Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 2601 to 2625 of 3852 results

John 20:24-31

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... all the ethereal talk of “spirituality,” of somehow rising beyond our physical selves, the greatest strength, the greatest test, of Christianity’s claims is its physicality. Unlike Gnosticism, Christianity is a deeply materialistic religion, in the original definition of that word “material.” Matter matters. Jesus mysteriously defies gravity and moves through matter in appearing before his disciples — yet he invites them to touch and feel his physical scars. Matter matters. His presence is ...

2602. How Odd of God

Acts 3:11-26

Sermon

King Duncan

... anti-Semitic, or anti-Jewish. I believe that is in error. There is no question that it has been used many times throughout history to justify persecution of the Jews. And that is unforgivable. After all, Jesus himself was a Jew as were all of the original Christians. To be anti-Jewish is to be anti-Christ. But a careful reading of the New Testament shows it to be anything but anti-Semitic. Take, for example, today’s lesson from Acts. It follows one of the most beautiful scenes in the scriptures. One ...

2603. From Loving Jesus

Luke 24:36-53

Illustration

Mark Allen Powell

... this much: we love Jesus as a bride loves her groom, but our bridegroom has been taken away from us, and that makes us sad. The love can be real and powerful and overwhelming, but the absence is real too. And, sometimes, it's just hard. (p. 55, italics in original)

2604. Mixing Up the Old With the New

John 10:11-18

Illustration

Scott Hoezee

... Lauren blouse, and the magi in snappy suits from Armani?! There would almost surely be an outcry. You should not import the holy, sacred images of Scripture into a contemporary setting like that. It creates confusion, doesn't seem terribly respectful. And anyway we perhaps risk "losing" something of the original presentation by mixing it up with the trappings of our modern world. But in a real way, can we even avoid looking at the old through the lens of what is current?

2605. John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15

John 16:5-16

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... that which Jesus had promised he would send. That promise is articulated three times during the so‑called “Final Discourse” of Jesus in John’s gospel (14:16‑17, 26; 15:26‑27). It speaks to John’s high Christology, not any confusion over the origins of this paraclete, that the source of this Holy Spirit sometimes is “from the Father” (15:26) and sometimes comes in the name of the Son (14:26). The unity between Father, Son, and this sent Spirit is complete (see John 10:30). The promise ...

2606. God’s Two Hands

John 16:5-16

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

2607. When You Are Wrongly Criticized

Mark 3:20-30

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Hannibal couldn’t let it go. He started licking his wounds and kept licking. His constant licking of the wound roughed it up, ripped it open, and ruined it. The wound became horribly infected and a “tail-ectomy” docking his tail to half its original length had to be performed. Sent home from dog surgery to recuperate, Hannibal still couldn’t let that wound go. Despite one of those great “lampshade” collars around his neck, he managed to wad himself into a corner and get hold of that injured ...

2608. A Seed for the Whole World

Mark 4:1-20, 26-34

Illustration

Staff

... Bantam', people in the United States began to favor yellow corn over white, black and orange sweet corn varieties. Prior to receiving its name from W. Atlee Burpee, 'Golden Bantam' started out as a personal variety of one man. The story of its origins was described in the 1903 W. A. Burpee Farm Annual as follows: There was "an old gentleman,"[1] a farmer in Greenfield, Massachusetts named William Chambers, ". . . who had a fancy for furnishing his friends with some choice early corn long before they had ...

2609. I Want My Dollar Back!

2 Corinthians 8:1-15

Sermon

King Duncan

... This is a major step up from the Iron rule and the Silver rule. In other words, treat other people like you would like to be treated. However, to these Sweet adds what he calls The Titanium rule—“Do to others as Jesus has done to you.” Jesus was the original giver. He gave to us the gift of salvation. Everything we give to his work or as an act of charity is in response to his gift to us. Giving is the Christian’s response to what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. Giving is also the Christian ...

2610. Adopted

Ephesians 1:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... the attack against Aqaba. Suddenly, there is a disturbance. One of Lawrence’s group has murdered a man from the new group. The fragile alliance is about to fall apart, since the new group will be enraged if the man is not brought to justice, and the original group will be infuriated if the other tribe brings one of their own to justice. Lawrence declares that he will carry out the sentence since he is a member of neither tribe. When they bring forward the guilty party, Lawrence discovers it is the man he ...

2611. Historical Background

Mark 6:14-29

Illustration

Scott Hozee

... nor is this the Book of Acts Herod who later persecuted the church and killed, among others, James. But what this middle Herod shared in common with those other two was a real nasty streak of immorality, self-aggrandizement, and corruption. He had been married originally to a Nabataean princess whom he later dumped in favor of marrying his brother's wife, Herodias. You know the old saying, the heart wants what it wants, and Herod's heart wanted Herodias. So even though it made him guilty of multiple sins ...

2612. Zombie Zone or Beulah Land?

Ephesians 2:11-22

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... , “all things are possible.” With the Song of Jesus in you, all your zombie-zones and zombie-lands can be “Beulah Land,” even heaven’s border-land, “Sweet Beulah Land.” [Note: You might close your sermon by having the congregation sing the original Stite’s version of “Beulah Land” (1876) or the more contemporary song, often sung as a memorial song, “Sweet Beulah Land.” Whichever version you use, be sure to make it clear that “Beulah Land” is not just something we have to wait for ...

2613. No One Completes the Journey Solo

John 6:1-21

Illustration

John E. Harnish

... . In March, it begins the trip northward, but after laying eggs in the milkweed of Texas and Florida, it will die. Those butterflies will continue northward, laying eggs along the way until some of them, maybe three or four generations removed from the original, make it back to mountains of New York. But when August comes, they will head south, aiming for the exact place their great grandparents visited, a place they have never been. Sue Halpern says: "The monarchs always migrate in community and depend on ...

