Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 4251 to 4275 of 4986 results

4251. Many Kinds of Bread

Matthew 14:13-21

Illustration

Johnny Dean

... s not true. For example, in Eastern Asia, when you say "food," people automatically think of rice. In Malaysia, the same applies to sweet potatoes. For every culture there is a "staff of life." For most it's bread. It's the basic thing you need to stay alive. But all these words - bread, rice, and sweet potatoes - can also refer to the emotional and spiritual basics that keep us alive. There are a few people without whose love and presence in my life, I would find it difficult, if not impossible, to survive ...

4252. Don't Be Afraid

Matthew 14:22-36

Sermon

King Duncan

... away in her home and requested no visitors. Members of the congregation respected that request. Some accepted it with relief, in fact, because it is hard to be with someone you care about and to see them in such agony, so most people stayed away. The problem was that Jeanne was lonely. This gregarious, involved, energetic woman was lonely and afraid. When her birthday came . . . on Mother’s Day . . . . their congregation decided to take a risk. Having briefed her daughter‑in‑law about their plan, just ...

4253. Christ the King

John 18:33-37

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... if he goes where we might rather he did not. If we say, "Jesus Christ is Lord," that means his priorities will become our priorities. We will be drawn to those on the margins, the outcasts, and even those society (and sometimes even the church) suggests we stay away from. If we say, "Jesus Christ is Lord," we will take religion seriously — we will worship, we will fellowship, we will pray, we will even sacrifice, just as Jesus did, and we will never let religion become an end in itself; it must never get ...

4254. A “No Surprises” Easter

John 20:1-18

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... bothered to do that? They are at a loss to explain anything but, as the text has it, "John" saw and believed. But then we read, "They still did not understand from scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead" (v. 9). So they went back home. Mary stayed behind. She was crying. Through her tears she sees the angels. She hears them ask why the tears and responds, "They have taken my Lord away, and I don't know where they have put him" (v. 13). She turns around, encounters Jesus, but does not recognize him ...

4255. A Winsome Witness

Acts 8:26-40

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... within a short time, the deacons' job description had expanded to preaching and teaching, as well. Just prior to this encounter on the Gaza road, this willing worker had led a successful preaching mission to Samaria. Philip might well have said, "Gee Lord, I'd rather stay right where I am — the city with all its people and activities and great needs. This has been a good ministry here in Samaria; let me keep on keeping on." But, to his eternal credit, Philip was willing to get up and get going ... even to ...

4256. God's Battleship

John 17:6-19

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... good ... until you remember that the celebration of the Lord's Supper has been and sadly remains a major bone of contention in Christ's church. Some preachers left early, unable to overcome theological barriers. That was sad, but the word from those who stayed, as they responded to the movement of the Holy Spirit, was that the walls of resistance began to crumble. Differences in the way one group or another understood the ceremony became less significant. They began to realize that what united them was far ...

4257. The Forgiveness Factor

Mark 2:1-12

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... otherwise. Forget about it — the man could not shut up. And who could blame him? More healings would soon follow, more demons cast out. Jesus' celebrity was increasing. It became bad enough that, as Mark has it, "Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere" (Mark 1:45b). Wow! Finally, he is back in Capernaum, his adopted hometown. The word is out. People come. They jam the house (which, by the way, is one of those code ...

4258. Riff-Raff

Mark 2:13-22

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... that his followers bombed the World Trade Center. He continues to enjoy US hospitality while appealing his deportation order. Seated over here is one well-dressed but very thin young man who has trouble joining in with the others — he has trouble mustering the energy to stay upright — he tells folks it is just the aftereffect of a vicious bout with the flu, but it is not. He has AIDS. Standing next to his chair, holding his hand, is his boyfriend. Those are just a few. Gathered in this room is a virtual ...

