Sermon and Worship Resources

Synonyms: Levi, disciple, evangelist, tax collector, the 12, the twelve, apostle, sermon on the mount, jewish audience, beatitudes, lord's prayer, great commission, parables, olivet discourse, mount of olives, olivet, synoptic

Showing 2676 to 2700 of 4942 results

2676. The Three Tenses Of Our Faith

Genesis 15:1-18

Sermon

Douglas J. Deuel

A family with young children went on a two-week vacation from Washington, D.C., to Arizona. They were traveling to see parents and grandparents. They faced a long plane ride with three youngsters. Since they had children, they were allowed to pre-board the airplane. As soon as the family had settled into their seats, their three-year-old son asked, "Are we going to take off now, Dad?" His dad said, "No, not yet." About thirty seconds later, the boy asked, "Are we going to take off now, Dad?" "No," his dad ...

2677. Suffering And Service

Isaiah 51:17--52:12

Sermon

Douglas J. Deuel

Helen Keller once said, "Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it."1 Ironically, it is in our overcoming of the suffering of life that we learn to be true servants. Without the difficult experiences of life, we remain shallow and lacking in sensitivity to others. The scriptures teach us to become servants. This is the example Christ gave us. Our call is to serve God by serving others. Yet the concept of servanthood is lost on most of us. Our culture conditions us to ...

2678. Walking On Our Hands

John 8:31-41

Sermon

J. Will Ormond

For weeks now the Gospel lectionary readings have come from the Gospel of Luke. But today we encounter an intruder. Our journey through the last chapter of Luke's story is interrupted by another Gospel writer, John, who drops us into the middle of a debate between Jesus and "the Jews." It is well known that the Gospel of John differs in many ways from the other three Gospels. Robert Kysar's book on the Gospel of John is called John: the Maverick Gospel. This is how his introduction begins: There is a ...

2679. Topsy-turvy Christianity

Luke 6:17-26, Luke 6:27-36

Sermon

J. Will Ormond

Do you know anyone who is financially well off and secure, who has an abundance of things and often dines in the best restaurants, who enjoys life and has a good time, and who is well thought of in the community? You may be such a person yourself, but if not, wouldn't you like to be? In such a situation we could declare that life is good, that we are content, and that the future looks bright. Do you know anyone who is poor, hungry, grieving, hated, excluded, reviled, and defamed? I sincerely hope you are ...

2680. Charade Parables

Luke 6:37-42

Drama

Robert F. Crowley

Theme: Jesus' Parables can speak to us -- even though we mess things up. Summary: A group of Christians are playing Parable charades but the person holding the Bible, which is referred to often by the person doing the charades, keeps closing the Bible and then opening it to another passage, so the parable becomes quite muddled. They still get some good from it. Playing Time: 8 minutes Setting: The church Props: The Bible Costumes: Contemporary, casual Time: The present Cast: 1st Player 2nd Player George ...

2681. The Agony And The Ecstasy Of The Family

Mark 3:20-35

Sermon

Ron Lavin

Jesus experienced conflict in his family. In today's text we hear that his family was so upset by what they saw he was doing and heard he was saying, that they decided to "take charge of him" because they thought "he was out of his mind" (Mark 3:21). Later in our story we hear that Jesus' family arrived while he was debating with the religious leaders about Satan, the prince of demons. Someone told him that his mother and brothers were there. Jesus responded, "My true family members are those who do the ...

2682. From The Redemption Of A King To A King Of Redemption

2 Samuel 23:1-7

Sermon

Zan W. Holmes

A visitor once entered a large cathedral to spend some time in meditation. As he reflected upon the sins of his own life, he looked up and saw statues of biblical saints that had been placed in great niches along the high walls of the cathedral. Included among them were Moses, David, and Peter. Suddenly he remembered that each one of them was also a person who had sinned and made mistakes in life. But by the grace of God they had been redeemed and were now counted among the saints in the Bible. To be sure ...

2683. The Silence Broken, The Bride Restored

Isaiah 62:1-12

Sermon

Robert A. Hausman

"For Zion's sake I will not keep silent" (v. 1). The issue here is silence, the silence of God. Our text comes from the section of Isaiah which is usually dated during the time of rebuilding after the return from exile. It is from the part of the tradition called Third Isaiah. It reflects a time of great discouragement. Israel lived and worshipped among ruins. Foreign overlords seized the harvest of the fields and the fruit of the vineyards, while the people went hungry (62:8). Enemies continually ...

