Sermon Central
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Be Fruitful And Multiply
Contributed by Shawn Raloff on Jun 7, 2003 (message contributor)
Summary: Our Call to fullfill the Great Commision.
Be Fruitful and Multiply
First Adam:
And God blessed them, and said to them, “Be fruitful, and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.”
Fallen Man:
To the woman He said,
“I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children
Pain or Sorrow:
I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing
`itstsabown {its-tsaw-bone’}
Pain, Labor, Toil
Sorrow or Pain:
with pain you will give birth to children
`etseb {eh’-tseb}
Grief, Distress, Hardship
Last Adam (Jesus):
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”
The Call to Greatness Is the greatest opportunity of our time because:
The Need is Great
• One out of three adults (33%) is unchurched.
• 60% of American Adults do not attend church.
• 72% of Busters (ages 20 to 28) Do not attend Church.
• 49% of marriages end in divorce every year.
“Enemy-occupied territory – that is what the world is.”
C.S. Lewis
As we watched the liberation of Iraq this week there were many stories surfacing of heroic efforts by coalition troops. As I listened with pride I was reminded of a story I read a while back:
The Rev. Mychal Judge never shut his door at the Midtown Franciscan friary, literally or emotionally. Anybody with the slightest need for the contents inside — be it a warm jacket or his attentive ear — was welcome.
Not that Father Judge was often in. As chaplain to the New York Fire Department, Father Judge, 68, could be found joking or comforting firefighters or driving hell-bent to emergencies. When a boatload of Chinese refugees were shipwrecked in the Rockaways, he was one of the first there, "handing out blankets and coffee and telling them jokes," said Peter Johnson, a friend. "They didn’t know English, but he was doing pantomime and they were laughing. AIDS activists talk about how he was one of the first priests to counsel AIDS patients. Families who lost loved ones on TWA Flight 800 in 1996 off Long Island have spoken eloquently about how the priest spent hours helping them deal with their grief.
He had "movie-star looks and a tremendous ability to speak and sing," said Mr. Johnson. "And that was tempered by his absolute consistent devotion to being a priest." He wore his friar’s robes to soup kitchens, to Gracie Mansion, to the White House, to countless baptisms and funerals.
He had no use — none — for physical things, said Steven McDonald, the police officer paralyzed by a gunshot who accompanied Father Judge on peace trips to Belfast.” Give the father a cashmere sweater, he said, and it would wind up on the back of a homeless person. Go to him with a troubled soul and he would listen intently for as long as it took.
That is why, although saddening, it was no surprise when his body was found amid a rain of debris surrounding the World Trade Center. He went where he was needed.
And on Sept. 11, he faced the inferno with the firefighters, holding fast to his priestly duties.
The Firefighters who found Father Judge’s lifeless body beneath a smashed fire engine at "ground zero“ - took him to St. Peter’s Church on nearby Barclay Street. They laid the friar in front of the altar, covered him with a white cloth and his priest’s stole before placing his helmet and chaplain’s badge on his chest.
"If someone wrote a book about your life, would anyone want to read it?" the Navy commercial asks.
The need is great – will you answer your call to greatness?
The Opportunity is Great
• Choose Your Style
Sing, dance, act, serve, preach, pray, play, write, recite, draw, share, paint, counsel, care – the skies the limit!
• Choose Your Scope
Citywide, Statewide, Country, Continent or World – Take Your Pick!
“Angels cannot preach the gospel, only beings such as Paul and you and I can preach the gospel.”
Oswald Chambers
The Affect is Great
• Small seeds turn into big trees.
• Small pebbles make big ripples.
• Think Eternally.
Drop a pebble in the water,
just a splash and it is gone,
but there are half-a-hundred ripples
circling on and on and on.
Spreading from the center,
flowing onward to the sea,
and there is no way of telling
where the end is going to be.
Drop a word of cheer and kindness,
just a splash and it is gone.
But there are half-a-hundred ripples
circling on and on and on,
bearing hope and joy and comfort
on each splashing, dashing wave -
