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God's timing

Commentary
New Year's Day - A
New Year's Day - B
New Year's Day - C
Ecclesiastes 3:1-13
Revelation 21:1-6a
Matthew 25:31-46
David Coffin
Another year has gone by as one awakens on New Year's Day. If lucky, we have been able to get free calendars from the bank, insurance office, and local pharmacy as well as the freebies sent in the mail asking us to purchase something else that we may or may not be able to afford. Though we might make mistakes on the date in writing out monthly checks for the first few days of the month, has much changed from last year to this year? We have seen the party animals on Times Square the previous evening on television as the Rockefeller Plaza ball goes down to begin the New Year.
UPCOMING WEEKS
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Proper 8 | OT 13
27 – Sermons
100+ – Illustrations / Stories
33 – Children's Sermons / Resources
23 – Worship Resources
24 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Proper 9 | OT 14
26 – Sermons
100+ – Illustrations / Stories
31 – Children's Sermons / Resources
24 – Worship Resources
20 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Proper 10 | OT 15
25 – Sermons
100+ – Illustrations / Stories
31 – Children's Sermons / Resources
19 – Worship Resources
22 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Proper 11 | OT 16
24 – Sermons
100+ – Illustrations / Stories
33 – Children's Sermons / Resources
22 – Worship Resources
19 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
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The Immediate Word

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For July 5, 2020:
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David O. Bales
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"Mumbling Hope" by David O. Bales
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Mumbling Hope
by David O. Bales
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Phabi and Nahum rode obediently behind Eliezer, tossed rhythmically side to side on their camels. They glanced to one another with knowing looks. Eliezer was mumbling again. “I suppose I could’ve told them the whole story. They were certainly interested. A display of wealth will do that, especially to a fellow like Laban.”

Emphasis Preaching Journal

David Kalas
When I was a boy, I heard a preacher remind his congregation about the true nature of the cross. He observed that we have turned the cross into both a lovely adornment in our sanctuaries and a piece of jewelry for our bodies. It is, for us, a smooth, attractive, gilded thing. But the original cross, he insisted, was nothing like that. The cross that Jesus bore -- and the cross, therefore, that we are invited to take up as his followers -- is harsh and heavy. It is rugged and bloody. It is heavy wood across the back, not silver or gold on a lapel or necklace.
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Here in England we're now well into the wedding season, in which many young couples will follow the age old tradition of plighting their troth. Some of them will do so here in Pulham St. Mary church, and several more here in our benefice in South Norfolk.

Although our country has the highest divorce rate in the whole of Europe and is second only to the United States in the world, and although many couples now live together outside marriage, nonetheless marriage is still a very popular institution.

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I think one of the best lessons I have learned in ministry is the lesson of win-win. Have you ever heard of win-win? In a world where win-lose situations seem to dominate our interactions, the discovery of the possibility of building scenarios where everyone can benefit, where everyone can, in effect, win, has been an incredible answer to prayer. In church, community, and family life it has been a powerful way forward on numerous occasions. Recently, an experience in negotiations in a sensitive church situation resulted in a win-win, and it was unbelievable.

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Good morning, boys and girls. Does anyone live on a farm or near a farm? (let them answer) What do farmers use today to plow fields and harvest the grain? (let them answer) That's right, tractors. Before farmers used tractors what did they use? (let them answer) That's right, horses. Did you know that farmers also used to use animals called oxen? These animals are like bulls that have horns and are very strong. They can pull a plow easily as long as they worked in pairs. If the oxen didn't work together, it was hard.

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