Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 3951 to 3975 of 4936 results

3951. Proper 17

Lk 14:1, 7-14 · Heb 12:18-19, 22-24; 13:1-8 · Eze 18:1-9, 25-29 · Prov 25:6-22

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Ezekiel 18:1-9, 25-29 Each person is responsible for his/her life. Ezekiel here stresses individual responsibility for sin. Heretofore the emphasis was upon community, the nation. Now Judah is in bondage and the community (nation) exists no more. The old proverb said that the children suffer for the sins of their parents. Those now in exile holding to this view could feel no responsibility for their plight and could accept the situation as fate. Ezekiel corrects this one-sided view by preaching ...

3952. Advent 3

Lk 3:7-18 · Php 4:4-13 · Zeph 3:14-20

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Zephaniah 3:14-20 Rejoice, for Yahweh will restore his people to their homeland. This is the only use of Zephaniah in the three-year Lectionary. Zephaniah lived during the reign of Josiah in the 7th century, prior to the Babylonian captivity. Our pericope is considered an addition by an unknown author of the Deutero-Isaiah period. The passage gives good news of salvation to those in exile: a return to Jerusalem, victory over enemies, Yahweh in their midst, and renown among the nations. This is ...

3953. Reflection Time

John 1:1-18

Sermon

Here we are on the eleventh day of Christmas, with Epiphany and the Star, the Wise Men, and the baby Jesus a couple of days ahead of us, and, all of a sudden, we are whisked back to Advent and, behind it, to the very beginning of creation. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." That’s all there was when God went into action, created our solar system, the earth and everything on it, including the human race "in his image." Few of us are ready for such a head-trip; ...

3954. The End is a New Beginning

Deuteronomy 34:1-12

Sermon

The Exodus story ends with the death of Moses after he had viewed the Promised Land from Mount Nebo. "This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go there." And so, Moses died and, apparently, the Lord buried him in an unmarked grave "in the valley of the land of Moab;" his grave-site has been lost forever. God alone knows where Moses is buried. God really seems to have taken Moses to himself ...

3955. Misunderstanding Jesus

John 6:25-59

Sermon

Once a minister was speaking of the difference between fact and fantasy. "That you are sitting here before me in this church is fact! That I am standing here in this pulpit speaking is fact!" Then he paused, and continued, "However to believe that anyone is really listening to me may be fantasy." You know, sometimes it is fun to be a preacher. After his return from church one Sunday a small boy said, "You know what, Mommie? I’m going to be a preacher when I grow up." "That’s fine," said his mother, "but ...

3956. Proper 27

Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon Aid

Liturgical Color: Green Gospel: Matthew 25:1-30 Theme: Wise and foolish maidens and the parable of the talents. Pastoral Invitation to the Celebration One pastor began this way: "We cannot love God whom we have not seen unless we love our fellow humans whom we do see. Love doesn't necessarily mean like. Love means that we seek the same for the other that we have received for ourselves. There is no such thing as loving God without loving our neighbor. We will discover during this worship what this means." ...

3957. Suffering for Christ

Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

Jesus said: "Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man's foes will be those of his own household. He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and he who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. He who ...

3958. What Is Your Mercy Quotient?

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

My father was in the theatre business when was growing up, so names like Twentieth Century Fox, Warner Brothers, Paramount Pictures, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer were household words in our family. They were the big studios in Hollywood, the big movie producers. In my father’s office, hanging on a side wall over a bookcase, was a huge picture, probably twenty-four by thirty-six inches. It was taken about 1943 and the caption reads: "Louis B. Mayer and His Stars." Sitting in rows of chairs, on tiers, are a host ...

3959. 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 ...

3960. God Is No Gentleman

Luke 1:67-80

Sermon

Allan J. Weenink

There is a lovely and true story of Edward of Windsor, when, as Prince of Wales, he went to India. He was the son of the Supreme power, the King of England, and to the outcaste people, almost divine. As he drew near the Delhi Gate on one of his journeys, 25,000 outcastes awaited his coming. They only expected to see a car flash past, and with luck, to catch a glimpse of him. But Edward, Prince of Wales, stopped the car, stepped out, and heard a spokesman for the sixty million outcastes beg that they might ...

3961. Five Grains of Corn

Psalm 111:1-10

Sermon

Allan J. Weenink

In the early days of New England, it came to be the custom to put five grains of corn beside each plate on Thanksgiving Day. Those five grains of corn were to recall the fast days of the Plymouth settlement when the early colonists were in such drastic and difficult circumstances. In the midst of starvation, food supplies had been so low that only five grains of corn were rationed to an individual at a time, from the common storehouse. But, with five grains of corn, there had been an heroic survival. This ...

3962. THE JOURNEY

Drama

Jerome W. Nilssen

Shortly after midnight; a grimy train station in a midwestern city. CAIN wearing a conductor’s hat, opens a thermos and pours a cup of coffee, adds to it from a flask he carries in his jacket. GRACE enters; opens a large handbag, her only luggage, takes out an apple, or some other fruit, and eats. As CAIN drinks, he turns to look at the woman. Finally she notices him, and she smiles. GRACE It’s a long night. CAIN Like usual. GRACE Are we waiting for the same train? CAIN I don’t know. Are we? GRACE I’m ...

3963. Must Jesus Bear the Cross Alone?

Luke 9:18-27

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

In Douglas Southall Freeman’s classic biography of the famous Southern commander, Robert E. Lee, he tells about a young mother who brought her baby to him to be blessed. General Lee took the infant in his arms, looked at it, and then said to the mother, “Teach him that he must deny himself.” Both of our scriptural texts for today agree wholeheartedly with General Lee. The prophet Joel declared, “Return to the Lord with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.” Jesus said, “If any want to become my ...

