Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 3751 to 3775 of 4957 results

3751. Miss Manners and Mr. Goodwrench

Ephesians 4:25-5:2

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... time a "service station" attendant asked if you could be helped?), individual concern and attention is so exceptional that its presence functions as an advertising "hook." Hence General Motors has distinguished a whole genre of mechanics as "Mr. Goodwrench," claiming they are unique and special because they provide fair, quality, efficient service with politeness thrown in. Is there anyone who would argue with Letitia Baldrige, former chief of staff for Jackie Kennedy, that "our society needs a change in ...

3752. The Job Description of a Leader

2 Samuel 23:1-7

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... up the wagon." God uses even the likes of you and me to show God's glory and to proclaim God's truth, beauty and goodness. The second item in this job description might be best encapsulated by the text from 1 John 4:18 which claims that "Perfect love casts out fear." Without this love, the fear which chased away those potential disciples traveling along with Jesus in Capernaum was a fear of being associated with the scandalous message Jesus was proclaiming. Without confidence in God's love, King David could ...

3753. Christ the Snake

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... vying for supremacy in the field of medicine. If you became ill, you had to decide whether you were going to consult an allopath or a homeopath. Allopathic physicians worked under the assumption that "opposites cure," while homeopathic physicians claimed "like cures like." Allopathic physicians would use powerful purges and poisonous chemicals, such as calomel or mercury, to violently force the body's humoral imbalance - the believed cause of most diseases - back into stasis. Homeopaths, on the other hand ...

3754. Healing in His Wings

Acts 14:8-18

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... our mission and lives and commitments simply because we fear that our accomplishments will unravel behind us. If they do, there was never any real return to health or wholeness in the first place. Despite the free-for-all that breaks out, the temptation to claim healing powers for themselves, and the near-fatal stoning that follows in its wake, Paul and Barnabas go on. In fact, first Paul gets up and goes right back into the city that had just misunderstood and abused him so completely. The next day, Paul ...

3755. A.Y.O.R. (At Your Own Risk)

Hebrews 12:1-2, 12-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... as across our society. Steven Waldman has drawn up a kind of checklist of the personal consequences suffered by people by the choice conflagration (see Steven Waldman's article "The Tyranny of Choice," New Republic, 27 January 1992, 22-25). First Waldman claims that "choice erodes commitment." He points out that the pressure to upgrade, to always be the most current "...can help explain everything from the rise of the pathological channel switcher who can never watch a TV show straight through to staggering ...

3756. Speak Up for Forgiveness

Hebrews 13:1-8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... not capable of genuinely forgiving the tendency for bureaucracies to dehumanize their workers. However, we are able to forgive our co-worker for refusing to acknowledge our individual needs and desires. We must not fall into that old trap where we virtuously claim that "we love humanity - it's people we can't stand!" True forgiveness must always have a face. Secondly, Wangerin insists that we must "remember our own forgiveness" (98-99) before we consider offering forgiveness to another. It only takes one ...

3757. Shame on You

1 Timothy 1:12-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... entire lifetime without ever being ashamed of our behavior, no matter what transpires. Consider the arrogance involved in Mayor Daley's statement. Are we really so calloused that we can routinely compromise our integrity, betray the trust of others, hurt those we claim to love and dishonor God, without ever feeling a twinge of guilt or a flicker of conscience? Actually, there does seem to be an intensified tendency to register all these feelings - but then to successfully pass final blame onto someone else ...

3758. Get a Life!

2 Timothy 1:1-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... image of "the gate" as the scene of past injustices and future righteousness. But only by identifying wrongdoers and bringing them into that gate of judgment will justice be served. Those without any suspicions, who blithely accept everyone and everything at face value, may claim "peace of mind." But they cannot say they have lived their life for the cause of justice and peace. Live in the present: Grasshoppers and ants aside, there is a lot to be said for adhering to this dictum and enjoying each moment of ...

