Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 3576 to 3600 of 4490 results

3576. Leaving an Empty Chair

Acts 2:42-47

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

Have you ever been part of a team-building exercise? A lot of businesses invest in team-building exercises as a way to encourage cooperation and problem-solving skills among their employees. But sometimes the team-building exercise is a problem in itself. According to one study done by the multinational firm Citirix, 1/3 of U.S. employees surveyed dislike team-building exercises. Yet companies spend an estimated $46 billion per year on these types of exercises. Are they getting a good return on their ...

3577. A Woman Dancing

Exodus 15:20, 21

Sermon

Will Willimon

"Then Miriam, the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and dancing. And Miriam sang to them: 'Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea."' (Exodus 15:20, 21) The serious, white, Western reporter commented, ''Here in South Africa, funerals of slain black South Africans begin as religious services but are quickly transformed into something like political demonstrations." ...

3578. We Have All Become Nicodemus

Romans 16:25-27

Sermon

Ronald Love

John Wycliffe is best known to us as a Bible translator. He is remembered as a historical figure for translating the Vulgate, the Bible written in Latin that only the priests could read, into English, a Bible which the common man could read for himself. We also recognize him from the organization that was established in his name, the Wycliffe Bible Translators. It is the mission of this organization to translate the Bible into the common vernacular of every country that presently does not have a Bible that ...

3579. God's Plan for a New Year

Galatians 4:4-7

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

Bill called his parents to wish them a happy New Year, and his dad answered the phone. “Well, Dad, what’s your New Year’s resolution?” Bill asked him. “To make your mother as happy as I can all year,” Dad answered. When mom got on the phone, Bill said, “What’s your resolution, Mom?” She answered, “To see that your dad keeps his New Year’s resolution.” I don’t know if you have given any thought to making resolutions as we say good-bye to this year and hello to the next. However, our text from Paul’s letter ...

3580. The Legacy

Mark 9:30-37

Sermon

Lori Wagner

In today’s scripture, Jesus seeks private teaching time with his disciples. It’s difficult for them to get time alone to “go deep and real” on the topics Jesus needs them to understand in comprehensive ways, because of the crowds that consistently follow him. Often, they seem to engage in those teaching sessions “on the way” from one place to another. Today’s scripture is no exception. After recent travels, they passed through Galilee quietly, keeping out of sight, and arrived at Jesus’ home, their home ...

3581. Steadfast Change

Mark 13:1-8

Sermon

Thomas C. Willadsen

When I first looked at the texts for today, I immediately thought of the difference between change and transformation. I realized that I’m probably looking too closely at words again, looking more deeply at them than anyone cares about. But in the context of this congregation, it seems to me that change is inevitable and transformation is coming. I’ve felt it for a while. People fear change and even resist it, but the fact is that as long as we are alive, we are changing. That means that when we proclaim ...

3582. Good News

Luke 3:7-18

Sermon

Lori Wagner

When you and I think of “fruit” we probably think about apples, oranges, mangoes –and even tomatoes! But we seldom think of wheat. When we read about “fruit” in the scripture, however, the most common definition of fruit is wheat! Either wheat of the field or grapes of the vine! In today’s scripture, when John issues a warning to the crowds coming to repent and be baptized, he tells them, they must produce “fruit.” In this metaphor, John is talking about wheat! How do we know? Because the second part of ...

3583. Do You Think That I Have Come To Bring Peace?

Luke 12:49-56

Sermon

Will Willimon

What did you do this summer? We did nothing special. Made a number of trips to the lake in a new family boat. Went here and there. But isn't that the way summers are supposed to be? Peaceful. So for us it was a restful summer, peaceful. On Sunday, May 7, the day of Panama's presidential elections, Nicholas Van Kleef, a priest working in the David Diocese of Panama, was shot. Van Kleef was stopped by a soldier as he was driving through his parish inviting people to mass. The soldier got into the back of Van ...

