Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 3026 to 3050 of 4681 results

3026. Help Wanted: Only Shunammites Need Apply

2 Kings 4:8-37

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... angels unaware" as had Abraham and Sarah. Indeed when she was granted a child, the similarity between herself and Sarah was magnified. But the Shunammite did not seek any blessing from the prophet - she welcomed him in because that was the proper response to one who bears the mark of God. Seeing the face of Christ in the stranger at our door is often a challenge. But a true spirit of hospitality is one that recognizes the child of God hidden within every man and woman and welcomes that child in. We no ...

3027. Healing Aerobics

2 Kings 5:1-15ab

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the restored body and spirit of Naaman journeys back to Elisha, there is a third and fourth step he must take in order to demonstrate that lasting healing has indeed set in. Just as a broken bone is not healed until it can once again bear weight, neither can a body and spirit healed by God be completely transformed until the healer is thankfully acknowledged. In Moore's outline this means that Naaman returns in a state of "submission" to kneel before Elisha. Naaman assembles himself and all his entourage ...

3028. Jesus, The Light of the World

John 1:3-9

Illustration

John H. Townsend

... . He had numerous floodlights placed inside the church; illumination through the glass to the outside world gave passers-by the full effect of the window's story. There for all to see were the matchless portrayals of Jesus: Jesus the good shepherd bearing a lamb on his bosom; Jesus the searching Savior rescuing the lone lost sheep while the ninety-nine rested safely on the fold; Jesus praying in Gethsemane; Jesus on the cross; Jesus triumphant in Resurrection glory. The silent sermons of light and stained ...

3029. Sacrifice for Discipleship

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Illustration

King Duncan

... to say, he aroused great opposition. Soon he was forced to go underground. Later he was imprisoned. There he was executed. Out of his struggles he wrote a monumental work, The Cost of Discipleship. It stands as an eternal judgment of those who want Christ but do not want to bear a cross. John the Baptist understood the cost of discipleship. He knew what it was to sacrifice everything in answer to God's call.

3030. The Hand, the Lamb and the Dove

John 3:1-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... . Find purpose and delight in the small things. 2) To incarnate God the Redeemer: Work with your pain; work through your pain; give your pain a purpose; and work with others in pain. Recognize where you have been so that you will know where others have been. Like Christ, you bear wounds where you have been broken. 3) To incarnate God the Holy Spirit: Work with your passion what do you care about? What makes your heart sing? What gets you outside yourself and into the world?

3031. The Gravity of Grace

Ephesians 1:3-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... we love that will please them, that will bring them joy. There are refrigerators and office desks all over this country littered with really lopsided clay pots, beautifully impressionistic and colorful "self-portraits" and bouquets of dandelions in leaky vases, that bear tribute to the truly "great pleasure" these loving gestures bring. Living life as adopted sons and daughters of God doesn't "cramp our style" or transform us into sour-faced, nay-saying "party poopers." When we live according to the gravity ...

3032. Armageddon Anxiety

John 6:56-69

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... " is coping with Armageddon anxiety and catching millennial fever. Satan's six-pack (666) has us under the influence of easy answers, easy solutions and easy excuses. What to do? This week's biblical text is "brought to life" as much by the number it bears as by what it says. Read this text of rejection, John 6:66, one more time: "Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him." The devastating nature of this message, coupled with the doomsday number it is assigned ...

3033. Quenching St. Anthony's Fire

Mark 8:27-38

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... of the loaded cross, which says that any religious human being encounters suffering, and sees suffering, differently. We are hard of hearing when Christ's voice calls us to stay in our suffering, even as we become successful and powerful; and calls us to bear always a loaded cross, even when we can do more and go farther with a plain one. "Professionalism" has led us to the point where the central motivating symbol of ministry is the ladder, rather than the cross. A conversation with a prospective student ...

