Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 3126 to 3150 of 3160 results

Mark 1:14-20

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... a hula-hoop motion) and then threw it outward into the sea to sink. The hope would be that after a period of time (often after lying there all night) the net would fill with fish. At that time, they would drag the net to shore and there sort the fish. This was a pretty hit or miss venture. And the ability to cast and drag required significant strength. Interestingly, the Greek word also had a second meaning: to vacillate or be doubtful. Casting was not a “sure thing.” The catch for the day could vary ...

3127. We Need Another Miracle

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... in the ozone layer of our atmosphere and it was caused by, of all things, the chlorofluorocarbons in our hairspray and our refrigeration systems. We learned of the problem and we fixed it. A miracle? Perhaps. But the truth is we have the smarts to do that sort of thing, to make miracles happen. As to the problems caused by our excessive reliance on fossil fuels, we are working on that as well, but at a speed that makes the tortoise look like a track star. The problem is money and the fact that money ...

3128. The View From The Mountaintop

Mark 9:2-9

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... a friend and said, “I am now the most miserable man living. If what I feel were equally distributed to the whole human family, there would not be one cheerful face on the earth.”[9] Of course, the president was the recipient of all sorts of advice to help him with his momentous decisions (just as any president ever is). Many of the arguments were based on religion and the unshakeable certainty that God wanted whatever problem was being discussed handled this way (whichever way the speaker was heading ...

3129. The Lord Is With Us

Luke 1:26-38, 2 Samuel 7:1-17, Romans 16:1-27

Sermon

Will Willimon

... our truth in clear, distilled form, from which all the dregs of history have been carefully removed. We prefer to encounter the eternal here in the beauty of a Bach Fugue or pure sunlight streaming through golden windows. But we do not care for the sort of religion which depicts God strolling in the Garden with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day or else burning the city of Sodom to a crisp because its inhabitants practiced an unconventional lifestyle. We are moved by the prophetic proclamation of recovery ...

3130. The Best Little Harlot's House in Jericho

Hebrews 11:31

Sermon

Will Willimon

... her place for the invading Israelites. When Joshua and his army finally entered the city, the folk of the red thread house in the red light district were the only ones spared when the invaders leveled Jericho. A harlot, a liar, what a seedy sort of saint. And yet, Rahab was not alone in her seediness. Drunken, naked Noah; Abraham with his squabbling family; old conniving Sarah; murderer Moses; lustful David; bigoted Paul -- a rogues' gallery. If people like them can be saints. Anybody can. Who is a “saint ...

3131. “Lord, Our Lord, How Majestic Is Your Name in All the Earth!”

Psalm 8:1-9

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

... he attended the coronation of Elizabeth II. He replied that he had not attended, but his further response suggests that he had obviously seen it on television. Lewis reflected on the ceremony: The pressing of that huge, heavy crown on that small, young head becomes a sort of symbol of the situation of humanity itself: humanity called by God to be His vice-regent and high priest on earth, yet feeling so inadequate. As if He said “In my inexorable love I shall lay upon the dust that you are glories and ...

3132. Where's God?

John 16:12-15

Sermon

David Coffin

... flesh named Jesus would say he wants us to have life and have it abundantly. This God promises both a length of life and quality of life. This is further good news for the people who have recently lost their jobs, loved ones or experience any other sort of recent tragedy. Where’s God? God is mysteriously with each of us as God the Father (Creator), Son (redeemer) and Holy Spirit (sustainer ). This may seem complex even to the learned of any age. Nicodemus is no exception. One of John’s literary tools is ...

3133. The Dream is Fulfilled

Daniel 4:28-37

Understanding Series

William Nelson

... :29). The word “roof” is not in the Aramaic, but most modern translations supply it. In an extrabiblical account, Nebuchadnezzar is walking on his roof when a divine spirit comes upon him and he has an ecstatic experience in which he utters a sort of prophecy. He predicts the coming of Cyrus, “a Persian mule,” and expresses his wish that the invader would “be driven through the desert, where wild animals have their dwellings, and birds roam” (Eusebius, Preparation for the Gospel 9.41.6; Eusebius ...

