Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 2876 to 2900 of 2962 results

Mark 11:1-11 · John 12:12-16

Sermon

Timothy W. Ayers

... ’t you be surprised, possibly shocked, certainly dismayed, and definitely discouraged? They shouldn’t have been and neither should we because Jesus warned them and Mark recorded it in chapter 4 of his gospel. Jesus was teaching his disciples through parables, which are word pictures designed to teach a point. Mark wrote in 4:3-9: “Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it ...

2877. The Sign of Noah

Mark 1:4-11 · Song of Songs 6:9

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... new covenant, and the sign that God is “breaking through” our world in order to do something new and amazing that will change everything.[7] The nurturing parent God is also sacrificial. While the dove itself is a sacrificial animal, a “clean” bird, designated for its purity, in the Jewish tradition, the dove in Jesus’ baptism also signifies the atoning sacrifice of Jesus. As Son of God and Messiah, God incarnate, the symbol of the dove also exhibits God’s grand “sacrifice of self” in order ...

2878. We Need Some Good News

Mark 1:14-20

Sermon

Michael L. Sherer

... word. In Greek, eu means “good”; angelion means “message.” The Greek word euangelion, which appears often in the New Testament and on which the English word evangelical is based, means, literally, “good news.” Perhaps by accident, but more likely by design and intent on the part of individuals within the most conservative wing of American Christianity, the term “evangelical” has come to mean, in both the public media and (as a result) in popular imagination, the name of an entire movement of ...

2879. Fever Pitch

Mark 1:29-39

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... did, sit under a tree and wait for things to pass. But Jesus instead tells us, now more than ever, this is the time for mission. This is your chance to proclaim a hope and a different future. Don’t let the doldrums keep you from being the apostle Jesus designed you to be. Don’t let the familiar keep you from doing the spectacular.

2880. Go!

Acts 9:10-19

Sermon

Will Willimon

... discipleship as the taking of ordinary, everyday people, and turning us into saints, courageous people who are able to relate to others in the same way that Jesus relates to us, ordinary people who live counter to the ways of the world, referring to others, not by the world's designations of politically incorrect slanders, but as Ananias, as "sister," and " brother."

2881. Homecoming

Exodus 17:1-7

Sermon

Will Willimon

... preacher; "began when we got too good to be with God out in the desert in a tent and began building churches trying to housebreak God." When my mother died, I kept having these dreams of home. I had been raised in the rock house my mother designed and had constructed. Every inch of that house bore the imprint of her creativity and affection. In my recurring dreams, I would be back in the home I had left twenty years before, wandering from room to room, marveling that everything was in its place, down to ...

2882. Homecoming

Mark 16:1-20

Sermon

Will Willimon

... that our hope, in life, in death, is that the same God who raised dead Jesus to life everlasting, may condescend to do the same even for us. On the week after my mother died, I had a recurring dream. In my dream, I was back home again, the home designed and built by my mother, a house whose every inch she cherished, and whose ever corner spoke of her and her love of beauty. In my dream, I'd move from room to room and be surprised that all of her dispersed furniture was back in its original place. Every ...

2883. Holy Extravagance

Mark 14:3-9

Sermon

Will Willimon

... is of the very nature of love that it wants, needs, always tries to get "out of hand." Love knows not moderation. That's part of the fun of it. It's—excessive. The faculty was discussing a proposal to renovate the seminary chapel. An architectural designer had been asked to turn our bare room of fading carpet and broken furniture into a more fitting place of worship. A plan was submitted, not a terribly expensive plan of renovation, but a good one. Would the chapel be renovated? No. "With all the poverty ...

2884. Having the Right Connection

John 15:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

... not so funny. It’s about a woman named Sager Kopchak, who was once an esteemed member of the Boston society scene. She married a man who owned a high-end boutique. She attended all the most fashionable parties and had closets full of designer clothes. The people around her said that she and her husband were obsessed with fashion and status and the social scene. Sager was generous in supporting charitable fundraisers, especially for cancer research. But her friends in Boston reported that she rarely shared ...

2885. We Wobble, but We Don't Fall Down

2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1

Sermon

King Duncan

... , and Paddington Bear. Cabbage Patch Kids were the craze of the 1980s. The 1990s brought us the Super Soaker water gun. And the 2000s brought us the Bratz Dolls, the Mindflex headset, and Zhu Zhu robotic hamsters. (1) I’m sure it’s hard for toy designers to know which toy is going to be a one-hit wonder, and which one will be played with, passed down to younger siblings, remembered with fondness, or even coveted by antiques collectors someday. I would bet the inventor of the Weebles never expected his ...

2886. The Eye of the Storm

Mark 11:1-11

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... so, many will cause immense damage, destroying entire towns in their wake. As frightful as a hurricane can be, life can issue its own lethal chaotic winds of defiance and danger in the midst of provocation and change. Similar to the hurricane’s design, these whirlwinds of culture and personality can begin to escalate when power structures are threatened by forces or winds of change. Like a tropical storm, these have a “tipping point,” a provocational point in which the storm takes on a life of its ...

2887. All Wrapped Up

John 20:1-18

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... head cloths of Jesus, such as the Shroud of Turin or the Sudarium of Oviedo. These cloths were signs of that mystery, testimonies that a miracle had occurred. They were left behind for a reason, so that the disciples and others may believe! They were designed to provoke faith in the eyes of beholders and for those who would come after them, those who would listen to the stories of the witnesses. And also believe. The name for burial Jewish burial clothing was “tachrichim.” At burial a man or woman would ...

