Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 2776 to 2800 of 4977 results

2776. If You Had Been Here

John 11:17-37

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... my pain unceasing, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Will you be to me like a deceitful brook, like waters that fail?" Once you get the picture like Jeremiah saw it, you realize the meaning of what he is saying. The Holy Land, of course, is quite dry. When the infrequent rains come, they come in torrents. The muddy waters roll down the streams in angry confusion. The very, next day the weary traveler comes to the brook, lips parched, tongue swollen from the lack of water, but as he spends his last ...

2777. The Forgotten Virtue

Philippians 2:1-11

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... not read, but I suspect that the title suggests more than all of the material that might be included in that volume. The name of the book is Forgive Us Our Virtues. Forgive us our virtues - it’s a prayer that we all might offer. It’s quite easy to pray "forgive us our trespasses"; the higher devotion allows us to say "forgive us our virtues." Benjamin Franklin is often quoted for his homely wisdom as a guide for those who search for successful living, and I suspect that there is not one among us who ...

2778. The Crisis of Commitment

1 Corinthians 11:17-34

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... the beach - a symbol for all to see that living and conquering or defeated and dying in the attempt, they were in Britain to stay. That’s commitment - and that’s the kind of commitment our Lord demands. Someone asked Charles Spurgeon how he had been converted. He put it quite simple: "I met Jesus Christ. I looked at Him and He looked at me, and I was His, forever." We meet Him here, remember?

2779. The Good News of the Cross

Hebrews 4:14-5:10

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

Do you love God? Wait a moment. Wait a moment before you answer, and think, because you are in danger of perjuring yourselves. Quite frankly, I’m deeply suspicious of people who are always running around saying how much they love God. You see, I remember the words of our Lord: "You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you when he said, ‘This people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far ...

2780. The Generation Gap

Luke 2:41-52

Sermon

William McKee Aber

... !" They never heard them; they couldn’t get beyond appearances! This is not to suggest that the loss of good manners is to be applauded but it is to say that we should take people seriously, even though their wearing apparel and hair style is not quite what we’re used to. Beards do not really negate brains - although I confess that I can’t really present an unbiased viewpoint on that one! We must take seriously what is being said, and what is being said is simply the fact that people are important ...

2781. THE MARRIAGE GAP

Genesis 2:4-25

Sermon

William McKee Aber

... for one another, and the self-giving which cannot be total in our society apart from the framework of a family. We like to think that we’re liberated and sophisticated in the late 20th century - but I know of nothing that hangs us up quite so badly as sex outside of marriage. It leads to loss of integrity, responsibility, sensitivity, personal freedom, and ultimately we are unable to cope with our guilt. Perhaps we need to remember the lessons of first love - the walking home from school, the sodas in ...

2782. A WALL OF ROCK AND THE EVERYBODY GAP

Drama

William McKee Aber

... love. Be insulated, don’t talk about it.... Don’t touch! Christian: The wall is big enough by now so that he won’t see Sue’s hand reaching toward him. Jack: Ooops - there’s that ride now - I hear the horn - I wish Harry would quit smoking; see you tonight, honey, I’ve got to run. (with that Jack leaves, stage right; Sue pauses, then she leaves also.) Wormwood: The wall remains; I rest my case. Christian: But there is hope - wait till this evening. Judge: This court stands recessed until this ...

2783. Free to Live as Victors

1 John 5:1-12

Sermon

Charles L. Koester

... hurry on. Some, with eyes glued to the pavement, are lugging their briefcases like millstones. "Lift Up Thine Eyes." What a tremendous caricature of life today! Last Sunday the throngs took a moment to lift their eyes to the empty cross and the empty tomb. I’m sure quite a few are back this morning, counting the cracks in their sidewalks of life. How pathetic so many of us never really "lift up our eyes" for very long. Yet it is only in so doing we each gain a perspective on the life we have been given ...

