Sermon and Worship Resources

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Sermon Aid

John M. Braaten

... capable of supporting great buildings. Real love is like that. It creates a foundation of security. It becomes a firm ground upon which you can walk confidently all your days. What is the love in which you are to be rooted and grounded? It is the same kind of love God illustrated for us in the life of Jesus. That is why Paul so desires that we get to know the love of Christ. However, we can't read books on it because it surpasses knowledge; it has to be experienced. There are characteristics of Christ ...

402. God's Favorite People

Acts 10:34

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

... loves Americans, Russians, Japanese, Spanish, and many other people. God loves Christians and Jews and Hindus and Moslems and people of many faiths. God loves blacks and whites and yellows and reds and browns. God loves people of every kind and not just one kind. God has many favorites and not just one kind of person. Sometimes we think that God loves only Americans, becasue we see how good God has been to America. But that is the way the Germans feel also, that God loves only them. Sometimes, we think that ...

403. What's In The Final Exam?

Matthew 25:31-46

Sermon

George Johnson

... justice, to enter the narrow gate, to love their neighbor and build their house on the rock. Now he reminds them, warns them in a kind of summary way, what all this means. Matthew is saying, let's look at the end in order to give meaning to the present. ... s going to be on the final exam so they can know what is really important to remember along the way. Matthew is telling us what kind of testing or evaluation will be in the finals. I'd like to share four lessons I have learned from my reading and re-reading ...

404. Dim Visions And Blind Guides

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... be as a parent in my dreams. I'd be slim, popular, handsome, and very caring and understanding. I'd be up on their music, and kind and tolerant when they brought home poor grades. I'd spend hours communicating with my boys. We'd go down the road, arm-in-arm like ... get to live the life of our dreams. A lot of things happen to us that are not good. We are indeed forced to live another kind of life at times. Paul is saying that if a person will consider all the experiences of his or her life, both the good and ...

405. What Happens When We Can't Believe It?

John 20:24-31

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... Thomas' doubts. However, we do not have Thomas' "guts." We do not usually bring our doubts and questions directly to God and our fellow Christians like Thomas did (John 20:25). (Thomas, you see, was very much the disciple with a questioning faith; he was the kind of believer whose faith was enriched by asking questions. We know that from other stories in John's gospel [14:5]. Thomas had a lively, questing faith [John 11:16].) No, we are more subtly dishonest in hiding the weaknesses in our faith. We tend to ...

406. Checking The Vital Signs

Luke 24:36-49

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

... killed again and we have need of yet another Easter and another resurrection. Congregations can be mean. Christians can be mean. The way we present the good news can be all law and terribly demanding. If someone is checking the vital signs of the risen Christ and sees this kind of attitude, that person will be sure he is dead and never came out of that grave. Love is a beautiful thing. The God of Easter is a God of love and he wants one of the signs of the congregation to be an accepting and beautiful love ...

407. Lord, That I Should Receive My Sight

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

Brett Blair

... is it that we say when we comprehend something? We say: Oh, I see. This was the sight that Bartimaeus had. He physically lacked sight, but he still saw further than most. II The first blindness then is represented by Bartimaeus. It was a literal blindness. The second kind of blindness in the story relates to the men who followed Jesus--the disciples. When Jesus began his way into Jerusalem, he told the twelve of the dreadful things that would soon befall all of them. It was not the only time he spoke of the ...

408. Saved By Water: The Well

John 4:1-26

Sermon

Steve Swanson

... seeing and drinking the waters of life. It is usually some pet or favorite sin. Jesus had a way of getting right at that kind of problem. To strike up a conversation with Jesus, as the Samaritan woman did at the well, was to take a risk. Jesus never ... get her to drink it, he had to get to the problem, to get her over that last desert sand dune. Jesus often used this kind of Law-Gospel approach. Today we might call it the "bad news-good news" approach, reminiscent of those jokes we hear from time to time. ...

