Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 2726 to 2750 of 4972 results

2726. Blessed To Be A Blessing

Genesis 12:1-8

Sermon

Justin Tull

... share?” Would you rather hear the promises of our text to us, the promises of blessings and greatness, and forget the promises made to all of creation? But our text does not end with a blessing for the Hebrews or his chosen people. It does not stop with a national blessing but reaches its rightful conclusion only with an international blessing. Today we desperately need a “new world order.” By that I do not mean a political structure to maintain peace, as important as that is. What we need is a new ...

2727. Stairways Of Heaven

Genesis 28:10-22

Sermon

Justin Tull

... apparently is ready to eliminate his sibling rival forever. So when Jacob lies down to take his rest, it is not after he has attended vespers or said his prayers -- except maybe prayers for protection. Jacob is little more than a fugitive on the run, stopping to get enough sleep to continue his journey. Jacob pauses for sleep, but what he receives will be far more refreshing, far more empowering, far more advantageous than a restful slumber. He receives an encounter with God: a vision of a ladder or “ramp ...

2728. Stairways Of Heaven

Genesis 32:22-32

Sermon

Justin Tull

... Uncle?” What if he had “thrown in the towel” before daybreak? Would God have been forced to go to “Plan B?” We don’t know what would have happened had Jacob given up, but we do know about ourselves. We all know times when we have stopped short in our struggle, when we’ve had our fill of struggling and quit before the payoff. We all know the empty feeling that comes when we have experienced the pain without receiving the payoff. But that is as tragic as going through a domestic fight, getting ...

2729. Perfect Strangers

Exodus 1:1-22

Sermon

Justin Tull

... those who heighten our anxiety or fears? Today we live among many strangers. And if you are like me, you are less in the habit of welcoming the stranger now than you once were. There was a time when I would not pass a moving van on my street without stopping. But now movers come and go and I not only fail to greet the new family moving in; at times I have failed to be acquainted with the family who is moving out. How about you? Do you welcome the stranger? Do you watch along the shores of your River ...

2730. Giving

Mark 12:41-44

Sermon

Brett Blair

... fully human. Let me ask you this. If there was a dog walking down the street, healthy coat, obviously in good shape, and he had a bone in his mouth, and that dog passed a flee bitten mutt that was near starvation, do you think that the healthy dog would stop and drop his bone in front of the sick dog? Oh, no. He would clinch his bone that much tighter in his teeth as he passed by. That is the nature of animals. Only man knows how to be a giver. Only man can know that God is pleased when ...

2731. Thanksgiving

Ephesians 1:1

Sermon

Brett Blair

... Thanksgiving this year it would be Job. Yet, in the midst of all of this immeasurable suffering the voice of God comes to Job and says to him a very interesting statement. We read it in the 37th chapter the 14th verse. God says to Job: “Hear this O Job. Stop and consider the wondrous works of God." From all outward circumstances it seems as though Job has nothing at all to be thankful for yet here is God coming to him in the midst of it all and saying in effect, Job, it’s time to count your blessings ...

2732. Recollections of Reuben, Uncle of a Young Bethlehem Shepherd

Matthew 2:13-18

Drama

Robert A. Morgan

... away. Maybe he doesn't even need to know that. Maybe all he needs to know is the number of babies you killed - oh, excuse me, the number of babies your men killed. Maybe that will satisfy his hunger and his fears. All right. This is what Nathanael told me. Stop me along the way if you want more, but this is what he told me. He and his boys were out in that field over there, nearest to town, with the sheep. It was night, and a cold night at that, but no wind. The sky was clear, the stars ...

2733. Charlie Used To Do That

John 6:25-59

Sermon

Robert Salzgeber

... as he began to remove the scuff marks with lots of elbow grease, "but I love these marks made by the children. Oh my, what would the kingdom be like without the energy and aliveness of kids?" On other days it would be light bulbs that Charlie would stop and take time to replace. Consider, he would, the light of Christ as he moved throughout the church with his ladder. On another day he remembered that the previous Sunday he had noticed a leaky faucet that needed new washers. As he checked out the spigot he ...

