Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 3951 to 3975 of 4943 results

3951. Suffering

John 19:28-37

Sermon

Burton F. Blair

After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), "I am thirsty." A jar of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. John 19:28-29 Late Thursday evening, after sharing the Passover meal together, Jesus took several of the disciples with him to the Mount of Olives, commonly called "Gethsemane." Jesus said to the disciples with him, "I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here and ...

3952. A Prophet Like Me

Deuteronomy 18:14-22

Sermon

Frederick C. Edwards

Most people have a rather warped view of the biblical prophets. We have tended to see them as rather like a man I saw outside Saint Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna, dressed in what looked like bed sheets, wearing a beard, with a sign around his neck, and carrying a staff, and shouting things to anyone who happened to look his way. He reminded me of some of the cartoons I had seen in the New Yorker magazine, depicting long-bearded characters in similar dress, usually announcing the end of the world. Certainly ...

3953. A Way Back In

Isaiah 40:1-31

Sermon

Thomas D. Peterson

A wise man once said to me that he tried never to let people get so far out on a limb that they could not get back in. He was the head-master of a preparatory school. As an administrator he did everything he could to enable the staff to make meaningful contributions to the school. He positively reinforced good performance; and, when a staff member got out on a limb, he not only initiated efforts to help the person back in, he also avoided putting undue stress on mistakes or attitudes which made it ...

3954. "Why Belong to Church?"

John 14:15-31

Sermon

Text - John 14:31a ... "I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father." Billy Graham, preaching in Australia, told the story of a Baptist who wandered into an Episcopalian church for worship. He was amazed at all the standing up, kneeling, and sitting down that went on during the service. But he was so pleased that the sermon was the same joyful gospel. Through a portion of the service the Baptist shouted out, "Amen Brother!" The usher came down the aisle and tapped ...

3955. On His Way

Matthew 21:1-11

Sermon

Larry Powell

See in your mind’s eye a city that has doubled in population almost overnight. The city is Jerusalem and faithful Jews have converged upon the holy city from great distances to celebrate the Passover. They have come from every country district and all the lands of the Diaspora. The Jewish historian, Josephus, recorded that as many as 1,000,000 pilgrims came annually to the feast. Families were reunited, friends renewed acquaintances, spirits were high, and from the Temple priests down to the simplest ...

3956. You Don't Need Jesus

John 1:19-28

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

The man the world needs now. Who is he? A wise man like Socrates? A military genius like Alexander? A brain like Einstein? A statesman like Lincoln? A theologian like Barth? Jesus? No, the man the world needs now is not Jesus. Are you shocked at this? Do you call it heresy? If the world does not need Jesus, then whom does it need? The man the world needs even more than Jesus is John the Baptist! If Jesus came without the work of John the Baptist, the world would not know, appreciate, or accept Jesus as ...

3957. Eager For The Journey

Luke 5:1-11

Sermon

Brett Blair

Many years ago the great explorer, Sir Francis Drake, was attempting to recruit a number of young men for an upcoming exploration. He gathered them around and told the group that if they came with him they would see some of the most marvelous things their eyes could ever behold. Sandy white beaches, juicy fruits, foreign peoples, priceless treasures, and gorgeous landscapes. And he told them that this wild adventure could be theirs if they came with him. Not one of them enlisted for the journey. The next ...

3958. The Peace Of Christ In A Chaotic World

John 14:15-31

Sermon

Brett Blair

One of the best newspaper cartoons of all time is Calvin and Hobbes. One day Calvin and Hobbes come marching into the living room early one morning. His mother is seated there in her favorite chair. She is sipping her morning coffee. She looks up at young Calvin. She is amused and amazed at how he is dressed. Calvin’s head is encased in a large space helmet. A cape is draped around his neck, across his shoulders, down his back and is dragging on the floor. One hand is holding a flashlight and the other a ...

3959. Jesus and Andrew

John 1:35-42

Sermon

James W. Moore

Back in the 15th century in a tiny village near Nuremberg, Germany there lived a family with eighteen children. That’s right… eighteen! In order merely to keep food on the table for this large family, the father (who was a goldsmith by profession) worked almost eighteen hours a day at this trade and any other paying job he could find in the neighborhood. Despite their seemingly hopeless condition, two of the older children had a dream. They both wanted to pursue their talent for art, but they knew full ...

