SCRIPTURES                  

SCRIPTURES  (John scripture)

-The King James’ Version and Tyndale’s Version of the Bible use the word, “mansions,”  whereas the Revised Standard uses “living spaces.” It is a “living space,” not a dying space, where life is experienced at its fullest.

-It is easy to forget that the chapter and verse divisions of the Bible were not there until hundreds of years after the Bible was written. We divide chapter 14 from chapter 13, but in the original John moved directly from 13:38 to 14:1. Finally, we must remember that "believe" in the New Testament does not mean to hold a theological opinion but to trust one's life to someone or something. Roger Hahn

-Abraham was not circumcised, did not pray towards Mecca, did not know Jesus. Had no creed, script, priest or prophet.

-Righteous is right with God; right with self; and right with others. Gomes

"The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried." GKChesterton

-Given this understanding, "the place" Jesus is preparing is not a spot in a physical dwelling, but a "place" in God's family -- a "place" where one can be related to and remain with the Father as closely as Jesus, the Son, does.  If the "where" is the unity with the Father, the way to that place is Jesus. Stoffregen

-I am the way the truth and the life." What does this mean for you? To some of us, Jesus is an ideal. To others, a mentor, a teacher, a healer. To others, a friend, an exemplar for living. Some of us would use the classical language of faith -- savior, lord, master, Christ.  What is the way for you?  dejong

- If you're preaching about "Names" (because of the "I am" statements) here's a list of names for Jesus I've collected over the years:  Lindy

The good shepherd, ,  The parable of God, the Prince of Peace.,  “Mother hen”,The incarnate God., "The Christ" "You are the Messiah" Mark 8:29-30 (said by Peter),  I am the light of the world. John 8:12 ,Jesus is God's messianic messenger of Joy. Moltmann ,Way, vine, shepherd, "I am, Jr.",            Messiah, (the anointed one), Lamb, 2nd person of the trinity, Word of God, Son of God, Son of David, Manifestation of God., Victor, teacher, healer, savior, liberator.       Jesus is the husbandman. , "I am the bread of life John 6:35,48 ,Jesus is the image of the invisible God. Coloss. 1:15 ,Was a beggar and he came to show other beggars where the bread could be found, wine, Suffering servant, King,  "Agnus Dei" Lamb of God, Door, Immanuel, The Alpha and Omega, The Logos, The Bridegroom          "Jesus is a greater artist than all others." Van Gogh , "Jesus" is Greek, shortened from the Hebrew name Joshua Means: Yahweh saves., Jesus is: Wonderful counselor, the mighty God, The everlasting father, the Prince of peace. Handel , Jesus is the light in our darkness. M.Borg ,Jesus is our defense attorney, Jesus is "The Gardener" cares/ promotes new life, etc., Jesus is wisdom incarnate, Jesus is the gate.

-Reference to the many dwelling places of the Father’s house emphasizes his desire to be with us, to make his abode in our hearts if we allow him. "Place" is less a physical location than the sense of "room": God has room in his life for us; what sort of room do we make for him? Rev. Thomas Welbers.

-Idea of Christianity existed before Christianity Santayana

-When asked what the greatest enemy of Christianity was, Gandhi  replied, "Christians."

SERMON:       BIBLE: SIGN POST OR HITCHING POST?  Lindy  

- Bible is a human response to the sacred.  Is not absolute truth but it uses the language of the time in which it took place.  

- "Unless you know Jesus you can't be saved".....does that mean we can save ourselves? (by learning about or behaving for Jesus) Lindy

-The bible interprets me faster than I can interpret it.  Barbara Brown Taylor

-Looking at old landmarks with new perspectives.

- Is the Bible our paper Pope?

-"There is no surer way to misread any document than to read it literally" Learned Hand

-The Bible is as relevant as today and as modern as tomorrow     Book of Discipline, Methodist Church

-Bible is not like a cook book and we go to it looking for the entree and or ingredients  The ingredients are already within us. Lindy

-Bible BECAME scripture.  

-The bible is not history minus but poetry plus.’…Krister Stendahl, 1921-,

- The bible is a lens through which we see God. Jesus is a lens through which we see God. Gandhi was a lens through which we see God.......Martin Luther King was a lens.........Mother Theresa was a lens   .........Mandela........you and I  are lens through which we see God.  Lindy

-Finally, we must remember that "believe" in the New Testament does not mean to hold a theological opinion but to trust one's life to someone or something. Roger Hahn

-The Bible can only teach us about God. That's not a relationship in its best sense.

-Every time I poked at the Bible, the Bible poked me back.. BB Taylor

-The Bible is a sign post not a hitching post.  Richard Niebuhr

-Someone has given us the image of God as the great underground stream. All religious traditions are like wells down to the underground stream. There is one God, and many paths to God

-The Bible is not a book with answers in the back. The answers we chose tell us something about our faith.

