Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 3051 to 3075 of 3160 results

Mark 6:14-29

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

... Jerusalem, the fortress at Masada, and many other colossal projects. He was a savvy business man and a partner of Cleopatra in a business venture that extracted tar from the natural tar pits near the Dead Sea and used it to create a sort of primitive asphalt which they sold all over the Roman empire. He was also criminally insane – paranoid and depressive — seeing conspiracies threatening his rule, everywhere he looked, and, as a result, was responsible for the execution of several of his wives and sons ...

3052. More Than Enough

John 6:1-21

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

... to any situation. And that, my friends, is all too often, us. Fishes and Loaves Andrew enters the story and what follows only happens in John’s gospel. (In the synoptic gospels it’s the disciples, themselves, who have the loaves and fishes.) I can see Andrew sort of sidling up to Jesus and Philip, not wanting to interrupt, but certain that he had information that Jesus would want to know. “Uh, excuse me. I hate to interrupt but there’s a kid over here who says he has a couple of smoked herring and ...

3053. Ordinary People

Ruth 1:1-16

Sermon

Will Willimon

... people dying in the streets, vast wanderings of hungry beggars. Not a pretty sight. Naomi and her husband leave their home in Bethlehem and travel to the wilds of Moab, hearing that things are better there. Have you ever been to Moab? It's a rough, out-of-the-way sort of place. You don't want to go down there unless you have to. Back in Genesis, after Abraham and Lot parted, Lot went up and lived in a cave with his two daughters (Lot's wife had been turned into a pillar of salt earlier, so Lot was fairly ...

3054. Never on Sunday

Mark 2:23-3:6

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

... is more serious and more important than the first because it showed the law being perverted in such a way as to dismiss and even condone callousness and cruelty. Jesus and the disciples entered the local synagogue, which is primarily a place of learning and a sort of local substitute for the temple as a place to worship. Inside the synagogue, he met a man with a withered hand; probably, the language tells us, a malady from birth. Mark built tension by shifting the camera’s eye from Jesus to his audience ...

3055. Metaphors Be with You

John 6:35, 41-51

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

... his throat and scratching his arm in a flurry of confusion and frustration. There’s Bread, and then There’s Bread I sometimes think that the gospel’s author, who is also named John, selected a whole bunch of metaphors, symbols, parables, stories, quotations, that sort of thing, and dumped them all into a giant blender, turn it on “frappe” for a few seconds and then dumped them all out onto paper. That is, for me, a pretty good description of chapter six of the Gospel according to John. It all ...

3056. Call It Like You See It

Mark 7:24-37

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... in a loan owed to his father, who has gone blind. He will return with a bride and a cure for his father’s blindness. But he sets out on the journey with a young man — who he does not recognize as an angel — and a faithful dog. Well, sort of. There are several versions of this apocryphal book. In the version that was current among Greek-speaking Jews, there is a dog. In the versions that circulated among Jews closer to Jerusalem, there is no dog. That’s because in many of the nations in ancient times ...

3057. The Blind See!

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

King Duncan

... them. Others let it drive them. Perhaps one of the most dangerous handicaps is that of living a privileged life, because we never develop the mental and emotional and spiritual toughness that is required for dealing with adverse life situations. There is an old Swedish saying, sort of a put-down, to refer to someone who has had an easy life, who didn’t have to work to get where they are. It translates as, “To slide in on a shrimp sandwich.” (6) Some people’s greatest disadvantage is that they slid ...

3058. It's No Fun to Move

Ruth 1:1-18

Sermon

King Duncan

... couldn’t guess your answers to these questions. But there is one “Would You Rather” question that is pretty easy for everyone to answer: “Would you rather move across the country or get a root canal?” You could replace “root canal” with all sorts of unpleasant options, and most people would still choose anything else rather than moving. Just ask somebody about their last move and see how they respond. “Never again!” is a common response. “I don’t even want to talk about it!” is ...

3059. Seeking Jesus

Luke 2:41-52

Sermon

King Duncan

... our need. We sense the emptiness, the loneliness, the fear. When shall we begin seeking diligently the one person who alone can meet our deepest needs? A woman named Janice was married to a carpenter, which sounds like a good thing. The man could build all sorts of useful things. But somehow, Janice’s husband could never get around to building and fixing certain things around his own house. For ten years Janice had asked him to build her a screen door for their kitchen. For ten years he had said he would ...

3060. It's A Wonderment

Mark 9:2-9

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... and scholarly debate except for one thing. Everyone agrees that it was a mountain top experience. Peter, James and John came face to face with the holy and they were changed. We really understand why Peter said what he said. We've all had mountain top experiences of some sort or another. Some are more dramatic than others but we've all had them. I had one just a couple of months ago. It came in the form of a phone call from my little brother, Scott. Over the last few years Scott and I have gotten pretty ...

3061. Beneath The Shadow Of The Cross

Mark 14:1--15:47

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... The people were already singing. Passover was a joyous time. It was one of the high holy days of Judaism. It was a time to gather the families together. People came from all over the country to stay with their friends and relatives. Passover always had sort of a homecoming, Christmas and Mardi Gras atmosphere all rolled into one. It was a time of remembrance and celebration. It was both festive and introspective. And on this day, the first day of the week, the pilgrims were entering Jerusalem armed with the ...

3062. Are Ye Able?

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... . There are similar examples from Christian Egypt of others who resisted in this way. There was a small rural congregation which, when an edict from Rome demanded all their gold and silver made it clear that their simple meetinghouse has nothing of the sort, aside from a few brass plates. There was a Christian whose title was “Reader,” which means he was the one in charge of reading scripture during worship. While giving a deposition, he claimed to be illiterate and knew nothing of any Christian books ...

