Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 226 to 250 of 334 results

226. Caution and Opportunity

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Sermon

Harold Warlick

A university president, as was his custom, attended the mid-week worship service in his institution's chapel. As he sat in the pew, he could not help but notice a reaction from two coeds seated directly in front of him. Midway through the chaplain's sermon, one of the young women wrote a message on the cover of her bulletin. She quickly passed it over to her fellow student. When she read the message, the reader turned to the sender and nodded vigorously. At the conclusion of the service the two students ...

227. Small Towns

Luke 2:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

Today on this final Sunday of Advent we would like to celebrate small towns. How many of you grew up in a small town? Small towns are just a little bit different. As someone has written, “You know you live in a small town when . . .” A baby born on June 14 receives gifts from local merchants as the first baby of the year. You speak to each dog you pass by name and he wags his tail at you. You can’t walk for exercise because every car that passes you offers you a ride. You can name everyone you graduated ...

228. Lamps, Cakes, and the Blasphemer

Lev 24:1-23

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

Big Idea: God, whose presence is in the midst of his covenant people, must be respected. Understanding the Text Leviticus 24 divides into two sections: Israel’s requirement to supply oil and bread to the tabernacle in its daily worship (vv. 1–9) and the execution of a blasphemer (vv. 10–23). Verses 1–9 move from the obligations for Israelites to worship on holy days (Lev. 23) to obligations to maintain worship on a daily basis. The connection of the second section to the context is less clear. The case of ...

229. Who Does Jesus Belong to Anyway?

Mark 7:24-37

Sermon

Rick McCracken-Bennett

I don't know why but for the longest time I never thought of Jesus getting tired. Silly of me I suppose, but I kind of thought of him, in the brief time his ministry was going to last, going at it full tilt until the end. Stopping to pray, of course. But not going away, taking a break, not wanting anyone to know he was there. But now I get it. I was at Wendy's the other day. I was tired. I needed to get away from the phone and the other interruptions and just have some quiet time with this gospel text and ...

230. The True Story Wins

Matthew 28:11-15

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Prop: a stone or rock, some scissors, and paper; a basket of stones or rocks that can be handed out Participation: During the sermon, all can participate using the hand motions of “rock, paper, scissors” Are you a liar? That might be a question asked of you if you live in the mountains of West Virginia, where the art of storytelling is called “lying.” It is every artist’s desire to become a “great liar.” To be a great “liar” meant that you could not only write a crafty short story, but you could “tell” the ...

231. Disabled

Luke 13:10-17

Sermon

Dave Zuchelli

It is no longer politically correct to use the word “crippled.” We are now supposed to say “disabled.” I get it, but the Bible was not written in (or to) twenty-first-century people. So please forgive me as I proceed to “kick against the goads” for a while. Our scripture lesson for today begins with a woman “who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years.” This passage poses a double dose of non-PC speech, since it’s no longer cool to believe in demons either. Those nasty spirits have been reduced to ...

232. Miracle Four: Healing A Paralytic

Mark 2:1-12

Sermon Aid

Harold H. Lentz

BACKGROUND MATERIAL When Christ began his ministry of preaching and healing, his fame spread, until he was well known throughout a large area. He intended to make clear the message of repentance and salvation from sin, but the news of his astounding miracles was something people immediately grasped, and they spread the information everywhere. As a result, throngs sought Jesus in order to have him cure the victims of ill health within their family circle. To avoid huge crowds, Jesus would sometimes go out ...

233. Growing In The Lord

1 Samuel 2:12-26

Sermon

Robert A. Hausman

A human birth, as the beginning of life, is representative of most beginnings that occur in life. Like birth, all beginnings are full of promise. Like birth, all beginnings are hard. The major moves of God's dealings in history seem to be marked by births. The story of the patriarchs is begun with the birth of Isaac (Genesis 12). The beginning of the history of Israel as a people is marked with the birth of Moses (Exodus 1). Here, the beginning of the history of the kings is marked by the birth of Samuel ( ...

