EVANGLISMJUMPSTARTS

FOR

PREACHING

OUTREACH INITIATIVE

J A N U A R Y - M A R C H 2 0 1 4

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Dear Fellow Undershepherds of the Savior:

Welcome to the second installment of “Evangelism Jumpstarts For Your Preaching.” It is my hope that you were able to make use of the materials which came in our first booklet. If you missed the material, give us a call at LHM and the U.S Ministries Department will be glad to help.

As we said a few months ago, this is a work in progress. In this segment, which covers the months of January thru March of 2014, you will find some changes have been made. First among those improvements is our Sermon Starters have become more developed. Now you should look at the material and see a rough direction on how the message might be managed.

You will also discover that many of the sermons in this segment are centered on the Gospel. I believe this is to be expected since we are in the historical time of the year which places great emphasis on, and follows, the Savior’s life. As we get into the Pentecost season there will be an increased concentration on the Epistles and the Old Testament lessons. Wherever possible I have shared a sermon starter on all three lessons.

One comment I have heard from people who have been participating in the Evangelism Emphasis messages is they believe they have a better idea than has been presented or they think they might take an idea and run with it in a different direction. All of us at LHM hope that this is the case.

Without knowing your parish and people it is impossible for us at Lutheran Hour to do more than paint our strokes broadly and with a very large brush. It falls to you, the Pastor, to improve on our suggestions and make them applicable for the needs and situation in which the Lord has placed you.

Finally, we do thank you for allowing us into your thought process. May God bless the work you do to share the Savior with those the Lord brings near you and your parish.

In Christ I remain, His servant and yours,

Kenneth R. Klaus, Speaker Emeritus, The Lutheran HourEphesians 3:7-9

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Ephiphany - Page 4

2 Sun/Epiphany - Page 4

3 Sun/Epiphany - Page 12

4 Sun/Epiphany - Page 16

Ash Wednesday - Page 21

4 Sun/Lent - Page 25

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Ca l e n d a r dat e : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 January, 2014Ch u r C h dat e : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Second Sunday after Christmasth e te x t s : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Kings 3:4-15; Ephesians 1:3-14; Luke 2:40-52

Ca l e n d a r dat e : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 January, 2014 Ch u r C h dat e : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Feast of Epiphanyth e te x t s : . . . . . . . . . . . . Isaiah 60:1-6; Ephesians 3:1-12; Matthew 2:1-12

su m m a ryThe novice preacher who has given only a cursory examination of Matthew’s story of the Magi will want to take the Evangelist to task for omitting too many details. They want to know why he doesn’t supply their number, their names, their place of origin, the time it took for them to make the trip, and the address of their final destination in Bethlehem. In contrast to that attitude is one which gives thanks that the Holy Spirit, at the very beginning of the Savior’s earthly narrative, decided to provide preachers with a wonderful and open-ended story of Evangelism. Taking advantage of these non-specifics our Sermon Starters go different paths. Still, all center on the unexpected ways the Lord reaches out to the lost and what part we might play in helping or hurting the outreach process.

th e te x t ( s )Fo r eva n g e l i s m em p h a s i sIsaiah 60:1-6 ESV [1] Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. [2] For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. [3] And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. [4] Lift up your eyes all around, and see; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried on the hip. [5] Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and exult, because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you. [6] A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall bring good news, the praises of the LORD.

Ephesians 3:1-12 ESV [1] For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles-- [2] assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, [3] how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. [4] When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, [5] which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. [6] This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. [7] Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of his power. [8] To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, [9] and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, [10] so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. [11] This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, [12] in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.

Matthew 2:1-12 ESV [1] Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, [2] saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” [3] When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; [4] and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. [5] They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: [6] “’And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’” [7] Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. [8] And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” [9] After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. [10] When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. [11] And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. [12] And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

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se r m o n sta r t e r s - ex p l a n at i o n a n d ex p l o r at i o n1. I Can Take It From HereSo, just how is it the Magi ended up in Herod’s court? Scripture tells us that the astrologers began their search for the Savior by following the star. After their visit to Herod’s court, and their redirection to Bethlehem, the star leads them once again. (vs. 9-10) This would seem to imply that the star had, for a while, disappeared from view. Is it not possible that the Magi, as they neared Jerusalem, said to themselves, “We can take it from here”? If so, they are representative of the many, many folks who think they can, on their own, find answers to their spiritual needs. Tragically, like the Wise Men, such self-dependent searching will always take them to the wrong place. Which is why we, like the scribes in Matthew’s account, use the Scriptures to direct them to the Savior who fulfills Scripture’s prophecies.

2. The King’s CourtMatthew tells the tale of two kings and their two courts. The first king has been called “Great” by historians. His accomplishments were many: he was rich; he was famous; he was a builder, a planner, a schemer, a man who could politically maneuver with the best. At this king’s gilded court you would find an entourage of the best minds that money could buy. Then there is the court of the second King, a Baby. This King lives in a house and a humble home at that. This King has no retainers to answer His needs. Only His loving mother and father are there to take care of Him. Now since you know the story of these two kings you will supply the right answer to the question, “Which of these kings is worthy of your loyalty and love?” But suppose you had been one of the Magi; suppose you were someone who doesn’t know the story? What would be your answer then? Right now there are those all around us who have made the wrong choice. It is our job to enlighten them, to tell them the story of the King who was born poor so we might be rich; who was born to die so we might live.

3. A Baby? Big Deal!A couple of times a year Barbara Walters goes on TV with a special. On that special she interviews famous people who are in the news… people about whom the general public wants to know more. If Barbara, and TV, had been around a few thousand years ago, King Herod would have been featured on one of her specials. Herod’s interview would have had him pointing with pride to his many architectural achievements and shown him trying to explain why he had murdered his sons, a high priest, and his favorite wife. The program would have done well in the ratings. And the story of a Baby who had a manger for a crib… that would have been a human-interest story at the end of the six-o’clock news.

And the Infant? To His story most folks would respond: “A Baby? Big deal!” Today, 2,000 years after Herod and the Baby, the world still remains interested in the lifestyles of the rich and famous. There is only one problem with that: the rich and famous pass away and are forgotten. Herod’s temple is gone, his harbor at Tiberias suitable only for underwater excavation. Indeed, if it were not for his infamous connection with the Baby born in Bethlehem only historians would recall his name. In contrast, the story of the Baby, grown into a Man, has become more important with the passing of years. Indeed, the Savior’s story is all important for every man, woman, and child. That is because His story is the only one which provides forgiveness and salvation. Knowing the story of Herod and the Baby, our sermon on evangelism emphasis will simply state the day is coming when the rich and famous will be no more and only Jesus will be worthy of worship, adoration, and gifts of thanks.

i l l u s t r at i o n sKing Herod is not the only child-killing king in history. In 1483, the uncle of England’s young prince, Edward V, and his little brother, locked them in the Tower of London. The uncle declared himself king and, immediately following his coronation, the little princes disappeared. The uncle later declared them to be assumed dead. He knew they were. 300 years later, in 1795, after the French Revolution had successfully beheaded King Louis XVI and his queen, Marie Antoinette, they were left with a decision: “what to do with the royal son?” The decision was made to keep the boy locked away. The ten-year-old stayed in prison until cruel treatment by his jailer, Antoine Simon, hastened his death. 130 years after the death of France’s prince, on a warm August night in 1918, Russia’s abdicated Tsar, Nicholas II, was taken into the basement of the place where he had been imprisoned, and shot. Assassinated with him were his wife, his daughters, their loyal servants, and Nikolei, the 13-year-old son of the Tsar. Are these all stories of big sissies?

