Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 2576 to 2600 of 4681 results

2576. The Shy Member of the Trinity

John 14:15-31

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... that I have said to you.” (14:26) “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf.” (15:26) “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take ...

2577. Does God Give Out Blank Checks?

John 15:1-17

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... circumstances or he supplies sufficient power to overcome them. Martin Luther once said, “A Christian knows that he is not refused what he has prayed for, and finds, in fact, that he is helped in all troubles...and that God gives him power to bear his troubles and to overcome them: which is just the same as taking his trouble away from him, and making it no longer misfortune or distress, seeing it has been overcome.” Commenting on our Scripture lesson, William Barclay says these wise words, with which ...

2578. God Doesn’t Take Vacations

John 5:1-15

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... me also with a great desire to know you? Why, then, are you engaged in such lowly amusement?” John looked at the man and replied, “What is that which you carry in your hands?” “A bow,” replied the huntsman.” And why do you not bear it about always strung,” asked John. “I must not,” the man replied, “lest when there is need that the arrows be shot with much strength at some beast, the strength be lost by excess of continual tension.” “Just so,” said John, “let not this little ...

2579. On Panicking Close to Shore

John 6:16-24

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... to change your idea of what God is. You can transfer every quality of Jesus into God without the slightest sense of blasphemy. (p. 297) By using these precise words, John is proclaiming Jesus as the One whom God has sent into the world to bear His divine name. And in Jesus we see a God of compassionate, caring, suffering, love. One wonders whether John may have been thinking of the Passover symbolism in this story. He says that it was Passover season. In the Passover Haggadah (liturgical narrative) recited ...

2580. An Unpopular Profession

Matthew 9:9-13

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... in Christ, we are fortunate that he did not leave everything behind. For one thing: III. MATTHEW TOOK HIS PEN AND INK WITH HIM. In recent years Biblical scholars have debated back and forth as to the identity of the author of the Gospel which bears Matthew’s name. Some insist that Matthew the Apostle could not have written it. Others insist that he did. This opinion is supported by the testimony of Bishop Papias in the second century: “Matthew set down in writing, in the Hebrew language, some words of ...

2581. The Saint without a Name

Luke 6:12-16

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... Kirk Douglas; Frances Gumm became Judy Garland; Archie Leach became Cary Grant; Aaron Schwatt became Red Buttons; and Marion Morrison became...guess who? John Wayne. In more recent years, Hollywood seems to have gotten over this fear of ethnic names, and most stars today bear the names they were born with in all of their rich ethnic diversity. Why all this talk about names? Because this morning we are considering one of the twelve apostles who doesn’t seem to have a name. II. BARTHOLOMEW IS “THE SAINT ...

2582. Little Jimmy

Mark 3:13-19

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... and the two Marys of Mark 16:1 and John 1:25, and regarded James the less and Joses of Mark 15:40 as sons of Clopas and Mary. Having done this, they took the new departure of identifying James and Joses with the ‘brothers’ of Jesus bearing the same names.” (Emil G. Kraeling, THE DISCIPLES, Rand McNally & Co., 1966, pp. 190-191) They remembered that when Jesus visited His home town of Nazareth, the people asked, “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and ...

2583. The Thirteenth Apostle

Acts 9:1-19a

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... record of the Last Supper. II. IN ANY UNDERSTANDING OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH, THE APOSTLE PAUL LOOMS LARGE. In the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City there is a gallery surrounded by a series of panels. Each panel represents a Christian century and bears the name of a person who most profoundly influenced the Christian life and thought of his or her time. Concerning some of the figures there has been a sharp difference of opinion, but when it came to the choice of the name for the first panel ...

2584. Jesus Came Preaching

Mark 1:14-15

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... introduces us to the Word become flesh, it tells us the way things are, it offers a doxology to God, and creates the church and sends it into the world. Whew! That is some responsibility to place on the shoulders of preaching! But they are able to bear it. And have done so. Herman Melville in his classic Moby Dick gave what is perhaps the highest estimate of preaching ever written.He said: “The pulpit is ever this earth’s foremost part; all the rest comes in its rear; the pulpit leads the world.... Yes ...

