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!

Songs of joy

Commentary
Third Sunday of Advent - C
Zephaniah 3:14-20
Philippians 4:4-7
Luke 3:7-18
Isaiah 12:2-6
Wayne Brouwer
A colleague of mine once decried the way that people in his congregation wished to sing only Christmas songs during Advent. They had been so captured by the commercial culture that they no longer knew how to wait and wonder and wish and weep during Advent. My friend said that he refused to allow for the singing of Christmas hymns or carols before the third Sunday of Advent.

Well, the third Sunday of Advent has arrived, and the Old Testament and epistle lectionary passages are indeed a call to sing -- with joy, with gusto, with hope, with
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 23 - OT 28 - Pentecost 18
24 – Sermons
130+ – Illustrations / Stories
31 – Children's Sermons / Resources
19 – Worship Resources
28 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Proper 24 - OT 29 - Pentecost 19
23 – Sermons
140+ – Illustrations / Stories
35 – Children's Sermons, etc.
21 – Worship Resources
26 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Proper 25 - OT 30 - Pentecost 20
25 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
34 – Children's Sermons / Resources
19 – Worship Resources
28 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
All Saints
20 – Sermons
150+ – Illustrations / Stories
24 – Children's Sermons / Resources
13 – Worship Resources
17 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Proper 26 - OT 31 - Pentecost 21
26 – Sermons
130+ – Illustrations / Stories
32 – Children's Sermons / Resources
17 – Worship Resources
30 – 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

Dean Feldmeyer
Mary Austin
Christopher Keating
Ron Love
George Reed
Bethany Peerbolte
Thomas Willadsen
For October 13, 2019:
  • By the Rivers of Babylon by Dean Feldmeyer — The Babylonian captivity taught the ancient Hebrews that their religious faith was not tied to a geographical location. What, we might wonder, can it teach us?

Emphasis Preaching Journal

Mark Ellingsen
Ron Love
Bonnie Bates
Bob Ove
Bill Thomas
Frank Ramirez
Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7
There's an intense bitterness to the ending of Psalm 137, the lament over the destruction of Jerusalem and Temple and the loss of land and identity in exile. At the end of that psalm, with its evocative phrases calling to mind the heartfelt grief of those wrenched from their homes, that God would see to it that the infants of their tormentors would be dashed to death against the rocks.
Frank Ramirez
We are to live among our neighbors, like and unlike. Jeremiah encourages the people exiled to Babylon to prosper in a foreign land, without becoming that foreign people. Paul counsels Christians to observe the social code of the Roman household, with its patriarchal structure and its slavery, which they are powerless to change, yet transform it. Jesus sets the example by recognizing the piety of Samaritans, a foreign people, which proves to be greater than our own.

Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7

StoryShare

Keith Wagner
Contents
“Letting Go” by Keith Wagner
“How to Be Wise” by Keith Wagner


Letting Go
by Keith Wagner
Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7

Although the Israelites were in exile they needed to accept their new situation and build community. I believe that the Lord was telling Jeremiah to tell the Israelites to accept their new situation and trust that God was with them.

CSSPlus

Arley K. Fadness
“He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. (v. 16a)

Good morning boys and girls,

Thank you, thank you for being here today. I am so grateful for many things in my life, and this morning, I am especially thankful for you. You are God’s beloved children.

I am God’s beloved child. Together we are sisters and brothers in Jesus. Wow!

You have heard the story of the Good Samaritan? (children respond) (review if necessary) This morning we hear the story of the Grateful Samaritan.

The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott
There was a celebrity game show on British television in which selected celebrities were expected to face their own worst nightmares. Thus someone with a phobia for snakes had to put his arm into a tank full of writhing snakes, someone with a phobia for spiders was expected to handle a tarantula and someone with a fear of heights was asked to perform a parachute jump. Needless to say, the publicity was enormous and the pay immense, but even so I could not have done some of the things those celebrities were asked to do.

SermonStudio

Scott A. Bryte
What a bunch of ingrates, those guys -- all nine of them! It's not like a little "Thank you" would have killed them. It wouldn't even have taken up all that much of their precious time. All they had to do was turn around, make a quick jog back to Jesus (maybe not even all the way back), and give a little wave from the distance; a shout of, "Thanks for the healing" and they'd have been back on their merry way, the requirements of polite society all nicely filled. What would have been the big deal?

Special Occasion