Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 3926 to 3950 of 4946 results

3926. Those Bothersome Do’s and Don’ts

Drama

Sarah Walton Miller

This skit may easily be read instead of memorized. In that case, rehearse it well so the lines will sound natural and spontaneous instead of stilted and draggy. The subject is God’s commandments: those given to Moses on Sinai and the two Jesus left for us. Cast: four boys, four girls and a man with a good deep voice offstage unseen. In the beginning the eight are scattered around the playing area, using whatever levels and other physical things you wish. They may move freely as they speak. Props: statuette ...

3927. Broken and Beautiful

Luke 18:9-14, Psalm 51:1-19

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

If I were to call you a "broken" person, you would probably resent it. But the Bible says that a certain kind of brokenness is essential if we are to be close to God. That late Southern humorist Lewis Grizzard could tickle the funny bone of almost anybody. But when he wrote about his father, he could make you cry. His father was a soldier, a veteran of World War II who returned to military duty in Korea. There in brutal warfare against the Chinese, Mr. Grizzard, Sr. saw more suffering and horror than he ...

3928. Picking A Winner, Claiming A Treasure

Matthew 13:44-46

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

Bishop Ernest Fitzgerald tells about a slightly crooked Texan who was a big racer of horses. He took one of his prize thoroughbreds to London for an international race. The Texan was back in the stable area prior to the race feeding his horse some suspicious-looking little white pills. The Duke of Marlborough who also had a horse in the race, happened to see what the Texan was doing. "My good man," he said, "Don't you know that that is illegal. You cannot give a horse any performance-enhancing drugs. I ...

3929. Overcoming Fear

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

Many years ago when I was a young preacher, I noticed that a new family had moved into a neighborhood not far from our church. So I dropped by late one afternoon. I noticed that one car was parked in the carport. I went to the side door, the one opening onto the carport. I had rung the door bell only once when I heard a deep, bass growl that sounded like the rolling of thunder. It was coming from the back of the carport and it made the hair on the back of my neck stand straight up. I glanced to my left and ...

3930. Mary's Revolutionary Song

Luke 1:46-56

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

At home I have a yellow copy of one of the world's most revolutionary documents. In it are 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. The only document I know that is more revolutionary is in our Bible. It is called the Magnificat and is found in Luke, chapter 1, ...

3931. Song of an Exile

Psalm 16:1-11

Sermon

Gordon Pratt Baker

The author of the Sixteenth Psalm is a person who can sing in the face of adversity. One of the Hebrews forcibly dispersed among the Gentiles following the Exile, he is a stranger in a strange land, surrounded by enemies and under constant threat of death. Subject to attack from every side, he is being pressured to engage in pagan practices. Nor can he escape the pressure, since fanaticism possesses no limits. Individuals in every age have been martyred for their faith, and the poet knows only too well ...

3932. We Wish To See Jesus

John 12:20-36

Sermon

Richard A. Jensen

"Sir, we wish to see Jesus." That is the request that we heard at the beginning of the biblical reading for this message. The inquiry came from the Greeks. That is a fascinating detail. John’s Gospel is filled with a variety of groups of people. There are the Jews and the Pharisees and the disciples, for example. These groups appear many times in John’s Gospel. Not so the Greeks. This is their one and only appearance in John’s Gospel. Their appearance is surprising in a way. What are Greeks doing in ...

3933. Christmas 2

Isaiah 62:1-12, Titus 3:1-11, Luke 2:1-7, Luke 2:8-20

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

First Lesson: Isaiah 62:6-7, 10-12 Theme: The ransomed and redeemed people of God Exegetical Note The Judaean prophet confidently announces a renewed Jerusalem, and proclaims that with its approaching salvation (i.e., savior) its inhabitants will prove not only unforsaken, but indeed the holy, redeemed and ransomed people of God. Call to Worship Leader: Behold, God has proclaimed it far and wide upon the earth: People: OUR SALVATION, OUR SAVIOR COMES! Leader: Our Savior comes bearing rewards, and the ...

