Sermon and Worship Resources

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

Showing 2051 to 2075 of 2105 results

2051. The Easter Parade

John 20:1-18

Sermon

Charles M. Mills

The Easter Parade is passing on us this morning. Dawn is whispering the arrival of hope in the heart of humanity. Dawn, when the women and the disciples stand in humble awe before the open tomb. He is not here. He is arisen. Up from the grave he arose, Jesus, our Savior, Christ our Lord. He arose. He arose. Hallelujah, Christ arose! Wordsworth wrote, "Bliss it was to be alive in that dawn." Dawn when the dew was damp and the day was wrapped in the swaddling clothes of hope. Dawn when: "... down the long ...

2052. As We Forgive Those Who Trespass Against Us

Genesis 32:22-32

Sermon

Steve Burt

A man got out of the Navy and planned to attend college. Before departing for the college town, though, he and his wife stopped by his parents' house in their old hometown so they could pick up a few items he'd left there in the attic -- pictures from school days, bowling trophies, a high school letter sweater, and a coin collection. The trouble came when the man couldn't find the coin collection that had been his joy growing up. He had collected nearly every Lincoln Head penny from 1909 on, including a ...

2053. Making the Mystery Work for You

John 3:1-21

Sermon

Charles R. Leary

It’s Trinity Sunday: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Enough said? Don’t leave me. I promise you, I won’t deliver a lecture expounding on what belongs only in the classroom for theologues. I do want to tell you a brief story. A man in a certain parish was only seen in church one Sunday a year. No, it was not Easter. It was Trinity. One leading lay person had restrained his curiosity year after year. He could not contain it any more. He approached the man and said, “I have noticed that ...

2054. OK, God You Win!

Job 42:1-6

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

Did you ever pick a fight with God? Did you ever get mad at God or argue with him about the way he was treating you? Did you ever say, “God, why did you forsake me?” or “Why did you allow a hurricane to devastate the earth, like Hugo that caused ten billion dollars damage in South Carolina?” or “Why do some wicked people prosper and some righteous people suffer?” or “Why do bad things happen to good folks?” Maybe you did not, but Job did! He was a good man who loved and feared God. The Bible describes him ...

2055. Here They Come, Singing

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

When six nations of eastern Europe were freed from the domination of totalitarian Communism in 1989, there was wild celebration by the people in the streets. They sang, they shouted, they marched, they danced in the streets, they laughed, they hugged each other. This was the happiest time of their lives. They were freed from decades of living under uncompromising dictatorships. Now they could speak out openly about how they felt, and they could march and shout their protests to a hated regime. It was a ...

2056. Do Not Be Doubting But Believe!

John 20:24-31

Sermon

Lee Griess

What a week it had been for the disciples. Everything had happened so fast! One moment the crowd welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem with shouts of hosanna, palm branches, and a hero's welcome. And then suddenly, a couple of days later, he was arrested, taken to the cross and crucified. The disciples must have been shell-shocked. They had been taken to the heights of joy and expectancy, only to have their hopes and dreams crushed with Jesus' death. It's no wonder that they hid out. They were afraid. They thought ...

2057. The Ultimate Mystery

John 18:28-40

Sermon

Lee Griess

An event is like a living organism. Its life depends on the inter-working of all of its parts. Take any one part and you steal the life from the whole thing. This is especially true of John's account of the death of Jesus. John, the theologian of the Gospel writers, more than any of the rest, views the crucifixion of Jesus as more than mere history. In the death of Jesus, John sees the person and purpose of Christ revealed. Let's take a step forward and, by means of John's description of Calvary, stand at ...

2058. Forgiven!

John 12:1-11

Sermon

Lee Griess

On a recent religious talk show the hostess was interviewing a young woman who had just recently come to know Christ and had been received into the church. Until her recent conversion, she had lived on the wrong side of the tracks, lived in the fast lane, and teetered on the brink of destruction. So overwhelming was the sense of forgiveness that this young woman practically gushed with joy as she spoke. "I can't express," she said, "the sense of gratitude that I feel that God has changed my life." The talk ...

