Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 2851 to 2875 of 4986 results

2851. The Last Laugh

Genesis 18:1-15

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... when grace breaks through, when we open our eyes to God's work in the world and see miracle after miracle after miracle, even in the midst of all that is wrong, the laughter can begin again. Yes, it is a tough world out there, tough even to stay healthy whether money is no object or not, and certainly tough to find a reason to laugh, despite the reminder about the cheerful heart being good medicine. But you have heard, of course, that the one who laughs last, laughs best. Abraham and Sarah no doubt laughed ...

2852. God Hears

Genesis 21:8-21

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... and water now gone. The desert heat has taken its toll. Hagar sits on a small rock in the blazing sun, rocking back and forth, back and forth, clutching her arms about herself, trying not to hear the distant whimper of her son, her dying son...(5) If she had stayed right by him she would have gone mad. So she went off. There was nothing more she could do. "Well, we always do as we are told, God. You want us to come out here and die, we come out here and die. Is this what you wanted, God?" "Go ...

2853. Remembering 9/11

Exodus 12:1-30

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... party, but it wasn't - no cars; traffic was prohibited for 20 blocks coming and going and there were 5700 police and a zillion metal barricades to make sure nothing got through. All handbags and backpacks were being inspected. Security writ LARGE! I did not stay very long - it was LOUD. But I guess we were safe. We are more openly patriotic now, probably more than any time since the end of World War II. Not only "The Star Spangled Banner," but "America the Beautiful" and "God Bless America." And how ...

2854. The Ten Commandments #7: No Adultery

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... society's orderly system of family survival through inheritance. You see, if mother can be trusted to bring forth only children who are unquestionably the offspring of father, property will be passed from generation to generation without problems and it will STAY IN THE FAMILY. Bloodlines. But if mom fools around, who knows whose child might suddenly claim inheritance rights? The word "adultery" itself is instructive - it comes from a Latin root which means to corrupt. When we talk about adulterated milk or ...

2855. The Ten Commandments #10: No Covetousness

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... neighbor's wife"? We have already heard that seducing her is forbidden, but there is a further step than a "one night stand" that is implied here. Sex is not the issue, property is. Granted, men no longer consider wives as property (not if we want to stay alive), but ancient Israel did have that understanding, and with that in mind, the rule here is do not set your heart on having something of someone else's that would unjustly upset the basic unit of society that insures the provision of the necessities of ...

2856. The Powerful Moments that Change Your Life Forever

Matthew 4:12-23

Sermon

James W. Moore

... drive back home alone after they took the niece to the station. The accident happened in a 20 mph zone downtown. No one else was even hurt, but my mother died instantly. We went through the motions of that grief experience – the funeral on Thursday, we had to stay over a few days to take care of business matters and the next Monday we flew back home. We landed at the airport in Shreveport at 3 in the afternoon on Christmas Eve. We had a big Christmas Eve communion service planned at the church that night ...

2857. Year-Round Christmas

1 Kings 17:1-24

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... again and again, so many times and in so many ways it cannot be questioned. Yet even as our income has gone up, our spending has gone up even faster. As income has climbed, many people's giving to others has decreased; it may perhaps have stayed the same in dollars, but it has not kept pace with inflation. One recent study indicated that churchgoing Protestants in America give an average of 2.5 percent of their household income to the church. Now that may sound OK, as an average [although still not ...

2858. Dealing with Depression

1 Kings 19:9-21

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... by, unable to do anything, as his wife slowly wastes away, the victim of the inexorable advance of an incurable disease. A marriage that had started with such promise of excitement years ago has now drifted into day after day of mutual boredom. A marriage that STAYED wonderful through the years is now over, ended by the cold hand of death, leaving the survivor to wonder if there will ever again be any laughter in life. A list like that could go on and on. Psychology Today(1) pointed out years ago that ...

