Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 4326 to 4350 of 4944 results

4326. 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5

2 Timothy 3:14-4:5

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

Paul's words in 3:14-17 erect a strong, protective fence around the first tender shoots of the Christian faith communities. Planting his faith firmly in the rich soil of Scripture and tradition, Paul offers Timothy sure guidelines and positive perimeters as protection against wrong ideas and dangerous theologies. Focusing on the strength and faithfulness that come from tradition and Scripture, Paul urges Timothy to remember the sound teaching he has received from his devoted teachers and family members. ...

4327. Luke 12:13-21

Luke 12:13-21

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

Today's pericope, unique to this gospel, recounts Jesus' response to an interruption injected by a nameless individual in a question-and-answer session which takes place in the midst of a raucous crowd of thousands (12:1). The statement, in context, seems banal and hopelessly petty. Jesus has been encouraging the crowd to be fearless and faithful witnesses even in the face of persecution "before the synagogues, the rulers, and the authorities" (12:11). At this point, Jesus is interrupted with the words: " ...

4328. Easter 7

Acts 1:12-26, 1 John 5:1-12, John 17:6-19

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Epistle: Acts 1:15-17, 21-26 The church is living between Jesus' departure and the coming of the Spirit. The time has come to fill the vacancy caused by Judas' suicide. The one to be chosen as a replacement is to be one who shared the experience with Jesus from the time of his baptism to his ascension and one who can witness to the resurrection. Two men met the qualifications: Joseph and Matthias. God and not the church elected Matthias. The church merely asked the ascended Lord which of the two ...

4329. Easter 6

Acts 10:23b-48, 1 John 4:1-6, John 15:1-17, 1 John 5:1-12

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Epistle: Acts 10:44-48 These verses constitute the conclusion of a Roman centurion's request to hear the gospel, Peter's converting vision and a gospel sermon. The result was the reception of the Spirit manifested by glossalalia in praising God and baptism. It marked a new dimension for the church, from Jew to Gentile, from sectarianism to universalism. Through this experience the kingdom was opened to all humans and for the first time Gentiles received the Spirit and were baptized into Christ. ...

4330. Lent 3

Exodus 20:1-21, 1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5, John 2:12-25

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Old Testament: Exodus 20:1-21 The 10 commandments are unconditional demands of God. They are absolute laws that express the will of God for his people. Israel is his people, for a covenant was established at Mount Sinai. The commandments follow the covenant relationship as the people's response to God's grace in making the covenant. They are not conditions to be met before God is their God, but rather because he is their God. They will live as his children according to these absolute laws. The ...

4331. An Easter Heart

John 20:1-9

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Easter is all about a four letter word — and Christians are full of it. Or at least we’re supposed to be full of it. The four letter word is LIFE. New life. Whole life. Abundant Life. Redeemed life. Resurrected life. The purpose of life is not death, Easter says. The purpose of life is life . . . a life that triumphs over death forever. Celebrating Easter is the best thing that the church can do because it is a celebration of all that is good, all that is true, and all that is beautiful. In fact, I would ...

4332. Did You Know...You Can Be Forgiven For Anything?

1 John 1:8-10

Sermon

James Merritt

OK, let's see how you do on this question: Who would be considered the most evil dictator of the last century? a. Saddam Hussein b. Adolph Hitler c. Ivan the Terrible d. Joseph Stalin And the answer is…d) Joseph Stalin Many people would think Adolph Hitler to be the answer with the horrific actions committed against Jews, but the truth is Joseph Stalin was responsible for over 30 million deaths beginning in the 1930's as the Soviet Union massacred 8 million in the Ukrainian Holocaust and then proceeded to ...

4333. Why Believe the Bible?

John 17:17

Sermon

James Merritt

Today we are going to enter into one of the most interesting, fascinating, and perhaps controversial series that we will ever do that we are entitling, "War of the Worlds". Actually, you could even call it, "War of the World Views." World views act just like contact lenses; if you've got the correct prescription for contact lenses or for glasses then you can see the world clearly and correctly. A world view should provide the correct prescription for making sense of the world just as wearing the correct ...

