Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 3901 to 3925 of 4946 results

3901. If Only We Would Confess ...

Ezekiel 18:1-32

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

Someone had slipped a church bulletin under the study door. When I spotted it after the morning worship service and saw some notations on it, I assumed that the writer had jotted down an announcement or a date to be included in the newsletter that was to go to press Monday morning. Reading the note scrawled across the ritual, I knew it was meant, not for the newsletter, but for me. "Garbage!" the note read. "This is garbage and we will not tolerate any more of it." That note of judgment was not aimed at ...

3902. Proper 10

Exodus 2:11-25

Sermon

Life began for Moses when he decided to take sides. Of course, that's when life begins for anyone. We dare not oversimplify the complex issues of life and society to the point where we see everything as black and white, because this is too easy a solution. The fact that it is a delusion which has often beset reformers and crusaders does not make it right. Having acknowledged this caution, however, we still need to recognize life began for Moses when he stopped being a neutral observer and willingly became ...

3903. A Word About the Right Time

Haggai 2:1-9

Sermon

It’s good to see that God gets what he wants, once in a while. The events of this text differ from those we’ve heard of the last Sundays. Here there is no rampant trampling on the poor, no idolatrous affluence, no thwarting of justice against which Micah, Zephaniah and Haggai railed. A remnant of people had returned to Israel some eighteen years before from exile, an exile imposed by Darius and then relieved by Cyrus. Eighteen years is not a long time to resettle after your country has been devastated. ...

3904. Repent!

Acts 2:14-41

Sermon

I didn't want to be in prison that day, even if I was only a visitor. Angry scowls or dull eyes followed my march down the hollow corridors and, at the end of each hall, I silently counted the number of locked doors behind me to the sunlight. Still, the phone call had said a friend of a friend was here and wanted to talk to a minister. And after all, visiting the prisoners was one of the commands St. Paul had given us. So, armed with caution, I had come. The prisoner and I were left alone in a small room. ...

3905. Authority Through Servanthood

Matthew 20:20-28, Matthew 20:17-19

Sermon

Dean Lueking

The Question Of Our Time Today’s sermon is on the subject of authority, based on the text above. It is no overstatement to say that authority is the question of our time. Wherever one looks in our world today, in family, government, business life, and the church, the conclusion seems unanimous. Authority is in a bad state of erosion. Why is this so? What can be done about a matter so vital to people in every aspect of life? The story St. Matthew tells us in today’s text speaks directly to the problem of ...

3906. Expectations of a Vital Faith James K. Cobb

Exodus 1:1-22

Sermon

The lessons appointed for the ninth Sunday after Pentecost reflect on the issue of the power and presence of God in the context of suffering. This narrative gives us no easy answers. If anything they exclude some cherished complacencies such as belief that God protects his people from suffering and pain and anguish and hopelessness. But in the text, suffering is undeserved and prolonged and bitter. The fact is that ordinary people lose control of their lives and see their children abused and murdered; but ...

3907. Promise or Threat?

Matthew 24:1-35

Sermon

"Wars and rumors of wars," Jesus said. Nation against nation, kingdom against kingdom, famines, earthquakes, tribulation, even death sentences for the faithful, wickedness multiplied, and all the while the Gospel is preached around the world - these are some of the signs of Christ’s second coming and the end of the age. Tell me, would you consider his words a promise or a threat? My first recollection of any mention of Christ’s second coming goes back to when I was six or seven years old. My grandfather ...

3908. The Collateral Damage of Our Attitudes

Luke 16:19-31

Sermon

Brett Blair

We continue to gauge how our lives are effected by all this. It has been difficult taking in all the things happening over these past three weeks, much less make sense of it all. Occasionally you read something in the paper or you see something on TV which helps you put things in perspective. I remember Thursday September 13th all of the sporting events that weekend had been cancelled. One of the NFL athletes was asked about playing on Sunday. He said, "Why? Who wants to play? I have a family and my heart ...

3909. The Woman at the Well

John 4:1-26

Sermon

Thomas D. Peterson

Jesus [said to the Samaritan woman], "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him and he would have given you living water." (v. 10) When Jesus met the woman at the well the encounter was a communion event. The element - the outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace - was not what Jesus gave to the woman but what the woman gave to Jesus. What made this element, this object, a sacrament, a communion, was the way in which Jesus ...

