Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 4376 to 4400 of 4508 results

4376. Celebrate!

Illustration

Johnny Dean

There is an old, historic village in Salem, North Carolina. Every Easter morning, in the early hours of this day, thousands of people, many of them tourists who have come especially for this event, make their way towards the courtyard in front of a 200-year-old church, founded by the Moravians. Before daylight, five hundred members of various brass bands echo hymns from different parts of the city...

4377. The Easter Season

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

The Development Of The Season The resurrection of Jesus Christ is, of course, the focal point of the Christian faith. In the primitive church there was no special day singled out to celebrate the Lord's resurrection. Every Sunday was a mini-celebration of the Lord's victory. Since the resurrection occurred around the same time as the Jewish Passover, early Christians referred to the church's chie...

4378. The Resurrection of Our Lord

Bulletin Aid

First Lesson: Acts 10:34-43 Theme: Easter as God's "Yes" Exegetical note The heart of the kerygmatic recapitulation contained in Peter's speech to Gentiles here is his view of the resurrection (in v. 40) as God's validation of Jesus after the crucifixion. The latter was the "no" of humanity (designated with an indefinite "They") to Jesus' ministry, while Jesus was God's resounding, and ultimatel...

4379. He Is ALIVE!

Children's Sermon

Robert B. Lantz

Object: Angels, open tomb, or lily on cards or stickers He is alive! He is alive! He is alive! That was the message of the angels who greeted Jesus' friends at the empty tomb on Easter morning! Can you imagine how shocked and surprised and excited and scared those people were when they saw angels and an empty grave? After Jesus died on the cross and was buried in a borrowed tomb, all of his foll...

4380. What If It's True?

Sermon

Lori Wagner

[Optional Prop: A flower OR if you dare, a horned toad (rubber will do)] Happy Resurrection Day, everyone. “I know that my redeemer liveth.” Samuel Goldwyn (1879-1974) was one of the most famous film producers in Hollywood history. He became famous, not just for his movie and production skills, but for his witticisms, like Yogi Berra after him. Goldwyn said this about a certain screenwriter: “We p...

4381. Easter Vigil

Sermon Aid

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

OLD TESTAMENT TEXTS The Old Testament lessons for the Easter Vigil represent a wide sweep of texts that explore the mighty acts of God as both savior and creator. The central text for the Easter Vigil is the account of Israel's salvation at the Reed Sea in Exodus 14:10-31; 15:20-21. The actions of God in our world—from creation to the full realization of a distant future salvation—are all viewed...

4382. Forgiven

Sermon

April Yamasaki

Instead of making new year’s resolutions, each year I like to choose a key word to help set my direction for the coming year. One year I chose “wonder,” which for me meant being curious, exploring new things, and asking questions. It meant being filled with wonder at God’s creation and work in the world and in my own life. That year it seemed as if the word had chosen me, for as soon as I settled ...

4383. He's Not Dead Anymore

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

Good morning and welcome to our celebration of Easter, the most important day in the history of humanity, the day when Jesus Christ rose from the grave, defeated the power of death, and secured for us eternal life. Christians all over the world begin their celebration this day by loudly proclaiming some variation of the word “Hallelujah!” which means “Praise the Lord!” So, I invite you now to say ...

4384. Jesus and the Women in His Life

Sermon

Thomas Blowers

Jesus was a traveling preacher and a teacher. His ministry officially began when he selected a handful of men to follow him. Among them were two sets of brothers, Simon and Andrew, James and John, whom he recruited at the shore of the lake. But the actual number of people who followed was usually much larger. I know this for a fact because I was part of that larger crowd. Everyday people came loo...

4385. The Power of the Stone

Sermon

Lori Wagner

[You can make this sermon interactive by handing out river rocks/stones for people to hold in their hands.] Stones. They fascinate us. We love to look at them. We assemble collections of them. We place them into museums of natural history. We chisel them. We wear them. We admire them. We love to identify their types and origins. Whole fields of science have been dedicated just to the study of r...

4386. What If It's ALL True?

Sermon

Lori Wagner

4387. The Guards' Report

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

The Resurrection: The resurrection stands as the cornerstone of the Christian faith. The crucial importance of this historic event is clearly set forth by Paul in the fifteenth chapter of First Corinthians. If there is no resurrection, then Christ has not been raised (v. 13), faith is useless (v. 14), the apostolic witness is false (v. 15), believers are still in their sins (v. 17) and are to be p...