2888. Can You Deny Yourself?

Mark 8:27-38

Sermon

King Duncan

... John Ortberg says to imagine that you are sitting home in your recliner eating Twinkies when your doorbell rings. On your porch stand the members of the U.S. Olympics Committee. They tell you that they have a special computer algorithm that was designed to sort through the records of every person in America in order to find the next great competitor in the Olympic marathon. And after analyzing hundreds of data points, this computer algorithm has picked you! You are the most uniquely-qualified person in ...

2889. Will the “Real” Jesus Please Stand Up

Mark 3:20-35

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... things. Most adults wonder why their young people love these seemingly meaningless clips so much. They aren’t Netflix movies with linear stories and plots. They don’t seem to carry deep meaning or teach lasting lessons. Most of them seem designed simply to make kids laugh. But don’t forget the secret that a great comedian will always tell you: comedians are often the saddest, most insecure, socially awkward people around. But in their comedy, they find acceptance, authenticity, identity, and ...

2890. Like a Phoenix

Mark 6:1-13

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

... ever heard was given in a TED Talk by Doctor Abraham Verghese. TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (eighteen minutes or less). TED began in 1984 as a conference where Technology, Entertainment and Design converged, and today covers almost all topics — from science to business to global issues — in more than 100 languages. Over 2,000 TED talks have been archived on their web site and I encourage you to go there, from time to time, and ...

2891. Christ and the Magic Cloak

Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... display –Medieval gowns, Knight’s armor, Viking attire, Victorian splendor. We marvel at the handicrafts that people were able to assemble even so many years ago! Today, we continue to adore fashion. We look read fashion magazines. We watch the runway. We elevate our favorite designers to the level of rock stars and movie moguls, and we laud their creativity. In fact, we can get so caught up in our own fashion trends that we assume that in Jesus’ time, people just slapped on a robe, and it was a done ...

2892. The Heart's Deceit

Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... who longs to be close to her children and yet imposes so many strict rules upon them, snapping at them for transgressing them multiple times a day, that they grow apart from her, because she has not allowed them to approach her. Think of a community center designed to serve a community of people and yet has posted so many rules of entry that only a small “inner crowd” of people can possibly follow them. When our fear rules us, our rules get in the way of our relationships and our living. Fear is the ...

2893. Now That's Rich

Mark 10:17-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... .com that lists almost 100 things that rich people love. It gives us common folk a humorous glimpse into how “the other half” lives. Among the things on the list are fine wine, sailing, cufflinks, pretending to empathize (I like that one), designer cupcakes, extravagant parties, air kisses, and being right (all the time). The website’s founder writes a short article explaining each subject and why it appeals to the rich. On extravagant parties, he writes: “. . . when rich people party, they spare no ...

2894. For Men Only?

Mark 10:2-16

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... a man is newly married, he shall not go out with the army or be charged with any related duty. He shall be free at home one year, to be happy with the wife whom he has married.” This addition to the law about divorce is designed to stop people from divorcing their current wife, then temporarily marrying another woman, in order to avoid military service, and then remarrying their first wife. So far from giving men carte blanche to divorce wives casually, this law prevented them from divorcing to swap wives ...

2895. Deliverance through adversity

Sermon

Willie Soler

... the Christian life, because the ways of God are opposite to the natural inclinations of man. Thus, adversity may come at the hand of those who mock God’s principles, or it may come when we violate God’s principles. In either case, adversity is designed to strengthen our faith. “. . . Now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise ...

2896. For The Love of God is Creative

1 Corinthians 2:6-12 · Psalm 8

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... and wavy. After that we couldn't fool them any more. And that's the wonderful thing about being created in God's image. There may be those who resemble us but there is no one, anywhere, who is just like us. We are each one of a kind, unique, designer originals, created by the very hand of God, in God's own image. We are created in the image of God. And that gives us our self worth because God doesn't make junk. C. Now we don't always agree with that. I know that sounds a little audacious ...

2897. The Family

Genesis 37:1-36

Sermon

Will Willimon

... for a man with twelve sons, plus some daughters probably (though this patriarchal narrative mentions only sons). But, as friend Wade Huie said in a sermon here on Joseph, when old Jacob shopped for clothes for Joseph, he went right to Neiman-Marcus, the ''Designer Shop'' at Neiman-Marcus. Only the best for precious little Joseph. There, he picked out for Joseph (according to the King James Version) a ''coat of many colors." First-year Students, I hate to begin so early to disrupt what they may have told ...

2898. The Art of Fruit

Luke 3:7-18

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... He will clear his threshing stone to discern the hearts of many. Jesus’ baptism will be a discernment of the heart committed to God. The threshing stone is an amazing metaphor in scripture. It was a round, flat, clearing of land, usually on a hill, designed for separating grain from chaff (the lightweight husks that surround the grain). Using a winnowing fork, a kind of large cross between a pitchfork and plow, the farmer would draw it across the pile of grain. In doing so, the empty husks would fly away ...

2899. Big Boys Do Cry

Joel 2:1-2,12-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... security guards in the halls? Did you ever live in a neighborhood where the sound of gunfire at night was normal? You talk a lot about being dirt poor and having no money. Since when does money mean happiness? The kids at school who have the expensive cars and designer clothes are the most miserable. When I am your age, Georgia, I won’t do much looking back, I’ll just thank God that I survived. (3) I believe a few tears would be appropriate over such a society, don’t you? It’s all right to cry over ...

2900. Welcome, Joe!

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Sermon

King Duncan

... welcome to all our Joes in the congregation this morning, since March 27 is officially “National Joe Day.” I’m not kidding. I don’t know who decides these things, like National Goof Off Day (March 22) or National Waffle Day (March 25), but March 27 is designated as National Joe Day. It’s a day for celebrating anyone with the name Joe. In fact, the founder of National Joe Day invites all people to change their name to Joe for this one day, so that everyone can experience the honor of being a Joe ...

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