Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 2651 to 2675 of 4943 results

2651. God's Will: Don't Leave Home Without It

Romans 12:1-2

Sermon

James Merritt

It was one of those attention-grabbing headlines that made me stop and read the article. The headline read: "Plane With A Mind Of Its Own Crashes." The story that followed was not only very funny, but illustrated a great truth. Here is the story: Paul Sirks owned a Vintage single-engine plane, a 1946 Aeronca Champ. He had landed the plane at Grimes Field Airport in Urbana, Ohio, because of mechanical problems. The plane's engine had stalled on the runway and Sirks got out to restart it by hand-turning the ...

2652. Joseph: Don't Bury Me Here

Genesis 50:22-26; Exodus 13:19-22; Joshua 24:32

Sermon

John E. Harnish

So Abraham and Sarah sojourned in the land of promise. They lived in tents, looking for a city. And when, as God had promised, a son was born, they named him Isaac. Isaac produced sons...twins in fact, Esau and Jacob, whose name actually means "heel-grabber" because he was born hanging onto his brother's heel. As a second-born twin, I am not sure it's a compliment to be compared to Jacob, but I do tend to identify with this story. And if you ever want to read a tale of classic sibling rivalry, take a look ...

2653. Chocolate Cake, Flooded Waters, and Baptism

Genesis 9:8-17

Sermon

Ron Lavin

There was a man, let's call him Rod, who was a fine woodworker. He made cabinets, tables, and mantels for family, friends, and fellow church members. One day his pastor asked him to come to his house and reconstruct a cabinet over his new refrigerator. The new refrigerator was taller than the old one. Rod agreed. When he came to do the work his pastor and his pastor's wife were not at home. They had given him a key to get in. Why not? Rod was the former president of the congregation, a man to be trusted, a ...

2654. Only the Lonely

Luke 14:1, 7-14

Sermon

Ron Lavin

There are three words I hope you will take home from church today. The words are "Only The Lonely." As you think about these words, the assurances of God's Word will comfort and strengthen you. But I'm getting ahead of my story. Before we get to these three words, we need to look at the full text of Luke 14:1, 7-14. That involves looking at three other words: humility, hospitality, and hope. Humility The inciting incident in our story is that guests at a party started to take places of honor. Jesus told ...

2655. That's All I Want

Psalm 23:1

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

This morning I want to start off by reading what some say is the most beloved Psalm of all, the 23rd Psalm. And while some of the other translations may be closer to the actual literal meaning of the words, the version we know best is the King James Version. [1] The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. [2] He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. [3] He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. [4] Yea, though I walk ...

2656. Why Can’t I Have It All?

Genesis 3:1-24, Genesis 2:4-25

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Today, we enter into the season of Lent. Lent is traditionally a time when people ask themselves how far they are willing to go in order to challenge their own desires. It’s a time to contemplate what it means to be in love and in relationship with God and others. The usual question is, “What will you give up for Lent?” While the usual replies have much to do with food like chocolate or carbs or sugar or other manners of gluttony, the real root of that challenge might simply be “entitlement.” Can we give ...

2657. Long View — Long Haul

Luke 13:31-35

Sermon

Schuyler Rhodes

Have you ever known anyone who has suddenly stopped and changed direction? Maybe it’s you. I know that in my life I stopped the pursuit of a career in the theater and finally listened to God’s call to me to enter ordained ministry. It wasn’t a call, so much, to change direction, as it was a call to authenticity and commitment. Today, though, I want to tell you about a friend of mine who did this. At the age of fifty, Marcy decided to change everything. She made the momentous decision to leave her job, her ...

2658. Communion With Christ

John 6:25-59

Sermon

Alex Gondola

From time to time, all of us have been guilty of taking some remarkable things for granted, simply because they have become familiar to us. Take, for instance, the ancient and honorable game of golf. Most of us understand the basic principles of golf. Some of us play golf. Some of us play at it. But suppose you had to explain golf to someone who had never seen it before -- say an Aborigine from the Australian outback. Don't you think an Aborigine from the Australian outback might find our game of golf ...

