Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 301 to 325 of 975 results

301. Enter, the Conductor

Illustration

Staff

... or that, and we are out of focus, out of tune - we are just not together within. As an orchestra needs a master control, so do we. We are at worship now. We turn the whole focus of our attention to our Lord. Acknowledging that he is in command, we yield all our instruments to him. Each of us does this, each person within. And within each of us a kind of music is made, the kind which can be produced only in the human spirit, the kind that, even there; only the Master can make.

302. Christian Values: Order and Confusion

Isaiah 45:11

Bulletin Aid

... that? Why did you let this happen to me?" All: God, forgive us for not appreciating you, the best parent that ever was. You are perfect and give us perfect guidance. You need none of our advice on how to make us, how to raise us. Help us to patiently yield to your wise leading. Amen.

303. Christian Values Christian Competition

2 Timothy 1:1-2:13

Bulletin Aid

... own instead of being strong in Christ’s grace. He might fool those wound him, but he cannot fool God, who gives the trophies. All: Father, it’s easier to run the full course by Christ’s grace than to run half a course on our own. Help us to yield control to you. Remind us that we compete, not against each other, but against what we did the day before. As we strive to be better, may we help our brothers and sisters win their races. Amen.

304. Beyond the Ordinary

Matthew 5:38-42

Sermon

Joe Pennel

... clearly understood that love was limited to certain human boundaries. It is not surprising that devoted Jews inferred from Leviticus 19:18 that their duty was to love their fellow-Jews and to dislike their Roman enemies. But, Jewish literature does not yield any evidence that such a conclusion can be explicitly drawn. In my research, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy" cannot be found. This infers that the words "and hate thine enemy" are an interpolation. With the antithesis removed, the ...

305. Bound for Glory

1 Samuel 25:1-44

Sermon

... died from it. David, who was an emotional man with mercurial mood swings, nevertheless was able to bridle his warlike impulses as he remembered that he was indeed in the bundle of life. He was bound for glory, because he was one of God’s faithful children. By yielding to hate he would fall out of this bundle and end up in a bundle of black despair and inner darkness. Do you remember some Abigail who curbed your anger? Have you ever been an Abigail yourself and been a peacemaker in your home, or church, or ...

306. A Princely Passion

2 Samuel 13:1-22

Sermon

... to lure the lady into his spider’s web. He pretended to be sick, so she would bring him one of her heart-shaped boiled cakes. Then he would spring on her, even as the wolf trapped Little Red Riding Hood. The ploy worked and Tamar was forced to yield to her wicked half-brother. His prize was won, but it left an unpleasant taste in his mouth. He loathed Tamar because he loathed himself. He refused to make her an honest woman by marrying her. He could have done this since, in Hebrew society, a half-brother ...

307. Love’s Legacy

2 Samuel 23:1-7

Sermon

... suffering of those enduring long summer droughts and famine. He knew, too, the joy of gentle rain upon the fields. He tells us that a good ruler is like the rain which makes grass sprout from the earth. An earth cluttered with weeds and thistles yielding to flowers. Flowers garbed in technicolored pastels dancing a light fantastic across fields of emerald green. David says that a just ruler is like this rain. A wise and good leader is like sunshine on a cloudless morning. In his final will he prayed that ...

308. January 1

Lk 2:15-21 · Php 2:5-11 · Num 6:22-27 · Ps 67

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

... presupposition may well be the ancient belief that one's name entails one's very power and presence. Call to Worship (based on Psalm 67) Leader: Let all the nations be glad and sing! People: FOR GOD JUDGES THEIR PEOPLE WITH EQUITY! Leader: Let all the peoples yield praise to God! People: FOR GOD, OUR GOD, HAS BLESSED US! Collect Holy God, you have let the power and glory of your name be known by all the world's people. Now let us feel its presence and grace as well: that, moved by both your majesty ...