2585. On the Singing of Hymns

Mark 14:12-26

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... hearts and minds for the struggle to maintain their faith in the one true God. Down through the centuries hymns have had the same salutary effect. Halford Luccock says that this short verse is so powerful that “The great scenes of Christian history might bear these words as a subtitle: ‘When they had sung a hymn, they went out.’” (THE INTERPRETER’S BIBLE, New York and Nashville: Abingdon-Cokesbury Press, 1951, page 879) It was true of martyrs as they faced lions in Roman amphitheaters in the first ...

2586. Where Is My Guest Room?

Mark 14:12-26

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... , and follow the native customs in dress and food and other arrangements of life, yet the constitution of their citizenship which they set forth, is marvelous, and confessedly contradicts expectation. They dwell in their own countries, but only as sojourners; they bear their share in all things as citizens, and they endure all hardships as strangers. Every foreign country is a fatherland to them, and every fatherland is foreign... Their existence is on earth, but their citizenship is in heaven.” In other ...

2587. Good Friday

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... that in the cross, Christ entered into a battle with the forces of evil on our behalf, and won the victory. All of these theories express part of the truth, but perhaps our hymns say it best: We may not know, we cannot tell What pains he had to bear; But we believe it was for us He hung and suffered there. And again: Were the whole realm of nature mine That were any offering far too small; Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all. Methodist missionary and evangelist E. Stanley Jones once ...

2588. On the Threshold: From Law to Gospel

Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon

David Busic

... motivation for obedience by giving us true freedom. We turn toward Love itself, experienced by the presence of the Holy Spirit. This gives our life meaning and purpose and eternal Joy. As we allow the Holy Spirit to burn any chaff within us, the wheat will remain and we will bear fruit as a consequential outcome of living our lives in God. As Jesus said, he came to give us life and that abundantly. This is the message of the Gospel. The Messiah is the means. This is the new covenant.

2589. GIVE ME YOUR SINS: The First Word

Luke 23:26-43

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... you want from me?" Jesus simply replied, "Give me your sins. That is what I came for--I came to take away your sin. Give me your sin." The gospel of Saint Matthew announces Christ''s entrance into human history with these words, found in Chapter 1:21 - "She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." The gospel of Saint Mark declares, "For the Son of Man also came not to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many." The gospel ...

2590. Brokenness and Bread

2 Corinthians 5:11--6:2

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... fancy clothes, there had to be scars, there had to be blemishes and malformations of one kind or the other, because there are no perfect human beings." All we have to do is look around to see that Harry Crews is on target. The creation story bears testimony that all things, including humankind, were created good and perfect in the eyes of God. We don''t read very far in the opening pages of Genesis to realize that humankind becomes "broken and fallen" because of the sinful response of humankind to the will ...

2591. Half-Time is Now Over

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Eric Ritz

The story of "Wrong Way Riegels" is a familiar one, but it bears repeating. On New Year’s Day, 1929, Georgia Tech played UCLA in the Rose Bowl. In that game a young man named Roy Riegels recovered a fumble for UCLA. Picking up the loose ball, he lost his direction and ran sixty-five yards toward the wrong goal line. One of ...

2592. Don't Let Your Tongue Bite You

James 3:1-12

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... , and I''m confused by the way you communicate." (1) On a windswept hill in an English country churchyard stands a drab, gray slate tombstone. Bleak and unpretentious, it leans slightly to one side, beaten slick and thin by the blaze of time. The quaint stone bears an epitaph not easily seen unless you stoop over and look closely. The faint etchings read: Beneath this stone, a lump of clay, Lies Arabella Young, Who, on the twenty-fourth of May Began to hold her tongue. The tongue--what a study in contrasts ...

