Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 3626 to 3650 of 5000 results

3626. Religion In A Nutshell

Mark 12:28-34

Sermon

Robert Allen

Mildred was a fine lady. She was 64 years old when the doctors discovered that she had terminal cancer. She was in and out of the hospital several times receiving her treatments, and each time she seemed to be a little weaker than the time before. Mildred was married to one of the roughest roughnecks in Oklahoma. He was a big, burly man, and one look at him told you that in his younger days, he was the kind of fellow who didn’t step aside for any man. However, around Mildred, he had become quiet and almost ...

3627. The More Excellent Way

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Robert Allen

The 1988 Winter Olympics were marked by controversy for the U.S. team. The controversy centered around the fact that we had not won as many medals as expected. In fact, the last time we had done so poorly was in 1936. We won a few medals, and those winners have become household names. Debi Thomas went head to head with the East German, Katerina Witt, and came away with only a bronze medal, Bonnie Blair won the gold medal in speed skating as well as a bronze, Brian Boitano picked up the gold in figure ...

3628. The Easter Event - After The Resurrection

Matthew 28:1-10

Sermon

Robert Allen

A community-wide Easter pageant was planned, and people from all over the county tried out for various parts. The part of Mary Magdalene was given to a Catholic nun, a local doctor became Peter, a high school principle became Judas, and Caiphais, the hypocritical high priest, was played by a local banker. It was relatively easy selecting the people for the various parts in the Easter pageant. However, the part of Jesus was difficult to cast. No one seemed to fit the director’s idea of what Jesus would be ...

3629. The Ultimate Christmas Gift

Psalm 85:1-13, Ephesians 2:11-22

Sermon

Erskine White

"The Lord will speak ... to His people." (Psalm 85:8) As we consider the wide variety of gifts we might receive this Christmas, we could probably place those gifts in one of several categories. First and least importantly, there are those entirely frivolous items which we do not need and never intend to use. How many of us, for example, have received things like automatic toothpick dispensers or electric yarn untanglers which now sit forgotten on some closet shelf collecting dust? Then again, there is no ...

3630. Comfort

Isaiah 40:1-31

Sermon

Frederick C. Edwards

"Comfort! Comfort my people, says your God." How wonderful those words sound to us. How many times we feel the need for comfort. How often we need an assuring and tender word to ease the hurt we feel. Every year about this time we hear those wonderful prophetic words sung in Handel’s Messiah, or read in our churches from the portion of scripture that biblical scholars call "Second Isaiah," to distinguish it from the writings of the eighth-century prophet. They were written for a people for whom things had ...

3631. We Know Jonah

Jonah 3:1-10

Sermon

Frederick C. Edwards

In the spring and summer of 1992, the world was shocked by reports of atrocities and pictures of concentration camps populated by emaciated captives in the strife-torn lands that had been Yugoslavia. No longer held together by a totalitarian regime, ancient feuds and animosities flared into violence and then full-scale war. Heinous acts were committed by Serbian government forces against people of other ethnic and religious groups, under the euphemistic term, ethnic cleansing. People were uprooted from ...

3632. A Prophet Like Me

Deuteronomy 18:14-22

Sermon

Frederick C. Edwards

Most people have a rather warped view of the biblical prophets. We have tended to see them as rather like a man I saw outside Saint Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna, dressed in what looked like bed sheets, wearing a beard, with a sign around his neck, and carrying a staff, and shouting things to anyone who happened to look his way. He reminded me of some of the cartoons I had seen in the New Yorker magazine, depicting long-bearded characters in similar dress, usually announcing the end of the world. Certainly ...

3633. Feeling Down And Looking Up

Isaiah 40:1-31

Sermon

Frederick C. Edwards

The scripture for today is from the portion of Isaiah which scholars know as Deutero-Isaiah, or Second Isaiah - chapters 40 to 55. Those chapters certainly were not written by the eighth century B.C.E. prophet whose name it bears, but rather by an anonymous observer of the events in the closing years of Babylonian rule, and who interpreted the meaning of those events to the Jewish exiles in Babylonia. A momentous event stirred him to prophesy to the captives, and that event was the rise to power of Cyrus, ...

