Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 3776 to 3800 of 4938 results

3776. Christmas Eve at the Candy Cane Inn

Drama

Edward Long

Drama 2 Cast of Characters NARRATOR: Sets scenes and takes care of transitions. EFFECTS TECHNICIAN: In charge of recorded or live effects. THE APPLE FAMILY: Family stranded by a snowstorm at the Candy Cane Inn; Mr. Apple has been out of work and Mrs. Apple has been ill. HENRY APPLE: An unemployed engineer in his late 30's; normally a confident, happy person, he is in a bad way at this Christmas Eve. FREDA APPLE: A quiet, tense woman who attempts to keep the family functioning in a difficult time for them. ...

3777. Recovering From the Blahs

1 Kings 19:9-18

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

There he came to a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" He said, "I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the people of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thy altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away." And he said, "Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord." And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great ...

3778. What the Maid Said to the Fisherman

Mark 14:66-72, Mark 14:53-65

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

I THINK ST. PETER HAS GOTTEN A “BUM RAP.” As a result of our Scripture lesson of the morning, St. Peter is often pictured as being a coward, cringing in the courtyard before the onslaught of a serving maid’s questions. Sometimes it seems as though Jesus called Peter “the Rock” not because of his standing qualities, but because of his sinking qualities. Actually, it took a great deal of courage for him to be there at all. None of the rest of the twelve were there. Gone were the crowds who, on Palm Sunday, ...

3779. Murphy's Law and Messiah's Law

Luke 8:26-39

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Anybody here not heard of Murphy's Law? We know it by heart, don't we? Let's say it together: "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong." Anybody here know where it started and who Mr. Murphy was? The first reference to Murphy's Law was in the April 1956 issue of Scientific American in the "Amateur Scientist" column. Let me give the quote from which the Murphy's Law phenomenon spread like a virus all over the globe. It all began with three Murphy's Laws: "Dr. Schaefer's observation confirms this department ...

3780. The Marks Of A Spiritual Counterfeit

Jude 1:12-13

Sermon

James Merritt

Few people know that the Secret Service has not only far more to do than to protect the President. That is not even their primary job. Working under the Treasury Department, one of their major jobs is to try to catch counterfeiters. Therefore they have to learn how to recognize counterfeit money. The surprising thing is, the way they are trained to do this is not by studying counterfeit money, but by studying real currency. The better they get to know the real thing, the easier it is to spot the phony. ...

3781. The Serpent

John 3:14-21

Sermon

John Smylie

Growing up in the northeast, I didn't have a lot of exposure to snakes. There may have been a small garter snake or the threat of a dangerous serpent down at a local pond near our neighborhood. But honestly, there wasn't much of a threat of snakes that I was aware of to be found in northern New Jersey. Wyoming, where I presently reside, is a different story. While serving as a consultant for the Episcopal Diocese of Wyoming, I had the opportunity to visit the northeastern part of the state. There was a new ...

3782. Everlasting Salvation for Zion

Isaiah 51:1-16

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

Four Wake-up Calls and a Departure Call: In 50:4 the subject suddenly changes again—in two senses. The grammatical subject is once again a human “I” rather than a divine “I,” and the thematic subject is the pressure upon this human “I.” In both respects the passage parallels 49:1–6, and it will emerge that 50:4–52:12 forms a sequence parallel to 49:1–50:4, analogous to double sequences we have noted earlier in chapters 40–55. The arrangement of sections is not as tightly parallel as in earlier instances, ...

3783. On Taking Candy from a Stranger

Luke 13:10-17

Sermon

King Duncan

A man tells the story of leaving a grocery store when he was approached by two small boys selling candy bars for their school band. The man told the boys, “I’ll buy a chocolate bar from you on one condition. You eat it for me.” The boys agreed. The man bought the chocolate bar and promptly handed it back to one little boy so that he could eat it. The boy shook his head and said, “I can’t.” “Why not?” the man asked. The boy looked at him gravely in the eye and said, “I’m not supposed to take candy from ...

