Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 276 to 300 of 334 results

276. A Life-changing Question

John 9:1-41

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

Have you ever noticed how many questions you ask each day? We are constantly learning from our environment, and asking questions is a big part of that. It’s the best way to learn. Usually. But you have to ask the right questions too. Not every question leads to greater knowledge. Some questions lead to greater frustration. A few years ago, when the internet was fairly new, a woman named Nancy wanted to teach her elderly mother how to use it. So she introduced her to the website “Ask Jeeves.” Before Google ...

277. More Than Gimmicks

John 6:24-35

Sermon

David Coffin

A medium-sized congregation with deep northern European roots was located in a college town. The members wanted to attract more college students to their church for weekly worship attendance and other activities. They received a few boxes of donated modern English New Testament books. The intention was to pass them out to the college students on the campus nearby. Besides placing a slip of paper in each New Testament with the church name and address on it, they also placed a coupon for a dollar or even ...

278. For the Love of Children

Mark 10:2-16

Sermon

Lori Wagner

This month, our lectionary readings have detailed Jesus’ leadership lessons for his often “hard-headed” disciples. Why hard-headed? Because they are deeply entrenched in the laws, traditions, cultural assumptions, and mores of their current society –Jewish and Greek/Roman. It’s significant to note that throughout these lessons, Jesus has a child on his lap or by his side. Now in today’s passage, people (most likely especially women), obviously hearing his defense of children and his counter-cultural views ...

279. God's Vision For The Church

Acts 11:1-18

Sermon

Douglas J. Deuel

At a family gathering, a grandmother was coaxed into doing something she had never done before. After much friendly badgering, she climbed slowly up on an exercise bike. She took her time getting in just the right position. She waited a few moments. Then, nervously, she said, "All right, you can turn it on now." If only work in the church could be handled like that. If we could magically flip a switch, and then watch as the work is done for us. But work in the church requires a delicate blend of divine ...

280. The Mechanics Of Prayer

Matthew 6:5-15, Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

Note: This isn't a sermon but it's a good primer if you are preaching on the subject. Our goal is to pray like Jesus. We want to improve the effectiveness of our prayers. That is our objective, but what are the means of reaching the goal? We have come to the time when we need to consider the nuts and bolts of Christlike prayer. What do we say? When do we say it? Where do we say it? How long should we pray? How often? These are some of the mechanics of prayer. They are important as means to the end. The ...

281. Rainbow In The Sky

Genesis 9:1-17

Sermon

E. Carver McGriff

"My heart leaps up when I behold a rainbow in the sky: So was it when my life began; so it is now ..." So wrote Wordsworth. Now we know why. God gave the rainbow, our text informs us, as a sign of the unfailing presence and love of God who assures that the darkness shall never overcome us. Most of us have known the exhilaration of a sudden burst of sunlight through prevailing darkness, a splendid display of color across the sky, and the promise again fulfilled that beyond all darkness is light and beauty. ...

282. Lent 1

1 Peter 3:8-22, Genesis 9:1-17, Mark 1:9-13

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

Theme: God's good news. God shows his graciousness through the covenant he established through Noah. God would never again destroy the world through flood. In the Gospel Jesus announces the kingdom of God. All we have to do is repent and believe the good news. COMMENTARY Old Testament: Genesis 9:8-17 Humans become so corrupt that Yahweh drowns them all in a great flood, except for Noah and his family. Noah, his family and various animals are kept safe on the ark which the Lord told Noah to construct. ...

283. Obedience Is An Ugly Word!

Acts 5:17-42

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

A man, bragging on his dog, said, "He's a fine dog. He's so smart, and obedient, too. Why, all I have to do is tell him what to do and he either does it, or he doesn't!" The gospel's success or failure all hinges upon our acceptance or rejection of the word "Obedience." If we truly have faith, we will obey God. Obedience implies that we are not independent, that we are accountable to another, that we do have someone over us, that there is higher authority than ourselves. In a world where we are taught that ...

