Sermon and Worship Resources

Synonyms: disciple, evangelist, the 12, the twelve, son of Zebedee, fisherman, incarnation, word became flesh, I Am sayings, apostle, sons of thunder, eternal life, darkness and light, eyewitness

Showing 1376 to 1400 of 1652 results

1376. A Funeral for “I Can’ts”

Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... down as many "I Can'ts" as they could think of. She wrote her list as the students wrote their lists. She included: "I can't get John's mother to come in for a teacher conference." "I can't get my daughter to put gas in the car." "I can't get Alan to ... of his family and friends along on the journey to the unknown promised land. Second, according to our text (Genesis 17:1-7 and 15-16) Abram, now to be called "Abraham," told his family and friends that God had promised that he would be the father of a great ...

1377. Wild Beasts

Genesis 9:8-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... and fails to recognize the interdependence of all created life. By abandoning our species pride we may be able to perceive the scope and depth of God's sacrificial love, not just for humanity, but for the vast complex of all the cosmos. As John 3:16 is best translated: "For God so loved the cosmos ..." Let us start this year's Lenten journey by recognizing God's unique commitment to all creation, which redefines our own relationship to the earth and its inhabitants. Regardless of what expectant parents are ...

1378. Don't Count Sheep

John 10:11-18

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... would fail to notice whether they looked healthy, acted normal, and in general were becoming their best sheep selves. The late John Holt, school reformer/ educator/amateur cellist who tells this story, concludes with the observation that "What we easily forget, in our ... ." (See Song's Tell Us Our Names: Story Theology From an Asian Perspective [Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orl: is, 1984], 16.) Paul Scott Wilson quotes Edward F. Markquart's Quest for Better Preaching (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1985) which reminds us that " ...

1379. Unum Humanum

John 17:20-26

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... s Gospel text presents Jesus' words of power and comfort, "I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one" (John 17:23). But oneness has never been a quality the church has had much of an opportunity to celebrate. In the church's ... them to be just like God made them. We must celebrate differences, not just sameness. When the jailor from our story in Acts 16 responded to the witness of oneness so powerfully performed by Paul and Silas, he and his family were immediately baptized into the family ...

1380. FaithRace

2 Timothy 4:6-8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... , tepid and thin that they could all be fulfilled at a White Castle. Contrast the answer clergy used to give to John Wesley's question: "What can we reasonably expect of Methodist preachers?" The answer was: "To reform this nation and church, and ... moments in sports history came on Sunday afternoon when the New Orleans Saints and the Detroit Lions were playing. The Lions were leading 17-16, with time running out. The Saints had the ball mid-field. They called time out with two seconds left on the clock. The ...

1381. On Being a Hot-Fudge-Sunday Church

Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... ate with the poor but told parables about the rich. He preached the highest ethical standards and hung out with the riffraff. In John's Revelation, Jesus declares he is the Alpha and the Omega the beginning and the end. Jesus never claimed, "I am the middle ... is harshly doled out "because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth" (Revelation 3:16). Jesus deals with the first and the last. The sinner and the saved concern God. The "so-what-er" is left to his/her own ...

1382. A-wake or A-live

Galatians 2:15-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... should behave even if the law were absent. "We know," Paul says, "that a person is justified not by the works of the law..." (2:16). 2. Changing the LIGHT would not help. Most of us have all the light we can handle. We have already attended too many seminars and read ... I'm Dysfunctional, You're Dysfunctional" (Wendy Kraminer); we know that "Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus" (John Gray); we know that "You Just Don't Understand" (Deborah Tanner). We're suffering from gnosism- "excessive knowledge applied ...

1383. The Truth of Love

Luke 16:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... on Mount Sinai, in the 613 commandments of the law. The ultimate truth of love was revealed only when "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life" (John 3:16). Alternative Sermon Idea The difficult gospel text for this Sunday provides a good opportunity to discuss how one interprets Scripture. An unscrupulous reader of this passage could make it say any number of things contrary to the spirit of the New Testament. How, then ...