2784. Mission Accomplished!

Luke 24:50-53

Sermon

Charles L. Koester

... . She lived through Indian raids to man’s walk on the moon. Sharp as a tack to the very end. Still, in her mind’s eye, this was the way her Lord would come to her. Walking on the clouds. Who’s to say it isn’t so? She took quite literally the word of the two in white robes who said to the disciples, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven." Grandma is with ...

2785. Joseph

Drama

Charles L. Koester

... , and His name shall be called Emmanuel, God with us.’ That prophecy is to be fulfilled, Joseph, son of David. So delay no longer in taking her as your wife. But know her not until she has borne this Holy One." What happened after that, I was never quite sure. I awoke in the morning knowing what I was to do. I was not a man given to seeing visions or hearing prophecies ... a simple carpenter. And now ... now, I was being asked to believe the most incredible story ever told! Mary ... my Mary ... was to be ...

2786. Judas

Luke 22:1-6

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

... me the money and then laughed at me when I tried to give it back. That’s my story and it is not a very good one, is it? Maybe you will remember my name but I hope you don’t remember my story. [Take down the mask.] That is quite a story, isn’t it? Judas, the traitor, betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. He isn’t the kind of man you like, but I do feel sorry for him, don’t you? I think Jesus would understand him and forgive him if Judas would only try to remember ...

2787. Why Christmas?

Isaiah 8:11-22

Sermon

Theodore L. Yewey

... the satisfaction of one peak experience after another. Yet we are always empty. And the cry goes up. What we need is Christmas. The entrance of light into a world lost in darkness. What we need is Christmas! For where there is truly Christmas there is quite another state of mind that takes over. Every person and every part of life takes on new perspective and new meaning. Persons who for most of the year have lived by something less than their best impulses and have tended to repress their best sentiments ...

2788. THE SURPRISED

Luke 1:5-25

Sermon

Theodore L. Yewey

... ! Such openness! Such complete communication! "I was given to understand that my long prayers for a child had been heard by God and that my wife Elizabeth would bear a son and his name would be John. But I could not believe this. Both Elizabeth and I were quite old. We were well beyond the age for child bearing and I told the angel so. It is just too late for such things. The response was clear. And I was given to understand that with God, all things are possible. With him it’s never too late! But ...

2789. The Overlooked

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

Theodore L. Yewey

... such a loss may be greater than we can imagine. This is exactly what happens so often with Mary the Mother of Jesus. At least among Protestant Christians, the Mother of our Lord is overlooked. To he honest, we’d have to admit that this overlooking is quite probably intentional. For at times we are a little embarrassed by Mary. At other times, we are uncomfortable and uncertain about our beliefs concerning her place in the story of the birth of Jesus. And so it is when we repeat our creeds saying that our ...

2790. Christmas Now!

John 1:1-18

Sermon

Theodore L. Yewey

... we leave this current celebration of Christmas and pack away the Christmas trimmings for another year? I believe there is. And that different attitude can be ours if we simply hear and receive the truth of Christmas now. The announcement of the birth of our Lord was really quite plain and short. "... To you is born this day ... a savior ..." (See Luke 2:11). Did you hear it? Really hear it? That is the message of Christmas now. To you is born this day a Savior. Now this good news has our very personal and ...

2791. A Chance Meeting

Sermon

Leonard H. Budd

You would not recognize my name if I were to tell you. I am famous in the recordings of history, but by sheer happenstance, and quite impersonally. It is strange the way human lives intertwine in the stretch of years that we each have. Who could have foretold that my fame would reach 2,000 years to the fore? But you must hear my story, for while my name is unimportant, the event that thrust me ...

2792. In The Shade Of An Awning

Sermon

Leonard H. Budd

... accepted. You see, I did not get my chance to talk with Jesus again. The Cross was raised between us - a conversation was stopped dead. What he would have said to me I do not know. I wanted to ask, "Master, what must I do to gain eternal life?" - life quite beyond the limits of my inn and corner lot? Will I ever know the answer? "Master," oh, how I rehearsed my question, "what must I do to be saved?" But I shall continue the search for my answer. Many people come to my inn - and many are talking of Jesus ...

