A Sermon for the Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost

The gospel text for today mentions hell three times. Moreover, a footnote points out that two verses are omitted because they say the same thing. So, it could be said that this text it talks about hell five times. The word used here is “Gehenna,” which is what we normally mean by “hell.” It isn’t the word, “Hades,” which can mean “death.”

Among us today it is widely considered bad taste to talk about hell. You just don’t mention it unless in cursing or telling jokes. It’s impolite. If you do talk about hell, people will think: “You’re a fundamentalist. You’re backward. You’re superstitious.”
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Mark 9:30-37

A Sermon for the Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

One of the largest mega-churches in the US is Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church, based in Houston, Texas. It averages 45,000 attendees a week. Think of that. The congregation got so big that they had to buy a basketball area and redo it so they would have space for all these people in a couple of services. Who knows how many millions listen to him on TV.

What is his appeal? It’s the gospel of affirmation, the power of love, the importance of having a positive attitude, and the like. All is grace. It really sells.

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A Sermon for the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost

We have quite a collection of rough texts today. In the text from Mark, Jesus rebukes Peter: “Get behind me, Satan!” In the Isaiah text the Lord’s servant tries to comfort his people, and they in turn treat him despicably. What should a preacher do with all this?

Let’s start with the Suffering Servant. Here is this one, this Servant, who questions what he’d doing and what it’s all about and asks: “. . . who walks in darkness and has no light, yet trusts in the name of the Lord and relies upon his God?” (Isaiah 50:10)

Where is light? Where is God? What is evil? Who am I?

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James 2:1-10 [11-13] 14-17

A Sermon for the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Remember the book, The Purpose Driven Life (2002)? It was a publishing success by any standard. Approximately fifty million copies (!) were sold. In this book Pastor Rick Warren gave a forty-day program of how to live the Christian life.

How do we live the Christian life? How do you make it happen so you walk the walk, and not just talk the talk?

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James 1 and 2

A big event back in 2003 was the publication of the book, The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown. The first day the book was released it sold one million hard-cover copies, making it the fastest selling adult novel in history. A few years later Brown wrote a sequel, The Lost Symbol, that also broke sales records.

What was The Da Vinci Code that is so popular? There are several reasons, chief among them being that the plot is about a conspiracy. Conspiracies are naturally popular because they claim that “others” have kept you in the dark, but we are letting you in on the big secret. “They” are keeping it from you. We are revealing it to you. That’s what sells.

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