Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 3101 to 3125 of 4997 results

2 Corinthians 4:1-18, 2 Kings 2:1-18, Mark 9:2-13

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... 't it be wonderful if our children wanted nothing more than a double portion of our spirit? Outline: 1. Elijah mentored for Elisha the life of a godly man. 2. When Elijah was taken to heaven, he left Elisha a living faith, not material trinkets. 3. What kind of an inheritance are you leaving the world? Will others be energized by the fire of your faith? 4. Give yourself to setting in order your legacy of faith and love. My oldest sister is probably the most spiritual of the children in my family. When Mom ...

3102. The Good, The Bad, And The Justified

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

Larry R. Kalajainen

... her for her past life, and she now wanted to become a member of the church. For a few moments, the silence was deafening. Finally, Samuel Colgate arose and said, "I guess we blundered when we prayed that the Lord would save sinners. We forgot to specify what kind of sinners. We'd better ask him to forgive us for this oversight. The Holy Spirit has touched this woman and made her truly repentant, but the Lord apparently doesn't understand that she's not the type we want him to rescue. We'd better spell it ...

3103. Love In Action

1 John 3:11-24

Sermon

Mark J. Molldrem

... be called upon to lose their lives in order to protect others from being exposed to authorities who seek their harm; for example, Christians were called upon to do just this during World War II when Nazis hunted Jews. However, John goes on to describe how this kind of love is also expressed when we respond to the needs of those around us with Christ-like love. The Good Shepherd calls for his sheep to be good. Consider Alice. She knew the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd called her to be a good sheep. Alice ...

3104. Made New By 180 Degrees

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

Richard A. Wing

... Rejoice! -- Let your gentleness be known to everyone! -- Do not worry about anything! -- In everything by prayer and thanksgiving, let God know what you want! -- And the peace of God which passes all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus! The kind of tension I have experienced at Christmas has nothing to do with the texts that are set before us, but the tasks that are set before me on Christmas Eve after the 11:00 service. When my children were small, that was when I would head ...

3105. Connected To God

Sermon

Lee Griess

... support one another, to reach out to each other in love a bond that seeks to pull each other up higher and higher into God's presence. Rebecca Manley Pippert, in her book Out of the Salt Shaker and into the World, gives an example of that kind of bond. She tells about a brilliant college student called Bill who became a Christian. He was part of that generation who dressed differently from their parents. For instance, he never wore shoes, no matter what the weather, and no matter where he went, he dressed ...

3106. The Mark Upon Us

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Sermon

Lee Griess

... , intended just that image -- the "X" to stand as a symbol of the terrible acts those persons committed. That "X" stands opposite Jesus' words in the Gospel reading -- that we allow no mark of our piety to separate us from those around us, that our faith not be a visible kind of mark we wear on our foreheads, but rather that it be the deep, heartfelt expression of our love of God that is visible in the lives we live, not the acts of piety that we perform for others to see. I can't help but think of that "X ...

3107. Do Not Be Doubting But Believe!

John 20:24-31

Sermon

Lee Griess

... , these disciples, almost all of them to hostile, martyr's graves, not the "Now I lay me down to sleep" variety, but the kind of graves that we pray never comes to us or our loved ones ... those disciples would go to their graves confident that even ... for Jesus, faith that trusts that even when the worst has happened, there in the middle of it stands Jesus. Jesus knew that was the kind of faith we need. That's why he said, "Peace be with you. Do not be doubting, but believe. Blessed are those who have not ...

3108. Real Solutions To Real Problems

John 21:1-14

Sermon

Lee Griess

... and the disciples again -- to remind them of that. It is God's grace for sinners, God's forgiveness for the fallen, and God's love for you and me. There on the shore of the Lake of Galilee we see how God treats us -- with love and respect, with kindness and forgiveness. For just as Jesus stood on the shore and called to Peter, so he stands near us and calls to us as well. For his promise to us is the same. "Lo, I am with you always." Did you ever wonder about these resurrection appearances of Jesus -- how ...

