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Saturday, July 31, 2010

11th Hour Preachers Party: Gods Love in the Ordinary

For a variety of reasons I am reflecting this week on bread. Or actually how bread and the making of bread is a metaphor for the Body of Christ and the love of God. Our readings this week point us to ponder the nature of God's love for humanity even when we behave badly, such as what we hear in Hosea and Luke. Maybe, though, you are pondering Genesis, or Colossians, or one of the Psalms?

Regardless, it seems for me, these are readings that talk about God's love in the ordinary. For some conversation on this idea go here and here. I always appreciate the Tuesday Lectionary discussion on this blog and the commentary on Process and Faith blog, among many other sources I read as I prepare to preach on Sunday.

Here at the Preacher's Party we are, one might say, like the ingredients in bread, coming together and forming a whole, a community. A community  that readily shares resources, ideas, prayers, support, and feedback. This is the place to be on Saturday as we party hard, or at least intend too, in the preparation of our sermons.

So, grab a cup of coffee or tea, pull up a chair, and join the conversation. Let's see what rises up amongst us, like yeast in water and honey. Let's see what kind of flour is added. If you're tired we'll help you knead that dough until it has a texture that will preach....Ok. maybe I'm pushing the bread dough metaphor too far. But nonetheless join us, and let's see what we create!

91 comments:

  1. Good morning! Sunday also happens to mark Lunasa, an old Celtic celebration of the gifts of the sun and all things that grow golden: grain harvests and honey, meal and mead!
    Bread is a great image for the week, but I'm trying out the gluten-free thing this week, so my contribution to the breakfast table is a huge bowl of buttery quinoa, all fluffy and warm, and some scrambled eggs (courtesy of our chickens) with local goat cheese and fresh-picked lemon basil and cherry tomatoes.

    I'm going with Hosea, Colossians, and Luke, myself. The big irony of the gospel passage is that I *AM* a farmer, and I *DO* want a bigger barn, though not for quite the same reasons as the parable man! And I'm preaching to a congregation that is ALL about their "barn," the huge old church that saps all their missional energy and keeps them fundraising all year to pay their oil bill.

    Gonna be an INTERESTING Sunday!

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  2. Good morning all. That sound of weeping and gnashing of teeth that you hear is coming from over here. In an uncharacteristic move, I had already gotten about 1/3 of my sermon written. My MIL is coming for a visit Sunday afternoon and I wanted to finish my sermon prep early so that I could prepare for her visit.

    Then one of my 6 year olds was playing with my sewing machine, which was set up next to my MacBook. He took my magnetic seam guide off the sewing machine and placed it on the touchpad of my computer, and moved it around. It fried my laptop.

    Fortunately, I had everything backed up. I just can't access it without my computer. Thought I might be able to get my files via my husband's computer but so far, no such luck. I can replicate the part of the sermon I'd already written, but I'm worried about my other files. I have an appt. with the Apple Genius Bar this afternoon. Not really how I'd wanted to spend the day! But I do hope I can get it resolved.

    I will need a lot of hand-holding if I can't!

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  3. I'm preaching the Luke. I'm supplying a very wealthy church in the 2nd most affluent county in the US. Good times, good times. I'm half done. I'm not using any of them but aren't there a LOT Of songs for this text? I've been humming Tracy Chapman's "Mountains Of Things" all week, and also "Can't Buy Me Love."

    I'm hoping Dora the Explorer holds me through the sermon's end. After that, there is a promised trip to the Children's Museum.

    And the only thing to eat in this house that really needs a trip to the grocery store are poptarts and cheerios! Feel free....

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  4. Hi RevGals,

    printing the service now [Saturday evening]. working with Luke, and how greed hurts the person who is greedy. A great term I saw this week was practical atheism – when we say we believe in God but it doesn’t show in our living and decisions. It is easy to get hooked into society’s bigger and more philosophy rather than looking for what God offers us, and calls us to.

    great picture book " Herbert and Harry" by Pamela Allen - it is Australian, so don't know how available it is in other places.

    Camomile tea is on offer.

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  5. Morning preachers,

    So far...I am planning on preaching on Luke, but who knows what will come out of my printer when I print my sermon. Most sermonating days start facing in one direction and then the wind leads me to another.

