Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 426 to 450 of 1185 results

426. Christmas Every Day

John 1:1-18

Sermon

T. A. Kantonen

... overcome evil. But these resources must be appropriated. This means that the story of the birth of the baby in Bethlehem is only the preface to the birth of the Christ-life in the hearts of men and women, of boys and girls. When Christmas ceases to be a seasonal sentimental story and becomes a living experience, it produces changed lives, more sensitive, more unselfish and sympathetic, more patient and loving. It is for this that Phillips Brooks prayed: "Cast out our sin, and enter in, Be born in us today ...

427. Christ and Time

Galatians 3:26--4:7

Sermon

T. A. Kantonen

... in one of our loveliest Christmas carols: "Long lay the world in sin and error pining, Till he appeared and the soul found her worth." In our own personal experience the soul finds its true worth when we make the transition from B.C. to A.D. Our life ceases to be "a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." We experience with Paul, "if any man is in Christ, he is a new creation." Christ gives our life meaning and worth and peace and enables us to leave behind something of lasting ...

428. Clear and Clean and Good

Titus 2:1-15

Sermon

T. A. Kantonen

... of Christ shall purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living God" (Hebrews 9:14). Christ gives us a conscience we can live with. Charles William Stubbs wrote these haunting lines: "I sat alone with my conscience In a place where time had ceased, And we talked of my former living In a land where the years increased. The ghosts of forgotten actions Came floating before my sight, And the things that I thought were dead things Were alive with a terrible might. And I know of the future judgment ...

429. The Dynamic Word

Isaiah 55:1-13

Sermon

T. A. Kantonen

... : He sticks his finger into existence and it smells of nothing. Driven by a demonic pursuit of the joy of living, supported only by himself, he dances over the abyss as a stone skimmed over the surface of the water skips lightly for a time, but as soon as it ceases to skip, it sinks down into the depths. The skipping may take the form of work or play, but it is punctuated by boredom and cynicism and it ends in the abyss. Whether he knows it or not, twentieth-century man needs to be energized by the Word of ...

430. The Choice Is Always Ours

Ecclesiastes 9:1-12

Sermon

Gregory J. Johanson

... when you have done all you can do, just stop; do no more; let the matter rest where it is. For there is nothing further that can be accomplished from initiating any motions that are superfluous or destructive. When the picture is clear in your view, cease your nervous and feverish efforts to do more than you can or need to do. When you thus summon your good senses, there comes an end to anxious concerns and nervous efforts. When impulsive - or compulsive - actions can be turned off, God delivers us from the ...

431. God, Alpha and Omega

Revelation 21:1-27

Bulletin Aid

Dallas A. Brauninger

... and at our ending. In the name of Christ. Amen. Prayer of Confession We wonder, O God, about what we cannot yet perceive. We know that our imaginings of life after death reflect our individual yearnings. If the physical body suffers now, later all suffering will cease. If our relating to others has been troublesome, later all such distress will be in the past. Bear with us, O God, until the time comes and we will know and finally will relax into your care. Amen. Hymns "Come, Let Us Join With Faithful Souls ...

432. Anything Better Than the Golden Rule?

Luke 6:27-36

Sermon

William G. Carter

... enemies, or act kindly to those who hate you, curse you, and harm you, there is no assurance your enemies will be kind to you. What is missing in the Golden Rule is a means to handle those occasions when the community breaks down, when people cease to take one another seriously, or when people call up the newspaper and leave anonymous complaints without any common responsibility. A good deed for others gives no assurance that others will be good to you. That is the limit of the Golden Rule. Remember what ...

433. Getting It Together

Luke 6:37-42

Sermon

William G. Carter

... a sermon on the text where Jesus says, “Don’t be anxious! Look at the birds of the air, and the lilies of the field.” I stood up with that text and preached my heart out. I wagged my finger and said, “Don’t be anxious! Stop fretting! Cease your worry!” The sermon came to an end. Everybody got out of their pews with their clipboards and gathered in the chancel for a critique. The professor said, “What do we need to say about that sermon?” Nobody said much; I thought, “I really gave it to ...

