Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 301 to 325 of 656 results

Exodus 20:1-21, Isaiah 5:1-7, Philippians 3:1-11, Philippians 3:12-4:1, Matthew 21:33-46

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... where you are headed. Few people bother to make this analysis of their lives. It is easier to live day after day without giving thought about tomorrow. Paul gives us an example in sizing up one's life. Outline: The time has come to determine – a. Where you are now: imperfect - v. 12. b. Where you have been: forget the past - v. 13. c. Where you want to be: goal of Christ - v. 14. 2. Who Goes There: Friend Or Enemy? (3:17-21). Need: The issue is clear-cut. We are either enemies or friends of Christ and his ...

302. Demonstrating the Divine

John 1:10-18

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

... demonstration of what God intends for all humanity," we, as the church of Jesus Christ, are called to continue to enflesh God's Word with powerful truth and generous grace. This is our challenge within our individual lives, within the congregations we call home, and within this wonderful, imperfect body called the church of Jesus Christ. May it be so - for you and for me. Amen. 1. From Holy the Firm by Annie Dillard in Cries Of The Spirit, ed. by Marilyn Sewell (Boston: Beacon Press, 1991), p. 199.

303. Rejoicing in Reality

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

... already here. This passage does not say that we have to act in certain ways in order to be blessed; instead it celebrates the reality that because we are already blessed, we are empowered to act in certain ways. Right here in the reality check of our imperfect lives, God is blessing us and loving us. Despite our titles and our public smiles, despite our bank accounts and the length of our resumè, despite all the acquired riches of the world, we know, if we are really honest, at a deep level, that we ...

304. Pentecost! Slow ... and Sure!

John 20:19-23

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... is risen forever to be the vanquisher of both sin and of death. The text says, "Jesus came and stood among them and said, 'Peace be with you.' " When he had said this he showed them his hands and his feet. See the grace of God here? Into this imperfect fellowship he came. The risen Lord was to be found right in the middle of this fearful, doubting, half-attended church meeting behind locked doors. He doesn't wait till they've gotten their act together. He comes to them just as they are. And note, too, how ...

305. Why Not a Christian Live 8 for the Environment?

Romans 8:18-27

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... tied together since the beginning of creation. Paul reminds us that the transformation of the garden of Eden into a world of toil and sweat was, in fact, due to Adam's transgression. The perfect world God had initially created was made imperfect in order to house its now fallen, failed human inhabitants. Indeed, humanity's first toxic waste dump was the Garden of Eden - which had to be closed because human disobedience so perfectly fouled that perfect environment. From a biblical perspective, we can ...

306. A Talent for Life

Romans 8:1-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... that keeps us alive is the artificial environment created by the protective hull and pressurized air of the vehicle that carries us. Flesh is fragile. Flesh is limited. No wonder "flesh" is also the term Paul uses to describe the fragile, limited, imperfect perceptions of human beings. Paul means more than muscle, bones, deep breaths, and heartbeats when he speaks of flesh. For Paul, flesh is skin and bones. But flesh is also the incarnated, encapsulated human soul that experiences life and death, enabling ...

307. Cross Purposes

Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... no miracles. Instead Jesus' words and works were most often directed at those who were out-of-the-loop, those without power or prestige, those who had been left behind by the culture. In many societies the practice of abandoning unwanted or imperfect infants has been long established and accepted. In the ancient world, children with obvious birth defects, girl-babies, mixed-race offspring, and other undesirable kids were by definition outcasts at birth, and so were quite literally cast out. The child would ...

308. Keep on Praying

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... power of prayer? Are you searching the skies for cargo? Or are you searching the Spirit in prayer without ceasing? Prayer is the spiritual terminology for these words: "Lift off." Prayer is "lift off" for living. Christians are imperfect, humble people who love sacrificially, forgive generously, welcome unconditionally, act irrationally, live gratefully, listen constantly, and pray persistently . . . which enables us, in the face of death, to choose life; and in the face of violence and hatred, to choose ...

