How To Write a Spiritual Sermon or Presentation for Church

This blog is for those using a certain Christian gospel reading or spiritual subject every Sunday in church. If you are preparing a sermon from a gospel reading or a spiritual subject, read and study it for yourself at first. This helps you keep thinking and living it as you go through your work week. No matter what church you are a part of, find the resources you would like to use. Different books from different spiritual teachers, the Bible and or other religious texts. There is a multitude of commentaries online as well to pull from. Possibly start this on Monday and go through Wednesday with jotting down notes and quieting mind, listening to answers and also being aware of surroundings. Quieting mind and having moments with God, I feel, is most important. Begin your outline of your ideas that come to you. What did you observe that week that effected you spiritually? What events or ideas made you think of the spiritual teaching to talk of? What did you hear in your quiet reflective time? Write down everything, no matter how silly you think it is. Journal it out and be free with your writing with this step. Then, think of what the END of the sermon might be. Where would you end the teaching? Write down that ending for yourself. If you have a couple of endings, write them both down. Now, begin to organize the journal into the sermon outline. Continue to pull from your resources as well. Tell stories, personal or ones you find. Make it rich by linking personal experiences, stories, and teachings. Create a spiritual writing that is real to people, so they can really hear what you are saying. Write it up, fix it up and make it ready for Sunday presentation. Begin to read it out loud when finished. This helps you hear the words, how you will say them, and when you feel something doesn’t work you can adjust and fix the sermon. You now have a sermon/spiritual presentation completed and you can fix it up as much as you want in plenty of time. You will be able to read it with confidence, feeling the spirit in you and touching people with an important, loving message. I have found when preparing for a sermon this way it becomes more powerful and meaningful for others and yourself as well. Enjoy and have fun with it!

MAMMA MIA MOVIE IS INSPIRATIONAL/HAPPINESS DOES LIVE!

It all started out of a crisis.

You see, my friend was packing to move away, not by her own decision, but something she had to do reluctantly . My good friend and her son would be leaving in three days to live in Michigan and the tears and pain were growing for me. It is rare in this world to have such a friendship, full of unconditional love and acceptance. Questions grew for me. What would I do? Who would go on adventures with me and my daughter? Who would I visit on a daily basis? Who would listen and understand me like her? Who would encourage me? Yes, I have a wonderful family and they sure do support me, yet at the same time we can have these friendships in life that also fulfill us in so many ways. How would I say goodbye to this? I felt numb.

As we finished cleaning the now empty house we realized our kids were being watched and as we sat to rest discussion formed of the idea to go see a movie, something we never got to do in our five years of friendship being busy moms. Different movies came up and I then said how about Mamma Mia? The rumors of Mamma Mia not being that good made me hesitate to spend money on a movie ticket. Still, with all the rumors, we both agreed it was the best choice. So we locked up the empty house and took off on our trek to the movies, of course enjoying some appetizers and ice tea first, saving room for our popcorn that was a must to experience together.

From the very beginning of Mamma Mia, happiness flowed in me. I could not believe a cheesy, funny, movie like this would bring such joy to our experience. It just got better and better as it went along, empowering and full of beauty mixed in with the crazy random scenes. I couldn’t believe all the emotions that were brought forth watching Mamma Mia. It made me really think about the criticism I heard from others, who warned it would be hard to sit through, especially for men and to be honest, I think more men should see it. My friend and I were laughing and crying through the whole movie, never missing a beat. Dancing in our chairs, enjoying laughter with the audience, clapping for the film at end. Feeling community and happiness with others is what this film accomplished for me. In a dim time for me and my friend, we shared such a wonderful experience with Abba songs.

You know, we live in this world of such seriousness, economic and political disaster, environmental destruction, genocide, and well the list goes on and on. We are so disconnected from ourselves, so critical and judgemental of others, easy to point the finger on who is wrong, full of stress and frowns upon our human faces. Workaholism and depression have seeped into our nation . Unawareness, I feel, is the biggest epidemic, living so unaware of others and our surroundings. For a nation that has so much, we seem to live so distant from joy. It may seem silly but seeing Mamma Mia brought some perspective to what life can have at its core and what is possible if you can hold on to that core in life. It is silly for me to think this leaving a musical of Abba songs and sort of makes me chuckle.