284. Advancers Over Decliners

Luke 19:11-27

Sermon

The parable of Jesus that Luke shares with us today does not rate highly in the polls. If, indeed, we did a survey among Christians with regard to parables, not only favorite ones, but parables in general, it is likely that this story would be missing from the list entirely. With slight variations, it appears in Matthew and in Luke, in Matthew as the Parable of the Talents and in Luke as the Parable of the Pounds, but while each writer has his own unique elaborations, in substance both of them are writing ...

285. Whoever Would Be King

2 Samuel 5:1-5

Sermon

The path to David’s coronation did not run as smoothly as this passage may indicate. His succession was nothing like the transition from King George VI to the present Queen Elizabeth. Despite the fact that God had anointed David king, that anointing preceded this one of the text by quite some time. Blood was shed, more than we like to remember - some by David, though he was careful never to lay his hand on God’s anointed, his predecessor Saul, but much of the slaughter was by David’s lieutenants. Despite ...

286. Believing Is Seeing

John 20:24-31

Sermon

Dean Lueking

And Jesus said to him, "Thomas, do you believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe." (John 20:29) Seeing is believing, we commonly say. But this text turns it around. Believing is seeing. On that memorable evening in Jerusalem, following the Lord’s resurrection by eight days, he appeared to the eleven disciples once again - this time with Thomas present. Remember how he invited Thomas to touch his wounded hands and side, and then spoke the words we hear on this ...

287. A Joyful New Beginning

John 20:1-9

Sermon

Let us pray: Gracious and everliving Father, on this day which is greater than all the days, we come seeking to understand the eternal message of the gospel and how it may transform our lives. May we in these moments not only come to know that Jesus lives, but may we come to know him as brother and friend. In Christ's holy name we pray, Amen. The philosopher Sidney Hook writes in an article titled "In Defense of Voluntary Euthanasia" about how at one point in his life he was near death. The treatment for ...

288. Come, Learn Your Worth

2 Corinthians 5:11--6:2

Sermon

Various Authors

Therefore, if any [are] in Christ, [they are] new creation[s]; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come. (v. 17) John Bishop tells of a London slum child whose major refuge was his Roman Catholic day school. In the course of things, his school was visited by a physician who did medical examinations for the students. As the skinny little fellow left the doctor’s room, one of the nuns asked, "Well, Jimmy, what did the doctor say to you?" Jimmy answered, "He took one look at me and said, ‘What a ...

289. You Figure It Out

Matthew 22:15-22

Sermon

Several of the recent texts in this series of gospels from Matthew (the lectionary "A" cycle) have focused on collisions between Jesus and the Jewish church power structure, focused in the Pharisees. Today’s text is another in the series. As the movement in Matthew races inevitably to the final showdown and the crucifixion, the confrontations become more pointed, the accusations more shrill. In this text the Pharisees are actually described as plotting to entangle Jesus. The short-term goal was to ...

290. Gabriel Speaks to Mary

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

George Bass

Some of the Burma Shave-like signs still stand alongside roads that are not main highways any more and, subsequently, they aren’t seen as often as they used to be. The signs separated what had become a familiar act of devotion and piety in Roman Catholicism into a series of spread-out phrases: Hail, Mary, Mother of God, Blessed are you among women, And blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus ... Holy Mary, pray for us sinners Now and at the hour of our death. But I have never seen a road sign that ...

291. Born to Play Second Fiddle

Luke 1:57-66

Sermon

George Bass

Sunday is the day when the people who call themselves Christians remember and celebrate the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Every Sunday is a "little Easter" - that is what Sunday means and why those who believe in Christ worship on the first day of the week instead of following the Old Testament practice of setting aside the seventh day of the week as the Sabbath or day of rest. But Christians also remember the birth of Christ whenever the Eucharist is celebrated as they sing the song the ...

292. A SERMON-DRAMA FOR EASTER

Drama

Tom Eberle

Easter Prior to the 4th century, Good Friday and Easter were celebrated as one festival in the church. This is the background for the sermon-drama for Easter. They were not observed as historical pageants as we do today, commemorating the death of Christ on Good Friday and his resurrection on Easter Sunday. Rather, the early church observed a festival of redemption, combining the death and resurrection of Christ within the framework of an all-night vigil, concluding with the first rays of sunlight on ...

