Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 2751 to 2775 of 4884 results

2751. Three Modern Meanings of the Ancient Christmas Story

Luke 2:8-20, Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... --even if he were a little clumsy. She was able to convince the children that Barry could not do any real damage by playing the innkeeper of Bethlehem. He just opened and closed a door and spoke one short line. Barry made it perfectly through all the rehearsals, including the dress rehearsal. Then, on the night when mothers, fathers, friends, strangers, and the whole community sat in hushed silence, reliving the Christmas story, Barry had his chance to "redeem" himself with a flawless performance. He opened ...

2752. When Life Seems to Be Going in the Wrong Direction

Philippians 1:1-11

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... bad weather on an errand of mercy without his warm clothing. The young man says, "You will catch your death of cold," and the old priest smiling replies, "When I die, it will not be of a cold, but it will be from having lived." (3) That captures perfectly the spirit of determination that we need as we labor, laugh, love and live for our Lord in the 1990''s. I have been amazed at the various people who have been imprisoned in history and how they used their experiences. Adolph Hitler used his time in prison ...

2753. Worry Wart or Winning Warrior

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... hard to let loose. It is a power that controls our lives. I like the story told of a small lad who mistakenly killed his grandfather''s favorite bird with a slingshot. Fearing their response, he tried to find the most unthinkable hiding place. He thought he had found the perfect place; however, his sneaky little sister saw his every move. She now had power over him. He was forced to do all of her chores so that she would not tell what he had done. Every time he was just about to tell her to go jump in the ...

2754. New Wine in New Wineskins

Mark 2:18-22

Sermon

Paul E. Flesner

... come to church because they have their own personal relationship with God. That's not what I read in the Bible. The new wineskin of God's new kind of power is the body of Christ, the Church. I realize that the Church has not been a perfect institution over the centuries. I realize that we still have debates over dogma. I realize that we still use humanly contrived notions to avoid sitting with each other at our Lord's table of grace. But the scriptural reality remains: God comes to us through the community ...

2755. Life: From the Inside Out

Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... Babel, the parables and the life of Christ all have truths that evade the literal nets of the historically wise. They are the ageless formulary in concrete terms of unending human experience. In all of them the eternal and historical meet and fulfill each other in such perfection that the truth is neither abstract nor merely local. It becomes rooted in life, but not limited by time or space. To be on the outside of such things, to be unable to use them, is indeed to be poor in spiritual health, for in them ...

2756. A Friend in High Places

Luke 24:50-53

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... of our adoration. Following Jesus' ascension, Luke tells us that his disciples "returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually in the temple blessing God" (Luke 24:52). To gather regularly for public worship to sing our praises to God makes perfect sense, because if we fail to worship God here, we will worship at some other altar. Should we do that, it is guaranteed that eventually we will succumb to the most profound of disappointments. We are, by our very nature, worshiping people. And ...

2757. Presented to the Lord

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

King Duncan

... , “People think I have a bad life. Look at my life compared to this kid’s. I have a beautiful family who loves me. Everybody has struggles. My struggles are just more apparent.” (1) Isn’t that amazing? You and I see people every day with perfectly good bodies, healthy in every way, who are mired in unhappiness. And then we run into a Kyle Maynard with his stunted arms and misshapen hands and feet, and he is so positive. How does that happen? Obviously it helps to have people who love you and ...

2758. With a Little Help from My Friends

Mark 2:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... . Dr. Murray performed the first successful human organ transplant operation on December 23, 1954. Dr. Murray devoted himself to unlocking the secrets of successful organ transplantation after serving as an Army surgeon in World War II. In addition to perfecting organ transplantation techniques, Dr. Murray has also spent part of his career performing plastic surgery on those with facial deformities. He has traveled around the world, offering his services as a plastic surgeon in some of the poorest nations ...

2759. Bearing the Cross

Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

King Duncan

... be merry and ignore our responsibilities if there is no Gospel, no good news from God? There are many people who live only for themselves and the people they love. Maybe you’re one of them. These are not evil people. Some of them have perfect attendance in Sunday School and church. They’re not bad people, only selfish people. Some of them are quite attractive. They live in beautiful homes. They drive nice cars. They are well educated. They’ve never knowingly broken a law. The only problem with them ...