2059. "The Bitterness Of Betrayal"

Mark 14:43-52, Psalm 55:1-23

Sermon

R. Sheldon MacKenzie

When he was an old man he wanted to speak to a friend about certain people whose offenses he had never forgiven. He had been the unwanted child, so he had been told, of an elderly father and a young mother. He had been born into a home that was exceedingly religious in a narrow strict and hard way. It was a home in which there was more law than gospel, certainly more law than love. As the little boy grew up, the influence of his father faded away. And he was brought up by his young mother and an uncle. The ...

2060. Jesus Rejected

Mark 15:1-15

Sermon

R. Sheldon MacKenzie

It was early in the morning. The representatives of the Jewish people held an important meeting. They met to compose a charge on which they could have Jesus brought before the military governor. The military governor was a senior civil servant from Rome. He was called a procurator. In this case he was a hard man. He ruled by decree, a cruel decree if necessary, without consideration for the feelings of the local people. One Jewish historian has written that this man had been guilty of rape, insult, murder ...

2061. The TV Revolution

Sermon

Michael Rogness

As the dominant medium of social expression, television is pervasive in a profound way that we seldom recognize fully. Because most of us get most of our information about the society most of the time from television, it becomes the primary social fact of our lives.2 -- James Monaco Preaching Today While visiting many congregations I am constantly astonished to hear how much complaining there is about preaching. Faithful churchgoers find themselves wondering, "What's happened to good preaching?" "Where ...

2062. His Suffering Servant

Isaiah 52:13--53:12

Sermon

George Paul Mocko

Jesus and His Yuppies; War and Wrong and an Answer for That in a Coconut Shell; (About Painful Healing); Two Holocausts and How in Three Pictures We Can See How God Worked in Them; also How He Works With Us. Isaiah 53, one of the poems of the Suffering Servant - a strange text to be read here in the fall of the year when it really belongs in Lent, does it not? Surely it does. Why is it here? Those who worked out the lectionary, those stated lessons for each Lord's Day, did so with the Gospel lessons as the ...

2063. The S & L That Didn't Fail!

Isaiah 52:13--53:12

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

A Peanuts cartoon strip shows Charlie Brown and Linus as they summarize their team's baseball season. They report that in 12 games they almost scored a run. In right field Lucy almost caught three balls, and once she almost made the right play. They decided between them that they led the league in "almosts." We Christians do not have an "almost" Savior. We have a Lord who saves to the uttermost. He did not and he cannot fail. At this writing, according to the experts, losses from savings and loans (S & Ls ...

2064. Our Own Mountaintop Walk

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

Leonard H. Budd

Matthias was the 13th of the 12 disciples! He had been chosen by lot to fill the 12th spot when Judas had removed himself from the close circle of Jesus' followers. Matthias had followed the crowds down from the Galilee and had been close to all the disciples through much of the teaching years. And so, with the casting of the lots that picked him, Matthias joined the inner circle of disciples. He was a serious man, trained in the religious law, and certain that Jesus was the expected Messiah. So certain ...

2065. The High Cost of Christian Living

Matthew 16:24-28

Sermon

Thomas Slavens

Youth Sunday • Youth Sunday • Youth On a cliff overlooking a river in India stood a woman with two children. As the missionary doctor canoed down the river to the trading post, he noticed that the child who stood by her side was strong and healthy, while in her arms she held a tiny lad with twisted limbs that he would never use. When the missionary returned from the trading post again he saw the woman, but this time she had only one child. He knew immediately what had happened. He left his boat at the edge ...

2066. Luke’s Beatitudes And Woes

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

James Garrett

The Beatitudes are familiar to us. We have heard them many times. Someone gave me an interesting article about the Beatitudes. It is titled: “The Lesson.” “Then Jesus took his disciples up the mountain, and gathering these around him, he taught them saying: “ ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the meek. Blessed are they that mourn. Blessed are the merciful. Blessed are they who thirst for justice. Blessed are you when you suffer. Be glad and rejoice, for your ...

