Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 301 to 325 of 4937 results

301. No Other Way To Be Happy

Deuteronomy 11:1-32

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

"Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God ..." "If you love me, you will keep my commandments." (John 14:15) "Trust and obey, for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus ..." In a gospel song, these words of the refrain are sung over and over with each stanza. The chorus repeats the truth of our test: Obedience to God’s commands is the only way to get happiness (blessing). People in palaces are not automatically happy. The ...

302. When You're Overwhelmed

John 6:1-15

Sermon

King Duncan

I heard about a man recently in Minnesota who clearly needs to choose another profession. His name is Rafiq Abdul Mortland. Mortland had committed a string of robberies, and fortunately for him, he was eventually caught. I say fortunately, because during his crime spree, Mortland received the nickname, “The Rolaids Robber.” The reason he received this nickname was that, while he was robbing their store, he repeatedly asked store clerks for antacid tablets. Mortland needed the antacid because of the stress ...

303. Prologue to the Law of the Temple: The Lord Comes Home

Ezekiel 40:1--43:12

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

The Law of the Temple – Intro to Ezek. 40–48: The book of Ezekiel ends as it began: with a vision of the Glory of the Lord. Like all four visions in the book, this one begins with Ezekiel’s favorite expression for entry into the visionary state, “the hand of the LORD was upon me” (40:1; see the discussion of 1:3, and compare 3:14, 22; 8:1; 37:1). However, chapters 40–48 are linked particularly with chapters 1–3 and 8–11, the other two visions of the Lord’s Glory. Not only theme, but also structure join ...

304. 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 ...

305. The Holy Spirit As The Dove Of Peace

Sermon

John A. Stroman

The symbol of the descending dove has meant for the Christian community both the coming of the Holy Spirit and the symbol of peace. As we have seen, the community of the Holy Spirit is a creative and diverse community, yet a community where peace prevails characterized by openness and freedom, as well as, togetherness and unity. The words in John 14 tie together the concept of both the coming of the Holy Spirit and Jesus' desire for peace. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my ...

306. Giving Thanks Before Thanksgiving

Luke 17:11-19

Sermon

Brett Blair

Greg Anderson, in Living Life on Purpose tells a story about a man whose wife had left him. He was completely depressed. He had lost faith in himself, in other people, in God--he found no joy in living. One rainy morning this man went to a small neighborhood restaurant for breakfast. Although several people were at the diner, no one was speaking to anyone else. Our miserable friend hunched over the counter, stirring his coffee with a spoon. In one of the small booths along the window was a young mother ...

307. Does God Give A Damn?

Exodus 5:22--6:12

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

"Moreover I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold in bondage and I have remembered my covenant. Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment, and I will take you for my people, and I will be your God.’ " When someone does not care, bitterly we say in the vernacular, "He does not ...

308. The Narrowness Of The Christian Way - 1950 (date estimated)

Matthew 7:13-14

Sermon

Kent Moorehead

It is perfectly possible to tell a lie without saying anything untrue. As a matter of fact, the most effective liars are those who never deliberately say anything that is not so; they simply tell a piece of the truth and refuse to tell all of it. Let me illustrate the lying power of partial truth. I know a man who, with two other men, deliberately planned to get a fourth man in a particular situation where he would be utterly at the mercy of the three men. It would then be possible for them to kill their ...

309. Seven Ways to Give

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

1. The Careless Way: To give something to every cause that is presented, without inquiring into its merits. 2. The Impulsive Way: To give from impulse, as much and as often as love and pity and sensibility prompt. 3. The Lazy Way: To make a special offer to earn money for worthy projects by fairs, bazaars, etc. 4. The Self-Denying Way: To save the cost of luxuries and apply them to purposes of religion and charity. This may lead to asceticism and self-complacence. 5. The Systematic Way: To lay aside as an ...

