Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 276 to 300 of 4915 results

276. Power and Compassion

Hebrews 5:1-10

Sermon

Lee Ann Dunlap

Many of you may remember from your grade school days a novel by Mark Twain titled, The Prince and the Pauper. It has been adapted in various forms of Disney productions and even a few cartoon tales. The Twain story begins with two boys with identical features — one a spoiled royal heir, and the other a street urchin surviving on his wits. By chance they meet. The pauper is enamored with the fineries of the palace, while the prince envies the pauper's freedom to come and go as he chooses. Eventually, they ...

277. Seat of Power

Mark 10:35-45, Matthew 20:20-28

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Animation: Ring and/or Ruby Slippers and/or a Ladder “Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask.” (James and John…according to Mark) How many times have we said this to God? “Lord, we want you to do whatever we ask!” We humans are creatures that want our way. We want what we want and we generally want it “now.” We like to be independent. We are self-assured. And we are ambitious. And ambition is a squirrelly thing. It means that if someone won’t give us our way, we will strive to get whatever we ...

278. Through the Lens of God

John 4:5-42

Sermon

Richard Gribble

One day a man told a story which touched the hearts of all. He began, "I was a timid, frail, lost, and lonely six-year-old child when I first arrived at the farm in Georgia. I would have remained that way had it not been for an extraordinary woman. She lived on the farm in a small two-room cabin where her parents resided when they were slaves. To any outsider she simply appeared as any other African-American on the farm, but to those who knew her, she had a spiritual force whose influence was felt ...

279. We Are Not Alone

John 14:15-31

Sermon

Robert C. Cochran

This is the day of Pentecost, when we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit. In honor of this, I decided to not prepare a sermon today. Instead, I’m just going to stand here and let the Holy Spirit tell me what to say. Uh.... As Christians, we are not to become empty-headed ventriloquist dummies sitting on the Holy Spirit’s lap: we need to continue to use our God-given minds. Some would disagree with this, believing that the Holy Spirit works solely through the emotions. The Holy Spirit thus becomes the “ ...

280. Playing It Safe

Luke 8:26-39

Sermon

Robert C. Cochran

I am here today to tell you that a great fraud is being perpetrated in my hometown. Ever since I returned to Findlay, people have been telling me: “Join the Y, and you’ll get in shape.” So, I finally joined the Y (I’m old enough to remember when it was called the YMCA!) a year ago, and I have to tell you, it has done me no good. It would serve them right if I’d actually enter the building for the first time and tell everyone there that they are being duped! Joining the church and refusing to go out and ...

281. Together In One Place

Acts 2:1-21

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

Today, Pentecost Sunday, is the day upon which we traditionally celebrate the birth of the Christian church. But before we light the candles and sing, “Happy Birthday,” perhaps we should take a few moments to talk about what the church is and what it isn’t. What, exactly, is a church? How shall we define it and how shall we define its purpose? The Internal Revenue Code uses the word “church” but it doesn’t actually define what it means by that word. Certain attributes of a church have been developed by the ...

282. Living Through Hard Times

2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10

Sermon

Bonnie Bates

Sometimes it is hard for us to accept the hardships of this life. Certainly, in the current situation, with so many people in so many communities and countries still affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, there is much worry and anxiety. Yet, worry and struggle have been a part of the human condition almost as long as human beings have been on the earth. As Paul wrote this second letter to the church in Corinth, he was reminding the people that he, too had struggled: “in beatings, imprisonments, and riots; in ...

283. Where’s the Power?

Mark 1:40-45

Sermon

Daniel G. Mueller

... earth and under the earth. What God wanted for Jesus was best for him and also for us. What God wants for us is best for us also, even when we can’t see it. To do what is best for us is that for which God uses his almighty power. Through Jesus he brings his power into our lives. Amen

284. Power Praying

Acts 1:12-26

Sermon

King Duncan

A man stopped by a computer store where he'd recently purchased a personal computer. "I have a question about a computer I bought here the other day," he said to a salesman who greeted him enthusiastically. "What kind did you buy?" the salesman asked. "A Crimean Extravaganza 1900," said the customer. "Wow! That's a nice computer," exclaimed the salesman. "It has a 100 megahertz pentium processor, 16 megabytes of ram, a 256 kilobyte pipeline burst cache. It has PCI 64-bit video and a 1.2 gigabyte hard drive ...

285. Demons, Pigs, and the Economy

Luke 8:26-39

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Garasenes asked him to depart from them; for they were seized with great fear; so he got into the boat and returned. — Luke 8:37 In polite society we have not wanted to talk much of demons and the demonic. In our liberal, educated culture, we believe that sin was due mostly to ignorance and that evil could be eradicated by education. In our psychologically enlightened times we have avoided the more ancient religious and mythological language of devils ...

286. Where Does the Power Come From?

Acts 1:6-14

Children's Sermon

King Duncan

Object: A bundle of sticks Good morning, boys and girls. I need to see a muscle. Will somebody step up here and make a muscle for me? (Get one of the fellows to flex an arm muscle.) I read somewhere that the word "muscle" goes back to a Latin word which means "little mouse." The muscle in your arm looks like a little mouse under your skin. Our message for today is on power. Where does it come from? Muscle power is one kind of power, isn't it. We say a person is a powerful man. We could mean, he is very ...

287. Christ the Wisdom and Power of God

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

Paul’s criticism of the search for wisdom at Corinth (1:18–2:5) may be divided into three parts, in terms of its focus (1:18–25), its effects (1:26–31), and its claim to inspiration (2:1–5). Paul begins with a corollary of the point made in the last verse. Those who are perishing because of their lack of perception may indeed regard the “message of the cross” as “foolishness” rather than wisdom. But for those who are being saved, the proclamation of the life, death, and resurrection of Christ with the ...

