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John T. Ball

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Jesus -- The Bread Guy -- John 6:35, 41-51 -- John T. Ball -- Proper 14 | Ordinary Time 19 - B -- 2005
In the Gospel of John, Jesus is often the "Bread Guy." Here he is different from the Jesus of Matthe
A Healing Ministry For The Modern Church -- Mark 7:24-37 -- John T. Ball -- Proper 18 | Ordinary Time 23 - B -- 2005
The mission and ministry of Jesus was preaching, teaching, and healing.
The Inversion Of Ambition -- Mark 9:30-37 -- John T. Ball -- Proper 20 | Ordinary Time 25 - B -- 2005
In today's text, Jesus teaches the disciples about the power of evil.
All That Goes Down Must Go Up -- Ephesians 1:15-23 -- John T. Ball -- Ascension of the Lord - B -- 2005
We are now almost fifty days after Easter, days that were filled with the immediate presence of the
Selling Sin In A Celebrative Age -- 2 Corinthians 5:20b--6:10 -- John T. Ball -- Ash Wednesday - B -- 2005
Dialing the number of a large, well-known metropolitan church, the caller asked, "What time is your
On Having A Good Church Fight -- 1 John 1:1--2:2 -- John T. Ball -- Second Sunday of Easter - B -- 2005
Today's scripture from 1 John is one of the treasures of all the New Testament.
Salvation Is A Journey, Not An Arrival -- 1 John 3:1-7 -- John T. Ball -- Third Sunday of Easter - B -- 2005
In this Information Age, we find summaries of the news helpful.
Faith As Alternating Current -- 1 John 3:16-20 -- John T. Ball -- Fourth Sunday of Easter - B -- 2005
Some troublesome things about the Christian life are its mood swings.
The Commandments Are Not Burdensome -- 1 John 5:1-6 -- John T. Ball -- Sixth Sunday of Easter - B -- 2005
In the Exodus story, Moses leads the Israelites out of Egyptian captivity and takes them to the moun
True Resurrections -- 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 -- John T. Ball -- Easter Day - B -- 2005
Today, Easter is the central festival of the church, out of which comes two derivative festivals, Ch
Listening To Minority Voices -- 1 Peter 3:18-22 -- John T. Ball -- First Sunday in Lent - B -- 2005
The endurance of humanity and even the whole cosmos could depend upon giving a serious listening of
Abraham: The Near Death Of God's Promise -- Romans 4:13-25 -- John T. Ball -- Second Sunday in Lent - B -- 2005
Since Dr.
Finding Our Salvation In Today's World -- 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 -- John T. Ball -- Third Sunday in Lent - B -- 2005
One of Louis Armstrong's vocal hits went like this:
Goodness -- A Way Of Life -- Ephesians 2:1-10 -- John T. Ball -- Fourth Sunday in Lent - B -- 2005
Traditionally, the letter to the Ephesians was thought to be another one of Paul's New Testament wri
Palm/Passion Sunday And Today's Faith -- Philippians 2:5-11 -- John T. Ball -- Passion Sunday - B -- 2005
In the slaughter of World War I, 1914-1918, a whole generation of European men went to their deaths.
Love -- The Only Absolute Commandment -- 1 John 4:7-21 -- John T. Ball -- Fifth Sunday of Easter - B -- 2005
Love is central to the New Testament message. Jesus called his followers to practice love.
Mediating The Grace Of God -- Hebrews 5:5-10 -- John T. Ball -- Fifth Sunday in Lent - B -- 2005
God is always mediated to us. God never comes to us directly and immediately. This is a good thing.
Dave, Tell Me About The Cross -- Hebrews 10:16-25 -- John T. Ball -- Good Friday - B -- 2005
Dave, having just finished seminary, and before leaving for doctoral studies on the west coast, drov
Isaiah, Advent, And Human Hopefulness -- Isaiah 2:1-5 -- John T. Ball -- First Sunday of Advent - A -- 2004
In Jill St.
First Comes An Everyday Hope -- Isaiah 11:1-10 -- John T. Ball -- Second Sunday of Advent - A -- 2004
Today's great spiritual priority may be for a grounded everyday hope.
The Interruption Of Advent Somberness -- Isaiah 35:1-10 -- John T. Ball -- Third Sunday of Advent - A -- 2004
On many Advent altars Christians often place a wreath holding four candles.
The Strangeness Of God's Care -- Isaiah 7:10-16 -- John T. Ball -- Fourth Sunday of Advent - A -- 2004
Religion is a mutual relationship. We pledge loyalty and devotion to God and God blesses us.
When Personal Concerns Are Swallowed Up In Wonder -- Isaiah 42:1-9 -- John T. Ball -- The Baptism of our Lord | Epiphany 1 | Ordinary Time 1 - A -- 2004
We are a culture awash in personal problems.
Theology Two Sizes Too Small -- Isaiah 49:1-7 -- John T. Ball -- Epiphany 2 | Ordinary Time 2 - A -- 2004
One of the legacies of children's writer Dr.

