Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 3126 to 3150 of 4976 results

3126. Nazareth: The Hidden Years

Luke 2:41-52

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

... achievement, we need some continuing Nazareth quality in life. That is, we need some place, some person, some setting where we are temporarily "hidden." We need to be restored, to grow within in measure enough to keep up with what is happening without. You’ve heard the "Peter Principle" - that people keep being promoted until they reach a position beyond their competence. Most of us have seen evidence of the theory. But I wonder if there isn’t also another factor, the Nazareth factor. First, that some ...

3127. They Also Serve Who Wait

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

Thomas Long

... east side. Morris Weiser was among the few Jews who survived the Janowska concentration camp in Poland, and now, a retired butcher in his seventies, his one remaining passion is to keep alive the Chasam Sopher synagogue. The synagogue has few Sabbath worshipers now, but Morris has put all of his savings into this place, sustains it by his constant effort, keeps it barely alive by the sheer force of his will. "When God saved me from Hitler," he said, "I promised that in any country I come I will do something ...

3128. We Wish To See Jesus

John 12:20-36

Sermon

Richard A. Jensen

... dark side to the world. There is a dark side to our own personality. There is a part of ourselves of which we are deeply ashamed. We keep it hidden as best we can. We do not wish to be exposed by the light. Truly there are powers at work in our world. These ... you to give me your life unto death. The one who lives life loses it, and the one who hates life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If any one serves me, this one must follow me." "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." That was the request of the ...

3129. Blind Bartimaeus - Model For Healing

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

James W. Robinson

... where we attended class together. I have no idea how Jim managed to get there. By elevator, with the help of friends, I imagine. And he was always walking. Somehow. Painfully and precariously. I would watch him scuffing down the long corridor, fighting to keep his balance every step of the way, his uncontrollable spasms threatening to tear the limbs from his body and toss them away. Entering the classroom, he would topple into the desk next to mine. Then, with a few words I could barely understand, he ...

3130. What Is God Like?

2 Samuel 18:1-18

Sermon

Edward Chinn

... by a children’s prayer that has become part of our culture. "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake I pray the Lord my soul to take." I doubt that a small child relates "Lord" to God, nor ... worthy. "We’ve come to the end of another day, Hear me, dear Father, as I pray. Thank thee for all the blessings we share And keep me in thy loving care." That modern prayer comes close to the way a little Jewish child in Jesus’ day addressed God at bedtime. Before ...

3131. How Can We Meet Grief?

2 Samuel 18:19--19:8

Sermon

Edward Chinn

... them. As an unknown poet has written: They call me strong because my tears I shed where none can see, Because I smile, tell merry tales, and win the crowds to me. They call me strong because I laugh to ease an aching heart, Because I keep the sweet side out, and hide the bitter part. In William Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, a character named MacDuff had just learned that his wife and children have been murdered. His friend Malcolm advises MacDuff to declare his grief: "Give sorrow words. The grief that ...

3132. You Don’t Really Feel That Way

Job 6:1-7:21

Sermon

Thomas D. Peterson

... Buck up, ‘fess up, and straighten up. Were he to admit his fault and purge his sin then his life would return to normal. That friends can have such insensitivity to tragedy may not come to us as a surprise. But, Job did not deny himself just to keep faith with his friends. On the contrary, he went through the lonely process of finding the truth that lay behind his suffering. He plunged the depth of life’s meaning. In doing so he came into a new spring, though hardly the one he thought he deserved, which ...

3133. Movin’ Around Room

Isaiah 43:14-28

Sermon

Thomas D. Peterson

... text today provided me our model for gaining movin’ around room. God is speaking to his people: don’t you think you’ve gone around long enough with former things, the things of old? Don’t think of them any more. You are becoming locked in. Consider, are they not keeping you on a short leash? You have no way of movin’ around to discover more of who you are and what you can be. You have a need, and I bring that need before you because I declare, "Behold, I am doing a new thing." God is the new thing ...

3134. Everybody a Cinderella

Hosea 2:2-23

Sermon

Thomas D. Peterson

... reason why people not only do but perhaps should give up is the wicked web of self-deceit they weave around themselves. Love looks straight into the eyes of deceit and peels away the scales of self-interest. It tells us to brush aside our defenses and keep faith with a few simple responsibilities. Once we get our bearings we begin to move on. Shame is perhaps one of the greatest negative forces that blocks us in. It shows in our whole bearing much as Dr. Johnson’s starts and twitches, so we go off and ...

