Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 2726 to 2750 of 2844 results

2726. Giving Back to Caesar

Matthew 22:15-22

Sermon

King Duncan

Late one night in Washington, D.C. a mugger wearing a ski mask jumped into the path of a well‑dressed man and stuck a gun in his ribs. “Give me your money!” he demanded. Indignant, the affluent man replied, “You can’t do this to me . . . I’m a US Congressman!” “In that case,” replied the robber, “give me back MY money!” (1) Ah, the “Infernal Revenue Service”--in one form or another, they have always been with us. You know the story. The Pharisees were concerned about Jesus’ growing popularity. They ...

2727. Getting It Right in the Coming Year

Galatians 4:4-7

Sermon

King Duncan

It seems strange that New Year’s Eve should fall on a Sunday. But that, of course, is what today is. Many of you are looking forward to New Year’s Eve parties. I’ve always appreciated writer Bill Vaughan’s words: “Youth is when you're allowed to stay up late on New Year's Eve. Middle age is when you're forced to.” I won’t ask how late some of you will be up. Some of you will celebrate via your television. I also like what some comedian said about that. He said, “I love it when they drop the ball in Times ...

2728. Pop Star Madonna and the Cross

Mark 8:31-38

Sermon

King Duncan

During an edition of the ABC network television program, “Good Morning, America,” several years ago when rock star Madonna was really hot, co-host Charles Gibson interviewed a jewelry designer. This woman was marketing a new line of crosses designed by Madonna. The crosses were labeled “The Madonna Cross.” Among the things this designer said in the interview was that “Madonna has brought a new dimension to the cross. Never has wearing the cross been more popular than today.” Gibson challenged that ...

2729. Extreme Humility

John 13:1-15

Sermon

King Duncan

I want to begin with a serious question: How accurate would you be if someone asked you to evaluate yourself? For example, if you were asked to describe your athletic ability, or your appearance, or your intellect--how would you rate yourself? I ask that because a survey of nearly two hundred sociologists found that about a hundred of them, about one-half, expected to become one of the ten leading sociologists of their time. Obviously this is a mathematical impossibility for 100 of them to be among the top ...

2730. Tangled Up in the Vines

John 15:1-8

Sermon

John Jamison

This passage from John is one that has created great comfort for many people, and at the same time has created profound pain and suffering for others. It has pulled us together and brutally split us apart. This simple story of a vine, growing in a vineyard, both heals and destroys. Many who read this story see it as a reason to turn away from the biblical story. Let’s begin by recognizing what was going on when Jesus first told this story of the vine. It will help us to remember that stories about a vine ...

2731. All for Some Dumb Sheep

John 10:11-18

Sermon

King Duncan

There was a best-selling book in 1995 by Daniel Goleman called Emotional Intelligence. This book provided us with many examples of the effects that our emotions can have on our rational brain. The book begins with the story of Gary and Mary Jean Chauncey, who were in an Amtrak train that crashed into a river after a barge hit and weakened a railroad bridge in Louisiana. Gary and Mary Jean were trapped in their compartment as they tried desperately to save their eleven year-old wheelchair ridden daughter ...

2732. Have You Been Pruned?

John 15:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

Writer Henry Mitchell visited a region in California that is home to some of the world’s finest vineyards. His eye was caught by rows of vines that had just been pruned. It was depressing. All that was left of the once beautiful grapevines were rows of ugly-looking stumps and a few “runners” stretching from each of those stumps. “It looks disastrous,” Mitchell remarked to his guide. “Don’t worry, the guide replied. “We do that for three years to every vine [we cut it back] before it’s allowed to [yield] ...

2733. A Divided Family

Mark 3:20-25

Sermon

King Duncan

There is a wonderful time-honored story that many of you will remember, but I don’t think you’ll mind hearing it again. Some of our young people may not be familiar with it. It’s truly a golden oldie. It’s about a country preacher who announced that on the following Sunday he would preach on the story of Noah and the Ark. He gave the scriptural reference for the congregation to read ahead of time. However, a couple of mischievous boys in the church noticed something interesting about the placement of the ...

