Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 3226 to 3250 of 4963 results

3226. A Wandering Aramean

Genesis 12:1-8

Sermon

... give him more blessings. By rights, his picture would never make it to the mantel in the family homestead. Yet he, too, is an ancestor in faith. We are what our ancestors have left us to be: that's the message of the show Roots. But, we hope, there's more to us. We hope our story and our value as individuals doesn't come from merely adding a few more years of painful, aimless living to a common story; there's not much glory in adding one more gnarled limb to a sickly, scraggly family tree. We are what our ...

3227. He Can Quench All Your Thirsts

Exodus 17:1-7

Sermon

... gives this living water, too. And not only is God's help today both practical and spiritual, but the two natures of that help are still inseparably bound. How can a hungry person be given food without also finding acceptance, love, and hope? What troubled person, calmed and inspired by forgiveness or joy or hope, is not better able to use the resources God has given him? Often the best way to find one kind of help is to look for the other. God best helps those people with a problem of the spirit, such as ...

3228. Why I Can’t Sleep in Church

Ezekiel 33:1-20

Sermon

... that Satan once had a meeting with some of his angels to work out a strategy to win more people. He asked his associates for their counsel. The first one said, "Let us tell the people on earth that there is no heaven. If they have nothing to hope for, they might lose interest." But Satan said, "That idea has merit, but I’m afraid the idea of heaven is too well ingrained in most peoples’ minds." The second angel offered his suggestion. "Why not tell them that there is no hell. If they have nothing to ...

3229. Let the Journey Begin

Matthew 6:1-4

Sermon

Dean Lueking

... responds to this text is in large part a hidden journey to those with whom we share the journey. But that is as it should be. All hinges upon the Father's knowing us and our knowing the Father. With our souls secured by Christ, and with faces lit with hope and a holy joy we: . . . run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the ...

3230. Wellspring for the Soul

John 4:1-26

Sermon

Dean Lueking

... Latin. It means a sloth - a kind of drought of soul, sadness in the face of spiritual good, a sort of "so what?" outlook that concludes that since nothing counts, anything goes. Prayer dries up. Values are held but loosely if at all. Life grows dull. Hope seems pointless. Love is just too much work. Recovering a Buried Desire What one doesn’t even realize under such a cover of spiritual dryness is that a thirst for life and freshness of spirit and purpose under God is still there. Like the Samaritan woman ...

3231. The Promise and the Task

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

Dean Lueking

... us is enormous. Sometimes the equipment seems derisory. Yet that is what Jesus left us with, and there is no more reliability about it than Jesus himself. We come together to celebrate Christ’s Ascension as people who have found him reliable, or with the hope that maybe that reliability is in our lives without which everything flows uncertainly in relativity, fads, points of view, fashions of mind. Take hold of what he has left us. He has left us in our humanity lifted up to the Father’s presence, no ...

3232. Chosen as Witnesses

Acts 10:23b-48

Sermon

... is the latter. We know there were persons who pondered what it might mean to live beyond death. They wanted to go on living. They developed great and extensive philosophies and patterns of insuring their immortality. They built pyramids, obelisks and other things in the hope of gaining immortality. But faith in the resurrection came when God demonstrated his power to raise up his Son, Jesus Christ, even though he had died, to set him free to live as the Living Lord forever and ever. In the accounts of the ...

3233. Loosed from the Pangs of Death

Acts 2:14-41

Sermon

... fail us. I have even read that in Arizona there is a place where a body can be frozen with the expectation or hope that a drug will be discovered, which will heal that person’s disease so they might live again. We have beautiful funeral homes ... which we can turn in our pain and sorrow, and we can find comfort. There is more than sorrow, pain and tears to be shed. There is faith, hope and love, and in that love we have new life. Some would say, "It is not that easy. It does not happen in a short time." I ...

3234. Is Repentance Necessary?

Acts 2:14-41

Sermon

... and repentance? Psychologists call it rationalization. It is the mechanism by which we tell one story we wish were true so we do not have to deal with the reality of what we know is so. It is a way of dwelling in the realm of half-truths in the hope that thereby we can at least receive a partial peace. A country boy used to enjoy walking down the road shooting his rifle at fenceposts, trees, barns, and anything else that did not move. One day a man was following him down the road. He saw that everywhere the ...

