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 1551 to 1575 of 1652 results

1551. The Apostles' Creed: Maker of Heaven and Earth

Genesis 1:1-2:3

Sermon

David E. Leininger

"I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth..." No surprise. Most church folks would have little difficulty acknowledging God as creator of all that is. There may be some disagreement on HOW creation took place - some want to say it happened in six 24-hour days, others want to say the "days" of which we read in the Genesis account should be understood as meaning thousands or even millions of years, still others say it was the "Big Bang." More about that in due course, but, for the ...

1552. The Apostles Creed: "The Holy Catholic Churc"

Matthew 16:13-20

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Back to basics. We continue our studies in the Apostles' Creed. We have stretched from the sublime, soaring through the heights of creation with Almighty God; we have seen humanity at its best in the life and ministry of Jesus; we have seen a love that reaches down to the very depths of Hell; we have joyously experienced resurrection, Christ's ascension to glory, and his commitment to work justice in this unjust world. We have been reminded of God's continuous action in our lives through the presence of ...

1553. The "E" Word

John 1:35-42

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Today is EVANGELISM SUNDAY on our Presbyterian calendar. That is a relatively new emphasis for our denomination. To be sure, Presbyterians have always SAID evangelism is important, but our action (or lack of action) spoke even louder. One stuffy Presbyterian once called Dwight L. Moody to task for relying so much on emotion to win converts during his revivals. Moody's response? He admitted that his methods were not perfect, but he concluded, "I like my way of doing it better than your way of NOT doing it ...

1554. A Sermon About Prayer

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

A responsible pastor must have a theology of prayer that goes beyond churchy axioms, pious clichés, pop theology, and Bible verses proof texted from the King James Bible. An authentic theology of prayer must offer hope in the promise that God answers prayer, but it must also be prepared to respond to the questions of those whose prayers “availeth not.” We must be, at once, ready to celebrate with those whose cancer went into remission and to weep with those whose cancer didn’t, when both persons’ prayers ...

1555. Pay Back Time

Genesis 45:1-28

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Some years ago Bill Cosby did one of his many great comedy routines about his growing up years in Philadelphia.(1) He recalled a snowy winter day, enough snow on the ground for a really good snowball fight. So he and his friends had one. Now, if you grew up in an area where snowball fights are a common winter occurrence, you will know that there are certain unwritten rules about what is allowed and what is not. For example, you did not put a rock in the center of your snowball, because that could kill ...

1556. God Cares About Justice!

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

David E. Leininger

The Gallup organization regularly conducts polls to determine the religious beliefs and practices of modern Americans. Despite new attitudes about morality, fluctuations in church membership, higher levels of education, and so on, there have been remarkably few changes in responses in recent years. The polls generally show that about 95% of us believe in a God of some sort. People may call God by different names, if indeed they believe that God is callable at all, but they do believe that a God exists. In ...

1557. Remembering the Good Old Days

Numbers 14:1-10a

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Some of you may remember the name John Gilbert, a famous actor of silent film days, a "sexy" leading man. His career declined with the advent of "talkies" because his high, thin voice was not at all what folks had imagined of this great screen lover. Gilbert was once called on short notice to play the role of the heroine's father in a Chicago production. He learned his lines in record time, but was still struggling to remember the name of his character, Numitorius, when the play opened. A colleague ...

1558. From Mountain to Mission

Mark 9:2-13

Sermon

David E. Leininger

A "mountaintop experience" if there ever was one. In fact, I suspect that stories like this one helped coin the phrase, "mountaintop experience." In the news last week was word of what will soon become another "mountaintop experience." An announcement from Kathmandu, Nepal says that the grandson of one of the men in the first successful expedition to scale Mount Everest 50 years ago plans to set up the world's highest Internet cafe at the mountain's base camp - 17,400 feet.(1) He hopes to open the cafe ...