My friend is now gone and I wake up today thinking of my Mamma Mia experience and what does it mean for me. I know it is okay to feel sad over loosing a friend and no words can describe this experience. Her presence will be missed dearly. At the same time, I feel energized to stay even more aware of others, help when I can, laugh a lot more, and breathe. Sharing my passion of dance with children, fully enjoying the spiritual path, creating a stress free and happy work experience, and sharing positive ideas with community that create change. Cherishing life, family, and friends each and every step of the way. Life is indeed good.

I am very grateful for what I have and am grateful for the creative ideas to come. In this dismal portrayed world, I do see the light, beauty and love it has to offer. Change begins at awareness.

My friend said it best while watching the movie. She stated, “I wish life was a musical.” I sure think it is possible.

This blog is dedicated to my friend, my sister, Sheree.

Debra Welch is the owner of the e-commerce store, Knowledge Tree Books and Gifts. You can write to her anytime at knowledgetree4u@yahoo.com or visit her at www.knowledgetreestore.com, ktbookstore.com.

Transitioning to an eBay life/on-line selling/the positive outlook

My dream for a long time has been to work for myself in a business that expressed my passion for body, mind, spirit, culture, and the earth. I envisioned a book and gift store that would also be an informative community center, filled with positive activism, spiritual studies, and good times with the local community. I did follow this dream and I opened my first brick and mortar store over two years ago.

As the economy changed I noticed that more and more people were buying on-line. They would come in and talk to me and even tell me what they bought and that was nice but at the same time the business that started was piling up in bills. It finally all came to closing down after two years and all I saw was defeat, not seeing that there was a door to open on-line selling.

When the doors closed I felt that I had failed. I felt drained, even got sick, and was ready to just hibernate for awhile. In hibernation and rest I began to sell on eBay for extra money needed in helping with our debt situation. To my surprise I sold approx. 90% of my “stuff” from home that I placed on-line. A light bulb emerged over my head.

I kept my business license and switched it to working from home and began to list more and more things, buying eBay bible and book selling books, listening to eBay radio (which I highly recommend to any new eBay seller), learned of rummaging and thrift stores, and began getting product and selling more on-line. I realized the better I can take care of my foundation, home, family, self, the more I can grow to help others. So I continued the journey of making some income and building my eBay business.

The number one positive aspect of letting go of the brick and mortar business is overhead. Rent costs over $1,600 a month plus added employees and product was overwhelming. Now rent for storage units is $270 a month. A BIG DIFFERENCE. Another plus for me is I am a stay at home mom so working from home helps me create my own schedule and spend more time with family or do things I like. I get to wake up and sip coffee and not rush and use gas mileage to get to my store, worrying I will be late due to kid or other things going on. The stress is a 100% less.

Another big plus is my discovery of making a difference in an on-line community. I can give back and donate money through my sales on eBay, I can blog and get involved with helping others with articles and chat boards, I can have the freedom now to implement local programs if I want because of my low overhead and no stress life. I discovered that the possibilities are endless in the on-line work community.

If you are going through any transition, whether it be a struggling store to just needing extra cash, on-line selling is easy to start small on the side and enjoy. I do want to stress that it takes time, it isn’t a get rich quick scheme and you do work it like you would work a store, but the rewards out way anything I have experienced so far. Whether it be via eBay or another means, I highly encourage you to stay strong, see the light at the end of the tunnel, and open your mind to the great opportunity of the worldwide web. I feel it is the future of shopping and much more.

In this hard economy and high gas prices I believe there is hope if you can open up your mind and see the possibilities. I never knew I would be an eBay seller and never knew the rewards of this job were beyond my imagination. I truly love what I do and feel I am gaining the power to implement more into my business, life, and community.

