Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 2826 to 2850 of 4997 results

Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?” Wow! That’s a powerful slap on the face. “Are you envious because I am generous?” The answer most likely is “YES!” We are a rather envious kind of people. We live day to day measuring ourselves against others, competing for what we have, and making sure we get what we “deserve.” But that’s not the Christian way. It’s not God’s way. God asks us to throw our measuring sticks away. We don ...

2827. Polite Disobedience

Matthew 21:23-32

Sermon

Steve Molin

... half of you are too young to know of it, and the other half of you are too old to remember it! Eddie Haskel was the best friend of Wally Cleaver on the “Leave it to Beaver” TV show of the 1950’s. Eddie was the kind of kid you’d just kind of like to punch in the nose sometimes. Because whenever he was around adults, he was as polite and charming, and as sweet as sweet could be. “Good evening Mr. Cleaver, good evening Mrs. Cleaver. My, that’s a lovely dress you’re wearing tonight, Mrs. Cleaver ...

2828. RSVP

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... and a fresh start, a new life, a covenant of love: “Our sins shall be made as white as snow” (Is. 1:18). Like a prayer veil, the kittel worn by every guest is not just the clothing of respect but the clothing of righteousness –a kind of shroud of holiness and repentance that defines the heart of the wearer as not just willing, but worthy. Jesus’ message? Something big is going down. The Messiah has come, and all who come into relationship with him, repent and follow him, will receive forgiveness of ...

2829. Fearless

Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... emotional and spiritual risks in order to gain true stability. I imagine that if Jesus were telling this story today, he’d use the stock market or a bank as his primary metaphor. Or maybe he’d use a business venture, or the lottery, or some other kind of wiser investment. We all know that some investments are wiser and more likely to pan out than others. When God asks us to invest, God doesn’t ask us to invest our lives into shady ventures but into worthy relationships that will feed us, nourish us ...

2830. The Candle

Mark 4:21

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

... how important His work was and why He came. Jesus is the light of the world and we should not try to hide Him. Jesus should be seen and heard by everyone. Jesus is the most important light in the whole world and people who know Jesus know love, patience, kindness, forgiveness and all sorts of good things. But sometimes we try to hide Jesus. We know that Jesus doesn't like us to act tough, and hateful, to lie, and do other things that are not right. We hide Jesus whenever we want people to see us first or ...

2831. Dynamic Preaching January 2024 Sermons

Sermon

King Duncan

... uncomfortable in the presence of the King with the values that you have given them? Will those values be appropriate for the kind of King we are awaiting? If we were on the committee we would want to prepare our communities. We would want ... utterly humiliated. Besides, he didn't like the people all that much anyway. Angrily he says to God, "I knew it! I knew that you were that kind of God." Jonah is so upset that he goes out and sits on a hillside overlooking Nineveh to mope. He is angry enough to sit there ...

2832. Things That Open

Mark 1:9-15

Sermon

Mary Austin

... season of Lent, is one we want to rewind, again and again. A lot — a lot — happens in these seven verses. Mark is known for being the most spare of all the gospels. He has way less detailed than Matthew and Luke, and he wrote with a kind of “just the facts” approach. In these few verses, Jesus was baptized, made his way into the wilderness, and started his public ministry. Jesus might want to rewind, too. One minute, he was being baptized by his cousin John. Then the heavens are torn apart. Before ...

2833. A Letter in Time

1 Peter 3:18-22

Sermon

John B. Jamison

... it better? The simple fact is that an ambassador for Christ is going to ask for different things than someone living some other kind of life. Christ’s ambassador is going to ask for and seek for the things that Jesus himself would ask and seek for; things ... that will make a difference in the lives of others, not his own. So, yes, faith does bring results now, but not the kind of results we might be thinking about. What we are all trying to do here is difficult. That brings us to the passage from ...

