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Showing 3151 to 3175 of 4972 results

3151. Gifts of Lent II: Mary Gives Her Perfume

Matthew 26:6-13

Drama

Donald Neidigk

... been sold and the money given to the poor." But he only said that because he kept the money bag for the disciples. The only good cause he was thinking of wasn't the poor; it was himself. But as he always did, Jesus spoke up for me. "Leave her alone. This is a beautiful thing she has done, pouring perfume on my body, preparing it for burial." Having said these words, Jesus honored me further, saying that whenever his gospel was preached throughout the world, what I had done would be remembered too. I can't ...

3152. Gifts of Lent IV: Simon Gives His Strength

Mark 15:1-15

Drama

Donald Neidigk

... believed he was the King of the Jews, and therefore could not deny it. So the charges stood, and Jesus was crucified. At Golgotha, my job finished, I could have left and returned to Jerusalem. But now, keeping the feast was the last thing on my mind. I couldn't leave. I stayed to the bitter end. I even began to wonder if there was something else I could do for this man with the kind eyes. The day had started off sunny and full of hope. But now dark, threatening clouds had built up. There was thunder in the ...

3153. Gifts of Lent V: A Soldier Gives His Wine

Matthew 27:45-56

Drama

Donald Neidigk

... could, we made our way to Golgotha, the crucifixion site, near the north gate of the city. Jesus, weakened from multiple beatings and loss of blood, fell repeatedly to the pavement. A Cyrenian, a strong-looking man, was entering the city as we were leaving. I pressed him into service to carry Jesus' cross. From then on we made better time. All three prisoners were nailed to their crosses and hoisted into place, each being first drugged with strong wine mixed with gall, a painkiller derived from poppies. All ...

3154. All Creation Yawns

Romans 13:8-14

Sermon

Frank Luchsinger

... into the biblical narrative. For Herod has come to slaughter innocent children in hopes that their elimination will insure the elimination of the One who was born to be King. And in a dream the angel said to Joseph, "Have no fear," and in a subsequent dream, "Leave town now! Don't take time to pack your things." So we lead our dreamlike lives, hearing in a dream the words "do not be afraid" and also the warning of impending calamity. When We Dead Awaken The playwright of the nineteenth century, Henrik Ibsen ...

3155. Mary Ponders

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

Sermon

Charles H. Bayer

... take a name from a family member, the name he was given had been provided by the angel when he had told her of the coming pregnancy and birth. It was to be "Jesus." "Joshua," in the language of her people. "God is salvation," its meaning in every language. We leave the holy family in the temple, the baby crying from the pain of the ceremony, Joseph dizzy with the flood of events, and Mary pondering all these things in her heart.

3156. Moving At The Speed Of Light

Ephesians 3:1-13

Sermon

Frank Luchsinger

... shining forth from cells or from behind iron curtains, being carried by those who limp or stumble or by those of halting speech. The apostle Paul writes of having prayed to God about his thorn of the flesh: Three times I besought the Lord about this, that it should leave me; but he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." I will all the more gladly boast of my weakness, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with ...

3157. Moving At The Speed Of Light: At The Jordan

Acts 10:23b-48

Sermon

Frank Luchsinger

... The agitated Pharisees persisted. Jesus stood up. "Let him who is without sin among you cast the first stone." Jesus bent down once more, drawing in the dust again with his finger. Thump ... thump ... thump -- the sound of heavy rocks falling harmlessly to earth. Leaving their rocks, the Pharisees went their way, beginning with the eldest, until Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him on the road in the midst of the discarded rocks (John 8:3-11). In ancient Israel stoning was the most common ...

3158. Moving At The Speed Of Light: In Corinth Or Cana?

1 Corinthians 1:1-9

Sermon

Frank Luchsinger

... to find Cana and the best wine, along the way. 1. Elizabeth Schussler Fiorenza, "1 Corinthians," Harpers Bible Commentary (San Francisco: Harper, 1988), p.1169. 2. Judith S. Wallerstein and Sandra Blakeslee, The Good Marriage (New York: Warner Books,1995), p. 62. 3. Hugh and Gayle Prather, I Will Never Leave You (New York: Bantam, 1995), p. 62. 4. Ibid., pp. 63-64.