309. Proper 10

Matthew 13:1-23

Bulletin Aid

... proclamation Exegetical note The main point of the original parable (vv. 1-9), rather than the almost certainly later allegorical interpretation of the Church (vv. 18ff.), seems to be that, despite the fact that eventually it will find a fertile audience and yield extraordinary fruit, the gospel will initially and repeatedly fail to take root. In this regard, the injunction in verse 9 is telling the hearers of the parable either to heed its lesson, or simply to let the gospel itself "fall on deaf ears ...

310. Ash Wednesday

Isaiah 63:7--64:12

Sermon Aid

... in sacrifice; were I to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased. R: The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. (Adapted From Psalm 51) Prayer Of Confession Almighty God, forgive us when we yield to despair, and give way to darkness. Forgive us when we act as if our salvation depended on ourselves alone. Forgive us when we do not trust you enough to see hope even in loss, light at the end of our darkness. O Lord, in your refining fire ...

311. A Zealot’s Greatest Battle

Drama

... in the eyes) Barabbas, I respect you a great deal. I agree with you in many areas. I dislike the oppression and cruelty of Rome. I admire your courage ... your dedication to your cause. But I cannot go with you. (Turning away) I will not go with you. When I yielded myself to my new Commander, it was a lifetime vow. He taught me the truth about God. God doesn’t hate, he loves. God doesn’t want us to try to change the world with hatred, but with love. It works! I’ve seen it work! Barabbas One thing ...

312. The Wolf and The Lamb Inside Us (Sermon Series 1)

Isaiah 11:1-16

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... s humble, one that’s proud, There’s one that’s broken-hearted for his sins, There’s one that unrepentant sits and grins.” What are we to do with ourselves, with this bundle of contradictions, with this combination of wolf and lamb? Only through yielding oneself to Jesus Christ can we be fundamentally changed. When we repent of sin and claim Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, his Holy Spirit begins to restrain the beast within us and to unleash the angel. Have you made that discovery yet? You could ...

313. Let Yes Be Yes!

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

... must always take. Jesus could well have felt he had been "used" by some poor woman who was most concerned about escaping from a crisis. We may find - and feel - the same. But that’s what ministry is all about. Not every seed the farmer plants will yield a harvest. But where would we be if we decided not to plant at all? Another congregation in a midwest city came to the conclusion that someone should provide a center for a growing singles population in their midst. They opened up their large (and, in this ...

314. Which Way?

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon

... the law down or get tough. But what will be the harvest of it? Who is helped? What trust is built? What mutuality is fostered? Why are teenagers deserting "Christian homes" for prostitution, juvenile delinquency, strange cults, or suicide? What strongarm yield-no-quarter tactics on the homefront drove them out? What could have been accomplished had the parents with the power over them decided not to use it but, instead, had swallowed their pride and entered into patient, careful, honest, painful listening ...

315. Mary's Revolutionary Song (Sermon Series No. 3)

Luke 1:39-56

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” In 1957 when Rosa Parks refused to yield her bus seat to a white male, she ignited a revolution. God was on her side. God opposes every ruling system that devalues people or deprives them of life, liberty, or justice. How dare we value God’s people differently based on skin pigmentation? When we ...

316. God Can’t Keep a Good Secret!

Ezekiel 37:1-14

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... be a result of physical weakness. Americans die of heart problems in frighteningly large numbers. It is estimated that 117,000 will be killed by cancer this year. It may be a spiritual weakness that saps our strength till we are so incapacitated, we yield to temptation, lead undisciplined lives, and barely draw a healthy breath from one day to the next. Or maybe we are living in the dry valley of dead and broken relationships. Divorce in America is perilously close to fifty percent. Children and parents are ...

317. Heart To Heart

Ezekiel 18:1-32

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... us tick. What is wrong with us, the reason we are "transgressors," is the kind of heart we have. Jesus pointed to the heart as the source of good or bad lying. The heart is like a tree: A good tree brings forth good fruit and a bad tree yields bad fruit. The heart is the tree. Listen to his words: "What comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart and this defiles a man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander." For the reason why we are and ...

