Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 3351 to 3375 of 4944 results

3351. Give Yourself

2 Corinthians 8:1-15

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Some time ago I came across a letter which expressed an idea with which I want to begin the sermon today. The letter was from a college student to her parents. She said: Dear Mom and Dad: I’m sorry that it has been such a long time since my last letter, but I didn’t want to bother you with the fire in the dormitory and the concussion I received falling out the window trying to escape. I want you to know how nice the young service station attendant around the corner was. He provided me comfort all the time ...

3352. When Nature Says No

2 Corinthians 4:1-18

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

You, who keep account of crises and transition in this life, sit down the first time nature says plain “No” to some “Yes” in you, and walks over you, in gorgeous sweeps of scorn. We all begin by singing with the birds and running fast with June days, hand in hand; but once, for all, the birds must sing against us, and the sun strike down upon us like a friend’s sword caught by an enemy to slay us, while we read the dear name on the blade which bites at us! That’s bitter and convincing: after that we seldom ...

3353. War and the Prince of Peace

Isaiah 9:2-7

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

The year was 1862. The Civil War was raging. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was grieving the death of his second wife when news came that his son had been gravely wounded in the war. That was when Longfellow sat down and wrote this poem: I heard the bells on Christmas Day, their old familiar carols play And wild and sweet the words repeat, of peace on earth good will to all And in despair I bowed my head, there is no peace on earth I said For hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth good will to all ...

3354. Be Silent

Luke 1:11-20

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

Old Zechariah hit the jackpot. He won the lottery. His one in 20,000 chance paid off. He got a once in a lifetime opportunity to enter the Holy of Holies where God is so real you can touch, feel, and taste him. He gets the privilege to celebrate that high priestly function. There, while burning incense to kill the smell of sin, Old Zechariah slipped in another prayer—a prayer of the heart, the hunger of the soul—a haunting question of a lifetime. He'd prayed it thousands of times before. It was the prayer ...

3355. The Humble King

John 12:12-19

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

C.S. Lewis once said, “The best thing about Christianity is that no one could have guessed it." Our Messiah is born in a stable. We let our King ride in majesty on a donkey. We hang our Savior on a cross. How odd of God. Who can imagine it? A horrible week in the life of His disciples becomes a holy week in the life of His followers. Who can comprehend it? Even Palm Sunday, a simple parade becomes a paradox. Those who crown Him King will soon call for His crucifixion, for God can never be put in a box. The ...

3356. Eat and Run

Exodus 12:1-14

Sermon

David J. Kalas

At some time or another, we've all had to hurry through a meal and hurry away from the table. And so, at some time or another, we've all found ourselves saying, "I hate to eat and run, but...." Everybody has done it. Everybody knows what it's like. But even though everyone says he hates to eat and run, the truth is that not everyone does hate it. Some folks rather like it. As a little boy, I liked to eat and run in the summertime. When the weather is warm and it stays light later, dinner is just an ...

3357. How Beautiful the Feet

Romans 10:5-15

Sermon

Larry Lange

The whole thing is stupid and unnecessary, Judy was thinking as she was driving to the nursing home. There was no reason to get rid of Pastor Kyle except the town congregation wanted him all to themselves. But that was enough for the rural congregation's council. "If that's the way they feel about it, then let them have Pastor Kyle. He's never around here, anyway. We'll go it on our own." So the council with the help of the synod, found a part-time pastor who lived thirty miles away to take the call. But ...

3358. John 10:1-10

John 10:1-21

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

“Write what you know.” That is the first advice every creative writing teacher gives to their students. Don’t write about high‑tech science fiction if you grew up in a fishing village. Don’t write about urban drug/gang culture if your experience is a farm in South Iowa. When you write about your environs and the types of people you know, that’s when you write reality. You are reproducing authentic images, conveying motives and emotions you’ve witnessed first-hand that lie behind the characters on the page ...

