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Craig Kelly

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Emphasis Preaching Journal

Type the words "true happiness" in a search box on Google... -- Matthew 5:1-12 -- Craig Kelly -- Epiphany 4 | Ordinary Time 4 - A -- 2010
Type the words "true happiness" in a search box on Google, and you will find 12,100,000 results on t
It's interesting how works of darkness... -- Romans 13:11-14 -- Craig Kelly -- First Sunday of Advent - A -- 2010
It's interesting how works of darkness seem to like the night.
NULL -- Amos 8:1-12 -- Craig Kelly -- Proper 11 | Ordinary Time 16 - C -- 2010
For military families, communication with their loved one in a war zone is a lifeline, an oasis in a
NULL -- 1 Corinthians 2:1-12 (13-16) -- Craig Kelly -- Epiphany 5 | Ordinary Time 5 - A -- 2010
Many preachers and evangelists have to go through extensive training and seminary study before ascen
NULL -- Romans 15:4-13 -- Craig Kelly -- Second Sunday of Advent - A -- 2010
It is amazing what power the written word can have.
NULL -- Colossians 2:6-15 (16-19) -- Craig Kelly -- Proper 12 | Ordinary Time 17 - C -- 2010
I can still remember studying Mary Shelley's Frankenstein in my first-year English class in c
A while back... -- Deuteronomy 30:15-20 -- Craig Kelly -- Epiphany 6 | Ordinary Time 6 - A -- 2010
A while back I volunteered at a pregnancy crisis center here in my hometown.
NULL -- Isaiah 35:1-10 -- Craig Kelly -- Third Sunday of Advent - A -- 2010
Imagine what it is like for people in a village in an arid part of Africa -- people having to walk g
The term "workaholic" often comes as part of a joke... -- Luke 10:38-42 -- Craig Kelly -- Proper 11 | Ordinary Time 16 - C -- 2010
The term "workaholic" often comes as part of a joke, like "What can you do with a workaholic?
Sin can be very deceptive... -- Matthew 5:21-37 -- Craig Kelly -- Epiphany 6 | Ordinary Time 6 - A -- 2010
Sin can be very deceptive.
St. Peter's basilica in Rome is... -- 1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23 -- Craig Kelly -- Epiphany 7 | Ordinary Time 7 - A -- 2010
St. Peter's basilica in Rome is the result of a massive building effort by many contributors.
NULL -- Matthew 11:2-11 -- Craig Kelly -- Third Sunday of Advent - A -- 2010
In chaos theory, a field of study involving mathematics, physics, and economics, the "butterfly effe
NULL -- Hosea 11:1-11 -- Craig Kelly -- Proper 13 | Ordinary Time 18 - C -- 2010
One of the most traumatic experiences a family can have is when a child runs away.
NULL -- Isaiah 49:8-16a -- Craig Kelly -- Epiphany 8 | Ordinary Time 8 - A -- 2010
It is hard to believe that a mother would ever abandon her child.
Often in a person's life... -- Romans 1:1-7 -- Craig Kelly -- Fourth Sunday of Advent - A -- 2010
Often in a person's life, there is a singular moment that defines their legacy, good or bad.
NULL -- Luke 12:13-21 -- Craig Kelly -- Proper 13 | Ordinary Time 18 - C -- 2010
I remember when I was younger hearing the story of Howard Hughes, one of the richest men of his day.
NULL -- Matthew 6:24-34 -- Craig Kelly -- Epiphany 8 | Ordinary Time 8 - A -- 2010
We live in an anxious society.
NULL -- Isaiah 9:2-7 -- Craig Kelly -- The Nativity of our Lord - A -- 2010
It is easy to take light for granted until you don't have it anymore.
NULL -- Isaiah 5:1-7 -- Craig Kelly -- Proper 15 | Ordinary Time 20 - C -- 2010
In the 1930s much of America's heartland experienced massive dust storms due to drought and over-far
NULL -- Luke 2:1-14 (15-20) -- Craig Kelly -- The Nativity of our Lord - A -- 2010
It is amazing to see how God works through people who don't even know or worship him to accomplish h
NULL -- Luke 12:49-56 -- Craig Kelly -- Proper 15 | Ordinary Time 20 - C -- 2010
This may seem to be an unusual statement coming from Jesus: He came to set "father against son and s
NULL -- Hebrews 2:10-18 -- Craig Kelly -- First Sunday after Christmas Day - A -- 2010
There is a common expression about "walking a mile in someone else's shoes." It even found its way i
NULL -- Hebrews 12:18-29 -- Craig Kelly -- Proper 16 | Ordinary Time 21 - C -- 2010
One of the constants throughout history is that empires and dominions have risen and fallen.
NULL -- Jeremiah 2:4-13 -- Craig Kelly -- Proper 17 | Ordinary Time 22 - C -- 2010
Relief organizations like World Vision or Compassion International often show us pictures of women a
NULL -- Luke 14:1, 7-14 -- Craig Kelly -- Proper 17 | Ordinary Time 22 - C -- 2010
A number of years back, I worked at a wholesale retail chain, and one day our manager invited Orland

Stories

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The Immediate Word

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For May 12, 2024:
Thomas Willadsen
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John Jamison
Object: A sheet large enough for your children to stand around it. A dozen or so golf balls, or other small unbreakable balls. If you have a large number of children you could use two sheets to make room, or just ask for volunteers to play the game.