Years ago I came across a story about a Babylonian Wise Man who was talking to his grandson. The old man told about the many wonderful things he had seen in the course of his long life. Then he shared, “A long, long time ago, when I was just a child, about your age, I was asked by some senior Wise Men if I wanted to go with them in following a star. It was a brilliant star, a new star a star which seemed to move, with purpose, across the heavens.” They said it was, ‘a great, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.’ Having said that, the man stopped, his mind lost in the mist of days long past. Waiting a length of time which seemed extraordinarily long to a young boy, the grandson finally interrupted grandpa’s reveries and asked, “But, grandfather that can’t be all. What did you see when you followed the star?” The old Wise Man shook his head and replied, “I never saw anything, because I never went. Some said they saw the Son of God. Others said they saw nothing at all. I’ve never been sure, because I never went to see.”

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The simple shepherds heard the voice of an angel and found their Lamb; the wise men saw the light of a star and found their Wisdom. Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen (1895-1979)

In the early days of the nineteenth century, men were following with bated breath, the march of Napoleon and waiting with feverish impatience for the latest news of the wars. And all the while, in their own homes, babies were being born. Just think of some of those babies. In one year, lying midway between Trafalgar and Waterloo, there stole into the world a host of well-known men! During that year, 1809, Mr. Gladstone was born at Liverpool; Alfred Tennyson drew his first breath at the Somersby rectory; and Oliver Wendell Holmes made his initial appearance in Massachusetts. On the very self-same day of that self-same year, Abraham Lincoln made his debut in Old Kentucky. Music was enriched by the advent of Frederick Chopin at Warsaw and Felix Mendelssohn at Hamburg. But, nobody thought of babies. Everybody was thinking of battles. Yet, viewing that age in the truer perspective which the years enable us to command, we may well ask ourselves which of the battles of 1809 mattered more than the babies of 1809. When a wrong wants righting, or a work wants doing, or a truth wants preaching, or a continent wants opening, God sends a baby into the world to do it. This is why, long, long ago, a Babe was born at Bethlehem. It was at a wayside inn that God began making the world all over again. It was at a humble house that the first Gentiles came and worshipped. They had their priorities right.

When in His mercy God leads a soul in the higher path of sanctification, He begins by stripping it of all self-confidence, and to this end He allows our own schemes to fail, our judgment to mislead us. We grope and totter and make countless mistakes until we learn wholly to mistrust ourselves and to put all our confidence in Him. Jean Nicolas Grou (1731-1803)

Each Christmas our church presents a concert featuring a live nativity scene. My five year-old nephew was up in the balcony, not paying much attention. As the Wise Men began marching down the center aisle toward the manger, my brother leaned over and whispered to my nephew, “Curtis, look! You’re missing it! Here comes the king!” Curtis jumped up, looked over the balcony and asked, “That’s Elvis?”

A shepherd notches the ear of a lamb born to his flock and has rightful ownership. That lamb deliberately walks away. The shepherd searches near and far to get that lamb back. A long time later, he finds not a baby lamb but a grown sheep for sale at an animal auction. The shepherd recognizes his mark on that sheep’s ear. He goes to the auctioneer and says, “I can see the mark. That sheep is mine.” The auctioneer says, “Listen, you must bid and pay just like anybody else.” The shepherd bids and pays an outrageous price, far above any reasonable market value in order to get his lamb. He now has a double right to own this sheep: from birth, from redemption. God has a right to own us as Creator and because He has paid the blood of His own Son--an outrageous price far above our market value--in order to redeem us back again.

Prince Philip is known everywhere as the handsome husband of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain. He was born a Greek prince, though there is no Greek blood in his veins. He is of German and Danish ancestry. As a baby, he was smuggled out of Greece in a crate made from an orange box. A crate hardly befits a prince, and a manger hardly befits the infant King of Kings! -- Robert C. Shannon, 1000 Windows, (Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Publishing Company, 1997).

How wonderful that God would come to earth as a baby! God lay a baby on the doorstep of the world. He was born, not in a palace, but in a cattle barn; not on a famed Appian Way, but in an obscure hamlet. A feeding trough was His cradle and beast of the field and lowly shepherds were His attendants. He was born, not of royalty, but of humble and poor parents. Yet an angelic chorus heralded His birth. A star led Wise Men on a long pilgrimage to the very place where He was. For the birth of that Baby was the colossal event of the ages. No army that ever marched, no battle ever fought, no other event of history begins to match that moment for its impact on the world and its importance for eternity. That is the Baby whose birth we remember; that is the Baby whose story we share.

Old Mr. and Mrs. Cooper invited the writer to their home for Christmas dinner at Winona Lake, Indiana. Underneath their Christmas tree and prominently displayed was red cardboard with some clippings of the three Wise Men and “Merry Christmas” pasted on it. I was told that the worn cardboard was 45 years old and had been placed under the tree every CHRISTMAS. The story: The Cooper’s only son had made that Christmas card in school for his Daddy. And on his way home, some bad boys were going to tear it up. Although not used to fighting, he took off his coat and fought them off for this gift to his Dad. The Coopers never knew until a neighbor who saw it told them. And so, in deep appreciation as only parents can know, that worn-out card (with scotch tape on various places) had been set in front of all other presents for nearly half-a-century underneath their Christmas tree.

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Christmas is costly: It cost Mary and Joseph the comforts of home during a long period of exile in Egypt to protect the little Babe.

It cost mothers in and around Bethlehem the massacre of their babies by the cruel order of Herod.

It cost the shepherds the complacency of their shepherds’ life, with the call to the manger and to tell the good news.

It cost the Wise Men a long journey and expensive gifts and changed lives.

It cost the early apostles and the early church persecution and sometimes death.

It cost missionaries of Christ untold suffering and privation to spread the good news.

It cost Christian martyrs in all ages their lives for Christ’s sake.

More than all this, it cost God the Father His own Son-He sent Him to the earth to save men.

It cost Jesus a life of sacrifice and service, a death cruel and unmatched in history.

Let me tell you about three small boys in a Christmas play at their school. They represented the three Wise Men and they were to give their gifts to baby Jesus. The one boy stepped forward, held out his hands and said, “Gold.” When he stepped back, the second boy stepped forward and said, “Myrrh.” Then the third boy stepped forward, held out his hands and said, “Frank sent this.”

What do you think of Richard Johnson? What’s your estimation of the man? Was he good or bad; was he incompetent or a genius? What’s your opinion? And, as long as we’re on the subject: what do you think of George Dallas, or Cabell Breckinridge, and Schuyler Colfax? I’m really curious about how you would rank William Wheeler, Levi Morton, Charles Fairbanks, Alben Barkley, James Sherman, Henry Wilson, Garret Hobart, and Elbridge Gerry. Those of you who are a master of trivia or hail from the hometown of one of these men might have an opinion. Still, I’m reasonably sure that most folks here are scratching their heads and saying, “Who? Never heard of any of them.” Now if all those names are nothing more than names to you, I’m not entirely surprised. I hadn’t heard of most of them, either. No, I have to be honest, even though my honesty is embarrassing; I hadn’t heard of any of them. But I should have. All of those men were Vice Presidents of the United States. All of these men were a heartbeat away from the Presidency; all of them were constitutionally next in line to be America’s leader. In their day, each of these men were loved and hated; they were respected and reviled; they were revered and ridiculed. When they were out campaigning, kissing babies and pressing the flesh, people were proud to have met them; they bragged to their friends and relatives, “I shook the hand of Vice President – and then they filled in the name of the very important man that you and I have forgotten.