2834. Knowing, and Known

Romans 4:13-25

Sermon

John B. Jamison

... were returning to Rome. There have been a lot of sermons preached and a lot of books written to explain what Paul said in the letter to the Romans, but let’s see if we can understand enough to help us think about it all today. Paul actually makes that kind of easy if we take a quick look at the first few chapters. In the first chapter, after the usual greeting, Paul began by reminding the readers that no one of them is perfect and free from sin. He wrote that even though they know what God does not want ...

2835. Name Above All Names

Philippians 2:5-11

Children's Sermon

Various Authors

... of stuffed animal do you think Kermit was? (Let them answer.) You are all very good at this! She had another important toy, which had long hair and wore a dress, which she named Sarah. What kind of toy do you think Sarah was? (Let them answer.) There were many other toys and dolls that she named. After she named them all, she felt very good. Just as the little girl named her toys and dolls, our parents gave us important names. There is one other person ...

2836. Abiding in God

John 15:1-8

Children's Sermon

Various Authors

... my cheeks? What usually makes your cheeks pink? Being in the sun, right? So, if my face looks a little pink, then you can probably guess I spent some time in the sun! Can anyone tell me why our cheeks turn pink when we’re in the sun? Our faces kind of soak it up ― like sponges. When we’re filled with the sun, it starts coming out and makes our cheeks pink. That makes us little suns, doesn’t it? It reminds me of our scripture lesson today. Jesus told his friends that if they wanted to be like God ...

2837. Jesus Chose You

John 15:9-17

Children's Sermon

Various Authors

... chocolate fudge. But it is hard, because there are so many other flavors. There is superman ice cream and raspberry sherbet, but I have to make a choice. I can’t make one choice, so I get a double dipper of butter pecan and moose tracks. Choosing two kinds out of 39 isn’t bad, is it? (Let them answer.) Jesus said he made choices, also. According to the Bible, Jesus chose you. He said very plainly that we did not choose him, but instead Jesus chose us. Does that make you feel good? (Let them answer ...

2838. Divine Things

Mark 8:31-38

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... own and in our relationships. But when we dare to believe that we are entirely capable of directing our own lives and forging our own path without the help of God, our self-reliance can become toxic both to us and those around us. This is the kind of super-charged self-certainty and brash individualism that can cause those in positions of power to wield it precariously over others, that can allow one person to push ahead like a bull with one’s own agenda, no matter who gets stepped on along the way, or ...

2839. The Serpent's Tongue

John 3:14-21

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... , he was surrounded by those who spoke negatively against him. The Jewish people believed that the sin of the tongue, bearing false witness, was akin to poison spew. As we all know, words can hurt, sometimes even more than the hand! One spews venom in these kinds of “biting” attacks, venom that can harm. Or in other words, “sin bites!” All of us, at one time or another, have been bitten by sin, and now that venomous poison courses through our veins. What’s the solution? We need an antivenom –the ...

2840. Growing Into Our Scars

John 20:19-31

Sermon

Mary Austin

... also about the power of not giving up. He missed the big reveal when Jesus came the first time. Instead of saying “oh well,” and moving on, Thomas asked for what the other disciples got. He wanted to see for himself. For the disciples, Jesus’ death was a kind of death for them, too. They had to finally accept that Jesus wasn’t exactly the Messiah they expected. This is a theme all through the gospels, but his death made it real. This was no conquering hero Messiah …not a war leader ...this was the ...

2841. Who’s Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf?

John 10:11-18

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... to look out for them, one who will recognize wolves, stand up to them, look out for the sheep, and sacrifice whatever is necessary on their behalf to keep them safe. The scriptures are full of wolves! References to wolves, and real wolves! Not exactly the kind in the Red Riding Hood Story, in which a wolf masquerades as Red’s grandmother, but the tale comes close to Jesus’ warning about the Pharisees! Not the one in the story of the Three Pigs, although Jesus also tells a story about building your house ...

2842. Taking the Long Way Home

Mark 7:31-37

Sermon

Will Willimon

... has gone out to Sidon to get away from the press, to retreat from the crowds who follow him. But while in Sidon, out among the Gentiles, Jesus is confronted by a Syrophoenician woman (7:24-30) who wants Jesus to heal her daughter. Unfortunately, she is the wrong kind of woman. She is a foreigner, a stranger to the promises of Israel. And what Jesus says to her makes us blush. “It isn't right to take the children's bread and ·throw it to dogs.” If I had been writing the gospel, I would have that. Our ...

