Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 2976 to 3000 of 4945 results

2976. What Are You Waiting On?

John 11:1-16

Sermon

James Merritt

It is something that all of us will spend at least an hour doing every day and I mean every day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year. In fact, we will spend 5 years of our lifetime doing nothing but this. It is universally above everything else the one thing everybody hates to do. In fact, there is nothing that we do that is more frustrating, aggravating, irritating and feels like more of a waste of time than doing this. Can you guess what it is? It’s waiting. An hour every day we wait on something. We are put ...

2977. Last Words Are Important

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Last words are important. Let that truth sink in. Last words are important. East Side Baptist Church is a little country church down in Perry County, Mississippi. It is the church in which I was converted under the preaching of Brother Wiley Grissom, a fifth-grade educated pastor who preached the Gospel with power. The church is about 200 yards up the hill from our old home place. Behind it is a cemetery where I’ll be buried someday. Mom and Dad—whom in my adult life I affectionately called, “Mutt” and “Co ...

2978. This Is a Test

Genesis 22:1-14

Sermon

Mark Trotter

Our text for this Sunday is from the Book of Genesis, the story of Abraham's sacrifice of his son, Isaac. It is one of the most powerful, profound, and disturbing stories in all of the Bible, and all of literature, for that matter. It is the conclusion of the story of Abraham, and therefore it cannot be understood apart from the whole story of Abraham. The story of Abraham is the story of a promise. The promise was given to Abraham, and to Sarah, this childless couple, that they would be given a child, and ...

2979. There's an Elephant in the Room and Her Name Is Katrina

Exodus 14:10-15

Sermon

James W. Moore

There is an elephant in the room and her name is Katrina. Hurricane Katrina was the most destructive storm to hit the United States in historic times. It caused extensive damage to the coastal regions of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama when it slammed ashore on August 29, 2005. By late morning of August 29, the storm caused several sections of the levee system in New Orleans to collapse. Subsequent flooding over most of the city resulted in horrendous damage, destruction and death. Estimates are placing ...

2980. Discipleship: Backward or Forward to God

Luke 9:51-62

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

Leave the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God. — Luke 9:60 It was Thomas Wolfe who made the saying famous: "You can't go home again." He said these words that have been repeated and quoted thousands of times since. It has some affinity with another saying, "You cannot step into the same river twice." Life, like a river, is an ever-flowing and ever-changing reality. One philosopher altered the familiar saying to "you cannot step into the same river once," meaning ...

2981. Beware Of Your Piety

Matthew 6:1-4, Matthew 6:5-15, Matthew 6:16-18, Matthew 6:19-24

Sermon

Harry N. Huxhold

Whatever happened to Lent? It has been some time now since church attendance was swollen during this season. Congregations also conducted weekday services that were well attended. Lenten reading was popular, and people talked a great deal about their Lenten fasting. "What did you give up for Lent?" was a common question. Very often that was done with little thought. In the Chicago area in the '50s, where and when Lenten piety was quite prominent, a woman was shopping at the bakery. While she was waiting ...

2982. Tears At The Tomb

John 11:17-37

Sermon

William G. Carter

By all appearances, the junior high youth group at First Church was going well. Bob and Betsy, their two enthusiastic advisors, planned a full calendar of events to keep them busy. The youth went to roller skating parties and winter retreats. They played a variety of sports, discussed a lot of movies, and celebrated every holiday with a party. But when it came to leading the young teens into the deeper waters of faith, Bob and Betsy were frustrated. One Sunday afternoon, Bob announced the group was ...

2983. Prepared Servants

Luke 12:35-48

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

Watching. Waiting. Preparedness. Servanthood. These are key words that appear in Jesus' teachings and parables in the Gospel accounts. We are told by advertising experts that a product name must be repeated several times before people remember and can identify it. Either Jesus repeated the message frequently so people would remember it, or it was a constant theme which he used in many different ways and on different occasions. In any event it is a theme that occurs so often in the Gospels that it must be ...

2984. Proper 25

Psalm 65:1-13, Luke 18:9-14, Joel 2:28-32, 2 Timothy 4:9-18, 2 Timothy 3:10--4:8

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

TWO MEN PRAYING The parable about two men praying would have shocked the people to whom Jesus told it. He drew upon two well-known and widely accepted stereotypes. First is the Pharisee, who was generally regarded as the epitome of the religious person. Most Jewish families would have been proud to have their son grow up to be a Pharisee. The second was a publican. He was the epitome of the sinner. He was regarded as a traitor because he worked for the Roman occupying government. Most tax collectors were ...

