Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 4476 to 4500 of 5000 results

4476. Building Bridges While Getting Shot at from Both Shores

Revelation 22:1-6

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

[This sermon seeks to address what's going on in the world right now both with priestly sensitivity and with prophetic strength. If you want to make it more pointed, more linear, you might want to build it around the major themes that are subtly introduced in the narrative: 1. The world is a violent place, and getting more violent; 2. Christians shouldn't be surprised, since we have a doctrine of sin that warns us that our estrangement from God will have ghastly consequences; 3. Christians have always been ...

4477. Keep Going, Today, Tomorrow and the Next

Philippians 3:12-4:1

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Until Roy’s fall one of the longest running, best attended, financially successful Las Vegas shows was Siegfried & Roy. This was a combination magic show/three-ring circus extravaganza performed by master illusionists Siegfried Fischbacher and Roy Horn. Using their trademarks enormous white tigers as companions and cohorts in their performances, Siegfried & Roy awed and amazed crowds with their innovative magic and their fearless use of those big cats. Then on October 3rd, 2003, something went terribly ...

4478. Mystery

Ephesians 3:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Those who live in the extreme northern latitudes of America and North America tend to put up Christmas lights earlier than those who live in the south. People who live large blocks of life in the dark enjoy the extra light, the cheery twinkling brightness, of Christmas season lights just a bit longer than is usual for most. Not only does the Sweet family put our Christmas lights up on Thanksgiving. We leave them up just as long as we can get away with and still avoid ridicule. After all, even though the ...

4479. Are You a Leg-Grabbing Christian?

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

On Thursday you will join millions of families and gather around a heavily-laden table to celebrate Thanksgiving. The centerpiece of that table, in most cases, will be a large, golden-roasted turkey. Although it takes the skills of a gifted surgeon to dissect most of the big bird, there is one easily accessible portion (and the one that is often grabbed up first): the leg. Those big, juicy, easy-to-pull-off turkey legs are especially tantalizing to kids. After all, the leg comes with its own handle. The ...

4480. Squeaky Wheels

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Now that we're deep into fall, it's the time for an annual battle to begin again. For those of us in cold climates the yearly ritual of feeding the wintering birds is underway. And with that tradition comes yet another annual event - the war against the squirrels. Why it matters so much to nature lovers that they feed only the feathered and never the furred creatures is somewhat of a mystery. But there have been thousands of dollars spent in the name of squirrel defense over the years. Anyone living in a ...

4481. The Woods Are Lovely, Dark, and Deep

2 Samuel 18:1-18

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

The first poem I really related to in a personal way in junior high English class was Robert Frost's "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening." When I read "The woods are lovely, dark, and deep. But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep." I knew exactly what the poet was saying, because I knew the powerful pull of the woods. I also knew that I couldn't go play there to play until I had done homework and chores. To my siblings, friends and me, the woods behind ...

4482. Dip into the Well

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

It used to be the separation between a positive and a negative could be measured in millimeters. Here's a water glass. Is it half full or half empty? (I always opt for half-full, in the spirit of the bumper sticker that reads "Just say NO to Negativity"). A tiny difference in the water level determined whether we call it half-empty or half-full--whether the glass is a good thing (full) or a bad thing (empty). But have you noticed that it's rare to find anything that's plain old good anymore? In fact if ...

4483. Show and Listen

Acts 8:26-40

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Nothing brings out bad manner and bad language like a phone call from a telemarketer. Can I get an Amen? The moment you say hello, and are greeted first with that brief static-buzz on the line and then with an overly-cheery voice chummily asking for you by (mispronounced) name, you can feel your blood pressure rising. Is it just me, or is it your experience as well that these calls come on the busiest days, at the busiest times? Dinner is cooking, kids are fighting, the door bell is ringing . . . and this ...

4484. Don't Lose Your Footing

Luke 24:36-49

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Every sport seems to come with occupational hazards. Take baseball. Baseball pitchers tend to end up with gimpy, arthritic elbows. Take football. Football players can end up with rickety, rocky knees. Take ballet. Ballet dancers almost always end up with the most gnarled, nobbed, ugly stumpy feet you can imagine. In fact, once you've seen a dancer's unslippered foot, you can never watch the grace and beauty, the fluid movement across the floor and into the air, in the same way. How can they move so ...