4259. God's Day Off

Mark 2:23-3:6

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... to "come as you are" for worship), a watching world might be attracted to such a loving and caring Lord, even to the point of wanting to worship. Wouldn't that be a kick! It pains me, not only as a minister, but simply as a Christian, to see people staying away from the church in droves. It pains me to see Sunday slowly but surely become just another day. If that happens, it will be the church's fault as much as anyone else's. But if we do nothing but beat our breasts and wring our hands, our grandchildren ...

4260. Hope

John 12:20-33

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... . Finally, he says, "I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself" (v. 32). Yes, you and I know what he was talking about, but you can be sure that those who first heard him were confused. Notice something: confused or not, they stayed. There was something about Jesus that did indeed draw people to him. It had been so since the night of his birth — humble shepherds and learned magi. As a boy in the temple, there were rabbis and scholars. As a man there were folk from all walks of ...

4261. Beating Babel

Acts 2:1-21

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... town for the member-guest tournament at the club and would not be there; Phillip and his family would have been up late the night before and overslept; Andrew would have had a business conference about a new fishing boat; and James would have had to stay home to cut the grass. Togetherness is not considered as important in the church as it once was. Third, the message of the church these days seems less about "the mighty acts of God" than about social justice or abortion or sexuality or any number of other ...

4262. Jesus Christ, Superstar

Mark 14:12-26

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... the Last Supper. He announces that Peter will deny him and another of the twelve will betray him. Judas confronts him, telling Jesus that he knows very well that Judas is the one that will be the betrayer. Judas leaves and the other apostles go to sleep. Jesus stays awake and prays. He wants to know why he must die, why he must go through with his Father's plan. Judas returns and betrays Jesus with a kiss. Following the arrest, Caiaphas asks Jesus if he is the Son of God, and Jesus answers that that is ...

4263. A New Year’s Resolution

Ephesians 4:25 -5:2

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... index card taped to a friend's refrigerator: "Practice random kindness; commit senseless acts of beauty." The phrase seemed to leap out at her, and she copied it down. Judy Foreman spotted the phrase spray-painted on a warehouse wall 100 miles from her home. When it stayed on her mind for days, she gave up and drove all the way back to copy it down. "I thought it was incredibly beautiful," she said. She started writing it at the bottom of all her letters. Her husband, Frank, liked the phrase so much that he ...

4264. Being a Christian “Survivor”

Ephesians 6:10-20

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... person to survive the physical challenges and the Darwinian selection takes home the cash. I confess that I am not a fan of the programs — my idea of being a rugged outdoorsman involves riding in a golf cart and roughing it for me is staying at the Holiday Inn. I am even less thrilled at the episodes concluding with the barely disguised metaphor for human sacrifice. But, CBS has not missed my non-participation for lo these many years — millions of viewers love the shows. With that as background, think ...

4265. Jesus and Divorce

Mark 10:2-16

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... of youngsters in my own children's classes who were living with "Mom and Mike." Those children were the majority. There were problems with such arrangements, of course: the one most obvious to my kids was the impossibility of making plans — is this the weekend that Billy stays here or the one he has to go to his dad's? As we talked about it, I said that I liked our family arrangement better. My daughter (age six at the time) replied, "Well, give it time ... give it time." I was stunned! Divorce had become ...

4266. The Living Advent Wreath (Love: Pink Candle of the Stars)

Luke 1:26-38

Drama

Frank Ramirez

... : (sheepishly) I’m here, too. I guess I wanted to see you enter, to see if you would be faithful. Guide: (smiles) You are not the first pilgrim who has come to our Far Country, looking for Faith and Hope, seeking reassurance. I trust your stay at the castle has been comfortable? Pilgrim: Yes, but it has been puzzling, as well. Guide: In what way? Pilgrim: Everything seems orderly. Everyone seems to live under the leadership of a king. They all know their places and rejoice in their places. Guide: And ...

4267. A Whole City at The Door

Mark 1:29-39

Sermon

Robert J. Elder

... to go back and keep on doing what he had been doing. We all want that. We would all like to go back to mountaintop experiences of our lives, to find him again just the way we found him before. But Jesus has moved on with his message, and to stay with him we need to move beyond the limits of our own past and into the future where he is proclaiming who he is to all the world. What does Jesus want to do? That is the key question. With the whole city waiting at his door, why did he ...

