Sermon and Worship Resources

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

Showing 2001 to 2025 of 2105 results

2001. The Grace of Disillusionment

Matthew 26:69-75

Sermon

Robert Bachelder

And he went out and wept bitterly.- Matthew 26:75b In his famous autobiography, Henry Adams wrote of his chronic irritability. He thought it was the result of knowing too much about his neighbors and thinking too much of himself. We have in Luke’s parable of the Pharisee and the publican a man who, like the early Henry Adams, combines a low opinion of his neighbors with a high estimate of his own qualities. The Pharisee’s prayer in chapter eighteen is taken from life, for a similar prayer comes to us in ...

2002. Living Sacrifices

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon

William J. Carl

If we’re really honest we have to admit that Peter speaks for all of us when he rebukes Jesus for saying that he would soon suffer. The main reason Peter does this is that following a God who suffers means we will probably have to suffer, too. Sure enough we were right; for immediately after Jesus puts Peter in his place, he says, “Those who want to be my followers must first deny themselves, take up their crosses and follow me.” What Peter probably figured out right from the beginning was that he would ...

2003. Kneeling And Redirection

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Richard A. Wing

Three wise men come from the east bringing gifts to the infant Jesus, and in the process receive a gift worth the distance and effort they spent. After depositing their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, they in turn receive a gift: They are redirected. That is what we all get after kneeling before Jesus: we are redirected. That different direction after kneeling before Jesus means that your joy in life will not be in seeking happiness and fulfillment directly, but in intentionally walking the way of ...

2004. No Grey Area

Acts 15:1-21

Sermon

Carl Hoefler

Our text this morning is about one of the greatest spiritual and theological events in the history of the Christian church. Interestingly enough, it was not a dramatic martyrdom, nor a mass miracle, or even a crusade. It was not a worship service, a great sermon preached, or a crowd conversion. It was a church convention - a convention held about fifty years after the death of our Lord. For those of you who have ever attended a convention of the church, it may sound unbelievable that it could be a ...

2005. Loosed from the Pangs of Death

Acts 2:14-41

Sermon

Benjamin Franklin once said, "Nothing in this world is certain but death and taxes." This week we would not question the validity of what he said. The difference, however, is that April 15 and the time for paying our income taxes comes around once a year. Death comes only once in a lifetime to each of us as human beings. So we look at them and we deal with them differently. It seems to me that we also deal with death differently than we did when I was a child. Medical science was not as advanced then as it ...

2006. The Called Ones

Matthew 4:18-22

Sermon

Joe Pennel

The Gospel lesson for today makes me want to fuss at Jesus. It makes me want to fuss at Jesus because the message of the text is so radical! It is radical to believe that people would actually leave their place of business to follow after a teacher who said, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." After Jesus had finished preaching a sermon in Capernaum, he took a stroll along the banks of the Sea of Galilee. As Jesus walked by the sea side, he noticed two brothers - Simon, who is called Peter, ...

2007. Coming Down The Mountain

2 Kings 2:1-18

Sermon

Frederick C. Edwards

There is a story that a university in Scotland once wished to honor a scholar who had done some significant inquiry into the life and work of one of its own most illustrious former scholars, the 16th century Scottish reformer, John Knox. The tradition in that and several other universities was that, if possible, a cap belonging to the subject of the study - in this case John Knox - would be given to the person being honored, if such a cap could be found. In that way the honoree would have something ...

2008. What Can Christians Learn From Jews?

Genesis 12:1-3

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

Three Jewish gentlemen immigrated to New York from Europe. As they parted company to pursue different lives in the United States, they made a covenant to meet again in 20 years. Twenty years passed and the three men gathered for a reunion at a New York hotel. The natural leader of the group said, “I came to this country and had no idea what to do. I thought and I thought until I realized my last name was Goldstein, so I decided to go into the gold business." “Interesting," said the second man. “I was ...

2009. Jesus In Gethsemane"Jesus -- Misunderstood And Alone"

Psalm 49:1-20, Mark 14:32-42

Sermon

R. Sheldon MacKenzie

Have you ever been terribly alone,-- even when other people were all around you? Perhaps you were walking down a street, totally absorbed in some personal crisis, and, despite people coming and going beside you it seemed there was no one to whom you could go for encouragement and counsel. The business of decision-making is often a lonely matter. Sometimes you lie awake at night, when everyone else has gone to sleep. And you go over in your mind the worries and decisions of the day past and of the one to ...

