Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 4451 to 4475 of 5000 results

4451. God Will Take Care of You

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

During the long, hot days of summer, dinner-time seems to get pushed back further and further into the evening. In some places it's just too hot to think about cooking and eating a big meal until well after the sun has slid below the horizon. Families who have kids running a hundred different directions - to day-camps, to the pool or the lake, to friends' houses - can't seem to get everyone collected back home for a meal until the evening is well advanced. But maybe we can all stand to wait for dinner a ...

4452. A Talent for Life

Romans 8:1-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Scientists who study the tropical rainforests have succeeded in drawing attention to an entirely new ecosystem. It's an ecological niche quite separate from that of the high mountains, meadows and valleys, the plains or deserts, the estuaries or open waters. In fact, this ecosystem exists within the rainforest. Yet, because human beings walk on two legs, because we're ground-dwelling creatures, we miss it entirely. All one has to do to experience this unique ecosystem is to look up. In the dense, inter- ...

4453. Cross Purposes

Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

All around the upper ledges of the curved glass windows in our living room perches a collection of dappled and dimpled art glass tumblers. These brightly colored tumblers come from an old family collection. They were put together long ago by grandparents long gone. They bring hundreds of different shades and hues of color into the room on a sunny day. Of course, our house is also located in an earthquake zone. In fact, every year at least a couple low-number, rocking-n-rattling sessions roll through the ...

4454. Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord

Ephesians 1:15-23

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

There's a new morning ritual. We've only engaged in this ritual activity the last few years. But let's acknowledge how our morning rituals have changed in a very short time. The ritual? Actually it's not just a morning ritual. It's an all-day ritual. But it's most heavy in the morning: deleting the overnight invasion of junk e-mails. In this massive assault, there are always two or three cut-rate, can't-pass-it-up, how-can-you-not-consider-buying-this ads for life insurance policies. Visual versions also ...

4455. From Real Life to Resurrection Life

Matthew 28:1-10

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

It's time to get real about Reality TV. Don't you think? Does anyone out there not have just a little bit of trouble swallowing the bait that those Survivor, Fear Factor, Amazing Race, Bachelor/Bachelorette, Wife Swap programs are Reality TV? Get Real! How many times does your real life demand that you immerse yourself in a vat of cockroaches? How many of you frequently bungee jump down your office building to get to work? When is the last time a dozen GQ/Victoria's Secret suitors begged for the chance to ...

4456. No Bones about It

Ezekiel 37:1-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

There's a kids' parlor game called Gossip. In Gossip a whispered message makes its way around a giggling circle. The final recipient of the gossip message declares just what was whispered in their ear - and the one who started the gossip reveals what the message held originally. The two reports are almost always hugely different. From mouth-to-ear, again and again, the gossip gets garbled, misheard, and turned backwards so that the original words have little in common with their final version. The same ...

4457. The Curse of the Cross

1 Corinthians 1:10-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

It's one of our more questionable rites of passage as we grow into adolescence and early adulthood. Suddenly it's cool to curse. I know I'm the only one who went through this rite of passage as a teenager. I admit it. I didn't just sow wild oats. I planted a prairie. And that prairie was planted partly by words that my Appalachian gramma would wash my mouth out with soap for saying. Those same swear words that as a child caused me to gasp - and when my brothers would use them, I'd get the culprit into big ...

4458. Yellow Lights

2 Thessalonians 2:1-12

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Am I the only one here this morning addicted to classic cartoons? Say Donald Duck? Sylvester the Cat? Alvin the Chipmunk? Remember how one of them, let's say Donald Duck, would sometimes find himself confronting a moral dilemma (steal Pluto's stuff, eat Tweety Bird, drive Daisy crazy)? While considering this dilemma in the cartoon scenario, two figures would appear over the character's head: one red with horns and a tail, the other clothed in fluffy white with wings and a halo. Evil and good - a devil and ...

4459. Unchained Melody

2 Timothy 1:1-2:13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

We're in the midst of a war. It's a war whose progression we can chart with absolute confidence. What started out as undeclared skirmishes has steadily escalated into a head-to-head battle in the last few months. It's going to get worse. In the next three weeks there will be no holds barred, no holding back, as the warring forces focus all their weapons, all their resources, all their powers, upon each other. Thankfully this war has a definitive end-date. This is a war-of-words, a conflict-of-ideas, a ...