3063. For The Love of God Is Contagious

Mark 7:31-36 · Luke 5:12-15 · 2 Corinthians 5:16-20

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... . A woman walked up, looked at us and asked, "What gives you the right to be so happy?" It took us both by surprise. We stood with our mouths open not knowing what to say. And then I said, "Nothing, Ma'am, except for my faith in Christ." She gave sort of a snort and a "Hurumph" and walked on. We still don't know what her problem was. And we didn't see her again. The experience dampened our spirits a little. Or at least for a little while. It shouldn't be that way, though. Our happiness should spread ...

3064. For The Love of God is Giving

Mark 12:38-44

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... lead to her generosity. Let me explain a little bit about the Temple offerings. There were as many as six big offering boxes in the Temple. All were located in a central area within the Temple proper. Each had a metal horn or a funnel like contraption, sort of like toll booth baskets into which you threw your money. The coins would clank and clink around as the offering jingled its way into the offering box below. The more money you threw in, the more noise it made. The reason that's important to know ...

3065. The Family

Genesis 37:1-36

Sermon

Will Willimon

... a dream, a dream that is ''added on'' to the normal, humdrum course of an ordinary family's life. Things might have gone quite uneventfully if it had not been for the added nuisance of a little brother and his arrogant, pushy, Martin Luther King ''I have a dream'' sort of dreams. It is a story about the resentment felt by those who do not dream, who seethe with burning envy as pushy, upstart little brother, gifted in ways we are not, begins to assert his dreams over us. So it's a story about killers of the ...

3066. Righteous Woman

Genesis 38:1-27

Sermon

Will Willimon

... future for herself out of the clutches of male oppression masquerading as religious propriety. She doesn't whine about her circumstances or quietly resign herself to her situation -- she goes out and wheels and deals, recklessly risking all, and thus suggests a new sort of righteousness. You've got to hand it to Tamar. One of you was telling me about your home church. You said it was conservative, you said it was a ''Bible-believing'' church, a church taking stands against abortion, immorality. But when the ...

3067. Devour And Conquer

Mark 12:38-44

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... of the metal. Because these were metal coins, they made a very loud sound as they clanged and clattered in the Trumpet Chests, and made another satisfying noise when they hit bottom. No doubt many could hear the coins ring and jingle, and they could distinguish what sort of coin was thrown into the Trumpet Chests by the sound of precious metals. As Jesus watched, Mark told us, “A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny (10:42).” As a woman this widow was not required ...

3068. Who Is The Prisoner? Who Is The Judge?

John 18:33-37

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... , 452) Jesus is the Lamb of God who came to save us from the sin of the world. Jesus, despite the marks of scourging, the crown of thorns, and the brutality of his guards, is not the prisoner. Jesus is the king. If you acknowledge him as king, what sort of follower are you? Are you willing to follow in his footsteps? Will you still praise him and lift his name on high when the going gets tough? Think about it. Really think about it. What if you were on trial before Pilate? Would he recognize that you are ...

3069. It's a Wonderment

Mark 9:2-9

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

3070. New Creations

2 Corinthians 5:6-10; 14-17

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... Grace Givens' daughter had come back to town for the occasion. Her name was April Givens. April had spent the days prior to the funeral making arrangements for the burial service and going through her mother's things. She got quite an education as she sorted through her mother's belongings, diaries and financial affairs. "So sorry about your mother's passing," Tom Warren said to April. "We hardly knew her, you know. But she was always in her place on Sunday morning." "Are you the Warrens whose son Frank had ...

3071. When Good People Pray

Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

Sermon

King Duncan

... by one in the hope that somebody would recognize them, and they could be reunited with their loved ones. (6) Can you imagine the relief and joy those soldiers experienced when they were reunited with loved ones and thereby rediscovered their identity? That’s the sort of thing that can happen in our life when we are in the habit of maintaining continuous contact with God through prayer. When Jesus prayed on the day he was baptized, the heaven opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like ...

3072. Welcome, Joe!

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Sermon

King Duncan

... the ten biggest decisions they had made in their life so far. If you were recruited for this study, what would you list as your ten biggest life decisions so far? It’s fascinating to think about. The professor and the study subjects then sorted and ranked the decisions according to how often certain decisions were mentioned, how significant the decisions were in the course of each person’s life, and the emotions connected to the decisions. I think this study is interesting because of what it says about ...

3073. The Favorite

Luke 2:41-52

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... on an edgy campaign. He’s making outrageous claims. He’s bucking authority and disputing his colleagues. He’s going against his religious traditions and insulting its leaders. He’s hanging around with a bad group of people, dangerous and revolutionary sorts. He’s left his home and his family to go on the road. He’s thrown away everything good in his life to lead a counter-cultural initiative, and everyone is disappointed –his community, his friends, his colleagues, his family, especially ...

3074. Resurrecticity

John 20:1-18 · Luke 24:1-12

Sermon

Schuyler Rhodes

... that it wouldn’t live, much less talk, without food. Think about it. A rubber band, as we have made clear, has elasticity. We know and understand this. Then of course there is electricity, which in my feeble understanding is the movement of electrons in a particular sort of way. We understand the character of these electrons well enough to make use of them in a million different ways. Then we come to simplicity, which points us to the core or essence of being simple. If only we could focus on that in the ...

3075. The Hiddenness Of Life’s Truths: Christian Life As Surprise

2 Corinthians 5:20b—6:10

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... explains why there is still death, still sadness, and still suffering. In a hidden way God struggled with these realities. He may not have abolished them, but ultimately he is in control of them, and so he uses them to give life, joy, health, and to overcome poverty. This sort of hidden working by God gets us to focus more on him. If we can come to realize, like we heard Martin Luther did, that all our wisdom is contradicted by God, then we have nowhere to turn except to the word of God. Get it? God’s ...

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