2859. Do I Matter?

Psalm 8:1-9

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... human - which churches proclaim at Christmas. And he was too honest to pretend that he did. On Christmas Eve, his wife and children went to church for the midnight service. He declined to accompany them. "I would feel like a hypocrite," he explained. "I'd rather stay at home. But I will wait up for you." Shortly after his family drove away in the car, snow began to fall. He went to the window and watched the flurries getting heavier and heavier. "If we must have Christmas," he thought, "it is nice to ...

2860. From Mountain to Mission

Mark 9:2-13

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... region.(3) Sir Edmund Hillary had his mountaintop experience. And it moved him to a life of mission. And that is as it ought to be. Yes, we need mountaintop experiences, and the view from up there is incredible and inspirational. But we were never intended to stay up there. Peter never built his shrines, Moses and Elijah went back to heaven. And Jesus? Jesus went back to where the people were, back to the valley to preach, to teach, to heal, and eventually, to travel to the cross for you and for me. From ...

2861. A New Look at an Old Treasure

Psalm 23:1-6

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... of the 23rd Psalm, he prayed that God might rescue him; and he heard God speaking to him, saying he would be saved. Soon after, a sheriff's deputy came by in a small motor boat offering to get him to higher ground. The man said no, he was staying put, because God was coming to rescue him. "The Lord is my shepherd." The waters continued to rise and now had come to the roof line. Another rescue worker came, in a pontoon boat, and offered him a ride. Again the man refused, saying God would rescue him. "The ...

2862. Hungry People

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... rather focus on this morning is the menu, and precisely how little there was. Five loaves and two fish. Not enough. (2) Not for hungry people. Listen again to the disciples: "Lord, it is late; send the crowds away to get some supper." Jesus says, "Naw, they can stay; YOU feed them." "What? Lord, we have nothing here but five loaves and two fish. And that is not enough for anything!" Lord, we have nothing here but five loaves and two fish. Lord, we have nothing here but five loaves and two fish. That is the ...

2863. Beyond Despair

Psalm 43:1-5, Psalm 42:1-11

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... whose name they are offered. They hope that the sacrament of bread and wine may be more than just a perfunctory exercise. They hope that all those who come to church faithfully week after week may find at least as much to feed their spirits there as they would find staying at home with a good book or getting out into the fresh air for some exercise. At the heart of all their hoping is the hope that God whom all the shouting is about really exists.(5) Well, I DO hope all that. But what I draw on is more ...

2864. There's No Such Thing as Too Much Sugar

Psalm 91:1-16

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... prized mascot. So they set out - Quinlan, Huey, Dorothy and Sparky, a rag-tag team of staunch non-believers in search of, if not a celestial visitor, at least a good story. They arrive in Iowa, meet their letter-writer at the seedy motel she owns, stay overnight in the decrepit cabins, and are finally introduced to Michael the next morning. We first get to see him as he clomps downstairs for breakfast. To say the least, Michael is NOT what anyone would have expected - not the church, not the reporters, not ...

2865. Hope for Hurting Hearts

Isaiah 35:1-10

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... unemployed, and with winter raging on, the chill had finally hit home. It was a lonely road. Not many people had a reason to be on it, unless they were leaving. Most of his friends had already left. They had families to feed and dreams to fulfill. But he stayed on. After all, this was where he had buried his mother and father. He was born here and knew the country. He could go down this road blind, and tell you what was on either side - with his headlights not working at the moment, that came in handy. It ...

2866. The Handwriting on the Heart

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... disquieting. Finally, he says, "I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." Yes, you and I know what he was talking about, but you can be sure that those who first heard him were confused. Notice something: confused or no, THEY STAYED. There was something about Jesus that did indeed draw people to him. It had been so since the night of his birth - humble shepherds and learned magi. As a boy in the Temple, there were rabbis and scholars. As a man there were folk from all walks of ...

2867. Going Fishing

Mark 1:14-20

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... our everyday lives. What did Jesus call them to do? "Follow me." Not worship me...FOLLOW me. Tag along. "Hang" with me. No doubt these men had encountered this fascinating preacher before. "No doubt they had stood in the crowd and listened; no doubt they had stayed to talk long after the rest of the crowd had drifted away. No doubt they already had felt the magic of his presence."(5) Perhaps there is a lesson there in how folks become disciples. Just being around Jesus. Picking up on the things that Jesus ...