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Ca l e n d a r dat e : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 January, 2014 Ch u r C h dat e : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . First Sunday after the Epiphanyth e te x t s : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Isaiah 42:1-9; Romans 6:1-11; Matthew 3:13-17 Ca l e n d a r dat e : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 January, 2014 Ch u r C h dat e : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Second Sunday after the Epiphanyth e te x t s : . . . . . . . . . . . . Isaiah 49:1-7; 1 Corinthians 1:1-9; John 1:29-42a

su m m a ry By inspiration Isaiah prophesies about how the Savior is to be a Light to the nations and the Means by which God’s plan of salvation would reach to the ends of the earth. Following the Savior’s life of sacrifice the Apostle Paul speaks of how the Lord has called and sanctified the church at Corinth along with the redeemed saints who have come from all over. The question is, “How does an individual get moved from the promise to the fulfillment.” The answer to that question is found in our Gospel lesson where Jesus invites people to “come and see.” When it comes to outreach, the church often deals with two major problems: 1. we fail to invite people to come and see the wonderful things the Savior has done and 2. those who are invited, without ever REALLY looking at the Savior, think they know all which can be known. Our Sermon Starters speak to those problems.

th e te x t ( s ) Fo r eva n g e l i s m em p h a s i s Isaiah 49:1-7 ESV [1] Listen to me, O coastlands, and give attention, you peoples from afar. The LORD called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name. [2] He made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow; in his quiver he hid me away. [3] And he said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” [4] But I said, “I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my right is with the LORD, and my recompense with my God.” [5] And now the LORD says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him; and that Israel might be gathered to him-- for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD, and my God has become my strength-- [6] he says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” [7] Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation, the servant of rulers: “Kings shall see and arise; princes, and they shall prostrate themselves; because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

1 Cor. 1:1-9 (ESV) - 1 Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes,2 To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:3  Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 4 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus,5 that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge—6 even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you—7 so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ,8  who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.9  God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

John 1:29-42 ESV [29] The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! [30] This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ [31] I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” [32] And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. [33] I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ [34] And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.” [35] The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, [36] and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” [37] The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. [38]

Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” [39] He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. [40] One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. [41] He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). [42] He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).

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se r m o n sta r t e r s - ex p l a n at i o n a n d ex p l o r at i o n1. you gotta tellJohn 1, the chapter upon which this evangelism emphasis is based, begins with one believer: John, the Baptizer. Even though he knew Jesus would increase and he would decrease, John told his disciples: “There goes the Messiah.” The next day one of those disciples, Andrew, shared Jesus with his brother Peter. In 24 hours the number of the Savior’s followers quadrupled in size. It was a record which would stand until Pentecost, some 33 years later. Of course that was then and this is now. Today denominations become euphoric if their percentage of membership loss decreases. There are many reasons given for that but one has to be many of today’s believers see the Savior as being “Old News” and not “Good News.” Old news can be put on the shelf, but good news has to be shared. Consider, what would you do if you found a gas station selling super-unleaded for $1.00 a gallon? What would you do if you came across an airline selling tickets to Hawaii for $2.00? We would share the good news of such savings. If that is true for gasoline and travel, how much more so Jesus who saves our souls? The truth is Jesus will always be Good News… and Good News has to be shared.

2. CheCk it outDo you believe in Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, mermaids, leprechauns, alien abductions, and fairies? Even though there are people who swear they have encountered such critters, most of us remain skeptical. Why? We haven’t seen these things ourselves. In a world where computers create imaginary worlds, most of us are doubters. Before we are willing to believe the “unbelievable” we need to “check it out” for ourselves. Today people are told Jesus passed Himself off as the Savior because people back then were naïve and easily fooled. That’s not true. Consider Thomas who doubted the resurrection, the Pharisees who questioned the Savior’s claims; Pilate who assumed Jesus had to be guilty of something. The truth is, people have always been skeptical. Which is why the witnessing church will follow Jesus’ example and say: “Check it out.” When the Savior encountered John’s curious disciples, when the Baptizer wanted to know if Jesus was “the One,” the answer was always the same: “Check Me out.” Today we invite unbelievers to see for themselves how Jesus fulfilled the prophecies; how He did the work only God’s Son could do; how He defeated death. When they stop believing what others say and check it out, like Thomas they will say, “My Lord and my God.”

3. don’t hang upAll of us know there are good phone calls and there are bad phone calls. When somebody calls at supper time and says, “Would you like to have us stop and give you an estimate on weed control, carpet replacement, window washing, life insurance, or dog walking,” you can probably hang up. On the other hand, when the call is: “Your child has been found and is OK;” or “Your biopsy says, “No cancer;” or “The adoption has gone through and next week you will have a baby;” you don’t want to hang up. In the epistle lesson Paul speaks about the call he received and the one the Lord gave the Christians in Corinth. In the Gospel lesson the Baptizer tells how he identified the Savior because of the Holy Spirit’s call and later on we’re told how Jesus called two disciples.

Every true believer is saved because the Lord has called him or her. Usually that call has been made through the work of another individual who shared the Savior’s story. If you’re preaching this message, you might encourage the worshippers to remember and be thankful for their “caller.” Then continue by asking, “But who will the Lord use to call the folks who are not in church today?” John the Baptist and Paul the Apostle are long since dead. Who will take their place? If those out there are to be called, it will be because someone special asks them. Conclude with: “Is there someone you can call on behalf of Jesus who won’t hang up?”

i l l u s t r at i o n sA man named Floyd Collins, in 1925, was exploring near Mammoth Cave in Kentucky and got stuck. He was fifty-five feet from the surface and he got stuck. Icy water was dripping in his face. The rescuers came in and diverted the water, and they talked with him, they calmed him down, but they couldn’t get him out. He began to come unglued there, stuck in that cave. He was able to see the light, able to see where he wanted to be, hearing voices, getting food, but he was stuck and he couldn’t get out. So he slowly began to have raving lunacies about everything from chicken sandwiches to angels in white chariots. The newspapers got in on it, and ten thousand people came to see him. They sold hot dogs and sandwiches. It was a side show. Seventeen days later Floyd Collins died in that hole, able to see where he wanted to be and not able to get there. A terrible story? Absolutely. But how much worse would it be if someone had the knowledge to free Floyd and chose to remain silent? -- Roger Thompson, “The Good News Is: The Bad News Is Wrong,” Preaching Today, Tape No. 55.

“From ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggedy beasties And things that go bump in the night, Good Lord, deliver us!” When European explorers set out across the sea, that might well have been their prayer. With only the most rudimentary of navigational tools and maps based on guesswork rather than fact, the unknown was a constant terror. Would they sail to the end of the earth and fall off into a bottomless abyss; who could tell? Would they encounter strange places inhabited by ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggedy beasties, they could only guess. When these explorers returned, map makers poured over their ships logs and began to fill in the great unknowns across the sea. Eventually major rivers, islands, navigable ports were shown. But there were still the great expanses of ocean that had not been seen. There were still locations where all that was known was the unknown. In such places the map makers, the cartographers, with trembling hands wrote: “Here there may be dragons.” They weren’t sure, so they imagined the worst. “From ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggedy beasties And things that go bump in the night, Good Lord, deliver us!”

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Of course, they were being silly. Today, a top-of-the-line car will have a GPS, a global-positioning-system. Using satellites, some hundreds of miles above the earth, even the most directionless among us can find out where we are, and when we are off route. Our technological age has informed us, in no uncertain terms, that there are no ghoulies or ghosties or long-leggedy beasties. The thing that goes ‘bump in the night’ is the air-conditioner turning on, or the newspaper boy bouncing the five-pound Sunday edition off our front door. No, ours is an age where the last of the dragons have been slain. Or have they? No GPS is going to help with directions when you encounter death and your own mortality. What is your dragon? This past year we have seen the stock market bounce around like a ping-pong ball. Are you worried what may happen in the future? Then, write, “Here there may be dragons” on that part of your life. Have you been searching, without success, for a job? “Here there may be dragons.” Is the company at which you work doing poorly? Has the person at the next cubicle or at the next machine on the line been let go? Is there talk of your company moving to Mexico? Are you worried about whether you will have a position at the end of this year? You can write, “Here there may be dragons.” Have you heard the doctor say the words: “Cancer,” “AIDS,” “congestive heart failure,” “terminal,” or “it doesn’t look good”? Are you waiting for the results of a life-changing test? Are you making decisions about a major method of treatment? Are you worried about the health of an infant, the development of a child? Do you spend countless hours wondering where you will send your child to school? What manner of discipline you should use? These unknowns in your life say, “Here there are my dragons.” Has your teenage son or daughter been seen with friends who are less than friendly? Has your home life been rocked by arguments, fights, and cruel comments? Has the joy of marriage become a drudge? Are you not sure whether mom or dad can continue to live in their own home? Whatever it may be, the unknown says, “Here, there are your dragons.” Every generation, every individual has their share of dragons and Jesus is the great dragon-slayer whom they need.

