Sermon Central
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The Ten Commandments
Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Dec 2, 2000 (message contributor)
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1. Base Ten
Contributed on Dec 2, 2000
Introduction to Sermon Series on the 10 Commandments: Why God gave them, what they say about God, what they say about people.
How many of you like murder mysteries? It’s one of the most popular genres around. I myself have been a major fan of murder mysteries for years. I excuse the habit because Dorothy Sayers approved of them (She not only wrote the Lord Peter Wimsey mystery stores but was also a rather brilliant ...read more
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2. A Control Issue
Contributed on Dec 2, 2000
The second in a series on the 10 Commandments dealing with how the human craving to be in control translates to making graven images, idolatry, worshiping the work of our hands.
One of the Christmas cards I got this year wasn’t really a Christmas card. It wasn’t even a Hannukah card. It was a Solstice card. It came from an old friend of mine named Sally who sang soprano in my medieval chamber vocals ensemble and taught me Middle Eastern dancing. (That’s belly dancing, to ...read more
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3. Time Out
Contributed on Dec 2, 2000
On keeping the Sabbath, recognizing it as a gift from God, a temporary lifting of the curse of labor and economic utilitarianism.
Before I became a Christian I got into a lot of New Age stuff, from Tarot to numerology. I didn’t spend a lot of time on numerology, I didn’t really start enjoying numbers until I got my computer, but I did find out that my personal number was seven. I don’t remember exactly how the formula goes ...read more
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4. In Whose Name?
Contributed on Dec 2, 2000
Third Commandment: How not to use God’s name emptily, keeping it full of meaning.
Names are important. Choosing a name for a new baby can occupy a couple right up until birth - sometimes even beyond. My godchildren’s father Chad drove my friend Caryl crazy right up to delivery insisting that any son of his would be named Beowulf. I think he was just pulling her chain but Chad ...read more
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5. Tall Trees And Tumbleweeds
Contributed on Aug 10, 2001
Honoring parents gives us and society the stability we need to flourish.
I started reading science fiction when I was 11 or 12, I think. My father brought home a couple of Heinlein juveniles from the library, Red Planet and Space Cadet. I don’t remember which one I read first, they’re both still favorites. All the Heinlein juvies are good reading. The plots were all ...read more
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6. Murder Mytsery
Contributed on Nov 25, 2022
How the prohibition against murder expands to include anger.
Have you ever caught yourself looking at your reflection in a shop window? I have to confess that I sometimes do. I'll wager there's not one person in this room who doesn't take at least one good look at him or herself in the mirror every day. Maybe you don't care much. But you ...read more
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7. Promises, Promises
Contributed on Nov 25, 2022
How the prohibition against adultery expanded to include lust.
Moses has been gone up in the clouds on Sinai for days and the elders are getting nervous. Finally he appears, carrying two large hunks of rock, with what appears to be writing on them. The elders are nervous, understandably, given what’s been happening - the golden calf, and so on. Moses ...read more
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8. Sticky Fingers
Contributed on Nov 25, 2022
This commandment teaches us that keeping our hands off our neighbor’s things is as important as keeping our hands off our neighbor’s neck.
One of my favorite movies ever is a little gem called “The Gods Must Be Crazy.” It starts out with an idyllic look at society among the stone age tribesmen of the Kalahari desert. They have absolutely no possessions. Not one. Not even so much as a loin cloth. They spend most of their time hunting ...read more
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9. Broken Speech
Contributed on Nov 26, 2022
Any speech which is intended to mislead or deceive is offensive to God, whether or not you are under oath.
I’ve been wracking my brains trying to find a lead-in to this week’s commandment without talking about things like political correctness and hate speech, fake news and cancel culture. Things like misinformation, disinformation and media bias. But the subject keeps popping up. Things like the ...read more
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10. Who Do You Trust?
Contributed on Nov 26, 2022
If you want someone else's life rather than your own, you are accusing God of injustice, and failing to see the work he has prepared for you and equipped you for.
During my senior year at seminary, we had something called “racial reconciliation day.” It involved, among other things, attending a rally at the college that the seminary was attached to, wearing a ribbon or a tag or label - I don’t remember exactly what - to announce to the world one’s repentance ...read more