409. Here Comes the Judge!

Matthew 25:31-46

Sermon

Johnny Dean

... have genuine concern for those who are hurting, especially when a member of my family is the one who’s hurting. And I care about folks who have suffered an injustice - maybe not enough to publicly protest and risk going to jail for it, but I care. You see the kind of trouble I’m going to cause on the day of Judgment? I’m a geep, a half-breed, part sinner and part saint, a jigsaw puzzle of odd-shaped pieces, some centered and others receptive and generous. And I have a feeling I’m not alone in that ...

410. Dancing with the Wind

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

Johnny Dean

... . I prayed for her salvation. I prayed that her life would be changed, and that God would be good to her. And when I finished, Harry leaned over, and with a trace of hostility in his voice, he said, ‘Hey, you never told me you were a preacher! What kind of preacher are you anyway? What church do you belong to?’ In one of those moments when just the right words come, I answered him quietly, ‘I belong to a church that throws birthday parties for prostitutes at 3:30 in the morning.’ Harry thought for a ...

411. Loving

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Larry Powell

... ancient churchman, so loved Christ that he sang hymns as the flames engulfed his body. The meaning of a gift is not determined by its substance, but by its motivation. It does not count the gain, nor even consider the cost. It just loves. Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful. (verse 4) Impatience is a polite form of arrogance. At its tactful best, it is but the ego-centered expression that "I don't have time for this," or "I will not spend my time in this manner." If impatience toward ...

412. Encounters With Christ II: Jesus and Mary and Martha

Luke 10:38-42

Sermon

James W. Moore

... people are. If we know what makes us tick… and what makes other people tick… we get along better. If we understand where we are coming from… and where other people are coming from, we relate better. There is more compassion, more empathy and more kindness. That’s why in recent years we have heard so much about personality tests. Employers, counselors and job-placement agencies are using them effectively. You may have heard of the Birkman Personality Profile. I want to use it this morning as a way to ...

413. Remember That You Are Not Alone

John 3:1-21

Sermon

Robert V. Dodd

... only recourse is to throw ourselves upon the mercy of God and ask Jesus Christ to do in our lives what we could never do under our own power. If we confess our sins, he is just, and may be trusted to forgive our sins and cleanse us from every kind of wrong. [1 John 1:9 NEB] Only Jesus can successfully live the Christian life in this world. Only he can have that perfect trust in the heavenly Father which brings the assurance of salvation both here and hereafter. And the very most that any of us can do in ...

414. What Jesus Saw In Martha

Luke 10:38-42

Sermon

James W. Moore

415. Religion - One Way to Get in God’s Way

Zechariah 7:1-14

Sermon

... of Abraham Lincoln nor of the United States gave the black man a gift, as though he had no claim on freedom or liberty. He was but receiving that which was already his and had always been his but which had wrongfully been taken away from him. To show kindness is to serve the neighbor in such a way that it is beneficial for him. Such is the breadth of our action and doing that it is utterly inclusive and non-restrictive, not only the brother or the sister with whom we have a close family relationship, but ...

416. Easter 5

Jn 13:31-35 · Acts 13:44-52; 14:8-18; 21-27 · Rev 21:1-5

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... Why would he do that? "Love God with all your heart ..." and "Love your neighbor ..." are as old as the hills. What is new about Jesus' command is "as I have loved you." And how did he love - love that was expressed in dying for us sinners. We have many kinds of love but the new love is self-sacrificing. Lesson 1: Acts 14:8-18 1. Likeness (v. 11). The people of Lystra thought the gods came down in the likeness of men, Paul and Barnabas. They saw the miracle of making a cripple from birth to stand and walk ...

417. Epiphany 4

Micah 6:1-8, 1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5, Matthew 5:1-12, Psalm 1:1-6

Sermon Aid

... A Sermon on the First Lesson, Micah 6:1-8 - "Priorities for Godly Living." Verse 8 of this text is so familiar to people. He (God) has showed you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? So the obvious sermon - even expected message - is textual in its shape and form as it deals with this particular verse. 1. Priority number one: not just the love of justice, but the active pursuit of justice for all people who are ...