    Got some coffee to share!

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  6. Like EarthChick, I'm freaking out over computer issues here. My family's ONE computer stopped working last night and the Apple people said they had to ship it out to be repaired. EEK!

    I'm preaching at a Neutral Pulput this weekend so I am VERY thankful that my father in law is letting me borrow his work computer for the week - I'm also supply preaching next Sunday.

    Thankfully, I keep all my stuff on my external hard drive, so all the work I did earlier this week is still there. I'm using the Luke text to explore what it means to live "the Good Life" vs "the Blessed life" aka being rich in God.

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  7. I'm preaching on Luke with a healthy helping of Colossians. This is the third week of a multi-week series I conjured up about "God's business." Our church is floundering mightily, financially and otherwise. "Practical atheists" abound (thank you, PRL!), and they justify their totally "practical" orientation with "the church is a business" usually followed by "just like any other business." Au contraire, my little flock!

    Tomorrow: Title is "God's Business Has a Bottom Line" and I plan to use this well-timed parable to talk about the "bottom line" of the church being changed lives. It's still a work in progress!

    I have some delicious (imported from my homeland) Louisiana coffee and some leftover flourless dark chocolate cake to share this morning. MaineCelt, I'll trade you for some of that quinoa and eggs!

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  8. I'm off lectionary to preach 1 cor 12 and Numbers 11:16-30 as we install new officers. talking about distributed leadership and stepping up into our gifts. Well, if I ever get it written i am. spent several days removing old vinyl tile and relaying new so we can sell the old house.

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  9. Good Morning everyone - Mainecelt - love the barn theme, all around.

    Eathchik, we will hold your hand - oh my...I had a recent hard drive failure, for other reasons, but feel your pain! I hope the outcome is better than the prospect at this point in time...

    sko3, I've done that...preached at a VERY wealthy congregation in the wealthiest, per capita city...yeah, good times, indeed!

    PRL, don't know the book, but could have used that chamomile tea during my insomnia from 1:30 to 4:30am...

    Godgurl,somedays it is like, "Turn, turn, turn?"

    Jeff - Oh my....I'm having computer issues, too, what is going on!! I hope all goes well for the neutral puplit bit, I always find auditions tought...

    RevSharon, love the title, and I'd like some cake, please...

    ALthea,prayers for you labor of hand and labor of love (sermon)

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  10. EarthChick, I am laying virtual hands on your computer! It's amazing how life stops when our computers give out on us. Grace and peace to you this day.

    As for me, I have survived (and thrived) through VBS week. A VBS sermon on Psalm 1 is in the can -- actually, it is saved as a PDF on my Kindle. Since the sanctuary is mostly taken up with a gi-normous boat, I don't have a pulpit to preach from and am trying the Kindle route. Has anyone else done this? Tips? Suggestions?

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  11. Hi RI - welcome. I don't have a kindle and haven't used that approach, but in an effort to use less paper, I love it! OR, rather, when there is a boat in the pulpit...LOL

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  12. I'm on Luke this week, with the title taken from a local business' name: "Life Storage"...I think I'm also going sort of the Practical Atheism route: what does our relationship to stuff proclaim about God? or something...

    First I have to go do a funeral...need to leave the house in 15 minutes, not sure what to wear as I neglected to do laundry yesterday AND I still have a paragraph of the funeral homily to write.

    Back later, hoping that all computer woes will be healed so you can all party all day long!

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  13. Oh Earthchick - I so feel you're pain: a month or two ago laptop crashed and thought I'd lost everything. My wonderful techie folk managed after a lot of head scratching to get the stuff off before totally rebuilding the computer. It's amazing what can be retrieved. Holding a hand in what I'm sure will be a long chain of hands!

    Was going to go down a 'full/ empty' theme earlier in the week but went somewhere else instead... we're doing 'doom and delight'. I have always wanted to stand in a pulpit and utter the words [slightly adapted catch-phrase from an old, but beloved comedy series over here]
    'Doomed. We're all doomed, I tell you'
    Tomorrow's my lucky day ;)
    Using Eccles alternative OT [the 'doom' bit], with Luke [but continuing to v27, then vv32-34 - the delight bit]
    Talking about why stuff like bigger barns, power, etc. is meaningless and how it can be a product of fear... and the delight bit - we don't need to fear, God is our future, not stuff in barns.
    Kinda.
    I have nothing in the house - not even 'camel-mile' tea or chocolate ... time for a shopping trip.