434. The Future Shapes the Present

1 Thessalonians 3:6-13

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... victory we shall share in Jesus Christ.”2 Indeed, Advent, if not the entire Christian experience, is seeing life as it never was so we can see life as it really is. Without the vision of a future which can shape our present, Advent ceases to become a transforming event. It becomes a spot on the calendar, the four Sundays which precede Christmas. When Prince Talleyrand, the great French statesman, was an old man, he attended a large ball given on some diplomatic occasion. At one point in the evening ...

435. Taking the Sting Out of Death

1 Chronicles 15:1-16:6

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... and simple confidence in the continuation of life after death. “Let nothing move you. Always give yourself fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (v. 58). This assertion is so grand that we can cease the common practice of avoidance. Most of the time we are so involved in life that we would like to postpone as long as we can any consideration that ultimately every journey that has a beginning has an ending, a final destination. She was in her mid ...

436. Your Sins Are Remembered No More! You Are Free!

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... that we can go out and sin, since it will be forgiven anyway. The sixteenth-century reformer Martin Luther had a great response. He wrote: For our sins are not forgiven with the design that we should continue to commit sin, but that we should cease from it. Otherwise it would more justly be called, not forgiveness of sin, but permission to sin.3 Jeremiah’s reflections on the Law that God has written in our hearts serve to underline Luther’s claim that God’s forgiveness has not given us permission ...

437. He Commanded Us to Preach

Acts 10:23b-48

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

... through our sins of omission and commission? The gospel provides a way to harmonize and neutralize the chaos of our lives. It gives us a way of saying, “I am sorry,” to our brothers and sisters. It helps us to start all over. We must never cease preaching the gospel of repentance and forgiveness, for we are all in great need of this great mercy of God. Finally, we must preach a gospel of liberation and freedom. People should be set free from sin, the burdens of past wrongs and mistakes and the things ...

438. Saving The Best Till Last

John 2:1-11

Sermon

Brett Blair

... . Going for three, but no… From the room far back, a gray haired man came forward and picked up the bow Then, wiping the dust from the old violin, and tightening the loose strings, He played a melody pure and sweet, as sweet as the angel sings. The music ceased, and the auctioneer, with a voice that was quiet and low, Now, what am I bid for the old violin, and he held it up with the bow. A thousand dollars, who’ll make it two? Two thousand and who’ll make it three; Three thousand once, three thousand ...

439. His Last Supper

Luke 22:7-38

Sermon

Brett Blair

... what can happen when we take time to get off alone and be quit. That is just as true of the laity as of the clergy.] Friends, it is so easy to be religious yet still miss the Kingdom. It is so easy to be centered in ourselves that we cease growing. If we are not open to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit we can miss it all. On Wednesday, Jesus took time to be in communion with God. III If Wednesday was the day of transition and meditation, then Thursday was the day of fellowship. In the evening of ...

440. Liberty And Civility

Galatians 5:1-15

Sermon

Brett Blair

... have been worth it. For, I maintain that it will take 100 years to really see the fruits of this effort. I pray that the calmer heads will prevail in the end and democracy wins. If it does then we have witnessed a world revolution. But it never ceases to amaze me why some people prefer tyranny, dictatorship, and control over democracy and freedom. I believe it's because there are three kind of people in this world. The first two are related: there are those who have a need to control and then are those who ...

441. The Irresistible Influence Of The Holy Spirit

Acts 2:1-41

Illustration

James W. Moore

... was very strong and very hard. Many attempts had been made to break it, but all had failed. “I’ll master it,” said the axe… and his blows fell heavily upon the piece of iron, but every blow only made the axe’s edge more blunt, until it finally ceased to strike and gave up in frustration. “Leave it to me,” said the saw… and it worked back and forth on the iron’s surface until its jagged teeth were all worn and broken. Then in despair, the saw quit trying and fell to the side. “Ah!” said ...