2985. Our Helper

Acts 8:26-40

Sermon

Robert Beringer

There is an imaginary story in which the angel Gabriel asks the Risen Christ what is his plan for carrying the message of God's love to all the world. Jesus explains that he has asked Peter, Mary, John and Thomas and some others to carry that message wherever they go. As others hear and respond, they will carry the same message until the whole world knows of God's amazing love for sinners. Gabriel listens rather skeptically, and then asks Jesus, "But, Lord, what happens if Peter goes back to fishing, or ...

2986. Thistles Among The Wheat

Genesis 28:10-22, Psalm 139:1-24, Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43, Romans 8:12-25

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

The parable of the weeds and wheat is intriguing. It raises a number of issues that are complex and can be confusing. Some resolutions of the issues are suggested while for others you need to look elsewhere for more adequate explanations. Some differences are found within the parable itself and the interpretation given to the disciples. One of the issues is the question about the nature of the church. Does this parable apply to the church as part of the kingdom of God? If so, is the church a divine or a ...

2987. Proper 19

Matthew 18:21-35, Romans 14:1--15:13, Exodus 13:17--14:31, Psalm 114:1-8

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

Unlimited Forgiveness The parable uses the analogy of a reverse comparison. On the one hand a huge, almost inconceivable debt is forgiven. The amount of the debt of the first character in the parable is staggering. To the person hearing the parable it would be scarcely possible to imagine a debt so monumental, perhaps as hard as to try to imagine today the size of the national debt in the United States. The second character has a relatively trivial debt. It is more the size one might run up on a credit ...

2988. Professor Of Paradox

Matthew 13:47-52, Matthew 13:44-46, Matthew 13:31-35

Sermon

Roger G. Talbott

Once upon a time, a strange old man came to a small village. He carried a mixing bowl and a wooden spoon. This sight was odd enough to cause the people of the village to notice what the old man did next. The old man took the bowl to the plowed field next to the village and he put some dirt into the bowl until it was about half full. Then he went to the village pump and filled it with water to about an inch below the brim. Then the old man sat down on a rock next to the pump and began to stir the water into ...

2989. Equipped To Play

Ephesians 6:10-20

Sermon

Robert R. Kopp

Just as the United States Golf Association says, "I really, really, really love golf." It's fun, good exercise without a cart, an unconquerable adventure, and cheaper than a shrink. That's why one of us confessed: "My wife said it's her or golf. Boy, am I going to miss my wife." I'm kidding. But there are some things that are really starting to bother me. The prize money on the three big tours is increasingly obscene and already unconscionable. And it's getting really, really, really expensive. The costs ...

2990. Judas, The Obscure

Drama

Peter C. Garrison

Judas' problem is that he doesn't have any excuse for the thing he does; he has reasons, but no excuses. Have you ever acted in a way you yourself couldn't understand? Dostoyevski noted: "All self-examination ends up as self-justification." But does it? Concerning Judas' problem: Is he deceiving himself or is he deceiving God? (Please read Matthew 26:14-25;Luke 22:3-6; John 6:57-71 and 10:14-18) Judas (Judas sits alone in a dark corner.) This is a confession and I tell you that from the first Judas was an ...

2991. All Saints

Psalm 149:1-9, Ephesians 1:15-23, Ephesians 1:1-14, Luke 6:27-36, Luke 6:17-26, Daniel 7:1-14

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Old Testament: Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18 God is sovereign over the kingdoms of the world. As Revelation is the last book of the Bible, Daniel can qualify as the last book of the Old Testament because most biblical scholars say it is the last book to be written in the Old Testament, circa 165 B.C. It is, like Revelation, apocalyptic literature consisting of dreams and visions of the fall of world powers and the success of God's Kingdom. It was written at a time of persecution under Antiochus Epiphanes ...

2992. A Sheep Of Your Own Flock

Psalm 23:1-6

Eulogy

Barbara G. Schmitz

No two ways about it, it has been a difficult few days, and we are in a difficult time. N., who has been part of our lives for so long, whom we have come to know and love and care for deeply, has died. We wish it weren't so. We wonder how we can go on without him [her]. We have unanswered questions. We know fear, and grief, and sorrow all rolled into one. Many years ago, there was another person who had some of these same feelings. Not sure where to turn. Scared to death. Heartbroken. A shepherd by ...