3034. The Double Cross

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... when the truth is revealed that what we thought would be our just desserts becomes a pie in the face? Humanly speaking, being "double-crossed" is a wholly negative experience. In fact, traditionally, our culture has tended to reserve a bad connotation for anything bearing the "double" label. To work twice as hard is to pull "double duty"; in espionage, a spy who betrays both sides is a "double agent"; a word or phrase that drips with innuendo is said to be a "double-entendre"; judgments that have ominous ...

3035. Strength's Weakness

John 20:19-31

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

It is at the point of our strengths rather than our weaknesses that we are most vulnerable. Our strengths can create even greater monsters than our weaknesses. In downtown Detroit, an entire side of the CadillacTower building bears the muscular image of Barry Sanders, the NFL's leading rusher and Detroit Lions running back #20. The only way you know who is responsible for this massive, looming work of people's art, this icon to a sports god, is by one symbol in the upper right-hand corner: ...

3036. Onward Christian Hell-busters

Matthew 10:40-42

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... , you will suffer. When you live with integrity, know this you will suffer. When you live for honesty, know this you will suffer. When you live for justice, know this you will suffer. So I ask you this morning: What pain pierces your life right now because you bear the name "Christian," because you dare to be a hell-buster? I never thought I'd ever end a sermon this way: Go to hell! If you prefer a different ending try this: Too often, the church is content to go fishing in bathtubs instead of embarking out ...

3037. The Four R's

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... that when all are positively present, they can bring us to the very brink of the kingdom of heaven. In Jesus' parable, the sower casts out seeds which fall on four different environments. The environment determines the seeds' ability to grow and survive and to bear fruit. R #1: ROOTS The second batch of seeds cast in the parable of the sower fall onto the rocky ground. Immediately, they shoot up high stalks, for there was virtually no soil for putting down roots. But all this frantic upward growth was in ...

3038. Rules for the Road

Joshua 3:7-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... swollen Jordan. Surely there were other places to cross that were narrower. Why didn't Joshua find a sandbar somewhere near Jordan's ever shifting banks, which would make the way across just a short skip? But the road forward was clearly marked by God. The priests bearing the ark stood firmly in the center of the river, pointing the way. By sticking to the road, the people of Israel found a path of dry, safe ground on which to cross into the uncertain future. Road Rule #4: Stay Awake at the Wheel. There are ...

3039. The Oblivious Obvious

Luke 5:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

There are times when it's necessary and important to state the obvious. Such a time is now. Question: What do Smokey the Bear, Winnie the Pooh and John the Baptist have in common? Answer: The same middle name. Why is the obvious so oblivious, so hard for us to see? Dr. Samuel Johnson once observed: "Never be afraid to state the obvious. It is what most people have forgotten." As a pastor, out ...

3040. Stone Testaments

Deuteronomy 26:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Under God's specific instructions, the priests carrying the holy ark of the covenant walked right into the center of the river. At the touch of their feet, the Jordan's waters halted and stood back _ creating dry ground downstream of the ark-bearing priests. As the priests continued to stand there midstream, the entire nation of Israel crossed safely into the Promised Land. To mark this miraculous safe crossing, God commanded Joshua to choose one representative from each of the 12 tribes and to have each of ...

3041. The Six Longest Short Verses in the Bible

Psalm 23:1-6

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... a pit ... into the midst whereof they are fallen themselves" (Psalm 57:6 [KJV]). But while we are "walking" (Note: the text doesn't say we can "run" the valley) the "valley of the shadow," the Bible teaches that God is with us and that the God with us bears all the sufferings and pains of the world and the hurts of our scared, scarred souls. God is with us in whatever we face. For the Christian, the cross becomes the symbol of the agony endured by both creation and the Creator. "Though" none of us gets out ...

3042. A-wake or A-live

Galatians 2:15-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... The Hawthorne Effect was named after a socioeconomic experiment done in 1927 among workers in the Hawthorne Works Factory of Western Electric Company. Up until this experiment, it was thought that only wages and working conditions had direct bearing on work performance and output. This famous experiment proved that increasing the lighting improved work performance. The business world responded with one voice, "We need better lighting!" which was logically correct, but not experimentally accurate. It was ...