293. Servants Without Fiber

Isaiah 42:1-9

Sermon

Donald Macleod

A biblical scholar once remarked: "One of the most common expressions in the Old Testament of the relationship between humankind and God is contained in the words ‘serve,’ ‘service,’ and ‘servant.’ " What comes to your mind when you hear any one of these words? What do you think of when you hear the word "servant"? A flunky? A gofer? A Victorian called "Jeeves"? Someone with no mind of his or her own? A person who lacks fiber and is easily a patsy for someone else to use or "lord it over"? Unfortunately, ...

294. The Communion of Saints

Hebrews 12:1-13

Sermon

T. A. Kantonen

Whenever we confess our faith in the words of the Apostles’ Creed, we include the affirmation: "I believe in the communion of saints." What do we mean when we say this? Who are the saints? And what is the "communion" of saints? All Saints’ Day prompts us to look for an answer to these questions. According to the New Testament, the saints are not a select group of persons with haloes around their heads. They are simply the members of the Christian fellowship, men and women who live by faith in Jesus Christ ...

295. Remembering Charlie

Job 38:1--41:34

Sermon

David E. Leininger

The story of Job is familiar to all of us - a man whose world was spinning merrily along with everything falling into place suddenly confronted with one misery after another... disaster, death, disease, despair. In some of the most moving poetry ever written, chapter after chapter attempts to deal with the age-old question of why, so often, life is so unfair. People still wrestle with the issue. Did you happen to catch the season finale of "The West Wing" last week?(1) Great show! The scene was the ...

296. Head's Up!

Luke 21:5-38

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Wait a minute! Christmas is coming. What about Silent night, Holy night, All is calm, All is bright?" Instead we hear "...nations will be in anguish...the roaring and tossing of the sea...People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world...the heavenly bodies will be shaken." Ho, ho, ho! Where is Santa when we need him? So why in the world would the church choose a Gospel lesson such as this to begin Advent and our preparation for the coming of the Christ child? Good reason. The ...

297. What About the Weeds?

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Sermon

King Duncan

According to Pastor Charles Yoost there is a well-known saying in rural areas in the late summer. The saying is this: “Make sure you lock your car doors when you go into church.” Now in urban areas we are often told to lock our cars even in church parking lots because something might be stolen while we are worshipping, perhaps even the car itself. But there’s an entirely different reason in rural areas. It’s just that when you come out of worship in rural areas, if you have unwittingly left your car ...

298. A Visit To Millennium Manor

Luke 21:5-38

Sermon

King Duncan

Just outside Knoxville, Tennessee, in the town of Alcoa there is a very unusual stone house called Millennium Manor. The house was built over a nine-year period from June 1937 to December 1946, by William Andrew Nicholson and his wife Fair. The Manor was built using Roman architecture. This was important because it was built to last a thousand years--thus the name Millennium Manor. The Nicholsons did all the work on the house themselves, without the aid of machines, a remarkable feat, since both were small ...

299. What Do You Want Me to Do for You?

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

I find it strange that, in a time when we are becoming more and more sensitive toward persons with handicapping conditions, our nation’s State Department would adopt a policy which effectively eliminates blind persons from foreign service positions. As the editorial in the Ann Arbor News put it, “It’s probably a good thing Helen Keller isn’t alive today to apply for a job with the U.S. foreign services, They’d turn her down, flat.” (Thursday, December 1, 1988) I can understand that blindness would ...

300. Secrets Shared for the Journey of Life

Philippians 4:10-20

Sermon

Eric Ritz

Dr. Fred Craddock tells of growing up during the depression and how often money was not in great supply for his family. The family had to move to town to seek work. Every able family member tried to find some work to earn money. The family kept a cigar box on the kitchen table where all the funds that were earned were kept in order that his mother could pay the rent and buy the necessary food items. However, once in a while his Dad, on a Friday night, would take the money and go to town and buy his wife a ...

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