Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 2976 to 3000 of 4935 results

2976. Give Me A Break!

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

Larry Goodpaster

Jesus was having one of those days! You know the kind of day when nothing goes exactly the way it was planned. The kind of day when staying in bed seems to be an option that should have been taken the first thing in the morning. The kind of day when the only words spoken to you, or at you, are words of criticism and sarcasm. The kind of day some of us have far too often. That was the kind of day Jesus was having. The picture of that day is painted for us by Matthew in the opening verses of the 11th chapter ...

2977. Gentiles 'R Us

Matthew 18:15-20

Sermon

Johnny Dean

(Note: perhaps I should preface this sermon with a brief explanation for Web page readers of the events which occurred in the week preceding the writing – specifically, on one particular day of that week. A long-time church member – a dear, sweet lady in her late 70’s – had been hospitalized with a severe infection. While in the intensive care ward of the local hospital, she suffered cardiac arrest. The attending physician was able to get her heart restarted, but only after a delay of several minutes. ...

2978. What To Do When Everyone's Doing It

Judges 6:1-40

Sermon

Harold Warlick

I harbor few illusions that people take to heart sermons like I'm about to preach. Yet later on in life we just might look back and remember. W. T. Leitze taught me that very early in life. W. T. Leitze was one of the kindest, most trusting individuals who ever lived. Mr. Leitze, a 60-year-old bachelor who weighed at least 300 pounds, was my ninth grade algebra teacher. Mr. Leitze's whole life was centered around his students. His lectures always interwove basic algebraic principles with basic Christian ...

2979. Baptism of Our Lord

Matthew 3:13-17, Acts 10:23b-48, Psalm 45:1-17, Isaiah 42:1-9

Sermon Aid

THEOLOGICAL CLUE The theological intention in giving the baptism of Jesus its own special day, the First Sunday after the Epiphany, rather than attempting to restore it to January 6 and reconstruct Epiphany as a unitive event, is several fold: first, it is an important part of the incarnation, as a reaffirmation by God that this man was the Holy Child born in Bethlehem three decades or so in the past; second, Jesus has come to bring in the Kingdom of God and save all people through the forgiveness of their ...

2980. The Need for Transfiguration

2 Peter 1:12-21

Sermon

Hubert Beck

Who has not felt the need for transfiguration? Who has not felt the Cinderella in them needing to be transformed from a deprived stepsister to a beautiful princess? Who has not felt so drab, so hum-drum, so dull, so boring even to one’s own self that one could hardly stand it? In moments like that - and for some people a good part of their life seems to be spent like that! - we feel that we simply must get beyond ourselves. We want to feel transfigured at least, to feel bright and cheery and extraordinary ...

2981. A LITURGICAL DRAMA FOR ALL SAINTS’

Drama

Tom Eberle

A LITURGICAL DRAMA FOR ALL SAINTS’ [Placed in the chancel area of the sanctuary is a large cardboard box, about two to three feet high, with a chair setting in it. At the end of the prelude "Box" takes his place on the chair. Immediately in front of the pews, on both sides of the center aisle, is an arrangement of candles. Five candles are necessary for the chancel drama, plus a candle for each member of the congregation who died in the past 12 months.] Prelude Box: Before we go any further, let’s lay all ...

2982. Food for Faith

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

Pentecost XI Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a lonely place apart. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. As he went ashore he saw a great throng; and he had compassion on them, and healed their sick. When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a lonely place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves." Jesus said, "They need not go away; you give them something to ...

2983. Stranglers Or Wranglers?

Acts 2:42-47

Sermon

King Duncan

Many years ago at the University of Wisconsin, there was an undergraduate literary club. The club consisted of male students who had demonstrated outstanding talent in writing. At each meeting one of the students would read aloud a story or essay he had written, and then submit it to the others for criticism. The criticism was brutal. Nothing was held back. The students showed no mercy in dissecting the material line by line. So hateful were the sessions that the members called themselves "The Stranglers ...