4334. Smooth Out Your Day

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

James Merritt

Do you ever feel tired? Do you ever feel weary? If you don't, you would be rather unusual. You see if you are an adult of average weight, here is what you accomplish in 24 hours. The heart beats 103, 689 times. Your blood travels 168 million miles. You breathe 23,040 times. You inhale 438 cubic feet of air. You eat 3 1/4 qtr. lbs of food. You drink 2.9 quarts of liquids. You lose 7/8 lbs of waste. You speak 25,000 words. You move 750 muscles. Your nails grow .000046th inches. Your hair grows .01714 inches ...

4335. So, Are You The Messiah?

John 10:22-30

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

History shows that people are invariably looking for Messiahs or Christs. There is that special person who is to come among them and, in a sense, do for them what they cannot do for themselves. Even for years after our Lord arose from the dead and ascended — yes, and still at this moment — people are looking. Our Jewish friends, in particular, have this long historical record of watching and waiting. There were, and are, many disappointments in all of this yearning. Indeed, before and after Christ there ...

4336. God’s Grammar

Galatians 3:23-29

Sermon

John Jamison

In the last reading from Paul's letter to the church at Galatia, he addressed the ongoing feud in the early church and reminded the folks that salvation comes from faith alone, and not from working to follow some collection of man-made laws. This week's reading continues Paul's warning to the Galatians. But if he faced strong resistance over the issues of clean and unclean foods, and the issue of circumcision, it was just a dress rehearsal for the real battle he faces now. As we did last week, it might be ...

4337. Sowing Eternal Seeds

Isaiah 55:10-13

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

Who among us has not been stunned by the splendor of a summer sunset, the sparkling spring waters of a mountain stream, brilliantly striking contrasts of autumn leaves twirling and spinning, or winter trees swaying gracefully against a cool, crisp sky? I believe the Native American population has much to teach us when it comes to care of and respect for God's majestic creation. Chief Seattle declares that even the dust under his feet responds lovingly to his footsteps because it is the ashes of his ...

4338. I Am the Ressurection and the Life

John 11:17-37

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Edna Lashon tells the story of visiting with a friend of hers whose husband had died. They went out the graveyard where the husband had been buried and they began to share together memories of their life and their relationship it was a meaningful time as they probed in memory and got in touch with all the joyful times of their life. But then there was silence. No one seemed to have anything else to say. All of a sudden, Liz the little daughter of Edna Lashon’s friend, sprang from the group and suddenly ...

4339. Living By The Spirit

Galatians 5:16-25

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

When I was a boy, back in the Stone Age when we rode dinosaurs to school, one of the things my brothers and I looked forward to was when my Mom bought fruit cocktail. That might seem odd for some of our young people because today, in our global economy, we can walk into the store and buy almost any fruit or vegetable any time we want. But back then, we were dependent upon fruit and vegetables being in season. Besides, fresh fruit (other than apples) was seen as a luxury of sorts. That why having fruit ...

4340. Hope That God Is Nearby

Isaiah 7:1-25

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

I made a discovery some time ago on the word processor that I want to share with you. The difference between the phrase ‘God is nowhere’ and ‘God is now here’ is one tap on the space bar. A. For Some People, God Is Nowhere. He Is Non-Existent. Atheist Richard Dawkins writes, “God is a delusion. I suspect there are a lot of people out there who have been brought up in religion, are unhappy in it, don’t believe it, and wish they could leave it, but just don’t know that leaving is an option. Being an atheist ...

4341. Time to Get Wet

Revelation 22:1-6

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

The governor of Washington state just signed a new series of "sin taxes" into effect. The items being taxed include the usual suspects: tobacco products and beer (though NOT beer produced by micro-breweries). But there is a new sinful category: you can now add "snack food" to the roster of iniquity. But the most anticipated money raiser for the state is the "sin tax" on are you ready for this? bottled water. From now on if you want to indulge in guzzling a bottle of H2O, it’s going to cost you. Just over ...

4342. Who Will Cast the First Stone?

John 7:45--8:11

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

There is a down home story about a small town veterinarian who had invented an instrument with which, he boasted, even a child could administer a capsule to a horse, no matter how unruly or reluctant the horse might be. One summer the vet went to county fair to demonstrate his new invention. They couldn’t find anyone who would permit his horse to be a part of the experiment, but they did find a mule, and soon a crowd had gathered to watch. Undaunted, the veterinarian inserted a long glass tube into the ...

