Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 4301 to 4325 of 4489 results

4301. Repent Your Way to a Merry Christmas - Sermon Starter

Matthew 3:1-12

Illustration

Brett Blair

A number of years ago a couple traveled to the offices of an Adoption Society in England to receive a baby. They had been on the waiting list a long time. They had been interviewed and carefully scrutinized. Now at last their dreams were to be fulfilled. But their day of happiness was another's pain. Arriving at the offices of the Society they were led up a flight of stairs to a waiting room. After a few minutes they heard someone else climbing the stairs. It was the young student mother whose baby was to ...

4302. All Boxed In?

Matthew 28:1-10

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Here is my thesis: the greatest public service the church can perform for its community, and for the world, is this: celebrate Easter. A true, beautiful and good celebration of Easter. Here is the proof of my thesis: last year’s “Resurrection Sunday Dance,” that took place in Budapest, Hungary, where God is up to some amazing things. This very moment on Easter Sunday Christians are “Resurrection Dancing” at various capitols and courtyards around the world. But here is my favorite one from 2010 Resurrection ...

4303. Matthew 14:13-21

Matthew 14:13-21

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

For a meal with the simplest of ingredients, the story of the feeding of the five thousand has been sliced and diced, layered and ladled into a soufflé of complexity. It is true that in this story there are ties to Israel’s past, links to the future kingdom, messianic symbolism, and Eucharistic overtones, it is also true that this story is about the common humanity of sitting and sharing a meal in the companionship of others. This great miracle of feeding five thousand is the only miracle besides Jesus’ ...

4304. Laugh, Thomas, Laugh!

John 20:19-31

Sermon

David E. Leininger

The first Sunday after Easter is Holy Humor Sunday, as it is celebrated in many places. If you are not familiar with that concept, it is only because your experience has not been in the Eastern Orthodox tradition. It is based on the understanding that the resurrection of Jesus is the ultimate joke on death, Satan, and all the forces of evil. It is a testament to the God who, as the psalmist says, "sits in the heavens and laughs" (2:4) at the foolishness of humanity and any forces that might seek to thwart ...

4305. The Five Senses

Luke 24:36-48

Sermon

John Smylie

In the gospel text there is an opportunity to meet Jesus, using every one of our senses. The disciples have an opportunity here to see him, to hear him, to touch him, to smell him, and to taste with him. Every one of the senses is used for recognition of the Lord. Perhaps in this text we might also look to heighten and enliven our senses as we also seek to receive the wonder of his resurrection. Telling our stories to one another is a natural and very human thing to do. The disciples are telling their ...

4306. Agony and Ecstasy

John 11:17-37

Sermon

Steven Molin

Mary and Martha; remember them? They are the sisters who were hosting Jesus for dinner one evening, except that Martha did all the work, and Mary sat at Jesus' feet for the Bible study. And when Martha complains to Jesus about it, Jesus corrects her! "Martha, Martha, you worry about so many things, but just one thing is necessary ... and Mary chose it." Ouch! Today's gospel lesson offers us another glimpse of the same sisters, and proof that the sisters were not so different from one another. Four days ...

4307. Genuine Hope

Romans 4:13-25

Sermon

Nancy Kraft

The season is upon us once again. Around this time every year we can expect the annual cycle to bring us to this special season when we are intentional about carving out extra time in our lives for that which is most important to us. It's not like other times of the year. Instead, during this season, for many of us, our thoughts and our conversations take a distinctively different focus. Of course, most of you probably realize what season I'm talking about. We are now in the midst of the latest season of ...

4308. Hope on The Day of Judgment

Hebrews 9:24-28

Sermon

Patrick J. Rooney

Standing in the parlor at church that day was not unlike the many other occasions when I had attended a family upon the death of one they had loved. Moving from person to person, group to group, I greeted each with words of comfort, consolation, and hope. I was a pastor going about my normal pastoral work, preparing to begin the funeral rite for yet another saint of the church. Amid the whispers, the tears, the hugs, and even the laughter at memories shared, a pastor also hears many other things spoken in ...

4309. Anger Is a Choice

Mt 18:15-35

Illustration

King Duncan

David Augsberger wrote abook a few years ago about anger. He noted that anger is a choice. He said the only thing we don't have a choice about is the adrenal in which is being pumped into our bodies. He told about a large rock in his front yard. One beautiful afternoon he decided to move it using a 2x4 for leverage. Somehow the 2x4 slipped and the rock rolled back, breaking his leg. David remembered that no one was home, and he wondered how he was going to get up the front steps and into the house to the ...

