Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 3726 to 3750 of 4986 results

3726. Man Proposes; God Disposes

Acts 1:15-17, 21-26

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... for the tendency to think we know it all and fall into temptations today. First, we must recognize we are human. We are not God. Only God is God. We should not view our opinions and plans as absolute. That doesn't mean we should forever stay in the land of indecision, avoiding action at all costs. It just means that we are limited in our understanding and actions. We must avoid the problem of a Lutheran pastor who was arguing with a Roman Catholic priest about religion. Finally the Lutheran pastor said ...

3727. Risking Relationships That Redeem

Ruth 3:1-5, 4:13-17

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

... be contested or misunderstood. He gathers the town elders in order to confront another relative, who is an even closer kinsman, with this opportunity and his duty. There is property involved, which will come back to Naomi if Ruth produces a male heir. Had Ruth stayed in Moab, another kinsman could have bought the land in question and kept it for his own. But Ruth is in Bethlehem, and her firstborn son will be considered heir to the land of Ruth's first husband. This was too much trouble for that kinsman ...

3728. Tasting the Gruel of Love

Matthew 22:34-40

Sermon

King Duncan

... stood on either side of Brian. No one told them to go to him, and no one told them what to do. They just stood there with him, and one of them put his hand on Brian’s shoulder. Brian looked up and saw them, and kept crying. But they stayed there with him. They didn’t talk to him, they didn’t try to cheer him up, says Rev. Zencka, they just stood by him, willing to stand in his pain and be there for him. Slowly, his weeping tapered off, and before long the boys were scampering around the ...

3729. Creative Love

Matthew 22:34-46; Mark 12:28-34

Illustration

James A. Carpenter

... Jones, in his autobiography, relates a childhood incident that seems trivial in itself, but, seen in the light of what he eventually became, it was probably the turning point in his life that made him the great man he was. One day his parents told him to stay home and weed the turnip patch while they were gone. He had just begun when some friends came along and persuaded him to go fishing with them, promising to help him weed the garden when they got back. But, as every fisherman knows, it's practically ...

3730. Love Is Something You Learn

Mt 22:34-46

Illustration

King Duncan

... mother, and became very still. Then he cupped her face in his tender little hands and said almost in a whisper, "Mommy, I'm in your eyes." He had seen his own reflection in his mother's eyes, and this strangely affected him. Mother and son stayed in that same position for several long moments as the rocking stopped and the room grew quiet. "And I'm in yours," his mother said. Then he leaned his head against her contentedly, and she resumed rocking and singing. Occasionally, in the days that followed, Boyd ...

3731. Always Practiced

Matthew 25:1-13

Illustration

King Duncan

... that his musicianship was better than ever. "How did you do this?" a critic asked. "You had no chance to practice for seven years." "I did practice," Liu replied, "every day. I rehearsed every piece I had ever played, note by note, in my mind." Liu knew that he must stay ready. He would not always be in prison. He wanted to be prepared in case there ever was another performance.

3732. Stepping Out on Faith

Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

King Duncan

... suffer from what he calls risk-lock a condition which, like gridlock, leaves them unable to do anything or go anywhere. He says the first principle of risk management is that everything is risky. There is no such thing as absolute safety. You could stay home in bed, but a half-million Americans require emergency room treatment each year for injuries sustained while falling out of bed. You could cover your windows, but one of ten people each year accidentally hangs themselves on the cords of their Venetian ...

3733. Spiritual Investment

Matthew 25:14-30

Illustration

David Beckett

... . Don't invest all your money in one stock. A third is to be aware of the risks. Some investments might bring strong returns, but they also might leave you with heavy losses. And the fourth principle of investment is to think long term. Don't be a day trader. Stay in for the long haul. Being a part of what God is doing in the world is something you and I can do today! We don't have to wait until we have a lot of faith. We don't have to wait until we are stronger in the faith ...

3734. The Long Haul

Matthew 25:14-30

Illustration

David Beckett

... all her friends about the wonderful woman doctor in downtown New York. The dispensary was soon doing well. It eventually expanded, moved, and is now a branch of the New York Infirmary on East Fifteenth Street. This is where the financial investment advice is helpful: stay in there for the long term. It's about being more concerned with faithfulness than success. When success is our goal we are often tempted to take short cuts. And when we do we often miss out on vital life lessons faithfulness can teach us ...

3735. The Long Reach of an Act of Kindness

Matthew 25:31-46

Illustration

Richard J. Fairchild

... , living as a sharecropping family. Everyone in the family was needed to help with the crops. After several years of schooling the family pressed each child into service on the farm. Fortunately the boy's mother intervened on behalf of her child and was allowed to stay in school. When he was ready for college he chose the Lane Institute, working as many as four jobs in addition to full-time studies. It was all physically and emotionally wearing. He worked for a summer as a porter on a train and happened to ...