3634. Pontius Pilate - Adamant, But Acquiescent

Luke 22:66--23:25

Sermon

Carl E. Zahrte

Was I there? You surely don’t need to ask me that question, do you? You know very well that I was there. Every week of the year, millions of Christians all over the world speak my name every time they confess their faith. They say in the Creed that Jesus Christ, God’s only son, their Lord, suffered under Pontius Pilate. Yes, I am Pontius Pilate, the man who had the authority of Rome, and the armed might of a trained army, but the man who capitulated to an unruly mob in what some claim was the greatest ...

3635. Mary - Weeping Woman or Bold Believer

John 20:10-18

Sermon

Carl E. Zahrte

In the name of Jesus Christ, who is indeed the Resurrection and the Life, dear friends: During the past six weeks of Lent, some of you know that I have been preaching in the Wednesday services from the point of view of one who was there, at the scene of the suffering and death of Jesus. This morning again I wish to speak to you in a first-person style, taking the part of one who was there, Mary Magdalene. Please listen, then to what I say, not as a sermon by a pastor, but as a message from a woman who knew ...

3636. God’s Great Promise To Sarah!

Genesis 17:1-27

Sermon

Durwood L. Buchheim

Confession is good for one’s soul. You are about to hear a personal confession. My mother, who was a pioneer farmer’s wife, was treated as a second-class citizen. Oh, she had the right to vote and was secretary for our school district for most of my young, adult life and was in charge of family finances. She commanded respect from husband and children - yet in no way did she receive equal treatment. In my childhood on the farm, men had to do certain things, most women had to be able to do (and in many ...

3637. The Right Spirit Within Us ...

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

Durwood L. Buchheim

Today, in our Old Testament journey to Easter, we make a significant adjustment both in time, geography, and attitude. We are at that momentous year of 587 B.C. (or slightly beyond) when the country of Judah is no more. The beautiful temple, built in the great days of King Solomon is no more. This holy, awesome temple has been sacked and its priceless art treasures carried off to the wicked country of Babylon. The monarchy, reaching back to the golden days of King David is no more. The holy city of ...

3638. God's Love Calling for Repentance

Matthew 21:33-46

Bulletin Aid

James Wilson

Call To Worship Leader: Let all who would hear the word of the Lord come together this day! People: For God was in Christ, who came that we might know God's word. Leader: Let us hear the message of Christ: to love God and to love each other. People: And let us lift our hearts to the Lord that all might be forgiven. Leader: And let us lift up our songs and praise before Almighty God! All: Blessed be the name of the Lord! Collect O God, in Your mercy and grace You are calling us to help carry Your call to ...

3639. Terminally Distracted Or Decisively Prepared

Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon

Joseph M. Freeman

Case one: One can be diligent about meeting tasks in an orderly, thoughtful manner and yet be unthoughtful and a procrastinator in matters spiritual. Case two: One can be a bit too laid-back regarding tasks and professional development, yet be truly thoughtful and an initiative-taker regarding the spiritual side of his/her life. In case one, such a person will excel professionally, but will more than likely have significant interpersonal issues at home and with his/her Lord. In case two, though the person ...

3640. What Is Caesar's and What Is God's?

Matthew 22:15-22

Sermon

Brett Blair

A young lady was soaking up the sun's rays on a Florida beach when a little boy in his swimming trunks, carrying a towel, came up to her and asked her, "Do you believe in God?" She was surprised by the question but she replied, "Why, yes, I do." Then he asked her: "Do you go to church every Sunday?" Again, her answer was "Yes!" He then asked: "Do you read your Bible and pray everyday?" Again she said, "Yes!" By now her curiosity was very much aroused. The little lad sighed with relief and said, "Will you ...

3641. Nazareth: The Hidden Years

Luke 2:41-52

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

Although I have been privileged to travel in the Holy Land three times, I have been to Nazareth only once, and that was a hurried visit. Now and then I tell myself that I want to go to Israel again some day, and that when I do, I will decide (not the travel agent) how long I will stay in each place. If that ever happens, I will spend more time in Nazareth. If you go to Nazareth today, you will find a city of nearly 30,000 people. It was much, much smaller in Jesus’ day, of course, but around 600 A.D., ...

3642. The Garden: All Things New

John 20:1-9

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

I want to tell you the story, on this Easter Sunday, of two gardens. With apologies to Charles Dickens, let me say that the first garden started as the best of gardens and became the worst of gardens. The second was, for a little while, the worst of gardens, but it became the best of gardens. And so it is, to this very day. The first garden is the place known as the Garden of Eden. It was a perfect place. Those who lived there had everything they needed, every beauty, every dream. It was the best of ...

