Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 4101 to 4125 of 4490 results

4101. The Master Has Come - To Build His Church

Mark 16:1-20

Sermon

I remember being on a trip in Tennessee and coming to a crossroads. One road went to Copperhill; the other went to Norris Dam. There at the crossroads was a little white frame church. The church stands at every crossroad. The Christian Church was no accident. It did not just happen. It was not merely a sociological phenomenon, a quirk of history. It was not founded upon a lie, an idea, a philosophy, hope, a dream, a delusion. It was planned, intended, constructed, trained, sent, commissioned, blessed, ...

4102. More Real Than Food

John 6:25-59

Sermon

Carl Jech

The Jews ... disputed among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you." (vv. 52-53) There are many who frown upon the celebration of Christmas because of its historical association with the pagan festival of Saternalia. It is true that the early Christian church decided to celebrate the birth of Christ on December 25 not because of any concrete ...

4103. Pentecost

Psalm 104:1-35, Joel 2:28-32, John 20:19-23, Acts 2:1-21

Sermon Aid

THEOLOGICAL CLUE The Day of Pentecost is the Fiftieth Day of Easter; it brings the Paschal Season to its conclusion and, at the same time, signals the giving of the Holy Spirit to the disciples and to the church. Pentecost is not simply a festival of the Holy Spirit, rather, it is the time for acknowledging - ten days after the Ascension of Our Lord - the powerful gift of the Holy Spirit that Christ had promised to his followers. Like Easter, it has a vigil (not observed to the same degree as the Easter ...

4104. Love’s Legacy

2 Samuel 23:1-7

Sermon

Swan Song of a shepherd. Climactic cadenza to a pastoral symphony written by a Bethlehem bard. The lion of the tribe of Judah in the winter of his days. A lion roaring out a legacy of love to the ages. A grizzled veteran of life’s battles facing the specter of death with the courage expressed so well by Dylan Thomas: Do not go gentle into that good night Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, Rage, against the dying of the light. David roared against injustice in his last will and testament. ...

4105. The Attitude of Readiness

Matthew 24:36-51

Sermon

Russell F. Anderson

At the time of this writing, the tornado season has commenced. Several communities have been devastated by the devil twisters. Nothing can stop them, but if you know they are heading your way you can, at least, save your life, together with those you love. Several people have lost their lives because they weren't prepared. Tornados can be tracked on Doppler radar. If warning is issued, heard and heeded, it can save life. If our ears are tuned to God's warnings, we won't be blotted out by the moral ...

4106. Getting Off Of The Mountain

Matthew 17:1-13

Bulletin Aid

Liturgical Color: White Theme: Getting off of the mountain into the valley and pits of life. Proclamation Consider this: We need mountaintop experiences; we do not need to spend our life on the mountain. God has broken through our sin (alienation) to redeem us and reconcile us, so that we need not live our lives on the mountain. God brings us into a personal relationship with self, others, world, so that every experience becomes a creative experience. God rolls up his/her sleeves and enters into the daily ...

4107. 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 ...

4108. If You Are A Disciple of Jesus Christ

Luke 6:17-26, Luke 6:12-16

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

We are blessed to have many deeply committed, very capable people on our church staff. One of them is our chief of security, Reggie Johnson. He does so much more than just keep the church campus safe. Reggie learns and remembers the names of our worshippers. In fact, he knows your children and what kind of cars you drive. When a funeral takes place, Reggie grieves with the family. If your left front tire is a bit slack, Reggie will notice and let you know. If a soccer ball is kicked over a fence, Reggie ...

4109. A Sports Prayer

Illustration

Richard Cardinal Cushing

Dear God, help me be a good sport in this game of life. I don’t ask for an easy place in the line-up. Put me anywhere you need me. I only ask that I can give you one hundred percent of all I have. If the hard drives seem to come my way, I thank you for the compliment. Help me remember that you never send a player more trouble than he can handle. Help me, O Lord, to accept the bad breaks as part of the game. And may I always play the game on the square, no matter what the others do. Help me study The Book ...

4110. As Far as the Lord Can Go

Illustration

Clovis G. Chappell

Again and again our Lord awakens us, whether we will it or not. Again and again his voice breaks in upon our indifference and complacency, even though we may be unwilling. But while it is not ours to decide whether we shall be disturbed or not, it is ours to decide what we should do, once we are disturbed. If an alarm clock rings in your room it is likely to wake you whether you wish it to or not. But when it has gotten you awake, that is as far as it can go. It cannot drag you out of bed. Whether you go ...

4111. Faith isn’t Easy - But it Works!

Genesis 12:1-8

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

Now the Lord said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you, I will curse; and by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves." So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. And ...

4112. Echoes of Eternity

Matthew 10:24-32

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

"A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master; it is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household. "So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the dark, utter in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim upon the housetops. And do not fear those who ...

4113. No Other Way To Be Happy

Deuteronomy 11:1-32

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

"Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God ..." "If you love me, you will keep my commandments." (John 14:15) "Trust and obey, for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus ..." In a gospel song, these words of the refrain are sung over and over with each stanza. The chorus repeats the truth of our test: Obedience to God’s commands is the only way to get happiness (blessing). People in palaces are not automatically happy. The ...

4114. GOD’S CURE FOR LONELINESS

Illustration

John H. Krahn

"My days are so busy with lawyers, people stopping by, letters to write ... and I’m so lonely through it all," writes a woman who has just lost her husband. After the death of her husband, Prince Albert, Queen Victoria said, "There is no one left to call me Victoria." Even though she was a queen, she knew what it meant to be lonely. Loneliness is no respecter of persons. Loneliness plagues us in many ways. There is the loneliness of failure. No one jumps onto a sinking ship to keep the captain company as ...