3960. Remember!

Deuteronomy 31:30--32:47

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Oft in the stilly night, Ere slumber's chain has bound me, Fond memory brings the light Of other days around me.(1) Memories...we like them...and we need them. And as those words of Thomas Moore remind us, we are comforted and instructed by them. That is why a day such as this is a GOOD day. I have WONDERFUL memories of Oakdale. I remember our first night together - a covered dish dinner, our Erin just one week old (and now a sophomore in high school), and Emily Beamguard insisting that I sing. I remember ...

3961. A Wonderful Mother (In-Law)

Ruth 1:1-22

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Mothers' Day. I like Mothers' Day, as I know we all do. There is something very special in taking time out of the hustle and bustle to celebrate those special ladies who have given us life. The "Mother" of Mother's Day is Anna Jarvis who spent forty years developing the concept. Her drive to create the holiday reached fulfillment in 1914 with a presidential proclamation by Woodrow Wilson. Anna had two fears, both of them well-founded. She was afraid that her effort to honor mothers would be exploited by ...

3962. Hungry People

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Every time I hear the story of the feeding of the five thousand, I am reminded of reading of a man packing a shipment of food for the poor people of Appalachia. He was separating beans from powdered milk, and canned vegetables from canned meats. Reaching into a box filled with various cans, he pulled out a little brown paper sack. Apparently one of the pupils had brought something different from the items on the suggested list. Out of the paper bag fell a peanut butter sandwich, an apple, and a cookie. ...

3963. The Original "Average Joe"

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Do you know the name Melana Scantlin? She is a former NFL cheerleader, a former Miss Missouri. She is beautiful, she is blonde, she is brainy. Melana is the beauty who squared off against 16 "beasts" in television's latest surpassingly strange reality series, "Average Joe." The premise for the show was that, while it is a no-brainer to be attracted to a hunk with washboard abs and $50-million in mutual funds, it is something else to fall for someone who is plain and unexceptional, a toothy geek with a ...

3964. The Danger of Discipleship

Luke 14:25-35

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Why you are here today? I would like to believe that you are here for the preaching. Connie and Debbie and the choir would like to believe that you are here for the music. But we all have been around long enough to know that may not be the case. There is one man here who is in attendance because his wife made him come - she went with him to a ball game last week, so it was only fair. There is a young man here hoping against hope that he will meet a special young lady. Lots of reasons. But of all the ...

3965. The "E" Word

John 1:35-42

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Today is EVANGELISM SUNDAY on our Presbyterian calendar. That is a relatively new emphasis for our denomination. To be sure, Presbyterians have always SAID evangelism is important, but our action (or lack of action) spoke even louder. One stuffy Presbyterian once called Dwight L. Moody to task for relying so much on emotion to win converts during his revivals. Moody's response? He admitted that his methods were not perfect, but he concluded, "I like my way of doing it better than your way of NOT doing it ...

3966. Blood Sprinkled On A Modern Altar

Exodus 24:3-8, Mark 14:12-16, 22-26, Hebrews 9:11-15

Sermon

King Duncan

Wesley Tracy tells about a letter he once received. “I have hundreds of biblical photographs,” the letter said, “including several of the Garden of Eden.” “Wow!” says Tracy, “I have seen and taken a lot of photos of biblical places—tiny mustard seeds on the Mount of Olives, the Temple courtyard, and the Lord’s supposed birthplace guarded by a soldier with an automatic weapon—but Eden? Did they have cameras in [Eden]?” “Where was Eden anyway?” he asks with tongue firmly in cheek. “Though a headline in a ...

3967. Would You Like To Hold The Baby?

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

King Duncan

A four-year-old boy was watching his mother change the baby. When she overlooked sprinkling the baby's backside with baby powder and hurriedly put him into his diaper, the four-year-old hollered, "Hey, Mom, you forgot to salt him!" Have you ever noticed how babies can turn ordinarily intelligent men and women into complete morons as they make all those googley noises and funny faces? I've often wondered what the babies think of it all. This is Christmas eve, the season of the baby, the Christ child. Babies ...

