioned it. If their present pastor lets me know of any encouragement they might need, I include support for anything they can do to help the work of the Lord there -- pointing up the fact of all the things of which I knew they were capable. Yes, at the end, I might mention some problems I had with a few of them (and some problems I heard were continuing), but I let them know that I still continue to love them and keep them in my prayers.
One sign of spiritual growth in a congregation is their liberal giving. I served with a pastor who didn't care for the charismatic movement, but he told me that the first thing he did was check their record of giving. When he discovered that their giving had increased, he said he was not going to complain to them. So when he saw them in church, the first thing he did was compliment them on their generous giving. So their relationship was preserved. Go thou and do likewise!
Bob O.
Luke 3:1-6
The ancient theologian Saint Augustine helps us see that John the Baptist is a model for how we might be messengers for Jesus ourselves. The Bible makes clear, Augustine notes, that the longer John lived the less prominent is his ministry and the more prominent Jesus becomes. "He must increase, but we must decrease!" (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 7, p. 95). Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan might have been right about entertainment messages when he famously declared that "the medium is the message." But he had it wrong about the message of Jesus and Christian faith. If McLuhan were correct, Jesus is nothing more than how we present him to others. No, when it comes to spreading that message and our role in it John the Baptist, Ronald Reagan, Harry Truman, and John Wooden had it right, when each more or less said: "It is amazing how much can be accomplished if no one cares who gets the credit."
It is more likely that folks will see Jesus more clearly in the messages we send to them if we get out the way.
Mark E.
Luke 3:1-6
When the word of the Lord came to John the Baptist it brought him a spiritual peace and a desire to share the message of the coming Savior. The joy is described by Saint Seraphim of Sarvo (1759-1864), an Orthodox monk and mystic. He wrote: "God is a fire that warms and kindles the heart and inward parts. Hence, if we feel in our hearts the cold which comes from the devil -- for the devil is cold -- let us call on the Lord. He will come to warm our hearts with perfect love, not only for him but also for our neighbor, and the cold of him who hates the good will flee before the heat of his countenance." When we come to know Christ, the coldness of our doubts are cast aside with an assurance of faith that warms our souls.
Ron L.
Advent is a time for looking ahead, a time to plan for the future, just like Malachi plans for the coming of the Lord (v. 1). Looking ahead, planning, preparing, and working for the better day that by God's goodness and grace lies ahead is one of the best, healthiest things we human beings can do. Martin Luther says that this kind of preparing for the future is a clearing out of the way whatever will be an obstruction. In short, we need to get ourselves out of the way, because more often than not we are the chief obstacles to the new thing God plans for the future (Luther's Works, Vol. 17, p. 9). When we make ready for the future in this way our brains and bodies are rewarded. New connections of brain cells are forged (a process that postpones aging) and the new cellular connections are rewarded/stimulated by the brain's secreting the feel-good chemical dopamine (Kelly Bulkeley, ed., Soul, Psyche, Brain, pp. 138ff; Seriwin B. Nuland, The Art of Aging, esp. pp. 233ff). Preparing for the future God has in store is a healthy, happy way to live.
Mark E.
Malachi 3:1-4
Though in the pastorate for a number of years, John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, still harbored doubts about his faith and the assurance of his salvation. At five in the morning on May 24, 1738, he awoke and randomly opened his Bible, as was his custom, and read these words: "Thus he has given us, through these things, his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may escape from the corruption that is in this world because of lust, and may become participants of the divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4). Yet he felt no exceedingly great promises within his own spiritual state.
That evening he attended a Methodist meeting at Aldersgate Street in London. There he heard a layman reading from Luther's Preface to the Epistle to Romans. Later Wesley recorded in his journal the transformation of his soul: "about a quarter before nine, while the leader was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ alone for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death." The assurance that had so long eclipsed him had now shone brightly.
"I felt my heart strangely warmed" has become the mantra of Methodism. It is the sensation that we all experience when we experience the "refiner's fire and a fuller's soap."
Ron L.