4310. No Litmus Test for Jesus

2 Kings 5:1-14

Sermon

Richard Gribble

United States society in 1917 was one filled with much fear and misunderstanding. The end of the Progressive Era and its Social Gospel message of reform, the onset of World War I, and the Bolshevik Revolution raised anxieties in the minds of many Americans. One significant manifestation of this fear was the rise of xenophobia; Americans grew wary of outsiders. The nation, which was built on the sweat and blood of immigrants, now turned its back on these very same people. Beginning as early as 1882, ideas ...

4311. With a Repentant Heart

1 Cor 11:9

Illustration

Charles W. Colson,

Believers dare not come to the Lord's Table except with a repentant heart. "Whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner," as Paul puts it, "drinks judgment to himself." That should be a sobering warning, especially when the apostle adds that because of this offense many have fallen ill or died. Any pastor who takes the Word of God seriously should never administer Communion without adequately warning partakers. Those who are unrepentant should flee the table rather than ...

4312. A Class Act

Illustration

John Berendt

In 1956, songwriter Johnny Mercer received a letter from Sadie Vimmerstedt, a widowed grandmother who worked behind a cosmetics counter in Youngstown, Ohio. Vimmerstedt suggested Mercer write a song called "I Want to Be Around to Pick Up the Pieces When Somebody Breaks Your Heart." Five years later, Mercer got in touch to say he'd written the song and that Tony Bennett would record it. Today, if you look at the label on any recording of "I Wanna Be Around," you'll notice that the credits for words and ...

4313. When Calories Don't Count

Illustration

Diet tips: If no one sees you eat it, it has no calories If you drink a diet soda with a candy bar, they will cancel each other out. Calories don't count if you eat with someone and you both eat the same amount. Food taken for medicinal purposes does not count. This includes toast, hot chocolate, brandy and Sara Lee chocolate cake. If you fatten up everyone around you, you'll look thinner. Snacks consumed at a movie do not count as they are part of the entertainment. For example: Mild Duds, popcorn with ...

4314. You Can Go Home Again

Luke 15:11-32

Illustration

Max Lucado

Longing to leave her poor Brazilian neighborhood, Christina wanted to see the world. Discontent with a home having only a pallet on the floor, a washbasin, and a wood-burning stove, she dreamed of a better life in the city. One morning she slipped away, breaking her mother's heart. Knowing what life on the streets would be like for her young, attractive daughter, Maria hurriedly packed to go find her. On her way to the bus stop she entered a drugstore to get one last thing. Pictures. She sat in the ...

4315. I Leave You Softly

Illustration

For 36 years Jeno and his wife delighted in one another. But one day Jeno suffered a stroke. For weeks he lay in the hospital, slipping in and out of a coma. Day and night his wife sat at his side. One evening, she put her head on his hand and fell asleep. Jeno awoke during the night and seeing his wife, picked up an envelope and pencil and scribbled these words: "Softly, I will leave you, for my heart would break if you should wake and see me go. So I leave you. Long before you miss me. Long before your ...

4316. A Life of Despair

Mt 5:1-12; 22:36-40; Deut 30:11-20

Illustration

Brett Blair

Two of his daughters and a son-in-law committed suicide. Three of his children died of malnutrition. Marx felt no obligation to earn a living, but instead lived by begging from Engels. He fathered an illegitimate child by his maidservant. He drank heavily. He was a paid informer of the Austrian police, spying on revolutionaries. Though Marx and his wife were poor, he kept investing in the stock market where he constantly lost. His wife left him twice, but returned. When she died, he didn't attend her ...

4317. A Good Not For Sale

Illustration

Staff

After the American Civil War the managers of the infamous Louisiana Lottery, for a time the only legal lottery in the United States, approached Robert E. Lee and asked if he'd let them use his name in their scheme. They promised that if he did he would become rich. Astounded, Lee straightened up, buttoned his gray coat, and shouted, "Gentlemen, I lost my home in the war. I lost my fortune in the war. I lost everything except my name. My name is not for sale, and if you fellows don't get out of here, I'll ...

4318. Record Endurance

Illustration

Staff

When she was young, Florence Chadwick wanted desperately to be a great speed swimmer. At the age of six she persuaded her parents to enter her in a 50-yard race. She came in last, so she practiced every day for the new year. Again she entered and lost. When she was an 11-year old, Florence won attention and praise for completing the San Diego Bay endurance swim 6 miles in all. But she still wanted to be a speed swimmer. At 14 she tried for the national backstroke championship but came in second to the ...

4319. Who Has the Time?

Illustration

K. Hughes

Some years ago a young man approached the foreman of a logging crew and asked for a job. "That depends," replied the foreman. "Let's see you fell this tree." The young man stepped forward and skillfully felled a great tree. Impressed, the foreman exclaimed, "Start Monday!" Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday rolled by, and Thursday afternoon the foreman approached the young man and said, "You can pick up your paycheck on the way out today." Startled, he replied, "I thought you paid on Friday." "Normally ...

