Sermon and Worship Resources

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2776. Epiphany 8

Mark 2:18-22, Mark 2:13-17

Sermon Aid

Wayne H. Keller

Liturgical Color: Green Theme: Jesus Eating with "Sinners," and Jesus Questioned about Fasting. THE COMMUNITY GATHERS Alternative Idea On the last Sunday of Epiphany, begin a seven-week series on "Jesus' Seven Last Words from the Cross." Use this as a liaison between Epiphany and Lent. Then, on Maundy Thursday or Good Friday, speak on the theme, "The Seven Last Words of the Church," namely, "We've Never Done It That Way Before." This will lead in to the Easter theme, "God's Seven Last Words, or First Word ...

2777. The Season Of The Holy Spirit

John 6:25-59

Bulletin Aid

Wayne H. Keller

Theme: Jesus Continues the Bread of Life Theme; Jesus Responds to the Grumblers. Jesus talks about life; his detractors talk about Jesus. Liturgical Color: Green ADORATION Pastoral Invitation Before worship and before people enter the sanctuary, have several people, of all ages, lying in the chancel, "asleep." At the beginning of worship, have them "wake up" slowly, greet each other in slow motion, and then, with much enthusiasm, move out into the sanctuary to welcome the people to worship. Invite the ...

2778. Advent 3

John 1:1-18, John 1:19-28, Isaiah 61:1-11, Isaiah 65:17-25, 1 Thessalonians 5:12-28

Sermon Aid

E. Carver McGriff

COMMENTARY Old Testament: Isaiah 61:1-11 How dear this passage is to Christian hearts, echoed as it was from the lips of Jesus (Luke 4:17-19). These words are, in many ways, as timely today as they were to those disappointed people returning to Israel from their long exile. Excited, they were filled with high expectations when they began to arrive. But social and political disappointments quickly followed. Bone-weary, discouraged, deprived of hope, they trudged in thousands to their fields, probably ...

2779. Advent 4

Luke 1:26-38, Romans 16:1-27, 2 Samuel 7:1-17

Sermon Aid

E. Carver McGriff

COMMENTARY Old Testament: 2 Samuel 7:1-16 If our purpose here were teaching rather than preaching, we could spin a wonderful tale of the rise of King David, and of his transformation of the Israelites. We could relate how David brought the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem, which was to become known as the city of David, and how David wished to build a splendid tabernacle to house the ark. But more conservative voices prevailed for the time being, and David seems to have conceded for the time. The prophet ...

2780. Meaning of Advent

Sermon Aid

E. Carver McGriff

The word "Advent" comes from the Latin word adventus, meaning arrival. The season begins on the Sunday nearest November 30th (Saint Andrew's Day). Most of us grew up loving this season and, probably, thinking of it as "the Christmas season." Now that we're preachers, we're more sophisticated than that, but it's good to remember that all of our people, especially the children, are starting to build a level of excitement which will culminate on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. It's also apparent to all who ...

2781. Gifts of Lent V: A Soldier Gives His Wine

Matthew 27:45-56

Drama

Donald Neidigk

Dramatic Monologue My name is Saint Longinus. The ancient traditions of the church say I was martyred in the service of Jesus. I was just Longinus then. You'll remember me for a number of things I did on that Friday of Holy Week: commanding the execution squad, giving Jesus a drink of cheap wine as he hung on the cross dying, confessing that he was the Son of God, and finally piercing him with my lance to ensure that he was dead. And you wonder why I'm called Saint Longinus? I understand your confusion. I ...

2782. Gifts of Lent VI: The Thief Who Gave Nothing

Luke 23:26-43

Drama

Donald Neidigk

Dramatic Monologue We've never met, you and I. And if we had, you can be sure I'd never let you know what line of work I was in. I'm the type of person your mother told you to stay away from when you were a child for fear I would infect your mind with my devious ways and get you into trouble. I'm a thief and a robber. I was that one who named Jesus as my Savior in the last moments of my life. How did I come to be there on that gloomy Friday nailed to a cross beside Jesus? Oh, don't think I didn't know ...

2783. We Know Exactly How You Feel, Jesus

Hebrews 2:5-18

Sermon

Frank Luchsinger

Oh, Christmas has come and gone, but its scent lingers: spiced cider, evergreen, bayberry candles, cookies baking, popcorn, ham and scalloped potatoes, chestnuts roasting, and hot chocolate. Christmas has come, and its scent lingers: the aroma of newspaper casually read by a crackling fire or the smell of a new book received as a gift; pungent chemicals of instant pictures developing, or tempera paint on a homemade gift; play- dough, silly putty, gift perfume or cologne, shoe polish applied generously for ...

