Starting on my other blog ONE A DAY, YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS on Nov
1...a 3 day series on HOW TO LESSEN ANXIETY.
Click on link below to go to One A Day blog
A different sermon is begun on
Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday.
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BOTTOM OF these comments AND CLICK
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The sermons found on this blog are selected sermons preached by
Rev. Wyrick during a ministry of over 50 years.
This syndicated columnist/minister thanks you for visiting.
To visit Neil's other blog One A Day Your
Spiritual Vitamins click on the following
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“It shall even be
as when a hungry man dreameth and behold he eateth but he awaketh and his soul
is empty.” (Isaiah 23:8)
A
long time ago on the side of a mountain, with the fishing village of Capernaum
stretched out around a lake below; a man named Jesus continued his
teaching. “Turn the other cheek…” he
said, and Peter, strong, raw-boned, easily angered Peter, cringed at such an
affront to human nature.
“Lay not up for
yourselves treasure on earth,” and Matthew, a former tax collector, realizing
that many had therefore considered him a legalized thief for the Roman
government, cringed and hid his palms beneath his robe.
“Love
your enemies…” and all the disciples looked down at the city and across the
foothills and the mountain ranges and thought of the Roman heel. Jesus how can you even suggest that? So many seem to
hate you you should understand that we cannot love everyone!
Read their faces and one could speculate that their thoughts were
in turmoil, troubled by what they had
just heard. Each silently arguing against that it is only
human to grow angry and be vengeful.
People must stand up for their rights with their tongues or their
fists, even to the point of death
sometimes. It is just how things are.
And so Jesus, with the insight of the Son of God, knew what their
responses were. and understood. He could
feel how shocked they were with such foreign absolutes. He could not, would not condone, but he
understood.
So he
paused, and then continued with a question, “Do men gather grapes from
thorn-bushes, or figs from thistles?
Even so, every good tree produces good fruit, and the evil tree produces
evil fruit. A good tree cannot produce
evil fruit, nor can an evil tree bring forth good fruit.”
Again they did mental battles with the truth of what He was saying. They did
not want truth. They wanted excuses for bad behavior. They were
not looking for that much commitment. They were looking for compromise. They really
wanted His forgiveness more than they wanted to be challenged. They hated
the Romans and they wanted him to say “It’s O.K. But it wasn’t O.K.
This
journey toward understanding that Jesus and all His teachings espoused did not
take place overnight. It
couldn’t. We human beings move slowly
toward good moral behavior. Our excuse machines are always in high gear.
But the point of what He was saying was obvious, and try as they
might they could not deny it. What does a weed produce? More weeds. What does a thorn bush or a thistle
produce? More thorns and more thistles. What does a
tree with rotten or shallow roots give?
Fruit not worthy of its weight.
Therefore,
what does anger produce? More
anger. What does misunderstanding
produce? More misunderstanding. Selfishness?
More selfishness. The list is
endless, the results always the same.
(TO BE CONTINUED)
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Recent articles Rev.
Wyrick has written for this web site are: REFLECTIONS
Here Comes Summer (July 2012)
Spring
(May 2012)
Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow (April 2012)
Wayward and Windy (April 2012)
Click on the URL below to WATCH NEIL IN
HIS WORLD FAMOUS ONE MAN DRAMATIZATIONS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN, BEN FRANKLIN, CHARLES WESLEY AND MARTIN LUTHER
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OTHER BOOKS BY REV.
WYRICK
Poor Richard's Almanack
for the 20th Century
Sixty Plus and Not Holding
Boundaries Unlimited
I Am
The ABC"s of
Parenting and Grandparenting
Letters to America
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