3135. It’s as Simple as That

2 Kings 2:1-18

Sermon

Thomas D. Peterson

... to the corners of the world. Transfigurations provide us a searching insight into the reasonableness in the workings of the Good News of God. We are assured that the world will never lack for a succession of the Word. Each generation will receive its share of the Spirit, keep its particular faith with it, and then have an opportunity to pass it on. Even as Elijah passed the Spirit to Elisha and Jesus to his apostles, so in the long line of the Kingdom, it was given to me, and I proclaim it to you for your ...

3136. Christmas 2

Isaiah 62:1-12, Titus 3:1-11, Luke 2:1-7, Luke 2:8-20

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

... , but now "glorifying and praising God," not only for the baby whom they had seen, but also for the angels’ words that had revealed his true identity. Call to Worship Leader: Angels we have heard on high, and they have brought us a message too good to keep to ourselves: People: THAT TO US IS BORN THIS DAY A SAVIOR, WHO IS CHRIST THE LORD! Leader: The shepherds who first heard that message long ago went and saw their salvation for themselves, and returned to bear witness to all that they had seen and heard ...

3137. Christmas 1

Isaiah 61:1-11, Isaiah 62:1-12, Galatians 3:26--4:7, Luke 2:21-40

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

... have seen the salvation that God has prepared for all people. People: LET US THEREFORE REJOICE AND WORSHIP BOTH THE AUTHOR AND THE AGENT OF OUR REDEMPTION. Collect Ever-faithful God, who have fulfilled at last your promises to all humankind in the person of a child: keep before us as models those of long-suffering and steadfast faith; that we ourselves may grow in our trust in you and your holy Word, in whose name we pray. Amen Prayer of Confession O God of hope, we confess that we often fail to trust your ...

3138. Easter 6

Acts 10:23b-48, 1 John 5:1-12, John 15:1-17

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

... love God and obey God’s commandments. People: FOR FAITH OVERCOMES THE WORLD, AND SO DO THE FAITHFUL. AND ONLY THE WORLD STANDS IN THE WAY OF OUR LOVE FOR GOD. Collect Most loving God, who care for us as a parent and overcome all obstacles that would keep us from loving in return, deepen our affections for you; that we may feel in the very depths of our souls the kind of faith that is victorious over the world, and the sort of love that obeys your will spontaneously and sincerely. In Jesus’ name we pray ...

3139. Proper 9

2 Samuel 7:1-17, 2 Corinthians 12:1-10, Mark 6:1-6

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

... power of Christ rather than of our own strength. People: NOR ARE WE A PEOPLE WITH "HEADS IN THE CLOUDS," BUT DOWN-TO-EARTH HUMANS IN WHOSE WEAKNESS GOD HAS PERFECTED THE POWER IN CHRIST. Collect Most powerful God, who have redeemed us graciously in Christ, keep us ever mindful of the true source of our salvation and strength; that we may never become conceited or proud of ourselves, but may always give you the credit and glory for all the benefits that are ours in Christ. In his name we pray. Amen Prayer ...

3140. Proper 17

1 Kings 2:1-12, Mark 7:1-23, Ephesians 6:10-20

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

... an example of obedience, we have given them our best. People: THANKS BE TO GOD FOR THE BELIEVERS WHO HAVE PASSED THE FAITH FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION AND FROM AGE TO AGE. Collect God of history, who have provided champions of the faith in every generation, keep your Spirit moving in our age; that, in a present that sometimes seems to promise a dismal future, we may deliver to our children the ability to live in faith and hope. In the name of Christ Jesus we pray. Amen Prayer of Confession Merciful God ...

3141. Proper 28

Daniel 7:1-14, Hebrews 10:1-18, Mark 13:1-31

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

... IT IS COMING INDEED! Leader: When it does come, nothing in heaven or on earth will be the same. People: ALL THINGS WILL BE MADE NEW WHEN GOD’S REIGN BEGINS. Collect God of the universe, who have promised to found a Kingdom of righteousness on earth, keep us watchful and ready; that when your holy reign does begin, we shall be prepared to be proper citizens because we have lived its principles and promises all along. In the name of the coming Son of man we pray. Amen Prayer of Confession Merciful God, we ...