3964. 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 ...

3965. Public Piety

Matthew 6:19-24, Matthew 6:16-18, Matthew 6:1-4

Sermon

David E. Leininger

"Beware of practicing your piety before others..." Hmm. Sort of flies in the face of what we do with these ashes here this evening. Come to think of it, is there any other ritual that we use that is so public an expression of our faith? As is my habit, I was watching the opening of the stock market this morning and I noticed traders on the floor of the Exchange with black smudges on their foreheads - I knew where they had been before coming to work today. The TV commentators did not interview them, but I ...

3966. A Fool and his Money

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

David E. Leininger

A fool and his money. Are soon parted, right? Someone has rewritten it to suggest that "A fool and his money are some party!" OK. Some of us are old enough to remember Adlai Stevenson, Governor of Illinois, UN Ambassador, two-time Democratic candidate for President, and rare wit. Stevenson once said, "There was a time when a fool and his money were soon parted, but now it happens to everybody."(1) Amen? Amen! Of course, this link between a fool and money (or possessions) goes back along way, all the way to ...

3967. Happy Birthday, Dear Church

Acts 2:14-41, Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

David E. Leininger

I do it for all of you, so I guess I ought to do it for the church, right? Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday, Dear Chur-urch, Happy birthday to you. Amen. OK, let's do it up right. If this is the church's birthday, there ought to be a party, true? One would think that an observance of this magnitude would be noticed around town, just like Christmas or Easter. But this week I have had occasion to shop in several stores, and amazingly, not one of them indicated that there were so ...

3968. Rock Solid Living

Matthew 7:24-29

Sermon

King Duncan

An elderly Scottish woman was making her way through the countryside. Each time she came to a crossroads she would toss a stick into the air. Whichever way the stick came down was the direction she went. At one intersection, however, an old man saw her toss her stick into the air not once, not twice, but three times before resuming her journey. The old man was curious. “Why are you throwing your stick like that?” he asked. She squinted and replied, “I’m letting God direct my journey by using this stick.” “ ...

3969. The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread

John 6:25-59

Sermon

King Duncan

Have you ever heard someone describe something they are pleased with like this: "It's the greatest thing since sliced bread." That phrase is meaningless to most of us. Here's the rest of the story. The first electric toaster appeared in 1909. It toasted one side at a time and required constant vigilance: when the toast was done, you pulled the plug. The first automatic electric toaster was designed in 1919 by Charles Strite, a man sick and tired of burned toast. Americans were skeptical at first about ...

3970. What In The World Are We Doing Here?

Micah 6:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

The story is told about a concert held in Philadelphia, PA. One of the pieces played by the orchestra featured a flute solo. This solo was to be played offstage so that it would sound as if coming from a great distance. The conductor had instructed the flutist to count the measures precisely in order to come in at the exact time. After all, with the flutist offstage, there could be no visual contact between the two of them. On the night of the performance, when the time came for the flute solo, the flutist ...

3971. Why Do You Believe What You Believe?

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5

Sermon

King Duncan

You may have heard about the pilot for one of our major airlines. He's blind. I won't tell you which airline. People get nervous enough nowadays about flying. I know I do. I sympathize with the old fellow who says there are two things he will not dofly or swim. "I'm not going to do anything," he says, "that when you stop, you die." Someone asked the blind airplane pilot how he did it. He said, "No big dealjust a little help from my friends and the Good Lord." Then he explained. "A friend comes by my house ...

3972. Belonging To The Right Family

1 Peter 2:4-12

Sermon

King Duncan

No one deserves a special day all to herself more than today's Mom. A cartoon showed a psychologist talking to his patient: "Let's see," he said, "You spend 50 percent of your energy on your job, 50 percent on your husband and 50 percent on your children. I think I see your problem." Some of you can identify with that. I like the story about the fouryearold and the sixyearold who presented their Mom with a house plant. They had used their own money and she was thrilled. The older of them said with a sad ...

3973. Who Is He?

Mark 8:27-30

Sermon

King Duncan

Actor Rex Harrison and his former wife Elizabeth were dining with a few friends at the "21" Club. While they were preparing to order, as happens so often with actors, a handsome young man got up from a nearby table and came over to meet them. He said, "We just got in on the last flight. You've given me so much pleasure through the years, Mr. Harrison, I just had to come over to thank you." Harrison nodded his head graciously and returned his attention to the wine list as soon as the young man had left ...

3974. Jesus Goes To School

Luke 2:41-52

Sermon

King Duncan

A young woman named Donna who got good grades in high school was in her first year of college. She had done poorly on one of her courses. In an attempt to prepare her parents she wrote her mother, "If you see an unfamiliar letter on my report card, remember it's just my first initial. Signed, Donna." As the time neared for grades to be sent home, Donna began to worry. Her worst fears were confirmed one evening when her mother called her. Donna said, "Hi, Mom." Her mother replied coldly, "Hello, Frank." ...

3975. A Journey To A New Life

Matthew 3:13-17

Sermon

King Duncan

Danne and Jorge Martinez wanted to raise their eleven-year-old daughter Lizbet to do right. Unfortunately, they had no choice but to teach Lizbet to lie. You see, the Martinez family lived in Cuba. They were members of Castro's Communist Party. But inside their home, these devoted parents complained bitterly about the political situation that was destroying their country. And so, when Lizbet was old enough to attend school, her parents sat her down and explained the facts of life to her. She was never to ...

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