Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 351 to 375 of 4508 results

Sermon

John Jamison

There are many things that could be said about this passage. It is an amazing story. You have heard it before, but for just a few moments I would like for you to remember it with me one more time. Christmas has come and gone. The baby is born, the angels have sung their songs and have gone back to wherever it is that angels go after a performance, and the shepherds have gone back to sit with their...

352. The Return to Nazareth

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

The author concludes the birth story of Jesus by narrating the return of Jesus and his family to “the land of Israel” (used twice; 2:20–21), and specifically to Nazareth in Galilee, after Herod’s death (4 BC; 2:22–23). Once again, the Lord’s guidance comes to Joseph through an angel in a dream, instructing him to return to Israel and then warning him about Herod’s son Archelaus, now ruling in Jude...

353. The Return to Nazareth

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

2:19–23 The angel of the Lord had told Joseph to remain in Egypt until he was told to leave (2:13). Now the angel appears once again and instructs him to take his family and go to the land of Israel. When Herod died in 4 B.C. his kingdom was divided into three parts. Archelaus, the eldest son, was placed over Judea, Samaria, and Idumea, but confirmation was withheld by Augustus until the newly app...

354. Advent IV - Children’s Sermon

Children's Sermon

Susan Hedahl

The Lighting Of The Fourth Candle: The Home Candle We all have special feelings about the town where we live and especially our house. It might be marked in a special way by numbers or your family’s name or a sign nearby. Home can mean a lot of things. It can mean the house you live in and it can also mean the town you live in. "Chicago is my home," we say. Or, "My parents came from Minneapolis....

355. Your Image of Tomorrow

Sermon

Leonard Mann

"Among those who are born of women ..." If you are thinking of the human race, this is a rather inclusive statement; I can’t think of very many people it leaves out! And this is a statement of Jesus as he offers a summa cum laude of highest praise to one of his associates in the dissemination of truth and light. He says, "Among those who are born of women, there has not arisen a greater prophet th...

356. Enemies of Promise

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

What are the enemies of promise that keep us from becoming the persons God made us to be? Rob Reiner's film Stand By Me tells the story of a group of four boys on their last journey of childhood. They are four very different kids from very different circumstances, and yet, they are still young enough that these differences don't matter very much. But they sense their time is short. It is the...

357. Matthew 3:1-12

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

For the second week of Advent, the gospel text is once again one that urges preparation in the hearts and souls of the faithful for the imminent arrival of the Messiah. Whereas the living Jesus proclaimed this counsel in last week's text, this week, the gospel reading focuses on the message John the Baptist preached before Jesus entered into his public ministry. All four gospels are unanimous in t...

358. Matthew 3:1-12

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

It's enough to make one suspect that Jesus and his disciples were the first postmodernists. Today's lection begins by calling us to remember the words of one of the greatest prophets of the past: "the prophet Isaiah" (v.3). Yet our reading also looks forward to a future beyond all previous faith experience: "... one who is more powerful than I is coming after me .... He will baptize you with the H...

359. Discover the Promise of Christmas

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

Most, if not all of the leftover turkey has been eaten. Black Friday sales are mostly over. The decorations are up all over town and in the malls. We're stuffed and either glad the relatives have finally left or we're saddened because they could stay longer; or maybe just a little of both. Those are the telltale signs that Christmas is right around the corner. Today we enter the Season of Adve...

360. John the Baptist

Sermon

David E. Leininger

A time to put your imagination to work this morning. The scene is a large, ornate room in the palace of Herod the king. In it, you and others who comprise the best and the brightest in all of Judea - religious leaders, politicians, courtiers. There is an air of expectation in the hall, for you are about to meet a man whose reputation has spread across the land. The king's men have arrested him aft...

361. Jesus’ Baptism by John

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

Big Idea: In introducing John the Baptist and narrating Jesus’ baptism, Matthew announces the restoration of God’s kingdom through Jesus’ own covenant faithfulness for all those who will repent. Understanding the Text Having narrated Jesus’ birth, Matthew fast-forwards to the events leading up to Jesus’ public ministry, including Jesus’ baptism by John (chap. 3). Matthew indicates that John the ...

362. John Prepares the Way

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

3:1–4:16 Review · Matthew moves from narrating the infancy stories to two preparatory events for the ministry of Jesus—his baptism and temptation. Both narratives are set in the wilderness (“desert”), tying Jesus’s preparation for his ministry to the identity of the people of Israel as they prepared to enter the land promised to them. Both stories are also marked by the Spirit, signaling that the ...

363. Claiming Hope

Sermon

James L. Killen

"Hope" is one of the most beautiful words in the English language. It evokes thoughts of sunrises that push back all kinds of darkness. It suggests birth and healing and promise and possibility. Hope makes us able to keep on going, or if we have fallen to get up and try again. Hope is a gift that our faith can give to us that will indeed meet the need of our hungry hearts. Hope is the essence of t...

