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Candlemakers Michael and Lynette Richards...

Illustration
Proper 7 | Ordinary Time 12 - A
Romans 6:1b-11
Candlemakers Michael and Lynette Richards of Iowa City, Iowa, give hope and help to homeless, disabled, and addicted people, usually recruited from homeless shelters. They employ some 46 workers who are either formerly homeless or suffer from physical or mental disabilities -- multiple sclerosis, retardation, or strokes -- that made them virtually unemployable before. No one at Candleworks, which grossed $800,000 in 1997, gets fired. For those who work there the company is a "shining light" making their future bright. But, anyone who shows up drunk or high is escorted to the door.
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* * *

The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott
Prayers usually include these concerns and may follow this sequence:

The Church of Christ

Creation, human society, the Sovereign and those in authority

The local community

Those who suffer

The communion of saints


These responses may be used:


Lord, in your mercy
Hear our prayer
Lord, hear us.
Lord, graciously hear us.

SermonStudio

Stephen P. McCutchan
With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
-- Isaiah 12:3

John W. Clarke
No reading of Luke is complete without coming to realize that Luke is concerned that the world understands that Jesus is the hope of the world and that any teaching that leads away from that fact is a false teaching. No matter what, no matter when, Jesus will be there to give us life.

Scott Suskovic
Whoever does not work should not eat!
-- 2 Thessalonians 3:10 (NLT)

Wow! Kind of takes your breath away, doesn't it? Not a lot of ambiguity in that rule. "You don't work, you don't eat." For a religion based on grace, it seems a bit unyielding.

Mark Ellingson
Freedom is such a lovely word, a compelling image. What is freedom? How would you define it? What does it mean to you? Webster's New World Dictionary defines freedom as being exempt from control or from arbitrary restrictions. Freedom is said to be the ability to choose or determine one's own actions.

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