Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 3701 to 3725 of 3852 results

3701. Words, Just Words

Humor Illustration

Traditional

Samuel Clement (Mark Twain) attended a Sunday a.m. sermon. He met the pastor at the door afterward and told him that he had a book at home with every word he had preached that morning. The minister assured him that the sermon was an original. Clement still held his position. The pastor wanted to see this book so Clement said he would sent it over in the morning. When the preacher unwrapped it he found a dictionary and in the flyleaf was written this: "Words, just words, just words."

3702. Well of Wisdom, Water of Life

Genesis 21:8-21

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... . Jesus tells us He will give us eternal life by giving us a drink from His Living Water. Wherever there is water, the symbol for bodily life, we will also find God’s wisdom, presence, and spiritual/physical/emotional life and rebirth. In the original Genesis creation story (in Genesis 2), God causes water to spring up from the bowels of the earth to water the land. The Hebrews (and later Jews) therefore called the natural springs that flow and bubble up from under the earth, “living water.” They ...

3703. A Working God

Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

Sermon

R. Kevin Mohr

As I originally prepared this sermon the news was breaking about the tragedy in Charleston, South Carolina in 2015, with the Honorable Reverend Pinckney and eight of his parishioners gunned down in the historic black Emmanuel A.M.E. church. But this tragic act couldn’t be conveniently blamed on Islamic extremists. No! ...

3704. Stay Awake!

Mark 13:24-37

Sermon

Michael L. Sherer

... . “Something important is happening. Stay awake! Don’t miss it!” The context for Mark’s good advice is a parable that sounds to many modern readers like an antique story hardly applicable for today. Here’s the problem with the parable. As it was originally intended, it undoubtedly presumed that there was to be a cosmic event, an ending of human history of some sort, in the near future for those first readers or hearers of Mark’s message. Mark’s gospel reflects this conviction in more than one ...

3705. The Politics of True Faith

Matthew 21:23-32

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... that will keep their own authority intact and allow them to undermine Jesus’ ministry. Jesus however turns the tables on them by throwing a question back at them that will test their truth faith: “Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?” When they fumble for an answer, they reveal the wishy-washy state of their faith, and their right to Temple authority. I told you Jesus was tricky! And Jesus goes further. He tells them that it’s ok to get it wrong, to doubt, to hesitate ...

3706. What Are We Protecting?

Matthew 21:33-46

Sermon

Roy Howard

... .”2 In the parable before us the setting is similar to previous parables in Matthew: a vineyard, a landowner, and tenants. (We should also note that it is borrowed from Isaiah 5:1-7 and would have been somewhat familiar to the original listener.) In the conventional Christian interpretation, this parable has been read as a justification for the replacement of God’s people, Israel, by Jesus and his church. The doctrine of supersessionism is the pernicious belief that the coming of Jesus supersedes the ...

3707. Faith in the New Frontier

Matthew 22:34-46

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... constantly manifesting today as the Holy Spirit in our everyday life! Sound fantastic? Anything less is no longer Christianity. And this is so very important that our forefathers created creeds to remind us of what we truly believe! Because it is utterly fantastic! The origins of our faith reveal that we must put everything we know as real in our world aside in order to embrace the supernatural as true and resurrection from the dead as real. Every reformation since then was a re-formation of our spirits, so ...

3708. Practicing What We Preach

Matthew 23:1-12

Sermon

Albert G. Butzer III

... By way of contrast, Jesus spoke about prayer in Matthew a mere nine times. This is not to minimize the importance of prayer. It merely suggests that hypocrisy was a huge issue in Jesus’ day, just as it is today. Do you know what hypocrites are? Originally the word was a term from the ancient Greek theater. An actor would appear on stage wearing a large grinning mask and would quote humorous lines, causing the audience to laugh. The actor would disappear backstage, put on a frowning mask and then reappear ...

3709. Grazing at the White House

Humor

(Apology) I originally wrote, "Woodrow Wilson's wife grazed sheep on the front lawn of the White House." I'm sorry typesetting inadvertently left out the word "sheep."

3710. 30 Years of Leftovers

Humor

I believe it was Erma Bombeck who said that the most remarkable thing about her mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found.

