Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 401 to 425 of 1230 results

Jn 14:23-29 · Acts 14:8-18; 15:1-2, 22-29 · Rev 21:10, 22-27

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... Ascension Day to celebrate this major festival, there is no problem in the use of the lectionary for Easter 6 and 7. A number of options face each pastor at this Ascension time. 1. Observe the "Ascension of our Lord" on Thursday. This is the ideal, but few churches have this service because, they claim, people will not attend on a weekday in sufficient numbers to justify the service. 2. Observe Easter 6 and 7 and ignore the Ascension festival. To do this means we deny our people the privilege of celebrating ...

402. Ordinary 32

Lk 20:27-38 · Zech 7:1-10 · 2 Thess 2:13--3:5 · 1 Chron 29:10-13

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... a two-way deal among Christians. As one prays for another, the other reciprocates in prayer. We need to pray for each other, for we all are in need of prayer, In this text Paul prays for his people and he asks them to pray for him. Here is an ideal situation between a pastor and his people. it would also work in the family and on the job. Outline: Pray for each other. A. Like Paul pray for others - vv. 16, 17, 5. Comfort, hope, and love. B. Like Paul ask for prayer - v. 1. Speed and triumph of the ...

403. Proper 28

Lk 21:5-19 · 2 Thes 3:6-13 · Mal 3:19-20, 4:1-6

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... needs. In our day, however, there are people who would rather live on public welfare than work. In this case, we can hear Paul say: no work, no eat! 3. Example (v. 9). A leader should never ask followers to do what the leader will not do. Paul was an ideal leader. What he asked of others, he himself did. Boldly he says that they should imitate his example. When it comes to work, he earned his own living to avoid being a burden to the church. His people are asked to do the same. A pastor is an example for ...

404. Christ the King

Lk 23:35-43 · Jn 12:9-19 · Col 1:11-20 · Jer 23:2-6 · 2 Sam 5:1-5

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY 2 Samuel 5:1-5 David is crowned king of Israel at Hebron at age thirty. Among the Hebrews David was always regarded as the ideal king. The promised Messiah was to be a son of David and be a king like David. In the Old Testament the king was an expression of Yahweh's kingship. Christians see David as a type of Christ the King. Like David Jesus was our "bone and flesh" through the ...

405. Epiphany 4

Lk 4:21-30 · 1 Cor 13:1-13 · Jer 1:4-10

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... part of God, for God is love. It is agape love. People need to experience this love and to share this love with others. Consequently, love is life's top value. Outline: Love is life's top value, because - A. Love makes everything worthwhile - vv. 1-3 B. Love has ideal qualities - vv. 4-7 C. Love outlives all other values - vv. 8-13 2. Basic Factors of a Good Life. 13:13. Need: Every person wants a good life and to make the most of life; After all, life is temporal. So while we live, we want to live it ...

406. Epiphany 7

Lk 6:27-38 · 1 Cor 15:45-49 · 1 Sam 26:1-25 · Gen 45:3-11, 15

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... 45:3-11, 15; Luke 6:27-38 An Old Testament Christian! Need: In this Gospel lesson we have some of Jesus' ethical teachings and in the first Lesson we have Joseph who practiced them! Is this a case of the cart before the horse? The two Lessons are ideally matched for they help us to see the truth as well as hear it. The sermon takes four of Jesus' teachings and shows how they are put into practice by Joseph. Outline: A person who practiced Jesus' teachings - A. "Love your enemies" - Luke 6:27, Genesis 45:5 B ...

407. Lent 2

Lk 9:18-36; 13:31-35 · Php 3:17--4:1 · Jer 26:8-15 · Gen 15:1-12, 17-18

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... faithful to the covenant - Gospel Gospel: Luke 13:31-35 1. Why Don't We Have Opposition? A. Is there no existence of a "Herod" in our society? Are there no anti-Christian ideas or practices in our midst, in church, in community? Are we living in an ideal society, a utopia? B. Is there no opposition because of our tolerance of evil? C. Is there no opposition because we compromise with evil? D. Is there no opposition because we don't take a stand for Christian principles? Afraid to speak the truth or to show ...

