Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 4226 to 4250 of 4511 results

Sermon

David & Marian Plant

If we take away nothing new from the Passion story this year let us take away this: through it we can learn to walk in the dark and remember that the dark is as day to God. Barbara Brown Taylor titled her 2014 book Learning to Walk in the Dark..In the introduction she pointed out, “From earliest times, Christians have used ‘darkness’ as a synonym for sin, ignorance, spiritual blindness, and death...

4227. Passion Palm Sunday (Lent 6)

Bulletin Aid

Amy C. Schifrin

Prayer For Procession With Palms Precedes the reading of the processional gospel: Matthew 21:1-11 Leader: All glory, laud, and honor belong to you, gracious King. As we lift our voices before you, may your love transform us, your Spirit renew us, and your mercy open our hearts, that your song of praise would know no end. All: Amen. Reading Of The Passion (Congregation sings verse 1 of “Glory Be T...

4228. Passion Sunday

Bulletin Aid

Liturgical Color: Purple/Red Gospel: Matthew 26:14--27:66 or Matthew 27:11-54 Theme: The passion of Jesus, with particular emphasis on prayer. Pastoral Invitation to the Celebration One pastor did this: After welcoming the people to worship, she described the meaning of the passion as the last earthly events in the life of Jesus. Perhaps you will want to give a brief summary of those events wit...

4229. Palm Sunday

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Old Testament: Isaiah 50:4-7 Yahweh's servant faces suffering confident of his help. This pericope constitutes the third of the four servant songs in Isaiah. Yahweh's servant hears his voice and is therefore fortified with determination to suffer mental agony in terms of ridicule, false accusations, humiliation, and shame. He suffers confidently because Yahweh will vindicate, help, and...

4230. Prophecies Concerning the Passion

Illustration

Old Testament prophecies concerning Jesus and the events of Holy Week: Betrayed by a friend - Ps 41:9 Sold for 30 pieces of silver - Zech 11:12 False witnesses accusing Him - Ps 27:12 Silent when accused - Isaiah 53:7 Struck and spit on - Isaiah 50:6 Suffered in our place - Isaiah 53:4-5 Hands and feet pierced - Ps 22:16 Mocked and insulted - Ps 22:16-18 Prayed for His enemies - Ps 109:4 His side...

4231. Passion Sunday

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

THIS WEEK'S TEXT Revised Common: Isaiah 50:4-9a · Philippians 2:5-11 · Matthew 26:14--27:66 or Matthew 27:11-54 Roman Catholic: Isaiah 50:4-7 · Philippians 2:6-11 · Matthew 26:14--27:66 Episcopal: Isaiah 45:21-25 or Philippians 2:5-11 · Matthew (26:36-75) 27:1-54 (55-66) · Isaiah 52:13--53:12 Lutheran: Isaiah 50:4-9a · Philippians 2:5-11 · Matthew 26:1--27:66 or Matthew 27:11-54 Theme For Lenten...

4232. Lent 6

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

First Lesson: Isaiah 50:4-9a Theme: The prophet's perilous profession Exegetical Note This so-called Third Servant Song of Second Isaiah expresses the author's constant confidence in God despite the anger and abuse that he has had to endure, ostensibly at the hands of his fellow exiled Israelites, to whom his message of faith and hope sounds ridiculous. Yet, the Servant expresses both his determ...

4233. Palm/Passion Sunday

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

OLD TESTAMENT TEXTS The Old Testament texts are very appropriate for Passion Sunday. Isaiah 50:4-9a explores the call of the suffering servant, while Psalm 31:9-16 is a lament from the perspective of one who is suffering. As we will see, both of these texts share a similar three-part structure and probe the meaning of suffering from different perspectives. Isaiah 50:4-9a: "A Call to Disciplesh...

4234. When the Way Is Hard

Sermon

April Yamasaki

In the gospel of Matthew, the sweep of events from Judas’ decision to betray Jesus, through his arrest, trial, crucifixion, and burial takes less than fifteen minutes to read aloud. Yet the emotional intensity of these events makes for an exhausting read. Alone in my room, I could hardly make it through. If I were to read this as part of worship in my church, I’d want to skip the regular sermon an...

4235. The Pleasure of Your Company

Sermon

David E. Leininger

A little flight of fancy here.(1) You are stacking dishes in the kitchen of the restaurant where you work the evening shift when a well-dressed courier arrives at the back door. "The owner won't be back until tomorrow," you tell him. "I am not looking for the owner, I am looking for you." "Huh?" "I am from the White House," he says, which explains the dark suit and briefcase. "I came to deliver th...

4236. How to See the Future

Sermon

Mark Trotter

There have been many interpretations over the years about what happens in the sacrament of Holy Communion. For instance, back in the Middle Ages, many pious Christians saw what happened here as a kind of magic. The faithful were sitting out in the nave, where you are sitting, and up here, what was called the "east wall" in gothic architecture, the priest faced the altar, his back to the people, re...