2614. Thinking Metaphorically

John 6:25-59

Illustration

Scott Hoezee

Do you remember the 60's song by Simon and Garfunkel song which had the line, "Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio, a nation turns its lonely eyes to you. What's that you say, Mrs. Robinson? Joltin' Joe has left and gone away." Originally it was part of the soundtrack for the film The Graduate, the song "Mrs. Robinson" has became one of the 1960s' best-known, iconic ballads. But in a 60 Minutes interview Paul Simon mentioned that some time after the song was released, he received a letter from Joe DiMaggio ...

2615. Tradition Can Be Changed

Luke 2:41-52

Sermon

Cynthia Cowen

... mass of rules. Jesus revealed the hypocrisy in the hearts of the experts of the law. They told others to obey God's law, but they failed to practice it themselves. Jesus did not speak against the law. He wanted to bring the people back to its original purpose. "Don't misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose" (Matthew 5:17 NLT). Tradition was changing — and the change was good. Jesus presented ...

2616. Fire! Fire!

John 1:(1-9) 10-18

Sermon

Cynthia Cowen

... they were aware of the prophecies about the expected Messiah, especially that of Micah, Herod got his answer: “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times” (Micah 5:2 NIV). Most Jews expected the Messiah to be a strong political and military leader like Israel’s mighty King David. Herod would fear a Messiah like this. He would allow no such man to take his ...

2617. How Firm a Foundation

Luke 6:39-49

Sermon

Cynthia Cowen

... up for support. In his distress, he had also shored up his faith in his reliance on God. His physical and spiritual construction brought him through his time of crisis. There are two favorite hymns I'd like to use as illustrations. The first is a hymn originating in the South. It was a favorite of such American leaders as Theodore Roosevelt, Andrew Jackson, who asked that it be sung at his bedside shortly before he died, as well as Robert E. Lee, who also requested it for his funeral hymn "as an expression ...

2618. There’s Still Time

Mt 6:1-2, 5-6

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... to remind them of this unpleasant fact. Instead of the coins that jingle in our pocket, they carried around a medallion on their person somewhere that was called a memento mori, Latin for "Remember, you will die." The phrase supposedly had its origins in the Roman Empire. When a conquering general would parade through Rome, with all the people shouting his name in acclamation, it is said that a slave would walk behind the general, calling aloud, "Memento mori" as a reminder that nothing lasts, and that ...

2619. This Fellow Welcomes Sinners

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... cup will run over — in time, in God's time. This task of welcoming sinners is too much for one person, or even one church, but we're not meant to be acting alone. One way to help is to get more people involved. Getting back to our original image of people missing from a picture, it's important to ask if we have excised people from the picture without even knowing it. Take the family structure itself. It was only in the twentieth century that we developed the concept of the "nuclear" family: Dad, Mom, and ...

2620. Believing Thomas

John 20:19-31

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... no better demonstrated than with the relationship between the United States and the German people. There were two brutal wars fought between those nations in the twentieth century resulting in the deaths of millions of people. In some ways we can trace the origins of the second war to the harsh treatment of the vanquished by the victors after the first war. However, though these two nations have been competitors, they have not fought a war in the sixty years hence, and it seems inconceivable that such ...

2621. Liberating the Possessed

Luke 8:26-39

Sermon

Arley K. Fadness

... , his pastor, a card that simply said, "Yippee, yippee, yippee! Neil and Bobbie." Amen. 1. M. Scott Peck, People of the Lie: The Hope for Healing Human Evil (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1983), p. 182. 2. Max Lucado, Next Door Savior (Nashville: Word Publishing Group, 2003), p. 60. 3. Original source unknown.

2622. Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing

Luke 9:51-62

Sermon

Arley K. Fadness

... to put first things first is to begin to live by the compass and not the clock. The clock represents our appointments, our commitments, schedules, goals, and activities — what we do and how we manage our time. Often we are overscheduled and time that originally was a gift has become a tyranny. The compass on the other hand represents our direction, vision, values, principles, conscience, purpose, and mission — what we feel is truly important as God leads our lives. What is the main thing? But to ...

2623. Sister Act(s)

Luke 10:38-42

Sermon

Arley K. Fadness

... was then dying from cancer. She requested "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" and later said, "I just had a real sense of peace sitting there."3 Two sisters representing two aspects of the Christian life alert us to the task of balance as we remember "the one thing needful." Amen. 1. Original source unknown. 2. Virginia Brasier, "Time Of The Mad Atom," www.crosswalk.com/devotion-als/Day_by_Day/115. 3. Julie Sevig, The Lutheran magazine, "Porch Lullabies," September 2003, p. 24.

2624. Quitters

John 6:60-71

Sermon

King Duncan

... can’t imagine anything else. We have found in Jesus Christ everything we will ever need. We have found healing and hope and happiness in him that we never could have found any other place. When the crowd had gone away and Jesus was left with the original twelve who had followed him since the early days in Galilee, Jesus turned to them and asked, “You do not want to leave too, do you?” It was a logical question. The comparatively easy days of his ministry the days of his immense popularity, the days of ...

2625. Silly Goose

Colossians 3:12-17

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... out, two geese fall out of formation and follow the hurt one down to help and protect. They stay until the hurt one is able to fly, or finally dies, and then they launch out on their own or with another formation to catch up with their original group. A farmer was out plowing his field one morning. A spring thaw had just occurred and there were many muddy valleys. Through one particularly wet place his tractor became stuck in the mud. The harder he tried, the deeper he became stuck. Finally, he walked over ...

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