Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 4401 to 4425 of 4977 results

4401. Being a Witness

Acts 2:14, 22-32

Sermon

Schuyler Rhodes

... the Beatles back in the late 1960s. Now, being a big fan, I've read lots of books about the Beatles. I've watched all the documentaries and television interviews. I own all their recordings, and I can play many of their songs on my guitar. Frankly, I know quite a lot about the Beatles, but meeting this guy who actually knew John Lennon back in London in the late 1960s? I sat mesmerized, listening to this fellow's stories for hours. Why? He was there. He was a witness. It was a step closer to the real thing ...

4402. Martyrdom Chic

Acts 7:55-60

Sermon

Schuyler Rhodes

... this collection of people might we offer God's incredible self-giving love? Think for a moment about our church community. Are there ways that we, as Christian community, might live more fully into the abundance of God's love? Are there ways we could quit worrying and — as Martin Luther King Jr. put it, "just do God's will"? What would our church community look like if we pooled all our efforts into being a community that focused all our energies on living for our faith? In raising up this possibility ...

4403. To Say Elohim

Genesis 1:1-2:4a

Sermon

Stan Purdum

... impersonal description. If we were looking for an English equivalent other than "God," we would probably have to settle for a descriptive phrase, something like, "the Supreme Being to whom all power belongs." Now in its own time, this verse was quite remarkable. Remember that was written in a time in history when almost nobody doubted that there were powers greater than themselves. In fact, most people believed in multiple gods: gods of the weather and gods of agriculture, gods of childbearing and gods ...

4404. Breakdowns and Breakthroughs

Genesis 22:1-14

Sermon

Stan Purdum

... . The Jewish Christians in the first-century Jerusalem church were being faithful to God both before and after their decision to open the church to Gentiles. Most of the people in earlier generations who denied women leadership roles in the church did so from quite sincerely held commitments to Christ. They were attempting to be faithful to the light as they saw it at that point. When they finally dealt with new information, some were able to revise their position. It is of interest to me that Methodism's ...

4405. The Land Where Our Fathers Had Lived

Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28

Sermon

David J. Kalas

... but futile effort to get the same kind of smile, the same rapport, the same approving slap on the back that Esau enjoyed from Isaac. Finally, one day Jacob got from Isaac precisely the kind of treatment typically reserved for Esau. Indeed, Jacob quite literally took something that had been reserved for Esau: Isaac's special blessing. That moment of deception — that one final, desperate, heel-grabbing effort to come out first — was the last straw. Jacob had to run away from home, while Esau stewed ...

4406. God’s Providence: The Long and Short of It

Genesis 45:1-15

Sermon

David J. Kalas

... . And a father whose heart had been broken by tragedy — and whose family had been broken by enmity — will see his son again and have his whole family reunited. The events that lead up to this happy ending were entirely guided by the providence of God. Joseph is quite clear on that point. Five times in as many verses, Joseph makes explicit reference to what God has done: "God sent me before you to preserve life" (v. 5). "God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for ...

4407. The Proof Is in the Pudding

Exodus 17:1-7

Sermon

David J. Kalas

... still more: "Why did you bring us and our children and our livestock here just to die of thirst?" This must have been a galling business for Moses. You remember that, back at the burning bush, he wanted nothing to do with this whole project. He was quite unwilling to take the assignment, but God effectively forced him into it. Now that they were out of Egypt, it was God who was setting the itinerary — leading with cloudy and fiery pillars — as well as setting the menu. But Moses was the one who had to ...

4408. Living on the Edge

Deuteronomy 34:1-12

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

... on Thursday, having kept her promise to care for her patients. Her faith sustained her through those dark days. During the most harrowing moments of Katrina, Ruby would recite Bible verses for guidance and strength. She believed that God would see her through the ordeal. Quite simply she said she was just doing her job — one she has carried out with boundless compassion for over 45 years. Ruby was a model of caregiving at a time when some health care providers abandoned their posts.2 God is at work in our ...

