Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 3601 to 3625 of 4681 results

3601. Meal of Death

1 Corinthians 11:23-26

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

... would there have to be the sacrifice of that unblemished lamb of the Passover? The answer we often utter much too blithely, too conveniently, and much too matter-of-factly. The answer reveals a truth we so often want to avoid and ignore. He died because he came to bear the sin of the world. There, I said it so easily, didn't I? But like the chicken we conveniently pop into our mouths at the colonel's, we don't realize all the brutal bloodletting it took to get it there. Jesus died because that is the bloody ...

3602. Cracking the Code

Revelation 1:4-8

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

... -night clank on the water pipes, with every tap on the dinner plates, with every door left ajar, with every odd pattern of stones on the ground, they are comforted. Their faith in the future is renewed. Every brutal blow from their captors is easier to bear because it is a reminder that they are getting closer to the new birth of freedom. This well-known cinematic formula is a picture of the book of Revelation, its context and its purpose. For the remaining Sundays of this Easter season the second reading ...

3603. A Peaceful Life in an Unpeaceful World

1 Timothy 2:1-7

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

... king, who, even though he is not a Christian, might still be God's instrument for order in society. If Christians pray for the king, then maybe the state will leave the church alone so that it can go about its ministry. The church would be free to bear witness to God, to Christ, to the resurrection, and the coming dominion of God. That reason for praying for the king joins the other reasons for doing so, the wisdom, the guidance, and the sense of duty of a Christian to the world. As we ponder the phrase ...

3604. Guarding the Treasure

2 Timothy 1:1-14

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

... look at the understanding of Christ, sin, and resurrection. When the church teaches about the nature of Jesus the Christ, we must always affirm that Christ was fully divine and fully human. We cannot adequately explain how that is so, we can only bear witness to it. Heresy oversimplifies the doctrine of Christ by teaching that Christ is only partly divine or partly human. In some cases, people in the early church completely dissolved either the human or divine nature of Christ. Teaching that Jesus is not ...

3605. The Word Alone

2 Timothy 3:14-4:5

Sermon

Scott Suskovic

... until, at the end, the interrogator looked at Luther and said, "Martin Luther, the teachings found in your book have been declared to be in error with the church. I ask you for the last time, do you recant your teachings or are you willing to bear the consequences?" This is where the Hollywood version of things makes the reality fuzzy. The image that prevails is one of a tall Luther, defying the wicked and corrupt Roman structure, pounding his fist on the table, clutching a Bible and yelling, "Here I stand ...

3606. The Call of Holiness

Isaiah 6:1-8 (9-13)

Sermon

Derl G. Keefer

... It is in this humbling experience that we begin to realize that we can be imprinted by his holy mark on our lives. There is nothing in all the world that we can do to imprint ourselves when it comes to holiness. If we have been with God, we will bear his holy mark and people will observe his mark upon our lives. They will see his purity, compassion, joy, reverence, justice, and love stamped all over us. III. A Call To Holiness Is A Call To All People A quarter of a century ago, author Keith Drury, from the ...

3607. Breaking The Cycle - God’s Answer In Forgiveness

Genesis 45:3-11, 15

Sermon

Derl G. Keefer

... man was bound by the grip of bitterness. He was still fighting a battle that should have ended years before. In a very real sense, he was still in prison.[2] You cannot conceal bitterness because it raises its ugly head often. The root of bitterness bears the fruit of bitter actions. Bitterness imprisons us as we refuse to forgive a friend, relative, or stranger for a sinful, foolish, or sometimes ignorant act. Inner torment will ride alongside us every day of our lives until we forgive. When we decide ...

3608. RSVP

Isaiah 55:1-9

Sermon

David J. Kalas

... an invitation from God. We should be astonished that God extends invitations at all. After all, does a sovereign need to invite? Isn't it his prerogative simply to command, to summon, to give orders? The mere fact that God extends invitations to us at all bears witness to the kind of relationship he endeavors to have with us. It would be overstating the case, to be sure, to suggest that it is a relationship between equals. It is, however, a relationship in which we are elevated beyond our merit; and one ...

3609. God All Along

Acts 9:1-6 (7-20)

Sermon

David J. Kalas

... engaged in some sacred business. They were in very ordinary places doing very ordinary things, and God met them all along the way. You and I recognize that pattern, for that would likely be a part of the testimony for so many of us, too. We would bear witness to a God who does not reserve his activity to certain specified places or designated times. Rather, we have encountered him in the midst of our routines. For some of us, he has been a gracious interruption, calling to us while we were just minding ...

3610. Look Who's Talking

Acts 11:1-18

Sermon

David J. Kalas

... , it is not consistent with either the teachings of Jesus or the example of Jesus. We sense here that this close follower of Jesus had learned well from his master. Peter does not seek to prove himself right or to prove his critics wrong. He simply bears witness to what God had done, which makes Peter an example to us all. Peter recounts how God had privately prepared him to think about and respond to Gentiles differently. This is the episode, then, in which God is the one who does the talking. "What God ...

3611. A Stupid Question

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

David J. Kalas

... given time in ancient Israel, but very few men who were recognized as prophets. Furthermore, we should recognize that prophet was, arguably, the highest office in the land. While he was not elected by the people or part of a family line, Israel's history bears witness to the high rank of the prophet. The prophet had authority to correct, not just the people, but the priests, the king, and entire foreign cities and nations, as well. The prophet's authority came from the simple recognition that he carried God ...

3612. God's Playful Wisdom

Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31

Sermon

Stephen P. McCutchan

... those of you who have little children, you may be able to fill out that image. When we get to the New Testament, the gospel of John develops this understanding of Sophia as the spirit of truth. "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, [she] will guide you into all the truth ..." (John 16:12-13). This spirit will reveal to us things Jesus chose not to reveal to us during his time on earth. What we learn is that God accommodates God's message ac ...

