Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 2751 to 2775 of 4972 results

2751. The Trust Fall

Ephesians 1:13

Children's Sermon

Tim Carpenter

... ) I know it does. It was scary for me. Well, after we fell backwards and were caught, we would get a stamp on our hands to remind us of what we had just accomplished. Would anyone like to do the trust fall? Choose a child whom you can easily stop from falling. Instead of climbing a tree, I just want you to stand and fall backwards. I promise I will not let you fall to the ground. Coax the child into falling backwards. Catch him/her almost immediately. If you have steps at the altar, have the child stand ...

2752. Scene 2 - Joseph's Quandary

Drama

Nancy Steltz

... .) Narrator: According to Matthew, chapter 1, verses 22 and 23, "All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by theprophet: 'Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel' (which means, God with us)." (Joseph and Angel begin to leave, stop and stare at Isaiah as he speaks) Isaiah (Standing up and shouting out): That's right! I am the prophet Matthew wrote about! Stage Manager (Pulling Isaiah back to his seat): Shhh! Please sit down and be quiet!

2753. Scene 7 - The Wise Men

Drama

Nancy Steltz

... I too, may go and worship him. (The Magi bow and leave. Herod and his court leave. Mary and Joseph take their places at the manger, center stage.) Meichior: The star is still guiding us. (Magi walk slowly toward center stage.) Balthazah: It seems to have stopped! (Magi bow down at manger. Melchior hands gold to Mary.) Mary: Gold, a gift meant for a king. (Caspar gives frankincense to Joseph.) Joseph (After a subtle sniff): It has a very strong odor; I recall the scent of frankincense at the temple. This is ...

2754. Here Comes The King

Luke 19:28-44

Sermon

George Bass

... fate." "But then," Grossman describes, "a boy burst through the doorway of the plane, a boy of five or six, shaved head, very black, a large wooden flute in his hand. Standing at the head of the ramp, he began to play. For a moment, all activity stopped, a few photographers even forgot their flashbulbs. He stood and played in earnest, with intent. Perhaps it was a shepherd's tune he had played in his village, with his flock. Perhaps it was a melody he had prepared for the moment. With his song, one live ...

2755. Dealing with the Devil

Matthew 4:1-11

Sermon

Johnny Dean

... do you? The last time I saw ‘The Devil’ was in the funny papers! Wake up and smell the coffee, Johnny! It’s 1999, not 1899! You’d better wise up, friend." Maybe many of you would agree with that philosophy. A lot of folks have stopped believing that there is a being – Satan, the Devil, Beelzebub, whatever name you choose – who is the very personification of evil in the world. Instead the devil has been transformed into a comic-strip character, to be taken lightly, to be laughed at, a creation of ...

2756. Oh Me of Little Faith

Matthew 14:22-36

Sermon

Johnny Dean

... the salt water on his lips, feeling the strength of the wind pushing at his back, but fearing nothing. Jesus knows the danger, but he comes to join his disciples, to accompany us through the storm and save us from the waves. Does this mean that the storm will stop if we keep our focus on Jesus? Maybe not. The storm may continue, sometimes for what might seem like a long time. But through the spray and the splash of the waves, Jesus will be there, calling out to us, "Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid ...

2757. Just Who Do You Think You Are?

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

Johnny Dean

... I’ll be honest with you. Every time I read this passage of scripture, the hair on the back of my neck begins to prickle! This is so out of character for Jesus, so harsh and empty of compassion. It reminds me of the story of the church member who stopped by to visit his pastor on a hot summer afternoon and found the minister drinking a cold beer on the patio. He was shocked, and he said so. The pastor replied that he couldn’t understand what the problem was. "Jesus drank wine, you know," he said in his ...

2758. The Pop Quiz

Matthew 16:13-20

Sermon

Johnny Dean

... things about you. Some people say you’re the ghost of John the Baptist, and some even say that you’re the reincarnation of Elijah himself, the greatest prophet in our history. That’s pretty high praise, isn’t it, Lord?" But Jesus didn’t stop there. He wanted to know more. And so he asked this group of close friends, these who knew him better than anyone else, "Okay, now tell me who YOU think I am." An awkward silence followed his question, as the disciples exchanged nervous glances, looked down ...

