Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 2526 to 2550 of 2561 results

2526. The Gift Of — Darn It! — Waiting

Hebrews 10:5-10

Sermon

Mary Austin

On this Fourth Sunday of Advent, our season of waiting is almost over. Ready or not, Christmas is almost here. If that thought just made your heart beat faster with a feeling of stress, let’s take a deep breath together and listen for God speaking. Today’s reading comes from the letters to the Hebrews, written to connect this new, early faith in Jesus back to the traditions of Judaism. The author of this book isn’t known to us, but it seems to have been written to encourage believers who were facing ...

2527. Hold the Candy

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Mary Austin

As we continue in the season of Epiphany, we hear more of Paul’s letter to the Corinthian church. This reading is often read at weddings, and it’s fun to consider it as a letter to a whole community, rather than to an individual, or two people. If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love ...

2528. The Sweet Scent of Death

John 12:1-8

Sermon

Lori Wagner

What does death smell like? I’m guessing that many of you might say flowers. But not just any flowers. Heavily fragrant flowers. Dozens and dozens of them. Huge floral arrangements freshly plucked and designed to impress ooze that honeysuckle smell that masks the decomposition of the body. These aren’t light, wisps of perfume but a pungent, aromatic, overwhelmingly oppressive scent that chokes our senses, even as it chokes us up emotionally. Why? Because for us, this is the scent of funerals and memorial ...

2529. The Power Of The Resurrection

Revelation 1:4-8

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

Christ is risen! Risen indeed! I should have warned you last week when I was praising what a marvelous thing Jesus’ resurrection is that we might not feel the joy and reality of Christ’s resurrection this week like we did last Sunday. It’s true, isn’t it? Last Sunday’s high didn’t last the whole week, did it? And as for today, the church’s isn’t packed like last week. That sense of enthusiasm isn’t as apparent. We’re not as certain in our faith. Why not? Maybe Christ hasn’t risen after all. After all, ...

2530. The Unlocked Brain

John 20:19-31

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Look at the image. Tell me what you see. Our brains are amazing vehicles for informing us of the world around us, but they can also limit us and impede us when we believe that what we see defines everything that’s real and true or that what we see defines the entirety of the universe. Can we truly know based on only our sensory experience? Or is there something more, another kind of knowing, that lies outside of our empirical knowledge? Christians believe there is. In fact, most people believe there is, ...

2531. Show Us the Father

John 14:8-17, 25-27

Sermon

Dave Zuchelli

Philip put forth what seemed like a really good request. “Show us the Father.” He added, “That will be enough for us” (John 14:8). Yes, that would be great. If we can just see the Father, we’ll be cool. We’ll have all the inspiration we need to keep plugging away. We’ll be set for life. We’ll be good. This reminds me of the old Steve Martin movie, “The Jerk.” There’s a scene in which Navin (Steve Martin) is breaking up with his wife, Marie (Bernadette Peters). She tells him to leave, so he begins to walk ...

2532. The Howling

Acts 2:1-21 · John 14:8-17, 25-27

Sermon

Lori Wagner

This isn’t a story about wolves, although it sounds like it could be. It isn’t even a tale about noises in the night or a peculiarly powerful storm. It’s a ghost story. A true story. A relaying of unexpected events within a room full, no a town full, of people with a boatload of witnesses, an experience that defied all reality, a recorded testimony about an unexplained, uncanny manifestation of a Spirit that not only spooked those present but changed their lives completely thereafter. A phenomenon so weird ...

2533. Seeing A Familiar Friend All Over Again For The First Time

John 13:1-17 · Philippians 2:5-11 · 1 Corinthians 11:17-34

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

An Examination And Preparation For The Love Feast I'm a native Californian and I'm living in Indiana. I've lived in many different places in the country and one thing I'm impressed by is how each place can become home. There are so many different places to live, with their own customs, foods, and speeds. And they're all good. Recently I went to visit my folks in Silver City. That's a small town about a mile in altitude in the mountains of southwest New Mexico. The pace is slow in this very old part of the ...

