Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 2876 to 2900 of 4508 results

Sermon

April Yamasaki

Whenever my husband and I see a movie in a theater, we’re generally the last to leave. Other movie goers have already gathered up their coats and left the building. An usher stands waiting to pick up any litter and get ready for the next show. But we’re still in our seats, savoring the closing music and watching the credits roll. After the big-name stars, we like to see what other names we might r...

2877. The Mountain

Sermon

John Jamison

Up in the northeast corner of the Sea of Galilee, a mile or so past the village of Bethsaida, there is a mountain. Or, as near what you would call a mountain in that area. If you go there today, there is a parking lot nearby, and from there you walk a steep and rocky trail for about a mile and a half to get to the top of the mountain. Even with the trail, it is a tough trek. As Jesus, Peter, James...

2878. Don't Be Afraid

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“Don’t be afraid of the dark.” That’s what we tell our young children, even ourselves when night falls and we feel alone, vulnerable, isolated, or plagued by nightmares. And yet, the truth is that most human beings are far more fearful of the light. The light –that utterly visible and revealing place in which we cannot hide but stand entirely exposed and unveiled—makes us both warm and wobbly. Whe...

2879. Listen To Jesus

Children's Sermon

Brett Blair

Exegetical Aim: Many voices via for our attention. It is important to listen primarily to Christ. Props: A new twenty-dollar bill. Lesson: Good morning! (response) Guess what I found? When I got out of the car, sitting right there on the ground was a show the bill twenty-dollar bill—a crisp brand new twenty-dollar bill. That’s a lot of money isn’t it? (response) I don’t know what I’m going to ge...

2880. The Disciples’ Insufficient Faith to Heal as Jesus Heals

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

Big Idea: Jesus, now revealed as the suffering Messiah, continues his kingdom ministry of healing, while his disciples demonstrate their “little faith” by their inability to heal as he does. Understanding the Text Matthew’s emphasis in the account of the healing in 17:14–20 is on the disciples’ inability to heal (17:19–20) in spite of the authority given them by Jesus to do so (see 10:1, 8). The...

2881. The Healing of a Boy with a Demon

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

Matthew narrates the healing of a demon-possessed boy (17:14–20), whose father has sought his healing from the disciples while Jesus was away with Peter, James, and John. When the disciples fail, the father comes to Jesus. Jesus’s response echoes his words against “this generation” in 12:39–45, where Jewish leaders inappropriately ask Jesus for a miraculous sign. In this case, Jesus reacts against...

2882. The Healing of a Boy With a Demon

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

17:14–16 On the following day (cf. Luke 9:37) as Jesus and the three disciples (Peter, James, and John; cf. 17:1) came down from the mountain, they encountered a scene of confusion not unlike that which greeted Moses on his descent from Mount Sinai (cf. Exod. 32). Mark tells of a great crowd and the scribes arguing with the disciples who had not been on the mountain with Jesus (Mark 9:14–16). A ma...

2883. Mighty Faith

Sermon

Herchel H. Sheets

Engineering by command! That is what Jesus’ words about faith and mountain-moving seem to suggest. He says that if one has only a tiny bit of faith, he or she can move a mountain just by telling it to move. The feats of our modern earth-moving equipment are astounding enough, but they are nothing compared to this engineering by faith! But this could create problems. Suppose a person was unhappy w...

2884. Excuses, Excuses

Illustration

Alison L. Boden

Dorothy Day, co-founder of the Catholic Worker movement and an extraordinarily faithful laywoman, was often approached by people who said things to her like, “You are a saint,” “You are so special – a true gift of God as a person.” She hated that! She was quite gruff with those who suggested such things. She’d say, “No, I’m not! I’m no different from you. If you value what I do, go do it yourself....

2885. The Mustard Seed

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

Object: mustard seeds. How many people here this morning think that they are growing up? (Check a raising of hands.) Is there anyone who is not growing? Of course not? We are all growing up and we are growing in a lot of ways. How many are growing taller? Good, you will soon be big enough to hang up your own coat and hat. How many are growing smarter? Terrific, soon you will figure out new ways to...

2886. The Temple Tax

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

The final passage of 16:21–17:27 narrates Jesus’s pronouncement on paying the temple tax while also introducing the motif of stumbling that will be explored in Matthew 18. The two-drachma temple tax (equivalent to the half-shekel of Exod. 30:11–16) was levied on all adult Jewish males annually, though there is debate on how rigidly this was followed in the first century. When questioned by the col...

2887. The Temple Tax

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

17:24–27 In New Testament times every male Jew twenty years of age or older was required to pay a half-shekel per year for the maintenance of the temple service (cf. Exod. 30:11–16). This was equivalent to two day’s pay for the average worker. When Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, those who collected the temple tax approached Peter to ask whether Jesus would be paying the required tax...

