Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 2801 to 2825 of 4997 results

Matthew 24:36-44

Sermon

John Jamison

... How many times have I tried to teach them?” How many times had Jesus explained that what he was offering was a not just another political kingdom, but was an end of the corruption of the temple, an end of all of the unjust laws; a different kind of kingdom? Still, after all this time, they did not understand. But honestly, we can’t blame them…or fault them… I think we can all relate to what it felt like living under the pressures; the constant threat of being attacked or criticized for breaking some ...

2802. Have a Very Messy Christmas!

Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon

John Jamison

... had no time or interest in theology. “The ax is already at the root of the trees,” he said. “And branches like you that don’t produce anything worthwhile are going to be thrown in the wood chipper and used for mulch!” Forgive me if I kind of updated some of what he said there. If John was around today he would have his own reality television show: “This week on The Baptizer: John is confronted by an angry Pharisee who traveled all the way from Jerusalem. But this time, the Pharisee brings his ...

2803. Being Different

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

John Jamison

... the place is so small and what one person does can have a real impact on everyone else in the community. One person’s behavior can create a reputation that might then be associated with everyone in the community. “It’s that neighborhood where…”, or “It’s that kind of place.” There have to be rules, and those rules have to be enforced. They are not intended to be harsh or cruel, but they are seen as ways to ensure the way of life that the community has created. While it is a large city today ...

2804. Lose the Cape

Romans 13:11-14

Sermon

Charley Reeb

... you want to see in the world!” I don’t know who said that, but they were right! As the old hymn says, “Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me!” Shine your light on someone. Encourage someone. Lift someone up. Write someone a kind note. Invite someone to church and take them to lunch. Call a loved one and tell them that you love them. Share your faith with a friend. Never underestimate the power of God’s light within you. Booker T. Washington said, “If you want to lift yourself up ...

2805. Watch This!

Luke 14:1, 7-14

Sermon

Dave Zuchelli

... for relevant programming. The big question one might ask is, “How is this information attained?” The answer is primarily through spending habits. In an age when the vast majority of people use plastic for their purchases, gathering the information to make these kinds of analyses is relatively simple. For many years, the church would not do this because it was thought to be intrusive. The business world has been using this sort of information for years. They use it to sell their product or introduce the ...

2806. The Potter's Secret

Luke 14:25-33

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... in return? Eternity. Today, often when we think of discipleship, we think of some fun mission trips, ministry, a Bible study perhaps, Christian education, worship, and our spiritual disciplines. But these don’t come close to what Jesus had in mind. What would Jesus’ kind of discipleship look like today? As Jesus said to the crowds back then, you need to renounce everything you’ve known and understood for your entire life, be willing to let go of everything familiar and leave it all behind. You need to ...

2807. The Joy Of Being Found

Luke 15:1-10

Sermon

Richard Hasler

... not found in Matthew and Mark. The Pharisees’ concern was that Jesus was meeting with and even eating with, the wrong kind of people. The Pharisees were very strict in obeying the law of Moses, and they expected others to do the same ... had an interesting experience that I would like to share with you, I was at a place with lots of rooms — people gathering for all kinds of purposes. One sign said “Christian Fellowship” so that’s where I went. The room was nearly packed and a lot of conversation was ...

2808. When the Music Stops

Matthew 24:36-44

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... of this idiom in a song by Don McClean, “American Pie,” a tribute to the death of Buddy Holly and others in a plane crash. The line, “when the music died,” is a swan song to the sudden and untimely demise of the rock and roll heroes. These kinds of events take us entirely by surprise. In fact, it’s the element of surprise that causes us so much grief and shock. And yet, we know, life can change suddenly and unexpectedly, and while we need not live our lives “waiting for it,” we do need always ...

