Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 3751 to 3775 of 3852 results

3751. A Protestant (And Catholic) Way To Confess

Romans 10:8b-13

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... what you say is just your own private opinion, it is not a confession of faith you offer. An authentic confession of faith expresses the church’s faith! This is such an appropriate concern for us to consider here at the beginning of Lent. Because in its origin, Lent was a period of instruction in what the church believed, so that those being baptized on Easter (the day of Baptism in the early church) would adequately be prepared to confess the faith on that day.[2] We need this kind of confession of the ...

3752. Nobody’s Too Good To Repent

1 Corinthians 10:1-13

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... human being) can avoid the concerns raised, even those of us not caught up in materialism and sexual license. Martin Luther once (all too clearly) explained why: The reason is that our nature has been so deeply curved in upon itself because of the viciousness of original sin that it not only turns the finest gifts of God in upon itself and enjoys them (as is evident in the case of legalists and hypocrites), and indeed it even uses God Himself to achieve these aims, but it also seems to be ignorant of the ...

3753. The Limping Body Of Christ

1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Sermon

Mary Austin

... two long letters to the church at Corinth, and probably more, trying to answer all the questions they raised. He answered what to do about women ... the proper way to celebrate the Lord’s Supper ... whose gifts were better and more valuable for the church. The original questions have been lost, but we have Paul’s answers. A lot of what he wrote is practical advice, but here he has a vision of the Christian community as a place where all of the members lean on each other, and benefit from each other ...

3754. Jesus In Ministry — Us In Ministry

Luke 4:14-21

Sermon

Derl G. Keefer

... disaster inside the clubhouse. Their messiness created a mess! This was unthinkable. At the next meeting there was an uproar. A division resulted after angry words were spoken with feelings hurt and bruised. A few wanted to stick to the purpose of the original station…saving lives. The majority wanted the clubhouse feel which excluded messes and people. Those who wanted to stay with the life-saving purpose were voted down and told to start their own station…down the coast and not to close to the ...

3755. Spirit Powered Anointing

Luke 4:14-21 · Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... ministry occurred after his baptism, at that time when we are told that the Holy Spirit came upon him in a big and powerful way, christening him into a ministry of mercy in order to fulfill God’s vision of bringing humanity home to its original state of relational harmony with God (the Hebrew tov). Jesus would be the sacrificial Lamb, the sin offering, and the medium of atonement. He would also declare justice –but not the kind you might expect. Not the kind his family and neighbors expected. Not the ...

3756. Provoked

Luke 4:21-30

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... feel that self-righteous bone rising up in your body, remember Nazareth. For God’s proclamation IS one of celebration –but it comes with a distinct caveat. It’s for ALL people. Jesus, Messiah and Lord, Son of God, proclaimer of God’s divine mission, keeps God’s original blessing to Abraham close to his heart: “You are blessed to be a blessing” (Genesis 12:2-3). In the words of the prophet Isaiah (42:1, 6-7): Here is my servant . . . my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him ...

3757. Treasures from the Past

1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Sermon

Mary Austin

... carried with him, though, was this gift he had received — the certainty of grace through the life and death and resurrection of Jesus. He had had an experience of Jesus that he could never forget, and it changed his life. He’s not one of the original disciples, but he’s proud to claim that Jesus appeared to him, too, and gave him this inheritance of faith. It’s odd to think about, but Paul’s letters are written down before our four gospels. This is an earlier resurrection story than the ones ...

3758. Fool's Gold

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... You may say…. How can I find this, get in touch with this part of myself? How can I feel I am more than what my life has become? This is where God comes in. God is in the business of restoration. You may not be able to see your origin-al beauty and the value hiding within you, but God can. And your relationship with God can be transformative, can bring you out of hiding and reveal your inner beauty and worthiness, even to you. When you allow God to remove your outer layers of hiddenness and show you your ...

3759. When What You Signed Up For...

Acts 16:9-15

Sermon

King Duncan

... .com/david. 3. “Acts 16 - Second Missionary Journey Begins” by David Guzik, Enduring Word Bible Commentary, https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/acts-16/. 4. “Called from the Badge to The Book,” June 26, 2012, Templeton Editor, originally published in the book Make Your Job Your Calling, https://makeyourjobacalling.com/category/stories-of-calling/. 5. Letters on the Healing Ministry by Dr. Albert E. Day (Methodist Evangelistic Materials: 1964). 6. David McLemore, https://www.thingsofthesort ...

