Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 4126 to 4150 of 4490 results

4126. Our Scheduled Appointments with God

Hebrews 10:19-39

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

That epic movie "Titanic" is breaking attendance records at the theaters, proving yet again that the awful tragedy of 1912 continues to fascinate people. 1645 passengers died that night in the frigid waters of the North Atlantic. Over 600 were saved. As the movie demonstrates, most of the survivors were people who stayed close together and encouraged one another. That same principle applies in our faith journey. The evil one (Satan, the devil) is angered by every profession of faith in Christ. Each person ...

4127. How to Handle Criticism

Matthew 11:1-19

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

It is impossible to go through life without being criticized. If you try to accomplish something, you will be criticized. If you are satisfied to loaf, you will be criticized for that. I heard about a department store that made a big fuss over its millionth customer. The store president made a speech in her honor. She was given gifts. Her picture was taken for the paper. After these ceremonies, the customer continued to her original destination – the complaint department. If anyone ever received lots of ...

4128. Victory

John 19:28-37

Sermon

Burton F. Blair

A jar full 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. When Jesus had received the wine, he said, "It is finished." John 19:29-30 By the third hour of the afternoon, Golgotha’s hill had become an eerie place. A thick darkness had fallen over the Hill of the Skull. The darkness had gathered over the hill around noon, but now, it was a little after three o’clock and the darkness was giving way to the returning of daylight. By now, it ...

4129. Reclaiming Our Covenant

Genesis 9:18-29

Sermon

Donald Macleod

How often in the secular, rough-and-tumble affairs of daily life we hear the quick suggestion, "Let’s make a deal!" What does all this mean? Simply this: two persons or parties agree mutually to put a proposal equally on the line and pledge themselves to abide by the result, come what may. But something is inevitably at stake here: an assumed honesty on the part of each person involved. "I’ve given my word," each says. Very well, but what guarantees it? Who knows whether one party may hoodwink the other? ...

4130. Servants Without Fiber

Isaiah 42:1-9

Sermon

Donald Macleod

A biblical scholar once remarked: "One of the most common expressions in the Old Testament of the relationship between humankind and God is contained in the words ‘serve,’ ‘service,’ and ‘servant.’ " What comes to your mind when you hear any one of these words? What do you think of when you hear the word "servant"? A flunky? A gofer? A Victorian called "Jeeves"? Someone with no mind of his or her own? A person who lacks fiber and is easily a patsy for someone else to use or "lord it over"? Unfortunately, ...

4131. One’s Proper Service

Isaiah 58:1-14

Illustration

Larry Powell

I read that a member of a United Methodist church in North Carolina was once convicted in court for disrupting church services because of his atrocious singing. It was in 1873 that William Linkhaw was hauled into county court in Lumberton, Robeson County, N.C., by fellow Methodists who charged that Linkhaw’s singing repeatedly created havoc during worship services. Not only was his voice offensive to the ear, but he was given to singing long after the rest of the congregation had stopped. Things had become ...

4132. Exercising Self-control

Illustration

Orien Johnson

When the Olympics were held in Mexico City, there was a young swimmer who had hopes of winning several gold medals. He failed to live up to his high expectations. So he went home and began a more intensive training program than he ever thought was possible. When the contests were held in Munich in 1972, the whole world was thrilled by the unbelievable series of record-breaking swimming events won by Mark Spitz, who went home with more gold medals than any individual had ever won in Olympic competition. It ...

4133. God’s Great Promise To Sarah!

Genesis 17:1-27

Sermon

Durwood L. Buchheim

Confession is good for one’s soul. You are about to hear a personal confession. My mother, who was a pioneer farmer’s wife, was treated as a second-class citizen. Oh, she had the right to vote and was secretary for our school district for most of my young, adult life and was in charge of family finances. She commanded respect from husband and children - yet in no way did she receive equal treatment. In my childhood on the farm, men had to do certain things, most women had to be able to do (and in many ...

4134. Obedience to God

Drama

Curt M. Joseph

Characters: Joseph of Arimathea - a pharisee and member of the Sanhedrin; calm, methodical, and a seeker of wisdom and truth. Nathanael an apostle of Jesus; warm, gentle, caring. Philip an apostle of Jesus; excitable, and not quite sure of himself. The play opens with only an empty bench in the middle of the stage. Joseph: (He comes on stage hurriedly. Looks around. When he can’t see anyone, he begins to speak out loud, as if to himself.) I can’t believe it. I’ve missed him again! (Looks around at the ...

