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Second Sunday of Advent - B

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It Just Doesn't Feel Like Christmas This Year -- Isaiah 40:1-11, 2 Peter 3:8-15a, Mark 1:1-8 -- Second Sunday of Advent - B
Dear Fellow Preachers,

Emphasis Preaching Journal

Uncle Harry told his niece... -- 2 Peter 3:8-15a -- Second Sunday of Advent - B
Uncle Harry told his niece, Sybil, that times were changing in their town as the nearby city expande
In 1965 two time... -- Malachi 3:1-4 -- Second Sunday of Advent - B
In 1965 two time capsules were buried in New York City.
John the Baptist is like... -- Mark 1:1-8 -- Second Sunday of Advent - B
John the Baptist is like that eccentric uncle who visits every year around Christmas.
Amidst the intense heat and... -- Malachi 3:1-4 -- Second Sunday of Advent - B
Amidst the intense heat and noise of a steel mill one can become disoriented.
John the Baptist's diet certainly... -- Mark 1:1-8 -- Second Sunday of Advent - B
John the Baptist's diet certainly was one that we moderns would find strange.
In 1985 the J.C. Penney... -- Malachi 3:1-4 -- Second Sunday of Advent - B
In 1985 the J.C.
While on vacation at a... -- Mark 1:1-8 -- Second Sunday of Advent - B
While on vacation at a well-known Atlantic Ocean beach, a couple went to one of the local attraction
Frank kept the strangest of... -- Malachi 3:1-4 -- Second Sunday of Advent - B
Frank kept the strangest of Christmas lists.
A weary couple will again... -- Isaiah 40:1-11 -- Second Sunday of Advent - B
A weary couple will again welcome their adult son home from the addiction services rehab center afte
It was nearly three years... -- Isaiah 40:1-11 -- Second Sunday of Advent - B
It was nearly three years ago when my father died suddenly from a heart attack.
Pikeville, Kentucky, is located in... -- Isaiah 40:1-11 -- Second Sunday of Advent - B
Pikeville, Kentucky, is located in the southeast part of the state.
Every teenager knows the words... -- Isaiah 40:1-11 -- Second Sunday of Advent - B
Every teenager knows the words, "You're grounded." Parents utter these words when the teenager recei
I watched a TV program... -- 2 Peter 3:8-15a -- Second Sunday of Advent - B
I watched a TV program last week entitled "That's Incredible." It was about fox hunting in England.
In the early 1980s, Queen... -- Isaiah 40:1-11 -- Second Sunday of Advent - B
In the early 1980s, Queen Elizabeth II came to Canada for a royal tour.
Dr. Wallace Kirby writes of... -- 2 Peter 3:8-15a -- Second Sunday of Advent - B
Dr.
Back in the 1960s there... -- Isaiah 40:1-11 -- Second Sunday of Advent - B
Back in the 1960s there was a top ten hit titled "Expressway To Your Heart." The "Soul Survivors" re
Did you know that Chicken... -- 2 Peter 3:8-15a -- Second Sunday of Advent - B
Did you know that Chicken Little had a big brother -- Chicken Big?
Martin Luther, with his characteristic... -- Malachi 3:1-4 -- Second Sunday of Advent - B
Martin Luther, with his characteristic bluntness, once observed, "there is no more sin in a man's se
Anyone who travels the superhighways... -- 2 Peter 3:8-15a -- Second Sunday of Advent - B
Anyone who travels the superhighways of our country is familiar with an engineering accommodation re
What do we postpone, what... -- Malachi 3:1-4 -- Second Sunday of Advent - B
What do we postpone, what do we find difficult to acknowledge? A yearly screening for cancer?
What's all this talk about... -- Mark 1:1-8 -- Second Sunday of Advent - B
What's all this talk about baptism? In the Greek "baptism" means "to be dipped."
Bruce Larson, in his book... -- Baruch 5:1-9 -- Second Sunday of Advent - B
Bruce Larson, in his book, Believe And Belong, tells how he tried to help people commit their
John the Baptist was the... -- Mark 1:1-8 -- Second Sunday of Advent - B
John the Baptist was the most unlikely character to herald the coming of Christ.
How one deals with the... -- Baruch 5:1-9 -- Second Sunday of Advent - B
How one deals with the sorrows of life will very much determine that person's future ability to live

