Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 3126 to 3150 of 4490 results

3126. The Mighty Wind of God

Acts 2:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

There is nothing like a major hurricane or a flurry of tornadoes to remind us how powerful wind can sometimes be. Ask survivors of Hurricane Harvey or Hurricane Irma last summer. Ask survivors of recent tornadoes in the South and Midwest. Wind is capable of an amazing amount of damage. A book titled Blame It on the Weather tells about some extraordinary events that occurred in tornadoes, especially with regard to animals. It tells about a tornado that churned through a dog boarding kennel in Michigan. ...

3127. A Cross-Shaped Life

Mark 12:28-34

Sermon

April Yamasaki

To share about her ministry in Japan, one mission worker often wears a kimono -- a beautiful floor-length robe with wide sleeves that's tied at the waist with a sash called an "obi." Her outfit is both an example of Japanese culture and an object lesson that she uses to explain Colossians 3:14: "Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony." In the Japanese Bible she says, this verse is translated as "put on the 'obi' of love, which ties everything together in ...

3128. No One Over 12 Inches Wide Need Apply

Luke 13:22-30

Sermon

King Duncan

Pastor Jonathan Romig tells about a place he likes to go caving near his home town of Estes Park, Colorado. Someone has defined caving as the art of safely moving through a natural cave to a destination and returning to the surface without hurting yourself or the cave. Caving is also known, of course, as spelunking. Many people find caving challenging and enjoyable. However, it is definitely not for those who suffer from claustrophobia. The place Pastor Romig tells about is a mountain in Colorado called ...

3129. Lord of the Sabbath

Mark 2:23-3:6

Sermon

George Reed

The Gospel Reading shows Jesus in a position of conflict with the religious leaders of his day, a position we find him in repeatedly. This time it is over the observance of the sabbath. This is a story we need to hear, not only to understand the life of Jesus, but to apply it to ourselves as religious folks. In Jesus' critical encounters with the Pharisees or scribes or the Jews, we must avoid the temptation to look down on them by placing ourselves above them. The faults of the religious people of Jesus' ...

3130. The Gospel in Miniature

John 3:16

Sermon

King Duncan

According to the Christian History Institute, a man named George Bennard was struggling with personal problems that were causing him a great deal of trouble and anguish. In his suffering, his mind returned again and again to Christ’s anguish on the cross. This, he thought, was the heart of the gospel! The cross he pictured was not ornate, or pretty, or gold or silver. It was “a rough, splintery thing, stained with gore.” George Bennard was under the influence of our text for the day, John 3:16. “I saw the ...

3131. Don't Give In

Matthew 4:1-11

Sermon

David & Marian Plant

A colleague in ministry, nearing retirement, said something startling to me. Upon looking at his time in ministry coming to an end he shared he wanted a complete break from anything church related. He stated, “After all, I’ve been preaching the lectionary for 35 years, there really isn’t anything new left to say.” His attitude was light years in another direction from mine, even though I have served more years in ministry than him. For me, the beauty and elegance of scripture is that it allows any of us ...

3132. Here I Am

Luke 1:26-38, Luke 1:39-45, Luke 1:46-56

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“Our deepest relationships are not defined by strength but by vulnerability.” --Rabbi Ari Kaiman Prop (Animation): youtube video [Show youtube video “Pass the Salt”] In the past, we laughed or sighed at the sight of a couple eating dinner with one of them reading the newspaper. It could have been a scene in the movies or an actual sighting in a restaurant—there’s always one person with a face in a newspaper, or one of them zoned out somewhere, leaving the other to dine alone in silence. Now, it’s become ...

3133. Wicked

Luke 20:9-19, Matthew 21:33-46

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Prop: plant with fruit (olive tree or fig tree or grape vine) ”Then God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply.” (Genesis 1:22) "Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) Most of us today are not much familiar with the idea of “tenant farming.” But it was a popular practice in many countries up until the 20th century. The term referred to a landowner who hires tenants to live on and ...

