Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 226 to 250 of 1044 results

226. A Guide to Christmas

Matthew 21:23-32

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

If you talk about the blind and guides you are talking about seeing-eye dogs. If you discuss Alpine mountains and climbing, you must think of a Swiss guide. If you are ignorant and in college, your guide is a professor. So it is with foreign lands and tour guides, taxes and tax consultants. But what of Christmas? I think many of us feel that Christmas is so easy to find that we don't need a guide. Yet, let me remind you that there were few that found their way to the first nativity. In fact, most missed it ...

227. Good Christian Men Rejoice

2 Corinthians 8:9

Sermon

James Merritt

Seven centuries ago a Christmas carol, often sung today, was written in Latin, with a Latin title that meant "With Sweet Shouting." The great composer, Johann Sabastian Bach, liked it so much he arranged it for the organ, and John Mason Neale later standardized the hymn in English. In English the title was changed to "Good Christian Men Rejoice." The first stanza tells us what every Christian understands about the season called Christmas. Good Christian men, rejoice, With heart and soul and voice; Give ye ...

228. The Compassionate Christ

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

King Duncan

A few years ago, flight attendants for Southwest Airlines began spicing up their pre-flight instructions to passengers with humor. Soon other airlines followed suit. After all, why talk to passengers when they’re not listening? Here are a couple of classics: One flight attendant began her routine this way, “In the event of a sudden loss of cabin pressure, masks will descend from the ceiling. Stop screaming, grab the mask, and pull it over your face. If you have a small child traveling with you, secure your ...

229. Luke 1:26-38

Luke 1:26-38

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

For most of us, it just wouldn't be Christmas without reading Luke's eloquent words foretelling Jesus' birth. Tampa's James A. Harnish says that the difference between Luke's account of the Christmas story and Matthew's account is the difference between a Norman Rockwell painting in Saturday Evening Post and a tax collector's report. "If Luke reads like the Saturday Evening Post," Harnish writes, "then Matthew reads like the Wall Street Journal." In Luke's account, all the facets of this expertly crafted ...

230. God's Call for All

Acts 9:35-43

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

A church in Pennsylvania reported the death of one of their members recently. Though this woman and her husband, who had died a few years before, had been immensely wealthy, people spoke not of their wealth, although they were very generous, but of what this woman did. They talked about the cookies she would bake for church functions, the in-home visiting she did, the leadership she provided for the youth, and the soapsuds that lathered her arms as she did dishes after every church dinner. People felt the ...

231. Dying to Live

John 12:20-36

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Two men went up in a hot-air balloon one May morning. Suddenly they were enveloped by clouds and lost track of where they were. They drifted for what seemed like hours. Finally the cloud parted, and they spotted a man below them on the ground. “Where are we?” one of the passengers hollered down. The man on the ground looked around, looked up at the balloon, looked around some more and then yelled back, “You’re in a balloon.” The two balloonists looked at one another and then one of them yelled down again ...

232. Emmanuel - God with Us

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

In his little book, Portraits of God, Harold T. Bryson tells boys who asked their minister for a service project where they could help somebody. The minister gave them the name of a blind man who wanted someone to read the Bible to him. When the boys arrived at the blind man’s house, they agreed that over a period of time, they would read the entire New Testament to him. However, when they started reading the first chapter of Matthew, they quickly came to all the “begets” and begats”. Abraham begat Isaac, ...

233. Peter, Our Folk Hero

Mark 14:27-31

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Some of you may know the name Roy Riegels. Many who don’t know his name will identify him as I tell his story. The year was 1929. The University of California was playing Georgia Tech in the Rose Bowl. Stumpy Thomason, Georgia Tech’s halfback, had the ball and was hit hard by Bennie Lom, so hard that he “coughed up the ball,” - that’s the way the sportswriters would say it. He fumbled and Roy Riegels picked it up, which you could do in college ball in those days. Riegels began to run. But Stumpy Thomason, ...