3359. On Your Mark, Get Set, Go!

Mark 1:9-15

Sermon

John Smylie

Mark doesn't waste any time getting us involved in the beginning of our Lord's ministry. In these few verses, we experience Jesus baptized by John in the River Jordan, followed by the Holy Spirit descending upon him. Immediately after, a voice from heaven proclaimed pleasure in Jesus. Moments later, Jesus is driven by the Spirit into the wilderness where we learn he is to be tempted by Satan. And by verse 14 we discover that Jesus is back in the Galilee region preaching, "The kingdom of God has come near ...

3360. The Bridge Over Every Troubled Waters

Philippians 3:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

In every cliffhanger action movie, at some point in the chase scene an enormous chasm suddenly appears before the hero as he flees the bad guys. The only way across is an incredibly narrow, rickety, mostly-rotten bridge. The way forward looks terrible. But the way back is certain death. So, of course, our hero bravely steps or drives forward and steels himself to cross the abyss on the frail and shaky bridge. “Cliffhangers” being appropriately named, the results are pretty predictable. Although the hero ...

3361. The Ties That Bind

Isaiah 49:15

Illustration

Bruce Shelley

In modern times we define a host of relations by contracts. These are usually for goods or services and for hard cash. The contract, formal or informal, helps to specify failure in these relationships. The Lord did not establish a contract with Israel or with the church. He created a covenant. There is a difference. Contracts are broken when one of the parties fails to keep his promise. If, let us say, a patient fails to keep an appointment with a doctor, the doctor is not obligated to call the house and ...

3362. Life Is Yours

Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

“If it bleeds, it leads.” Have you heard that before? “If it bleeds, it leads” has long been the mantra determining the biggest news stories on any given day. The more gory, gruesome, or grizzly a tale to tell, the better chance of it grabbing our attention and keeping us tuned in. Bad news, dour predictions, impending disaster, keep us riveted. As Samuel Johnson famously noted, “Nothing focuses the mind like a hanging.” One’s own, especially. So it is little wonder that “risk management” has given us all ...

3363. Walls, Walls, Everywhere Walls

Ephesians 2:11-22

Sermon

King Duncan

“Something there is that doesn’t love a wall, That wants it down!” wrote poet Robert Frost. I wish that everyone shared that sentiment. Unfortunately most people do not. Most people love walls. They see walls as their security, even their salvation. It is interesting that the largest construction project ever undertaken by humanity was the building of a wall. I’m talking, of course, about the Great Wall of China. It is said that enough stone was used in that 1,700‑year project to build an 8‑foot wall ...

3364. Low-Carb Christians

John 21:1-19

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

It was over thirty years ago that someone handed me a book that seemed to have the answer to the greatest problem facing people like me — how to lose weight. The book promised a miracle cure with no pain. Eat all you want and lose more than you can imagine. The best thing was that this was secret knowledge. Those who read the book were right and everyone else was wrong, wrong, wrong. There was a special delight in being one of the elite, in knowing something no one else knew. Let me emphasize right off the ...

3365. Guarding the Treasure

2 Timothy 1:1-14

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

Most of us have a long list of passwords, PINs, and usernames to type into our cell phones, our computers, our ATMs, and a host of other gadgets. We need these to protect ourselves. Identity theft has become a serious problem. We have all seen the commercials on television of the person bragging about a dream vacation, but the voice coming out of the character's mouth is another person's voice. The character in the commercial is portraying an identity thief. In real life, identity theft is not as funny as ...

3366. Waiting for Christmas

James 5:7-12

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

Excitement is building on this the third Sunday of Advent knowing that Christmas will soon be here. Children have made their Christmas wish lists of all the wonderful things they desire. Some might have had long lists while others might have subtracted an item or two, still others might have added a few more gifts during the past weeks. We have heard people ask, “What do you want for Christmas?” Most of us, young and old alike, have no problem sharing our wish list with anyone who asks. On our mad rush to ...

3367. A Faith that Works

2 Thessalonians 3:6-15

Sermon

King Duncan

Someone visited an office and saw these signs hanging on the wall: “Work fascinates me,” said one, “I can sit and watch it for hours!” “I don’t mind going to work,” said another. “But that 8-hour wait to go home is awful!” “Hard work may not kill me,” another said, “but why take a chance?” People have all kinds of attitudes about their work. Actor Robert Benchley said, “Anyone can do any amount of work provided it isn’t the work he is supposed to be doing at that moment.” That one may hit close to home. An ...

