Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 4501 to 4525 of 4964 results

4501. The Locust Years

Joel 2:23-32

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... even any animals left for sacrifice in worship, but he was wise enough to realize that some blood on an altar was not nearly so important as a true spirit of repentance. "Rend your heart and not your garments" (Joel 2:13), he had cried. Then came those words of hope: "If you do it, I will repay you for the years which the locust has eaten" (Joel 2:25). The words are no different today. We can all look back over our lives and see locust years, years in which we were perfectly content to go our own way, years ...

4502. Advent 1

Psalm 25:1-10, Jeremiah 33;14-16, Luke 21:25-36, 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13

Bulletin Aid

Julia Ross Strope

... . Let us feel your empowering love sending us with peace into the world. Amen. Word Of Grace Like the wreath, God encircles us with divine grace; like the flame, God warms our hearts; like the candle, God lights our darkness. In a baby, we see hope of a future and our fears vanish in the newborn Christ. Hallelujah! Congregational Choral Response Canticle of Mary, Magnificat My soul gives glory to our God; my soul sings forth its praise; God immerses us in loveliness in many marvelous ways. Sermon Idea Amid ...

4503. Easter 2

Psalm 118:14-29, Psalm 150:1-6, John 20:19-31, Acts 5:27-32, Revelation 1:4-8

Bulletin Aid

Julia Ross Strope

... their lives in order to hurt and kill others, it is difficult to read the lectionary texts and notice the personal pronouns and the condemnations projected onto others. The hope of resurrection is that amid death wishes and murder, we have the courage to find ways to be godly without wreaking havoc on others. The hope includes self-knowledge that expands with each season of the calendar year, each season of church activities, and each stage of human development — self-knowledge that acknowledges inner ...

4504. The Problem with ‘Hail Mary’ Moments

James 3:13-18

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... it possible for us to feel grace and embody goodness every day, whatever comes our way. We do not ask to be set free from trouble, anxiety, life’s stress and strain any more than we ask to be set free from being ourselves. But there is an alchemy of hope that is part of the heavenly wisdom: God can work all things together for good for those who love and are called according to God’s purposes. Back in the middle of the 19th century, someone wrote a hymn that was popular in the first half of the 20th ...

4505. Proper 4

1 Kings 18:20-21 (22-29) 30-39, Psalm 96:1-13, Luke 7:1-10, Galatians 1:1-12

Bulletin Aid

Julia Ross Strope

... people trying to appease Divinity as they understand him and in the process destroy land and humankind. The gospel story is different; Jesus heals a person of another ethnic group. Both Jesus and the centurion are people of faith and they get their hopes met. As in some other biblical texts, the stranger is respected. This story is wholesome for adults and children and is consistent with other stories we have of Jesus. This story promotes peace rather than a hard-nosed deity demanding a particular kind ...

4506. Proper 5

1 Kings 17:8-24, Psalm 30:1-12; 146:1-10, Luke 7:11-17, Galatians 1:11-24

Bulletin Aid

Julia Ross Strope

... goodness continues in this place. Doxology "The Lone, Wild Bird" The ends of earth are in God’s hand, The sea’s dark deep and far-off land. And I am yours! I rest in you. Great Spirit, come, and rest in me. Prayer Of Thanksgiving Giver of Hope — we are grateful for the ways you are among us, blessing us in multiple ways. Thank you for this money; multiply it to pay our bills and feed the hungry. Amen. Intercessory Prayers Life-Giving Spirit — how quickly the beauty of spring turns into the heat of ...

4507. Liturgy of the Palms

Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29, Luke 19:28-44

Bulletin Aid

Julia Ross Strope

... earth feeding and healing, teaching and learning. So many people need food for their bodies; so many people need soul food; so many people need shelter and health care. Prisons are full, bombs explode, and drugs destroy. Walk on this earth again and bring hope to all creation. As we remember Jesus’ last days on earth, we pray for courage to take sides against injustice and grandiosity, against a wealthy few for the common good of the global village. God of Possibilities — we pray for peace and honest ...

4508. Liturgy of the Passion

Luke 22:14-23:56

Bulletin Aid

Julia Ross Strope

4509. No More Tears

John 11:17-37

Sermon

King Duncan

... of life. John tells us in two places (Verses 17 and 39) that Lazarus had been in the tomb for 4 days. This gives added emphasis to the expectation that, before Jesus intervened, Lazarus was beyond any possible hope of being revived. (3) When Jesus arrives at Bethany, it is Mary who reaches him first. She falls at his feet and says, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Then we come to that most touching scene. When Jesus saw Mary weeping, and the ...