3109. God Doesn't Ask A Fig Tree To Produce Bananas

Luke 13:1-9

Sermon

Lee Griess

... and prayer, but how?" "I know I ought to be more sensitive to others, more loving of my spouse, more understanding of the weaknesses of others, but how?" These are all good qualities and we know that, but how can we acquire them? As Christian people we know the kind of life we ought to live, and most of us have the best of intentions to do so, but how? We are afraid because we know where the road paved with only good intentions leads! This morning we hear Jesus' parable of the fig tree, telling us to repent ...

3110. A New Command

John 13:31-38

Sermon

Lee Griess

... personal freedom and a move toward a godless society would bring about the perfect world that humanity was seeking. For the key to the kind of life that you and I desire had already been given us. It was there in the words of Jesus in that upper ... have given anything if only he had put a good pair of shoes on his father's feet for the last hour of his life. That's the kind of love that God has for us in Christ Jesus. Love that sacrifices itself for us. Love that bends down in service and reaches out in love. ...

3111. Second Sunday In Advent

Sermon

David M. Oliver

... had ever been healed of a condition such as this (see John 9:32). The fellow was then brought to the religious authorities who could certify his healing. A great controversy arose because the man had been healed on the Sabbath; work of any kind, including good work, was considered to be unlawful on the Sabbath. What began as something worthy of praise and thanksgiving became ugly and controversial. Those who saw themselves as defenders and preservers of the faith became resisters of God and deniers of Jesus ...

3112. God, The Holy Spirit

Acts 2:1-13

Drama

Jerry Eckert

... students for the last two years. Field Announcer: Will you tell us what happened up in the room? Mary: It is hard to say. I've never experienced anything like it before. We had been in prayer together. We've been waiting for a little over a week for some kind of sign as to what to do. After Jesus died and was raised from the dead, things were pretty strange around here. We continued to meet and Jesus somehow was with us. And he taught us, much like he did before his death. Ten days ago, we were out walking ...

3113. The Pageant

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

Drama

Jerry Eckert

... stand in front of the church for a while. The chairperson dug out every costume she could find in the building. She got a friend to help put the costumes on during the service. She also found a man who would be willing to scout the congregation for the kind of folks who would not be embarrassed to take part. We knew there would be few children so we geared it for adults. Two adults in the church were involved in very serious Bible study. One was always asking me questions based on his reading, and the other ...

3114. Twelfth Night

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

Drama

Jerry Eckert

... Let me try to speak to some of them. (A young man comes toward the Field Announcer.) Field Announcer 1: Sir, will you let me interview you for a moment? Zealot: Make it quick. I'm not supposed to be out here. Field Announcer 1: Are you in any kind of danger? Zealot: Always. The Roman government doesn't like us. We raid their tax collecting stations. Once in a while, we attack their barracks when they are asleep. Field Announcer 1: But you are so young to be doing such things. Zealot: I'm big enough to carry ...

3115. Gabriel: I Was There

Luke 1:5-25

Drama

Dr. Raymond Bailey

... stand, whispered into the ear of Joseph, Mary's husband to be, to flee into Egypt, taking Mary and the lad along.When Herod was dead, Joseph, Mary, and Yeshua returned to Israel, and settled in Nazareth. I watched him grow up.He was "some kind" of a boy.He became "some kind" of a man.At age thirty, He became a rabbi, and kept saying He was uniquely related to the Father -- that to see Him was to see the Father.He indeed embodied the essence of the Father,He also reflected humanity's own highest aspirations ...

3116. The Politics Of The Saints

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

Larry R. Kalajainen

... in isolation from other people. When I sneeze, my neighbor catches cold. So the question becomes not will I be political, but what kind of politics will I practice? How will my words or my actions or my decisions affect the lives of other people around me ... of us who call ourselves followers of Jesus cannot get away from the fact that following Jesus means practicing a particular kind of politics -- the politics of love, of non-violence, of non-retaliation, of generosity, of mercy. And that brand of politics ...

3117. The Condition Of Mercy

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon

Donald Dotterer

... were crying. The judge had tears in his eyes. Then Beulah Mae McDonald said these words: "I do forgive you. From the day I found out who you all was, I asked God to take care of y'all, and he has."3 Who among us could show that kind of forgiveness? The answer is, that none of us could ever do it without faith in God. Even with much smaller offenses, we cannot really and truly forgive without God's help. One of the fundamental principles of Alcoholics Anonymous is that a person cannot stop drinking on one ...

