Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 2976 to 3000 of 4935 results

2976. Who Was That Masked Man?

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Alexander H. Wales

"I just knew it was going to be that kind of a day! I got started late. The people I was traveling with decided to go on without me. My donkey came up lame. And the beggar at the gate of the city warned me that the road to Jericho could be a dangerous place. "But I had to go. I was already behind schedule, and you know how those things go. I was supposed to be in Tarsus by the end of the month. I hadn't seen my family in weeks. So, I did what I knew I shouldn't do and headed for Jericho. I wasn't more than ...

2977. Second Sunday In Advent

Sermon

David M. Oliver

Introduction to this Service: Everyone is asked to bring a candle and a candle holder with them to worship. Additional candles should be provided for those who forget or did not know. The kind of candle used at many Christmas Eve services with the paper drip guard works well. The theme of the service is that Jesus Christ is the light of the world and so are we. Jesus served as a luminary, a light, a beacon for people to find their way to a saving belief in God. Jesus was the light of the world. But Jesus ...

2978. Resurrection And Life

John 11:17-37

Eulogy

Jonathan W. Schriber

Retired Pastor's Wife I was very anxious to meet ____________. Even before my ministry here, I knew a bit of the ____________ legacy through my close relationship with Pastor ____________. Upon arriving here, I was reminded of this man's impact on the life of this congregation. I wanted to meet his widow -- both as a link to him and yet in her own right as a person, a wife, a mother. ____________ now rests from her labors in the presence of her Lord. We gather, sorrowful that she is separated from us, but ...

2979. What's In The Final Exam?

Matthew 25:31-46

Sermon

George Johnson

When I was serving as Director of the Hunger Program for the former American Lutheran Church, I preached at various congregations on Sunday mornings. They would often ask me, "Should we read the Matthew 25 passage for the scripture lesson?" This text is a favorite for any gathering around hunger and poverty issues. I've used it often when I speak about hunger. But the text has a far greater scope and purpose than to muster up a concern for hungry people. The story was not told by Jesus as a fund-raising ...

2980. Hang Time: A Good Friday Sermon

Matthew 27:45-56

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

Lent is a season for recalling the suffering and triumph of our Lord, Savior and Liberator, Jesus Christ. It is a time where all Christians should take spiritual inventory in their lives; a time of discarding those things which hurt us and holding on to those things which help us. Lent is a time of remembering the passion, suffering, and resurrection of Christ. As heirs of his kingdom, we become co-participants in the struggle for love, justice, and truth as we are crucified and resurrected in the daily ...

2981. Where Does That Leave Us?

Mark 13:1-31, Mark 13:32-37

Sermon

Thomas Peterson

Where does this Scripture leave us? Jesus compares the fig tree with the Day of Judgment. The fig tree’s leaves, sun s darkening, the moon giving no light, and the stars falling -- all are signs of the final day of the Lord. Then it is that the Son of man comes in clouds with great power and glory, and he sends out angels to gather in the elect. Many denominations spend a great deal of energy trying to figure out, “Is it the time yet?” Intense diligence goes into collating Scripture with wars and natural ...

2982. God's Bag of Cookies

Matthew 21:33-46

Sermon

Johnny Dean

Bertrand Russell once said, "It is preoccupation with possession, more than anything else, that prevents men from living freely and nobly." Since Russell was an atheist, I’m very careful how and when to express agreement with his philosophy of life. But this is one area where I’m tempted to say the same thing when it comes to people’s possession of religion and politics (and I know I’m not supposed to use those two words in the same sentence from the pulpit, but its done now and I can’t take it back). We ...

2983. Lent

Sermon

Betty Lynn Schwab

Lent 1 Reader 1: God spoke to Moses saying: "You shall keep the Festival of Shavuot for the Lord your God, contributing a freewill offering in proportion to the blessing that you have received from the Lord." Reader 2: In Jesus' day, the Festival of Shavuot required every male in Israel to travel to the Temple of Jerusalem. There he offered God the first ripe fruits of this land. It was a time of thanksgiving for the goodness of the land. On Shavuot, it was said, Heaven decided the fate of the trees and ...