3711. About Those Magi

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... . For example, the character of King Herod. “You may be surprised to hear this,” says historian Paul Maier, “but believe it or not, if you are ever asked which is the one figure from the ancient world on whom we have more primary evidence from original sources than anyone else in the world, the answer is not Jesus or Saint Paul or Caesar Augustus or Julius Caesar—none of those. Alexander the Great? No, no. It is Herod the Great, believe it or not. Why? Because [the historian] Josephus gives us two ...

3712. A Quantum Decision

Mark 1:4-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... , Indianapolis Star, https://www.indystar.com/story/opinion/columnists/matthew-tully/2017/03/03/tully-second-chances-one-mans-story-redemption/98654624/. 4. Psychology Today (March 9, 2015), Copyright © 2015 by Bruce Grierson, psychologytoday.com. Originally published in “The Meaning (and Science) Behind Those Life-Changing, Transformational Aha Moments” by Bruce Grierson, Reader’s Digest, https://www.rd.com/culture/aha-moments/. Cited in Quantum Change: When Epiphanies and Sudden Insights Transform ...

3713. Driven to Their Knees

Mark 9:2-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... would clear. There was no way the disciples could have prepared for what would take place on the top of that mountain, however. The Bible says on the mountaintop, in the presence of his three disciples, Jesus was “transfigured,” a word from the original Greek metamorphoo which is related to our word metamorphosis and means “to change form.” Christ’s face became as “bright as the sun” according to Matthew 17:2 and “his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them ...

3714. The Museum of Failed Products

Genesis 9:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... own image, breathed into us the breath of life, gave us the ability to love, to desire, to will. More significantly he endowed us with the most precious gift of all, the freedom to choose. Unfortunately, sometimes we choose wrongly. Every one of us. Call it original sin if you wish. There is a basic flaw within our character. At times, God is disappointed even in the best of us. The story of Noah and the flood is the culmination of that disappointment. According to the Genesis writer, God repented that he ...

3715. About That Anger

John 2:12-25

Sermon

King Duncan

... people to take action. (3) There are times when it is right to get angry. Jesus was angry when he drove the moneychangers out of the temple. They had turned a place of worship into what he called a “den of robbers.” The moneychangers were originally an answer to a problem raised by Roman coinage. The coins had on them the image of Caesar. Therefore they were unacceptable to the Jews for Temple ceremonies. The people were thus forced to change their Roman coins into coins that were acceptable. Those of ...

3716. Sword of Truth

Luke 2:22-40 · Hebrews 4:12

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... this greatness would also come pain, divine judgment, devastation, and a reckoning for all people. Jesus’ very nature would be as a “sword of truth,” which would discern the hearts of all humankind. That truth would be painful, especially as it comes from divine origin. And that two-edged blessing would come to pierce Mary’s own heart as well, for the son she would love so dearly and purely would cause her intense anguish and unimaginable pain. One day, she would watch her son die on a Roman cross ...

3717. A Nod of Recognition

John 3:14-21

Sermon

Timothy W. Ayers

There was a game show on television. Some of you may remember the 1970’s remake of it, and a few may even remember the original from the early 1950’s. It was one of those shows that keeps cycling back into our lives in different formats. Today, iTunes even has a version of the game. It is called “Name That Tune.” The rules were simple, the host would play a few notes from a popular ...

3718. Suffering Leads to Victory

1 Peter 3:18-21

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... from the Great Spirit that they were forgiven. Thus, they sang and danced and thanked the Great Spirit and as they did a gentle rain began to fall. The land began to live again and the people were saved. This classic Native American story of the origins of the bluebonnet presents a powerful theme of the willingness of one to suffer so that good, and in the end triumph, can be achieved. As the Christian community begins to enter more fully and deeply into the season of Lent on this first Sunday, Saint Peter ...

3719. The Cost of Discipleship

Philippians 2:5-11

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... arrives triumphantly into Jerusalem, but we realize that the exalted “Hosannas” from the people will, in only five days, turn into cries of “Crucify him!” Saint Paul in his famous Philippians hymn, most scholars would suggest from literature of the day is not original to Paul, describes how Jesus, though God, emptied himself of his divinity to take on the human condition in all ways, except sin. He did so for the sole purpose of bringing to its climax the great story of salvation history. After the ...