4320. Give Yourself Some Slack

Genesis 2:3

Illustration

According to a Greek legend, in ancient Athens, a man noticed the great storyteller Aesop playing childish games with some little boys. He laughed and jeered at Aesop, asking him why he wasted his time in such frivolous activity. Aesop responded by picking up a bow, loosening its string, and placing it on the ground. Then he said to the critical Athenian, "Now, answer the riddle, if you can. Tell us what the unstrung bows implies." The man looked at it for several moments but had no idea what point Aesop ...

4321. Gratitude Lunch

Illustration

Courtland Milloy

Jermaine Washington, 26, did something that amazes many people. He became a kidney donor, giving a vital organ to a woman he describes as "just a friend." Washington met Michelle Stevens, 23, when they began working together at the Washington, D.C., Department of Employment Services. They used to have lunch with one another and chitchat during breaks. "He was somebody I could talk to," says Stevens. "One day, I cried on his shoulder. I had been on the kidney donor waiting list for 11 months, and I had lost ...

4322. Window Butter

Illustration

Staff

A very poor holy man lived in a remote part of China. Every day before his time of meditation, in order to show his devotion, he put a dish of butter up on the window sill as an offering to God, since food was so scarce. One day his cat came in and ate the butter. To remedy this, he began tying the cat to the bedpost each day before the quiet time. This man was so revered for his piety that others joined him as disciples and worshiped as he did. Generations later, long after the holy man was dead, his ...

4323. Student Gems

Humor Illustration

Gems taken from examination papers written by students: Strategy is when you don't let the enemy know that you are out of ammunition, but keep on firing. A virgin forest is a forest in which the hand of man has never set foot. A city purifies its water supply by filtering the water, then forcing it through an aviator. An active verb shows action; a passive verb shows passion. A census taker is a man who goes from house to house increasing the population. Water is composed of two gins. Oxygen and Hydrogen. ...

4324. Broken Down

Humor Illustration

The commanding officer was furious when nine GIs who had been out on passes failed to show up for morning roll call. Not until 7 p.m. did the first man straggle in. "I'm sorry, sir," the soldier explained, "but I had a date and lost track of time, and I missed the bus back. Being determined to get in on time, I hired a cab. Halfway here, the cab broke down. I went to a farmhouse and persuaded the farmer to sell me a horse. I was riding to camp when the animal fell dead. I walked the last ten miles, and ...

4325. Playing By the Rules

Humor Illustration

Cathy and her boyfriend, Irving, who is a golfing fanatic, are on vacation. They are on the golf course. Cathy: "Here's your ball, Irving! It was over in the weeds!" Irving: "AACK! You moved the ball! You're not allowed to move the ball, Cathy!" Cathy: "Who cares? We're the only ones out here!" Irving: "It's against the rules! You can't break the rules!!" Cathy: "You hate rules!" Irving: "But this is a SPORT! It's no fun without rules! It's pointless unless everyone plays by the exact same rules!" As ...

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Showing 4301 to 4325 of 4489 results

4301. Repent Your Way to a Merry Christmas - Sermon Starter

Matthew 3:1-12

Illustration

Brett Blair

4302. All Boxed In?

Matthew 28:1-10

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

4303. Matthew 14:13-21

Matthew 14:13-21

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

4304. Laugh, Thomas, Laugh!

John 20:19-31

Sermon

David E. Leininger

4305. The Five Senses

Luke 24:36-48

Sermon

John Smylie

4306. Agony and Ecstasy

John 11:17-37

Sermon

Steven Molin

4307. Genuine Hope

Romans 4:13-25

Sermon

Nancy Kraft

4308. Hope on The Day of Judgment

Hebrews 9:24-28

Sermon

Patrick J. Rooney

4309. Anger Is a Choice

Mt 18:15-35

Illustration

King Duncan

4310. No Litmus Test for Jesus

2 Kings 5:1-14

Sermon

Richard Gribble

4311. With a Repentant Heart

1 Cor 11:9

Illustration

Charles W. Colson,

4312. A Class Act

Illustration

John Berendt

4313. When Calories Don't Count

Illustration

4314. You Can Go Home Again

Luke 15:11-32

Illustration

Max Lucado

4315. I Leave You Softly

Illustration

4316. A Life of Despair

Mt 5:1-12; 22:36-40; Deut 30:11-20

Illustration

Brett Blair

4317. A Good Not For Sale

Illustration

Staff

4318. Record Endurance

Illustration

Staff

4319. Who Has the Time?

Illustration

K. Hughes

4320. Give Yourself Some Slack

Genesis 2:3

Illustration

4321. Gratitude Lunch

Illustration

Courtland Milloy

4322. Window Butter

Illustration

Staff

4323. Student Gems

Humor Illustration

4324. Broken Down

Humor Illustration

4325. Playing By the Rules

Humor Illustration

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