Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 3176 to 3200 of 4508 results

3176. Imitate Generosity

Illustration

Douglas R. A. Hare

The climax of the parable occurs in verse 15: "Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?" The vineyard owner claims the right to pay his workers not on the basis of their merits but on the basis of his own compassion. Why should such generosity be condemned as injustice? Underlying the parable is the Old Testament conception of God as the creat...

3177. Generosity Is the Secret to Our Joy

Illustration

John Claypool

There is an old rabbinic parable about a farmer that had two sons. As soon as they were old enough to walk, he took them to the fields and he taught them everything that he knew about growing crops and raising animals. When he got too old to work, the two boys took over the chores of the farm and when the father died, they had found their working together so meaningful that they decided to keep th...

3178. Saving Grace

Illustration

Donald Dotterer

George Bernanos, in a book titled Diary of a Country Priest, describes the ministry of a humble and unsuccessful country pastor. Most of the time the pastor is inept. The bored villagers he serves ignore him, his church all but deserts him. There is one wealthy parishioner who is particularly harsh on the poor minister. In part this is because of her personal bitterness toward God. However, as thi...

3179. Thinking Abstractly

Illustration

Kari Jo Verhulst

As children develop, their capacity to comprehend parity and disparity becomes more sophisticated. For example, if you give a 4-year-old two small pieces of cake, and a 10-year-old one big piece of cake that amounts to the exact same amount, the 4-year-old will surely protest. No matter how hard you try to explain to the young one that two smalls equal one big, until you swap the plates, or surrep...

3180. Grace and Generosity

Illustration

James W. Moore

Dr. William Power, a professor at Southern Methodist University, describes an experience he had in Sunday school when he was a boy. His teacher was trying to explain to him and his rowdy friends the meaning of grace, but wasn't getting very far. She tried definitions and abstractions, to no avail. Finally, she realized something the boys had known from the start. She was not connecting. She was no...

3181. Sadness in the Heart of God

Illustration

John Claypool

There is a Jewish parable that both parallels and illumines Jesus' story, and it has helped to clarify my understanding greatly. This one is about a "farmer who lived in Poland. For generations before him, his family had been very poor. One night he was awakened by an angel of the Lord, who said: "You have found favor in the eyes of your Maker. He wants to do for you what he did for your ancestor ...

3182. Embrace the Sense of Community

Illustration

Philip W. McLarty

There's a play by Timothy Thompson based on this parable in which he depicts two brothers vying for work. John is strong and capable; Philip is just as willing but has lost a hand in an accident. When the landowner comes, John is taken in the first wave of workers, and as he labors in the field he looks up the lane for some sign of Philip. Other workers are brought to the field, but Philip is not ...

3183. The Right Spirit

Illustration

Philip W. McLarty

This story is told of Yogi Berra. The New York Yankees were at their peak and were negotiating contracts for the next year. A group of reporters interviewed players as they emerged from the owner's office, and one of them asked Yogi Berra about the terms of his contract. In his characteristically, plain-spoken style, he said, "I'm gonna get to play baseball again next year for the Yankees, and wou...

3184. Fairness

Illustration

George E. Thompson

We are shocked by the message of the parable of the workers in the vineyard, for it goes against the grain of our natural expectation. It mocks our logical sense of justice. Perhaps we are more drawn to the message of the Norwegian writer Jens Peter Jacobsen in his novel Niels Lyhne, which tell about a man who rejected God. As he grew older, he secretly desired the peace of faith, but he refused t...

3185. When Our Only Measure Is Fairness

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

Some years ago The Christian Century included some reflections on this parable by a Congregational Church pastor named Anthony Robinson. Robinson writes of working hard in his garden throughout the spring and summer, only to discover that the most productive part of the garden was a surprise patch of pumpkins and zucchini he never knowingly planted, apparently the result of some seeds included in ...

3186. Beyond Fairness

Sermon

Roy Howard

I’ve run enough long-distance races to take joy in this passage — including the 200 mile Ragnar Relay; not the first shall be last; that has never been my burden, but the last shall be first. Now that gives me hope! As well it should even though I’m confident this parable has absolutely nothing to do with running or any other athletic endeavor, unless one considers gardening to be such. It should ...

3187. Measured Salvation

Sermon

Lori Wagner

All of us have jobs or have had jobs sometime in our lifetime. I want you to imagine now that you have been working hard for Company G for about 20 or 30 years. You started with a reasonable pay, but now as you’ve done well, you have gained a great salary. You are proud of your accomplishment. With your salary, you’ve been able to buy a nice home, raise a stable family, and accrue funds for your r...

3188. If Jesus Taught on Campus Today

Illustration

The kingdom of heaven is like a professor who had many papers to grade. She asked her teaching assistants to start helping her early in the morning, and agreed to take them all out to dinner when the grading was finished. About mid-morning she realized she would need more help, so when she saw other graduate students standing in the hallway doing nothing, she asked them to help her, and agreed to ...

3189. Rewards

Illustration

Brett Blair

After serving as a missionary for forty years in Africa, Henry C. Morrison became sick and had to return to America. As the great ocean liner docked in New York Harbor there was a great crowd gathered to welcome home another passenger on that boat. Morrison watched as President Teddy Roosevelt received a grand welcome home party after his African Safari. Resentment seized Henry Morrsion and he tur...

3190. Envious Eagles

Illustration

Brett Blair

Aesop had a fable about two eagles, one envious of the other because the other could soar higher and more elegantly than he could. So the envious eagle would pluck his strongest feathers from his own body and shoot them as arrows, trying to wound or kill the other eagle. It was his own undoing, however. He could not hit the high flying eagle, and he was eventually grounded by his lack of feathers....