2809. Why the Cross?

Hebrews 2:17-18

Sermon

Charley Reeb

... down. So, we sing about the blood of Jesus and how it makes us righteous. Let me just say it for so many of you: What kind of a God is that? “I am a loving and forgiving God, but before I love and forgive you I need for my son to be ... save the guilty? How does that work? Is there a better way to understand the cross?” In short, yes! [1] I don’t believe in the kind of God that would demand a bloody sacrifice in order to forgive us. It’s abuse! It’s sadistic and cruel. It sounds like an ancient god ...

2810. The Most Important Question

Acts 10:34-43

Sermon

Charley Reeb

... see, the question is personal. It is very personal. It’s about whether or not you want a relationship with Jesus that will strengthen, encourage, and sustain you the rest of your life. Maybe you are thinking, “I believe in God.” That is not enough. What kind of God do you believe in? We must define and know the character of the God we believe in. Colossians says that “Christ is the image of the invisible God.” John 1:14 proclaims, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” (NKJV).Only the ...

2811. Beloved

Matthew 3:13-17

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... found greater strength to break free once lockdown ended. Then we see those whose relationships grew, as they made it through together, recognizing the value of what they had, grateful for the companionship that helped them make it through well. This kind of gratitude for love prevails for many. Those who were single understand what it means to truly have someone meaningful in their lives. When everything else in the world fails or falters, love is what remains. Relationships become vitally important. For ...

2812. The Big Move!

Matthew 4:12-23

Sermon

John Jamison

Just so you know, we are going to use our imaginations today. We’re not going to just kind of play around and make things up, but we are going to use our imaginations to see if we find some new meaning in a passage we have probably read or heard many times before. We’re ... said, “We are here with you. We will fight alongside you. This is now our fight too. Together, we will win this battle.” It may just be my imagination, but wow, can you imagine seeing that kind of church? Can you imagine being that ...

2813. Faith or Folly

Matthew 4:1-11

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... wisdom. Most of all, we keep our eyes and our lives focused on our relationship with God and watch out for dangerous distractions. For wherever God’s sweetest souls reside, you can be sure the flies of contention and temptation will swarm. The kinds of flies that seek to infiltrate the purity of our lives are not attracted to sour dispositions but to sweet, pure, and innocent spirits. Or as is the saying attributed to Martin Luther, “wherever God builds a church, the devil builds a chapel.” Whenever ...

2814. People of the Rolled Stone

John 20:1-18

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... death. No more fear of death. Christ has conquered sin and death for us. The tomb is empty. The real proof of the resurrection, though, is the Church. The Church is still here. Despite our differences. Despite our splits. The Church is still here. We may add all kinds of denominational trappings to what and how we think we are to believe. But the bottom line belief of all Christians is that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died on the cross for our sins, was dead and buried and on the third day rose from the ...

2815. The Well

John 4:5-42

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... of all of the times in scripture in which people had to cross over water in order to get to a new and promised place. Think of the times in which God effected saving power involving water. Wells revealed a “mysterious” underwater source, a divine kind of source, just like the source that watered the newly formed soil of the earth in Genesis in order to create seas, lakes, rivers, and ultimately human beings. The well was the opening to what Jewish people called “living water” –water that came from ...

2816. Framed by Love

John 14:15-21

Sermon

April Yamasaki

... on our own needs, can we in love consider the needs of others? Can we demonstrate love by acting with justice and mercy, by sharing what we have and not taking more? Instead of hostility, can our political debates and discussions be framed by words of love and kindness? To make a start on any of this, we’ll need to encourage one another, and we’ll need to be reminded of Jesus’ example and teaching. Our Lord leads the way. Our divine encourager helps us. So let us walk in the new commandment of Jesus ...

2817. Seeds

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

Sermon

William G. Carter

... rough or welcoming. There was always fertile seed which carried its own promise within its own shell. Third item on the list: the sower was not interested in controlling the outcome. All he wanted to do was spread the seed around as far as he could. There are all kinds of soil; for all we know, the sower may have created all that soil too. But for now, it was the season for seeding, and he was doing a marvelous job. The seed was all over. Fourth, and maybe the most important item on the list: the sower knew ...

