Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 326 to 350 of 1285 results

Mark 9:42-50

Sermon

Thomas Peterson

No mistake. This is a hard text. Jesus was often given to double-edged sayings, paradoxes and extreme comparisons. He spoke ironically and often with biting humor. Here he uses the images of cutting off a hand, a foot, or plucking out an eye. The text begins with the disciples concerned with protecting their turf. All people have vested interests and will go ...

327. The Priesthood Of All Believers

Exodus 19:1-25

Sermon

Walter Kimbrough

... records for the number of assists. To be credited with an assist, one has to pass the ball to someone else who then scores. It is not the person who shoots the ball, but the one who passes the ball. Likewise, the priest with the ball of life, who is double teamed by the forces of evil in the world, sees another priest in the open on the other side of the court, does not try to make the impossible shot, but rather passes the ball to the priest in the open for an easy score. Yes, when we work together ...

328. A Lesson From Prayers Overheard

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

Theodore F. Schneider

... in all of his good works, fall short of the glory and the call of God. The Pharisee trusted in himself and in his works, and not in the grace of God. Whenever we measure our works by a standard other than God, we fall into the double-sided trap of either unwarranted pride or dishonest humility. Rather than looking upward to God, the Pharisee looked sideways to the publican; and there is no question about it, the Pharisee looks splendid when compared with a publican! The demon of pride comes racing in and an ...

329. The Signs Of Salvation

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

Theodore F. Schneider

... the law of God, he goes in his new and abundant freedom beyond the mandate of the law: Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor;and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold. The ancient law required a repayment of double the value if the goods were taken in robbery, but only the value of the goods plus a penalty of 20 percent if the confession was voluntary. In either case, Zacchaeus went far beyond the law. In his gifts to the poor, his vision and caring were extended. In ...

330. A Plan For Difficult Times

Luke 21:5-38

Sermon

Theodore F. Schneider

... of all of his work, and to win the loyalty and support of his Jewish subjects, he would rebuild the temple as the grandest of all of Jerusalem's buildings. Building upon and extending beyond the foundations of Solomon and Zerubbabel, he nearly doubled the area of the temple mount, enclosing within the retaining walls an area of 35 acres! While it had taken Solomon's architects and artisans seven years and five months to complete the first temple, Herod's first stage of construction required a decade ...

331. Three Days To See

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

Helen Keller

... so that I might see the patient horses ploughing in the field (perhaps I should see only a tractor!) and the serene content of men living close to the soil. And I should pray for the glory of a colorful sunset. When dusk had fallen, I should experience the double delight of being able to see by artificial light, which the genius of man has created to extend the power of his sight when Nature decrees darkness. In the night of that first day of sight, I should not be able to sleep, so full would be my mind ...

332. Rag Doll #37

Drama

Edward Long

... . Evening finds Gerald and Mr. McKenzie driving up the long road from the gatehouse to the Hibbing residence. As they approach the door, large snowflakes whirl around the well-decorated entrance. They ring the doorbell. (Lights up). MAID: Deliveries out back ... please. (Does a double-take). Oh, it's you Mr. McKenzie. MR. McKENZIE: Beg your pardon for intruding on Christmas Eve, but I've a present for Laura. MAID: (Looks puzzled). Why, certainly. Come in out of the snow. Mr. and Mrs. Hibbing are gone, on a ...

333. Recollections of Enoch, A Jewish Captive In Babylon

Isaiah 12:1-6

Drama

Robert A. Morgan

... speaking - that Yahweh wants us to be comforted. More than that, he tells us Yahweh forgives us now. Our time of punishment - whatever it was for, however long it had to last - is done. Our struggles are all over; our iniquities are pardoned; we have paid - paid double, in fact - for our sin; now we can look up, be relieved, and know that, all this while, Yahweh has been keeping track of us, watching over us, and caring for us. We did not, after all, leave him behind us in Jerusalem, nor did the Babylonians ...

