"Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labour: if either of them falls down, one can help the other up" ( Ecclesiastes 4:9 to 10 ). We like to think of ourselves as independent, but none of us gets through life alone. Someone taught us to read, someone fixed the road we drove on this morning, and someone, somewhere, prayed for us when we did not know it. These four stories about depending on one another, retold in our own words, show what happens when people act for one another and what happens when they do not. One is about a single act of courage that changed a nation, one about a stranger's kindness to a grieving family, one about a painful failure to stand up for someone, and one about a man who never knew whose life was in his hands. Each ends with a takeaway for preaching or reflection. For a wider look at why community matters, Sopranu's review of Robert Putnam's Bowling Alone is a thoughtful companion. Stories in this post: O...
Sermon stories for preaching and faithful living