Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 3276 to 3300 of 4944 results

3276. God Is Love

Sermon

C. David Godshall

For a Child Trapped in a Fire Psalms 121 and 23Romans 8:31-39Colossians 1:3-6 and 11, 121 John 4:7-21Matthew 11:25-30Mark 10:13-16John 14:1-6 and 27 In our day the funeral of a child is an infrequent experience for a pastor. Nevertheless, each of us will encounter this situation without warning, and need to minister to it. The background for this sermon was the death of a five and a half year old boy in a house fire. The dynamics which are recognized in dealing with the family include the presence of shock ...

3277. What's A Savior Worth?

Matthew 6:19-24, Matthew 6:16-18, Matthew 6:5-15, Matthew 6:1-4

Drama

Joe Barone

Narrator: We don't often talk about money in the church, but the scripture talks about it all the time. Now don't panic! This is not going to be a sermon about money. It's going to be about just what the sermon topic says -- "What's A Savior Worth?" If you listened to the scripture, you heard two different stories, one story of a young woman who poured a flask of expensive oil on Jesus' head, and another story about Judas who sought out the authorities and negotiated with them to betray Jesus for 30 pieces ...

3278. Prayers for Year A

Bulletin Aid

William S. Carter

FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT · Matthew 24:37-44 Come, Lord, in whatever way you choose. Get through to us even today, and prepare us to receive your entrance into our lives; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and rules with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, within our world today. Amen. Alternate · Matthew 21:1-11 Come, Lord, we praise your entrance into our lives. Give us clear voices to tell your story, with happiness and joy and expectation; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and ...

3279. The Foolish Farmer

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

Carveth Mitchell

Note, first, that God did not say this man was evil. God said he was a fool. Note, secondly, that most of us would not say he was a fool. We’d say he was an obviously successful businessman. We esteem abundance. Jesus said, "A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." We act as though a man’s life does consist in the abundance of his possessions. We have a saying, "If you’re so smart, why aren’t you rich?" As if that were the test of a person’s life. Why would God call him a fool? ...

3280. The Seventh Sunday of Easter

John 17:1-5

Sermon

Kendall McCabe

"Glory" is a major word in John's Gospel. At the very beginning, in what scholars call the prologue, we are told "we beheld his glory," and then the rest of the Gospel shows how it was done. This past Thursday we celebrated the feast of the Ascension, that occasion which emphasizes the glorification of Christ - he has been raised above all things and is Lord of all. Today in the Gospel we stand between events, for we are listening to Jesus pray on the night before his death, and he is already speaking of ...

3281. The Emmaus Stranger

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Dean Lueking

This beautiful text from Luke 24 has inspired poets, musicians, artists, and above all - those who preach and hear the story of the risen Lord appearing to the two disciples as they walked from Jerusalem to the nearby town of Emmaus. The evening hymn, "Abide with Me," is based upon this story. Rembrandt painted the picture of the two disciples with their guest at Emmaus. I have in mind another well-known painting that I have seen in many homes with the memorable scene of Jesus walking along side of the ...

3282. L’Chaim!

John 10:1-21

Sermon

Dean Lueking

Our Jewish friends have a beautiful phrase in Hebrew that all of us might well take into our vocabulary. "L’Chaim!" means "to life!" It is a toast to life, a salute to the incredible miracle of being among the living. It is a word which recognizes life, rejoices in it, affirms it, and does so in such a way as to include the all-important note of celebration and appreciation. Such a phrase suits us well as a title for this sermon on Jesus’ sentence which breathes that joyful, affirmative spirit of the life ...

3283. Remember Toward the Future John M. Cobb

Exodus 12:1-30

Sermon

... "This day shall be for you a memorial day,2 and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generation you shall observe it as an ordinance forever." (v. 14) Dear friends, Today, beginning this week, we here in Canada have a most special week, and that is because tomorrow is a special holiday, namely "Heritage Day." And by that is meant that day, or week, where one remembers especially his or her national or ethnic heritage.... It is, indeed, interesting the way that we have these ...

3284. Forgiveness Forever

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon

Peter's question touches life where we live it, too: "How much forgiving can we be expected to do?" Peter wondered if there was not some cap, which could be imposed in advance, a limit beyond which no reasonable person could be expected to go. In his liberal human generosity, he suggested seven times. Now, if you have been hurt once and again and yet again by another, I think you will understand that forgiving that person seven times is genuinely generous. Even impossibly generous, you might add under your ...

3285. Round Trip to Bethlehem

Ruth 1:1-22

Sermon

This story has the stuff in it for creating a modern day television soap opera. It mirrors life as it was, and is right now in this world, at its worst and at its best. The Book of Ruth begins with a refugee problem. Elimelech, a native of Bethlehem, leaves home with his wife and two sons to seek refuge in Moab (of all places); it was here Moses was buried. As a result of his sin Moses got into real trouble with God and was not allowed to enter the Promised Land. The move from Bethlehem to Moab was nothing ...

3286. Judgment and Justice

Amos 5:18-27

Sermon

Israel was always getting into trouble with God, especially when it came to their worship of him. One would think the nation would have learned its lesson for all time when it made and worshiped the golden calf during its trek from Egypt to the Promised Land. Not so, for over and over again, they allowed their religious rites to become corrupt, especially by developing all sorts of ceremonies meant to please God while, outside the Temple, they lived rather secularly oriented lives. Apparently, their ...

