Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 4126 to 4150 of 4934 results

4126. This Is Athletics -- Check Your Christianity At The Door

Drama

Karren Boehr

Theme: Decisions For Christ Decisions for Christ are sincere at the moment, but too often actions befitting such a decision are much more difficult to achieve. Using the sports arena as a springboard, these dramas place the struggles of the Christian walk into a teenager's everyday setting where they can relate in a very real way. Scene I Setting: In the church parking lot after a youth meeting fall bonfire Characters:JOHN: Teenage boy, football player, Christian and member of the youth group, leader, ...

4127. Proper 20

1 Timothy 2:1-15, Jeremiah 8:4--9:26, Luke 16:1-15

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Old Testament: Jeremiah 8:18--9:1 Jeremiah mourns for the people. Jeremiah was frank in exposing the sins of Judah and forecasting the consequences of the people's sins. Vividly he told of coming destruction and desolation caused by their sins. In this passage Jeremiah identifies with the suffering of the people. As the weeping prophet, he weeps for the plight of his people. Epistle: 1 Timothy 2:1-7 Prayers for all people are acceptable to God who desires all to be saved. Paul urges Timothy to ...

4128. Bloody Doorposts

Exodus 12:1-30

Sermon

When I was about twelve years of age I attended a state Boy Scout jamboree. We camped out in the mountains for an extended weekend. We had to bring food with us to eat, but we were told our Saturday evening meal would be provided. But what we did not know was how it would be provided. About four o'clock in the afternoon we were summoned to the road head. There by the side of the road was a tractor-trailer loaded with live chickens! At our campsite we were divided into groups of three, and from that truck ...

4129. Epiphany 5

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5, Matthew 5:13-16, Matthew 5:17-20, Isaiah 58:1-14, 1 Corinthians 2:6-16

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

Theme: God's Illuminating Spirit COMMENTARY Lesson 1: Isaiah 58:1-9a (9b-12) (C); Isaiah 58:7-10 (RC); Isaiah 58:5-9a (L) This passage is a dialogue between the pommeled people of Israel and God. The prophet voices the complaints of the people, as well as the Lord's response. This profound passage is from the hand of trito-Isaiah in the sixth century B.C. and the issue is fasting. The people complain that their pious acts of fasting, a sign of sorrow and supplication, are unnoticed by God. God responds ...

4130. Maundy Thursday

Lk 22:14-30 · Jn 13:1-17, 31b-35 · 1 Cor 11:17-32 · Ex 12:1-14 · Ps 116

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

COMMENTARY Old Testament: Exodus 12:1-14 The passover marked the beginning of a new era for the Israelites. "This month shall be for you the beginning of months" (v. 2). The people are ordered to set aside a flawless lamb to be slaughtered, roasted and eaten on the 14th day of the month. Everyone was to be part of the feast. The meal was to be eaten in haste because God was on the move. The people are to be ready to leave as soon as the Lord breaks the bars of slavery. The blood is to be placed on their ...

4131. Seder Service: The Passover Haggadah

Bulletin Aid

Robert L. Linder and Rabbi Sol Ester

The Passover "A program of fellowship for adults and/or youth in Christian congregations desiring a better understanding of the heritage and the meaning of the institution of the Sacrament of Holy Communion." This work was inspired and initially written by Rev. Robert L. Linder while pastor of First English Lutheran Church in Toledo, Ohio. He was assisted by Jewish leaders of the community. It has since been revised by others, including Rabbi Sol Oster of Lima, Ohio. BLESSING OF THE FESTIVAL CANDLES Before ...

4132. I Want To Go South, Lord

Sermon

Jerry Eckert

August 8, 1982 Comment: One of the great figures of Genesis, Abraham,amazed me the first time I read the story of his argumentwith God over His plan to destroy Sodom. With that in mind,I got to wondering how Abraham might have handled hisanxiety over how his obedience to God was paying off. Ichose a time early in his career when that anxiety wouldhave been high. The first time I did this story sermon, a friend let meuse a classic old black telephone that dated from the early'40s. With it, I conducted a one ...

4133. Idols

Psalm 115:1-18

Children's Sermon

B. Kathleen Fannin

Object: A wooden cow in a cardboard box. Lesson: Idolatry; faith; trust. Text: "Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness.Why should the nations say, 'Where is their God?'Our God is in the heavens; he does whatever he pleases.Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands.They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see.They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell.They have hands, but do not feel; feet ...