4115. The Necessity of Moral Commitment

Gen 3:1-24 · Is 28:15

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

The way things are going today we would almost think that we have been let loose in the universe in the midst of a strange experience called life, with no maps, no roads, no guideposts, nothing that is directive, no compass, not even a north and south or an east and west. How can we know the truth about life? What did the creator have in mind? What does he now have in mind for us? What is God’s structure of life - his pattern for human relationships? What does he mean by love, beauty, reality? Where does ...

4116. A STORY OF THE FIERY FURNACE

Drama

Marcia Miller

The story of the four men in the fiery furnace is told in Daniel 3. This is a fairly accurate re-creation of those facts. On the back wall of the stage area is a large, perspectively-drawn poster of a golden statue. It should give the appearance of being in the plains area. Daniel 3:1 tells us that this god was 90 feet high and 9 feet wide. On either side of the poster is a pylon or pillar, making a window effect. Between the two posts is the throne of Nebuchadnezzar. If possible, there should be a step ...

4117. On Being Able to Be Sorry

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

Allan J. Weenink

In the book, Love Story, Jennifer and Oliver have their first serious fight as newlyweds. Jennifer runs from the apartment and disappears. She has tried to build a bridge of reconciliation between her husband and his father ... and Oliver in anger tells her to get out of his life. Suddenly, Oliver realizes he has hurt her deeply, but she is gone! Frantically he rushes to the old familiar places searching for her. All the while she becomes more beloved to him in the emptiness of estrangement. Searching ...

4118. On Being a Tenant

Matthew 21:33-46

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

All the details of the story that Jesus tells about being a tenant and owning a vineyard would have been familiar facts to the people who heard him tell it. I have on several occasions seen the vineyards of Israel, which are surrounded by a stone wall. On top of the wall is placed brambles that keep the wild animals from coming into the vineyard. They also protect the vineyard from thieves climbing over the stone wall. Many of the vineyards that I saw had a wine-press located right on the spot. A tower was ...

4119. Unlimited Forgiveness

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon

Herchel H. Sheets

I don’t know how much arithmetic Simon Peter knew. But if he did not understand the answer Jesus gave to his question about how many times a person should forgive one who has wronged him, it was not because he was deficient in mathematics, but because he was short on love. In asking the question, Peter must have known that he was speaking for a lot of other people. Injuries of one kind or another are inflicted upon every person at times, and it is not unusual for one to experience injury at the hand of the ...

4120. Getting Under Your Neighbor's Skin

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

I have a friend who used to be a city judge. One day he said to me, "I want you to come to my courtroom and watch our next dog case." "What in the world is a dog case?" I asked. He smiled and replied, "Periodically a person is charged with having a dog which because of its incessant barking is a public nuisance." "But what," I asked, "could be interesting about that kind of case?" "It's more than interesting," he said. "It's fascinating. I will have five or six neighbors present sworn testimony that the ...

4121. Like Buoys In The River

Exodus 19:1-25

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

Not long after we moved to Memphis, a little child in our church sent us a kind note of welcome. In it she said, "I know you miss the ocean. I hope you like the river." Indeed we do. When I gaze out upon the mighty Mississippi I can almost see Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer on a raft. I visualize romantic paddle-wheelers and riverboat gamblers, though it seems that the gamblers have anchored south of here. I hear again those deep plaintive lyrics from "Showboat" extolling that stoic "Old Man River." Surely most ...

4122. I Smell Bread

Luke 24:13-35

Illustration

George Bass

In one of the episodes of M*A*S*H, the sophisticated shell, inside which Major Winchester protects himself from the horror of the suffering and death with which he constantly deals, breaks; and he is left defenseless. He goes into a type of depression in which he struggles to find some answers to life's most perplexing problem -- death. Finally, in utter desperation, he leaves the base hospital and goes up to the battalion aid station where the wounded are first taken. Colonel Potter discovers where he is ...

4123. No Withdrawal

Sermon

James Bjorge

Christmas is a time to get "hooked" on Jesus. And that is a condition from which you will need no withdrawal. A Catholic Sister, who is blind, told me she has an incurable disease. I thought she was going to elaborate on her blindness which came as a result of diabetes. Rather she said, "I have the Jesus disease." Then she went on to say that she wanted no cure for that state of being. However, we will often have to admit that there is a post-Christmas slump. It is a bit of a let-down after a season’s high ...

4124. Parts Working Smoothly

1 Corinthians 12:12-21, 26-27

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

Object: Automobile parts [can be borrowed from car dealer]. Lesson: Now here is what I am trying to say: All of you together are the one body of Christ and each one of you is a separate and necessary part of it. Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you have ever been to a car garage where automobiles are sold or repaired? A lot of you. Don’t you just love to go and see the new automobiles and then take a deep breath and smell that good smell that goes with all new cars? I like that. In the garage you ...

4125. A Real Pepper-Upper

Sermon

Michael J. Anton

PENTECOST I’m tired. I’m tired of slugging it out every day in that office or on that line where nobody really cares whether I live or die. I’m tired of being treated like a number. I’m tired of being called nosey when I’m just trying to help. I’m tired of being unappreciated and taken for granted. I’m tired of being an armchair psychologist and trying to figure people out. I’m tired of yelling and screaming at my kids. I’m tired of yelling and screaming at my parents. I’m tired of cooking meals and ...

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