Sermon and Worship Resources

... don’t believe …matters. For everything in our future as the church is grounded in the beliefs established in our past, which continue to be fueled in the present and launched into the future. And by beliefs, I don’t mean, habits, traditions, likes and dislikes, norms, buildings, music, the “we’ve always done it this way” kind of programs and worship. The only belief that will fuel a church in the power of the Holy Spirit is the true belief in the Holy Spirit, in Jesus Messiah Son of God living ...

Anyone who is popular is bound to be disliked.

Yogi Berra

239. Wilde Shots

Humor

Oscar Wilde was noted for taking verbal potshots at his literary friends. He said of George Bernard Shaw, "He has no enemies but is thoroughly disliked by his friends." "Do I know George Moore," he once answered somebody. "Why, I know him so well that I haven't spoken to him for ten years." And with Max Beerbohm he scored a happy bull's eye: "The gods," said Wilde, "have bestowed on Max the gift of perpetual old age."

240. One Life-Changing Word

Isaiah 9:2-7 · Luke 2:1-14, (15-20)

Sermon

King Duncan

... Christmas Carol. This story describes the lonely and mis-lived life of Ebenezer Scrooge. (1) The story opens on a bleak, cold Christmas Eve in London, seven years after the death of Scrooge‘s business partner, Jacob Marley. Scrooge, an ageing miser, dislikes Christmas and refuses a dinner invitation from his nephew Fred. He also turns away two men who seek a donation from him to provide food and heating for the poor . . . and only grudgingly allows his overworked, underpaid clerk, Bob Cratchit, Christmas ...

241. For Men Only?

Mark 10:2-16

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... is engaged in public lewd and sexual misbehavior. It has nothing to do with whether she has failed to please her husband in the ordinary course of events. So there’s more than meets the eye in this passage. Deuteronomy goes on to say: Then suppose the second man dislikes her, writes her a bill of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house (or the second man who married her dies); her first husband, who sent her away, is not permitted to take her again to be his wife after she has been ...

242. Welcome, Joe!

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Sermon

King Duncan

... who have trouble remembering names, National Joe Day is a great idea. I’m just going to call everyone Joe today, and no one can get offended. Years ago, there was a national survey measuring how well people liked their names, and about 21% of people said they disliked their names enough to consider changing them. So if you are part of that 21% that has never liked your name, today is your day. For one day only, you can change your name to Joe. You’re welcome. (1) I think it’s pretty interesting that ...

243. Look What Happened On The Cross!

Hebrews 10:16-25

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... immigrants. We are badly divided by social class, regardless of ethnicity, as eminent social commentator Charles Murray has pointed out. He has found few commonalities professional and working class people share (how little people from different classes know each other’s likes and dislikes).[1] We are also divided by religion. Good Friday is a time to confess our sins, because our divisions brought Christ to the cross. Do you agree? Are we as a nation not divided? Think of the tensions in your personal or ...

244. God So Loved

John 3:16-17

Sermon

Will Willimon

... on their knees on Ash Wednesday. “Dust to dust, ashes to ashes,” we said as we smeared ashes on their foreheads. “Penitence is 'in' this year,” commented Nancy. A friend of mine who is an Episcopalian noted that the most, steadfastly resisted, disliked aspect of the new Episcopal Eucharistic service is the change from kneeling to receive Communion to standing to receive Communion. “Don't you see the point?” he asked his parishoners. "Christians don't have to grovel around on our knees before the ...

245. I’ve Come To Bring Fire

Luke 12:49-56

Sermon

Dave Zuchelli

... make enemies. Each of us can be loved and hated at the same time by different people. While the bottom line for Jesus is always love and reconciliation, not everyone will follow him. Not everyone will believe on his Name. There will be some that will even dislike us merely because we are Christians. In those cases, the Lord himself is the source of division. It’s at this point in his teaching where he levels a barrage at the religious elite of his day. He mentions to them that they are good at discerning ...

246. The Foreigner

Luke 17:11-19

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... s “chosen” group of people, they believe that God’s healing is a given. After all, they are who they are. The Samaritan however, when healed, although restored mind, body, and spirit, will remain outcast from Galilee. He will remain a Samaritan, disliked, mistrusted, avoided, and snubbed by the conventional Jewish community. But not from God. Humbled, his gratitude that God behaves differently than anyone he’s ever known, will spill from his lips in praise and laud. In his healing, he knows that God ...

247. A Tattoo for the Heart

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

... gave up smoking for Lent, but not relieving innocent people of their wallets. Jesus loves all the people in the world. That’s an integral part of our faith. But that doesn’t mean he liked everybody. For example, it’s obvious that one group Jesus disliked was the hypocrites. We’re often reminded that Jesus never called anyone a sinner, and that’s true. He looked pass the sin to the person caught in wrong-doing. Still, it is obvious that even Jesus had no sympathy for hypocrites—people who say one ...

248. Leaving an Empty Chair

Acts 2:42-47

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

... exercises as a way to encourage cooperation and problem-solving skills among their employees. But sometimes the team-building exercise is a problem in itself. According to one study done by the multinational firm Citirix, 1/3 of U.S. employees surveyed dislike team-building exercises. Yet companies spend an estimated $46 billion per year on these types of exercises. Are they getting a good return on their investment? Journalist Zachary Crockett put out a request for the worst team-building exercises, and he ...

249. When You Are Weary

Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

One of the amazing facts about the human race is how alike we all are. We share most of the same hopes and dreams, likes and dislikes. Even in a world of almost 8 billion people, there are certain universal things that most people agree on. To prove this, I’m going to read a series of statements. If you agree that a statement is true in your life, raise your hand. Here’s the first one: ...

250. You've Got Spirit

Luke 3:15-22 · Acts 8:14-17 · Psalm 29 · Isaiah 61:1-4

Sermon

Will Willimon

... He now lived in the New South where things were done differently. Yes, differently, which means more subtly, covertly. They sat in big, leather-bound chairs around the great oak table in the Boardroom. He had worked hard to sit there, around that table. "It's not that I dislike her," said his boss. ''It's just that, it's just that she really doesn't quite fit in. She's not one of us, if you know what I mean." Everybody knew what he meant. But nobody said it. Everybody reached down deep, deep in the past, to ...

Showing results