Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 2901 to 2925 of 3160 results

Luke 7:36-50

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... scents/fragrances in the sanctuary for your service, ie incense and candles. If desired, you may have roses on the altar and/or an olive tree standing nearby.] When the Lord God created Eden, the garden in which humans were bred and wed, God filled it with all sorts of animals and plants and foliage, and two kinds of trees. One kind of tree bore fruit delectable to eat. One kind of tree was simply beautiful. I want you to close your eyes now and imagine for a moment that you are standing in that garden. You ...

2902. The Death of John the Baptist

Matthew 14:1-12, Mark 6:14-29, Luke 9:1-9

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... are trying to figure out who Jesus is, and why he can do the things he is doing. (The following image exegesis is taken from the preaching textbook, Giving Blood.) It’s the month of Halloween, and the stores are filling with costumes, candy, and all sorts of ghoulish props. It’s the season when readings of Edgar Allen Poe abound. One particular story called The Telltale Heart, tells us a story in which a man, having killed, imagines he hears the victim’s heartbeat, until plagued and beaten by his own ...

2903. Syrophoenician Lives Matter!

Mark 7:24-30, Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... ? Are we a place where those who don’t dress very well, who don’t smell very well, who have maybe different problems than we do are welcome to our table? What about those who don’t feel very well --- who are disabled or depressed or suffer from some sort of mental illness? Are they welcome here? Are you as eager to see them and say “hello!” to them as you are everyone else? Are you as eager to spend time with them, sit with them, eat with them, as everyone else? Jesus was! Jesus believed that all ...

2904. Here I Am

Luke 1:26-38, Luke 1:39-45, Luke 1:46-56

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son ...

2905. What Kind of Sheep Are You?

Luke 2:1-7, Luke 2:8-20, Ezekiel 34:1-31

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... Shepherd King, so later would God send another Shepherd to call home the lost sheep of a new generation in a new way! Jesus. The Lamb of God, who would be both the perfect Lamb and the Good Shepherd that is God, seeking the lost sheep of Israel, and sorting out the gentle lambs from the stubborn and power-hungry rams. Jesus’ birth is a prophecy in itself, a renewed effort by God to make things right in the pasture of our lives. God called a new Lamb to exemplify the others, to be the One Perfect Sacrifice ...

2906. Redeemed

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... a Christmas tree --a Christmas Tree who wanted to belong. There once was a Lord of a large manor, and adjoined to his huge house, a beautiful glass greenhouse stretched far into the courtyards. Inside the greenhouse glass, the Master of the House cultivated all sorts of beautiful and exotic plants and flowers, foliage, and trees. One day, the Master received as a gift a handsome baby spruce tree. For many days, he nurtured the spruce inside the living room of the Master’s drawing room. But as he told the ...

2907. Precocious

Luke 2:41-52

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... much in her heart from the time of his birth, and again now. She knew “who” he was. And they both clearly knew, their son was born of the “double line” of David –and could later change the course of Jewish history. But he was still young. Sort of. At 12 in the first century, according to the Mishnah, Jesus’ could embark on much deeper religious study. We don’t know what happened next, although we can take educated guesses. But for now, I’ll leave you with these questions: We know, for now ...

2908. Vetted

Luke 3:21-38, Luke 4:1-13

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... shelter. I tossed the pad in Reggie’s direction, and he sniffed it and wagged his tail, the most enthusiasm I’d seen since bringing him home. But then I called, “Hey, Reggie, you like that? Come here and I'll give you a treat.” Instead, he sort of glanced in my direction – maybe “glared” is more accurate – and then gave a discontented sigh and flopped down. With his back to me. Well, that’s not going to do it either, I thought. And I punched the shelter phone number. But I hung up when I ...

2909. Dry As Toast

Matthew 12:15-21

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... he is not receiving this nourishment. God has the power to water or dry the land or one’s body and soul. In the story of Jeroboam, his hand is shriveled in the face of the Lord’s prophet. He is punished for appointing priests unlawfully. This sort of unlawful corruption exists also in Jesus’ time within the temple, and perhaps also in some of the synagogues. We don’t know if the corruption of the times resulted in a poor place to nourish those in attendance, but we do know that Jesus did curse ...

