Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 3026 to 3050 of 5000 results

2 Samuel 7:1-17

Sermon

Harold Warlick

The text for today lifts before us Yahweh's choice of the family of David as the vehicle for God's divine gift to humankind. Yet the message marked a transition in David's status. According to the passage, David wanted to build Yahweh a "house." He proposed to do what all self-serving rulers in that ancient world would have done. Much of Israel's worship life was well established at that point. The tent which housed the ...

3027. Point Of Origin

Genesis 1:1-2:3

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... the familiar biblical metaphor of death and creation, of sleeping and waking. Each year we all enact the metaphor of creation, of standing at bay the chaos of past experience and bringing to birth a new historical recognition. January is the time when we mark a new beginning, a new creation, on our calendar-conscious minds. Both the calendar and the Genesis 1 text call us to reflect on this strange Christian term, "epiphany." The word means "to make known." Essentially, it's when something is recognized for ...

3028. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot

2 Kings 2:1-18

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... , Christ's whole life was characterized by the contrasted manner in his end. No blaze of fiery chariot nor agitated tempest was evident to bear Christ heavenward. Christ's whole life had evidenced a power unlike the world recognizes power. his silent gentleness marked him even in his hour of lofty triumph. He moved slowly upward through quiet air. The origin of his ascent was his own will and his own power. Another striking contrast concerns the transition of authority. Elisha receives a falling mantle, the ...

3029. Arc Of The Covenant

Genesis 9:1-17

Sermon

Paul W. Kummer

... signs and wonder to back up your word. You never fail." Talk about great family devotions with an object lesson included. "I have set my rainbow in the clouds and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth." God still gives us signs and wonders, marks of his covenant with us. The covenant he makes with us in baptism is a sign of his wonderful faithfulness to us. He even speaks of it in the context of the story of Noah. "God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built ...

3030. A New Name

Genesis 17:1-27

Sermon

Paul W. Kummer

... brothers who were caught stealing sheep. The punishment back then was to brand the thief's forehead with the letters S.T., which stood for sheep thief. One brother subsequently left the village and spent his remaining years wandering from place to place indelibly marked by disgrace. The other remained in the village, made restitution for the stolen sheep, and became a caring friend and neighbor to the townspeople -- an old man loved by all. Many years later, a stranger came to town and inquired about the S ...

3031. The Highest In The Lowest

Luke 2:1-7, Luke 2:8-20

Sermon

John A. Stroman

... the office again. The same is true for us. Christ comes to us right where we are, amid all of our human entanglements. It is hard for us to think of God in such ordinary terms. God -- So Near And So Ordinary This is exactly why the hometown folks in Mark 6 had such difficulty in accepting Jesus as Messiah. He was too much like them. If this was God, then God was too ordinary. They spoke up and said, "We know who he is. He is not fooling us. That's the carpenter's son. That's Joseph's boy ...

3032. So Much To Say, So Little Time

John 16:5-16

Sermon

Alexander H. Wales

... there, to help us to hear. But the Spirit does more than help us hear. The Spirit is active in guiding us in the truth. The Spirit is power and potential and personality that make us shine in a world filled with darkness. We become the bearers of the truth, marked by the reality of the Trinity -- children of the Father, siblings of the Son, companions of the Spirit -- so that we all may hear and know the Good News of the risen Jesus Christ. Amen."

3033. Simply Simon

Luke 7:36-50

Sermon

Alexander H. Wales

... stuff on strangers. And as for kissing him, why I didn't even know him that well. I mean, what could he expect! No ... I'm not ready for that kind of prophet to be mucking around in my house! No way!" Poor Simon! He was expecting to make a mark on the world by having Jesus visit with him for dinner, and instead, we remember the visit by the woman who anointed the feet of Jesus with her tears and her perfume. If anything, we remember Simon for his lack of courtesy and wisdom by treating the Son of God ...