3134. The Clues Are There

Luke 2:22-40

Sermon

Michael L. Sherer

Three of the programs embedded in the popular “Masterpiece Mystery” television series on Public Television are set in the university town of Oxford, England. Each episode, in any and all of the three series, begins in the same way. A string of seemingly unrelated incidents follow, one after another, in rapid succession. The viewer is left to wonder whether what’s been presented is not simply window dressing before the ‘real’ story begins. A typical episode might begin something like this. We see a young ...

3135. The Eleventh Commandment

John 13:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

In his book The Wounded Warrior, Dr. Steve Stephens tells the tragic story of former National football star Pat Tillman. Some of you may recall Tillman’s fate. Pat Tillman thought his dreams had come true. He had a multi-million dollar contract with the Arizona Cardinals football team, for whom he played starting safety. Everything was lining up just right for young Pat. Then came 9-11. On September 11, 2001, you’ll remember that 19 al Qaeda terrorists hijacked four airplanes and carried out suicide ...

3136. Imagination

Luke 1:39-45, 46-55

Sermon

Will Willimon

Peter Gomes, Minister of memorial Church at Harvard, recently spoke of the Bible as "A book of the imagination" (The Good Book). Don't think of scripture primarily as rules, as lists of regulations. Think of the Bible as a book meant to speak, to stoke, to fuel the imagination. From what I see, imagination is in short supply these days. We modem folk tend toward mostly facts and figures. We're more in to statistics than symbols. We keep close to the solid stuff which we call "reality." Of course, when one ...

3137. When We Are Weak

2 Corinthians 12:7-10

Sermon

King Duncan

Today our nation celebrates Independence Day, which commemorates the day that the 13 original colonies joined together to declare their independence from Great Britain. In fact, the first time we were ever referred to as the “United States of America” was in the Declaration of Independence, which was accepted by the leadership of the 13 colonies on July 4, 1776. July 3, we were a collection of colonies. July 4, we were the United States of America. That’s why we call July 4 the birthday of our nation. So, ...

3138. Meet the Rose Family

Mark 3:20-35

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

We begin this morning with a brief review of something most of us learned in ninth grade biology and then promptly forgot as soon as the test was over, and that is how science organizes and classifies living things. Maybe these layers of classification will ring a bell: Kingdom Phylum Class Series Family Genus Species Remember? No? Okay, well, now you know. This is how science organizes all living things so we can see they are related to each other, when they are related, and how they are separated from ...

3139. The Organic Gospel

Mark 4:26-34

Sermon

Lori Wagner

An old story tells of two men climbing a mountain. The one promises the other, who is feeling down and depressed, that it will be worth the effort. Looking forward to the amazing destination, the latter climbs with his friend as they talk and spend time together. When they reach the top, the second man looks around wondering what all the fuss was about. The view is great, but nothing spectacular is waiting at the pinnacle. His friend then explains to him that the journey was not about the destination, but ...

3140. Perks for Following Jesus

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

King Duncan

What would you say are the best employee perks in your workplace? Some places offer “casual Fridays,” where the dress code is less formal. For most workplaces, that’s as cutting-edge as they get when it comes to employee perks. But other business owners go out of their way to offer unique benefits to attract and retain employees. Patagonia, the outdoor equipment company, encourages their employees to get outside on their lunch break and go surfing. They even offer a companywide weather report each day ...

3141. Who Is The Prisoner? Who Is The Judge?

John 18:33-37

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

The Elder John Kline (1797-1864) was a doctor, a carpenter, a preacher, and an elder among the Dunkers, one of the Plain People. Kline’s home was near Linville Creek, Virginia. He, like all the Dunkers, lived peaceably with his neighbors, which is not surprising since the Dunkers believed in non-resistance to violence. For the most part his people stayed out of politics, but from their arrival in America in 1729, the group had taken an unmitigated stance against slavery. Needless to say this made them very ...