4343. That The World May Believe

John 17:20-26

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

In one of his writings, Thomas Carlyle told of a country boy who went to a fancy dinner. In the midst of the meal, he got a piece of hot potato in his mouth. Much to the embarrassment of all those dignified ladies and gentlemen there at the table, he spit the piece of potato out and put it back on his plate. Then he looked around at the shocked faces of all those gentled people and said, “You know, a fool would have swallowed that.” We come today in our preaching through John’s GospeI to the 17th chapter. ...

4344. Three Wise Women

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Almost every Christmas pageant has the procession of the three wise men bearing their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. I’m going to preach about those three wise men next Sunday. But today, I’m talking about three wise women. There were many significant women in Jesus’ life. In fact, someday I’m going to do a series by that title - “The Women in Jesus’ Life.” Today I want to focus upon three of those women – Three wise women, and simply highlight what they have to teach us and the inspiration they ...

4345. The Kingdom for Which We Long

Matthew 13:31-35, Matthew 13:44-46, Matthew 13:47-52

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

We’ve a story to tell to the nations, That shall set their hearts to the right. A story of truth and mercy, A story of peace and light. For the darkness shall turn to dawning, And dawning to noonday bright. And Christ’s great kingdom shall come on earth, A kingdom of love and light. Do you believe that? We come to the second petition in the Lord’s Prayer this morning and it may take the greatest faith and the greatest imagination of all that we are taught to pray. So we pray “Thy kingdom come, thy will be ...

4346. The Power of a Single Life

2 Corinthians 6:3-13

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

My particular profession causes me to spend a lot of time in the cemetery. The messages on tombstones, especially in older cemeteries, never cease to fascinate me. Some are funny: “Here lies my wife, here let her lie, now she’s at peace and so am I.” Some are sad: “Here lies the body of a man who died; nobody mourned, nobody cried, how he lived, how he fared, nobody knows, nobody cared.” Some are tender: “Gracie Allen and George Burns Together Again.” Some are instructive: “My dear friends, as you pass by ...

4347. The Road of Joy

Philippians 4:4-7

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

Browse through any local book store and you will be bombarded with books on joy. Joy of Cooking, Joy of Sex, Joy of Not Working, The Complete Joy of Home Brewing –just to name a few. Our Advent word for consideration today is JOY. The Bible is full of joyful sayings: “The joy of the Lord is our strength" (Nehemiah 8:10) “Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy" (Luke 2:10) “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say, Rejoice!" (Philippians 4:4) A nervous pastor conducting his first Christmas Eve Candle ...

4348. Having Fun with The Great Commission

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

I find it interesting that today as we commemorate the Trinity doctrine, the church assigns the Bible reading that includes Jesus' Great Commission — Jesus' mandate to go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19). You can't do evangelism without believing in the Trinity, proclaiming the Triune God in whose name we baptize. And to believe in the Trinity, it seems, is to be an evangelist. That's the way it's supposed to work, but it does not feel that simple when you hear these words as calling you ...

4349. When You’re Free (In Christ), Sacrifice Is No Burden!

Matthew 10:24-39

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

It takes a lot to be a Christian; you have to make your share of sacrifices. That is the popular version of Christianity. Megachurch pastor, Rick Warren, teaches, on the basis of our gospel lesson for today, that "each of us will have to give a personal account to God." Eternal rewards are at stake if we have served others with our lives.1 That is only part of the story. Those concerned with purpose-driven living make it too hard, but also too easy. The whole story is evident in today's gospel lesson. ...

4350. Stop, Drop, Cover, and Roll!

Isaiah 7:10-16

Sermon

Tony Everett

Pastor Terry had planned what she anticipated would be an excellent children's message for the fourth Sunday of Advent. Using today's text, she intended to illustrate for the children and for the congregation the vital importance of paying attention to the signs of the coming Christ Child that God gives us. Her key verse was Isaiah 7:14a: "Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign." She had painstakingly constructed a "stop" sign, using red construction paper, a white marker, and a wooden dowel. ...

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