Sermon Central
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In A Back Yard There Once Lived An Apple Tree ... PRO
Contributed by Joel Pankow on Jun 25, 2004 (message contributor)
In a back yard there once lived an apple tree and a thorn bush. The apple tree produced nice juicy apples that everyone liked to eat. Kids would climb up the tree and pluck the apples. Worms would eat the ones that fell on the ground. Birds would peck away at the fruit from the top. The owner would also prune and spray the tree to make sure it produced lots of fruit for the neighborhood. In the corner, about 50 yards from the apple tree stood a thorn bush. Nobody messed with the thorn bush. One day old Jimmy Johnson ran his bike into it, but after he got all cut up, he never made the same mistake again. Nobody picked any fruit off of it, everyone left it alone. At first the apple tree liked all the attention. But after about ten years, it started becoming envious of the thorn bush. It said to the thorn bush, “you know, I’m sick of everyone always climbing on me and picking my fruit. The master is always trimming me, putting smelly manure around my trunk, and making a fuss over me. I wish they’d go somewhere else. Better yet, I wish I was a thorn bush, then everyone would leave me alone.” The thorn bush then looked at the apple tree and said, “don’t be a fool! Bite your bark! Look at me! I don’t do anyone a bit of good. I feed nobody. I look ugly. All I do is harm. The master didn’t plant me here, I’m just a wild weed. The only good I do is to fill up some space in the yard. I would trade all the thorns in the world to have one child climb my branches - to have the Master trim my branches - and produce some fruit.”
As Christians, we are sometimes like the apple tree. It seems like we’re taken advantage of by the world. People ask us for our fruit, and then walk away without saying thanks. People climb us, abuse us, and do all sorts of things to us, and expect us just to take it all the time. The Master even removes our thorns by saying, “the fruit of the Spirit is peace.” But that’s...
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I Read About A Man Dreaming About The ...
Contributed by Melvin Shelton on Jul 17, 2004
I read about a man dreaming about the crucifixion of Jesus. He was telling in detail how that Jesus was beaten, and the people shouting crucify him. He saw the back of the soldier as he was driving ...read more
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The Church Is Like Noah's Ark: The Stench Inside ... PRO
Contributed by Lynn Floyd on Jul 29, 2003
“The church is like Noah’s ark: The stench inside would be unbearable if it weren’t for the storm outside. It’s true—sometimes we stink and the world is stormy. But as imperfect as we are on this side of heaven, the miracle is that God in fact chooses to ...read more
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In 1829 A Man Named George Wilson Was Arrested ...
Contributed by Bruce Willis on Dec 29, 2006
In 1829 a man named George Wilson was arrested for robbery and murder in a US mail heist. He was tried, convicted and sentenced to death by hanging. Some friends intervened on his behalf and were able to obtain his pardon from President Andrew Jackson. But when told of this, Wilson refused it ...read more
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Alta Vail Of Emporia, Kansas, Tells In Sunshine ...
Contributed by Evie Megginson on Mar 14, 2005
Alta Vail of Emporia, Kansas, tells in Sunshine magazine how she found a new way to pray while ironing. One day she was thinking about the different kinds of lines—bus lines, clothes lines, fishing lines, telephone lines. Why not a prayer line? she asked herself. So she strung a short rope across ...read more
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Like Bill Hybels, I Believe That There Is Nothing ... PRO
Contributed by Jim Kane on May 25, 2004
Like Bill Hybels, I believe that there is nothing like the local church when it is working right. In addition, I agree with what he says after that sentence: “Its beauty is indescribable. Its power is breathtaking. Its potential is unlimited. It comforts the grieving and heals the broken in the ...read more
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