Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 276 to 300 of 1138 results

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... knob or a push of the button away. We listen to it, react to it, revel in it, sing it, and some of us write it. Clearly, music has a special place in the life of the church. Its importance to the church is manifested in a variety of ways and is even acknowledged in a backhanded way by the fact that musical matters sometimes occasion spirited debate and even outright conflict within church families. One can also see the value imputed to music in the efforts of denominational families to publish new hymnals ...

277. Leading as Loving

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... personal relationships as well.(Foundations for Purposeful Church Administration, p. 168) Over the years I have known ministers who have chosen to view their parishes as feudal estates over which they reign. The style of leadership they have embraced is of the authoritarian variety and the imprint of their own biases has been felt in every sector of congregational life, even including the kind of music a bride and groom should have for their wedding. A good leader is always from the people, and to become ...

278. Walking Through A Storm

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon

Leonard H. Budd

... . That feeds our fear! We are frightened by an unknown future in an ever-changing world. Dr. Elizabeth Tracy, a professor at Case Western Reserve University, reported on the changing family. Only 10 percent of families today are of the traditional variety, with father working, mother at home, and marriage of lifelong commitment. In this changing nation, there are 1,300 "step families" formed each day. Dr. Tracy, a teacher of social work, reported that children in step families need at least six years ...

279. Stilling The Storm

Mark 4:35-41

Drama

Dallas A. Brauninger

... more clearly. I see the huge gap between the reality of what is and the ideal of what should be. I see how physically exhausted Jesus himself gets from doing the work God has called him to do. You call me a disciple. Discipleship holds a variety of meanings: a believer, one who follows the teachings of a certain religion, one who spreads these beliefs. For me, more than anything else, being a disciple of Jesus has meant constantly learning. Following Jesus around all day humbles one. I sometimes want to go ...

280. Proper 13

Ephesians 4:1-16, 2 Samuel 12:1-31, John 6:25-59

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... faith and live eternally. The Great Harvest Bread Co., Geneva, Illinois, has this message on its front door, "No shirt, No shoes, No problem." The owners of this company have created a fun place where people can enjoy bread. They produce over a dozen varieties of specialty breads. Each loaf is made with freshly ground flour, abetted by such natural ingredients as apples, seeds, garlic and blueberries. The thing that grabs the eye of visitors as they enter the store is a cutting board laden with fresh-baked ...

281. Proper 14

Ephesians 4:17--5:21, 2 Samuel 18:1-18, John 6:25-59

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... by faith and live. Last summer I was invited to dine at a local all-you-can-eat restaurant. They had at least four serving stations one for salads, one for hot dishes and meats, one for fresh baked breads and one for desserts. The amount and variety of food was phenomenal! The place was packed! I couldn't help but notice the huge quantities of food that people were piling on their plates and quite a number of the people there were really enormous, 100 or more pounds overweight. One such lady had obvious ...

282. Do Not Be Doubting But Believe!

John 20:24-31

Sermon

Lee Griess

... midst of them. Alive. There to grant them strength and hope. And that would make the difference for them. In fact, they would go to their graves, these disciples, almost all of them to hostile, martyr's graves, not the "Now I lay me down to sleep" variety, but the kind of graves that we pray never comes to us or our loved ones ... those disciples would go to their graves confident that even when things get that terrible, Jesus Christ was there and that was all that mattered for them. That is what happened ...

283. Who Lives In You?

Luke 13:31-35

Sermon

Lee Griess

... works such as A Tale of Two Cities, The Red Badge of Courage, and others. In return for their cooperation, the company offered each person a choice of a free book from a list of titles published by the company. There was a large variety of books to choose from, ranging from Christian devotional books to classical titles, and some of more recent authors. It was interesting to note that the most popular choice of this supposedly high-minded group of readers was The Murder of a Burlesque Queen. Sometimes ...

284. Reuben: I'm Not A Sandwich

Genesis 37:12-36

Drama

Dr. Raymond Bailey

... was listening -- can you listen with your eyes? If one can, he did -- sad eyes, that he dabbed at, as though to prevent a tear from rolling down his cheek, as he turned his back -- and went out. Suffice it to say, he tried us in a variety of ways -- held Simeon in prison, until we should return with our youngest brother, Benjamin, to validate our story -- Benjamin, who now was given the status formerly thrust on Joseph. On the second trip, he made a captive of Benjamin -- swearing that he was a thief ...

285. A Woman Of Substance · Mary Magdalene

Lk 8:1-3

Sermon

Gordon Pratt Baker

... but a Sabbath day's journey -- roughly three miles -- from Tiberius, whose amphitheaters and public baths made it a veritable "picture of magnificence" as well as a lucrative source of income. Thus, Magdala's proximity to it offered Mary ready access to a variety of thriving commercial opportunities. So the monies she contributed to the support of Jesus' ministry may very well have stemmed from her own labors. Lending credence to this conjecture is the fact that Mary appears to have been a middle-aged woman ...

286. I Found It!

Luke 15:1-7, Luke 15:8-10

Sermon

Carl B. Rife

... Prodigal Son. It can come from a very intentional decision to turn from one's source of being. It can come from a very intentional choice to distance oneself from one's source of life. I think at times when we talk about lostness we forget that there are a variety of ways of getting lost. My suspicion is that most of us in the church get lost by one of the first ways, by nibbling our ways from the source of our life or by some accidents along the way that lead to our lostness. Although there are times when ...