4485. Patience

James 5:7-12

Sermon

King Duncan

I hope you are getting excited as Christmas nears. I heard about one dad who was shopping in a toy store. He said, “That’s a terrific train set. I’ll buy it.” The clerk said, “Great, I’m sure your son will love it.” The young father said, “Maybe you’re right. I’ll take two.” It’s an exciting time of the year, but it is not without its frustrations. Years ago, the Associated Press carried a story about a group of post office customers who mutinied while waiting in line. According to those who were there, ...

4486. Looking for Shoots or Roots?

Matthew 11:1-19

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

The more we move into the Advent season, the more our scripture texts bring the Christ-child’s birth closer and closer to us. Yet here in Matthew 11:2-11 we are back to the relationship between Jesus and John the Baptist. Yet even though this is not part of our text for this week, the mere mention of John’s name should remind us of their cousinly kinship, even of an in utero jump for joy that marked their first meeting--making cousin John the first person to celebrate Advent. As out text opens Jesus has ...

4487. Make Room for Mystery

Isaiah 55:1-13

Sermon

James McCormick

There is a poem which begins: “God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform”. There was a time in history when people were quite comfortable with that idea. After all, for pre-scientific people, the mysterious, the unexplainable was a part of everyday life. There was so much that they could not understand that they put it all in the general category of “mystery”, and they accounted for that by pointing to God. If they couldn’t understand it, they simply said, “God did it!” They couldn’t begin to ...

4488. What to Do with Yesterday - A Sermon for a New Year

Psalm 103:1-22

Sermon

James McCormick

One of the first things Patricia and I had to learn when we moved to Big Canoe was how to deal with our garbage. We learned very quickly that if we just let it sit there, it would begin to stink up our lives. It would invite all sorts of pests. It would make our lives unpleasant in a variety of ways. So, as a matter of regular discipline, we had to pack it up, load it in the car, and take it to the dump. We had to get rid of it. Of course, there is more than one kind of garbage. The kind of garbage we put ...

4489. Be Kind

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Sermon

James McCormick

Since before I can remember, I went to Vacation Bible School every summer. I loved Vacation Bible School and I have many fond memories of my experiences there. I remember rousing games of “Red Rover” in which the boys tried to impress the girls. I remember making first century houses out of clay. There were times when we dressed up in bath robes and re-enacted Biblical dramas. I remember spatter painting – I loved spatter painting! We would get a leaf or a flower or some other object and put it on a piece ...

4490. The Ultimate Blasphemy

Mark 2:1-12

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

If you eat at your hotel dining room while in Reno or Las Vegas, you can't help being in the middle of a casino. Every Nevada hotel has restaurants intermingled with first floor casinos, making it unnecessary for guests to ever leave the premises. So it was that while finishing a cup of coffee at the Lodge Buffet I got to eavesdrop on the casual dinner conversations of a man and a woman. The two were discussing their mutual love of playing one-armed bandits slot machines. They praised the slots for being ...

4491. Jesus Heals a Paralytic

Mark 2:1-12

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

The usual terse narrative of Mark veers in an uncharacteristically detailed and complex direction in today's gospel text. What begins as a dramatic healing miracle story morphs into a controversial confrontation between Jesus and the scribes as they level the serious charge of blasphemy against him. Mark's opening words in this week's pericope recall the notoriety Jesus had experienced in Galilee. Because the healed leper proclaimed Jesus' miraculous healing freely, the crowds made it impossible for Jesus ...

4492. Christmas Is Love

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

King Duncan

Years ago the cartoon strip “Family Circus” carried a cartoon that illustrates what happens so often to Christmas. It showed a little girl holding her baby brother in her lap and telling him the story of Christmas. Here is how her account read: “Jesus was born just in time for Christmas, up at the North Pole, surrounded by tiny reindeer and the Virgin Mary. Then Santa Claus showed up with lots of toys and stuff and some swaddling clothes. “The three wise men and elves all sang carols while the Little ...