4460. Low Carb Christianity

Luke 14:25-35

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

With every new diet craze that sweeps our increasingly plump continent, a tremendous transformation takes place. Alas, not in the pudgy body shapes that struggle towards trimness. But on the grocery shelves of our local supermarkets. Have you noticed the transformation? (At this point you may want to hold up some of these items you're talking about.) Our foodstuffs are changed from their most basic forms so that they fit whatever diet regimen reigns supreme. First, it was banning sugar. Suddenly sugar-free ...

4461. A Brand New Church Out of an Old Brand

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Who says it's a "brand" new world? I'll bet every one of you can fill in the best-known product that goes with each of the following brand names. Let's try it. · Wrigley · Singer · Gillette · Nabisco · Kellogg's · Kodak · Sherwin Williams · Del Monte · Campbell's · Levi · Coca-Cola These are the brands that built America. Each one of them was established with its basic product before 1925. Each one is still totally recognizable seventy-five years later. The term "brand" originally derived from the stamping ...

4462. The Ultimate Thanksgiving Feast

Luke 17:11-19

Sermon

King Duncan

There is a time-honored story about four brothers who left home for college. They became successful doctors and lawyers and prospered. Some years later, they chatted after having dinner together. They discussed the gifts they were able to give their elderly mother who lived far away in another city. The first said, “I had a big house built for Mama.” The second said, “I had a hundred thousand dollar theater built in the house.” The third said, “I had my Mercedes dealer deliver an SL600 to her.” The fourth ...

4463. Move Life from Duty to Destiny

Luke 21:5-38

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Theme: Here is all you and I need to know about the future: It will be filled with Christ’s Presences, and fulfilled with his Promises. This is our destiny as disciples of Jesus: filled presences, and fulfilled promises. Exegesis: “The Word-Made-Flesh . . .” The gospel text for this Sunday before Thanksgiving Sunday continues the theme of last week’s lectionary reading: predictions of impending destruction and the approach of the end times. Though it is not explicitly stated, the presumed audience here is ...

4464. Thanks for Nothing!

Luke 21:5-38

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

The Thanksgiving edition of the dream-food magazine Gourmet features – guess what? – an exquisite turkey dinner on the cover. Inside this special holiday edition are upscale recipes for, guess what? Stuffing, cranberries, squash, green beans, and pumpkin pie. Although a few snooty ingredients are scattered throughout Gourmet's versions of these old favorites (Shitake mushrooms, black truffles), no matter how you stuff it, Gourmet's Thanksgiving dinner feast is still just good old turkey with dressing and ...

4465. Conversion to Christ

Jeremiah 23:1-8

Sermon

Richard Gribble

Once upon a time there was a beautiful garden that was owned by an ugly and unfriendly Giant. This was truly a lovely spot -- the flowers bloomed in abundance, the peach trees always seemed to have their springtime blossoms, and the birds sang sweetly in the trees. Each day after school, children came and played in the Giant's garden. One day the Giant, who had been away visiting his friend the Cornish Ogre for seven years, returned to his home and garden. He grew angry when he observed the children ...

4466. Don't Forget the Mustard

Luke 17:1-10

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Not so very long ago the pharmacy and the pantry were one and the same. Curatives and restoratives were cooked up at home, not picked up at the drug store. It is hard for us to realize that 1914 was really the first year when a trip to the doctor made you better. Long before scientific discoveries revealed the inner workings of penicillin, digitalis, or even aspirin, old wives and herbologists prescribed moldy bread for coughs, supplied foxglove for the faint-hearted, and urged headache sufferers to chew ...

4467. House of Jesus

John 14:5-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Description: The House of Dior and other well-known "Houses" have defining characteristics that are keys to their longevity. In this session, you'll identify characteristics of the House of Jesus and discover how to implement them into your ministry. As Robert Shaw was not the first to point out, in medieval times the church saved the arts; however, in postmodern times, the arts just might save the church. Introduction: The high fashion industry is organized according to houses. · House of Dior · House of ...

