Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 326 to 350 of 4943 results

326. Bread For The Journey (Bread of Life III)

John 6:25-59

Sermon

Charles R. Leary

... length. Beyond that is hope. I pointed out last week how George Bernard Shaw has a unique way of highlighting St. John’s insights in his book, Back to Methuselah. I’ll repeat the scene and carry it a bit further. Shaw has Adam spitting in his hands and taking up the spade to go to work. Adam and Eve are still grieving over Cain’s murder of Abel, and they are wondering if it is all worth it. Adam says, “Life is still long enough to learn to dig ...” Adam is digging and Eve is spinning her loom. Eve ...

327. Prophesy Your Way Forward

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... that gets Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem, Matthew starts with them already at Bethlehem. In Matthew all the traveling occurs after Jesus’ birth, first by the magi on their mission, then by Joseph, Mary, and Jesus as they flee to Egypt and then return to take up residence in Nazareth. Among all the wondrous events that surround the story of Jesus’ birth, there is perhaps none so startling as Matthew’s tale of the “magi.” Little surprise to learn that “The Adoration of the Magi” is one of the most ...

328. God Moves In Mysterious Ways

1 Kings 17:7-24

Sermon

Robert Allen

... they slept was to climb up a ladder. This was not a major problem for the younger nuns, but it was difficult and dangerous for the older nuns to be climbing up and down the shaky ladder. They were unable to install a staircase because it would take up too much room in the chapel. Five master carpenters tried to come up with a solution, and there was none. The Sisters would simply have to use the shaky ladder. The Sisters of Loretto faced this problem the way they faced all of their problems. They simply ...

329. The Cost of Being Christian

Acts 7:54--8:1a

Sermon

... or I can do radical surgery, and I can help you get rid of it. Which do you want?" Jesus said, "Unless you are willing to take up your cross and come after me, you cannot be my disciple because you are not going where I am going." He did it not for himself ... us from God and from one another, we can never be fully free or know the joy and peace Jesus came to bring. So Jesus said, "Take up your cross and follow me." When we do he will lead us home. That is where I want to go. Don’t you? In the image of ...

330. Dying to Become

2 Corinthians 5:17

Sermon

Gregory J. Johanson

... in the yard of a farmer who already had some domestic geese. They learned to depend upon the farmer’s feeding them, and they were so comfortable that they continued to feed in this yard. They stayed until one time when they wanted to once again take up their life in the wild. The only trouble was that they had become so dependent upon the security of being fed without the usual exercise of their wings to secure food that they discovered they could no longer fly. "Dying to become" is possible to a person ...

331. The Healing of Blind Bartimaeus

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

James W. Moore

... the Gospel of Mark, the story of Jesus’ dramatic encounter with Blind Bartimaeus in Jerich takes up only seven verses of scripture, and yet within these seven verses, we see the crux of ... way! See what this means? Bartimaeus was so moved, so touched, so inspired, and so changed by the love of Jesus… that he wanted to be a part of it. He wanted to take up the torch. He was so moved, so touched, so inspired, so changed by the love that Christ gave to him, that he wanted to be a part of that… he wanted to ...

332. No Self-Respecting Christian

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... is not world logic, especially about respectability. Jesus turns respectability on its head. Not only for himself, the Messiah, but for all those who would follow him. Self-respecting disciples will deny themselves, not look after themselves. Self-respecting disciples will take up their crosses and follow, not take down others or lead on journeys where crosses aren't part of the landscape of life. Self-respecting disciples will seek to lose their lives and abandon their safety nets, not hoard their life ...

333. Did You Know?

1 Timothy 1:15

Sermon

James Merritt

... who] was the Christ whom Pilate condemned to the cross."1 Time will not permit to tell of other secular historians who refer to the historical figure named Jesus. The Encyclopedia Britannica uses 20,000 words in its article on Jesus Christ, and takes up more space than what was given to Aristotle, Cicero, Alexander, Julius Caesar, Buddha, Confucius, Mohammed, or Napoleon Bonaparte.2 There is more proof of the existence of Jesus Christ than there is of the existence of Julius Caesar. But notice again the two ...

