Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 2676 to 2700 of 4957 results

2676. The Christian Life Faith and Deeds

James 2:14-26

Bulletin Aid

Call to Worship Leader: What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Suppose someone you care about needs food and clothing. Will it help to say, "I wish you well; may you keep warm and be well fed?" Congregation: We believe that God supplies all our needs. What good is this belief if we refuse ...

2677. Gratitude and Praise God’s Mercy

Titus 3:1-11

Bulletin Aid

... : So that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying. Congregation: Praised be God’s grace. By it we may become heirs to God’s everlasting kingdom - one free of sin and pain. Eternal joy and peace are ours to claim. Praised be God.

2678. Special Occasions Baptism

Mark 1:9-13

Bulletin Aid

... the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. Leader: Repent and be baptized, everyone of you, in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. All: Father, may we claim this gift whole heartedly when we are baptized, and every day following. Make us ever mindful of the Spirit’s leading so that our service is acceptable in your sight.

2679. The Emperor’s Son-in-law

Luke 12:35-48

Sermon

... knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, that through these you may ... become partakers of the divine nature." (2 Peter 1:3-4) Blessings, indeed! And as Christians we lay claim to them. Then in, through and under them is the story of the Steward. It ends with the demanding words of Jesus, words from which we shrink in our self-centered daily life: "To whom much is given, of him will much be required." Peter says more ...

2680. Our Splintered World

Luke 12:49-53

Sermon

... and nothing more. Neutrality toward Jesus is not possible, as Pilate discovered. Every person must come down on one side or the other. Jesus said, "He who is not with me is against me." (Matthew 12:30) He cannot be "just a good man." Either he is God as he claimed to be - "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30) and "He that has seen me has seen the Father" (John 14:9) - or else he is not even a good man, but one of the most audacious liars and first-class frauds that history has produced. No matter ...

2681. The Master Has Come - And Is Moved With Compassion

Matthew 8:1-4, Mark 1:40-45

Sermon

... he doesn’t fly this time, we’ll shoot him." Many people have such an attitude toward persons. We elevate things to the level of persons. We lower persons to the level of things. If we call ourselves Christians, if God has laid his hand on us, if Jesus has claimed our allegiance, then we simply cannot be like the rest of the world. God has called us to care, to have compassion, to feel the pain of love in our hearts. God has called us to share the love we have received. E. Stanley Jones told about a man ...

2682. The Life We Prize

Luke 9:18-27

Sermon

Various Authors

... for any way in which I have hurt you." The father shouted, "Why don’t you go back to your fancy living and just leave me alone!" Fred had the choice of whether to quit and to give up or to go to the Cross and to die to any claims for himself. He identified with Jesus’ humiliation and suffering. He went back again to a father who could only be more and more spiteful. Suddenly one day when Fred walked into the room, his father broke into tears. The father and son embraced for the first time in their lives ...

2683. The Called Ones

Matthew 4:18-22

Sermon

Joe Pennel

... 's call in our lives. How one hears the call and responds to it is a matter of personal decision. However, there is an inescapable truth in the story of Jesus' call to the fishermen and their response. The truth is that who we worship can and will make a claim on all of our lives. It is impossible to worship the God of Jesus Christ and not have that God expect more of us than we are often ready to give. Whether or not we respond to the call, the call of Christ is always unsettling. Hearing it is always ...

2684. Getting Back To Work

Luke 17:1-10

Sermon

Brett Blair

... AWE at the wonder of creation… and when we feel that GOD the Father has human instead of divine attributes…when we think of God framed by the perspective of our puny experiences… then we forget that we are God’s creatures. What do we have as a claim upon God except to understand our duty to yearn for God’s love. What do we have ultimately without God’s grace? Religion, true religion that has Christ as our Lord and God as our father will tap us on the shoulder and say, “I am hungry, prepare ...

2685. Come and Find Rest

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

... short nap, he puts a tin plate on the floor. Then he sits on a chair beside it and, holding a spoon over the plate, relaxes into a doze. As he falls asleep, Dali relates, the spoon slips from his fingers, clatters onto the plate, and he snaps awake. Dali claims that he is completely refreshed by the sleep which occurs between the time the spoon leaves his hand and the time it hits the plate. We really do need rest from time to time don’t we? I remember that years ago, when I worked in a certain factory ...

