Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 251 to 275 of 1533 results

Psalm 80:1-19, Isaiah 7:1-25, Romans 1:1-17, Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

OLD TESTAMENT TEXTS At the very heart of Advent is the anticipation and celebration of the incarnation—of God's being present with us. Our Old Testament lessons for the fourth week of Advent turn directly on this central theme. Isaiah 7:10-16 is a prophecy that anticipates Immanuel ("with us is God"), and Psalm 80 is a communal petition for God to be present. Isaiah 7:10-16 - "The Sign of Immanuel" Setting. Isaiah 7:10-16 is a central Old Testament text for Christians. It was already given a central place ...

252. Christmas Eve\Christmas Day

Luke 2:1-7, Isaiah 9:1-7, Psalm 96:1-13, Titus 2:1-15, Luke 2:8-20

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

OLD TESTAMENT TEXTS Many of the Advent themes reappear in the Christmas Eve lessons as present realities rather than as future hopes. Isaiah 9:2-9 picks up the imagery of the light of Zion that was hoped for in Isaiah 2:1-5 and turns it into a present time celebration, while Psalm 96 does the same thing with the royal theology of Isaiah 11:1-10. Taken together our Old Testament lessons describe the new reality that God ushers into our world. Isaiah 9:2-7 - "Seeing the Light" Setting. Isaiah 9:2-7 is a ...

253. Tasting the Gruel of Love

Matthew 22:34-40

Sermon

King Duncan

One of the most remarkable Christian witnesses in the world today is a man named Charles Colson. Many of you remember him as the political hatchet man for President Richard Nixon. While he was serving as special counsel to the President, Colson seemed to be a dispicable man, seemingly without a conscience. Then, quite remarkably, Chuck Colson had a thorough and complete conversion experience. It was in 1973 during the height of the Watergate proceedings. Please don’t be suspicious. This conversion ...

254. God Where Are You? - The Problem of Evil

Genesis 3:1-6, Judges 6:13

Sermon

James Merritt

Whether it is the Holocaust, the killing fields of Cambodia, the Oklahoma City bombing, 9/11, a tsunami that wipes out 150,000 people in a day, or the massive starvation of millions of children around the world, you cannot deny the reality of evil. On the other hand, we saw last week how science itself has proved with certainty that the world is not eternal. The universe had a beginning. The only feasible option to explain the origin of the universe is a transcendent creator. DNA itself is a compelling ...

255. God IS In The Ordinary

Romans 12:1-2, 9-21

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

Have you ever noticed how people see things differently? For example, three people, a minister, a geologist and a cowboy, were all getting their very first view of the vastness of the Grand Canyon. As the minister approached the viewing rail he was heard to say, "Whoa, this has to be one of the most beautiful examples of the handiwork and glory of God!" The Geologist was equally as stunned and commented, "Wow! What a wonderful example of the creative process of nature all outlined before your very eyes in ...

256. Jesus’ 10 Commandments

Luke 8:26-39

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

From Mary Shelly’s “Frankenstein” to The Nightmare on Elm Street’s “Freddy;” from Friday the Thirteenth’s “Jason” to Stephanie Meier’s vampire “Voltaire”, we are always creating new monsters. Why are we constantly on the lookout for bigger, scarier “bumps in the night?” Why do we keep making up monsters that are so elaborate and extraordinary, so super-powered and immortal? Maybe we need our monsters to be as unlike ourselves as possible so that we can ignore the presence of the real monsters that possess ...

257. Maybe Today

1 Corinthians 7:29-31

Sermon

Scott Suskovic

Amelia Bedelia is a favorite literary children's character. This poor, dim-witted maid is a literalist. You tell her to dust the tables, and she sprinkles talc everywhere. You tell her to dress the turkey, and she gets out a little lime green pantsuit. You tell her to draw the curtains and she gets out her sketch pad. In reading about Amelia Bedelia, you realize that we have many phrases that are confusing — especially if you take them literally. "Happy as a clam." Are they really that happy? Or, "I'm so ...

