The Sermon Story

"Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you" ( Ephesians 4:31 to 32 ). Cruelty is not only found in war crimes and headlines. It also shows up in families, workplaces and even courtrooms, often in small and ordinary forms. These three stories about cruelty, retold in our own words, show three of its faces: the quiet cruelty of leaving someone out, the casual cruelty of a joke at someone else's expense, and the frightening cruelty that ordinary people can be led into. The first story also shows what the opposite of cruelty looks like. Each ends with a takeaway for preaching or reflection. Stories in this post: "Because I'm Yours": The Girl Who Was Always Left Behind The Sicilian Court Case: A Joke at Someone Else's Expense The Milgram Experiments: How Ordinary People Become Cruel ──────── ✝ ──────── ...

On the night he was betrayed, Jesus took a cup and said, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you" ( Luke 22:20 ). Every time Christians share communion, they hold up a cup that tells a story about what kind of God we worship. This story about communion, retold in our own words, sets two real ancient vessels side by side. Both are masterpieces of metalwork. They could hardly say more different things about God. It ends with a takeaway you can use before sharing the Lord's Supper or in your own reflection. Story in this post: Two Cups: The Gundestrup Cauldron and the Ardagh Chalice ──────── ✝ ──────── Two Cups: The Gundestrup Cauldron and the Ardagh Chalice Two great silver vessels have survived from the ancient world of northern Europe, both recovered from bogs and fields, and both now treasured by museums. In his book How the Irish Saved Civilization , the historian Thomas Cahill uses them to tell a story about the difference the gospel mak...

Grace is the heart of the Christian story. It means receiving what we could never earn and being spared what we probably deserve. Yet grace is strangely hard to accept. Most of us would rather pay our own way. These eight stories about grace, retold in our own words, show it from different angles: a mother who would not leave her young, a ruler who took his mother's punishment, a comma that changed a prisoner's fate and a priceless violin made whole again. Stories in this collection: Under His Wings: The Mother Bird in the Forest Fire The Ruler Who Took His Mother's Lashes Moving the Comma: A Pardon for a Prisoner Grace Over Karma: Why Bono Clings to Grace "Grace Is Everywhere": The Last Words of a Country Priest A Homecoming, Not a Session with Torturers The Broken Stradivarius That Was Made Whole Communion for the Rejected: The Last Scene of "Priest" ──────── ✝ ──────── Under His Wings: The Mother Bird in the Forest Fire This story has been tol...