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Bob Ove

Robert S. Ove is a retired Lutheran pastor who serves as interim pastor where and when needed. He has written for various publications, including Guideposts, Reminisce, and Lutheran Partners. A native of Wisconsin, Ove received his BA from Carthage College and did a year of graduate work at the University of Iowa. His first job was teaching on the Mescalero Apache reservation. Ove's first book, Geronimo's Kids, tells of this experience. Following a brief career in film and photography, he left his business to attend Hamma School of Theology at Wittenberg University for his M. Div., becoming a pastor. During his pastoral career, Ove has served churches in nine different states from New York to California and Canada. Upon "retirement," Bob served as a missionary to Nepal. His latest book, In the Shadow of Everest, relates many of his Nepalese adventures. He is a member of Christ the Ray of Hope Lutheran Church where he does some supply preaching, teaching, and writing.
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Illustration

Emphasis Preaching Journal

Sermon Illustrations for Lent 3 (2014) -- Exodus 17:1-7, Romans 5:1-11, John 4:5-42 -- Bob Ove, Derl G. Keefer, Ron Love, Scott A. Bryte, Mark Ellingsen -- Third Sunday in Lent - A -- 2014
Exodus 17:1-7
Sermon Illustrations for Proper 27 | Ordinary Time 32 (2014) -- Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, Matthew 25:1-13 -- Bob Ove, Derl G. Keefer, Mark Ellingsen, Ron Love -- Proper 27 | Ordinary Time 32 - A -- 2014
Joshua 24:1-3a
There are two ways people... -- Romans 10:5-15 -- Bob Ove -- Proper 14 | Ordinary Time 19 - A -- 2014
There are two ways people think you come to God.
Now that the... -- Exodus 17:1-7 -- Bob Ove -- Third Sunday in Lent - A -- 2014
Now that the Russians finally got rid of the communist regime, they are complaining that there is no
That first sentence... -- Matthew 24:36-44 -- Bob Ove -- First Sunday of Advent - A -- 2013
That first sentence should make fools of the ones who claim to know more than our Lord, who, this pa
I just received a letter from a fellow missionary in Nepal... -- Isaiah 43:1-7 -- Bob Ove -- The Baptism of our Lord | Epiphany 1 | Ordinary Time 1 - C -- 2013
What a positive uplifting passage! The part of coming through the waters reminds us of our baptism.
Sermon Illustrations for Proper 21 | Ordinary Time 26 (2013) -- Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15, 1 Timothy 6:6-19, Luke 16:19-31 -- Mark Ellingsen, Bob Ove, Scott A. Bryte, Ron Love, Mark J. Molldrem -- Proper 21 | Ordinary Time 26 - C -- 2013
Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15
NULL -- Romans 5:1-5 -- Bob Ove -- Trinity Sunday | 1st Sunday after Pentecost - C -- 2013
Being justified is what faith is all about.
Sermon Illustrations for Advent 2 (2013) -- Isaiah 11:1-10, Romans 15:4-13, Matthew 3:1-12 -- Mark Ellingsen, Ron Love, Bob Ove, Derl G. Keefer -- Second Sunday of Advent - A -- 2013
Isaiah 11:1-10
Sermon Illustrations for Epiphany 3 (2014) -- Isaiah 9:1-4, 1 Corinthians 1:10-18, Matthew 4:12-23 -- Derl G. Keefer, Mark Ellingsen, Ron Love, Bob Ove -- Epiphany 3 | Ordinary Time 3 - A -- 2013
Isaiah 9:1-4
One child coming out of church after service asked the pastor, Are you God?... -- Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 -- Bob Ove -- The Baptism of our Lord | Epiphany 1 | Ordinary Time 1 - C -- 2013
One child coming out of church after service asked the pastor, "Are you God?" When we wear our cleri
Be content with what... -- 1 Timothy 6:6-19 -- Bob Ove -- Proper 21 | Ordinary Time 26 - C -- 2013
Be content with what you have! How many times have you heard that -- even as children growing up!
No, we are no longer bound... -- Galatians 6:(1-6) 7-16 -- Bob Ove -- Proper 9 | Ordinary Time 14 - C -- 2013
No, we are no longer bound by the law, but the law shows us that we have messed up!
Sermon illustrations for Easter 4 (2013) -- Acts 9:36-43, Revelation 7:9-17, John 10:22-30 -- Mark Ellingsen, Ron Love, Bob Ove, Mark J. Molldrem -- Fourth Sunday of Easter - C -- 2013
Acts 9:36-43
The instruction... -- Romans 15:4-13 -- Bob Ove -- Second Sunday of Advent - A -- 2013
The instruction book for life is our Bible.
That passage can't... -- 1 Corinthians 1:10-18 -- Bob Ove -- Epiphany 3 | Ordinary Time 3 - A -- 2013
That passage can't help but make me think: I follow Luther! I follow Peter! I follow Calvin!
Can you imagine standing all day while someone read the Bible to you?... -- Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10 -- Bob Ove -- Epiphany 3 | Ordinary Time 3 - C -- 2013
Can you imagine standing all day while someone read the Bible to you? That in itself shows faith!
Sermon Illustrations for Proper 22 | OT 27 (2013) -- Lamentations 1:1-6, 2 Timothy 1:1-14, Luke 17:5-10 -- Mark J. Molldrem, Bob Ove, Mark Ellingsen, Ron Love, Scott A. Bryte -- Proper 22 | Ordinary Time 27 - C -- 2013
Lamentations 1:1-6
Sermon Illustrations for Proper 10 | OT 15 (2013) -- Amos 7:7-17, Colossians 1:1-14, Luke 10:25-37 -- Mark J. Molldrem, Bob Ove, Mark Ellingsen, Ron Love, Scott A. Bryte -- Proper 10 | Ordinary Time 15 - C -- 2013
A builder uses a plumb line to determine true vertical from the gravitational center of the earth, n
Wow!... -- Acts 2:1-21 -- Bob Ove -- Day of Pentecost - C -- 2013
Wow! Wouldn't you like to live then to see all those miracles?
Sermon Illustrations for Advent 3 (2013) -- Isaiah 35:1-10, James 5:7-10, Matthew 11:2-11 -- Derl G. Keefer, Mark Ellingsen, Bob Ove, Ron Love -- Third Sunday of Advent - A -- 2013
Isaiah 35:1-10
Sermon Illustrations for Epiphany 5 (2014) -- Isaiah 58:1-9a (9b-12), 1 Corinthians 2:1-12 (13-16), Matthew 5:13-20 -- Ron Love, Derl G. Keefer, Mark Ellingsen, Bob Ove -- Epiphany 5 | Ordinary Time 5 - A -- 2013
Isaiah 58:1-9a (9b-12)
Why was the whole countryside so excited about Jesus coming?... -- Luke 4:14-21 -- Bob Ove -- Epiphany 3 | Ordinary Time 3 - C -- 2013
Why was the whole countryside so excited about Jesus coming? Was it because he gave good sermons?
How sad a passage... -- Lamentations 1:1-6 -- Bob Ove -- Proper 22 | Ordinary Time 27 - C -- 2013
How sad a passage! It looks like there is no hope for God's people. Can we ever relate to that?