2659. Judgment Day

Mark 13:1-31

Drama

Steven E. Albertin

Characters: Man and Woman Scene: The entrance to eternity. (A man sits at a desk, papers before him. Woman enters. She goes to the man and stands quietly. The man looks up.) Man: Heaven on your right -- hell on your left. Woman: (Looking at the doors, in awe) You mean that door leads to heaven ... and that one to hell? Man: That is correct. Please don't take too long. There are others waiting. Woman: But ... what do I do? Man: You go through one of them. Woman: You mean I have the choice? Man: That is ...

2660. Proper 7

Mt 10:16-39 · Rom 5:12 – 6:11 · Jer 20:7-13 · Gen 21:8-21 · Ps 86

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

COMMENTARY Lesson 1: Genesis 21:8-21 Sarah jealously guards the rights of her natural son, Isaac, by ordering Abraham to throw out her slave girl, Hagar, with her son. God speaks to Abraham in his distress about the plight of Hagar and her son, telling him to do as Sarah wished because his descendants would be counted through Isaac. Furthermore, God would also make a great nation through Ishmael. Lesson 1: Jeremiah 20:7-13 Jeremiah was born about 650 B.C. and began his ministry in the 13th year of King ...

2661. Nothing Is Impossible

Exodus 13:17--14:31

Sermon

Walter Kimbrough

A marvelous story is told by the synoptic gospel writers about a boy who was possessed by an evil spirit. His father was concerned sufficiently enough to seek help for the boy in a time when all help had failed. The boy was brought to the disciples of Jesus with the request for healing, but they were powerless and confused. The father did not give up hope in the quest of healing for his son. So, with an insistent spirit he saw Jesus and reported on the condition of his son with the declaration of the ...

2662. The Ten Commandments For Today

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Erskine White

And the Lord spoke all these words, saying "I am the Lord your God ..." (Exodus 20:1-2) Imagine that your job in life is to get up each morning and prepare an egg for someone else to eat. There are many different ways to prepare an egg: hardboiled, soft-boiled, poached, fried, baked, scrambled, benedict, souffled, and so on. Now, if you didn't want to get bored and were willing to take a risk, you could constantly be striving for new ways to prepare an egg. If you wanted to play it safe, and you knew that ...

2663. But I Don't Wanna!

Genesis 12:1-8

Sermon

Joann Hary

"I don't wanna." "I just don't want to ..." How many times have we responded to God in this way? Let's do some supposing for just a minute. Suppose Abraham had said, "No, God, I don't wanna do that ... I want to stay right where I am. I like it here. The soil is good and my family is happy. No, God, I don't want to be your Father of the Nations." Suppose Moses had said, "No, God, I don't want to help those people out of Egypt. They got themselves into the mess. They can get themselves out." Or just suppose ...

2664. Nervous Hands

Psalm 139:1-24

Sermon

All of us at some point have been so nervous that it was obvious to everyone - our knees shook, our hands trembled. It's happened to every one of us. I remember one incident in particular in my own life. It was the first time I ever assisted with Communion. I was a Lay Minister. It was my installation, and I was to assist in distributing Communion. My hands shook so badly in trying to pass out the bread that I'm quite certain that everyone who received a wafer had to shake his head to catch my hand. I was ...

2665. Your Money and Your Life

Matthew 6:19-24

Sermon

Robert Bachelder

In his classic treatise on politics, The Republic, Plato observed that the greatest enemy of justice is the family. Yes, the family! I daresay his claim will strike you as being rather silly. After all, most everyone agrees the family is a good and necessary institution. Sociologists continue to say the family is the vital unit or cell of society. We are all disturbed by the disintegration of the family as the divorce rate climbs. Many believe this phenomenon is as dangerous as running out of energy or ...

2666. Name Above Every Name

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

Leonard Mann

The first thing about anyone is his name. A human person is born into the world, and almost immediately a word is chosen to denote him. Not a number, not a sign, not a shape - but a word. And that word becomes everyone’s way of saying who he is. For all of his lifetime that word is used to indicate him. By means of it, he says, "This is I." By means of it, others say, "That is he." In a very real sense the word equals the person, stands for him as his equivalent. This is so very true that I can say, "I am ...

