Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 4276 to 4300 of 4939 results

4276. What's In The Final Exam?

Matthew 25:31-46

Sermon

George Johnson

When I was serving as Director of the Hunger Program for the former American Lutheran Church, I preached at various congregations on Sunday mornings. They would often ask me, "Should we read the Matthew 25 passage for the scripture lesson?" This text is a favorite for any gathering around hunger and poverty issues. I've used it often when I speak about hunger. But the text has a far greater scope and purpose than to muster up a concern for hungry people. The story was not told by Jesus as a fund-raising ...

4277. Preparing The Way

Malachi 2:17--3:5

Sermon

Ron Lavin

Frank kept the strangest of Christmas lists. He called it "My Refinement List." He first made one out when he was 45 years old. He worked at it faithfully for 29 years. He was 74 and a grandfather. In all that time it had remained a secret, but now his youngest grandchild, with the piece of paper clutched in hand, looked Frank dead in the eye, and said, "What's this?" "A special Christmas list," answered Frank, a bit vaguely. "Is it what you want?" asked the boy. "It's not that kind of a list," answered ...

4278. Checking The Vital Signs

Luke 24:36-49

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

It was Easter Sunday. One thousand, seven hundred fifty showed up for worship that day. Boy, was this place full! And it really felt good. We sang some of the same hymns as today. I gave the kids red Easter eggs and my sermon title was: “Don’t Be Alarmed.” The main idea was that Christ is alive and with us, so there need not be any event or situation in our lives here that should scare us. In addition, even at our death and the death of the people we love, we need not have any fear since Christ has come ...

4279. Death of the Unchurched For a Recovering Alcoholic

Eulogy

Alan Bacon Bond

Using the Available Spiritual Resources The deceased was a forty-eight-year-old married man with five children in their late teens and early twenties. He was a recovering alcoholic with a twelve-year chip. He had been sick for two days with influenza, and, while having had some high blood pressure problems some years earlier, showed no signs for alarm. He simply failed to wake up one morning. The family was unchurched and seemingly bereft of spiritual resources until it became evident that most of them ...

4280. Christmas Eve Candlelight Service

Bulletin Aid

Robert G. McCreight

The Order Of Worship We approach the worship of God this evening with a hushed awareness of Christ's presence in our midst. God again breaks through the calm and darkness to reveal himself to us in the stillness of our hearts. Let the praises of your heart and the songs of your voice be "joyful yet restrained" that we might be sensitive to the quiet indwelling of his Spirit. Organ And Piano Prelude: "And He Shall Feed His Flock"Handel Introit: "Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence"The Chancel Choir The Call ...

4281. Names, Not Numbers

Deuteronomy 26:1-15

Sermon

Carl Hoefler

What comes to your mind when you hear the name "Moses"? Do you think of Chariton Heston standing on a rock with his hair and his beard and his robe blowing in the wind, while at the same time, beneath his feet the Red Sea churns and rolls back as mighty walls of waves forming a path for the fleeing Israelites? Perhaps you imagine Moses as a white-haired man standing on the jagged cliffs of a mountain and holding in his sinewy arms the two stone tablets of the law. It is doubtful that any of you imagine ...

4282. Epiphany 4

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

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Jeremiah 1:4-5, 17-19 (RC) Even before his birth Jeremiah was appointed a prophet. Jeremiah tells us of his call to preach. It came at the time Josiah was king of Judah (ca. 627 BC). It came as a dialogue with Yahweh who even before his birth was destined to be a prophet. In this dialogue he heard the voice of Yahweh and felt his hand on his lips. There was no human initiative in the call. The words he was to speak were totally the Lord's words. The message he was to proclaim was one of judgment ...

4283. Second Lesson

Matthew 5:13-16

Sermon

We’re back on the hillside again, and Jesus is still talking to his disciples. The Beatitudes constitute a first lesson, which all hangs together when we look at them and reflect upon them. From the end of the Beatitudes through the next two and a half chapters of Matthew’s Gospel, we seem to have fragments from Jesus’ three-year teaching ministry that are strung together in didactic disarray. One wonders, since neither Mark nor John reports anything like the Sermon on the Mount, and although Luke does ...