2984. The Glorious Interpolation

John 7:45--8:11

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

Mark Twain once wrote a story with the descriptive title: “The Terrible Catastrophe.” Before he had finished he had worked all of his characters into such a predicament that whatever any one of them did they would all be destroyed! Contemplating his creation at this juncture, Twain concluded the story by writing, “I have these characters in such a fix I cannot get them out. Anyone who thinks he can is welcome to try!” In our Scripture we find that Jesus’ enemies thought that they had Him in just such a fix ...

2985. The War of Malchus’ Ear

John 18:1-11

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

In the year 1739 a strange scene was enacted before the House of Commons in London. A ship’s captain by the name of Jenkins was brought before that august body, and he showed them a bottle which contained a small, shriveled-up object, which he claimed was his ear. He said that it had been cut off by Spanish coast-guards when his ship was searched on the high seas. “What did you do?” he was asked. And he is supposed to have replied, “I commended my soul to God and my cause to my country.” In his epic ...

2986. Looking for Shoots or Roots?

Matthew 11:1-19

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

The more we move into the Advent season, the more our scripture texts bring the Christ-child’s birth closer and closer to us. Yet here in Matthew 11:2-11 we are back to the relationship between Jesus and John the Baptist. Yet even though this is not part of our text for this week, the mere mention of John’s name should remind us of their cousinly kinship, even of an in utero jump for joy that marked their first meeting--making cousin John the first person to celebrate Advent. As out text opens Jesus has ...

2987. I Don’t Like My Options

2 Kings 5:1-17

Sermon

James Merritt

Think about two words: options and decisions. One gives rise to the other. Options are diverse, decisions are difficult. An option only has power when it becomes a decision. The reason why I want you to understand these two words is because basically that is what life is all about. It is amazing to see how one decision can change a life, a family, a nation, and a world. Some unknown people through the years made a decision choosing among options that have radically changed your life to this very present ...

2988. When I’m In Trouble

2 Timothy 4:16-18

Sermon

James Merritt

Everybody at one time or another has read the comic strip "Peanuts" by Charles Schulz. If you have, you can't help but love Charlie Brown. In one of the classic cartoons, Charlie Brown is at the beach building a beautiful sandcastle. He has worked on it all day long and as he stands back to admire his finished work, it is suddenly consumed by a huge wave. Looking at the smooth sand mound that had been his creation just a moment before, with that forlorn look, Charlie Brown says, "There must be a lesson ...

2989. What Do I Do When My Prayers Go Unanswered?

Deuteronomy 3:1-11, 23-26

Sermon

James Merritt

I have been a follower of Christ ever since I was nine years old. For over four decades, I have followed Jesus Christ and I have spent most of those years studying the Word of God and learning more about the God of the Word. I have literally been on mountaintops and I have been in valleys. There have been times in my life that God was so real it was as if I could literally reach out and touch His face. There have been other times I've felt like God was so far away that I could not see Him with the Hubble ...

2990. I’m Movin’ On

Philippians 3:12-14

Sermon

James Merritt

Believe it or not, in the last several years I have become somewhat of a country music fan, and one of the groups I like is a group called Rascal Flatts. They came out with a song that both haunts me every time I hear it, and yet also brings me a sense of comfort. I want you to listen to just the first verse: Listen to the words one more time: I've dealt with my ghost, and faced all my demons; Finally content with a past I regret; I found you find strength in your moments of weakness; For once I'm at peace ...

2991. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Luke 23:32-46

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

There's an old story about three men who were friends. They attended college together. And even went to grad schools in the same town. One became a Lawyer, one became a Tax Accountant and the other became a Preacher. The Lawyer and the Accountant were members of the Preachers church. Over the years, they maintained their close friendship. One of the things that held them together was mutual respect and their sense of humor. The Preacher particularly liked calling his friends the Pharisee and the Money ...

2992. Thicker Than Blood

Galatians 3:23-29

Sermon

April Yamasaki

In the classic movie, Mary Poppins, Julie Andrews plays a no-nonsense, yet delightful, nanny to two young children. As a nanny to a wealthy family, she is part teacher, part parent, and part disciplinarian. She gets the children up in the morning, puts them to bed at night, supervises their many adventures, and guides them in many ways. While they are in her care, she is responsible for their overall safety and well-being. In the ancient world, wealthy Greek and Roman families would assign this kind of ...