3760. A Day of Passion, Praise and Prophesying

Acts 2:1-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... Of course, some of us who speak only English have a difficult time getting it right. It reminds me of an amusing story told by Rev. J. Barrie Shepherd who has pastored at various Presbyterian churches in the United States. Like many Presbyterian pastors, Rev. Shepherd is originally from Scotland. He came to the U.S. to study at Yale Divinity School. After he had been in this country a couple of weeks, he needed to catch a cab to the local Dept. of Motor Vehicles. The cab driver heard his Scottish accent and ...

3761. A Question of Trust

Romans 5:1-5

Sermon

King Duncan

... in place, nothing. This plot may sound a little far-fetched, but according to the Worldstart newsletter it has been verified by the highly credible fact-checking website Snopes—as well as other media sources. It’s a scam, according to this source, that originated back in 2006 and seems to be resurfacing. I’m not concerned that any of you are gullible enough to fall for such an obvious act of deceit, but every year major agencies like the Federal Trade Commission or the Better Business Bureau publish ...

3762. The Lonely Prophet

1 Kings 19:1-4, (5-7), 8-15a

Sermon

King Duncan

... the outcome to God’s good and powerful plan for you. 1.“Meet Japan’s New Minister daily_brief/news-opinion/meet-japans-new-minister-loneliness. 2. “Rent-a-person who does nothing in Tokyo receives endless requests, gratitude” Japanese original by Mei Nammo, City News Department, Manichi Japan, January 11, 2021, https://mainichi.jp/english/ of Loneliness,” by Kayla Kibbe, InsideHook.com. February 22, 2021, https://www.insidehook.com/articles/20210111/p2a/00m/0dm/016000c. 3. “Commentary on 1 ...

3763. The Long and Dusty Road

Luke 19:28-40 · Psalm 31:9-16

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... would prevail, no matter how loudly Jesus’ foes might protest. Solid as a rock, God’s promise would be invincible. God’s Word would last forever. We began the season of Lent with Ash Wednesday, the day in which we bear the dust of our origins and hear the words from Genesis 3:19: “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.” And we come now to Palm Sunday, in which God’s incarnational “dust” and God’s eternal “stone” collide in a beautiful dichotomy. God the eternal ...

3764. I'm Going Fishing

John 21:1-19 · Acts 9:1-20

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... “more” chosen if you lived up to set standards of being Jewish–standards that held an exclusively high bar. While Jesus set out to make disciples of them all, ultimately those who didn’t belong found his reinterpretation of God’s original message most refreshing. The new sense of belonging and identity (chosen-ness) inherent in his message fueled his mission to establish a different and inclusive kind of “community.” Jesus leveled the playing field, much to the dismay of the “elite,” but ...

3765. First Things First

Genesis 1:1-2:3

Sermon

Will Willimon

... , the nation had been obliterated, sent into exile. We who sometimes put down conservative calls for ''law and order'' ought to remember that there was a time, say 500 B.C., when any shred of political order and stability seemed so miraculous as to be of divine origin. Even without the political mess, there was still enough sickness, natural disaster, and famine about to make one wonder just who is in charge of our earth home. The first tellers of this tale, at 500 B.C., achieved a good deal of what we call ...

3766. Finding Your Place

Romans 12:1-12

Sermon

Will Willimon

... when he tried to give people every opportunity to buck authority and refuse to administer the shock, the majority still did what they were told. Milgram concluded that “our culture has failed almost entirely in inculcating internal controls on actions that have their origin in authority.” We do what we are told. Just following orders. A few decades ago in a mid-western high school, a social studies teacher was leading a class discussion of Nazism. “It can't happen here,” they said, “not in the U ...