4134. Nathan's Wise Parable

2 Samuel 11:1-27

Sermon

Sue Anne Steffey Morrow

Last week we left David handing a note to Uriah to take to Joab. "Good luck, old chum, back to the front, God bless and all the best, glad you could have a little rest. Oh, by the way, could you deliver this note to Joab, a request for your commander from your king?" It was Uriah's own death sentence: Send Uriah to the forefront of the battle and then draw back from him, so that he might die. Last week David left us wondering about his situation: to take Uriah's wife, Bath-Sheba, to discover that she is ...

4135. Elijah and the Widow of Zarapheth

1 Kings 17:7-24

Sermon

George Paul Mocko

Elijah and the widow of Zarepheth - with all of its wondrous, miraculous content, is still a warm and human story, filled with so many details reflecting everyday life in the eighth century B.C. Times were once better for this widow. Her house has an upper room, an indicator of some prosperity. But after her husband died, it must have been a few years ago, things went from bad to worse. One by one all the servants had to be let go, even the last one. Now she was out having to scrounge for her own fire wood ...

4136. The Parable Of The Talents

Matthew 25:14-30

Drama

Dallas A. Brauninger

Suggestions: Use as an anthem. Tell in storytelling fashion. Speakers: 1 older man as storyteller 1 middle-aged man 3 younger men Key: 1 = main storyteller 2, 3 and 4 = men given talents 5 = master 1: "For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; 2: to one he gave five talents, 3: to another two, 4: to another one, 1: to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 2: The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, ...

4137. Ascension Day

Luke 24:36-49

Sermon

Kendall McCabe

For forty days we have been celebrating the marvel and the mystery of the Easter event. Some of our number spent Lent as a time of special preparation for baptism and confirmation, while the rest of us prepared to remember our baptisms and renew our baptismal vows. We all participated in the death and resurrection of Christ through our baptism. Since then we have been exploring some of the meanings of that dying and rising for the Christian life. Now we are almost at the end of the Great Fifty Days. In a ...

4138. I Kid You Not

2 Kings 4:8-37

Sermon

"At this season, when the time comes round, you shall embrace a son." (v. 16) Prayer: Amid all the voices clamoring for our attention in this world, we thank you, O Lord, that your word is still truth. Amen. One of the hosts of television’s "Tonight Show," preceding Johnny Carson, was the articulate host, Jack Paar. Near the height of his career, Jack Paar wrote a book titled I Kid You Not. This was a phrase Jack Paar often used, to convince the audience that he wasn’t joking, but telling the truth. He ...

4139. Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

2 Kings 13:10-25

Sermon

"Then the man of God was angry with him." (v. 19) Prayer: O Lord, support us all the day long of this troubled life, until the shadows lengthen and the evening comes and the busy world is hushed, the fever of life is over, and our work is done. Then, Lord, in your mercy, grant us a safe lodging, and a holy rest, and peace at the last; through Jesus Christ our Lord.3 Old Robert was getting more frail the summer before he died. With his emphysema, he would be puffing and fighting for breath from exertion, ...

4140. A Place for You

John 14:1-4

Sermon

Dean Lueking

Let not your hearts be troubled; believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so would I have told you? And when I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. (John 14:1-3) When Have You Heard These Words Many of us have heard these words at another time and place. I have spoken them often to you in your living room, or when sitting at a kitchen table in your house on the occasion of the death of ...

4141. Some Crossroads of Family Life W. Dexter Moser

Genesis 25:19-34

Sermon

And Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife ... and the Lord granted his prayer. Genesis 25:2 The horn of the diesel train sounded in the distance, awakening me in the dawn of the morning. A horn blast sounded at every crossroad, louder and louder as the engine came near. Then it faded as it passed into the hills on the other side of the city. I then considered the many crossroads that I have had in my life and meditated on the meaning for that very day. Today across this great land of ours, and other lands ...

4142. Thanksgiving Day

Deuteronomy 8:1-20, Philippians 4:2-9, Philippians 4:10-20, 1 Timothy 2:1-15, Luke 17:11-19

Sermon Aid

THEOLOGICAL CLUE The liturgical clue comes from the secular calendar rather than the church year - with an assist from the liturgy itself, which celebrates the death and resurrection of our Lord as Eucharist, or thanksgiving. The occasion often falls between the last two Sundays of the Pentecost cycle/season, since it comes on the fourth Thursday of November annually. The Eucharist celebrates the gift of redemption and eternal life through Jesus Christ; thanksgiving celebrates God's gifts in the goodness ...

