Sermon and Worship Resources

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3876. The Good Shepherd - Sermon Starter

John 10:1-21

Illustration

Brett Blair

... them went astray. In our way of thinking a 99% return on our investment would be most desirable, but not this shepherd. He left the 99 to go in search of that one lost sheep. Later, when Jesus was speaking to a great throng of people, Mark tells us that he had compassion upon them because they were "as sheep without a shepherd." Throughout the Judeo-Christian faith, then, the image of the shepherd has been stamped upon our thinking. In our scripture text for this morning Jesus again taps into this imagery ...

3877. Greatness

Mark 9:33-37

Drama

Robert F. Crowley

... . I have that faith, therefore I shall rule with him. JAMES: I think you shall, too. And I know I will. Let me read this list to you. It's an account I have kept since we have been together. PETER: Aren't you the one to keep accounts. You mark down everything. I don't hold with your list -- your account. JAMES: That's because you know you'll come up short. I'll tell you the truth. John, here is the one who looks like he's going to rule with the Master. JOHN: You see. I told you ...

3878. Hell!

Mark 9:42-50, Mark 9:38-41

Drama

Robert F. Crowley

... four words that are translated "hell." WILLOW: I didn't remember how many. HOST: Do you remember the words? PAM: I wrote them down. Here they are: Tartaraho (2 Peter 2:4) -- a Greek word that refers to a place meant for sinning angels. Ge-enna (Mark 9:48) -- another Greek word that represents a Hebrew word with the concept of unquenchable fire and an undying worm. HOST: That's very graphic. WILLOW: The Bible is like that sometimes. HOST: And you said there were two more words translated "hell." PAM: Yes ...

3879. Christ and Time

Galatians 3:26--4:7

Sermon

T. A. Kantonen

... , for which the New Testament uses the word kairos, time which cannot be measured by clocks or calendars but by the fulfillment of God’s purpose. Thus when our Lord began his ministry, he announced, "The kairos is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand" (Mark 1:15). This is also the word which Paul uses in our text, "When the kairos had fully come, God sent forth his Son." There was nothing accidental about the time when Christ came into the world. It had been carefully selected from all eternity as ...

3880. Counting the Cost

Luke 14:25-35

Sermon

T. A. Kantonen

... our Lord laid down his creed for heroes to two of his disciples who came to him asking for places of honor in his kingdom. His reply was: "Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?" (Mark 10:38). Are you able to drink my cup of suffering? Are you able to be baptized with my baptism of blood? Today he asks us: are you able? Have you counted the cost? First of all, are you able to make a personal and independent decision? Being my disciple ...

3881. The Exalted Christ

Ephesians 4:1-16

Sermon

T. A. Kantonen

... lasted, but now we must get along as best we can without him." On the contrary, from the hill of the Ascension "they returned to Jerusalem with great joy" (Luke 24:52) and "they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them" (Mark 16:20). As they carried out their mission, beginning in Jerusalem and extending to the ends of the earth, the living presence of Christ himself was the radiant center and enabling power of all their witness. The exalted Christ is still the author and finisher ...

3882. How Life’s Pressures Affect Good Judgment

Mark 6:14-29

Sermon

Brett Blair

... another, experience people-pressure. The question is how will it effect our judgment? That is the question Herod faced. After making an oath to a pretty young girl that she could have up to half of his kingdom, she surprised him and asked for the head of the Baptist. Mark 6:26 indicates that the King was thrown into distress, he knew it was wrong, but because of his oath and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. He sent the executioner and on a platter was delivered the head of a holy man. When ...

3883. The Big Snow

Sermon

Gregory J. Johanson

... path. People pushed and shoved onto the rapid transit, what there was of it, yelling at bus drivers and whomever else might be available. Policemen, I hear, got more than their normal share of abuse and disregard. More fights, more violence, more temper, more anger - all marks of the storm. Why? Who is to blame for our plight? Scapegoats - people or things who take the blame and become the objects for our rage - were easy to find. On my block, sometimes it was the driver of the snow plow, who insisted on ...