318. Christ My Light

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

... object, sin is not dark; it is light, bright, dazzling. Yes, that is the way it starts, but it ends with the night of despair. It promises gleam but produces gloom. It lures us with lust, illicit love, and brimful life; but it finally yields disgust, delusion, death. David can testify to that. If offers us the enticement of money and applause, but it leaves us poor, deceived, forsaken. Judas learned that. It holds before us glamour and popularity, but it substitutes tears and terror. Peter knew that. Today ...

319. The New Covenant

1 Corinthians 11:17-34

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

... nigh and take the body of the Lord And drink the holy blood for you outpoured. Offered was he for greatest and for least, Himself the victim and himself the priest. He that his saints in this world rules and shields To all believers life eternal yields, With heavenly bread makes them that hunger whole, Gives living waters to the thirsting soul. Approach ye, then with faithful hearts sincere And take the pledges of salvation here. O Judge of all, our only Savior thou, In this thy feast of love, be with us ...

320. Salvation Through His Suffering

Hebrews 4:14-5:10

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

... he was. He was tempted to answer the dares of his enemies by coming down from the cross in a blaze of glory. He was tempted to ascend to heaven in sight of the wondering crowd and leave us to die for our own sins. But thank God he never yielded. Jesus was not acting that day on the cross. He was dying for you and me! But you say, "How can I know for sure that the man who died on that cross is really the Son of God?" Look at his life. Look at his work. Look at his ...

321. The Spiritual Fitness Demands of the New Age

Romans 7:7-25

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

... , and we find him present. Reuel Howe writes of Man’s Need and God’s Action. He tells us that the disciplines of God are "a structure for existence, in which we may grow up." When we resist God, over against us God becomes an all-powerful reality. When we yield to God, God reveals himself as a friend whom we have violated, but who is now ready and anxious to restore us in life. When we as we are accept God as he is, he accepts us as we are; and by his love and discipline (now desired by us ...

322. On Being a Beautiful Christian

Mark 14:1-11

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

... else yesterday who "made your day" - a sales girl, a bus driver, a business deal - immediately you felt buoyed up, relaxed, you had a good feeling. This person was beautiful - inwardly beautiful - and perhaps unaware of it. Grace! We may not always have this unconscious charm, but by yielding to the grace of Christ through the years we will have more and more of it. His spirit will become our spirit. A little boy said in his prayers: "O God, help me to do today what I have to do, and help me to do it ...

323. Magnify Your Ministry!

Romans 11:11-24

Sermon

Raymond Gibson

... magnified 384 times. Ten million United Methodists (not to mention Lutherans, Episcopalians, Presbyterians ...) magnifying their ministry would soon make this a Christian nation in fact as well as in name. We would be like the seed which Jesus said fell upon fertile ground, yielding fruit thirty, sixty, and even a hundredfold. "But why should those of us in the pews magnify our ministry?" some might ask. "After all, the ministry is what those who are ordained are trained to do. Why should we do what you are ...

324. Are You Under Arrest?

Heb 5:11-13; 10:39

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... shackled to our assumptions about it. God can move in unlimited ways to speak his word to us. You have emerged physically; it’s now time for you to emerge spiritually." Alfred Tennyson was saying much the same thing when he wrote: The old order changeth, yielding place to new, And God fulfils himself in many ways, Lest one good custom should corrupt the world.3 Arrest in any of its forms is not the kind of predicament that we can dismiss as regrettable and yet forgettable because arrest is a waste. When ...

325. Dessert in the Desert

Deut 32:10-12 · Ez 37

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... of friends that one has or does not have. The emptiness that we are talking about is indeed more lethal than going without a meal. The emptiness we have in mind is born of the fact that far too many live severed lives. They are cut off from the meaning - yielding depths. This is the state of affairs that led Jesus to say that "men shall not live by bread alone." T. S. Eliot, in his play The Family Reunion, gets at this when he has a character, Harry, remark about people: They don't understand what it is to ...

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