3784. The Three Kings--And The King Of Kings

Isaiah 9:1-7

Sermon

Thomas A. Pilgrim

A wealthy couple went on a trip to Hawaii. One afternoon the wife went down to the beach. After a while her husband walked down to the beach. He saw a group of people there trying to help someone. He realized it was his wife. He ran up to them and said, "What are you doing?" They replied, "We're giving her artificial respiration." He said, "Artificial nothing. Give her the real thing. We can afford it!"1 When we read about those three mysterious men from the East we need not be concerned about their long ...

3785. You Can Be Happy

1 Chronicles 13:1-14

Sermon

Michael B. Brown

Jesus said, "I have come that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full." Jesus came that we might be, in a word, happy. Paul, history's greatest interpreter of the teachings of Jesus, identified three sure-fire ways to find the joy Christ was talking about, three indispensables for happiness. They are: 1 -- Find someone to believe in. This is the spiritual dimension of happiness. Paul said it this way when writing to his friends in Corinth: "Make love your aim, and earnestly desire the spiritual ...

3786. Peacemaker -- A Liturgy

Drama

Thomas A. Renquist

Dag Hammarskjold Date: September 18 The Entrance Rite The Prelude The Opening Plainsong (Solo Voice): “Grant Peace, We Pray, In Mercy, Lord.” Hymn: “God The Omnipotent” The Greeting: P: Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord be with you. C: And also with you. The Theme Of The Day Reader 1: Dag Hammarskjold died ________ years ago today -- September 18, 1961. At the time of his death he had been Secretary General of the United Nations for eight years. He died in a ...

3787. The Big Meaning of a Small Gift

Mark 12:41-44

Children's Sermon

Brett Blair

Exegetical Aim: The most expensive gift given is not a determinant of the one who has made the greatest sacrifice. Prop: 35 one-dollar bills, two pennies, and an offering plate. Keep the offering plate behind you. You might ask one of the ushers to participate by bringing out the offering plate and taking up the offering. Be prepared yourself to give this thirty five dollars to the church because the kids will be placing it in the offering plate and you very well cannot take it out once you have put it in ...

3788. No Sooner Said Than Done!

Isaiah 55:1-13

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

"For the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and return not thither but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it." Words! Words! Words! Today we are bombarded on every side and saturated throughout with words coming to us through press, radio, and TV. There are 490,000 ...

3789. Blessed With Peace

John 14:15-31

Sermon

O. Garfield Beckstrand, II

This week two thoughts were foremost in my mind. One thought was quite normal for a preacher as well as a basic necessity. What shall I emphasize Sunday morning when I am using for my text the words of Jesus which he spoke on his last night upon earth to his disciples? "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you ..." The other thought was quite different. I remembered that 31 years ago last Wednesday I was ordained into the ministry at the fiftieth anniversary of Trinity Church. After my father gave ...

3790. Epiphany 2

Psalm 40:1-17, Isaiah 49:1-7, 1 Corinthians 1:1-9, John 1:29-34, John 1:35-42

Sermon Aid

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

OLD TESTAMENT TEXTS As the Gospel lesson for this week indicates, the baptism of Jesus remains the point of focus, and thus the theme of commissioning continues to play a central role in this Second Sunday After Epiphany. The continuity of theme in the Gospels is also carried through in the Old Testament lessons, because Isaiah 49:1-7 is the second of the Servant Songs. Both Isaiah 49:1-7 and Psalm 40:1-11 explore what it means to be commissioned as the people of God. Isaiah 49:1-7 outlines the character ...

3791. A Promise Fulfilled: A Gift Given

Luke 2:1-14 (15-20)

Sermon

Richard Gribble

During the last years of the Roman Empire, in the city of Myra, the regional bishop died. A local man, Nicholas, who was known by all to be a very holy person and a devoted follower of Christ, was elected as the new bishop with little or no opposition. Nicholas' first act as bishop was to give away all his wealth, for he was a very rich man. He started giving all of his possessions and money away, but before he was able to give it all away he had a dream one night. An angel appeared to him in his dream and ...

3792. Led by the Spirit, Tempted by the Devil

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

A woman had a weakness for beautiful clothes. She was unable to resist the temptation…to the point of outrageous, extravagant spending. She and her husband had worked on it, and he thought she was doing better. Every time she was drawn to a clothing boutique or a display in a department store window, she would talk to herself, “Don’t do it…don’t do it…remember how much you owe…you don’t need it…you’ve worn the last dress only once…you owe a fortune still…remember how John feels about it…don’t do it…get the ...