2734. Family Ties and Good-byes

Mark 3:31-35

Sermon

Ron Lavin

Jesus experienced family ties and good-byes. So do we. According to Mark 3:20-35, Jesus was about to be confronted by his frustrated and conflicted family as crowds gathered around him to hear his stories, behold his miracles, and observe with great interest the conflicts he had with religious leaders from Jerusalem. Conflict. But there were also good, tender, and beautiful joys in Jesus' family. Look at the tenderness at the time of his birth. Good-byes and ties. All families have stress, as well as ...

2735. Jesus' No-Nonsense Guide to Discipleship

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

April Yamasaki

Where's Waldo? In this series of children's books by Martin Handford, Waldo is a cartoon-like young man wearing a bright red and white striped shirt and a matching cap. On each set of facing pages, Waldo appears in different colorful situations, and each time, children are asked to find him. Sometimes there are other characters wearing caps, or other objects that might be striped red and white designed to fool young readers, but that's all part of the fun of finding Waldo. In this part of Mark's gospel, if ...

2736. When Your Life Is Put On Hold

Mark 5:21-43

Sermon

King Duncan

An intriguing story appeared sometime back in USA Today. It seems that a Miss Candy Postlethwaite received a sizeable check from the Veteran’s Administration. That’s not the strange part. The strange part is that the check was not made out to her, nor did she know the person to whom the check was made out, nor had she ever been in the military. She put an envelope containing the check back outside for the postman to pick up on his next round. Five days later she got it back in a different envelope. She ...

2737. Four Magic Words

Psalm 126:1-6, Psalm 145:2-11

Sermon

King Duncan

Glenn Van Ekeren tells an old legend about a servant whose master died and left him a bag full of blessings. The master left a message for the servant telling him that the bag would always be full as long as he remembered four magic words. The servant went out and immediately began using the blessings which filled the bag. Soon the bag was almost empty. The servant recalled the words of his master that the bag would always be full as long as he remembered the four magic words. Unfortunately, the servant ...

2738. Trusting the Other Side

Luke 5:1-11

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

Since her death, Maya Angelou has been greatly celebrated around the world and that is an appropriate response in my mind. Maya was a poet, a prophet, a celebrity, and a grand dame. She was also a lifelong follower of Jesus. Raised in Stamps, Arkansas, by her grandmother, Maya spent much of her childhood within the warm embrace of a small African Methodist Episcopal Church — at least six hours each Sunday according to her own writing. In the last half of her life, she lived in Winston Salem, North Carolina ...

2739. A Remedy for Rejection

Luke 4:22-30

Sermon

King Duncan

Have you ever been rejected? Have you ever had a door shut in your face? Welcome to the real world. Parents spend years grooming their children for success. Perhaps it would be more profitable to train our children to handle failure and rejection because everyone faces these unhappy experiences sooner or later. Go to Google. Type in the words “famous rejections.” If you do, you will learn that J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series of novels, was rejected by 12 different publishers before her work ...

2740. A GPS for Your Life

Luke 6:27-38

Sermon

King Duncan

If I were to ask you your philosophy of life, could you tell it to me? Most of us don’t think about our life philosophy, the operating set of beliefs that drives our worldview. Our philosophy of life comes out of us in subtle ways: the attitude we wake up with in the morning, how we treat other people, how we approach a new situation, the things we spend our time, energy and money on. It’s worth taking a moment to examine our life philosophy because, in many ways, it creates our legacy. It’s like a GPS for ...

2741. Handicap's Triumphs

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

John Bartel was a healthy, athletic, twenty-year-old young man who was gradually taking full charge of the family dairy farm with all its multiple duties. It was a beautiful spring day in the lusciously green Fraser Valley, British Columbia. The grass was just right for filling the huge silos for winter feed. John was busily unloading the heavy fodder into the silage cutter and blower when a large bunch momentarily stopped the conveyer belt. By sheer habit, John stepped on the guilty bunch to get it moving ...

2742. A Bridge Between Two Worlds

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

If you ever read stories or watch movies about spies and espionage, then you know that spies live in constant tension of being found out. Because spies are hiding their true identity and purpose, even the tiniest false move could blow their cover and put them in danger. That kind of premise guarantees that a spy story or movie will be filled with tension and excitement. One of the most famous true spies of modern times was a Spanish man by the name of Juan Pujol Garcia. At the start of World War II, Garcia ...