2593. Joy: The Echo of God's Presence In Us! (Part I - Introduction)

Philippians 1:1-11

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... crushing time. As the dream continued Deborah seemed to feel the suffering of the coal within her own body, almost beyond the point of being borne. At last, she cried out to the hand, `Stop it! Will you never end it? Even a stone cannot bear to this limit. Even a stone...'' "After what seemed like too long a time for anything molecular to endure, the torments of the fist relaxed. The fist turned slowly, and very slowly opened. "Diamonds, three of them. Three clear and brilliant diamonds, shown through with ...

2594. Are You Praying or Pouting? (Part IV)

Philippians 1:1-11

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... . Worried relatives of the trapped miners were waiting in the snow. They all gathered around the smudge pot, and a preacher said, `Dear God, let us pray.'' They joined hands and began to sing. `What a friend we have in Jesus, All our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry Everything to God in prayer!'' "One by one, everyone began singing there in the snow on the mountaintop. It gave me goose bumps. It was beautiful. I knew it would look great on film, on CBS, but our camera was freezing--the ...

2595. The Lord Is My Shepherd

Psalm 23:1-6

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... to realize she was talking about me. They always appreciated my visits, especially when I brought sermon tapes and the Sacrament of Holy Communion. It was a privilege to be their shepherd and pastor. In that same church was a widow whose temperament was that of a grizzly bear. The people of the church warned me in advance about meeting her. I was sitting in the local coffee shop when she asked me if I was the new minister in town. When she shared her name, a bell rang--here she was in the flesh. She began ...

2596. Feasting and Fasting for Lent (Part II)

Luke 13:22-30

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... have just returned from the sanctuary from a time of prayer and silence. I am already writing better. The Quaker writer, Richard J. Foster in his book, THE FREEDOM OF SIMPLICITY shares: "Silence frees us from the need to control others. One reason we can hardly bear to remain silent is that it makes us feel so helpless. We are accustomed to relying upon words to manage and control others. A frantic stream of words flows from us in an attempt to straighten others out. We want so desperately for them to agree ...

2597. Three Modern Meanings of the Ancient Christmas Story

Luke 2:8-20, Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... again into your life and circumstances--or is the Christmas story a very strange event that took place long ago and has no meaning for you today? I am just old-fashioned enough to believe that the Christmas story is a real story that demonstrates and bears witness to the fact that God entered human history and that God has not gone out of business yet. The Christmas carol testifies of this marvelous but mysterious power when it states: How silently, how silently The wondrous gift is given! So God imparts to ...

2598. The Marvelous Meaning of the Cross

Galatians 6:11-18

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... me?" Jesus simply replied, "Give me your sins. That is what I came for--I came to take away your sins. Give me your sins." Remember the gospel of St. Matthew announces Christ''s entrance into human history with these words found in Chapter 1:21, "She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." There is a chorus written by Bill Gaither which I have come to love that describes the change which happens when we give our sins to Jesus: Something beautiful ...

2599. A Memorial Forever - Memorial Day

Proverbs 1:1-7

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... be a springboard, NOT A HAMMOCK. Let me explain it this way. The small town of French Lick, Indiana, is a resort community that attracts thousands of tourists each year. French Lick is also the hometown of Boston Celtics great Larry Bird. Main Street in French Lick bears the name Larry Bird Boulevard. One day, a couple was taking pictures of each other in front of the Larry Bird sign when Larry ran past. They never saw him, and he may even be in one of their pictures. But they were so captivated by the ...

2600. Staying Focused--Traveling Light

Hebrews 12:1-13

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... we were going to take on the 10-day journey. You should have seen all the items he had us leave behind. His famous words were: "Remember, you must carry this for the next 240 hours on your back--up a hill--in 100 degree heat--with maybe a bear chasing you." Plus he said, "You and your partner must take turns each day carrying the two-man pup tent, and every four days you must carry the first aid kit." This is where I first learned the importance of traveling light. Much like a college wrestler getting down ...

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