Saturday, May 05, 2007

Building a Sunday talk for church

Welp, I almost done with my talk for tomorrow. I've been up here at Panera working away at the finishing touches on my message for tomorrow all the while enjoy the community experience.

Sharing a talk at church is similar to building a house. You select a location and in my case that is sharing the need for the small group, kitchen table, environment. Then, you need to select a floorplan that will serve you and your family. I have decided on a 3-story building, or three points: The biblical basis for community, the benefits of community, and the ways to get involved in a kitchen table environment.
I am planning to open with a humorous illustration of a man who had become a recluse because he lost his job and was unemployed with his health going downhill every day. When he refused to get help his wife went to see a counselor and he gave her the remedy! She would wait on him hand and foot from morning, noon, to night, preparing his fave food, and even a special little treat after the kids had gone to bed that involved sexy lingerie.

Well, the story goes that she went home and when her husband asked her what the counselor had said, she said, "YOU AIN'T GONNA MAKE IT!!!" (I love that one!)

Have you heard of any these people who at one point or another in their lives had become recluses: Marlon Brando, Bob Dylan, Syd Barret (Pink Floyd guitarist), George Harrison, Bobby Fischer (former world chess champion), Emily Dickinson, Theodore Kaczynski, Charles Ogden (children’s book author), Greta Garbo, and Bill Watterson (Calvin and Hobbes creator).

Marlon Brando's son murdered his sister's boyfriend, and then she killed herself five years later. And what about Howard Hughes? Raised by an overbearing mother who attempted to shield young Howard from anything unhealthy. Hughes died a miserable recluse with billions of dollars in assests, and trying everything in his power to avoid paying taxes to the point that he moved every 180 days (or less actuallYy) so he would never have residence in any one city.

Bottom line? We ALL need community. It really does take a village to raise a child. It also requires healthy community for a person to flourish and grow. BTW, my small group meets tonight and I can't wait!

Back to sermon prep. Tye out.

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