2759. God's Bag of Cookies

Matthew 21:33-46

Sermon

Johnny Dean

... we’d like them to end, where we’re forced to trust a God who sometimes doesn’t deal with the world the way we think the world ought to be handled. Listen to a modern parable: One afternoon a church office assistant took a well deserved coffee break. She stopped by the vending machine and bought a bag of cookies, which she slipped into her purse. The she waited in line for a cup of coffee. After she got her coffee, she found a vacant chair at a table in the break room and sat down to enjoy these few ...

2760. The Scariest Sound in the World

Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon

Johnny Dean

... about anything. But there always comes that time when there is no more time. You come around the curve and a truck has crossed the center line and there’s no time. The little beeper on the monitor is one solid tone, the sine wave goes flat, the heart stops, we gasp for one last breath, life flashes in an instant before our eyes, and time runs out. It’s over. The door is shut. Does that sound morbid? Or does it just sound uncomfortably true? I remember reading a book by one of favorite authors, the late ...

2761. Lent

Sermon

Betty Lynn Schwab

... . (Person holding pitcher of water pours dramatically into font or large dish and places pitcher in the focal area.) Reader 2: Let us pray. All: God of the rains, God of our teardrops, God of baptismal fonts everywhere, we know you call to us. We know we need to stop and pay attention to you. When water next splashes in our font, when raindrops fall upon our head, when a tear slips down our cheeks, help us turn to you and follow you as the women did. Help us draw strength from you as Jesus did. Help us see ...

2762. The Lantern

John 18:3

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

... with swords drawn and shields raised to face an unarmed Jesus and eleven other men who had just been wakened by the noise. One of the friends of Jesus jumped to his feet, grabbed a soldier's sword and cut off the ear of one of the soldiers. But Jesus stopped His disciple's attack and healed the soldier's ear. Then Jesus asked the soldiers whom they were looking for, and they replied, "Jesus of Nazareth." He answered, "I am He." It was hard to see in the black night, but it was not hard to hear. They could ...

2763. Some Assembly Required

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

Johnny Dean

... , "Will this be the day?" He hangs out in the temple every day, checking out the new babies being brought in by their parents, looking for that one special infant who will deliver the children of Israel. Perhaps many people walking the streets of Jerusalem that day stopped to see the new baby, to coo at him and tell his parents how cute he was. Babies are so warm and appealing, so unassuming, so vulnerable. Babies don’t challenge us, they only depend upon us and respond to our love. It’s easy to love ...

2764. That All-Pervasive Snake

Genesis 2:4-25, Genesis 3:1-24

Sermon

Joann Hary

... have gone out in the street! (Holding up a fake snake) I had bought this snake for our first Lenten symbol the other day when I went into town to do some hospital calls. My husband thought the snake as a symbol for Lent was a good idea, so he stopped yesterday at one of the department stores to get one for his two churches. He didn't find any in the toy aisle, so he was going to look at the fishing supplies to see if there would be anything there that would work. As he came up to that ...

2765. Sacrifice - Hannah and Mary, the Mother of Christ

Luke 2:41-52

Drama

Martha L. Leach

... never forget when he was 12 years old. We took him to the temple in Jerusalem. When it was time to return to our home in Nazareth, Jesus was not with us, but we assumed he was in the crowd somewhere. After a day's journey when we stopped to rest for the night, we realized he was not with us. Hannah: How worried you must have been! Mary: Yes! Joseph and I returned to Jerusalem, and after much searching, we found him in the temple listening to the teachers and asking them questions. They were astounded that ...

2766. Oh, Lord, It's Hard To Be Humble

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

Johnny Dean

... to the same temple for the same reason: to pray. And yet they experienced such different results, because their approach to prayer was so different. The Pharisee used prayer as a means of getting public recognition, not to seek fellowship with God. In fact, the Pharisee stops just short of congratulating God on what a great job God did in creating him! He sets himself apart, not just from the tax collector, but from all other men! Every time I read this parable, that old song comes to mind, "Oh, Lord, it ...

