Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 3076 to 3100 of 4972 results

3076. Getting Down To The Local Issues

Sermon

Thomas Long

... safely to her destination was the chore she most needed to be doing. So she traveled with her, talked gently to her, listened to her as the woman spoke of the pain in her life, and guided her to her daughter's house. When they arrived and Ginny started to leave, the woman grasped her arm and announced that God had sent Ginny to her and that later she would pray a prayer of thanks to God for having Ginny there. The woman then gave Ginny a kiss. On the way home, Ginny wondered what it would be like to be ...

3077. Knowing The Voice

John 10:1-21

Sermon

Thomas Long

... because his voice is familiar. They discern its cadences; they remember its reassuring rhythms. Over and again, in times of distress and pain, when they have not been sure that they could take one more step along the pathway of suffering, he has spoken comfort to them: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid" (John 14:27). Many times when their faith has faltered and their vision grown dim, he ...

3078. The Seven Last Words Of Pilate

Sermon

Thomas Long

... all sounds rather manageable, perhaps even tame: A sheep is lost, the shepherd goes to find it, and that's that. But to the eye it releases its outrageous truth. To watch in astonishment as a seemingly sane shepherd walks away from 99 perfectly good sheep, leaving them to the perils of the wilderness, while he searches with wild and passionate abandon for one scraggly runaway is to be confronted with some extravagant and unruly grace at the heart of the gospel. The story in the Gospel of John of the trial ...

3079. Good News, Bad News, Good News

John 13:1-17

Sermon

Thomas Long

... man until he was safely removed from the wreckage. Later the truck driver told Jack, "You were an idiot; you know that the whole thing could have exploded, and we'd have both been burned up!" Jack told him that he felt that he just couldn't leave him.3 Many years before, Jack had been treated compassionately by the nurse, and because of that experience, he could now show that same compassion to another. Receiving grace enabled him to give grace. "Unless I wash you," Jesus said, "you have no share with me ...

3080. A Faith I Could No Longer Count On

Psalm 73:1-7, 13-18

Sermon

Robert G. McCreight

... we can be! For in that moment, when faith has the opportunity to become the primary voice we hear, something can happen in our lives which is like stepping out of a dark room into a bright, sunny day. We can come in cross and disturbed, and leave feeling hopeful and inspired again. We probably can't explain what happened to us in the sanctuary, but we are living proof that something happened between God and his people that left a profound impact on some. Meaning has come back into their lives. The resolve ...

3081. Behold The Man Who Taught By The Sea

Mark 4:1-20

Sermon

Thomas A. Pilgrim

... , "Praise him, Praise him, All ye little children." They sang through that song, which also contains the verses, "Love him, Love him" and "Serve him, Serve him!" At that point they heard someone announce that refreshments were being served in the kitchen. They started to leave their room, but one little boy said, "We forgot to crown him!" They all came back in the room and finished the song, "Crown him, Crown him, All ye little children."8 We are still called today to crown him King and become citizens of ...

3082. Behold The Man Who Turned Toward Jerusalem

Mark 10:32-34

Sermon

Thomas A. Pilgrim

... has enough selfish people already. What the world needs is Kingdom of God people who give themselves. Some years ago in Russia a group of Christians were meeting secretly one night. Suddenly, two Russian army officers burst into their meeting. They said to the people, "Leave immediately or we will kill you." A few of the Christians left, but the others remained. The two officers locked the door. Then they turned around and said, "We are Christians, too. We just did not want to be with anyone not willing to ...

3083. Stop Being Afraid

Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

Marc Kolden

... will take care of you. That's a promise. You don't have to be afraid. Ever. Yes, but .... Who can believe this? Who can live without fear? We are suspicious even of promises. We are always hearing promises that aren't kept. Our grandparents may promise to leave us the farm when they die, but who's to say they won't go bankrupt and lose the farm long before that? Husbands and wives promise to be faithful to each other until death, but half the time they can't keep those promises. Our life experience teaches ...

