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Wednesday, August 20, 2008
This
week's FREE sermon samples...
Why? Why? Why?
August 17, 2008 Isaiah 56:1,6-7; Psalms 67:2-3,5-6,8; Romans 11:13-15,
29-32; Matthew 15:21-28
“Woman, you have great faith. Let your wish be granted” (Matthew
15:28).
One Sunday morning, a group of third-graders listened
to their teacher’s lesson on the subject of miracles ...
For her scripture
text she had chosen a reading from the sixth chapter of John’s
Gospel. “That evening the disciples went down
to the shore of the lake and got into a boat to make for Capernaum
on the other side of the lake. It was getting dark by now and Jesus
had still not rejoined them. The wind was strong, and the sea was
getting rough. They had rowed three or four miles when they saw Jesus
walking on the lake and coming towards the boat. This frightened
them, but He said, ‘It is I. Do not be afraid’” (Jn.
6:16-20).
After reading the text, the teacher asked, “What
does this wonderful Bible story teach us?” One little boy quickly
answered, “The
story teaches us that Jesus couldn’t swim.”
What do
the wonderful Bible stories of Jesus’ miracles teach
us? Like the little boy in that Sunday class, we sometimes miss
the point. The Gospel writers faithfully recorded Jesus’ miracles
as signs that to believe in Him is to live in hope of genuine
Good News about where we are going with our lives -- our
eternal destiny. At the wedding feast in Cana, to which Jesus, His
mother and
His disciples were invited, the host has run out of wine. Whereupon,
Mary confidently and expectantly, comes to her Son and says, “They
have no wine” (Jn. 2:3). And to the waiters she says,
with the same quality of expectation, “Do whatever He
tells you” (Jn.
2:5). Whereupon, Jesus turns water into wine. The Gospel writer
tells us that this is the first of the miraculous signs given
by Jesus. “He
let His glory be seen and His disciples believed in Him” (Jn.
2:11).
We gather together to celebrate the Gospel truth
that the God who comes to us... Sign-up
to read the complete sermon Miracle of Love
Isaiah 56:1,6-7; Psalms 67:2-3,5-6,8; Romans
11:13-15, 29-32; Matthew 15:21-28
"O woman, great is your faith" (Matthew
15:28).
Doctor Gerald Jampolsky, a California psychiatrist,
has written several books that have been widely read. After he
had endured a number of
difficult and painful experiences, including a bout with alcoholism,
Gerald Jampolsky converted to Christianity and founded the "Center
Of Attitudinal Training," which provides services and spiritual
counseling to children and adults stricken with catastrophic illnesses.
Remarkably, no charge is made for these services, which often are
prolonged and extensive. There are now 35 such Centers in the United
States, England and Australia, largely financed by grants and donations
of various kinds. Recalling his turbulent journey to the Lord, Doctor
Jampolsky says,
I was raised in the Jewish Faith. When I was sixteen,
a friend was killed in an automobile accident and I gave up
all belief in God.
I was a militant atheist most of my life ... According to the
standards of the world, I had everything I wanted. I had money
and material
things. I was well-known and successful as a psychiatrist.
Yet, I was unhappy inside. I couldn't understand what that was
about,
but
I know now what Mother Teresa means when she says, "The biggest
problem facing the world today is spiritual deprivation" --
a feeling of emptiness, a feeling that we're unconnected, a feeling
that we're alone, a feeling that we're unlovable, a feeling of separation
from our fellow-man and God. I didn't know that was what I was suffering
from then ... I became an alcoholic to the extent that policemen
were stopping me. My whole practice was in jeopardy. My whole life
was in jeopardy. And yet, if anyone talked to me about God and spirituality,
I would have walked across the street. I wasn't interested. Then
someone shared with me a writing called "A Course In Miracles." To
placate that person I said I would read it, and then I had an amazing
experience. I heard a little inner-voice that said, "Physician
heal thyself. This is your way home." I experienced a
feeling of immediate oneness with God and everyone else in
the world, and
I knew that I was to live my life in the service of God, giving
rather than getting.
It was at that point that Doctor Jampolsky, in a
time of prayer, decided to start a Center for terminally ill persons "based
on the spiritual principles Jesus preached: that it is possible to
live a life where we are more concerned about another person than
we are about ourself; that it is possible that we can live a life
where the only reality is love; that it is possible to live a life
where there is only unconditional love, where one can resist the
temptation to judge other people; that it is possible to live each
moment as if forgiveness is the only key to happiness; that it is
possible to live a life where the way of experiencing God's Presence
is to help another person, knowing that, in so doing, we are joined
with God and with each other."
Doctor Jampolsky's "Center
Of Attitudinal Healing" started
with nine children who were facing life threatening illnesses and,
at once, these children became great teachers to this learned psychiatrist.
Among those nine youngsters was an eleven-year-old boy who knew he
was going to die soon. At one of the group meetings at which the
children spoke with great candor, another eleven-year-old said, "Hey
Greg, what does it feel like to know in three weeks you're going
to be dead?" The child answered very peacefully saying that
you simply put your body aside because "It was never real in
the first place. Then you go up to heaven, and you become one with
all. And sometimes you come back and you act as a guardian angel
to someone." Doctor Jampolsky says, "There is no question
in my mind that Greg continues to come back as a guardian angel for
me." On one occasion, the disciples came to Jesus and
asked Him, "Who
is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?" Jesus called over
a child and put him in the midst of them. Then He said, "Truly,
I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will
never enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Whoever humbles himself like
this child, he is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven" (Mt.
18:1-4).
Our eternal fulfillment is a matter of faith...
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