2010. Obedience Is An Ugly Word!

Acts 5:17-42

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

A man, bragging on his dog, said, "He's a fine dog. He's so smart, and obedient, too. Why, all I have to do is tell him what to do and he either does it, or he doesn't!" The gospel's success or failure all hinges upon our acceptance or rejection of the word "Obedience." If we truly have faith, we will obey God. Obedience implies that we are not independent, that we are accountable to another, that we do have someone over us, that there is higher authority than ourselves. In a world where we are taught that ...

2011. Is It I, Lord?

Mark 14:12-26

Sermon

Erskine White

"Is it I, Lord; is it I?" That's the haunting question the disciples asked on that Maundy Thursday night so long ago and the question searches the human heart this evening. Jesus said to them, "One of you will betray Me," and immediately the room was filled with the sound of excited voices talking all at once: "Is it I, Lord; is it I?" A well-known preacher of the last century (Phillips Brooks) remarked that the disciples showed real virtue in asking that question. They didn't try to blame one another. ...

2012. Who’s Keeping Score?

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon

William J. Carl

What we have in our passage is the contrast between a theology of grace and a theology of keeping score. The first is the one Jesus espouses in this text. The second is the one Peter is pushing and, by the way, the one our world has bought into for centuries. Anne Herbert once suggested that the whole thing started in Eden when Adam and Eve began keeping score. Certainly it was carried on in their children when Cain’s anger over Abel’s higher giving score finally led to murder. Anyway, God got so angry ...

2013. Is Repentance Necessary?

Acts 2:14-41

Sermon

Is repentance really necessary? If so, for whom? Whom does it satisfy? According to the teachings of the Bible, in the Old and New Testaments, which is the source book of authority for our faith and preaching, the answer is "yes;" repentance is necessary. It is not for God; God has not sinned. Repentance is for us. It satisfies God because God intends that we return to him that we might live and know salvation and peace. In the Old Testament repentance is largely associated with the whole nation of Israel ...

2014. Prayer in a Pinch

Matthew 14:22-36

Sermon

Did Jesus pray when he was "in a pinch"? Have you ever thought about that? You probably have done such praying in the middle of a family crisis, or facing a decision, which could change your life, or feeling overwhelmed by the world's problems - or even getting into a spot because you did not do your homework. In any one of these instances, you may have prayed, "God, have mercy!" Even people who have a reputation for being non-religious will utter a prayer in a pinch or a jam, and so there is the line, " ...

2015. Claim Your Ministry

Matthew 20:20-28

Sermon

Robert Bachelder

"but whoever would be great among you must be your servant." - Matthew 20:26b Augustine wrote: "So deep has human pride sunk us that only divine humility can raise us." This point was not lost on St. Martin, the famous soldier-saint of France. The story goes that one day he was praying and there appeared to him a figure robed like a king with a jeweled crown and gold-embroidered shoes. The voice said to him: "Martin, recognize him whom you see. I am Christ. I am about to descend to the earth and I am ...

2016. How Does One Follow Jesus During The Threat Of War?

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

George Johnson

It has been difficult for me to decide what sermon I should preach today. I had planned to preach on the lectionary text in Acts which is assigned for this Sunday. That story of Peter and Cornelius has been occupying my thoughts for several days, and I had a pretty good idea of how the sermon would be developed. But the present historical crisis has been capturing the attention of us all. My sense of call as a pastor has urged me to set aside the sermon on Peter and Cornelius and speak about following ...

2017. Marked In An Empty Tomb -- The Cross Is Still There

Sermon

George Bass

“The other women with them (Mary Magdala, Joanna, and Mary, the Mother of James) also told the apostles (about their experience at the Tomb), but this story of theirs seemed pure nonsense, and they did not believe them.” Luke 24:11 Yes, the cross is still there upon our foreheads and in our hearts. Easter, more than anything else, assures us of that. Because we believe in both Jesus’ death and resurrection, we declare: “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!” Our Lord’s resurrection is at the heart of the ...

