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Our responsibility to the world

Commentary
The passages for the feast of Christ the King sum up the responsibilities of the people of God to ourselves, our nation, and our world. They begin in the book of Ezekiel where God accuses the leadership of Israel, who have been dragged from their homeland into the exile in Babylon, of deserving what they have gotten through their own fault. They were the people whose responsibility it was to keep the nation on the path that God had laid out for them, but they had failed miserably.
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Christ the King
24 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
34 – Children's Sermons / Resources
24 – Worship Resources
30 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
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Thanksgiving
14 – Sermons
90+ – Illustrations / Stories
20 – Children's Sermons / Resources
12 – Worship Resources
17 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
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Advent 1 (Cycle B)
31 – Sermons
130+ – Illustrations / Stories
36 – Children's Sermons / Resources
31 – Worship Resources
33 – Commentary / Exegesis
2 – Pastor's Devotions
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New & Featured This Week

The Immediate Word

Dean Feldmeyer
Thomas Willadsen
Elena Delhagen
Mary Austin
Christopher Keating
George Reed
Katy Stenta
Quantisha Mason-Doll
For December 10, 2023:

Emphasis Preaching Journal

David Coffin
Amidst this season of Advent, where can mainline church leaders find hope amidst headlines in many churches’ magazines reporting the steady decline of church attendance and membership? In one study, church American membership has dipped below 50% in contrast to close to 70-75% in previous decades.
Bonnie Bates
Bill Thomas
Mark Ellingsen
Frank Ramirez
Isaiah 40:1-11

StoryShare

Peter Andrew Smith
“I think that was probably the best dinner we’ve ever had with your parents.” Stephen finished wiping the counter and then turned the dishwasher on. “It was really great to have them over.”

“They certainly seemed to enjoy themselves and even Dad was talkative,” Molly gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Thanks for cooking.”

“My pleasure, I enjoyed it.” Stephen paused. “I think I could go for a bit more pie.”

Molly rolled his eyes. “Really?”

Stephen rubbed his stomach and then grinned. “Yeah, I think so.”

CSSPlus

John Jamison
Object: You need pieces of clothing to dress two children. One is to be dressed in nice clothes, and the other in ‘not-so-nice’ clothes. You could either dress them like they were in Jesus’ day or as they might look today. For Jesus’ day, you might dress one child in a nice robe, with a fancy hat and staff, like a king, and the other just wrapped in something like burlap with a rope belt, like John the Baptist. For today, you might dress one child in a jacket or nice suit, and the other in old, torn jeans and a baggy, ragged shirt, or sweatshirt.

The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott
Call to Worship:

With John the Baptist, in our worship today let us prepare the way of the Lord and make his paths straight.


Invitation to Confession:

Jesus, we are not worthy to undo the strap of your sandals.
Lord, have mercy.

Jesus, we repent. Forgive our sins.
Christ, have mercy.

Jesus, baptise us with your Holy Spirit.
Lord, have mercy.

SermonStudio

Stan Purdum
(See Proper 12/Pentecost 10/Ordinary Time 17, Cycle C, for an alternative approach.)

Richard E. Gribble, CSC
The voyage of Sir Ernest Shackleton and his 28 men aboard the Endurance bound for Antarctica, which began in 1914, is a story too few know but all should hear. The Imperial Trans-Atlantic Expedition, under Shackleton's command, was the first British Antarctic expedition after Norwegian Ronald Amundsen became the first man to reach the South Pole in December 1911.
Thomas G. Long
Bright Lights, Big City is Jay McInerney's searingly-witty, emotion-ripping novel of one man's perilous drift down an alcohol and white-powder-polluted stream of delayed adolescence. The young man is bright, creative, and desperately lonely. His language is marked by the kind of sarcasm which forms at the intersection of keen intelligence, comic conceit, and human desolation.
Wayne Brouwer
Somewhere today a woman picks up another dirty shirt and tosses it into the laundry basket. She shakes her head and thinks, "I've got to get out of this marriage! He treats me like dirt! I deserve someone better, someone who really loves me! God knows I've put up with more than anyone needs to."

But she sees the picture of their wedding day on the dresser and stops. She remembers the promise she made that day: "...for better, for worse...." And she decides to stay and see if she can make this thing work.

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