Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 3726 to 3750 of 4508 results

3726. They Will Know We Are Christians by Our Love

Illustration

King Duncan

At age 17 Jennie Todd found fault with everything about the church, from the teaching methods to the time worship was held. She resented her parents forcing her to go to church and Sunday School every week. She would sit in her class with her arms folded across her chest, slumped in a folding chair in the back of the class. She refused to make friends or to participate in class discussions. It was...

3727. Love Is Something You Learn

Illustration

King Duncan

Sandra Palmer Carr in The Upper Room tells about rocking her younger son Boyd, then four years old, in a high-backed wooden rocking chair. Boyd was facing his Mom as they rocked, his legs folded at the knee. Suddenly, he lifted his small head, stared straight at his 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 ...

3728. For the Right Reasons

Illustration

King Duncan

In her book, Memories of War, Promises of Peace, Sister Mary Jo Leddy writes about her parents' World War II experiences. Her father, Jack, was a surgeon in the Allied army. Jack, stationed in a French town, often went to a nearby church for rest, refuge, sanctuary and prayer. For him it was a special and holy place. Forty years later, he returned to the village with his wife and daughters, insist...

3729. Jesus And The Ten Commandments

Children's Sermon

Robert B. Lantz

Object: Bookmarks or cards with Ten Commandments Good morning, boys and girls. In the Old Testament book of Exodus, and repeated in Deuteronomy, there is the story of the tablets of stone that Moses received from God when he went up onto Mount Sinai. Can anyone here tell me what we call the words written on those stone tablets? (Response.) Yes, they have come to be known as the Ten Commandments. ...

3730. The Circus and My Faith

Sermon

Robert Noblett

The Bible admonishes us to love God, but it also embellishes on the point. It admonishes us to love God with all the heart that we have, all the soul that we have and all the mind that we have. Our intent in these pages is to land on the third dimension of our love for God, our willingness to love God with our minds. That may strike some as a bit unusual - loving someone with our mind (we usually ...

3731. A Lesson from Jay Leno's Mom

Sermon

King Duncan

Comedian Jay Leno had a long run on the Tonight Show before leaving it this year. Leno has always been a fascinating character. But one story out of his past is particularly memorable. When Leno was growing up, there was one firm rule in his family he had to follow. It was to never take the Lord’s name in vain. His mother used to tell him, “People might steal money because they have to eat. Or ma...

3732. For The Love of God Is Empowering

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

I heard about an executive who was given a prank gift for his birthday, a penguin. He decided just to accept it in the spirit in which it was given, so he called in one of his employees and said, "Will you please take this penguin to the zoo?" The employee never returned to work that day. That night, however, he appeared at the executive's house, with the penguin. Exasperated, the business execut...

3733. Proper 25

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

OLD TESTAMENT TEXTS Deuteronomy 34:1-12 is the account of Moses' death on Mount Nebo, his burial by God, and the passing on of his leadership to Joshua. Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17 is a prayer ascribed to Moses. The lectionary does not include v. 13, but it is included here since it introduces the prayer ascribed to Moses. Deuteronomy 34:1-12 - "Standing Tiptoe on Mount Nebo" Setting. Deuteronomy 34 ...

3734. The Love That Conquers the World

Illustration

Frederick Buechner

The love for equals is a human thing--of friend for friend, brother for brother. It is to love what is loving and lovely. The world smiles. The love for the less fortunate is a beautiful thing--the love for those who suffer, for those who are poor, the sick, the failures, the unlovely. This is compassion, and it touches the heart of the world. The love for the more fortunate is a rare thing--to ...

3735. The Great Debates

Sermon

Lori Wagner

In the 22nd chapter of Matthew, Jesus tells a parable about a wedding banquet––with a clear smack in the face to several of his contemporaries. Jesus had a habit of lighting fires under his opponents in a brilliant way. In response, the remainder of the chapter is riddled with what we might call a set of “great debates,” rabbinical debates between Jesus and the authorities, including the Sadducees...

3736. Not Such a Difficult Question

Sermon

King Duncan

If you’ve ever sweated through a job interview, then you know what it’s like to hold your breath as you wait for that next question. Will it be something off-the-wall that you can’t possibly answer . . . Or will it be a perfectly reasonable question . . . but one that will cause your mind to go blank the minute the interviewer asks it? Maybe you heard the story of a young woman who was interviewi...

3737. Whose Son is the Christ

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

While the Pharisees remain assembled, Jesus turns the tables to ask his own question (22:41–46), which silences the entire Jewish leadership after their litany of questions (21:23–27; 22:15–40). His query answers their questions of his authority by addressing the issue of his messianic identity. When he asks them whose son the Messiah is, they answer in expected fashion: “The son of David” (22:42)...