4135. Shepherds and Bathrobes

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

Thomas Long

Sometimes the events described in the Bible bowl us over with their sheer size. The picture in Genesis of God commanding light and darkness to go their separate ways, summoning the seven seas like chargers, and, with a word, drawing up the massive continents from the primordial ooze of the formless earth. That’s scale! Or, hundreds of thundering Egyptian chariots dashing headlong after the fleeing Hebrew slaves. Suddenly the once dry gap in the sea is invaded by a violent wall of water, foam filling the ...

4136. What Do You See?

John 1:43-51

Sermon

Thomas Long

It was a rollicking night at the theater. A young actor named Tom Key was playing the part of Jesus in the play Cotton Patch Gospel and he was clearly bringing the house down. The play, a romping, bluegrass musical which depicts the ministry of Jesus as if it had occurred in the cotton fields and Baptist churches of rural south Georgia, was in its final performance run, and Key was feeling confident and even inventive with his lines. His spontaneous enthusiasm was contagious, and he had forged between ...

4137. The Discipline of Witnessing

Isaiah 43:1-13

Sermon

Today we talk about witnessing, or "TELLING OTHERS ABOUT JESUS CHRIST." This is even more difficult for most of us. For, quite frankly, we Presbyterians don’t like to think about witnessing. We leave it to the Mormons, or the Jehovah Witnesses, or some of the fringe groups; we much prefer to do things "decently and in order." Somehow witnessing sounds too fanatic! Someone has characterized us as being parallel to those men who belong to the military reserve. We go to drills once a week but we are not on ...

4138. The Racial Gap

Psalm 53:1-6

Sermon

William McKee Aber

We’ve been thinking, during this pre-Lenten season, of some of the gaps that exist between us - gaps of generations, or sex, between neighbors, and so on. It has been our contention that God has a word for the gaps, and in Jesus Christ has provided a means to bridge them - from the little ones to the big ones. Today - Race Relations Sunday - we stop to look at the racial gap, and as we do we find ourselves enmeshed in confusion! There once was a time when I knew what to say on Race Relations Sunday, when ...

4139. What’s Going On in Your Orchard?

John 15:1-17

Sermon

Charles L. Koester

She had been brutally murdered on a neighborhood bus. A young, teenaged girl. Cut down in the prime of life by a man suddenly gone berserk. The bus driver, struggling with her assailant, was himself injured. The morning after the tragedy, I was in a drugstore when this young lady’s father entered. I did not know him, but was told by the druggist, "That’s the girl’s father." I immediately assumed he was in the store having a prescription filled for a sedative of some sort. I could well imagine the effects ...

4140. Sharing with Our Brothers

2 Corinthians 8:1-15

Sermon

Ewart E. Turner

Paul wrote this appeal under great emotion. Word had come to him of the joyous sacrifices made by the impoverished churches of Macedonia when they learned that their beloved leader Paul was collecting money for the persecuted mother church in Jerusalem. With justifiable paternal pride, Paul overflows with joy at the free initiative of love exhibited by his "children" in the infant churches of Macedonia. A father and mother in an Ohio city recently told their pastor of a "first" in the life of their small ...

4141. The Forgotten

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

Theodore L. Yewey

Christmas is a very special time at our house. It is a time when we try to do many things together as a family. One of the traditional rituals we all share in is the decorating of the various rooms with things that have special sentimental significance for us all. Over the years we have accumulated a number of unique scenes of the Nativity. We generally try to have several of these displayed in various places to remind us not only of the beautiful story of the birth of Jesus, but also to call our attention ...

4142. The Testing Law Man

Sermon

Leonard H. Budd

I am not a Christian. This Jesus was properly crucified. It was the just conclusion to his questionable actions, his inciting to riot, his disloyal remarks. I realize that your bias is to see this Nazarene as a fine man, even the Christ, the Son of God. But you are misguided - and very likely, by your profession, you are undermining the whole fabric of our common life. First, my credentials: I am a graduate of one of the finest law schools in Jerusalem. My training - as with all lawyers of this age - is in ...