334. Wine from Water: The Wedding

John 2:1-11

Sermon

Steve Swanson

... and structure of this world of ours. We marvel at this miracle along with others we have associated with water. But fermentation is a slow miracle. A complete natural fermentation process takes weeks. Imagine that miracle taking place instantly. That would be a double miracle. And imagine it taking place with no grapes. That would be a triple miracle. Water into wine - a triple mystery. It all happened, it really did, in a little town called Cana in Galilee, about 2000 years ago. It happened because there ...

335. Herod

Matthew 2:1-12

Drama

Dale Bringman

... Holy Land. I laid out the magnificent port of Caesarea and named it for the Emperor. I erected fortresses to protect and aqueducts to provide. My crowning achievement was the rebuilding of the Temple at Jerusalem, a most resplendent place of worship. Its double porticos were lined with Corinthian columns. On the central doors was a grapevine fashioned of solid gold. The imposing structure with Solomon's portico intact, could be seen from afar. And I was good to the people. In seasons of famine, I lowered ...

336. Beasts, Saints and Chaos

Daniel 7:15-28, Daniel 7:1-14

Sermon

Paul W. F. Harms

... temptation may determine how we weather it. If God is to help, he needs to remove the circumstances which cause the pain. Such action, and only such action, will mean that he is of any help. And that, of course, is one possibility. There is another: to pray for a double measure of strength to bear the load. The vision of the Daniel text is the latter: the vision of the sea of chaos, the four beasts ready to devour people. But it's not the beasts, nor the chaos but the saints of the King who will reign for ...

337. Step Nine - Discipline

Mt 5:21-26 · Eph 4:25-32 · Num 5:5-10

Sermon

John A. Terry

... for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep. He shall make restitution; if he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft. If the stolen beast is found alive in his possession, whether it is an ox or an ass or a sheep, he shall pay double." This passage from Numbers is for one who chooses to avoid court, for the person whose conscience prompted him to make voluntary restitution. In addition to restoring to the person wronged the property plus one fifth of its value, the one seeking to make restitution was to ...

338. How Much Is Enough?

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

Johnny Dean

... biblical metaphor because that was the staple, basic, bottom-line food source of Jesus’ day. If Jesus had been from Malaysia, it would have been sweet potatoes, and communion could get a little messy. Throughout the gospels, food always has a double meaning. Jesus frequently spoke of eating and drinking in connection with the satisfaction of spiritual needs. When Jesus talked about fish and bread, there was always a spiritual significance to his remarks. Having faith in God provides us with the ability ...

339. What's So Good About Feeling Bad?

Exodus 17:1-7

Sermon

Joann Hary

... then rose again on Easter morning, even amongst our murmuring. God in Christ is the Rock, the rock of our Salvation. Oh, "Rock of Ages, Cleft for me. Let me hide myself in thee. Let the water and the blood, from thy wounded side which flowed, be of sin the double cure; save from wrath and make me pure!" Amen

340. We Don't Know How To Pray

Romans 8:18-27

Sermon

Johnny Dean

... potions, palm reading – the list goes on. And among the most notoriously superstitious people in American society today are professional athletes. I remember my dad told me a story once about a professional baseball player named Minnie Minoso. In the first game of a double header one Saturday, Minoso came to bat five times and had nothing to show for it – five at-bats, five outs. Between games, Minoso went down to the locker room and took a shower while wearing his uniform, to wash away the evil spirits ...

341. How Soon Is "Soon"?

Sermon

Rolf E. Aaseng

... are signals that the end is imminent. They can serve as reminders of his promise to return and help us to be prepared for that great event. Some confusion has resulted from attempts to interpret his words. When Jesus spoke about these signs he was answering a double question. He had commented that the temple in Jerusalem would be destroyed. The disciples then asked, "Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" (Matthew 24:3). No doubt they thought that a ...

342. In Quest of a Treasure

James 1:1-18

Sermon

Larry Powell

... game," ardent supporters sometimes become afflicted with a kind of spectator virus. Symptoms range from headache, nausea, hyper-activity, and speculation, to fantasizing, motor-mouth, and various sensations of general heebie-geebies. Coaches stalk, ponder, psyche and double-psyche themselves, carry a piece of chalk in every pocket, experience blurred vision due to watching countless replays of game film, and have been known to forget meals. The players wrestle with butterflies, become impatient, and develop ...

