Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 3676 to 3700 of 4490 results

3676. Life in The Meantime

Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon

D. Wayne Burkette

The church has always lived between the times. We remember the time when Christ was born, died, and was raised, and we anticipate his return and the fulfillment of his Kingdom. In the meantime we live by faith in the truth of our memory and the certainty of our hope. Likewise, every individual life is a meantime existence. We remember and learn from our past, and we anticipate some future expectation, the ultimate of which is life eternal. The meantime is the present, suspended between memory and hope. And ...

3677. The Beginning of a New Life

Ruth 2:1-23

Sermon

It had been over a decade since Elimelech, Naomi, and their two sons had left Bethlehem during a severe famine, but Naomi had not changed very much in that time. "The whole town was stirred" because Naomi had returned after this long absence and had a young woman with her. The women of Bethlehem, who had known her before she left, called her by name; "Do not call me Naomi," she told them. "Call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back ...

3678. The Shortest Distance Is Not A Straight Line

Sermon

Harold Warlick

None of us relishes complications. We want issues to be simple. But now the freshmen are no longer freshmen - they've got four months under their belts in college. Rush week is over so some are now in fraternities and sororities. Faculty are complaining that second term has been just as rushed and frantic as the first. Dr. Warlick isn't new anymore. People are used to Wednesday nights instead of Sunday mornings as the time for worship. Attendance patterns and the reasons for them become more ambiguous. ...

3679. The Woman at the Well

John 4:1-26

Sermon

Thomas D. Peterson

Jesus [said to the Samaritan woman], "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him and he would have given you living water." (v. 10) When Jesus met the woman at the well the encounter was a communion event. The element - the outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace - was not what Jesus gave to the woman but what the woman gave to Jesus. What made this element, this object, a sacrament, a communion, was the way in which Jesus ...

3680. Easter 4

Acts 2:14-41, Psalm 23:1-6, Acts 6:1-7, Acts 7:54--8:1a, 1 Peter 2:13-25, John 10:1-21

Sermon Aid

THEOLOGICAL CLUE The Fourth Sunday of Easter, in years A and B, at least, has the biblical content that the Second Sunday after Easter used to have: namely, Good Shepherd Sunday. John 10 is read in all three years: Year A is assigned John 10:1-10; Year B has the original Good Shepherd Sunday Gospel, John 10:11-16; and Year C contains the last part of the chapter, John 10:22-30. The figure of the Good Shepherd was central to the symbolism of all of the ancient churches, picturing the risen Christ, ascended ...

3681. The Effect of Leprosy

Luke 17:11-19

Illustration

Brett Blair

Leprosy effect upon the body is devastating. Where it attacks it causes a loss of the sense of touch. That doesn't sound too bad but consider the implications. When you reach for the stove to pick up a frying pan that is hot you immediately drop it and put ice on the burn. You watch as your skin turns red and blister. Now, if you had leprosy you would grab the pan and feel nothing. You've lost your sense of touch. You carry the pan unaware of the damage it is doing to your hand. As you set the pan down and ...

3682. Invitation to the Dance

2 Samuel 6:1-23

Sermon

June is an inviting month. Juno was the Roman goddess who protected women and cared for brides. No wonder June is the favorite month for weddings. June is also a month for graduations and reunions. June is when Stravinsky’s "Rites of Spring" are muted, while Gershwin’s "Summertime and the Living is Easy" tune floats like a monarch butterfly across the pastel-tinted fields of fun in the sun. Carl Marie von Weber’s "Invitation to the Dance" receives an answer in our passage in 2 Samuel. Our dancing partner ...

3683. The Daniel Diet

Daniel 1:1-21

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

I recall a song I learned in Sunday School long years ago. Perhaps I should sing it to you. Ever since Bishop Morris was here last month and ended his sermon with a beautiful song, you have been asking me why I don't do the same. Frankly, you can't afford the number of voice lessons it would require to bring me up to an acceptable level. Here are the words of the song I remember: "Dare to be a Daniel, Dare to stand alone, Dare to have a purpose firm, Dare to make it known." For the next seven weeks we will ...