2018. Spirit Full Or Foul?

Deuteronomy 4:32-40

Sermon

Justin Tull

The sermon today asks the questions as to whether we are aware of God’s saving acts and if we acknowledge only him as God. In short, we are asking if God truly helps us. Several years ago, at my sister’s wedding, the officiating minister told a story. It was about an Episcopal minister from Africa. The minister’s eight-year-old son did not understand his father’s actions just before his sermons. He asked his father: “Why do you always kneel when everyone stands to sing the hymn of preparation?” The father ...

2019. Jesus Is Made Known in the Breaking of the Bread

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Steven Burt

Luke’s narrative here is one of those narratives that we can easily picture. It was late afternoon on the very first Easter day, and two disciples -- apparently not of the original twelve -- but nevertheless, two disciples, were walking along the dry dusty road from Jerusalem to Emmaus. They were pretty down-in-the-mouth for they had just lost their messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, the one they had thought would be the Savior of Israel. So they were walking along this dusty country road, and there was no air ...

2020. Echoes

Luke 3:21-38

Sermon

Richard A. Wing

When I stand before this text, I hear an echo. What stands out most is the word from heaven as Jesus comes up from the water: "This is my son, the beloved. Listen to him." At another place in scripture where Jesus goes to the mountain with Peter, James, and John to "reveal" himself more pointedly in what we call the transfiguration, suddenly we hear the words of his baptism echo from heaven again: "This is my son, the beloved. Listen to him." The echoes that reverberate from baptismal waters and off the ...

2021. Blessed Betrayal

1 Corinthians 11:17-34

Sermon

Don M. Aycock

Have you ever noticed how some things in life sometimes just don't seem to go together? I've always marveled at an expensive Cadillac with a squirrel tail tied to the antenna. It looks absurd. I heard recently of a fellow who saw this bumper sticker: "A WOMAN WITHOUT A MAN IS LIKE A FISH WITHOUT A BICYCLE." Well, you understand what I mean. Paul brings together some words like that, words that do not seem to fit. Listen to them again: The Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread .... What a ...

2022. A New Command

John 13:31-38

Sermon

Lee Griess

In his book Life Looks Up, Charles Templeton remarks how ironic it is that the course of human history has been affected so positively and negatively by events that have occurred in two small upper rooms. One of them is a drab flat in London's Westside, dirty, curtainless, with stacks of articles on the table and worn manuscripts, aborted attempts wadded up in the trash can. Seated at the table a man labors over a writing, a writing that would overthrow governments, enslave millions of people, and ...

2023. Easter - Fact And Fiction!

Acts 10:34-43

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

A Family Circus comic strip shows the children of the family on Easter morning. One asks, "Who laid all these eggs?" The reply of another child is, "The Easter Bunny." "Who colored them?" Again the reply, "The Easter Bunny." The first child asks again, "Who gave us the jelly beans?" The reply, "The Easter Bunny." The family is then shown going to church. In church, the minister is preaching, and asks, "They came to the tomb and saw the stone rolled back, 'Who could have done this?' " And the child in the ...

2024. A Chosen Race?

John 14:1-4, John 14:5-14

Sermon

Erskine White

I spent some time recently with a number of clergymen and clergywomen from various churches, the scribes and Pharisees of our day. It was a Bible study session and we happened to be discussing the very same passage from John which is the text for this sermon. Do not misunderstand me. I do not consider myself superior in any way to the ministers I will tell you about. For all I know, they may have gifts and skills far beyond my own - I am utterly sincere in saying that. But I will let stand what I have ...

2025. The Problem With Finding The Kingdom

Matthew 13:44-46

Sermon

William J. Carl

I don’t know about you, but when I finished reading these parables of the kingdom, I wasn’t so sure whether I really wanted to find the kingdom, which may be an odd thing for a preacher to say, I admit. But think about it -- everybody always makes such a big deal about finding the kingdom. Even Jesus. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and… all these things shall be added unto you.” Even Peter Marshall’s mother said it when Peter left Scotland for good. “Dinna forget your verse my laddie, seek ye first the ...

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