3134. The Interpretation of the Vision

Daniel 8:15-27

Understanding Series

William Nelson

... in this scenario, life still goes on in the world to come. The book of Daniel does not predict a new heaven and earth, but it is closer to apocalyptic eschatology than to prophetic, because it foresees a resurrection of the dead and some sort of judgment resulting in “everlasting life” for some and “shame and everlasting contempt” for others (Dan. 12:2); Daniel is guaranteed a reward when he rises (12:13). Besides in Daniel 8:17, the Hebrew word qets, “end,” occurs several more times in Daniel ...

3135. A Basket of Ripe Fruit

Amos 8:1-14

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... unjust commerce. The New Moon was a festival celebrated at the beginning of every lunar month, and the text implies that commerce was forbidden on it. Certainly the celebration of the Sabbath on every seventh day was from the earliest times commanded as a day of rest from any sort of labor (Exod. 20:8–11; 23:12; 34:21; cf. 35:3; Num.15:32–36; Neh.13:15–22; Jer.17:21–27). Moreover, the command to rest from work was understood as a gracious gift of God, who gave human beings both their labor (cf. Gen ...

3136. Blessings for a Defiled People

Haggai 2:10-19

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... ,” “this nation” that we would never discern from Haggai itself. Rather, the “people” and “nation” is the same entity that Haggai usually refers to as the people, the community as a whole. The community is defiled. There might be all sorts of reasons for that: unfaithfulness and violence that hang over from before the exile, involvement with other deities in Babylon, continuing false worship and other forms of wrongdoing in Judah, and the accidental and incidental defilements that in the best ...

3137. The Loaves

John 6:1-21

Sermon

David Coffin

... When a sudden crowd “rush” occurred after a concert or sports event, there were certain shortcuts in the kitchen that one had to resort to in making the sandwiches, fried products, and dispensing the drinks. I had never known of this reality. It was sort of like being immersed in the unknown world or “Matrix” movie where one would learn they would rather prefer to live in the disillusioned world than that of seeing how this food was really prepared. However, I learned much about food hygiene, how to ...

3138. Bread and Call

John 6:35, 41-51

Sermon

David Coffin

... leave any screwdrivers, pliers, or other tools around the house because Anthony would take such tools and disassemble the kitchen toaster, the old television set with many tubes, or the doorknobs in all the rooms. We knew he was going to be a mechanic of some sort, because he had a natural ability to use tools and fix objects. We knew he would not be an electrician because he stuck the screwdriver into the wall socket and was thrown across the room with the electric shock. For Anthony, he only needed to be ...

3139. Did Jesus Say What I Think He Said?

Mark 7:24-37 · James 2:1-9 · Isaiah 35:5-6 · Psalm 146

Sermon

Thomas C. Willadsen

... Just before today’s passage begins, Jesus had a controversy with some Pharisees. It appears that the Pharisees had traveled from Jerusalem to Gennesaret because they heard that his disciples did not wash their hands properly. We know the Pharisees were fanatics about this sort of thing, what we often overlook is the lengths the Pharisees would go to prove that they were righteous, blameless, innocent, and others, in a word, weren’t. In this case the length they went to was ninety miles. Let that sink in ...

3140. Bold Faith

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... They couldn’t work. They held no practical benefit for the family. Not only that, Jewish authorities taught people that if you were “struck” with blindness, deafness, muteness, or another kind of disease, then you (or your family) were essentially cursed by some sort of “sin” that you or another may have committed. The ill and infirm were cast aside to fend many times for themselves –on the streets or in the marketplaces. Doesn’t sound very nice does it? So Bartimaeus not only would have been ...

3141. Steadfast Change

Mark 13:1-8

Sermon

Thomas C. Willadsen

... other wife, or any of the other wife’s bratty kids did. Hannah made a vow. She had a son and named him Samuel, which means, “I have asked him of the Lord.” And then she lent the son that she had longed for to God. Samuel became sort of a priestly intern. Later, he replaced Eli himself as priest. And it was Samuel who anointed Israel’s first king, Saul, and its second and greatest king, David. See, it wasn’t only Hannah’s life that was transformed, though her life certainly was transformed. After ...

