Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 326 to 350 of 4915 results

326. Through the Valley of the Shadow

Psalm 23:1-6

Eulogy

Carl B. Rife

For a Cancer Victim This sermon was preached at the memorial service for an aunt who died of lung cancer. Recently, while I was driving in Frederick, I had a rather lengthy wait at a stop light while a very long funeral procession went through the intersection. I must admit that my reaction was annoyance and impatience: I had things to do and places to go. But as I moved beyond my initial feelings I had a number of thoughts about the whole matter of death. My first thought was that every day in the city of ...

327. Can You Hear Me Now?

Exodus 3:1-15

Sermon

Arley K. Fadness

A cell phone commercial asks, "Can you hear me now?" The assumption is that one can hear any place, any time, in any situation through this miraculous technology -- the latest cell phone device and service. When the voice of God comes from a burning bush that is not consumed -- "Can you hear me now?" -- Moses finds excuse after excuse for not hearing or listening to God's call.1 Moses has good reason and credible excuses, at least in his mind, to resist, but God, nonetheless, persists in calling. God's ...

328. Pentecostal Power

Acts 2:1-21

Sermon

King Duncan

Eugene Barron, Littleton, Colorado tells of driving down a two-lane highway where someone had thrown garbage onto the road. Most of it had been scattered off the road except one plastic cup. This cup was positioned right in the middle of road. In fact, it was in the center of the two yellow lines. The road was straight enough that Barron noticed the cup long before he got to it. Every time a car passed by the cup, it would simply roll to the opposite side without moving from the center. When another car ...

329. Mighty Morphin Power People

Luke 9:28-36

Sermon

King Duncan

A nurse tells about caring for a couple’s newborn son after his cesarean birth. Since the mother was asleep under general anesthesia the nurse took the tiny child directly to the newborn nursery to introduce him to his daddy. While cuddling his son for the first time, the new father noticed something disturbing about his newborn son’s ears. They were rather large and seemed to stand out conspicuously from his head. He expressed his concern that some kids might call his son names like “Dumbo.” The ...

330. Christ's Monarchy

Luke 23:33-43

Sermon

Molly F. James

Today is Christ the King Sunday. Our readings — particularly those from Colossians and Luke’s gospel — are all offering us images of Christ as our king. Like any good American, I have mixed feelings about monarchy. There is a romanticism about the monarchy. I love the stories of princes and princesses, kings and queens. While those make nice stories, when it comes down to it, I will also admit to a patriotism that can tend to a bit of self-aggrandizement. Remarkably, for over two centuries we have managed ...

331. The Power of the Staff

Mark 6:1-13

Sermon

Lori Wagner

A year or so ago, when our primary activity during lockdown was to sit on the porch and watch the wildlife, I noticed a mother bird building a nest. I had never seen the process up close like this, and so fascinated, I took note of everything she was doing. In fact, I became so engrossed in Mama bird’s family that I would perch on my rocking chair each and every day, just so I could observe the entire scenario up close and personal. She gathered bits of grass, twigs, leaves, and other odds and ends and ...

332. New Life Goes On

Mark 5:21-43

Sermon

David Coffin

The experience is worse than any walk of shame one sees for people being voted off the program in any television reality show. A woman who is in her upper middle ages had been working in her mid-level management office job for twelve years. She had done all of the right things. She had both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in her field. Her colleagues enjoyed her, as did the people who worked in her department whom she supervised. She kept a cordial relationship with upper management. She wore company ...

333. Through The Storm, Through The Night

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

Frank Lyman

Two twelve-year-old boys, Bob and Mike, broke a window while playing baseball. They looked around to see if anyone had seen them. No one was in sight, except for Mike's little brother. They went over and offered him a piece of candy not to tell. He refused it. "I'll give you my baseball," Mike said. "No," said his little brother. "Then what about my new glove?" Bob added. "No!" said the little brother. "Well, what do you want?" they pleaded. With resoluteness, the little fellow said, "I wanna tell." It's ...

