Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 351 to 375 of 1185 results

351. Love Is Down to Earth

John 12:1-11

Sermon

Carl Jech

... concern for adding numbers of people to membership rolls. But it should ever be our conscious goal. It is likely that people can tell whether we are really interested in their needs and concerns or whether we are simply after "members." We are called not to pursue growth for growth's sake, but as Pastor Timothy Wright of Glendale, Arizona has written, to speak only in terms of "growth for the sake of others." Just as happiness comes as a by-product of a meaningful life rather than as the result of a ...

352. Jail House Joy

Acts 16:16-40

Sermon

Carl Hoefler

... . She, along with her whole family, was baptized. After this less-than-smashing success, Paul and Silas entered the city. Instantly, they were the center of attention. This was not because of their preaching; it was because of the fact that they were pursued by a demonically-possessed fortune teller, who followed after them everywhere, crying out, "These men are servants of the most high God who proclaimed to us the way of salvation." This attracted attention and also gave Paul and Silas plenty of free ...

353. Faith Stands Beyond the Law

Galatians 3:15-25, Galatians 3:1-14

Bulletin Aid

James Wilson

... to God. All: Blessed be the name of the Lord! Collect O God, we are grateful that You came so we might know the faith and hope that makes life so rich and full. Lord, give us the courage to seek Your will for our lives and the faith to pursue it. In Christ we pray. Amen. Prayer of Confession Lord, we often forget who we are and that You touched our lives and made us messengers to the world. Instead we go our own ways and seek only our own interests. Forgive us, we ask, O Lord, and give us ...

354. Protective Passion

Luke 13:31-35

Illustration

Glenn E. Ludwig

... a mother, Jesus' love is so great that his all-consuming passion is to sweep us up into his protective arms. And although there are others in pursuit of him, namely Herod, Jesus, like a mother is persistent. He sticks to what his love compels him to do. He pursues his flock with a passion. His answer to Herod shows that: He has a little work to do in Galilee yet, a few chicks to sweep beneath his wings; and then, he is headed to Jerusalem, where he will, in essence, fly off from his chicks alone and draw ...

355. Give Them Good News...

Romans 5:1-11

Sermon

Robert V. Dodd

... in it, offer people the Resurrection Hope. Give people Christ and a vision of what they can become in Christ. Make his far more excellent way of life so real and so exciting, such good news, that they will gladly give up their old way of life in order to pursue it. Don't give them the bad news, but the good. Don't tell them about their sins; tell them about the Savior. Give them Good News: It'll totally disarm them! They won't be expecting it and it'll knock them off their feet. But far more important ...

356. Seeking What Matters

Matthew 13:44-46

Sermon

... for. Here is what makes the difference between using life and wasting it. A goal that is worthy, however, deserves and demands a commitment that is entire. An Olympic athlete must be committed to training; a great violinist must be committed to practicing; anyone who pursues a goal must be committed to the disciplines the achievement requires. After hearing a famous pianist, a lady said to him, "I would give anything to be able to play like that." He replied, "I'll bet you wouldn't give five minutes a day ...

357. The Gospel of the Little Man

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

... in terms of our impressive peers, or on the applause meter of public acclaim, when self becomes the center of existence, the cost of being tall in Christ is much too high. The treasure of the living word is worthless in our sight, and life pursues its bitter and relentless course to tragedy. It is simply fact that when our universe is built around ourselves, it cannot get any smaller. Life quickly loses equilibrium and everything becomes disjointed. "The half of my goods I give to the poor," Zacchaeus said ...

358. Advancers Over Decliners

Luke 19:11-27

Sermon

... within a day or two. I have heard folks ask it many times, "What is this world coming to? Where will it end?" Sometimes I have heard the plaintive chant, "The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind." Except for a burst of optimism here and there, we pursue our course one day at a time, make personal plans without consideration for the will of God, Deo volente, and for a break from life’s routine we stop to smell the roses now and then and prick our thumbs on thorns. As for the Kingdom of God, we ...