334. All In: Calling Your Bluff

Romans 12:1-8

Sermon

James Merritt

... strategy is not diversification but concentration—taking all of your life and giving it completely to Jesus Christ. We are in a series called “All In.” Our theme verse is Luke 9:23, “And he said to all, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.’” (Luke 9:23, ESV) We learned last week that if you are going to be a true follower of Christ, you must put all your chips on him. You must be willing to bet the ranch, give Christ all of your life ...

335. Tyre, Sidon—and Israel

Ezekiel 26:1-21, Ezekiel 27:1-36, Ezekiel 28:1-19, Ezekiel 28:20-26

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... only security we need. 28:11–19 Ezekiel introduces the lament over the king of Tyre in typical fashion with the divine word formula (v. 11) and an address to the prophet as Son of man (v. 12). As in 27:1, the Lord instructs the prophet to take up a lament (v. 12)—this time not against Tyre but against its “king” (Heb. melek, a different term for Tyre’s ruler than we find in v. 2). The lament itself follows, opening with the messenger formula “This is what the Sovereign LORD says” (v. 12). The ...

336. Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

2 Kings 13:10-25

Sermon

... fanatic" has a bad connotation in our culture. A fanatic is a person who is unreasonably enthusiastic, overly zealous. In religious circles, a fanatic is one whose extreme zeal and piety goes far beyond what is reasonable. Yet we are the people who are called to take up the cross. Is there anything more fanatical than that? We are called to go the second mile, and to pray for our enemies and those who persecute us. Is that reasonable behavior? Sometimes I think that we have only begun to scratch the tip of ...

337. Clouds and Son-Shine

Ephesians 3:1-13

Sermon

Hubert Beck

... wisdom to understand, even though vaguely, that they have received a gift from God which calls for a costly response. They are among a privileged few who sense in the heavens a call from God to search diligently for the one to whom he is pointing. One gladly takes up untold hardships if one perceives that the end of the hardships is a vision, a "reward" if you will, that very few are ever privileged to have. Paul speaks on the same level. "To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was ...

338. What Is Your Holy Week Address?

Matthew 27:45-56

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... things worse than the feeling of not knowing where you are or where you are going. For some, unfortunately, that becomes a permanent address. They float from pillar to post, unsure of who they are and where they want to go. There have always been people who take up permanent residence here and very few of us who have escaped spending at least a night or two there. The Psalmist declares that he has "gone astray like a lost sheep" and Jesus announces that his disciples are to seek out "the lost sheep of the ...

339. What Kind of Name Is That?

Luke 1:26-31

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... dealt with people who had to live with some weakness in their life. But he "called" disciples. He called them not with comfortable words, but with hard words. He often just said, "Follow me." That's all. Just, "Follow me." Sometimes he said, "If you be my disciple, you must take up a cross." But he never said "repent" to any of them. Not to any of them. Which doesn't mean that they don't have to turn around. It doesn't mean that they don't have to change some things in their life. It means that the past ...

340. Proper 11

Mt 13:24-30, 36-43 · Rom 8:12-25 · Ps 139 · Gen 28:10-19a

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

... 5-8. Second, this beautiful, hopeful meditation immediately precedes the following agonizing section of Romans, chapters 9-11, which will wrestle with the fate of Israel in the working of God's grace. Structure. Chapter 8 is neatly structured. Verses 1-11 take up the theme of Christian life as life in the Spirit. Then, vv. 12-17 employ the metaphors of sonship (obscured in the NRSV) and childhood (preserved and amplified to take in sonship) to reflect upon the significance of our relationship to God ...

341. Did You Come Here to Die?

Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

King Duncan

... in the eye and said to him, “Get behind me, Satan! You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” Then Jesus called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.” This passage ought to make us a bit uncomfortable. Jesus came to die to die for us. That is ...

342. Restoration of Israel

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... . The oracle begins with a dire diagnosis. God’s people have suffered a wound and it is a wound that cannot heal (see Additional Notes). There is no one who can heal them. Switching to a legal metaphor, they also have no one to take up their case (there is no one to plead your cause). When faced with foreign aggression in the past, Judah has sought help from other nations, forming political and military alliances. The history of the immediate preexilic period is a period of shifting alliances, but ...

