Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 4101 to 4125 of 4972 results

4101. Effective Suffering

Romans 8:26-39

Sermon

Jeff Wedge

... say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us?" "Who is against us?" Would you like a list? Most of us can provide a long list in response to that question. We can start with the way things seem to work against us. The refrigerator that stops working just after you put all that expensive food in it. The computer that swallows your file just as you finish making it perfect. The car that won't start when you are late for a critical meeting. And on and on. "Who is against us?" There are people ...

4102. Doing Well and Doing Good

Romans 13:8-14

Sermon

Jeff Wedge

... more specific, as when our good behavior is promised a reward of a good life, increased wealth, or the admiration of others. All in all, it sounds very much like the sort of thing most parents use with their children on occasion. If you sit quietly, I'll stop and get you some ice cream, or a hamburger, or a special toy, or whatever. Paul does none of this. Most emphatically, he promises no rewards for our living up to the way we are supposed to live as Christians. Rather than rewards, Paul simply presents a ...

4103. Struggles, Death, and Christ

Philippians 1:21-30

Sermon

Jeff Wedge

... uses and in the example of his own life, that we are called to spread the good news where we find ourselves. Our mission is where we are. Finally, he points out that one result of that mission is going to be suffering and struggle. If Paul stopped there, his efforts would certainly not involve much of a promise for us. But he slips in a reminder of the promise when he says, "For God has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ. " The privilege ... of believing in Christ. That is ...

4104. The Cloak

1 Thessalonians 2:1-8

Sermon

Rick Brand

... clothing. We need some stuff, but we need the presence and grace of God to touch the deepest hunger in our heart, and in the joy of God's dwelling in us we discover what Paul discovered about contentment. "Everything depends on knowing how much. Good is knowing when to stop." 1. Scott Kling and Chris Hartman, "Executive Excess 2002: CEO's Cook the Books, Skewer the Rest of Us," Ninth Annual CEO Compensation Survey (Boston: Institute for Policy Studies, United for a Fair Economy, 2002), p. 15.

4105. Living in Denial

Luke 16:19-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... their lives here. Nowhere is there even a mention. It reminds me of a line in the old Broadway musical Jumbo. Jimmy Durante, who has just stolen a circus elephant, is tiptoeing across the stage with the huge pachyderm clomping behind him. He’s stopped by the sheriff, who demands, “Where are you going with that elephant?” And Durante, looking as innocent as only Durante could, says, “WHAT elephant?” (1) Let’s talk for a few minutes about living in denial. Living in denial is a favorite occupation ...

4106. A More Perfect Union

Habakkuk 2:1-5

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... years ago. It is different, in fact, from the way it was fifty years ago. The changes have just been incredible. No one could have anticipated all the immigration that has come to this country. It began two hundred years ago, and has never stopped. America is still a magnet to the whole world, drawing all people here who want to be free. Nor could they anticipate the reconfiguration of the demographics of the country, from small farms to urban centers, giant urban cities. The founding fathers just assumed ...

4107. A Radical Faith

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... he felt. The more he prayed, the more distant he felt from God. He tried everything. He fasted to the point of collapsing. They were concerned about his health. He confessed the most trivial things, day after day, until finally his confessor had to tell him to stop it. He prayed and prayed incessantly, and only felt more distant from God. You may feel that this life is foreign to us, but it is not. Ages and cultures change, but human nature doesn't change. The human dimension is the drive to perfection, to ...

4108. Being More than Civil

1 Corinthians 1:1-9, 1 Corinthians 1:10-17

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... can hope for. Perhaps it's the only kind of peace that we can have, as when the riots erupt in a city, or in a nation, such as what we are witnessing tragically in Bosnia today. Peace means that's what we pray for, that they would just stop fighting, and retreat to their separate territories and leave each other alone. That is what the world thinks of when it thinks of peace. But that is not the peace that Paul is talking about. Paul is talking about shalom, the peace that the prophets envisioned, the way ...

