Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 2601 to 2625 of 4977 results

2601. The Poor - With Us Always?

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... ." Yet all three cases graphically illustrate what happens when religion gets "sick." Actually, the attitudes of the men in the first example are the most dangerous of all. You see it is one thing to allow our religion to become harmful to ourselves. It is quite another thing to possess a religion which does harm to other members of God’s family. Someone once told me that as a minister I would spend over half my life trying to deal with false impressions people have about some of Jesus’ teachings. This ...

2602. Christianity Can Be Fun

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... presented his own teachings as an alternative. He promised that he would give us an easy yoke and a light burden. He told us not to be ashamed to have fun in life and to feel good about the things to be enjoyed on this earth. In short, he declared: "Quit trying to out-god God; to be a Christian is not to be pious but to be joyous." The early Christians called the teachings of Jesus "Good News." In fact, the early evangelism of the church focused on spreading the "Good News." In a direct way, this "Good News ...

2603. The Win-Win Philosophy of Life

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... say, "I have a problem. I’m really having trouble concentrating with that typing going on." From there we can resolve the conflict. Now there are many other typical ways I could resolve the conflict. I could say, "That typing is driving me nuts; you’ve got to quit." Or, "You’ve got to move." I could avoid a direct encounter, get on an ego trip and try to make an issue out of my own problem. I could call the deacons together and say, "We’ve really got a problem at the church." Then I could proceed ...

2604. It’s Not So Bad To Be A Beggar

Acts 3:1-10

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... smart enough to be there when the people of God gathered. As beautiful as an empty church may be, it really doesn’t do you much practical good until the people of God gather. It is true that church people are far from being perfect people. but praying people never quite forget what it was like to be a beggar, too. They are people who care. This beggar found that people who go to church to pray and talk to God are also people who will talk to a beggar. He found that people on good terms with God are people ...

2605. What Gives You Away?

Judges 12:1-7

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... a scene in a church I served as pastor. Just as I opened a door where the men were working at redecorating the fellowship hall, one of the men hit the wrong nail (his thumb) with a hammer. He immediately reacted by saying, "Damn, damn, damn, damn," (and quite a few other expletives which I have deleted) - and then seeing me quickly and repentantly said: "O preacher, please excuse me, it just happend so fast it came out before I had time to think." I can understand that, can’t you? Haven’t you reacted at ...

2606. How To Be A Saint In A Storm

Acts 27:13-26

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... it first! And this storm is no summer squall that is over in about thirty minutes. In fact it rages for hours, then a day, two days, seven days, ten days, and at the end of two weeks they are still in the middle of a storm that won’t quit! The situation aboard ship is hopeless. The men are ready to give up in despair. They are sure death is near. They haven’t seen sun or moon or stars in many days (and no 20th century navigational equipment either), they don’t know where they are, where they’ve ...

2607. The Little Miracle Before The Big One

Luke 22:47-53

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... us when dying. A recent cartoon showed a Loan Department Officer bidding farewell to a disappointed couple, whom he had just refused a loan. The caption under the picture read: "Sorry, but I hope you’ll try us again sometime when you don’t need it quite so badly." Jesus would never do that to anybody, because he cares. God is so concerned about us that he even keeps count of the numbers of the hairs on our head. Someone recently estimated that blondes have approximately 145,000 hairs, brunettes have 120 ...

2608. Cross-Bearing

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

... life this way, we find real life. When we go at our Christianity with abandonment, we discover a bonus not expected! So we have here the recipe for life as compared with existence. It’s one thing to have a heartbeat and breath in our lungs - it’s quite another to be alive. Playing it too safe stagnates our lives. But to throw ourselves into the cause of Christ with a certain recklessness, is to become alive and thrill to it. In our day and generation, it is not the question of martyrdom as it was for ...

2609. When Christians Quarrel: Resolving Conflict in the Church

Matthew 18:15-20

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

... hope. Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must be saved by faith. Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone, therefore we are saved by love. No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as it is from our standpoint. Therefore we must be saved by the final form of love which is forgiveness." Sure, we’ll have conflicts within the discipleship, our congregation, the church. Sure, it ...