3759. Toys R Us. NOT!

Ephesians 1:11-23

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... people must replace their "gods" on a regular basis - a pathetic comparison with God's gift of eternal life. The predominant human paradigm today is homo technologicus - the conviction that technology and its "toys" will save us. Wayne and Garth personify our culture's proud claim that "Toys 'R' Us," as they embody this nation's "toy faith" and gilded pleasures. As Christians, reborn to inherit the unequalled power of Christ and his promises of hope, love and faith, we can rejoice that "Toys 'R' Us. Not."

3760. Give Us a Break

2 Thessalonians 2:1-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

When was the last time you took a "breather" from all those distractions that claim to be the most important concerns in life? Take a break from the din and listen instead to the voices of biblical and church tradition - our true "sponsor" whose words we should heed, despite the cacophony of advertising that tries to dissuade us from the tradition. Remember when television shows ...

3761. The Cost of Non-Discipleship

Luke 21:5-38

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... . Faith teachers like Robert Tilton, Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth E. Hagin and Earl Paulk espouse similar "little gods," teaching that is based on the syllogism: dogs have puppies cats have kittens God has little gods As descendants of the first "little gods" Adam and Eve, we must claim our godhood, they say; we must believe in ourself. Or in the words of Kenneth Copeland: "You don't have a god in you. You are one." The Bible is the story of Lucifer wanting to be "like the Most High," and falling (Isaiah 14:14 ...

3762. The 10th Lamp

John 1:6-8

Illustration

King Duncan

... for saving the miners' lives. At the ceremony, there were ten miners' lamps set up on the altar, even though there were only nine miners. According to the pastor who presided over the worship celebration, the tenth lamp represented God's presence, which the miners claimed they could feel as they waited to be rescued. It was this "10th Man" they honored as they read Psalm 103: "Praise the Lord . . . Who redeems your life from the pit." Welcome to this celebration of our "tenth man" the One who has rescued us ...

3763. Soulistic Health

Mark 5:21-43

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... , a vital love. In the hit movie Phenomenon, a simple man experiences a radical physical, mental and spiritual transformation after being struck by a strange white light. His mental powers become remarkable, dazzling all those he meets. But the man himself ultimately claims that the most significant change he has experienced is spiritual. Watching a brisk wind forcing tall trees to dip and whip, this man sums up the greatest truth that his boosted powers have been able to reveal to him. He acknowledges that ...

3764. Soul-Scrubbing

2 Corinthians 12:2-10

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... apostle in a good old boasting contest, a battle of one-upsmanship, in order to determine whose words should hold the most authority in the Corinthian church. But Paul doesn't fight fair. He turns the concept of "boasting" upside down, and instead of laying claim to all his great works or listing all his accomplishments, he will boast only of his "weakness." "Whenever I am weak," Paul boasts, "then I am strong" (v.10). How can we hope to understand such a peculiar, paradoxical assertion? Why is it that we ...

3765. The Monster Under Megan's Bed

John 6:1-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... with them is based on the "awe factor." We stand in awe of them, and our children do not. All these computers, VCRs, CD-ROMs, all this Internet-networking, modem-uplinking and virtual-reality gaming is new and alien territory to us. My generation (the boomers) claims the television as our old familiar buddy, but all this other hardware and software is as new to us as it is to our parents' (the "booster") generation. For young school-age children, sitting down at a computer is like sitting down at the dinner ...

3766. Wanted: A Lasting Marriage. Only Good Chemists, Bad mathematicians, Expert Soul-O-Flexors Need Apply

Mark 10:2-16

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... than what he thinks his share is'" (PQR: Prescription for a Quality Relationship [New York: Simon & Schuster, 1988], 4). Lasting marriages are not 50/50, tit-for-tat propositions. In another survey of 351 couples married for over 15 years, the ones who were happiest claimed that "You have to be willing to put in more than you take out." Sometimes one member of the couple needs to give 90 percent while the other gives only 10 percent (for example, during a serious illness, job loss, death in family, etc.) (J ...

3767. The Double Cross

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... him to carry out his sacrificial gift of love for all. Jesus understood, and experienced in his ultimate sacrifice, that the more powerfully vertical one's relationship to God, the more profoundly horizontal one's relationship to others. It was as Jesus reached out and claimed his unique relationship as the Divine Son that he was able to stretch out his arms on the cross as the Suffering Servant, taking on all humanity's sins. Have you been double-crossed? Are you a double-cross disciple? Is the power and ...