2534. Inside Out

James 5:7-10

Sermon

Charley Reeb

Harvard University once revoked their acceptance of ten incoming students because of inappropriate content they had posted on Facebook. A description of the Harvard College Class official Facebook group states, “Harvard College reserves the right to withdraw an offer of admission ... if an admitted student engages in behavior that brings into question his or her honesty, maturity, or moral character.” A recent study showed that over 40% of colleges and universities look at the Facebook pages and other ...

2535. Much Love. Hope Sent.

Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

I would like to ask you a question this morning: what brings you hope this Advent season? I pray that you have a reason to hope today. And I pray that you will find this place to be a community of hope that celebrates the presence and the love of God in every season of the year. But this is the Sunday each year when we light the Hope candle on the Advent wreath. And our Bible story for today is usually read as a message of judgement, but I think it is overwhelmingly a message of hope. I read this week an ...

2536. What We Learn from Love

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

King Duncan

Do you ever have trouble falling asleep? Drew Ackerman is the host of the podcast Sleep With Me, and his goal is to tell stories that help people fall asleep. He refers to his show as “the podcast the sheep listen to when they get tired of counting themselves.” According to Ackerman, the key to the perfect bedtime story is to make it slow and boring. Ackerman, who is from New York, slows his speaking tempo and speaks in a really low voice. His plots are hard to follow, and he goes on long tangents where he ...

2537. You Don't Have to Yell

Luke 17:11-19

Sermon

King Duncan

What is the loudest event you’ve been to lately? Was it a ballgame, a concert, a family dinner, a party? I ask because I read an article this week about the incredibly strange way that the employees at Yahoo Inc., the Internet service provider company, chose to celebrate their 20-year business anniversary. They had a group yodel. And not just any group yodel. They gathered 3,432 employees at their California headquarters and had everyone participate in a 1-minute yodel. I don’t know about you, but for ...

2538. Leaving an Empty Chair

Acts 2:42-47

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

Have you ever been part of a team-building exercise? A lot of businesses invest in team-building 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 ...

2539. What Heaven Will Be Like

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

We all like to believe that we are moral people, don’t we? We’re good people. Or good enough compared to our neighbors. And if we ever act in ways that violate some moral code, we must have a good excuse for doing it, right? In 1995, a man named Robert Lee Brock was serving time in a Virginia prison for breaking and entering and grand larceny. While serving his time, Brock sued the Virginia prison system for various alleged offenses, but every lawsuit was rejected. So Brock tried a new approach: he sued ...

2540. Welcoming Jesus

Matthew 10:40-42

Sermon

William G. Carter

Some years ago, my wife and I landed on the mystical island of Iona. Located off the western coast of Scotland, the small island has an abbey that traces its roots back to the sixth century. The abbey has been rebuilt over the last eighty years, and it now serves as a center for conferences and spiritual retreats. We arrived on an August afternoon in time for the evening worship service. Taking our seats in the ancient stone sanctuary, we discovered we were in the midst of a Christian youth conference. ...

2541. Human Things

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” ~Abraham Lincoln We have a mantra in our society: power corrupts. Lord Acton, 19th-century British historian noted that “absolute power corrupts absolutely.”[1] He recognizes this in examining the travesties of the Inquisition, in which religiously zealous people of faith took it upon themselves to dictate the “kingdom of God” on their own terms. The result? Bloodshed, torture, travesty, evil. From the ...

2542. Avoiding the “F” Word

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Growing up, we are taught never to use the “F” word. We all know what that means. It’s simply not “nice” language. Not “relational” language. We’re taught that the way we speak matters, that the words we use can either make or break our most important relationships. These kinds of lessons help us to navigate our emotional and relational world. If we want to build bridges instead of burning them down, it helps to use appropriate words, even when we feel angry and bitter. In our western culture, we’re taught ...