408. PROPER 8

Genesis 32:22-32

Bulletin Aid

... all we may turn our backs on the sins of our past, and move forward in faith, assured of a new beginning with Jesus our Savior, in whose name we pray. Amen. Prayer of Confession We often have high hopes, Lord, but then our past creeps up, and our high ideals for tomorrow are crushed by the memory of sins in the past. We constantly struggle with who we have been and who we want to become. Forgive us for the power we grant to our past, instead of trusting in the power of your redeeming love. Turn us around to ...

409. No Telltale Clues

Matthew 9:9-13

Sermon

... . It is this the evangelist wants us to see. The text startles us once again when we realize that Matthew was not what could be called a model recipient of Jesus' invitation. The man to whom Jesus gave his authoritative command was not exactly an ideal applicant. Matthew was one of the publicans and sinners that the text talks about. He was the sort of person that neither Jesus nor any good person should have anything to do with. One need not be overly pious to understand why. According to some accounts ...

410. The Love God Wants

Matthew 22:34-40

Sermon

... and humanistic thought. The love God wants includes both. Finally, the two great Commandments as Jesus identifies them present us with an impossible possibility. That is, the kind of love they command is at once our practical duty and responsibility and an ideal beyond our reach. To love God completely and to love one’s neighbor as oneself is a mission impossible. The moment we become self-conscious of our love, either for God or neighbor, we lose that essential sponteneity and selflessness required of ...

411. The Exercise of Faith

Illustration

... they will no longer make music for you. Use the faith you've got, and it will grow stronger; fail to use it, and it will weaken and perish. Exercise your faith! There are many ways of doing this: helping others, loving them; forgiving others, living nobly; firmly holding high ideals and going straight. But your faith is best exercised when you ask it to do the thing it alone has the power to do, when you ask it to lift up your soul for the touch of God. This you do when you truly worship him.

412. The Necessity Of Forgiveness

Luke 7:36-50

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... done to us but in the wrong we can do to ourselves if we let ourselves become inwardly hardened. Can you imagine having to work in a job which stirs up a vindictive response in you? Who has the reward? You or your enemy? How impossible Jesus' ideal seems at first - "love your enemies and pray for them that persecute you." But it is not impossible. In fact, on second glance it seems to be the most practical and rational rule for daily living that could be laid down. The only rewards in life come through ...

413. The Housing Problem

Luke 11:14-28

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... ! You'll be good again when you get a career! You'll straighten up then. I doubt it. You see, a house doesn't remain empty. Your life and your values don't stay neutral. Locate yourself away from sacred music. Locate yourself away from the ideals and ideas in the Christian heritage. Get away from prayer and the symbols of the cross and the resurrection. Locate yourself away from people who at their best are trying to transform their lives and build their characters. Where is your life going to live? You ...

414. Coping With Anger In A Close-up World

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... being "pleasure" centered to being "other" centered. If we do not make that critical shift, we will not only be unChristian, we will also be miserable and sick. All of us are born as babies. All our needs are satisfied. Nothing is required of us in return. An ideal world is necessary for our survival. The infant's every need is satisfied. He screams and Mother feeds him. If his bladder is full he lets go into the diaper. Everything revolves around the infant; he or she is the center of the world. One of the ...

415. Advent 2

Isaiah 11:1-16, Psalm 72:1-20, Romans 14:1--15:13, Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon Aid

... peace in the name of him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. THE READINGS Isaiah 11:1-10 This has been called one of the great messianic prophecies attributed to Isaiah. He paints a picture of the ideal ruler from the line of kings begun by David, noting that he is to be blessed with "the Spirit of the Lord" and other special gifts from God. Isaiah lists these in three pairs, which describe his intellectual gifts, his practical wisdom, and his spiritual relationship ...

416. Second Sunday in Advent

Isaiah 11:1-16

Bulletin Aid

Theme: The qualities and consequences of the One who comes Exegetical Note This description of the ideal Davidic king (i.e., the hoped-for Messiah) contains three pairs of desired qualities: wisdom and understanding (intellectual), counsel and might (political), and knowledge and fear of God (spiritual). All of these derive, not from the ruler's innate abilities, but from the Spirit of God that will be upon ...

417. Easter 4

Acts 2:42-47

Bulletin Aid

... a godly family and a fellowship of prayer. In the name of our brother Christ Jesus we pray. Amen Prayer of Confession God of healing love, we confess with shame how little we as your people reflect the kind of spiritual community portrayed in scripture as the ideal for the Church, and how broken we leave the body of the Christ as a result of our selfishness and pettiness. Forgive us, we pray, and fill us with your Spirit of love and harmony. Teach us to look beyond our narrow self-interests and toward the ...