343. Encounters With Christ V: Jesus and James and John

Matthew 20:20-28

Sermon

James W. Moore

... not abolish or condemn “Ambition”… He redeems it!! He says: “Be Ambitious, but be ambitious for others. Be ambitious to be a Servant.” [Personal Jim Moore Story]: Recently, I saw a family I know well. The mom was pushing her children in one of those double strollers. The little girl was five, and the little boy was two. I knelt down and said to the little girl: “My, you look so beautiful today,” and she said: “Thank you, but did you notice my little brother? He looks good too!” Now, that ...

344. Monologue: Naomi And Ruth

Ruth 1:1-22

Drama

Lynda Pujad

... From Moab, we spent many days traveling to Bethlehem. It was not an easy trip for us because it was just the two of us. Two women traveling alone were vulnerable to every type of problem and danger. If something happened to one of us, the other would have a double burden. It was a terrible risk to take, and Naomi was not strong physically. I had no idea where we were going, or how long it would take. Naomi knew little, either. I didn't know how I, a woman from Moab, would be treated among the Israelites. We ...

345. Six Nails of the Cross IV: The Nail of Indecision

Matthew 27:11-26

Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

... battle in the world, and this battle belongs not to the strong, or the wise, but to the faithful. Paul's letter to the Ephesians exhorts Christians to put on the whole armor of God. One must be faithful and strong to stand. The Psalmist speaks of double-minded men who are rebuked by God. But the promise to those who make a single-minded decision is God's peace which passes all understanding. To live is to choose. It is the very negation of life to act against one's better judgment through weakness, because ...

346. Colorizing Jesus

John 20:24-31

Sermon

Carl Jech

... simply to say that Jesus is as close as one can come to the embodiment of God's grace! Jesus is the strongest possible symbol for that "grace which like the Lord, the Giver, Never fails from age to age." If all of this just sounds like confusing double-talk to you, if you would rather relate to a Jesus who is simple and one-dimensional, who comes in only one color (or in black-and-white), maybe this true story will help you better to cope with these ambiguous and perhaps threatening distinctions between the ...

347. Praise God For Adversity

Isaiah 43:14-28

Sermon

Carl Hoefler

... hold on them. Palestine was their native land; and, for better or worse, Yahweh was their God. Into this situation came the prophet Second Isaiah. He was a prophet of comfort. He proclaimed that divine judgment had already taken place. Israel had received double punishment for all her sins. Now, a new day was dawning. Yahweh was coming to release Israel from her bondage and to restore the shattered foundations of her homeland. Though the past was bitter, the future would be sweet. God was working good ...

348. Living Passionately

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... what it looked like then. Pasternak said, "Rome is a flea market of borrowed gods and conquered people, a mass of filth convoluted in a triple knot, as in an intestinal obstruction. Heavy wheels with no spokes, eyes sunk in fat, sodomy, double chins, illiterate emperors, fish fed on the flesh of learned slaves, all crammed into the arches of the Colosseum, and all wretched. And then, in this tasteless heap of gold and marble, HE came, Light enclothed in an aura, emphatically human, deliberately provincial ...

349. The Unjust Steward

Luke 16:1-15

Drama

Robert A. Lehmann

Theme: A parable of honesty and love for God Characters: Narrator Rich man Accountant, Three solo voices (the narrator doubles as Jesus) Narrator: Now Jesus told this story, Solo 7: To his disciples. Solo 2: To his disciples. Solo 3: To his disciples. Jesus: Once there was a man, Solo 1: A very rich man, Solo 3: A wise man, Solo 2: A man of position. Jesus: He hired an ...

350. The Unforgiving Servant

Matthew 18:21-35

Drama

Robert A. Lehmann

Theme: A parable of forgiveness Characters: Narrator Jesus Four solo voices who double as Peter, the Lord, Servant 1, and Servant 2 Narrator: Many times we forget how terrific God is to us. We go around accepting what he gives us without giving anything in return to him, or if we remember him, we forget to give to people around us. Christ was ...

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