But we are not talking about matches and cups. When we ask, ‘What are you worth,’ we are talking about people, and souls, and eternity. Some years ago, Harold, J. Morowitz, a leading chemist, received a birthday card from his daughter. That card read, “According to biochemists the materials of your body are worth only 98 cents!” I remember my high school science teacher saying just that. That card got Morowitz to thinking: ‘Is that what he and everybody else was really worth?’ He got out his chemical catalog and began looking up the prices of all the chemicals which make up a body. What was he worth? The answer was surprising. At the time, hemoglobin was selling for $285 a gram; insulin was marketed at $47.50 a gram; trypsin, $36 a gram; bilirubin, the bile pigment, could be had for $12 a gram. Then there was human DNA at $76 a gram. Collagen was a bargain at $15 a gram; as was human albumin for $3.00 a gram. The price went climbing with less common items like acetate kinase, at $8,860 a gram and alkaline phosphatase, $225 a gram. But the real shocker came when he got to a follicle-stimulating hormone which was a steal at $8 million a gram, and prolactin, the hormone that stimulates milk production for mothers, which was dear at $17.5 million a gram. Taking all these costs, and calculating the percentages of each chemical in the human body, Morowitz concluded the average human body, should cost around $245.54 a gram. Thus, a 168-pound man, weighing in at 79,364 grams, and subtracting the 68% water factor, was worth $ 6,000,015.44! Silly?

This story is more of a hoax than a joke. But it is funny. The sales manager and the disk jockey of a radio station KKRQ-FM, Iowa City, Iowa, decided to pull a trick on their listeners. They put out a fake commercial that the telephone company was planning to blow soot and dust out of the line, and that people should bag the lines or cover them with cloth of some kind to keep the dirt from blowing around their homes and offices. The station received several calls. Convenience stores reported a run on plastic bags to cover phones. Wives called husbands at their offices. Husbands called wives at their homes. Northwestern Bell had to put out a disclaimer that it was a hoax.

What’s really important? Do you remember 9/11? Of course. Do you remember when grieving families released the last messages which the victims of that tragedy left on voice mail, answering machines, and with emergency operators? They contained a common theme—a desire to make sure their spouse knew they were loved. The messages were a heartbreaking glimpse into the reality of terror, impending death, and grief. Yet they also were a wonderful testimony of what was most important in those people’s lives. In the end, everything faded into the background and many people used their last moments to communicate their love. It’s easy to get caught up in the ebb and flow of daily life and miss the big picture. Days can pass without a meaningful conversation. Small frictions can be blown out of proportion. Love once communicated with great frequency can go unstated… (The end) could happen to any of us. No one is guaranteed tomorrow and every careless word has a chance of being our last word. We can’t prevent that reality, but we can live in such a way that the important things never go unsaid or the important things never go undone…We would more quickly, and more often, say: I love you; I’m sorry. Please forgive me; I need help... and might I add the invitation which Christians should make to those around them: I think you should know Jesus as your Savior. Based on September 11, 2013 article by Kevin A. Thompson. Website: http://www.kevinathompson.com/911-reminds-us-marriage/

Only in recent years have the Masai of Kenya been evangelized. Among them is a man named Kimiti Ole Rerente. Though he had never been to school, he memorized great portions of Scripture. With that knowledge he preached in villages all around. He taught children. He won his family to Christ. He assisted missionaries who served. He found the Good News of Christ too good to keep to himself. Oh, one other thing you should know about him. He was blind. He had every reason to stay put, but he couldn’t. -- Robert C. Shannon, 1000 Windows, (Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Publishing Company, 1997).

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Christianity is the only world religion that is evangelical in the sense of sharing good news with others. Islam converts by force; Buddhism, without the benefit of a theology; Hinduism doesn’t even try. Mortimer Jerome Adler (1902- )

TOO IMPORTANT NOT TO SHARE Because of the intense competition in the automobile industry, carmakers try to keep their design breakthroughs secret. A company that can offer a new and desirable feature on its cars gains a coveted selling edge in a tough market. That’s why it was surprising when a Mercedes-Benz ad showed one of their cars being crashed into a brick wall during a safety test. The way it withstood the impact revealed why its energy-absorbing construction has saved lives. Even though Mercedes-Benz holds the patent on the safety design, competitors are free to use it because the company does not enforce its claim. When asked why, the automaker’s spokesman replied, “Because SOME THINGS IN LIFE ARE TOO IMPORTANT NOT TO SHARE.” We possess information as Christians which can have a much greater impact on humankind than any new auto safety technique. We know the good news of Jesus Christ for the redemption of sinners! This message, which has been entrusted to us, is too important to keep secret from those who are lost and perishing without Him.

Years ago school children were brought together and given shots. The students were told the shot contained a medicine which prevented polio. Some students sort of understood that this medicine was a good thing. All the mothers understood. Do you know, not a single parent stopped their child from getting the medicine. Not a single mother protested. Nobody said, “Hold on a minute. This medicine might be a good thing, but I’m not going to give it to my child unless you can give it a different way.” That attitude would have been so wrong. It would have been just as wrong for Salk and his team to keep the medicine a secret. Polio was too terrible. The medicine was so simple. The cost to us was so low. Of course they had to share it, and we had to take it. Similarly, Jesus is the medicine all our friends, family, and neighbors need. He is the medicine who can save them from sin, Satan, and death. It is unthinkable we would hold the cure which will make and keep them healthy for eternity.

True story: During World War One, a Salvation Army worker was working at a Kansas City railroad station. She tried to provide whatever assistance she could to the traveling service men. One young soldier, a wise guy, thought he would have a little bit of fun at her expense. He strolled up to her and asked, “Will you pray for me?” She knew that he, and his buddies, were just waiting to make fun of what she was going to say. That didn’t stop her. Calmly she placed her hands on the young man’s head. Then she said a prayer that could be heard at quite a distance. She said, “Lord, make this young man’s heart as soft as his head.”

In the early years of the telephone there were all kinds of applications, patents, and lawsuits about who owned the rights to what. It got so bad that Alexander Bell and his partners tried to sell the patent rights to Western Union, the giant telegraph company, in late 1876 for $100,000. But Western Union refused, because at the time they thought the telephone would never amount to anything. In short, Western Union thought they were in the telegraph business. They forgot they were in the communications business. They thought to themselves: why would anyone want a telephone? They could already communicate long-distance through the telegraph, and early phones had poor transmission quality and were limited in range. Western Union’s mind changed within a year as they began to sense the impending importance of the phone, but at that point the rights were no longer offered. Bell and his partners had by then set up the Bell Telephone Company and business was starting to look quite good indeed. So, what business are we in… and will we miss the opportunities to share the Savior which are placed before us?

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Ca l e n d a r dat e : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 January, 2014 Ch u r C h dat e : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Third Sunday after the Epiphanyth e te x t s : . . . . . . . . Isaiah 9:1-4; 1 Corinthians 1:10-18; Matthew 4:12-25

su m m a ryLooking to the future, Isaiah rightly said that when the Messiah came, the people who had been walking in the darkness would see a great light. Our Gospel lesson points out that there were many people who saw the light of the Savior and were impressed by His words and miracles. Unfortunately, seeing the great Light doesn’t mean people will stay in the Light or love it. Indeed, John 6:66 reports that many of those who saw the Light and followed Jesus ended up returning to the darkness. Although we may not understand why anybody would do such a thing, the preacher must admit the same thing is happening today as millions of people find both the Christ and the cross to be folly. Which is why our Sermon Starters encourage God’s people to cast their nets into the dark waters of the world, to reflect the light of the Living Lord into the blackness of the world’s lost souls.

th e te x t ( s ) Fo r eva n g e l i s m em p h a s i s Isaiah 9:1-4 ESV [1] But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulon and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. [2] The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. [3] You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil. [4] For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian.

