Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 351 to 375 of 1089 results

Mark 3:20-30

Sermon

James Weekley

... an ugly stain. One of the guests got up, went to the wall, and began sketching around the stain with a crayon. What emerged was a stag with magnificent antlers. The man was Sir Edwin Landseer, England's foremost painter of animals. If an artist can transform an unsightly stain into a beautiful masterpiece, think what God can do with our sins. He absolves them and, in their place, refashions us toward full maturity. John Wesley, whose life blazed across the decadence of eighteenth century England, has left ...

352. The Faith of the Cannanite Woman

Mark 7:24-30

Sermon

Brett Blair

... interest. She awakens in us a feeling of admiration, perhaps even envy, because she stands where most of us would like to stand. What faithful Christian would not like it said of him or her: Great is your faith. Think of what it would mean if an aspiring young artist had Picasso place his hand on his shoulder and say: You have a great talent. How wonderful it would be then to a believer in God, if Jesus would place his hand on our shoulder and say: You have a remarkable talent for faith. But how does one ...

353. Proper 21

Luke 16:19-31, Psalm 146:1-10, Amos 6:1-7, Joel 2:18-27, 1 Timothy 6:11-21

Sermon Aid

George Bass

... and "beloved physician." The Gospel of Luke and the sequel, the Book of Acts, are attributed to him. Tradition remembers him as a missionary who preached into old age; a witness to Christ, but not a literal martyr. Tradition also claims him to be an artist (at least one painting in a Roman church is attributed to him), as well as an author/historian/theologian. He tells the same story as Mark and Matthew, but relates it more as Jesus' "journey to Jerusalem," showing how the death, resurrection, and promised ...

354. Beyond Bread and Butter

Luke 12:42-48

Sermon

Thomas Slavens

... and butter stage to new levels of dedication. From Christianity’s concern for the body as well as the soul, the importance of the individual, and its law of love can arise vital programs for labor in the areas of human welfare, justice and peace. The artist Flandreau has painted a picture of the Christ looking over a modern city. From his face and posture the viewer of the picture can easily imagine that in that city the poor are neglected, widows are uncared for and graft is to be found in high places ...

355. Doors to God

Mark 12:28-34

Sermon

Thomas Slavens

... more loving attitude toward people with low incomes. Next she studied her pupils to find out what their faulty attitudes were. Then she led them through a study of the causes of poverty and of some of the contributions which have been made by poor artists, musicians and writers as well as some of the services rendered to that community by the less economically fortunate. Finally, she took her pupils one Saturday to a needy widow’s home where they painted the inside of her front porch. As the young people ...

356. The Strength of the Master

Sermon

Thomas Slavens

Sunday • Laity Sunday • Laity Sunday • Laity Some people think of Jesus as a soft, weak person. Many artists have had this idea. Those who painted the pictures of Jesus in “Christ Weeping Over Jerusalem” and “The Shepherd and the Sheep” portrayed Christ this way. Even Da Vinci, when he painted “The Last Supper,” gave his own mother’s eyes to the Master. Sallman has painted the Master with ...

357. Black Preaching: A Four-Cornered Universe

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

... poetic metaphor creates the context from which the sermon emerges. Whether stringing together rhymes of comedic verse or metaphorically painting "still shots" or "landscapes" with swift-quick strokes of the verbal brush, the black preacher is a poet of sorts, whose artistic leanings and longings are his passports into the minds and hearts of hearers. Listen to black preaching steeped in the rich folk traditions of African-American culture and there you will discover a rhythm, a tone that sets its own order ...

358. First Things First

Mark 13:1-31

Sermon

Thomas Peterson

... of the persons who helped in their construction. In fact, they gave a feeling of permanence which those who made them did not. Any individual worker was insignificant among the huge number employed to construct the buildings. Even the most talented of the artists who adorned them are unknown to us today. A person was fragile and of short duration, here today, gone tomorrow. A person was temporary. Further, where a person was a single entity, the building represented the entire nation. Jesus took this simple ...

