July 4th, 2010
God’s Casting Call – Luke 5:5-11
By Rev. David J. Pettitt
On Line Audio Sermon
[please click play button]
|
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. |
[Right-click here and choose "save target as" to easily download this sermon']
Luke 5:1-11 [NIV]
The Calling of the First Disciples
1One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret,[a]with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, 2he saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.
4When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down[b] the nets for a catch."
5Simon answered, "Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets."
6When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.
8When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" 9For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.
Then Jesus said to Simon, "Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men." 11So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.
Footnotes:
[a] That is, Sea of Galilee.
[a] The Greek verb is plural.
Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. The "NIV" and "New International Version" trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by International Bible Society. Use of either trademark requires the permission of International Bible Society.
Tags: Luke, Luke 5, Luke 5:1-11, New International Version, Rev David Pettitt
June 27th, 2010
I Am Not, But I Know THE ‘I Am’ – Matthew 16:18-19
By Rev. Pete Estrada
On Line Audio Sermon
[please click play button]
|
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. |
[Right-click here and choose "save target as" to easily download this sermon']
Matthew 16:18-19 [NIV]
18And I tell you that you are Peter,[a] and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades[b] will not overcome it.[c] 19I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be[d] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be[e] loosed in heaven."
Footnotes:
[a] Peter means rock.
[b] Or hell
[c] Or not prove stronger than it
[d] Or have been
[e] Or have been
Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. The "NIV" and "New International Version" trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by International Bible Society. Use of either trademark requires the permission of International Bible Society.
Tags: Matthew, Matthew 16, Matthew 16:18-19, Rev Pete Estrada
June 20th, 2010
Pride Within: The Responsibilities of the Sower
Galatians 6:8-9; I Corinthians 15:58; Proverbs 4:23; Proverbs 22:5; 2 Timothy 4:6-8
By Rev. Pete Estrada
On Line Audio Sermon
[please click play button]
|
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. |
[Right-click here and choose "save target as" to easily download this sermon']
Galatians 6:8-9 [NIV]
8The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature[a] will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
I Corinthians 15:58 [NIV]
58Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
Proverbs 4:23 [NIV]
23 Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.
Proverbs 22:5 [NIV]
5 In the paths of the wicked lie thorns and snares, but he who guards his soul stays far from them.
2 Timothy 4:6-8 [NIV]
6For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. 7I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
Footnotes:
[a] Or his flesh, from the flesh.
Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. The "NIV" and "New International Version" trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by International Bible Society. Use of either trademark requires the permission of International Bible Society.
Image: The Sower by Garret Walker
Tags: 2 Timothy, 2 Timothy 4:6-8, Galatians, Galatians 6:8-9, I Corinthians, I Corinthians 15:58, Proverbs, Proverbs 22:5, Proverbs 4:23, Rev Pete Estrada
June 13th, 2010
Food Stamps for Soul Food – Luke 7:36-50
By Rev. David J. Pettitt
On Line Audio Sermon
[please click play button]
|
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. |
[Right-click here and choose "save target as" to easily download this sermon']
Luke 7:36-50 [NLT]
Jesus Anointed by a Sinful Woman
36 One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat.[a] 37 When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. 38 Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them.
39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!”40 Then Jesus answered his thoughts. “Simon,” he said to the Pharisee, “I have something to say to you.”
“Go ahead, Teacher,” Simon replied.
41 Then Jesus told him this story: “A man loaned money to two people—500 pieces of silver[b] to one and 50 pieces to the other. 42 But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?”
43 Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt.”
“That’s right,” Jesus said. 44 Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume.
47 “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” 48 Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.”
49 The men at the table said among themselves, “Who is this man, that he goes around forgiving sins?”
50 And Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Footnotes:
[a] Or “and reclined”.
[a] Greek “500 denarii”. A denarius was equivalent to a laborer’s full day’s wage.