4109. Body Language

Mark 7:1-23

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... is that attitude that James is addressing when he says, "Be doers of the word, and not merely hearers only, deceiving yourselves." James is a corrective to Paul. Paul was right. We are saved by grace, what God has done for us, not by our works. But you can't stop there. If you have been saved by grace, then you ought to live by grace. If you have been touched by God's love in your life, then you ought to share that love with other people. If you have been transformed by grace, then you ought to be gracious ...

4110. Coming Home

Luke 15:1-3,11b-32

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... crossed him. That is when Governor Oglethorpe stepped in and fired him, sent him home. He went back to London depressed. He realized that this lack of graciousness was evidence that he had not experienced grace. He confessed that. And that's when it happened. When he stopped trying to earn it, it was there waiting for him as a gift. It happened in church. He was listening to somebody read Luther's interpretation of Paul's letter to the Romans, where Paul says that we are saved by our faith in God's grace ...

4111. Dig In

Jeremiah 29:1-14

Sermon

Mark Trotter

There is a story about a businessman who checked into a hotel late at night. He decided that he would stop in the lounge for a nightcap. Pretty soon he called the hotel desk, and asked, "What time will the lounge be opened in the morning?" The night clerk answered, "9:00 a.m." About an hour later he called again. The phone rang. The night clerk answered it. The businessman ...

4112. God Never Gives Up

Luke 15:1-10

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... she became sophisticated. She said that was what you were supposed to do when you go to San Francisco, you become sophisticated. And for that reason she said she became agnostic. She thought the two went together. She said that it wasn’t that she stopped believing in God, just that God no longer frequented the neighborhoods that she frequented. She was taking voice lessons at the time. Her teacher gave her an exercise where she was to read out of some religious pamphlet. The reading ended with these words ...

4113. Have You Heard?

Matthew 4:12-23

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... is not in the "earthquake, wind, and fire," but in a "still, small voice." Which I take to mean Elijah's conscience, because the voice says to Elijah, "Get out of here. I've got something for you to do. I've got a mission for you to perform, so stop moping, or meditating, or whatever it is that you are doing up here in this cave, and get to work." Which is just like the call to the disciples. "Follow me. I've got something for you to do. I will make you fishers of men." Jesus didn't say ...

4114. He's Back

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... , you are forgiven, the righteous he told to repent, especially those in power, the priests, scribes, Pharisees, and the Sadducees. They were good people, moral people by any standard. They kept waiting for Jesus to go tell other people to repent, to stop their sinning. Jesus kept telling the strong and the righteous in this world to start doing something good. He told them to repent of their pride, their smugness, their hypocrisy and self-righteousness, their narrow prejudice and enormous greed. Jesus did ...

4115. Hope Is Medicinal

Mark 1:40-45

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... or six hours a day to keep his hands limber. Finally they became so swollen and sore that he had to quit. He retreated into his apartment in New York, and retreated into depression. He thought that his life was over. Probably out of that despair, he stopped taking his medicine. Then discovered that he was feeling more alert and sensitive to what was going on around him. He felt better. Then began a transformation in his life. First of all he came to terms with his condition. He said for the first time he ...

4116. Hosea's Marriage Troubles

Hosea 2:14-20

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... change God. You did that in nature religions by making sacrifices to God: meat sacrifices, cereal sacrifices, and at times, even human sacrifices. But God, as he revealed himself through the prophets, said, "I hate, I despise your feasts and your sacrifices." Just stop doing these dumb things and do what I commanded you, and see how things change in this world, see how things get better in this world. The prophetic message was blunt, pointed and unwavering. If you don't shape up, there will be consequences ...

4117. How about Something Different?

Luke 17:11-19

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... Judaism that you had to help your neighbor. A neighbor was defined as a fellow Jew. You had to help them. The likely people, the religious, don't do it. Another man comes by, a Samaritan, who has no obligation at all. In fact, he is the enemy. But he stops. The one who is least likely is the one who provides the example. The same thing is happening here. He who is least likely is the model for us. Luke is saying to the Church of his day, if a Samaritan, whom you consider to be benighted, knows what to ...

