Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 4476 to 4500 of 4944 results

4476. A Crippling Spirit

Luke 13:10-17

Sermon

Brett Blair

I want to encourage you to do something. If you have never read Victor Hugo’s memorable novel the “Hunchback of Notre Dame,” pick up a copy and read it. Hugo uses an interesting literary technique in the story. The reader is allowed to see the basic decency and humanity of Quasimodo, the hunchback, while the crowd sees him only as a monstrous freak. The story, in its essence, is part tragedy, and part hope. Our text this morning, not surprisingly, comes from Luke’s Gospel. This story also, is part tragedy ...

4477. Chosen as Witnesses

Acts 10:23b-48

Sermon

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. By his great power we have been born anew to a living hope through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead ..." "Thanks be to God who gives us the victory ..." "The Lord God omnipotent reigns and he shall reign for ever and ever. Hallelujah!" It is a glorious day. It is a day which celebrates the pivotal experience in the Christian faith. It is the day on which we celebrate the power of the Living God, not only to give life, but to sustain it ...

4478. God as Woodcutter

Isaiah 11:1-16

Sermon

I have a long-standing love affair with trees. I love the forests, and I hate to see a tree chopped down. Any tree. I have a ficus tree that has died, but I can’t bring myself to cut it down and throw it away. When I was very young I had a favorite tree. It grew in the middle of a corn field. I looked forward to spring when my mother would pack me and my sisters in our car and drive out to that field to see that tree. It grew there, a stately king in a black loam field, reigning gloriously over the budding ...

4479. The Life We Prize

Luke 9:18-27

Sermon

Various Authors

[Jesus said] If any[one] would come after me, let [them] deny self and take up [their] cross daily and follow me. Our family was skiing in Colorado with some friends. I rode up a long chair lift with a stranger who turned to me saying, "The name’s Clyde; I’m a plumber from California. I'm out here to meet women and have fun. What’s your work?" I answered, "Fire insurance," the response I frequently give when I want to have some fun with an unsuspecting stranger. He questioned, "Fire insurance? Who do you ...

4480. The Touch of the Master's Hand

Luke 5:12-16

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

Although we have heard it many times, the poem about the old violin never fails to touch my heart. Myra Brooks Welch penned this masterpiece entitled, "The Touch of the Master’s Hand." "Twas battered and scarred, and the auctioneer thought it scarcely worth his while to waste much time on the old violin, but held it up with a smile. ‘What am I bidden, good folks,’ he cried. ‘Who’ll start the bidding for me? A dollar, a dollar’; then, ‘two! Only two? Two dollars, and who’ll make it three? Three dollars, ...

4481. Striking Silversmiths Start Riot

Acts 19:23-41

Sermon Aid

CSS

Paul was too restless to remain long in any place. As he completed the second year of his ministry at Ephesus, he began planning his next move. To pave the way, he sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, ahead of him into Macedonia. Shortly after they left, a major shift in the situation at Ephesus took place. Paul’s teaching had been tolerated and even welcomed by the Ephesians so long as it remained in a purely religious context. When it began to swell in influence so that it affected the city’s ...

4482. Does God Give A Damn?

Exodus 5:22--6:12

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

"Moreover I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold in bondage and I have remembered my covenant. Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment, and I will take you for my people, and I will be your God.’ " When someone does not care, bitterly we say in the vernacular, "He does not ...

4483. Eternal Echo Of Easter - Part 2

Matthew 28:1-10

Drama

Esther R. Russ

PROVIDING MUSICAL BACKGROUND This program is most effective if all the narrations, dialogues, readings, and drama are given with background music. We used a combination of two types of musical background: (1) various record selections, which we recorded on a high-quality tape, and (2) live organ music. Taped Background In this area of the production, creativity can be unlimited. Simple music from records may be taped, or more complicated music that requires timing of appropriate words. For example, the ...

4484. It Takes Two to Preach!

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

Pentecost VIII That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat there; and the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: "A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they had not much soil and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil but when the sun rose ...