1384. Life's Two Pockets

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... capacity for sin, our continual wafting toward wickedness, ultimately resulted in God's most radical act of grace: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life" (John 3:16). The truth is, we are both Pharisee and tax collector, or as Martin Luther put it, both saint and sinner together. We owe God our best efforts and our undivided loyalty, as well as our dependence upon him for grace and forgiveness all those times ...

1385. Are You Better at Wearing or Bearing Crosses?

Mark 1:14-20

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... a decoration rather than a devotion and a discipline. When Jesus called his first disciples, Simon, Andrew, James, and John, he didn’t call them to a life of thoughtful contemplation, days of mystic musing, or holy habitations. Jesus ... empty nets. Jesus said, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Matthew 16:24-25). Life’s “crosses” are not barricades blocking your path to the future but bridges that take you across. The hard things ...

1386. Etched in Stone

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... with me, but it’s true. Do you remember the story of Jesus’ encounter with the Rich Young Ruler? Of course you do. It’s found in Matthew 19:16-22. A young man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” “Why do you ask me about what is ... Nov. 2003, “The Lord’s Laughter,” Cross Trails Church. Contributed by Dr. John Bardsley. 3. Kirk Kirkpatric, “Tested Humor and How to Use It,” “The Speaker’s Digest,” Quote, Vol. 54, No. 10, October 1994.

1387. Blessed are the Poor in Spirit

John 20:24-31, John 20:19-23

Sermon

Mike Ripski

... then did. And like Thomas. Remember when Jesus finally decided to respond to Mary and Martha’s request that Jesus come and heal their brother, Lazarus. As he leaves, it is Thomas, who tells the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him” (John. 11:16). It has been observed that our doubts often signal spiritual growing edges. Our doubts break up the hardpan soil of our soul, so seeds of grace can be planted and grow into sanctification. Doubt can lead us to ask ourselves, “Could I be wrong ...

1388. Facing the Wild Beasts Within

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

Mike Ripski

... to see how we measure up. Or don’t. So how have you grown in Christ-likeness? II. The full measure of Christ John Westerhoff was a professor of Christian education. He was interested in understanding how people tend to grow in their faith. So he interviewed ... the desert. III. The “wild beasts” A. The wilderness Quaker Parker Palmer in a recent Weavings (March/April 2009, pp. 7-16) article has given me a new understanding of the wild beasts that Jesus faced in the wilderness. In the Bible the wilderness ...

1389. Bound to Earth, Destined for Heaven

Genesis 9:1-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the Son of Man will walk in a garden Through drifts of apple-blossom.” (“The Harrowing of Hell,” in Northern Lights [London: John Murray, 1999], 24.) It wasn’t over for Jesus after he was crucified. He still had this part of his journey to make ... . Text: James Hart Brumm @ 2000 Wayne Leupold Editions. First heard at Baccalaureate Service, Princeton Theological Seminary, Nassau Presbyterian Church, 16 May 2008, 3pm Jesus committed his life and his death to the glory of God and to the glorification ...

1390. The Third Ear and the Imagination of Jesus

Mark 4:1-20

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... growth of that crop, no matter how tended or ignored by human hands, is finally in the hands of God. Both Paul and John refer to Jesus as the “New Adam” and the “Last Adam,” but for them this was a salvation-history identity. The First Adam ... Lord, your servant is listening.” (I borrow this phrase from Andrew Nugent, The Slow-Release Miracle [New York: Paulist Press, 2006], 16.) For green-thumb types, the divine voice might come through nature. For gangrene-thumb types (like me), God’s voice might ...

1391. I’m At the End of My Rope

2 Kings 4:1-7

Sermon

James Merritt

... know what to do, God does. You see, your problems are God's opportunities. One of my favorite verses in all the Bible is 2 Chron. 16:9, "For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is ... say something to you? If you are a child of God, you have got that same oil well right now in your heart. Jesus said in John 7:38-39: "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. But this He ...

