Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 2501 to 2525 of 2561 results

2501. The Mustard and the Cedar

Ezekiel 17:1-24, Matthew 13:31-35

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Prop: Photo or painting of an image with multiple figures within it. [You can start out interactively showing people the picture and asking them to find the image within it.] Anyone look at a photo of an art piece with multiple image possibilities? Our eyes are trained to see one familiar image. But if someone points out another, all of a sudden, our vision takes in the new image, and our whole perspective on the photo is radically changed. Take a look at these. What do you see? How many see a face? How ...

2502. God Powered Impact

Exodus 3:1-22

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“Frisch weht der Wind.” [Tristan und Isolde by Richard Wagner, quoted by Tristan, as he escorts the newly captured Isolde via sailing ship to his home in Cornwall] Wind is the most powerful force on the earth. The wind moves everything that exists, and anything combined with the power of wind can be a beautiful or equally destructive force! Think of tornadoes, hurricanes, forest fires –all of them dynamically fueled by the power of wind. Is it any wonder then that the ancients equated the wind with the ...

2503. Vendetta

2 Kings 1:1-18

Sermon

Lori Wagner

You probably all know the play by Shakespeare called “Romeo and Juliet.” Even if you aren’t a Shakespeare fan, or even if you detest trying to read an older version of English, modernized versions of the play in the form of movies and references have made the story timeless. For those of you who may not know the whole story, it centers around two families, the Capulets and the Montagues. Another family, the Verona family is in different ways tied to both. But the famous feud takes place between the ...

2504. The Tempest

Jonah 4:1-11, Jonah 3:1-10, Jonah 2:1-10, Jonah 1:1-17

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“For He spoke and raised a tempest that lifted the waves of the sea.” Psalm 107:25 Wind and rain. Who loves to hear the sound of the wind rustling through leaves outside at night? Or the steady beating of the rain on the roof and windows? Hear the rumbling sound of thunder, see flickers of lightning appear across the sky? We are in awe of that kind of power of nature, aren’t we? It both thrills us and frightens us. Thunderstorms may seem like one of nature’s most powerful disturbances, but for many people ...

2505. Trapped!

Romans 6:15-23

Sermon

King Duncan

Ming Kuang Chen, a delivery man from a Chinese restaurant in the Bronx was making a delivery one Friday evening to a thirty‑eight story apartment building. He took an express elevator to his customer’s apartment. That meant there were no stops, and no exit doors for the elevator, between the second and twenty‑first floors. At least, there were not supposed to be any stops. Chen had made his delivery and was on his way down when suddenly the elevator halted just below the fourth floor. Suddenly he realized ...

2506. Rock of Salvation

Exodus 17:1-7

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.” 1 Corinthians 10:4 Wombats are little burrowing creatures popular to New South Wales in Australia. Something like a ground hog, wombats are unusual in that they can instinctively find water beneath the ground. They seem to know just where to burrow. A researcher at Western Sydney University says that wombats are like “water diviners.” They just seem to sense the presence of water.[1] That makes them very popular critters ...

2507. Breath of God · COVID-19 and the Resurrection

John 20:10-18, John 20:1-9

Sermon

Lori Wagner

This year, Easter Sunday falls during the COVID-19 pandemic. A time when we are secluded in our homes and told to wrap our faces in cloth if we dare to go out for groceries or supplies. Walk into the grocery store, and you’ll see people wandering quietly through the aisles with gloved hands and masked faces. Get too close, and you’ll register a wide-eyed look of alarm on the face of that passerby. We are in hiding from an invisible beast. “The Beast” is what people are naming the virus. It attacks ...

2508. Let’s Really Know Jesus

John 14:1-4, John 14:5-14

Sermon

David & Marian Plant

I am married to a directionally challenged person. In the car if I ask her which way to go, she may say left while pointing right. After years of marriage I have learned that the pointing is always correct, not so much the words used. Thomas was a wonderfully directionally challenged person. Jesus told him there was a place prepared for all. Thomas went... how do I get there? Jesus’ response to Thomas was one of the truly great responses of all time from Jesus. “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No ...