343. The Coming Judgment Calls for the Saints to Leave Babylon

Revelation 18:1-24

Teach the Text

J. Scott Duvall

... in her sinfulness. There are sins of commission as well as sins of omission. This passage reminds us to think not only about our actions but about the networks, alliances, and partnerships we indirectly support and endorse. We obviously know not to take up residence in Babylon, but do we give enough thought to our cooperation with her when we are the ones profiting? This issue quickly becomes complex in the modern world, but complexity doesn’t excuse total avoidance of the issue. Better to be faithful ...

344. Zophar Rejects Job’s Complaints

Job 11:1-20

Teach the Text

Daniel J. Estes

... :2; 143:6; Jer. 4:31), and Paul also exhorts it in the New Testament (1 Tim. 2:8). Interpretive Insights 11:2 Are all these words to go unanswered? Zophar perceives that Eliphaz and Bildad have not adequately answered Job, so he determines to take up the challenge. In fact, he regards it as his moral duty to uphold God’s justice by silencing Job’s arguments. Zophar impatiently dismisses Job’s lengthy speeches as “all these words,” implying that the quantity of one’s words does not measure the ...

345. Have You Been Pruned?

John 15:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

... got the water it needed. Then July came around and the same thing happened as in April, no fruit! She could not understand why this was happening. Her impatient husband said to her, “Babe let’s cut this tree down and plant a mango tree because it’s only taking up space.” She knew he was right. There was no room in their small yard for a plant that was useless. They didn’t plant it just to look at, but so that they could enjoy eating the fruit from it. She was very disappointed and wanted him to ...

346. Rock of Salvation

Exodus 17:1-7

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... ” him. These “stones” represent the “sin” and “stubbornness” of the Israelites, and their unawareness of the presence and power of God. They refuse to rely on God as their foundation but simply want to throw “stones” at God’s messenger. Meanwhile, God tells Moses to take up the “rod” he had been given. A rod, made from a strong tree, was a thick pick of wood with a kind of round knob at the end of it. In essence it looked something like a primitive sledge hammer. It was used to fend ...

347. A Violent Week

Mark 14:1-2 · Luke 22:14-23:56

Sermon

Will Willimon

... . (If disciples use swords, they at least ought to be good at it.) Jesus said to him: no more of this. Whoever takes up the sword shall perish by the sword. What does it mean? Perhaps the obvious: If I use my sword, thrusting its point into another, sooner ... baptize those who did. They protested that they were loyal citizens but, in following Christ's example, they refused to take up the sword for Caesar. Early church father, Tertullian, said that in disarming his disciple that first Maundy Thursday, Christ disarmed ...

348. Advent 3

James 5:7-12, Isaiah 35:1-10, Matthew 11:1-19

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... to offend us. Thank God. Outline: a. Christ offended John the Baptist by his gracious dealings with sinners b. Christ offended the sensibilities of the religious leaders of his day c. Christ continues to offend us today by saying that we must die to self, take up our cross and follow him. The book titled The Scandal Of Lent by Robert Kysar makes an excellent point. The basic thesis of the book is that we can never truly embrace the Christian faith unless we are first scandalized by it. The word "scandal ...

349. Proper 16

John 6:25-59, John 6:60-71, 1 Kings 8:22-61, Ephesians 6:10-20

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... deal a mortal blow to corruption, as those inflamed with the truth wield the pen as a sword. The Word of God was the supreme weapon in the struggle for truth known as the Reformation. Many other examples could be raised to show that those who do not take up the sword (God's Word and truth) will perish. Gospel: John 6:56-69 Sermon Title: You Are What You Eat. Sermon Angle: Jesus proclaims that his flesh is food (v. 55) and that whoever eats his flesh and drinks his blood will abide in him and live eternally ...

350. Truce or Peace?

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... used in over twenty years. It was falling down. The insurance companies had long since refused to insure it. Birds had built their nests in the pews and everyone was afraid to go in there. It just sat on a corner right in the middle of a major university, taking up space. It needed to be torn down. Several times people had almost come to blows in committee meetings over the issue. One day a leader in the church came up to me. “Let’s tear down the old church and make a park there in the middle of the ...

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