Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 4026 to 4050 of 4999 results

Romans 13:8-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... of our national budget. Today it is less than 1 percent. Any thinking Christian must be concerned about the "Me first!" kind of spirit that pervades our land today. What has happened to us? What has happened to the idealism of our earlier ... he gave them back to each other and gave the wife her freedom. As they walked away, happy and relieved, the husband asked, "Did you notice how kindly the king looked upon us when he gave you the pardon?" His wife answered softly, "I had no eyes for the king. I saw only the ...

4027. At The Edge Of Broken-ness

Job 1:1-5

Sermon

King Duncan

... of makes you wonder why Man considers himself such a big screaming deal!" The last panel shows Calvin and Hobbes indoors, TV on, telephone ringing, and the stereo blaring. Calvin says, "That's why we stay inside with our appliances!" (1) Maybe we have that kind of attitude toward the great questions of life. Turn up the TV and not think about it. Still, all of us face questions of loss and suffering and despair. Sooner or later, all of us are confronted with the specter of heartache. Job helps us confront ...

4028. The Longest Night

Psalm 143:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... name. His mother hid him in the bullrushes where the Egyptian princess would later find him and raise him as her own. The princess named him Moses "because she drew him out of the water." This was the kind of world into which Moses was born--a cruel world, often a savage world. This was the kind of world that provided the context for that first Passover night. You and I live more protected lives. Living in this free and prosperous land, we are insulated from much of the savagery that characterizes even our ...

4029. Drinking From His Cup

Matthew 20:20-28

Sermon

King Duncan

... did the other guys on the team.(2) "How do you know that Hercules is a god?" Iole once was asked in the ancient Greek legend. She replied, "I knew because he conquered whether he stood or walked or sat or whatever he did." Some people have that kind of effect on those around them. Jesus certainly did. He inspired enough awe in Simon Peter that he tried walking on water. Crowds flocked from near and far to hear Him, touch Him, be near Him. There was something different about this man. The mother of James and ...

4030. Preparing the Way

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

... if we could literally create a counter-culture of grace, then just maybe, as we all mature in our faith, our hearts could finally line up with our words . . . And the world would have to take notice.” (9) Do you hear what I’m saying? This is the kind of radical change God wants to make in our hearts this Advent season. When we talk about Christ redeeming us from sin, we are not talking about keeping us from drinking too much eggnog. God’s will is to bring us into conformance with the image of his Son ...

4031. Son of Man; Son of God

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

King Duncan

... her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be ... claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death--and the worst kind of death at that: a crucifixion.” God became human flesh. God emptied himself and became a helpless babe. GOD ...

4032. People of Influence

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... in order to let God’s power work through him. (1) Two men. One had enormous power, the other had a much more lasting influence. In any organization, whether it is on the job or the home or in the community or even in church, there are two kinds of power: positional and personal. We do what our bosses tell us to do. Position matters. It’s also true in the home. Children obey . . . well, to a point. But there is a difference between the raw exercise of power and influence. Innocent III had power. Francis ...

4033. Day People (New)

1 Thessalonians 5:5

Children's Sermon

King Duncan

... /Night Which do you like the best? A bright sunshiny day or a really dark, black night? Most of us like the sunshine the best, don’t we? Why don’t you like the dark night? . . . It is kind of scary, isn’t it? We can’t see what is out there. Our Bible lesson today tells us that there are two kinds of people. There are “day people” and there are “night people.” Who do you think the day people are? Paul says that because we love Jesus we are “Children of the light and of the day.” Jesus is ...

4034. Why Cheerful Givers are Cheerful

2 Corinthians 9:6-15

Sermon

Edward Inabinet

... we sow is what we also reap. So often we think of that law in a negative sense. If we sow bad seed we will reap a bitter harvest. But it is also true in a positive sense as well. If we sow seeds of kindness and love and generosity, we will reap kindness and love and generosity. Paul takes it even further to say, "He who sows sparingly will reap sparingly. He who sows bountifully will reap bountifully." Now, I realize that we have to be careful at this point. Some TV evangelists have filled their coffers by ...

4035. The Eureka Experience

Genesis 12:1-8

Sermon

Edward Inabinet

... love for the Lord that shows, that radiates love and concern for others, that exalts Christ in all circumstances. He was that kind of person living a normal Christian life. [E. Stanley Jones, that great Methodist missionary, said that so many of us as ... I've seen the joy and the peace in your heart, the love now that's replaced that bitter, spiteful attitude, and I've seen how kind you've been to your co-workers. I know a change has come about in you. What has happened?'' "I told him: Jesus Christ has come ...

4036. Because He Lives

John 14:5-14

Sermon

Edward Inabinet

... Christ lives in our hearts. George Buttrick told about the day when George Borrow was walking through some fields in Wales when he came upon some gypsies. He stopped and began a conversation with them. When he started to leave, they begged him to stay. Then they said, "It was kind of you to come...that you might bring us God." Borrow explained that he was neither a priest nor a preacher. But they begged him all the more, "Oh sir, do give us God." That is the need every one of us has. It is to know the inner ...

4037. A DIFFERENT CLASS OF SAINTS

Drama

Angela Akers

... June, so her headstone should look relatively new." Darcy: "She was a good friend of yours?" Grandmother: "Oh, yes. She was just a saint. When I came to this church many years ago, she was there at the door to greet me. She introduced me to all kinds of people, then she sat next to me in the service. And the next Sunday, when she saw me, she remembered my name. I''ve been coming back ever since. Lila greeted people at the front doors of that church for over fifteen years! In my book, she ...

