Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 2476 to 2500 of 4508 results

2476. Blizzard Stories

Illustration

Steven Molin

Everybody loves to talk about the weather. Garrison Keillor loves to talk about "the winter of '65." He says that in describing the storms of that year, truth is only the starting point. The snow, the wind, the cold temperatures, yup, it was a miserable year, 1965. Keillor said that one night, it snowed so hard that he had to drive with his car door open so that he could follow the tracks in the s...

2477. Four Feet from Shore

Illustration

In a Peanuts cartoon Linus comes running across the beach to Charlie Brown shouting "I can swim, I can swim!" "Well, I'm glad to hear that Linus, congratulations!" "Yes sir," Linus says, "If I'm ever aboard an ocean liner and it sinks four feet from shore, I won't have a thing to worry about!" Isn't that true for most of us? Peter, you and I can go about 4 feet on the power of our own faith, bu...

2478. We Need a Sign

Illustration

Jon S. Dawson

Rabbi Feldman had been having trouble with his congregation. It seemed they could agree upon nothing, and controversy filled the air until the Sabbath itself became an area of conflict, and unhappiness filled the synagogue. The president of the congregation organized a meeting of 10 elders and the rabbi. They met in the conference room of the synagogue, sitting about a magnificent mahogany table. ...

2479. Up Into the Mountain

Illustration

St. Chrysostom

For what purpose doth He go up into the mountain? To teach us, that loneliness and retirement is good, when we are to pray to God. With this view, you see, He is continually withdrawing into the wilderness, and there often spends the whole night in prayer, teaching us earnestly to seek such quietness in our prayers, as the time and place may confer. For the wilderness is the mother of quiet; it is...

2480. Fear - Sermon Starter

Illustration

Brett Blair

In the story of creation found in the Book of Genesis, we read where Adam and Eve had partaken of the forbidden fruit, something which had been specifically denied them. Knowing that God is searching for them, they attempt to hide. It is a scene perhaps reminiscent of many of our childhoods when we had done something that we were not supposed to and we literally hid from our searching parents. Fin...

2481. The Law of the Pendulum

Illustration

Brett Blair

Youth Pastor, Ken Davis, has a way of discovering whether someone actually does have faith. In his book "How To Speak To Youth" he tells of a college lesson he had to prepare for his speech class. He says, we were to be graded on our creativity and ability to drive home a point in a memorable way. The title of my talk, he says, was, "The Law of the Pendulum." I spent 20 minutes carefully teaching ...

2482. Taking Risks

Illustration

King Duncan

Writer Dale Galloway tells about the two giant retailers in America right after World War II that made two very different decisions affecting their separate destinies. One was Sears Roebuck and Company while the other was Montgomery Ward. The leadership of Ward's expected that after the war an economic depression would come, so they refused to take any risk in expanding. Meanwhile, the leadership ...

2483. Hanging by an Inch

Illustration

King Duncan

There is a character in the classic work Don Quixote named Pancho Sanchez. Pancho Sanchez hangs in fear from the ledge of a window all night long, too frightened to let go. When morning dawns he discovers his toes are only an inch off the ground. It's amusing to think of Simon Peter climbing out of the boat trying to imitate his Lord by walking on the water. Then, like a cartoon character, he make...

2484. Motorcycle Churches

Illustration

King Duncan

Even churches can know what it is to walk on the water. Wes Seliger is an unconventional Episcopal clergyman who loves motorcycles. He tells about being in a motorcycle shop one day, drooling over a huge Honda 750 and wishing that he could buy it. A salesman came over and began to talk about his product. He talked about speed, acceleration, excitement, the attention-getting growl of the pipes, rac...

2485. I Built a Shrine

Illustration

King Duncan

When Jesus told those early disciples to fear not he was not telling them to seek safety and security. Rather he was telling them to move forward, but to always trust him. Years ago there was a little comic strip that spoke to this quite beautifully. The comic strip "B.C.," set in cavemen days, had its hero, B.C., sitting in his fur loincloth, opening a box. A letter in the box says, "Congratulat...

2486. A Place for Caution

Illustration

King Duncan

Cowboy writer Curt Brummett likes to tell how proud he felt the day his father gave him his first real rope. All young cowboys dream of owning their own rope, which they can use to rope steer. As his father tied the rope into a lasso, he gave Curt one important piece of advice, "Never . . . put it on anything you can't get it off of." That evening, company came by for coffee. Curt and his little ...

2487. Proper 14

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

The Miracle Of Walking On Water When it comes to a body of water (river, lake, gulf or sea), there is one thing humans cannot do. We can drink water, float on it, swim in it and under it, and drown in it. We can sail on it, fly over it and in submarines we can travel and explore under it. But, there is one thing we cannot do: walk on it. Yes, we can ski on it, even without skis when we barefoot s...

2488. Take Heart

Sermon

Will Willimon

Jesus needs a vacation. Crowds pressing in, so many hungry, hurting people seeking something from him. He tries to get away from it all, to be by himself to ponder his future, to pray. He got in a boat in order to get away from it all. But he can't get away. When he finally arrives at some ''lonely place'' it is anything but lonely. Great, hungry crowds press in upon him. He heals them. It grow...