2743. The Difference between Belief and Faith

Luke 17:1-10

Illustration

King Duncan

Can you picture this scene? We are sitting on bleachers under the big top having a wonderful time laughing at the clowns, watching lions and tigers jump at the crack of a whip, and gazing in awe as the acrobats perform. We are caught up in the excitement of the circus and join in with the crowd in thunderous applause after each act. The acrobats perform high above us in what seems to us as death-defying feats. Each feat seems greater than the previous one. "Ahhs" can be heard in unison after each act. ...

2744. Recognizing Who God Is

Job 42:7-17

Sermon

King Duncan

Series on the Book of Job, #4 Suggested video clip: "Rudy" This is the last sermon in our series on Job. Maybe you are relieved, as I am relieved. This is heavy stuff. We ended last week's service by pondering the question: What has Job learned from his encounter with the Almighty God? For an answer, I want to turn to the movie Rudy. Rudy is based on the true story of a young man named Rudy Ruettiger whose only goal in life was to play football for Notre Dame. Rudy is small and he lacks athletic ability. ...

2745. The True Story Wins

Matthew 28:11-15

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Prop: a stone or rock, some scissors, and paper; a basket of stones or rocks that can be handed out Participation: During the sermon, all can participate using the hand motions of “rock, paper, scissors” Are you a liar? That might be a question asked of you if you live in the mountains of West Virginia, where the art of storytelling is called “lying.” It is every artist’s desire to become a “great liar.” To be a great “liar” meant that you could not only write a crafty short story, but you could “tell” the ...

2746. Scandal

Matthew 16:21-28, Matthew 17:14-23, Matthew 20:17-19, Matthew 26:1-5

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Prop (Animation): large mouse trap with “prop” piece; stone or rock; basket of river rocks People I know are hooked to two tv shows right now. One they admit right away: “Empire.” The other is more a “guilty pleasure” they admit to only when pressed: “Scandal.” Back for its fifth season, “Scandal” is the story of a president’s mistress. A married US President, Fitzgerald Grant, has fallen in love and is having an affair with crisis management professional, Olivia Pope. While her job is usually to “handle” ...

2747. Revised and Revisioned

John 8:48-59, John 9:1-12, John 9:13-34, John 9:35-41, John 10:1-21

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Prop: Siri (phone or ipad) [Hold up the phone.] This….is Siri. Anyone have one of these? Talk to her, and she answers you! [Demonstrate in any way you wish.] Siri….what is the capital of Nevada? …….Siri….what will the weather be like tomorrow? But ask her this…. Siri….do you love me? What happens? She’s giving you a song! [A youtube appears! Siri doesn’t understand the question, because Siri is missing that human element of emotion.] Siri doesn’t understand the question. Siri is the creation of our minds ...

2748. What Kind of Sheep Are You?

Luke 2:1-7, Luke 2:8-20, Ezekiel 34:1-31

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant, for I do not forget your commandments. (Psalm 119) Animation: “What Kind of Sheep Are You” Online Test: http://selectsmart.com/FREE/select.php?client=baaa Animation: Live Lamb (you can rent a lamb at your neighborhood 4H club or a nearby farm) Animation: Shepherd’s staff (any large natural wood staff will do) We love the Christmas story for its simplicity. Simple shepherds, simple sheep, simple message, simple mission. It all seems so simple. Hence ...

2749. Bittersweet

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Animation: Gold, Frankincense, Myrrh / Anointing Oil – Frankincense and Myrrh Animation: youtube of the Seinfeld clip on re-gifting The term “re-gifting” was coined by Jerry Seinfeld in an episode of the comedy show Seinfeld in 1995 called “The Label Maker.” Elaine is horrified to discover that Jerry has received a gift (a label maker) from someone. But it’s the same “label maker” that she originally gave to the guy who gifted Jerry. They uncovered a “re-gifter!” Anyone remember Seinfeld? [Pause to see how ...

2750. Lost

Luke 15:1-7, Luke 15:8-10, Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

Lori Wagner

[Possible props may include a coin, a sheep, or you may want to end with a witness to one who has gone through a “wrong turn” and has “re-turned” to God.] When I was young, there wasn’t a day that went by that the loudspeaker in the department store or the mall wouldn’t inevitably blare out the name of some lost child, tearfully waiting at customer service for his or her mother to find and rescue him or her. The blaring loudspeaker was every parent’s relief. If it was their child, their frantic searching ...

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