3738. Whose Son Is the Christ?

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

The Great Commandment: The parable of the wedding feast (vv. 1–14) is regularly considered to be an allegorical revision of an earlier more straightforward parable told by Jesus. Fenton lists as allegorical elements that strike the reader as strange and unnatural the killing of those who brought the invitation (v. 6), the destruction of the guests (v. 7), and the burning of a city while a meal is ...

3739. A Public Opinion Poll

Children's Sermon

Object: A piece of poster board with the words written on it: PUBLIC OPINION POLL with some questions and space for answers to the questions. This morning we are going to do something that generally only a few big people get to do. We are going to have a Public Opinion Poll and find out how the boys and girls who come to services feel about their church. Now the way that this works is that I will...

3740. What Is Servant Leadership?

Sermon

George Johnson

I have been interviewed by a few call committees during my 31 years of ministry. It's always been a good experience. You know that they want to get to know as much about you as they can in the brief time you have together. Whether you are interested in the call or not, you try to be honest and fair but careful in yOur answers and comments. Many of you have interviewed for jobs and you know what it...

3741. Trick or Treat

Children's Sermon

Brett Blair

Exegetical Aim: The best leadership seeks to help people not burden them to point of despair. Key verses: 4 and 11. Props: One small bag of dried uncooked noodles—bow tie pasta works best. Hide the bag of candy. Lesson: What is today? (Halloween) What do we do on Halloween? (response) I happen to have something for you. Reach in and get a prize but you only get one. Allow each child to reach in th...

3742. A Tale to be Told

Sermon

George Bass

In James Michener’s recent novel, Space, Astronaut John Pope is asked by the President of the United States of America to make a good-will tour of the world after an astounding flight to the Moon. In Autralia, he meets a Korean newspaper woman, Cindy, whose real name is Rhee Soon-Ka, who wants to write the story of the astronauts for her paper. They go to an inn and talk at considerable length - a...

3743. For Those in Church: Joy and Service

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

Matthew 23:1-12 is a good checklist for our practice of religion. So many sermons are appropriate for all those Christians who are not there in church to hear them. This Gospel story and these comments are written especially for those who come to church - those of us who consider ourselves the faithful. Jesus spoke these words to his disciples. They are about the pillars of the church in his day -...

3744. The Ladder or the Wheel

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

The crucifixion of Jesus was legally performed. Jesus was tried, convicted, and punished by death according to strict Roman law. His crime was political. The proclaiming of himself as King of the Jews branded him as a dangerous proponent of treason and sedition. Herod, the Roman puppet governor of the region, was the only king in Jerusalem. But as a country under strict Roman occupation and rule, ...

3745. Would You Be a Saint?

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

How many of you played “dress up” this weekend? Wow…There’s a lot of you who “dressed up.” What did you “dress up” as? …[make this as karaoke as you can ... You may want to prime the pump by arranging for some to wear their “dress ups” to church] On Halloween we “dress up” in costumes and put on masks to “hide out,” to conceal who we really are. Originally the “disguises” worn on “All Hallows Eve”...

3746. Matthew 23:1-12

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

In today’s gospel text Jesus is still in the temple, teaching and speaking before his disciples as well as a mixed crowd of casual listeners. Certain scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees had been badgering Jesus with questions designed to make him look bad. They now have physically retreated from the scene. But these opponents are still the focus of Jesus’ words in 23:1-12, for they offer both exampl...

3747. Matthew 23:1-12

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

In Matthew's gospel, Jesus' active earthly ministry seems opened and closed by great sermons given before huge crowds. The Sermon on the Mount has received scholarly acknowledgment and scholastic scrutiny as the public starting gate for Jesus' ministry. Yet little attention has been given to the contents and concerns contained in his last great public discourse recorded in Matthew 23-25. Speaking ...

3748. Matthew 23:1-12

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

Jesus’ discourse in Matthew 23 reveals some of the foibles and follies of those striving to be respected and remembered as truly pious. The Pharisees, the group selected for reprimand in today’s text, were not the “bad kids” in the first century collective crowd. In fact, they were perceived by most Jews as the most straight-laced, Torah-observant, morally and religiously strict and respectable. B...

3749. The Jewish Leaders as Negative Foil for Jesus’ Followers

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

Big Idea: For Matthew, the Jewish leaders are disobedient to the Torah and pursue the honor of their positions, providing a foil to Jesus’ followers, who are to renounce concern for status and live in community as brothers and sisters. Understanding the Text Matthew concludes his narration of confrontation between Jesus and the Jerusalem leaders with a series of judgment warnings upon the Pharis...

3750. Judgment on Jewish Leadership

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

The preliminary judgments issued by Jesus on the Jerusalem elite in Matthew 21–22 lead into a more extended section of judgment in Matthew 23–25, with chapter 23 focused on prophetic judgments leveled against teachers of the law and Pharisees specifically. Yet the story audience of these woes is the crowds and Jesus’s disciples (23:1) rather than the teachers and Pharisees themselves. Matthew inte...

Showing 3726 to 3750 of 4508 results