3910. The Nativity of Our Lord

Isaiah 9:1-7, Psalm 96:1-13, Titus 2:1-15, Luke 2:1-7, Luke 2:8-20

Sermon Aid

THEOLOGICAL CLUE As one of the major festivals of the Christian church - and probably the most popular - Christmas liturgies were shaped by gospel tradition and worship practices in the early church. In Jerusalem, by the fourth century, there were three masses of Christmas: the first was at midnight in the Grotto of the Nativity at Bethlehem, the second took place at dawn, after the faithful had walked back to Jerusalem, in the Church of the Resurrection, and, later in the day, a third and solemn mass was ...

3911. Proper 15 & Pentecost 13

Isaiah 56:1-8, Psalm 67:1-7, Psalm 78:1-72, Exodus 16:1-36, Romans 11:11-24, Romans 11:25-32, Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon Aid

THEOLOGICAL CLUE The phrase used in the title for the day, "after Pentecost," reminds the church and its preachers that the journey to Christ the King Sunday is roughly half-completed. The Holy Spirit is still at work in the church, bringing people to the Lord, undergirding the faith of the believers, and inspiring the people of God to devote themselves to good works and loving service in the name of Jesus Christ. Of itself, the church year "theological framework" has little direct influence upon the ...

3912. Proper 17 & Pentecost 15

Matthew 16:21-28, Romans 12:1-8, Exodus 19:1-25, Jeremiah 14:1--15:21, Jeremiah 20:7-18, Psalm 114:1-8, Psalm 63:1-11

Sermon Aid

THEOLOGICAL CLUE Had the plan of the Joint Liturgical Group in Great Britain, which set an agenda for reforming the church year, been followed in the American churches, the Advent prayers might have come at a very propitious time in the life of the churches, the beginning of September. The Joint Liturgical Group had suggested extending the Sundays before Christmas back far enough that the holy history of the faith might be read annually. While there is something to be said for such a plan, something would ...

3913. Easter 6

John 14:15-31

Sermon Aid

Liturgical Color: White Gospel: John 14:15-21 Theme: The preeminence of love through the coming of the Counselor. Pastoral Invitation to the Celebration One pastor began this way: "Welcome to the celebration of the promise of the Counselor. Through the Spirit of truth, where do you see and experience the reality of God?" Continue with this litany between pastor and ministers: Pastor: You have heard that God is dead; but I say to you, God is living and is here. Ministers: Praise be to the living God! Pastor ...

3914. Three Secrets of A Life Well Lived

2 Timothy 4:6-8

Sermon

Brett Blair

Some clever person has written a fictitious letter from a pastor to a church search committee. The letter reads as follows: "I understand your church is looking for a pastor. I should like to submit my application. I am generally considered to be a good preacher. I have been a leader in most of the places I have served. I have also found time to do some writing on the side. I am over fifty years of age (no children), and while my health is not the best, I still manage to get enough work done to please my ...

3915. Faithful People in a Fiery Furnace

Daniel 3:1-30

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

Can you remember where you were and what was going on ten years ago? America was at war in the Persian Gulf. One of the young men in my congregation was an F-16 pilot in the first squadron to strike Baghdad on the opening night of that war. I remember so well the prayers we offered in his home. Millions of people across America were praying desperately for the men and women in harm’s way. Saddam Hussein of Iraq was convinced that he was so powerful that he could snatch up tiny Kuwait and no one would dare ...

3916. Mary's Revolutionary Song (Sermon Series No. 3)

Luke 1:39-56

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

In one of the world’s most revolutionary documents, is found these immortal words: “We hold these truths to be self—evident, that all men are created equal.” Of course, that document, the Declaration of Independence, is the charter of the American Revolution. Though we have not yet lived up to it, it has been the vision that inspires us. It's vision has also been the target of oppressive regimes around the world. Not least of which is Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda. The only document I know that is more ...

