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If God is all powerful...

Illustration
Proper 10 | Ordinary Time 15 - A
Romans 8:1-11
Scott A. Bryte
If God is all powerful, can God make a rock so heavy that he can't lift it?"

It's a classic stumper, a question designed to show the triumph of reason over faith. This question and a host of others like it aim to expose those who put their trust in God as naïve, irrational, and childish. What questions like this really do, however, is show how impossible it is for our reason to even imagine something that has no limits. Faith is indeed naïve and irrational and childish. It is also to only way we have of seeing God.

New & Featured This Week

The Immediate Word

Mary Austin
Bethany Peerbolte
Dean Feldmeyer
George Reed
Ron Love
Thomas Willadsen
Christopher Keating
For November 18, 2018:
  • Big Stones, Big Change by Mary Austin -- Like the disciples, we expect our biggest realities to last forever. And like the disciples, we are often surprised. This recent mid-term election overturned some unexpected foundation stones.

Emphasis Preaching Journal

Bonnie Bates
Bill Thomas
Mark Ellingsen
Bob Ove
Frank Ramirez
1 Samuel 1:4-20 and 1 Samuel 2:1-10
David Coffin
Another cold, autumn Wednesday evening as the sun sets early and the church council gathers into the cool, musty church basement. As they sit on the plastic chairs surrounding two rectangle tables placed together, the pastor leads in prayer and maybe a Bible passage. The council president dutifully distributes the council agenda in front of all of the attendees. An older lady member was nice enough to bake some cookies and brew some decaffeinated coffee (so people are not kept awake at night) for those present.

StoryShare

C. David Mckirachan
Frank Ramirez
Contents
“Mom” by C. David McKirachan
“Not One Stone” by Frank Ramirez


Mom
by C. David McKirachan
1 Samuel 1:4-20, 1 Samuel 2:1-10

My mother told me that if I’d been a girl, I’d have been named Hannah. It was always an incidental detail. Then my nephew and his wife gave their daughter the name and I realized it ran in the family. So I got interested. The Bible keeps surprising me. This time when I read the familiar story, I ran into something new.

CSSPlus

Arley K. Fadness
“...do not be alarmed...” (v. 7a)

Good morning boys and girls,

I have a question for you today. The question is this: Were you scared at anything this past Halloween? Did anything frighten you like at a Halloween party or when you were out trick or treating? (children respond) Maybe with your weird masks and silly costumes you frightened someone else yourself. That's so much fun!

Well, there's fun-fear like at Halloween. And there's also not-fun-fear.

The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott
I had the privilege to be with my father when he died. I'd never seen anyone die before, and although I'm sure it must be a different experience for different people, I was amazed at what a struggle it seemed to be for him.

He wasn't in any pain, but he struggled to take off his pyjama jacket, and he struggled to have the window open, and he struggled to breathe, and it seemed as though it was a struggle to die. And although he was given various drugs which relaxed and calmed him, I still felt that underneath that surface calm, perhaps the struggle was continuing.

SermonStudio

Russell F. Anderson
Theme For The Day: Knowing the signs of the Lord's return.


BRIEF COMMENTARY ON THE LESSONS

Lesson 1: 1 Samuel 1:4-20 (C)

Special Occasion