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Sermon: Summertime Fruit–Gentle Things

July 24, 2016 by Chad Herring Leave a Comment

July 24, 2016 – Summertime Fruit – Gentle Things from John Knox Kirk on Vimeo.

A sermon preached at The Kirk of Kansas City, Missouri, on July 24, 2016.
The eighth in a sermon series on The Fruit of the Spirit.

Adapted from a previous sermon series at Southminster Presbyterian Church in Prairie Village, Kansas 
and inspired and using ideas and content from the Rev. Chris B. Herring
preached at Westminster Presbyterian Church of Saint Louis. Original citation lost.

Matthew 11:28-30
and Ephesians 4:1-6

petatairport

So, on a sermon about GENTLENESS,
I want to start, of course, with a story about Steven Seagal.

Before Steven Seagal became an actor, if you can call him that,
starring in action movies like Under Siege and Above the Law,
He claims to have had a working relationship with the CIA[i].

He told the story to David Letterman,
And as he tells it, he was at an international airport
undercover, see, on a stakeout, posing as an airport employee,
when a woman approached him with a pet carrier containing her dog.

She was distressed, and she babbled something
about having to take care of some business somewhere.

And she asked Steven,
who was at an information desk or something staffing it to help fliers
she asked him if he could look after her dog for an hour or so.

Not knowing what to say and not wanting to blow his cover, he agreed.

A few minutes after she left, he noticed that the dog was…well, not moving.
He checked, and to his dismay, that dog was d-e-a-d dead! Deceased.

He immediately called the other CIA agents.
Now, they couldn’t afford to cause a scene
by telling the woman that her dog was dead,
so they plotted to replace the dog, a Bichon
with an identical breed at a nearby pet shop,
put the old collar on her, no one would know the difference.

That way, when she came back and saw her dog
she’d be happy and not cause a fuss.

So the woman returned, and they opened the cage and the dog ran to her.
And she took look at her dog, And then she SCREAMED,
fainted right there in the airport.

So much for not causing a scene…
When she came to, she apologized
and explained that she was shocked, you know, and overjoyed.

She thought her dog was DEAD when she left,
and well, now her dog was alive!

The business she left to go take care of: the arrangements for her dog’s burial.

///
The moral of the story:
Sometimes we think that we’re doing the right thing when we’re not.[ii]
Sometimes we do wrong out of ignorance.
Sometimes out of pressure.
Sometimes out of fear.

Sometimes, its hard to do the right thing, isn’t it.

But, as often, the challenge is discerning in the first place
between the right thing and the wrong thing.
[Read more…]

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Filed Under: bible, faith, Holy Spirit, sermon

Sermon: Summertime Fruit–A Tempered Temper

June 28, 2016 by Chad Herring Leave a Comment

June 26, 2016 – ” Summertime Fruit – A Tempered Temper” from John Knox Kirk on Vimeo.

A sermon preached at The Kirk of Kansas City, Missouri, on June 26, 2016.
The fourth in a sermon series on The Fruit of the Spirit.

Adapted from a previous sermon series at Southminster Presbyterian Church in Prairie Village, Kansas 
and inspired and using ideas and content from the Rev. Chris B. Herring
preached at Westminster Presbyterian Church of Saint Louis. Original citation lost.

Mark 10:35-45
and Colossians 3:12-17

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So we’re back to this little sermon series on the Fruit of the Spirit
after a quick break last week.

I’m very glad that the Rev. Eric Garbison was here
to bring you a word from Cherith Brook
and to lead our worship. Thank you for your hospitality of him last week.

We are now on the fourth of the nine Fruit of the Spirit that Paul lists in Galatians,
the fruit of patience.

You might remember how Paul put it:
the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, generosity,
faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
There is no law against such things.

So we’ll deal with Patience today.
Something I know none of us need to focus on.

To do this, we’ll read from the letter to the Colossians, the third chapter.
Listen for the Word of God to us this morning:

Colossians 3:12-17
As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved,
clothe yourselves with compassion,
kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.
Bear with one another and,
if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other;
just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

Above all, clothe yourselves with love,
which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts,
to which indeed you were called in the one body.
And be thankful.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly;
teach and admonish one another in all wisdom;
and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms,
hymns, and spiritual songs to God.

And whatever you do, in word or deed,
do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through him.

And may God bless our reading
and our understanding
and are applying of this Word, to how we live our lives. Amen.

///

Once, many years ago, I heard a pastor open a Father’s Day sermon
with these dubious words from an anonymous poet:

Patience is a virtue.
Possess it if you can.
Seldom in a woman
Never in a man![i]

See: dubious. I told you so.
Well, I clipped it, and I was going to use it last week on Father’s day,
but I wasn’t here, and
somehow it fits today’s sermon a bit better…

This little verse recognizes a common malady these days.
I know how impatient I can be.

It was on full display last night, for instance
when I was trying to get home from being in
Portland at our General Assembly,
the national meeting of Presbyterians
and found my self, those last twenty minutes
waiting for my checked bag…at midnight….
did I mention twenty minutes…? [Read more…]

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Filed Under: bible, faith, God, Jesus, sermon

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Chad Andrew Herring

Chad Herring

kairos :: creature of dust :: child of God :: husband of 21 years :: father of 2 :: teaching elder/minister of word and sacrament in the presbyterian church (u.s.a.) :: exploring a progressive-reformed – emergent-christianity :: more

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