2993. God Is Not Dead

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

James Merritt

If there is one commandment that is usually thought to be irrelevant, it is the second commandment. However, it may be second in position because it is second in importance. This commandment is one that is probably the most easily ignored and, yet, the most blatantly broken. In case you doubt that idolatry is alive and well right here in America, picture a newspaper article entitled, THE DEIFICATION OF ELVIS: Those who worship ‘the king’ practice their own form of religion. This newspaper writer thought at ...

2994. In Pisidian Antioch

Acts 13:13-52

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

The missionaries cross to Asia Minor, where Paul’s first recorded sermon is preached in Antioch. The speech is given at length, so that on other occasions Luke needed only to say that Paul “proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues” (13:5; 14:1; etc.) without feeling obliged to give the content of the preaching each time. And like the speech, the response was also a paradigm, with some Jews believing but many rejecting the gospel. It is possible to see in the pattern of ministry outlined in this ...

2995. Melchizedek the Priest

Hebrews 7:1-10, Hebrews 7:11-28

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

The Enigma of Melchizedek and His Priestly Order In order to make the argument about Christ’s high priesthood as convincing as it can be, the author begins by establishing the great importance of Melchizedek, who resembles the Son of God in many respects and hence serves as a type of Christ. His superiority to Abraham and Levi is then made plain. This in turn leads to a discussion of the significance of his priestly order, which in recent history had found a new and definitive representative in fulfillment ...

2996. The Legitimacy and Superiority of Christ’s Priesthood

Hebrews 7:11-28, Hebrews 7:1-10

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

2997. When Jesus Prays

John 17:20-26

Sermon

King Duncan

Now that baseball is in full swing, I thought you might enjoy a story I was reading recently concerning former Cleveland Indians pitcher Bob Feller and Minnesota Twins outfielder Denard Span. It seems these two players from different eras have something rather odd in common: Both men during baseball games hit their mothers in the stands with a foul ball. Feller hit his mom in 1939 (he broke her collarbone); Span hit his during a spring training game in 2010. Fortunately, both moms made full recoveries. (1 ...

2998. Paul Reinterprets the Story of Israel

Romans 2:17-29

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

Big Idea: Paul reverses the role that the law played as the stipulation of the old covenant. He argues that the very attempt to obey the law is keeping Israel in bondage. This is because obsession with the Torah derailed Jews from accepting Jesus as the Messiah and from seeing that the law was fulfilled in him and finished at the cross. Understanding the Text Romans 2:17–24, together with 2:25–29, focuses on the twin themes of the law of Moses as the stipulation of the Old Testament covenant and ...

2999. Faces of Failure: Judas Iscariot

Matthew 26-27 (selections)

Sermon

Don Tuttle

The story is told of a preacher whose method for selecting his Sunday scripture was, shall we say, unusual. Some pastors use what’s called a lectionary--a three-year cycle of readings that retells the story of Jesus every year using either Matthew, Mark, or Luke. Other pastors select a topic—maybe “grace” or “sacrifice”--and then biblical texts that address it. Still others preach through entire books. One church I know will spend almost all of 2017 going through 1 Peter verse by verse. But the preacher in ...

3000. Lord of the Sabbath

Luke 5:33-39, Luke 6:1-11, Luke 7:18-35

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“If you call the Sabbath a delight then you will find your joy in the Lord.” --Isaiah 58:13-14 “Happy is he who is aware of the mysteries of his Lord.” --Abraham Joshua Heschel Visuals: Have Hubbel Space Images scrolling on screen during your sermon / Psalm 92 may be spoken with a musical background or sung You may also opt during or after your sermon to have people sing the psalm (you can find tunes with words on youtube) https://youtu.be/1I_X2bxfAq8 (This version by James Block is particular beautiful.) ...

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