2667. Molehills and Mountains

Matthew 6:25-34, Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

The story is told of George Bernard Shaw that he was once seated beside a Duchess at a dinner party. In the course of their conversation, he asked: "Tell me, Duchess, would you live with a man for a million pounds?" "Well," replied the Duchess, "I suppose I would" Then Shaw asked her: "Would you live with a man for five pounds?" The Duchess was insuited: "What do you think I am?" "We’ve already established that," said Shaw, "now we are just determining the price." Long before the coming of Christ, the ...

2668. The Burden Bearing Christ

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

Brett Blair

There is a wonderful legend concerning the quiet years of Jesus, the years prior to his visible ministry. The legend claims that Jesus the carpenter was one of the master yoke-makers in the Nazareth area. People came from miles around for a yoke, hand carved and crafted by Jesus son of Joseph. When customers arrived with their team of oxen Jesus would spend considerable time measuring the team, their height, the width, the space between them, and the size of their shoulders. Within a week, the team would ...

2669. The Heart of the Reformation

Romans 3:21-31

Sermon

T. A. Kantonen

There are many inadequate views regarding the essential nature of the Protestant Reformation. Some consider Luther as an ecclesiastical rebel who sought to overthrow an ancient church organization. Nothing was further from his purpose. He pleaded only that the gospel of Christ be given free course within the church. The Reformation was not a summons to attack the Roman Catholic Church but to affirm the positive convictions derived from God’s revelation of himself in Christ. Another misconception is that ...

2670. The Spirit Has Landed

Luke 3:1-38

Sermon

Brett Blair

On January 3, 2004, the Mars rover named “Spirit” began its diligent exploration. It began sending back so many photographs that NASA figured out a way to teach the little rover how to detect changes in images, so that it sent only images back to Earth with new information. For example, if Rover was taking photographs of dust devils, it would pause and waits until the image changed before taking the next photo. That meant less work for the scientists sifting through the many, many amazing photographs ' ...

2671. I'm Number Two (A Drama about Putting Christ First)

Drama

Dave Marsh

Director's Notes: I have no clue why I write so many drama's where one person takes things waaaay too literally and over board. I guess 1) It's funny. 2) Hopefully people will see a little bit of themselves in all that madness. Anyway, this drama really only works if you can project graphics onto a screen. Cast: Dave: A family man that takes things too literally. Wendy: A Mary Kay representative Props: An old slide projector (aimed at the audience) 10 graphics (that are shown on a screen behind the actors ...

2672. Do I Matter?

Psalm 8:1-9

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Interesting news this week. According to the population clock at the United Nations, there are now six-billion of us on this whirling planet.(1) Someone decided that a baby boy born to refugee parents in Sarajevo, a region returning to life after a decade of death and destruction and war, would be the perfect symbol for the push toward our next billion or so. According to UN Secretary-General Kofi Anan, the birth of little Adnan Nevic "should light a path of tolerance and understanding for all people." We ...

2673. Giving Dangerously

Malachi 3:6-18

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Next week is Consecration Sunday as you know. For several weeks you have been getting mail from First Presbyterian reminding you of the event. We have a special guest speaker coming - David Oyler, the Stated Clerk of our Lake Erie Presbytery - a celebration banquet following worship, all in all, a very exciting day. Our leaders are providing you the opportunity to estimate your giving for the coming year so they might wisely plan the mission and ministry of this growing church. Well, I am about to commit ...

2674. I Don't Have Time For A Banquet

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

The Toronto Star invited teachers to submit excuses they had received from their students. They received these examples: A student explaining why he was late: "I was kidnapped by aliens and interrogated for three hours." Another student, telling why he had failed to turn in his essay: "The bus driver read it and liked it so much he kept it to show to his passengers." Another: "I got mugged on the way to school. I offered him my money, my watch, and my penknife but all he wanted was my essay." Mike, a 14- ...

2675. Ready For The Game Warden

Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

In the little book, LAUGHTER IN APPALACHIA, Fred Park of Berea, Kentucky tells a story about a man named Quill. Quill lived way back in the woods where he hunted and fished all the time. Quill didn't pay any attention to the hunting seasons or laws or anything, and he knew the woods better than the game warden. The game warden had been trying to catch Quill for a long time. Today was the day. He knew Quill would be up early to go fishing. So the game warden sneaked down there in the middle of the night and ...

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