Login / Signup

Emphasis Preaching Journal

×

Warning message

You are not logged in.
Please log in to view this content.
If you are having problems logging in or think this is an error, please contact us online or call 1-800-537-1030.

Not a subscriber?
Get a FREE 30-Day Subscription
(No credit card necessary)
Get Full Access Now!

NULL

Illustration
Proper 24 | Ordinary Time 29 - B
Hebrews 5:1-10
Mark Ellingsen
We are awed by war stories of heroes who took a bullet for a friend. One recent African-American candidate for ministry shared with his professor that he had grown up without a mother, because as an infant she had run back into their burning house to save him. He had survived but not her. These stories move us, because they are such powerful witnesses to love! Why do we not think and feel the same toward Jesus' great sacrifice for us? Medieval mystic Bernard of Clairvaux describes how profoundly moving the word of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross is: "He [Christ] is living and full of energy.
UPCOMING WEEKS
In addition to the lectionary resources there are thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...
Signup for FREE!
(No credit card needed.)
Pentecost
27 – Sermons
100+ – Illustrations / Stories
34 – Children's Sermons / Resources
23 – Worship Resources
24 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Trinity Sunday
25 – Sermons
100+ – Illustrations / Stories
35 – Children's Sermons / Resources
26 – Worship Resources
30 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Proper 6 | OT 11
24 – Sermons
100+ – Illustrations / Stories
34 – Children's Sermons / Resources
22 – Worship Resources
23 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Proper 7 | OT 12
20 – Sermons
100+ – Illustrations / Stories
30 – Children's Sermons / Resources
18 – Worship Resources
16 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
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...
Plus thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...
Signup for FREE!
(No credit card needed.)

New & Featured This Week

The Immediate Word

Ron Love
Bethany Peerbolte
Thomas Willadsen
Dean Feldmeyer
Mary Austin
Christopher Keating
George Reed
For May 31, 2020:
  • We Are The 120 by Ron Love — Let us never forget that we are the 120; the unseen members of the Body of Christ.
  • Second Thoughts: Masked Prophets by Bethany Peerbolte — Being a prophet is not about knowing exactly what will happen in the future. Being a prophet is about seeing the present world clearly and knowing God enough to sense a disconnect.

Emphasis Preaching Journal

Frank Ramirez
Acts 2:1-21 is the obvious choice for your Pentecost lectionary text and perhaps you have used it on many occasions. However, the lectionary includes several options and I explore them in this Charting the Course to try to show there is more than one way to experience God’s Spirit.

Bonnie Bates
Bill Thomas
Ron Love
Mark Ellingsen
Frank Ramirez
M Adryael Tong
Acts 2:1-21
Charles Spurgeon once said, “Without the Spirit of God, we can do nothing. We are as ships without the wind, branches without sap, and like coals without fire, we are useless.” The Day of Pentecost is the day we celebrate the birth of the church and the Holy Spirit coming on the apostles and they began to speak in other languages (Acts 2:4).

StoryShare

C. David Mckirachan
Frank Ramirez
Contents
“You. Yes, You.” by C. David McKirachan
“Dream, Pray, Plan” by Frank Ramirez


You. Yes, You.
by C. David McKirachan
Acts 2:1-21

CSSPlus

Bethany Peerbolte
These verses follow the metaphor of living water flowing from our hearts into the world. The opening activity will work off of that image to show how water works. Water fills in all the empty places it can find. Even when we think there is no room, water can find the emptiness and fill it up.

What you will need:
A transparent jar or bowl
A couple of large rocks (or other large objects that will fit in your container)
Sand
Water

In your lesson say something like:

The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott
Call to Worship:
Jesus promised his friends that great power would be available to them when he had finally disappeared from this earth. That power came on the Day of Pentecost. In our worship today let us explore what sort of power this was and whether it is still available to us.


Invitation to Confession:
Jesus, sometimes I have difficulty connecting with things that happened 2,000 years ago.
Lord, have mercy.
Jesus, sometimes I assume that all your power was in the past, belonging to a by-gone age.

SermonStudio

Kristin Borsgard Wee
All of you have heard stories of miracles. Some of you have experienced a miracle. The one which tops my list comes from several years ago. A woman I knew had been doctoring for stomach problems. Nothing seemed to be working. Her local doctor sent her to Rochester. The Mayo doctors ran her through a battery of tests and discovered cancer. They did surgery immediately. They took one look and closed her up. There was cancer everywhere. She came home to die. But she didn't get sick and weaker as we expected. We saw her in church every Sunday. Several months later, she was back at Mayo.

Special Occasion