287. Warning! In Case Of Rapture This Car Will Be Unmanned.

Mark 13:1-31

Sermon

Carl B. Rife

... place, something that Paul said was going to take place and something that the writer of Revelation of John said was going to take place, but did not take place in the lifetime of Paul and John. It is interesting that there has been a whole variety of responses down through the ages in dealing with this failure of the imminent return of Jesus. One response was that God's kingdom was equated with the church. Therefore the people believed that as the church gained in control and influence, God's kingdom thus ...

288. Which Ones Were Lost?

Luke 15:1-7, Luke 15:8-10

Sermon

Merle G. Franke

... in ramshackle rental houses. And some people thought they needed to bathe more frequently. I don't know, I don't recall smelling any of them. But there is no doubt that the hippies were not well received by the general populace. They protested a variety of things that went on in society. They gathered in their hippie hangouts all over town. They smoked pot. And in general they were a sore embarrassment to the straight "decent" folks. Hence when some of them frequented our open church sanctuary, some of our ...

289. I Am The Bread Of Life

John 6:24-35

Sermon

Brett Blair

... : "It was good as usual, but I see you are back to serving only two slices of bread!" Well, sometime this week you will make a trip to the grocery store to get a loaf of bread. It will be readily available on the shelf. There will be quite a variety to choose from. You will pay little attention to the price, not realizing that the packaging that the bread is wrapped in actually costs more than the wheat that is in the bread. All in all, you will think it a very uneventful trip, but you will be wrong. It ...

290. Proper 26

Mark 12:28-34, Psalm 146:1-10

Bulletin Aid

B. David Hostetter

... number the bounties of your goodness, Lord? You give us lands overflowing with milk and honey and seas alive with fish and growing things. Our skies shine with beauty and with power. The depths of the earth yield metals and energy sources in great variety. Our homes are visited by friends, and our neighbors help us in times of need. We have opportunities to learn together, to worship together, and to serve the common good together. We worship you with thankful hearts, with open minds, with willing hands, in ...

291. The Politics Of Love

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

W. Robert McClelland

... . Or they start another denomination. If the church cannot demonstrate the reconciling power of Christ to the world, it will never be able to convince the world that it has any good news to offer. The world with all of its pluralism of perspectives and variety of viewpoints, will not be impressed by anything the church has to say as long as it sees simply another group of homogeneous people who enjoy scratching one another's backs. There are plenty of groups for bright bridge players or happy hymn singers ...

292. Two Doors; One Choice

Luke 13:22-30

Sermon

W. Robert McClelland

... our own being, can we love and be amazed at the miracle of another person's life. There are no two of us alike. Therefore, denying ourselves and becoming selfless is blasphemous to the Creator God who went to a lot of trouble creating an infinite variety of human beings, each with its own unique identity. What is needed, is not a reaffirmation of the self-denying piety which suffocates our individuality and leads nowhere, but a new piety of self-affirmation; a narrow door to Life through which we must come ...

293. Planting Seeds

Matthew 13:1-23

Children's Sermon

Mark A. Hultquist

... through all that work of having the flowers delivered each week, I was thinking it would be much better if we could just grow them ourselves! I brought along a packet of seeds. As you can see from the picture these seeds are going to produce a beautiful variety of flowers that will look just terrific here. I'm going to open the packet, and start spreading the seeds around the area later, and within only a few weeks we will have all the flowers we could possibly need for our altar bouquets! I see some of ...

294. Food For All

Luke 9:16-17

Children's Sermon

Mark A. Hultquist

Object: A variety of pictures from the grocery store ads in the newspaper. Do any of you like to go to the grocery store? I remember when I was young there were two favorite aisles in the store that I couldn't wait to get to! One was the cereal aisle, so that ...

295. We Belong To God

1 John 3:1

Children's Sermon

Mark A. Hultquist

Object: A variety of items each belonging to a member of the family (or the members of a hypothetical family - father, mother, son, daughter, baby). Can you think back to the time when you first realized that something you had at your house was yours? It belonged to you and not to anyone ...

296. Follow Through

Luke 14:28-30

Children's Sermon

Mark A. Hultquist

Object: A variety of projects that are half completed: a half-colored picture, a half-built building made of blocks, and so forth. What would say to someone who always stopped doing something half way through? A person who, for some reason, just never got around to finishing whatever he or she had ...

297. Sandwiches

Matthew 25:18

Children's Sermon

Mark A. Hultquist

Object: Two slices of bread and a variety of sandwich bags and wrap. This morning we are going to discuss sandwiches. I would guess a lot of you eat sandwiches for lunch most days of the week. What are your favorite kinds of sandwiches? (Allow time for answers.) How many of you like the crust on or off ...

298. Look Ahead!

Romans 8:19

Children's Sermon

Mark A. Hultquist

Object: A variety of summer items: for example beach towels, sunglasses, suntan lotion, a cooler, and so forth. Lesson: The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. Can you believe the cold weather we have been having lately? The wind is blowing. People have been saying how ...

299. The Good Shepherd

Psalm 23:1-6

Children's Sermon

Mark A. Hultquist

Object: A variety of stuffed animals. Text: Psalm 23:1 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Today I brought along a bunch of animals who live at our house. Not real animals this time, but stuffed animals that decorate our beds and sit in various places around the house. I' ...

300. Confusion Over a Questioned Book

Daniel 7:1-14

Sermon

George Paul Mocko

... be read, knew it was going to be confusing to people and so felt compelled to write by far his longest introduction - longer even than the one for Romans. Over the centuries, confusion has been compounded as Daniel became a happy hunting ground for all varieties of Christians trying to figure out the meaning of the struggles of their time. Every villain in history, from Attila the Hun to Ghengis Khan, from Napoleon to the Kaiser, to Hitler and Stalin, at some point has been connected to one or another of ...

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