Sermon and Worship Resources

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Luke 7:1-10

Drama

Robert F. Crowley

Theme: Where does the faith for healing originate? Summary: Two Christian friends try to understand healing and faith for healing. Playing Time: 3 1/2 minutes Setting: A church Props: None Costumes: Contemporary, casual Time: The present Cast: Stan Diane STAN: (STAN, DIANE ENTER) Do you ... else. That can give us peace. (THEY BEGIN TO EXIT) STAN: Let's talk about peace. DIANE: No, no, not now. Some other time. Right now I need some peace. STAN: Yes, but where does that peace originate? I think ... (THEY EXIT)

427. Proper 10

Luke 10:25-37, Colossians 1:1-14, Amos 7:10-17, Psalm 82:1-8

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... as the crow flies. The difference in elevation is about 1300 feet. The road twists and turns as it passes through a barren and rocky land for most of the way between the two cities. 5. "A Priest ... A Levite." (vv. 31, 32) Priests and Levites originated from the tribe of Levi. They were given no land when the Hebrew people entered Canaan but were set aside to serve ceremonial and ritual functions. By the time of Jesus a distinction was made between priests, who offered sacrifices, and Levites, who performed ...

428. When The Fat Lady Sings

Mark 13:1-31

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

... would win. As he leaned back puffing on his cigar even while the players still raced up and down the court, he knew it was over. Such arrogance piqued his opponents and delighted his fans. I think it originated in some eastern ballpark a generation or so ago. I'm not sure of its exact origins. You still see fans expressing the sentiment today on large banners and posters which they love to flash for the television cameras. It expresses the eternal optimism of sports fans who are unwilling to give up until ...

429. The Agenda Factor

2 Samuel 7:1-17

Sermon

William L. Self

... unusual amount of damage to the carpet and paint. The club had a hastily called meeting, passed a resolution, asking the lifesavers to move to other quarters and in every way separated their activities from that of the club. It seems that in all of this the original agenda had been lost. The people of God are always in a struggle with the agenda issue. They are like the lighthouse keeper who was given a specified amount of fuel each month with which to light his beacon. His job was to use it judiciously and ...

430. The Highest In The Lowest

Luke 2:1-7, Luke 2:8-20

Sermon

John A. Stroman

... train tracks, warehouses, cement mixers, asphalt plants, signs, and billboards. They said among themselves, "He is from the lower order. What does he know?" You see, they had the facts on him. They knew his origin, his family, his name, and occupation. There are those who, knowing the origin of someone, are convinced they understand all there is to know about that person. They are convinced that people from certain locations, races, cultures, or backgrounds are all alike and that no one of any importance ...

431. The Pastor Who Created A Monster

Haggai 1:1-15, Haggai 2:1-9

Sermon

Thomas G. Rogers

... fund to date. When the thermometer was finally colored in all the way to the top, that would indicate that they had enough money to build the new sanctuary. Every time Pastor Jenkins passed the sign it reminded him that they were far behind their original timetable. The hope had been to have all the funds gathered within two years. Now, over twice the amount of time had passed, but the thermometer indicated that the congregation was only about half way to having enough money to build. Pastor Jenkins had ...

432. What Is God Doing In Our Bad Times?

Joel 2:18-27, Joel 2:28-32

Sermon

Thomas G. Rogers

... that, in early times, God's relationship to God's people was understood in certain ways, but Christ's coming brought with it a new perspective for reading God's Word. In our study of the Bible we seek to understand what a book like Joel meant to its original hearers. Then we also ask what it can mean to God's people today. It is possible that these two meanings will not always be exactly the same. For example, let's consider the passage in Joel that discusses the pouring out of God's spirit. Like so many ...

433. Exercise Your Spiritual Gifts

1 Corinthians 1:1-9

Sermon

Richard Hasler

... Sosthenes mentioned in Acts 18:17, the official of the Jewish synagogue in Corinth who was beaten by an angry mob. Paul writes to a specific Christian community but notice he calls them "the church of God" in Corinth. He is always aware of the divine origin of the church. The Corinthians are more than a voluntary organization in a local setting; they are part of the larger ecumenical church. A word ought to be said about the city of Corinth and also about the church in Corinth. The city was a key commercial ...

