Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 3226 to 3250 of 5000 results

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

Larry R. Kalajainen

... , October 28, 1992, by Robertson Davies titled "Haunted By Halloween." After tracing the origins of Halloween to the ancient Celtic festival of the Death of the Year, and showing how the Christian church piggybacked the Feast of All Saints onto this pagan festival which marked both the death of the sun at the beginning of winter and the remembrance of their dead ancestors, Davies argued for a recovery of the best part of the ancient Halloween -- the remembrance of the dead. Let us recognize that we are not ...

3227. A Scholar · Nicodemus

John 3:1-21

Sermon

Gordon Pratt Baker

... left Jesus' presence when he found himself challenged to make good on his resolution. To the consternation of the Pharisees Jesus' popularity had continued to grow. In fact, there was common talk that he was the King the Jews had been so long anticipating. (Mark 15:12) The very idea was freighted with emotion and might all too easily launch a messianic movement spawning an insurrection. Let Caesar get wind of it and his legions would pounce on Israel like eagles swooping up prey from a plain. (John 11 ...

3228. A Lady With A Listening Ear · Mary Of Bethany

Luke 10:38-42

Sermon

Gordon Pratt Baker

... the gist of her conversations with him. Granted, there were always the Twelve to whom she might expect the Master to turn when he felt the need to talk. But they were so involved in what was happening that they frequently lost sight of the forest for the trees. (Mark 9:30-32; Luke 18:31-34; John 10:6) Mary, on the other hand, had no such difficulty. For she had long since developed a sensitivity to the needs of others, like Walt Whitman attesting centuries later: I do not ask the wounded person how he feels ...

3229. A Woman Of Substance · Mary Magdalene

Lk 8:1-3

Sermon

Gordon Pratt Baker

... the youthful individual painters have so frequently depicted her. Yet, when referring to the women in Jesus' life, the Evangelists often put Mary's name ahead of her colleagues -- a practice clearly reflecting the respect her years commanded. (cf. Matthew 27:56, 61; Mark 15:40, 16:1; Luke 24:10) At the same time the practice also suggests that Mary was quite possibly a person of rank and consequently prominent. Mary's high prestige in Magdala notwithstanding, however, her commitment to Jesus was total. Thus ...

3230. The Return Of The Lost

Luke 15:1-7

Sermon

Donald Dotterer

... every day? A fireman must fight a fire without breaking down in tears over the person who is trapped inside. A policeman must make an arrest of a young and misguided man, realizing that the result will be a criminal record, thus making the boy a marked man, destined to live a life of rejection. A businessman may have to fire a likable, but unproductive worker in order to keep the company profitable and other people employed. And even those of us who do not work in professions which require a degree of ...

3231. Law and Gospel

Illustration

Richard A. Jensen

... law is to render people helpless in their relationship to God. The law kills us and leaves us dead in the eyes of God. The third use of the law is the law as a guide to Christian living. For Calvin this was the proper use of the law. This marks a radical breach among protestants. Some protestants see the law as God's revealed law for life. Clearly such a law should be preached so that people know how to live! I have already stated my conviction that Martin Luther did not teach the third use of the law in ...

3232. Wedding: Looking Outward Together

1 John 1:1-4

Sermon

Warren Gregory Martin

... and worst of what is to come. And in doing so, it is remarkable how the love becomes real once again. Strong faith doesn't come all at once. It is often gained through willing submission to love and goodness in the midst of trial. Let faithfulness be the mark of your love seen by others, that they might look upon this marriage made today, and give thanks for the beautiful witness it brings to them, and that it might be a model of what others will strive after. Trust in the love and faith of your God who ...

3233. Wedding Sermon - The Solid Rock On Which We Stand!

Matthew 7:24-29

Sermon

Robert S. Crilley

... understand, nor yet be able to appreciate it completely, but from this very moment on, your lives have also changed. Of course, in many respects, it is a welcomed change, and no doubt, one well received by you both. Still, because this is an occasion marked by change, I have chosen as today's scripture lesson a brief passage from the seventh chapter of the gospel of Matthew. Admittedly, this parable may seem a rather strange text for a wedding sermon. However, even though one's marriage might be made in ...

