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Jeremiah 31:7-14
Seventeen-year-old Joni Eareckson dived off a floating dock into the shallow water of the Chesapeake Bay. The resulting accident left her a quadriplegic. Young, active, athletic, Eareckson now had to adjust to her life in a wheelchair.
Several months after the accident Eareckson was physically unable to Christmas shop. This inability depressed her, realizing she would not have any presents to place under the evergreen tree. Reading the Bible one day Eareckson understood that the only gift Christ gave to the world was the gift of himself. She took this message to heart believing she had a unique and individualistic talent to share.
The next day Eareckson approached her physical therapy class with new enthusiasm. Placing a brush between her teeth, this time she really did try to paint candy dishes. Little did she know that this artistic endeavor would become her career. Affirmed by the Christmas message, Joni Eareckson recognized her own self-worth. The importance of each individual is announced in the Christmas story.
Jeremiah offers some very comforting words for his cohorts who were displaced from their homeland and forced to live in exile. There they dwelled in a strange land, confused and bewildered. Perhaps worst of all, they lived with an uncertain future of ever returning home again. The prophet, speaking for God, consoled them saying, "I will lead them beside streams of water on a level path where they will not stumble."
There are many of us living in "Babylonian exile" this day. It was an exile that Joni Eareckson experienced, perplexed if she would ever have a future. But as Jeremiah's words of comfort went to his people in Babylonian and through the centuries to Joni Eareckson, it comes afresh to us during this liturgical season of Christmastide. Whatever our unfortunate circumstances, God "will lead us beside streams of water on a level path where we will not stumble."
Ron L.
Jeremiah 31:7-14
Before Europeans discovered America's shores, Native Americans built societies out of the rugged beauty of this continent. They crafted tribes, federations, customs, families. They cultivated and hunted on the land. They followed their own religion that tied them to the land and to one another. And then the white men came. By the twentieth century, Native Americans -- once stewards of an entire continent -- were left with less than five percent of the nation's land. Since the arrival of white settlers, only 6% of the Native American population remained. Tribes were gathered from north, south, east, and west, and herded to reservations in the American west. Their culture was destroyed and their customs faded from even their own memory. These are the people -- their culture lost, their tribes decimated, their heritage thrown to the wind -- that Jeremiah seems to be describing in the first part of today's reading.
Leah T.
Ephesians 1:3-14
In 2009, Forbes magazine came out with a list of the top billionaire art collectors (http://www.forbes.com/2009/07/24/top-billionaire-art-collector-picasso-g...), with the top honor going to Philip Niarchos, the son of a Greek shipping mogul. His art collection is estimated to be worth somewhere in the range of $2 billion, with such famous pieces as Van Gogh's "Self-Portrait with a Bandaged Ear," or Picasso's self-portrait. He, and other wealthy art collectors, endeavor to possess exquisite, one-of-a-kind pieces of art by the great artists and sculptors of history. Each one is carefully chosen by the collector, and they are willing to spend fortunes on them.
According to Paul, God is not all that different from one of these art collectors, choosing each of us far in advance, "before the foundation of the world" (v. 4) to be his own. And he was willing to pay the greatest price of all: "In him we have redemption through his blood" (v. 7).
Craig K.
John 1:(1-9) 10-18
Adults who were adopted as children sometimes spend time, money, and other resources to try and locate their biological families. Although they are a part of a new family, they have a yearning to know the people that would have been their support network if things had turned out differently. They want to know what their biological parents look like, how they act, and why they chose to give their child away. They may want to find out if they have biological brothers or sisters. Although they were born of this biological family, they do not know this family. It sometimes takes a long, hard journey of seeking and learning for adopted children to find the people they came from.
Leah T.
John 1:(1-9) 10-18
At the conclusion of the sermon, distribute to everyone in the congregation a wallet-size picture of Jesus. Emphasize that the picture is to remind us of the scriptural passage, "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us." Encourage the congregation to carry the picture with them.
The picture should be of nice enough quality that a parishioner would want to show it to a friend. This would create a good opportunity to share the message of the sermon and the meaning of Jesus in the parishioner's life. The picture must be of proper size to fit into a wallet or the pocket of a purse.
(We usually associate object lessons with children's sermons. Though, if used sparingly in the course of a year, objects can be used for the sermon. The purpose of the object is to emphasize the central point of the sermon message. The object is also something the congregants can take with them as a constant reminder of the sermon's message. The pastor will have to decide the best time to distribute the object during the sermon, keeping in mind that the process cannot become so lengthy or disruptive that the people lose their focus on the message. Also, in deciding to use an object, a pastor must plan ahead to secure the required number of objects for those who will be attending worship. Be sure to have more objects than are expected to be distributed. This will avoid someone feeling left out for not receiving one. Also, extra objects will be required because individuals who have missed the service will come to the church office and request the object that their friends received. The distributing of an object to a parishioner who was absent from worship is a good teaching tool, for it introduces him/her to the central message of the sermon that was missed. Also, the objects will have to be purchased or donated. The expense involved or the securing of donations must also be a part of the planning process.)