258. Thanksgiving and Prayer

Ephesians 1:15-23

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

Prayer for Divine Enlightenment From the context of 1:15–2:10 it appears that these verses form the next major section of Ephesians. The apostle has just finished recalling the spiritual blessings that God, through Christ, has bestowed upon all believers. From this universal truth, he turns to something more specific: His thoughts move from doxology to prayer; he reminds his readers that he thanks God for them (vv. 15, 16) and that he prays specifically that they will have the necessary wisdom to ...

259. Paul the Preacher to the Gentiles

Ephesians 3:1-13

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

Paul and the Mission to the Gentiles When the apostle completed his section on the spiritual blessings in Christ (1:3–14), he proceeded to offer a prayer of thanksgiving and petition (1:15–23). After this theological discussion in 2:1–22, it appears that he is once again ready to turn to prayer because the statement, “For this reason” (3:1), refers to what he has just said; furthermore, the actual prayer in 3:14ff. appears to relate to this section and would be a fitting climax to the thoughts that he has ...

260. Job Shatters the Silence

Job 3:1-26

Teach the Text

Daniel J. Estes

Big Idea: Job brings his most troubling thoughts and deepest pains to words and views his adversity in the light of his commitment to God. Understanding the Text Job 3 begins an extended section of poetry in which Job and his three friends speak in turn. After the prose prologue in Job 1–2, the narrator fades from view, and we hear the voices of the individual speakers. Without the narrator, the readers have no interpreter to explain what is being said, so they have to listen attentively to the threads of ...

261. Live Spelled Backward

Matthew 26:14-27:66

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

In a CBS News 60 Minutes interview, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor was asked why she had resigned as an Assistant District Attorney for the Bronx. She replied, "Because for the first time in my life I saw evil first hand and I felt that if I stayed that close to it, it just might rub off on me."[1] Come think with me about an age-old human affliction that has impacted the life of every person ever born and the two people who were not born but created in the Garden of Eden, a thing called evil. ...

262. Righteousness Through Faith

Romans 3:21-31

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

We return now to the opening theme of the epistle which Paul announced in 1:16–17, righteousness by faith. There it was like a first glimpse of the Himalayas seen from the plains of Nepal, shimmering on the horizon. Then the trek began in earnest as the reader was led up the rugged terrain of argumentation and proof from 1:18–3:20, in which Gentiles and Jews were confronted with a landslide of evidence against them. The inspiring first vision was long since obscured, and more than once the trekker was ...

263. The Plank

Matthew 5:38-48; 7:1-6

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her."” (John 8:7) “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.” (Leviticus 19:18) Props: Colored Vases / Plants (one withered and one healthy) / volunteers I need a volunteer today! [Choose someone.] Super! –Come on up! Now, you’ll see everyone that I have two very beautiful colored ...

264. Now, It's Personal

Matthew 5:21-37

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

Thirty years ago I was serving on the staff of a large church as the minister of Christian Education and Youth Ministry. The Education Commission and the Youth Council were made up, mostly of parents who worked with me on the programs for youth and children — Sunday school, Vacation Bible School, those kinds of things. One year, for Vacation Bible School, we decided to set up a large tent — a really large one under which you could seat 100 or more people — on the parking lot and use it for our opening ...

265. Beginning the Lenten Journey

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Sermon

Timothy W. Ayers

I read of a pastor, who confessedly tells that he is not the neatest person in the world, but discovered his daughter was on the way to becoming an even messier housekeeper than he. His approach was always to come at a problem not only with both self-confession and identification but with a bit of humor. When she came home from school one day, he caught her as she walked in the door and said, “I have bad news and good news. The bad news is that we were broken into today. The good news is that they only ...

266. Overcoming Envy

Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

There was a British woman, Marion Webster of Solihull, England, who woke up one morning and found her beautiful garden absolutely decimated. Someone or something had torn it to shreds. The first thing Marion did after finding her garden in such a condition was to march over to her neighbor’s flower bed and pull out all the pansies and roses and anything remotely resembling a beautiful plant. Her neighbor’s garden now looked as bad as hers. Why did she do such a horrible thing? You won’t believe it. Marion ...

267. Jesus Washes His Disciples’ Feet

John 13:1-17, John 13:18-30

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

The new division in John’s Gospel is marked by a long, loosely connected, almost breathless comment by the narrator (vv. 1–3) in which he tries to gather up the themes of chapters 1–12 and 13–17 alike and use them as his stage setting. The first element in this setting has to do with time and circumstances: The notice that it was just before the Passover Feast (v. 1a) brings the temporal notices of 11:55 (“it was almost time”), 12:1 (“six days before”), and 12:12 (“the next day”) up to date. The further ...