2686. Epiphany

Isaiah 60:1-22, Psalm 72:1-20, Ephesians 3:1-13, Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon Aid

... into a Christian context. Jesus, to the church, is the "light (that) has come," and in him God's "glory is rising on you (and the whole world." Christ is the light that shines in the darkness and the one to whom all nations shall come. He has staked his claim in the world; all people and all things are his, gold and incense will be brought to him, and the name of God will be praised. After all, it is God who delivered the Israelites from the captivity in Babyon, and it is God who has sent Jesus into the ...

2687. Epiphany 5

Psalm 112:1-10, 1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5, Isaiah 58:1-14, Matthew 5:13-16, Matthew 5:17-20

Sermon Aid

... , as well as preserving it. The "good life" of the Christian, therefore, functions as light in the world; it can't be hidden, nor can it - or should it be - covered up. It is the incarnation of the gospel in the lives of those whom Christ has claimed as his own. A Christian life proclaims the gospel to the world through deeds of love and mercy. ("They will know we are Christians by our love." I know a person who lives that way, manifesting genuine love and concern and care for other people. She is always ...

2688. Epiphany 7

Matthew 5:43-48, Matthew 5:38-42, 1 Corinthians 3:1-23, Leviticus 19:1-37

Sermon Aid

... age. Loyalty to leaders is often intense and long-lived. If there are several strong leaders in a congregation, dissension may destroy the unity of the church; some support one leader, others someone else, and still others yet another person. The divisive claims to follow Apollos, Cephas, and Paul signal this leadership and loyalty crisis. Regardless of who founded, or led the congregation, Jesus is the only foundation for the church; the church is built upon him. The second section of this pericope, verses ...

2689. Ash Wednesday

Joel 2:12-17, 2 Corinthians 5:11--6:2, Matthew 6:1-4, Matthew 6:16-18, Matthew 6:19-24

Sermon Aid

... on the foreheads of the penitents and the central proclamation of the day, "You are dust, and unto dust you will return" provide the theological clue for preaching during Lent and Easter. Every person who is born here on the earth will, sooner or later, be claimed by death. The Genesis 3 story is certainly true in this respect; no one is exempt from death - even Jesus, the very Son of God, had to die, partly because his incarnation caused him to share fully in the human experience of life and death, as ...

2690. Lent 1

Genesis 3:1-24, Romans 5:12-21, Matthew 4:1-11, Genesis 2:4-25, Psalm 130:1-8

Sermon Aid

... STARTERS A sermon on the Gospel, Matthew 4:1-11 - "Temptation, Triumph, and the Tree." Baptisms are usually times of family reunion, special dinners, video taping of the event, and a great joy and rejoicing as another person - usually a baby in the contemporary church - is claimed and named as a child of God. It was different with Jesus; when God declared, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," he went out to a desert-like wilderness and spent forty days in prayer and reflection on what had ...

2691. Lent 2

Genesis 12:1-8, Psalm 105:1-45, Matthew 17:1-13, John 3:1-21; 4:5-42, Romans 4:1-25

Sermon Aid

George Bass

... and set off for the land God had promised to him and his people. He obeyed the call of God. 3. Abram built two altars to God, one on the land and the other on the mountain after God had said, To your descendants I will give this land; he claimed it in the name of God. 4. He lived by the covenantal promise God had made to him, much as we are to live out the covenant of our baptism in our lives. Lent exists to get us back on the right path of faith and action when God calls ...

2692. Lent 4

1 Samuel 16:1-13, Psalm 43:1-5, Hosea 5:1-15, Hosea 6:1--7:16, Romans 8:1-17, Matthew 20:17-19, Matthew 20:20-28

Sermon Aid

... of the key lessons of Lent. 4. By relearning about Christ's glory and humanity's role as servants, the faithful are prepared to do God's will in the world, regardless of the cost and personal sacrifice that might be required, without making any claims to greatness before God, but seeking to give him the glory due to his name. The narrative setting of this Gospel suggests that the preacher shape it into a biblical story sermon; the above sketch would accommodate such an intention. Hosea 5:15--6:2 - "Glory ...

2693. Good Friday

Matthew 27:45-56

Sermon Aid

... of God's presence as he was dying; surely, he had the right to expect that much from his heavenly Father. His death was the darkest moment in his life, not because he was dying, but because he could not sense the presence of God as death was about to claim him. 3. Jesus' last cry, at the time of his death, was a cry of surrender, when he turned over his life to the God who didn't seem to be there. The total despair that Jesus experienced had to be momentary, otherwise, he would have fought to live as ...