288. Face-to-Face with the Kingdom

Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

Sermon

Tom Garrison

Several years ago I came to one of those "moments of truth" in my life that enabled me to see more deeply into myself and into the challenge of the Christian gospel. Interestingly enough, the issue at stake was my emotional attitude toward the weather. In order to appreciate this situation, you need to realize that all my life I have had a special affection for snow. Of all the seasons of the year winter is my favorite, and the part of winter that I like best is the coming of that "icy white stuff." As ...

289. The Healing Power of the Resurrection

Mark 16:1-20

Sermon

James W. Moore

IMPORTANT NOTE: The illustration that opens this sermon about Mel Gibson is not true. It is an urban legend. It has no bases in fact. Some years ago, a hard-working man took his family from New York State to Australia so he could take advantage of a job opportunity there. One member of this man’s family was a handsome young son who dreamed of joining the circus. He wanted to become a trapeze artist or actor in the circus. This young man, biding his time until a circus job or even one as a stagehand came ...

290. God Works Through Opposites

Matthew 21:1-11

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

God simply does not seem to do the sort of things we would expect our God to do. He does not always give us what we want. Most of us do not have everything we had hoped and dreamed for in life. He does not always answer our prayers. After all, we have all lost loved ones. Sometimes God seems so far away. We pray to him, and nothing is there (or so it seems). We look to God to intervene in our world. Yet the hungry, the poor and the oppressed are still with us. Where is God? Why does he seem so powerless? ...

291. Power to the Faint

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

At that time Jesus declared, "I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes; yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will. All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and ...

292. Sleeping Through A Revolution

Ephesians 2:13-14

Sermon

King Duncan

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. (Ephesians 2:13-14) You may have seen the story in this past week's newspaper. Way back in July 1984 Terry Wallis and a friend were riding in a car that left the road and plunged into a creek. They were found the next day underneath a bridge. The friend was dead and Wallis ...

293. Strength through Diversity

1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Sermon

Richard Gribble

Recently on a British Airways flight from Johannesburg, South Africa, a middle-aged and apparently quite wealthy South African woman found herself sitting next to a black man. As the passengers were filing in and taking their seats she called a member of the cabin crew to ask about her seating. "What seems to be the matter, madam?" asked the attendant. "Can't you see?" the woman responded. "You have assigned me a seat next to a kaffir (a pejorative word referring to a native black African). I cannot ...

294. As You Go, Remember…

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

Tom Garrison

What intrigues us the most is that mysterious boundary where the human and the divine intersect. This was the place I said I wanted to plant my life and to do my central work. This was, in fact, living out the charge that was given to me the night I was ordained to the Christian ministry. I still remember the way an old pastor stated it. He said, "Tom, I admonish you to stay close to God, stay close to humankind, and to make it the goal of your ministry to bring God and humankind closer together." This ...

295. Gratitude and Coping

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

Tom Garrison

Nothing in recent years has been more upsetting than the sharp increase in the use of drugs among young. People have become so traumatized by the subject that any reasonable discussion of it has become well-nigh impossible. This is why I was particularly impressed with a speech made not long ago by a public health official at a large university, for he wisely avoided histrionics and went straight to the heart of the problem. He openly acknowledged that "the jury was still out" as to all of the physical ...

296. The Transformative Power of God

1 John 1:1--2:2

Sermon

Richard Gribble

The resident bishop at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, who was known to be a great evangelist, reaching out to cynics, unbelievers and scoffers, told the following story. It seems that years ago there was a young man who would daily stand outside the cathedral and shout terrible words and derogatory slogans against God, the church, and anyone who entered the cathedral. He would call these people fools and all sorts of other names. People tried to ignore the man, but it was rather difficult. One day ...

297. Never on Sunday

Mark 2:23-3:6

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

There are not ten commandments; there are only nine. That other one, the one about resting and not working on the Sabbath, that’s really just a suggestion. No one, not even the most observant Christians — with the possible exception of Hobby Lobby and Chick-fil-a — take it all that seriously, and even they simply close their businesses. Whether or not they actually rest and remember, as the commandment requires, is anyone’s guess. Business Insider lists In-and-Out Burger, Marriott, and Forever 21 as three ...

298. The Power and the Glory

Matthew 20:20-28

Sermon

I begin with a word about two American cities, cities of fame and sometimes of infamy. The first is in the east, almost as far as the Atlantic Ocean. It is this nation's capital, workplace of the president and of senators and representatives and of thousands of bureaucrats. It is a place where decisions handed down and deals hammered out affect millions of lives. It is a place so attractive and important that millions of dollars are spent to get there. It is Washington, D. C., and it symbolizes power. The ...

299. The Power To Defy Evil

Exodus 3:1-22

Sermon

Carl Hoefler

Every evening the six o'clock news reminds us of the crime, the corruption, and the catastrophies of the world in which we live. It was in such troubled times and in such hopeless circumstances that a young Hebrew mother placed her baby in a basket and set it afloat among the reeds of the river Nile. Even if the baby were to live, she could only see an intolerable existence for him as he would groan under the burden of hard labor and be driven to the point of daily exhaustion by the sting of the ...

300. Titles, Credentials, or Resurrection Power

Philippians 3:1-11

Sermon

Eric Ritz

The distinguished preacher, Phillip Brooks, once shared, "There are two things to be aware of in life: A timid surgeon and a timid preacher of the gospel. Neither of them will do you much good in life''s journey." As we open our scripture lesson for today, we see that the Apostle Paul is hardly a timid preacher and he certainly performs major surgery on the religious thinking that under-girded the setting of life of this passage. Paul begins in verse one with an exhortation to rejoice in our relationship ...

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