2734. The Robe

John 6:25-59

Sermon

Robert Salzgeber

... stuck into thinking that God would never desire to be close to them. The tradition finally taught them to appease God through sacrifices, offerings and rituals. This was the only way that their physical natures could get close to God. But Jesus tells the people to stop grumbling. He says that they are of his Father already, that no one can come to him unless the Father draws them to Jesus. Jesus is telling the people that they have come from the realm of God's spiritual world and so they should live ...

2735. Changing The Rules

Mark 7:1-23

Sermon

Robert Salzgeber

... the neighborhood on foot that night. And then Jimmy just happens to bring his 22-caliber pistol with him. I didn't think anything of it at first. I mean, I didn't think he would actually take it out of the holster and start taking pot shots at stop signs and street lights. I just stood there with my stupid mouth swung wide open in disbelief. I couldn't believe what Jimmy was doing and I should have taken off home then running full speed ahead. But like a dummy I just stood there and gawked dumbfounded! And ...

2736. On Your Lips

Romans 10:8-10

Children's Sermon

Tim Carpenter

... quiet for this one. Can you all close your mouths really tight? Can you balance the penny on your ... lips? Do like this. Demonstrate, and encourage the children to do it. Once they have it, begin to talk to them again. Keep balancing them. Don't stop, even though your faces are really funny right now. While you are talking to them, reach over quietly and get out the Polaroid camera, then quickly take a picture of them with their funny faces. Now instruct the children to hold tightly to their pennies, and ...

2737. You Have to Work At It

John 21:15-25

Children's Sermon

Brett Blair

... . Was that hard work? Going three times, hugging three times, and coming back? (response) Really loving people is hard work. Every day we need to tell our mom and dad and our sisters and brothers how much we care for them. Tomorrow, sometime, when you're playing with your toys, stop what you're doing and go find your mom or your dad and hug them. Will you do that? (response) Good! Let's put some work in our love. Let's Pray: Dear Lord, help us to work hard at loving one another. Amen.

2738. Finish What You Started

Luke 9:51-56

Children's Sermon

Brett Blair

... start it, join in and when you get to "G" make it the interjection not the letter of the alphabet. The idea is to interrupt the song. Make the "Gee" loud: ABCDEF Gee, I've got a really bad itch. Reach down to scratch your leg. Boy, that feels good. Stop scratching, sigh, and pause. Ahhh...Oh! I'm sorry what were we doing? (response) Oh yeah, you were teaching me the alphabet song. Let them start again. How does it go? (abcdef ...) ABCDEFGH I, I, I, I am so hungry! Are you hungry? You know what I'd like? I ...

2739. Life From Water: The Ark

Genesis 6:11-22

Sermon

Steve Swanson

... the time you were ready for your second lemonade, the lakes would already have begun to freeze from the bottom up. Heat would never reach the ice to melt it. Marine life would soon die. More and more water would be trapped in ice. The rains would stop. There would be only two temperatures everywhere on this earth: very hot and very cold. Then we all would die. Water also has more surface tension than any other liquid except mercury. "So what," you say. That's what lets spiders walk on water and what makes ...

2740. "Because I'm God"

Job 38:1--41:34

Sermon

John P. Rossing

... angry questions. "Why can't we go where we want to go? Why do we have to go in that store? Why can't we eat lunch now? Why do we always have to do what you want to do and never what we want to do?" Finally the mother stops, stoops to face her children chin-to-chin and says, "Because I'm the Mommy, that's why." That scenario reminds me of the way God responds to Job in this morning's lesson. Job has progressed from acceptance of his suffering to complaining to questioning to bitter accusations. Now ...

2741. Affecting Eternity

Romans 12:1-8

Eulogy

Richard F. Bansemer

... their life, and that singing and music flourished in this church. We began a youth choir, and we're struggling along with it. No one knows where ___________'s influence will end. Like Henry Adams said:"A teacher affects eternity; no one can tell where her influence stops." We have finished, for a moment, the first half of our duty. We have thought about ___________, and I suppose we've embarrased her a little. She would prefer, I'm sure, that we talk about her Lord. After all, it was Christ who commanded us ...

2742. Commencement

Revelation 21:1-27

Eulogy

Richard F. Bansemer

... complex than counting. Then the teacher said that we were going to learn how to subtract, and again, how to divide. We thought that this certainly must be all there is to know about numbers, and then we learned how to multiply them.Most of us stop there, but we know there is so much more. There is algebra, geometry, logarithms, calculus, computer science, and who knows what is next? Our Lord knows. He knows what is next for us after death, after learning how to count. Just like the kindergartner, we think ...