3884. The Struggle of Faith

Matthew 11:1-19

Sermon

Gregory J. Johanson

... another?" The poignancy of the text is made even clearer when one considers the content of chapters 8 and 9 of Matthew’s Gospel. Here, following what we ordinarily call the Sermon on the Mount, there is pictured for us a series of vignettes, each of them marked by the presence of deliverance. There is a leper to whom Jesus stretched out his hand to touch, and he was made clean. There is the servant of the centurion who was paralyzed, and Jesus speaks the word and his paralysis leaves him. Jesus enters the ...

3885. The Choice Is Always Ours

Ecclesiastes 9:1-12

Sermon

Gregory J. Johanson

... . Here is the beginning of the letter: Dear Brother Benefiel: This week I have had to add a new word to my vocabulary. It is "impossible." As you know, for all of my ministry I have preached from the text: "All things are possible ... only believe." (Mark 9:23) I have taught that if one used one’s most loving efforts, engaged the cooperation of the most devoted and able Christians where one labored, that God would bring the desired objective to pass. But I am forced to tell you now, that due ...

3886. In Praise of Feeling Guilty

Psalm 51:1-19

Sermon

Gregory J. Johanson

... experienced the disapproval of parents. But there is an underlying basis for it. Sin has been conceived in Christian theology in three complementary ways, as rebellion, as estrangement or isolation, and as error in performance, a missing of the mark. Psychologically, Menninger sees the basis as an "implicitly (or explicitly) aggressive quality," further explicated as "a hurting, a breaking away from God and the rest of humanity ... Someone is defied or offended or hurt - the willful disregard or sacrifice ...

3887. Jerusalem, Emmaus and the Meaning of Life

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Gregory J. Johanson

... journey from Jerusalem to Emmaus and back to Jerusalem is striking and moving in its universal symbolism. "Ought not the Christ to have suffered." "Ought not these men to have suffered?" Christ himself, his person, his life is so beautifully rich in its rhythms, its marked contrasts of hope, despair, and hope again. "Father, I do not want to die." "I will not leave you orphans ... I will send my spirit." Indeed his life was a journey into his identity, that he was the Christ, ordained by the Father - to ...

3888. JESUS: Liar, Lunatic, Legend, or Lord

John 6:25-59

Sermon

Brett Blair

... Jewish leaders or his disciples—viewed him as such. Perhaps you could say that the charge of blaspheme was the equivalent. But it is interesting to note that Jesus demonstrated some of the worlds most acute and critical thinking when challenged by his adversaries. This is not the mark of a deranged mind. If you call him a legend let me ask you: Is he a legend? How do you know? Were you there when man walked on the moon or Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address? No you were not. How do you know then? You ...

3889. The Measure of Greatness

Mark 9:33-37

Sermon

Brett Blair

... . Honor and glory will be granted for behavior that was so natural, so undistinguished, and so noncompetitive. Take the simple illustration that Jesus gives of receiving a child. From somewhere Jesus finds a small child who he stands in front of them. It is interesting that Mark tells us that Jesus stands the child in front of them and then takes the child in his arms. Perhas he was highlighting how low the child was by comparison. But as he raises the child in his arms he says to them, "Whoever welcomes on ...

3890. Be At Peace With One Another

Mark 9:38-50

Sermon

Brett Blair

... . Better to be crippled in this life than thrown into hell in the next. Finally a forth idea is presented. Salt. Be like salt Jesus says, be at peace with one another. These ideas seem thrown together, four sayings of Jesus cobbled together by Mark, unrelated to one another. But maybe not. It would not be unusual in first century Palestine to compile several sayings together onto a single document. Papyrus, the paper of the day, was expensive and every square inch was utilized. But let me suggest that there ...

3891. What Must I DO to Receive Life?

Mark 10:17-31

Sermon

Brett Blair

... out. We have come to regard him as a moral coward. But that conclusion is too simple. The fact is there are a lot of good things that can be said of him. I'm impressed with the fact, for example, that having talked with him only a few minutes, Mark tells us that Jesus looked upon him and loved him. That doesn't sound like a scathing criticism to me. And, I think that we also need to remember that to this young boy Jesus was not the Son of God. He was simply a new prophet, with an exciting ...

3892. Lord, I Want To See

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

Brett Blair

... this morning of the healing of blind Bartimaeus would suggest to us that there are three kinds of blindness. For a few moments this morning let's examine each. I The first kind of blindness is represented by the beggar sitting by the road leading to Jericho. Mark tells us that his name was Bartimaeus. We don’t know much about him. We don’t know his age, length of blindness or what caused his infirmity. We know nothing about his family, his friends, his past life. We know him only because of the impact ...

