Daring to Dream Again: Empower Our… – Part 16

Empower Our Activities With Prayer—Part 16

READINGS – Part 5

A PARABLE OF PRAYER

A father and his son, traveling together in a wagon,
came to the edge of a forest.
Some bushes, thick with berries,
caught the child’s eye.
“Father,” he asked, “may we stop a while
so that I can pick some berries?”
The father was anxious to complete his journey,
but he did not have it in his heart
to refuse the boy’s request.
The wagon was called to a halt,
and the son alighted to pick the berries.

After a while,
the father wanted to continue on his way.
But his son had become so engrossed in berry-picking
that he could not bring himself to leave the forest.
“Son!” cried the father, “we cannot stay here all day!
We must continue our journey!”

Even the father’s pleas were not enough
to lure the boy away.
What could the father do?
Surely he loved his son no less
for acting so childishly.
He would not think of leaving him behind but
he really did have to get going on his journey.
Finally he called out:
“You may pick your berries for a while longer,
but be sure you are still able to find me.
for I shall start moving slowly along the road,
As you work, call out ‘Father! Father!’
every few minutes, and I shall answer you.
As long as you can hear my voice,
know that I am still nearby.
But as soon as you can no longer hear my answer,
know that you are lost,
and run with all your strength to find me!”

_________________________________
Space for God, Don Postema, Bible Way, page 47.

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Sunday’s coming. Do you have your sermon ready? Is it relevant? Will it effectively motivate your congregation to walk more in step with the Master? What about that Sermon Series you’ve been thinking about?

Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?

David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help. We offer a wide variety of Sermon Starters and Full Sermons that will give you Sermon Ideas to help you prepare for regular Saturday or Sunday sermons, Mid-week Bible Sermons, and Sermons for special occasions.

We also offer assistance as you create Topical Sermons, Sermons Series, and sermons for special times of the year. We have resources available to help you with Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermons, Easter Sunday Sermons, Patriotic Sermons, and more.

For more information on how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons, please click here to visit David Mains’ website.

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.

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The Rise of Islam

One of the major unfolding stories of our day is the emerging of the religion of Islam. There is no way to miss that this is becoming a topic of great importance. It’s a subject our church people are not only interested in but, I would say, are most curious about. If asked whether they would like to hear more about basic Islamic beliefs, I believe most church people would respond with a strong “yes.”

This doesn’t mean pastors need to come up with a message or series on this theme starting next Sunday. But it does mean that now is the time to begin informing yourself about the matter. It may take several months of purposeful reading before you feel comfortable talking openly about your convictions. But preachers can’t afford to just ignore what’s unfolding internationally.

____________

My longtime friend Dick Chernesky heads a large law firm in Dayton, Ohio. Recently he e-mailed me a series of talks he gave in his home church on this matter. I quickly requested his permission to put them on Sermon-Coach.com as an example of a Christian layman’s approach to the theme. I will post one talk a week for the next three weeks. To read this talk, please click here.

If you have sermons about Islam you would be willing to share, please e-mail them to me by clicking here.

———————————————

Sunday’s coming. Do you have your sermon ready? Is it relevant? Will it effectively motivate your congregation to walk more in step with the Master? What about that Sermon Series you’ve been thinking about?

Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?

David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help. We offer a wide variety of Sermon Starters and Full Sermons that will give you Sermon Ideas to help you prepare for regular Saturday or Sunday sermons, Mid-week Bible Sermons, and Sermons for special occasions.

We also offer assistance as you create Topical Sermons, Sermons Series, and sermons for special times of the year. We have resources available to help you with Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermons, Easter Sunday Sermons, Patriotic Sermons, and more.

For more information on how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons, please click here to visit David Mains’ website.

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.

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Daring to Dream Again: Empower Our… – Part 15

Empower Our Activities With Prayer—Part 15

READINGS – Part 4

The men who have most fully illustrated Christ in their character, and have most powerfully affected the world for Him, have been men who spent so much time with God as to make it a notable feature of their lives. Charles Simeon devoted the hours from four till eight in the morning to God. Mr. Wesley spent two hours daily in prayer. He began at four in the morning. Of him, one who knew him well wrote: “He thought prayer to be more his business than anything else, and I have seen him come out of his closet with a serenity of face next to shining.” John Fletcher stained the walls of his room by the breath of his prayers. Sometimes he would pray all night; always, frequently, and with great earnestness. His whole life was a life of prayer. “I would not rise from my seat,” he said, “Without lifting my heart to God.” His greeting to a friend was always: “Do I meet you praying?” Luther said, “If I fail to spent two hours in prayer each morning, the devil gets the victory through the day. I have so much business I cannot get on without spending three hours daily in prayer.” He had a motto: “He that has prayed well has studied well.”
_________________________________
Preacher and Prayer, E.M. Bounds, Zondervan, page 38.

———————————————

Sunday’s coming. Do you have your sermon ready? Is it relevant? Will it effectively motivate your congregation to walk more in step with the Master? What about that Sermon Series you’ve been thinking about?

Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?

David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help. We offer a wide variety of Sermon Starters and Full Sermons that will give you Sermon Ideas to help you prepare for regular Saturday or Sunday sermons, Mid-week Bible Sermons, and Sermons for special occasions.

We also offer assistance as you create Topical Sermons, Sermons Series, and sermons for special times of the year. We have resources available to help you with Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermons, Easter Sunday Sermons, Patriotic Sermons, and more.

For more information on how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons, please click here to visit David Mains’ website.

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.

Share and Enjoy

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Daring to Dream Again: Empower Our… – Part 14

Empower Our Activities With Prayer—Part 14

READINGS – Part 3

Too many of us have become so busy that we have little time for God. Our lives have become so busy that we have little time for God. Our lives have become obsessed with climbing the ladder of success and resting in the easy chair of entertainment. A prayerless church exists in this generation. We cannot get people to prayer meetings, but we have no problem amassing large crowds for Christian entertainment. Our church schedules are filled with events oriented toward entertainment, and we have no time left to seek God. We have become like the Laodicean church. Jesus is on the outside knocking, wanting to come in and have fellowship with us.

A.W. Tozer said, “For centuries the Church stood solidly against every form of worldly entertainment, recognizing it for what it was-a device for wasting time, a refuge from the disturbing voice of conscience, a scheme to divert attention from moral accountability. For this she got herself abused roundly by the sons of this world. But of late she has become tired of the abuse and has given over the struggle. She appears to have decided that if she cannot conquer the great god, Entertainment, she may as well join forces with him and make what use she can of his powers.”
_________________________________
The Prayer Factor, Sammy Tippit, Moody, pages 50-51.

———————————————

Sunday’s coming. Do you have your sermon ready? Is it relevant? Will it effectively motivate your congregation to walk more in step with the Master? What about that Sermon Series you’ve been thinking about?

Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?

David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help. We offer a wide variety of Sermon Starters and Full Sermons that will give you Sermon Ideas to help you prepare for regular Saturday or Sunday sermons, Mid-week Bible Sermons, and Sermons for special occasions.

We also offer assistance as you create Topical Sermons, Sermons Series, and sermons for special times of the year. We have resources available to help you with Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermons, Easter Sunday Sermons, Patriotic Sermons, and more.

For more information on how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons, please click here to visit David Mains’ website.

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.

Share and Enjoy

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