2760. Things That Make Jesus Angry

John 2:12-25

Sermon

King Duncan

... . All Jesus cares about is people. Fortunately, that includes you and me. We’re not worthy of it, but it includes us. That’s the message of the cross. Our nation was transfixed a couple of years ago when cultural icon Martha Stewart went on trial. The perfect homemaker was going to make a jail cell her new home. Pastor Mike Neifert, in a sermon on the web, drew a powerful parallel to the life of Christ from Martha Stewart’s experience. He noted that all the thousands of dollars Martha Stewart spent on ...

2761. Things That Make Jesus Angry

John 2:12-25

Drama

Angela Akers

... ’re going to try a new twist on a classic recipe, Cooking Up Some Trouble in Your Church. Is your prep table ready? Good, then let’s begin. (Hold up a platter with a loaf of bread on it) As always on this show, we start with a perfectly good, healthy piece of Church. Some of you ask, ‘How can you tell if a Church is really healthy?’ Well, even a beginning cook can answer that question. A healthy church looks like Jesus Christ. You know, full of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, yadda ...

2762. Have You Gone Far Enough?

Mark 8:27-30

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... a book or held a political office. He never married or had a family or traveled more than 200 miles from the place of his birth. Yet his fame grows instead of diminishing with the years. Of him Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "Jesus is the most perfect of all men that have yet appeared." Islam's Koran concludes that Jesus is "... the greatest above all in this world and in the world to come." Jewish writer Shalom Ash says, "Jesus Christ is the outstanding personality of all time." Historian William Lecky concedes ...

2763. Maximum Marriage

Mark 10:1-12

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... to build a win-win situation, an obligation to soothe, to say, "I've been wrong, forgive me." Not having always to have one's way, but with prayer and so much more! In the mountains of Georgia there is a waterfall called AnnaRubyFalls. It is a perfect example of what becoming one in marriage is like. Two separate mountain streams lap and gurgle down a mountain and plummet separately, one 150 feet, the other 300 feet, in a dazzling display of watery lace and rainbow colors. At the base of the mountain both ...

2764. In the Hot Seat

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

Cathy A. Ammlung

... same thing, only to find themselves choking when the cameras zoomed into their sweaty faces. "It's a lot different when you're in the Hot Seat and not sitting in front of your television," one man said ruefully as he agonized between two answers that were perfectly obvious to everyone else. We need to remember that the gospel doesn't allow us to be uninvolved spectators to its drama and action. No, fast finger or slow, from the moment of our baptism, we were drawn right into a lifelong Hot Seat, with not ...

2765. The Making of a Saint

John 11:38-44

Sermon

Cathy A. Ammlung

... and strengthening us. Like Lazarus, we live with the worst part of death behind us. Death will never have the last word over any who have been joined to Christ Jesus' death and resurrection. Ultimately, that's what "being a saint" is all about -- not perfect, sinless, goody-two shoes existences, but lives bound to the life of Jesus Christ and lived in the messy, sometimes smelly realities of our sinful and broken world. When God goes about making us his saints, he doesn't make us immune from grief. Instead ...

2766. The Dangerous Truth

John 18:28-40

Sermon

Cathy A. Ammlung

... unlike any other. He doesn't act like a regular king! Most kings make laws and decrees, fight wars, make treaties, order ordinary people around, and act as the kingdom's ultimate judge, jury, and executioner. But according to John's Gospel, what Jesus does is reveal the perfect light, utter love, and endless gracious life of God to people who are blind, bound, and dead in the darkness of sin. And he offers us a way to enjoy all this with him forever. That's it. He doesn't judge, though he has the right. He ...

2767. What Goes on When He Comes in?

Acts 19:1-22

Sermon

Fredrick R. Harm

... weights 40,000 pounds, yet its vast weight can be moved about by the pressure of one's little finger. How is this possible? Because that mass of glass and steel is poised on its center of gravity, that spot where all 40,000 pounds are in perfect balance. Dear friend, Jesus is the center of gravity for the burdened life of humankind. In him the impossible becomes possible. Because of him life, at last, has meaning and purpose. And the Holy Spirit enables each of us to embark on the adventure of proving to ...

