Sermon Acts 9:36-42 The Small, the Local, the Particular Check out these helpful resources Biblical Commentary Children's Sermons Hymn Lists Acts 9:36-42 The Small, the Local, the Particular By The Rev. Charles Hoffacker The New Testament includes a brief reference to a disciple named Tabitha. She is described as "devoted to good works and [...]
Travel the journey of faith not upon the runaway horses of our own making, but on the winds of love that will gently nudge us and move us ever forward, ever forward.
The world is—literally—dying for good news. We find ourselves in the right time and the right place to respond, to make a difference for people like Philip's Ethiopian, who wait to hear the good news and then to go on their way rejoicing.
That, my friends, is a picture of grace: being invited into a place we have no business being. By grace, we are lavished with gifts that we did not pay for and do not deserve. And only by the kindness of our Host have we even been allowed to enter and to stay.
I once heard a preacher say, "The quickest way to meet the Devil is to take a stand for God." It's true: As long as you're willing to go along with the status quo and blend in with the majority, the Devil will leave you alone. You're no threat to him.
We want to create a community in which we practice the resurrection quality of healing. Why? Because we all—every single one of us—desperately needs the healing of God in our own lives
Gamaliel recognized that Jesus was not a common thief, and that one of two things would happen. The chicken coop would be reduced to ashes, or the fire would spread, refusing to burn itself out. It was beyond the power of the high priest to determine the outcome.
A little girl went to church for the first time. As she was leaving with her parents, the minister asked how she had liked church. "I liked the music," she replied, "but the commercial was too long."
General Colin Powell once said "Young people need to learn the paradox of giving - that when we help others, we get back far more than we contribute." Teens who help others get to know the satisfaction that comes from making a difference in someone else's life.
This Easter season, in the shadow of an empty tomb, we must come to the realization that, if we take the resurrection of Christ seriously, well, then, we are a people at odds with the messages of our culture, of our empire. We are a people in exile.