2610. Embalmed Leaders

John 10:1-21

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... But I wonder if you share my confusion? After reading all of the news reports, I find myself a bit bewildered as to just who is on what side, fighting for whom and to restore what or to retain what leadership. Just who is in charge? No one seems quite to know. In many of the new nations of Africa with which we must deal in the United Nations, there seems to be an almost daily change of government, as one leader is overthrown and another government takes over. And we might ask ourselves if we are any better ...

2611. Embalmed Alive

John 14:5-14

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... and asks: "What’s life all about, anyway?" A periodical tells us a story about the last days of the late actor, John Barrymore. That incorrigible character was confined to his bed most of that time with a serious illness. His instructions from his physician were quite clear and simple. He could have very little to eat, very little to drink, very little exercise, and very little visitation from his friends. One evening his nurse had brought him his crumb-like meal, and as she gave it to him she asked him ...

2612. The Hard-to-Believe Promise

John 14:5-14

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... ; and then, the rest of the time, regard with a high level of skepticism and neglect. Perhaps the little girl is more truthful than we would like to believe, when she asked her mother why they always said their prayers just before going to bed. Quite understandably, she inquired: "Is it because the rates for long distance are cheaper at night?" The objects of our prayers, and the answers to them do seem like a long, long distance away. Do you remember the incident in Huckleberry Finn where Mark Twain has ...

2613. Salvation as Personal Experience

Romans 9:30--10:21

Sermon Aid

T. A. Kantonen

... (1 Corinthians 13). As Hunter expresses it, if Paul "had been compelled to arrange the gifts of the Spirit in order of merit, love would have stood first and ‘tongues’ lost."22 Paul’s evaluation of the gifts of the Spirit is thus quite different from that of the apostolic community in general. Hermann Gunkel has pointed out the sharp contrast: "The community regards as pneumatic the extraordinary in the life of the Christian, Paul the ordinary; they, that which is peculiar to individuals; Paul, that ...

2614. Numbered Hairs

Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

Herchel H. Sheets

... about 145,000 hairs; a dark-haired person, 120,000; and a person with red hair, 90,000!2 Multiply those figures by the number of persons in each category (subtracting for degrees of baldness, and - do you suppose? - for wigs and toupees) and you get quite a statistical wonder. Jesus was not saying, however, that "only masses count" with God or that he has to be dealing with "a hundred thousand men or more" before he will "condescend to feel some interest." Neither did he think of God as having drudged away ...

2615. Blinding Specks

Matthew 7:1-6

Sermon

Herchel H. Sheets

... brother man, Still gentler sister woman; Though they may gang a kennin wrang, To step aside is human. One point must still be greatly dark, The moving Why they do it; And just as lamely can ye mark How far perhaps they rue it.8 When Helen Keller was still quite young, she read Macaulay’s Life Of Samuel Johnson. She said that her heart went out "to the lonely man who ate the bread of affliction in Grub Street, and yet, in the midst of toil and cruel suffering of body and soul, always had a kind word, and ...

2616. Unlimited Forgiveness

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon

Herchel H. Sheets

... Wesley said that by the grace of God he could do it. On a Sunday in October, 1752, he wrote in his journal: "I cannot but stand amazed at the goodness of God. Others are most assaulted on the weak side of the their soul; but with me it is quite otherwise: If I have any strength at all, (and I have none but what I have received), it is in forgiving injuries: And on this very side am I assaulted, more frequently than on any other." Then he added, as a prayer: "Yet leave me not here one hour to ...

2617. Strained Gnats

Matthew 23:1-39

Sermon

Herchel H. Sheets

... and they took that requirement literally and seriously, even to the extent of tithing garden herbs grown in very small quantities. Jesus apparently believed in tithing, but he did not believe that that was the whole of one’s responsibility. He was quite critical of these people, not because of their tithing, but because of their neglect of matters he considered more important than the meticulous tithing of garden herbs. The Law said something about "justice and mercy and faith," too, and he was disturbed ...

