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Sermons:
God's Has No
Witness Protection Plan, Acts 10:34-43,
by Rev. R. Quinn
Don’t Fence Me Out, Acts 10:34-43 by Rev. Thomas Hall
God Does Not Play Favorites, Acts 10:34-43, by the Iowa Star
Pulling all the Stops For Jesus,
Acts 10:34-43 and John 20:1-18,
by Rev. Frank Schaefer
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Easter
Sunrise Sermon , John 20:1-18, by Lutherfetch
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Why Are You
Weeping? John 20:1-18,
by Rev. Thomas Hall
Looking for the
Wrong Thing in the Wrong Place, John 20:1-18,
by Rev. Randy Quinn
It's a Miracle!
John 20:1-18, Jim from B.C.
He Is Risen--Now what? John 20:1-18,
by HW in HI,
Easter Street, John 20:1-18,
by Jeffrey K. London
Irrational
Exuberance, John 20:1-18, by Neill Morgan
Resurrection Power,, John 20:1-18, by John
Running in the Dark,
John 20:1-18, by Ed in WA
Is It Easter
Already?, John 20: 19-31, by Gary Roth
Skits/Readings:
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Where will YOU Run?
Easter sermon based on Mark 16:1-8
by Rev. Randy Quinn
They closed the store a
couple of years ago. It was a small town general store that had been in
business for over a hundred years, first as a “dry goods” store then as
a “drug store.” It had been in the same family since 1926, when Grandpa
bought it from its founder.
When Dad died
unexpectedly, none of the children were interested in keeping it going –
nor were any of their children. So they closed the store. There was a
“going out of business” sale that really was a “going out of business”
sale since the building was sold separate from the business. (The store
building on the main street of Colfax is currently divided up into
smaller professional offices.)
One of the daughters told
me that before the sale she spent eight straight days during Spring
Break cleaning out the basement of the store.
It was funny, because even as an adult she had some fears about one of
the corner rooms in the basement.
As a child, she used to
play in the basement with her cousins. When she cleaned it, it still
had the wooden floor she remembered as a child – which really makes it
sound better than it was. The flooring was rough 2 x 8’s laid down
across the dirt. In places it was so uneven that even as a child she
remembered seeing the boards go up and down as she walked along them.
But in the corner room,
there were no lights. And the boards were particularly squeaky. Once
in a while the children would venture inside, but they rarely got past
the doorway before running out in terror.
During Spring Break she
went in with a flashlight. She knew there were some boards stacked up
in the corner and she knew there was something behind them. But she
wasn’t sure what she’d find until she faced her own fears.
Even as she got close to
the door, her heart began to beat rapidly. Old fears are hard to
conquer. Childhood fears live with us for most of our adult lives in
one form or another. But in this case, she knew she had to face her
fears and find what was in the corner.
I suspect Mary Magdalene
and Mary the mother of James and Salome had similar fears. They didn’t
like the idea of going into the tomb. That may explain why they hadn’t
consciously thought about it until they were nearing the garden, but
they had no plans for moving the stone from its entrance (Mk 16:3).
Maybe their subconscious
fears kept them from making a workable plan so they would only approach
the tomb and not actually go inside. They would weep at the stone and
not actually touch the dead body of the man they had grown to love.
Instead, they were forced
to face their fears.
And just what are those
fears? The same fears we all face, the fear of the unknown. It’s the
fear of change expressed at its most basic level.
You see, we like to know
what to expect. We like to be in control. And if there is change, we
like to be the ones directing the change, not responding to it.
Small children love to
play with a “Jack-in-the-Box.” They enjoy the element of surprise when
the clown pops out of the box. Even adults enjoy turning the cranks and
watching the head pop up. But I never did enjoy playing with one of the
“Jacks-in-the-Box” we bought for Melissa a few years ago. I didn’t like
it because the clown doesn’t pop up at the expected moments. Unlike
most “Jacks-in-the-Box,” the mechanism that releases the clown isn’t
connected to the music, so you can’t predict when the clown will pop up.
[continue]
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