Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 2826 to 2850 of 4943 results

2826. Who's In Charge Here, Anyway?

Genesis 45:1-28

Sermon

Tony Everett

At age seventeen, Joseph was a spoiled brat and something of a tattletale. In order to understand the full impact of today's text, we must remember that fact. Chapter 37 of Genesis describes this in vivid detail. As the youngest of many children, and born late in his father's life, Joseph became Jacob's favorite. And Jacob did nothing to disguise it either. While Jacob's other sons wore the typical knee-length sleeveless tunics, Jacob made his "favorite" son a colorful, long and luxurious robe, with full ...

2827. When Your Nets Are Empty

Luke 5:1-11

Sermon

Charles H. Bayer

May the good Lord save me from perpetual whiners; people who can be counted on to tell you how bad everything is. You don't dare ask how they feel or how they sense the world is going unless you have an afternoon to spend listening to a catalogue of human miseries. I once knew a woman who called me if she happened to feel good, because she always felt bad the day after she felt good and wanted me to know how rotten things were about to become. But may the Lord also preserve me from perpetual optimists, ...

2828. Pentecost: From Confusion To Communion In Christ

Sermon

Alex Gondola

Genesis 11:1-9; Acts 2:1-11, 41-42 There's an old story about a man who found a pig. It seems that as this man was driving into the city in his station wagon, a stray hog suddenly ran out in front of him. The man stopped the car, jumped out, caught the pig, and put it in the back. Not knowing what to do with the animal, he flagged down the first policeman he saw, explained the situation and asked, "What should I do with this hog?" "Take him to the zoo," was the officer's response. The next day the ...

2829. Deadly Sins - A Matter Of Sutton's Law

Romans 7:14-25

Sermon

R. Curtis Fussell

You have said it before and I have, too, to a friend, your husband or wife: "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that. I'm just not myself today." And then maybe you have heard it said: "He's not really a bad boy; he's just trying to find himself." Or perhaps you have used this expression: "He's not human, he's an animal." Perhaps also you have said this about your boss: "He thinks he's God Almighty."1 All these expressions describe the contradiction that plagues all of us -- that I am not, you are not, what ...

2830. God’s Great Final Day

Daniel 7:1-14

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

Those who do weekend sailing on a very wide body of water have a way of charting their course. They keep their eye on a distant, fixed object on the shore. No matter how whimsically the wind blows, no matter how tricky the cross-currents in the water, they can keep their direction by that immovable landmark at the water’s edge. Otherwise, they would be swept far off their course by the wind and the waves, although they might think that they were headed in the right direction. That distant landmark keeps ...

2831. The Vine And The Branches

John 15:1-17

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

Just outside Nazareth where Jesus grew up you can see them on both sides of the road. They grow everywhere out of that dry, rocky soil. They are the grapevines mentioned in John 15. When I stepped off the tourist bus to take pictures, I was amazed to see these short stumps of vines lying over close to the ground and propped up with a rock to keep them off the hot red soil. I had pictured in my mind all these years, grape arbors like grandpa’s that ran from the house to the garage in the backyard and which ...

2832. Settling Our Differences

Matthew 5:21-26

Sermon

Joe Pennel

On the surface "Tribute" is a motion picture about a man who is diagnosed with cancer and about his response to that disease. But at a much deeper level, "Tribute" is about a man who is not reconciled to his own son. "Tribute" is about a father and son who needed to settle their differences. Like those characters in "Tribute," one of the persistent needs of our life is to settle our differences. There are many ways that we try to settle our differences. Some of us try to settle our differences by taking ...

2833. Epiphany 6

Deuteronomy 30:11-20

Sermon Aid

THEOLOGICAL CLUE By the Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany, as happens rather quickly in the Pentecost season, the season has pretty much lost its theological "shape" and impact; the lectionary and the lessons take over and seem to indicate that there has been a movement away from the several theological implications (the incarnation and manifestation of Jesus in the Epiphany season) to a concentration of the ethics of those who belong to the kingdom of heaven. Liturgically, the Epiphany theological frame ...