3043. The Five Adjectives of a Noun Christian

2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... can't wear it anyway). 2. They'll know we are Christians ... because we're NUTS ("Never Underestimate the Spirit"). I want to be a "NUTS" Christian. I happen to like fruitcake. I like bringing fruits and nuts together. That is what Christ does: He helps us bear fruit and become nuts. 1. You all know what the number one adjective is for that word "Christian." We sing it many times - "They'll know we are Christians by our ... LOVE." But wait a minute. That four-letter word "love" has become almost as unusable ...

3044. Enemies of Promise

Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... of them "fruits of repentance" in order to validate the promise they would commit to that day in the Jordan River. At the moment of his birth, Jesus incarnated the greatest promise God had ever made with creation - the promise of redemption. Jesus, too, was called to bear fruit worthy of this promise as he lived his life on earth. But Jesus kept the promise when he hung on a cross, alone and abandoned for our sake. And God fulfilled all promises when God raised Jesus from death to eternal life. "The Boy and ...

3045. Surprise, It's Christmas! - Sermon Starter

Luke 1:26-38

Illustration

Brett Blair

... of Mary. Gabriel piled one surprise upon another. Mary and Joseph's Christmas tree had more astonishing surprises than any couple on earth had ever experienced. Gabriel surprised Mary with the following… 1. "The Lord is with you, do not be afraid." 2. "You will conceive in your womb, and bear a son." 3. "He will be called the Son of God."

3046. Consider the Impossible

Luke 1:26-38

Illustration

Dwight Gunter

... he discovers Mary is pregnant. Impossible! Mary must avoid being stoned to death when the neighbors hear the news. Impossible! Consider the impossibility Elizabeth faced. She was well past the childbearing age, and yet God says she is going to conceive and bear a child. This impossible news left old Zechariah speechless. Impossible! No way! Won't happen! This is a story of biblical impossibilities. But, what are the impossibilities in our world? What would you label "impossible" in your life? Peace in our ...

3047. One Side Light, One Side Dark

Lk 1:26-38

Illustration

King Duncan

... one of the most brilliantly lighted cities in the world. On one side darkness; on the other, light. The entire world is like that. Wouldn't you like to take the light of Christmas and light up the world? That is the dream of every man, woman, young person who bears the name of Jesus. The light has shined into the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.

3048. Do You Know Your Name?

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... websites. Not only do they provide huge, long lists of names, from the common to the crazy, but they also give the etiology, the linguistic origins, of the names. No doubt these popular references account for the fact that our local fifth grade soccer goalie this year bears the name “Gwyddeon.” Do you know your name? We all have the name given to us by our parents or by our friends. A family name with roots can help us grown new branches. A derogatory name, given by cruel kids, can keep us trapped in ...

3049. Ephesians 1:3-14

Ephesians 1:1-14

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... ” (v.13). God’s blessing of Christ’s saving mission is ultimately accomplished in this world through the activity of the Holy Spirit. The “seal” of the Holy Spirit clearly marks the community of faith. Those who are truly “in Christ” bear this “seal,” this mark, of the Holy Spirit’s presence in their lives. The central blessing portion (vv.4-10) describes just how disciples “in Christ” will experience this new reality in their lives. Though Paul introduces the idea of predestination ...

3050. Luke 24:35-48

Luke 24:35-48

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... The good news that God has fulfilled all prophecies in the person of Jesus Christ, the fact of the resurrection, and the imperative that the New Israel (the Church) live in the light of this new reality are all truths that bear constant repeating. Chapter 24 contains two back-to-back stories of resurrection appearances which share parallel developments. While this week's gospel text focuses on Jesus' post-resurrection appearance before his disciples, the similarities between it and the overlapping story of ...

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