2984. How Soon Is "Soon"?

Sermon

Rolf E. Aaseng

But in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will befalling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see "the Son of Man coming in clouds" with great power and glory. Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven. From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know ...

2985. A Baptism of Blood

Isaiah 52:13--53:12

Sermon

Carl Hoefler

We cannot go back to Calvary. The cross was an event in history. It happened, never to be repeated. It was a deed of God determined, dared, and done. Our emotions may run high when we hear the words of the familiar spiritual, "Were you there when they crucified my Lord?" But, there is only one honest answer. No! We were not there. We are here, with two thousand years separating us from the cross on which our Lord died. The cross is dated; but, it is not out-dated. What happened then affects us now. Why? ...

2986. The Day You Were Healed

Luke 17:11-19

Sermon

That was a good day, wasn’t it, the day you were healed, when your physician wrote your exit visa from the hospital, when the nurses wheeled you to the front door where your spouse was waiting in the family limo, and you were on your way? Almost forgotten now is the pain, the apprehension, and the helplessness that you had felt when the paramedics brought you in with siren screaming, the intravenous feedings, the wires and the tubes that made you feel like an electrical appliance. Almost forgotten, too is ...

2987. If Only We Could Remember ...

Genesis 32:22-32

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

On the back page of our capitol city’s daily newspaper there are two columns headed "Divorces Filed" and "Divorces Granted." Sometimes when I glance at that back page and see the lists, I read through the names, and I wonder what kind of stories lie behind them. What happened to John and Cathy, to Bill and Sue, to Joe and Betty? I can almost picture the high moments in their lives as they made plans for their weddings, almost sense all the expectations that they carried into their marriages. Now, because ...

2988. Seeing as the Lord Sees

1 Samuel 16:1-13

Sermon

In the story of David’s selection to be the second king of Israel, we see an important distinction between the ways we look at ourselves and others, and the way that God sees us. The Lord said to Samuel, "The Lord sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks in the heart." That is an important distinction, and an encouraging word for us who are on the journey of faith. Samuel had been called of God to anoint the first two kings of Israel. The first king was Saul, a man who had ...

2989. Chosen as Witnesses

Acts 10:23b-48

Sermon

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. By his great power we have been born anew to a living hope through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead ..." "Thanks be to God who gives us the victory ..." "The Lord God omnipotent reigns and he shall reign for ever and ever. Hallelujah!" It is a glorious day. It is a day which celebrates the pivotal experience in the Christian faith. It is the day on which we celebrate the power of the Living God, not only to give life, but to sustain it ...

2990. Easter 6

Jn 14:23-29 · Acts 14:8-18; 15:1-2, 22-29 · Rev 21:10, 22-27

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

COMMENTARY Acts 15:1-2, 22-29 The church decided not to require circumcision to be a Christian. Here is the first possible division in the church. The issue was whether it was necessary for a Gentile to become a Jew before becoming a Christian. The problem is given in verses 1-2 and the solution is in verses 22-29. The basic issue was, is a person saved by keeping the Law (circumcision) or by grace? A conference was called at Jerusalem where Peter and James took the position that it was not necessary to be ...

2991. Christmas 2

Jn 1:1-18 · Eph 1:3-6, 15-18 · Isa 61:10--62:3 · Jer 31:7-14

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Jeremiah 31:7-14 Yahweh promises to rebuild the nation of Israel. God's word is one of hope through restoration of the exiles to their homeland. Previously Jeremiah had the unpleasant task of giving God's word as a message of doom, destruction, and exile. Now, God has him give a message for the period after the Babylonian captivity. Through Jeremiah God has a word of hope by promising the gathering and returning the exiles to Zion. Isaiah 61:10--62:3 Israel rejoices that God has clothed him with ...