4118. How's the Old Complaint?

Deuteronomy 26:1-11

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... have an old complaint. He calls it "the thorn in the flesh." Nobody knows what it was, but there was speculation. Except it had to be a physical ailment, it was chronic, and it knocked him out for a season. We know that from time to time he had to stop what he was doing to recuperate. So how's the old complaint? He mentions it only once, and that is when he is telling the Corinthians that he has the credentials to be an apostle. You see, that is another thing that he has a right to complain about. His ...

4119. Let Us Pray

James 5:13-20

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... for rain, as our example. Elijah was just like us. Elijah was just an ordinary man. Elijah the prophet, going against Jezebel and the priests of Baal. Baal is a nature god, so worshiping Baal was supposed to bring a salutary effect to farming, bring rain when we want rain, stop the rain when we don't want the rain. What's the point of worshiping a nature god if you can't get rain out of it. Elijah, to confound the priests of Baal, prayed that there would be a drought. There was a drought. Later he prayed to ...

4120. Moving on Up

Luke 14:1, 7-14

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... thinking about was helping people in need. So the clues are there, and they are consistent. The counsel that you should humble yourself occurs ten times in the Gospel, as much as loving your neighbor. If you want to insure your salvation, then stop thinking about your salvation, and start thinking about somebody else. But the most inescapable evidence there is, is the pattern of Jesus’ life itself. Which is the point of the Philippians letter read to us as the epistle lesson for this morning. Evidently ...

4121. On the Beach

John 21:15-25, John 21:1-14

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... , the sight of a charcoal fire would bring back that dreadful memory. Jesus is standing on the shore beside a charcoal fire. Peter, who impulsively jumped out of that boat when he saw that it was Jesus, and ran through the shallow water to the shore, must have stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Jesus standing beside a charcoal fire. Jesus said nothing to him. He took the fish and cooked them breakfast. Then he took the bread, broke it, and gave it to them. Now they know. They know for sure now. This is ...

4122. Plain Talk

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... are the poor in spirit." Luke says, "Blessed are the poor." Matthew says, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness." Luke says, "Blessed are those who are hungry now." There is a big difference. But there is more. Matthew lists the Beatitudes, then he stops, goes on to something else. Luke lists the four Beatitudes, then he continues with four "Woes," or curses. "Woe to you who are rich." "Woe to you who are full now." "Woe to you who laugh now." So I explained all this to Dan, the two ...

4123. Poor Mary

Luke 1:39-45

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... in and ask for food, or gas, or diapers, or something that we have to offer. I confess my reflex is judgmental, "Why are they in the state that they are in?" Then a quick prescription. I don't say this out loud, but I think it. "Get a job. Stop having kids. Get some discipline in your life." I can pick them out anywhere. I could draw you a picture. You could pick them out, too. Luke is telling us, and you may not like this, but Mary was one of them. If so, we have to come to terms ...

4124. Stay in the City

Luke 24:44-53

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... those who have insulted you, or abused you, or in some way have brought harm to you. As a matter of fact, Mayor Guiliani, in New York, has initiated a campaign to bring civility in New York City. Which is kind of like getting lions to stop eating meat. But he succeeded, evidently, to a certain degree. He says that the diminishment of street crime in New York is due to the reinstitution of civility in the city. We could start there, at least, with civility. It is no small matter. Civility will transform ...

4125. The Day Life Increased

Matthew 28:1-10

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... parents because if I was unlovable, then I could do what I wanted and it wouldn't matter. But as long as I knew I was loved, I wasn't free to do my thing. So I needed to destroy their love in order to be free. But they never stopped loving me. Even when I got arrested, and they refused to bail me out of jail, I could see the pain of love in their eyes. Now I realize how much I needed their love, and that it was their love and prayers that kept me alive all those years ...

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