Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 3101 to 3125 of 5000 results

3101. Moving At The Speed Of Light: At The Jordan

Acts 10:23b-48

Sermon

Frank Luchsinger

... have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." But the man became sad, for he had great possessions. Jesus teaches: "Give to the poor," and "How hard it will be for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!" (Mark 10:17-23). Hard it is when we are rich to enter the kingdom of God. Who is rich and who is poor? Have you ever been rich and felt poor, or made your greatest achievement and not been able to celebrate? Or accomplished exactly what you set out to ...

3102. Just In Time

Ephesians 1:1-14

Sermon

Frank Luchsinger

... true of believers; there are some things from which we cannot be rescued or will not be rescued. As we begin the last year before the turn of the millennium, we have already been hearing plenty about the end of time, the return of Christ, the cosmic significance of this mark in time. And one thing from which we will not be rescued is the eventual ending of our time as living, breathing persons on this earth. No matter how you look at it, we are running out of time and the end of time for us is coming. Maybe ...

3103. Hoofs, Paws, And Christmas Pause

Titus 2:1-15

Sermon

Frank Luchsinger

... . "He has come checking!" The girls squeal. "How do you know?" their father asks. "We heard him tap on the window and look there -- tracks of his sleigh in the snow and reindeer hoofs." The surprised dad looks out at what might be reindeer tracks and sleigh marks in the snow, or evidence that the neighbor boy took a short cut home after sledding. Who's to say? Congratulations. You've made it! He Comes To Reclaim Our Value We await our blessed hope, the One who comes to redeem us -- to reclaim our value ...

3104. The Prophetic Word-- And The Living Word

Isaiah 40:1-31

Sermon

Thomas A. Pilgrim

3105. Being A Good Doubter

John 20:24-31

Sermon

Glenn E. Ludwig

... doubt, to return to his friends, that he was totally unprepared for their excitement? "We have seen the Lord!" they shouted to him, and Thomas, in his moment of darkness, could only respond: "Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe." Is it any wonder, my friends? Who wants to be set-up twice for disappointment and hurt? Who wants to get one's hopes up again only to have them destroyed by the reality of ...

3106. The Narrow Gate

Luke 13:22-30

Sermon

John G. Lynch

... narrow gate." "Go ahead," he said in irony, "give it a try. See if you can crawl into the kingdom of God by a narrow gate. You will never get there that way. Nobody ever does." How Jesus understands the human side! How he knows that our off-the-mark nature tempts us to construct our narrow gates: "You can't be healed on the sabbath, so come another day;" "God will not accept you if you continue this behavior"; "Smile, or God won't love you." Masters at creating narrow gates, we seek to control just how God ...

3107. Hard Questions!

1 Kings 17:7-24

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... of insignificance in that society, the Widow of Zarephath. Oddly enough, he is commissioned to go to her, not to help her, but to ask for help himself. He is sent, not to feed, but to be fed! Imagine! A Gentile woman will feed a Hebrew prophet! How markedly different are the ways of God from ours. When Elijah arrives in Zarephath he finds the woman at the town gate, gathering wood. He requests her to bring him a drink of water, and then, almost as an afterthought, asks her to bring him some bread also. This ...

3108. You Can Be Forever Young

Genesis 25:1-11

Sermon

Michael B. Brown

... I am not sure I know precisely what it means, I think Mr. Jones was simply saying, "The years may be piling up, but there is a real difference between aging and dying. I'm still alive. There's still a light burning inside me. Don't mark me off too soon. I've still got neon in my veins!" There are lots of people around who agree with that. Grandfather Carl Perkins recently released an album titled Born To Rock. Show business legend Donald O'Connor was performing in Asheville, North Carolina, recently. An ...

3109. Easter Day

John 20:1-9, John 20:10-18, Acts 10:23b-48, 1 Corinthians 15:12-34, Colossians 3:1-17

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... them Jesus' resurrection was only one step in his immortal spiritual essence. The people did not relate this to their own lives in terms of a resurrection. Paul holds that Jesus was the first-fruit and then comes the resurrection of believers. Easter marks the beginning of God's victory over all evil powers including the worst, death. Lesson 2: 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 The post-resurrection appearances of Jesus. Lesson 2: Colossians 3:1-4 Those raised with Christ seek and think about heavenly things. Gospel ...