4468. Poison Control

Romans 7:7-25

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

It's every parent's nightmare. You walk into the room only to see your toddler happily playing with open bottles of pills. The contents of several bottles spilled across the floor. This was the sight we took in one suspiciously quiet morning when our daughter was about eighteen months old. Somehow she had created a climbing wall for herself that had enabled her to reach a high-shelf basket containing a cornucopia of "cure-it-yourself" vitamin pills. Also nestled somewhere in the bottom of the basket was ...

4469. The CatWalk Church and the CrossLove Church

John 15:1-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Say "Green Bay Packers fan" and what do you think of? Anyone? That's right. Cheese hats. Say "Peabody Hotel" and what do you think of? Anyone? That's right. Ducks. At the classy Peabody Hotel in Memphis, TN, hundreds come to lunch every day for one specific reason. It's not that the chef is glamorous or that the deserts are gigantic or that the menu is gastronomic. That all may be true. But that's not why they come. No, the diners come for the ducks. Not to eat duck. But to watch ducks. The Peabody Hotel ...

4470. The Lamb's Book of Life

John 1:29-34

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Try flipping through the video void any day without landing in the numerical region inhabited by "reality" talk-show TV – Montel, Maury Povich, Sally-Jesse, Ricki Lake, and so on. Whether they had all synchronized their programming schedules or not, on this particular afternoon, every single one of them featured paternity suits. Has anyone here ever seen one of these? There's one woman versus two or three sweating, nervous guys all waiting to find out – thanks to the wonders of DNA testing – who was the ...

4471. The Miracle Molecule

John 4:1-26

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Today's gospel story is all about a miracle molecule called water. Any water people here? I don't mean sun people who gather at the water because of the sun. I mean true water people. Swimmers? Surfers? Fishermen/women? Boaters? Bathers? Hot-tubbers? Islanders? Anyone here ever spend a night on an island somewhere? If you live on an island (like we do Orcas Island, Washington State), you're surrounded on all sides by water, cut off from easy access to the rest of the state, and the country. Islanders are ...

4472. The Real Winning Attitude

1 Timothy 6:3-10

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

"The one who dies with the most toys wins." Have you seen that bumper-sticker? In the yuppified, narcissistic eighties, that single saying became the defining declaration among possession-possessed up-and-comers. As people surrounded themselves with hot new cars, snazzy stereo systems and miscellaneous gizmos, gadgets, and gratuitous consumerism, the popular mantra was everywhere: "The one who dies with the most toys wins!" Everybody loves to win. And everyone loves a winner. Winning brings a sense of ...

4473. Christianity's First Sermon

Luke 23:26-43

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Theme: On this Christ the King Sunday, we remember how Jesus, “the King of the Jews,” wants to be Jesus, “the King of hearts” in each of our lives. The Word-Made-Flesh . .. Exegesis of Luke 23:33-43 Today is “Christ the King Sunday.” The Sunday before Advent begins its four week count-down to the crib of the infant Jesus. In the church’s liturgical calendar this is the Sunday we celebrate Christ’s divine kingship, his ruling authority over all of creation. Then we try not to get whiplash as we turn the ...

4474. What's Your Status Symbol?

Acts 10:23b-48

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Walk onto the parking lot of any car dealership and you have entered the most hallowed ground of Status-Symbol Central. Nobody loves their cars like we do in the USA. A car symbolizes first freedom for teenagers. It's a taste we seem to crave until our final days. But obviously there is far more to an automobile that simply an independent means of transportation. Look around the car lot. Do you see any Ford Warthogs? How about a Chevy Leech? A Dodge Kudzu or Pontiac Pansy-ragwort? How about a Cadillac ...

4475. ASAP

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Last month one of the "My Turn" articles in Time magazine featured the experience of a dad bringing his daughter back home from her first year away at college. It was a west-to-east coast journey, made over the course of a few long days of driving. Father and daughter held long conversations. The dad navigated, picking main routes, by-passes, restaurants, and over-night stops. The daughter drove, chose all the music, and chatted with her other girlfriends. But Dad never left the house on the east coast. ...

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