2743. Doing Love

Revelation 21:1-27

Eulogy

Richard F. Bansemer

... with reality. We move into an adult world with one another, but sometimes we leave our thoughts and feelings about God ata childish level. Today we can't do that. We are yanked away from innocence by a brutal tragedy. God couldn't fix ___________ He couldn't stop the tragedy. What are we to think about God today?As God's spokesman on this sad occasion, I want to tell you what God cannot and will not do. God cannot say "yes" to every prayer. If two opposing teams ask God for victory, obviously, God cannot ...

2744. Step Eleven - Spirituality

Mt 26:36-46 · 1 Thess 5:12-22 · Ps 25:1-15

Sermon

John A. Terry

... this week in which there was a discussion about adjusting to divorce. One woman called and voiced what is a common complaint. When she and her husband got divorced, she lost all her friends. Most people cannot bear to watch friends have such troubles, so they simply stop seeing them. We can go to God for the strength to face the troubles and to receive the knowledge of what to do, because even if we are like Peter, turning our back on our best friend, perhaps having too much to drink and escaping into sleep ...

2745. Step Five - Integrity

Jn 4:16-24 · 1 Jo 1:5-10 · Is 6:1-8

Sermon

John A. Terry

... were unknown in the country. That first night in London the boy sat on the front porch of the house and gazed in amazement at the wondrous sights of the city. As he looked down the street, he saw a man making his way toward him. The man would stop at each corner and pause beside the lamp post, and then a round globe of light would burst forth through the darkness as the man lit the lamp. As the boy watched in wonderment, the street gradually changed from darkness to a place of light. He became so excited ...

2746. Step Eight - Love

Mt 7:7-14 · 2 Cor 5:16-21 · Ps 19:7-13

Sermon

John A. Terry

... is not complete without acceptance. It may be rejected by the person to whom it is tenured, and if rejected, we have no power in this court to force it upon him." If you knew that someone was coming by this afternoon to repossess your car, you probably would not stop on the way home and pay for it to be washed. You are more likely to run it through mud puddles and drive it through potholes. If you do not feel you have been forgiven, then you will not try to clean up your act. This is a secular way ...

2747. Work and Worship

Luke 10:38-42

Children's Sermon

Brett Blair

... on Sunday morning in church? (no) It's not? What am I supposed to do? (response) You may want to continue questioning them. What else can I do in church? (response) You mean I don't have to work all the time? (response) When I come to church I can stop hold up the pot and ladle all this? I can be still and think about God and how much he loves me? (response) Application: There is a word for what you're talking about. Do you know what that word is? (response) We call it "worship." We worship God in ...

2748. Magic Prayers

Luke 11:1-13

Children's Sermon

Brett Blair

... one last thing. I've noticed something very strange about my hair. There's not as much of it as there once was and it's turning a strange color. I know it sounds strange, but it actually looks as if it's turning gray. So if you could stop that. Amen. Well, that ought to about do it! Hold up the wallet and check to see if the money has magically appeared. Continue to look through the wallet and say to yourself: What happened? (response) There's no money in here. Now address the children. What happened? Why ...

2749. The Lost Sheep

Luke 15:1-7

Children's Sermon

Brett Blair

... reminds me of a story Jesus told. He said there was this shepherd who had a hundred sheep and he lost one of them. Do you know what the shepherd did? (response) That's right. He left all his sheep and went after the lost one, and he didn't stop until he had found that lost sheep. Jesus was talking about you and me. Whenever we are lost, God will come after us and he will keep searching until he finds us. Let's Pray: Lord, you are our shepherd, and you come looking for us when we are lost ...

2750. Richie Rich

Luke 16:19-31

Children's Sermon

Brett Blair

... think they had any orange juice? (response) That's sad, isn't it? (response) Additional prop: [For churches too limited in resources to accomplish this additional prop, please skip this paragraph. Have a child enter the sanctuary in a battery-powered car and stop before the children. The child should be well dressed and wearing sunglasses and jewelry. Getting out of the car, the child will say,] "Hello, everyone! Sorry I am late for church, but I was waiting for my cell phone to charge. [Pause.] What are ...

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