442. Increasing Our Standard of Giving

Luke 16:1-15

Sermon

Brett Blair

... do you see?" "Now I see myself," the rich man replied. Then the rabbi said, "Behold, in the window there is glass, and in the mirror there is glass. But the glass of the mirror is covered with a little silver, and no sooner is the silver added than you cease to see others, and see only yourself." If I were to sum up this entire parable and the lessons that Jesus is trying to teach us I would put it this way: We live in a temporary world that has eternal consequences. Use wealth wisely, be faithful with the ...

443. Does God Care Who Wins the Superbowl?

John 14:5-14

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... God take sides in a game? How about in a war? The only "side" I see God taking in scripture is the side of the poor, the outcast, the downtrodden, the helpless. Scripture is full of references such as those in our Old Testament lesson: "Since there will never cease to be some in need on the earth, I therefore command you, 'Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor in your land.'" Over and over the Bible makes it clear. The Bible talks about the poor more than it talks about the resurrection. In fact, it ...

444. The God of the Unlikely

Deuteronomy 34:1-12

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... us how long Moses remained with his natural parents before moving to the palace. Long enough, obviously, for him to learn his true heritage and be shaped and formed by it. Jewish legend has it that he grew to be so handsome that people turned in the street, and even ceased their work, to look at him. He was so wise that he was far beyond all other children in learning and in knowledge. When he was still a child, the princess took him to her father and told him how she had found him. She placed him in the ...

445. God and Silence

Psalm 46:1-11

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... I know He stilled the tempest and calmed the angry sea, And I humbly ask if in His love He'll do the same for me. Then I just keep quiet and think on thoughts of peace, And as I abide in stillness my restless murmurings cease.(7) Be still...silent...and know... Amen. 1. Cornelius Plantinga, Jr., "Background Noise," Christianity Today, July 17, 1995, p. 42 2. Paul Simon, "The Sound of Silence," 1964, BMI 3. Plantinga 4. Ecclesiastes 3:7 5. Plantinga 6. ibid. 7. Helen Steiner Rice quoted in Bible Illustrator ...

446. When God Overdoes It

Lamentations 1:1-22

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... though. They gave way to healing. Through the songs of anger and grief, God's people came out on the far side. Hear again how Lamentations talks of how faith in God coming back stronger than ever. "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lamentations most assuredly speaks to our time. Place Beslan with its 300-plus dead - half of them little children - down beside our text. Place poor, already destitute Haiti ...

447. The Lord's Prayer: "Lead Us Not Into Temptation"

Matthew 6:5-15

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... article called "A Sniper's Tale,"(4) the story of a Bosnian Serb named Pipo. From his perch overlooking Sarajevo's downtown he watches people strolling the streets. He prefers to think of the streets the way they were two weeks ago just before the cease-fire: fearful, deserted. "Everyone likes peace except me," he says. "I like the war." Pipo claims his bullets have felled 325 people. He has become comfortable in war, and knows that peace will bring him uncertainty - or worse. "I don't think we snipers will ...

448. Following Orders

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... "embers"...not much good for anything unless we are pressed. How often has it happened that someone has made a profession of faith, become active in the work of the church, lived a life of positive witness to the power of the Gospel and then, for some reason, ceased to give any evidence of their faith at all. It happens...and it happens when people begin to think that they no longer need the church. If you take a coal from a furnace, it will remain hot and glowing for awhile, but eventually it will die out ...

449. The Birdies

Luke 18:15-17

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... parents and told all, or part of it again and again. Always the story remained the same. The details were never changed or out of order. A few times he added further bits of information and clarified the message he had already delivered. It never ceased to amaze how he could tell such detail and speak beyond his ability when he spoke of his "birdies." Everywhere he went, he told strangers about the "birdies." Surprisingly, no one ever looked at him strangely. Rather, they always get a softened look on their ...

450. Rejoice

Philippians 4:2-9

Sermon

King Duncan

... is here already." Everything is changed. (2) This is the real joy of Christmas. It is not only the celebration of Christ's birth, it is an announcement that God has started a great work, God's great earthmoving equipment is in place, and God will not cease working until every heart is opened to God's love. This is the Kingdom that was the very center of Jesus' preaching the coming day when God shall reign in every heart. How sad that many Christians have separated Christ's teachings from Christ's person ...

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