3968. Living Smart

Luke 10:38-42

Sermon

King Duncan

John Claypool, in one of his sermons, tells a parable about a young man who was applying for a job. As a part of the application process, the young man had to take an aptitude test. He arrived at the appointed time, was given instructions about the test, and then was ushered into the testing room. Immediately, though, the young man became enamored with the utensils at his disposal: he straightened the paper on the desk, sharpened his pencils and shined his chair. In fact, he became so engrossed in the ...

3969. Teach Us To Pray

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

"Is anybody listening? Is anybody listening? Please somebody help me! My husband has collapsed and I do not know how to fly a plane!" These are the words of a desperate North Carolina woman whose husband, an accomplished pilot, had just died suddenly of a heart attack at the controls of their tiny aircraft. She had not been very enthusiastic about flying in the first place, but it was the great joy of his life. She went along reluctantly, but she had never paid any attention to how he operated the plane. ...

3970. I Should Have Written That "Thank You Note"

Luke 17:11-19

Sermon

King Duncan

There you are with nine other lepers. What a terrible disease. First the loss of feeling, then the loss of hair, feet, hands, nose, eyes, etc. Your own family treats you like some grotesque monster. You subsist on alms given by strangers. From time to time you cry out, “Unclean, unclean,” to warn away the unsuspecting. What a dread, dread disease this leprosy. Misery loves company, though. Thank God for these fellow lepers. Deep in your heart you long for the company of whole persons, persons who have not ...

3971. For Laughing Out Loud!

Genesis 18:1-15

Sermon

King Duncan

There are all kinds of reasons to laugh. Sometimes we laugh out of embarrassment. Other times we laugh because something is witty. There are times we laugh to cover our despair. I was reading recently about a man who awoke one morning to find a puddle of water in the middle of his king-size water bed. In order to fix the puncture, he rolled the heavy mattress outdoors and filled it with more water so he could locate the leak more easily. The enormous bag of water was impossible to control and began rolling ...

3972. The Jesus Connection

John 15:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

There are many legends in many cultures concerning how certain flowers came into existence. Germany has a legend which tells about the origin of the primrose. Apparently Saint Peter once heard a rumor that some wayward souls were trying to slip into the back door of heaven rather than entering through the Pearly Gates. Saint Peter got so upset by this that he dropped his keys; whereupon they fell to earth and grew into primroses. Then there is a Persian legend about the origin of tulips. A young man named ...

3973. What Would You Have Him Do For You?

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

King Duncan

One long hot summer in a place called St. Johns, there came into town a man with a big tent which he set up at the corner of Lombard and Clarendon, with a sign posted in front: THE GREAT MARCEL AND HIS FABULOUS SNAKE SHOW. He was dapper and slim, and he wore a stovepipe hat and a cutaway coat. And when the crowds thronged around the tent that night and oil torches flickered their light over a lithe young lady dancing with snakes, Marcel told of his wonderful oil ” oil extracted from snakes that cured every ...

3974. The Gift Of Inadequacy

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

King Duncan

Mark Twain once wrote about a fictitious sea captain named Stormfield. Stormfield receives a mighty surprise the day he marches into heaven. He is met by Saint Peter at the Pearly Gates. "I beg pardon," Captain Stormfield says to St. Peter, "You mustn't mind my reminding you and seeming to meddle, but hain't you forgot something?" St. Peter ponders for a moment and then shakes his head. "Forgot something? No, not that I know of." Captain Stormfield is stunned. "Think," he says. St. Peter thinks for a ...

3975. The Ultimate Solution For Sin

Mark 9:38-50

Sermon

King Duncan

In 1939, a coast guard vessel was cruising the Canadian Arctic when the men spotted a polar bear stranded on an ice floe. It was quite a novelty for the seamen, who threw the bear salami, peanut butter, and chocolate bars. Then they ran out of the food. Unfortunately, the polar bear hadn't run out of appetite, so he proceeded to board their vessel. The men on ship were terrified and opened the fire hoses on the bear. The polar bear loved it and raised his paws in the air to get the water under his armpits ...

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