3736. Preparation for Christmas

Mark 13:24-37

Illustration

Billy D. Strayhorn

Advent is a time of personal preparation for Christmas. And we have to be prepared if we want to see God's work. We have to stay awake and be alert so that Christmas can be meaningful. We have to prepare our hearts as well as our homes. A woman and her daughter were out Christmas shopping on the day after Thanksgiving. Just as everyone had predicted, the crowds were awful. They had to skip lunch because ...

3737. Something New Under the Sun

Mark 13:24-37

Illustration

Steven E. Albertin

... I had with my father many years ago. I must have been a small child who was shocked by the cruel treatment I had received from my friends. He reminded me how I shouldn't be surprised. People are sinners. The more things change, the more they stay the same, when it comes to human nature. "There is nothing new under the sun." Perhaps that is why Jesus' words in today's Gospel seem so unreal, almost farfetched. Almost 2,000 years ago Jesus spoke graphically of the end of the world. The universe will ...

3738. Natural Disasters and The Second Coming

Mark 13:1-31

Illustration

Brett Blair

... some human device to reassure us. In His own good time "the Lord shall descend from heaven with a shout" and "we which are alive shall he caught up to meet him in the air." We have nothing to fear, and the only preparation we need to make is to stay close to the Lord Jesus and keep our lives pure.

3739. Something Big

Mark 13:24-37

Illustration

King Duncan

... , while God was doing His greatest and most creative work right under their noses. That's one reason why Jesus says, "Watch! Be prepared!" Advent is a time of personal preparation for Christmas. And we have to be prepared if we want to see God's work. We have to stay awake and be alert so that Christmas can be meaningful. We have to prepare our hearts as well as our homes.

3740. Twas the Beginning of Advent

Mark 13:24-37

Illustration

Richard J. Fairchild

... to follow a single bright star. But that will come later if we're still around. The question for now: Is the child to be found? Can we block out commercials, the hype and the malls? Can we find solitude in our holy halls? Can we keep alert, keep hope, stay awake? Can we receive the child for ours and God's sake? From on high with the caroling host as he sees us, He yearns to read on our lips the prayer: Come Lord Jesus! As Advent begins all these questions make plea. The only true answer: We will see ...

3741. Body Sculpting and Self Shaping

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... faith, a diet technology of salvation in which we sip our way into beauty, truth and goodness, and mostly slimness. This very focus on external, artificial, sleek for-keeps solutions to our self-image problems only serve to provide food for our demons to stay in us, not starve them out. Satan is the master of masquerade (2 Corinthians 11:14). And Satan is masquerading in the promises of an Optifast faith. A whole pantheon of deities has cropped up to feed on our doubts and anxieties, fostered by our ...

3742. The Three Stages to Truth: A Biblical Philosophy of Education

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the lesson Jesus teaches. As the travelers on the Emmaus Road approach their destination, they notice the stranger is going farther. Excited by their conversation and entranced by their companion, the two students invite the previously uninvited stranger to stay for supper. With that simple act they are no longer theorizing about redemption and reconciliation. They are now engaging in redemptive and reconciling acts, initiating the Eucharist they are about to receive. As Luke repeatedly makes clear, sitting ...

3743. Don't Count Sheep

John 10:11-18

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... , but as their imitative behavior indicates, they need a leader, a shepherd they can depend on. Goats don't need anybody watching out for them; they are independent to the point of being "head-strong" (ever been butted by a goat?). The shepherd is the main-stay in the sheep's lives. Without his attention and care they would quickly find themselves in trouble. Economist and seer E.F. Schumacher had a lovely story about an old shepherd. "Don't count the sheep," he said, "or else they won't thrive." He meant ...

3744. The Bonds of Love

1 John 4:7-12

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... . The science of psychotherapy has attempted to identify the ingredients contained in the art of love (One Couple/Four Realities, ed. Richard Chasin, Henry Grunebaum and Margaret Herzig, [New York and London: Guilford Press, 1990]). Asking the question of why marriages stay together rather than why they fall apart or how they get started (there is no English word for the phenomenon best described as innamoramento, the Italian word for the apocalyptic moments when two people realize they are "falling in love ...

3745. Revitalizing the Lo-cal Church

Acts 1:12-26

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... between a local church that is alive and an anemic lo-cal church is The Power Called Prayer. On this "Mother's Day," or "Festival of the ChristianHome" in some churches, it is fitting that we reflect together on The Power Called Prayer. The importance of staying Prayed Up is something we all first learned at our mothers' and fathers' knees. John Wesley learned from his mother Susannah not to have a good opinion of anyone who did not spend at least four hours a day in prayer. "God does nothing save in ...

