Sermon and Worship Resources

Synonyms: simon, simeon, caphas, disciple, evangelist, the 12, the twelve, apostle, fisherman, petros, rock, stone

Showing 1976 to 2000 of 2105 results

1976. Gathered Around Jesus

Mark 6:30-34; 53-56

Sermon

David Coffin

... why Jesus instructed people not to tell anybody what had just occurred. Jesus even did this during the Transfiguration event when Peter, James, and John saw Jesus’ appearance change into dazzling white. They were not to tell anybody about this event, until “the ... good news, which need not burden us, is that our congregation remains Christ’s church to gather and scatter. Amen. 1. Daniel J. Harrington S.J., Sacra Pagina: The Gospel of Mark, (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 2002). 2. Morna Hooker ...

1977. We Live in Hope

1 Corinthians 15:19-26

Sermon

Bonnie Bates

... memories and how much of it was wishing for the day before, the minute before, when Jesus was still with them. I wonder if Peter wished he would have a chance to apologize, or if they were mourning Judas, his betrayal, and his loss. I wonder if they thought ... how much more likely is it that the resurrection of one, Jesus, Son of God, can result in the resurrection of us all? Genesis 1-3 reminds us of the fall into sinfulness. The Easter gospel reminds us of the resurrection of Jesus. Our destiny is defined by ...

1978. Easter as an Earthquake

Matthew 28:1-10

Sermon

Will Willimon

... not let it spoil lunch. You don't get an idea like the bodily resurrection of Jesus out of people with brains like Simon Peter's. In short, the disciples were people like us. People like us are the sort of folk who like to believe that you can ... this for sure, but I think that Easter earthquake angel perched on the rock rolled from the tomb was the same angel who, back in Matthew 1 (w.8-25) shook Joseph awake one night with the news that his fiancée was pregnant. (Talk about an earthquake!) See my point? God ...

1979. The Stewardship of Money in the Modern Church

2 Corinthians 9:11, 12

Sermon

Dr. John Thompson Peters

For the Christian Church the problem of money, its need and her attitude towards money, has been an ever present one from New Testament days forward. Some of our Lord's sternest and sharpest teachings, as for example the incident of the widow's mite, the parable of the talents, the alabaster box, and many others deal with money. In the early church the tragedy which overcame Ananias and Sapphira was a money matter and an example of how many who started out to follow Christ fell out over money and its use. ...

1980. Don't Just Stand There! - Get Involved!

Luke 3:1-20, Matthew 6:19-24

Sermon

Dr. John Thompson Peters

G.K. Chesterton one time said, "Christianity has not been tried and found wanting. Rather it has been found difficult and not tried." It would seem strange that after almost two thousand years of history there should still be confusion about the real nature of the Christian religion, and yet there can be no question but that it is widely misunderstood and hence misinterpreted. Some men reduce Christianity to something easy, while others make it impossible. With our contemporary situation bringing ...

1981. Breakfast on the Beach

John 21:1-14

Sermon

Steven Burt

There is a handful of narratives about Jesus’ appearance after the empty tomb. Several center around the empty tomb itself, like the one in which the angels say Jesus is risen, or the one where Jesus himself appears and says to Mary Magdalene, “Do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father.” And there’s an appearance to the disciples when he says to doubting Thomas, “Go ahead, stick your hand in my wound and be sure it’s really me.” Another time Jesus walks along the road to Emmaus with two ...

1982. Rocky

Matthew 16:13-20

Sermon

William J. Carl

It is said that Winston Churchill never liked talking to subordinates. He always wanted to go to the top because he figured that was the only way he could get any action. So, as the story goes, when Churchill went to heaven, he met St. Peter at the gate and said, “Who are you?” When Peter said, “I’m St. Peter,” Churchill said, “To hell with you, get God!” How did poor Peter get this job in the first place? It all started with the story recounted in this text when Jesus renamed him “Rocky” and gave him the ...

1983. Do You Love Me?

John 21:15-25

Sermon

Robert Allen

There is a very tender and moving scene in the play, Fiddler On The Roof. Tevyev and his wife Golda are being forced to move from their home in Russia. One day Tevyev comes into the house and asks his wife, "Golda, do you love me?" "Do I what?" "Do you love me?" Golda looks at him and then responds: "Do I love you? With our daughters getting married and this trouble in the town, you're upset, you're worn out, go inside, go lie down, maybe it's indigestion." Tevyev interrupts and asks the question, "Golda, ...

