Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 276 to 300 of 1182 results

2 Kings 4:8-37, Genesis 32:22-32, Psalm 89:1-52, Psalm 17:1-15, Isaiah 2:6-22, Jeremiah 28:1-17, Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon Aid

... , in the meantime, be about the business of obeying his commandments and completing his mission in the world. The second reading and the Gospel for the Day bring the last things into sharp perspective on this Sunday. The Prayer of the Day (LBW) Another classic collect has been modernized in this Prayer of the Day simply by overhauling its language. In older sets of propers, the prayer was used in conjunction with Luke 5:1-11. (The tremendous catch of fish made by Peter and his companions at the direction ...

277. Proper 10 & Pentecost 8

Isaiah 55:1-13, Psalm 65:1-13, Romans 8:1-17, Romans 8:18-27, Exodus 2:11-25, Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon Aid

... or not one reads the shorter or longer lection, while the second reading continues to go its own way and sounds its own eschatological note. The Prayer of the Day (LBW) Two prayers are provided for this Sunday, neither of which bears any relationship to the older, classic collect used on this day. The first is so conceived and constructed as to complement, if not announce, the "seed/Word" theme of Matthew 13, the Gospel for the Day. It gives thanks to God for "planting in us the seed of your word," and asks ...

278. Proper 11 & Pentecost 11

Isaiah 44:6-23, Psalm 103:1-22, Psalm 86:1-17, Exodus 3:1-22, Romans 8:18-27, Matthew 13:24-30, Matthew 13:36-43

Sermon Aid

... race. Without the eschatological focus of the readings, the theological clue of the church year would be almost indistinct. The Prayer of the Day (LBW) Two prayers have been prepared and appointed to the propers for this Sunday. The first is a reworking of the classic collect for the Eighth Sunday after Trinity; in it, the language of the older prayer is modernized, the address of God has more of a "Pentecost flavor" (from "Grant to us, Lord, we beseech thee, the spirit to think and do always such things as ...

279. Proper 12 & Pentecost 10

1 Kings 3:1-15, Exodus 3:1-22, Romans 8:18-27, Romans 8:28-39, Matthew 13:44-46, Matthew 13:47-52

Sermon Aid

... spelled out at the conclusion of the Pentecost cycle/season and Christ the King Sunday. The Prayer of the Day (LBW) The introduction to this prayer ("O God, your ears are open always to the prayers of your servants") is a theological reconstruction of the classic collect, which begins, "Let thy merciful ears, O Lord, be open to the prayers of thy humble servants." The theology of the petition has also been improved by a radical reworking of the prayer itself. The older form said: "and, that they may obtain ...

280. Proper 13 & Pentecost 11

Matthew 14:13-21, Nehemiah 9:1-37, Exodus 12:1-30, Romans 8:28-39, Isaiah 55:1-13

Sermon Aid

... ; the preacher may have to be reminded of the eschatobogical movement of the church year, which is about to enter the second half of Pentecost. The Prayer of the Day The LBW appoints two prayers for this Sunday; neither is an evident reworking of the classic collect for the Tenth Sunday after Trinity/the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost. The first prayer is oriented toward the "bread" theme in the Gospels for Year A (Matthew 14:13-21) and Year B (John 6:24-35); the second prayer has been designed for ...

281. Proper 14 & Pentecost 12

1 Kings 19:9-18, Psalm 29:1-11, Psalm 106:1-48, Romans 9:1-29, Matthew 14:22-36, Exodus 13:17--14:31, Jonah 2:1-10, Psalm 85:1-13

Sermon Aid

... in grace and faith, and to engage in the work of the righteous, which is serving and doing good to all human beings in the name of Jesus Christ the Lord. The Prayer of the Day (LBW) Here is another example of a classic collect being reworked to accommodate contemporary liturgical language, rather than making any theological alterations and/or corrections; the older English - "who art" ... "art wont," etc. - is replaced with modern linguistic and grammatical forms. The address of the revised version of the ...

282. Proper 15 & Pentecost 13

Isaiah 56:1-8, Psalm 67:1-7, Psalm 78:1-72, Exodus 16:1-36, Romans 11:11-24, Romans 11:25-32, Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon Aid

... upon pastoral and practical theology in the weeks ahead. One's preaching ministry should go into high gear, theologically, because it is around Labor Day that the new year of the church is really about to begin. The Prayer of the Day (LBW) The traditional and classic Collect for the Day gives way to a new, and rather simple, Prayer of the Day, which might be fitting on any Sunday. It addresses the God who has "given great and precious promises to those who believe." The petition, however, is attuned to the ...