334. Through the Eyes of an Eagle (Introduction)

John 20:24-31

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

I suppose that if a vote were taken as to which of the Four Gospels is the most popular, among those who know that there are four Gospels, the vote would be overwhelmingly in favor of the Fourth gospel: the Gospel According to St. John. This is somewhat strange, in light of the fact that the Fourth Gospel is by far the most difficult of them all. Indeed, it even had a hard time getting into the canon of the New Testament in the first place. It was considered suspect by the conservatives of the early Church ...

335. The Power Of God For Us

Colossians 3:1-17

Sermon

Sandra Hefter Herrma

Years ago, in a cartoon strip named Tumbleweeds, the captain of the fort sent his trusted scout to find out what was up with the Indians in their area. The scout returned, announcing, "Captain, I have lived with the Indians, eaten their food, taken part in their ceremonies and listened to what they say." The captain replied, "What have you to say?" And the scout responded, "Get off our land." When we truly learn how others live and feel, when we have eaten with them, slept with them and heard their stories ...

336. The Healing Power of Touch

Matthew 9:18-26

Sermon

Brett Blair

As Matthew’s story begins this morning, Jesus, the great physician, is on his way to make an emergency house call. There was a little girl who was in a grave state and her father implored Jesus to come. We are told that a large crowd of the curious followed Jesus. Some were hoping he would succeed, others that he would fail; most probably got caught up in the excitement of the parade. In this throng was one woman who was there for quite a different reason. We are told that for twelve years she had been ...

337. The Power to Resist Temptation

I Corinthians 10:13-17

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

A minister parked his car in a No Parking Zone and left this note on the windshield: “I've circled the block ten times and cannot find a parking place. If I do not park here, I will miss my appointment. ‘Forgive us our trespasses.'" When the minister returned there was a ticket on his windshield along with this note: “I've been circling this block for ten years. If I don't give you a ticket, I will lose my job. ‘Lead us not into temptation.'" In the Lord's Prayer, we pray for provision—Give us this day our ...

338. Dream Power

Matthew 2:13-18

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

One-third of our lives is spent not having any idea what we are doing. All right, admittedly many of us spend even greater percentages of our lifetimes clueless. But officially, we all have one-third of our lives basically unaccounted for. Why? Because we are sleeping. Sleeping is required by every creature with even the most rudimentary or remedial brain stem. Yet we really don’t understand why we sleep or what sleep is for. All we really know about sleep is that if deprived of it for just ten days, we’re ...

339. Which Kingdom Do We Serve?

Mark 6:14-29

Sermon

David Coffin

Imagine a middle-sized company or organization who had an upper manager who was soon going to retire. This person’s position would need to be replaced. There were workers in the back shop and office areas who would very much like to be considered for this opening position. One particular employee had put in much time and effort in his spare time — even off the clock — to be considered for this position. It was a raise in pay and the worker had been loyal to the company for a number of years. The worker had ...

340. Step Ten - Perseverance

Lk 12:35-48 · 1 Cor 10:1-13 · Ps 15:1-5

Sermon

John A. Terry

Step ten: "Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it." The 12 steps are a long journey, and the texts for today are ones that help us continue on the long journey. This passage from Corinthians is one I think should be a history teacher's delight. It is a mode of scriptural interpretation known as "typology." It is a form of historical study. This method sees events in the history of Israel as "types" of events like other events. Here the redemptive events in Israel' ...

341. God’s Dwelling Place

2 Samuel 7:1-17

Sermon

Thomas D. Peterson

The Israelites were nomads. They lived in tents and when the time came to seek new grazing land they moved herds and houses at the same time. What they did for a living and how they lived were beautifully adapted to each other. After receiving the covenant of the Ten Commandments, Moses set aside one tent where the tribes would meet with God and remember and renew the covenant relationship. This was called the "Tent of Meeting," and it contained the Ark of the Covenant. It was "... a tent of meeting before ...

342. Who Knows?

Jonah 3:1-10

Sermon

Thomas D. Peterson

Who knows what lies ahead? A widely used saying has it that if we all put our troubles on a pile and then picked out the ones we choose, we would pick out our own. Why? Because we can deal with them. If we actually had an opportunity to do something new, what would we do? Who knows? Most people, most of the time take their troubles with them or else find them waiting when they arrive. We tend to plug away at the same old things. Jonah was fleeing from God. He had every confidence he could escape and be ...