4485. Here Comes Jesus

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

James Bjorge

Johnny Carson has a side-kick who opens the evening television talk show with a phrase that never varies. Big Ed McMahon bursts forth with the introduction, "Here’s Johnny!" Then the talk man comes forth from the wings to entertain his audience and television viewers. As the herald of the show, Ed McMahon plays an important role in getting the show off the ground with gusto. Jesus was coming to stage the greatest drama the world would ever witness. It would unfold the mighty act of redemption. While he was ...

4486. God Makes The First Move

John 6:25-59

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

As I was walking the beautiful Augusta National Golf Course several weeks ago; I noticed .the famous German golfer, Bernard Langer, practicing for the Masters. He is a two-time winner of that prestigious tournament. As I watched him, I thought about his personal testimony which he offers far and wide. Langer says that when he won the Masters in 1985, his priorities were golf, golf, and more golf, then himself, then a little time with his wife, and occasionally a nod toward God. He says that if his golf was ...

4487. The Centurion - Arranging Death, Announcing Life

Mark 15:33-41

Sermon

Carl E. Zahrte

Was I there, did you ask? Yes, I was there all right. I had to be. I was the man in charge of the soldiers who crucified Jesus of Nazareth. It was a day I’ll never forget, the day when the sun refused to shine. You won’t find my name in the Bible, but if you study any of the traditions associated with the death of Jesus, you may learn that I was called Longinus. But my name is not important. What you should know is that I carried out the arrangements for the crucifixion. As I did my job and watched what ...

4488. Stewards and Our Gifts

1 Corinthians 12:12-31, 1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

Jenny Lind always spent a few minutes alone in her dressing room before a concert. Her maid, who locked the door and stood guard over it, has told what happened in those last moments of preparation. Miss Lind would stand in the middle of the floor, her shoulders back and her head up, draw a deep breath, strike a clear, vibrant note, and hold it as long as her breath lasted. When the overtones had all died away, she would look up and say: "Master, let me ring true tonight!" Jenny Lind’s prayer ought to be ...

4489. Everyone Has a Somebody

John 15:1-17

Sermon

Charles L. Koester

"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you." How many times have we heard in our lifetime our Lord’s Eleventh Commandment repeated? How many sermons have I preached on love, and have you heard? Yet, in spite of words and commandment, everyone has a somebody whom they cannot love. Somebody is not always the same person, at the same time, in the same place. True as well for the comedian who jested, "There are people in this world who do not love one another, and I hate people like ...

4490. A Mountain Of Meaning

Matthew 17:1-9

Sermon

Brett Blair

A brilliant magician was performing on an ocean liner. But every time he did a trick, the Captain's parrot would yell, "It's a trick. He's a phony. That's not magic." Then one evening during a storm, the ship sank while the magician was performing. The parrot and the magician ended up in the same lifeboat. For several days they just glared at each other, neither saying a word to the other. Finally the parrot said, "OK, I give up. What did you do with the ship?" The parrot couldn’t explain that last trick! ...

4491. All I Need Is A Little Rest!

Mark 1:35-39

Sermon

Daniel G. Mueller

One of the most effective sermons I have ever preached was shared ten years ago when I was just beginning to preach. I didn’t expect it to be good because I was tired when I wrote it and tired when I preached it. In fact, I was afraid I was failing the people that day because I thought the sermon wasn’t much good at all. In the sermon I shared with the folks why I was so tired, all the things that had happened to me that week. A child had died in City Hospital. The parents had no friends, no family, no one ...

4492. A Good God and the Problem of Suffering

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

"I don’t know what to do about them, they won’t get out of the way." "Who?" said Stef. "There’s disaster rolling down the hill and they won’t move." "Who won’t? Whom are you talking about?" "I can’t make them pay attention, they just stand there ..." Steinbeck sounded as if he might break into tears. "They won’t heed me ..." Stef was growing irritable. "Who?" he repeated. "What are you lamenting? Who won’t move?" "My characters!" Steinbeck exploded. He was writing Of Mice and Men.1 This could be God ...