1 Corinthians 1:10-18 ESV [10] I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. [11] For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. [12] What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” [13] Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? [14] I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, [15] so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. [16] (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) [17] For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. [18] For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

tMatthew 4:12-25 ESV [12] Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. [13] And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulon and Naphtali, [14] so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: [15] “The land of Zebulon and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles-- [16]

the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.” [17] From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” [18] While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. [19] And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” [20] Immediately they left their nets and followed him. [21] And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. [22] Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. [23] And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. [24] So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them. [25] And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.

se r m o n sta r t e r s - ex p l a n at i o n a n d ex p l o r at i o n1. Basements, attiCs, and under the Bed - old testament lessonYou know where the monsters live, don’t you? They are hiding under our beds; they are in our basements, the attics, and our closets. No, they’re not there during the day. I know, because I’ve looked. But when it’s dark… that’s when the monsters patiently wait for those who walk in the darkness. They wait, and then they pounce. That’s the way it is when we’re young. And it doesn’t make any difference if our parents turn on the lights and try to show us differently. We know better. Bad things lurk in the unknown, unseeable darkness. As we grow older, we learn there are no monsters in those locations… but that doesn’t mean there are no monsters. No matter what age we are, there are monsters in the darkness. Looking into the future we worry, “Will we have enough money?” “Will we have a job?” “Will we be alone?” “Will we die in a particularly unsavory way?” All of us know what it feels like to walk in the darkness. Thankfully those who have been redeemed by the Savior should be different. We have the great Light… the Light which dispels the darkness and sends the monsters into hiding.

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But what about the others… the ones who don’t know the Savior? Don’t be surprised if I tell you that they are still in the darkness. Yes, they may be rich, famous, and seem to have it all together. But when the lights are off and they are left with their own thoughts; when events happen over which they have no control, then the honest ones admit they are afraid. It is precisely for such people and at such times when Christians can share the Savior to great effect. We can tell how the Light which has come from knowing nothing can separate us from God’s love has dispelled our darkness.

2. Cringing Cops - epistle lessonThis evangelism emphasis sermon speaks to how church discord is destructive and dangerous. Such a message might begin with something like: The other day I read about things which make cops cringe. The first thing on the list was children who are not in their car seats. After that there were things like: officers who give the profession a bad name; parents who tell their children, “The police will arrest you if you don’t behave,” and people who say, “Why don’t you chase real criminals instead of someone going 70 MPH in a school zone?” It was an interesting article, but what I found most fascinating was this: police are taught scenes of domestic discord are unpredictable and incredibly dangerous.

“Incredibly destructive and dangerous.” That’s how the Lord looks upon discord in His church. That is why Jesus (John 17:11) prays that His people may be one. It is why St. Paul comes down hard on the divided church in Corinth. They both knew that it is difficult for a Christian congregation to speak to others about the Prince of Peace when Jesus’ followers are at war. It is difficult to reflect the joy of the Savior’s redemption when the faces of His people are soured by strife.

Which is why this evangelism message encourages our people to be unified in their faith and the message of hope which they share. That way, if people are not going to believe, it is not because of us, it will be in spite of us. If they refuse the Savior, let it be because the cross and not God’s people are folly and foolishness.

3 the Wrong reasons - gospel lessonOur sermon of Evangelism Emphasis begins in our Gospel lesson which says, “Great crowds followed Him.” The question I ask is, “Just why did great crowds follow the Savior?” We can be pretty sure that it wasn’t because of Jesus’ message which said, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” I say that for a number of reasons: 1. The Bible only speaks about a few disciples following the Savior when the emphasis was on repentance and 2. The Bible speaks about the great crowds following Jesus when He begins to heal “every disease and every affliction.” It was then that they brought “him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics…”

Might I be bold enough to say “things haven’t changed over the centuries”? When the church wants to feed the hungry, help clean up after a natural disaster, or run a non-religious daycare, the world applauds. But when the followers of the Savior condemn sin and call for a change in the hearts of humanity, the cheers cease and support starts to suffer.

So what should we do? Should we please man or God? Looking at the decision made by many churches, the answer is not an easy one. As for us, we commit ourselves to a “both-and” not an “either-or.” Our job is to call the lost to repentance and salvation to the Savior AND show to the world how Christians live and love when the Holy Spirit has worked salvation in our hearts. When that happens, the world will say we are the ones who have, in the cause of Christ, “turned the world upside down.” (Acts 17:6)

i l l u s t r at i o n sAsk any retired pastor what he misses most and he will say, ‘The people.” Ask him what he doesn’t miss at all and he will say, “The internal conflict.”

In the 1800’s, there was a European violinist who garnered considerable praise. With his priceless Stradivarius violin, he gave one impressive performance after another. During his concerts, the patrons would whisper, the next day, the critics would review: “This is something wonderful. We have heard the music from the Stradivarius.” It didn’t make any difference where he played, church, concert halls or command performances before royalty, the comment was consistent: “This is something wonderful. We have heard the music from the Stradivarius.” It didn’t take all that long before the violinist got tired of having all the accolades go to his violin. Frustrated, one afternoon, he set out from his hotel with a purpose. Going to a musical pawn shot, he picked out, and paid for, an old, weathered, worn out violin. It sold for something like five dollars. He took the instrument to his room, gave it a few coats of polish, replaced the strings, and gave it a good tuning. That night, he took the five-dollar fiddle, not his Stradivarius, to the sold-out concert. Standing in front of the rich and famous, he placed the five-dollar fiddle, not his Stradivarius, under his chin. For two hours, his fingers flew across the strings of the five-dollar fiddle-not his Stradivarius. Finally he finished. The last note of the concert echoed through the hall, and, as one, the crowd jumped to its feet. The violinist basked in the applause that came from ten thousand clapping hands. In his dressing room he waited, impatiently, for the glowing reports that he knew his manager would bring. The manager arrived. The violinist asked, ‘Well, what is it they said?” The manager replied, “The concert is a success. Everyone said, “This is something wonderful. We have heard the music from the Stradivarius.” I feel sorry for that violinist. After all, nobody likes to be ignored, nobody likes to be written off.

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Let me tell you a story. It comes from India, in the 1850’s. At the home of the British Governor General, a three-year-old child wandered into a group of adults. There was nothing extraordinary in that, other than the child was clutching a small, poisonous snake: a Russell’s viper. The child’s father, with as calm a voice as he could muster, said, “John, put that down right this minute.” John could have thought his father’s words were designed to ruin his fun. John could have written off his father’s words, and kept on doing what he was doing. John could have done that and John would have died. Thankfully, John listened to the words of a loving father and lived. I pray you do not write off your Father’s words of life. Listen to Him. He’s calling you from death to life. Amen.

Count Zinzendorf, the founder of the Moravians, was converted in an art gallery in Dusseldorf while contemplating a painting of Christ on the cross which had the inscription, “I did this for thee. What hast thou done for me?” This picture had been painted by an artist three hundred years before. When he had finished his first sketch of the face of the Redeemer, this artist called in his landlady’s little daughter and asked her who she thought it was. The girl looked at it and said, “It is a good man.” The painter knew that he had failed. He destroyed the first sketch and, after praying for greater skill, finished a second. Again he called the little girl in and asked her to tell him whom she thought the face represented. This time the girl said that she thought it looked like a great sufferer. Again the painter knew that he had failed, and again he destroyed the sketch he had made. After meditation and prayer, he made a third sketch. When it was finished, he called the girl in a third time and asked her who it was. Looking at the portrait, the girl exclaimed, “It is the Lord!” That alone makes the coming of Christ meaningful to the world-not that a good man came, not that a wise teacher came, not that a great sufferer came, but that God came-Immanuel, God with us.