3159. The Three Kings--And The King Of Kings

Isaiah 9:1-7

Sermon

Thomas A. Pilgrim

... 't it, that priests, scribes, Levites and Pharisees, and all the holy men of Israel were not even interested enough to go down to Bethlehem to find out for themselves? It is a trio of Gentile holy men who make the trip for them all. So these three wise men leave the city to find the King. They had lost sight of the star there in the lights of the city, but they find it again. They follow the light until they see it has come to stop over the place where the child was, and "they were overwhelmed with joy ...

3160. The Simple Shepherds--And The Lamb Of God

Isaiah 51:17--52:12

Sermon

Thomas A. Pilgrim

... would be the Lamb of God. The Jews had for centuries valued the place of a lamb. For one thing, they would offer lambs for a sacrifice to God. Also they would place upon a lamb all their sins. Then they would take the lamb out into the wilderness and leave it, where it would die, along with their sins. It is striking then that when John the Baptist saw Jesus at the Jordan River he said of him, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." Tonight we think about the birth of Christ. And ...

3161. Five Thousand For Lunch In Galilee

Luke 9:10-17

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

... long after all our priorities of gaining and getting. We always want more, but we have to ask, how much more is enough? Greed so often overshadows gratitude, and compulsive acquisitiveness so frequently overrides thankfulness. But as Paul Scherer likes to say, love is a spendthrift and leaves its arithmetic at home. Love is always in the red and God is love. Let no one be deceived. The widow's mite is not to be a way for monied matrons to buy off their consciences for a few paltry pennies. Nor are the five ...

3162. Hope Against Hope

Jeremiah 33:1-26

Sermon

Robert A. Hausman

... letting go. We have learned that building bigger bombs creates bigger fears, not greater peace. We have discovered our helplessness in the face of ethnic conflicts throughout the world. We have learned that technology is not an easy fix. It has outstripped our wisdom, leaving us with everything from nuclear waste to ozone depletion. Our view of manifest destiny, a people divinely destined to grow and exand, has ended. What we once called progress we now see was a rape of the land. We have put profit before ...

3163. Hard Questions!

1 Kings 17:7-24

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... future. Trust does not guarantee you will never again experience desolation, disappointment, or pain -- but it does mean you never go through it alone! These are hard questions we've considered, but the solutions are not too hard for God. God's grand reassurance to us is, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." What a glorious promise to our trusting obedience to a loving God.

3164. When Life Seems Out Of Control

2 Samuel 18:1-18

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

... weeks. One day, an older woman from her church came to her home and advised her to give up her constant grieving. "Give your sorrow to the Lord," she pleaded, "and he will give back one hundred-fold what you have lost." The woman prayed with Marie before leaving. She promised that she would continue praying and that she would be back to see her again. Supported by this promise, Marie got up and began to look for ways to prevent the kind of tragedy that had happened to her son. Marie began working in a ...

3165. A Homecoming To Remember

1 Kings 8:22-61

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

... of the tribes as the famed ark of the covenant was brought into the Temple which would be its new, permanent home. There was much fanfare as the ark was brought forth and carefully placed in the Temple. After the ark was in place and the priests began to leave, "a cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord." The people were concerned about whether or not God would approve of the new Temple ...

3166. Making A Difference

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

... loving and caring attitude is applied to all aspects of life. Joyce Spence is a single mother who earned a college degree, got off welfare, and has seen her seven children attend institutions of higher learning. Back in February 1975 Joyce was on maternity leave with her seventh child when she discovered that her entry level job as a telephone operator was being moved to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, some hundred miles away. Nine months pregnant, with little money, no place to live, and no promise that she ...

3167. You Can Be Forever Young

Genesis 25:1-11

Sermon

Michael B. Brown

... she was, what she had eaten for lunch that day or if she had eaten lunch at all. She forgot the names of grandchildren. She kept forgetting that one of her daughters had a husband (though no one could fully determine if that were intentional). Before leaving, often the whole family would gather around Mama's bed or wheelchair. One would heist a tune, and soon everyone would join in singing "Amazing Grace," "Standing On The Promises" or some other old hymn that Mama had taught the children to sing 60 years ...