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  14. I'm off lectionary tomorrow. It's my final Sunday at the small congregation where I have been supplying for the last three months. So I'm doing a 'wrap up' sermon, using the text from John 15 about the vine and the branches. My garden kindly supplied me with a perfect sermon illustration in the form of a minature rose bush that was all but dead two weeks ago and now is sporting not only a full growth of leaves but TWO roses - appropriate for a demoralized congregation which is now showing signs of new life!

    Time is my enemy today. We spent most of last week moving into a smaller apartment in seminary housing so an incoming famiy can have the 3 bedroom. And today I am debating the wisdom of a 2 1/2 hour drive (one way) to attend my husband's grandmother's 90th birthday. He can't go - he couldn't get off work, so it will just be me and the kids. I know I should go, but I really can't spare the time. My daughter offered to help by typing my sermon as I dictated it to her while I was driving, so that may be the way we go.

    Blessings to all with computer problems - I feel your pain!

    Loved the 'practical atheisists"! I'll have to remember that for another time!

    Peacebang at beautytipsforministers.com recently talked about using a kindle in worship. There is a discussion in her archives. It was around graduation time - she recommended we ask for one as a gift.

    Oatmeal is ready and the coffee just stop brewing if anyone wants some.

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  15. Welcome Teri - prayers for the sermonizing and funeral and attire....

    Ramona - wrap up sermons are so important and so hard but so good..prayer for you!

    Nik - welcome, and I like that phrase!

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  16. Thanks for all the sympathy and support y'all! I am so very hopeful that I have every necessary thing backed up. I had just this week gone through setting up a new Time Capsule for my MacBook and I hope I got it all set up right. I have a secondary backup through an online service called Carbonite, but I've gotten concerned that my 30,000 photos somehow didn't get backed up there.

    I would highly recommend that all of you have at least two backups!! My husband's hard drive crashed last winter and he lost six months of work on a book project. We thought everything was backed up via Mozy, an online backup service, but it turned out that it hadn't backed up in months for some reason. That incident was a wake-up call for me to make sure we always had at least two forms of backup, including one that was offsite (in case of fire, etc.). Anyway, right now my biggest anxieties are that my photos didn't get fully backed up and that I will need a new hard drive. But I'm really glad that all my documents are protected.

    AND - I'm done with a sermon draft! Woohoo! I can hardly believe it. But the work I had already done on this text (I'm preaching Hosea, which I wrote the Pastoral Perspective commentary for in Feasting on the Word) really came in handy. I was able to remember most of what I'd already written before the crash and then write the rest of us. I may still tweak it, but for now I'm moving on to other things - like the Apple Genius Bar!

    Wishing all the rest of you the best. Ramona, thinking of you on this last Sunday, on what sounds like a slightly stressful weekend! Best to the rest of you, too.

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  17. Hello fellow preachers - blessings to all in your many endeavors today. Earthchick - hoping you get a real genius at the genius bar!

    I finished my sermon on Luke entitled un-originally Rich Toward God yesterday. Used that lyric from Tracy Chapman's mountains of things and a story from Leo Tolstoy. Hope it works, because I have to preach it three times, once today and twice tomorrow. Then, right after service, we are taking off for five days camping in northern Michigan! I'm looking forward to that but having trouble wrapping my mind around the whole packing concept.
    I just picked up our farmshare and saw a lot of lettuce, summer squash, fresh basil, banana peppers and the like in the bag - come have some!

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  18. Somehow in my morning fog I manged to fix a cup of coffee AND open a can of Dt Mt Dew ... I usually drink one at a time.

    So, I'm working on the coffee while I try to wake up fully.

    When I get to it, I'm preaching from Hosea. I don't think I've ever preached from Hosea before.

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  19. Mumpastor - farmshare and vacation - delightful!

    Vicar - good wake up! LOL....and preaching from Hosea is good! I think its a good idea to occasionally preach on and about the prophets

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  20. Yipes! Just remembered I need a children's sermon for tomorrow. Any ideas anyone? for the Luke passage.