1559. Religion and Politics

Isaiah 1:1-31

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Religion and politics. In years past, we were told those were two subjects that were not good for pleasant conversation. In the church, many of us grew up hearing that religion and politics should be kept strictly apart - "separation of church and state," after all. But in 2004, we are being treated to regular helpings of both from every point on the partisan spectrum. There are regular references to personal faith by candidates on the right and left. The press has taken note of the phenomenon and has ...

1560. The Lord's Prayer: The Kingdom, The Power, and The Glory

Matthew 6:5-15

Sermon

David E. Leininger

And so we come to the conclusion of our series on the Lord's Prayer: "For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever, Amen." That is the doxology, the hymn of praise, the roll of drums, the clash of cymbals with which the church closes. Words which commit us, not to a great faith in God, but rather to faith in a great God. The kingdom, the power, the glory belong to God and God alone. Easter PROVES it! You may be surprised to learn (or you may already know) that this phrase is not a part of ...

1561. Winning over Worry

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Winning over worry. Nice thought, eh? Of all the living things that God created, we human beings are the only ones that worry. And we worry about everything - gas prices, the stock market, taxes, jobs, marriages, parents worry about children, children worry about parents. You name it, somebody is worrying about it. As of yesterday, four of the top five best selling non-fiction hardback books on Amazon.com were dealing with subjects we worry about - health, change, relationships, and money. Jesus says we ...

1562. Stay in the Boat!

Matthew 14:22-36

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Familiar story. Mark Twain refers to it in one of his books. He recalls a visit to the Holy Land and a stay in Capernaum. It was a moonlit night, so he decided to take his wife on a romantic boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. Twain asked a man in a rowboat how much he would charge to take them out on the water. The man saw Twain's white suit, white shoes and white hat and supposed he was a rich Texan. So he said the cost would be twenty-five dollars. Twain walked away as he said, "Now I know why Jesus walked ...

1563. The Power to Change the Past

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon

David E. Leininger

You are no doubt familiar with the name Simon Wiesenthal, the famous Nazi hunter. Wiesenthal was a prisoner in a concentration camp in Poland. One day he was assigned to clean out rubbish from a barn the Germans had improvised into a hospital for wounded soldiers. Toward evening a nurse took Wiesenthal by the hand and led him to a young SS trooper, his face bandaged with filthy rags, eyes tucked behind the gauze. He was perhaps 21 years old. He grabbed Wiesenthal's hand and held on for dear life. He said ...

1564. A Story Worth Sharing

Mark 8:27-30

Sermon

David E. Leininger

WATCH YOUR MOUTH! What a lesson. There is a classic story about a minister who comes to church one snowy Sunday morning to find that only one lady has been able to make it to worship. As it happens, the text and sermon for the day came from this third chapter of James and focused on the damage done by gossiping. It also turned out that, of all the people in the congregation, this one lady was more guilty of this particular sin than anybody! So, one-person congregation or not, the pastor proceeded as if ...

1565. Surprise!

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Do you like surprises? Some folks do. Not I. I do not like bad surprises at all and only tolerate good surprises. In general, I prefer NO surprises. I realize that life is full of surprises though, so they will come whether I want them or not. Some will be bigger than others, of course. Ask Mary. She surely got a MAJOR surprise. There she was, doing the dishes or sweeping the floor or sitting engrossed in the latest Harlequin Romance or whatever young Israelite girls did in those days when suddenly ...

1566. Temptation

Luke 4:1-13

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Temptation. Oscar Wilde is quoted a saying, "I can resist everything -- except temptation!" Humorist Robert Orben has observed, "Most people want to be delivered from temptation but would like to keep in touch." Another wag has asked, "Why is it that opportunity knocks only once, yet temptation bangs on the door constantly?"(1) Once there was a small boy who wanted a pair of skates. His parents, hoping to teach him the value of money, informed him that he would have to save the required amount from his ...

1567. A Tale of Two Sisters

Luke 10:38-42

Sermon

David E. Leininger

With a title like "A Tale of Two Sisters," I guess this should open with something like "It was the best of times; it was the worst of times." But it was neither. Unusual, to be sure. Even a little exciting. After all, these were the days of an itinerant rabbi called Jesus of Nazareth who was attracting quite a bit of attention. At some point previous - we are never told when, where or how - these two sisters, Mary and Martha, along with their brother Lazarus, had been introduced to Jesus. They must have ...