2910. A Piggy Pudding

Matthew 8:28-34

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... used the power of God to do so. In fact, that is what he told the man to proclaim –God’s healing.** In Tobit…..raphael teaches tobit how to exorcize. Even garden serpent or jesus wilderness experience can be seen as exorcisms of sorts by God/Jesus. Many stories of scripture have taken place at Aram, Gilead, Bashan, Geshur, where idol worship was prevalent. Some manuscripts say Gadarenes. Others gergesenes. All three towns were located across the sea of galilee in that region which formerly was geshur ...

2911. Mending Fences

Luke 16:1-15, Luke 16:16-18

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... of her father, the terrified woman’s soul is put at ease when at least he speaks to her, telling her, it was his fault, and not hers. That he loves her. That he asks for HER forgiveness. Broken relationships come in all kinds and sorts. Sometimes they are our fault. Sometimes the fault of others. While the tale of the Dishonest Manager addresses those “in charge” who have faulted others, Jesus might just as well have told a story too of one of those “others” who have lived for years feeling ...

2912. She Waits

Acts 1:1-11, Luke 24:50-53, Luke 24:36-49

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... glory. Let us prepare today and always –with great prayer, with great joy, with great anticipation. For Jesus has betrothed His holy Church. And He is coming soon! [Suggested would be to end with a song of joy or dance of joy or celebration of some sort. Or you can end with love feast that binds Jesus’ followers together as One in Him.] *Anna the prophetess also does this as she is waiting for the messiah to come. **The photo for this sermon is from sapphirethroneministries blog 2013. Based on the Story ...

2913. The Tragedy of Caiaphas

John 18:1-27 · John 11:45-47 · Matthew 26:36-75

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... the pocket of the breastplate worn by the High Priest. These were used to elicit answers to questions regarding the Jewish people that only God would answer to the High Priest. “The breastplate was actually made of two pieces, which formed a sort of purse, or bag, in which also was kept the two sacred stones, named the Urim (representing light and excellence) and the Thummim (representing perfection and completion). These stones were some divinely appointed instruments by which the High Priest inquired of ...

2914. The Catch

John 21:1-14, John 21:15-25, Acts 10:1-8, Acts 10:9-23a, Acts 10:23b-48

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... one of a catfish catch in Mississippi from National Geographic***: The net would be cast over the side (it would take several men to do it), and the catch would be caught in the net and then hauled back into the boat. Once at dock, the fish would be sorted, prepped, and then sold. In John’s tale, 153 kinds of fish were hauled on board. The net is not discerning. It doesn’t just catch one kind of fish. But the fishermen needed to be prepared to deal with (sell, eat, use) whatever came into their nets. It ...

2915. The Thorn of Discontent

2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... they would “run” the church the same way they ran their businesses. They approached the church as though it were a business entity, or a political platform. And of course, the insipid gossip, insider quarrels, and outsider arrogance that always issues from that sort of culture, ensued. So, before Paul can turn that church around, he needs to re-define for these church leaders what it means to be “powerful” and “successful.” What IS the source of power in a church? How is the church different ...

2916. Unreasonable Mercy

2 Kings 5:1-27, Matthew 8:5-13

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... Name of YHWH. For she knows, God is merciful to those who not only follow God, but who are kind, honorable, and good. On the other hand, the servant Gehazi, as we see, is not a good person, but proves deceitful. Elisha therefore makes a “transfer” of sorts, and the leprosy that had struck Naaman unjustly is placed justly upon Gehazi. Now, Naaman looks on the outside as he is on the inside. And Gehazi is rendered outside the way he is on the inside. What was unbalanced is put right by God through Elisha ...

2917. The Mustard and the Cedar

Ezekiel 17:1-24, Matthew 13:31-35

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... field and valley, mountain and hill, without thought to who it is. The metaphor is akin to Jesus’ “fishing” metaphor, in which the net is cast indiscriminately into the sea and pulls in all fish no matter what kind. It’s God’s job later to sort. In fact, Jesus would also later tell a parable indicating that weeds are sown along with wheat. It’s not our job to judge. Only our job to seed, and to continue to spread and germinate the WORD/covenant/relationship with God throughout every culture and ...

