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Burton F. Blair

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Hidden In Holy Communion -- 1 Corinthians 11:23-25 -- Burton F. Blair -- 1991
In his early adolescence, already struggling with religious doubts, C. G.
Hidden In Disappointments -- Acts 16:7-10 -- Burton F. Blair -- 1991
One February several years ago, I spent a great deal of time staring out the Plexi-glas window of a
Hidden In Christmas -- Luke 2:1-4 -- Burton F. Blair -- 1991
Many years ago, Blackstone, a great English jurist, was called upon to define 'home.' A British nobl
Hidden In Easter -- Luke 24:28-35 -- Burton F. Blair -- 1991
To me this is the most beautiful passage in all the Bible, yet it is shrouded in mystery.
Hidden In Our Suffering -- Exodus 20:18-21 -- Burton F. Blair -- 1991
I sat there on a tombstone in the cemetery looking around and noticing the names on the tombstones.
Hidden In Church Worship -- Luke 18:9-14a -- Burton F. Blair -- 1991
One Sunday morning Clarence Jordan, who founded the Koinonia Farm experiment and authored the Cotton
Hidden In Broken Relationships -- Philemon 8-12 -- Burton F. Blair -- 1991
Sometime ago I overheard two people talking about the woes of our world.
Hidden In Unconditional Acceptance -- 1 Corinthians 11:20-29 -- Burton F. Blair -- 1991
Several years ago a friend of mine went into a restaurant in Texas.
Hidden In Our Prayers -- Psalm 139:23-24 -- Burton F. Blair -- 1991
Henri Nouwen, the Catholic theologian, has written a beautiful book on prayer.
Hidden In Change -- Isaiah 43:18-19a -- Burton F. Blair -- 1991
Well over 100 years ago, on April 10th, 1852, beneath the African sun an American died in the city o
Hidden In Second Chances -- John 21:15-17 -- Burton F. Blair -- 1991
Dr.
Hidden In Caring -- Mark 1:40-41 -- Burton F. Blair -- 1991
It was about 1:30 a.m. when the phone rang.
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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.)

The Immediate Word

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For May 4, 2025:

StoryShare

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.

Emphasis Preaching Journal

David Coffin
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.
Mark Ellingsen
Bill Thomas
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Bonnie Bates
Acts 9:1-6 (7-20)
Martin Luther believed that the story of Paul’s conversion demonstrates that there is no need for special revelation. The reformer commented:

Our Lord God does not purpose some special thing for each individual person, but gives to the whole world — one person like the next — his baptism and gospel. (Complete Sermons, Vol.7, p.271)

The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott
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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Constance Berg
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.

Elizabeth Achtemeier
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.
Richard E. Gribble, CSC
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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