3768. The World's Fittest Human

Mark 12:28-34

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Medici Venus to the Incredible Hulk [Cambridge: MIT Press, 1997]), the Ironman is it. Mark Allen has devised a 16-week program designed to get us into "ultimate fitness" (This is most fully described in Outside magazine, XXII, February 1997, 40-54). But Allen also claims that if you follow his complete training regime for as little as five hours a week, you can transform yourself from a chump to a champ. Perhaps even more startling is that Allen prefers to call his training regime a kind of "meditation" for ...

3769. The Widow's Might

Mark 12:38-44

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... by what he witnesses. According to this commentary, the widow is a mere pawn in the hands of a greedy, grasping religious establishment. The widow's wrong-headed gift was word-whipped out of her by the religious establishment. One wonders. By claiming that this widow's act of sacrificial giving brands her as an unwitting dupe of unscrupulous religious authorities, aren't we perhaps revealing more about our 21st-century standards than about any issues that may be behind this first-century text? Issues ...

3770. Mazing Grace or Amazing Grace

Isaiah 42:1-9

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... mercy and turn it into an amazement. The phrase "instruments of thy peace" is virtually synonymous with St. Francis of Assisi. We need the phrase "instruments of thy grace" to sink as deeply into our souls as "instruments of thy peace." Creation, Anselm claimed, was a free divine act, an expression of God's grace. Therefore, as God acts to bring about the completion, the fulfillment, of creation through all the labyrinthine turns of life, all the actions God takes toward that end are likewise brought about ...

3771. What Are You Looking For?

John 1:35-42

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... a conversion - e.g., St. Peter 4. a crisis conversion at the end of a gradual process - e.g., the Ethiopian eunuch Which one are you? Sometimes it takes long years of sitting at the Rabbi's feet, listening to his teachings, before we can truly claim our discipleship, before we can kneel at the foot of the cross. We all must first ask, "Teacher, teach us," before we can confess, "Jesus, save us." Is that, perhaps, the reason you came to church today? To continue your spiritual search? To attend your lifetime ...

3772. Lamplight vs. Starlight

Matthew 5:13-16

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... , those immediately at his right and left hands. James and John are looking for stellar status, a place where they may shine down on others. Jesus tries to teach these two star-seekers that their request is wrong- headed for two reasons. First, Jesus claims that heaven's seating order is his Father's domain - not his. More importantly, Jesus patiently reminds James and John that the way they may emulate him and be "first" in the kingdom is through selfless service to others. Doing for others, not looking ...

3773. Strength's Weakness

John 20:19-31

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... , to his words. Missouri has been called the "show-me" state. Most of us are spiritual Missourians. We want proof and lots of it before we are willing to commit ourselves to anything. We should be proud of our Missouri spiritual ancestry. Grand claims should be backed up by hard facts. The entire notion of "empirical evidence" which moved scientific method from the magical realm of alchemy to the cautious methodologies that now result in proven hypotheses is a "just the facts, ma'am" system of inquiry ...

3774. Rock-Bottom Living

1 Peter 2:2-10

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... What do you care about? What makes your heart sing? What gets you outside your self? Throw yourself into your passion without counting the cost. 2. Work with your pain Where have you been, so that you know where others have been? Where have you been broken? Claim your pain without counting the cost. 3. Work with what is at hand What has God given you that is all around you? There is no perfect "Job- Charming." Find purpose in the small things without counting the cost. Caught in the Act Am I the only ...

3775. Make Disciples

Matthew 9:35-10:8 (9-23)

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... we have lost all our values more likely, they have become so small and so compact that we can easily tuck them away in a convenient overnight bag and check them at the door. When it seems "appropriate" or "comfortable," we can quickly re-claim our stowable values. But for many it seems that there never is a suitably convenient place to unpack them all. Being a Christian in this kind of a "packed-value" (not "value-packed"!) postmodern culture challenges the church to be intentional about nurturing fully ...

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