3191. God's Children

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

A Sunday school superintendent had two new boys in her Sunday school. In order to register them she had to ask their ages and birthdays. The bolder of the two said, "We're both seven. My birthday is April 8, 1976, and my brother’s is April 20, 1976." "But that's impossible!" answered the superintendent. "No, it's not," answered the quieter brother. "One of us is adopted." "Which one?" asked the su...

3192. It Isn't Fair! - Sermon Starter

Illustration

Brett Blair

One day a rich young ruler came enthusiastically running up to Jesus and asked: "What must I do to be saved?" Jesus answered: Keep the law. "This I have done from my youth up," came the reply. Yet one thing do you lack said Jesus. Go and sell all that you have and give it to the poor. Then come follow me. We are told that the young man walked away sorrowfully, for he had great wealth. Concluded th...

3193. Only God Can Judge

Illustration

King Duncan

Ellsworth Kalas tells about a sunswept October afternoon in 1932 when he came bounding home from school, eager to tear off school clothes and put on playground stuff. But to his great surprise, he discovered that his father was home. It was unthinkable that his father would be home at three-thirty in the afternoon. "Why are you home, Dad?" young Ellsworth asked. He remembers his father being gener...

3194. Be Yourself

Illustration

King Duncan

A sparrow complained to Mother Nature, "You gave beautiful colors to the peacock and a lovely song to the nightingale, but I am plain and unnoticed. Why was I made to suffer?" "You were not made to suffer," stated Mother Nature. "You suffer because you make the same foolish mistake as human beings. You compare yourself with others. Be yourself, for in that there is no comparison and no pain."

3195. God Voted for Me

Illustration

King Duncan

I remember reading about the former President Calvin Coolidge, who was a man of very few words. His nickname, as you know, was "Silent Cal." Before he became the President of the United States, one of the offices he ran for and was elected to, was as mayor of Northampton, Massachusetts. It was a relatively close race and he won by 190 votes. The following day he was walking down the street, and a...

3196. The Invitation

Sermon

Will Willimon

Jesus said that God's Kingdom is like a man who had a vineyard which needed harvesting. The man goes out into the marketplace and hires some workers agreeing to pay them one denarius a day. They go to work. Mid-morning he looks over his vineyard and sees that more workers will be needed if the job is to be done, so he goes back into the marketplace where he encounters some men still standing aroun...

3197. Graciousness and Grumbling

Sermon

Will Willimon

Well, religion has suddenly become the burning concern of politicians. I can't remember when religion has been so important in a presidential campaign. It wasn't long ago that John Kennedy had to explain why, although he was a Catholic, his religion would not hinder him from being a good president. And a very short time ago, Jimmy Carter stood before the voters and admitted that, although he was a...

3198. Proper 20

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

OLD TESTAMENT TEXTS Exodus 16:2-15 is the account of how Israel was miraculously fed manna by God in the wilderness. Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45 is a hymn that praises God who cares for Israel on the wilderness journey. Exodus 16:2-15 - "Grace Cannot Be Stored Up" Setting. We observe two background features when interpreting the miracle of manna in Exodus 16:2-15. First, it is important to see that t...

3199. The Coffee Break

Illustration

Brett Blair

The coffee break, where did that come from? It was a necktie manufacturer out of Denver called Wigwam Weavers. Wigwam Weavers made these very intricate silk neckties and during World War II they lost all their best loom operators to the war effort, all men of course. Then they hired women to do it and they could do it beautifully, and these were very intricate patterns, very complicated looms. The...

3200. Overcoming Envy

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

There was a British woman, Marion Webster of Solihull, England, who woke up one morning and found her beautiful garden absolutely decimated. Someone or something had torn it to shreds. The first thing Marion did after finding her garden in such a condition was to march over to her neighbor’s flower bed and pull out all the pansies and roses and anything remotely resembling a beautiful plant. Her ...

Showing 3176 to 3200 of 4508 results

3176. Imitate Generosity

Illustration

Douglas R. A. Hare

3177. Generosity Is the Secret to Our Joy

Illustration

John Claypool

3178. Saving Grace

Illustration

Donald Dotterer

3179. Thinking Abstractly

Illustration

Kari Jo Verhulst

3180. Grace and Generosity

Illustration

James W. Moore

3181. Sadness in the Heart of God

Illustration

John Claypool

3182. Embrace the Sense of Community

Illustration

Philip W. McLarty

3183. The Right Spirit

Illustration

Philip W. McLarty

3184. Fairness

Illustration

George E. Thompson

3185. When Our Only Measure Is Fairness

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

3186. Beyond Fairness

Sermon

Roy Howard

3187. Measured Salvation

Sermon

Lori Wagner

3188. If Jesus Taught on Campus Today

Illustration

3189. Rewards

Illustration

Brett Blair

3190. Envious Eagles

Illustration

Brett Blair

3191. God's Children

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

3192. It Isn't Fair! - Sermon Starter

Illustration

Brett Blair

3193. Only God Can Judge

Illustration

King Duncan

3194. Be Yourself

Illustration

King Duncan

3195. God Voted for Me

Illustration

King Duncan

3196. The Invitation

Sermon

Will Willimon

3197. Graciousness and Grumbling

Sermon

Will Willimon

3198. Proper 20

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

3199. The Coffee Break

Illustration

Brett Blair

3200. Overcoming Envy

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

Showing 3176 to 3200 of 4508 results