Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 4476 to 4500 of 4972 results

4476. All I Want for Christmas is Peace

Luke 2:8-20

Sermon

James W. Moore

... peace with God... but we have to accept the gift. Let’s take a look at these three ideas. I. FIRST, CHRISTMAS GIVES US PEACE WITHIN In the original hit movie, “Home Alone,” a little boy named K evin is accidentally left behind when his family leaves for a European vacation. On Christmas Eve, K evin begins to feel sad and lonely.., so he goes to church. There he meets an older man who is also unhappy because of family problems. As they engage in conversation, young K evin admits that he feels guilty ...

4477. A Tsunami Appeal

Sermon

Eric Hudson

... something good and unavoidable in what he said with such feeling: something that points us beyond the disaster to an acknowledgement that there is something good out there, in spite of the tears, and the death, and the suffering. And so there is only one thing I want to leave with you this morning as we stand on the edge of a new year with all its hopes and its dreams. It is this: In a world where we have grown used to evil men doing evil things, not because poverty has forced them into it, but doing evil ...

4478. Jesus and Andrew

John 1:35-42

Sermon

James W. Moore

... INQUIRING GREEKS TO CHRIST. That is, he brought into the presence of Christ some people who were very different from him. Do you remember the old TV show, Green Acres? It was about a city-slicker New York lawyer named, Oliver Wendell Douglas, and his wife leaving the big city behind to be farmers near Hooterville. Hooterville had a marching band made up of Sam Drucker who ran the general store, and Uncle Joe whose niece Kate ran the Shady Rest Hotel, and of course, Arnold Ziffel, the pig, was also in the ...

4479. Nicodemus

John 3:1-21

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... learning comes at night. Our minds are more receptive with the hustle and bustle of the day out of the way. Besides, it is cooler. We sat together in the garden of the home where he was staying. The gentle breeze provided just the faint rustle of leaves in the trees; the moon was bright, having only recently begun to lose its Passover fullness; the stars twinkled in the clear desert sky. We talked softly as was befitting the atmosphere. I was very open with him. I said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher ...

4480. Sight for Blind Eyes

John 9:1-12, John 9:13-34, John 9:35-41

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... approach silently, but for other reasons...pranksters who would come up as if to give you something, but instead would grab whatever was in your bowl and run off laughing loudly and taunting you to come after them. You knew the tricks though: you had learned long ago never to leave more than a few mites in your bowl at any one time - most of the money would be removed as soon as it was given and put in a pouch on the inside of your cloak. But on this particular Sabbath, it was not the temple leaders or the ...

4481. Excuses

Luke 14:15-24, Genesis 3:1-24

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... detectors in schools (even though metal detectors would not have mattered in the Arkansas shootings since the gunfire came from the woods.) "Perhaps nothing could have prevented the violence in Jonesboro," editorialized USA Today in a tone of helplessness. "Not every troubled child leaves a trail of escalating problems." Get real. Do we want to stop the shootings? Really? The truth is we do not care...at least not until it is our own child that is murdered. Meanwhile, we have no one to blame but ourselves ...

4482. When The Risen Christ Comes Looking For Us

John 21:15-25

Sermon

James W. Moore

... on Friday afternoon and then place that card in a drawer in his desk. The man didn’t want to take his problems home with him for the weekend. He didn’t want his problems to be a burden to him and his family over the weekend… so he would leave the card with the problems written on it in a drawer in his desk. Then on the following Monday morning, he would take the card out and deal with the problem the best as he could. That’s what he meant to say, but on that fateful Sunday morning with ...

4483. The Grief Grinch

John 11:17-37

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... frantically traced the call but it was too late; by the time the police arrived, the man was slumped in the booth with a bullet through his head. In one of his pockets, they found a child's crayon drawing, much faded and worn. On it was written, "Please leave this in my coat pocket. I want to have it buried with me. The drawing was signed in childish print by his little blonde daughter who had perished in a fire just five months before. Lee had been so grief-stricken that he asked total strangers to attend ...