3235. The Last Will Be First

Matthew 20:1-16

Children's Sermon

... message. Those last people, according to our understanding, are the Christians. Just as the records that you didn't like so much when you had your choice would be the first played, so will the Christians be the first called by God to receive his gift of eternal life. I hope you understand that it is God's gift and he not only chooses who he will give it to, but how many he wants to give it to. All of the records were made to be played. While we may like one better than another, they will all be played ...

3236. Advent 2

Malachi 2:17--3:5, Philippians 1:1-11, Luke 3:1-20

Sermon Aid

... comes to us on the highway of the heart. John the Baptizer in fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy (Isaiah 40:3-5) was sent to prepare the heart for Christ's advent. Outline: The highway of the heart - a. The straight highway: righteousness - v. 4c b. The elevated highway: hope - v. 5a c. The level highway: humility - v. 5b d. The smooth highway: love - v. 5d 3. Why Repent? (3:3). Need: The average person asks, "Why should I repent? I am happy as I am. I don't see any need to change my life-style." During this ...

3237. Proper 23

Lk 17:11-19 · 2 Tim 2:8-15 · 2 Ki 5:14-17 · Mic 1:2, 2:1-10 · Ru 1:1-19a

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... we may be in a mess. The future looks foreboding: decline, destruction, death. What can save us and bring us to life and provide hope for the future? Today's Lessons have the solution for troubled days. Outline: Take the way that leads to life - A. Repent of sin - ... forefather of David. Many think they are too small and too limited in brain and brawn to do anything for God. Here is hope for one who considers himself an alien, outcast, a nobody. Outline: God can use you A. In spite of your sex B. In ...

3238. All Saints' Sunday

Mt 5:1-12 · Is 26:1-21 · Rev 21:9-11, 21-27

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... It is a great thing to know that the end of the world will be a happy song for the faithful. We can live today in hope. 2. Strong city (v. 1). The city of God is a strong city because it has spiritual vitality. Its walls are salvation. It is strong ... may be good on earth, but the very best life on earth is nothing compared with the life to come in heaven. This gives us hope and patience in our tribulation. With Paul we can say "to die is gain." Outline: The better life to come - A. Comfort for those who ...

3239. Epiphany 4

Lk 4:21-30 · 1 Cor 13:1-13 · Jer 1:4-10

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... is the perfect and eternal gift. Lest love be misunderstood as moralism or sentimentalism, Paul combines love with faith and hope with love being supreme. Luke 4:21-30 The people of Nazareth react negatively to Jesus' first sermon. When Jesus ... a blessed life can be built. Outline: "These three" are indispensable to the good life - A. Faith - living in the light of the past B. Hope - for tomorrow's living C. Love - for the living of these days WORSHIP RESOURCES Prayer of the Day: "O God, you know that we ...

3240. Christmas Eve or Day

Isaiah 51:17--52:12, John 1:1-18, Hebrews 1:1-14

Bulletin Aid

... 's kingdom! Collect Glorious God, who has uncovered the glory of your kingdom in the birth of your Son: Help us to see in Jesus the hope of our rebirth; that we may begin anew to live the life you have created us to live. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Prayer ... of Confession O God of love, you have revealed yourself in the life of your Son, Jesus. He is our light, our life, and our hope. But we are of this world; and this world is indifferent to your gift of love. We are among those to whom your Son comes, ...

3241. Epiphany 7

Isaiah 49:8-26, 1 Corinthians 3:1-23, Matthew 5:27-30, Matthew 5:31-32, Matthew 5:33-37

Bulletin Aid

... : Isaiah 49:8-13 Theme: God does not forget his people Call to Worship Pastor: God has promised us that he will never leave us, or forget that he is our God. People: Even when we think God has deserted us, he is present to give us hope and encouragement. Pastor: God keeps his promises. It is up to us to believe and trust him. People: Our faith is strengthened as we put our trust in God. We know he will be faithful to us. Collect Gracious Father, whose faithfulness to your children never wavers: Transform ...