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Sermon Illustrations for Christ The King (Proper 29) (2014) -- Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24, Ephesians 1:15-23, Matthew 25:31-46 -- Derl G. Keefer, Bob Ove, Mark Ellingsen, Ron Love -- Christ The King (Proper 29) - A -- 2014
Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24
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John Jamison
Object: A sheep or lamb stuffed animal.

Note: For the best experience, when you ask the questions, take the time to draw the children out a bit and help them come up with answers. Make it more of a conversation if you can.

* * *

Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Excellent! Let’s get started! (Hold the sheep in your lap as you continue.)

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For May 4, 2025:

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John E. Sumwalt
Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels surrounding the throne and the living creatures and the elders; they numbered myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, singing with full voice… (vv. 11-12a)

Phillip Hasheider is a retired Wisconsin beef farmer and an award-winning author who was dead for six minutes and came back to tell about it. If you have ever thought about dying and wondered what it would be like, then Hasheider’s Six Minutes in Eternity is a book you will want to read.

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A medical worker is working long, hard, stress filled hours in an urban hospital setting. One day he or she is called into the administrator’s office to be terminated due to angering professionals in the upper echelon. The worker protests that it is, “My word against their word, why am I to be the scapegoat?” The administrator pulls rank! The worker is asked to turn in their badge and do not come into the premises again unless as a patient. The now unemployed medical worker still feels the calling to be a healer. So, they get a job at an alternative/natural health medicine store.
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Acts 9:1-6 (7-20)
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I've recently spent several hours by the lakeside, for I've been in retreat this past week in the little village of Hemingford Grey, in Huntingdonshire. A great delight for me was to walk to the flooded gravel pits, sit on a bench in glorious sunshine, and watch the water birds. For me, that's a wonderful way to become very aware of the presence of God through the beauty of his created world. And sitting like that for several hours, doing nothing but watching and waiting, I can't help but absorb the peace which passes all understanding.

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When Beth was a teenager, she lived on the streets. She smoked cigarettes and drank beer and her parents had said that she had to choose: her friends or her family. Beth chose her friends and lived from house to house and eventually in homeless shelters. She barely avoided being raped at one point. About six months of shelter-hopping was all she could take, and she found a shelter that sponsored her until she took the GED. They told her she was brilliant: she was just bored and dissatisfied with the status quo. The shelter supervisors suggested she look into community college.
James Evans
(For alternative approaches, see Epiphany 6/Ordinary Time 6, Cycle B; and Proper 9/Pentecost 7/Ordinary Time 14, Cycle C.)

The main theme of this psalm is captured profoundly in the movement within a single verse: "Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with morning" (v. 5). Casting life experiences between light and dark is not unique or novel, of course, but the poet's treatment of these themes offers some fertile ground for reflection.

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We have three different accounts of the conversion of Saul in the Gospel according to Luke (9:1-20; 22:6-16; 26:12-18). They differ in a few minor details, but essentially they are the same. In addition, Paul writes of his conversion in Galatians 1:11-16, and in 1 Corinthians 9:1 and 15:8-9, stating that at the time of his conversion on the road to Damascus, he saw the Lord. For Paul, that made him an apostle, equal to the twelve. An apostle, in Paul's thought, was one who had seen the risen Christ and had been sent to announce that good news.
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Once in a far-off land, there was a great king whose dominion extended far and wide. His power and authority were absolute. One day, as events would happen, a young man, a commoner, committed a grave offense against the king. In response, the king and his counselors gathered together to determine what should be done. They decided that since the offense was so grave and had been committed by a commoner against someone so august as the king, the only punishment that would satisfy justice was death.

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