418. A Person Approved by Christ

John 1:43-51

Sermon

George Bass

... ... We’ll have to let you know." Then they let him or her in. When the recruiting was done, Alsing said, "It was kind of like recruiting for a suicide mission. You’re gonna die, but you’re gonna die in glory." Jesus might have said that when ... you, but your son may die if we don’t get him to the clinic right away." Pascual replied, "His life is in God’s hands" - a kind of, "we are sure that he will preserve his life" - and he refused to let the doctor take him away; he had to be treated there ...

419. The Spiritual Fitness Demands of the New Age

Romans 7:7-25

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

... turned backward. Students seeking to lead a decent life are afraid to admit it. They intentionally put up a bad front. It is a new kind of hypocrisy, trying to look worse than you are. In a college town where I was a pastor, a young man was so fed up ... . If those I admire most would be happy about this, the answer is "Yes!" 6. What will it do to my after self? Is this the kind of person I want to become? Maybe it makes little difference now, but if I continued this as a practice, what would I be like twenty ...

420. A Daughter of Jacob

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

Richard Hoefler

... father and beg him not to let the doctor hurt him. But if the arm is to be straightened the father must let his son undergo the painful process of setting the bone. Otherwise the son would face life with a crippled arm. Sometimes there is no kind answer, no kind and gentle way of dealing adequately with the need. So Jesus met this woman at the level of her needs and was willing to apply the treatment necessary. From our point of view it may seem unnecessarily rough, but the final results prove the wisdom of ...

421. A Thinking Person’s Thankful Prayer

Philippians 1:1-11

Sermon

Raymond Gibson

... seige. Rinkart was burying people at the rate of fifty per day. His wife also died. It was in the midst of that horror and death that this Christian pastor wrote a hymn of thanks for use by his people. It is obvious from his thoughts of thanksgiving what kind of man he was. Paul’s thoughts in his prayer of thanksgiving for the Philippians tell us a great deal about him as well. The first thing he says in his prayer is that he hopes the Philippian Christians will grow in love. "My prayer for you is that ...

422. What It Takes to Stay Christian

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

Sermon

Raymond Gibson

... our Lord Jesus Christ." What role does hope play in the maintenance of the Christian life? Hope is such an ephemeral virtue, a synonym for mindless optimism in the minds of many people in these last years of the twentieth century. Most people have some kind of faith; that is, they believe in something or someone. Even today, a majority of Americans have faith that our nuclear stockpile is equal to that of the Russians; but few people in America or Soviet Russia have any hope of survival if the red buttons ...

423. A LITURGICAL DRAMA FOR PENTECOST

Drama

Tom Eberle

... or whatever you are - do something! Get us out of this plane. H.S.: Why do you want out? Voice 4: Why do we want out! What kind of a nut are you? We aren’t going anywhere. Our flight was cancelled in mid-air. H.S.: You were going somewhere before it was ... S.: I’m still here. I was just listening. Voice 3: Listening to what? H.S.: Listening to the three of you going nowhere. Voice 4: What kind of a game is this? Can’t a person be left alone to enjoy a vacation? I have ten days to myself in Bermuda and I ...

424. Mighty Faith

Matthew 17:14-23

Sermon

Herchel H. Sheets

... of his life for more than thirty years had been bounded by the will of the prince, and he never went beyond that limit. Everything not connected with the execution of the prince’s orders did not interest and did not even exist for Alpatych."7 This describes the kind of obedience to which Christ calls us. It is the obedience of action, and it is based on faith. With a free person, only a basic trust in the wisdom and goodness and power of God can lead him or her voluntarily to let the interests of his or ...

425. Name Above Every Name

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

Leonard Mann

... time and land surnames were not used as we use them now. A man was simply known by his given name and further identified by the town he lived in. Thus we have Jesus of Nazareth. The word "Christ" is not actually a part of his name; it is a kind of title, meaning "anointed" or "chosen" one. It is the Greek word Christos. This was not a part of his given name, but was given to him in common usage later, with the growing awareness that he was someone very special. So we put together his given name, the name ...

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