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Emphasis Preaching Journal

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Commentary

Emphasis Preaching Journal

Ethics, authority, and the proclamation of Jesus -- Deuteronomy 18:15-20, 1 Corinthians 8:1-13, Mark 1:21-28, Psalm 111 -- Epiphany 4 | Ordinary Time 4 - B -- 2003
As the guest preacher for the day, I came through the door of the sanctuary in plenty of time before
Setting the mind on things divine -- Proverbs 1:20-33, James 3:1-12, Mark 8:27-38 -- David A. Davis -- Proper 19 | Ordinary Time 24 - B -- 2003
The Sunday School teacher came up to me with a bit of a panicked looked in her face.
The magnetism of Jesus -- Jeremiah 31:31-34, Hebrews 5:5-10, John 12:20-33, Psalm 51:1-12 -- Fifth Sunday in Lent - B -- 2003
I have always been fascinated by magnets.
Wait on the Lord -- Isaiah 40:21-31, 1 Corinthians 9:16-23, Mark 1:29-39 -- Epiphany 5 | Ordinary Time 5 - B -- 2003
Do you like to wait? I don't. In fact, most of us hate to wait. You can see it most anywhere ...
Love, American style -- Acts 8:26-40, 1 John 4:7-21, John 15:1-8 -- Fifth Sunday of Easter - B -- 2003
Do you remember the 1970s television show Love, American Style?
To boldly go ... -- 1 Samuel 1:4-20, Hebrews 10:11-14 (15-18) 19-25, Mark 13:1-8, 1 Samuel 2:1-10 -- Proper 28 | Ordinary Time 33 - B -- 2003
For those of us of a certain age, we can only hear the admonition "to boldly go" as intoned by Capta
With seeing hearts -- Acts 1:1-11, Ephesians 1:15-23, Luke 24:44-53 -- Ascension of the Lord - B -- 2003
Have you ever seen a child's eyes dance?
The glory of grace -- Jeremiah 31:7-14, Ephesians 1:3-14, John 1:(1-9) 10-18 -- Second Sunday after Christmas - B -- 2003
How do you measure glory?
Lifting in Lent -- Numbers 21:4-9, Ephesians 2:1-10, John 3:14-21, Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22 -- Fourth Sunday in Lent - B -- 2003
I bet we have all preached one of those sermons that questions the discipline of "giving up" somethi
Tell me all about it -- Job 23:1-9, 16-17, Hebrews 4:12-16, Mark 10:17-31, Psalm 22:1-15 -- Proper 23 | Ordinary Time 28 - B -- 2003
I came home from school one day really feeling down. It had been a bad day.
Fish tales -- Jonah 3:1-5, 10, 1 Corinthians 7:29-31, Mark 1:14-20 -- Epiphany 3 | Ordinary Time 3 - B -- 2003
I had a colleague in graduate school about whom another friend in our doctoral program in New Testam
Not finished with us -- Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16, Romans 4:13-25, Mark 8:31-38 -- Second Sunday in Lent - B -- 2003
I know this is going to give my age away but I still remember seeing an elderly man in the 1960s wea
Beartivity -- Isaiah 9:2-7, Titus 2:11-14, Luke 2:1-14 (15-20), Psalm 96 -- William H. Shepherd -- The Nativity of our Lord - C -- 2003
I live in a house with my wife, two cats, and about 200 teddy bears.
On the other side of the wilderness -- Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16, Romans 4:13-25, Mark 8:31-38, Psalm 25:1-10 -- First Sunday in Lent - B -- 2003
I teach two classes titled "Introduction to Preaching." The syllabus created by the department requi
Calling on a full-access God -- Exodus 17:1-7, Romans 5:1-11, John 4:5-42, Psalm 95 -- Third Sunday in Lent - A -- 2002
Perhaps more than most cities in the world, Washington, D.C., is a city whose central principle, the
Full-contact life -- Isaiah 9:1-4, Matthew 4:12-23, Psalm 27:1, 4-9 -- Epiphany 3 | Ordinary Time 3 - A -- 2002
Rachel Matthews, 48, a community manager for an Internet start-up company, started doing it because
Loving, sight unseen -- Acts 2:14a, 22-32, 1 Peter 1:3-9, John 20:19-31 -- Second Sunday of Easter - A -- 2002
Recently a friend told me the story of his move to our community.
Live it and they will come -- Acts 2:42-47, 1 Peter 2:19-25, John 10:1-10 -- Fourth Sunday of Easter - A -- 2002
Remember the movie, Field of Dreams, from a few years back?
The church triumphant -- Revelation 7:9-17, 1 John 3:1-3, Matthew 5:1-12 -- Timothy B. Cargal -- All Saints Day - A -- 2002
A little knowledge can be a dangerous (or at least a humorous) thing.
Playing the hand you're dealt -- Genesis 29:15-28, Romans 8:26-39, Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52, Psalm 105:1-11, 45b -- Proper 12 | Ordinary Time 17 - A -- 2002
Several years ago a friend was unloading her van in the steeply inclined driveway next to her home.
My other car is a UFO -- Acts 17:22-31, 1 Peter 3:13-22, John 14:15-21, Psalm 66:8-20 -- Sixth Sunday of Easter - A -- 2002
Are you planning a vacation to visit the relatives?
Sez who? -- Exodus 17:1-7, Philippians 2:1-13, Matthew 21:23-32, Psalm 78:1-4, 12-16 -- Proper 21 | Ordinary Time 26 - A -- 2002
"Sez who?""Sez me, that's who!""Yeah, well, how do you know?"
The wedges driven into life -- Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7, Romans 5:12-19, Matthew 4:1-11, Psalm 32 -- First Sunday in Lent - A -- 2002
As a teenager I split a great deal of firewood.
Catching glimmers of what blinds saints -- Exodus 24:12-18, 2 Peter 1:16-21, Matthew 17:1-9, Psalm 99 -- Transfiguration Sunday - A -- 2002
So much of what we see in the world is determined by how we are conditioned to see things.
Terror or trust -- Exodus 1:8--2:10, Romans 12:1-8, Matthew 16:13-20 -- Proper 16 | Ordinary Time 21 - A -- 2002
As of this writing, Secretary of State Colin Powell is in Israel, meeting with Israeli Prime Ministe