3034. The Pastor Who Created A Monster

Haggai 1:1-15, Haggai 2:1-9

Sermon

Thomas G. Rogers

... of the big thermometer sign that the building committee had made. Five years ago the church had begun a fund campaign for a new sanctuary. The building committee had painted a big thermometer on a four-by-ten-foot sheet of plywood. The measurement markings on the thermometer were labeled, not in degrees, but in dollars. Each week the building committee chairman colored in the thermometer to correspond to the amount that had been given to the building fund to date. When the thermometer was finally colored in ...

3035. All The World Is Waiting For The Sunrise

Acts 10:34-43

Sermon

Gerald Whetstone

... , in that musty, empty room there's a faint noise. Then in Joseph's cabinet there's the sound of breaking glass, a box lid shattered. One of the drawers bursts open and a butterfly emerges to perch on the edge. He remains there to move his stiff wings, marks of the pins still visible. After a long pause, he flutters to the top of the cabinet, then around the room and through the window. Across the meadows he spreads the good news. He has emerged not from a cocoon but from the grave! And, in time, he climbs ...

3036. How Costly Grace? Or Does Spelling Count?

Micah 6:1-8

Sermon

Paul E. Robinson

... and Pharisees. He lived and taught kindness, with children and women and the sick. He even lived and taught humility before God, whose very Son he was. When in talking about the end of the world, he said, "Only the Father knows such timetables" (Matthew 27:36; Mark 13:32). Justice and kindness and humilty before God. The reality in our day which those of us in the church need to acknowledge and confess is that we are seen by the world as unjust in our treatment of other Christians and not involved enough in ...

3037. Awake, Christ Is Coming

Romans 13:8-14

Sermon

Richard Hasler

... when people see something clearly or gain an inner assurance that enables them to be exceptional persons. In short, in almost every sphere of life there is a right time to be grasped when something creative may be done. Today, the first Sunday in Advent, marks the beginning of the liturgical cycle of the Christian year. The call is loud and clear, "Awake, Christ is coming." To be sure, Advent looks to the future and the final triumph of Christ. Likewise, Advent glances back to the past and the fulfillment ...

3038. Focus On The Son

Romans 1:1-17

Sermon

Richard Hasler

... heard the marvelous facts of Jesus' birth, early life, and teachings. Noteworthy is the fact that many of Paul's letters, including this one to the Romans (written sometime between A.D. 54-58), were written earlier than the earliest gospel, namely the Gospel of Mark (usually dated about A.D. 65). In other words, the early Christians came to know the Son first as Lord and then later learned the details of his birth in Bethlehem and his subsequent life. The Son is Christ. Some people who encountered Jesus ...

3039. Faith Of Our Fathers

Psalm 33:12

Children's Sermon

Robert B. Lantz

... to have a guess? Yes, they were the Pilgrims! And who can tell me the name of their ship and where they landed? (Mayflower -- Plymouth.) Have any of you ever been to Plymouth and gone aboard the Mayflower II which sailed here from England in 1970 to mark the 350th anniversary of the first landing? One of the interesting things that the Pilgrims did before they left their ship was to draw up a paper that stated what the government of their new land would be. That document, known as the Mayflower Compact, is ...

3040. Live Together In Harmony

1 Corinthians 1:10-17

Sermon

Richard Hasler

In Mark Twain's delightful story, The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn, the following incident occurs. Huck and his friend are talking. His friend, Buck, wants to kill someone. Huck wonders what this person had ever done to get his friend so agitated. Finally, the reason comes out. "Why, nothing -- only it's ...

3041. Down A Garden Path

Genesis 2:4-25, Genesis 3:1-24

Sermon

Gerald Whetstone

... and recurrent presence, of prowling beasts and the beat of angels' wings. We might believe, foolishly, that set in a garden or a wilderness we could resist temptation. Give us a chance to try it in a space set apart from the routines of our daily lives -- to mark the tree, to identify the enemy and gather grace to resist. How much more difficult it is to sort it all out -- what's faithful and what's not -- in the complex web of routines and crises of our daily lives! Seldom do our temptations seem so ...