309. Soul Deep Not Skin Deep

Luke 16:1-15

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... body is the best witness the church could have in this 21st century that worships skin-deep strength and looks. His body is weakened by age and disease. But the Spirit which lies under his skin remains strong and unbroken. John Paul doesn't try to hide the imperfections of his body that time has brought. Instead he presents to the world the image of a servant who continues to serve regardless of the skin he lives in. When he was young and strong John Paul had no more, and no less power within him than he ...

310. God's Original Seatbelt (Mother's Day)

John 13:31-38

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... outstretched arm protectively flung across his chest. I've heard a great deal from my sons about my overprotective tendencies but I think that this card's message said it best. The message said, 'To Mom, the original seat belt.' " (Judith Viorst, Imperfect Control: Our Lifelong Struggles With Power and Surrender [New York: Simon & Schuster, 1998] 157.) A mom's protective reach has always been the saving seat belt for her family. But this seat belt takes different forms in different families. · For some mom ...

311. The King Who Died

Luke 23:26-43

Sermon

King Duncan

... . These are hands that may one day hold the future of the world!” Lucy, the inevitable spoilsport walks over, looks at his hands, and says, “They’ve got jelly on them.” My hands have jelly on them. Don’t yours? And yet God loves us. With all our imperfections, all our sins, God loves us. God sees something in us worth saving. And that is why God sent Jesus. Rev. Bill Hays has an analogy that speaks to me. He notes that analysts say that only about 5 percent of SUVs are ever taken off‑road--which ...

312. Go Meditate!

Revelation 19:1-10

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Please, Lord?) Where there's a teenager who thinks he knows everything, there will one day be an adult who knows you did your best. For we know we fail our children, and we pray they don't end up in therapy, but when we get to heaven, our imperfect parenting will disappear. (Thank you, God!) When we were children, we needed a parent to love and protect us. Now that we're parents ourselves, we have a heavenly Father who adores, shelters us, and holds us when we need to cry. And now these three remain: faith ...

313. Greeting and Meeting Jesus

Philippians 3:12-4:1

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... street. Reality check. No way are you in that zip code. No way does that zip code exist in this world. Jesus' final words in today's gospel text proclaim two different truths that together create one reality. On one hand, Jesus asserts that in this broken, imperfect world there will always be poverty and need: "You will always have the poor with you" (verse 8). On the other hand, Jesus reveals that his own time in this world is almost over. The end, in fact, is in sight. The physicality Jesus had shared ...

314. Warts and All

2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... or cosmetize them. Paul decided that instead of hiding them what we need to do is expose our weaknesses, lay them bare, so that the world may watch as Christ's redemptive power shines through them. Our warts and weaknesses, our thorny thickets of imperfection and imbecilities, can become display windows which depict the story of divine love being worked out in us. In the last decade or so the ancient art of tattooing has become amazingly popular. What used to be an art form reserved for tough military ...

315. Are You Running?

John 12:12-19

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Midst." The din of both crowds is considerable. But the truth that each crowd proclaims isn't always discernible. It seems that in a crowd the discernment of any single mind become stretched into distortions of the truth. The flaws and imperfections that cloud any one individual's rational abilities become magnified by the mass of a crowd mind, causing an exponential explosion of error, misconception, and just plain falsehood. When NASA technicians calculate the timing and trajectory for launching one of ...

316. Fear Factor

Psalm 25:1-22

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the psalmist who recognized his own sins and transgressions, we're all too aware of how tenuous and tepid our abilities to love remain. The only one who patterns perfect love for us, who offers perfect love to us, is Jesus the Christ. Despite our fears, our imperfections, our shortcomings, Jesus promises to be "with you always, even to the very end of the age" (Matthew 28:20). As long as we make our home with Jesus, we live in the house of love and beyond the reach of fear factors. There's a heartbreaking ...

317. Lent 4

Jn 9:1-41 · Eph 5:8-14 · Ps 23 · 1 Sam 16:1-13

Sermon Aid

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

... . But Jesus refuses to play the blame-game and speaks instead of the will of God in relation to ministry to those who suffer. Because the blind man is obedient to Jesus, he receives his sight. Notice that the man was born blind—meaning, created imperfectly—and Jesus makes mud, just as God formed clay to create humanity. Transformation. In vv. 8-12 we observe the obvious change in the man, but we find that his newly altered perspective does not endow him with full comprehension. Thus we learn that ...