3934. I Affirm

Acts 27:13-26

Sermon

TEXT: "Wherefore, sirs, be of good courage, for I believe in God." Acts 27:25 There are two ways to interpret the extraordinary story of adventure at sea which is described in chapter 27 of Acts. We can look at the courage and the faith of Paul. He had been arrested after preaching for several years as a Christian evangel. When he was threatened with death he appealed as a Roman citizen for his trial to be held in the city of Rome which was his right as a citizen. Escorted by heavy guard, he was taken from ...

3935. God of the Weekday

John 4:1-26

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

You say that we are a sophisticated, civilized, and intellectually mature people, that certainly in the climb of human progress, we have risen above such primitive things as, for instance, superstition? Well, let us think again, dear friends. Whether we like it or not, the old superstitions persist, the old fetishes still cling to us, the old fantasies still control us. A case in point: I remember a public hearing on open housing in our city, and I was discussing the matter with the owner of large real ...

3936. Strengthened For Life

John 15:1-17

Sermon

O. Garfield Beckstrand, II

During these Lenten Sunday mornings we have been thinking together about some of the things which Jesus shared with his disciples on the last night of his earthly life. These teachings of our Lord are recorded for us in chapters 13 through 17 of John’s Gospel. If you will read these chapters carefully, you will find they contain everything that is most precious in our Christian heritage - every gift, every promise, every commandment, every warning, every spiritual resource that the living Christ gives to ...

3937. When God Almighty Speaks ... Listen!

1 Samuel 3:1--4:1

Sermon

Richard L. Eslinger

Hannah was among the barren women of Israel. She had no children. But Hannah was also among the faithful women of Israel. So one year, at the time of sacrifice, she made a vow to the Lord. In the midst of her distress, she uttered a tearful prayer: O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt look on the affliction of thy maidservant ... but wilt give to thy maidservant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life. Later, after the worship and the sacrifice, the family returned home, "and in due time ...

3938. A God Pleasing Savior and God Pleasing People

Malachi 1:1-5

Sermon

Daniel G. Mueller

One of the basic rules of interpersonal relationships is that you can please some of the people some of the time, but you can never please all the people all the time. There is a children’s story that illustrates how totally useless it is even to try always to please everyone. The story tells about a father, his son, and their donkey. As their journey began, the father led the donkey and the boy rode. But because some people criticized the boy for being lazy, he got down from the donkey and let his father ...

3939. Greatness

Mark 9:33-37

Drama

Robert F. Crowley

Theme: The kingdom of God is different than any other. To be first in the kingdom you must be servant of all. Summary: Peter, James, and John want to be great and they are arguing about their achievements. Jesus sets them straight. Playing Time: 3 minutes Setting: The Holy Land Props: A small black book Costumes: Peasant, first century Time: The Time of Christ Cast: Peter James John Jesus JAMES: (ENTERS CARRYING A SMALL BLACK BOOK) I've got the list right here. You'll see. PETER: (ENTERS) Throw that list ...

3940. The Courage to Be Me

Sermon

Gregory J. Johanson

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." There is a certain courage to be who we are built into the dynamics of Christian faith and grace. DONALD C. HOUTS (see biographical note preceding Smart, Wise, and Foolish) relates this courage to three common debilitating fears in his sermon The Courage to Be Me: The fears of doubt, self-disclosure, and failure. There is a sense in which vitality in human life is a product of the tension between fear and faith. If all were certain, then our concept ...

3941. Changing Seasons, Constant Love

Jeremiah 8:4--9:26

Sermon

John W. Wurster

Another season has come and gone. Promises that were made have not been fulfilled. Good intentions haven’t yielded any tangible results. Dreams have not come true. High hopes have proven to be only wishful thinking. Nothing has really changed; nothing has really improved. The time keeps moving along, but we seem stuck in the same ruts. Old routines remain, prejudices persist, dullness and anxiety continue to be constant companions. Lingering in the air is that nagging sense that things aren’t quite right, ...

3942. A Town of Promise

Micah 5:1-4

Sermon

Harry N. Huxhold

Sometimes little towns, ordinarily only dots on the map, achieve great fame. Green Bay, a rural Wisconsin town, is notable because it sponsors a National League Football team. Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was settled by Moravian Christians in 1735 to be a peaceful town of the simple life. The Moravians were descendants of John Hus, who suffered martyrdom for his faith in Bohemia before the Lutheran Reformation. The Moravians in Pennsylvania chose the name “Bethlehem” for their village, because they wanted to ...