3767. How to Pray

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... called it the God Phone, and they set it up in the field. Above the booth is a sign that reads, “Talk to God.” Below the booth is a phone line buried underground that leads to a secret location with a corresponding phone about 100 feet from the original booth. Anyone who wants to play God, and who can find the secret location of the second phone, gets to sit and listen to—and respond to—the prayer requests of those in the phone booth. Journalist Leora Smith got to “play God” at Burning Man a few ...

3768. The Lawyer

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Dave Zuchelli

... insensitivity to the plight of their fellow traveler set the stage for the third man to arrive on the scene. That third man, of course, was the person now known famously as the “Good Samaritan.” The adjective, “good,” is not in the original story. Most Jewish countrymen would not have put the words, “good” and “Samaritan,” in the same sentence (particularly to use good as a modifier to Samaritan). The Jews and the Samaritans summarily hated one another. The reasons for this ran deep and ...

3769. Shameless!

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

Dave Zuchelli

... will get up and give him as much as he needs.” At first blush, it almost sounds like Jesus is saying that we can shame God into giving us whatever it is we want. While it sounds like that, we need to blush again. Let’s go back to our original discussion of parables. Most of them make one point. The point of this one is not that we should try to shame the Lord into doing our bidding. It’s that we know he has what we need, and we should go to him boldly to seek his favor. He ...

3770. The Dare Prayer

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... them. Perhaps it will surprise you too. For although we say this prayer again and again, I’m not sure that we really “get” the impact of what Jesus was saying with the prayer he asks his disciples to pray. So let’s take a journey into the original Greek and take a look at Jesus’ famous prayer: “When you pray, he said, say this:” Heavenly Father of all of us, help us to keep your name holy [revere and honor you]. Let [may] your kingdom come to us and your will [not ours] be carried out ...

3771. All Dressed Up

Luke 12:32-40

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... the church. Unlike other animals, for as long as humans have roamed the earth, we have been concerned with clothing ourselves. From the moment of the “fall” in Genesis 1, we began a journey of finding ways to conceal our original “nakedness” and to express ourselves instead through material means. The very essence of communication in fact relies on using symbols for expression. Language employs verbal symbols. Music, dance, art, and clothing all convey symbols that are visual, tactile, or emotional ...

3772. Christmas Is Out of Control

Matthew 24:36-44

Sermon

John Jamison

... own interpretation to the laws, and each of those interpretations became kind of a law itself. As you read the old books you find a lot of: “Rabbi Gamaliel says… but Rabbi Schmalich says… and Rabbi Gelbin says…” all depending on how each rabbi interpreted the original law. So no matter what you said or did, if a Pharisee wanted to, he could easily find some reason to catch you breaking a law. That’s how they kept people under control. They played a very good game of “Gotcha!” That’s what ...

3773. Have Your ID Ready

Matthew 11:2-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... , how can you convince people of your identity? I read a story this week that made me think about this question. Johnny Weissmuller was a 5-time Olympic gold medalist who starred in 38 movies and TV series from 1929 to 1976. He is best known as the original Tarzan. He starred in 12 Tarzan movies from 1932-1946. He’s the one who came up with that famous move where he beats his fists on his chest and shouts this loud cross between a yodel and a shriek. [I thought about demonstrating the yell myself, but ...

3774. You Don't Have to Yell

Luke 17:11-19

Sermon

King Duncan

... been surprised to hear that Jesus took this route. Jesus grew up in Nazareth, which was around Galilee. It was familiar territory to him. His comfort zone. People from the South might say that Galilee was Jesus’ “stomping ground.” That phrase originally referred to a place where herds of animals typically gathered. (3) Most of Jesus’ ministry took place in the region of Galilee. But sometimes Jesus went rogue. At least in the eyes of the religious establishment. The animosity between the Jews and ...

3775. A Law Against Dying?

Luke 20:27-38

Sermon

King Duncan

... love, or God’s enduring love, or God’s everlasting love? Why would God make us for a loving relationship, then let us die? Jesus’ life, death and resurrection are proof that God planned us for eternal life with Him. Some of you are familiar with the origin of a classic Gospel song that is dear to many hearts. In 1932, a young singer and songwriter named Thomas Dorsey lost his wife in childbirth. His newborn son died the next day. Dorsey commented later, “I became so lonely I did not feel that I ...

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