2768. Congratulations, You've Made the Team

1 Corinthians 9:1-27

Sermon

Fredrick R. Harm

... alert. "But what of ourselves? With all these witnesses to faith around us like a cloud ... let us run" (v. 1). James Moffatt said that this section of scripture is one of the most moving passages of the New Testament, and in it we find a well-nigh-perfect summary of the Christian life. Here we see the Christian's inspiration as he enters life's race. We are asked to remember the cloud of witnesses who have run the race before us. These dear ones are witnesses in a two-fold sense, for they bear witness ...

2769. Easy to Say, Hard to Do

1 John 4:7-21

Sermon

Paul E. Robinson

... in study, fellowship, and service in the church, which enabled the love of God and the love of God through persons, to enable that man to love himself. And then everything was different. The speaker concluded this way: "I'll bet that the church he was in was not perfect. But the love which that man came to know was." Way back in 1930 Dorothy Day said these words: ... it is love that will burn out the sins and hatreds that sadden us. It is love that will make us want to do great things for each other. No ...

2770. Grace in the Midst of Hopelessness

Romans 8:18-27

Sermon

Glenn McDonald

... you were and where you lived, and would send someone to investigate." Paul says that when we don't know how to pray -- when we're fumbling for the right words, or are simply crying out our hearts to God -- the Spirit within us is interpreting everything perfectly. Help is on the way. God knows our address and God knows who we are. Ann Lamott, who has written with searing honesty about her battle to survive alcoholism, reveals that she has two favorite prayers. Both are six words in length: "Help me, help me ...

2771. Grace in the Midst of Weakness

2 Corinthians 4:1-18

Sermon

Glenn McDonald

... Christians gather to ordain a woman or a man to ministry with a so-called capital "M" or pray for God's blessing on the various lower-case "m" ministries that are carried out by every member of the Body, they aren't declaring that perfect servants have finally been identified, trained, and released. A congregation is instead acknowledging the grace of God, who is pleased to work in and through our weaknesses. What is this awesome treasure in jars of clay? At least three descriptions of it emerge from our ...

2772. Grace in the Midst of Suffering

2 Corinthians 4:1-18

Sermon

Glenn McDonald

... official position on happiness? From the perspective of those who follow Jesus, there is no guarantee of happiness in this world. Period. "Happy" comes from the English word "hap," which means "chance." It's related to the word "happening." This makes perfect sense: "Happiness" is a momentary and unpredictable sense of well-being that comes and goes, depending on what is happening to us at a particular moment. People are happy in relationship to their circumstances. Second Corinthians is one of those books ...

2773. Grace in the Midst of Unanswered Prayer

2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Sermon

Glenn McDonald

... desired." God doesn't always give us what we ask. But God unfailingly provides us with what we need. "You want power, Paul? Power to take away your greatest discomfort? Here's my grace instead. And my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect -- is fully received and fully known -- when you are at your worst." We don't need an instant "out" from every problem. Much of what is vital to our progress as disciples comes about only through what pushes us, pinches us, even crushes us. But isn't ...

2774. Don't Forget What You Look Like

James 1:19-27

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... Egypt to replace the two families. But things did not go at all well. The new bakers were unable to make the Temple loaves stay fresh all week, like the showbread of Garmu; and the incense of the Alexandrians did not send its smoke up in a perfectly straight line like the Abtinos incense. So the Temple heads called in the heads of the two old families, but they refused to come. Finally, after their fee was doubled, they came before the Temple administrators who asked them why they did not instruct others in ...

2775. The Battle of the Wisdoms

James 3:13-18

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... were given an appointment with the Associate Dean of the School of Engineering. After a period of question and answer exchange between the Dean and the student, the parent finally asked a question. "What is the largest major in this university?" With perfect candor, the Dean replied, "In the fall we have the highest number of majors -- engineering. In the spring, business undecided has the highest number of majors." He explained that new, eager, and bright students enter the School of Engineering in the ...

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