2694. Easter 2

Acts 2:14-41, Psalm 105:1-45, 1 Peter 1:1-12, John 20:19-23, John 20:24-31

Sermon Aid

... , in this sense, are charismatic; they can neither believe nor witness effectively without the inspiration and guidance of the Holy Spirit. 4. The church is given the care of souls in the form of power to forgive - or retain - the sins of people who claim to be believers. Through the preaching of the law, people must be brought to repentance, and through the absolution as the gospel is preached, their faith in Christ will be renewed and they will come to understand Jesus' greeting, "Peace be with you." A ...

2695. Easter 6

Psalm 66:1-20, Acts 17:16-34, 1 Peter 3:8-22, John 14:15-31

Sermon Aid

... forever. "Because I live," he declares, "you will live also." Through the coming and indwelling of the Spirit, the faithful are joined to Christ and to the Father, who loves them just as much as Jesus, who suffered and died for them and all people. Christians who claim to believe that Jesus is the living Lord are expected to live obediently, seeking through the power of the Holy Spirit to live life on the level that he lived it. The Son and the Father surely love those who make an honest and sincere attempt ...

2696. Proper 7 & Pentecost 5

Jeremiah 20:7-18, Psalm 69:1-36, Psalm 91:1-16, Genesis 28:10-22

Sermon Aid

... have no faith in Jesus Christ. Most of us have something of Augustine in us, "make me a Christian, Lord, but not yet." Opposition by indifference may be the more rampant form of resistance to the gospel today. 3. Boldness is required of the church that claims to be apostolic in its creeds and actions. Jesus continues to assure his followers, who obey his command to go and preach and minister in his name, that they have nothing to fear. God, who is with them, will be faithful and receive them into eternal ...

2697. Proper 8 & Pentecost 6

2 Kings 4:8-37, Genesis 32:22-32, Psalm 89:1-52, Psalm 17:1-15, Isaiah 2:6-22, Jeremiah 28:1-17, Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon Aid

... will take place; it is eschatological. In the meantime, believers are to live the new life of obedience, given them as a gift of Christ in baptism, and this means that they must die daily to sin and rise to that new life every morning. Christ's claim upon us has been made permanent for "we have been marked with the cross of Christ forever." Matthew 10:34-42 (E, L, C); 10:37-42 (R) These verses, which contain two blocks of material with several themes running through them, conclude Jesus' charge to the ...

2698. Proper 10 & Pentecost 8

Isaiah 55:1-13, Psalm 65:1-13, Romans 8:1-17, Romans 8:18-27, Exodus 2:11-25, Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon Aid

... seed is strong and powerful, and life-giving. It germinates and grows in the minds and hearts of people, and causes their faith to flower and reach maturity. Jesus was teaching the disciples that despite the hostility and actual enmity which would ultimately claim his life, his mission - and theirs, too, as his disciples - will succeed. Despite set-backs and frustration from evident failures in the past (it would seem that the mission to Israel has been something of a failure, and that there is competition ...

2699. Proper 11 & Pentecost 11

Isaiah 44:6-23, Psalm 103:1-22, Psalm 86:1-17, Exodus 3:1-22, Romans 8:18-27, Matthew 13:24-30, Matthew 13:36-43

Sermon Aid

... no other. He is the God of the past, the present, and the future. 3. Do what he commands. Through Isaiah, he told the Israelites much the same thing that Jesus told his followers: "And you are my witnesses." That's one demand that he makes of all people who claim to know and love him. Romans 8:18-25 (E, C) See last Sunday's "sermon suggestions" (R, L) for this text. Romans 8:26, 27 (R, L) - "We Never Pray Alone." 1. We ought to pray regularly to God. Christians know that, believe that, but too many of us ...

2700. Proper 17 & Pentecost 15

Matthew 16:21-28, Romans 12:1-8, Exodus 19:1-25, Jeremiah 14:1--15:21, Jeremiah 20:7-18, Psalm 114:1-8, Psalm 63:1-11

Sermon Aid

... of those whose souls are tortured by their longing to know God. The psalmist knows that God can be found, and one's spiritual thirst can be assuaged, by those who throw themselves upon the mercy of God, because God is constantly seeking out his own people to claim them and bless them. The cries of the faithful are heard by God; they can say, in true faith: "My soul clings to you; your right hand holds me fast." The Roman Ordo also appoints this psalm for the Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Series C. Psalm ...

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