2888. Heart of a Pelican

Sermon

Lori Wagner

It’s football season! Whether or not you are a fan of the game of football, you can’t help getting swept up in some of the hype of this great American sport! We love the excitement on people’s faces, as they get ready to watch the game. We love the crowds, the food, the energy of the game. Many of you are rooting for one or the other of the teams on the ticket. Some of you will gather with friend...

2889. The Good Catch

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Animation: Basin of water; rubber fish or coins “Not fair!!” yelled my five-year old. “The teacher said all of us need to pay to go to the school play, even if we’re already in it!” “Why do we have to pay? We are the ones doing the play for everyone else!?” “Well,” I said, “I guess it’s just a rule that everyone needs to contribute in order for the school to make money on the play.” “After all,...

2890. Death of a Twelve-year-old Boy

Eulogy

John M. Braaten

Except We Become Like Children Preached at the funeral of a twelve-year-old boy who died of a congenital heart defect. With the knowledge of death stalking him, he endured many open heart surgeries but at each turn his faith was a powerful witness to all around him. As his mother said, "Spiritually he was eighty years old."We have gathered as members of the Body of Christ, and as a community of fr...

2891. Community Discourse: Care for Others in the Kingdom

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

Big Idea: Jesus confronts the disciples about their preoccupation with status and teaches that the kingdom community is to be not status focused but other focused, with Jesus in their midst, caring for the vulnerable and addressing sin that might harm the community. Understanding the Text Chapter 18 is the fourth of five major teaching discourses in Matthew (chaps. 5–7, 10, 13, 18, 24–25) and is...

2892. Jesus’s Fourth Discourse—The Community Discourse

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

The messages of the Community Discourse—embedded in 16:21–20:28, with its focus on defining Messiah and discipleship—center on the need for the messianic community to renounce status concerns, care for their most vulnerable, and pursue restoration and forgiveness of those who stray. The community of disciples must deny self and live a cross-shaped existence (16:24) empowered by Jesus’s presence wi...

2893. The Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

Humility and Forgiveness: We come now to the fourth major discourse of Matthew. It ends with the usual formula in 19:1–2 (cf. 7:28; 11:1; 13:53; 26:1). Chapter 18 reads very much like an early church manual and deals with subjects such as humility (vv. 1–4), responsibility (vv. 5–7), self-renunciation (vv. 8–10), individual care (vv. 11–14), discipline (vv. 15–20), fellowship (vv. 19–20), and forg...

2894. What We Do, We Do to Others, Too

Children's Sermon

Marti Kramer Suddarth

Object: Paper fan; Card stock printed with scripture reference and verse; Decorative paper, one sheet per child; Printed directions for making a paper fan, one per child, copied from this chapter (Sit down next to one of the children and fan yourself with the paper fan. Hold the fan so that it also blows air on the child sitting next to you.) This breeze feels good. I made this fan myself by fold...

2895. And a Child Will Lead Them

Sermon

Lori Wagner

When Maria (name disguised), dying of cancer, watched her partner hurt her three young children for the 7th time that month, she did the most painful thing a mother can do. She sent them away. She secretly arranged for them to be rescued and adopted, so that she could ensure their safety when she knew she could no longer fend for them. She couldn’t bear to leave them with him while she spent her l...

2896. The Beauty of a Childlike Faith

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

An eight-year-old boy was away at summer camp for the first time. His parents did not receive a card from him for a whole week. So, they telephoned to check on him. Frankly, they were a bit disappointed to discover that he hadn't really missed them at all. He was just very busy having a wonderful time. His mother asked, "Have any of the other kids gotten homesick?" He replied, "Just the ones who h...

2897. Ambition and Humility

Illustration

King Duncan

There was a man with the odd name: Horville Sash. Horville had a very humble job in a certain company, a job in the lowest basement of a building. He was a mail room clerk. As mail room clerk, there was no one who was lower than he was. One day he came across a bug scurrying across the floor. Horville may have the lowliest job in the whole company, but he was bigger than the bug! So he raised his...

2898. The Parable of the Lost Sheep

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

To illustrate God’s deep care for little ones, especially those who stray, Jesus tells a parable of a shepherd who leaves his ninety-nine sheep in safety to seek and find the one that has strayed away (18:12–13). His joy is greater over the restoration of that single sheep than over the rest who never strayed. Jesus applies the parable (18:14) to the Father’s great concern over losing even a singl...

2899. The Parable of the Lost Sheep

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

2900. Sheep

Drama

Dave Marsh

Director's Notes: God pursues lost people with a vengeance. He cares about us so much that He will passionately seek us out to bring us home. This drama shows the difference between how God might pursue us (Donna) and how we humans normally view the lost (Jim). Cast: Donna: a good shepherd Jim: a not-so-good shepherd Props: 2 staffs (staves?) A laptop computer a bag (to hold the laptop) A pictur...

Showing 2876 to 2900 of 4508 results