Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 4451 to 4475 of 4934 results

4451. Shaped By The Fire

Acts 2:1-21

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

Did you hear about the woman who called the fire department one day. She was very agitated, "Come as quick as you can," she cried, "my house is on fire." Then she hung up. A few minutes later she called back, and "Hurry, hurry as fast as you can, it's spread from the kitchen to the dining room." And then she hung up, again. A few minutes later, she called one more time, this time, with the volunteer fire crew all ready to roll the dispatcher said, "OK, lady, just calm down and tell us how to get there." It ...

4452. The Awful Grace of Amazing Grace

2 Corinthians 5:16-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

“Feel the burn.” Ever hear that phrase? Anyone know what it means? . . . [You can make this into a karaoke moment.] “Feel the burn” is what coaches and trainers tell their athletes. Or for other of us, “feel the burn” is what trainers tell their middle-bulging middle-agers trying to get back in shape. The wisdom behind the wit of “feel the burn” is that it is only when our muscles, our endurance, our bodies are pushed beyond the usual that we start to build new muscles, more endurance, a healthier body. Or ...

4453. Shaped By the Fire

Acts 2:1-21

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

A mother asked her little girl if she would like an ice cream sundae. The little girl replied, "I don't want to wait until Sunday... I want ice cream NOW." (1) Have you ever waited expectantly for something? Christmas day, your Wedding Day, a birthday, commissioning. There's that whole jittery sense of anticipation. Well, that's sort of the way I've felt about this sermon. Partly because it's Pentecost Sunday, the day we received the outpouring of God's Holy Spirit and the day we celebrate as the birthday ...

4454. Come To the Water

Matthew 3:13-17

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

I read about a United Methodist preacher whose whole confirmation class decided they wanted to be baptized by immersion. It was one of those grand events with almost the whole congregation there at the local river. Parents were in tears, grandparents stood by proud and crying too as these young people made that momentous decision in their lives. Other youth and children stood in awe and wonder, filled with curiosity because most of them had never witnessed a baptism by immersion. All of that wonderful ...

4455. Taught by a Golden Calf

Exodus 32:1-33:6

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

“Atheism is not our greatest danger, but a shadowy sense of God’s reality.” That’s the contention of Harry Emerson Fosdick, and I agree. Our problem is not atheism how many atheists do you know? That which is destroying the moral fiber of our nation, weakening the Christian witness, and turning Christian churches into reflections of the club mentality of a secular age is a shadowy sense of God’s reality. Just let that image tumble around in your mind for a moment - a shadowy sense of God’s reality. ...

4456. Jesus' Baptism: Affirmed by God

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Any experience may be perceived differently by those involved. John was an old man and he lay dying. His wife of many years was sitting close by. He opened his eyes for a moment, and saw her and said, “There you are Agnes, at my side again.” She smiled faintly and fluttered her eyes and said, “Yes, dear, here I am.” Then John said, “Looking back, I remember all the times you were at my side. You were there when I got my draft notice and had to go off to fight in the war. You were there when our first house ...

4457. The Power to Begin Again

Acts 3:12-19

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

Being married to a public school teacher, I have always been fond of this old poem: He came to my desk with quivering lips, The lesson was done. Dear Teacher, “I want a new sheet," he said, “I spoiled this one." I took the old sheet, stained and blotted and gave him a new one, all unspotted, And into his sad eyes smiled, “Do better now my child." I came to God with a quivering soul The old life was done. Dear Father, “Have you a new life for me? I spoiled this one." He took the old life, stained and ...

4458. Responding to God

1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20)

Sermon

Richard Gribble

We are all familiar with the term "late-bloomers." It refers to people who respond later in life to an invitation and manage in the end to accomplish great things. History has known some famous late-bloomers. Fortunately for us, early or late they followed their special invitation offered by God. Anton Bruckner was a late-bloomer. Many people do not know the name of Bruckner, but those who listen to classical music certainly know him. Bruckner lived in nineteenth-century Austria as a butcher and part-time ...

4459. The Need for Transformation

Jonah 3:1-5, 10

Sermon

Richard Gribble

The Bishop of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris was known to be a great evangelist and preacher who would reach out to unbelievers, scoffers, and cynics. He liked to tell the story of a young man who, many years earlier, stood outside the cathedral and almost on a daily basis would shout derogatory slogans at people entering the church to worship. He would call them fools and all kinds of names. The people tried to ignore him but it was quite difficult. One day, the cathedral's rector went outside to confront ...

