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Emphasis Preaching Journal

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Communicating God's Love

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Emphasis Preaching Journal

Jesus’ feeding of the 5,000... -- Mark 6:30-34, 53-56 -- Proper 11 | Ordinary Time 16 - B -- 2009
Jesus’ feeding of the 5,000 was regarded as so important that it is recorded in all four gospels.
Some people can’t stay away... -- Mark 6:30-34, 53-56 -- Proper 11 | Ordinary Time 16 - B -- 2009
Some people can’t stay away.
What images do you have... -- Mark 6:30-34, 53-56 -- Proper 11 | Ordinary Time 16 - B -- 2009
What images do you have of a shepherd and a flock?
One thing tennis coaches and... -- 2 Samuel 11:1-15 -- Proper 12 | Ordinary Time 17 - B -- 2009
One thing tennis coaches and golf pros teach novice students is how important follow-through is to e
Fireproof is a movie with... -- 2 Samuel 11:1-15 -- Proper 12 | Ordinary Time 17 - B -- 2009
Fireproof is a movie with a strong agenda: Stay married, lead an honest life, and let your faith in
This is a most unusual... -- 2 Samuel 11:1-15 -- Proper 12 | Ordinary Time 17 - B -- 2009
This is a most unusual case.
When perusing a bookstore’s novels... -- Ephesians 3:14-21 -- Proper 12 | Ordinary Time 17 - B -- 2009
When perusing a bookstore’s novels, one of my critical “inspection points” is the first word on page
There’s a Br’er Rabbit story... -- Ephesians 3:14-21 -- Proper 12 | Ordinary Time 17 - B -- 2009
There’s a Br’er Rabbit story in which all the animals get together and decide to build a house.
The new Christians in Ephesus... -- Ephesians 3:14-21 -- Proper 12 | Ordinary Time 17 - B -- 2009
The new Christians in Ephesus are urged to lead lives of patient love, using their various gifts in
Back in the days of... -- John 6:1-21 -- Proper 12 | Ordinary Time 17 - B -- 2009
Back in the days of Colonial New England, it was the custom for churches to charge families for rent
In a year with economic... -- John 6:1-21 -- Proper 12 | Ordinary Time 17 - B -- 2009
In a year with economic uncertainty the church faced the tough decision to cut the budget.
Alma was a daughter of... -- John 6:1-21 -- Proper 12 | Ordinary Time 17 - B -- 2009
Alma was a daughter of the Great Depression.
Most Sunday school children know... -- Proper 13 | Ordinary Time 18 - B -- 2009
Most Sunday school children know of David and Goliath. Fewer know of David’s adultery.
It’s often easier to fight... -- Proper 13 | Ordinary Time 18 - B -- 2009
It’s often easier to fight for principles than to live up to them.
A woman appeared in court... -- Proper 13 | Ordinary Time 18 - B -- 2009
A woman appeared in court for a moving traffic violation.
There’s an old story about... -- Ephesians 4:1-16 -- Proper 13 | Ordinary Time 18 - B -- 2009
There’s an old story about a man who walked into a church that was under construction.
Ann remembers feeling uncomfortable one... -- Ephesians 4:1-16 -- Proper 13 | Ordinary Time 18 - B -- 2009
Ann remembers feeling uncomfortable one Sunday when the pastor preached on the importance of loving
When Jill made the women’s... -- Ephesians 4:1-16 -- Proper 13 | Ordinary Time 18 - B -- 2009
When Jill made the women’s wrestling team at college, she and her teammates were given a handbook on
Fifty years ago I read... -- John 6:24-35 -- Proper 13 | Ordinary Time 18 - B -- 2009
Fifty years ago I read a story titled, “Clothes Make the Man.” One thief dressed up as a policeman t
Few things, if any, in... -- John 6:24-35 -- Proper 13 | Ordinary Time 18 - B -- 2009
Few things, if any, in life are free. We apply the barter system to everything.
If you can handle a... -- John 6:24-35 -- Proper 13 | Ordinary Time 18 - B -- 2009
If you can handle a crowd of excited people in the desert, armed with only a dozen dedicated followe
Grief remains one of the... -- 2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33 -- Proper 14 | Ordinary Time 19 - B -- 2009
Grief remains one of the few things that has the power to silence us.
When the telephone rang just... -- 2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33 -- Proper 14 | Ordinary Time 19 - B -- 2009
When the telephone rang just after three o’clock in the morning Carl knew it was bad news.
Brad was no good, or... -- 2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33 -- Proper 14 | Ordinary Time 19 - B -- 2009
Brad was no good, or so thought most of the townsfolk.
A man who was going... -- Proper 14 | Ordinary Time 19 - B -- 2009
A man who was going blind arranged the area outside his house so that he could get anywhere he wante