1568. The Power to Rise Again

Mark 16:1-8

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

A church organist made a horrible blunder on Easter Sunday. He failed to set his alarm and managed to sleep right through the first service. The congregation forgave him. His colleagues teased him. The senior pastor pondered it all in his heart and one year later phoned the organist at 4:00 a.m. When the organist answered the phone, the pastor said, “It's Easter! Christ is risen! You should do the same!" It's Easter. Christ is risen and best of all, we can do the same. As the early Church scrambled to ...

1569. For Us Or Against Us?

Mark 9:38-50

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

There’s a scrap of papyrus (a form of paper made from reeds that grew in the Nile) that has survived the centuries until it was found in the Egyptian desert over a century ago. Although there are gaps in the piece, enough has survived to make it clear what it is. It’s a list of Olympic champions. The Greek Olympic games were held every four years for a thousand years. The list includes champions for all the events including the 200 yard dash which was the oldest event in the games. This list included ...

1570. Never Satisfied

John 14:8-17, (25-27)

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

Phillip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father and we will be satisfied.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Phillip, and still you don’t know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. (John 14: 8-9) How is Philip like the Rolling Stones? Right! They can’t get no satisfaction. Remember those lyrics from the mid ‘60s? No matter how much they tried, they ‘can’t get no satisfaction’”. He and the other disciples had been following Jesus around for about three years, watching him heal ...

1571. The Ten Commandments #2: No Idols!

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Back to Basics. Commandment # 2 - No Idols. Listen to what Isaiah has to say on the subject: All who make idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit; their witnesses neither see nor know. And so they will be put to shame. Who would fashion a god or cast an image that can do no good? Look, all its devotees shall be put to shame; the artisans too are merely human. Let them all assemble, let them stand up; they shall be terrified, they shall all be put to shame. The ironsmith fashions it ...

1572. The Ten Commandments #4: The Sabbath

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Let me tell you a story.(1) It seems a young Martian was studying comparative anthropology and, in preparation for a doctoral dissertation which was long overdue, made a quick flight down to earth in his flying saucer to check on the habits of the residents of the planet. He could not get too close or make any prolonged inspection because his work had to be submitted in just a few days, so time was of the essence. He had made a fortunate choice of days and locations - a fine summer Sunday over the United ...

1573. The Ten Commandments #7: No Adultery

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

David E. Leininger

I remember the first time I ever preached on this text. I was more than a little reluctant...not because I was concerned about the sensitivity of the subject, but rather its relevance. You see, I was serving a congregation at that time that was OLD. I mean REALLY OLD - twenty percent of them were over 80! Did they NEED to hear, "You shall not commit adultery?" But I was in the midst of a series on the Ten Commandments, so I could not comfortably skip this one. I mentioned my concern, and the word that came ...

1574. Does God Care Who Wins the Superbowl?

John 14:5-14

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Does God care who wins the Super Bowl? An intriguing question. Not original with me. It comes from an article in this week's Sports Illustrated by William Nack.(1) Of course, our national attention WILL be focused on San Diego this afternoon (a nice breather from the Washington sex scandals). The Super Bowl has grown into a phenomenon that has transcended being a mere sporting event - 800-million people are expected to tune in from 187 countries and hear the broadcast in 17 different languages.(2) People ...

1575. Our Magnificent, Mysterious, Mischievous God

2 Kings 5:1-27

Sermon

David E. Leininger

This is a fun story, one of many in scripture that are good for giggles if we allow ourselves that reverent freedom when we encounter them. Engaging characters, international intrigue, and finally a denouement that is just pure fun. It is one more affirmation that our God is not only magnificent and mysterious but occasionally mischievous as well. The cast. Naaman. His name means charm or pleasantness. Apparently a relatively nice fellow as standards of his day would define nice. A powerful personage too ...

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