1984. "The Scandal Of Disloyalty"

Psalm 62:1-12, Mark 14:66-72

Sermon

R. Sheldon MacKenzie

This is the last scene in which Peter is involved. As often happens throughout the gospel of Mark Peter is the representative disciple. He represents the other 10, maybe the whole 12.Until this time the other disciples were as much to blame as he was in their betrayals of Jesus. He had taken an oath, voluntarily, to stay with Jesus until death, if necessary. The others had said the same thing. The betrayal, when it came in the orchard, involved all of the disciples."They all forsook him and fled."As the ...

1985. What Difference Does it Make?

Acts 10:23b-48

Sermon

Tony Everett

What a joyful day! Throughout the world Christians are gathered to celebrate resurrection… new life emerging from the grave; new light bursting forth from a darkened tomb. Throughout the world Christians celebrate as the cross of a suffering, bleeding, dying Jesus is now surrounded by dancing children waiting their turn to decorate it with brightly colored spring flowers. Throughout the world, churches are filled with Christians shouting back and forth “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!” ...

1986. Step Four - Courage

Mt 26:69-75 · Acts 9:1-9 · Ps 139:1-6

Sermon

John A. Terry

Step four: Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. The psalmist talks of the God before whom such a searching and fearless moral inventory is both possible and necessary. Ours is a God who, in traditional language, is omniscience and omnipresent, a God who knows all and is everywhere. This Psalm is sometimes called the Psalm of the unavoidable God. We believe that before our God there are no secret thoughts or actions. All is known by our God. I remember hearing a lecture one time where ...

1987. An Easter-Life

Acts 10:23b-48

Sermon

Carl Hoefler

What does Easter mean to you? In the secular world, it means fluffy bunnies, brightly colored eggs, hidden baskets, and lots of lush chocolate candy. If you are a child, there is nothing wrong with this. Easter is a happy day, and God loves to hear the laughter of little children; but, if you are an adult and this is all that Easter means to you, then there is something tragically missing in your faith-life. Interestingly enough, the word "Easter" appears nowhere in the Bible. The word "Easter" was ...

1988. The Choice

Matthew 16:13-20

Sermon

Here you are, sitting in a church pew. You are here because, somewhere and sometime, you made decisions. Choices. Many years ago, for instance, you may have decided you were a Christian and you would worship as faithfully as you eat and sleep. So, here you are today. Your presence required no great decision this morning. It's simply part of you. On the other hand, perhaps you are here today because you have decided you needed to begin this part of your life over again. You have some guilt about your ...

1989. Claimed, Framed, Changed

Acts 2:14-41

Sermon

Tony Everett

What do athletic coaches, politicians, and preachers have in common? They are expected to give inspirational pep talks, speeches, or sermons that fire up powerful emotions. They are supposed to motivate their listeners to “give 110%,” overcoming all obstacles to victory no matter what the cost. Coaches know that the best pep talk can only get athletes through the first football collision, the first gymnastics tumbling pass, or the first baseball at bat. Politicians know that the most stirring speech is ...

1990. Grampa Noah And When The Flood Came

Sermon

Jerry Eckert

July 18, 1982 Comment: One of the difficulties of telling theGenesis stories is that they are a slushing together ofvariant religious traditions and stories of the Hebrewtribes. Some stories do not lend themselves to a singulartelling. The story of Noah is an excellent example. To open it up to the variations within it, I imagined afamily reunion many years after the flood and after Noah'sgrandchildren had heard the stories a hundred times fromtheir own families. At the reunion, the children finallyhave a ...

1991. Real Solutions To Real Problems

John 21:1-14

Sermon

Lee Griess

There's a story of a man who went to his doctor complaining about terrible neck pains, throbbing headaches, and recurring dizzy spells. The doctor examined him carefully and pronounced, "I'm sorry but I have bad news for you. The diagnosis is not good. But from what I can tell, you must have an unspecified brain tumor causing the problem. Unfortunately there is nothing we can do for you. It seems that you have only six months to live." The doomed man left the doctor's office shaken and crushed, but he ...