Scripture taken from taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation®. Copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
Tags: Luke, Luke 7, Luke 7:36-50, New Living Translation, Rev David Pettitt
June 6th, 2010
Compassion: It’s NOT Just a Theory
By Rev. David J. Pettitt
On Line Audio Sermon
[please click play button]
|
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. |
[Right-click here and choose "save target as" to easily download this sermon']
Tags: Rev David Pettitt
The National Campaign for Caribbean American Heritage Month Campaign began in 2004. The Bill House Resolution 71 was entered into Congress by Congresswoman Barbara Lee, with language provided by ICS Founder and President, Dr. Claire Nelson. Since 2000, ICS has been leading the celebration of June as Caribbean American Heritage Month, taking up from where an Ad-Hoc Group of Caribbean Americans left off celebrating Caribbean Heritage Month in Washington DC in 1999. The Bill passed the Congress in June of 2005, the US Senate in 2006, and a Proclamation making it official was signed by President Bush on June 5, 2006.
National Caribbean American Heritage Month has been established to recognize the historic relationship between the people of the Caribbean and the people of the United States as well as to recognize the many contributions of Caribbean immigrants and their descendants to the well-being of America. From founding father Alexander Hamilton to Hip Hop star Wyclef Jean, National Caribbean American Heritage Month provides a focal point for ingathering of the diverse voices and peoples that constitute Caribbean America – a Mosaic of Cultures… a Montage of Peoples.
Caribbean American Heritage Month external links
In June of 2000, Bill Clinton deemed the month of June, "Gay and Lesbian Pride Month." The month was chosen to remember a riot in 1969 at the Stonewall Inn in Manhattan that is thought to be the beginning of the gay liberation movement in the United States. This month is meant to recognize the impact Gay, Lesbian and Transgender individuals have had on the world. June is now the month of acceptance and the month to welcome diversity in communities regardless of sexual orientation. Gay and lesbian groups celebrate this special time with pride parades, picnics, parties, memorials for those lost from HIV and AIDS, and other group gathering events that attract thousands upon thousands of individuals. The international impact has been so influential to so many people that it makes for a perfect time for an organization to be a part of the festivities.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION
Gay and lesbian Americans have made important and lasting contributions to our Nation in every field of endeavor. Too often, however, gays and lesbians face prejudice and discrimination; too many have had to hide or deny their sexual orientation in order to keep their jobs or to live safely in their communities.
In recent years, we have made some progress righting these wrongs. Since the Stonewall uprising in New York City more than 30 years ago, the gay and lesbian rights movement has united gays and lesbians, their families and friends, and all those committed to justice and equality in a crusade to outlaw discriminatory laws and practices and to protect gays and lesbians from prejudice and persecution.
I am proud of the part that my Administration has played to achieve these goals. Today, more openly gay and lesbian individuals serve in senior posts throughout the Federal Government than during any other Administration. To build on our progress, in 1998 I issued an Executive Order to prohibit discrimination in the Federal civilian workforce based on sexual orientation, and my Administration continues to fight for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would outlaw discrimination in the workplace based on sexual orientation.
Yet many challenges still lie before us. As we have learned from recent tragedies, prejudice against gays and lesbians can still erupt into acts of hatred and violence. I continue to call upon the Congress to pass meaningful hate crimes legislation to strengthen the Department of Justice’s ability to prosecute hate crimes committed due to the victim’s sexual orientation.
With each passing year the American people become more receptive to diversity and more open to those who are different from themselves. Our Nation is at last realizing that gays and lesbians must no longer be "strangers among friends," as the civil rights pioneer David Mixner once noted. Rather, we must finally recognize these Americans for what they are: our colleagues and neighbors, daughters and sons, sisters and brothers, friends and partners.
This June, recognizing the joys and sorrows that the gay and lesbian movement has witnessed and the work that remains to be done, we observe Gay and Lesbian Pride Month and celebrate the progress we have made in creating a society more inclusive and accepting of gays and lesbians. I hope that in this new millennium we will continue to break down the walls of fear and prejudice and work to build a bridge to understanding and tolerance, until gays and lesbians are afforded the same rights and responsibilities as all Americans.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2000 as Gay and Lesbian Pride Month. I encourage all Americans to observe this month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities that celebrate our diversity and recognize the gay and lesbian Americans whose many and varied contributions have enriched our national life.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this second day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-fourth.
- William J. Clinton,
42nd President of the United States of America
Gay and Lesbian Pride Month external links