3142. Finding the Sermon

Luke 2:41-52

Sermon

John B. Jamison

... . Instead of me just preaching you a sermon, we are going to see if we can find the sermon that is hidden inside today’s passage of scripture. I think there are a lot of different messages in this story about the young boy Jesus, and maybe we can sort through them and find the one that speaks to us best today. The story tells us one of the few things we know about Jesus as a young boy. He and his family had gone to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover, something they apparently did every year. When Mary and ...

3143. Whose Fault Is It?

Luke 13:1-9

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... poverty, in pain and politics, we want to point fingers. We need to assess blame. Birthed By Hurt Probably no one has expressed these sentiments better than the novelist Peter De Vries. De Vries grew up in a Christian home but spent most of his life trying to sort out who God was to him. His most powerful novel, The Blood of the Lamb, was also his most tragic. It followed the career of Don Wanderhope. Don’s family believed in God. They trusted that God held all things in his hand, and they knew God would ...

3144. Faithfulness In These Days

Romans 10:8b-13

Sermon

Bonnie Bates

... ― our own sin. The goal was to see our sin through the eyes of a loving God. I froze. I didn’t want to explore my sin or my sinfulness. I stopped being able to study or even to pray. I managed to get through the first week with some sort of noncommittal comments to my spiritual guide. By the second week, she was on to my avoidance. She asked me what was really going on. I had to admit my fear, my frozenness, and my unwillingness to move forward. When we came into the large group setting, she had me ...

3145. Learning Our Role

Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

Sermon

John B. Jamison

... dresses, too.” The other person said, “And you will want to be more careful about the people you spend your time with, now that you are one of us.” “Now that you are one of us.” The words bounced around inside the young man’s mind. As he tried to sort out his thoughts, a third person took his hand. “Now that you are one of us, of course you will come to the golf outing this Saturday. It is an invitation-only thing, but now that you are one of us, we look forward to seeing you there.” As the ...

3146. Doing What Matters?

Luke 5:1-11

Sermon

John B. Jamison

... lost all hope. Still, there may be times our caring is taken advantage of but the real danger we face is that we might refuse to care for those in real need to avoid being taken advantage of by the others. Our role is to care. We’ll let God sort out the rest. Let’s end by asking the question one more time. If, on your way home today, you met someone who was hurting, who had lost their job, was maybe afraid of losing their home, or was worried about their children, if you truly wanted to show God ...

3147. From Haunted to Healed

Luke 8:26-39

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... what we do know is that whatever happened that day, a man went from haunted to healed. And so can we. I’m fairly certain that not one of you sitting in these pews or in your homes today suffers from a “legion” of the same sort of ailments as the man from Gerasene. But I’m pretty sure that all of us have at one time or another suffered from disillusionment, depression, despair, or grief….or one of many other maladies that the world can inflict upon us….whether physically, mentally, or spiritually ...

3148. There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

Will Willimon

... like home for the holidays," is not just trite, it's also true, very, very true. We long to belong. We want someplace where we fit. How is it that the opening song of TV's “Cheers” puts it, “You want someplace where everyone knows your name." Though it's sort of sad that place is for some, no better than a bar. Yet the song suggests that home is as much a state of mind as a place. It's where you fit. Christian Mogenstern puts it, “Home is not where you live but were they understand you.” Or, of ...

3149. Why We Light the Candles

Luke 2:1-20 · Isaiah 9:2, 6

Sermon

Will Willimon

... lights that we kindle are a symbol of the Light..." [1] Imagine a world before electric lights, when candles were the only source of illumination after dark. Rarely do we experience such darkness. Yet deep within us, there is, even among us modem folk, some sort of warm yearning for and joy in candlelight dinners, and candle lit weddings, and yes candles on Christmas Eve. Something of this light wants to shine in our dark world. Why do we light the candles? Because it is a dark world. Yes, friends, it is ...

3150. Why Pass By?

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

... part) living closer to the party of the first part than one is, oneself, in which case the party of the second part is to be construed as neighbor to the party of the first part and one is oneself relieved of all responsibility of any sort or kind whatsoever.’ “Instead, Jesus told the story of the good Samaritan, the point of which seemed to be that neighbor was to be construed as meaning anybody who needed you. The lawyer’s response was left unrecorded.” Maybe they were just too afraid to help ...

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