4484. God's Not Done With Us Yet!

Genesis 17:1-27

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... we find there, the only one called the "friend of God" is Abraham. You learned great stories about Abraham from your earliest days in Sunday School. You met him as ABRAM - the name would be changed to Abraham later. You heard about God calling him from his ancestral home: "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who ...

4485. The Last Laugh

Genesis 18:1-15

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... . Through the centuries that have intervened, it has been the same for all of God's people. One night, Jesus was talking with his disciples after supper. He had been telling them about all that would occur with Him and with them in the coming days. He would be leaving them, and there would be some tough times, words they did NOT want to hear. But finally, he gave them a word that comforted them, a word that continues to echo down through the corridors of time, a word that allows us to maintain a bit of our ...

4486. Family Feud

Genesis 29:15-30

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... national version of Family Feud. One of the funnier ones, to be sure, but feuding and fighting had characterized the nation's history from the beginning. No doubt the audience thought about the story as they made their way home, as we all do when we leave a good show. But, as the Israelite version of 1776, it would hardly have made them swell with national pride. In fact, if the story were not so familiar to them that they might be intellectually "inoculated" to its sordid details, they would probably be ...

4487. But God...

Genesis 50:15-21

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... Augustine described it this way: when you first consider your life, it looks like nothing but a bunch of chicken tracks in the mud of a barnyard, going this way and that. But through the eyes of faith, we begin to discern pattern, meaning, direction. Providence. As you leave here from week to week, you know I do not wish you "Good luck." Rather, I try to remind you of God's providence and presence in your life. We say "Goodbye" - simple shorthand for "God be with you," or adieu in French or adios in Spanish ...

4488. The Prod of the Past

Exodus 12:1-30

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... election at the annual congregational meeting which elects our officers. The Youth Elder would have full voice and vote, but would only be asked to commit to one year of service (rather than three) so as not to be unduly burdening on those who intend to leave Greensboro for college. Other things may be on the horizon. Because of lifestyle changes, work commitments, family demands, and so on, we may need to look at adding a worship service on a Saturday night or a Friday or a Thursday. If we are serious ...

4489. God Cares About Justice!

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... hard as any man, still face discrimination, abuse, harassment, and unfair pay? Remember, God cares about justice. Can we be angry when white collar criminals in corporate board rooms pay themselves fat salaries and bonuses, looting companies into bankruptcy, and leaving workers and retirees to fend for themselves? Remember, God cares about justice. Can we be angry at national priorities that allocate 450-billion dollars to defense this year (and that is not counting even one penny for conducting the current ...

4490. The Ten Commandments #4: The Sabbath

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... that a loving God could have ever provided. It was as if Yahweh had created an oasis for Israel in the midst of a week-long desert. Then a fence was put around it and a sign on the gate that said, "Use this oasis freely, but leave the desert outside." For Christians, by tradition Sunday is our little oasis... our place apart in the noisy din of a hectic week. What will make the day "holy" for you? Worship? Prayer? Praise? Study? Cannot go wrong there. Family? Terrific. Recreation? Fine! The point is that ...

4491. The Ten Commandments #6: No Murder

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... have happened had Jeremiah's mother had an abortion? I do not know. What then is the Biblical position on abortion? Is it a violation of the sixth commandment? Some want to say YES; some want to say NO. But a careful reading of the scripture leaves us not being able to say much of anything. We can base our arguments, either pro or con, on other factors, but the Biblical evidence as to whether abortion is murder is NOT conclusive. The position of the Presbyterian Church (USA) is that abortion is a wrenching ...

4492. Remembering the Good Old Days

Numbers 14:1-10a

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... 30,000 annually,(6) and this despite the fact that we have actually been taking in MORE members than we have been losing to death or transfer. In looking at the numbers we find that, for the most part, those we have lost did not leave us for other churches - they just left. That is depressing. But it is also illuminating. It seems that evangelism is not our problem - we continue to allocate significant dollars and resources in the effort to reach people for Christ and the church. We HAVE been attracting ...