268. Imitating Christ's Humility

Philippians 2:1-11

Understanding Series

F. F. Bruce

Call for Mutual Consideration Paul’s concern for unity of mind and mutual consideration among the members of the Philippian church need not imply that there was an atmosphere of dissension there. The fact that two members are singled out by name and urged to agree in 4:2 could suggest (unless 4:2 belongs to an originally separate letter) that theirs was an exceptional case of conflict. We do not know what Epaphroditus had told Paul about the state of the church, but at this time Paul found sufficient ...

269. On Forgetting To Do A Business Plan

Luke 14:25-35

Sermon

King Duncan

Every once in a while, there is a news story that is both bizarre and tragic. In Spain, for example, a poacher shot a stag deer that was standing on an overhanging rock above him. Unfortunately he didn’t take the time to calculate where the deer might fall. It fell directly on him; he was killed instantly. (1) Equally as bizarre and tragic was the story of a 22-year-old man who was killed when he tried to use occy straps (the stretchy little ropes with hooks on each end) to bungee jump off a 70-foot ...

270. Lent 1

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

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Lesson 1: Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7 (C); Genesis 2:7-9; 3:1-7 (RC); Genesis 2:4b-9, 15-17, 25-3:7 (E) The account of humanity's fall into sin. Today's Lesson is taken from the second Genesis account of creation by the Yahwist (J) school of authors. The first part of the pericope gives the setting for the Fall: creation of Adam from dust and spirit, the garden with the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In preparation for the Fall we need to know that Adam and Eve were ...

271. Out With the Old - In With the New

Philippians 3:12-14

Sermon

James Merritt

Contrary to what you might think, "Out with the old in with the new" is not the title of an Elizabeth Taylor Seminar on marriage. But it is the title of my message as we leave an old year and enter a new year. I was interested to learn that the month of January is named after the Roman god Janus, who was a god that had two faces. One face looked back to the old year; the other face looked forward to the new year. On the last day of any year, I think we all have two faces. One face looks backward to a year ...

272. Proper 24

Hebrews 4:14-5:10, Job 38:1--41:34, Mark 10:35-45

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Old Testament: Job 38:1-7 (34-41) The arguments of Job's four friends come to an end. Now the Lord joins the discussion and answers Job. Earlier Job called upon God to answer him. This pericope is part of the Lord's answer. Verses 1 through 7 deal with God's creation of the earth. God answers with a series of rhetorical questions. In these questions Job is confronted with the sovereignty and majesty of God. Epistle: Hebrews 5:1-10 Hebrews claims that Christ is superior to the Jewish high priest ...

273. Galatians 2:15-21

Galatians 2:11-21

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

One of the most satisfying experiences in life is getting off the perfect “zinger.” When the right words pop into your head and then out of your mouth with perfect timing, completely undoing your opponent’s argument and precisely making your point: that’s almost heaven. More often than not, when that kind of synchronized synapse occurs it is fired off more by passion than by planning. For me it’s more not than often. I think of the perfect zinger, but hours or days later. I’m an expert in what the French ...

274. It’s Complicated

Galatians 2:11-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Weather forecasters have the coolest toys. They have satellite “eyes in the sky.” They can track off-shore flows and coastal disturbances, high pressure systems and low pressure cells, the rise and fall of the jet stream (whatever that is!). Television weather people even have the most interesting screens to work with, with all kinds of magic features to make this bigger and smaller. Yet, even with all these sophisticated, complicated technologies to help — as we all know — the weather report is often way ...

275. Warnings Against Idleness

2 Thessalonians 3:6-15

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

Paul returns to the theme of idleness touched on in the earlier letter (see disc. on 1 Thess. 4:11f. and 5:14). Obviously, the problem persisted. Judging by the more peremptory tone of the warning, it appears to have worsened. The amount of space allotted to the matter measures how seriously Paul regarded it. But still his pastoral concern is uppermost. The object of the exercise is to help the erring, not to punish them or make the other members feel good. In all matters of church discipline, this ...

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