318. High and Lifted Up

Isaiah 6:1-8

Sermon

James Merritt

... crying out "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts." You may find it interesting to know that seven out of every twelve references to the name of God in the Old Testament refer to Him as holy. In God there is nothing that is untrue, destructive, or imperfect. There is the essence of purity that defines good and evil. For He is the God who cannot lie, and who cannot commit wrong. He is the thrice holy God of Israel who loves godliness, hates wickedness, and will one day judge this world in righteousness. The ...

319. Getting Rid of Grudges

Luke 23:34

Sermon

James Merritt

... . General James Oglethorpe once said to the great Methodist preacher, John Wesley: "I never forgive, and I never forget." To which John Wesley responded: "Then Sir, I hope you never sin." If the perfect Savior did not hold a grudge, how much less should an imperfect sinner hold one. The great Methodist preacher, Sam Jones, said: "I haven't anything in this world to forgive. I will never get mad nor stay mad with any man unless he treats me worse than I have treated Jesus Christ."[5] Now at this point ...

320. Gentle Jesus’ Terrible Words

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Illustration

Bill Bouknight

... Jesus who referred to people as 'lost.' He described hell as the everlasting fire, the shut door, and the outer darkness where there are endless tears and gnashing of teeth." Jesus did not slant judgment and hell toward those who were broken and imperfect, but toward those who proudly refused God's mercies, those who were too self-satisfied to repent. John Wesley, our Methodist founder, pulled no punches in talking about judgment and hell. He referred to hell as banishment from God. He declared, "There is ...

321. Saints By Faith: Good to the Last Drop

Revelation 7:9-17

Sermon

John E. Harnish

... on marble pedestals. But (he says) a saint in the early church was one who was involved in a holy struggle, who was not so much perfect as persevering. All who take the name of Jesus seriously and who associate themselves with his work are saints by calling, imperfect until made perfect in God; all saints, involved in the struggle for holiness. [3] I heard it just last week: "Oh, I'm no saint." And if we mean holy, pure, miracle-worker, then of course, we aren't. But if by "saint" you mean those who know ...

322. A Circle for Dorothy

Ephesians 2:11-22, Ephesians 2:1-10

Sermon

John E. Harnish

... and Toto of Kansas and the yellow brick road, so I might as well bring them in. On her journey in search of "home," Dorothy is surrounded by a circle of friends—a Cowardly Lion, a Witless Scarecrow and a Frozen Tin-man. All imperfect and incomplete in themselves, together they form a sustaining, guiding, protecting circle for Dorothy. And in the circle they, too, discover their true identities, their gifts and redeeming grace where they could become all they were meant to be. That's church...a circle ...

323. On the Mountainside

Matthew 6:5-13

Sermon

John E. Harnish

... is the name Jesus uses most often-seventy times in these four short Gospels. Jesus says the God who inhabits all of heaven, whose very name is holy, this God is "Our Father." Now let me quickly say that this name, like all the other names for God, is imperfect and inadequate, since no one name can capture the fullness of God. God is not male, since God is not limited to created categories of human gender. God is as much female as male, as much mother as father, and so much more. But Jesus was willing to ...

324. Looking Out for Others

1 Corinthians 8:1-13

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

... in our faith. Think what great problems we have solved and yet left unsolved! We are to look out for others, especially if we are more mature in the faith. However, this can be an open door to tragedy, unless we remember to keep a close eye on our imperfect lives. But Paul makes his point about as perfectly as it can be made. We walk away from it and discover Satan is staring us in the face. Charity for one another is the way great and powerful congregations are built. It is also the way we as individuals ...

325. Living the Word of God

James 1:17-27

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... live the Gospel message. People who simply listen and do not act, deceive only themselves; but they are not fooling God. James provides an image of how we deceive ourselves by self-observation in a mirror. When we look into the mirror we see all the imperfections, blemishes, and problems. If the user forgets what is seen in the mirror the situation cannot be corrected; things will remain in disarray. James is telling us that we must live the Word of God, as did Mahatma Gandhi, not only in what we say, but ...

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