364. John the Baptist Prepares the Way

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

John the Baptist: At the close of chapter 2, Joseph, Mary, and the child Jesus returned from Egypt and took up residence in the Galilean town of Nazareth. The time would have been shortly after the death of Herod in 4 B.C. Chapter 3 begins with the prophetic ministry of John the Baptist some twenty-five to thirty years later. What had been going on in the life of Jesus during this time? Except for...

365. Get the Garbage Out!

Sermon

King Duncan

For those of you who are parents or grandparents, I bet you remember your baby’s first words. Were you surprised by what those first words were? You spend the first six to nine months of your baby’s life just babbling at him and making all kinds of words and sounds. And one day, he or she suddenly responds! It’s a great feeling. Unless your baby’s first words are something unexpected. A parenting...

366. Repentance

Sermon

One of the towering marks of this age is the absence of guilt. Not many people would deny that startling fact. Some are pleased that guilt has been dethroned; others see it as a bad sign. The absence of guilt is one of the reasons that it is difficult to talk about repentance. If there is no feeling of guilt, the need for repentance is greatly minimized, if not extinct. A few years ago, I was in...

367. Prayer

Bulletin Aid

Stephen Brown

O God who shoots forth in our gardens… grows as winter’s wheat… God who breaks through thistles and thorns… blossoms in field and forest. In the winter of our soul we long for your coming To warm our hearts and cheer our spirits. In the cold of our frozen lives we await your arrival To thaw our relationships and fire our visions. Your Spirit comes upon him: The one who bears your likeness The on...

368. Prepare the Way of the Lord

Bulletin Aid

James Wilson

Call To Worship Leader: Let us all give praise with gladness and joy. People: This is our God, on whom we have waited for our salvation. Leader: For the Lord is near to all who call upon God in love and truth. People: The Lord is indeed our Help and the Holy One who delivers us. Leader: Let us shout the message for all to hear of God's mercy and grace. All: Blessed be the name of the Lord! Collec...

369. Prepare the Way!

Bulletin Aid

Frank Ramirez

Call To Worship One: Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things. All: Blessed be his glorious name forever; may his glory fill the whole earth. Amen. (based on Psalm 72:18-19) Collect Women: May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, Men: so that together you may with one voice glorify ...

370. Prayer

Bulletin Aid

How far to Bethlehem? For me Thousands of miles ... Across America Over the ocean Across borders. For the Wise men? A long camel ride Months long With an uncertain end. For Mary and Joseph? A long, dusty way By donkey and on foot Complicated by advanced pregnancy. For the shepherds? Just over the hill. How far to Bethlehem? In my heart Farther than for my feet! All the way to peace All the w...

371. Second Sunday in Advent

Bulletin Aid

Call to Worship Pastor: Advent is a call to repentance in preparation for Jesus ministry of salvation. People: Many of us are baptized Christians. But there is still a need for change in our lives. Pastor: Jesus comes to baptize us with the Holy Spirit; and that calls for a life style which gives evidence of repentance. People: We commit ourselves to new life in Christ, assured that he will enable...

372. Advent 2

Bulletin Aid

Gospel: Matthew 3:1-12 Theme: Promise - Someone has said that "Christian hope is not a trembling, hesitant wish, or desire that perhaps God's promises may be true, but the confident expectation that they can't be anything else but true." (Perhaps you will want to print this at the beginning of the order of worship in the bulletin.) Hymns of Advent Caution: Because of the familiarity of many of t...

373. Advent 2

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

COMMENTARY Old Testament: Isaiah 11:1-10 This text is related to Isaiah 9:1-6. "The people who have walked in darkness have seen a great light" (Isaiah 9:3a). In their original context, both passages are believed to be coronation Psalms for God's Anointed One, the king. It is possible that Isaiah composed today's lesson for the coronation of King Hezekiah. Though a king was held to be a direct li...

374. Advent 2

Bulletin Aid

Theme: Beyond nativity Exegetical note The enigmatic and eccentric figure of John the Baptizer is rich and colorful in this passage and elsewhere in the New Testament, but for this Sunday the real focus of attention should be the coming One whom he proclaims. In this regard, it is noteworthy that the "coming" to which John refers is not Jesus' birth but his ministry, a helpful reminder in this se...

375. Advent 2

Sermon Aid

THEOLOGICAL CLUE The Second Sunday in Advent is clearly oriented toward preparation for the coming of the Lord. This preparation has two dimensions: to prepare "our hearts" - which God is constantly attempting to do through his Word and Spirit - for the Second Coming of the Lord; and, to "prepare our hearts" for his incarnation, as he comes to us through Word and Spirit at Christmas and every day...

Showing 351 to 375 of 4508 results