Preparing Sermons (Part 1)

by John R. Stott (condensed from Between Two Worlds) I. Choose Your Text It is best to rely on expository book studies for the steady diet of your people. However, the following may be occasions for special sermons:           –Special calendar occasions–Christmas, Easter, etc.          –Special external circumstances which are in the public mind          –Special needs discerned by the preacher or […]


"The story of Easter is the story of God's wonderful window of divine surprise."
- Carl Knudsen

"Tomb, thou shalt not hold Him longer;
Death is strong, but Life is stronger;
Stronger that the dark, the light;
Stronger than the wrong, the right;
Faith and Hope triumphant say
Christ will rise on Easter Day."
- Phillips Brooks

"O chime of sweet Saint Charity,
Peal soon that Easter morn
When Christ for all shall risen be,
And in all hearts new-born!"
- James Russell Lowell

"If Easter means anything to modern man it means that eternal truth is eternal. You may nail it to the tree, wrap it up in grave clothes, and seal it in a tomb; but "truth crushed to earth shall rise again." Truth does not perish; it cannot be destroyed. It may be distorted; it has been silenced temporarily; it has been compelled to carry its cross to Calvary's brow or to drink the cup of poisoned hemlock in a Grecian jail, but with an inevitable certainty after every Black Friday dawns truth's Easter morn."
- Donald Harvey Tippet

"On Easter Day the veil between time and eternity thins to gossamer."
- Douglas Horton

"Easter is not a passport to another world; it is a quality of perception for this one."
- W.P. Lemon

"There is a stage in a child's life at which it cannot separate the religious from the merely festal character of Christmas or Easter. I have been told of a very small and very devout boy who was heard murmuring to himself on Easter morning a poem of his own composition which began 'Chocolate eggs and Jesus risen.' This seems to me, for his age, both admirable poetry and admirable piety. But of course the time will soon come when such a child can no longer effortlessly and spontaneously enjoy that unity. He will become able to distinguish the spiritual from the ritual and festal aspect of Easter; chocolate eggs will no longer seem sacramental. And once he has distinguished he mustput one or the other first. If he puts the spiritual first he can still taste something of Easter in the chocolate eggs; if he puts the eggs first they will soon be no more than any other sweetmeat. They will have taken on an independent, and therefore a soon withering, life."
- C. S. Lewis

Easter

The Truth About Lying

(adapted from an article on page B1 of the Atlanta Constitution, Saturday, January 28, 2006) Andrea Simakis writes, “As members of the greatest consumer culture on the planet, Americans are inundated by less-than-sincere sales pitches goading us to buy….” We live in a world of spin, hype and lies. James Frey lied about elements of […]

Worship in Ancient Israel

– Walter Brueggemann Guides the reader through themes, central texts, prayers, festivals and practices in ancient worship. 2ProphetU2ProphetU is an online magazine/website, started by Warren Wiersbe and Michael Catt, to build up the church, seek revival, and encourage pastors. […]

The Complete Book of Who’s Who in the Bible

– Philip Comfort & Walter Elwell An alphabetical guide of Biblical profiles. 2ProphetU2ProphetU is an online magazine/website, started by Warren Wiersbe and Michael Catt, to build up the church, seek revival, and encourage pastors. […]

The Complete Book of When and Where

In the Bible and Throughout History – E. Michael & Sharon Rusten Focuses on major events that shaped the religious consciousness of the world. 2ProphetU2ProphetU is an online magazine/website, started by Warren Wiersbe and Michael Catt, to build up the church, seek revival, and encourage pastors. […]

Bible Personalities

– Warren Wiersbe Beyond a dictionary of Biblical men and women, this book includes historical context for the messages. 2ProphetU2ProphetU is an online magazine/website, started by Warren Wiersbe and Michael Catt, to build up the church, seek revival, and encourage pastors. […]

Silly Women

If you are breathing today, then you have probably been bombarded by the latest hype surrounding Dan Brown’s best-selling book, The Da Vinci Code. I read the book a few years ago when it first came out because a friend who was wrestling with the claims of Christ “dared” me to. Because I’m extremely competitive, […]

Prayer – Lighting the Night With Joy (Part 1)

Nehemiah served as the cupbearer to the king in the court of Artaxerxes. One day, preoccupied with bad news from home, he was caught by the king wearing a sad expression on his face. This exposure filled him with great fear. “So the king said to me, ‘Why is your face sad though you are […]

Making Family Traditions

Christians have done an admirable job of cooperative training of our children. We have banded together to organize Sunday schools, Vacation Bible Schools, midweek clubs, membership classes, camps, and Bible clubs. However, in our keenness to adopt the schooling model for Christian education, we often overlook the great value of non-formal means of passing on […]

Baseball and the Baptist

I grew up with baseball. I was thinking, maybe we could reach more baseball fans if we used their terminology. Sometimes we are guilty of using Christian “shop talk” that the unbeliever does not understand. Without further explanation, the following is an attempt to “relate” to all those baseball fans out there. Batting Practice Also […]

M is For Maverick (Part 1)

Certain people in history say or do something special or different and as a result they become eponyms. An eponym is a person whose name is in the dictionary because that name has a special meaning based on something significant in a person’s life. For example, the word “doily” comes from the Doily family in […]