3584. The Turning Point

John 13:31-35

Sermon

Lori Wagner

In 1977, a movie came out starring Shirley MacLaine and Anne Bancroft called “The Turning Point.” In the movie, Deedee, a former ballerina, decides to leave the ballet to get married and raise children. Now fast forward –her best friend Emma, who stayed in her ballet career, invites Deedee’s daughter Emilia to join her ballet company. This sparks both pride for her daughter but envy, regret, jealousy, and nostalgia for Deedee. The movie follows Deedee’s painful coming to terms with her past decisions and ...

3585. Don’t Fall Asleep

Luke 12:32-40

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“Awake you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” (Ephesians 5:14) In 1908 Jack London wrote a short story, published in Century Magazine called “To Build a Fire.” In the story a man hikes the Yukon trail along with his dog in subzero temperatures despite urgent warnings about the dangers of the extreme cold by those in Sulphur Creek. Thinking he can light a fire whenever he wants if the cold gets too harsh, the man’s overconfidence and insistence on going it alone leads to a ...

3586. To Be Set Free

Luke 13:10-17

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Have you ever felt “weighed down” by something in your life? Diana Nyad’s failed first attempt to swim from Cuba to Florida in 1978 weighed heavily upon her spirit. She had undergone a lot of trauma in her life, and this defeat felt like another hard knock. Shame had haunted her for many years. But swimming had felt healing to her. The water calmed and focused her. Now, she felt, she had failed yet again. Discouraged, she abandoned swimming and focused her energies in a new direction. Despite cultivating a ...

3587. Then There Was One

Luke 17:11-19

Sermon

J. Will Ormond

Does not Jesus say to the ten lepers, "Go and show yourselves to the priests"? He does not say anything about coming back to tell him what the priests said or did; he does not mention that he expects the lepers to return and thank him for their healing. Yet when one does come back to thank him, he asks, "The other nine, where are they?" The one who returns gives no answer to that question. But he could have said, "They are following your instructions. They are on their way to show themselves to the priests ...

3588. You Are My Witnesses

Luke 24:36-49

Sermon

Harry N. Huxhold

The inauguration of Nelson Mandela as president of the Republic of South Africa goes down in the annals of history as a most memorable moment. Imagine historians a hundred years from now trying to recreate the excitement and the significance of what took place in Pretoria and Capetown in 1994. Three centuries of bitter and harsh white rule were brought to a close as Mandela was elected the first black president by its first all-race parliament. What dramatized that election was the fact that Mr. Mandela ...

3589. Dabar Adonai

Jeremiah 1:1-19

Sermon

Tony Everett

Twenty-five young teenagers are sitting at their desks in the classroom, minds focused on anything and everything except the complex algebra problem that their teacher is writing on the board. Suddenly, their reverie is broken by the word of the teacher: "I need a volunteer to come to the board and solve this simple binomial equation." Immediately, students become deeply involved with books under their desks. Pencils suddenly drop to the floor. Eyes become engrossed on a page, any page, in textbooks. No ...

3590. God Needs To Save This Family

Hosea 1:1-2:1

Sermon

James McLemore

There are many reasons why God needs to save the families described in this message. There are countless reasons why God needs to save any family. The primary reason is that we are unable to save our families ourselves. Let me illustrate a few scenes from modern American family life. In the first scene, we see a white house on a corner with a picket fence all around it. A typical family event is occurring. The father slams the front door as he storms out of the house. The mother slams the bedroom door and ...

3591. Proper 20

Psalm 79:1-13, 1 Timothy 2:1-15, Jeremiah 8:4--9:26, Luke 16:1-15

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

COMMENTARY Gospel. (Luke 16:1-13) The parable in today's lesson has given people problems of interpretation. Why does Jesus tell a story of a manager who had squandered his owner's property to make a point? And why does the master commend the manager? Is it Jesus who is the master who commended the manager, or is it the owner who has been victimized by a poor manager? Why did Jesus tell this story immediately after the chapter with the parables of the lost sheep, lost coin, and lost son? Or is it Luke who ...

3592. What's In It For Me?

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

One of the most dominating characteristics of our modern American culture is our worship of the free market. We live in a society where the free market reigns supreme. The free market determines which companies will profit and which will go out of business. The free market determines which political party will win the election. The free market determines which products will sell. The free market determines which ideas will triumph. The free market is the people. The marketplace is where people shop for the ...