Many times in my life I have been in a strange town and did not know how to get to my destination. When I stopped for directions people would often say something like, “Go two blocks, turn left at the stop sign then go until you come to the fourth traffic light and turn right. You can’t miss it.” But I often did miss it. However, once when I asked directions the man did not give me a list of directions but got in his car and said, “Follow me, I’ll take you right to it.” In a sense that man became the way to my destination. In the same manner, Jesus is our way to heaven. We do not get to heaven by following a list of directions but by following Jesus Christ. - Bill Gordon

A gentleman had a lovely Chinese plaque with curious raised figures upon it. One day it fell from the wall on which it was hung, and was cracked right across the middle. Soon after, the gentleman sent to China for six more of these valuable plates, and to ensure an exact match, sent his broken plate as a copy. To his intense astonishment, when six months later he received the six plates, and his injured one, he found the Chinese had so faithfully followed his copy, that each new one had a crack right across it. If we imitate even the best of men, we are apt to copy their mperfections. Far better to follow the Christ Who saves us and erases our imperfections.

The Winter 1991 issue of the University of Pacific Review offers a chilling description of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster: There were two electrical engineers in the control room that night, and the best thing that could be said for what they were doing is they were “playing around” with the machine. They were performing what the Soviets later described as an unauthorized experiment. They were trying to see how long a turbine would “free wheel” when they took the power off it. Now, taking the power off that kind of a nuclear reactor is a difficult, dangerous thing to do, because these reactors are very unstable in their lower ranges. In order to get the reactor down to that kind of power, where they could perform the test they were interested in performing, they had to override manually six separate computer-driven alarm systems. One by one the computers would come up and say, “Stop! Dangerous! Go no further!” And one by one, rather than shutting off the experiment, they shut off the alarms and kept going. You know the results: nuclear fallout that was recorded all around the world, from the largest industrial accident ever to occur in the world. The instructions and warnings in Scripture are just as clear. We ignore them at our own peril, and tragically, at the peril of innocent others. -- Tom Tripp in Fresh Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching (Baker), from the editors of Leadership.

In 1982, “ABC Evening News” reported on an unusual work of modern art: a chair affixed to a shotgun. It was to be viewed by sitting in the chair and looking directly into the gun barrel. The gun was loaded and set on a timer to fire at a unknown moment within the next hundred years. The amazing thing was that people waited in lines to sit and stare into the shell’s path! They all knew that the gun could go off at point-blank range at any moment, but they were gambling that the fatal blast wouldn’t happen during their minute in the chair. Yes, it was foolhardy.. almost as much as deciding to ignore Jesus and salvation because you think you don’t need either. -- Jeffrey D. King, Parma, Ohio. Leadership, Vol. 4, no. 4.

A number of years ago, in a mental institution outside Boston, a young girl known as “Little Annie” was locked in the dungeon. The dungeon was the only place, said the doctors, for those who were hopelessly insane. In Little Annie’s case, they saw no hope for her, so she was consigned to a living death in that small cage which received little light and even less hope. About that time, an elderly nurse was nearing retirement. She felt there was hope for all of God’s children, so she started taking her lunch into the dungeon and eating outside Little Annie’s cage. She felt perhaps she should communicate some love and hope to the little girl. In many ways, Little Annie was like an animal. On occasions, she would violently attack the person who came into her cage. At other times, she would completely ignore them. When the elderly nurse started visiting her, Little Annie gave no indication that she was even aware of her presence. One day, the elderly nurse brought some brownies to the dungeon and left them outside the cage.

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Little Annie gave no hint she knew they were there, but when the nurse returned the next day, the brownies were gone. From that time on, the nurse would bring brownies when she made her Thursday visit. Soon after, the doctors in the institution noticed a change was taking place. After a period of time they decided to move Little Annie upstairs. Finally, the day came when the “hopeless case” was told she could return home. But Little Annie did not wish to leave. She chose to stay, to help others. She it was who cared for, taught, and nurtured Helen Keller, for Little Annie’s name was Anne Sullivan. --James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988) pp. 289-290.

The preacher who was delivering a children’s sermon about the need for unity.1. He looked at the children and said emphatically, “God wants us to be one!”That’s when a four year-old started to cry and protested, “I’ve already been one, I want to be five!” Luther was told of a nobleman who, above all things, occupied himself with amassing money and was so buried in darkness that he gave no heed to the word of God, and even said to someone who witnessed to him, “But the gospel pays no interest.” “Have you no grains?” interposed Luther. And then he told this fable. “A lion was making a great feast, and invited all the beasts, among them some swine. When all types of dainty foods were set before the guests, the swine asked, ‘Have you no grains?’ It is the same way with carnal men today,” Luther continued. “We preachers set before them the most dainty and costly dishes, such as everlasting salvation, the remission of sins, and God’s grace. But they, like swine, turn up their snouts, and ask for money. Offer a cow a nutmeg, and she will reject it for old hay.”-- Charles Haddon Spurgeon, The Quotable Spurgeon, (Wheaton: Harold Shaw Publishers, Inc, 1990)

The chief kind of things the slaves in America ordered, when they had liberty to order anything for themselves, were looking glasses and candles. I could understand about the mirror, but why the candle? Then I found out: in the days of slavery no person in bondage could have a light, no candle could burn in a slave’s hut -- that was the privilege of the freedman. Can you imagine how those folks felt, for the very first time, to have a light which erased the darkness? It must have been amazing! Almost as amazing as that which happens when Christ comes to hearts which once were blackened by the night of sin.

In a tenement district in New York City, a boy in ragged clothes was seen with a small piece of broken mirror in his hand. Holding it high in the air he moved it slowly back and forth, watching the narrow slit of a window above him as he did so. “What are you doing?” a man suddenly demanded as he shook the youngster roughly by the shoulder. “Like most boys in this neighborhood, you’re probably up to some mischief, aren’t you?” The boy looked up into the stern face of his accuser and said, “See that window up there? Well, I have a little brother who has a room on that floor. He’s a cripple. The only sunlight he ever sees is what I shine up to him with my mirror!” Do we reflect the light of the Son so that someone in darkness may see?

A man went to an asylum for the criminally insane. He was a bit surprised to find that there were three guards to take care of a hundred inmates. He said to one of the guards, “Aren’t you afraid that the inmates will unite, overcome you, and escape?” The guard said, “Lunatics never unite.” [Lunatics Never Unite, Citation: Haddon Robinson, “The Wisdom of Small Creatures,” Preaching Today, Tape No. 93.]

That is the miracle. God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. A little girl whose home was near a cemetery had to follow a path through it to the store. But she never seemed to be afraid. She was at peace, when she returned through the cemetery, even at the spooky time of dusk. Asked, “Aren’t you worried?”, she replied, “Oh, no, I’m not worried, because my family is just beyond.” We need not worry. We need not be troubled. We have our brother Christ, and no matter what happens in our immediate life, Jesus is just beyond.

The Scots, or the Welsh, depending on historian you believe, centuries ago came up with a prayer. It reads: “From ghoulies and ghosties And long-leggedy beasties And things that go bump in the night, Good Lord, deliver us!” Now the odds are that the person who first wrote that prayer had never seen any ghoulies, or ghosties. Nor is it likely that he, or she had had any encounters with long-leggedy beasties. Yet, that prayer has survived. It comes down to us partly because of its quaint language; but also because it touches something deep down inside all of us: the fear of the unknown and the things that we cannot control. “From ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggedy beasties And things that go bump in the night, Good Lord, deliver us!”