Communicating God's Love

Guest column

Illustration

Emphasis Preaching Journal

A mother had to wait forty... -- Luke 2:22-40 -- Bob Ove -- First Sunday after Christmas Day - B -- 2014
A mother had to wait forty days after the birth of a son before she was considered clean enough to e
Sermon Illustrations For Epiphany 6 | Ordinary Time 6 (2014) -- Deuteronomy 30:15-20, 1 Corinthians 3:1-9, Matthew 5:21-37 -- Bob Ove, Mark Ellingsen, Ron Love, Derl G. Keefer -- Epiphany 6 | Ordinary Time 6 - A -- 2014
Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Sermons Illustrations for Proper 21 | Ordinary Time 26 (2014) -- Exodus 17:1-17, Philippians 2:1-13, Matthew 21:28-32 -- Bob Ove, Mark Ellingsen, Ron Love, Derl G. Keefer -- Proper 21 | Ordinary Time 26 - A -- 2014
Exodus 17:1-7
Sermon Illustrations for Epiphany of the Lord (2013) -- Isaiah 60:1-6, Ephesians 3:1-12, Matthew 2:1-12 -- Mark Ellingsen, Mark J. Molldrem, Ron Love, Bob Ove, Cynthia E. Cowen -- Epiphany of the Lord - C -- 2013
Isaiah 60:1-6
Epiphany is a story of the light... -- Isaiah 60:1-6 -- Mark Ellingsen -- Epiphany of the Lord - C -- 2013
Epiphany is a story of the light, the star, which leads the wise men to the light of the world.
Colin Powell, as Secretary of State... -- Isaiah 60:1-6 -- Ron Love -- Epiphany of the Lord - C -- 2013
Colin Powell, as Secretary of State, tried to negotiate peace between Palestine and Israel.
What is a revelation and how does it come?... -- Ephesians 3:1-12 -- Bob Ove -- Epiphany of the Lord - C -- 2013
Almost all of us have read the Bible or heard it read, but how many have had a revelation?
In our system of government... -- Ephesians 3:1-12 -- Mark J. Molldrem -- Epiphany of the Lord - C -- 2013
In our system of government, as well as in many other systems around the world, there is the positio
Romance stories touch my heart... -- Ephesians 3:1-12 -- Cynthia E. Cowen -- Epiphany of the Lord - C -- 2013
Romance stories touch my heart, but give me a "mystery," one with good suspense. Great reading!
Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens enlisted in the Navy... -- Matthew 2:1-12 -- Ron Love -- Epiphany of the Lord - C -- 2013
Currently seated Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens enlisted in the Navy several hours before t
our sense of propriety are easily offended... -- Matthew 2:1-12 -- Mark Ellingsen -- Epiphany of the Lord - C -- 2013
Reason and our sense of propriety are easily offended by the lowly state of the baby whom the wise m
Sermon illustrations for Epiphany 4 (OT 4) Cycle C (2013) -- Jeremiah 1:4-10, 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, Luke 4:21-30 -- Ron Love, Mark Ellingsen, Bob Ove, Mark J. Molldrem -- Epiphany 4 | Ordinary Time 4 - C -- 2013
Jeremiah 1:4-10
Mother Teresa, in her acceptance speech for the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize... -- Jeremiah 1:4-10 -- Ron Love -- Epiphany 4 | Ordinary Time 4 - C -- 2013
