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Some years ago I met...

Illustration
Epiphany 2 | Ordinary Time 2 - C
Isaiah 62:1-5
Some years ago I met a man whose given name was Peter. For years he had been haunted by that name. He had long understood the significance that the name had for his parents. However, he couldn't quite get past the notion that somehow it revealed more about him than he was comfortable living with. After a long retreat he decided that he would change his name. No longer would he be called Peter. No longer would he live with the name that reminded him all too frequently of the mistakes he'd made and the times that he had denied his faith. The name that he would now use? Stephen.
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For August 31, 2025:

Emphasis Preaching Journal

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When one of our children was young, she pretended to throw something at me from close range, and then she cheerfully declared, “Ha! Made you flinch!” I remember from my own elementary years that that was always regarded as something of an achievement — to make someone blink or to make someone flinch. In reality, of course, it is little more than a test of one’s reflexes. It’s my reflex to blink or to brace when I think something is coming at me, and the reflex is a good one.
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… there is nothing more common than for the ungodly when they are proved guilty, to have recourse to this subterfuge, that they acted with good intention, when they gave themselves up to their own superstitions. (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.IX/1, p.78)

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John E. Sumwalt
Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. (v. 2)

CSSPlus

John Jamison
Object: This is a role play activity for the children. You will want a container of some kind of treat to give to all of the children.

Note: This is a fairly brief message as presented, but that may help keep an emphasis on the simplicity of the message if you stress it.

* * *

Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Great! Let’s get started.

The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott
Call to Worship:
Jesus knew the importance of humility and used a banquet to teach people about it. As we feast on him today, let us make sure we come to him with unassuming spirits.

Invitation to Confession:
Jesus, sometimes we are unaware of our own arrogance.
Lord, have mercy.
Jesus, sometimes we spot other people's haughtiness but fail to recognise it in ourselves.
Christ, have mercy.
Jesus, sometimes we are so humble that we become victims of inverted pride.
Lord, have mercy.

SermonStudio

Stephen P. McCutchan
Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.
-- Hebrews 13:1-2

James Evans
The writer of Psalm 81 employs a most interesting mixed metaphor. It is not mixed, however, because the psalmist was careless and neglected his subject matter. On the contrary, it is because of an important insight into human nature that the psalmist has us "eating with our ears."

Verse 10 rehearses what was, and is, the most basic confession of faith for followers of the Lord. God speaks and says, "I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth and I will fill it."

Ron Lavin
There are three words I hope you will take home from church today. The words are "Only The Lonely." As you think about these words, the assurances of God's Word will comfort and strengthen you. But I'm getting ahead of my story. Before we get to these three words, we need to look at the full text of Luke 14:1, 7-14. That involves looking at three other words: humility, hospitality, and hope.

Humility
Chrysanne Timm
It is never a pleasant prospect to deal with someone who has a complaint with you. As a new pastor, and a very young one at that, one of the things I struggled with most was the experience of conflict with members. I remember as if it were yesterday a significant misunderstanding that developed between the congregation's "matriarch" and me very early in my time there. I prayed about the difficulty we were having, and I knew that I needed to go to her home and ask for the opportunity to talk things out.
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Words Of Assurance
In this be confident: that the grace of God is active enough to forgive, and the love of God is powerful enough to transform.

Pastoral Prayer

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