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New & Featured This Week

Emphasis Preaching Journal

David Kalas
In the sometimes-tiresome debate over science and scripture with respect to creation, it’s easy to become distracted. While the argument typically requires a focus on the how, we may lose sight of the what. And so, for just a moment, let me invite us to think for a moment about what God created.
Mark Ellingsen
Frank Ramirez
Bonnie Bates
Bill Thomas
Acts 8:26-40
As a local church pastor, I was often asked if I would baptize a child whose family were not members of the church. Some churches rebelled against this, but I remember this scripture — the hunger for understanding and inclusion of the Eunuch and Philp’s response — to teach and share and baptize in the name of our God. How could we turn anyone away from the rite of baptism?

StoryShare

Peter Andrew Smith
“Dad, I think you worked a miracle.” Rolf slowly walked around the tree. “After that windstorm, I assumed this tree was as good as gone.”

“We just needed to give the branches time to heal and come back,” Michael replied.

 “I know, but so many of them were battered and broken I figured that it couldn’t recover. Now though it looks just like it did before the storm.” Rolf paused. “Do you think it will bear any fruit this summer?”

CSSPlus

John Jamison
Object: A live plant that produces fruit, and a broken branch from that plant. I used a tomato plant from a local greenhouse. Ideally, find a plant with blossoms or small fruit already growing. If you use a different kind of fruit-producing plant, just change the script to fit.

* * *

Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Excellent!

The Immediate Word

Christopher Keating
Katy Stenta
Thomas Willadsen
Mary Austin
Elena Delhagen
Dean Feldmeyer
Quantisha Mason-Doll
For April 28, 2024:
  • On The Way To Gaza by Chris Keating based on Acts 8:26-40. On the way to Gaza, Philip discovers the startling ways the Spirit of God moves across borders, boundaries, customs, and traditions.
  • Second Thoughts: Abiding by Katy Stenta based on John 15:1-8.
  • Sermon illustrations by Mary Austin, Tom Willadsen, Elena Delhagen, Dean Feldmeyer.

The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott
Call to Worship:

Jesus is the vine, we are the branches. In our service today, let us absorb from the vine all the nourishment we need.

Invitation to Confession:

Jesus, sometimes our branches become cut off from the vine.
Lord, have mercy.

Jesus, sometimes our branches are withered.
Christ, have mercy.

Jesus, sometimes we fail to produce good fruit.
Lord, have mercy.

SermonStudio

Stan Purdum
We will meet Psalm 22 in its entirety on Good Friday, but here the lectionary designates just verses 23-31. The lectionary psalms generally illuminate the week's First Lesson, which in this case is about the covenant initiated by God with Abraham and Sarah in Genesis 17. The nine verses from this psalm, while not inappropriate, nonetheless leave us looking for an obvious connection with the First Lesson.

John S. Smylie
I think some people are natural-born gardeners. Our Lord grew up in a society that was familiar with agriculture. The images that he used to explain the ways of his Father in heaven are familiar to his audience. Growing up, my closest experience to agriculture was living in, "the Garden State." Most people, when they pass through New Jersey, are surprised to see that expression on the license plates of vehicles registered in New Jersey. Most folks traveling through New Jersey experience the megalopolis, the corridor between New York City and Washington DC.
Ron Lavin
A pastor in Indiana went to visit an 87-year-old man named Ermil, who was a hospital patient. A member of his church told the pastor about this old man who was an acquaintance. "He's not a believer, but he is really in need," the church member said. "I met him at the county home for the elderly. He's a lonely old man with no family and no money."

Paul E. Robinson
"Love is a many splendored thing...." Or so we heard Don Cornwall and the Four Aces sing time and again. Of course you or I might have other words to describe love, depending on our situation.

Love. "I love you." "I love to play golf." "I just love pistachio lush!" "It's tough to love some people." "Jesus loves me, this I know."

Love.

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