Emphasis Preaching Journal

Opal Lee has celebrated Juneteenth all her life, and she has long wanted the rest of the country to celebrate this holiday, too. Last week, Mrs. Lee, now 94, stood next to President Biden as he signed the legislation making Juneteenth a federal holiday.

When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” So Jesus went with him.

A large crowd followed and pressed around him. (vv. 21-24)

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There are lots of reasons to be grateful!

2 Samuel 1:1,17-27

2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27
I read this story in July 1991’s “Bits and Pieces.” I think it does a great job of describing friendship. A British publication once offered a prize for the best definition of a friend. Among the thousands of answers received were the following:

“One who multiplies joys, divides grief, and whose honesty is inviolable.”

“One who understands our silence.”

“A volume of sympathy bound in cloth.”

“A watch that beats true for all time and never runs down.”

Contents
“No Limitations” by C. David McKirachan
“In Spite Of” by C. David McKirachan


No Limitations
by C. David McKirachan
Mark 5:21-43

Mark presented a portrait of Jesus that showed a Christ who moved into situations with action, often upsetting the expected. Many times, Christ’s actions did not bring comfort or peace. 

"It's not fair," announced Kendra angrily.

"No," chorused her band of friends, "It's not fair."

During the long, summer evenings, the car park of the local supermarket was usually half empty. It was a glorious open space with, most importantly of all, a really smooth surface. What's more, if you started at the side nearest the supermarket, it had a gentle slope right down to the other side. It was absolutely made for skateboarding - or so Kendra and the gang felt. But the manager of the supermarket seemed to have other ideas.

When all else fails, what do you do? When you are up against it, where do you turn?

Getting through grief may be one of the hardest things we do as human beings. One of the best ways to begin the process is to find it within ourselves to stand up and say something in a public setting that puts into words both the personal and collective feelings of all who have gathered to mourn. History is replete with stunning examples. Pericles' Funeral Oration as recorded by Thucydides in The Peloponnesian War is certainly one of them. At the end of the first year of war, the Athenians held, as was their custom, an elaborate funeral for all those killed in the war.

Year after year Stumpy and Martha attended the fair in their home state, and every summer it was the same story: Stumpy was tantalized by the old-fashioned bi-plane in which anybody could take a ride for ten dollars, and Martha was disgusted by such an obvious waste of money. "Ten dollars is ten dollars," she would always say. And Stumpy would go home without his airplane ride.