3684. Third Sunday in Lent

Exodus 17:1-7, Psalm 95:1-11, 1 Corinthians 10:1-13

Bulletin Aid

Theme: Hardening hearts and testing God Exegetical Note It is interesting that the only reference to this incident in the Old Testament (Psalm 95:8ff.) focuses on its negative aspect, namely, the fact that the people hardened their hearts and tested God. Paul, however, in 1 Corinthians 10:4 gives this event (and its parallel in Numbers 20:7ff.) a positive "spin" by equating the rock with none other than the Christ! Call to Worship Leader: Come, let us sing to God! People: LET US MAKE A JOYFUL NOISE TO THE ...

3685. Respect: Lesson for Victorious Living

Ruth 4:1-12

Sermon

Christian unity teaches respect for the whole Body of Christ. The ancient Hebrews learned ways of doing things and the necessity of valid transactions; this gave the early Christians a format from which they could move forward in the faith. Repect was at or near the top of the list. The characters of Boaz, the elders, Naomi, Ruth, and the others in our passage evidence this in ways that do not seem to be present in today’s striving for equality. Could they have known something that we don’t? As one reads ...

3686. Bitter-Sweet Recollections

Isaiah 50:1-11

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

"The Lord God has given Me the tongue of the learned, That I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary. He awakens me morning by morning, He awakens My ear to hear as the learned. The Lord God has opened My ear; and I was not rebellious, Nor did I turn away. I gave my back to those who struck Me, And My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard; I did not hide my face from shame and spitting. For the Lord God will help Me; Therefore I will not be disgraced; Therefore I have set my face ...

3687. What Do You See?

Isaiah 52:13--53:12

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently, He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high. Just as many were astonished at you, so His visage was marred more than any man. And His form more than the sons of men; So shall He sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths at Him; For what had not been told them they shall see, And what they had not heard they shall consider. Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender ...

3688. The Spirit - For Me Too?

Joel 2:28-32

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

"And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even upon the menservants and maidservants in those days, I will pour out my spirit." Did you know that about 400 years before Christ, God promised you the gift of the Holy Spirit? Did you receive it? St. Paul asked the Ephesian Christians, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit...?" They answered, "No, we have never ...

3689. Job’s Joy

Job 38:1--41:34

Sermon

Richard F. Bansemer

Two brief Old Testament lessons introduce the sermon for today. The first is from Job 38, the first two verses: "Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind: ‘Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?’ " The second lesson is from the 55th chapter of Isaiah, verses eight and nine: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." ...

3690. Do I Dare Be Different?

Matthew 5:10; 10:1-42

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

William Inge was one of England’s most outstanding preachers. At the beginning of this century, because of his insight and forthrightness, he was either greatly admired or bitterly disliked. After the First World War he was speaking at a public gathering, and in his speech, he urged that realism instead of revenge be his country’s guide in its treatment of a defeated Germany. Three days later, Dr. Inge received a letter which rebuked him for what he had said, and then added: "I have been praying for your ...

3691. Overcoming Self

Philippians 1:1-11

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

Some children were choosing up sides for a game of cowboys and Indians. The first boy who was chosen by the captain of the Indian side came up and whispered to him, "Choose Cory next - he’s so great at dying!" So Cory was chosen. As the game progressed you could see what the boy meant, for when the cowboys threw a bead on Cory and shot him, he let out a moan - no blood-curdling scream, no over-acting - just a moan. He staggered forward and pitched over on his face, twitching once or twice before he went ...

3692. The New Covenant

1 Corinthians 11:17-34

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

The meal which we celebrate here tonight has not simply been celebrated annually on this Maundy Thursday for the past twenty or fifty years, like many church customs. In fact, unlike even the more stable of church traditions, it has not simply been observed since the beginning of the Christian Era - but it has been celebrated far back into the distant reaches of history, back even further than Moses and the Exodus from Egypt. In a sense, the celebration of this meal, which is linked to the blood covenants ...