3142. Long View — Long Haul

Luke 13:31-35

Sermon

Schuyler Rhodes

Have you ever known anyone who has suddenly stopped and changed direction? Maybe it’s you. I know that in my life I stopped the pursuit of a career in the theater and finally listened to God’s call to me to enter ordained ministry. It wasn’t a call, so much, to change direction, as it was a call to authenticity and commitment. Today, though, I want to tell you about a friend of mine who did this. At the age of fifty, Marcy decided to change everything. She made the momentous decision to leave her job, her ...

3143. Outrageous Parties

Luke 15:1-10

Sermon

Will Willimon

One spring break, I took a group of students on a retreat called, "Exploring the Christian Faith.'' The retreat was designed for people "who know something about Jesus, but are not yet ready to put their money down yet. I told them, ''I am going to use any means at my disposal—films, arguments, worship, music, Bible study—to arm wrestle you into following Jesus. But don’t get anxious, I am a United Methodist and the chances of my succeeding are fairly slim. On the first night, I showed the students a video ...

3144. A VIP Seat

Luke 14:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

In our society, we have a unique obsession with following the “lifestyles of the rich and famous.” There are TV shows and websites and magazines that focus on the homes and wardrobes and parties of the wealthy and well-connected. And so many of us like to take a sneak peek into this world that we will never experience in real life. Back before the pandemic, sociologist Ashley Mears wrote a book titled Very Important People: Status and Beauty in the Global Party Circuit that shared insider details on the ...

3145. Sheep and Shepherds

John 10:11-16 · Psalm 23

Sermon

Will Willimon

Someone was telling me about a college, somewhere in the Midwest, that had a large contingent of Iranian students. Back when the former Shah was deposed, the students demonstrated at the college administration building. The president went out to speak to them and, during the course of their negotiations, the president casually remarked something to the effect that, “You look like a bunch of sheep out here.” With that, the students went on a campus-wide rampage, breaking windows, threatening other students ...

3146. Inside Out

James 5:7-10

Sermon

Charley Reeb

Harvard University once revoked their acceptance of ten incoming students because of inappropriate content they had posted on Facebook. A description of the Harvard College Class official Facebook group states, “Harvard College reserves the right to withdraw an offer of admission ... if an admitted student engages in behavior that brings into question his or her honesty, maturity, or moral character.” A recent study showed that over 40% of colleges and universities look at the Facebook pages and other ...

3147. What We Learn from Love

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

King Duncan

Do you ever have trouble falling asleep? Drew Ackerman is the host of the podcast Sleep With Me, and his goal is to tell stories that help people fall asleep. He refers to his show as “the podcast the sheep listen to when they get tired of counting themselves.” According to Ackerman, the key to the perfect bedtime story is to make it slow and boring. Ackerman, who is from New York, slows his speaking tempo and speaks in a really low voice. His plots are hard to follow, and he goes on long tangents where he ...

3148. Rule Breakers

Matthew 5:21-37

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

Have you ever noticed how many rules we unconsciously follow each day? Most of us were raised with a list of rules that help us to get along with others or to achieve some goal: Share your toys. Pick up after yourself. Don’t run with scissors. Kids often get frustrated because they have so many rules to follow. Because nobody is perfect. We all bend the rules occasionally. Yes, rules can keep us safe. They can help us create a civil society. But we can also go overboard in creating rigid rules that they ...

3149. A Tattoo for the Heart

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

(A meditation for Ash Wednesday) It’s an old story, but it bears repeating. An armed robber accosted a French priest on a dark, back street in Paris and demanded his wallet. As the priest opened his coat to reach for his wallet, the thief caught sight of his clerical collar and immediately apologized. “Never mind, Father,” he said. “I didn’t realize you were a priest. I’ll be on my way.” The priest was relieved, of course, and good-naturedly offered the man a cigar. “No, thank you, Father,” the robber said ...

3150. Imagine This

Matthew 3:13-17

Sermon

John Jamison

We’re going to start the story today some 400 miles away from the Jordan River. The city of Tarsus was a major business center in what is now Turkey and a place where many Jewish families had settled who had fled the harsh Roman rule around Jerusalem. We’re going to start by looking at one particular Jewish family in Tarsus. It was a devout Jewish family. A son in that family would later refer to himself as “of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a ...

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