Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 3776 to 3800 of 4943 results

3776. Awake, Christ Is Coming

Romans 13:8-14

Sermon

Richard Hasler

... Manichaenism with its sharp dichotomy between good and evil, light and darkness and later became enamored with Neoplatonism which taught him to deny the material world and to ascend into the realm of the mind and the spirit. Augustine's journey was one of continual frustration. Even when he came into contact with Ambrose, bishop of Milan, Italy, and began to be attracted to the Christian faith, he still could not make a firm commitment. He cried, "Grant me chastity, but not yet." Then one day in a garden ...

3777. Focus On The Son

Romans 1:1-17

Sermon

Richard Hasler

... around his spacious estate in suburban Pittsburgh she asked him what that rectangular box on a pole was. He explained that it was a transformer that receives electricity from the overhead power lines and reduces it to usable current. Electricity, he continued to say, can produce miracles, such as providing heat, light and energy for the appliances in a house, but electricity itself is too forceful unless it is reduced by the transformer. Otherwise, if we receive the electricity straight from the power ...

3778. Accepting The Call

1 Peter 3:8-22

Sermon

Sandra Hefter Herrma

Last week, we talked about the call of God to be involved in the ministry of the Word to the world. Peter informed us that we are each called to be priests, offering up spiritual sacrifices. This week, as we continue to listen to Peter, we hear some advice or guidance on how to do that job. He says, "Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence." We've all ...

3779. Live Together In Harmony

1 Corinthians 1:10-17

Sermon

Richard Hasler

... that dialogue is. We all know of feuds in families, in neighborhoods, and yes, in churches that happened so long ago and yet the embers of hate and bitterness still burn today. The details of the original issue are now lost, but the feud itself continues. Even though we bask in the Epiphany light of the universality of the gospel in these opening weeks of a new year, yet we know that there is much hurt, misunderstanding and even division within the Christian community. Our lectionary passage reminds us that ...

3780. Share Your Unique Story

Acts 10:23b-48

Sermon

Richard Hasler

... rebuild the church, we will. That spire is on all our charts and maps. It is the landmark by which the ships of the seven seas steer their course." Our own church has been a landmark that has guided people in the past, and by God's grace, will continue to guide people for many years in the future. If this Christian witness is dimmed, people will lose their way. Our story needs to be told and retold so that those blinded by the dark will see the bright Epiphany light of the universal Savior and will find a ...

3781. A Ransom Paid

1 Peter 2:4-12

Sermon

Sandra Hefter Herrma

... , "Jesus loves you," rather than "God loves you." Her neighbor caught the error and passed on the original message: "God loves you. Pass it on." But two people later, a man again said to his neighbor, "Jesus loves you. Pass it on." And so the message continued back to the evangelist. This visiting preacher had a point to make, however, so with an expression and demeanor of all seriousness, she said to the congregation, "You have made an error, and it is a common one, but one that needs to be corrected. We ...

3782. Giving Better Than We Expect

1 Peter 2:13-25

Sermon

Sandra Hefter Herrma

... the incident, we find that "he started it" by escalating name-calling or nit-picking or teasing into a hitting match. And the same name-caller may very well be the one who first protested innocence. Unfortunately, although we grow taller, many of us never mature. We continue the "he started it" routine, though we may call it by different names. "He can't talk to me like that," the angry wife says, as she drives to the mall, credit card in purse, where she winds up overspending in an angry power binge. And ...

3783. Enlarge Your Horizons

Ephesians 3:1-13

Sermon

Richard Hasler

... of Notre Dame has always lived in a big world. In his fascinating autobiography titled God, Country, Notre Dame he tells of his desire to enlarge his horizons. In all that he does he reflects a broad vision and a compassionate heart that continually reaches out beyond academic considerations and even beyond his own church loyalties to fight for human rights and justice throughout the world. One story about how the University came to hire Ara Parseghian as a football coach especially caught my eye. In the ...