359. Revealed Glory

Exodus 16:1-36

Sermon

Walter Kimbrough

... for he is in charge of eternity. He is the author of everlasting, the creator of every good and perfect gift, too wise to make a mistake. He forgives the sinner because of love. It is this God who uses the whole world as the canvas of the artist and the blueprint of the architect. The psalmist declared, “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it… (Psalm 24:1).” And then David declares, “Be exalted, 0 God, above the heavens, and let your glory be over all the earth… (Psalm 108:5).” We, today ...

360. Transformed For The Great Awakening

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... with God. His face was aglow (Exodus 24:3~, LB) because he had been with the God of glory. Moses had experienced the glory of God. Now that glory was a part of him. The root word for glory can mean either horns or light. Some artists of the middle ages painted Moses with horns on his head. Michelangelo picked up the mistake in his famous statue of Moses. Instead of a halo, Michelangelo gave Moses horns. Light, not horns, emanated from Moses' head. The angelic glow of Moses' face was so mysterious that ...

361. The Best Offense Is A Good Defense

Zephaniah 3:1-20

Sermon

Richard Hasler

... keeps them plodding along until the inventive movement comes. Science fiction writer Ray Bradbury in a recent book on writing has a great deal to say about the value of discipline for the creative person. He observes that behind the remarkable artistic achievements of Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo were thousands and thousands of unknown sketches. He calls our attention to the surgeon who before he operates on a human being in a critical condition has dissected and redissected thousands of tissues and ...

362. Are You Asking The Right Questions?

Zechariah 7:1-14

Sermon

Richard Hasler

... that Durer could continue his vocation. When Durer’s art began to sell, then his friend agreed that he would return to his own first love. Eventually Durer’s attractive wood carvings did sell, and it was time for his friend to resume work as an artist. However, the manual labor had so stiffened his hands that no longer was he able to exhibit the skill he once possessed. One day as Durer returned home earlier than expected he discovered his friend praying quietly with folded hands. He was well aware that ...

363. The Road To Nazareth

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

Thomas A. Pilgrim

... by Albert Schweitzer's book, The Quest of the Historical Jesus, which said we cannot find out all the details of his life? Is he the Christ of literature, art and music whose life more than any other person in history has captured the minds of writers, artists and musicians? Is he the Jesus of revolutionaries, who in every part of the world have found in him their inspiration to create a new order of things? Is he the Christ of heresies, as old as the church itself, which we still have with us today ...

364. The Victory Of The Cross

Sermon

Erskine White

... the deed is done. Well, that same kind of crowd came to watch Jesus die, and they cheered when He appeared at the city gate, staggering up the hill to the "place of the skull." When Jesus got to Calvary, they took His robe off once again. As artists have painted the scene, Jesus has a piece of linen around His waist but in actual fact, the victim was made to die completely naked in front of all the people. Also, the law required that crucifixions be done next to a busy highway. This was done to humiliate ...

365. I'll Do Better Next Time

Luke 13:1-9

Children's Sermon

Brett Blair

Exegetical Aim: To explain that God is patient with us when we don't live as we should. Props: Crayons, a blank sheet of paper, and a little bit of artistic talent (but not much). On your sheet of paper draw a jumbled picture of a house, tree, and landscape, but make all the colors appropriate to the object. Draw the horizon. Put the roof's flat side on the horizon. Then on the tip of the roof, place the frame ...

366. Serving With Water: The Washing

John 13:1-17

Sermon

Steve Swanson

... the slave of all. Nor was this a masquerade. Jesus didn't just slip into the towel and say, "See, see. I'm not afraid to dress like a slave." He wasn't acting a part, like one of those fashion-plate hippies who wear $125 decorator jeans with artistically arranged patches, with just the right shade of bleach, and exactly the most attractive amount of fray on the cuffs. The role of slave and servant wasn't a short-term game Jesus played only on Holy Thursday. Slavery was for him a lifetime role. He had been ...

367. Home for Christmas

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

Johnny Dean

... home to Bethlehem and finding no room. It’s not even about our own desire for homecoming. It’s about God coming home. We couldn’t go to God, so God came to us. When we hear, "I’ll be home for Christmas," we hear Bing Crosby or whatever contemporary artist has done the song so well that it stands out in our memory. When Luke hears the song, it is God who is singing. You took time out from your Christmas Eve festivities to be here tonight, and I’m thankful that you did. But do you know why you ...