310. God Never Gives Up

Luke 15:1-10

Sermon

Mark Trotter

“Amazing Grace” is always listed among the favorite hymns. It is an old one. It goes back to the 18th century, written by John Newton, who was on the sea from the time he was a little boy. When he was a young man he became the captain of his own ship, a ship that brought African slaves to the colonies to work the plantations. Back in England, between voyages, he went to hear George Whitefield preach and was converted. He realized the evil of his occupation, left it, and became a priest in the Church of ...

311. Gouge-Your-Eye-Out Sunday

Mark 9:38-50

Sermon

Rick McCracken-Bennett

There are a couple of Sundays I'd just as soon not preach. One is Trinity Sunday, the Sunday immediately following Pentecost. I've heard more than one priest say that the reason most of us want an assistant or a deacon is so that we can assign them the task of trying to explain how it is we believe in one God, in three persons, and so on. Clergy dislike of preaching on Trinity Sunday is pretty widespread. So-called, Stewardship Sunday is another. It feels to me like I'm singing for my supper. After all, ...

312. The Secret of Living Is Giving

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

The Christmas "secret" must be put back into the Christmas "spirit." Madison Avenue has a problem. In the last two decades, consumers have built up their immune systems to resist traditional advertising methods and slogans: Hence the ever more outrageous tactics to reach us. Ad execs are desperate to find that new gimmick or jingle that will reel us in. Additionally, our attention spans have withered and shrunk like grapes into raisins. If something doesn't grab us immediately, we simply flex our index ...

313. Grace The New Fashioned Way

Ephesians 2:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

One of the favorite television commercials of many of us, for the past few years, has been John Houseman's commercials for a banking investment firm. You remember his famous words in that commercial. In a beautiful British accent he would say, "We make money the old fashioned way. We earn it." Houseman expresses the deeply held belief of many people that what resources one has should be earned. Expecting to get something for nothing is wrong. Gains that come too easily or too quickly or as the result of ...

314. On Not Giving Up

Galatians 6: 7-16

Sermon

April Yamasaki

A word of encouragement came from an unlikely source the other day in a television interview with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. The former football player, wrestler, and now actor was asked about a low time in his life when he was very discouraged about his career and future. "How did you make your way back from that?" he was asked. The Rock replied, "You have to put yourself out there. You have to get out there and fail, and learn from your failures." What advice would you give to someone who is discouraged ...

315. Framed by Love

John 14:15-21

Sermon

April Yamasaki

On my writing desk at home, I have a framed photo of my husband taken a number of years ago. It’s a simple head and shoulders pose on a plain background in a slender gold-toned frame from a drug store. In other words, objectively speaking, the photo and its frame are really nothing special. They have no particular artistic or monetary value in the marketplace. Yet no matter how full my desk gets with books and files, papers and more papers, there’s always room for that photo too, because I think of it as ...

316. Give Me A Break!

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

Larry Goodpaster

Jesus was having one of those days! You know the kind of day when nothing goes exactly the way it was planned. The kind of day when staying in bed seems to be an option that should have been taken the first thing in the morning. The kind of day when the only words spoken to you, or at you, are words of criticism and sarcasm. The kind of day some of us have far too often. That was the kind of day Jesus was having. The picture of that day is painted for us by Matthew in the opening verses of the 11th chapter ...

317. Cross-Bearing

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

The time was close to the time when Jesus was crucified. The Scripture tells us that Jesus had just told the disciples that he was going to have to suffer and be put to death. Peter couldn’t stand that idea and told him, "This shall never happen to you" (Matthew 16:22b). Jesus told Peter that he was thinking the way people thought rather than the way God thought. Then Jesus told his disciples what the Christian life was all about. It is one of the recurring themes of Jesus’ teaching. He said these things ...