2843. Flow

John 15:1-8

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... together. During flow, we are fully focused to the point of feeling immersed in a state of ecstasy, inner clarity, serenity, and timelessness–an entirely intrinsic period of “being.” While many artists, athletes, writers, and yoga masters describe this kind of experience, I like to think that “deep prayer” engages our minds in a similar state of “flow.” Dr. C noted that whether in individual or group flow, the state positively affected a person’s cardiovascular health, spirituality, and ...

2844. The Art of Restoration

John 3:1-17

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... . For God does not see that in you! God sees in you the beauty that God created. And God has the power to restore you, beautify you, re-create you into the exquisite piece of art he intended you to be –inside and out. Each of you is a kind of “kintsugi.” Each different, as our life experiences are different. But each of us a unique and valuable (in fact priceless) work of art from God’s divine art studio. Nothing in this world created by God is ever worthless. Nothing in this world created by God is ...

2845. Shake It Off

Mark 6:1-13

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... at mission or relationships are useless. But Jesus’ message is clear. Let that debris that is cluttering up your life go! Dust yourself off and keep on moving. Go out to my people in love. Love them. Heal them. Share with them the good news of the gospel. Be kind, be humble, be in service, make it simple. Don’t feel defensive if they don’t hear you right away or even ever. Don’t feel you’ve failed if someone doesn’t want to befriend you. Don’t get down on yourself if it seems you haven’t ...

2846. Haunted

Mark 6:14-29

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... we can become downright haunted by a past that just won’t let us go. That’s when we tend to push God out and take to imposing punishments on ourselves. Unlike God, sometimes, we can be unrelentingly punitive. Unrepenting, obsessive, unredeemable guilt is a kind of sin, a self-imposed spiritual desert that keeps us isolated, in bondage, and in a vice grip, and refuses to allow us to be redeemed. As humans, in fact, we can become so obsessed with punishing ourselves, so entrenched in fear, that we forbid ...

2847. “POW!”

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

Sermon

John B. Jamison

... to do because God asks us to do it. And why us? Because we were the one that God asked. Maybe the shepherds weren’t the kind of people anyone would have picked to do God’s work, especially for something as big as this. But you know, God never has agreed all ... . What they wear. Where they are from. Where they live now. What they do. Do they have a job? Do they have the “right kind” of job? Do they make enough money to take care of themselves? Just how much money do they have? Do they believe what we ...

2848. Bread and Call

John 6:35, 41-51

Sermon

David Coffin

... life of a matter of weeks, but does not taste as fresh. Mold does not appear until about a month has passed. The kind of bread I purchase is determined by the proximity of the grocery store I am near — depending where I live. The bread still ... the church as a group and us as individual Christians. This is part of the life journey and may change, just as my decisions as to which kind of bread to purchase is at the store. In my case, I was never slated to attend college while in high school. I was at the lower ...

2849. Risky Business

Mark 8:27-38

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... did for his disciples in his process of mentoring them and preparing them is what we still need to do today: we need to “reframe failure” not as an ending but as a stone on the path on your way to success. It’s about creating the kind of community that allows “failures” to be part of learning and not about measuring up to a standard or goal. It means making your faith about healing and loving, about relationships and cultivation of hope in others instead of making it a goal for you to accomplish ...

2850. Bold Faith

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... a way to live with those who have rejected you in the past. And you’ll need to follow Jesus is a new and dynamic kind of way, taking on responsibilities and activities that you may not want to commit to. And all of that –it’s hard. So, here’s ... times as “fear not!” For God’s outstretched hand will lead you –into a place of healing, restoration, potential, growth, and a different kind of future. So what will it be? Keep quiet? Or, “speak up!” Jesus says “speak!” Do it! I dare you.[1] [1 ...

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