1392. Close Up: Husbands - Be a Dream Lover

Colossians 3:19

Sermon

James Merritt

... Sacrificially The word that Paul uses here for loving our wives is the same word that God used to describe how much He loves the world. You would recognize this verse - "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son." (John 3:16, NASB) I will repeat something - it is a volitional love, rather than an emotional love. It is a love that literally refuses to die. It is a love that fights through feelings, conquers circumstances, deals with disappointments and stays the course. I don't have ...

1393. Honor Graduate

Exodus 20:12

Sermon

James Merritt

... you, that your days may be prolonged and that it may go well with you on the land which the LORD your God gives you." (Deuteronomy 5:16, NASB) Do you see that phrase "That it may go well with you?" That refers to the blessing of God on your life. God guarantees that if ... this is pleasing to God." (I Timothy 5:4, LB) When Jesus Christ was dying on the cross, He looked at the Apostle John and said, "Behold your mother" saying in effect, "You take care of mother after I am gone" and that is exactly what this ...

1394. What Child Is This?

Isaiah 9:6-7

Sermon

James Merritt

... are not told the Son was born; we're told the Son was given. That's exactly what the greatest verse in the Bible says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16) God's Christmas gift to the world was a person of deity wrapped up in the package of humanity. This little baby was not only God, He was a gift. I want you to remember this. God has given you two things He did not have to give you ...

1395. One Year to Live

Jeremiah 28:10-17

Sermon

James Merritt

... prophecy that would come true for the false prophet and his prophecy was simply this, "This year you are going to die." (Jeremiah 28:16, NASB) He did die two months later. The question is - what would you do if you knew today what Hananiah knew? Suppose God were ... in one sentence why. Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live even if he dies." (John 11:25) I would want to make sure that my eternal life insurance has been totally paid up. After that, whether I was going ...

1396. Lasting Impression

Luke 3:34-38, Matthew 1:5, 16

Sermon

James Merritt

... century had nine children and counts among his descendants: presidents - George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Quincy Adams, Zachary Taylor, Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin Roosevelt, authors - Lord Bryon, Alfred Lord ... the same thing about Joseph. "Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah." (Matthew 1:16, NASB) It may appear on the surface that he is calling Joseph the father of Jesus, but the phrase there "by whom" is not masculine in gender ...

1397. Use It or Lose It

Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

James Merritt

... two gained two more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord's money." (vv.16-18) Every one of these servants were expected by the master to maximize the value of the gifts and the talents that had been ... gifted as someone else, does not mean you should not give your very best. I told you before that one of my heroes is John Wooden, who was the former head basketball coach at UCLA, who has won more national championships than any basketball coach in history. From an ...

1398. The Opportunity of a Lifetime

Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

James Merritt

... gained two more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord's money." (Matthew 25: 16-18, NJKV) Every one of these servants was expected by the master to maximize the value of the gifts and the talents that had ... gifted as someone else, does not mean you should not give your very best. I told you before that one of my heroes is John Wooden, who was the former head basketball coach at UCLA, who has won more national championships than any basketball coach in history. From an ...

1399. Kill Them with Kindness

Proverbs 3:3, 19:22

Sermon

James Merritt

... people and bring those people to God. That world is hostile to not only what we believe, but many of them are hostile to the One we believe in. The way we can reach out to them and touch them is to "kill them with kindness". [1] Anonymous, Quoted in John Lawrence, Down To Earth. [2] USA Today, "Wanted: Good Citizens, Close Communities," 12 ...

1400. Family Ties and Good-byes

Luke 12:49-56

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... under us in the Lord (children). Spouses are guided in their relationship by Jesus' words, "Just as I have loved you, love one another" (John 13:34). By the time she got married for the second time, Carol's children were 24 and eighteen. Harry Jr., the oldest, was ... in his own family. Maybe that's why he spoke so strongly about what happens when family members reject the gospel. In Luke 4:16-30 we read that when Jesus preached in his hometown of Nazareth there was great conflict. We pick up the story with the ...

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