Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 276 to 300 of 990 results

Bulletin Aid

B. David Hostetter

READINGS Psalter--Psalms 32 First Lesson--The freedom to know good and evil is also the opportunity for temptation and disobedience by our first parents. Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7 Second Lesson--As we share in the disobedience of the first Adam, we may also share in the self-sacrificing obedience of the second Adam, Jesus Christ. Romans 5:12-19 Gospel--Human temptations for Jesus and for us include s...

277. Lent 1

Bulletin Aid

Amy C. Schifrin

Order For Confession Leader: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, + and of the Holy Spirit. All: Amen. Leader: The tempter comes with a seductive sweetness in his voice. The tempter comes promising us the world. The tempter comes, and without you, dear Jesus, we are defenseless. How has the tempter come to you in these days? Let us remember now, that his deadly spell might be broken and lif...

278. The Forbidden Box

Illustration

Staff

This a story about a forester named Sam. Old Sam would be out chopping down the tree. You could hear him say one phrase: "Oh, Adam. Oh, Adam." Every time he hit that tree, he'd say, "Oh, Adam." One day the foreman came by and asked him, "How come every time you hit the tree, you say, 'Oh, Adam?'" Sam said, "Because Adam, my forefather, sinned against God. God cursed him and said that he would hav...

279. Lent 1

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

THIS WEEK'S TEXT Revised Common: Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7 · Romans 5:12-19 · Matthew 4:1-11 Roman Catholic: Genesis 2:7-9; 3:1-7 · Romans 5:12-19 · Matthew 4:1-11 Episcopal: Genesis 2:4b-9, 15-17, 25 -- 3:1-7 · Romans 5:12-19 (20-21) · Matthew 4:1-11 Lutheran: Genesis 2:7-9, 15-17; 3:1-7 · Romans 5:12 (13-16) 17-19 · Matthew 4:1-11 Theme: Christ Confronts Satan. Suggested Text For Preaching: Matt...

280. Proper 7

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

COMMENTARY Lesson 1: Genesis 21:8-21 Sarah jealously guards the rights of her natural son, Isaac, by ordering Abraham to throw out her slave girl, Hagar, with her son. God speaks to Abraham in his distress about the plight of Hagar and her son, telling him to do as Sarah wished because his descendants would be counted through Isaac. Furthermore, God would also make a great nation through Ishmael....

281. Lent 1

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

OLD TESTAMENT TEXTS The themes of sin and death that were central to Ash Wednesday are carried over into the First Sunday in Lent. These themes, however, are explored somewhat differently. Rather than a prophetic announcement of divine judgment against the people of God in the form of the Day of the Lord, as was the case in Joel 2, Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7 explores the consequences of sin for al...

282. Smombies

Sermon

Dr. Ronald Love

Joseph Chamblin was lost, and then he was found. In 2011, Chamblin was lost. He was a staff sergeant in the United States Marines and one of the four snipers court-martialed for urinating on the fresh corpses of Taliban fighters in Afghanistan. In 2016, Chamblin was found. He was dating Laura Buckingham who was well known, having appeared on the cover of Southern Indiana Living with her son. It ...

283. What Shall We Say To This?

Eulogy

Bob Kaul

Young Man's In both of these passages from his letter to the Romans, Paul begins with a question that is probably rattling around in most of our minds this week. What then are we to say? What then are we to say about these things? What in the world has gone wrong in the world that the life of such a young man as ____________ should come to such a tragic end? What shall we say? ____________ was a p...

284. Buried and Risen With Christ

Eulogy

Harold G. Skinner

A Sermon Preached on Good Friday This was a funeral meditation for the oldest member of St. John's Lutheran Church, Cherryville, North Carolina, held on Good Friday. Last evening the Maundy Thursday service concluded with the dramatic act known as Stripping of the Altar. The candles were extinguished. All the rich symbolism here in the chancel was removed:the banners, the Bible markers from the le...

285. Blue, The Color of Eternity

Sermon

I once heard of a dream about Christmas. It’s not the usual dream of a baby boy in the manger in the stable at Bethlehem. Rather, the dream goes something like this: One day, our Lord Jesus entered the office of the angel in charge of foreign relations in heaven. "I just heard that I might be making a trip down to earth ..." The angel allowed his gold pencil two taps on his desk. "That’s right ......

286. New Dominion as a Blessing of the New Covenant: Dead to Sin

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

Big Idea: In chapter 6 Paul presents another blessing: new dominion. The first Adam forfeited his dominion over the earth. But Christ, the last Adam, inaugurated a new age and new covenant, restoring the lost dominion. Believers enter that new dominion by uniting with Christ’s death and resurrection: they become dead to sin and alive to God. Understanding the Text While Romans 3:21–5:21 develope...

287. Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

6:1–8:39 Review · The reality of justification by faith in the life of the Christian:In the second main section of the letter, Paul explains the reality of God’s saving righteousness in the life of the Christian (6:1–8:39). Believers in Jesus Christ cannot possibly trivialize sin, since they have been freed from the slavery of sin (6:1–23). There has been a fundamental change from tolerating sin t...

288. Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

In Romans 6 we note a shift in the argument. The quotation from Habakkuk 2:4 in Romans 1:17, literally translated, “The one who is righteous by faith will live,” provided Paul with a general outline for the epistle. Until now his primary concern has been with the first part of the quotation, “The one who is righteous by faith.” But being right with God is not the end of the matter. Chapter 6 evinc...

289. The Width and Depth of God’s Grace

Sermon

Nancy Kraft

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the number one wilderness boxing event of all time. In this corner, the self-avowed ruler of the world, known for his cunning and deception, the embodiment of all evil, Satan! And in this corner, the recently baptized carpenter turned preacher, God's own beloved Son, Jesus! Every year we begin the season of Lent by hearing the story of how Jesus dukes it out with ...

290. Fido’s Dilemma

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

Fido is in the dirt gnawing on a bone. It is dry, brittle, depleted of marrow and moisture. It is dead and useless except for stimulating the gums of Fido and giving his jaws some exercise. You approach Fido with your hands behind your back. Fido eyes you and is suspicious. You speak kindly to your canine friend. He wags his tail. He smiles his doggy smile keeping his paw firmly planted on the bon...

291. Children of the Eighth Day

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

It’s a long way from the bottom to the top. But that is the call of the Christian life. "That like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:4b). The title of this chapter belongs to Thornton Wilder. In his book, the scene opens on New Year’s Eve, 1899, just before the new century is born. A group of men are sitting ar...

292. Remember Your Baptism

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

In his book, The Gospel For The Person Who Has Everything, William Willimon tells of a young friend, age 4, who was asked on the occasion of his 5th birthday what kind of party he wanted to have. I want everybody to be a king and queen, Clayton said. So, he and his mother went to work, fashioning a score of silver crowns – cardboard and aluminum foil, purple robes – crepe paper, and royal scepters...

293. A Lesson from Dr. Seuss

Sermon

King Duncan

“Congratulations, today’s your day. You’re off to great places. You’re off and away. You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.” Those rhythmic words of advice come from the delightful little book by Dr. Seuss titled Oh, the Places You’ll Go! (1) “You’re on your own,” he continues. “And you know what you know. And YOU are the one wh...

294. Walk In Newness Of Life

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Jerry and I celebrated our thirty-third anniversary on March 15. Well, some might question the word "celebrated", and she might have even questioned it a bit. On that very day, Thursday, March 15th, I was in a meeting of the Regional Secretaries of the World Methodist Council. But we celebrated, though I'll not tell you how! One thing I did was reread an anniversary gift of years back -- a book b...

295. Living Between D-day And V-day

Sermon

King Duncan

Do you know what it's like to live between D-day and V-day? The idea comes from Anthony Hoekema. He writes: Jesus Christ has come, and therefore the decisive victory over sin, the devil and the flesh has been won. However, the victory is not yet complete. We live, as Cullmann puts it, between D-day and V-day: though the enemy has been decisively defeated, there remain pockets of resistance; there...

296. The Second Step

Sermon

King Duncan

Francis X. Bushman, the first of the old-time movie idols, started as a sculptor's model. He won "the most handsome man" contest sponsored by Ladies' World magazine. He was working in 1915 for the Essanay studio in Chicago for $250 a week. His agent David Freedman, however, knew that in the gold-rush atmosphere that prevailed among the competing film studios in those early days of movie making, th...

297. Freedom!

Sermon

King Duncan

In his book Talking Straight Lee Iacocca shares some interesting stories about raising funds for the 100th birthday celebration of the Statue of Liberty. For example, there was a man from Poland who sent $2 for "this beautiful symbol." He never expected to see the statue himself, but at least he could dream about it. There was a money order from a refugee camp in Thailand. Seventy-eight homeless V...

298. Pastor, Don't Talk About That!

Sermon

King Duncan

It is very difficult to reconcile the attitudes of modern day society, including modern day church goers, with the teachings of the Gospel. For example, in a recent survey of church goers, a majority of those surveyed said that the church is very important, but a majority of that majority said, and I quote, “the church should never try to influence my thought or behavior.” (1) That’s a bit worris...

299. Instruments of Righteousness

Children's Sermon

Tim Carpenter

Exegetical Aim: (Key v. 13) Props: a musical instrument, and someone who can play it well. (For the purpose of this illustration, I will use a guitar.) Lesson: This morning I want to show you something that's very special to me. Hold up the guitar Who knows what this is? (response) Yes, a guitar. The guitar is very old. In the Bible, David played something like a guitar, called a lyre. The guita...

300. A New Walk in Life

Children's Sermon

Tim Carpenter

Exegetical Aim: To demonstrate the necessity of walking with Christ. Key Verse: 4b, "We also should walk in newness of life." Props: A crutch, or a cane Lesson: [Hold the crutch or cane as if you are using it.] Good morning. What do I have here in my hands? (response) What do you use a cane for? (response) Have any of you ever had to have a crutch, or a cane, or maybe a cast on your leg or ankl...

Showing 276 to 300 of 990 results