3593. Miracle Five: Healing A Withered Hand

Mark 3:1-6

Sermon Aid

Harold H. Lentz

Background Material Jesus and his disciples traveled about on foot. They would naturally take advantage of shortcuts. So this day they walked across some farmland that had been planted with wheat. As they were hungry, they reached out and plucked some of the kernels of wheat to satisfy their hunger. But they were seen doing so by some of Jesus' critics who immediately called him to account. But as they were stout defenders of the law, and of the scriptures, Jesus answered them out of their own religious ...

3594. Seeds And The Kingdom

Mark 4:30-34, Mark 4:26-29

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

At this writing the U.S. House of Representatives has just completed its 100 days of legislation on the so-called Contract with America. It was an effort to change quickly a process which was at work through several decades. Some analysts criticize the legislation for having been put together too hastily. It was driven by a desire to demonstrate instant results. The probability is that the legislation will move through the Senate with more "deliberate speed." The Senate will look more closely to discern ...

3595. Coping With Heartache

Jeremiah 29:1-23

Sermon

Robert P. Hines

On the very first page of his book The Road Less Traveled, psychiatrist Scott Peck tells us something we know is true, but wish were not true, when he says, "Life is difficult."1 Life is hard, and no matter how much we wish that life was easy, our wishing doesn't change it. Life is hard, and it is full of heartache. Just this past week I received a mailing from a Christian organization that does mission work in Latin America. The director was sharing his troubles with the readers. The agency began the ...

3596. Training Wheels For Life

Deuteronomy 30:11-20

Sermon

Paul E. Robinson

Another world, another day, another time. The bright sun cast its long dark shadows along streets filled with carts and animals, never once falling on automobile, trolley or McDonald's litter in the gutter. Another world, another day, another time. Yet the sounds of people were there, even more evident without the sound of motor cars. The shouting of a young man, the call of an elderly woman, the bawling of a young child. But in the darkness of an entryway to a home on that busy street we see a door open, ...

3597. Cultivating Our Garden

Isaiah 58:1-14

Sermon

Paul E. Robinson

I remember a news program which showed the release of a number of wild turkeys into the wilderness of southwestern United States. They were seeking to reestablish a strain of turkeys in that area. In order to track them and understand how they were doing, a little radio was affixed to the back of each of the turkeys. Can you imagine being able to sit at a screen and follow the whereabouts of all those turkeys? How would you like to have a tracking device affixed to your back, so that your family, and your ...

3598. Jesus Our Rock

1 Corinthians 10:4

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

Object: A rock and a piece of matzo or a cracker Lesson: For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them; and the rock was Christ. Good morning, boys and girls. Our scripture lesson for today reminded me of one of the stories of the Old Testament -- the story of Moses and the chosen people, wandering in the desert for 40 years. Do you all know who Moses was? (Let them answer.) Moses lived many hundreds of years ago. God chose him to help the Israelites escape from Egypt where they were being held ...

3599. Awake, Christ Is Coming

Romans 13:8-14

Sermon

Richard Hasler

Erma Bombeck, in her book titled When You Look Like Your Passport Photo, It's Time To Go Home, observes: "You can always tell when vacationers are going or coming. Travelers who are at the beginning of a trip laugh and tell jokes. Their clothes match ... Those returning are impatient. Every plane they board is like the last one out of Baghdad and they are going to be on it." Erma's scintillating wit reminds us that there is a right time for action in all walks of life. Farmers know a right time exists for ...

3600. Choosing Sides

Romans 8:1-17

Sermon

Sandra Hefter Herrma

Do you remember those old cartoons (especially Tom and Jerry) that showed the characters considering a plan of action, being counseled by a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other? Sometimes the little conscience and the little demon would actually come to blows, vying for Jerry to behave selfishly or kindly, remember? Those cartoons said, in effect, that our lives are a battleground, with the angels and the demons fighting it out, trying to get us to choose sides. Every choice we make is a victory ...

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