3168. You Can Be Eternal

2 Corinthians 5:1-10

Sermon

Michael B. Brown

... me in the night, burning the tapers of the waning years; something has spoken in the night, and told me I shall die, I know not where. Saying: To lose the earth you know, for greater knowing; to lose the life you have, for greater life; to leave the friends you love, for greater loving; to find a land more kind than home, more large than earth -- whereon the pillars of this earth are founded, toward which the conscience of the world is tending -- a wind is rising, and the rivers flow." And sometimes, even ...

3169. The Christmas Sign

Isaiah 7:1-25

Sermon

Paul E. Robinson

... be in the presents with our name on the tag. And after all that effort to guess, what a crushing thing it was when a shape or a rattle or a poor wrapping job enabled us to guess for sure! The fun was gone. But God was not going to leave Ahaz without his sign, whether he wanted it or not, and so a sign he got. A woman would conceive and bear a son and the name of that son would be Emmanuel. Emmanuel. It means "God with us." Oh, what a sign. Not a direct statement that God would ...

3170. Advent 3

Lk 3:7-18 · Phil 4:4-7 · Zeph 3:14-20 · Isa 12:2-6

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... Vipers (v. 7). Suppose you began your sermon, "You congregation of snakes." Would that be your last Sunday as pastor? John the Baptist said, "You brood of vipers!" Who were the "vipers?" Pharisees, publicans, prostitutes? No, they were true Jews who had enough religion to leave their homes to go to the wilderness to hear a prophet. John is speaking to the respectable church-going people of his day and calls them to be baptized for repentance. Isn't it a fact that many church members, content in their false ...

3171. 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

... not already said. 2. Understanding the nature of the resurrection. To preach on Easter requires that we understand the nature of the resurrection. Below are some characteristics of Jesus' resurrection: a. Jesus' resurrection was a resurrection of the body -- not a soul leaving the body at death. b. Jesus' resurrection was not a physical resurrection like Lazarus', but it was a resurrection of a spiritual body that could not die again because of its immortal nature. (1 Corinthians 15:32-44) c. This risen ...

3172. Easter 3

Revelation 5:1-14, Acts 9:1-19a, John 21:1-14

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... Peter put on his clothes and then jumped off the boat to swim to Jesus. Why? Was it only a case of modesty? Or was it a symbol of Peter's guilt for having sinned by his denials? When Adam and Eve sinned, they clothed themselves with fig leaves. When we do wrong, we instinctively want to cover up. 3. Third (v. 17). We can understand, can't we, why Peter was aggravated by Jesus' asking him the same question three times. Since Jesus knew all things, he knew that Peter loved him. Why then repeat the question ...

3173. 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

... ready for the Ascension and Pentecost. In today's Gospel, we have the beginning of Jesus' final discourse. (John 13-17) He tells his Disciples that he and the Father are about to be glorified by his approaching death, resurrection, and ascension. After Judas Iscariot leaves the Upper Room, Jesus announces that his death is near and his death will show how deep is his love for them. In like manner they are to love each other, and by this love the world will know they belong to him. THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION ...

3174. Baptism of Our Lord

Luke 3:21-38, Luke 3:1-20, Isaiah 43:1-13, Isaiah 42:1-9, Acts 8:9-25, Acts 10:23b-48

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... the seal of the covenant. b. Dove -- the gift of the Spirit. c. Voice -- the acceptance as a child of God. Lesson 1: Isaiah 43:1-7 1. You are no orphan! Isaiah 43:1. Need: Conditions in the world separate families. War, divorce, separation, and hunger leave many children without a family with father and mother. The result is that they feel they belong to nobody. They may not be in orphanages or foster families, but they are bereft. In this passage nobody needs to feel all alone in the world and belonging to ...

3175. Epiphany 3

Lk 4:14-21 · 1 Cor 12:12-31a · Isa 61:1-6 · Neh 8:1-10 · Ps 19

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... scribe, Ezra. In recent years some churches have introduced lay readers of the first two Lessons to symbolize the laity's part in the leadership of the worship service. As a result, often a lay reader cannot be heard, mispronounces words, adds or leaves out a word, and misinterprets the reading by placing emphasis on the wrong words or phrases. As a result the Word thereby is distorted, mangled, and misinterpreted to the disadvantage of the people. Following the example of Ezra, the pastor is usually the ...

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