3746. The Christian's Walking-Stick

Mark 6:7-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... it is comfortably blurred. Faced with the present we prefer to call a meeting and retreat to our conference rooms. Faced with his present, King David sought out God's presence and "sat before the Lord." David had every reason to stay outside, celebrating his successes both realized and promised. But instead of investing all his energies devising strategies for his future, David focused on his present need to sit before the Lord in prayer. This time of reflection, praise, humility, and gratitude experienced ...

3747. LightWorks

Deuteronomy 6:1-9

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... traveling towards us for millennia, we might never know that it had existed at all. Communities of faith must be able to produce light with the same intensity, tenacity and brilliance of that distant star - light that can be trusted to stay so true to its trajectory that the image it conveys is a vital, vibrant, distortion-free representation to generation after generation of the original faith community. It was Benjamin Franklin's least known, but perhaps most important political insights: "America's ...

3748. Bethlehem's Two Roads

Hebrews 10:5-10

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... drawn heavily on those reserves of confidence and reservoirs of joy nurtured within her at the home of Zechariah and Elizabeth. The long, exhausting trip to Bethlehem while nine months pregnant; the onset of labor pains while searching fruitlessly for a place to stay; the prospect of delivering her first child without the security of kinswomen to assist her - all conspired to make the trip to Bethlehem more than a harrowing "hang-in-there" ordeal. Yet, reaching their destination was only a tiny part of the ...

3749. From a Distance

Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-19

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... for all of us who are sighted. A hyperopic view of life's dreams and expectations can stretch out before us, full of infinite possibilities - even while our up-close reality is as gritty as working at McDonald's while going to night school, or staying home with pre-school children, or facing last month's rental bill with this month's social security check. Bette Midler recently popularized a remarkable song that speaks about the positive power of keeping a hyperopic focus. All the lyrics are moving, but the ...

3750. A.Y.O.R. (At Your Own Risk)

Hebrews 12:1-2, 12-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... called to make on a regular basis. The fact is: Our freedom of choice is no longer a choice. We now live in a choice-culture, where choice is not an option. Choice is a value and virtue in and of itself. People expect, even need, choices. We stay away from places and people that don't give us choices. How long would any restaurant last today that only offered one food on its menu? Even McDonald's is branching into pizza and pasta and health food. Likewise, the age of singular big movie theaters is long ...

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Showing 3726 to 3750 of 4986 results

3726. Man Proposes; God Disposes

Acts 1:15-17, 21-26

Sermon

Ron Lavin

3727. Risking Relationships That Redeem

Ruth 3:1-5, 4:13-17

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

3728. Tasting the Gruel of Love

Matthew 22:34-40

Sermon

King Duncan

3729. Creative Love

Matthew 22:34-46; Mark 12:28-34

Illustration

James A. Carpenter

3730. Love Is Something You Learn

Mt 22:34-46

Illustration

King Duncan

3731. Always Practiced

Matthew 25:1-13

Illustration

King Duncan

3732. Stepping Out on Faith

Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

King Duncan

3733. Spiritual Investment

Matthew 25:14-30

Illustration

David Beckett

3734. The Long Haul

Matthew 25:14-30

Illustration

David Beckett

3735. The Long Reach of an Act of Kindness

Matthew 25:31-46

Illustration

Richard J. Fairchild

3736. Preparation for Christmas

Mark 13:24-37

Illustration

Billy D. Strayhorn

3737. Something New Under the Sun

Mark 13:24-37

Illustration

Steven E. Albertin

3738. Natural Disasters and The Second Coming

Mark 13:1-31

Illustration

Brett Blair

3739. Something Big

Mark 13:24-37

Illustration

King Duncan

3740. Twas the Beginning of Advent

Mark 13:24-37

Illustration

Richard J. Fairchild

3741. Body Sculpting and Self Shaping

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

3742. The Three Stages to Truth: A Biblical Philosophy of Education

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

3743. Don't Count Sheep

John 10:11-18

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

3744. The Bonds of Love

1 John 4:7-12

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

3745. Revitalizing the Lo-cal Church

Acts 1:12-26

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

3746. The Christian's Walking-Stick

Mark 6:7-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

3747. LightWorks

Deuteronomy 6:1-9

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

3748. Bethlehem's Two Roads

Hebrews 10:5-10

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

3749. From a Distance

Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-19

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

3750. A.Y.O.R. (At Your Own Risk)

Hebrews 12:1-2, 12-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

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