3917. Abraham’s Promise Perpetuated

Romans 4:1-25

Drama

Richard F. Bansemer

The sermon reflects upon the message of Romans 4:13. "The promise to Abraham and his descendants, that they should inherit the world, did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith." Ladies and gentlemen, members of the family of God’s estate, welcome to this meeting wherein we shall read the details of a large inheritance promised to all of us years ago. In his grace full way, our benefactor has decided to reveal the contents of his will and make appropriations to each of us now, ...

3918. Discerning the Way of God

1 Corinthians 2:6-16

Sermon

Hubert Beck

How do we know what God wants us to do? It must be assumed that anybody claiming in any way to be godly must ask oneself that question regularly. One need not be Christian to ask the question, for it is a larger question than what kind of activity can be called Christian. It has to do with what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what is evil, and many people outside Christendom are concerned about the same kinds of questions. It is a bigger question than the everyday kinds of questions about ...

3919. A Thinking Person’s Thankful Prayer

Philippians 1:1-11

Sermon

Raymond Gibson

Dr. Wayne Dehoney, a Baptist pastor in Louisville, Kentucky, tells of a college freshman who attended his first dormitory prayer meeting. Rather unexpectedly he was called upon to pray a sentence prayer. The young man had a slight speech defect which became pronounced when he was under pressure, and thus he prayed: "Lord, make us more thinkful for all our blessings." That young man prayed a better prayer than he realized. Our English word thank stems from an Anglo-Saxon word meaning "think," and certainly ...

3920. A SERMON DRAMA FOR CHRISTMASTIDE

Drama

Tom Eberle

Christmas The historical development of the Christmas festival in the late third and early fourth centuries had a distinctly theological intention. [Oscar E. Cullmann, The Early Church, edited by A.J.B. Higgins, (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1956), p. 25] The nativity festival was celebrated in response to those heresies that did not accept the fullness of God’s presence in the humanity of Jesus. Through the festival of Christmas the orthodox branch of the church affirmed the fullness of ...

3921. What Do You Think You’re Worth?

Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father’s will. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered." [Matthew 10:29, 30] What do you think you’re worth? It is not likely you are worth the billions of a Paul Getty or a Howard Hughes. Do you go to the other extreme when you would sell yourself for a nickel and give three cents change? Are you like the young lad who wore a football t-shirt with the letters 00, a double cipher? Was this the way he ...

3922. Hooray for Humility!

Philippians 2:1-11

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

My husband John tells of attending a football game a few seasons back in Knoxville, Tennessee, where the battle was between Army and the University of Tennessee. Before the game started, there were some preliminary features. Each side showed off his mascot. UT proudly displayed a beautiful high-stepping horse. A pretty young girl, dressed in riding garb, rode it around the stadium. The horse’s tail was high, his head held high, he lifted his legs proudly as he trotted around the area to the applause of ...

3923. Something That Will Last Forever

Matthew 6:19-24

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

One day a father was leaving his house on the way to the shopping center. His three-year-old daughter said, "Daddy, bring me something." He asked, "Honey, what do you want?" She thought for a moment and then said, "Bring me something that will last forever." Even at the tender age of three, she knew that many things are nice for a little while, but their appeal doesn't last. She wanted something with staying power. Don't we all? Jesus' words in our scripture for today are about investments, good ones and ...

3924. A Courtroom Confrontation

Matthew 27:11-26

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

Our scripture lesson for today describes a classic courtroom confrontation. On this Passion Sunday it is altogether appropriate that we consider it. Courtrooms are often places of high drama and suspense. Judge Ito's courtroom in Los Angeles has dominated America's attention since January. Enormous power is wielded in courtrooms, power to levy large fines, power to decide between freedom and prison, power to determine life or death. Judges have wide discretionary authority to design sentences to fit the ...

3925. Night Fighters

Sermon

James Bjorge

Night can be beautiful when dreams of sugar plums dance through your head. When worries have wandered away and left you relaxed, the descending darkness comes like a billowy blanket of down. God has washed behind your years and you feel clean and content as you slip into the freshly washed sheets for a long winter’s nap. No doubt about it, night can be nice. But it is not always that cozy and comfortable. Night can be blacker than a hundred midnights in a southern swamp. Anxiety, fear and pain become like ...

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