3142. I Affirm

Acts 27:13-26

Sermon

... hang it. When he did that the rest of the wall didn’t look appropriate. He took down the remaining pictures. This is the way Jesus comes to us as savior. When we stand in his presence all that is unworthy, all that is sordid, all that is out of keeping with our best selves, stands out very clearly. He becomes the one who saves. It is difficult for us to talk about the Cross and to really understand it. Why did God’s son give himself on Calvary? It is the act of the ages which does something to human ...

3143. Which Self Are You?

Genesis 2:4-25

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... that we use or hear used so often, the subject and the object are NOT the same person. We recognize that. Which is "I" and which is "MYSELF" that we are talking about? They all show clearly that there is a self that is ideal, the image of God, that keeps struggling upward toward the light. Ancient theologians called it the "imago Dei" - the image of God. Luther said it was "the relic of God that remains within each one of us." It is that "I" that I was created to be. And it is true that if that "I" had ...

3144. God of the Weekday

John 4:1-26

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... , but He’s on the plains of national or international dealings. Clearer and clearer, in our day, are the ties that bind us together throughout the world as a human family, but our greatest difficulty is to get God to be God of the whole family. We want to keep Him out of certain places where we don’t think He ought to be. Watch the lady smile gracious forgiveness when a fellow member of a circle spills coffee on her new frock at a church meeting, and then watch that same woman deal with a neighbor whose ...

3145. The Forgotten Virtue

Philippians 2:1-11

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... night, it turns the windows into mirrors. The only thing you see is your own reflection - you can’t see where you’re going. You have to turn out that light of pride before you can see any direction. Saint Francis of Assisi had a simple formula for keeping himself humble. When people began to praise his virtue, he used to have a fellow monk sit down with him in his cell and tell him, candidly, everything that was wrong with him. We might observe that if Saint Francis had been married, his wife would have ...

3146. THE NEIGHBORHOOD GAP

Sermon

William McKee Aber

... not quite that bad, but we’re not too far from it on occasion! Maybe it’s not comparisons that are our real concern. "Keeping up with the Jones’s" may be not quite the hang-up for a lot of us that "Getting along with the Jones’s" is. It may ... be that we couldn’t care less what kind of a car Mr. Jones drives if he’d only keep his kids from running through our hedges, and his radio turned down in the summer! Okay. That’s the problem. We get annoyed with our neighbor ...

3147. He Ought to Stick Out!

1 John 4:7-21

Sermon

Charles L. Koester

... spirit in you." Allowed by free will to our own devices, the results are always disastrous. Every self-improvement program is doomed to eventual failure. We are unable to produce any radical changes within ourselves. But we keep on trying, and keep on striking out with mere positive thinking. Ours has become the "instant, can’t wait" society. We want everything to occur instantly. Instant breakfast, rice, and potatoes. Instant relief from headaches, heartburn, indigestion. Instant credit, loans, financing ...

3148. Clean Light

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Sermon

William F. Dunkle

... They are God’s intended creation. This, then, is why Christians do not abuse their bodies or permit them to be soiled or sullied. Saint Paul says our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. But our problem is always how to keep ourselves clean and pure. In Christian history we have tried almost everything. Hermits have crawled away into deserts and climbed high mountains. Zealots have flagellated themselves without mercy. Pious monks and nuns have lived under strict disciplines in monasteries and convents ...

3149. OUR LORD TORMENTED

Sermon

E. Jerry Walker

... ! he thought. How they try to outdo me! He had remembered that in their religion it would be defilement for them at the season of the Passover to enter the Roman quarters. His lean face broke into a cynical smile. At least in this he would best them. "No. Keep them outside, in the Gabbatha. On my orders!" The centurion saluted, turned smartly and was gone. Now the sun, a golden disk of fire, was rising over the barren eastern hills and the temple below was turned to gold. If he had been a man of more poetic ...

3150. OUR LORD SMITTEN

Sermon

E. Jerry Walker

... procession along. He felt nothing else. Just the urgency to be done with it. At best, it was a tedious task and he would have to stay until the condemned were dead. Other times this had taken as long as two or three days, a dreary vigil to keep guarding the living dead who would not die. At last they mounted the top of the rock-strewn hill, where three holes had been dug, large upright beams laying one beside each. The prisoners were freed from the cross beams, the dark-skinned one released and shoved down ...

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