3720. Unsanctified

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... in response to many of those disciplinary thinkers. But if you went on to do a doctorate and later became a professional in that field, you were then expected to contribute to the foundational base of literature in your discipline with new, original, contributory thoughts, ideas, and literature. You started as a student with the goal of becoming a teacher of master at your discipline, a contributing professional. Well, in the Jewish tradition, it was the same. All Jewish boys when they were young were ...

3721. Homecoming

Mark 16:1-20

Sermon

Will Willimon

... designed and built by my mother, a house whose every inch she cherished, and whose ever corner spoke of her and her love of beauty. In my dream, I'd move from room to room and be surprised that all of her dispersed furniture was back in its original place. Every book was there, on the shelves, all perfectly remembered from childhood. I would awake and wonder why I kept having this dream of my mother's house. She never appeared in the dream, though I could feel her presence there amid the place she created ...

3722. Our Light

Genesis 1:1-5 · Mark 1:9-11

Sermon

Will Willimon

... illuminates. I know nothing of God save what I have seen reflected in the world around me—nature, people, goodness, love—but even at their brightest, these are only reflections, stunning though they sometimes are, of the source of all light. Alas, have I only brought you back to our original dilemma. You know that there is no galactic billboard in the sky, no descending dove, no empirical proof for that which we long. So we end where we began -- the terrible uncertainty, the hiddenness of God.

3723. Mutual Submission

Ephesians 5:22-33

Sermon

Will Willimon

... of this means that any use of this passage to justify feminine subjugation in marriage or anywhere else is a calloused misreading of the text. That's not what it says, in spite of what Jerry Falwell says. Indeed, considered in its original context, Ephesians 5 is a quite radical statement with its emphasis on the responsibility of husbands. Admittedly, submission is being urged. Everything follows from the opening statement: Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ. Submission is the guiding ...

3724. It's Worth the Wait

Acts 2:1-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” (Acts 2: 2-4) On the Day of Pentecost, the disciples of Jesus were gathered in an upper room in Jerusalem. All the original twelve were there, save one. Judas’ place had been taken by Matthias, who had been chosen by the casting of lots. That this was an unreliable means of choosing officers for a church board is attested to by the fact that Matthias is never mentioned again. I ...

3725. The Transformative Power of God

1 John 1:1--2:2

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... God; we cannot find eternal life through our own effort. In the early fifth century this question was hotly contested between Pelagius, a British monk, and the great theologian, Augustine. Holding an exalted understanding of humanity and denying the concept of original sin, Pelagius claimed that it was possible to find salvation through one’s own effort alone, thus obviating the need for Christ and his redemptive act of love on the cross. In response, Augustine totally rejected this thesis, insisting that ...

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Antonyms: deficient, imperfect

Showing 3701 to 3725 of 3852 results

3701. Words, Just Words

Humor Illustration

Traditional

3702. Well of Wisdom, Water of Life

Genesis 21:8-21

Sermon

Lori Wagner

3703. A Working God

Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

Sermon

R. Kevin Mohr

3704. Stay Awake!

Mark 13:24-37

Sermon

Michael L. Sherer

3705. The Politics of True Faith

Matthew 21:23-32

Sermon

Lori Wagner

3706. What Are We Protecting?

Matthew 21:33-46

Sermon

Roy Howard

3707. Faith in the New Frontier

Matthew 22:34-46

Sermon

Lori Wagner

3708. Practicing What We Preach

Matthew 23:1-12

Sermon

Albert G. Butzer III

3709. Grazing at the White House

Humor

(Apology) I originally wrote, "Woodrow Wilson's wife grazed sheep on the front lawn of the White House." I'm sorry typesetting inadvertently left out the word "sheep."

3710. 30 Years of Leftovers

Humor

3711. About Those Magi

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

3712. A Quantum Decision

Mark 1:4-11

Sermon

King Duncan

3713. Driven to Their Knees

Mark 9:2-13