3234. Answers To Consider

Job 19:1-29

Eulogy

James W. Addy

... psalmist and other scripture writers have a message, answers, for us to consider. One psalmist wrote: "Out of the depths I cry to thee, O Lord! Lord, hear my voice." Out of our depths, O Lord, we cry to you. Lord, hear our voices. If you, O Lord, mark iniquities, who can stand? Yet there is forgiveness with you. Hope, therefore, is the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plenteous redemption. The psalmist wrote in a time of despair and sorrow. He wrote in a time when the people ...

3235. There Is No Condemnation

Romans 8:18-27

Eulogy

Deborah D. Steed

... God knows what it is like to have a part of yourself torn away by death. This suffering God can also encourage us to be more aware of and accepting of our own brokenness. We live in a culture which sets unusually high standards of success and marks failure as the deadliest sin. And yet the very symbol of our faith, the cross, was at one time the ultimate sign of failure. Jesus of Nazareth was condemned as a charlatan, a fake. He was considered too much trouble to tolerate. Why, then, do we find ourselves ...

3236. Palm Sunday

Bulletin Aid

Jack Brownlee

... were submissive in receiving this gift from their teacher. Just then Father entered with wine and Matzos, Mother followed with the Z'roah of lamb and the bitter root. "Will you go and get the plates, with the Karpas and egg, and the Dimah?" "Right away. And Mother?" "Yes, John Mark?" "If these travelers need someone to ask the four questions, I would be glad to help them."

3237. The TV Revolution

Sermon

Michael Rogness

... not the debating forum of ancient Greek academies, or even a student speaking with a teacher, but students sitting by themselves in front of a glowing screen typing more words a minute than Aristophanes and Sophocles, or even Charles Dickens and Mark Twain a century ago, could ever have imagined possible. For centuries sermons have been carefully written essays of sound theology and logic which were read before the congregation. Good preachers spent a lot of time writing their sermons. Even when preachers ...

3238. Delivery

Sermon

Michael Rogness

... . Most of us are not proficient at memorizing, but there are other ways of learning the sermon. (2) What works best for me is to read out loud several times, looking at the manuscript less and less. I usually take the manuscript into the pulpit. (3) Mark your manuscript with underlining or yellow marker. The important words will stand out when you look down. (4) Write down key words in a wide left margin. You can glance at those words without looking at the text itself. (5) Some pastors follow the Peter ...

3239. Jerry's Faith

Luke 7:1-10

Illustration

John E. Sumwalt

... I needed strength to face this so I went to church the next morning before going to the hospital to see her. That morning Andy spoke of the healing power of Jesus. I cornered him after church and said, "Andy, are you sure he heals today?" He was sure. I marked several of the healing promises in my Bible and then I went to the hospital. As I entered the waiting room, I saw that many of my relatives were there to pay their last visit to Grandma. The pastor of her church was about to get on the elevator after ...

3240. Everyone Is Searching

Mark 1:35-39

Sermon Aid

Clement E. Lewis

... of eternal light: Illumine our hearts by the light of your grace, that our lips may praise you, that our lives may bless you, and that our worship may glorify you; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. The Lord's Prayer: (Prayed from memory, by everyone) Scripture: Mark 1:35-39 (NRSV) In the morning, while it was still very dark, he (Jesus) got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, "Everyone is searching ...

3241. Elements Of Devotion

Acts 17:16-34

Sermon

Clement E. Lewis

... For we too are his offspring.' " Sermon: "Elements Of Devotion" It is a natural urge within man that he find that which is higher than himself to which he may ascribe allegiance, and express devotion. Sometimes these feelings of devotional kind were marked by setting up stones as altars of remembrance, to which return was occasionally made. Sacrifices were offered. Codes for creative and moral living were established. Doing what is right before God as a part of human devotion became the rule of life. Home ...