2784. Hoofs, Paws, And Christmas Pause

Titus 2:1-15

Sermon

Frank Luchsinger

"The grace of God has appeared ... training us ... to await our blessed hope" (Titus 2:11-13), and oh, how we have waited! The air is filled with anticipation, the Holy Night has come. We each wait for different things: the lighting of candles, the singing of carols, loved ones returning home, feasting, and forgetting ferment, for the Prince of Peace is coming. We wait for delight in the eyes of someone we love as he or she opens that special gift. We wait in awe in the hope that one star's strong light ...

2785. The Prophetic Word-- And The Living Word

Isaiah 40:1-31

Sermon

Thomas A. Pilgrim

2786. The Song Of Angels--And The Son Of God

Isaiah 9:1-7

Sermon

Thomas A. Pilgrim

Samuel Beckett wrote a play called Waiting For Godot, waiting for God. It is a two-act play in which two men stand on stage. The only thing there with them is a tree with no leaves. One of the men speaks to the other, trying to talk to him about two thieves on a cross and one being saved. But the other man will not talk about that. In the second act there are a few leaves on the tree. One of the men becomes excited because he thinks Godot is coming. But they never see him. At the end of the play they ...

2787. The Simple Shepherds--And The Lamb Of God

Isaiah 51:17--52:12

Sermon

Thomas A. Pilgrim

Perhaps some of you remember a story written by Bret Harte called "The Luck of Roaring Camp." It was the story of a mining town. It was a rough place, with the roughest kind of people living there. There was only one woman who lived there among those miners. And she died giving birth to a baby. The miners did not know what to do with him, so they put him in a box layered with old rags. They knew the box was not good enough for him, so one of them traveled to a distant town and bought a cradle for him. Then ...

2788. Reflections On the Sacred Head

Sermon

Glenn E. Ludwig

Note: This sermon is more effective if the following three things are done. First, print the words to the hymn "O Sacred Head" in the bulletin for the day so that people can follow along and meditate upon them. Second, have a choir or a solo voice, or a combination of the two, sing the phrases as they come in the sermon. And third, use plenty of pauses and times for meditation throughout the sermon. A deliberate delivery is needed. As we gather on this Good Friday, it is appropriate for us to focus on the ...

2789. Five Thousand For Lunch In Galilee

Luke 9:10-17

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

My friend remembers it well. It was Advent season and he and his wife had decided to invite all their church board members and their spouses to their home for an Advent Supper. The invitations went out and 110 responded! Gathering in their home in a festive mood, people were everywhere. After the Doxology and Grace, my friend's wife served the multitude with her usual aplomb. People were sitting on the stairs and chairs, on floors and footstools, and standing in corners and hallways. The had 110 for Advent ...

2790. Uncovering Cover-Ups

John 15:18--16:4

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

For some it is ancient history. For others it is as fresh as yesterday. I speak of 1972 when the word "cover-up" came into our consciousness in a big way -- the cover-up by then President Richard Nixon regarding the Watergate scandal. Assured of a landslide victory in his election for a second term, Richard Nixon, overborne with anxiety, apparently felt that was not enough. So he authorized the so-called "Watergate Plumbers," headed by G. Gordon Liddy, to break into the Democratic Headquarters in the posh ...

2791. Finding Faith In Unlikely People

Luke 7:1-10

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

One of the continuing delights of life is the joy of the unexpected. Highly scheduled as we are, and rigorously regimented, occasionally we are extraordinarily pleased with interruption and variation. When out-of-town friends turn up unannounced, rather than having scheduled themselves weeks in advance, we experience a certain excitement. How pleasant to have a business deal grow into undreamed proportions. What joy in having a surprise verdict from judge and jury. What a thrill to see surgery and ...

2792. The Politics Of The Saints

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

Larry R. Kalajainen

During the last presidential election, you may have seen the comic strip "Frank and Earnest" where Frank is sitting on an airplane with a worried look on his face, and he asks the stewardess, "Are there any air bags on this plane?" She replies, "There are a couple of congressmen up in first class." By the time the presidential election campaign wound down to its final hours, most of us were eagerly looking forward to a little relief from listening to the air bags. All those speeches that said nothing. All ...