2993. Death In The Midst Of Birth

1 Corinthians 15:12-34

Eulogy

Barbara G. Schmitz

Canticle: Nunc Dimittis There is probably no more difficult a time to mourn the loss of a loved one and join in the burial prayers than this. The twelve days of Christmas are for celebration, festivity, lightheartedness, merriment; a time to celebrate birth and God's love in sending Jesus to us. But for us this year, the twelve days of Christmas mean sorrow, loss, grief, and death. In the season of birth, we are in the season of death. I'd like to share two personal memories with you, because they both ...

2994. God Deep In The Flesh

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

Marc Kolden

Our gospel reading today from Matthew 28 is both famous and familiar. Most of us have heard it many times. It is Jesus' "Great Commission" to the eleven disciples shortly after his resurrection. The disciples go to the mountaintop and the risen Christ comes to them in the midst of their doubts and astonishment and speaks those amazing words: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." What an incredible claim! But here, of course, the point is that it is the one to whom all authority has ...

2995. Easter 3

1 Peter 1:13-2:3, Acts 2:42-47, Luke 24:13-35

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

Theme: The risen Christ is revealed as believers gather together and break bread. The First Lesson describes the resurrection community in Jerusalem as having everything in common. They broke bread with glad and generous hearts, praising God. The Gospel tells how Christ was revealed to the two strollers on the way to Emmaus, when Christ blessed and broke bread with them. COMMENTARY Epistle: Acts 2:14a, 36-47 This is the ending of Peter's Pentecost sermon. He confronts his listeners head-on with their ...

2996. Epiphany 5

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5, Matthew 5:13-16, Matthew 5:17-20, Isaiah 58:1-14, 1 Corinthians 2:6-16

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

Theme: God's Illuminating Spirit COMMENTARY Lesson 1: Isaiah 58:1-9a (9b-12) (C); Isaiah 58:7-10 (RC); Isaiah 58:5-9a (L) This passage is a dialogue between the pommeled people of Israel and God. The prophet voices the complaints of the people, as well as the Lord's response. This profound passage is from the hand of trito-Isaiah in the sixth century B.C. and the issue is fasting. The people complain that their pious acts of fasting, a sign of sorrow and supplication, are unnoticed by God. God responds ...

2997. Proper 16 & Pentecost 14

Matthew 16:13-20, Exodus 1:1-22, Exodus 2:1-10, Isaiah 22:1-25, Isaiah 51:1-16, Romans 11:33-36

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

Theme: Deliverance from bondage. The Old Testament readings, with the exception of the Roman Catholic, focus on God's great acts of deliverance. God sends prophets to announce their approaching freedom. We see the completion of God's intent in the gospel, where he gives to the church the power to deliver people from the bondage of sin. COMMENTARY Old Testament: Exodus 1:8 2:10 Generations after Joseph, the Israelites have multiplied and are regarded as a security risk. The period referred to here is from ...

2998. Proper 7

Mt 10:16-39 · Rom 5:12 – 6:11 · Jer 20:7-13 · Gen 21:8-21 · Ps 86

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. Lesson 1: Jeremiah 20:7-13 Jeremiah was born about 650 B.C. and began his ministry in the 13th year of King ...

2999. Double Image

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

William G. Carter

"You know why I want to join the church?" The speaker was a father in his thirties, holding an infant on his shoulder. A red Land's End diaper bag was slung over his other shoulder. His wife stood next to him in the church narthex, holding the hand of a cranky two-year-old with a runny nose. The father said, "We began to worry about raising our children. There are too many opinions about what's right and what's wrong, too many temptations, too many possible wrong turns. We want our kids to learn some ...

3000. Shouting At A Storm

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon

William G. Carter

The story of Jesus calming the storm has always been a favorite story of the church. It has prompted the writing of many hymns, such as "Jesus, Saviour, Pilot Me" and "Give to the Winds Thy Fears," to say nothing of the Navy Hymn and others. The story has also provided the church with a graphic symbol of who we are. When the World Council of Churches was formed, leaders sought a logo to identify the whole family of Christ. They drew a fishing boat with the cross as its mast. It was a good symbol. ...

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