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New & Featured This Week

The Immediate Word

Christopher Keating
Thomas Willadsen
Katy Stenta
Mary Austin
Nazish Naseem
Dean Feldmeyer
George Reed
For October 19, 2025:

Emphasis Preaching Journal

Mark Ellingsen
Bill Thomas
Frank Ramirez
Jeremiah 31:27-34
John Calvin makes very clear why a new covenant is needed according to this text. He observes:

… the fault was not to be sought in the law that there was need of a new covenant, for the law was abundantly sufficient, but that fault was in the levity and the unfaithfulness of the people. (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.X/2, p.130)
David Coffin
What happens when one’s past life narrative or goals in life have drastically shifted or collapsed? How do they rebuild hope? For Israel, they lost their land, monarchy, and national identity. In the days of the New Testament,they could easily be identified as living in the “fourth world” country. That is, existing in substandard conditions in one’s own native land?

StoryShare

Peter Andrew Smith
Rose sat back in her chair and opened her magazine. She heard the thump of the stairs and caught a glimpse of her daughter and son in the corner of her eye. She turned her head as they put water bottles in their backpacks.

“What are you two doing?” she looked over at the clock. “Don’t you have homework?”

“All done,” Paul and Linda announced at the same time.

Rose ignored Linda but locked eyes with Paul. He met her gaze for a few moments and then sighed.

“Okay, I’m almost done but still have some math questions,” he admitted.

The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott
Call to Worship:

Jesus told us that we should always pray and not lose heart, for God is on our side. In our worship today let us pray to the Lord for the needs of others and for all our own needs.


Invitation to Confession:

Jesus, sometimes you don't seem to be there when I pray and I feel like I'm talking to myself.

Lord, have mercy.

Jesus, sometimes my prayers seem so dry and boring that I give up.

Christ, have mercy.

SermonStudio

James Evans
Psalm 119 is well-known as the longest chapter in the Bible. The poem is actually an extended, and extensive, meditation on the meaning of the law. Given the sterile connotations often associated with "law" and "legalism," it's hard sometimes to appreciate the lyrical beauty of these reflections. One thing is for certain, the writer of this psalm does not view the law as either sterile or void of vitality.

Schuyler Rhodes
There is perhaps no better feeling than knowing that someone "has your back." Having someone's back is a term that arose from urban street fighting where a partner or ally would stay with you and protect your back in the thick of the fray. When someone has your back, you don't worry about being hit from behind. When someone has your back you can concentrate on the struggle in front of you without worrying about dangers you cannot see. When someone has your back you feel protected, secure, safe.
David Kalas
I wonder how many of us here are named after someone.

Chances are that a good many of us carry family names. We are named for a parent, a grandparent, an uncle, or an aunt somewhere on the family tree. Others of us had parents who named us after a character in the Bible, or perhaps some other significant character from history.

All told, I expect a pretty fair number of us are named after someone else.

John W. Clarke
Our reading today from the prophet Jeremiah is one in which the Hebrew people, not knowing what else to do in terms of addressing their predicament, decide to blame it all on God. They believed their problems to be the result of their sins and the sins of their fathers. Of course, one person's sin does indeed affect other people, but all people are still held personally accountable for the sin in their own lives (Deuteronomy 24:16; Ezekiel 18:2).
Donna E. Schaper
As usual, the epistle is a little more graphic than we can quite grasp. Itchy ears: what a concept just in physical terms. Experience it for a minute. You itch, you scratch, you sort of know you shouldn't scratch because it will only make the itch worse. But still you scratch, while wondering how the itch ever got started in the first place. What a concept: itchy ears as a vehicle for spiritual truth.

John E. Berger
Did Jesus ever do comedy? Indeed he did, and the Parable of the Unjust Judge is partly comic monologue. The routine began with a probate judge so ridiculously dishonest that he announced, "... I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone...." (There must have been a gasp of disbelief from Jesus' audience.)

The Unjust Judge was nagged by a widow, however, who had every right to nag, because she had been cheated by somebody in the community. A good judge would have helped the widow, but remember, this judge "neither feared God nor had respect for people."

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And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? (v. 7)

Good morning, boys and girls. Yesterday, I was riding in my car and I kept hearing this noise. I call it a squeak. Do you know what a squeak sounds like? (let them answer) Squeaks are very annoying. It is hard to find a squeak in your car, so it is still squeaking.

I also have a chair that has a squeak and I brought it in with me today because it is

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