234. Encountering Incomparable Riches

Ephesians 2:4-10

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

A little over 100 years ago things were hard for Americans. Economic depression caused many banks and businesses to fail. The average family had a hard time making ends meet. It was about that time that someone discovered gold in Alaska. People by the thousands made their way to this treacherous northwest territory trying to strike it rich. If you have visited Skagway, Alaska, and taken a ride on the White Pass Railroad you have seen first hand the tremendous sacrifices people made searching for a richer ...

235. A Little Theology at Christmas

Titus 2:11-14

Sermon

John N. Brittain

Scholars who study such things are quick to tell anyone who will listen that Christmas is much overrated as a church festival. If you ask the average person (even the average churchgoer) what the most important Christian festivals are, they will probably answer "Christmas and Easter," and most likely in that order. But, the scholars will point out, they are not even close in theological significance, Easter, with its empty tomb, being the primary reason there is Christianity. There are a number of ...

236. Captive Free!

Romans 7:15-25a

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

Have you ever felt "trapped between a rock and a hard place"? Have you ever experienced what we sometimes call "double jeopardy," where regardless of what you choose to do, you are "damned if you do and damned if you don't"? Perhaps you have seen a classic example of "double jeopardy." Someone is trapped high up in a burning building. They can't go back into the building because of the fire. But they can't jump either, because it will be to their certain death. Have you ever been on a frozen pond in the ...

237. Come On In The Water's Fine

Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

Show Clip from "Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou?"(Baptism scene, edited for language) That movie has become one of my favorite movies. And I particularly love that scene. As you watch the scene unfold you see the human need, the tugging of the heart and spirit as Delmar sees and recognizes the baptismal procession. He instinctively recognizes his need for spiritual cleansing and renewal. And he acts upon it. And then there's that last line of invitation, "Come on in, boys, the water's fine!" I love that. Every ...

238. Why Are You Here?

1 Corinthians 11:17-34

Sermon

King Duncan

Dr. William P. Barker once told a beautiful story about the isle of Iona. Iona is off the west coast of Scotland. It seems that in the sixth century A.D. St. Columba sailed from Ireland to the Isle of Iona. Ever since then Iona has been considered a holy place by many Christians. The focal point of Iona, says Barker, is the magnificent Abbey Church. The foundation of this gem of early Christian architecture is over 1,400 years old. The church has been lovingly rebuilt, stone by stone. Once the exterior ...

239. The Voice

1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20)

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Someone has suggested that the title for a sermon about this incident in the life of Samuel should be "The Danger Of Sleeping In Church." As Bible scholars know, there is another story in the New Testament that could be titled the same way (Acts 20:7-12). Young Eutychus of Troas was at worship one Sunday evening, seated on the windowsill. The apostle Paul was the visiting preacher, and he did preach ... and preach and preach and preach. He preached until midnight. Then Eutychus dozed, and crashed. He fell ...

240. Who Is Isaiah’s Servant?

Isaiah 50:4-9a

Sermon

Ken Lentz

A man had three small children, all three old enough to enjoy the activities of Halloween. A coworker at the office of the father volunteered to visit his home on trick or treat night and bring sweets for the kids. The father's colleague appeared at the door dressed up as "the little green man," with an ugly green face and long, knotted, twisted hands protruding from a long coat that effectively disguised the identity of Daddy's friend. At the appearance of the mysterious stranger in the entryway of the ...

241. The Reluctant Celebrity

Mark 1:40-45

Sermon

King Duncan

We live in a world that canonizes celebrity. It no longer matters how much a person has accomplished or how much they have contributed to society. All you have to do to become famous in today’s world is to keep yourself in front of the media. We have people, it’s often noted, who are famous simply for being famous. People like Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie, for example. They became so famous that they starred in their own reality show “The Simple Life.” Before that, says one critic, Paris Hilton did ...