2992. Death by Water

Matthew 3:13-17

Sermon

Thirty years have passed in the last five days on the church calendar. Jesus was still a baby just days ago, when Matthew’s version of the Christmas story was read and Christ’s Epiphany was celebrated around the world. Now Jesus is at the beginning of his ministry, and we remember his baptism by John the Baptizer in the Jordan River; he has but three more years to preach, teach, and heal and then he will die on a criminal’s cross, despite the fact that he did no wrong. We know, at the very beginning of his ...

2993. Communion Is Rejoicing In Christ's Return

1 Thessalonians 3:6-13

Sermon

For what thanksgiving can we render to God for you, for all the joy which we feel for your sake before our God, praying earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith? Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you; and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all men, as we do to you, so that he may establish your hearts unblamable in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our ...

2994. The Things That Are God’s

Matthew 22:15-22

Sermon

Truth is where you find it, and not always where you expect. Remember the old story about a chicken and a pig who wanted to show their gratitude for all the farmer’s care and protection? The chicken decided that, given the limitations placed upon them, the best they could do was to provide the farmer with a delicious ham and eggs breakfast. So the chicken told the pig what she had decided. The pig responded, "For you, a ham and eggs breakfast is a gesture of great generosity, but for me, it is an act of ...

2995. Managing Our Memories

1 Corinthians 11:17-34

Sermon

Leonard W. Mann

[Paul reports, concerning Jesus] When he had given thanks, he broke [the bread] and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." Once again we approach the Sacrament of Holy Communion. Once again we hear Jesus say, "Do this in remembrance of me." Join me now, if you will, for a few moments as we think together about an aspect of ...

2996. Advent 1

Isaiah 2:1-5, Psalm 122:1-9, Romans 13:8-14, Matthew 24:36-51

Sermon Aid

THEOLOGICAL CLUE The risen, ascended Lord, Jesus Christ, whose reign has begun, will return at the end of this age, to bring in the fullness of God's Kingdom and reign over all of the affairs of the earth. Be prepared! Wait! Watch! Wonder! Work! Walk! The First Sunday in Advent is the theological/thematic key to the entire year's preaching from the lectionary; it sets the stage, as it were, by directing the attention of preacher and people upon the completion of God's business with the world in Jesus ...

2997. Life - The Womb of the Eternal

Romans 8:18-27

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

In Romans 8:22 Paul declares: "The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now," waiting for "the manifestation of the sons of God." This life with all of its struggle is the womb of the Eternal, wherein receiving the grace of God, and working with him in human relationships, we develop eternal dimensions and are ready to be received into heaven, or we reject grace and miss heaven. Paul, in Romans 12, puts it another way. "Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the ...

2998. The Guy With The Donkey

Matthew 21:1-11

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

There is an old story about a pastor who was having problems and decided to leave the ministry. But he ran into trouble finding another job. Finally, in desperation, he took a job at the local zoo. The gorilla had died, and since it had been the children's favorite animal, the zoo officials decided to put someone in a gorilla costume until a real replacement could be found. To the minister's surprise, he liked the job. He got lots of attention and could eat all he wanted. There was no stress--no deadlines ...

2999. To Be Perfectly One

John 17:20-26

Sermon

Allan J. Weenink

One of the most meaningful experiences of my life took place in the Philippines. In the remote village of Lubuagan, high in the mountain provinces of northern Luzon, is a small mission school of some 250 students. The school and its sister church are on the main highway to Manila, which at this point is a narrow, treacherous dirt road, built on a mountain ledge. This little town literally clings to the mountains. It is half surrounded by graded rice terraces which give the impression of a thousand ...

3000. The Perfect Gift

Galatians 3:26--4:7

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

Someone told me about a man who got tired of the Christmas hoopla. All the frantic haste and the crass commercialism disgusted him. So, he decided not to go along with the crowd. Among other things, he decided not to send Christmas cards, feeling that the expense and effort were non-productive. For the first ten days of December he felt good about his decision. But then, as the mail brought him greetings from friends near and far, he began to feel more and more guilty about sending no cards. Finally, four ...

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