4143. Another in the continuing adventures of AMAZING GRACE

Drama

Narrator: Today we find Grace, still captive in the castle of the Evil Prince, forced by a magic spell to do his bidding. He is now moving her from the laundry room dungeon in the subbasement to one of his more horrible torture devices - the kitchen sink. [Enter Grace and the Evil Prince] Evil Prince: Come on, Gracie Baby, move along. I’ve got a special treat in store for you today! Grace: [Being led in chains] When are you going to give up. You can’t break me, and you know it! E.P.: Now, Gracie, don’t be ...

4144. The Touch of the Master's Hand

Luke 5:12-16

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

Although we have heard it many times, the poem about the old violin never fails to touch my heart. Myra Brooks Welch penned this masterpiece entitled, "The Touch of the Master’s Hand." "Twas battered and scarred, and the auctioneer thought it scarcely worth his while to waste much time on the old violin, but held it up with a smile. ‘What am I bidden, good folks,’ he cried. ‘Who’ll start the bidding for me? A dollar, a dollar’; then, ‘two! Only two? Two dollars, and who’ll make it three? Three dollars, ...

4145. Shipwrecked on Malta

Acts 27:1-12, Acts 27:13-26, Acts 27:27-44

Sermon Aid

CSS

Festus was a good administrator. Once the decision had been made to send Paul to Rome, he acted quickly. Yet it was a peculiar transferral. Agrippa and Festus are reported to have concluded that Paul had done nothing that was likely to undermine the security of the Roman Empire or otherwise be of interest to the high courts at Rome. They must have attached some bill of complaint to the military orders under which Paul was transported, but its contents are not known. The official charges against Paul never ...

4146. Forever His

Romans 14:1--15:13

Sermon

Raymond Gibson

Do you remember the first time you fell in love? I do, and it was a wonderful experience, both exhilarating and painful. I was fourteen years old and a high school freshman when it happened. The young lady’s name was Joyce. She had long brown hair and dark brown eyes, and I was quite certain she was one of God’s own angels. I fell in love with Joyce the first time she let me carry her books home from school. I bought her a Pepsi Cola that day, and when she accepted it, I felt like a knight of the Round ...

4147. The Little Miracle Before The Big One

Luke 22:47-53

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

If you were a Miracle-Worker, and you had one final miracle to perform before dying, what would you choose as a big, never-to-be-forgotten climax? Suppose you had already done such things as calm a storm at sea, multiply five loaves and two fishes into enough food to feed 5,000 people, walked on water, opened blind eyes, caused the dumb to speak, the lame to walk, and the deaf to hear, turned water into wine, and even raised the dead - now you are about to do one more miracle before you die - what would it ...

4148. The Cross In My Pocket

Isaiah 52:13--53:12, Luke 9:18-27

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

Emergencies sometimes come in the middle of the night but this one came at noon. A frantic call came to the church from a young wife and mother. She and her attorney-husband were leaders in our church. Their little daughter was about four years old. Two days earlier he had been on the golf course, feeling fine. But now he was in the hospital ICU fighting for his life. A mysterious infection was sweeping through his body. He seemed to have no defenses against this particular virus. Within 24 hours he was ...

4149. The Forbidden Anger

Matthew 5:21-26

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

It was my most embarrassing moment in the sixth grade. At recess my friend Johnny had done something I did not like. After returning to class I decided to send a message to him. As Mrs. Ferguson wrote on the blackboard I scribbled a message on a piece of paper, folded it into a type of glider that would sail, then tossed it in the direction of Johnny. That aerial production must have been flawed. It made a left turn and headed toward the teacher's desk just as she turned away from the blackboard. Then with ...

4150. When Things Don’t Work Out, What Then?

2 Samuel 12:1-31

Sermon

Edward Chinn

When things don’t work out, what then? An old man looked back over his life and said, "I have had a great many disappointments, but the greatest of them is the disappointment I had as a boy. When I was a boy, I crawled under a tent to see a circus and discovered that I was in a revival meeting!" There are many instances in our life of this matter of disappointment. A bride and groom walk out of a church after a beautiful wedding ceremony with great dreams and high hopes of their future life together, but ...

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