242. On Loan From God

1 Kings 21:1-10 (11-14) 15-21a

Sermon

Stephen P. McCutchan

Sometimes it is hard to understand what it is in human nature that allows people to become so crass in their dealings with each other. We have all had the experience of being treated like a thing — a nonperson whose only value is to be used by someone else to accomplish their goals. No one likes that. We all want to be treated with the dignity that we believe belongs to humans. I think that some of the problem may be that we have forgotten how to treat things with proper respect. The degradation of the ...

243. When God Calls

Jeremiah 1:4-10

Sermon

Chrysanne Timm

Today, and for the next several weeks, the Revised Common Lectionary devotes attention to one of the most intriguing figures in all of the Old Testament - the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah began his work as the bearer of God's word to the nation of Judah during the time of King Josiah's reign in 627 BC. His prophesying continued even as Judah's brightest and best were forced to leave their homeland for exile in Babylon in approximately 586 BC. Jeremiah is sometimes called "the weeping prophet" because, as the ...

244. See Something, Say Something, Do Something, Be Something

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

It is the key you click before you can do anything. It is the box you check before you can go anywhere. You know what it is. It’s a “Terms of Service.” You are online and you sign on to some website that has the information or product you’ve been searching for. But before you are granted access to that portal you must endure the “Terms of Service” claimer/disclaimer. The “term of service” barrier is the twenty-first century version of the cherubim with flailing; flaming swords set up to guard the Garden of ...

245. Winners and Losers

Matthew 25:31-46

Sermon

King Duncan

Brett Blair tells a story about a man who had been driving all night and when morning came, he still had far to go. He decided he had to get some sleep. So he stopped at the next city he came to, found a city park, and pulled into a parking spot in the park so he could get an hour or two of sleep. It just so happened he had chosen a quiet place on a very popular jogging route. So just as he laid back and was starting to doze off, there was a knock on his window. He woke up. “Yes,” he said. “Excuse me, sir ...

246. Still Surprised After Christmas

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

David J. Kalas

The Christmas story is so familiar to us and to our people that we may no longer see it clearly. Specifically, I wonder if we can fathom how full of surprises was that event — and the days preceding it — for Joseph and Mary. Between the two Christmas accounts (both Matthew and Luke offer versions of the story), we see both Joseph and Mary having angelic visitations and communications. Likewise, the shepherds outside of Bethlehem and Zechariah in the temple were visited by angels. Assuming such appearances ...

247. When the Dragon Wins

Luke 21:5-38

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

Cindy and Don, a daughter and father, were dining in a restaurant in Nairobi, Kenya. Cindy, a recent college graduate, had committed a year to teaching in a developing country before settling down to make the "big bucks" as a public school teacher in the United States. She had been in Kenya long enough to begin acclimating to some of the cultural differences. Don, on the other hand, was in the first day of a two-week visit. He was still overwhelmed by his surroundings. To him the flood of new experiences ...

248. Disagreement Between Paul and Barnabas

Acts 15:36-41

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

The outcome of the council naturally gave added impetus to the spread of the gospel. Paul and Barnabas would have had no doubts that their earlier decision to go to the Gentiles had been the right one, but to have the approval now of the other apostles and the elders of the church in Jerusalem must have been as encouraging for them as for their converts. A “second missionary journey” was therefore proposed. But they were destined not to make it together. A difference of opinion between them led to each ...

249. Boasting

2 Corinthians 11:1-15, 2 Corinthians 11:16-33, 2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

In the last section of the letter (2 Cor. 10–13) Paul makes a frontal attack on his opponents to prepare the Corinthians for his third visit to Corinth. In chapter 10 he has already dealt with two of the opponents’ accusations against him. Now, in 11:1–12:13, the apostle condescends to boasting about himself at the provocation of the opponents and in the face of a lack of concrete support from the Corinthians. These opponents, who evidently bill themselves as “apostles,” had made a strong impression on the ...

250. Boasting

2 Corinthians 11:16-33, 2 Corinthians 1:1-11, 2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

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