2834. While We Watch for the Coming

Matthew 24:1-35

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

Matthew 24 is a tough one! Some preachers are not honest with its interpretation. In this chapter the author of Matthew gathers together interweaving strands of material about the future. The sentences are all mixed up, and they deal with six different subjects of the future. There is advice given by Jesus as to what to expect. 1. The attack in Jerusalem by Titus. "So when you see the desolating sacrilege spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place, ... then let those who are in Judea flee ...

2835. Slices of Life

Drama

Sarah Walton Miller

Here are some short skits to be used as springboard to discussion. These little "Slices of Life" point up some of our less desirable characteristics. Make up your own questions. IN THE DRESS DEPARTMENT two girls ONE: I can hardly wait to try these dresses on! Hand me the blue lace. TWO: This one? But this one is a size too small. Here - read the tag yourself. ONE: I did already. TWO: Shall I go see if there’s one like it in your size? ONE: There isn’t. I looked already. I’m going to try this one. Maybe it’ ...

2836. Episode III: Birth of the Church

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

Brett Blair

In 1977 teenagers all over America walked into movie theatres to watch a movie that was virtually unknown. The director was unknown, the characters were unknown, the soundtrack was unknown, the robots were unknown. The name of the movie was Star Wars. It was not expected to be the biggest grossing movie of all times. It’s hard to believe that was 28 years ago. But even then some of us could read the handwriting on the wall. It was more grand than anything else we’d had ever see. For the next two months in ...

2837. The Ten Commandments - Part 2

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Brett Blair

A little boy was once asked by his Sunday school teacher if he knew the Ten Commandments. "No ma'am," came the reply, "my dad said that I don't have to know them since they are doing away with them anyway." It is one thing to be ignorant of the Ten Commandments; it quite another to mock them with impunity. Millions dismiss them as mere platitudes fit for nothing more than a dusty old bookshelf. They disdain them because they are "religious." There are still others who want to do away with the Ten ...

2838. Knowing the Secret

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

Thomas Long

One of the decisions every good storyteller has to make is when to tell the story’s secret to people. Every story has a secret, and the spinner of tales has to decide whether to let them know about the secret early in the story or to surprise them with it at the end. Mystery writers often hold back the secret until the last chapter, keeping us eagerly turning the pages to discover who really poisoned the heiress or pushed Colonel Whitington down the elevator shaft. The same is true of soap operas. "Will ...

2839. The Shepherd Who Loved His Sheep

John 10:1-21

Sermon

George Bass

Nearly everybody who visits the Holy Land seems to buy an olivewood carving of the Shepherd with the little lamb upon his shoulder. It is one of the most beloved symbols portraying the nature of Christ to people. But that type of carving is radically different from the representation of the Good Shepherd which has graced the apses of Christian church buildings ever since they were first built. High on my tourist-agenda, when I first visited Rome, was the Church of Santa Costanza, mainly because I had heard ...

2840. Ready or Not, Here I Come!

Mark 13:32-37

Sermon

Daniel G. Mueller

There’s an amusing commercial on television in which a man is about to let go of his bowling ball as he eyes the pins at the end of the lane. Just as he is ready to release the ball, he gets lifted out of himself by two men in sparkling white suits and goes walking off across the lanes, through the walls of the building and onto a staircase surrounded by clouds. At first he doesn’t understand what in the world is going on but then it suddenly dawns on him. He has just died. He looks at the two white-suited ...

2841. Bad News from a Good Man!

1 Kings 21:1-29

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

There are two facts we all need to remember before we can make any real sense out of life. The first is that God is sovereign and holy, just and loving. The second is that we are not. We are servants, unholy, self-centered, and self-seeking. This Scripture passage is a marvelous illustration of this. You would think that seeing God send fire from heaven would change a corrupt heart every time. That, however, is not the case, as we can see from the life of Ahab and his Jezebel. I. The Sliding Spiral Of ...

2842. Does God Care Who Wins the Superbowl?

John 14:5-14

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Does God care who wins the Super Bowl? An intriguing question. Not original with me. It comes from an article in this week's Sports Illustrated by William Nack.(1) Of course, our national attention WILL be focused on San Diego this afternoon (a nice breather from the Washington sex scandals). The Super Bowl has grown into a phenomenon that has transcended being a mere sporting event - 800-million people are expected to tune in from 187 countries and hear the broadcast in 17 different languages.(2) People ...