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Ca l e n d a r dat e : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 February, 2014 Ch u r C h dat e : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fourth Sunday after the Epiphanyth e te x t s : . . . . . . . . . Micah 6:1-8; 1 Corinthians 1:18-31; Matthew 5:1-12

su m m a ryThe Preacher would be hard-pressed to find any text in Scripture which more clearly and powerfully points out the differences between the people of God and the people of the world. This 1st chapter of 1st Corinthians reminds us that since our faith begins in different places, we will end up in different places. Indeed, so great are these differences, if it were not for Jesus’ encouragement to evangelize, we might easily end up saying, “You go your way and we’ll go God’s way.” Of course that is not an option. The Savior gave up His life to redeem those who have been seduced by the world, sin, and Satan. Now He has entrusted us with the job of sharing that story of life with others. To that end St. Paul sets the tone for our Sermon Starters when he encourages us to “boast in the Lord.”

th e te x t ( s ) Fo r eva n g e l i s m em p h a s i s1 Corinthians 1:18-31 ESV [18] For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. [19] For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” [20] Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? [21] For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. [22] For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, [23] but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, [24] but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. [25]

For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. [26] For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. [27] But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; [28] God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, [29] so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. [30] And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, [31] so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

se r m o n sta r t e r s - ex p l a n at i o n a n d ex p l o r at i o n1. - i am master oF my FateThe preacher who pursues this sermon which emphasizes evangelism will be exploring the difference between the wisdom of the world and the faith of the believer. To say it differently: the divergence between those who think they are masters of their fate and those who know that they, without Christ, are helpless and hopeless.

The quote, “Master of my fate and captain of my soul” made it into the news a few years back because they were the last words spoken by Tim McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber. Tim liked those words. They made him feel as if he were in control as he snuffed out the lives of men, women, and children. The author of those words, William Henley, also thought they sounded good. Henley thought he was in control of his destiny. He wasn’t. When death took his six-year-old daughter, Margaret, his heart was broken. He found out how little he was master of his fate.

Eventually most people come to the same conclusion. Governments want people to trust the direction they set for us. But one failed government is replaced by another. Although the world’s advertisers and infomercials promise they can answer our needs and raise our standard of living, most of the time they only raise our standard of longing. Which is why this Evangelism Emphasis encourages the congregation to reach out to those who have been let down by life; who have had their confidence shattered, who find themselves on the outside looking in. When these folks realize they are no longer masters of their fate or captains of their souls, Jesus is able to step into that role and take the help of their lives.

2. - you ain’t so smart and We ain’t so dumBWant to be an apologist rather than apologizer? Then this evangelism emphasis message might be for you. It deals with the foolishness of the world. What kind of foolishness? A number of years ago the firemen of Fairfax County, Virginia were given new helmets which adjusted to size, resisted scuffing, and made of high-impact plastic. The only problem: when they got near heat, they melted.

For a long time Christians have been told that Jesus, the cross, and their faith is foolishness. Certainly we redeemed sinners are not without our flaws, failings, or foolishness. Again and again we mess up and fail the Lord who has given His Son to live for us under the law and die our death upon the cross. But it is a dangerous and foolish thing to judge the Master by the actions of the servants.

Although we may have serious sins and shortcomings the Lord Jesus does not. When a person looks at His work, sees His love, reads about His death, and stands in awe at His glorious resurrection, He cannot help but be moved by the Lord’s consistent love and unchanging grace.

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In contrast to our great God we have the wisdom of the world. I cannot speak for others, but I have come to think “worldly wisdom” is a contradiction in terms. In my life worldly wisdom said one thing and then promptly said something different or even opposite.

In our age it is no longer fashionable to say, “We are right, you are wrong.” We live in a day that likes to think that there are many ways to heaven, if there is a heaven, and that all religions are the same, with every road leading you to God, if there is a god. In contrast to what is fashionable, Christianity alone promises that when you come with penitent heart to Jesus and acknowledge Him as Savior, you will be completely washed, completely clean, and get God’s great guarantee of eternal life. That’s because only Jesus came down to this world and with His perfect life, with His suffering and death took our place, lifting us out of our sin by His grace alone. Christianity unashamedly proclaims Jesus alone is the Way.

3. - Windmill tilting“Should we continue our worship services with the sermon being preached only in German? Should we tell our people that having life insurance is a sin?” Almost any pastor who takes these matters to his Voter’s Assembly would be “tilting at windmills.” Tilting at windmills. That’s what we call it whenever somebody, like Don Quixote (kee-hoe-tea), crusades for or against something which isn’t an issue. Tilting against windmills is a waste of time, energy, and common sense.

Amazingly, unbelievers around the world are doing a lot of tilting at Christ and His Church. The Evangelism Emphasis Epistle for this Sunday shares how, in Paul’s day, the Greeks tilted at Christianity by demanding a logical explanation of the faith. Since our belief is founded on God’s great grace and not man’s logic, they are left wanting. On the other hand there are the Jews whose windmill tilting calls for the faith to produce “signs.” Having rejected Jesus’ numerous miracles and the greatest event in history, the Savior’s resurrection, they, too, are left unsatisfied.

And today… today we see the world’s great religions expending a great deal of money, energy, and hatred in their tilting against the Savior. They are joined by many governments who think they, not Jesus, should be worthy of their people’s adoration. I wonder why they would do that since Jesus, for them, is a fake, a fraud, a figment of the imagination.

It is the duty and privilege of the Church in every generation to share the realities of our faith. Those realities are: 1. the coming of Jesus was predicted by 1,000 years of prophecies… prophecies which He alone fulfilled. 2. Jesus was crucified by a Roman execution squad who assured His death by puncturing His heart. Why didn’t anyone ever produce and point to His dead body so the resurrection reality might be refuted? 3. How is it that a bunch of uneducated fishermen, a publican and a political activist were able to share a message which has changed the world so completely?

The pastor who preaches this sermon should bear in mind he is instructing his people in apologetics. He is giving them the ammunition to rebuff and reply to the unfounded and untrue belief system of unbelievers who spend so much time tilting at the Savior whom they say doesn’t exist.

i l l u s t r at i o n sThe subject for today is foolishness. The world is full of it. Outside Orlando, Florida, a state trooper hailed a truck driver on his CB. He asked, “What is your speed?” The truck driver quickly lied back, “Sixty-five, officer, just sixty-five.” The State Trooper immediately radioed, “Then I advise you to pull over and get out of the way - because I just clocked your trailer doing 80.”

A minister who faithfully proclaimed the Gospel in an open-air meeting was challenged at the close by an unbeliever who stepped from the crowd and said, “I don’t believe in heaven or hell. I don’t believe in God or Christ. I haven’t seen them.” Then a man wearing dark glasses came forward and said, “You say there is a river near this place? There is no such thing. You say there are people standing here, but it cannot be true. I haven’t seen them. I was born blind. Only a blind man could say what I have said. And only a spiritually blind man could say what you have said. The Bible says of you, ‘The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned’ (1 Cor. 2:14). Doesn’t the Word of God say, ‘The fool hath said in his heart, there is not God’?” (Psa. 14:1)

The l9th-century minister, Henry Ward Beecher owned a magnificent globe depicting the various constellations and stars. The well-known skeptic Robert Ingersoll, visiting Beecher one day, admired the globe and asked who made it. “Who made it?” Beecher replied, seizing an opportunity to challenge Ingersoll’s unbelief. “Why, nobody made it; it just happened.” A point well made! The universe did not just happen; it bears the fingerprints of its Creator on every star, cloud, mountain, and river.

