Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 226 to 250 of 2331 results

226. Resurrection: From Burn-Out to New Vision

Sermon

Leonard H. Budd

... the prophets of Baal. So we read that Elijah ran. He ran for his life. He ran from the hills of northern Israel to the desert valleys of the Negev, a distance of 100 miles. This run is out of character for Elijah. He had to run and hide at other ... the effect that running on fear had on Elijah. First, there is a terrible exhaustion. At the end of this hundred mile run into the desert, Elijah sat under a broom tree and prayed that he would die. Not all of you will understand that prayer, but some of you will. ...

227. All Dressed Up and No Place To Go

Isaiah 61:1-11

Sermon

Thomas D. Peterson

... Temple. We must pick up the heritage of our faith, and by faithful attendance give ourselves a chance to absorb the wisdom and direction it has for us. In this process we grow up to the high calling it brings to us. Like Jesus we go to the desert to confront our doubts and match ourselves against the demands life will bring as we keep faithful relationship with God, ever extending its meaning on a broader and broader scope. We go to the mountain heights where we hear him speak to us and inspire us. We walk ...

228. Prepare The Way

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

Brett Blair

... who prepared the way by challenging the people’s sins. He was not after the popular vote. He had eyes only for God. Are we ready to share his work and mission? III Third, John the Baptist prepared the way by pointing to Christ. John in the desert was in the great tradition of the Hebrew prophets. He was aware that time was running out. In his burning message he had no time for peripheral matters. He was not playing Trivial Pursuits nor was he prepared to splash about in the shallows. Soon the sword ...

229. Give Me A Break

Mark 6:30-44

Bulletin Aid

Dallas A. Brauninger

... place all by yourselves and rest a while." People: We do so much coming and going that we have no leisure even to eat. Leader: "Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while." People: We give and give and give until nothing is left of us to give. Leader: "Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while." Collect Just the thought of a time-out, a pause and respite, brings us comfort, O God. Let us find during this service of worship a time to pause from ceaseless reaching ...

230. A Voice to be Heard

John 1:19-28

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

... fire of judgment belched from his nostrils. His eyes were aflame with righteousness, his heart thrusting the lifeblood of hope and expectancy through his being. He had to preach. He was compelled to speak out. Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Prepare the way of the Lord. Sure he was fiery and uncompromising, nearly a radical, a fanatic. But the sins of the people were oppressive and deadening. The structures of life were drawn ...

231. God Hears

Genesis 21:8-21

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... it to Ishmael's thin cracked lips. At first he hardly responded, but then he moved, and slowly, bit by bit, he drank. Hagar's hopes renewed, then crashed once more as she remembered who she was - a slave - and where she was - in the hot and unforgiving desert. Again she cried, she looked toward the well, and from the deepest well within her soul she heard a voice. "From you and Ishmael shall come a people," said the voice of God within her. "You will survive. Your son will grow. And he will have a wife ...

232. Look Up and Live

Numbers 21:4-9

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... 15,000 people in a plague. There are complaints about not enough water, so God arranges for Moses to be able to strike a rock with his staff and bring forth enough for all. Now, the end of the long journey is near. And they have encamped in this desert region that is infamous for the snakes. The griping and moaning resume: "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food." For God, this was about the last straw. Their ...

233. Are You the One?

Matthew 11:1-19

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... not fall away because of me." More about that in a minute. Now John's disciples depart and, as they do, Jesus turns to the crowd that had gathered (and presumably folks who had previously gone out to hear John) and asks them, "What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind?" This was a nature walk? Of course not. "If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings' palaces," says Jesus. Yes, John's clothes were unique, but ...

234. Strong Faith

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... there is between Jesus and his disciples. Jesus was full of compassion. The disciples were more concerned about convenience. It was getting late. The people would be getting hungry. This presented a problem. The disciples approached Jesus with their concern. "This is a deserted place," they said, "and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves." The disciples were being very practical. They didn’t not know what to do with such a large ...

235. May Christ Be Born In You

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

... that Advent is a time of spiritual preparation. It is also a time of transformation. It's "discovering our soul and letting Christ be born from the waiting heart." (2) At unlikely times and in unlikely places God breaks into our lives. John the Baptist was out in the desert proclaiming that the time had come for God to act. The long-awaited Messiah was coming. The time was at hand. But that was only part of John's message. TO PREPARE FOR GOD'S GIFT OF SALVATION WE NEED TO TURN OUR LIVES AROUND. That was the ...

236. When The Going Gets Tough

2 Timothy 3:10--4:8

Sermon

King Duncan

... the sound of victory, because he knew that he would receive a great reward. How did he know he would receive a reward? HE KNEW BECAUSE GOD HAD BEEN WITH HIM EACH STEP OF THE WAY. Paul writes: "At my first defense no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them. But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion's mouth." Paul's expectation of a ...

237. Building A Home

John 14:15-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... she turned her attention to a polite young man on one side of her. His name was Michael. Patsy guessed correctly from Michael's impeccable manners that he was a member of the armed forces. Turns out, he was just returning from a year and a half in Desert Storm. Michael was nervous about returning home, afraid that his family would be expecting a hero. He was afraid of crying in front of everyone. He had been away, in difficult situations, in the company of rough and tough men. He didn't know how much he had ...

238. Sometimes It Is Okay to Be Absentminded

Isaiah 43:14-28

Sermon

Curtis Lewis

... God informs the people by way of a wonderful reminder that he is "about to do a new thing." God is going to make a way through the desert. God is going to send the exiles home -- back home to Jerusalem. They are not to worry about the journey even though they will have to cross the desert, for God will provide water, a veritable river in the desert. Isaiah sees God providing a new exodus, a way out, a new salvation, a homecoming, freedom from the bondage of the Babylonians. In a sense, the whole world ...