3943. His Trial

Luke 22:66--23:25

Sermon

Brett Blair

On Friday of Holy Week the streets were filled with people. It was not an ordinary market day crowd. It was religious tradition that brought these people together. It was the festival of the Passover and Jews from far and near had migrated to the holy city of Jerusalem. It was this same religious fervor that created a certain tense atmosphere in the city. Jesus, the Nazarene carpenter, the one whom some called Messiah, had been placed under arrest by the Roman authorities due to pressure from the Jewish ...

3944. Nicodemus

John 3:1-21

Sermon

David E. Leininger

They say, "There is no fool like an old fool." And I am afraid that is exactly what I have been. I have been so busy protecting our religion that I have been missing our God. I should explain. My name is Nicodemus. I am a member of the Sanhedrin, one of the seventy men charged with the oversight and defense of our historic and honorable faith, the faith of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the faith of our fathers for hundreds and hundreds of years. Our task - one handed down from generation to generation since ...

3945. The Ten Commandments #5: Honoring Parents

Exodus 20:12

Sermon

David E. Leininger

The family. "The basic building block of society," they call it. We are born into families, cared for by family until we can begin to take care of ourselves. We share the same roof, the same table, even the same faith. Nothing unusual there. It is expected...despite the differences of individual personalities, interests and abilities that are gathered into the family unit, it is a unit. The basic building block of society. The joy I have in living with my wife and children I would not have were it not for ...

3946. The Ten Commandments #9: No False Witness

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Have you been watching the impeachment hearings? I spent much of Thursday afternoon and evening glued to the tube. Not because the testimony and questioning were so scintillating or riveting, but because this was historic. This process is only occurring for the third time in our nation's history, and as a history buff, I wanted to watch. As we all know (and better than any of us is happy with), for the past four years, the Office of Independent Counsel has been investigating the President - first it was ...

3947. A New Look at an Old Treasure

Psalm 23:1-6

Sermon

David E. Leininger

"The Lord is my shepherd..." Probably as well-known and well-loved as any phrase of scripture: the twenty-third psalm. Generations have memorized it, in Sunday School or at the knee of parents or grandparents. It is one of the first Bible passages we learn, and, as often as we hear it funerals, it is among the last words said over us when we die. A wonderful affirmation of our faith in God's ability to protect. "The Lord is my shepherd..." There is an old story out there of the man who, in the midst of a ...

3948. What Is Truly Important

Matthew 6:25-34, Matthew 6:19-24

Sermon

David E. Leininger

What is truly important? That is a question we all have to deal with at some point or points in our lives. Over these past several weeks, more than a few folks in this part of the country have confronted it. In the face of the oncoming fury of one hurricane after another, evacuations from coastal communities, decisions come. On TV the other night, there was an interview with a husband and wife who moved to their new retirement home on one of the Carolina barrier islands just six weeks ago - in that six ...

3949. One More Angel

Luke 2:8-20, Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

David E. Leininger

One of the most familiar stories in all the Bible, isn't it? Even the most irreligious among us have memories of shepherds in bathrobes with towels on their heads. Animals...sometimes cardboard, sometimes live and uncontrollable to the delight of everyone in attendance. There was a Preschool Christmas program at 1st Presbyterian Church, in Winchester, VA a couple of years ago.(1) After the obligatory waves and "Hi Mommy"s, the production began. The angel's sang when they were supposed to. The donkeys ...

3950. More Than A Mannequin; Not Quite A Masterpiece

Acts 4:32-37

Sermon

King Duncan

One of my favorite pieces of humor is the blooper. These unique manifestations of our humanness appear from time to time in newspapers, magazines and even church bulletins. Often they are typos that give a whole new meaning to a sentence or a phrase. Kathleen Hunzeker in Kimball, Nebraska noticed this item in the President's Report of the First English Lutheran Church of Kimball: "We as a congregation have achieved many accomplishments. We have been truly blessed in our missions and ministry. All of the ...

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