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Mark Twain (1835-1910) was one of our best-known American authors and humorists. His real name was Samuel Langhorne Clemens. He is best known for his novels, “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” Mark Twain married Olivia Langdon. She was a simple and devout Christian, but he was not a believer. For a while after they were married, they had prayer at meals and read the Bible each day. But this was soon given up. According to a conversation she had with her sister, Olivia said she had given up some of her religious beliefs. Her faith was shaken by people, places, and philosophies to which she was exposed as she traveled the world with her husband. Olivia’s pet name for her husband was, “Yuth.” Their only son, Langdon, died in infancy and two of their three daughters - Susy and Jean - died as young women. During one of those sad times in their lives - it could have been after the death of one of their children - Twain said to Livy, “If it comforts you to lean on the Christian faith, do so.” “But I can’t, Yuth; I haven’t any,” she sadly replied. Twain felt responsible for causing Livy to lose her faith and the thought came back to haunt him many times after her death in 1904. Mark Twain loved Livy devotedly, but apparently his unbelieving attitude had an effect on her that even he didn’t want. - Clarence Macartney, Macartney’s Illustrations, (New York and Nashville: Abingdon-Cokesbury Press, 1945) 225

The subject for today is foolishness. The world is full of it. Recently, a Brazilian farmer with the appropriate name of Romeo Bittencourt, got a divorce. Romeo is 90 years old. He got a divorce from the woman to whom he has been married for 65 years. That’s the same lady who gave him 12 children, 50 grandchildren, and 36 great-grandchildren. The reason Romeo got his divorce: “Incompatibility.” The world is filled with foolishness.

Talk about foolishness! In “A Book of Saints,” Anne Gordon tells the story of Father Maximilian Kolbe, who was a prisoner at Auschwitz in August 1941. A prisoner escaped from the camp, and in reprisal, the Nazis ordered that ten prisoners had to die by starvation. Father Kolbe offered to take the place of one of the condemned men. The Nazis kept Kolbe in the starvation bunker for two weeks and then put him to death by lethal injection on August 14, 1941. Thirty years later a survivor of Auschwitz described the effect of Kolbe’s action: “It was an enormous shock to the whole camp. We became aware that someone among us in this spiritual dark night of the soul was raising the standard of love on high. Someone unknown, like everyone else, tortured and bereft of name and social standing, went to a horrible death for the sake of someone not even related to him. ‘Therefore it is not true,’ we cried, ‘that humanity is cast down and trampled in the mud, overcome by oppressors, and overwhelmed by hopelessness.’ Thousands of prisoners were convinced the true world continued to exist and that our torturers would not be able to destroy it. To say that Father Kolbe died for us or for that person’s family is too great a simplification. His death was the salvation of thousands. ... We were stunned by his act, which became for us a mighty explosion of light in the dark camp.” -- Bill Norman, Markham, Ontario. Leadership, Vol. 16, no. 2.

A man decided he could do better than God has and decided to start his own religion. Not knowing exactly where to begin he went and asked his pastor. The preacher thought for a moment and encouraged the man in his venture. Then, with a smile, he said this: “If you really want to start your own religion, this is what you should do: get beaten with a leather–studded whip for thirty-nine heavy strokes; get hit, get crowned with thorns; get nailed to a cross, and hang there for six hours. Then to make sure you’re doing the job right, have someone run a spear through your heart. Yup, that’s what you do… and one thing more.” “What one thing more?” the man asked. “When you’ve done all that,” the preacher replied, ‘Come and let me know how it’s going.”

Worldly wisdom? I don’t think so. In the fourteenth century, there was a drought which came upon a predominantly Muslim city. The political and religious leaders of the community came together and prayed. They prayed to Allah as hard as they could for rain. Day after day they prayed. But the rain didn’t come. Then a small group of members from the Jewish synagogue came forward. Since this was an emergency which affected all of them, they asked for permission to pray so that their God would end the drought. Reluctantly, the Muslim leaders agreed. It had not escaped them that it wouldn’t look so good if their prayers were unanswered and the Jews’ prayers were heard. But water is water and a drought is a drought, so permission was given. The synagogue prayed. Day and night they prayed. The drought continued on. It was bad news for the city, but great for the Muslim religious leaders. At least Allah hadn’t looked bad. Only when the situation became desperate did a handful of Christians come forward. They were reluctant to do so, because they had been persecuted to the point where the Muslim community had thought all followers of the Christ had been eradicated. “Might they not pray to Jesus for help?” What could the Muslim leaders do? They couldn’t say “no,” but they sure didn’t want to say “yes.” Permission was given, and the Christians prayed. Right there, in front of the Muslim leaders they prayed. In front of everybody they prayed. And before the prayer was ended, rain began to fall. The whole purpose of this rather long story is to what happened next. The wisest of the Muslim leaders convened. “How shall we explain this to the people?” they asked. They talked and then they decided. They summoned the town’s people before them and they announced. “It is true that the drought has ended. We give thanks to Allah for his gift. To those who believe this is a miracle sent from the Christian’s God, it is not so. This comes from Allah. He heard the prayers of the Christians and the noise of their prayers was so offensive to his ears that he has sent rain to shut them up.” The world is filled with foolishness.

Two pastors were having a rather heated discussion about how evangelism should be done. Finally the Senior Pastor said, “Let’s bury the hatchet, my brother. After all, we are both doing the Lord’s work of evangelizing, aren’t we?” “We certainly are,” said the Associate Pastor. “Let’s bury the hatchet and then, to the best of our ability, let us reach out… you in your way, and I in His.”

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The Christian Church is like a wonderfully built grand piano, a magnificent instrument. However, the quality of the music that comes from it is dependent upon who is at the keyboard. If a master concert pianist is at the keys, you will be carried along on the rapture of the beautiful music. But let a gorilla have a shot at the piano, and the result will be chaotic noise and actual damage to the instrument. That is our daily choice. Do we serve the Savior in our witness and produce harmony which pleases and attracts, or shall we follow the discord of sin which drives people away? Rephrase of: George, B., _Classic Christianity_, Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, OR, 1989, p. 91.

The subject for today is foolishness. Cats have “FOOLISH MOMENTS” when they climb a tree and can’t get back down. You have a FOOLISH MOMENT when you eat mini-donuts, corndogs, cotton candy and then get on the tilt-a-whirl at the amusement park. When I look for my keys that are jingling in my pocket, that’s a foolish moment.. When I push on the door that says “pull,” that’s a foolish moment. When we dial the wrong number, apologize to the person who answers, and then dial the same wrong number....that’s a foolish moment. When we are stalled on the interstate and explain to the police officer, “Yes sir, I knew the gas gauge read empty, but I thought I could keep on driving for a while,” that’s a foolish moment. The person who wrote to the Internal Revenue Service and asked if they could please have their name removed from the mailing list - that was a foolish moment. All of us have had them. I mean all of us. When you start your car and it’s already running, the sound advertises to everybody you’ve had a foolish moment. Still there is nothing more foolish than a lost and dying world rejecting the salvation which has been won on the cross of Calvary and at the borrowed and empty tomb.

It was a number of years ago that a great parliament of religions was held at Chicago. Practically every known religion was represented and many were the learned papers that were delivered. Every religion brought something to the table, and it would be a special man or woman who could tell which one of the religions was right and best. It seemed that the convention would end with everyone going out just as they had come in…totally unchanged. That’s the way it seemed until at one session, a pastor, Joseph Cook of Boston, arose and said: “Ladies and Gentlemen, I wish to introduce to you a woman with a great sorrow. Bloodstains are on her hands, and nothing she has tried can remove them. She has committed murder, and is desperate. Is there anything in your religion that will remove her sin and assure her of eternal life? A hush fell upon the gathering as the speaker turned from one to another for an answer. Not one of the other religions replied. I want to stop there and repeat that, NOT ONE OF THE EASTERN RELIGIONS AND WESTERN CULTS REPLIED. That’s because they couldn’t reply. They remained dumb. They could not guarantee forgiveness.

Miguel de Cervantes. In the novel, “Don Quixote” fights windmills that he ima