3242. What Is That In Your Hand?

Exodus 4:1-17

Sermon Aid

Clement E. Lewis

... Meditation Words Of Preparation: What is that in your hand? Perhaps your hand is holding nothing just now. For the sake of focusing on our theme, please open your hands, palm upward, and look at them. Each hand is distinctive in its markings, even to the individualization of each fingerprint, which may be copied and recorded for identity purposes. The hand is wonderfully made. No other moving part of the body has so many multiple capabilities or essential functions, such as greeting, holding, touching, and ...

3243. Advent 2

Mark 1:1-8

Bulletin Aid

Dennis Koch

Gospel Note In this beginning to his Gospel, Mark uses (with some alteration) two Old Testament passages (Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3) in order to depict the ministry of John the Baptist, his preaching and practicing a water baptism of repentance and forgiveness, as the prophesied forerunner of the Messiah, who will bring a spiritual baptism. Liturgical ...

3244. Prayer for the Baptism of the Lord

Mark 1:9-13, Mark 1:1-8

Bulletin Aid

Dennis Koch

Gospel Note Unlike the description of Jesus' baptism delivered by Matthew and Luke, Mark's earlier version describes the opening of the heavens, the descent of the Spirit, and the voice of God as a private, inner experience of Jesus alone, rather than a public event observable by the baptizer or onlookers. Liturgical Color White Suggested Hymns From God The Father, Virgin Born The ...

3245. Epiphany 3

Mark 1:14-20

Bulletin Aid

Dennis Koch

Gospel Note Mark's version of how Peter and Andrew became Jesus' disciples implies that a positive response to the Gospel of the Kingdom, and its demand for repentance and belief, will necessitate a radical break with one's past (pre)occupations and a reorientation of one's life in light of a ...

3246. Epiphany 5

Mark 1:29-34, Mark 1:35-39

Bulletin Aid

Dennis Koch

Gospel Note Mark reflects his characteristic viewpoint on miracles in this story about Jesus' healing of Peter's mother-in-law and others in Capernaum, namely, that, however important, they are so subordinate to the Gospel message that Jesus isolates himself after them and resists pressure to stay and do more, all in ...

3247. Epiphany 6

Mark 1:40-45

Bulletin Aid

Dennis Koch

Gospel Note This passage presents a conventional miracle story with Mark's distinctive "secrecy" motif inserted. Having cleansed the leper, Jesus charges him to tell the priest about it but otherwise to keep quiet. The man proceeds to spread the word, attracting to Jesus the kind of attention that the latter apparently had wanted to avoid. Liturgical Color Green Suggested Hymns ...

3248. Epiphany 7

Mark 2:1-12

Bulletin Aid

Dennis Koch

Gospel Note Mark here records Jesus' forgiveness of a paralytic as well as the negative reaction of some of the religious establishment on the grounds that such an act is blasphemous, since forgiveness is a prerogative of God alone. Jesus' response is to demonstrate his own divine authority by simply healing the newly ...

3249. Lent 1

Mark 1:9-15

Bulletin Aid

Dennis Koch

Gospel Note Of particular interest in Mark's very succinct version of Jesus' desert temptation is the literary "hinge" between it and the divine pronouncement of Sonship at Jesus' baptism that precedes it; for the idea that one blessed with heavenly approval might be "driven" at once by God's Spirit into a wilderness (or desert) inhabited ...

3250. Proper 9

Mark 6:7-13

Bulletin Aid

Dennis Koch

... and practically. Liturgical Color Green Suggested Hymns The Son Of God, Our Christ The Lord Will Come And Not Be Slow Dear Christians, One And All O God, O Lord Of Heaven And Earth From God Can Nothing Move Me God Moves In A Mysterious Way Prayer for Mark 6:7-13 Lord, help us to capture the sense of enthusiasm and joy which the disciples felt as they stepped out onto the mission field! That kind of boldness, that kind of sharing, that kind of stretching to serve Jesus ...really shakes us up! What risks they ...

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