4493. A Theology of Work - Labor Day

Deuteronomy 5:1-33

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... is a merciful provision of food for hungry travelers. In a parallel passage we hear Jesus say those familiar words that we learned in the language of the King James Version: "The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath."(10) So, where does that leave us in our search for a biblical understanding of work? AMBIVALENT. Some good, some not so good. We have no record that Jesus ever worked or urged anyone else to do so. In fact, when Jesus invited people to follow him, they QUIT their jobs as fishermen ...

4494. Blessed Be The Title That Binds

Deuteronomy 14:22-29

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... and herds, bring them to the Temple in Jerusalem, and have a wing-ding. Food. Booze (that is what it says, and I suspect that is why you haven't heard much preaching about it - still, it sounds very Presbyterian). Celebrate. Enjoy the wonderful bounty of God, then leave the balance of the tithe to support the work of the Temple and to provide for those less fortunate. If you lived too far from Jerusalem to easily bring the crops and flocks, you could sell them back home and just bring the cash to the Temple ...

4495. Does God Care Who Wins the Superbowl?

John 14:5-14

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... prayer for victory in the Super Bowl! So should the players be praying for a victory this afternoon? I am with Yogi Berra on this one who is reported to have told a player coming up to bat who had just crossed himself, "Aw, why don't you leave God alone; let him just sit back and WATCH for once." James Kok, a former college basketball player who is on Robert Schuller's staff at the Crystal Cathedral, says that most of these "player-prayer"'s are very earnest whose religious lives involve "the most simple ...

4496. The Voice

1 Samuel 3:1--4:1

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... was not something warm and fuzzy - he heard a word of severe judgment. You are very liable to hear something you do not want to hear, calling you to do something you do not want to do, and with people you had rather not be around. Really listening can leave you really disturbed. This past week the nation remembered the life and work of Martin Luther King, Jr. He had his own story to tell about listening to the voice. He had gone into the ministry mostly because his father was a pastor and he always did what ...

4497. David and Bathsheba

2 Samuel 11:1-27, 12:1-31

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... sends him. David calls Uriah in, ostensibly for a report on the war. After hearing the news from the front, David tells Uriah, "Go down to your house, wash your feet (ahem, wink, wink)." In other words, go spend some "quality time" with Bathsheba. The Hittite leaves the king's presence, but instead of going down to his house he spends the night with the palace guards. You see, as one commentator has it, "Uriah belonged to the John McCain school of war: as long as his fellow soldiers were out in the field ...

4498. Year-Round Christmas

1 Kings 17:1-24

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... Salvation Army kettles. As he approached the volunteer ringing the bell, he felt an unaccustomed spirit of generosity wash over him. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out all his change. He dropped every last coin into the kettle with a smile. The man turned to leave, but then he stopped. He reached into his back pocket, pulled out his wallet and emptied every last bill into the kettle as well. Grinning like an idiot, he walked away with a bounce to his step. But about two blocks later, the bounce wore ...

4499. Dealing with Depression

1 Kings 19:9-21

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... inexorable advance of an incurable disease. A marriage that had started with such promise of excitement years ago has now drifted into day after day of mutual boredom. A marriage that STAYED wonderful through the years is now over, ended by the cold hand of death, leaving the survivor to wonder if there will ever again be any laughter in life. A list like that could go on and on. Psychology Today(1) pointed out years ago that the average American is ten times more likely to be depressed than his father and ...

4500. Our Magnificent, Mysterious, Mischievous God

2 Kings 5:1-27

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... Elijah constantly reiterated the central message of his ministry - that Israel must choose whether it would follow Yahweh or follow Baal - Elisha has no overarching prophetic word. He does not present ultimatums to either the common people or the various kings of Israel. He even leaves the prophets of other gods to their own devices. He purifies poisoned wells,(2) helps a widow pay her debts,(3) restores a young man from death to life,(4) feeds a hundred men to their fill with just 20 barley loaves and some ...

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