4038. JUST ANOTHER BABY, JUST ANOTHER DAY

Drama

Angela Akers

... see your wife." Joseph: "Thank you, thank you so much. This is a day we will never forget." (Joseph walks off, excited.) Nurse: (with a discouraging tone) "Just another dirt-poor family bringing another baby into the world. What kind of future will this poor kid have? What kind of future does our world have if we just keep having poor babies like this? Just look at his family. He''ll never amount to anything in this world. Oh well, just another day at Mercy Hospital." (Other nurse nods ...

4039. In the Meantime: Between the First and Second Comings

Isaiah 2:1-5

Sermon

David Busic

... new freedom. God will restore the broken people, and renew their sense of unity and purpose. Certainly, the day the author envisions is coming for the people of Judah. Isaiah assures them. And yet, we look beyond this restoration, to one of a new kind, an even better kind. A new thing happens, and new Day dawns in the incarnation of Jesus, who is the Christ. God remains faithful to his people, but the means of salvation shift from an emulated memory of the faith of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to faith in ...

4040. Who Is Jesus Christ?

John 14:5-14

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... remake us into what God had in mind for us in the first place. And then, let us not forget that a great deal of Jesus’ teaching had to do with Himself, and the special relationship which He claimed to have with God. His teaching had to do with the kind of God on whose behalf He claimed to speak. Death one day came into the home of Thomas Carlyle. A friend opened the New Testament for him and started to read the magnificent words of John 14: “Let not your heart be troubled. . . in my Father’s house are ...

4041. What the Heck Is Sin?

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... said, Yes, they are mine. Then, looking into the eyes of the young man and seeing repentance clearly written there, the Bishop recognized that what the boy did not need was a jail sentence, and quickly added, But I gave him the candlesticks. That sounds to me like the kind of suffering, forgiving love that God has for all of us.I believe in the forgiveness of sins. And not only believe in it, I have experienced it. I hope that you have, too. If not, why not? God is ready and waiting with open arms. Amen.

4042. God’s Body Language

John 1:1-18

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... us. It continues when that same Word becomes flesh and lives in us. That is, when you and I incarnate the same kind of love which Christ brought into this world. Thus, the “Incarnation” is not simply something which happened “back there.” It is still ... of the clergy. To be the Body of Christ is to love and care for the world that he loved and cared for, and died for. That kind of caring is costly business, but it is to this which we are called. There is an old poem by Annie Johnston Flint which is not ...

4043. Christmas and the Condensed Bible

John 1:1-18

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... and rituals, all of his people’s experience with God across the centuries, found it possible to condense the whole thing into one sentence: “He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8) And in the New Testament, in much the same way, when our Lord was asked which commandment was the greatest of them all, summarized all of the Law and the Prophets in a couple of succinct sentences ...

4044. Jesus: The Life of the Party

John 2:1-11

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... forever looking around to see whether anyone is having a good time so he can put a stop to it! What was it that H.L. Mencken called Puritanism? "The haunting feeling that somebody, somewhere, might be enjoying himself?" Jesus would never have understood that kind of religion. But where did we go wrong? How is it that Christians and the Christian Faith have gotten such a bad press? The Norwegian poet and playwright Henrik Ibsen in a play called Emperor and Galilean, which was written in 1873, has Julian, the ...

4045. Jesus and the Divorced Evangelist

John 4:1-26

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God? But the woman at the well seems at first to miss the point. John seems to delight in this kind of verbal by-play. Jesus utters a statement. Someone misunderstands, thereby giving Him the opportunity to clarify and expand upon it. With killing literalism, the woman asks, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water?” Then it is ...

4046. Love Is Extravagant

John 12:1-11

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... way. If you are really concerned for the poor, then let her example of generosity inspire you to use the daily opportunities you have to help them. They are always present, and always in need of your help. But this is a special occasion. The time to show this kind of lovingkindness to me in the flesh is almost past. Soon the only way you can show it in the future is by pouring out your lives for others.” (In this regard, we should re-read Matthew, chapter 25.) Jesus seems to be saying that there is a time ...

4047. Some Said It Thundered

John 12:20-36

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... guarded from their light. The veil between the seen and the unseen, between the world that we can stand and live in and the world we cannot bear is every thing, but it is there and there’s mercy as well as majesty in the mystery of (God’s) kindness.” The Biblical God is a hidden God. And there is mercy as well as majesty in that hiddenness, for how could we stand to look directly at God? But we do catch glimpses of God once in awhile. St. Francis believed that the red-breasted cardinal flashing into ...

4048. The Autobiography of God

John 14:5-14

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... I.” (Jn. 14:28) Still, when we look at Jesus, we catch a glimpse of God. We see what the Creeds call “true God and true Man”; we see all of God that can be crammed into a human being, without wiping out that human being’s identity. And what kind of a God do we see? A God very much different from most people’s popular conceptions of God. Not a remote, impersonal, cosmic Deity who dwells aloof and is untouched by this world, but a very worldly sort of God, a God who is unafraid to immerse Himself in ...

4049. Whatever Happened to those Mansions?

John 14:1-4

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... , but then goes ahead of us to make sure that everything is in readiness for our arrival. And we will arrive, said Jesus. “Would I lie to you about something as important as that?” It all depends upon the kind of God in whom we believe, doesn’t it? It seems to me that you cannot believe in the kind of God Jesus talked about and have a great big goose egg at the end. The language of poetry often expresses it better than prose. And so we have a Whittier singing: I know what the future has Of marvel ...

4050. Is Conscience the Best Guide?

John 16:5-16

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... aware of God's presence. We often speak of being tempted to do evil; I think that we can also be tempted to do good. I think that there are a million temptations to do good which come to us during a lifetime: a kind word which might be said, a kind deed which might be performed...but, unfortunately, we are pretty good at resisting these temptations. I believe that whenever we are tempted to do good - to do something unselfish and unself-serving, that is really God speaking to our innermost beings. Therefore ...

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