3613. A Marriage Made In Heaven

Hosea 1:2-10

Sermon

Chrysanne Timm

... another chance to live as God's beloved, as "children of the living God" (Hosea 1:10). The book of Hosea is not a long book, and I would encourage you to read it this week. Chapter 1 will introduce Hosea and Gomer and the three children Gomer bears. You may note, if you read carefully, that the first son is clearly identified as Hosea's child, but the author is vague about the parentage of the two other children. Each of the children is given a name that points to specific prophecies against Israel. Yet ...

3614. Parenting — Not For The Faint Of Heart

Hosea 11:1-11

Sermon

Chrysanne Timm

... is the language of parenting. It is the language of delight in the tender moments of cradling and feeding little children, of helping them take their first steps. It is the language of deep frustration over preteens and teens who break curfew and defy your rules. Hosea bears and conveys God's deep love and devotion for Israel, as well as God's anguish and pain over Israel's rejection of God. "When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son" (Hosea 11:1.) The prophet's testimony ...

3615. What God Expects From Worship

Isaiah 1:1, 10-20

Sermon

Chrysanne Timm

... offerings is futile; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and sabbath and calling of convocation — I cannot endure solemn assemblies with iniquity. Your new moons and your appointed festivals my soul hates; they have become a burden to me, I am weary of bearing them. — Isaiah 1:12-14 By Isaiah's time, the worship life of Judah had disintegrated into a series of rites meant to appease a God whom the people no longer seemed to know. They had lost touch with the God of their ancestors. They had ...

3616. Garden Gone Bad

Isaiah 5:1-7

Sermon

Chrysanne Timm

... is the whole of God's beloved people, who God created, declared to be stewards of God's creation, then later delivered from bondage, and finally planted in a fertile place where they could reflect God's image as readily as a good and well-tended vine bears tasty fruit. These people, created in God's image, were formed with the capacity to be righteous and do justice, as the one who planted them is righteous and just. But when God came to the vineyard looking for justice, instead God found bloodshed. When ...

3617. The ABC's of Grief

Lamentations 1:1-6

Sermon

Chrysanne Timm

... at some time or another have used the word "orphaned" to describe their feelings. Generally, the death of our parents leaves us as the patriarchs and matriarchs of our families, and this can be a very lonely and uncomfortable feeling. The most bitter grief we can bear is the death of a child. Words cannot begin to describe the sense of loneliness and abandonment parents experience when a son or daughter dies. No matter how old we are as parents, I am not sure that anything prepares us for this kind of grief ...

3618. Making Ourselves At Home

Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7

Sermon

R. Kevin Mohr

... via his letter was even more surprising than his not gloating. The Lord said: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. — Jeremiah 29:5-7 God, through ...

3619. Making Something Out Of Nothing

Haggai 1:15b—2:9

Sermon

R. Kevin Mohr

... be anointed king and become the ideal for all the future rulers of God's chosen people. Making something out of nothing — that's how God works. Haggai was certain of it and proclaimed in his message to the people that God was going to do it again. It bears repeating, that shouldn't have been and shouldn't now be a surprise for God's people. Therefore, God says through Haggai, "... work, for I am with you, says the Lord of hosts, according to the promise that I made you when you came out of Egypt. My ...

3620. Shepherds Who Will Shepherd

Jeremiah 23:1-6

Sermon

R. Kevin Mohr

... All of this will occur because God will raise up leaders who will fulfill their God-given ministry as shepherds. Isn't it interesting that powerful animal images have been used to represent most countries or kingdoms in human history? The lion for England, the bear for Russia, and for the United States, not the turkey (as suggested by Benjamin Franklin, believe it or not!), but the bald eagle. For God's people, though, the most cherished and meaningful image was that of the shepherd, a rich combination of ...

3621. Live the Lullaby

Luke 1:46-56

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... to Bethlehem” throughout this Advent season. In this week’s final gospel reading before Christmas, that travel motif continues. What is the first thing Mary does after receiving the visitation of Gabriel and hearing the angel’s announcement of the child she will bear? She hits the road. Jesus’ own mission will be marked by constant movement, but his first journey was taken while in the womb. This visit of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth is the bow with which Luke’s narrative ties together the two ...

3622. Luke 1:39-45, (46-55)

Luke 1:39-45

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

3623. Matthew 2:1-12

Matthew 2:1-12

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... ” is more shaped by culture than the actual scriptures themselves. In our mind’s eye we see Mary and Joseph not the newborn baby Jesus in the manger. Gathered around are the curious shepherds and their sheep, oxen and donkey, the three “kings” bearing their gifts, and an angel choir singing overhead. Such a scene is only possible, however, if the birth narratives of Matthew and Luke are whirled together in a blender along with some artificial sweeteners. Matthew’s gospel steeps the events of Jesus ...

3624. When We're Estranged from God

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Sermon

King Duncan

It’s an old story, but it bears repeating. An armed robber accosted a French priest on a dark, back street in Paris and demanded his wallet. As the priest opened his coat to reach for his wallet, the thief caught sight of his clerical collar, and immediately apologized. “Never mind, Father, I didn’t realize you were ...

3625. Pilate's Dilemma

John 18:28-40

Sermon

King Duncan

... , ready to begin a rebellion at the drop of a hat. Pilate got in bad with the Jews from the very beginning. As soon as he took office in 27 AD, he needlessly provoked the pious folks in Jerusalem by riding into the city with his troops bearing their standards in full view. On the top of every flagpole that the soldiers bore was a carved image of Caesar. For the Jews this was a transgression of the commandment to have no graven images. Even more grievously, because of the Roman custom of emperor worship ...

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