3242. A Claim to a Crown

Matthew 24:36-51

Sermon

George Bass

... , every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children ... This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron."3 Beyond our voiced or written objections to the arms race or the bomb race, it is for ...

3243. Joseph’s Dream

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

... was to be the mother of the long-awaited Messiah! Gabriel didn’t even make a personal visit to Joseph when he was awake, but simply appeared to him in a dream. And what a dream that must have been! Joseph must have awakened with a start, perhaps hoping the dream would go away. When it didn’t, he surely had some immediate reactions to it. Could he trust the reality of it, or was it merely a dream? And what about the "virgin Mary" part of the announcement? Why should he believe such an implausible tale ...

3244. Reflection Time

John 1:1-18

Sermon

... . This means the children of the world will be able to grow up."26 Well-intentioned, but a bit naive and childlike? What do you have to say about saving the world by dying on a cross in the middle of a garbage dump? There’s not much glory, or hope, in that. Was Jesus a bit deluded when he declared, "And I, if I be lifted up will draw all people to myself"? We look to his resurrection and ascension and then, indeed, we see the fulness of his glory. Christmas is about to end for another year and, before ...

3245. Burning Torches

Isaiah 63:7--64:12

Sermon

... There he had experienced God’s Spirit fanning him to new prophetic life. Then God had led him home. When the people returned to Jerusalem, the city was in ruins. Into that rubble heap the prophet threw the cinder of God’s Word. He preached a message of hope when hope was not to be seen. Where destruction lay all around, he cried out, "I will tell of the kindness of the Lord, the deeds for which He is to be praised." Those deeds included the creation of the world, when God’s tempest fanned the coals of ...

3246. Who are these Kings?

Isaiah 60:1-22

Sermon

... that shrouded all peoples. Only Matthew reports the story of the Magi from the east. They are crucial to the theme of his entire Gospel: In Jesus God has been revealed for all people. In Jesus we are all born to new life and to the new light of hope in the midst of our cloudiest days. The Magi came as men of faith from the east. As Magi they were probably priests of the religion of Zoroaster, astrologers who lived by the signs of the Zodiac. Was one a Capricorn, one a Sagittarius, one a Scorpio? We don ...

3247. Given as Light

Isaiah 42:1-9

Sermon

... the nations." When the prophet first spoke these words, he was a long way from the River Jordan and a long way from Jerusalem. He, with many of his fellow Jews, was in Exile in Babylon on the Euphrates River, in modern day Iraq. Word from God gave them hope in what looked like a hopeless situation and light in a darkened land. The promise was this: Even though you are far from home, God still delights in you. He still takes you by the hand. He will make you a light for all nations. Luther, like Isaiah, felt ...

3248. Micah’s Orders

Micah 6:1-8

Sermon

... . "What will you do with this building?" I asked. "We will sell it," she replied. I don’t know who will buy it, and I don’t know what it will be used for - but I do know this. I have a hope for that building, built in 1875, sold in 1925, and now about to be sold again. I hope it will continue to stand as a witness to what the prophet Micah said. May it continue to prod people who want to sleep their lives away with the worship of stone and glass to "do justice, love mercy, and walk ...

3249. Never Forgotten

Isaiah 49:8-26

Sermon

... learn nothing." That’s a terrible thing to say about any family or any person. It means good memory is both a blessing and a curse. The prophet Isaiah knew that as he spoke the recorded words in this Old Testament lesson. He urged his people to remember, hope in the midst of despair. He encouraged them not to forget the need to move in the midst of their encampment, and he sparked their homeward feelings as they sat glued to the land in exile. The real meaning of this beautiful text from Isaiah is that ...

3250. God's Push

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

... Bible! Not at all. God may indeed push people toward doing what is hard, oh, yes. That push, however, is full of life! It is a hopeful push, bubbling with energies, which can move us toward becoming "the best that we can be" - and by a definition better than our own. Let ... be treated in such a way! But the woman doesn't quit. I can imagine she might have thought, "Jesus is my daughter's only hope. I've got to do all I can no matter what they think." So, she says to Jesus, "Even dogs get the crumbs that fall ...

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