1992. Sing A New Song

Acts 10:23b-48

Sermon

Erskine White

What are the seven deadliest words in the whole history of the Christian church? Not the Seven Deadly Sins, mind you, I'm asking about words. Which seven words have been the most destructive to Christian faith, and have set the church back most consistently over the years? What are those seven words? They are: "We've never done it that way before." That single sentence has shot down more new ideas and murdered more enthusiasm in cold blood than any other words ever spoken: "No, that's a terrible idea and ...

1993. With Christ As Partner

Luke 5:1-11

Sermon

Clement E. Lewis

Though it was early in Jesus' ministry, crowds were already beginning to gather and to follow him wherever he went. They were eager for his personal interest and ministry to their particular needs. Jesus knew that there was more to ministering to people than the acts of pastoral care and compassion. Without basic learning through teaching and preaching, spiritual foundations are hard to lay and concepts of enduring meaning are neglected. Jesus had earlier made friends with Peter when his brother Andrew ...

1994. Step Eleven - Spirituality

Mt 26:36-46 · 1 Thess 5:12-22 · Ps 25:1-15

Sermon

John A. Terry

This past week I had a new adventure. I did some plumbing work I had never done before. But I got out my handy homeowner's guide, and followed along step by step. It took longer than I thought it would. But at last it was almost complete. Close to the very end came the time when I put on the nuts and bolts that held it all together. As we reach toward the end of this series, we are approaching the step that tightens down and holds in place all the other work. The 11th step is: "Sought through prayer and ...

1995. The Symphony of God

Acts 5:17-42

Sermon

Carl Hoefler

This sermon is not for heroes. It is for the hesitant and the timid. This sermon is not for the militant who march in demonstrations of protest. It is for the meek who are afraid to act out their faith in public. This sermon is not for the players on the field who "suitup" and carry the ball; it is for the spectators who sit in the stadium. This sermon is for those who are not leaders, and who never will be. This is a sermon for ordinary people. Particularly, it is for the ordinary people who, because they ...

1996. Christians Aren't Perfect; They Are Forgiven

2 Corinthians 5:11--6:2

Sermon

There it was on a bumper sticker "Christians Are Not Perfect; They Are Forgiven." My theological mind worked on that for a while and part of me applauded the modesty of that particular insight. A part of me realized that like many things compressed in just a few words, it was a half truth, an inadequate statement about the whole issue of forgiveness. This morning as we look at this bumper sticker "Christians Aren't Perfect; They Are Forgiven," I would like us to take a closer look at this matter of ...

1997. Life in the Community of Believers

Acts 2:42-47

Sermon

Peter gives a very dramatic and descriptive look at what it means to be the people of God. "You are a chosen race," he said, "a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were no people, but now you are God’s people. . ." That is a significant and encouraging affirmation not only of who we are but of whose we are. It was a difficult and dangerous time for the early Christians when Peter ...

1998. An Easier Way?

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon

(Author's note: this sermon was preached as a first-person monologue by Jesus' disciple Peter. To help the congregation grasp the time difference, I costumed a bit by wearing the khafia, the common headdress of the Mideast. I also wore a cross, which I used as a "prop" near the monologue's end. At the same time, the sermon incorporated a "time warp, " with Peter speaking at one point as if he could see through the centuries.) I was asked the $64,000 question. The big question where "winner takes all." The ...

1999. Don’t Be Alarmed

Mark 16:1-20

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

In the Des Moines Register was a story titled, “Man, Believed Killed by Log, Sits on It.” “It happened in Hamburg, Wisconsin. William Bartelt, 71, of Hamburg, was recovering in a Wausau hospital Saturday after friends gave him up for dead after a log struck him on the head. Bartelt was hit by a limb cut down by his hired hand at his central Wisconsin farm, officials said. The limb knocked him out and the hired hand, Gerhardt Stueber, determined that Bartelt was not breathing and called relatives to the ...

2000. Nervous Hands

Psalm 139:1-24

Sermon

All of us at some point have been so nervous that it was obvious to everyone - our knees shook, our hands trembled. It's happened to every one of us. I remember one incident in particular in my own life. It was the first time I ever assisted with Communion. I was a Lay Minister. It was my installation, and I was to assist in distributing Communion. My hands shook so badly in trying to pass out the bread that I'm quite certain that everyone who received a wafer had to shake his head to catch my hand. I was ...

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