2543. When Payday Comes

Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon

Steven Molin

Dear friends in Christ, grace to you, and peace, from God our Father, and his Son, our Lord Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. He walked into my office with all the confidence of corporate CEO, this fifteen-year old confirmation student. Without much fanfare, he announced, “I don’t think Mike Stevens should be confirmed.” I didn’t know Randy well; I had only been the pastor of that church for about four months, but it was clear that he and Mike had a little competition going between them. Randy grew up in that ...

2544. Speaking of Us

Matthew 21:33-46

Sermon

Steve Molin

He was, by all accounts, a successful man. This builder of fine homes in an upscale American suburb was known to all as a creative craftsman, a shrewd businessman, a fair-minded employer, and a generous benefactor. But he was aging now, and before he set out for Florida for the winter, he approached his top superintendent and told him that he was retiring. “I want you to build me a home, the finest home this company has ever built. Spare no expense, use the finest materials, employ the most gifted ...

2545. The Rant

Matthew 23:1-12

Sermon

Lori Wagner

All of Philadelphia mourned a week ago when the Phillies –the Fightin’ Phils—failed to win their last two games, forfeiting their chance to move on to the World Series. Philadelphia fans are passionate. Everybody knows it. They put themselves out there because they love their team. When teams from out of state come to Philadelphia, they experience a kind of culture shock. But what they soon realize is that Philadelphia fans just really love baseball, and they bond with their team in a way that no-one else ...

2546. Hosanna!

Philippians 2:5-11

Sermon

John B. Jamison

Let’s remember the story the way we’ve been told it. Even though the sun was just beginning to peek over the mountains to the east, if you looked at the highway climbing up from the Jordan Valley, you could see the lines of people coming to Jerusalem for Passover. One of the highlights of the Jewish faith was making the annual journey to Jerusalem for Passover and make your sacrifice at the temple. They came from all corners of the world, filling the streets with noise and excitement. On one of those ...

2547. Come and See

John 1:43-51

Sermon

David E. Leininger

I have always liked this story — and not for the WHOLE story, just that one memorable line: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth? (John 1:46)” That is just the kind of snide comment that makes me smirk. And, to be quite honest, it is one of the things that I like about our scripture — it is honest. Over and over and over again, the pages of our holy writ are littered with snide comments, unfaithful friends, ugly confrontations and some of the most unsavory “saints” that anyone could ever imagine. But ...

2548. Who’s Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf?

John 10:11-18

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“I am sending you out among wolves.” Matthew 10:16 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” Matthew 7:15 We all know and fear wolves. But some can be clever. How do you recognize a “wolf” when you see one? I think we can all probably answer that question. We need to pay attention to their behavior and not their facade. We don’t need a manual on wolf behavior to recognize when wolves are in our presence. Wolves have a certain identifiable ...

2549. The Interpretation of the Vision

Daniel 8:15-27

Understanding Series

William Nelson

The Vision of the Ram and the Male Goat: Here in chapter 8 the language reverts back to Hebrew. When the Aramaic section began, the narrator introduced it by saying, “The astrologers answered the king in Aramaic” (2:4). There is no explanation given in chapter 8 for the change back. The author inherited the Aramaic material (2:4b–7:28) but shaped it for his purposes. He then added chapters 1 (actually, 1:1–2:4a) and 8–12 in Hebrew. Chapter 8 is linked to chapter 7 explicitly by informing the reader that ...

2550. Kingdom Mystery

Mark 4:26-34

Sermon

David Coffin

An older man in his early sixties of age has been working for his company for over 25 years. He attended college and later went back for a master’s degree so he could better serve his employer. He has earned his own office due to his hard work. While he is not a regular church worshiper, he does practice the Christian work ethic he learned earlier in life regarding working hard today for a better future. He is honest and will help people who in are need. He tries to model this work ethic for his family and ...

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