4493. Which End Is Up?

Ephesians 3:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Exegesis: Ephesians 3:1-12 The epistle text for this week can be read with two different agendas in mind. On one hand the focus is on establishing apostolic tradition. In the first century there was a necessary concern with creating a continuity of tradition and authority for the fledgling Christian church. Hence Paul’s apostolic authority, his priority of leadership, is part of these verses’ testimony. Especially since these Ephesians probably had not known Paul’s preaching personally, it is an imperative ...

4494. The Resurrection Is for Everyone

Acts 10:23b-48

Sermon

Elizabeth Achtemeier

The resurrection is for everyone. That is the message of our text. It tells the story of the visit of the Apostle Peter to the house of a Roman soldier named Cornelius, who is stationed with the other troops in the town of Caesarea on the northern coast of Samaria. Prompted by the vision of an angel who has urged him to summon Peter, Cornelius sends two of his servants to fetch the apostle. At the same time, Peter has been given the strange vision of a great sheet let down from heaven, filled with unclean ...

4495. Water That Brings a New Beginning - Sermon Starter

Mt 3:13-17

Illustration

Brett Blair

Water has been in the news a lot recently, at least in the forms of snow and ice. Winter storms and snow literally stopped traffic in many parts of the country. And as much as we try to forge through to get to work or school, sometimes we have to stop and respect what the water around us is doing. Water is part of the drama of our life. It brings life, but not enough or too much can bring destruction. Let us focus on the life giving power of clean, fresh water. There are two very different ways to think ...

4496. The Lonesome George Church

Matthew 4:23-25, Matthew 4:18-22, Matthew 4:12-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Theme: Here is a sermon on evangelism that doesn’t use the word “evangelism” once. The text for this week’s gospel reading is a combination of three pericopes which portray the beginning of Jesus’ public Galilean ministry. While Matthew’s description mirrors much of Mark’s version, Matthew’s unique focus on theological nuances and precise historicity bring added details and depth to Jesus’ actions and words. In the first section (vv.12-17) Matthew takes more than a glancing interest in the “whys” and the “ ...

4497. Bridge Building Belongs to You and Me

Isaiah 9:1-7

Illustration

Brett Blair

Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall told this story: There were two unmarried sisters who had such a bitter fight that they stopped speaking to each other. Unable or unwilling to leave their small home, they continued to use the same rooms and sleep in the same bedroom. A chalk line divided the sleeping area into two halves. The chalk divided rooms so that both sisters could come and go and get her own meals without trespassing on their sister's space. In the black of night, each could hear the ...

4498. Where the Scary Things Live

Matthew 4:12-23

Illustration

Johnny Dean

For most of us, becoming adults hasn't necessarily cured us of our fear of the dark. Oh, we may have switched to waterbeds that nothing could possibly get underneath. And our closets may be a little bigger (although still not big enough) and they're filled with business suits or work clothes instead of building blocks and athletic gear. But at night, when the lights are out and the children are safely tucked into bed to wrestle with THEIR fears, our own monsters come to life and torment us yet again. Am I ...

4499. Advent 4

Psalm 80:1-19, Isaiah 7:1-25, Romans 1:1-17, Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

OLD TESTAMENT TEXTS At the very heart of Advent is the anticipation and celebration of the incarnation—of God's being present with us. Our Old Testament lessons for the fourth week of Advent turn directly on this central theme. Isaiah 7:10-16 is a prophecy that anticipates Immanuel ("with us is God"), and Psalm 80 is a communal petition for God to be present. Isaiah 7:10-16 - "The Sign of Immanuel" Setting. Isaiah 7:10-16 is a central Old Testament text for Christians. It was already given a central place ...

4500. Ash Wednesday

Mt 6:1-6, 16-21 · 2 Cor 5:20b--6:10 · Ps 51:1-17 · Jl 2:1-2, 12-17

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

OLD TESTAMENT TEXTS The Old Testament texts explore the themes of sin and death that are central to Ash Wednesday. Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 proclaims the judgment of God on sin through the terrible Day of the Lord, while Psalm 51:1-12 is a penitentiary prayer in which the guilt of the psalmist is confessed as a basis for petitioning God for deliverance. Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 - "The Terrible Day of God's Judgment" Setting. The reference to the Day of the Lord in Joel 2:1 provides important background for interpreting ...

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