4460. Three O’Clock at the Temple

Acts 3:12-19

Sermon

Ken Lentz

A church caught on fire. An elderly man came running to join the others who had come to throw water. After the fire was under control, the minister said to the old gent, "Why, John, this is the first time I've ever seen you at church!" John replied, "This is the first time I've ever seen this church on fire." Many have reduced the number of visits to the neighborhood church. They are, perhaps, tired of unpolished, irrelevant sermons. Perhaps the worship is done by rote and boring, not inspirational, but ...

4461. The Place beyond Punishment

Sermon

Donna Schaper

You can tell a lot about a family by finding out what happens if a child spills something. In some families, spilling your milk is a capital offense. A child can get in a lot of trouble if the milk is spilled. In other kinds of families, spilling your milk is understood as an accident, a thing that happened, and a form of chance or luck. In these families, there is no additional pain or punishment on top of the original pain of spilling. If you are in a poor family, you may not get anymore milk. There may ...

4462. Which Mask Will You Wear?

Matthew 23:1-39

Sermon

King Duncan

Tomorrow night is Halloween. In spite of the practice nowadays of thinking of Halloween as the Devil’s night, Halloween is actually a holiday with rich religious origins. The “Hallow” in Halloween comes from the same root as “Hallowed be Thy Name.” Halloween is the day before the traditional Christian celebration known as All Saints’ Day. It was intended to be a “hallow(ed) e’en.” Our tradition in which we think of ghosts and trick‑or‑treating comes from Celtic beliefs. The Celts believed that the souls of ...

4463. Proclamation Appointing a National Fast Day

Illustration

William H. Seward

Washington, D.C. March 30, 1863 Senator James Harlan of Iowa, whose daughter later married President Lincoln's son Robert, introduced this Resolution in the Senate on March 2, 1863. The Resolution asked President Lincoln to proclaim a national day of prayer and fasting. The Resolution was adopted on March 3, and signed by Lincoln on March 30, one month before the fast day was observed. By the President of the United States of America. A Proclamation. Whereas, the Senate of the United States, devoutly ...

4464. Responsible Living

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

King Duncan

Jeanie Duck is a single mother with a three-year-old daughter. One day a friend gave Jeanie a two-pound box of See’s dark chocolate nuts and chews. Being a chocolate lover, Jeanie was in heaven! As she was oohing and aahing over the box her daughter, Jennifer, joined in the excitement. This was a bad sign. If Jennifer was excited, it was because she expected to share in Jeanie’s newly acquired bounty. Clearly the only way Jeanie could get rid of her was to share some of her precious chocolate, so she gave ...

4465. The Jump To Judgment

Luke 6:39-49

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Mr. Jones picked up the wrong umbrella in a hotel, and the umbrella's rightful owner called his attention to it. Embarrassed, Mr. Jones offered his apologies, picked up the right one, and went on his way. But the incident served to remind Mr. Jones that he had promised to buy umbrellas for his wife and daughter, so he went across the street to a store and purchased one for each of them. As he came out from the store and began to get in his car — three umbrellas on his arm now — the man whose umbrella Mr. ...

4466. Luke 1:39-45, (46-55)

Luke 1:39-45

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

We have been “on the road to Bethlehem” throughout this Advent season. In this week’s final gospel reading before Christmas, that travel motif continues. What is the first thing Mary does after receiving the visitation of Gabriel and hearing the angel’s announcement of the child she will bear? She hits the road. Jesus’ own mission will be marked by constant movement, but his first journey was taken while in the womb. This visit of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth is the bow with which Luke’s narrative ties ...

4467. Be Shrewd

Luke 16:1-15

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Have you heard of the carnival barker who kept yelling “Alive! Alive! Here! Here! Did you ever see a two-headed baby? Come in! Come in!” The gaff is that they don’t have a two-headed baby inside the tent. They only asked if you ever saw one. This is the kind of shrewdness being celebrated in today’s Scripture reading. Carlos Fuentes (1928-2012), the Mexican novelist and playwright whom some called “the soul of Mexico,” gave a long interview about his writing shortly after he turned 50 and began to ...