3784. Signed, Sealed And Delivered

1 Corinthians 11:17-34

Sermon

Sandra Hefter Herrma

... survived, but a celebration of the fact that God is for life, rather than death. A celebration of the oneness of life, handed down from generation to generation, symbolized in the gathering of the generations around that festive table. A celebration of the continuation not only of life, but traditions, traditions that help define who we are, where we came from, and where we are all going. On all of these meanings, Paul and Jesus were always in agreement. Wherever Paul celebrated that Passover, he and Jesus ...

3785. The Hope Of Peace

Romans 5:1-11

Sermon

Sandra Hefter Herrma

... somehow much worse than the vilest epithet of someone less important in our lives. Now you know this little boy hadn't started out to do anything bad. He had been playing with his friends, and when they all decided to go over to another little boy's yard to continue their play, they just ran off, and he, not wanting to be left behind, ran off with them! He didn't think about it. He didn't plan it. He just did it. And now here he stands, spanked by his mother and waiting judgment from his father. And he ...

3786. Learn To Wait Creatively

James 5:7-12

Sermon

Richard Hasler

... they are not to pronounce judgment upon one another; the One who can judge everyone fairly is near at hand, even at the door. To further buttress his appeal, James cites the patience of the Hebrew prophets who in their suffering did not give up but continued to tell forth the Word of the Lord. Is not James trying to teach us to wait creatively? What is involved here is not simply tarrying but waiting creatively. There is a profound difference. The latter suggests a dual type of waiting, what I call patient ...

3787. To Ransom The Prisoners Of War

Romans 5:12-21

Sermon

Sandra Hefter Herrma

... prisoner in exchange for our freedom. He will allow the Anointed One of God, the one who has never experienced separation from God, to be separated, to enter into prison in our place, so that we can once again be at one with God. We are not bound to continue in the hopeless, obsessive patterns that have imprisoned us. We will be free to be all that God originally had in mind for us. The original pattern will be restored. What a message of hope! Can we believe it? Is it possible that we are that loved, that ...

3788. You Can Be Less Worried

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

Michael B. Brown

... learn and never forget this lesson: that in this world we are never alone. When worries seem to have us hemmed in, all the resources of eternity are at our disposal simply by whispering the name "God." "Why are you anxious ...?" Jesus asked his hearers and continues to ask us, I suspect. Especially he poses that question to the 13 million of us who will waste 90 minutes or more worrying today -- 90 minutes that we could have spent living instead. "Why are you anxious ...?" (1) What good will it do? (2) What ...

3789. Follow The Man With The Plan

Sermon

Richard Hasler

... in the world. George MacLeod, a Scottish Presbyterian minister who had a great vision for the unity and the mission of the church in the twentieth century, founded an ecumenical retreat center on the island of Iona off the coast of Scotland in 1938. Iona continues to this day to revitalize not only the Church of Scotland but Christians throughout the world who come to the renewal center. The secret of MacLeod's Iona is his insistence upon the balance between worship and work. Worship is held in the highest ...

3790. To Bow The Knee

Philippians 2:5-11

Sermon

Sandra Hefter Herrma

... growing segment of the impoverished and homeless. And when those things are happening, you and I and others like us tend to start looking over our shoulders, fearful of what the future may bring, because we know that a job at McDonald's will by no means continue the lifestyle we currently have, not to mention provide health care for our children and ourselves. It frightens us. It threatens our peace of mind. Don't you wonder how Jesus could have done that? Given up his status to become a slave? But here it ...

3791. Unconditional Love

Romans 4:1-25

Sermon

Sandra Hefter Herrma

... descendants ...." Guaranteed! An inheritance that is ours for the taking. This, by the way, is the function of faith in our relationship to God. What good does it do to have an inheritance, if you don't believe it will be there when you reach for it? You'd continue to live in poverty, because you would never go to the bank to draw out the money! So it comes down to this: A petition for peace has arrived. All those of us who are willing to call Abraham our spiritual ancestor, and to trust God when God says ...

3792. Memorial Day

Ecclesiastes 3:1-22

Sermon

Brett Blair

... of $4 a week, he became an apprentice bricklayer. Then came the war, and nothing would ever be the same again. On August 25, 1861, at the age of 19, John enlisted in the 51st New York regiment. Through mid-September 1862, Private Thompson continued to support his mother by sending home most of his meager army pay. On September 17, 1862, as his regiment was attempting to cross Burnside Bridge during the Battle of Antietam, a sharpshooters bullet found its mark, and young Thompson, in many ways just beginning ...