3084. The Man Born Blind

John 9:1-12

Drama

Dallas A. Brauninger

... concrete. Stumbling around is obvious. In my day, people with any blemish such as blindness or lameness could not bring a food offering to the altar lest they profane the sanctuary. Jewish laws suggest blind persons are as unclean as those with leprosy. People leave behind misconceptions and old beliefs with reluctance. Some of this may carry over to your day. Blindness is not the result of anyone's sin, either the blind person's or those of the parents or generations before. Some things just happen. Asker ...

3085. Seeing The Unseeing

John 9:35-41, John 9:13-34, John 9:1-12

Sermon

David Belgum

... Tune in again tomorrow morning for more helpful information. Let's investigate this so-called healing; maybe we'll get lucky and find out it did not happen. 3. The parents felt themselves in the middle when they were asked to take a stand. They more or less said, "Leave us out of it." John reports they said, "Ask him; he is of age, he will speak for himself." They feared they would be put out of the synagogue if they showed an inclination to believe in the Christ. It was beyond the memory of many here that ...

3086. Brainstorms

Sermon

John R. Bodo

... John the Baptist. When John met Jesus, he recognized him as the Messiah. "Behold the Lamb of God!" he exclaimed. In so doing, he virtually turned the brothers over to Jesus. But this is not how it usually goes. Becoming a Christian by leaving another religious community is likely to exact a price: from family conflict to ostracism and even martyrdom. Are we showing appropriate understanding and patience with non-Christians -- whether in Asia, Africa or on the fringes of our own congregation -- when they are ...

3087. The Season Of Sacred Stories

Mark 1:9-15

Sermon

Elaine M. Ward

... the wise woman had built in her back yard. She sat in silence and waited for Jesus to come into her imagination. It was a long wait. At last she spoke, no longer the four-year-old, but an angry woman. "If you will not come, then I will leave!" And Jesus replied, "Come sit on my lap." The four-year-old refused. Jesus smiled, and this time Jesus waited. Slowly, cautiously, she came and crawled up into his lap. "All children need daddies," he said, putting his arms around her. "I am sorry your daddy was killed ...

3088. Jesus, The Servant

John 13:1-17

Sermon

Elaine M. Ward

... earth shake from the drum roll of the surf, he rises to dress and saunter forth, summoning from the white spray the features and faces of the dead he knows. This sufferer of insomnia, this talker who cannot sleep, has shattered mine. I rise to leave but he stops me with his musing. "Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things." Paul's words on the lips of the insomniac soothed my spirit. I feel in safe territory and sit again to listen to his final soliloquy: Stranded ...

3089. Yearning For A Loyal Friend

Job 6:14-30 · Matthew 26:69-75

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

... embraces me and sets the table on its legs. He gets bread and a cup and we commune together. We laugh and talk, and he tells me that he is with me always. I look around the room and it has been transformed and renewed. As the Lord turns to leave, he says to me: "Thank you for letting me be your friend. I am with you always. Love yourself as I love you." I usually, after that experience in my soul room, have a new sense of peace and a new desire to go out to other people. Will Thompson ...

3090. Hailing The King Of Chaos

Job 12:13-22· Matthew 27:32-44

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

... be wise are deprived of their discernment and made into clowns. He overthrows the mighty and takes away the voice of the orator and the insight of elders. He pours contempt upon princes and weakens the strong. He takes away the understanding of leaders and leaves them wandering, lost and groping, without a guiding light. Job declares God as the king of chaos. Nothing looked more like chaos than the week of Jesus' passion. Where was God then? Where was he when his Son was being ridiculed? Where was he when ...

3091. A Love Feast

John 13:1-17, 1 Corinthians 11:17-34

Bulletin Aid

Frank Ramirez

... the ordinance Jesus meant to unite us should divide Christians; that we should set up barriers at the table and say, "You may come, but you may not." Let's see if tonight we finally get it. Let's see if the sacrifice of Jesus, his death and resurrection, leaves the realm of legend for us, and becomes real experience. Let us see if Christ is alive in our lives and we live again the marvelous night in the upper room. Ahead of us lies the cross. Indeed, some here this evening may be carrying their cross even ...