368. The Invisible God?

Colossians 1:15-23, Colossians 1:1-14

Sermon

Johnny Dean

... class was the importance of imagination for people of faith. Early on, the professor reminded us that imagination is not really held in high regard in today’s world, except, perhaps, in the motion picture industry. Oh, it’s all very well for children and artists to have and to use their imagination. But in the real, grown-up, adult world, we want empirical data – cold, hard facts. If you describe an adult by saying, "He/she has a vivid imagination," most likely you are using that as a put-down. What ...

369. Trying to Face the Strain

Genesis 28:10-22

Sermon

Johnny Dean

In the late 1960’s a new genre (which is just a fancy word for "type" or "style") of music appeared on the American cultural scene. It was called "protest music," because that’s exactly what it was about. The songwriters and performing artists wanted to express their displeasure or discontent with a variety of social or political issues of the day: the war in Viet Nam; the rules and regulations parents place upon children; the style of clothing or length of hair you had to have in order to be ...

370. The Butterfly Rock

Acts 10:23b-48

Sermon

Carl Jech

... are right to explain our faith and apply our faith to the everyday, "secular" world. There is probably no danger of our ever doing too much of that! We can be so heavenly minded that we are no earthly good. But we also need poetic, artistic, theological and other forms of religious symbols to keep our horizons open, to inspire our imaginations as we "consider the heavens." Next week our Surprising Symbol of Easter will be "Empty Prisons Without Walls." The week after that we will look at "Laughing in Church ...

371. Laughing in Church

Acts 9:1-19a

Sermon

Carl Jech

... . But most of the humor in the Scriptures takes more subtle forms. There is irony, wit, satire, sarcasm, the pun, the enigma, absurdity, and (as Louie Crew says in an article entitled Did Jesus Laugh?), "the crafty rhetorical gymnastics of the jive artist." In this wonderful article, Crew describes Jesus, the Lord who turned St. Paul's life upside down, as "the boisterous rule-breaker" who used subtly funny verbal games to keep his legalistic oppressors and critics off guard. "Give to Caesar the things ...

372. Making Money on God

Acts 19:25-26

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

... a man who believed in God as Jesus had shown men to believe. God was a spirit, a loving spirit that was more real than anything else. There was another man by the name of Demetrius who lived in Ephesus and was a silversmith. He was a great artist and a very rich one. He made statues of an idol goddess called Diana. There were large temples in Ephesus built for the worshipers of Diana. But people were urged to have many copies of the big statue in their homes and their places of work. People like Demetrius ...

373. Will the Real Jesus Christ Arise?

John 20:1-18

Sermon

Carl Jech

... is that the real Jesus Christ was not a solemn, sad-eyed ascetic but a fun-loving and joyous person. A famous painting of "the laughing Jesus" has become quite popular, and it may well be a good antidote to the many overly-serious portraits which artists have imagined. Jesus has also been described as a "religious genius," and, as you might guess, this image of Jesus was put forward by an academically-oriented person. We have also seen of late a popular tendency to identify Jesus with Buddha or other great ...

374. The Symphony of God

Acts 5:17-42

Sermon

Carl Hoefler

... Bible also tells us of a composer, Christ the Lord, who wrote the music of mercy with the ink of his own blood and brought the sounds of a sinful humanity into harmony with a loving and a forgiving God. The Bible also tells us about an artist-performer, the Holy Spirit, who can bring the composition of Christ and the created instruments of God to life. And, if you add to this metaphor, violins and horns, kettle drums, brass and reed instruments, you can have an entire orchestra that can produce a glorious ...

375. Windows Of Wonder

Sermon

James Angell

... and light, in one, When they combine and mingle, bringA strong regard and awe; but speech alone, Doth vanish like a flaring thingAnd in the ear, not conscience, ring. - George Herbert (1593-1633)"The Windows" Windows have been opened for me by two modern artists of the imagination. There's this wonderful story Donald Baillie tells in Out of Nazareth that sets up sound waves in the heart. He was on a late Sunday afternoon walk through the Scottish countryside when he came upon a signpost which pointed the ...

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