2509. You're Watching What?

Matthew 11:1-19, Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

King Duncan

Someone has said that cleaning with kids in the house is like brushing your teeth while eating Oreos . . . Isn’t that so? Another person has said that behind every good marriage is a great house cleaning service. Speaking of cleaning your house, let me ask you a question: what is your go-to technique for relieving stress? Just about everyone feels overwhelmed with stress from time to time. A mental health foundation in the United Kingdom ran a poll on the effects of stress. Respondents to the poll said ...

2510. A Dirt Story

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

King Duncan

A Sunday school teacher had been teaching about how God created Adam from the dust of the earth. A little boy in the class—who happened to be the pastor’s son—said with alarm, “You mean I’m made out of dirt?” His teacher responded, “Well, in a sense, yes.” He thought for a moment, processing this information through his four-year-old brain, then stated wide-eyed, “My Mom is NOT going to be happy about that!” (1) Today I am telling a “Dirt Story” [as opposed to a dirty story which would not, of course, be ...

A book is the only place in which you can examine a fragile thought without breaking it, or explore an explosive idea without fear it will go off in your face. It is one of the few havens remaining where a man's mind can get both provocation and privacy.

Edward P. Morgan

2512. Lord, Let My Heart Be Good Soil

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

R. Kevin Mohr

The song “Lord, Let My Heart Be Good Soil”[1] by Handt Hanson, is a beautiful piece that suggests a deep sense of longing for something important. The melody, tone, and words all come together perfectly as an interpretation of the gospel reading for today. While it is tempting to want to move on immediately to what a story like the parable of the sower means that reaction is usually an attempt to distance ourselves from the personal impact of the story. The story is safer if we can intellectualize it and ...

2513. A Working God

Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

Sermon

R. Kevin Mohr

As I originally prepared this sermon the news was breaking about the tragedy in Charleston, South Carolina in 2015, with the Honorable Reverend Pinckney and eight of his parishioners gunned down in the historic black Emmanuel A.M.E. church. But this tragic act couldn’t be conveniently blamed on Islamic extremists. No! This time the perpetrator in custody had the blasphemous audacity to pretend to be one of us and claim the name of Christ as his Lord, and, in fact, was a member of a congregation of my own ...

2514. Oh, That You Would Come Down?

Isaiah 63:7--64:12

Sermon

King Duncan

The Guinness Book of World Records keeps track of some very unusual records. The 1999 edition contains one entry titled “The longest time living in a tree.” It seems a man in Indonesia named Bungkas went up a tree in 1970 and has been there ever since. He lives in a crude tree house he made from the branches and leaves of the trees. No one knows exactly why he took up residence in a tree, but 29 years later he was still there. Neighbors, friends and family have repeatedly tried to get him to come down, but ...

2515. Jesus' Advance Man

John 1:6-8; 19-28

Sermon

King Duncan

I wonder if you have ever given any thought to the extent of the preparations involved when the President of the United States makes a visit to a local community? A former agent with the FBI tells about some of those preparations. “A team of Secret Service personnel checks out every building along the route he will travel and near every place he will be appearing,” he says. “They go over each building with a fine toothcomb from roof to basement in their efforts to prepare for his safety. We often refer to ...

2516. House Rules, Forgiveness, and Why Rat Poison Is not Good for You

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon

Roy Howard

I have two public school elementary teachers in my family. I’ve learned a great deal about what goes on behind the scenes long before the students arrive and long after they have left: the seating chart, the reading corner, the attractive posters, imaginative strategies for teaching difficult concepts, and much more. There is a lot to teaching. The same can be said for those people who teach congregations of every size every Sunday. There is so much that happens behind the scenes from Monday to Saturday ...

2517. The Greatest Motivator

1 Corinthians 9:1-27

Sermon

King Duncan

What motivates you to do what you do? I read recently about a man from Spain who has gained a measure of fame in the world of sports. He’s appeared in the French Open, in Formula One racing, at World Cup soccer matches. Is he the world’s most versatile athlete? No. He’s a streaker. Yes, I said a streaker. The man goes by the name Jimmy Jump. He has shown up at major international sporting events all over the world and run out on the field. Is he doing it for the attention and fame? Not according to Jimmy ...