3110. Easter 5

Jn 13:31-35 · Acts 11:1-18; 13:44-52; 14:21-27 · Rev 21:1-6 · Ps 148

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... for us sinners. We have many kinds of love but the new love is self-sacrificing. Epistle: Acts 11:1-18 1. Circumcised (v. 2). The circumcised believers were Jewish Christians who believed one had to be circumcised to be a Christian. Circumcision was the mark of the Abrahamic covenant that determined whether or not one was a Jew. At the beginning all Christians were Jews. This is the first departure from that requirement. One did not have to become a Jew to be a Christian. Cornelius and his household were ...

3111. Lent 1

Lk 4:1-13 · Rom 10:8-13 · Deut 26:1-11 · Ps 91

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... a humble king of truth, love, and peace. Differing from the other evangelists, Luke reports that Satan was not done with Jesus. He left Jesus until another "opportune time." THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION Gospel: Luke 4:1-13 1. Spirit (v. 1). One of the distinctive marks of Luke's account of Jesus' temptation in the wilderness is his emphasis on the Spirit. The temptation immediately follows Jesus' baptism when the Spirit came upon him like a dove. Luke describes Jesus as "full of the Holy Spirit" as he enters the ...

3112. Lent 4

Luke 15:11-32, 2 Corinthians 5:11--6:2, Isaiah 12:1-6, Joshua 5:1-12, Luke 15:1-7

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... at Gilgal. Under Joshua's leadership the Israelites cross the Jordan to the Promised Land. In preparation for the conquest of the land, all were circumcised as a renewal of the Abrahamic covenant. Also, the first Passover was kept in the Promised Land at Gilgal. It marked the end of the wilderness wanderings. On the day of the Passover, manna from heaven ceased and the people began to eat the fruit of the land. Old Testament: Isaiah 12:1-6 Rejoice in God's salvation. Epistle: 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 Because ...

3113. Proper 28

Lk 21:5-19 · Isa 65:17-25 · 2 Thes 3:6-13 · Ps 98

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... back to work and to follow his example. He worked so that the church would not have to support him and his ministry. Gospel: Luke 21:5-19 Jesus describes the end and urges endurance in suffering. Today's gospel lesson is Luke's version of Mark's little apocalypse. Jesus describes the end. For one thing false prophets will claim that the Parousia is at hand. The church in Luke's day no longer expected an imminent return. Before Jesus returns, there will be international conflicts, but the faithful are not to ...

3114. Face To Face

John 14:1-4

Eulogy

Barbara G. Schmitz

... a cloud passed over, and a voice was heard from heaven. The voice said: "This is my beloved Son, listen to him!" His approaching death did not change one fact, but rather confirmed it: Jesus was the Messiah, the chosen son of God. The transfiguration marks that critical moment in Jesus' life when he stopped looking back to his beginnings, and began to face forward to the cross and his death, hurrying forward into the arms that would welcome him at the other end. Such a critical moment, a transfiguration ...

3115. Changed From Glory Into Glory

Romans 8:1-17

Eulogy

Barbara G. Schmitz

... a thing happen? As Christians, we believe it begins in baptism. The moment that we put our whole trust in the grace and love of Jesus Christ is the moment that we begin the transformation. From that moment on, we are sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked as Christ's own forever. It means that we are on the way, just as Jesus' baptism was the beginning of his life's mission. Our transformation continues as we gradually understand our life's meaning to be about turning things upside down. It was shortly after ...

3116. Welcome To The Banquet

Isaiah 25:1-12

Eulogy

Barbara G. Schmitz

... our feet and wipe them with a towel. He will look deeply inside us. Jesus will ask, "You've had a difficult journey, haven't you? You must be exhausted and dirty. Let me wash your hands and your feet. Let me be your servant" (borrowed from Mark Dyer in Episcopal Life, April, 1993). Jesus Invites Us To Servanthood The second thing that happened on this special night was that Jesus gave them a new commandment, a new mandate, which is why we call this "Maundy (or mandate) Thursday." Jesus said to them, "If I ...