3287. Healing And Forgiveness

Luke 5:17-26

Sermon

Let us pray: Gracious and eternal God, we continue our worship during this season of Lent, seeking to understand the gifts of healing which you bring to our lives. Lord, in these moments, may we catch a glimpse of the truth that your spirit can touch and heal us of our afflictions. In the precious name of Jesus we pray, Amen. There is a story about an old Maori woman in the country of New Zealand who had earned a reputation for being an argumentative, combative person, for which she received the nickname ...

3288. The Foolish Farmer

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

3289. Easter 3

Acts 2:14-41, Acts 2:42-47, Isaiah 43:1-13, 1 Peter 1:13-2:3, Luke 24:13-35

Sermon Aid

THEOLOGICAL CLUE The Second Sunday after Easter used to be titled as Misericordia Domini ("the goodness of the Lord") and was known as Good Shepherd Sunday. Now it is listed as the Third Sunday of Easter, and Good Shepherd Sunday was moved to the Fourth Sunday of Easter, Years A, B, and C. Years A and B now feature the first appearances of Jesus, according to Luke 24; Year C employs John 21:1-14, which is the third appearance of Jesus after the resurrection. This is one way of extending the appearances of ...

3290. "A" Lamb to "the" Lamb

Exodus 12:1-30

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, "This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: ‘On the tenth day of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man’s ...

3291. Sinners Anonymous

Matthew 9:9-13

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax office; and he said to him, "Follow me." And he rose and followed him. And as he sat at the table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" But when he heard it, he said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and ...

3292. How’s Your Appetite?

Matthew 5:6 · Luke 14:1-14

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

In any home where there are small children with parents who do not sanction a complete submission to television, the most familiar request is: "Tell us a story." And those stories are remembered for the rest of their lives. There is not a single adult or child, I dare say, who could not tell the story of Little Red Riding Hood, of Goldilocks and her bears, of the three little pigs, the big, bad wolf, and countless other favorite characters. This is true of a congregation or a reader. A congregation almost ...

3293. Converting the Converted

Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

These twelve Jesus sent out, charging them, "Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lest sheep of the house of Israel. And preach as you go, saying, ‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ " [Matthew 10:5-7] Have you ever wondered why, with a church on almost every corner in America, so much evil abounds? In a country with approximately 120 million church members, 98 million gamble, costing $5.1 billion per year. In a land where seventy-one percent of the ...

3294. Love of God, Self, and Neighbor

Matthew 22:34-40

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

The religious people of Jesus’ day got together to try to trap Jesus with their questions. They asked him about paying taxes. They asked him about rising from death. We read today that they asked him what was the greatest commandment. The Jewish rabbis liked to distill the meaning of religion into little phrases like the ones we put on our Burma Shave signs. They had 632 laws and rules for the practice of their religion. They tried to break it down into a couple of inclusive commandments. "Teacher," he ...

3295. Measure of Success

Drama

Sarah Walton Miller

This skit has two visible characters: the rich man, MR. MAGNATE, and the young reporter, which part may be played by either boy or girl. The other characters are heard but not seen: Henry, the cousin; Mr. Magnate as a boy, Phillip; his Mother. Look in old family albums or junk stores for old photographs of the 1910-1915 vintage, as suggested in the script. Show with an opaque projector. However, if you wish to make the scenes visible, use one end of the playing area for the interview and the other end for ...

3296. Don't Ignore the Signs

Galatians 6:7

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

Object: Some signs, such as a STOP sign, KEEP OFF THE GRASS sign, BEWARE OF DOG sign. Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you know what the word "ignore" means? It is a very good word, but I wonder how many of you know what it means? [Let them answer.] Very good, it means that you are not paying attention to someone or something. I have a friend who does not pay attention to signs. He ignores them. When he rides his bike in the street he ignores this sign. [Hold up STOP sign.] Do you know what ...

3297. TOWN CLERK

Acts 19:35

Illustration

Stephen Stewart

Acts 19:35 - "And when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, ‘Men of Ephesus, what man is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Artemis, and of the sacred stone that fell from the sky?’ " The town clerk was probably a magistrate of considerable authority and influence, comparable to the mayor of a large city today. It is certainly clear from our text that he was the principal municipal officer of Ephesus, who was immediately responsible for the ...

3298. Christian Courage

Acts 4:1-22

Sermon

Durwood L. Buchheim

"You will go to prison for six months," said the Judge. So John Bunyan went to prison for nothing worse than preaching in the little Bedford Baptist Church. "Baptist" preaching was against the law. But Bunyan persisted in breaking the law. He told Justice Keeling, "If I was out of prison today, I would preach again tomorrow, by the help of God." So it was back to prison. This time for twelve years. And again for six months. John Bunyan, who gave us the great classic, Pilgrim’s Progress, spent one fifth of ...

3299. John Was not like Gene

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

As the people misunderstood the authentic John the Baptist of history ("What did you go into the forest to see?"), people may misunderstand him now. So suggests this sermon. Because John the Baptist may appear today in clothing other than that of camel’s hair, John’s message may appear in different forms. To illuminate a common distortion of the figure of John the Baptist, the sermon uses a childhood experience, which also captures the listener’s attention. The sermon refers to this experience throughout ...

3300. Home Economy

1 Kings 17:7-24

Sermon

Alton F. Wedel

This style of home economy is difficult to find today. In fact, the story that God spreads before us as our diet for this harvest Sunday is so far removed from the complexities of poverty in our society, the issues of world hunger, and the problems of production that it seems a legend, something out of this world. Things like this don’t happen any more. We would hardly want to teach this style of home economy in our home economics classes. Much to our regret and loss, God seems to have been sent off into ...

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