2067. Good News From A Graveyard

John 20:1-9

Sermon

John M. Braaten

If wild applause was ever in order in the church, Easter is the time. It is a day for Christians to cheerfully celebrate Christ's victory over death. Clearly the dominant mood in our worship this morning is joy. It is a day for breaking out the band, clapping hands and singing, "Hallelujah!" But if you ever read the gospel accounts of the resurrection, you discover an unusual thing; the first reaction of the men and women who came to the tomb was not joy - it was bewilderment and fear! The immediately ...

2068. A Word For All Reasons

John 20:19-23

Sermon

John M. Braaten

Easter has happened. Jesus, crucified on Friday is risen from the dead, and from that time-shattering event he sets out. To do what? What shall be the first item on his agenda? We don't know what our Lord did between the early morning appearance to Mary Magdalene and the evening, but we do know that revealing himself to the disciples was high on his list of priorities. One question which could be asked is this one: Knowing what we do about Jesus' arrest, trial, sentencing, and the behavior of his followers ...

2069. That's Our God For You!

Luke 19:28-44

Sermon

John M. Braaten

Palm Sunday is an event in Christ's life that many people, particularly young people, enjoy. It is action packed, filled with lots of commotion and noise - especially noise. It centers around a grand parade with all the excitement and frenzied emotion of a political convention. The "Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem," as it is sometimes called, includes people lining the streets craning their necks to see, waving palms, and lots of shouting. For many people who like lots of activity, Palm Sunday is their ...

2070. Playing By A Different Set Of Rules

Matthew 13:24-30, Matthew 13:36-43

Sermon

Larry Goodpaster

Obscenity, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. With words to that effect more than two decades ago the Supreme Court of the United States of America left the decisions regarding pornography in the hands of local communities. During the intervening years states and cities have struggled with the issue, desiring to uphold the basic rights of freedom of speech and expression, and at the same time attempting to establish and maintain what is decent and acceptable to the majority. The latest entry to ...

2071. The Interview

Matthew 9:35-38, Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

Larry Goodpaster

The young woman squirmed uncomfortably in the cushioned chair to which she had been directed by the receptionist. Not only was she nervous about the impending job interview, but the shuttle service which had provided transportation from the airport to this office building had been the worst of her life. The others who had been on the van seemed as upset as she was -- and just as captive. Now, because of the traffic, and because that driver had not known which building was hers, she was late for her ...

2072. The Rich Young Ruler

Mark 10:17-31

Sermon

Brett Blair

The rich young ruler falls into that unique category of Bible characters that have been maligned by generations of commentators. We might compare him to the elder brother in the story of the prodigal son. It seems like both of these young men have always gotten bad press and therefore a bad reputation. We have been impressed with the f ct that the rich young ruler was seemingly so near to the Kingdom, but alas his love of money kept him out. We see him as a moral coward, a man who lacked commitment. And ...

2073. The Road To The Cross

Matthew 27:11-26

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

Passion Sunday, the whole story of the dastardly plots and betrayals that brought Jesus to the cross, lies before us. You know the story well. It is filled with a number of subplots, all of which provide insights about the kind of people that we are and how our sins nailed Jesus to the cross. We see how the disciples (especially Judas and Peter, as well as the sons of Zebedee), each in his own way, failed our Lord. In similar ways we have failed him. We hear the story of our Lord's courage, his love of ...

2074. The Road To Jerusalem

Mark 11:1-11

Sermon

Thomas A. Pilgrim

Everybody loves a parade. I spent 10 of my growing up years in Savannah, Georgia, where my father was the pastor of a church. On March 17th of each year Savannah has the second largest St. Patrick's Day parade in the country. The whole city turns out for the parade. They dye the river green. Everybody wears green. They eat green grits. Some drink green - well, beverages. For several years I went to that parade and enjoyed watching it. But then when I was in the 10th grade I was in R.O.T.C., military ...

2075. The Road To Emmaus

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Thomas A. Pilgrim

A man and his little grandson were out walking down the beach one afternoon. They saw a crowd of people gathered around a man who had been overcome by the heat of the sun and had suffered a sunstroke. The grandfather was trying to explain this to the boy. The little fellow looked up at his grand father and said, "Grandpa, I hope you never suffer from a sunset." We have gathered today to celebrate the good news that even though we face many sunsets there is always a sunrise. There is a simple beauty in this ...

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