3893. Ready or Not - Here I Come

Mark 13:32-37

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... next go-around. The secret of the game was preparing oneself against being found and caught. With excitement we heard the words, "Ready or not -- here I come!" In today's gospel lesson Jesus is saying to the world, "Ready or not -- here I come." In chapter 13 of Mark, Jesus tells us that he will be returning to the earth "with great power and glory." As in the game, only it is not a game, there is a counting and an accounting going on right now. It is a countdown before the blast of his appearance on earth ...

3894. Wrinkled Wrappings

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... , the atheist, and the agnostic have no sensitivity to God and related spiritual concerns. Every bush is aflame with God and they stand around picking blackberries! This explains why many do not see God in Jesus. They do not know God. One day the great novelist, Mark Twain, was telling about all the famous people he knew. His little daughter stunned him when she said, "Daddy, you know almost everybody except God, don't you?" And that is about the way it is with many of us. No wonder we cannot see the ...

3895. You Are A Name!

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

Today a name does not seem to mean much. We glibly ask, "What is a name?" As children we chanted, "Sticks and stones can break my bones, but names can never hurt me." A person's name is only a label, a mark of identification. A name answers the question, "Who are you?" Because a name seems to mean little in our time, some give their children odd names. One had the name "Miss Ima Hogg." One mother named her daughter "Alpha Omega" because she was her first and hopefully her last child. ...

3896. The Unexpected Universe

Matthew 11:1-19

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

... in Axial Periods of human history - - periods when the Second Isaiah or Buddha or Plato or Christ appear -- periods when human thought and history are changed forever. "The words spoken by the carpenter of Nazareth are those of a world changer," says Eiseley. "They mark ... the rise of a new human image, a rejection of purely material goals, a turning toward some inner light" (The Invisible Pyramid, p. 147). Was the dump philosopher correct -- if he waits long enough, it comes to him and he will see it all ...

3897. Two Blessings for an Unwed Mother

Luke 1:46-56, Luke 1:39-45

Sermon

William G. Carter

... to make a theological claim about that kick; it seems like it was only a kick. What’s more, I have learned that when two pregnant women find one another, they usually do not talk theology. The conversation turns instead to swollen ankles, stretch marks, morning sickness, or those other unmentionable details which pregnant women discuss when men aren’t listening. Ask any pregnant woman and she will probably tell you that a man wrote this story of Elizabeth and Mary. And she would be right. But when Luke ...

3898. Splashed with the Spirit

Luke 3:21-38, Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

William G. Carter

... life that we don’t know anything about. Why did he wait until thirty? Why not 21 or 45? Why thirty? We don’t know. We do know, however, that the timing was right in more ways than we realize. For the gospel writers, the baptism of Jesus did not mark his coming of age. Rather it was the turning of all the ages, the hinge of history, when old gave way to new. The world changed at the Jordan River. John the Baptist said as much: “I baptize you with water; but there’s someone coming who is more powerful ...

3899. Today

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

William G. Carter

... Testament. For Matthew, Jesus is the Teacher of Righteousness. Like Moses, he climbs a mountain and teaches a new Law to his disciples. After Easter, he gathers them on a mountain and gives them a great commission, namely: to follow his teachings. For the Gospel of Mark, Jesus is an exorcist, constantly battling the powers of evil. Even after Evil nails him to a cross, Jesus emerges from the tomb to continue his saving work. He is the Strong Son of God turned loose in the world. According to the Gospel of ...

3900. When the Sermon Turns Sour

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

William G. Carter

... God loves everybody, particularly those beyond their tight, exclusive circle. It was, and is, a scandalous thing to say. The only thing more disturbing is to remember how that is the sort of thing that is written down in our Bibles. 1. As reported in Matthew 13:57, Mark 6:4, Luke 4:24, and John 4:44. 2. Thomas G. Long, The Senses of Preaching (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1988), p. 31. 3. I am grateful to Dr. Fred B. Craddock for these insights. 4. The story is reported by Dallas Lee, The Cotton Patch Evidence ...

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