359. Of Preachers and Preaching

Micah 1:8-16

Sermon

... today’s situation, where the audience usually controls the purse strings of the preacher’s livelihood. Audience responses such as Micah and Jesus encountered can have a powerfully coercive influence on modern preaching. Bear this in mind as we continue to pursue the subject of preachers and preaching. Since the time of Micah and Jesus there have been many preachers - good, bad, and indifferent. A few have deserved to be called prophets. Some have been charlatans and frauds. The great majority, however ...

360. Let God Be God

Zephaniah 3:1-20

Sermon

... carefully and you will see that we are not limited to what is concrete and adherent, to what we can see, hear, smell, feel, and taste. We can go beyond the physical senses to visualize the unseen, to ask questions, to seek answers, and to pursue meanings. When humans name things they are ascribing values, which means that they have been seeking meanings in what they see. They do the same thing, also, when they try to understand what happens to them in their life experiences. In pursuit of the logic ...

361. Life in the Sunbelt

Malachi 4:1-6

Sermon

... to witness to his faith in Christ and the hope of eternal life. Tolstoy, the noted author, told a depressing story for which he could see no happy ending. A footsore traveler, according to the story, was crossing a treeless plain when a ferocious beast began pursuing him. When an old abandoned well appeared in his path, the man leapt into it without giving the matter a second thought. As he plunged over the curb, however, he caught sight of a huge, open-jawed monster waiting for him at the well’s bottom ...

362. Overcoming Life's Obstacles

Matthew 14:22-36

Sermon

... , their great plans, their unspoiled look to the future. Of course, if we are going to dream, our dreams need to be God-pleasing. We have to admit that often our goals are selfish and our dreams self-serving. We may be interested to have our children pursue a certain job or career only because it would cast a good reflection on us as their parents. How well we brought up our children, everyone would say. Plans and dreams about our own personal career may be motivated by the vision of seeing ourselves as a ...

363. Saving Sinners

Matthew 9:9-13

Sermon

... us. It isn't at all as if that's the only thing Jesus has in mind for his church. But in this situation here Jesus wants to make a point of it. His mission, your mission, and the mission of his church is to "save sinners." So let's pursue this one-two-three theme together now: his mission, your mission, our mission: saving sinners. I. The mission of Jesus Christ, the work he did here on earth, was surely to save sinners. Here in this story we have the bald description of Jesus calling St. Matthew to be one ...

364. The Challenge of God's Harvest

Matthew 9:35-38

Sermon

... all over the world, there are in proportion very few to do the work. And the proportion gets more lopsided against the favor of the church each year. In our own country thousands of Christian pulpits are vacant because young men and women are hesitant about pursuing the full-time ministry of the church. There is a great need for many thousand more full-time workers in the world-wide church. This we all know, and to the task of interesting young men and women in Gospel ministry we should all be committed ...

365. If Only We Would Do The Obvious ...

2 Kings 5:1-27

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

Ann, a new member of our church, gave the outward appearance of having her life all together. Tall and good-looking, she dressed well, was extremely neat, and seemed secure in pursuing an advanced degree after some years of teaching. She immediately became active in the life of the church and was especially gifted in creating excitement in some of the programs. The staff was concerned about overloading her with responsibilities, but her graciousness in accepting them and the efficient manner in ...

366. Playing God's Game

I Peter 3:8-15a

Children's Sermon

... game we have to do more than just talk about it. I wonder if that is what God means when he tells us about peace. I hear people talking about peace all the time, but very few of the people who talk ever do anything about it. They don't pursue it as God says that we must. If we want peace, then we have to do something and not just talk about it. We have to forgive and share and love and help and work hard if we want peace. If we want to play pick-up sticks, we have ...

367. There’s Gotta Be a Day

Malachi 4:1-6

Sermon

... cessation. Now our weapons are so terrible that to unleash an atomic bomb on the enemy is to unleash that same bomb on ourselves. The very scientists who developed that terror have been unsuccessful in forty years of pleading to get our government to pursue courses other than the multiplication of atomic and hydrogen weapons. The unrelieved goodness of goods in our nation - and it can be called that when compared to that of other nations - has not really had a better effect on us than that of unrelieved ...

