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I had so much fun with this sermon yesterday.  And to think I didn't get to write it until dark and early Sunday morning.  But do not tell anyone that.  I have been busy smoking hams since Thursday, and the sermon writing seemed to fall behind.  It was my intention to put the sermon together Saturday night, after our church's Ham -N- Bean dinner.  Yeah, that never happened. We were all a bit drained yesterday morning, but, I think, everyone also seemed to be very thankful for what we were able to do with God's help.  Our children opened our worship service with a skit using Chris Tomlin's Amazing Grace, and our district superintendent and her husband joined us for worship.  That was a blessing.  So, here is our Thanksgiving sermon.  It is entitled There's Always One in the Bunch . ++If you are reading by email or news reader, click here to listen to the sermon.++

If you have yet to laugh today then this will do the trick. If you have already laughed today, then good for you. Keep it up. <="" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" embed="" flashvars="autoPlay=false&orig=" src="http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:cms:mvideo:cmt.com:40319" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="window" height="354" width="425">

I cannot convince anyone to listen to a sermon.  All our churches around the world would be full if anyone could.  It is the ol' addage that reminds us you can take a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink. You can, however, as someone was told me, tell him how good the water is! In my sermon preparation for last Sunday's worship service, I gave myself a challenge: Preach on the parable of the talents and not talk about money and/or spiritual gifts.  Guess what?  I passed.  Well, I did talk about not talking about money.  Does that still count?  And, I spoke about gifts, but of another kind.  We considered God's absurd gifts to us. So, I hope you will listen and let me know your impressions.  There will be another group listening, rather reading this sermon.  This was the sermon I turned in to our conference Board on Ordained Ministry.  I have been working on my written examination to turn into them.  This board wi...

Does anyone else think of Richard Pryor's movie Brewster's Millions when they read the parable of the talents ? Think about it: 1. The slaves get an absurd amount of money from the master. 2. If they're able to deal with it appropriately, they get even more. 3. If they don't, they get nothing. It's a reasonable thought. Matthew 25:14-30: 14  ‘For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; 15 to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16 The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. 17 In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. 18 But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19 After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. 20 Then the o...

Our church has decided to incorporate our Thanksgiving worship service with our usual worship time.  That is, we will not have an additional service time Thanksgiving week; come to church on Sunday, November 20th and we'll be talking about thankfulness and all that jazz. We're not being lazy.  Actually, next weekend is our big Ham and Bean Dinner.  That is an all-hands-on-deck event.  It takes everyone's work and effort.  Indeed, it is a lot of work.  So, we'll stumble in on Sunday morning and thank God for, among other things, what we have been able to do as a body of Christ. Now, here is something you can use for your Thanksgiving observance.  ABC is scheduled to air a Hallmark Movie called Have a Little Faith.  I have only seen the previews, but it looks pretty decent.  Hopefully, it will be a little better than most movies that call themselves Christian are--hey, have a little faith! Follow this link to see ABC's preview: Have ...

Johnny and Chachi are at it again. This time they offer you some great tips on how to invite someone you know to church. Watch the video, and tell me what you learn. ++If you are reading by email or news reader, click here to view the video.++