3793. Our Days Are In His Hands

Proverbs 3:1-2

Children's Sermon

Robert B. Lantz

... be a good way to remind us of things we want to change in the days ahead, but it is not just at one time of year that God wants us to look at our lives and make changes. He expects the process of growth and change to take place continually as we become the new people that He wants us to be as the people of his kingdom. Here is a brand new year that I am putting into your hand. May it be happy in the Lord. (Pass out the yearly calendars.) (Prayer for the opening of a new ...

3794. Gomer, God's "Yet"

Hosea 1:1-2:1

Sermon

Richard L. Sheffield

... had been named for Hosea's wife and I was hoping, but our church member, Martha Evans, a lifelong resident of Gomer set me straight. Hosea's wife, Gomer, was not nice. I'm trying to be nice. She was a woman of "ill-repute," of bad reputation. And she continued as such even after she got married to Hosea. In the part of the story we read from the Book of Hosea, we hear of the birth of three children to Gomer: a son, Jezreel; a daughter, Lo-ruhamah; a son, Lo-ammi. They were Gomer's children; they were ...

3795. Nuts*

2 Thessalonians 3:13

Children's Sermon

Kenneth Mortonson

... giving you a homemade cookie this morning; and, of course, the cookie has nuts in it. Possible Times To Use This Illustration In The Home: In the fall, when you have been gathering nuts. When you have prepared something to eat that contains nuts. When your child needs encouragement to continue doing anything that is hard to do. Scriptural Background: "Brethren, do not be weary in well-doing" (2 Thessalonians 3:13). *For use in the fall.

3796. Members Of Jesus' Special Club

Romans 6:3

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

... wear when we became Christians, boys and girls? (Let them answer.) No, we might have worn a nice baptismal dress, but we didn't get any other kind of uniform. We did get something special for our souls -- the wonderful gift of God's grace. This grace helps us to continue each day to be good members of Christ's church. It helps us to be the best Christians we can be. Let's all remember that we belong to this church, boys and girls, and that it was our baptism that made us members. God bless you all. Amen.

3797. Week Of Ash Wednesday

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... properly. The readings today seem to take the second of our two possible attitudes with respect to the check-up which we must make on our spiritual lives. We are encouraged to be active and do something today, not to wait until something goes wrong. Continuing from yesterday's First Reading Isaiah today again tells us that a light will rise if we feed the hungry and satisfy the afflicted. The prophet says further that if we will allow God to act then our strength will be renewed like a watered garden ...

3798. Biography Of A Changed Person

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

Robert Beringer

... , but they have never taken this final step of letting the Living Christ rearrange the priorities of their lives. Zacchaeus was ready to let Christ be the very center of his life. He was ready to let Christ send him back out into the world to continue our Lord's ministry of justice and compassion. Religion for Zacchaeus would never be just another department in his life. His faith was now central to his whole being. Author Charlie Shedd gives us a wonderful example of this truth from his own family life ...

3799. God Made My Day

Psalm 118:1-29

Sermon

Carl B. Rife

... on our problems they become magnified by our self-concern. One thing that the medical world is discovering is that through our attitudes and through what we do, we release all kinds of chemicals in our systems, some negative and some positive. And one way to insure our continued problems is to gaze inward. A kind of acid begins to eat away inside us when we do that. Literally, not just figuratively, an acid begins to eat away at our being. A couple of weeks ago my son Stephen and I stumbled on to this whole ...

3800. Risen And Recognized

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Robert Beringer

... and the disillusionment on their faces. Utterly disheartened by the cruel death inflicted on the one they had thought was God's Messiah, these two men symbolize all the disillusionment and despair that hangs over our world as people ask, "Why do bad things continue to happen to good people?" For a long time, they walk in silence. Then the younger man bursts out: "He's dead, Cleopas! Dead just like any other man! They killed him, and we did nothing to stop them! Maybe the authorities were right ... maybe ...

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