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More Than Fair!

Preaching
Proper 20 | Ordinary Time 25 - A
Matthew 20:1-16
Richard L. Sheffield
Preaching the Parables
Series IV, Cycle A
I ran across a website a while back that said something that we all know, intuitively: "A roll of the dice is not fair." Literally!

According to the website, if you roll a die (that's the singular of dice) 10,000 times, the side with one dot will come up 1,654 times, and the side with six dots will come up 1,679 times. That's not a great difference, but it's enough of a difference to make the casino business immensely profitable. If you play long enough, the casino will win -- always. The odds are against you. It isn't fair.

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Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me... (v. 34)

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John E. Sumwalt
Frank Ramirez
Contents
“Breaking Jesus’ Heart” by John Sumwalt
“Wade In the Water” by Frank Ramirez


Breaking Jesus’ Heart
by John Sumwalt
Psalm 22:23-31

For he did not despise or abhor
    the affliction of the afflicted;
he did not hide his face from me,
    but heard when I cried to him. (Psalm 22:24)

The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott
"Have you seen it?" whispered the Barbie doll to her next door neighbour.

The next Barbie doll in line was instantly alert. There were five different Barbie dolls, who lived jumbled together in the toy cupboard but who were so jealous of each other that they rarely spoke. "Seen what?" asked the second Barbie doll, blue eyes darting all round the room.

"The Princess," replied the first Barbie with glee. "Caitlin's done her hair and it looks terrible!"

SermonStudio

Russell F. Anderson
Theme For The Day: The road to God's kingdom is the way of obedience, suffering and death, the way of the cross. Christ calls us to take up our cross and follow him.


BRIEF COMMENTARY ON THE LESSONS

Lesson 1: Genesis 17:1--7, 15--16 (C)
John W. Clarke
These verses from Mark's gospel are a call to commitment, a call to sacrifice, and a call to give up everything of earthly value in life. To say these are difficult verses is truly an understatement. It is pretty clear that the disciples are not at all ready for what Jesus is saying. They are not ready for Jesus to die and they certainly are not ready to die themselves.

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