- God is  still writing bible

-For holy spirit we substitute: Holy Bible, Holy Church, Holy Father!

- If you take the Bible seriously, you can’t take it all seriously.  W.S. Coffin

- No word of God is God’s last word.  W.S. Coffin

- The Bible can only point towards God. Towards something we already have.

-Preach the gospel at all times, and if necessary, use words.   Franciscan mantra

-Buddhist tradition of viewing the teaching of the Buddha as a “finger pointing to the moon.”

-Those who wish to probe the mysteries of the Bible will find fingerprints all over it. BBTaylor

-.

QUOTES

- One of the great acts of divine grace is this:  God gives us God's name.  Willimon

-There’s a place for you! One wants to break out into the lyric from West Side Story.  See illustration #1

-Mind like a parachute—works best when its open

-We do not think with our minds but with our prejudices. Tright Burrows,

-Let sleeping dogmas lie

- To be nobody but yourself in a world that is doing its best to make you everybody else is the hardest battle you can fight.  e.e. Cummings

-The human being is a mirror of God Veda

-I think you have a barrel problem, not an apple problem.

- Might be more accurate to say "The Bible contains the word of God"   instead, "The Bible is the word of God"

ILLUSTRATIONS  

1. There's a place for us, (West Side Story) Somewhere a place for us. Peace and quiet and open air Wait for us Somewhere.

  There's a time for us, Some day a time for us, Time together with time spare, Time to learn, time to care, Some day!
       Somewhere. We'll find a new way of living, We'll find a way of forgiving Somewhere . . .

There's a place for us, A time and place for us. Hold my hand and we're halfway there. Hold my hand and I'll take you there
Somehow, Some day, Somewhere!

2. Michelangelo  says the beautiful sculptures he created were already there,   inside the stones.  He simply removed the excess to reveal the precious essence.

3. A long time ago, I made the mistake of telling my father, "But dad, I'm only human".  He quickly responded..."No, you're not human enough"   I didn't know what he meant until years later when I became a minister and found out just how fully human Jesus was.  Lindy
4.Marcus Borg tells the story of an interfaith worship service where an unfortunate oversight led to giving the Buddhist reader very passage from John's gospel. After he read it the Buddhist said, “This scripture is absolutely true —Jesus is the way—the only way that one comes to know the divine.”

Borg explains that what the Buddhist meant by that, is that Jesus embodied the way, incarnated the way, exampled the way and that is true of every path that leads one to the divine. The way of that Jesus lived is the way of Taoism, Buddhism, Confucianism and every major path leading people to the sacred. He was not saying "believe in Jesus". He was saying believe in the way that Jesus is.

HUMOR

-preaching is often pre-aching!

-The best vitamin for any church is B1 (Be one)

-You got to be careful if you don't know where you're going, because you might not get there." Yogi Berra

CHILDREN    

-  Bring in building blocks, (the bigger the better) Place one  for the 'corner stone'.  As children are building their building, explain why the corner stone is so important.  (establishes location,  is foundation,  established pattern).  Talk about Jesus being the cornerstone.  Who are the blocks?  We are!  Jesus is our foundation,  our pattern to live by,  our direction, etc.  Homiletics

-

Show the children a pair of boxing gloves. Put one on yourself, and give the second glove to a child. When you both have your gloves on, ask the question, "If I were to hit you with my glove, what would you want to do with your glove? Hit back?" Most the children will probably agree. But then ask, "What if you hit first, and I decided not to hit back? Would you keep hitting? Or would you stop?" Tell the children what Jesus did: "When he was abused, he did not return abuse" (1 Peter 2:23). Point out that Jesus did not hit back, but instead he tried to love the people who hurt him -- he tried to show people that love is more powerful than hatred. Ask the children to think about what they can do when other children try to hurt them: Walk away, ignore insults, try to calm down, make friends. Let them know that when they practice peace instead of violence, they are doing the work of Jesus, who won his fights through love.  Homiletics

PRAYER PHRASES

..like in a seed your power often depends on inward things And like a seed, we Are filled with inward spiritual parts that want to grow. We give thanks that You have placed within each of us Your indwelling spirit..... that we are more than just earthen vessels, but that we are temples of your spirit. We give thanks that Your spirit speaks to us softly but insistently telling us when our lives are empty or meaningless. Guiding us in the ways of love, wisdom, joy and truth. We give thanks when we are a part of Your power and when Your power is a part of us and we pray that your Spirit can find growth in each of us. Lindy

--Loving God, you said, "Let not your hearts be troubled." This morning we have brought our troubled hearts to you for comfort, for healing, for encouragement. We know you love us, but sometimes we don't trust ourselves to you. This morning, we pray that we might feel your presence as near as our very breath and be willing to follow your leading, whatever that may lead us. May we open our hears and minds for the comfort you have especially for us and respond with gratitude. Amen.

 home