Some of my own advice to leave you with is:

1. Stay positive
2. One door closes, many will open with on-line selling
3. Study, Research, use the sources that are available, they are fantastic
4. Take a chance and things can happen with little steps.
5. Breathe

Debra Welch is the owner of The Knowledge Tree Store, Books and Gifts. You can write to her anytime at knowledgetree4u@yahoo.com or visit her at www.knowledgetreestore.com, ktbookstore.com

Ebay Live 2008 Chicago – Caring for the Earth and People

Grateful is the word of the month. Last year the economic challenges surrounding our nation hit my own family, forcing the action to close my very young brick and mortar bookstore/activism center. At that time, the situation left me with no choice but to let go of dreams connected with working for myself and helping others. Following this situation I was left with much stock in a stuffed storage unit. Christmas came around I realized money was needed to get family gifts, so I proceeded to let go of some items in my own home, borrowed a digital camera from a friend, and placed it all on eBay. To my wonderful surprise I sold approximately 90% of my own personal items, had good feedback, let go of unneeded items sitting around in my home, and the joy of seeing a happy daughter on Christmas day was priceless. A new business was surprisingly born.  As I plunged into this opportunity, I still felt the quiet anxiety of how would I ever activate my dream with making a difference. eBay was a great way for me to do business but I pondered how it was going to be possible in integrating all I wanted to do. As my eBay business grew along with my excitement of financial stress slowly disapating, I decided to attend the big eBay Live 2008 in Chicago. I saved up money, booked my tickets, youth hostel room, and with great family support I was flying out on June 18th, 2008, West Palm to  Chicago on a 3pm flight, fresh from quitting a five year day job. The slate was clean.  As I struggled humorously with Chicago buses, schedules, and taxi drivers, I finally arrived at the convention center Thursday morning. I was literally dumped into inspiration. Education surrounded me and it was just the beginning.   What was discovered from time spent here was that the wonderful dream of The Knowledge Tree Bookstore is now able to come to life as an eBay store, full of Eco-friendly, reusable, recyclable gifts, fantastic books to educate people on environment and human rights, and best of all I can give back to great organizations and help locally as well. I submerged myself in hearing fantastic educators teaching on many subjects, my favorites being how you can care for people, the earth, run a green business, and enjoy your work on deep levels. I witnessed wonderful eBay hall of fame sellers living their dreams and helping others. It was incredibly uplifting and my gratefulness in discovering eBay was growing. I mean, how much fun it is to find out your dream is just manifesting into a better way? What I took with me was:

• I can give back to organizations through eBay giving works program.
• I can add into my online store Eco-friendly and human rights products.
• I can green my office and my supplies.
• I can help my own community in many ways through eBay education.
• I can spend time with my family and have a more stress-free way of living
• The skies the limit with eBay.

I want to give thanks to all eBay members, educators, and leaders for teaching and supporting us all. Helping people like me to believe, to be able to take care of family and to begin giving energy to dreams again. All I do now is think of new ideas non-stop.   I realize that eBay is a corporation and imperfections do come along with all this, but on the whole, I feel the power to create a business and making a difference, even if a small one, is one the best situations that could have been handed to me.    This journal is just a tiny beginning of the knowledge I took with me from Chicago. Blogging, talking with others on net, joining into a great community. It is all the new e-commerce way of living. Look for more blogs from The Knowledge Tree dealing with Eco-friendly subjects, human rights, being a work from home mom, selling on eBay, and education discoveries with e-commerce marketing.   Chicago eBay Live was one of the best business decisions I ever made. I will never forget the clapping tunnel and celebrating with such a multitude of people, all with much of the same story as me: Needed extra money, placed items on eBay, sales took off, quit jobs, grew business, began helping people and the earth in new ways. What a way to live! Kudos to eBay!

Debbie Welch

Seller and Trading Assistant, At Home Mom

Visit www.ktbookstore.com or www.stores.ebay.com/Knowledge-Tree-Books-and-More