283. Pentecost 23

Exodus 22:16-31, Leviticus 19:1-37, Ruth 2:1-23, 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10, 1 Thessalonians 2:1-16, Matthew 22:34-40, Matthew 22:41-46, Psalm 1:1-6

Sermon Aid

... as the "supreme law-giver," who reinterprets the Ten Commandments for all time and for all people. It has to do with the love of God and people as the key to the kingdom of God. The Prayer of the Day (LBW) This revision of a classic collect has been shifted from the Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity/Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost to this Sunday, partly because it has a deep concern for the ultimate things of God ("increase in us the gifts of faith, hope, and charity"), but also because it anticipates what ...

284. Battle Cries

2 Samuel 1:17-27

Sermon

Michael Mills

... ’s lament is valuable to us today. It shows us that even the mighty fall and even the mighty cry. Christianity is not stoicism. We Christians cry when we lose someone we love. Stiff upper lips are for prudes and not Presbyterians. David is a classic example of grief. Yet he recovers. He never forgets his love for Jonathan and his ambivalent feelings towards Saul. He does take the following steps in the grief process. He talks about the dead loved ones and weeps openly. He accepts sympathy from others in ...

285. Proper 11

Psalm 103:1-22, Exodus 3:1-22

Bulletin Aid

Theme: The majesty and mystery of God Exegetical Note God's call to Moses in the presence of the burning bush is a classic theophany, presenting the Holy as what Rudolf Otto called a mysterium tremendum et fascinans (i.e., a mystery that is both terrifying and magnetic): on the one hand, Moses is drawn to the burning bush and has to be warned not to go near; on the other, he is afraid ...

286. Christ Our High Priest

John 18:28-40, Isaiah 52:13--53:12

Sermon

... theories about Christ’s saving work on the cross.21 Those who are familiar with SLR cameras know that the choice of the lens makes all the difference in the world. During this sermon, we are going to look at the cross through three different lenses. A. Christus Victor: The Classic Idea The first lens you will need is a 28mm wide angle one. With it, we will be able to stand at the foot of the cross and still see a great deal. Through this lens, we focus on the fact that the work of Christ on the cross is ...

287. Loyalty: Imperative Ingredient

Ruth 1:1-22

Sermon

Christian unity assumes loyalty. In our present passage, we read a classic statement of loyalty. There were no circumstances too hostile or potentially dangerous to keep Ruth from being with her mother-in-law. It is an ancient story and everytime it is told, for the first time, to a new generation, its worth to motivate loyalty shines with a majestic simplicity. ...

288. Security: Deeply Personal

Ezekiel 34:1-31

Sermon

... established name for the sacrament ..." Eucharista means thanksgiving. Bernard Cooke, in The Eucharist: Mystery of Friendship, says quite simply, "The Eucharist is the supreme expression of man’s unity with Christ and with his fellow man." In the classic Introduction to Christian Worship by James F. White, there is further acknowledgment: "The eucharist is the most characteristic structure of Christian worship. It is also the most widely used form of worship among Christians, being celebrated daily and ...

289. Kingdoms In Conflict

Daniel 2:24-49

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... tilted the nation one way or the other---toward the religious or toward the secular. Christ the Rock indicts those parts of our culture that are immoral and materialistic. Meanwhile, the secular forces oppose that which is religious. Charles Colson, in his classic book entitled, "Kingdoms in Conflict," points out that church and state have different functions. If government tries to run the church, it will ruin it. If the church takes on governmental power, the church will be corrupted. (3) But a government ...

290. Celebrating with Jesus

Luke 5:33-39

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... gifts to all who will repent and believe. That core of the gospel will never change until Jesus returns in glory. But the way we express and deliver that Gospel must always be changing. It used to be that two-week revivals were the classic means of reaching lost people. Today revivals are much shorter and less frequent. But along came the Walk to Emmaus, the Lay Witness Mission, and contemporary worship services. The youth use something that looks like a rock concert. It’s called "Nitro," and it reaches ...

291. I ... Oh ... U

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

... than we could hope to review in a lifetime. Like Coca Cola in the world today, this phenomenon would seem to turn up everywhere in our chronological travels. To spare us blistered feet and extensive examples, I turn to one of the classic descriptions from the third decade A.D. In brilliant, sweeping brush-strokes, Christ paints a vivid, scenic word-picture. Morning in Jerusalem ... not a particularly unusual morning. Folks were up and about, checking their job lists for the day and going about the ...