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  21. Vicah, I know your pain. I am known for opening 2 drinks.

    Earth chick, hang in there.

    I would like to preach on the compassion of God in Hosea, but we don't get good Gospels on materialism too often so Luke is where my mind is going.

    Have a good day, sistahs.

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  22. wow, sounds like we have gratitude for external hard drives and backups. I had a crash last week on my macbook. Is there something in the cyberair? I had TimeMachine but should have found some more info on HOW to restore. IT does it, but, the name of my computer changes when they replaced the operating system and it made the backup more difficult. I also didn't always know WHERE to put what I was restoring.. best wishes EC and thanks for your writing in Feasting.

    I'm two weeks ahead in lectionary for various reasons involving vacation and such. I don't need a children's story as we have someone sharing from his recent trip to Holy Land! whoopee, especially since we've been luck to have 2 kids/week this summer and I never know how old they will be.
    What do all of you do with "Children's stories" for jr high age? do you?
    Blessings for 'RESTOREation'

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  23. I have notes toward sermon...and am playing hooky to go to the market (tomatoes and whatever else looks good) and the coffee roaster, going to try some "cold brewed" coffee this week.
    I have some really nice caponata that would go well with quinoa or eggs or toast or all of the above?! Help yourselves!
    I am thinking of going way out on a limb and talking about interpretation of text = spiritual life (according to Levinas), I think this congregation can handle it...

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  24. Good morning/afternoon to RevNancy and Mutah, welcome to the party...I wonder if anyone has ideas for Nancy and the youth? The youth at the church where I am supply headed off today for a mission trip to South Dakota...

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  25. Wooo...this was a tough sermon to write. I have a rough draft up, now it's time for a nap.

    Please stop by and comment. I think I got the jest of the scriptures but one can never know for sure.

    Rich Toward God.

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  26. Hey CR - welcome, we have a quinoa themed breakfast here today...

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  27. Ok ya' all. You have inspired me to back up my computer right now.

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  28. Popping in here briefly between running around to do other things, in preparation to go on vacation tomorrow. But the discussion so far definitely makes me want to stop everything and do a backup or two first!

    If I keep up the pace of this morning, I might just get done...not so sure about the sermon though...I am pondering Ecclesiastes and Luke and thinking about maybe writing a dialogue between the two main characters...one who is cynical and pessimistic about this world and all that it offers, and one who puts his trust in this world and all that it offers...not sure where it would end up though!

    Too frazzled right now to think clearly.

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  29. sermon is short & to the point... at least i hope it has a point! too busy chasing a very naughty puppy this morning... he's grabbed magazines, hoisery out of the laundry, a bill off the dining room table and then he pulled leaves off house plants...

    and yes he'd already had his walk. one of them anyway... *sigh*

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  30. SemFem - I LOVE that idea...hope you get to it....

    HC - short and to the point is always good in the heat of summer...

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  32. YAY! Sermon is done - "The Good Life or A Blessed Life"

    http://wp.me/pxWZP-3R

    So glad it's done early enough to enjoy some of this beautiful weather.

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  33. After frantic typing and some interruptions, I have the outline of a sermon.

    Now off to the 90th birthday celebration! Maybe there will be time to review and re-vamp when I get back this evening!

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  34. I am working on a sermon about priorities using Luke and Eccelesiastes -- and trying not to put too much pressure on myself to be "great" since it is my first sermon in a new charge.

    I am reacquainting myself with Rabbi Kushner's When All You've Ever Wanted Isn't Enough where he posits that Qoheleth has tried all the world's paths to happiness and found them wanting so he turns to God in the end.

    ISTM that the question of priorities underlies much of our worrying and should underlie most of our decision making. My main point is that the top priority for persons and communities of faith should be to ask "Who is God calling us/me to be?" That is to turn to God first, not as a last resort.

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  35. YAY Jeff. I'll stop by in a bit and read your offering.

    And, Gord, Welcome!!

    ALso, if I have missed anyone, and welcomed you, it's just these ol' sleep deprieved eyes...but know we're glad to have you at the parteh

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  36. Hello all and so sorry about the computer glitches. I suffered a few of them on vacation this week. That will teach me to leave my netbook home and rely on my cell phone and sister's computer.