2518. Sword of Truth

Luke 2:22-40 · Hebrews 4:12

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. It pierces even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12) All of you probably know the story in one form or another of King Arthur and his mysterious sword Excalibur. Infused with divine power, the mighty sword could only be used by the “rightful King” of England and would thwart those who tried to use it for unworthy purposes. Powerful, the double- ...

2519. The Eleventh Commandment

John 13:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

In his book The Wounded Warrior, Dr. Steve Stephens tells the tragic story of former National football star Pat Tillman. Some of you may recall Tillman’s fate. Pat Tillman thought his dreams had come true. He had a multi-million dollar contract with the Arizona Cardinals football team, for whom he played starting safety. Everything was lining up just right for young Pat. Then came 9-11. On September 11, 2001, you’ll remember that 19 al Qaeda terrorists hijacked four airplanes and carried out suicide ...

2520. Homecoming

Hosea 14:1-3a

Sermon

Will Willimon

When my mother died, for the longest time thereafter, I had a dream. Same dream almost every night. In my dream, I was home, in the house where I grew up, the same house which my mother had designed and had built. My dreams were memorable, even startling for me, for I hardly ever dream, or if I do, I can never remember my dreams. But in these dreams of home, everything was so vivid, so particular, so specific as to be unnerving. Sometimes I would be in the basement, dragging out the old lawn mower to cut ...

2521. How to Beat a Stress Test

Ephesians 6:10-20

Sermon

King Duncan

If you have ever spent any time in an airport then you know how busy, crazy and complicated they can be. And think about all the things you don’t see—for example, the inner details of doing intensive security checks . . . or matching up thousands of pieces of baggage with the right traveler and the right airplane . . . or monitoring weather conditions all over the world. It’s pretty incredible that millions of people fly all over the world every year with few disruptions. How do airports do it? Well, did ...

2522. Not Your Lips, but Your Life

Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

Sermon

King Duncan

I’ve got a pop quiz this morning for all you history buffs. What is something that was declared illegal 100 years ago, but is perfectly legal today? I’ll give you a hint: it inspired the 18th Amendment to the Constitution. In what was termed the Noble Experiment, the United States government made it a crime to manufacture, transport or sell alcoholic beverages. From 1920 to 1933—a period referred to today as the Prohibition Era—all the bars and saloons and liquor stores in the nation shut down. Or did they ...

2523. Driven to Complete

Mark 9:30-37

Sermon

King Duncan

Would you consider yourself a competitive person? Or maybe I should ask, in what area are you most competitive? Maybe you’re competitive in getting the best grades in your class or the best parking spot at work. Maybe you compete to make the best pancakes in your family or tell the funniest knock-knock joke or to get up the earliest on Christmas morning. Humans are naturally competitive. We like to have an edge over those around us. Rabbi Harold Kushner tells the story of a driven young man in the pre-med ...

2524. The Organic Gospel

Mark 4:26-34

Sermon

Lori Wagner

An old story tells of two men climbing a mountain. The one promises the other, who is feeling down and depressed, that it will be worth the effort. Looking forward to the amazing destination, the latter climbs with his friend as they talk and spend time together. When they reach the top, the second man looks around wondering what all the fuss was about. The view is great, but nothing spectacular is waiting at the pinnacle. His friend then explains to him that the journey was not about the destination, but ...

2525. Call It Like You See It

Mark 7:24-37

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

In Tobit, one of the books of the Apocrypha, the hero Tobias sets out on a journey to call in a loan owed to his father, who has gone blind. He will return with a bride and a cure for his father’s blindness. But he sets out on the journey with a young man — who he does not recognize as an angel — and a faithful dog. Well, sort of. There are several versions of this apocryphal book. In the version that was current among Greek-speaking Jews, there is a dog. In the versions that circulated among Jews closer ...

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