292. Grab Hold of Something That Holds!

Illustration

Bill Bouknight

In Herman Melville's classic novel, ‘Moby Dick,’ there is a poignant moment when the captain tightens a vice on his own hand. With a pain filled expression on his face he exclaims, ‘A man has to feel something that holds in this slippery world.’ We live in a changing, transient world. Nations like ancient ...

293. The Deeper Magic

Luke 23:26-43

Sermon

Brett Blair

... is wise council. Let me tell you the reason I do not disapprove of Harry Potter. Like most of you I have spent a great deal of my life reading. Pastor’s perhaps read more than most. In seminary we read everything: ancient literature, church Fathers, classical literature, and theological works. Whatever I read, whether it is fiction or non-fiction, the single common element that makes the literature good is this: Does it have a human touch? In the end, does it witness to the best in us and to the worst ...

294. The Deeper Magic - Sermon Starter

Luke 23:26-43

Illustration

Brett Blair

... . This is wise council. Let me tell you the reason I do not disapprove of Harry Potter. Like most of you I have spent a great deal of my life reading. Pastors perhaps read more than most. In seminary we read everything: ancient literature, church Fathers, classical literature, and theological works. Whatever I read, whether it is fiction or non-fiction, the single common element that makes the literature good is this: Does it have a human touch? In the end, does it witness to the best in us and to the worst ...

295. Do It For the Joy of It!

Matthew 22:34-40

Sermon

... love in kind. What typically results is that we use the love we share as a great bargaining chip, investing it in God and in others with the hope - in fact, with the expectation - that it will "pay off for us." 1. Tradin’ Time Is Over A classic Dennis-the-Menace cartoon, now almost two decades old, showed Dennis the morning after Christmas Day, standing on the sidewalk in front of his house, holding the tongue of his red wagon. The wagon was heaped to two or three times Dennis’ height with every sort of ...

296. Midnight Turned Into High Noon

Isaiah 42:10-17, Isaiah 42:18-25

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... and J. Wallace Hamilton, fought depression. Winston Churchill waged a life-long battle against depression, which he called, "My black dog." Who of us has not known negative feelings, "blue days," and occasions of despair? The distinguished missionary, F. Stanley Jones, in his classic book, The Christ of the Indian Road, tells how in his early days in India he was prostrated with illness and depression. One day, in Lucknow, he turned into a church to pray, and there he heard a voice saying, "Are you ready ...

297. God Can’t Keep a Good Secret!

Ezekiel 37:1-14

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... " away.) Then the trance continues as God asks the prophet, "Son of man, can these bones live?" Ezekiel is not about to be trapped into a wrong answer to such an impossible question, so he plays it cool and safe with a reply that has become a classic response, "O, Lord God, Thou knowest!" (How often we’ve said it too, "The Lord only knows!") Then the prophet is ordered to "speak to the bones." (Many a preacher has thought his lifeless flock needed just such a message as Ezekiel’s word of life.) "I ...

298. Scenes From a Marriage

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Sermon

Craig Erickson

... also nice to have in a marriage, to say the least. But there’s a darker side to these drives, which are ever so easily sullied by the human proclivity to dominance and manipulation. "Scenes from a Marriage" is a tragedy in the classic sense, for Bergman’s husband and wife characters are fatally flawed. They lack that which alone keeps virtues from becoming something other than virtues. They lack grace. Without grace, the best of human intentions becomes tragically disoriented. It is grace that keeps a ...

299. A King Worth Having

Zechariah 9:9-13

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... a woman of the streets, a prostitute. He was humble enough to help her out of her bondage to sin. A king is to be served. Here, however, is a king who was himself humble enough to serve! Though Jesus was constantly serving people in need, the classic example of his humility occurred when he took a towel and basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet at the Last Supper. Here is the Lord of life, the King of kings, that performs a most humble task for underlings. What a king! A chief characteristic ...

300. If You Had But One Request

1 Kings 3:1-15

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... wisdom? Wisdom is the ability to make good judgments and the right decisions. Some of us are reluctant to make decisions because we fear that the decision will not be the right one. Reinhold Niebuhr asked for wisdom in a little prayer that has become a classic and is used by Alcoholics Anonymous: "God grant me the serenity to accept things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." Shortly after Solomon’s request, the gift of wisdom was needed when he ...

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