3693. BE EASTER PEOPLE

Illustration

John H. Krahn

After the tomb was found empty and Jesus appeared to the early church on many occasions, doubt disappeared, and the early church had overwhelming confidence in the Lord. The church today must live and be about its ministry with the same Easter confidence. We say we rely on God’s mercy for our salvation; we need to give over all areas of our lives to God’s control. What aspects of ourselves are outside God’s control? Our temper? Our money? Our time? We need join the psalmist and say, "Create in me a clean ...

3694. A SERMON-DRAMA FOR EASTER

Drama

Tom Eberle

Easter Prior to the 4th century, Good Friday and Easter were celebrated as one festival in the church. This is the background for the sermon-drama for Easter. They were not observed as historical pageants as we do today, commemorating the death of Christ on Good Friday and his resurrection on Easter Sunday. Rather, the early church observed a festival of redemption, combining the death and resurrection of Christ within the framework of an all-night vigil, concluding with the first rays of sunlight on ...

3695. The Post Launch Slump

2 Cor 8:10-11

Sermon

Robert Noblett

If you still haven’t heard of Murphy’s law, let me tell you how it reads: Says Murphy’s law, "If anything can go wrong, it will." Murphy’s law and others like it are not laws in a scientific sense; they are not laws in the sense that the law of gravity is a law. But they do capture human moments that are repeatable among us to the point where they seem more the rule than the exception. An enterprising fellow by the name of Arthur Bloch has put laws of this kind together between two covers and the result ...

3696. Winners, Losers and the Gospel

Mt 16:25

Sermon

Robert Noblett

For those of us who have spent some time in the Buckeye State there was a sadness about the demise of Woody Hayes as chief helmsman of Ohio State Football. Hayes, during the final moments of the Gator Bowl between Ohio State and Clemson, had directed his right forearm toward the throat of Clemson player Charlie Bauman, who had just intercepted an Ohio pass and preserved a Clemson victory. Shortly thereafter, Hayes was fired for his behavior and a career marked by glory ended in disgrace. Really what ...

3697. In the Spirit's Tether

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Sermon

Allan J. Weenink

To be in the Spirit’s tether means that we are joined with one another in a unique way, because all of us are bound by a loyalty and love that is greater than any one of us individually. There is a beautiful Communion anthem which describes the evolving process. Draw us in the Spirit’s tether; for when humbly in thy name, two or three are met together, Thou art in the midst of them: Alleluya! TOUCH WE NOW THY GARMENT’S HEM. As the brethren used to gather in the name of Christ to sup, then with thanks to ...

3698. The Good Samaritan Didn’t Leave His Name

Sermon

Harold Warlick

When Jesus of Nazareth walked this earth, he continually met people trying to justify themselves. These people tried to show themselves to be righteous and acceptable for God. One particular lawyer, evidently a man who had done much good, put Jesus to a test saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus answered him with the poignant and lasting parable of the good Samaritan. I read the parable of the Samaritan many times before I grasped its full significance. The Samaritan performed ...

3699. Love of God, Self, and Neighbor

Matthew 22:34-40

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

The religious people of Jesus’ day got together to try to trap Jesus with their questions. They asked him about paying taxes. They asked him about rising from death. We read today that they asked him what was the greatest commandment. The Jewish rabbis liked to distill the meaning of religion into little phrases like the ones we put on our Burma Shave signs. They had 632 laws and rules for the practice of their religion. They tried to break it down into a couple of inclusive commandments. "Teacher," he ...

3700. Paul: The Man and His Message

Romans 9:1-29

Sermon Aid

T. A. Kantonen

Hans Lietzmann, noted New Testament scholar, once remarked that no one has correctly understood Jesus except Paul and no one has correctly understood Paul. The attempts to understand Paul are legion. The literature on him is immense and the interpretations of his thought are varied. To Bultmann he is "the founder of Christian theology," while to Morton Enslin he is not a theologian at all but simply a "practical and forthright man" who taught new life in Christ but had little regard for logical consistency ...

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