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!

Rabbi Harold Kushner wrote the...

Illustration
Proper 12 | Ordinary Time 17 - B
2 Samuel 11:1-15
Rabbi Harold Kushner wrote the book Who Needs God? in which he makes this observation. He says that a church that admitted only saints, that only admitted those who had their lives all together, would be like a hospital that admitted only healthy people. It would be a lot easier to run, and a more pleasant place to be, but it would not be doing the joy that it is there to do.

Here we find that David, the great hero of the Old Testament, is himself a sinner. Although his offense is great, his sin does not exclude him from being part of the faith community.
-- Bowen
UPCOMING WEEKS
In addition to the lectionary resources there are thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...
Signup for FREE!
(No credit card needed.)
Proper 10 - OT 15 - Pentecost 5
23 – Sermons
180+ – Illustrations / Stories
28 – Children's Sermons / Resources
15 – Worship Resources
30 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Proper 11 - OT 16 - Pentecost 6
24 – Sermons
200+ – Illustrations / Stories
29 – Children's Sermons / Resources
20 – Worship Resources
25 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Proper 12 - OT 17 - Pentecost 7
26 – Sermons
180+ – Illustrations / Stories
26 – Children's Sermons, etc.
15 – Worship Resources
26 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Proper 13 - OT 18 - Pentecost 8
24 – Sermons
140+ – Illustrations / Stories
32 – Children's Sermons / Resources
18 – Worship Resources
27 – 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

Thomas Willadsen
Mary Austin
Dean Feldmeyer
Ron Love
Bethany Peerbolte
Christopher Keating
George Reed
For July 21, 2019:
  • Teamwork by Tom Willadsen — The US Women’s Soccer Team dominated the competition in the World Cup, winning their second consecutive title. The team demonstrated a deep personal commitment to every player on the team —everyone was important. Could we reimagine the relationship between Mary and Martha as one of a team rather than adversaries?
  • Second Thoughts by Bethany Peerbolte — Coming...

Emphasis Preaching Journal

Wayne Brouwer
Elizabeth Achtemeier said that one of the greatest errors of young preachers is their desire to tell people that it is very easy to know the will of God. It is so easy, she said, to preach in black and white, to declare either this or that, with no shades of gray in between.
Bonnie Bates
Mark Ellingsen
Ron Love
Bob Ove
Bill Thomas
R. Robert Cueni
Frank Ramirez
Amos 8:1-12
I’m a baseball fan and this is the middle of baseball season, so I thought this might be an appropriate and helpful story. An umpire named Babe Pinelli once called the legendary Babe Ruth out on strikes. When the crowd booed with disapproval at the call, Ruth turned to the umpire and angrily said, “There’s 40,000 people here who know that the last pitch was a ball, tomato head.”

StoryShare

C. David Mckirachan
Frank Ramirez
Contents
“Here Comes da Judge” by C. David McKirachan
“A Little on Edge” by Frank Ramirez


Here Comes da Judge
by C. David McKirachan
Amos 8:1-12

CSSPlus

Arley K. Fadness
“...there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part....”(v. 42a)

Good morning boys and girls,

Well, how are you this morning? (children respond) If you ask me how I am I would say, “terrific.” I am “terrific” because __________________!

I am curious, who has a sister? (children respond) Who has more than one sister? (children respond) Who is a sister here this morning? (children respond)

The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott
On our first visit to Malta many years ago, we stayed in the rural south of the island. At that time there were few hotels and those were situated farther north, in St Paul's Bay and Sliema. The south was agricultural country, where a friend of ours happened to have part share in a "villa". The "villa" turned out to be a small farm house.

Farming at the time was very primitive, with the farmer walking over his field behind a hand-held plough. All has now changed, of course, but then it was just like a throw-back to Biblical times in the Middle East.

SermonStudio

Constance Berg
The cabins at Mt. Carmel Bible Retreat are small. Most have two small rooms; some have one large great room. There is a tiny bathroom with a utility shower.

Inside each cabin is a double bed and a set of bunk beds, a dresser and a small rod to hang clothes. Linens are provided for a charge and some of us are very grateful to have a ceiling fan.

Our group of fourteen cabins is set along a little walkway. Each cabin is about ten feet apart and each row of seven faces the sidewalk.

Special Occasion