2793. The Unveiled Truth

Exodus 34:29-35

Sermon

Robert A. Hausman

Moses with horns! Have you ever seen a painting of Moses with horns? It was a common artistic convention in the middle ages to portray Moses with two horns, one on each side of his head. It all began with this passage. It says that when Moses came down from the mountain, the skin of his face shown. The root of that verb for shining (grn) is the same as the word for horn. Here it seems to be used in the sense of a ray (of the sun) coming forth from the head as a symbol of divinity. The Latin translation, ...

2794. Growing In The Lord

1 Samuel 2:12-26

Sermon

Robert A. Hausman

A human birth, as the beginning of life, is representative of most beginnings that occur in life. Like birth, all beginnings are full of promise. Like birth, all beginnings are hard. The major moves of God's dealings in history seem to be marked by births. The story of the patriarchs is begun with the birth of Isaac (Genesis 12). The beginning of the history of Israel as a people is marked with the birth of Moses (Exodus 1). Here, the beginning of the history of the kings is marked by the birth of Samuel ( ...

2795. Hard Questions!

1 Kings 17:7-24

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

Children sometimes ask cute questions, but often they are also incisive. In Children's Letters to God, a child inquires, "Dear God, Where does everybody come from? I hope you explain it better than my father. Ward." Another child queries, "Dear God, Did you mean for a giraffe to look like that or was it an accident? Norma." Then, there are those persons who, in the presence of larger questions, can think only of the obvious and mundane. Yellowstone Park Rangers report that, at the place where Old Faithful ...

2796. At The Right Place At The Right Time

2 Samuel 11:1-27

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

Sherry was struggling with some personal issues in her life. She would tell you that she was having a difficult time forgiving someone at work who purposely wronged her, leading to her eventual demotion. Sherry was upset with the person and could not even think of forgiving him. Her loss of income placed a financial hardship on her family. She was really struggling and trying to do what was best, but it certainly was not easy. Sherry and her family were in church one particular Sunday morning when during ...

2797. You Can Be Forever Young

Genesis 25:1-11

Sermon

Michael B. Brown

About age 41, I noticed that the quality of print in newspapers and phone books had diminished significantly. The ink they were using seemed of a poorer quality, because the print had begun to blur. The type was much smaller than it previously had been. Prior to complaining to our local publisher, my wife prevailed upon me to consult a nearby ophthalmologist. Following my exam, the man gave me a prescription for bifocals. I asked, "Why do I need bifocals?" and he simply replied with a smile, "It's time." " ...

2798. Advent 1

1 Thessalonians 3:6-13, Jeremiah 33:1-26, Luke 21:5-38

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Old Testament: Jeremiah 33:14-16 The days are coming when Yahweh will fulfill his promise to send a son of David who will save his people. This prophecy by a post-exilic author is a repetition of Jeremiah's original promise in 23:5-6. Jeremiah predicted that the Davidic kingdom would be restored soon after the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. when Judah was carried captive to Babylon. During the exile the people lost hope of the restoration of their nation. The unknown author repeated Jeremiah's ...

2799. Christ the King

Colossians 1:1-14, Jeremiah 23:1-8, Luke 23:26-43

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Old Testament: Jeremiah 23:1-6 The Messianic King. This, scholars say, is the most important messianic passage in Jeremiah. The leaders of Judah are blamed for scattering Judah into bondage. But, Yahweh promises to raise up faithful shepherds who will serve the people. He will gather the exiles back to their homeland. Above all, Yahweh will give as king a son of David who will save his people. Epistle: Colossians 1:11-20 We belong to the kingdom of Christ who, as the image of God, is preeminent ...

2800. Easter 4

Revelation 7:9-17, Acts 13:13-52, Acts 9:32-43, John 10:22-42

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Epistle: Acts 9:36-43 Peter's prayer restores life to Dorcas. In this lection, there is no reference to Jesus as the Good Shepherd. Though Dorcas had died, fellow-Christians sent for him in Lydda which was 12 miles from where Peter was staying at the time. In this case Peter was a good shepherd in coming at once and by his prayer Dorcas was brought back to life. Dorcas herself was a good shepherd evident in all the clothing she made for the poor. Epistle: Acts 13:15-16, 26-33 Paul preaches the ...

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