434. Live Together In Harmony

1 Corinthians 1:10-17

Sermon

Richard Hasler

... the row was about in the first place."1 How true that dialogue is. We all know of feuds in families, in neighborhoods, and yes, in churches that happened so long ago and yet the embers of hate and bitterness still burn today. The details of the original issue are now lost, but the feud itself continues. Even though we bask in the Epiphany light of the universality of the gospel in these opening weeks of a new year, yet we know that there is much hurt, misunderstanding and even division within the Christian ...

435. To Ransom The Prisoners Of War

Romans 5:12-21

Sermon

Sandra Hefter Herrma

... from God, to be separated, to enter into prison in our place, so that we can once again be at one with God. We are not bound to continue in the hopeless, obsessive patterns that have imprisoned us. We will be free to be all that God originally had in mind for us. The original pattern will be restored. What a message of hope! Can we believe it? Is it possible that we are that loved, that valued, that anyone would, of his own free will, enter into such an agreement on our behalf? We cannot clearly see what is ...

436. Say Goodbye -- Say Hello

Sermon

Richard Hasler

... be our crisis may be the opportunity for us to learn something. For one thing, God is with us in our time of leaving whatever it may be. Just think of the word "goodbye" itself. Originally, the word meant "God-be-with-ye." In other words, "goodbye" is not meant to be the perfunctory farewell that we say all too glibly today. Its original intent was a blessing and a reminder that God would be with us in our parting. Implied here is that we are not alone in our leaving; on the contrary, we go knowing that we ...

437. Week Four Of Lent

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... the just one, of condemning him to a shameful death. These people knew not the councils of God; they could not discern the innocent soul's reward. In the Gospel we hear again about the rejection of Jesus. Jesus challenges the authorities who think they know his origins. Jesus' origins are from God, but the people are not willing to accept this. Rather they want to seize him, but as we are told Jesus' hour had not yet come. How does Jesus challenge us? In what ways are we asked to change so as to find the ...

438. Discern How Things Grow

1 Corinthians 3:1-23

Sermon

Richard Hasler

... or gardener, and the builder. As a parent Paul writes to the Corinthian Christians and explains that often he had wanted to feed them solid food, but they were not yet ready and he had to give them milk. They were still infants in Christ. In his original missionary work he had to be a nursemaid to them, and he laments that their endless disputes about leadership in the church confirm they are still children in the faith. He touches only briefly upon the image of the builder in the last verse of our text ...

439. Prepared Or Not?

Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... Then in the final verse of the pericope we find the admonition to be awake, as though the point of the parable is not lack of preparedness but being asleep when the Lord comes. Some commentators have suggested that this concluding verse is not part of the original parable, but was appended by Matthew or the early church. How do you harmonize the two? Or do you need to press every detail of a parable for consistency? 3. Maidens and Virgins. In the New Testament it is sometimes a question of how you translate ...

440. Behold The Man Who Taught By The Sea

Mark 4:1-20

Sermon

Thomas A. Pilgrim

... meant to call people into the Kingdom of God. In so many places we hear Jesus saying, "The Kingdom of God is like ...." Then he draws a picture with words. Now not all of the things Jesus said were original. He borrowed some things he said. However, many of his parables were original stories he took from life. These stories Jesus told are the greatest stories ever told. Who could ever forget the parables of the Prodigal Son, the Good Samaritan, the Mustard Seed, the Pearl of Great Price? No such stories ...

441. Pentecost: From Confusion To Communion In Christ

Sermon

Alex Gondola

... God made, represented by the Garden of Eden, a place where man, woman, and nature lived together in perfect cooperation and peace. But Satan, God's adversary, wants to destroy all unity, to send everything back to its original confusion and chaos. Sin was introduced into the Garden of Eden, the original unity of creation. The shattered world we have today is the result. We can hear the effects of sin all around us. The discordant babble of voices raised in hatred, the crash of rainforests and the rumble of ...