3092. Responsibility And Motivation

Ruth 1:1-22

Sermon

John N. Brittain

... had driven Elimelech, his wife Naomi, and their two sons to emigrate from Bethlehem, across the Jordan to the land of Moab, which was always more fertile than Palestine. In time, all three men father and two sons, each of whom had married a Moabite woman died, leaving Naomi with her two daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah. Seeing no future for a widow in a foreign land, Naomi decided to return to Judah and urged Orpah and Ruth likewise to return to their families who would care for them. It was in some ways ...

3093. The Christian Journey I: The Path

Mark 1:14-20

Sermon

John N. Brittain

... moving. But the journey does not always begin with Jesus speaking. It may just as well begin with us. Later in Mark's Gospel, there is another interesting story that is set at the side of the path. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even ...

3094. Words, Words, Word

John 1:1-18

Sermon

Alex Gondola

... true that "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." Words have power both to hurt and to heal. In a small village church, an altar boy accidentally dropped the cruet of wine during mass. The priest hit him and shouted, "Leave the altar, and don't come back!" That boy became Tito, the Communist leader of Yugoslavia. In an American cathedral, an altar boy dropped the cruet of wine while serving mass with the Bishop. With a twinkle in his eye, the Bishop leaned over and whispered ...

3095. Guilt And Grace

Romans 8:28-39

Sermon

Alex Gondola

... your voice any longer! Now, I know you don't like me to bother you at work, Mom, but, I've really got to know: where do you keep the instant coffee? I'd like to give the Fire Department and the Police some coffee before they leave." But, of course, it isn't only parents who feel guilty. Children sometimes feel guilty about letting down their parents. I'm told that Samuel Johnson, the great British writer, reproached himself for his whole adult life over an incident that took place in his childhood. As ...

3096. Shared Bread

1 Corinthians 10:14-22

Sermon

Alex Gondola

... . We have been fed, physically and spiritually. God calls us to share our material and spiritual blessing with others. Near the end of the Roman Catholic mass, there are these words: "We have heard God's word and eaten the Body of Christ. Now it is time for us to leave, to do good works, to praise and bless the Lord in our daily lives." The New Creation is coming. But the Kingdom of God is also now, whenever we share bread and housing, and time and support with others, for the sake of Christ.

3097. "Friend, Why Are You Here?"

1 Corinthians 10:14-22

Sermon

Alex Gondola

... more like him, to bring his kind of healing and wholeness to others in our world? Friend, why are you here? Whatever motive brought you here this morning, I hope you have decided to receive the salvation from sin that Christ offers us freely. And I hope that when you leave the sanctuary this morning, it will be with a sense that you are forgiven, cleansed, made new, changed.

3098. "Friend, Why Are You Here?"

Sermon

Alex Gondola

3099. How Not To Throw A Party

Luke 14:1-14

Sermon

Alex Gondola

... it had been a good day. One guest, only a teenager herself, showed us pictures of her baby. Because she didn't think some of the women of the church believed she was a mother, she showed them her stretch marks, too! Another guest took me aside before leaving. He said he wanted to make a contribution to the Day of Hospitality. I watched him as he picked through the meager wad of bills in his pocket. It was mostly ones, probably everything he owned. I was stunned and shocked and moved when he pulled out a ...

3100. Fulfilled, Or Just Full?

Sermon

Alex Gondola

... moments he had experienced in his eighty years, the sum total of his happiness would add up to less than 24 hours! For many, food, possessions, fame and distinction just don't seem to fill up the inner emptiness. It would even seem that sometimes they can leave us not "filled up" but "fed up" with life. Where to turn? Twenty centuries ago, just after the Feeding of the Five Thousand, Jesus spoke to a group of hungry people on the shores of Lake Galilee. They were hungry for bread, but also hungry for love ...

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