3368. What Does Jesus Look Like?

Isaiah 52:13--53:12

Sermon

Tony Everett

Jenny had spent the past half hour working quietly all by herself at the art table in her Sunday school classroom. This was unusual behavior for any three-year-old child, but for this gregarious extrovert it was extraordinary. When class time was over, Jenny’s parents came in to take her to the sanctuary for worship. “Come on Jenny, it’s time for church,” said Mom. Jenny just shook her head and continued with her crayon drawing. “Jenny, we have to get moving,” added her father. “Just a minute, I’m almost ...

3369. Traveling Tables

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

On average, you and I gained six pounds between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. That is just the “average.” Some of us gained a lot more. No wonder the past few weeks every other commercial on TV or banner-ad online is about some kind of weight loss program. We are a nation collectively cringing about our six weeks of binging and feasting. I bring you good tidings of great joy: don’t feel guilty about it. Here’s an “indulgence” for your indulging. Between Thanksgiving and New Year’s we have more face to face ...

3370. The Lord's Grace to Paul

1 Timothy 1:12-20

Understanding Series

Gordon D. Fee

A Testimony About the Gospel This paragraph is so clearly a digression in the argument of the letter that it is easy to read it, or comment on it, apart from its immediate context. But to do so is to miss a large part of its significance. The whole paragraph flows directly out of the preceding one. First of all, it is a presentation of the “gospel” (v. 11) as a bold expression of God’s grace toward sinners. Even though it takes the form of personal testimony (note the eleven occurrences of I or me), the ...

3371. Godlessness in the Last Days

2 Timothy 3:1-9

Understanding Series

Gordon D. Fee

With this paragraph Paul shifts his focus from Timothy to the false teachers themselves and sets them against the backdrop of the eschatological urgency that runs throughout the letter. The only personal word to Timothy is the reiterated imperative in verse 5—that he should have nothing to do with such people—which functions to tie the two parts of the paragraph (vv. 1–5, 6–9) together. Timothy is again reminded (cf. 1 Tim. 4:1) that the presence of the false teachers should come as no surprise; they ...

3372. Warning Against Falling Away

Hebrews 5:11-6:12

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

The Importance of Christian Maturity Before continuing his argument concerning Melchizedek, the author pauses for an exhortation to maturity which is followed by remarks on the seriousness of apostasy. This digression is important particularly because of the information it provides concerning the character and situation of the addressees. 5:11–12 The author apparently regards the argument concerning Jesus as high priest according to the order of Melchizedek as too difficult for his readers in their present ...

3373. Esther's Request to the King

Esther 5:1-8

Understanding Series

Timothy S. Laniak

The Jewish Response II: Esther’s Plan for Haman: As we have seen, banquets (feasting/drinking) occur at pivotal moments in the book of Esther and they regularly mask deeper realities. Vashti was deposed as a result of her insubordination during the public banquets of chapter 1. Esther is crowned as Vashti’s replacement during a banquet in chapter 2, but her identity is kept secret throughout (2:18–20). Haman dined with the king in a sinister, private banquet after making the king an (unknowing) accomplice ...

3374. Sayings of the Wise

Proverbs 22:17--24:22

Understanding Series

Roland E. Murphy

The title for these chapters is taken from the Greek, since the MT buries the phrase in verse 17. See the introduction for the international character of wisdom and the influence of Israel’s neighbors, especially Egypt. There can be no doubt that this section has been influenced by the Egyptian text known as Teaching of Amenemope (about 1100 B.C.E.), but there is considerable difference of opinion on the extent and manner of the influence. There is a certain concensus on the following points. The Hebrew is ...

3375. God’s Covenant with Noah

Genesis 9:1-17

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

God’s Blessing on Noah and His Offspring: After the great deluge God gives to Noah and his sons the same blessing he gave to humans at their creation (1:28), empowering them to prosper and to replenish the earth. Further, we learn that humans continue to bear the image of God; each person possesses intrinsic value.Yet God introduces three drastic changes. First, God grants humans permission to eat meat. Second, dread of humans henceforth characterizes the way animals respond to humans. Third, God also ...

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