Emphasis Preaching Journal

There’s an old saying, “Watch what you pray for, you might get it.” A cautionary tale.

I always worry about giving people a rosy picture, a way to solve their problems. Having grown up with sit-coms, indoctrinated with the attitude that every problem could be fixed in a half hour (with commercials), except for the complicated ones (those took an hour), you’d think I’d expect happy endings and easy fixes. But somewhere along the line I was taught or osmosed a different attitude.

It is a dark, damp, raining Wednesday night in a certain pastor’s church study. Gathered with the pastor are four men in their late fifties. They have their Bibles open. Their eyelids are barely cracked open. A couple of the men were wise enough to stop by a gas station to get a cup of black coffee to stay awake. This is the latest effort in this small town congregation that worships less than ninety people.

“...whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant.” (v. 43b)

Good morning young folks,

What a blessing to see you this morning. I hope you are well and eager to hear a message from the Bible today. I love sharing and I know you love listening.

Today we will learn about how to be great. Yep, that’s what I said -- how to be great!

Have you ever been in a contest and you came out first? (children respond)

One thing which perhaps separates humans from other animals, is our sense of justice. According to the documentaries I see on television, other animals seem to be driven by basic needs such as hunger, survival and sex. Their lives are centred around satisfying those needs, and even though some animals display considerable domestic organisation and affection for others of the species, they're still driven by their basic primitive urges.

We could also say that humans are driven by similar urges, but our lives are very

Psalm 104 begins and ends with a unique call to praise. Instead of calling on others to praise the Lord, the psalmist instructs himself: "Bless the Lord, O my soul." This psalm and Psalm 103 are the only places in the Bible where this particular expression occurs. What are we to make of this unusual phrase?