3042. Come To The Light

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Sermon

Sandra Hefter Herrma

... not be exposed." We are told that as the realm of God breaks through into our lives, it does so in a burst of light! For example, in Luke's birth narrative, the angels appear to the shepherds wreathed in glorious light, and the way of the magi is marked in Matthew with the light of a star. Even after the Ascension, we are told that while "Peter, bound with two chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, ... suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on the side and ...

3043. Make Scriptural Hope Your Own

Romans 14:1--15:13

Sermon

Richard Hasler

... school. Asked to give answers to simple factual questions about the Bible, among the replies were: Eve was created from an apple. Sodom and Gomorrah were lovers. Jezebel was Ahab's donkey. Jesus was baptized by Moses. The New Testament gospels were written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. I guarantee that if you read the Bible with intentionality you will not only be able to do better than these students on a pop factual quiz on the Bible, but you will ultimately become persuaded of the beauty, truth and ...

3044. You Can Be Like Children

Mark 10:1-12

Sermon

Michael B. Brown

... for children! There are sick folks to heal, lessons to teach, Pharisees to challenge, temples to cleanse and thrones to establish. Don't bother the Teacher with children." And as the rejected mothers were about to turn away, Jesus realized what had taken place. The author Mark says: "When Jesus saw what happened, he was indignant, and said to them, 'Let the children come to me. Do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a ...

3045. Memorial Day

Ecclesiastes 3:1-22

Sermon

Brett Blair

... mid-September 1862, Private Thompson continued to support his mother by sending home most of his meager army pay. On September 17, 1862, as his regiment was attempting to cross Burnside Bridge during the Battle of Antietam, a sharpshooters bullet found its mark, and young Thompson, in many ways just beginning his life, fell instantly dead. But the tragedy did not end there. Records indicate that his mother, stunned and sickened by her son's death, became gravely ill and never completely recovered. From the ...

3046. Mother's Day

Romans 16:1-27

Sermon

Brett Blair

... meet Rufus’ mother? Did she nurse him through some serious illness? Did she receive him into her home for an extended stay during his missionary journeys. How did this woman and Paul form such a close bond that he refers to her fondly as being like his mother. Mark tells us that Simon of Cyrene, the man who carried Jesus cross, had two sons: Alexander and Rufus. Was this the same Rufus to whom Paul was speaking. If that is true, his mother would be Simon of Syrene's wife. No one knows for sure who this ...

3047. A Salute to Mothers

Romans 16:1-27

Sermon

Brett Blair

3048. God's Broadcasters

1 John 1:5

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

... wrote down all of those things that God wanted his people to know. The four men who wrote the Gospels told us all the news about the life of Jesus. What are the names of those four men who wrote the Gospels, boys and girls? (Let them tell you.) Matthew, Mark, Luke and John -- we call them the evangelists. They each wrote about the life of Jesus. Each one of them told us special things about him. John had lots of wonderful things to say about Jesus. One of the things he said was that Jesus was the light of ...

3049. Flashing Lights

Acts 9:1-19a

Sermon

Robert Beringer

... when they attuned their hearts to the Living God. People have been almost apologetic when they tell me how they experienced God's great love for them, or God's power at work in healing a loved one. Some have even asked me if having had such experiences marks them as "religious oddballs." But there is nothing odd about experiencing the Living God when our hearts are properly "tuned in." It may be in a church service where the reality of God's love breaks over us like an ocean wave. It may happen in our ...

3050. Baptism/Dedication

Prov 22:6 · Mk 10:14 · Lk 2:22 · Act 16:33

Children's Sermon

Robert B. Lantz

... be believers in God and disciples of the Lord Jesus. Let's all think of what it means to believe in God and be the disciples of the Lord Jesus. (Prayer of blessing on children and remembrance of the promises made at the Baptism/Dedication.) (Give out the pins to mark the happy event.)

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