2868. A Religion that Shows

Haggai 1:1-15

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... hour away from the church and were thus extremely limited as far as much contact with parishioners and community was concerned. Everyone knew that such an arrangement was unsatisfactory, so for months people looked around to try to find some place for the Leiningers to stay...but to no avail - we could find nothing. Finally, after about eight months of this, an older couple who lived right next door to the church concluded that they were getting too old to live that far out in the country so they decided to ...

2869. Make It Right!

Matthew 5:21-26

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... the Sabbath day where the Lord encountered a man with a withered hand.(1) The religious purists of the day were watching to see how the situation would be handled; after all, their law said that it was illegal to heal on the Sabbath - you could help someone stay alive if it were a matter of live and death, but you could not do anything to help them get better, Now, obviously, a withered hand is not a matter of life and death, especially if the hand is not yours. The scripture says that Jesus "looked around ...

2870. God and Hurricanes

Matthew 5:43-48

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... is nuts. It wasn't until after dark that the governor allowed the east-bound lanes of the interstate to be reversed so people could get out more easily. Who designed this infrastructure anyway? You might need to pray harder for our sense of humor to stay intact.(2) Probably so. Fortunately, the catastrophe that could easily have occurred did not. Floyd weakened as it moved north, so by the time it made landfall at Cape Fear, it was only a strong category 2 storm, and much less dangerous than it had been ...

2871. Regis and Jesus

Matthew 6:19-24

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... treasures of the church."(1) The other aspect of heavenly treasure concerned good character. One rabbi was asked if he would spend time in a heathen city if he were paid handsomely for his services. But the man replied that he would only do so if he could stay in a home of the Law. His rationale was "In the hour of a man's departure neither silver nor gold nor precious stones accompany him, but only his knowledge of the Law and his good works."(2) Good deeds...good character. Those are the stuff heavenly ...

2872. Tragedy and Triumph

Matthew 7:24-29

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... you were doing when you heard about the shuttle or that President Kennedy had been shot or that Franklin Roosevelt had died, you probably could answer. It would be the same if I asked about the death of a member of your own family. They become events that stay with us for reasons that are too deep to explain. I was in my study working on my sermon for the coming Sunday the day Challenger exploded (and as today, I ended up preaching a very different one than I had originally planned). I remember that there ...

2873. Ask the Average Person...

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... , a hot-water bottle, a gargle, a raincoat, aspirin, and a parachute. If I had it to do over again, I would go places, do things, and travel lighter than I have. If I had my life to live over again I would start barefooted earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall. I would play hockey more. I wouldn't make such good grades, except by accident. I would ride more merry-go-rounds. I'd pick more daisies." (3) Frank Lloyd Wright, the world-famous architect, tells how a lecture he received at the ...

2874. The Apostle's Creed: Jesus Christ...Our Lord

Matthew 16:13-20

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... he goes where we might rather he did not. • If we say, "Jesus Christ is Lord," that means his priorities will become our priorities. We will be drawn to those on the margins, the outcasts, and even those society (and sometimes even the church) suggests we stay away from. • If we say, "Jesus Christ is Lord," we will take religion seriously - we will worship, we will fellowship, we will pray, we will even sacrifice...just as Jesus did, and we will never let religion become an end in itself; it must never ...

2875. The Ultimate Question

Matthew 16:13-20

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... looking too closely at Jesus is that we would simply rather not. Our pat theological answers and our warm mental images are just fine, thank you. We have enough challenges in our lives. Our children are a challenge, making ends meet is a challenge, staying healthy is a challenge, the environment is a challenge...challenge, challenge, challenge. We do not need that from our religion TOO! Please, let us have SOMETHING in this life that is NOT a challenge, something we can count on, something we do not have ...

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