2684. The Call Of The Tradition: Remember And Return

Nehemiah 7:73b--8:18

Sermon

Robert A. Hausman

Ezra read from the book of the law "from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law" (v. 3); and "all the people wept when they heard the words of the law (v. 9). This reading of the word of God stands in interesting contrast to the reading done by Jesus in the gospel for today (Luke 4:14-21). After an initially positive response to Jesus' interpretation of Isaiah, with its welcome ...

2685. When Did Jesus Pray?

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

John G. Lynn

Jesus, at those critical times when he had momentous decisions to make, withdrew to the hills to pray. In the sixth chapter of Luke's gospel, when he had healed that man's withered hand in the synagogue on the sabbath, he threw the gauntlet at the rules and regulations that for so long had choked out the kingdom of God. To the scribes and the Pharisees he offered this challenging question: "I ask you, is it lawful on the sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?" Luke tells us these ...

2686. Rich Toward God

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

John G. Lynn

The southern California cities of San Diego and Los Angeles are well known for their misty mornings. Each day in Los Angeles, in the Beverly Hills section, the sky is thick with fog. "Don't worry," the natives will tell you, "it will burn off by noon." And sure enough it does. Every morning it is the same thing ... thick, cold fog until 11 or 12:00. Then sunshine for the rest of the day. In Annapolis, Maryland, on the east coast, it is exhilarating to walk to the end of the Naval Academy campus and there ...

2687. How to Affair-Proof Your Marriage!

2 Samuel 11:1-27

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

Country singer Gene Watson croons: Slip into something soft, And then come slip into my arms again. Strip away your conscience and Take off your wedding band. Cheating has become America's national pastime. Statistically, 65 percent of men have affairs by age forty. For women, it's 35 percent. Talking with a pastor who had demitted the ministry due to sexual misconduct, he confided, "I never thought it could happen to me. But it did. For fifteen minutes of rolling in the sheets I sacrificed everything ...

2688. The Sacred Other

Isaiah 42:1-9

Sermon

Paul E. Robinson

Schindler's List is a movie one doesn't forget. One of the most horrible scenes is that of the commandant who, for his own amusement and in order to watch the prisoners scatter, uses a rifle to shoot some of the Jews in the courtyard of the prison camp. This one vignette graphically portrays the opposite of the message the prophet Isaiah was communicating in the portion of his writings we are looking at now, chapter 42, verses 1-9. "A bruised reed he will not break." All of us surely shudder and shrink ...

2689. Come To The Light

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Sermon

Sandra Hefter Herrma

Have you ever had the experience of losing all the electric power in your home? A friend of mine, who has a cabin on a woodland lake, told me that the worst part of the experience was that he kept flipping on switches as he went from room to room. He was so used to being able to summon up illumination this way, his subconscious kept insisting that it ought to work. The result was that he became increasingly frustrated with fumbling in the dark. He finally gave up and went to bed, only to be awakened when ...

2690. Week Two Of Lent

Sermon

Richard Gribble

Reflections:Week Two Of Lent Monday Week TwoDaniel 9:4-10Luke 6:36-38 The Compassion Of God Joseph Girzone, the popular author, tells the following story in his parable Joshua And The Children.1 Over a hundred years ago in France, a butler attached to a wealthy family knew where the family kept all their money, hidden in a vault underneath their chateau. The butler methodically plotted to kill everyone in the family and steal the money. One night when everyone was asleep, he crept into the house and first ...

2691. Holy Week

Sermon

Richard Gribble

Monday Holy WeekIsaiah 42:1-7John 12:1-11 Following The Road All people have a vocation in life. Many times the word vocation is applied to priesthood and religious life alone, but this is far too limiting. All people have a vocation, a road that they will follow in life. Some people will follow the vocation to the single life; most will follow the call to married life and family. Some will follow the invitation to become religious and/or priests. Many people will be wives or husbands who work daily to ...