2767. When You Least Expect It...

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Johnny Dean

... right there with us through it all. The Emmaus story is the story of a God who will not leave us alone, even when we are hurt and disappointed, even when it seems that the brightest and best in life has been destroyed. The death of Jesus could no more stop God from loving us than the night can keep the sun from coming up in the morning. Every time the love of God is alive in us, Jesus is alive in us. And God’s love cannot be destroyed by all the cruelty and hate and prejudice in the world ...

2768. The Women

John 20:1-9

Drama

William Grimbol

... : I've heard about his miracles too, and from some very respectable people. NANCY: Respectable? What does that mean - that they only see ghosts once in a while, or that they believe the world will end fairly soon, not tomorrow? DIANE: Would you both stop being so pompous! CAROL: By respectable, I mean people of intelligence, people of common sense, people whose judgment I value. SHIRLEE: How can you two fall for this stuff? Seriously, how many times have we had some charlatan miracle worker come here and do ...

2769. The Men

Drama

William Grimbol

... That is not what he is saying. BILL: Whether you want to hear it or not, he is. REED: What he is saying ... all the man is trying to say ... is that we Jews have become smug, self-centered, self-righteous and totally consumed in our lives. We have stopped caring about peace, justice or caring for the poor. ARNOLD: I give plenty to the poor. JOHN: So do I. BILL: Personally, I'm sick and tired of working hard for what I have, while they sit and live off of us. ARNOLD: Parasites. JOHN: Totally. REED: See? BILL ...

2770. The Youth

Drama

William Grimbol

... is hard to not get caught up in all the pleasure stuff ... you know what I mean? JOLIE: Do I ever. It is tough. Hard to do. SUE: He sure made it sound possible, though. JOLIE: One thing I really agree with him on is that if we'd all stop worrying so much about what we eat, when and how we pray, if we work on the Sabbath, or all that cleaning stuff ... heck, then we'd have the time to start worrying about people. How can you have enough time to try and help the needy, for example, if ...

2771. Life is Messy

John 1:29-34

Sermon

Johnny Dean

... concept, does it? And even though the disciples readily and willingly followed Jesus, they also would later struggle to understand what death and blood and a cross have to do with hope and salvation. Jesus is our Passover Lamb. His blood will be spilled, and we won’t stop with just smearing it on our doorpost. Oh, no! We have to get IMMERSED in it, all the while singing, "What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus." Or at least we USED to sing that. Most of the "blood" hymns have been taken ...

2772. Which Jesus Do You See?

John 12:20-36

Sermon

Brett Blair

... , by an act of grace and compassion, which spared his life. And that is the story foretold in the life of Jesus of Nazareth. The God of Jesus and the God of that young boy Isaac are one in the same God but the difference is God did not stop that second sacrifice! Why? Because it wasn't some young innocent boy being led to the slaughter; It was His young boy, Rabbi, who he himself sacrificed, so no young boys or girls would ever again have to be sacrificed by this world of disobedience and sin. And here ...

2773. Easter is a Terrible Thing to Waste

Acts 1:1-11, Acts 1:12-26

Sermon

Johnny Dean

... the worship service, a dear, sweet lady went back into the sanctuary after church. "I have an aunt who is in a nursing home," she said, "so if you don’t mind, I’d like to take my lily to her. I’ll just pick one out." Before anyone could stop her, she took one of the Easter lilies out of the window next to where she was standing. And in a voice loud enough to be heard in the farthest reaches of the church parking lot, she exclaimed with horror and dismay, "Oh, my God! It’s PLASTIC!" People rushed ...

2774. We Don't Know How To Pray

Romans 8:18-27

Sermon

Johnny Dean

... has power and control over so many things – but not everything. No matter how wealthy, how politically powerful, how intelligent, or how hardworking we might be, there are just some things in life that are beyond our control. Now, that doesn’t stop us from trying to control everything. And some of our efforts to control the uncontrollable are nigh onto ridiculous. Many folks resort to some form of superstition, such as good luck charms, psychic friends networks (please, don’t get me started!), potions ...

2775. A Visit With An Old Friend

Psalm 23:1-6

Sermon

Johnny Dean

... the students who lost their lives in that terrible tragedy in Colorado and the wounded whose lives will never again be the same, my prayer for little Ashley and her parents, is simply this: May goodness and mercy pursue you all the days of your life. But now, especially now, stop and let them catch up with you and wash over you and heal you as only God can do. AMEN

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