    So I really want to preach about Hosea, especially since I started with him last Sunday. But Luke seems to be consuming all my thoughts even though I know I ought to be able to link all of this (including epistle) together.

    I was just reading all of your comments - did I mention having been on vacation and being very far behind on prep? - and I am thinking of the barn owner. We characterize him as greedy but I suspect he would not have seen it that way at all. He was being practical, making sure all of his possessions were kept safe. HAve you all seen the Travelers Insurance ad with the dog trying to find the safest place for his bone? He doesn't even trust the safety deposit box in the bank! It is so easy to see this man's problem as greed or self-centeredness when we stand in the pew and hear his story.


    But I just spent several hours this week helping my sister go through all kinds of family detritus that is in storage and I suspect the man in the story is very definitely us! How much do we spend on renting storage space so we don't have to get rid of the antique chairs that no one can sit on because they are too fragile and can't be fixed? What about the toys the kids haven't played with in 15-20 years that the grandkids don't need because they have new ones? And then there's just the paper stuff - how many years of income taxes and utility bills/bank statements do we really have to save?

    In our bid to be practical - someone might be able to fix those chairs and make them useful again - do we risk becoming greedy and learning to hoard for the sake of hoarding? At least the man in Jesus' story was putting useful crops away for future use!

    Hmm, I may be a little cranky. Perhaps I need a good dose of the transforming love found in Hosea, eh?

    I've been to Costco so have plenty of tuna, wine, paper goods and tea bags to last the year. I suppose, given my comments above, I should share! Any takers or should I just build a leanto onto the back of the rectory! :-)

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  37. Hey Margaret, you don't seem cranky, even if you feel that way. I think you raise a good point about the man in Luke...

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  38. I've got a sermon! And it's not even 3:00 here yet. so now some lunch, some reading of other posted sermons and back for worship finalizing. YEAH.

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  39. I am quite sure that you have a multitude of procrastination options available to you. But I just discovered this blog and loved it, so I'm sharing it with you (no it's not mine, I don't even know who they are) Dirty Sexy Ministry

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  40. I have a sermon too - or at least the draft of one: here

    And now I'm headed to the gym for short work out but will be back soon to read these sermons!

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  41. Hello all. Sort of beginning my sermon on Hosea now... it can be brief, as we have communion tomorrow. I preached using the Luke text last week (as part of a series of sermons on topics given by the congregation). You can look at it here if you like.

    Always on the lookout for a children's message! Hosea anyone?

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  42. Hi all. I rounded out my first month in my new appointment with a short VBS (last night and this morning). I hear they had 12 kids last year, so I told them if we had 25 kids this year, I'd take a pie in the face. All totalled we had 30+ kids, so I took the pie.

    My sermon on "The Woman at the Well" is outlined in handwriting, but still needs typing. I still like the feel of my 30 year old favorite pen in my hand, and the typing is a good refresher. The Woman at the Well was the story of the day at VBS, so I think I'll use children's time to give some background - have them help me tell the story...

    But....first a nap. I don't have much to offer except a bag of snack sized Chips Ahoy cookies. Our cupboard seems perpetually bare of late - no time to go to the store. Hopefully things will be slower in August, but I'm not thinking so.

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  43. funeral: check. I skipped the luncheon afterward to write a sermon but ended up napping...umm...praying for inspiration...for a couple hours instead. now I have to get to work!

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  44. ooh, I almost forgot: this is one of the songs we're using tomorrow....
    may it bring you some inspiration too.

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  45. Can't.get.moving. My.everything.hurts. Including.my.sinuses. Nap seems to have made exhaustion worse. Typing sermon will have to wait till wee hours of morning when I'm fresh. Going to throw in the towel on today, drink some hot tea for my sinuses, vegetate, and re-read a Jan Karon novel. Blessings on all of you who are sticking with it.

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  46. awesome song, teri! your church always sings such great stuff!!

    finishing up my greed vs. rich toward god sermon and need to figure out how to sum it all up.

    and a children's sermon ... hmmm ... that would be great too ...

