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Early on in J. K...

Illustration
The Baptism of our Lord | Epiphany 1 | Ordinary Time 1 - B
Mark 1:4-11
Early on in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, a character named Hagrid appears. Hagrid is part giant, very tall, with a deep, gruff voice, bushy hair and a long, rough, moleskin overcoat. Hagrid appears on Harry's 11th birthday with an important announcement for Harry and his aunt and uncle. Hagrid announces that Harry is actually a wizard and has been accepted to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Like John the Baptist does for Jesus, Hagrid announces Harry's identity and foretells great things for him in the future.

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New & Featured This Week

The Immediate Word

Dean Feldmeyer
Mary Austin
Ron Love
Christopher Keating
Thomas Willadsen
George Reed
Bethany Peerbolte
For August 9, 2020:
  • Bending Toward Justice by Dean Feldmeyer — The story of Joseph illustrates that while God does not always act in bold and dramatic ways, and the arc of the moral universe may be long, it nevertheless bends toward justice. A pertinent message for us, today.

StoryShare

Peter Andrew Smith
Luke stared at the stack of papers sitting in front of him. The last thing he wanted to do was close the Good Shepherd Ministry. He dreaded having to put out the press release saying that they were out of money and were no longer able to minister to the street people in the city. He knew that as soon as word got out all the people they had helped and the people in need would come looking for answers. He didn’t know what he was going to say to them. Truthfully, he didn’t know what to say.

“Hey neighbour,” Fran put a cup of coffee in front of him.

Emphasis Preaching Journal

Wayne Brouwer
Once when Henrik Ibsen, the Norwegian playwright, was traveling in Rome, he noticed a crowd of people gathered around a large red poster. They were talking rather excitedly among themselves about the message it announced, so he reached into his coat pocket for his eyeglasses. Only then did he realize that he’d left them back at his hotel.

So he turned to the fellow next to him. “Sir,” he said, “could you please tell me what that sign says? I’ve forgotten my glasses.”
Mark Ellingsen
Ron Love
Bonnie Bates
Bill Thomas
Frank Ramirez
Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28
Martin Luther was a Roman Catholic monk who considered that the Church of Rome was corrupt. On October 31, 1517, he posted his famous 95 theses on the door of the church at Wittenberg, inviting a debate on the issues that concerned him. This led to the German Reformation, or better known to us as the Protestant Reformation.

The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott
Call to Worship:
After he had been deep in prayer, Jesus was able to walk on the sea. In our worship today, let explore the relationship between prayer and God's response to us.

Invitation to Confession:
Jesus, sometimes I dismiss prayer as not working, yet I know I've never really prayed as you prayed.
Lord, have mercy.
Jesus, sometimes I can't believe in miracles, yet I know I've never really prayed as you prayed.
Christ, have mercy.

SermonStudio

John E. Sumwalt
The call came on a Sunday after church just as we were sitting down to lunch. "Eric's vital signs are dropping. We think this may be it. You'd better come." It was the Palliative Care Nurse, one of the dozens of hospital and hospice staff people who supported Eric and his family over the five years he lived with bone cancer. She met me as I came in the door of the hospice where Eric had lived for five months -- a much longer stay than most of their patients who usually died within weeks.

CSSPlus

Good morning, boys and girls. Do you know what a hard-boiled egg is? (Let them answer.) I brought two eggs with me this morning. One is hard-boiled. When I crack its shell I can eat it. The other is not hard-boiled. It's like Humpty-Dumpty. When I crack it, it will break. Sometimes your parents may give you a hard-boiled egg for lunch. When they do, you trust them that it is really hard-boiled. Your parents wouldn't give you an egg like Humpty-Dumpty, would they?

It is very important that you can trust your parents. When you

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