3117. The More I Understand, The Less I Know

John 3:1-21

Sermon

Johnny Dean

... sermons on this, and 99.9% of those sermons were probably better than this one! What could I have been thinking?" Sometimes sermons backfire, or roll over and play dead, or just limp off into well-deserved obscurity. Sometimes they just totally miss the mark and fail to connect. What’s even worse, sometimes sermons work and the preacher doesn’t know why! Sometimes you have a busy week, with meetings, meetings, and more meetings. Folks are in the hospital, there’s a newsletter to get out. You really ...

3118. New Year's Eve/Day

Ecclesiastes 3:1-22, Psalm 8:1-9, Revelation 21:1-27, Matthew 25:31-46

Bulletin Aid

B. David Hostetter

CALL TO WORSHIP Worship God, our Sovereign, with reverence for the majesty of God's name in all the earth! PRAYER OF CONFESSION God before time, God in our time, God Eternal, you mark our days and years for what we have experienced and what we have learned. You give us time to develop characters shaped by joy and sorrow. We do not always learn willingly and change our ways to follow the way of Jesus Christ. Pardon our stubbornness and give us further ...

3119. Proper 14

Psalm 50:1-23, Luke 12:35-48

Bulletin Aid

B. David Hostetter

... covenant with me by sacrifice!" The heavens declare his righteousness, for God himself is judge. "Hear, O my people, and I will speak, O Israel, I will testify against you. I am God, your God. Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you; your burnt offerings are continually before me." Mark this, then, you who forget God, or I will tear you apart, and there will be no one to deliver. Those who bring thanksgiving as their sacrifice honor me; to those who go the right way I will show the salvation of God."

3120. Advent 1

Luke 21:5-38

Bulletin Aid

Dennis Koch

Gospel Note This passage is a portion of Luke's version of the "Synoptic Apocalypse," and is thus based heavily on Mark 13. But Luke's omissions (v. 27) and his rendering of the fig-tree parable so as to point to the God's coming reign (v. 28) suggest that he has less interest than his source in the details of the "Son of man" motif; but his own peculiar ending ( ...

3121. Advent 2

Luke 3:1-20

Bulletin Aid

Dennis Koch

Gospel Note Among the Synoptic evangelists, Luke goes to the greatest length to pinpoint the appearance of John the Baptist within world history (probably between A.D. 27 and 29). He also quotes more of Isaiah 40 than Mark or Matthew, extending it so as to conclude with the claim "all flesh shall see the salvation of God." The distinctiveness of Luke's account, therefore, is the universal scope in which he sees the message of the Gospel and of its forerunner from the very beginning. Liturgical Color Blue ...

3122. The Fruits of Repentance, Reserves for the Future

Luke 3:1-20

Bulletin Aid

Dennis Koch

... pericopes in this passage (vv. 7-9, based on Q, and 10-14, unique to Luke) contain the Baptist's preaching to particular groups, and are connected here by the theme of the "fruits befitting repentance." The third (vv. 15-18, based on Mark) provides the eschatological context with threshing and storing imagery. It is noteworthy that all of the examples of "fruits" that Luke gives are social-ethical in nature and have justice as their common theme. Liturgical Color Blue or purple Suggested Hymns Herald, Sound ...

3123. The Social-Spiritual Side of Baptism

Luke 3:21-38, Luke 3:1-20

Bulletin Aid

Dennis Koch

Gospel Note In contrast to the baptismal accounts of Mark and Matthew (there is none in John!), Luke's phrasings seem calculated to downplay not only the role of the Baptist, but also the particularity and importance of the ritual itself! Luke describes Jesus' baptism as a communal event ("when all the people were baptized") that finds its real climax ...

3124. Epiphany 3

Luke 4:14-30

Bulletin Aid

Dennis Koch

Gospel Note Luke's moving of Jesus' hometown sermon from later in his ministry (as in Mark) to its inception makes it a kind of programmatic overture for the Master's entire career. Jesus' choice of passage (from Tito-Isaiah) to define his objective is as sobering today as it was then, for the recipients of the good news are to be, not the comfortable and contented, ...

3125. Epiphany 5

Luke 5:1-11

Bulletin Aid

Dennis Koch

Gospel Note Luke's account of Jesus' calling of Peter apparently is based on Mark and Luke's own material, but placed comparatively late in Jesus' ministry. The call itself is accompanied by a self-depreciation typical of other biblical characters summoned to godly vocations, but is unusual in the sense that the declaration of personal unworthiness precedes the call, as a reaction to the ...

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