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  47. The congregation I now serve started life in a barn before building "bigger and better". But what are our priorities today? That's the question I am posing tomorrow. Trusting God it's not just my soapbox. Thanks for idea re kindle. I'm going to try using mine tomorrow. So far, I've only used it workwise for a wedding outside the sanctuary. Look forward to reading your sermons tomorrow, just before holy nap time. blessings. x

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  48. Just redid the end of my sermon and am printing up my prayers and bulletin.

    Thanks for the feedback! Helped me give a better more memorable ending to my sermon.

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  49. I am starting my sermon with the story of a speaker filling a pickle jar with rocks, marbles, sand and water.

    Anyone know where the story originates? I am thinking a graduation speaker????

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  50. Gord--I used that story a couple of years ago and my sermon there attributes it to Stephen Covey's book "First Things First"...I don't remember reading that book, so I must have found that attribution on a website somewhere.
    As for the original? umm.... ;-)

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  51. Well, back from the gym, packed for my drive tomorrow from Chicago to San Fran, and now dinner, and then I really will stop by and read your sermons! I want too!!

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  52. Thanks Teri! I don't have that book but I do have Covey's 7 Habits... and was going to skim Habit 3--First Things First tonight. Maybe I will find it there!

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  53. okay peeps--I made dinner instead of a sermon! stop by for grilled (well, cast iron stovetop grill...) zucchini, eggplant, green beans, and corn...and some mashed potatoes too, for good measure. Every last ingredient (except olive oil and spices) local and grown by someone I know personally! yum!

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  54. Hi, y'all!
    I had a wedding this afternoon (read the homily here, if you like), my last task for my Interim job. I am now unemployed for the first time since I started ministry in 2002, but I will be preaching a candidating sermon on the 15th and hopefully starting at a settled call on September 1st. Meanwhile, I have officially collapsed into a little heap. I'm exhausted! I'm looking forward to a very quiet week. The rest of the month will have chores and projects, but I'm giving myself a week off, first!

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  55. I'm finally sitting down to write, with less than 12 hours to go until the first sermon. If I didn't need sleep, I'd be in great shape.
    I'm preaching on the Colossians passage with the title, "No, Seriously, What Would Jesus Do?" If I could remember the code, "would" would be in italics.
    I'll keep checking in for the late-nighters, and I've got cheese straws and endless cups of tea. There could be brownies later, but I'm trying not to think about that.

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  56. I have been unbelievable productive on many things unrelated to a sermon. ::sigh::

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  57. So...I have ice cream....and mint tea...anyone?????

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  58. Not preaching tomorrow....we're having a special children's service and acting out the feeding of the five thousand for a sermon. All to be followed by a picnic to which we've invited the whole neighborhood.

    And when that is all done, my vacation starts! Hooray!

    Hugs to everyone with computer troubles..ugh, been there, done that.

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  59. RevDrMom I love the 5000 followed by picnic! great idea

    Mompriest ice cream ... that's the ticket

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  60. I finished my rough draft this morning before leaving for work, but still need to tighten up and wrap up...and my focus on challenging the congregation to "think outside the barn" is softened a bit, now, because right after I got home from work my uncle called and told me if I wanted to say any last goodbyes to my dying grandmother, the time was now.
    Thankfully, I was able to speak to her, and he said she roused herself and responded as I spoke and offered her a much-loved prayer for "crossing over." I was blessed with the chance to say all those "needful things" we so often regret not saying. And now she's gone, traveling home. And I miss her. But I still need this sermon to get finished up...

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  61. I just got back from hubby's grandma's 90th birthday. Now to fine tune the sermon and finish the bulletin insert with the weekly meditations for the upcoming congregational vote. All I really want to do is read my newspaper and sleep, but Sunday morning will come regardless of how much I wish there was more time! However, there is plenty of leftover birthday cake to go with Mompriest's ice cream!

    I must be tired - I just realized that I am sitting here with my headphones on but no itunes started.

    MaineCelt - prayers are with you and your family at this time.

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  62. RevDrMom, love that idea! I hope it goes really well.

    Vicar, here is a heaping bowlful! (virtually delicious LOL)

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  63. MaineCelt, praying for grace and peace to be with you. I'm sorry for your loss.