4468. Dancing for Joy (Thanksgiving)

Philippians 4:2-9

Sermon

King Duncan

In 1998 there was a film that was nominated for seven Academy Awards. It was titled Life Is Beautiful. Life Is Beautiful is a touching story about an Italian Jewish family that is taken to a Nazi concentration camp during the Second World War. At the camp Guido, the father, uses his fertile imagination to shield his son Joshua from the horrors of life in this terrible place. He hides his son from the Nazi guards. He sneaks him food and tries to humor him. Guido does everything he can to hide their true ...

4469. Named, Claimed, and Framed

Acts 2:14-41

Sermon

Tony Everett

So, here we are just over one week after Easter Sunday. Vigils are finished. Sunrise services are over. Dishes from the youth breakfast have been washed and put away. Brass and tympani fanfares have concluded. Flowers on the cross have begun to wilt and blow away. Fewer pews are filled. In most communities, spring break is over. Easter vacations have ended. The return of familiar routines begin. The joy of Easter is still there, but it has diminished somewhat with a return to “the real world.” Nevertheless ...

4470. Israel Will Rise

Micah 7:8-13

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

Jerusalem’s Song of Trust (7:8-10): Ever since Hermann Gunkel of Germany in 1924 characterized Micah 7:8–20 as a prophetic liturgy, this oracle has been treated as the opening piece of that unit. But this brief passage, which in its tone so much resembles songs of trust found in the Psalter (cf. Ps. 4; 11; 16; 23; 27:1–6; 52; 131), should not be interpreted apart from what has gone before in 6:1–7:7. The setting of the court case (6:1–8) continues. Israel has been indicted (6:1–8); its sins, specified by ...

4471. Jacob Loved, Esau Hated

Malachi 1:1-5

Understanding Series

Pamela J. Scalise

The Superscription (1:1): 1:1 The superscription, or extended title, of the book of Malachi has two parts. First, it is called an oracle (massaʾ). This term also heads the books of Nahum (1:1) and Habakkuk (1:1), but elsewhere it appears in the headings of shorter units of speech, such as the oracles against the nations in Isaiah 13–23 and Zechariah 9–11 and 12–14. The word does not denote any particular type of content or literary genre. The same word also means “burden,” communicating the sense of the ...

4472. Vows, Redemption, and Tithes

Leviticus 27:1-34

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

Big Idea: Give to God both what is expected and more. Understanding the Text This chapter logically follows after the Jubilee regulations (Lev. 25), which it assumes (see 27:16–24). Leviticus 26’s grand theme of blessings for obedience and punishments for disobedience in some ways seems a more fitting conclusion to Leviticus than does Leviticus 27. Why does the content of Leviticus 27 follow Leviticus 26 rather than precede it? Did God reveal this material on vows and redemption subsequent to revealing the ...

4473. Reviewing the Past

Numbers 33:1-56

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

Big Idea: Reviewing God’s dealings in the past helps people to keep following God in the present. Understanding the Text All the major events in the book of Numbers are now complete. So this seems an appropriate occasion for the book to review what has gone before by listing campsites from Egypt to Canaan, starting with Rameses in Egypt, where Israel had lived, and ending at the plains of Moab with some forty campsites in between. Verses 1–15 take us to Mount Sinai. Verses 16–36 list camps in the desert. ...

4474. Playing One Hand

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

Sermon

Tom Garrison

In the beginning of any really significant human endeavor, be it a marriage or parenthood or a business venture, there is usually a high level of idealism and hope. We expect to do the thing we are beginning with great success. This was certainly true of Jesus' ministry. Who can read how he emerged out of Galilee saying, "The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of heaven is at hand, repent and believe the good news," and not sense the excitement and anticipation that was present in that act of beginning? And ...

4475. The Trumpets

Revelation 8:6--9:21

Understanding Series

Robert W. Wall

8:6 The significance of the seven trumpets has been variously appraised (Beasley-Murray, Revelation, pp. 152–56). According to John’s Bible (OT), Israel’s liturgical trumpets were sounded for a variety of reasons. They were used to convene the worshiping community (Num. 10:3), to begin pilgrimages (Num. 10:5), to call warriors for war (Num. 10:9), to celebrate the sacred feasts (Num. 10:10), to install new kings (1 Kings 1:34), and to summon Israel to repentance and renewal (Jer. 4:5). Seven trumpets were ...

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