418. Proper 22

Mt 21:33-46 · Php 3:4b-14 · Ex 20:1-20

Bulletin Aid

... (based on Psalm 81) Leader: May God lift our burdens! People: MAY GOD LIGHTEN OUR LOADS! Leader: May God answer us in the thunder! People: MAY GOD TEST US AND FIND US WORTHY! Collect Most holy God, you have set before us in scripture the ideal of perfection. Propel us now toward that goal: that, whatever righteousness we are unable to achieve on our own, you will supplement with the action of your sustaining Spirit. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen Prayer of Confession Forgiving God, it is unfortunately ...

419. True And False Prophecy

Mark 14:27-31

Drama

... , entering from the sacristy or the front, will be at a podium or pulpit in the chancel throughout the drama. Everything about his posture and voice should suggest authority edged with arrogance and pomposity. He will be dressed in elaborate vestments or robes, ideally with a Velcro fastening which will make a noticeable tearing sound at the end of the play. Peter will enter from the rear of the nave, and will stay outside the chance! throughout the play. He will be dressed in working clothes, perhaps ...

420. Christ Our High Priest

John 18:28-40, Isaiah 52:13--53:12

Sermon

... this perspective, we note that it has a strange power over us. It captures our imaginations and hearts, prompting changes within us. We are moved by this "old rugged cross," so moved, in fact, that we resolve to live better lives, to follow the perfect example of the Ideal Man, Jesus Christ. No longer are we afraid of God and God’s justice, for the Cross shows us that God loves us, that God would even go so far as to sacrifice his own Son for us. What a powerful demonstration of God’s love! Our hearts ...

421. A Zealot’s Greatest Battle

Drama

... the grave? (He: smears his hand in the blood from the cross) See that, Simon? It’s blood ... Jesus’ blood! The only one who will ever benefit from that blood is me! Someday you will come to the realization that he is dead, and the beautiful, but impossible, ideals he fostered died on the cross with him. (He begins to leave) Someday you will wise up and realize that what I say is true. When you do, look me up. I can always use another good man with the sica! Simon (Watching him leave ... notices that he ...

422. Loyalty: Imperative Ingredient

Ruth 1:1-22

Sermon

... . Our faithfulness, translated into loyalty for a cause centuries old, is to be given top priority. Christian unity must not be betrayed. Life is too complicated and precarious for his followers to go their own ways, frustrating the highest and best in ideals known to humankind. We can hear his voice saying, "Pull together, my friends, pull together." I invite you to ponder the story from Ruth and note some highly significant reflections which come from an adherence to loyalty. Universality is present and ...

423. Acceptance: The Keynote

Ruth 2:1-23

Sermon

... , to see who or what is the biggest. Satan tempts us, like the sons of Zebedee and their mother in Matthew 20:20-24 and Mark 10:35-41, we succumb, and perpetuate an unholy syndrome which continually saps our spiritual strength. Work is done, ideally, because it is worth doing. To work for Christian unity is worth doing! I sometimes think of this task in the context of a marriage ritual. Ecumenists, professional or otherwise, have entered into a covenant and the heavens shout "and if steadfastly you endeavor ...

424. Respect: Lesson for Victorious Living

Ruth 4:1-12

Sermon

... even though they differ in some details. The two Gospels are quite different in themselves, one would assume, primarily because of the personalities and aims of the authors. Respect for life, while it has many connotations in today’s world, shows us the abiding ideal, for those of us professing Christ’s name, that all of life is sacred, with the infant Jesus and Mary providing a special context for us to ponder. The Lukan account communicates well: "But Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her ...

425. Sovereignty: God’s Domain

Zephaniah 1:4-13

Sermon

... honest to have said, "Rotary, Kiwanis, and Lions clubs are our models; the Lord of the Church can wait to tell us about the unity of his body." Now we are experiencing a break with the overpowering influence of secular success. Just because we are motivated by the ideal which Christian unity places before us does not mean we are free from becoming apostate. There are gods all about us that vie for our allegiance. In the Gospel of John, the Lord says, "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me ...

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