4493. Life After Life

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

An author writing in Vogue magazine says that he believes America’s loss of values, and her moral and ethical breakdown, arise from the fact that for the first time in history most of the people of America do not believe in life after death. When we lose our faith we lose our focus on a dependable structure of life. If life has no meaning, if it is going nowhere, then we can summarize history and the future, - "So What?" Eat, drink, and be merry - if you can! If life after death is not, I don’t want to ...

4494. Called to Be Saints

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

Warren Thomas Smith

"Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you." (v. 12) Who is a saint? The historic definition is one whose life is worthy of imitation by all of Christendom. Some add that a sense of humor is a prerequisite, along with having performed miracles. "She is a saint," we say. What do we mean? We usually have in mind a person whose goodness, unselfishness, love, is unmistakable. Ah, but ask that one, "Are you a saint?" The answer: "Of course ...

4495. Jarius' Daughter

Mark 5:21-43

Sermon

Brett Blair

Mark makes it clear that Jairus was no ordinary individual. Indeed, he was a very important person. He was one of the rulers of a local synagogue, probably Capernaum. He was charged with correct administration and the due conduct of worship. His decision to go to Jesus could not have been an easy one. This scene was early in Jesus’ ministry, but already the opposition is beginning to crystallize against the Nazarene. Jairus thus had many reasons not to go to Jesus, but he had one overriding reason to go to ...

4496. There Are Other Worlds To Sing In

John 3:1-21

Sermon

James W. Moore

His name was Paul. He lived in a small town in the Pacific Northwest some years ago. He was just a little boy when his family became the proud owners of one of the first telephones in the neighborhood. It was one of those wooden boxes attached to the wall with the shiny receiver hanging on the side of the box… and the mouthpiece attached to the front. Young Paul listened with fascination as his mom and dad used the phone… and he discovered that somewhere inside the wonderful device called a telephone lived ...

4497. Mary's Song

Micah 5:1-4

Sermon

King Duncan

It was a very cold and windy evening in late November, 1989. The Hotel was quiet, only a few rooms were rented. The banquet complex was full. The bar was hopping and the Dining Room was packed. The sleeping rooms were few, so not many guests were roaming the halls. Then one of the guests was disturbed in his room. He heard a baby crying. He left his room and spotted a box. When he looked in it, he saw a baby! He immediately started running to the Front Desk, screaming, "Come quick! There's a baby in a box ...

4498. Two Parades

Luke 22:66--23:25

Sermon

King Duncan

Have you ever really failed at anything? Perhaps in your work or in your marriage or in school or some other endeavor? Do you lie awake at night and recount the things you wish you had not said and had not done? You are not alone. Did you know that the great American patriot, Paul Revere, was once courtmartialed for cowardice? In 1778 Paul Revere commanded a garrison of soldiers who attempted to take over a British stronghold in Maine. The invasion was a complete failure, costing lives and ships. Revere ...

4499. A Fishing Trip To Remember

John 21:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

A man showed up at church with his ears painfully blistered. After the service, his concerned pastor asked "What in the world happened to you?" The man replied, "I was lying on the couch yesterday afternoon watching a ball game on TV and my wife was ironing nearby. I was totally engrossed in the game when she left the room, leaving the iron near the phone. The phone rang and keeping my eyes glued to the television, I grabbed the hot iron and put it to my ear." "So how did the other ear get burned?" the ...

4500. Finding Calm In The Storm

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon

King Duncan

Did you know that the bathtub was invented in 1850? The telephone was invented in 1875. "Just think," someone said, "You could have sat in the bathtub for 25 years without the phone ringing." (1) It never fails, does it? Just when you think you will have some peace and quiet, the telephone rings, or the baby cries, or a water pipe breaks, or the boss calls you into her office. Peace is a precious commodity and it is so, so elusive. Dante, the great poet of the Renaissance, was exiled from his home in ...

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