239. Preparing for Christmas

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... to do for the next few minutes. Forget your outside cares and concerns. Pretend that you have nothing to do but reflect on the meaning of the coming of the Christ child. Listen to the words of the prophet: "A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. And all mankind will see God’s salvation.’ " Here is the purpose of ...

240. A Chosen People

Isaiah 43:14-28

Sermon

King Duncan

... , to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself so that they might declare my praise.” The imagery is striking. God will build a superhighway in the wilderness, says Isaiah; rivers will flow in the desert, even the wild animals--the jackals and the ostriches--will honor God. Why will God do all this? One reason: God has chosen Israel. Why has God chosen Israel? Israel is “the people whom I formed for myself so that they might declare my praise.” GOD’S HAND WAS UPON ...

241. The God Who Must Be Pursued

Matthew 7:7-12

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

... the Triune God, and the deeper we move into prayer the more challenging it becomes. Questions arise: Am I willing to become the answer for which I pray? Do I want to be transformed by the fire of divine love? There is a story from the fourth century desert monks of Egypt. It goes like this: “Abba Lot came to Abba Joseph and said: ‘Father, according as I am able, I keep my little rule, and my little fast, my prayer, meditation and contemplative silence; and, according as I am able, I strive to cleanse my ...

242. Where's the Fire?

Exodus 3:1-22

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... conscience. Look what happened to him. He is shepherding the sheep. He is out there all alone. He is days away from any other people. He has gone all the way to Mt. Horeb. He is on a lonely hillside there. The only sound is the wind sweeping across the desert. In circumstances like that, when you are all alone, all by yourself, and it is all quiet, do you know what you are left with? Just your own thoughts, and that is dangerous. If you don't want to think about your life, then always keep busy, keep moving ...

243. A Holy Way for Us All

Isaiah 35:1-10

Sermon

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... of the only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14)? God has in truth come to us in his Son. So those who are fearful, can take courage, and those who are weak can be strong (v. 4), for God has come to turn their desert of death into the eternal and watered abundance of life. In short, God has come to establish his kingdom of life on earth, even as it is in heaven. That kingdom began in the birth of our Savior at Bethlehem. The Isaiah traditions repeatedly announce that when the kingdom comes ...

244. Pass the Pigweed

Exodus 17:1-7

Sermon

Bill Mosley

... pear. In the Sinai there is a tamarisk shrub that exudes a honey-like juice in heavy drops in May and June. The drops dry out into a flat white flake. Manna, maybe. The Lord provides it. And certain migratory quail fall exhausted in large numbers when crossing the desert. It's meat to eat. The Lord provides it. And water can be found just below limestone. The Lord provides it. Does it look bad for you right now? Do you have a medical problem? Someone at work making it hard for you? The economy got you down ...

245. Have You Heard?

Matthew 4:12-23

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... was one of the first aviators. He flew the mail in North Africa and South America at the beginning of this century. He wrote beautiful books about flying. Wind, Sand, and Stars I think is where I read this. On one flight his plane crashed in the North African desert. He survived the ordeal, but it changed his life. He came out of it with a heightened expectation of what life can be, of what we are capable of, of what heights we can achieve as human beings, and what little time we have in which to achieve it ...

246. The Miracle Molecule

John 4:1-26

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... by divinely ordered flood waters. · Droughts in Israel bring Joseph's brothers to Egypt for relief from the hands of the very brother they'd betrayed. · Jacob/Israel establishes the holy place of Shechem at the site of a life-giving well in the desert according to the Lord's commandment. · Hebrew slaves escape through the water, and that same water crashes down and destroys Pharaoh's pursuing army. · Moses struck a rock and brought forth water to quench the people's thirst and save their lives. Here's ...

247. ASAP

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Orthodox, the Russian tradition of the poustinia has been brought to life by the Russian Christian Catherine de Hueck Doherty. The word poustinia is Russian, meaning ‘desert.’ It's an ordinary word. Doherty writes, "If I was a little Russian girl, and a teacher during a geography lesson asked me to name a desert, I might say, 'Saharskaya Poustinia' the Sahara Desert." But the word carries a deeper meaning in Russian. It also means a spiritual as well as a geographical place. It means what in English we ...

248. Do You Have a GPS - A God Positioning System?

Galatians 3:1-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... deliberate, reverential reading more with the heart than with the head. We understand Lectio Divina today as the spoken or public reading of Scripture. But the original meaning of the phrase Lectio Divina was a larger understanding pioneered by the early Fathers of the Desert of Scripture as a school of life and a school of prayer. In the earliest understanding of Lectio Divina, what was important was less the reading of the Scriptures than the living of the Scriptures, less a method of how to think than a ...

249. Proper 13

Psalm 17:1-15, Romans 9:1-29, Matthew 14:13-21, Genesis 32:22-32

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

... With the little bit of food in hand, Jesus continues to take charge. He orders the crowds to be seated on the green grass. The information that the grass was green may simply be superfluous, but it may be a gateway for homiletical imagination. The greenness in the "deserted place" underscores the lushness of life in Jesus' presence. But this is a pointer, not a point. The real action takes place as Jesus turns to God. The power for the work Jesus is about to do comes from God. It flows from God to Jesus and ...

250. Proper 24

Exodus 33:12-23, Matthew 22:15-22, 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10, Psalm 99:1-9

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

... the camp. Exodus 33:1-11 ends on a negative note, because the loss of divine presence is the equivalent of being stuck in the middle of the desert without a map. There is sand as far as the eye can see, with no way out. It is time for Moses to petition God again in ... the present time without it. Thus our act of petitioning is a confession to God that, without grace, we are lost in the desert and have no road map. Second, the mediation of Moses underscores that there is no limit to what we can expect from a ...

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