Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 3751 to 3775 of 4508 results

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

Hypocrisy Denounced: The last of Matthew’s five major discourses begins with chapter 23 and runs through chapter 25 (see the standard closing formula at 26:1). It differs from the others somewhat in that there is a break and change of scene between chapters 23 and 24. The first section (chap. 23) is directed to a wider audience (cf. vv. 1, 13, 37); in the second (chaps. 24–25) Jesus speaks to his ...

3752. The Difference Between Looking Good And Being Good

Sermon

King Duncan

Is there anyone in this room who doesn't enjoy looking good? We all do--whether we admit it or not. And when we feel like we don't look good, it affects how we feel about ourselves. There was a study done by researchers at Yale University sometime back on what are often called "bad hair days." This study found that on those days when our hair just won't cooperate, we feel less smart, less capable,...

3753. Who is Greatest Among You ...

Sermon

How quickly we learn the desire to be great. The quest to become "number one" is a given in our competitive society. To some degree it is what fosters achievement and causes people to strive for excellence. Few people succeed without a fairly strong motivation to be foremost in their field. That’s the positive side. The negative side has to do with the absence of compassion and the undue pride th...

3754. The Servant’s Credentials

Sermon

As part of my service to the church beyond the local parish, I serve on the Professional Preparation Managing Group of our Virginia Synod, Lutheran Church in America. This group is charged with the task of screening and supporting those of our synod who present themselves as candidates for church occupations, those who perceive in their lives a call to ordained ministry, the diaconnate, or service...

3755. True Servants of Christ

Bulletin Aid

James Wilson

Call To Worship Leader: How marvelous is the Kingdom of God that we are all welcome in it. People: May we all come before God just as we are, imperfect and flawed? Leader: In Christ we are welcome before God, made perfect as without sin. People: Then let us celebrate and share God's grace with all the world. Leader: And let us lift our hearts in praise for God's merciful love! All: Blessed be the ...

3756. Using the Word as a Blunt Instrument

Bulletin Aid

Frank Ramirez

Call To Worship Hope in Christ. Hinder no one who wishes to worship with us. Have faith. Collect Father in heaven, gather us in, the haughty and proud, the meek and the lowly, the saint and the sinner, the winner and loser. Gather us as one people who have come to realize that all of us are loved and wanted by you in your kingdom. Amen. Prayer Of Confession Alas for us when we exalt ourselves at...

3757. Warning Against Hypocrisy

Bulletin Aid

Call to Worship Pastor: Commitment to the Christian faith is a way of life, not just knowledge of God's laws. People: Many of Jesus' day knew how to look righteous without being righteous. Pastor: Jesus condemned them for their hypocrisy, and called his followers into a life of humility and service. People: May the devotion we feel for God in our hearts direct us to live in the beauty of holiness....

3758. Hypocrisy vs. Humility

Bulletin Aid

Exegetical note The words of Jesus related by Matthew here against the behavior of the scribes and Pharisees are timeless, for the hypocrisies that are catalogued reflect a spiritual arrogance and pride that place the authors of the pronouncements "above it all," an attitude symbolized by their love for regalia and titles. It is no accident, therefore, that the passage ends with a commendation of ...

3759. Proper 26

Bulletin Aid

Dennis Koch

Gospel Notes The words of Jesus related by Matthew here against the behavior of the scribes and Pharisees are timeless, for the hypocrisies that are catalogued reflect a spiritual arrogance and pride that place the authors of the pronouncements "above it all," an attitude symbolized by their love for regalia and titles. It is no accident, therefore, that the passage ends with a commendation of hum...

3760. Proper 27

Bulletin Aid

Dennis Koch

Gospel Notes On the lips of Jesus this parable was probably about the coming Reign of God and the urgency of preparedness. But for Matthew it is about the delay of the parousia experienced by the Church of his own day (some half-century later), which by the twentieth century looks more like a non-occurrence. The challenge today, then, is to interpret meaningfully how the Christ comes "again" in ou...

3761. Proper 26

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Old Testament: Joshua 3:7-17 Under Joshua the Israelites cross the Jordan into the Promised Land. Moses died and Joshua succeeded him. The people are assembled east of the Jordan River and are ready to cross over to the Promised Land. Forty years of wandering are now at an end, the destination reached. As the Red Sea was parted, the Jordan also is divided to allow the people to enter a...

3762. Pentecost 24

Sermon Aid

CSS

THEOLOGICAL CLUE If a congregation happened to be following the readings listed in Lutheran Worship, the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod's revision of the Roman Ordo and the LBW lectionary, the people would have caught the eschatological clue last Sunday; the Lutheran Worship lectionary follows the older Lutheran practice of abandoning the numerical progression of the Sundays in Pentecost and as...