3643. The Authority of Jesus

Drama

Curt M. Joseph

Judas: So this is it. (The three look around the room. Judas continues in a sarcastic voice.) Yes, first class all the way. Matthew: Yes, it is a bit musty in here. It kind of reminds me of an old storeroom or attic. It will take quite a bit of cleaning to get this place in shape. Judas: (He throws his money bag on the table and a cloud of dust goes into the air.) That’s an understatement! I thought Peter and John were supposed to get everything ready. Where are they? Andrew: Peter told me that he, James, ...

3644. Obedience to God

Drama

Curt M. Joseph

Characters: Joseph of Arimathea - a pharisee and member of the Sanhedrin; calm, methodical, and a seeker of wisdom and truth. Nathanael an apostle of Jesus; warm, gentle, caring. Philip an apostle of Jesus; excitable, and not quite sure of himself. The play opens with only an empty bench in the middle of the stage. Joseph: (He comes on stage hurriedly. Looks around. When he can’t see anyone, he begins to speak out loud, as if to himself.) I can’t believe it. I’ve missed him again! (Looks around at the ...

3645. Jesus Christ, the Truth

Drama

Curt M. Joseph

Characters: Caiaphas - the High Priest; insistent, thinks he has Pilate where he wants him. Pilate - governor of Judea; an ambitious man, a just man, who struggles between his sense of justice and his political ambitions. Guard - typical Roman soldier. Claudia Procula - wife of Pilate; sensitive, caring, and very supportive of her husband. Ruth - a Jewess who serves as the handmaid of Claudia Procula. The scene opens with Caiaphas standing outside the communion rail, symbolic of his refusal to enter into a ...

3646. Stewards of Creation

Genesis 1:1-2:3

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

About the second Sunday in November each year, after mailing out a flood of brochures, putting up posters, twisting arms of the faithful to make visits, and designing a banner, there comes from this pulpit what I like to call, "The Sermon on the Amount." Members sit in the pews and squirm on their billfolds, hang onto their checkbooks and purses, fill out a pledge card reluctantly, and sing the hymn: "Take my silver and my gold, not a mite would I withhold." For biblical justification of this once-a-year ...

3647. Stewards and the Hungry

Matthew 25:31-46

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

So God called into existence his creation and then, according to Genesis 1:28, he said to us humans, "I’m putting you in charge." That makes us caretakers of all which God has given to us. That includes the Earth and all its natural resources. In the days ahead, we’ll discover that being a caretaker and steward involves a lot more than whether we tithe or not and what we put in the church offering plate. It involves our caring for our bodies, how we use our skills, how we apportion our time, and what we do ...

3648. Stewards of Life, Death, and Beyond

Matthew 6:19-24

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

Buddy Hackett told a story on the Johnny Carson Show which was about "bad news and very bad news." A medical doctor called his patient and said, "I have bad news and very bad news. The bad news is that you are terminally ill and will die in 24 hours." The patient couldn’t imagine anything worse than that and so asked to be told the very bad news. The doctor replied, "The very bad news is that I should have called you yesterday!" The news in the recent past has been bad and very bad and full of life and ...

3649. Resurrection: Temporal to Eternal

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Leonard H. Budd

Almost two thousand years ago today The stone upon His grave was rolled away, And in the blinding darkness of the tomb He rose and shattered there the grief and gloom Within the hearts of those who worshiped Him. Although that day and time have now grown dim, One message through the ages has been hurled: His love is hope and light for all the world. And as the dawn of Easter fills the skies We, too, with Him in spirit must arise; For even underneath us in the earth There is a faithful promise of rebirth. ...

3650. Resurrection: From Chaos to Order

Genesis 1:1-2:3

Sermon

Leonard H. Budd

The fire was beginning to die. With a simple wave of his hand the Ancient One sent the young boy racing back into the scrubby land to fetch sticks for burning. Overhead the moon lit his path as he ran from one thicket to another, pulling together the loose twigs and picking up a stray dry root. Quickly he returned, throwing the meager kindling on the dying fire. In the shore span of minutes since his hunt began the Ancient One had fallen asleep, his head dipping down to his chest. With the crackling of the ...

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