The Sermon Story

"Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing" ( 1 Thessalonians 5:11 ). Discouragement does not always come from disaster. Very often it comes from people: a careless word, a cold silence, a complaint that nothing is ever good enough. These three stories about discouragement, retold in our own words, look at three ways we can drain the courage out of others: by failing to show gratitude, by refusing to be pleased, and by criticising in a way that crushes. Each ends with a takeaway for preaching or reflection. If the first story makes you curious about the Greek myths, Sopranu's review of Homer's Iliad , where an early version of this fall appears, is a good place to start. Stories in this post: The Fall of Vulcan: Wounded by Indifference Not Much of a Dog: The Neighbour Who Could Not Be Pleased "I Have No Word From the Lord": A Harsh Evaluation ──────── ✝ ──────── The Fall of Vulcan: Wounded by Indifference This is...

"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...