4268. On Your Mark, Get Set, Go!

Mark 1:9-15

Sermon

John Smylie

... there. The terrain is brown and beige and very rocky. The hills are more like small mountains and the land is treacherous. After several hours in the bus, our leader invited us to join with one another and to have a quiet time of meditation. We were told to always stay in view of each other so that none of us would be lost. Underneath the hot sun we carried our water bottles and enjoyed some quiet time, none of us were stung by scorpions and we all made it back to the bus safely. We drove a bit farther and ...

4269. The Elephant in The Living Room

Mark 8:31-38

Sermon

John Smylie

... she had covered up to protect an image of normalcy in the home. The bruises to her heart and soul may have been far deeper and more painful. Andy was angry with me, as well, and it was obvious that it would be better for me to leave than to stay. I had stirred up the pot in a way that would wreak havoc on all of them. I am sure he felt resentment toward me because I could leave and he was stuck in the profound sickness of this family system. The younger brother was also at a loss because ...

4270. The Serpent

John 3:14-21

Sermon

John Smylie

... also an avid golfer wanted to show me the new course. As we drove across the new asphalt road, near the top of the course, we saw a large diamondback rattlesnake sunning itself. My friend stopped the car to give us a closer look. I was more than satisfied to stay in the front passenger seat not needing to get out or get closer to the reptile. St. Mark's in Casper, Wyoming, has a stretch of highway for which it is responsible. Every now and then you may notice a sign along the interstate telling who has been ...

4271. Silence and Darkness

John 18:1-19:42

Sermon

John Smylie

... are traditionally kept — the hours of Christ's crucifixion — the hours between noon and 3 p.m. Each of us was assigned responsibility for leading a portion of the service and members of the community would come and go throughout the three hours, though a few would stay for the full service. It saddened me when we decided to shorten the service to one hour because it appeared most folks could not make the commitment to the full three hours at this busy time of year. Workers who used to get time off now ...

4272. Speaking Peace

John 20:19-31

Sermon

John Smylie

... their Lord at the point of his greatest need. Yet, the fact that they had gathered together suggests to us that there was still a glimmer of hope within them in this small community. Yes, they had scattered at his arrest in the garden. The one who did stay nearby so he could find out what was going on, Peter, ended up denying that he knew Jesus at all. He who had promised he would never deny his Lord, denied him three times. Most of them hadn't even been witnesses to the crucifixion; they were already ...

4273. The Five Senses

Luke 24:36-48

Sermon

John Smylie

... in our kitchen/family room where her hospice bed was placed. I got the children out of their beds and brought them into the room so we could have prayers at the time of death for their mother. After the prayers, both of them went back to bed and I stayed and waited for the gentleman from the funeral home to come and take her body to prepare it for burial. The next morning, my son did not believe that his mother had died the night before. He wondered why she was no longer in the house. Even though he saw ...

4274. Fred and Barney

John 10:11-18

Sermon

John Smylie

... personally cares about each member of the flock. The owner is willing to risk his own life for the sheep he serves and in our Lord's case the owner gives his own life for the sheep he loves. The hired hand runs from the wolf, while the good shepherd stays to defend the flock. Who is the wolf? Ultimately, the wolf is the devil and all of the tools of the devil that come to steal life. The wolf is the one whose intention is to kill and to destroy. Our Lord's death upon the cross was not only ...

4275. Do You Love Me?

John 14:15-31

Sermon

Kristin Borsgard Wee

... terrible and real ... and somewhere in the past, in gutters or gang fights ... behind marijuana or the needles ... he had received a blow from which he would never recover, and this no one wanted to believe. Do you love me? Do you love me? The men on the stand stayed with him cool and at a little distance, adding and questioning ... But each man knew that the boy was blowing for every one of them.5 Can you hear the wind of the Spirit blowing? It is the breath of God whispering, "I love you, I love you, I ...

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