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Thomas Jefferson had political enemies...

Illustration
Thomas Jefferson had political enemies who thought he was a faithless, lost soul who would burn all the Bibles and ruin the institution of marriage. But he had friends in the religious community who celebrated his informality and simple life. Shortly after Jefferson's inauguration of March of 1801, Baptist minister John Leland began a huge project to honor the new President. He proposed that his congregation in Cheshire, Massachusetts, make him a gift of the world's biggest cheese. Everyone who owned a cow was to give all the milk production of their cattle on a single day.
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John Jamison
Object: This message includes a hand motion you will teach the children. To make the motion, just raise your two hands up about shoulder high, with your palms facing away from you. It looks like something you would to tell someone to stop moving. When you show the children the motion, ask them to do it with you to help them remember it better.

* * *

Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Excellent! This story is a short one, so let’s get started!

The Immediate Word

Katy Stenta
Mary Austin
Dean Feldmeyer
George Reed
Tom Willadsen
Nazish Naseem
For June 29, 2025:

Emphasis Preaching Journal

Frank Ramirez
Robert Frost is famous, if for nothing else, for his poem “The Road Not Taken.” In it he reflects:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Mark Ellingsen
Bill Thomas
Frank Ramirez
Bonnie Bates
2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14 and Psalm 77:1-2, 11-20
Martin Luther once wrote of God’s power. He said, “But the power of God cannot be so determined and measured, for it is uncircumscribed and immeasurable, beyond and above all that is or may be. On the other hand, it must be essentially present at all places, even in the tiniest tree leaf.”  Luther is contemplating the incredible, awesome glory and power of God.

StoryShare

Peter Andrew Smith
Kenny walked past the open church doors and paused at the corner to look back the unusual sight. He shrugged and headed into the neighborhood coffee shop. “Can I have a black coffee please?”

“Sure, hon.” Marge put a cup in front of him and filled it with coffee. “How are things today?”

“You know what they say- ‘same old, same old.’” Kenny pointed in the direction he had just walked. “I thought that church down the street was closed.”

The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott
I recently read a harrowing trilogy of books by Dave Pelzer. As a child, Dave Pelzer was extremely seriously abused by his mother, and the books are accounts of his experiences and his subsequent life.

When he was around twelve, Dave Pelzer was taken away from his mother and his family, out of his abusive situation and into care. He tells how he used to wake each day unable to believe that today he wouldn't get hurt, that he was free to be himself without fear of terrifying reprisals and bizarre punishment.

SermonStudio

Robert G. Beckstrand
I keep the LORD always before me;
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices,
my body also rests secure.
For you do not give me up to Sheol ...
You show me the path of life.
In your presence there is fullness of joy;
in your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
-- Psalm 16:8-10a, 11

Theme: Intimations of immortality

Outline
1-4 -- The marks of the believer: God is the source of his well-being.
Constance Berg
Roberta's mother looked like she was going to have a heart attack as she listened. Others present at the wedding rehearsal looked shocked at what the pastor was saying to the couple. "... I want you to be forewarned that I am going to talk about slavery and being obedient to another." Roberta was quiet. Serge looked worried. They had known Pastor Gallante their whole lives. What was he up to?
Schuyler Rhodes
It's one thing to talk the talk. Everyone knows people who are good at rhetoric. From coworkers to politicians to preachers and back again most people have heard so much talk that few are listening anymore. Indeed, the cultural landscape in which so many people are planted is one cacophonous wall of noise. Nothing but talk.
Stan Purdum
One of the most popular television shows ever was M*A*S*H, which ran for eleven seasons, from 1972-1983. If you didn't see it when it was originally on network television, you've probably seen it in reruns on cable stations. The show was about life in a mobile Army surgical hospital during the Korean War, and the reoccurring characters included the surgeons. One of those surgeons, named Charles Emerson Winchester III, was a pompous, upper-class doctor from Boston who had been drafted into the medical corps.
Stephen M. Crotts
Try this experiment. Turn your radio on. Now dial it to your favorite station. Next, turn the dial just a wee bit more, so that you're still getting the signal, but a lot of static is coming through also.

What's the point? Just as a radio dial must be committed 100 percent to the station to do its job, so must we commit ourselves to Jesus Christ. Yet many of us try to have it both ways. We want to tune into God, yet we also want the world. We want to walk in truth, yet we do not want to discourage temptation entirely. So we get both the music and static.

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