442. Yes, It Becomes Unclean

Haggai 2:11-17

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... . When the Pharisees asked Jesus why his disciples didn't practice cleanliness, he went to the root of the problem. It's not what goes into the mouth, but what comes out which makes us unclean. It's what is in the heart -- which is what God originally intended for his people anyway. Still, the array of laws can be very confusing. Rules for rashes, rules for infections, rules for mildew on clothes and in the very stones of the walls -- it can be a little numbing. Rules for this and rules for that -- what ...

443. The Season Of The Holy Spirit

Mark 10:1-12

Bulletin Aid

Wayne H. Keller

... thinking, we say, "that's stupid, that's a dumb idea, that will never work, you can't do that." Whenever we do that, we contribute to the other person's death. That's what sin is, that is, criticizing or condemning someone else's original or not-so-original idea. We are hurt when someone does that to us. Offer some positive ways that we can respond to each other. Conclude with a prayer which incorporates the words, or ideas, of Jesus in verses 10:14b-15. Reading of the Gospel For reinforcement, dramatize ...

444. The Meaning Of Advent

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... for Christ to come again, either personally or universally. An alternate color for Advent is blue, the color of hope. 2. Solemnity and sobriety. Advent is a time to become aware of one's sins. Traditionally, Advent is a penitential season, originally known as the "Winter Lent." This mood of sobriety is expressed not only in the liturgical color, purple, but in the music of Advent hymns like "O Come Emmanuel." During Advent choirs may omit processionals or have "silent processionals." Weddings in this ...

445. God Deep In The Flesh

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

Marc Kolden

... out. That must have shocked them almost as much as others who found out about it. But for them and for us it is the wonderful news that we aren't saved by what we do but solely by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). The risen Lord who originally spoke the words written in Matthew 28 is present here today, calling us to join the eleven in being his disciples and sending us out from here to live as disciples and to invite others into life with God. It says we are to "make disciples," but I think all ...

446. Proper 11

Romans 8:18-27, Isaiah 44:6-23, Genesis 28:10-22, Matthew 13:24-30, Matthew 13:36-43

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... , which serves as a logical progression from last week's Gospel where we dealt with the mystery of germination and growth. This week, we are presented with the mystery of the weeds. The parable does not explain the mystery. We still don't know the origin or purpose of the weeds. Thus, this parable does not offer an explanation for the mystery of evil. It's considered a fact of our present existence, though it will be abolished at the harvest time, when the kingdom of God fully comes. Humans cannot uproot ...

447. Times Of Refreshing

Acts 3:11-26

Sermon

E. Carver McGriff

... the Indian tribes were almost always dishonored. Don't blame me. Yes, but the people who did those things were part of the common humanity of which I'm a part. Don't let us kid ourselves. It's what is sometimes referred to as Original Sin. That's not a reference to the sexual origin of our lives, or to something some first persons on earth are thought to have done. It refers to the universal inclination to think and act always in terms of our own welfare, our own best interests. There's an old song from an ...

448. The Highest In The Lowest

Luke 2:8-20, Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

John A. Stroman

449. Proper 23

Matthew 22:1-14

Bulletin Aid

Dennis Koch

... independent parables (vv. 1-10 and 11-14) and allegorized them to speak to his contemporary situation. The original point of the first of these is that the coming Reign of God is to be populated by a motley assortment of outsiders -- in this parable, "street people" --rather than the respectable, invited, but finally unworthy ones (probably pious Jews) who had spurned the invitation. These are the "many called" ...

450. The Motherly Compassion of the Christ

Matthew 10:1-42, Matthew 9:35-38

Bulletin Aid

Dennis Koch

... -a-vis either the bowels or, oddly enough, the womb. What we have on Jesus' part here, then, is the kind of deeply felt, profound love for "harassed and helpless" children usually associated with motherhood, which may well have been its reference in the original Aramaic. Liturgical Color Green Suggested Hymns O God, O Lord Of Heaven And Earth Almighty God, Your Word Is Cast O Jesus, Joy Of Loving Hearts Jesus, Priceless Treasure A Mighty Fortress Is Our God God, My Lord, My Strength Praise And Thanksgiving ...

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