* * *

Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Excellent! But we’re not starting with the story today. I have something else I would like you to try. (Lay the sheet on the floor and put the balls in the middle of it.)
John Jamison
Object: A piece of clothing that a superhero might wear. I used a simple cape made from a sheet, but you could also use a belt, a ring, or anything else your favorite superhero might wear.

* * *

Emphasis Preaching Journal

Mark Ellingsen
Frank Ramirez
Bonnie Bates
Bill Thomas
Acts 1:15-17, 21-26
Over the Christmas season, I saw a picture of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes with his wife Brittany and their two young children. Like many people, the Mahomes’ took their kids to see Santa Claus. Patrick, Brittany, and Santa are all smiles, however, two-year-old daughter Sterling and one-year-old Bronze looked just like thousands of other kids, scared, and wanting to be somewhere else. It reminded me of how alike people are.
Mark Ellingsen
Bonnie Bates
Frank Ramirez
Bill Thomas
Acts 1:1-11
As I write this, world events have inspired any number of Christians in my area to speculate that these are clear signs of the end. By the time you read this those great events will be history, but don’t worry, stuff is happening as you read this that is causing some to speculate those current events are clear signs of the end.
Frank Ramirez
Today’s scriptures call upon us to listen carefully — to Jesus, through his words in the New Testament, and to the Spirit helping us to interpret that word and speaking directly in our hearts. And sometimes God is also speaking to us in the created universe. But make sure it is God we are listening to, and not ourselves.

Acts 1:15-17, 21-26
Mark Ellingsen
The lessons for this Festival of Ascension all testify to the heavenly power and cosmic presence of Christ. 

Acts 1:1-11

StoryShare

John E. Sumwalt
…God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his son. (v. 11b)

Have you ever experienced the presence of God? Have you felt, seen, heard, smelled, tasted or known in some way that the Creator was near?

My colleague Becky Ardell Downs, pastor of John Knox Presbyterian Church in Houston, tells of a time forty years ago when she was attending the funeral of her uncle in the Chicago suburbs. He had died of multiple sclerosis at a relatively young age.
Frank Ramirez
When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. (Acts 1:9)

Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. (Luke 24:50-51)

Defying gravity! What a concept? Is there anyone here who has not dreamt at one time or another that you were actually flying? Or floating? Or in some way defying gravity?

SermonStudio

John Jamison
Have you ever come across a piece of scripture that you really just didn’t know what to do with? Everything you read before it makes sense, and everything after it, but that one passage just sits there staring at you, almost defying you to understand why it is there and what it means.
Stan Purdum
Both Psalms 47 and 93 (the alternative psalm for this day) are enthronement psalms, praise hymns celebrating God's rule over the nations. They were most likely used on festal occasions when Israel again declared that God was its king.

While Psalm 47 was for Israel's celebration, verses 1-2 call all the nations of earth to recognize God as their monarch as well. Verses 3-4, however, return to the specific relationship between God and Israel.

David H. Webb
Today is Ascension Sunday.

Today we commemorate the day when Jesus bid farewell to his followers and friends and ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father.

In some ways it's an anxious day. "How will we go on without him?" they surely whispered among themselves. "How can we possibly maintain the strength and perspective -- the motivation to live according to his teachings and promises? How can we live with determination and purpose if he is not here to sustain us?"

John T. Ball
One of the blessings of God is the gift of writing, of putting our thoughts and observations on clay tablets or jars, on parchment, or on paper. Scholars are not certain when humans first began to write. Many think it happened in Samaria, the civilization between the Tigris and Euphrates, now modern-day Iraq. It may have happened about 3000 B.C.E. Nor is there a consensus on how writing was first used. It may have come from Shamans using it to pass on their skills and secrets. Or writing could have originated as a means to inventory the goods of merchants.
Mark J. Molldrem
Mark -- warlike

Shirley -- bright meadow

Jennifer -- fair lady

Jeffrey -- God's peace

Jesus -- God saves

What's in a name? Ever since God gave Adam the privilege of naming all the creatures, humankind has had a fascination with names. Names are important. Parents take great care when they select a name for their baby. They know the name will be with this new person for a lifetime and will identify him or her to other people.
Jerry L. Schmalenberger
It simply was unthinkable that the appearances of Jesus should grow fewer and fewer after Easter until they finally 'petered out' and melted away. That would have effectively weakened the faith of all people who had seen him. There had to come a day of dividing -- when Jesus of earth became Christ of heaven.
Richard E. Gribble
Many years ago one of the most popular shows on weekly television was Mission Impossible. Each episode of the show opened in a similar way. The head of the Impossible Missions Force, or IMF for short, would be found alone in some isolated office, home, or similar space. He would find a large manilla envelope, generally hidden in a desk drawer or possibly in a safe. Inside the envelope he would find materials that described the next mission of his IMF team. There would be lots of printed material, photographs of the principal people involved, and often maps to show various locations.

The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott
Sandy wasn't very good at prayer. Privately he thought it was probably a waste of time, although when things went really wrong he always found himself praying. He wasn't sure that God ever heard his prayers.

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