3763. In His Debt

Drama

Robert F. Crowley

Theme: What is the motive behind our gifts to God? Summary: Two people bring gifts to the altar and are questioned by a third mysterious person as to their intentions. Playing Time: 4 minutes Setting: Your church Props: Two gifts Costumes: Appropriate for church Time: The present Cast: Marla -- gift giver Les -- another gift giver Guy -- a questioner MARLA: (PLACING A GIFT ON THE ALTAR) I ...

3764. What's Not to Love (A Drama about Humility)

Drama

Dave Marsh

Director's Notes: In Matthew, Jesus rebukes the Pharasees for showing and proclaiming their good deeds in public rather than be rewarded by their Father in heaven in secret. For many Christians it's easy to do something good but hard to not want to be recognized for it. We need to realize that God delights in our faithfulness to Him and our kindness to others. If others notice the work, then prais...

3765. The Difference Between Looking Good And Being Good

Children's Sermon

King Duncan

Object: A rock (as large as possible) Good morning, boys and girls. A missionary in Africa was traveling with two African friends. They came to a pile of stones and each of his friends picked up a stone. They advised him to do the same. "Why should I pick up a rock and carry it," I asked. "You'll need it," replied one of his friends. "I can't see any use of carrying a burden like that," said the ...

3766. Designer Religion

Children's Sermon

King Duncan

Object: A set of ear plugs Good morning, boys and girls. How do you and I communicate with each other? Usually, we do it with our mouths, don't we? We talk to each other. Suppose, however, I put these ear plugs in my ears so that I couldn't hear what you said. Could we communicate then? Yes, we could. We could gesture to each other. There are people who cannot hear who do a great job of communica...

3767. What Makes A Person Successful?

Children's Sermon

King Duncan

Object: a T-shirt with Christian symbols, a few WWJD bracelets, some large cross necklaces (Either have these items yourself, or ask a member of the congregation to dress in these items the more Christian clothing items the better and serve as your visual aid) Good morning, boys and girls. I want to ask you a question this morning: how do you know if the people around you love God? How can you te...

3768. The Warning Flag

Children's Sermon

Object: A red flag. Lesson: Truly, I say to you, all this will come upon this generation. Good morning, boys and girls. I brought with me this morning a flag to share with you. (Show them the flag.) How many of you have ever seen a flag like this? (Let them answer.) Do you know what country has a flag like this? Is it the American flag? We call the Russians "Reds," so do you think that this may ...

3769. Who Ends Up Happiest?

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

Object: Very pretty ribbon and some plain old string. Lesson: Whoever exalts will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. Good morning, boys and girls. I brought along some friends with me this morning and I know that you will enjoy having them here with us. As you can see they are quite different looking, but they both hang around the same drawer at my house. First of all I wou...

3770. Masks

Sermon

Chris Ewing

There are going to be a lot of people running around out there with masks on this week. People pretending to be something they're not — or maybe trying on something that in part they are, or want to be. (put on mask)1 Masks are interesting things. We all wear them, you know, and not just on Halloween. We put on the brave smiling mask when our hearts are breaking. We put on a gruff mask to keep pe...

3771. Which Mask Will You Wear?

Sermon

King Duncan

Tomorrow night is Halloween. In spite of the practice nowadays of thinking of Halloween as the Devil’s night, Halloween is actually a holiday with rich religious origins. The “Hallow” in Halloween comes from the same root as “Hallowed be Thy Name.” Halloween is the day before the traditional Christian celebration known as All Saints’ Day. It was intended to be a “hallow(ed) e’en.” Our tradition i...

3772. Influence!

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

If you think a mosquito is small and has little influence, try sleeping in a hot room at night with but a single blood-sucking insect. Its high-pitched whine and sharp proboscis can leave you sleepy, itchy, and whelped. On the other hand, consider the lowly honeybee. One single winged creature lurching flower to flower can make the heart leap for joy as it brightens your day, spreads pollen about...

3773. Confronting Hypocrisy with Humility

Sermon

Brett Blair

Politicians in Washington play the gotcha game to perfection. To make matters worse the news media feeds on it. Not only do they feed on it, they feed it, hoping for a national scandal to make themselves appear relevant. These various political events are a fitting context for our scriptural text about hypocrisy. Listen to what Jesus says about these politicians (in his day they were called Phari...

3774. Monster Rehab

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

For the last few weeks we’ve all been subjected to reruns of every scary movie ever made: zombies, vampires, guys in hockey masks, spooks with really long fingernails. Monsters in all shapes and forms are the flavor of the month of October. It’s hardly surprising that, as usual, popular culture has gotten the point of “All Hallows Eve” all wrong and totally forgets that the ultimate point is to c...

3775. Fake News? No! Fake Religion

Sermon

King Duncan

Best-selling author and popular Bible Study leader Liz Curtis Higgs tells about a lady from Texas named Mae who confessed to doing something that was quite embarrassing. She says that a few years ago she and her husband invited a couple to their home for dinner. The couple brought a pot of tulips as a gift. She says the tulips weren’t particularly pretty. They were in a clay pot with the bulbs ...

Showing 3751 to 3775 of 4508 results