2692. Week One Of Lent

Sermon

Richard Gribble

Monday Week OneLeviticus 19:1-2, 11-18Matthew 25:31-46 Be Holy As Is God We all know that God is divine. This is how we define God. But how does one define divinity? One might say that divinity means omniscience and omnipotence. These are both proper descriptions, possibly even definitions of divinity, but how can a human relate to these things? We know so many things that are more powerful than we and so many people who are more intelligent than ourselves. Maybe we can imagine the divinity of God as all ...

2693. Our Helper

Acts 8:26-40

Sermon

Robert Beringer

There is an imaginary story in which the angel Gabriel asks the Risen Christ what is his plan for carrying the message of God's love to all the world. Jesus explains that he has asked Peter, Mary, John and Thomas and some others to carry that message wherever they go. As others hear and respond, they will carry the same message until the whole world knows of God's amazing love for sinners. Gabriel listens rather skeptically, and then asks Jesus, "But, Lord, what happens if Peter goes back to fishing, or ...

2694. Figuring The Answers

Proverbs 3:5-6

Children's Sermon

Teresa L. Major

Concept: A calculator can help us figure out math problems, but some things cannot be figured out. We believe them even though we don't understand them or have the answers. Preparation: A hand-held calculator. Have you ever used a calculator? You punch in a problem and the calculator figures the answer for you. Kind of neat, huh? Let's give it a try. 23 + 12. (Put in the problem.) Boom, the calculator says that 23 + 12 = 35. How about 103 - 22? (Put in the problem.) The calculator says 103 - 22 = 81. ...

2695. Recalling, Remembering, And Rejoicing

Deuteronomy 8:1-20

Sermon

Robert S. Crilley

For all of his charisma as a leader, his skills as a diplomat, his savvy as a politician, Moses was not the sort for whom making speeches ever came easily. Rhetoric simply wasn't included on his resume, public speaking never being one of his fortes. And of course, back at Sinai before this improbable pilgrimage began, he had admitted as much to Yahweh: "O my Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor now that you have spoken to your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue" ( ...

2696. Proper 19

Matthew 18:21-35, Romans 14:1--15:13, Exodus 13:17--14:31, Psalm 114:1-8

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

Unlimited Forgiveness The parable uses the analogy of a reverse comparison. On the one hand a huge, almost inconceivable debt is forgiven. The amount of the debt of the first character in the parable is staggering. To the person hearing the parable it would be scarcely possible to imagine a debt so monumental, perhaps as hard as to try to imagine today the size of the national debt in the United States. The second character has a relatively trivial debt. It is more the size one might run up on a credit ...

2697. Two Sons: A Parable

Matthew 21:28-32, Matthew 21:23-27

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

In the current vernacular people speak of those who "talk the talk" in contrast to those who "walk the walk." Those who "talk the talk" are persons who recognize a problem and analyze the situation. They may rant and rave about the difficulties and the need for change. They make accusations against those whom they believe to be responsible for the situation. But they do not move to action to do anything about it nor do they assume responsibility themselves for the existence of the problem when they may be ...

2698. The Promise Of The Spirit

Sermon

John A. Stroman

As a mainline church we have been told to the point of weariness what is wrong with us. Many articles have been written about the demise of the mainline churches with their dwindling membership and attendance. Someone has figured out mathematically that if the United Methodists continue to lose members at the present rate, the last Methodist will leave the face of the earth in the year 2037. This is a very sobering thought. The Dilemma Of Decline To borrow a line from Dickens, these are, for the mainline ...

2699. The Bread Of Life

John 6:25-59

Sermon

Marc Kolden

Nearly the whole sixth chapter of the Gospel of John is about bread. It begins with an account of Jesus feeding a huge crowd of people from five loaves and two fish and doing it so lavishly that there are 12 baskets of crumbs left over. Then, after Jesus and his disciples left by boat, the next day the crowd searched and found him on the other side of the lake, but Jesus criticized them: "You're looking for me for the wrong reasons, just because I gave you lots of food yesterday. But that's really not what ...

2700. Forgiven!

Sermon

Lee Griess

John 12:1-8 On a recent religious talk show the hostess was interviewing a young woman who had just recently come to know Christ and had been received into the church. Until her recent conversion, she had lived on the wrong side of the tracks, lived in the fast lane, and teetered on the brink of destruction. So overwhelming was the sense of forgiveness that this young woman practically gushed with joy as she spoke. "I can't express," she said, "the sense of gratitude that I feel that God has changed my ...

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