2918. All In

Exodus 3:1-22

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... imbalance of power, no? It’s not really an equal contract. The King has a lot more power than the people. Similarly, God has a lot more power and glory than we do! So, what does that all mean? Just this past week a couple were trying to sort through an argument. The one said to the other, “You need to meet me halfway!” They saw their marriage as a 50-50 agreement. One person gave half, the other half, and they would meet somewhere in the middle. That’s fair, right? Except marriage, like life, seldom ...

2919. Holy Goat!

Leviticus 16:1-34, John 20:24-31

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... again “in his own skin.” In the story of Gideon, goat skins serve as an unveiling of God’s true presence. The skins themselves, put forth by Gideon reflect his feelings of doubt and uncertainty about God’s support. They are a “test” of sorts for Gideon’s doubts. God patiently assures Gideon. God’s sign upon the skins removes Gideon’s fears. By laying the skins on the threshing floor (the metaphor for a place of decision or judgement….or proof), Gideon lays out his doubts before God to ...

2920. Unfettered Faith

Mark 1:35-39, Mark 1:40-45, Exodus 15:22-27

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... the sinner and the victim! Because no matter how you look at it, “sin gets under your skin” and dwells there in a harmful kind of way. We all know that. We carry tremendous burdens of shame, guilt, hurts, anger, jealousy, envy, and all sorts of other seething emotions underneath our skin. And it literally eats us from the inside out. What is sin? The Hebrew scriptures use the metaphor of “leprosy” to describe it. Leprosy, while a real physical condition in Jesus’ day was also frequently used to ...

2921. The Excellent Meal Ticket

Genesis 37:1-11, Genesis 37:12-36, John 21:15-25, Mark 8:1-13

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... arms uplifted, and then go home and put God in the closet until the next Sunday comes around. Of course, I’m not talking about anyone here. You are here in this church all days of the week. I can attest to that. I’ve seen you here, doing all sorts of things in the name of the Lord. You are what can be called an “all around disciple!” Here’s your shirt! [Hold up the one in which the pattern goes all around.] Jesus had this issue all the time. How to determine the true disciples from the disciples ...

2922. Trust Your Intuition

1 Corinthians 15:1-11, 1 Corinthians 15:12-34, 1 Corinthians 15:35-58

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... , without our conscious knowledge. When we pay attention however to what our minds are doing, we can become more aware of and more trusting of our intuition. Most importantly, we can excelerate our intuitive powers. Researchers use intuition continuously to sort through information, zoning in on what’s important, and discarding what isn’t. In fact, the internet is a kind of created “intuitive” medium for creative research in this regard. Ever have a really bad feeling that you just shouldn ...

2923. Immersed

Matthew 3:13-17

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... you swear “blood brothers?” Or “blood sisters?” It’s a way of leaving behind your biological marker in favor of a new kind of identity: one forged by covenant or agreement. It’s an intimate relationship forged, a kind of “marriage” of sorts created, an unbreakable bond promised through thick and thin. You gain a new identity in relationship to that other person that supercedes any other. This is the nature of the blood covenant. But it doesn’t end there with Abraham. That blood covenant ...

2924. The Tempest

Jonah 4:1-11, Jonah 3:1-10, Jonah 2:1-10, Jonah 1:1-17

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... into dreams, into inner contemplation, into a long period of soul-searching and solace, in which the ever-present God watched over him, stood by him, protected him even in the midst of his raging emotions and angry spirit. And when the time came that Jonah could sort through some of his feelings, God brought him safely to a new place. The story of Jonah is even more realistic for us I think than the story of Oz or the story of Wild Things. For our journey through grief and anger, our attempts to make ...

2925. Excuse Me!

Exodus 3:1-22

Sermon

Carl Jech

... Christ our Lord ..." How can we be "instruments of God's redeeming love" if we do not like ourselves? If we don't like and love ourselves we can hardly be effective ambassadors of God's redeeming grace. We can also make this same point in a backwards sort of way: the most dangerous walking "time-bomb" in the world is a person who hates himself or herself! Such persons do not feel good about life, do not respect life - their own or anyone else's. One of the most common ingredients in low self-esteem is the ...

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