3793. and Forgiveness Come Easy When You’re Filled with The Spirit

John 20:19-23

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

It's Pentecost Sunday, a day when we celebrate the birth of the Church and the giving of the Holy Spirit, as our lesson from Acts (2:1-21) reports. But the Bible makes it clear that it was not just on that first Pentecost that the Holy Spirit was given. It happened to some in Old Testament times (Judges 6:34; 1 Samuel 11:6; 16:13). However, the Spirit was also given during Jesus' own life on earth. Here's the story. The disciples were still pretty much in despair that Sunday evening over the events of Good ...

3794. Forty Days and Forever

Exodus 24:12-18

Sermon

Tony Everett

Here's a story that many church members have been telling for a while. Two seminary professors entered a local fast-food restaurant loudly chanting, "For-ty days! For-ty days!" Then they were joined by three more. Then five more gathered at their table, all chanting, "For-ty days! For-ty days!" Soon, the uproar had disrupted the entire restaurant and the manager came over to ask the professors to keep the noise down. "What's all the chanting about anyway?" asked the manager. "You are disturbing everybody ...

3795. Jacob Gets Isaac's Blessing

Genesis 27:1-40

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

Jacob Steals Esau’s Blessing: This suspense-filled narrative portrays a family torn between the conflicting wills of a father and a mother. An indulgent father favors a rugged, athletic, unpretentious older son while a brilliant, domineering mother manipulates matters to the advantage of her younger son, who loves to take care of the animals and do chores around the tent. “Son” is a controlling word in this narrative, being employed by each parent to emphasize his or her respective love for and favoritism ...

3796. Being Thankful for the Right Reasons

John 1:14, Colossians 1:11-20

Sermon

King Duncan

I want to begin with a Thanksgiving riddle for our boys and girls. What do you get when you cross a centipede with a turkey? The answer: Drumsticks for everybody! When you get a hungry family around the table Thanksgiving Day, you might wish that you could cross a centipede with a turkey. A group of Moms got together and composed a list of things they are thankful for. They wrote that they were especially thankful: “For automatic dishwashers because they make it possible for us to get out of the kitchen ...

3797. Arise! Shine! For Your Light Has Come

Isaiah 60:1-22

Sermon

Robert A. Hausman

Doubtless you remember the television commercial in which a man steps up to a bar and says: "Give me a light." After he is blasted with every possible sort of light, from fire to laser beams, he sheepishly corrects himself: "Give me a Bud Lite." This is a modern parable. Like all living beings, we look for light, but often we are willing to settle for lite beer! It is just something to get us through the night, a little pleasure in a bottle, a little truth in a can. Give me a Bud Lite! It comes to us ...

3798. You Can Be A Livesaver

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Michael B. Brown

Perhaps any who ever watched William Shatner's television show Rescue 911 share my feelings of inadequacy. Viewing makes you think that some guy hanging by his ankles off a 40-story building to rescue a stranded window washer is everyday stuff. One episode dealt with a three-year-old who saved his mother from a seizure. Someone told me of a dog who saved his entire family from a burning house. Me? I'm lucky once in a blue moon just to save somebody a parking space. There was one occasion when I physically ...

3799. Don't Be Stupid

Jeremiah 4:5-31

Sermon

Richard L. Sheffield

I ordered a new book this week. Hope it comes soon. Because God needs to read it! It's called Your Executive Image. As CEO of all that is, that's Creator, Executive, Overseer; as CEO of anything and everything that matters to you and me, God needs to keep up appearances. And it really doesn't do God's image any good for him to go around calling people "stupid children" (Jeremiah 4:22). Yet, Jeremiah tells us, God said of his people in Israel "... My people are foolish, they do not know me; they are stupid ...

3800. Week Five Of Lent

Sermon

Richard Gribble

Monday Week FiveDaniel 13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62John 8:1-11 The God Of Forgiveness Humans love to tell stories about others. We tell many humorous stories which bring out the beauty of one's personality. We tell stories of heroism, bravery and significant accomplishments. Sometimes we even hear and tell stories of unconditional love and kindness shown to another. These are the types of stories we like to hear, ones that pick us up and make us feel good. Humans are far from perfect and thus there are ...

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