2618. What On Earth Is God Doing? - 1940

Psalm 76:1-12

Sermon

Kent Moorehead

... man’s cooperation, searching for those who will serve as his co-workers. It is an amazing arrangement that God Almighty has ordained - this super imposition of self-limitations whereby he cannot do some things unless mortals assist him. For example, it is quite impossible for the omniscient God to reveal his truth until men are able and willing to think. Nor can he create his heavenly harmonies unless we mortals study the art of music and write the scores and play the instruments which alone produce ...

2619. The First Murder - 1940

Matthew 7:1-6

Sermon

Kent Moorehead

... indifferent, that if a sin came up and sought to seduce them, they wouldn’t even be intrigued. There are others who have such a vitality and interest in all phases of life, such a robustness and eagerness to live, that every phase of life quite captivates them and they find themselves ensnared before they recognize that they are caught. These passionate creatures, who are driven by great forces, have an enormous amount to overcome. They are easily overcome. I suppose Abel was a sincere and good man and I ...

2620. What Are Christian Liberals? - 1951

John 16:5-16

Sermon

Kent Moorehead

The principle wrapped up in that text would seem to be quite obvious - that the most important thing to remember in dealing with all ambiguities, controversies, uncertainties, is that there is a spirit of truth available and if we keep our hearts and minds receptive, attentive responsive, we shall be led into all truth. Now that’s the core of the liberal’ ...

2621. Is The Social Gospel Out Of Date?

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

Kent Moorehead

... life - a heavenly kingdom. No mention, mind you, of this central concern of the Master in either the Nicene, the Athanasian, or the Apostles’ Creed. Why? What does it mean? The answer must not be oversimplified. However, two facts stand out quite clearly and explain much: First, there is the indispensable emphasis upon the necessity of personal commitment to Christ. Instead of this commitment being considered the beginning of a full life that would normally express itself in social reform, it becomes an ...

2622. Preaching Unpopular Truth - 1943

John 18:38

Sermon

Kent Moorehead

... the mind of your auditor to hear what you actually say rather than what he thinks you say when he sees your manner, senses your attitude, or divines your spirit. To be sure, therefore, that one’s spirit is right when he enters the pulpit is quite as important as his intellectual clarity and conviction concerning what he is going to say. Doubtless every minister has his own devotional disciplines whereby he seeks to prepare his heart as well as his head for his prophetic office. I have a very searching but ...

2623. EPISODE 5: THE FIFTH WEEK IN LENT

Drama

Robert Clausen

... some secluded spots to which Jesus retires for solitary meditation ... doubtless laying further plans against the government. GOVERNOR: Go on. BISHOP: Give us a few trustworthy troops, and we shall see that this man is taken when he is alone and quite helpless. GOVERNOR: Captain! CAPTAIN: [Entering] Yes, sir. GOVERNOR: Pick a detail of troops and accompany the Bishop. You are to arrest the man Jesus for interrogation. CAPTAIN: Yes, sir. [He exits.] BISHOP: Thank you, Governor, for your prompt attention to ...

2624. EPISODE 6: THE SIXTH WEEK IN LENT

Drama

Robert Clausen

... you’re taking us? JUDAS: Of course I do. CAPTAIN: Where is it? JUDAS: A park at the edge of town. It’s always deserted at night. CAPTAIN: He’ll be alone? JUDAS: There might be a few friends with him. They won’t make any trouble. CAPTAIN: He had quite a few friends in town today. JUDAS: That’s why we’re doing it this way. Are you ready? CAPTAIN: Wait a minute. How do we know we’ll get the right man? JUDAS: You’ve never seen him? CAPTAIN: Not close up. JUDAS: I’ll point him out. CAPTAIN ...

2625. Pilgrim Living in a Vagabond World

Matthew 7:13-14

Sermon

Leonard Mann

... to live with my grandmother." That boy had a problem; he needed help; he was lost in the shadowland of a serious dilemma, and he needed a light to find his way out. The fact is that somewhere between our vast systems and our little devices many of us are quite lost, and we need a fix on a guiding star. John Masefield gave us that beautiful poem Sea Fever, the first two lines of which go this way: I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, And all I ask is a tall ...

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