4409. The Victory Is Ours

Revelation 7:9-17

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

All Saints provides an opportunity to remember and give thanks for all the believers who have lived before us. Some of the saints are people we might have known quite well, we might recognize the names of others, and still there are many more numbering in the millions whose names and lives are known only to God. There are people we knew personally who impact our faith in profound ways: our parents, grandparents, other relatives, good friends, fellow church members, ...

4410. Forward March

Joshua 3:1-17

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

... years. No one could ever replace Moses. The transition from traveling to actually arriving and settling can be stressful. Recent graduates frequently feel that way after having completed years of study and then are thrust into the workforce where the expectations are quite different. The first day on a new job can bring about that same sense of foreboding, not knowing what is required of them. During those first days some might even feel that they should have stayed where they were and not have accepted ...

4411. A Question of Loyalty

Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

... on the mountain. The call was heard both near and far with everyone who was anyone traveling to the historically significant site. Joshua, as you recall, led the people into the promised land after Moses had died. The people had lived in the promised land for quite some time when our lesson unfolds. The view from the mountaintop was spectacular. On a clear day, from the top of Ebal, the people could see almost all the way to Jerusalem some forty miles to the south. To the north, the snowcapped Mount Hermon ...

4412. Reversal and Victory

Judges 4:1-7

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

... the Lord, and do what is evil in God's sight. We may have the best intentions but for some reason we sometimes fall short of what God requires from us. Sisera was the man responsible for bringing stress and uncertainty. He had assembled quite an army including a seemingly invincible, "nine hundred chariots of iron." Sisera "had oppressed the Israelites cruelly for twenty years." It was a time of crisis, of uncertainty, which apparently brought out the worst in the people. Imagine for a moment what it must ...

4413. Headed in the Right Direction

Romans 15:4-13

Sermon

John N. Brittain

... Abraham — but that becomes larger and larger the further it goes in time, producing a shape not like a line, but like megaphone; becoming larger and encompassing more and more area with each passing moment. And this is good news for everyone! Paul doesn't quite break into song to celebrate this expanse of God's love but he nearly does as he gives a paean of (to the original readers) familiar scripture passages ending in a benediction. He begins by quoting Psalm 18:49, "Therefore I will confess you among ...

4414. Not What You Expected

Hebrews 2:10-18

Sermon

John N. Brittain

... as a result of hearing the story. But, of course, there was a good boy in the village. Eventually, he came up with a plan: He lured the child-eating monster out of hiding, took his trusty machete (pronounced "match-it" in Belize), and quite graphically chopped the miserable creature to bits. Our college group was stunned. My early-childhood-professor wife would remind us all that the original Grimm Brothers' tales had a good bit of violence and that we have become too comfortable with the sweetened up ...

4415. The Vastness of Relationships

Ephesians 1:3-14

Sermon

John N. Brittain

... the lens of the local church. I should hasten to add that key lay people in most congregations become pretty good "semi-professional religionists" as well. So I may, for example, preach a sermon about serving God through Jesus Christ more fully and, quite naturally, choose my examples from a church list: singing in the choir, teaching Sunday school, helping with the youth program. I may even broaden it a bit beyond my congregation perhaps by mentioning a short-term mission team being organized by a cluster ...

4416. No Partiality

Acts 10:34-43

Sermon

John N. Brittain

... how Peter had denied Jesus three times and to take some cheap shot at him for not understanding such a clear message from God three times? But if I reflect on how many times I have fumbled clear words from the Lord, I realize I better quit while I'm ahead. The phenomenon of misunderstanding did not stop at the end of the Old Testament. Upon his arrival at Cornelius' house, things seemed to click for Peter. Encountering a group of Gentiles in Cornelius' house he said, "You yourselves know that it is ...

4417. Caught in the Middle

1 Corinthians 1:1-9

Sermon

John N. Brittain

... second largest Protestant denomination in the USA), I am sometimes surprised by the number of active UMs who are as ignorant of the scope of our denomination as was the Brittain family of the extent of the late '50s McDonald's franchises. They may be quite active even at the district or conference level, but somehow just remain unaware of what is happening elsewhere in our world, which now includes everywhere. Not long ago I heard that there were more Anglicans at worship on any given Sunday in Nigeria than ...