234. Resist Temptation

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

Harry N. Huxhold

The Holy Gospel for this First Sunday in Lent is the evangelist Mark's very brief account of the temptation of Christ. The temptation account may bring to your mind the movie, The Last Temptation of Christ. That movie gained much attention, because many people protested the substance of what was purported to be a possible last temptation of our Lord. The suggested temptation was that on the cross Jesus thought about what life would have been or might have been like had he loved a woman and married. Many ...

235. Love One Another (or Strike Up The Band)

John 13:31-38

Sermon

Lee Griess

A junior high music teacher had just organized a band in her school. The principal was so proud of the music teacher's efforts that without consulting her he decided that the band should give a concert for the entire school. The music teacher wasn't so sure her young musicians were ready to give a concert, so she tried to talk the principal out of holding the concert, to no avail. Just before the concert was ready to begin, as the music teacher stood on the podium, she leaned forward and whispered to her ...

236. Loving

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Larry Powell

If I speak in the tongues of men and angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. (verse 1) A gong has always impressed me as an almost unnecessary instrument. Each time a musician slams into one with a mallet to achieve the dull, disconcerting clash, I fully expect a secret passage to appear, or an oriental servant to fawn onto the stage. Cymbals provide slightly more flexible, functional accents of emphasis. However, both the gong and the cymbal produce but a single monotonous tone ...

237. After A Lost Election, Field Of Dreams

Jeremiah 8:4--9:26

Sermon

James Angell

Iowa is an Indian word meaning "beautiful land." And that's where it all began for me. I started out on a legal career and passed the Iowa bar. Long before, though, I had harbored thoughts of one day becoming a preacher. Sunday school had not been a bore as it often is for many kids. Attending summer youth conferences, then Bible classes in college - taught by Dr. Howard Legg, who looked like he belonged in the Senate rather than in a college classroom - set the stage for an invitation one August to give ...

238. Dead or Alive?

Joel 2:28-32

Sermon

What red-blooded member of the Western story and Western movie cult has not developed a fascination for the old-style posters proclaiming that someone is wanted "Dead or Alive"? The Scriptures for today suggest we should have before us a series of posters with our pictures on them, each proclaiming in the boldest of print: "WANTED! Alive; not Dead!" This is the impression one gets from the whole biblical message. Moses in his farewell address reminded the people that God had set before them blessing and ...

239. Born Naked With A Cross

Sermon

Ever hear of a baby born wearing diapers? Of course not! Ever hear of a person being born again wearing nothing but a cross? This happened to St. Francis of Assisi. When Francis decided to be a priest; his father disinherited him and brought him to trial before a bishop. Peter Bernardone demanded that his son give back all the money he took from him for the church and the poor. Francis threw a bag of money at his father's feet. Francis shuddered when he saw how his father clung to the money. Francis called ...

240. Nervous Hands

Psalm 139:1-24

Sermon

All of us at some point have been so nervous that it was obvious to everyone - our knees shook, our hands trembled. It's happened to every one of us. I remember one incident in particular in my own life. It was the first time I ever assisted with Communion. I was a Lay Minister. It was my installation, and I was to assist in distributing Communion. My hands shook so badly in trying to pass out the bread that I'm quite certain that everyone who received a wafer had to shake his head to catch my hand. I was ...

241. Celebrating with Jesus

Luke 5:33-39

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

Someone told me recently about a Methodist man who lived in a traditional Catholic neighborhood. Every Friday the Catholics were driven to distraction because, while they were sadly eating fish, the Methodist was outside grilling steaks. That wonderful aroma from the grill was bothersome to the Catholics. They worked on the Methodist, attempting to convert him. Finally they succeeded. They took the Methodist to the priest who sprinkled Holy Water on the man while saying, "Born a Methodist, raised a ...

242. Lift High the Christ!

John 12:20-36

Sermon

George Bass

Suddenly, right here in the middle of September, it is Palm Sunday again, the beginning of the week that we call Holy Week or the Week of the Passion of Christ. That strange procession, which must have been first seen by the guards on the city wall as it moved toward Jerusalem, takes shape before our imaginations again. The central figure - Jesus - is seated upon "a colt of a donkey," and people throw palm branches in his path, shouting "Hosanna! Blessings on the King of Israel, who comes in the name of ...