343. God's Verdict Upon The World (Looking At The World Through The Eyes of God)

John 3:1-21

Sermon

Brett Blair

This week has brought to our living rooms the reality of war. It’s reality TV gone berserk. Now we watch as embedded journalists show us marines and soldiers on the front line as they engage the enemy. Is it a surprise to any of us that mankind loves darkness rather than light? I don’t think these images should be shown 24/7, live, at the push of a button, to every household in America. And yet I cannot tear myself from the TV. I watch in astonishment at image after image. It seems surreal. But the danger ...

344. Looking at the World through the Eyes of God

John 3:1-21

Sermon

Brett Blair

I can’t think of a greater condemnation to be levied against a people than this: They loved darkness instead of light. I would never want that to be said of me. But that is the way God sees the world. You and I see the world as it is right now. Most of the people around us try and do the right thing and when we are wrong hopefully we apologize. So we tend to think well of most people. But look out on the passage of time…. The Ancient World of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Hellenism, Rome, Persia, India, and East ...

345. When God Tests Us

Exodus 32:1-33:6

Sermon

Argile Smith

When we get nervous about the unknown, we can make mountains out of mole hills. But we aren’t by ourselves. Loads of people down through history have made the same mistake. Take the Israelites, for example. God had delivered them from Egyptian bondage through a series of mystifying miracles at the hand of Moses. Then Moses led them on a three-month journey to Mount Sinai. There God called Moses to the top of the mountain for a meeting with him. Soon Moses came down from the mountain with the Ten ...

346. You Are What You Eat

Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

Sermon

Rick McCracken-Bennett

The Pharisees were grumbling -- doesn't it seem like they were always grumbling? Of all the things they could be concerned about, they were upset that Jesus' disciples weren't washing their hands before they ate. As I read this passage over earlier in the week I could hear my mom asking me and my brother and sisters before a meal, "Did you wash your hands?" This was an appropriate question for parents trying to teach their children good hygiene. But, at first glance, a strange concern for a religious ...

347. The Steady March Forward

Luke 9:51-62

Sermon

Dave Zuchelli

Some people get distracted by almost anything. As focused as I can often be, I’m also one of those guys who can walk from one room to another and forget why I went in there. I remember once, when I was about twelve years old, my Dad gave me some money to go pick up a loaf of bread. I hopped on my trusty bike with the basket on the handlebars and set out for the convenience store a mile or two down the road. When I got there, I looked around to grab the… Uh oh! I couldn’t remember what my Dad had sent me to ...

348. Faith in Conflict with Man Power

Jeremiah 38:1-13

Bulletin Aid

Carl Hoefler

Call to Worship Pastor: World conditions can fill us with fear so quickly, and then our faith is threatened, as well as our destiny. People: We are God's children; and he has promised to take care of us. But it is so natural, when we are afraid, to trust more in our power than in God's promises. Pastor: Man's worst condition is when he loses his trust in God, and feels he must take things in his own hands. People: Whatever our future holds, we want our trust in God to be our most powerful force! Collect ...

349. The Healing Power of Touch - Sermon Starter

Mark 5:21-43; Matt 9:1-8

Illustration

Brett Blair

As Matthew's story begins this morning, Jesus, the great physician, is on his way to make an emergency house call. There was a little girl who was in a grave state and her father implored Jesus to come. We are told that a large crowd of the curious followed Jesus. Some were hoping he would succeed, others that he would fail; most probably got caught up in the excitement of the parade. In this throng was one woman who was there for quite a different reason. We are told that for twelve years she had been ...

350. Family Ties And Unties

Mark 3:20-35

Sermon

David Coffin

In the 1993 movie Rudy, Sean Astin plays Rudy Rudiger, a young man who grew up in a Roman Catholic working class family that was employed at the steel mills, which is major town economic bedrock. Rudy always wanted to play football for the University of Notre Dame. There were a couple problems. First, he was short, lacked strong talent, and he had difficulty in school due to dyslexia. His family and girlfriend all thought that he would fail in this venture. At age 22, when his best friend Pete died in an ...

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