Fall 2024 Preaching Plan
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I Desire Mercy Not Sacrifice
Experiencing the mercy of God in our lives
Ready & Faithful
Looking to Jesus for help now and hope in the future
Why Suffering?
Help your church understand God's plan in pain
FREEDOM TO CHOOSE ONE’S ATTITUDE There is a book called, “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Victor Frankl. Frankl was a Holocaust survivor who wrote about his experiences in a Nazi concentration camp. Everything was taken away from these prisoners. They were stripped of their clothing, their pictures, ...read more
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 3:17
Tags: Thought
Army Paratrooper Takes Comfort and Hope Listening To Taps During the Vietnam War A story from a Vietnam veteran testifies of God’s transforming work. I served as an airborne Ranger platoon leader (paratrooper) in the First Air Cavalry Division during the Vietnam War. Our company was hacked up ...read more
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 4:16-17
Tags: Battle, War
The Cross at Ground Zero After 9/11 A testimony from a worker at ground zero on 9-11 testifies of God’s transforming power. I’m an excavation laborer, and a member of union local 731. Pick-and-shovel work is my trade. I live in New Jersey, but I’m a New York City native, Brooklyn born and bred. ...read more
Tags: Cross
Paul’s Thorn in the Flesh Like Catfish with Codfish Years ago in the northeastern United States codfish was a big commercial business. There is a market for eastern cod all over, especially on the West Coast. The demand posed a problem to the shippers. At first they froze the cod, then shipped them ...read more
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 12:7-10
Tags: Affliction
Bride-to-Be Hosts a Banquet for Homeless Philip Yancey told the story of the woman who was getting married and planned a huge wedding banquet. It was going to held at the Hyatt Hotel and cost $13,000. After everything had been planned and paid for the groom dumped her. When she tried to cancel she ...read more
Tags: Compassion
Martin Luther’s Depression and the Hymn "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" The year 1527 was the most trying year of Martin Luther’s life. On April 22 he was preaching in Wittenberg when he became dizzy and fainted. Over the next several months he dealt with debilitating depression and sickness. It had ...read more
Missionary, Fred Craddock, buys pastries for German-Jewish Refugees In the 1940s, Fred Craddock began serving as a missionary to India. When World War II ended, Craddock’s church wired him funds for a steamer ticket to return home. Arriving in his port of departure on Christmas day, Craddock ...read more
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 13:5
Tags: Christian Witness
Charles Spurgeon Deals With Man Who Believed in Sinless Perfection I love the story of Charles Spurgeon when he was a speaker at a conference along with another man, who publicly proclaimed that Christians could reach a place of sinless perfection where they no longer struggled with sin because ...read more
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 7:1
Tags: Holiness
Max Lucado’s Story about a Scottish Fisherman’s Stain on Wall that is Transformed by Famous Wildlife Painter into a Masterpiece Max Lucado tells this story: “Over a hundred years ago, a group of fishermen were relaxing in a Scottish seaside inn. One of the men gestured widely and his arm struck the ...read more
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:17-20
Tags: Forgiveness, Forgiveness In Jesus
Brother Reassure His Sister in Carlsbad Caverns When Lights Turned Out Bob Woods tells the story of a couple who took their son, 11, and daughter, 7, to Carlsbad Caverns. As always, when the tour reached the deepest point in the cavern, the guide turned off all the lights to dramatize how ...read more
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 4:3-6
Tags: Salvation, Cup Of Salvation
Missionaries Martyrdom in Turkey at the Hand of Muslims in 2007 On April 18, 2007, five Muslims entered a Christian publishing company and killed three believers in the southeastern province of Malatya. The 3 believers, Tilmann Geske (a German missionary), Turkish Pastor Necati Aydin and Ugur ...read more
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 11:23-28
Tags: Missions
GIVING BEGETS GIVING Leadership Magazine carried a story about four young men, Bible College students, who were renting a house together. One Saturday morning someone knocked on their door. And when they opened it, there stood this bedraggled-looking old man. His eyes were kind of marble-ized, and ...read more
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 8:2
Tags: Giving General
Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational
Generosity of Poor Man Surprises Bible College Students Illustration from Leadership/Melvin Newland: Leadership Magazine carried a story about 4 young men, Bible College students, who were renting a house together. One Saturday morning someone knocked on their door. And when they opened it, there ...read more
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 9:6-15
Examples of Famous People Who Tithed Before They Became Rich A young man accepted the call to become an African missionary but found on further examination that his wife could not stand the climate of Africa. It made her very sick. He was heartbroken, but he prayerfully returned to his home and ...read more
Tags: Tithes
ON REGRET John Greenleaf Whittier, one of our most astute poets, wrote: For of all the sad words of tongue or pen, The saddest are these: 'It might have been.' That is what Regret is all about. The world is full of people who Regret having thoughtlessly chosen the wrong path. Life is a series ...read more
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 7:10
Tags: Disappointment
THE BLOOD OF LAMBS I just finished a very moving book called, "The Blood of Lambs" by Kamal Saleem (Howard Books, 2009). He describes his life as a terrorist and how he hated Israel and America. He also couldn't stand Christians--that is, until God brought some Christian men into his life after he ...read more
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:17
Tags: Islam
Keeping Faith in the Midst of Trials The story is told of a man who was walking across the road when he was hit by a car. The impact knocked him on his head which caused him to be in a coma for a couple of days before he finally regained consciousness. When he opened his eyes, his loving wife was ...read more
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 4:8-18
Tags: Trials And Difficulties
Older Brother Takes the Blame and Dies for Younger Brother The story is told of two Chinese brothers who lived in Chinatown just after the turn of the century. One brother, the eldest of the two, was a very honest and hardworking individual, while the younger brother was rebellious, and often ...read more
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:21
Tags: Christian Love, Substitute
Martyrdom of Missionary Doctor Paul Carlson Don Carson has written a book which is also titled, “How Long O Lord: Reflections on Suffering & Evil.” At the beginning of the book, he recounted this real-life story. A pastor is cutting his front lawn. He looks up from his task just in time to see a ...read more
Thought Control. What thought? Every thought. The one I have about the Ford Mark One Zephyr that I would like to one day own, the one about how angry I get with repeating a request that someone shuts the door behind them, the thought about how I’d like that last slice of chocolate cake that is for ...read more
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 10:5
Tags: Temptation General
Denomination: Salvation Army