243. Who Knows?

Jonah 3:1-10

Sermon

Thomas D. Peterson

Who knows what lies ahead? A widely used saying has it that if we all put our troubles on a pile and then picked out the ones we choose, we would pick out our own. Why? Because we can deal with them. If we actually had an opportunity to do something new, what would we do? Who knows? Most people, most of the time take their troubles with them or else find them waiting when they arrive. We tend to plug away at the same old things. Jonah was fleeing from God. He had every confidence he could escape and be ...

244. The Choice Is Always Ours

Ecclesiastes 9:1-12

Sermon

Gregory J. Johanson

ROBERT L. BENEFIEL was one of the early pastors to do extensive clinical pastoral training after seminary and then carry the spirit and insight of that experience through a lifetime career in parish ministry. His sermon published here was developed in the context of parish work and reflects his integration of both psychological and sociological perspectives in ministry. The Choice Is Always Ours deals with issues of meaning in relation to the experience of being overwhelmed in life. Benefiel deals with the ...

245. When You Reach Wit’s End

Psalm 107:1-43

Sermon

Gregory J. Johanson

Ray Balcomb's Ph.D. is in New Testament studies. He is the author of many books and until his recent appointment as a District Superintendent, his weekly sermons were distributed nationally where they were well-known for their classical three point construction and supportive illustrations. His sermon included here was preached to the congregation of the First United Methodist Church in Portland, Oregon, where he had been senior pastor from 1963 to 1982. Balcomb concludes the volume, dealing with the ...

246. Bad News from a Good Man!

1 Kings 21:1-29

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

There are two facts we all need to remember before we can make any real sense out of life. The first is that God is sovereign and holy, just and loving. The second is that we are not. We are servants, unholy, self-centered, and self-seeking. This Scripture passage is a marvelous illustration of this. You would think that seeing God send fire from heaven would change a corrupt heart every time. That, however, is not the case, as we can see from the life of Ahab and his Jezebel. I. The Sliding Spiral Of ...

247. The Prod of the Past

Exodus 12:1-30

Sermon

David E. Leininger

"You shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance." or as the King James has it, "You shall observe it as an ordinance forever." The establishment of the Passover, one of the most important of all Jewish festivals. And they HAVE observed it forever. Every year since, and down to our own day, Jewish families have gathered at the traditional Seder meal. The patriarch of the household asks the children, "What makes this night different than all other nights?" The youngsters respond with the Exodus story of God's ...

248. God Cares About Justice!

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

David E. Leininger

The Gallup organization regularly conducts polls to determine the religious beliefs and practices of modern Americans. Despite new attitudes about morality, fluctuations in church membership, higher levels of education, and so on, there have been remarkably few changes in responses in recent years. The polls generally show that about 95% of us believe in a God of some sort. People may call God by different names, if indeed they believe that God is callable at all, but they do believe that a God exists. In ...

249. When You Are Anxious About Many Things

Luke 10:38-42

Sermon

King Duncan

Have you ever noticed how people differ? Some people can focus on only one thing at a time. Others are not happy unless they have several projects going at the same time. Then there are some people who are so focused it's scary. I chuckled when I read Lawrence A. Keating's description of something that happened during the 1946 Oklahoma-Army football game. Oklahoma coach Jim Tatum paced the sidelines frantically as the Army team took a 21-7 lead over his Sooners. Nearby sat punter Charlie Sarratt, his ...

250. Get Off The Orphan Train

Romans 8:18-27

Sermon

King Duncan

Alice Marion Ham knows little about her origins. She only knows that police found her and her brother, Robert, who was only a toddler at the time, abandoned on a New York City street in 1926. The two children were subsequently bundled by orphanage workers onto a train that carried them from the city to a new life in the rural Midwest. Alice wound up moving from one abusive home to another, while Robert was taken in by a family that treated him like royalty. Alice and several other riders of New York's so- ...

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