2793. The Testing Law Man

Sermon

Leonard H. Budd

... pages - and by our careful interpretation - are the codes for conduct, the articles of religion, and the basic and essential Law. This Nazarene tampered with these fine traditions. In effect, he rejected our country, our nation, our founding-fathers - in order to talk of something quite different. Let me present the evidence to you. You be the judge. I propose to prove that it was right that he be put away. My case is to set before you evidence that will show him to be the revolutionary that he was. Item ...

2794. The Very Nearness Of Holy Week

Sermon

Leonard H. Budd

... . It was a place of prayer - supposedly - yet praying would have been awfully hard unless you were blind, deaf, and couldn’t smell! The wrath of the young man must have cooled quickly, for he walked over to the side of the court and began to talk quite calmly with his friends. Others loined the circle to hear his words and to question him; and when we passed by that place three hours later, they were still there. But, so were the priests and scribes. They stood apart from the group - yet just close enough ...

2795. Recognizing The Hidden

Sermon

Leonard H. Budd

... chipped and covered with brick dust. Pierre wouldn’t have seen it, except that he tripped on a stretch of wire and fell flat on his face. The cross cut his cheek, and he angrily hit back. His little fist clawed at the ground, and he was quite surprised to find the cross in his grasp. Now a small brass cross is most insignificant; yet in the rubble of war something happened to Pierre. As he took possession of that cross something happened. His pockets were literally filled with junk - yet he dumped it all ...

2796. Focused Light

Acts 10:23b-48

Sermon

William F. Dunkle

... of the world. Christians ever since have known that in every nation any one who fears God and does what is right is acceptable to him. Yes, all Christians know this, but only with great difficulty. Shall I accept as a full brother a man who seems to me quite dangerous in his political or economic views? It’s not easy to do. Maybe that’s why most hymnals omit from Frederick Faber’s well-known hymn, "There’s a Wideness in God’s mercy ..." the stanza But we make his love too narrow By false limits of ...

2797. Believable Light

2 Corinthians 1:12--2:4

Sermon

William F. Dunkle

... children, all of us probably were fascinated with "invisible" writing. Remember how we got some tissue paper, dipped pens in citric acid, and scribbled what at first seemed invisible lettering. But when we held the tissue close to a light bulb, our writing was briefly quite visible. Very soon, though, the heat of the light dried the acid, and all was permanently erased. Christ Jesus is our eraser. We write the sorry, shabby records of our lives on the thin tissues of life. In our shame, we hope they are ...

2798. OUR LORD DENIED

Sermon

E. Jerry Walker

... to notice as he slipped through the gate, knelt beside the fire, and warmed his hands. From the conversation he quickly learned that his Lord was somewhere inside the house, being questioned by Caiaphas and Annas. Those nearby were laughing about it, and he felt quite alone, a stranger among enemies. There was a noise from somewhere inside the building and he strained to hear what it was, so intently that he did not realize at first that the serving maid was speaking to him. "You also were with Jesus the ...

2799. OUR LORD FORSAKEN

Sermon

E. Jerry Walker

... were sullen, expressionless, and the sobbing of the women began anew. When the body had been removed from the cross, they went forward to help wrap it in the linen shroud, deftly spreading the spices between its folds. They worked silently, the soldiers watching, quite obviously amazed at the tender care being given the crucified by members of the very court which had first condemned him. It was only when they had finished and the large white bundle lay extended on the ground that John the disciple felt a ...

2800. Advent 4: Let Us Go Over To Bethlehem And Find The Christ of Christmas

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

James W. Moore

... and it looked sumptuous. The entertainment was rehearsed and ready. The friends were all gathered and excited. The lights and sound were set to perfection. Then suddenly, they realized something. Everything had been taken care of in splendid fashion... except one thing. They had quite simply forgotten the single most important thing... they had forgotten to invite the guest of honor... so they had the party without him. The man's secret was that he had not been invited to his own birthday party. There’s a ...

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