2818. Rest

Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

Sermon

William G. Carter

... what it means to come to Christ in restorative rest. In the grace of God, we find what gives us life and we pursue it. And we keep pursuing it, not for the sake of indulgence, but in the pursuit of a greater integration and health. This is a different kind of yoke to be placed upon our shoulders. We give up all the other slaveries and take on the disciplines that heal our souls. That’s why we keep coming into this place for worship. For this is where we hear once again how much we are loved, how deeply ...

2819. The Paradox of the Yoke

Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... But Jesus is not only speaking to people in pain, people who have lost loved ones, people grieving, or people with heavy hearts. I believe, he is also speaking to people with hardened hearts. In fact, the hardened heart I’m guessing is the worst kind of burden: Nothing pleases you. No goals excite you. Your ornery spirit can’t find peace. Your angry and obstinate heart keeps you in a state of unhappiness and gloom. Your experiences have made you not just a grieving person but an angry, unyielding person ...

2820. A Violent Week

Mark 14:1-2 · Luke 22:14-23:56

Sermon

Will Willimon

... We are not only nuclear numb, we are Gospel numb. The story ending this week began with angels singing, "Glory to God and on earth peace...." "My peace I give to you," he spoke to us, "not as the world gives." Remember that there already was a kind of peace in Jesus' time: the pax romana, the Roman peace. It was peace based upon military might and brute force. Jesus was born during the days of Augustus, Augustus the great, who presided over the Roman peace. Before Augustus was crowned, noble Cicero had the ...

2821. Catholic

Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

Sermon

William G. Carter

... especially if we’ve ever worked with yeast, is that the whole thing is going to rise. Yeast works in secret. You work it in, you leave it alone, and it does its thing. Amy Jill Levine, the Bible scholar, pointed out that Jesus referred to a certain kind of yeast. It’s a sourdough starter. It ferments the flour. The whole thing bubbles up if you just give it some time. That’s the promise of God’s dominion, what Christ calls “the kingdom.” It bubbles up, it grows. It rises in secret and the whole ...

2822. The Reckoning

Matthew 14:13-21, Genesis 32:22-32

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... of the Jabbok. They embrace, and the past is put to rest. That is what you call a mighty story about reckoning! In Jesus’ story of the feeding of all of those people on the hillside (as well as the interchange with his own disciples), we see another kind of reckoning, but a similar one. This is a time of reckoning for Jesus’ disciples. Although the story is about a miraculous feeding of people who have been listening to Jesus teach for a very long time in a very remote area, the true story going on here ...

2823. Revising The Agenda

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon

William G. Carter

... we heard a few minutes ago. Jesus told his disciples he was going to suffer and die. This was the first time he said it. Here in a central text of the gospel of Matthew, the secret was out - that Jesus who saves will suffer. The one who confronts every kind of evil will be destroyed by evil. Jesus will deny himself and pick up a cross. He chose to save the world, even if it meant losing his life. Simon Peter didn’t understand this and, frankly, who can blame him? It’s a difficult message to hear. If ...

2824. Get Ready

Mark 13:24-37

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

... nobody knows when his return will be. And we really can’t say much about what will happen when that day does come. The scriptures provide us with very few details about the nature of Christ’s return, and much of what we do have is written in a kind of code that can be widely interpreted, or misinterpreted as the case might be. As for all the best-selling books on the Second Coming, the End of time, the anti-Christ, etc., read them for entertainment but don’t let them keep you awake at night. The parts ...

2825. The Way of a Saint

Revelation 7:9-17 · Luke 6:20-31

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

... for their faith. It can happen even in a land where Christianity is the dominant faith. After all, there are all kinds of suffering, all kinds of persecution. Some of you will remember a terrible event that occurred at the University of Arizona a few years ago. ... alive, some crucified. So has it ever been. Through the ages saints of Christ have experienced ridicule, persecution, all kinds of rejection. And, of course, on the mission field, persecution has been a constant companion. Respected author Leith ...

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