4143. Clean Light

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Sermon

William F. Dunkle

Puritans love this scripture seemingly above all other. Oh, probably not really, but it so often seems so when overly pious people start proof-texting against what most of us think are normal and general social practices. A most distinguished overseas divine was delivering the famous Cole Lectures at Vanderbilt University just as Nashville, Tennessee, happened to be stirred up over an approaching local option election to legalize the sale of alcoholic beverages. Some enthusiastic young church people asked ...

4144. The Cure for the Slump

Luke 24:36-49

Drama

Robert F. Crowley

Theme: If we could talk to Jesus, how would that change us? Summary: Dale is in a spiritual slump and James is trying his best to help him but can't seem to budge him. Playing Time: 3 minutes Setting: A neutral playing area Props: Handcuffs Costumes: Contemporary, casual Time: The present Cast: Dale -- in a slump James -- his friend Police Detective 1 Police Detective 2 JAMES: (ENTERS ALONG WITH DALE) D'you know what? DALE: What? JAMES: I didn't understand tonight's teaching. Did you? DALE: What? JAMES: ...

4145. Advent: Lament, Repent

Isaiah 63:7--64:12

Sermon

Richard L. Eslinger

Israel had much to lament. It was a season for lamentation. The results of God’s anger were everywhere. The destruction is easy to catalog: Holy cities, become a wasteland. Zion, become a wilderness. Jerusalem, a desolation. That "holy and beautiful house," The Temple, burned by fire. "And all our pleasant places have become ruins." Living in the midst of this wasteland called for an incredible patience before the Lord - waiting for deliverance, waiting for return, waiting for restoration. This patience ...

4146. Standing in Awe

Isaiah 6:1-13

Sermon

Roger Prescott

The really meaningful times in our lives come when we realize how very small - yet cared for and important - we are. As our narrative unfolds today and as his vision emerges for him, Isaiah, the aristrocrat - the prophet - cries out, "Woe is me!" He is stirred to the depths by the experience of the awesome, insurmountable distance between eternal God, the Creator, and the human being, a weak and vulnerable sinner. I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips ... for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of ...

4147. Going The Wrong Way On A One Way Street

Mark 2:23-3:6

Sermon

Ron Lavin

Have you ever made a wrong turn and found yourself going the wrong way on a one way street? I did that not long ago. It certainly was unnerving. One man, who made this mistake said, "I just figured I was late and everyone was coming home." God has a clear one way street for living the good life: "Believe in me and serve your neighbor." That’s what the sabbath day is about: rediscovering God and our neighbor. Anything short of that is as self-defeating as driving your car against traffic on a superhighway. ...

4148. The Healing Community

Mark 5:21-43

Sermon

Ron Lavin

Dr. Granger Westberg, the founder of Wholistic Medicine, Inc., Chicago, Illinois, asks this question when he talks to nurses, doctors, and pastors: "What is the healthiest hour of the week?" How would you answer that question? Dr. Westberg surprises many people by answering, "The hour of worship on Sunday morning." Why is that true? In order to answer that question we need to consider two other questions which Dr. Westberg often puts to his audiences: (1) What is the major factor in sickness? and (2) What ...

4149. The Acid Test of Wisdom

Proverbs 10:1-32

Sermon

Alton F. Wedel

"We hold these truths to be self-evident ..." but not as evident in fact as they are held in theory - "That all men are created equal ..." and while that word "men" is the inclusive language of the opening biblical salute of Genesis 1:27, some in reality are more equal than others ... "... that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights ..." - qualified in practice to mean that unless the wheel begins to squeak, the wheel will not be greased ... "... that among these are life, ...

4150. The Advent Hope

Romans 14:1--15:13

Sermon

T. A. Kantonen

A few years ago a United States submarine sank off the coast of New England. The rescue operation led to the discovery of the disabled vessel in the bottom of the ocean. When the divers approached the submarine, they heard a tapping sound from the inside. When they stopped to listen, they heard this message tapped in Morse code: "Is there hope?" That is the question still tapped from within the depths of the human heart. In the hour of tragedy and of impending death it is most poignant, but hope is never a ...

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