3118. Marriage: Endearing And Enduring

Psalm 128:1-6

Sermon

Charles R. Leary

... we are married or single, young or old, employed or unemployed, this occasion enables us to focus on those positive values that build character and the ingredients that make intimate personal relationships endearing and enduring. The first thing we look for in a healthy marriage is some kind of equality of sharing. And when I say sharing, I don't mean a 50-50 deal. I don't even mean a 100-100 deal. I am thinking of a relationship where each of you make a 60-40 commitment. You give 60 percent and expect ...

3119. Wedding: Looking Outward Together

1 John 1:1-4

Sermon

Warren Gregory Martin

... childhood's faith. I love thee with a love I seemed to lose with my lost saints. I love thee with the breath, smiles, tears, of all my life! And if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death." The apostle Paul said: "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes ...

3120. Warning! In Case Of Rapture This Car Will Be Unmanned.

Mark 13:1-31

Sermon

Carl B. Rife

... what that is all about, all you have to do is watch Star Trek,when they say, "Beam me up, Scotty." That is a kind of rapture, a transporting up. Paul uses that language in 2 Thessalonians: "We shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to ... parents or anyone else in the world knew that it bothered me. I had dreams at night that the Lord returned and returned with a cosmic kind of fireworks display that scared me to death. So as a result as I was growing up, in my study in Sunday school and church ...

3121. Palm Sunday

Bulletin Aid

Jack Brownlee

... in need. Let us be assured that the acts of searching for our true selves do matter in this world. Assure us that small acts of kindness done in the name of Christ influence people more than we know. Fill us with thy spirit, O great God, as we sing Hosanna to ... from his shoulder. They weren't slipping, the Nazarene Rabbi had them in his hand. "Sir," the Rabbi looked at John, "will you be so kind as to hold my robe for a moment?" The Rabbi gave John his robe and tied one towel around his waist and put the other ...

3122. Structure And Clarity

Sermon

Michael Rogness

... all parts of the sermon are clearly related to the main theme. Without a main point around which the whole sermon revolves, listeners will come away with all sorts of diffuse ideas on what the sermon is about, with no idea on how it's all connected. That kind of preaching is like the terrible definition I once heard of preaching which is unfortunately often true: "Preaching is like throwing a bucket of water at a case full of empty pop bottles. A little will go into every bottle. It won't be much, and it ...

3123. Elements Of Devotion

Acts 17:16-34

Sermon

Clement E. Lewis

... people have Bibles, crosses or crucifixes, or pictures of artists' concepts of the Christ in their homes, as reminders of what they believe and feel in relation to God. There is also the devotion that is self-giving, expressing itself in filial love, acts of kindness and goodness, and unswerving responsibility. Within all of us there is the spiritual urge to love and to be loved by God and people. Knowing that we are loved is one of the essentials to happiness and the drive to be creative. People want to ...

3124. If We Are Dreamers

Joel 2:18-27, Joel 2:28-32

Sermon

Clement E. Lewis

... chapter of Genesis, too long to be fully recounted here. There are conscious dreams in life that stem from hope, ambition, and the need to serve. That is the meaning of the dreams alluded to in the hymn we shared, written by John Hunter. Those were the kinds of dreams that Jesus treasured and sought to help to fulfillment. Dreams should cause us to reflect on what has been, what ought to be, and what our role in life is to become. Reflective memories are precious to us, but ultimate outcomes are even more ...

3125. The Lightning And The Current

John 7:46; 14:6

Children's Sermon

Kenneth Mortonson

... use of these God-given powers alone. Therefore, we turn to Jesus for the perfect example of what it means to use the gifts of God as they were intended to be used. When Jesus acted, miracles were performed; and there is no greater miracle than the act of kindness and compassion. When Jesus spoke, people replied, "No man ever spoke like this man!" (John 7:46) for he spoke the truth. As we follow Jesus, we too shall learn how to use our God-given powers for good instead of evil. Jesus said, "I am the way, and ...

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