4418. A Disconcerting Sight

1 Corinthians 3:1-9

Sermon

John N. Brittain

... as spiritual or unspiritual. Those who had the Spirit had accepted that God had made himself known in Jesus Christ. The problem is that at least some of the spiritual people in Corinth were acting in an unspiritual or unchristian manner. Paul is quite specific: They were exhibiting the unspiritual behaviors characterized by jealousy and quarrelling. Here is an example of Paul being more nuanced than we sometimes like. We can almost hear folks in Corinth asking, "Well do you think we are Christians or not ...

4419. By Whose Standards?

1 Corinthians 4:1-5

Sermon

John N. Brittain

... what Paul is about. He is circling back to the issue with which he had begun, namely divisions in the Corinthian church focused on a preference for one leader over another: "I belong to Apollos, I belong to Cephas." This dividedness was quite understandable. They, like we, had different personalities and preferences, so the preaching of one apostle would have struck more of a chord than that of others. Those who were converted under the preaching of a certain apostle would have felt an identification not ...

4420. For Example

Romans 4:1-5, 13-17

Sermon

David O. Bales

... in the nineteenth century. He shared some values of his day that seem strange to modern people, but you'll find that he was in many ways far advanced in his own time. He was instrumental in ending slavery in the world, which took our United States quite a while to get around to doing. In reading about David Livingstone, you'll discover a great deal about the Christian faith. You'll learn that Livingstone set out from Britain to Africa clutching only the promise that the risen Christ would never leave him or ...

4421. Spiritual Judo

Romans 5:1-11

Sermon

David O. Bales

... in and talk to the principal about his son (for the second time in three weeks). His father-in-law was 35 miles away, dying in a hospital. His mother-in-law was temporarily living with him and his wife. His mother-in-law was deeply disturbed as well as quite frail; thus he and his family spent as much time and energy caring for her as caring for his father-in-law in the hospital. When he'd left his house, his car had a flat. By the time he dashed toward the principal's office, his mind was hardly ...

4422. A Big Enough Reason

1 Peter 2:19-25

Sermon

David O. Bales

... attitudes and behaviors to practice; and when you're a slave, just having something you can do in your circumstances gives you hope. We listen to Peter and we also receive guidance; because we always live within limitations that we can't control, not quite slavery, but never complete freedom either. Peter's advice centers us on Jesus. Jesus lived as a servant and died a slave's death. Peter writes, "Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example." The word "example" in the original language was either ...

4423. So, Explain It to Me

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

... that this is what we "gotta" believe, if we want to be a Christian. Sometimes I get the impression that when we teach the Trinity to our young people, what we are essentially telling them is "Shut up and believe it!" The Trinity is really something altogether quite different. We miss the point of the doctrine of Trinity and what it is to accomplish when we treat it as some sort of ideology or doctrine that we "have to" accept and believe. Rather, the doctrine of the Trinity is the result of our experience ...

4424. Righteous!

Romans 1:16-17; 3:22b-31

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

... to do enough and be sure that he was righteous. He refused to accept the rationalizations of anyone. His conscience would not let him rest because he knew that he was still falling short. The righteousness of God always remained out of his reach. He was never quite able to possess it. After a while, he began to wonder what God was doing to him. God seemed to be cruel and demanding. At times, Luther sounded like that great observer of modern American life, Woody Allen, who many years later commented on the ...

4425. Captive Free!

Romans 7:15-25a

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

... the victim of an unhealthy social environment created by poverty, poor education, or neglectful parenting. Sin is the result of low self-esteem. A little determination here or moral instruction there (Give 'em the Ten Commandments!) can make everything right. For Paul, dealing with sin is not quite so easy. It is not even so easily explained. For Paul, sin is captivity to a power from which he cannot escape. Regardless of how hard he tries, "I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I ...

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