318. Prepare The Way

Malachi 2:17--3:5

Sermon

Robert A. Hausman

Traditionally, the second Sunday in Advent brings us face to face with the forerunner, John the Baptist. But John does not stand alone. He stands knee deep in history, and history is a part of the world Christ came to redeem. Let us look at the gospel lesson (Luke 3:1-6) before we turn to the Old Testament. It begins in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius. So who was Tiberius? He was born of noble parents, who then were divorced so that his mother could marry the emperor, Caesar Augustus. Tiberius had a ...

319. Old and New

Mk 2:22 · 2 Cor 5:17 · Is 43:19

Sermon

Robert Noblett

Something old, something new; Something borrowed, something blue. That’s what the old rhyme suggests every new bride ought to have on her person come the wedding day. We’re not going to spend any time talking about "borrowed" and "blue," but we do want to spend some time on "old" and "new." Those words have a way of cropping up more than just occasionally. Nearly every day we hear them used. They are used religiously. "As for me," says Carol, "you can give me that old-time religion." They are used ...

320. God Never Gives Up on Anyone

John 14:15-21

Sermon

Richard Gribble

The name Robert Stroud is not one commonly heard in ordinary conversation, but this man's contribution to humanity will live on in the minds of many under a different title, "The Birdman of Alcatraz." By nature, Robert Stroud was not a congenial man. As a youth he was always getting into fights, disagreements, and various altercations. When he was only nineteen he killed a man in a barroom brawl, was convicted of second-degree murder, and was sentenced to the Federal penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas, ...

321. What More Can He Give?

Colossians 1:15-23

Sermon

James McCormick

For 2000 years, the vitality of the Christian Church has been determined by what we have done with Jesus. When Jesus has been the center of our attention and we have sought to follow him as faithful disciples, then the Church has been strong. But when we have misplaced him amidst the clutter of our bureaucracy, or relegated him to a marginal place in our theology, then we have been weak and impotent. It’s always been true: As goes our relationship with Jesus, so goes the Church! The earliest Christian ...

322. The Way He Taught

Matthew 7:24-29

Sermon

"Jesus finished saying these things, and the crowds were amazed at the way he taught. He wasn't like their teachers of the Law; instead, he taught with buthority." (St. Matthew 7:28, 29 TEV) Our precious Christian faith is first of all and foremost the good news that God loves us and forgives us in Chrst, his son. It is the story of our salvation, the story of the cross and the open tomb. But along with that also goes the challenge of Christianity - the scintilating invitation to carry out God's will in ...

323. Taking the Long Way Home

Mark 7:31-37

Sermon

Will Willimon

“Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, through the region of the Decapolis.” Mark 7:31 Durham is one of the toughest places on earth to find your way around in. Bisected by a freeway and this campus, a downtown full of one way streets (all one way in the wrong direction) -- am I now on Chapel Hill Street, Chapel Hill Road, or simply the main road to Chapel Hill? The things that Cornwallis Road does are positively criminal. Where are we? Where are we in ...

324. “Show Me Your Ways, Lord”

Psalm 25:1-22

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

Big Idea: As students in the school of faith, we have the Lord as our Teacher, and his ways (and will) are our curriculum. Understanding the Text This psalm is another example of reflective prayer (see Ps. 16), in which the suppliant talks to God and then reflects on the subject of the prayer (see “Outline/Structure” below), either alone or in company with others. Goldingay proposes that it has an instructional purpose, to teach people to pray.[1] Generically, Psalm 25 is generally typed as an individual ...

325. Gifts of Lent IV: Simon Gives His Strength

Mark 15:1-15

Drama

Donald Neidigk

Dramatic Monologue You need directions to Golgotha, the place Jesus was crucified? Sure, I'd be happy to show you. No, I don't live here in Jerusalem. But I know the path to the cross very well. You see, I helped Jesus carry the cross. Perhaps you could say it was my gift to him. Oh, I didn't consider it a gift at the time, although I do now. At the time, I considered it both an inconvenience and an insult. It was the last thing I wanted to have happen on my pilgrimage to Jerusalem, a trip I might make ...

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