4284. As Good As God

Leviticus 19:1-37

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

The Lord said to Moses, "Say to all the congregation of the people of Israel, You shall be holy; for I the Lord your God am holy. You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor. You shall not go up and down as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand forth against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord. You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason with your neighbor ...

4285. A SERMON DRAMA FOR CHRISTMASTIDE

Drama

Tom Eberle

Christmas The historical development of the Christmas festival in the late third and early fourth centuries had a distinctly theological intention. [Oscar E. Cullmann, The Early Church, edited by A.J.B. Higgins, (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1956), p. 25] The nativity festival was celebrated in response to those heresies that did not accept the fullness of God’s presence in the humanity of Jesus. Through the festival of Christmas the orthodox branch of the church affirmed the fullness of ...

4286. EPISODE 1: THE FIRST WEEK IN LENT

Drama

Robert Clausen

ACT ONE EPISODE 1: THE FIRST WEEK IN LENT BISHOP FIRST CLERGYMAN SECOND CLERGYMAN JESUS PETER JOHN JUDAS [The BISHOP is in conversation with the FIRST and SECOND CLERGYMEN.] BISHOP: I have said it before, brothers, and I say it again. This man has got to go. FIRST CLERGYMAN: Amen. BISHOP: For the good of the church, for the good of the people, for the good of every one of us ... FIRST CLERGYMAN: Amen. BISHOP: This man has got to go. SECOND CLERGYMAN: But, brother ... BISHOP: Please, remember to address me ...

4287. Dual Citizenship II - What Do We Owe To God?

Matthew 22:15-22

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

On the first really cold day last fall in Denver, a window cleaner was working on a scaffold outside the 20th floor of a skyscraper. He was surprised to see a secretary pressing a large sheet of paper up to the window. On it, in big letters, she had written: "It's 72 degrees in here." Undaunted, the half-frozen window cleaner reached into his pocket, pulled out a pen and notebook, and scribbled a message of his own. With a big smile he held it close to the window. It said, "It's $25 an hour out here!" So ...

4288. What's Mine Is Yours

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

Ewart E. Turner

"There is nothing more beautiful than the golden sea which spreads in all directions from my cupola. And best of all, it’s mine, all mine." The speaker was the seated Mr. Barnes, high up in the cupola of his farm manor. His golden fields of wheat stretched out toward every horizon. The only other objects in sight were his barns; massive barns, bulging with the grain of past harvests. A frown creased Mr. Barnes’ face. He lazily stroked the left ear of his faithful dog Ajax, who as always was stretched out ...

4289. Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

John 6:1-15

Sermon

Brett Blair

Lance Armstrong. Going for his eighth Tour de France. His heart is nearly one-third larger than that of the average man. At resting, it beats an average of 32 times per minute, during peak performance, 200. He burns up about 6,500 calories every day for three weeks while in the race. One of the stages of the race is 120 miles long-that day he will burn 10,000 calories. You and I burn 3,500 and that’s on a good day. His lungs can take in twice the oxygen. His body fat level is 4 percent. Yours is 16. He has ...

4290. When the Sermon Turns Sour

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

William G. Carter

I want to let you in on an industry secret. Ready? Most preachers have a difficult time preaching in the congregations where they grew up. It is true for me. I was recently invited to preach in the church where I grew up. My mixed feelings about the invitation were justified. Before anybody heard a word I said, they remembered little Billy Carter, who made paper airplanes out of worship bulletins and dropped them from the balcony when nobody was looking. Even the newcomers who joined long after I moved ...

4291. When Your Church Provokes You

Matthew 13:1-23, Hebrews 10:19-39

Sermon

David E. Leininger

...And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching. And now you know where the strange sermon title comes from. True enough, the church often DOES provoke us in the wrong way. You may have heard me tell of my father's response when, years ago, I asked him what the hardest part of being a minister was. I had posed the question just after he had ...