2489. Proper 14

Sermon Aid

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

OLD TESTAMENT TEXTS The Old Testament texts explore the power of God in history. Genesis 37 introduces the story of Joseph and Psalm 105 reviews Israel's entire history of salvation. Genesis 37:1-4, 12-36 - "The Power of Oppression" Setting. The Old Testament lessons for the next two Sundays come from the story of Joseph. The story of Joseph in Genesis 37-50 provides a hinge between the prece...

2490. Fearful, But Not Afraid

Sermon

William G. Carter

This is a frightening story, but not merely because it reveals that Jesus walked on water. I have a profound respect for the Christ, tempered by years of Sunday school and Bible study. He is the Lord, the Son of God, the one through whom all things are made. As such, he could sidestep his own laws of physics. You might doubt this, but I do not. No, it is not the mysterious power and presence of J...

2491. The Contestant

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Everyone loves a good duel! At least in the movies we do. Our hero goes up against a worthy foe, and we hold our breath while the opponents or contestants raise their swords, commence, and fight to the bitter end. The “dual” usually comes about in order to defend someone’s honor –whether one’s own, a friend’s, or a maiden’s. In the end, we hope that our hero will win, and honor will be restored. ...

2492. Take the Leap

Illustration

Staff

One night a house caught fire and a young boy was forced to flee to the roof. The father stood on the ground below with outstretched arms, calling to his son, "Jump! I'll catch you." He knew the boy had to jump to save his life. All the boy could see, however, was flame, smoke, and blackness. As can be imagined, he was afraid to leave the roof. His father kept yelling: "Jump! I will catch you." Bu...

2493. Walking on Water

Children's Sermon

Brett Blair

Exegetical Aim: When we are scared we should have faith in God. Props: A basin of water. Three objects that will float in water and three that will sink. If possible, one of the floating objects should be a toy boat. Lesson: Good Morning. I’ve got a game for us to play. This game is called the sink and float game. Your going to help me figure out if these objects sink or float. I have a quarter....

2494. Honoring Parents

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

A man was boarding an airplane one day. As he came on board, he noticed that the person sitting in the pilot's seat was a woman. That was no problem; it was just a new experience for him. As he found his seat, he noticed three persons sitting immediately behind him: a man, a young boy, and an elderly woman. He could not help overhearing their conversation. Soon he realized that they were the woman...

2495. A Clean Heart

Children's Sermon

Brett Blair

Exegetical Aim: What makes a heart clean. Props: An unwrapped white bar of soap, a bowl with a little water in it, a pitcher of water, and a towel and a white marshmallow cut to resemble the corner of the bar of soap. Lesson: Good morning! (response) I have several things with me and I am going to need your help. Hold up the unwrapped soap. What is this? (soap) What is it for? (response) How do I ...

2496. Matthew 15:(10-20) 21-28

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

This week's gospel lection extends over two separate pericopes: Jesus' discussion about "What defiles?" and his encounter with the Canaanite woman who seeks healing for her possessed daughter. Although each unit presents a coherent story in itself, dovetailing the two suggests a logical extension of one to the next. Jesus' debate over ritual cleanliness begins in 15:1 with a direct dialogue with t...

2497. Matthew 15:(10-20) 21-28

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

Having just concluded a biting debate with the Pharisees on the issue of what defiles a person (Matthew 15:1-9), Jesus travels to a region that is suspiciously unclean in Jewish eyes. Tyre and Sidon, or Phoenicia - what today is part of Lebanon - was outside the established boundaries of Israel, God's chosen nation and people. It was an area rife with pagans and other suspect characters. Yet Jesus...

2498. Jesus, Not Jewish Leaders, Interprets the Torah Rightly

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

Big Idea: Jesus and his followers are shown to be true adherents of the Torah, contrasting with the Jewish leaders who disobey the law and so are defiled even as they follow their traditions. Understanding the Text In this passage Matthew narrates another conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees and teachers of the law (15:1). This controversy, like the earlier one (12:1–14), focuses on Torah ob...

2499. Clean and Unclean

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

After narrating Jesus’s interaction with the crowds and his disciples, Matthew again turns to controversy (15:1–20), this time between Jesus and Jewish teachers who have come to Galilee from Jerusalem. These Pharisees and teachers of the law confront Jesus over the lack of concern shown by his disciples in their table practices (15:1–2). The Pharisees follow the “tradition of the elders”; that is,...

2500. Clean and Unclean

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

15:1–2 Knowledge of Jesus and his ministry had by this time spread throughout Palestine. Scribes and Pharisees came all the way from Jerusalem to question him about his activities. The scribes were Jewish scholars who copied the sacred Scriptures of the Old Testament and consequently became the professional interpreters of Scripture. The Pharisees were a religious order, primarily laymen, who devo...

Showing 2476 to 2500 of 4508 results