Let us both see and believe in the message of the triumph of God.
The 17th-century French intellectual Blaise Pascal powerfully describes... -- Jeremiah 1:4-10 -- Mark Ellingsen -- Epiphany 4 | Ordinary Time 4 - C -- 2013
The 17th-century French intellectual Blaise Pascal powerfully describes our miserable condition on t
There is a land of the living and a land of the dead... -- 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 -- Mark J. Molldrem -- Epiphany 4 | Ordinary Time 4 - C -- 2013
"There is a land of the living and a land of the dead and the bridge is love, the only survival, the
This is almost everyone's favorite passage... -- 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 -- Bob Ove -- Epiphany 4 | Ordinary Time 4 - C -- 2013
This is almost everyone's favorite passage whether we live it or not, and it should be embroidered a
Jesus identifies the focus of his ministry... -- Luke 4:21-30 -- Mark Ellingsen -- Epiphany 4 | Ordinary Time 4 - C -- 2013
How interesting that while apparently being rejected in his hometown, Jesus identifies the focus of
Seeing what you believe is not always the same as believing... -- Luke 4:21-30 -- Ron Love -- Epiphany 4 | Ordinary Time 4 - C -- 2013
Seeing what you believe is not always the same as believing what you see, and it took fifty years fo
Sermon Illustrations for Baptism of Our Lord (2013) -- Isaiah 43:1-7, Acts 8:14-17, Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 -- Cynthia E. Cowen, Bob Ove, Mark J. Molldrem, Ron Love, Mark Ellingsen -- The Baptism of our Lord | Epiphany 1 | Ordinary Time 1 - C -- 2013
Isaiah 43:1-7
One summer Beth discovered the joy of creation... -- Isaiah 43:1-7 -- Cynthia E. Cowen -- The Baptism of our Lord | Epiphany 1 | Ordinary Time 1 - C -- 2013
One summer Beth discovered the joy of creation.
Maddie really wanted to go into the Haunted House... -- Isaiah 43:1-7 -- Mark J. Molldrem -- The Baptism of our Lord | Epiphany 1 | Ordinary Time 1 - C -- 2013
Maddie really wanted to go into the Haunted House.
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.
our lesson is about how baptism is for everyone... -- Acts 8:14-17 -- Mark Ellingsen -- The Baptism of our Lord | Epiphany 1 | Ordinary Time 1 - C -- 2013
Americans don't think highly of immigrants.
Tom Monaghan needed money if he was going to study architecture... -- Acts 8:14-17 -- Ron Love -- The Baptism of our Lord | Epiphany 1 | Ordinary Time 1 - C -- 2013
Tom Monaghan needed money if he was going to study architecture at the University of Michigan, and o
We know there is water on Mars in the cryosphere... -- Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 -- Mark J. Molldrem -- The Baptism of our Lord | Epiphany 1 | Ordinary Time 1 - C -- 2013
On August 5 this past summer, the NASA land rover Curiosity reached Mars.