4292. Belonging To The Right Family

1 Peter 2:4-12

Sermon

King Duncan

No one deserves a special day all to herself more than today's Mom. A cartoon showed a psychologist talking to his patient: "Let's see," he said, "You spend 50 percent of your energy on your job, 50 percent on your husband and 50 percent on your children. I think I see your problem." Some of you can identify with that. I like the story about the fouryearold and the sixyearold who presented their Mom with a house plant. They had used their own money and she was thrilled. The older of them said with a sad ...

4293. You Are Not Yourself!

Colossians 3:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

The Gospel more than anything else is good news! We all know that, but how often we forget. A news story that appeared recently in USA Today might serve as a helpful parable. It seems that many McDonald’s restaurants, rather than using bank bags and armored trucks, move their daily cash intake by putting the money in regular carry-out paper bags and handing the bag to a drive-thru courier. The plan conceals the fact that a large amount of money is leaving the store. In Euclid, Ohio, though, one McDonald’s ...

4294. Where God Can Be Seen

John 15:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

It was almost Mother's Day, and Mavis still hadn't found a card. She had a hard time finding something appropriate because she and her mother had never had a close relationship. Mavis shared her dilemma with a friend at work. Her friend told her that it was only natural to have mixed feelings about people that we're close to. We have such high expectations of our mothers that they're bound to let us down sometimes. Mavis merely snorted at that. Her mother let her down all the time. Then Jenna saw that ...

4295. If You Really Want To Be Helpful

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

A nationally known minister of the Gospel was involved in a question/answer session. He was on stage with several prominent church leaders in front of a large audience made up of pastors and lay persons. The minister had just responded to a question from one of the other leaders on the panel when he was shocked to see someone rise in the audience. The person who stood up seemed to be out of place. Actually this person was a friend from the minister's past whom he had not seen since he had professed his ...

4296. Counterfeit Christianity

Matthew 7:15-23

Sermon

King Duncan

Sometime back the United States Treasury tackled one of its most vexing problems. Sophisticated, hi-tech resources now available to the average citizen have become real problems to the Treasury Department. With the introduction of high quality ink jet printers, computer scanners and other office equipment into homes and offices across the nation, the amount of counterfeit money almost doubled in the years between 1992 and 1997. Counterfeit money became hard to distinguish from the real thing. Thus, in 1998 ...

4297. The Coat Of Many Colors

Genesis 37:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

A man wrote in to the "Clean Laughs" online board with this story: "I was in my wills and trusts course when the professor posed this question to the students: Why do people choose to have their children, rather than their siblings, inherit their estate? "After students offered various theories, one fellow raised his hand. "˜This may be a bit off the point,' he said, "˜but when I was little, when my brother and sister finished playing with me, they would put me into a drawer.'" (1) Most of us can relate to ...

4298. A Ministry of Encouragement

1 Thessalonians 2:1-16

Sermon

King Duncan

Have you ever noticed that men and women differ in their use of humor? Men’s humor is more competitive, and therefore more sarcastic. Women’s humor is more supportive. For example, famed comedian George Burns, remembered especially for the television show he hosted along with his wife, Gracie Allen, was roasted by some of his friends. Here are some of the things they had to say. BOB HOPE: “The first time I saw George Burns on the stage I could see he had what it takes to become a big star . . . Gracie ...

4299. Maximum Marriage

Mark 10:1-12

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

A fifth grade teacher asked the children in her art class to draw pictures of what they want to be when they grow up. Sally drew an astronaut, Sue a doctor, Bruce a missionary. But Karen turned in a blank sheet of paper. "Isn't there something you want to be?" the teacher inquired. The child replied, "I want to be married, but I didn't know how to draw it." Sad, but isn't that true of our society today? Over 95 percent of us will marry at some point in our life. Yet nearly forty percent of us will divorce ...

4300. Living Lightly

Genesis 45:1-28

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Our scripture lesson for the message today comes from the 45th chapter of the Book of Genesis. I’m beginning with the 4th and ready through the 20th verses. Joseph said to his brothers, come near to me I pray you, and they came near. And he said, I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life, for the famine has been in the land these two years and there are yet five years in ...

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