4237. The Lord's Supper

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

Matthew marks the beginning of the Passover celebration at 26:17 (with “the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread” signaling its inception or the day anticipating it, as in Mark 14:12; for the combining of the two festivals cf. Deut. 16:1–8; Philo, On the Special Laws 2.150). He tells his disciples to prepare their Passover meal by going into Jerusalem and meeting a man with whom Jesus has...

4238. The Lord's Supper

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

The Final Evening: The Passion narrative is the account of the suffering and death of Jesus. It normally includes all the events beginning with the garden scene in Gethsemane and finishing with the burial. The centrality of the cross in early Christian preaching is reflected in the major emphasis given to it in each of the four Gospels. Matthew 26 records the events of Wednesday and Thursday of th...

4239. When Life Closes In

Sermon

Robert Allen

David was a young man in his early 30s and seemed to have everything going his way. He was a successful businessman. He owned a sales and service-oriented business. He owned an entertainment business and he owned an apartment complex. Besides being successful in business, he was happily married. He had a wife, two children and a big Irish setter that had its own pet chicken. Wherever that Irish se...

4240. Remembering Jesus

Sermon

David O. Bales

The novel The Ugly American is based upon facts of how Americans related to people in Southeast Asia. The insensitivity and arrogance of American government officials was generally depressing. One chapter of the novel, however, is particularly inspiring. An American woman, Emma Atkins, has come with her engineer husband to the fictional nation of Sarkhan. Emma is a curious, good-hearted person and...

4241. Live Spelled Backward

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

In a CBS News 60 Minutes interview, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor was asked why she had resigned as an Assistant District Attorney for the Bronx. She replied, "Because for the first time in my life I saw evil first hand and I felt that if I stayed that close to it, it just might rub off on me."[1] Come think with me about an age-old human affliction that has impacted the life of every...

4242. Maundy Thursday: Seeing Ourselves in the Disciples

Sermon

Brett Blair

We come together this evening to recall in our hearts and minds the events that occurred on Thursday of what the church calls Holy Week, the last week in the life of our Lord. One-third of all the events that we have about Jesus’ life occurred during this week: Reminding us of the great significance of these last days. The disciples have gathered in a home, whose we are not sure, but we do know th...

4243. Communion Is Realizing Forgiveness

Sermon

And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I shall not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom." How do you normally react when someone offends you in some way? Perhaps...

4244. As We Take Our Rest

Drama

Joe Barone

[Note: This week we walk with Jesus to the Garden of Gethsemane, and as we do, we look through the point of view of James, one of the sons of Zebedee.] Dramatic Monologue: James I don't suppose you can ever understand what it is that really touches me when I think about the Garden of Gethsemane. When you think about it, you might think I would feel a sense of my own sinfulness. That's what so m...

4245. What Reasons to Betray the Savior?

Drama

Joe Barone

[Note: During this Lenten season, we're trying to look at the happenings in Jesus' passion and death as several people in the story might have seen them. What would have been Peter's reaction to the portion of the story that we have today? Here's what I think it might have been.] Dramatic Monologue: Simon Peter I don't know why I couldn't have seen it at the time, but there wasn't anything in Je...

4246. Familiar Things

Illustration

Alex Gondola

From time to time, all of us have been guilty of taking some remarkable things for granted, simply because they have become familiar to us. Take, for instance, the ancient and honorable game of golf. Most of us understand the basic principles of golf. Some of us play golf. Some of us play at it. But suppose you had to explain golf to someone who had never seen it before say an Aborigine from the A...

4247. The Same Sermon

Illustration

Jef Olson

There is a story about a newly appointed preacher who preached a very fine sermon on his first Sunday in the church. The text was Matthew 26.24. No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other. You cannot serve God and Money. Everyone loved it. The next Sunday she preached the very same sermon. The people were perplexed but since it was a fine sermon no one sp...

4248. Jesus Is God’s Faithful Son in Gethsemane and at His Arrest and Trial

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

Big Idea: Although Jesus predicts and witnesses the disciples’ desertion and prays for God to change his fate, he as the Messiah, the Son of God, proves himself faithful to God’s will even to the point of suffering and death. Understanding the Text Matthew’s passion story continues with Jesus’ prediction of the disciples’ desertion and Peter’s denial (26:31–35), Jesus’ time of prayer in Gethsema...

4249. Jesus Predicts Peter's Denial

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

4250. The Crowing of a Rooster

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

I sat with a farm family a few weeks ago for the noonday meal. The scene outside the kitchen window was typical of rural eastern North Carolina. There were open fields where this particular farmer grew corn. Leftover husks lay where he had broken the land for spring planting. While we were eating, one family member called our attention to a flock of birds that had landed in the field out back. We...

Showing 4226 to 4250 of 4511 results