Rev Bill

I have posted my sermon from this morning on my sermon blog. A “ten year anniversary of 9/11″ sermon, it’s based on Psalm 91 and entitled “What We’ve Learned From 9/11″.

Here’s a portion of it:

Here are 3 things I would suggest we can learn from the events of September 11, 2001:
First — We can learn that God is with us in all situations of our lives.
Second — We can learn that God loves us and gives us the ultimate victory in life and over death in Jesus Christ.
Third — We can learn that God calls us to share His love with others as we tell them about God’s offer of salvation through Jesus Christ and reach out to them with actions of love and compassion.
In the chorus of the song I quoted a few moments ago Allan Jackson sings:
I’m just a singer of simple songs
I’m not a real political man
I watch CNN but I’m not sure I can tell
you the difference in Iraq and Iran
But I know Jesus and I talk to God
And I remember this from when I was young
Faith, hope and love are some good things He gave us
And the greatest is love
Yea — faith — hope — and love are indeed some good things God has given us – and the greatest is love. God’s love is the greatest thing He has given us – and the greatest thing we can share with others.

You can read the entire sermon here.

I have posted today’s sermon to my sermon blog. Based on Romans 13:8-14 it is entitled ‘Who Are You Putting On?”.

Here’s a portion of it:

Did you ever see Mel Brooks’ movie Young Frankenstein?
Gene Wilder stars as a young relative of the famous Dr. Frankenstein. He wants to distance himself from his famous relative – and even demands his name be pronounced differently. But then he himself creates a creature much like his relative had created and wants to show the scientific community that his creature is different from the one his relative created. There is a great scene in the movie where he is introducing his “creature” to he scientific community at a major convention. He and his “creature” – both dressed in tux and tails — begin singing and dancing to “Putting on the Ritz.” Of course, everything goes wrong – the “creature” makes one of the stage lights explode and a fire breaks out – and the “creature” goes wild – proving that even though he could be dressed like a Broadway star, he was still a monster.
The problem was that all Dr. Frankenstein did was dress up the outside of his “creature”. Inside, the “creature” was still the monster. “Putting on airs” – or “putting on an act” – or even “putting on the ritz” – did not really change the “creature”.
If you want to grow as a disciple, Paul says you don’t need to “put on airs” or “put on an act” or even “put on the ritz” – you have to put on Christ.

You can read the sermon here.

I have posted today’s sermon on my sermon blog. Based on Romans 12:9-21 it’s entitled: “Prescription For A Christian Life”.

Here’s a portion of it:

Some of you know that yesterday was my birthday. I truly appreciate all the cards, messages, Face Book greetings and other birthday wishes I received.

I am another year older today!

At 56 I seem to have reached the age where I take a lot of pills.

I take a pill in the morning to help me wake up due to my sleep apnea. Sleep Apnea means that I quit breathing while asleep and will jerk when I start breathing again. Even though I don’t awaken, my body doesn’t get the rest it needs during the night many mornings I wake up tired – so I take a pill to help me stay awake. I take another pill in the middle of the day to help me stay awake – again due to my sleep apnea. I also sleep with a CPAP machine that helps my continue breathing at night – again due to the sleep apnea. Doctors have warned me that I need to sleep with the CPAP machine every night – – or I might stop breathing and not start again. There are nights I feel I have to sleep with one eye open to make sure Sally doesn’t cut the machine off!

Besides my pills for my sleep apnea I take a pill in the morning to keep my uric acid level under control. The doctor tells me that if I stop taking it I will develop gout in my foot – and I have had that enough to know that I do not want it again! I also take 3 pills at night – one for high cholesterol, and two for allergies.

I also have to have a bottle of Tylenol handy for the aches and pains I seem to be prone to – especially in my right knee that I had surgery on several years ago.

Whenever I pack to go anywhere I have to pack a rather large bag – what I call my “medicine kit” for all my pills – plus a lot of room in my suitcase for my CPAP – which is one of the older and more bulky models.

Yea – I have definitely arrived at that age where my pills follow me wherever I go!

You can read the entire sermon here.