Ron L.
Seventeen-year-old Joni Eareckson dived off a floating dock into the shallow water of the Chesapeake Bay. The resulting accident left her a quadriplegic. Young, active, athletic, Eareckson now had to adjust to her life in a wheelchair.
Several months after the accident Eareckson was physically unable to Christmas shop. This inability depressed her, realizing she would not have any presents to place under the evergreen tree. Reading the Bible one day Eareckson understood that the only gift Christ gave to the world was the gift of himself. She took this message to heart believing she had a unique and individualistic talent to share.
The next day Eareckson approached her physical therapy class with new enthusiasm. Placing a brush between her teeth, this time she really did try to paint candy dishes. Little did she know that this artistic endeavor would become her career. Affirmed by the Christmas message, Joni Eareckson recognized her own self-worth. The importance of each individual is announced in the Christmas story.
Jeremiah offers some very comforting words for his cohorts who were displaced from their homeland and forced to live in exile. There they dwelled in a strange land, confused and bewildered. Perhaps worst of all, they lived with an uncertain future of ever returning home again. The prophet, speaking for God, consoled them saying, "I will lead them beside streams of water on a level path where they will not stumble."
There are many of us living in "Babylonian exile" this day. It was an exile that Joni Eareckson experienced, perplexed if she would ever have a future. But as Jeremiah's words of comfort went to his people in Babylonian and through the centuries to Joni Eareckson, it comes afresh to us during this liturgical season of Christmastide. Whatever our unfortunate circumstances, God "will lead us beside streams of water on a level path where we will not stumble."
Ron L.
Jeremiah 31:7-14
Before Europeans discovered America's shores, Native Americans built societies out of the rugged beauty of this continent. They crafted tribes, federations, customs, families. They cultivated and hunted on the land. They followed their own religion that tied them to the land and to one another. And then the white men came. By the twentieth century, Native Americans -- once stewards of an entire continent -- were left with less than five percent of the nation's land. Since the arrival of white settlers, only 6% of the Native American population remained. Tribes were gathered from north, south, east, and west, and herded to reservations in the American west. Their culture was destroyed and their customs faded from even their own memory. These are the people -- their culture lost, their tribes decimated, their heritage thrown to the wind -- that Jeremiah seems to be describing in the first part of today's reading.
Leah T.
Ephesians 1:3-14
In 2009, Forbes magazine came out with a list of the top billionaire art collectors (http://www.forbes.com/2009/07/24/top-billionaire-art-collector-picasso-g...), with the top honor going to Philip Niarchos, the son of a Greek shipping mogul. His art collection is estimated to be worth somewhere in the range of $2 billion, with such famous pieces as Van Gogh's "Self-Portrait with a Bandaged Ear," or Picasso's self-portrait. He, and other wealthy art collectors, endeavor to possess exquisite, one-of-a-kind pieces of art by the great artists and sculptors of history. Each one is carefully chosen by the collector, and they are willing to spend fortunes on them.
According to Paul, God is not all that different from one of these art collectors, choosing each of us far in advance, "before the foundation of the world" (v. 4) to be his own. And he was willing to pay the greatest price of all: "In him we have redemption through his blood" (v. 7).
Craig K.
John 1:(1-9) 10-18
Adults who were adopted as children sometimes spend time, money, and other resources to try and locate their biological families. Although they are a part of a new family, they have a yearning to know the people that would have been their support network if things had turned out differently. They want to know what their biological parents look like, how they act, and why they chose to give their child away. They may want to find out if they have biological brothers or sisters. Although they were born of this biological family, they do not know this family. It sometimes takes a long, hard journey of seeking and learning for adopted children to find the people they came from.
Leah T.
John 1:(1-9) 10-18
At the conclusion of the sermon, distribute to everyone in the congregation a wallet-size picture of Jesus. Emphasize that the picture is to remind us of the scriptural passage, "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us." Encourage the congregation to carry the picture with them.
The picture should be of nice enough quality that a parishioner would want to show it to a friend. This would create a good opportunity to share the message of the sermon and the meaning of Jesus in the parishioner's life. The picture must be of proper size to fit into a wallet or the pocket of a purse.
(We usually associate object lessons with children's sermons. Though, if used sparingly in the course of a year, objects can be used for the sermon. The purpose of the object is to emphasize the central point of the sermon message. The object is also something the congregants can take with them as a constant reminder of the sermon's message. The pastor will have to decide the best time to distribute the object during the sermon, keeping in mind that the process cannot become so lengthy or disruptive that the people lose their focus on the message. Also, in deciding to use an object, a pastor must plan ahead to secure the required number of objects for those who will be attending worship. Be sure to have more objects than are expected to be distributed. This will avoid someone feeling left out for not receiving one. Also, extra objects will be required because individuals who have missed the service will come to the church office and request the object that their friends received. The distributing of an object to a parishioner who was absent from worship is a good teaching tool, for it introduces him/her to the central message of the sermon that was missed. Also, the objects will have to be purchased or donated. The expense involved or the securing of donations must also be a part of the planning process.)
Ron L.