2843. A Pre-christmas Faith

Jeremiah 33:1-26

Sermon

King Duncan

We have scarcely had time to savor Thanksgiving . . . .the delicious turkey and dressing . . . .the football contest on television . . . .reunion with family and friends . . . .the brisk cold of an autumn afternoon and the glow and warmth of a fire. For the children the coming of Christmas has always signaled a flood of expectation. Santa Claus is already setting up his listening post at shopping centers across our town. Some may complain about the over-commercialization of Christmas, but not me. I love to ...

2844. The Real Tragedy Of The Tv Evangelists

Mark 6:7-13

Sermon

King Duncan

A few months ago Pat Robertson got extremely upset when a reporter referred to him as a "former TV evangelist." In Robertson's camp this was considered slander. A cynic said recently in QUOTE magazine, "Parents used to worry if they caught their children playing doctor. Now they worry if they're playing evangelist." It has been 60 years since Sinclair Lewis wrote his fiery indictment of the traveling evangelist. His spiritual predecessor of Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart was named Elmer Gantry. In this ...

2845. In Praise Of Doers

Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

King Duncan

Earl Fitz is a doer. According to a recent article in CHRISTIANITY TODAY, Fitz is 81 years young and he has been the mayor of Iowa Falls, Iowa four times. But that's the easy part. In Earl's midfifties he left his teaching job and began a new career, selling Bibles. Earl bought 10,000 Bibles from a publisher getting out of Bible sales and sold them all. Today, Earl is the founder and president of Riverside Book and Bible House, which sold $33 million worth of books last year. He's succeeded with a lot of ...

2846. A Date With Destiny

Hebrews 10:19-39

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

Some years ago an English journal ran a contest. A prize was offered for the best definition of a "friend." A friend. How would you define a friend? Thousands of replies poured in: A friend is someone "who multiplies joys, and divides grief!" said one. No, thought another; a friend is someone "who understands our silence." A third person suggested: "A friend is a volume of sympathy bound in cloth." But the publishers picked this one as the winning entry: A friend is "the one who comes in when the whole ...

2847. The Gates of Hell

Matthew 16:13-20

Sermon

King Duncan

There is a story about a poor guy who died. Much to his surprise he was sentenced not to heaven, but to Satan's domain. Before he was admitted, however, He was interviewed by Satan himself. "It's pretty bad down here, isn't it?" asked the man. "Not at all!" said Satan. "You're surrounded by people who know how to enjoy! Each day we have a theme. Monday, for example, is Party Day! We party around the clock. Tuesday is Alcohol Day! An open bar, take all you want! Wednesday is Tobacco Day! The finest Havana ...

2848. Through The Storm, Through The Night

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

Frank Lyman

Two twelve-year-old boys, Bob and Mike, broke a window while playing baseball. They looked around to see if anyone had seen them. No one was in sight, except for Mike's little brother. They went over and offered him a piece of candy not to tell. He refused it. "I'll give you my baseball," Mike said. "No," said his little brother. "Then what about my new glove?" Bob added. "No!" said the little brother. "Well, what do you want?" they pleaded. With resoluteness, the little fellow said, "I wanna tell." It's ...

2849. When The Going Gets Tough

Romans 8:18-25

Sermon

King Duncan

The theologian of the comic strips, Charlie Brown, was once talking with his friend Lucy about the meaning of life. Lucy asks Charlie Brown, "Do you think life has any meaning?" Charlie Brown starts to answer her, but she interrupts with, "I mean, do you think life has any meaning after you've failed nine spelling tests in a row and your teacher hates you?" To which Charlie Brown calmly says, "That's a different question." I was reading recently about the origin of the word "sabotage." It comes from French ...

2850. Father? Almighty?

John 14:5-14

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

Harry Emerson Fosdick once told the story of a little boy who, on his first day of school, learned that the sky is not a big, blue bowl. Upon returning home, he felt he must impart this new-found knowledge to a neighbor boy, and so he said, “There ain’t no sky.” The neighbor boy looked up into the heavens and said to him, “Okay, but what is it then that ain’t?” Something exists. The basic theological question is: Why is there something instead of nothing? Those who have suffered through my God Lecture in ...

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