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  64. Some really wonderful sermons here, thanks for sharing!

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  65. well, friends, its time for this ol preacher lady to call it a night. THe rest of you help yourselves to tea and ice cream, and last one up, get the lights, ok....

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  66. okay, I finally finished something. I don't think it really flows very well, but I'll edit it as I go tomorrow morning.

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  67. (((mainecelt))) holding you in the light...

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  68. Missing the party tonight.I am without a church to preach in as of now, but I have just sent out three more PIFs, perhaps to a church near you!!!
    Going to church with the 'rents tomorrow and then a lasagne dinner and laundry I guess.
    Cats are settled and I am getting settled, but took some time off yesterday.
    Peace to all who share God's word tomorrow and peace to those who are seeking a call, preparing for a call, or heading to church.
    1-4 G

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  69. Many hugs to Mainecelt and so glad you were able to say those last words to her.

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  70. This sermon just does not want to come together.

    ugh

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  71. It's all done. And despite all the hectic events of the last few days, I'm only an hour later getting to bed!!!!

    Blessing on you all as you wrap up. Come Holy Spirit Come!

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  72. vicar, I feel that. I have one and it doesn't even go together. sigh.

    (that's right, I lied about leaving it until morning. so sue me.)

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  73. Thanks for your prayers. With a candle flickering gently near me, I've wrapped this sermon up and am tucking it into bed for the night. Blessings to the rest of you!

    (Anyone who still needs a boost can share my curried coconut ginger chicken with rice.)

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  74. MaineCelt - I'm glad you were able to speak to her tonight. You have my prayers of God's comfort for you and your family.

    Teri - I read yours. Give yourself a break. And I don't have enough money to sue you, you'll have to sue me so I can win in court and you can pay me the judgment and then I'll have enough money to sue you.

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  75. hi - anyone still up? 9 pm here and guest preacher just called with car trouble - too many miles away to get here tomorrow in time. So, now I'm on. Text is Mary and Martha from a couple of weeks ago. good ideas welcome :)

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  76. Juniper - Sorry you have to come to the party so late.

    I think Songbird did a fabulous job with Mary and Martha a few weeks ago. That's the only one I can think of right now.

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  77. Hey Vic - thanks, I will check it out. I found my sermon notes from a time I preched this in another context and fora student sermon, it's not bad. So I'll use pieces of that.

    Im feeling pretty sanguine about the whole thing, actually. I guess being on vacation the last 2 weeks helped. How r you?

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  78. Other than wishing I was on vacation, or preaching some other text. fine.

    actually, I finally started getting some traction ... interestingly enough due to the movie "Book of Eli." hmmm

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  79. I'm here! And just getting started. This is hopefully going to be short and sweet, as there are still a few other things to get done, like packing for vacation.

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  80. ooo, did you like htat? I'm so intrigued by it, but the previews look a little gory, so I've shyed away.

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  81. hi semfem! yeah! packing for vacation! so much better than UNpacking from vacation, I can tell you since I just experienced this.

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  82. Juniper - It is gory but it's almost black and white so the "color of violence" is not there like other violent movies. However, it clearly earned its "R." I'm kinda amazed at how much I like it in spite of a slow start and a lot of violence.

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  83. Finally! I have a sermon. whew.

    now for the prayers

    and then the printing

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  84. I just looked at the clock ... I'm finished earlier than usual! I thought it was at least an hour later than it is.

    I'm done. May the Holy Spirit show up fast for anyone who is still in need.

    Blessings on your Sunday

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  85. way to go Vicar -- I'm coming along too. And, speaking of gory, watching Watchmen with DH. Wow, weird.

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  86. I hope you both are done and asleep...I dozed off for a bit there, but now I think I have a sermon. Needs a bit of polishing, but at least I have something!

    I think I need to do some packing, and then return to polish and print. Be back...

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  87. I'm still out here...the sermon is done and printed, TBTG...but just working on packing and taking care of last-minute details, as always.

    I've got the coffee on for the early birds!

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  88. So much busyness after I had to call it a night. Many blessings on those preaching today, prayers for those struggling or suffering (Mainecelt) and also, as I well know, or those who do not have a call at this time. May the Spirit guide us all.

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