Philippians 1:3-11
Advent is a time of waiting, longing, expecting, hoping. The people of Israel were continually waiting for God to work out their salvation in and through the messiness of their historical circumstances. From Egyptian slaves to Promised Land freedom; from a loose confederation of tribes to a kingdom; from a single nation to a divided nation to a nation in exile to a nation returned. So much to go through, and they held on to their hope that God was not through with them. Paul has the same hope for his Christian friends -- that God is not through with them. He encourages them with hope-filled words about God bringing to completion in them what God had begun in them. Can we learn from this? Can we look at one another, our nation, even our world and offer a positive word of hope that God is not finished with us and is working in us to bring to completion what was begun long ago? Remember, there is no such thing as a hopeless situation unless we become a hopeless people.
Mark M.
Philippians 1:3-11
I always like the way Paul begins all his epistles with a compliment. He lets them know of his love and prayers for them and his appreciation for what they are doing for the Lord.
I try to do the same when I write my children. I always start with the good things they have done. I have a son who was in jail for his drinking and of course, that is a major concern to me. But when I write or phone him, I first mention the good things I know about him. He had served as a counselor and I met some whom he had counseled and they loved him because of his care and loving support for them. When he was sober he was a very kind and caring person. He took care of his mother whose mind was going and needed his help. I started at the good things before mentioning that my pray was for him to go back to those days when I was so proud of him. We are still very close because of that. It is the way to keep any relationship open.
There is a missionary who served in Africa. His daughter became engaged to a Muslim boy. His folks liked the boy as a person but the idea of her marrying a Muslim was so disturbing to them that they had alienated her with their ranting and shouting. It was cutting off any opportunity for reconciliation. Now she doesn't want to talk with them, even though she tells me that she still loves them.
When I think of all the churches I have served, I remember kind thoughts about many of the people whom I served. I can't remember the names of everyone, but when I write them, I let them know how much I appreciated all the support they had given me when I served them. If I could think of any thing specific, I mentioned it. If their present pastor lets me know of any encouragement they might need, I include support for anything they can do to help the work of the Lord there -- pointing up the fact of all the things of which I knew they were capable. Yes, at the end, I might mention some problems I had with a few of them (and some problems I heard were continuing), but I let them know that I still continue to love them and keep them in my prayers.
One sign of spiritual growth in a congregation is their liberal giving. I served with a pastor who didn't care for the charismatic movement, but he told me that the first thing he did was check their record of giving. When he discovered that their giving had increased, he said he was not going to complain to them. So when he saw them in church, the first thing he did was compliment them on their generous giving. So their relationship was preserved. Go thou and do likewise!
Bob O.
Luke 3:1-6
The ancient theologian Saint Augustine helps us see that John the Baptist is a model for how we might be messengers for Jesus ourselves. The Bible makes clear, Augustine notes, that the longer John lived the less prominent is his ministry and the more prominent Jesus becomes. "He must increase, but we must decrease!" (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 7, p. 95). Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan might have been right about entertainment messages when he famously declared that "the medium is the message." But he had it wrong about the message of Jesus and Christian faith. If McLuhan were correct, Jesus is nothing more than how we present him to others. No, when it comes to spreading that message and our role in it John the Baptist, Ronald Reagan, Harry Truman, and John Wooden had it right, when each more or less said: "It is amazing how much can be accomplished if no one cares who gets the credit."
It is more likely that folks will see Jesus more clearly in the messages we send to them if we get out the way.
Mark E.
Luke 3:1-6
When the word of the Lord came to John the Baptist it brought him a spiritual peace and a desire to share the message of the coming Savior. The joy is described by Saint Seraphim of Sarvo (1759-1864), an Orthodox monk and mystic. He wrote: "God is a fire that warms and kindles the heart and inward parts. Hence, if we feel in our hearts the cold which comes from the devil -- for the devil is cold -- let us call on the Lord. He will come to warm our hearts with perfect love, not only for him but also for our neighbor, and the cold of him who hates the good will flee before the heat of his countenance." When we come to know Christ, the coldness of our doubts are cast aside with an assurance of faith that warms our souls.
Ron L.