4388. A Spooky Kind of Love

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Last week we remembered that Jesus walks beside us even when we don’t notice He is there. This week we are reminded that God is in charge, even when we try to take matters into our own hands! There’s an old saying, “Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.” The phrase was coined by Allen Saunders in a Reader’s Digest article in 1957, later appropriated by John Lennon in his song,...

4389. The True Story Wins

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Prop: a stone or rock, some scissors, and paper; a basket of stones or rocks that can be handed out Participation: During the sermon, all can participate using the hand motions of “rock, paper, scissors” Are you a liar? That might be a question asked of you if you live in the mountains of West Virginia, where the art of storytelling is called “lying.” It is every artist’s desire to become a “gre...

4390. God Deep In The Flesh

Sermon

Marc Kolden

Our gospel reading today from Matthew 28 is both famous and familiar. Most of us have heard it many times. It is Jesus' "Great Commission" to the eleven disciples shortly after his resurrection. The disciples go to the mountaintop and the risen Christ comes to them in the midst of their doubts and astonishment and speaks those amazing words: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to ...

4391. Our Own Mountaintop Walk

Sermon

Leonard H. Budd

Matthias was the 13th of the 12 disciples! He had been chosen by lot to fill the 12th spot when Judas had removed himself from the close circle of Jesus' followers. Matthias had followed the crowds down from the Galilee and had been close to all the disciples through much of the teaching years. And so, with the casting of the lots that picked him, Matthias joined the inner circle of disciples. He ...

4392. On Polishing Up the 24 Karat Jesus

Sermon

James Weekley

A newly appointed minister was preparing to deliver his first sermon. As expected, he was as nervous as a long tail cat in a room full of rocking chairs. In his introduction he misquoted Jesus as follows, "I have come to heal the dead, cast out the sick, and raise the devil." Jesus did not want to be misquoted. In fact, he wanted to make his lasting impressions stick. How could the disciples ever...

4393. The Majesty Of God's Love

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

Today we celebrate Jesus' ascension into heaven. Our gospel lesson from Matthew does not directly speak of our Lord's ascension, but it does provide some clues regarding its significance. It has to do with Jesus' great commission ("to make disciples of all nations [Matthew 28:19])" and its relationship to the Trinity. Somehow Jesus' ascension represents an internal divine commitment by God that he...

4394. Holy Arithmetic!

Sermon

Johnny Dean

It hardly seems possible, but it’s been almost 12 years now since I first stepped into a pulpit to preach. In fact, it was the second Sunday in June 1987. How well I remember that terrifying experience! Shortly after I had gone to my pastor and talked with him concerning this vague sense of calling to ministry that I was experiencing, he suggested that I preach while he was on vacation. By doing t...

4395. You Are A Teacher

Children's Sermon

Brett Blair

Exegetical Aim: To help the children see themselves as teachers of the Gospel. Props: Tray, Knife, Bread, Peanut Butter, Jelly. Lesson: Good Morning! (response) What are we going to make this morning? (peanut butter and jelly sandwich) Yes, we are and I am going to need your help. What's the first thing we need? (bread) Pick up a slice of bread and hold it in one hand. What's the next thing you do...

4396. The Triune God

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe ...

4397. Our Three-Faced God

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

In my home town, Pottsville, Pennsylvania, where I grew up as a boy, there is the county courthouse situated on one of the hills. Arising out of the center of the building was a high tower with a clock on it. The clock had four faces to enable townspeople to see the time from any direction. As a boy, I was always captivated by the clock because I wondered whether there were four clocks each with a...

4398. The State Of The Church

Sermon

Robert Allen

The day after Christmas we carefully made our way out of town on the ice. We were on our way to South Padre Island for a few days of rest and fun. It is a long drive to South Texas, and we were glad to finally arrive. When we found the leasing agent for the condo we had rented, I went inside to get the key. When I went inside the office, the woman at the desk was on the phone speaking Spanish to s...

4399. Achieving Peak Performance

Sermon

Mark Trotter

I have always been interested in those people who make speeches for a living, the professionals, the ones who speak at conventions, banquets and motivation seminars. They call themselves, "hired gums." I will confess to a certain degree of envy when I read or hear about them. Not because of the exorbitant fees that they charge, but because they give one speech over and over again. Preachers can't ...

4400. All Keyed Up

Sermon

Mark Trotter

There is an old story about a man who went to a doctor for a physical examination. The examination was concluded, and the doctor said, "Sit down. I have good news for you. You are in perfect health. In fact, you have the health of a man half your age." The man thanked the doctor, got up and headed for the door. When he got near the door, he collapsed, and died on the spot. The doctor said to the n...

Showing 4376 to 4400 of 4508 results