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Generosity As The Clue To Life -- Mark 8:27-38 -- John T. Ball -- Proper 19 | Ordinary Time 24 - B -- 2005
All the great founders of our religious traditions offer secrets to the good life.

Stories

UPCOMING WEEKS
In addition to the lectionary resources there are thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...
Proper 7 | OT 12 | Pentecost 2
30 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
30 – Children's Sermons / Resources
29 – Worship Resources
34 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Proper 8 | OT 13 | Pentecost 3
29 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
27 – Children's Sermons / Resources
20 – Worship Resources
29 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Proper 9 | OT 14 | Pentecost 4
34 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
32 – Children's Sermons / Resources
26 – Worship Resources
31 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Plus thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...

New & Featured This Week

The Immediate Word

Thomas Willadsen
Nazish Naseem
Dean Feldmeyer
Mary Austin
Katy Stenta
George Reed
For July 6, 2025:

CSSPlus

John Jamison
Object: This is a role play activity for the children.

Note: You will need an older volunteer to help with this activity. One option would be to find a teenager with some physical ability. If a teen is not available, an adult could be used instead. For simplicity here, I will refer to my older volunteer as “TOM”. You will also need to select three of your younger children to serve as volunteers in the story.

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Emphasis Preaching Journal

Mark Ellingsen
2 Kings 5:1-14
Bill Thomas
Frank Ramirez
Mark Ellingsen
Bonnie Bates
2 Kings 5:1-14, Psalm 30
Naaman seeks healing. He travels hoping healing will come to him when he visits the king of Israel. Yet, healing does not come in that way. Rather healing comes through Elishah. Healing comes from believing and being cleansed in the River Jordan. Healing comes through Naaman’s faithfulness and through God’s grace. Psalm 30 also reminds us to seek healing; to seek God and God will heal and restore us. Do we believe that? Do we believe that God can bring healing?

StoryShare

John E. Sumwalt
But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.’ (vv. 10-11)

When I visit your church for the first time, consider the possibility that I might be looking for a church home. I am a good-looking old guy, but I have gray hair and I dress down in the summer, so don’t be put off by my cargo shorts and tank top. Talk to me!

The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott
Damien and Ora grinned at each other in excitement. The time had come - at last! They'd been with the Leader for months and months, waiting for this moment. Not that it had felt much like training. They'd simply lived with the Leader, listening to his stories, hearing about the Kingdom, learning to get along really well with all the other people at Mission Headquarters. Now all seventy of them were ready, the spaceship had docked, and the Mission was about to begin. Ora was glad she'd been paired up with Damien again.

SermonStudio

James Evans
Stan Purdum
Carlos Wilton
(See Epiphany 6/Ordinary Time 6, Cycle B, and Easter 3, Cycle C, for alternative approaches.)

Anyone who has ever had the experience of losing a friend because of some conflict or dispute, and then has had the friendship restored because of love and forgiveness, has a unique insight into the meaning of this psalm. Although the poem begins and ends with praise, there is in the middle of the poem a brief moment of confession and contrition that puts the praise portions of the psalm in an entirely different light.

April Yamasaki
A word of encouragement came from an unlikely source the other day in a television interview with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. The former football player, wrestler, and now actor was asked about a low time in his life when he was very discouraged about his career and future.

"How did you make your way back from that?" he was asked.

The Rock replied, "You have to put yourself out there. You have to get out there and fail, and learn from your failures."

Larry D. Powell
In the summer of 1983, I participated in a ministerial exchange program sponsored by my denomination. My assignment was to a circuit of churches on the Isle of Man, a tiny island located in the Irish Sea. The months preceding the exchange included considerable correspondence with the minister on the island with whom I would exchange pastoral duties for six weeks.
Richard E. Gribble, CSC
A wealthy businessman decided to take a walk and eat his lunch at the same time. He strolled by a park. There he purchased a hot dog and a soft drink. As he walked through the park two different "street people" approached him one by one. Each asked, "Can you help me? I am hungry." Each time the businessman looked straight ahead and kept walking. After finishing his lunch, he stopped and bought a chocolate eclair for dessert. As he was about to take the first bite, he was forced to jump out of the way as a young boy raced by on his skateboard. The eclair went flying and landed on the ground.

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