368. Whoever Would Be King

2 Samuel 5:1-5

Sermon

... ." (Luke 4) What was that day in all of its fullness? Contrast David and Christ for some clarity. David rose from an obscure shepherd boy to king, from youngest in his family to first in the nation. Jesus put aside his own greatness, pursued the route of downward mobility, emptied himself, took our form and shape, and became obedient to death, even the death of a criminal. Christ went from the heights to the depths, from glory to degradation. His humiliation was his coronation, reputation destroyed, family ...

369. I Kid You Not

2 Kings 4:8-37

Sermon

... plunged for more than a mile, aiming for an injured woman whose parachute failed to open. He reached her just seconds before she hit the ground. The woman, Diane Williams, had been knocked out when she collided with another skydiver. Robertson, a safety instructor, pursued the woman, diving head-first, pinning his arms to his sides to reduce the wind resistance. When he caught up to her, he pulled her ripcord, and when her chute was safely open, he opened his own and both landed. The woman was hospitalized ...

370. Parable of the Road Signs

Matthew 12:38-45

Illustration

They were heading down the highway of life and the story of where they were going was written on the road signs they passed. Each was pursuing the pattern he had chosen with his own purpose in mind. As they passed a sign marked, "Three Die Here Daily" they began to think, "What am I doing with my life?" Does that road sign have any warning for me? Is God trying to say something to me?" The ...

371. How Did It Come to This?

Jeremiah 2:1-3:5

Sermon

... are about to marry is some father’s daughter, some mother’s child.” What happens in life when a miracle turns into a mess? We’ve all heard stories of high school valedictorians with brilliant minds, who obtain scholarships to the finest universities and pursue noble profession, but somewhere along the way something goes very wrong. Things go from bad to worse, and at an all too early age they end up taking their own life. What happens, when the one voted Most Likely to Succeed doesn’t? The prophet ...

372. Proper 21

Lk 16:19-31 · 1 Tim 6:6-19 · Joel 2:23-30 · Am 6:1-7

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... :6-19 Timothy is urged to seek spiritual values rather than material gain. Here we have a contrast between earthly and heavenly riches. The Lesson harmonizes with the Gospel's parable of Lazarus and Dives. Worldly riches are discussed before and after the admonition to pursue spiritual values - vv. 6-10, 17-19. The paragraph beginning with verse 16 is thought by some scholars to refer to Timothy's ordination. As a man of God he is to shun worldly goods for the riches of six different virtues. He is reminded ...

373. Death by Water

Matthew 3:13-17

Sermon

... written in Martian script. Sam cannot make it out; it’s a mystery to him. Suddenly, a girl, who also gets shot, and other Martians appear, and then a chase scene begins, with Sam and his wife in one of the ancient Martian sand-ships being pursued by Martians, who, after he has killed several more, finally corner Sam and his wife. Sam cries for mercy: "I didn’t do anything ... It was all a mistake ... And that Martian ... his death was an accident." Sam throws down his gun, "I give up ... don’t ...

374. Training Session

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

... some of the outrageous situations in life that heap pain and anguish upon innocent people - and allow God to control their lives; when they really "hunger and thirst after righteousness," as though they are actually starving and dying of thirst, instead of pursuing the pleasures and material blessings of this world, they will be satisfied by God; when they are able to see matters from the perspective of others - and act thereon - they are among the "merciful" because they have comprehended the nature of God ...

375. Christians Trust in God

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

Joe Pennel

... be immobilized by this combination of emotions and the mind. The trouble with any type of overwhelming concern is that it may make emotionally handicapped people of us, who are unable to live normal, productive lives. When we ought to be trusting God and pursuing life to the utmost, we find ourselves being consumed by forces in our lives that are just too much for us to handle. Fear and won may literally destroy us, or cause us to destroy ourselves, and they are absolutely catastrophic to our relationship ...

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