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John Jamison
Object: You may present this message as a simple story, or have the children act it out as a role-play. I will show the role-play version, but you can ignore the acting pieces and just tell the story if you prefer.

Note: For the role-play version, you will need to select two girls and one boy to play the roles. You might also have a broom and a dust rag if you want to.

* * *

Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Great! Let’s get started.

The Immediate Word

Mary Austin
Dean Feldmeyer
Christopher Keating
Thomas Willadsen
George Reed
Katy Stenta
Nazish Naseem
For July 20, 2025:

Emphasis Preaching Journal

Mark Ellingsen
Bill Thomas
Frank Ramirez
Bonnie Bates
Amos 8:1-12, Psalm 52
Amos proclaims the word from God that punishes the people. The people are to be punished for their lack of faith, for their focus on practicing deceit, betraying honesty to their neighbors, and being impatient for the time after the Sabbath when they can focus on profit and selling their crops and wares. Oh, my! What a terrible message for people. You have been unfaithful so I will punish you. And then in the psalm, God is proclaimed to be the olive tree, that which brings blessing.
David Kalas
I have tried to find different ways of saying it so that my children don’t tire of hearing it. But the basic principle remains the same, and my kids have heard it a ton. “First things first.” They ask if they can do this or they start to do that, and I will endeavor to redirect them, saying, “Why don’t we make sure we’re doing first things first!”

StoryShare

John E. Sumwalt
I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. (v. 24)

The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott
One of Martha's earliest memories was of her little sister Mary singing and dancing in the middle of an admiring crowd of friends. Mary had always been a dancer, from the time she could walk. Privately, Martha thought she'd always been something of a show-off and ought to go on the stage, for Mary loved an audience.

SermonStudio

John E. Sumwalt
Jeanne Jones
Several years ago, before we moved to Wisconsin, I was an honorary nanny for our pastor's son, Jonathan. I took care of him from the time he was able to walk until our pastor moved, when Jonathan was about five. We had wonderful times together. One time, when I was at their house, and we had been doing some spiritual direction together, Pastor Michael asked me if I knew the name of my guardian angel.
James Evans
We are not surprised when we learn about crooks and robbers boasting about "mischief done against the godly" or "plotting destruction" all day long. The image we have in our minds about who "bad" people are, and how they conduct themselves, make such accusations completely plausible. We are less inclined to believe such things about leaders, especially respected leaders among us. We have difficulty believing someone with wealth and power would deliberately plot to do someone else harm.
Arley K. Fadness
Today's gospel from Luke 10 follows the parable of the good Samaritan. Luke positions the good Samaritan and the Mary-Martha story back to back for good reason. The parable and the story are examples of the Great Commandment "to love the Lord your God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself." The good Samaritan parable illustrates "love to neighbor," whereas the Mary-Martha story illustrates "love to God."
Kirk R. Webster
In the early 1990s, Wesley Nunley of Dallas completed a project he had dreamed of for decades. "I tell you, this could be a big thing," he explained. Wes then walked out to a concrete octagon in the middle of his backyard. With a beaming smile, arms raised up in excitement, the energetic retiree said, "This welcomes the UFO to land, which has never been done before."
John W. Wurster
It was the best of times. A time of prosperity and confidence, a time of relative peace, a time when most everything looked pretty good, a time when most everyone felt pretty good. It was a time maybe not unlike our own time.
H. Burnham Kirkland
Words Of Assurance
Our God is both wise and caring: afflicting the comfortable and comforting the afflicted.

Pastoral Prayer
God, we bow before you this morning, knowing that you hear every prayer. We know that in all of Creation, you are the source of life. You are the one who set the light swirling between the galaxies. The breath of your Spirit pulses through all life. You have even become flesh among us. We praise you, Lord, that in all your wonder, you have not forgotten us.

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