4510. Proper 22

Lamentations 1:1-6, Lamentations 3:19-26, Luke 17:1-10, 2 Timothy 1:1-14

Bulletin Aid

Julia Ross Strope

... to do good in spite of injustice, to be unworried about exterior trouble, and to not respond in anger. Pray with me the community confession and then seek Holy guidance for your personal situation. Community Confession God of Time and Eternity — we know the hopes of your people through the ages. We, too, want justice and hospitality for us and all people. Examine us and reveal the meanness that lurks within our minds and psyches. Displace it with your compassion and empower us to participate in your reign ...

4511. Reformation Day

Psalm 46:1-11, Jeremiah 31:31-34, John 8:31-41, Romans 3:19-28

Bulletin Aid

Julia Ross Strope

... Let it begin in our homes and in our country, among different ethnic groups, among restless youth, among adults who speak with barbed words. Let words mediate conflict without hurtful actions. Where the past has set up patterns of violence and disrespect, let compassion and hope overwhelm political ineptitude so goodness has a chance. God of Wholeness — all your people seek a sense of being close to you. We all want to be pain and disease free. We all want to enter eternity easily. But that is not the way ...

4512. Thanksgiving Day

Deuteronomy 26:1-11, Psalm 100:1-5, John 6:25-35, Philippians 4:4-9

Bulletin Aid

Julia Ross Strope

... : Is there anything else we want to add to our thanksgiving list? (Allow time for people to name their items.) I thank God of the next generation — for our children. Together, you and I are mentors for them, teaching them to be hopeful, collaborative, responsible, and compassionate individuals. People: Thanks be to God for our children and for the beauty and goodness surrounding us all! Thanksgiving Prayer God of Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow — empower us with the Holy Spirit so we may consciously pass ...

4513. Coffee Shop Christmas Eve

Luke 2:1-7

Drama

Julia Ross Strope

... Lee: And I want to go home. Max: Me, too. I want to open a gift. Jeanne: Gold, frankincense, and myrrh .... Sarah: I hope for ballet slippers. Ryan: I want a new soccer ball. Robert: I want a longer violin bow. Curt: I want healthy, happy children! ... some bread Strangers now friends — with our story — Sipped tea and soothed our heads Truth about birth and love, about God and hope. Rebecca: ’Tis the night before Christmas And songs filled our minds ... Jeanne: While we talked of gifts To please us and ...

4514. Showing Faith

Mark 10:46-52

Illustration

James W. Robinson

... where she was confined was respected nationwide for its success in treating her type of ailment. She was impressed by testimonies to the skills of the entire staff, from patients recuperating in her room. All that she observed and heard gave substance to her hope for recovery. As she awaited the unsettling unseen and unknown - few of life's experiences exceed the bleak uncertainty of a major operation - she had all the evidence she needed to convince her that she could entrust her very life to the medical ...

4515. The Lost Five Commandments

Mark 12:35-40

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... or doesn’t have. She gives away the tiny amount she does possess because it does not possess her, it does not hold her heart or her hopes. Her faith is being stockpiled in heaven, not on earth. Thou shalt not pile up. 2. Thou Shalt Not Pile On It used to be we were ... piled on their accusations. They had no interest in anything Jesus was teaching. They plied him with questions only with the hope of tripping him up, pulling him down, and piling on in a public fall. Jesus foiled their plan by never failing ...

4516. God's Gift

Jeremiah 33:1-26

Sermon

Derl G. Keefer

... inclination to do good deeds. It is more than just wanting to do good things. It is an inward righteousness by the grace of God on the inside manifesting itself outwardly in action toward others. We must be honest in our lifestyle. George Washington said, “I hope I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man."4 The basis of this is found in Matthew 23 when a Pharisaical lawyer asked Jesus a question to test ...

4517. From Tragedy to Salvation

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

Derl G. Keefer

... at the source of salvation — God, * praise mixed with loud voices, * praise mixed with inner hope, or * praise mixed with prayerful communication. Praise comes by keeping our eyes focused on God as the absolute source of our faith, anticipating life ... ’s goodness even when hope looks empty, circumstances seem overwhelming, and temptations and trials assault us. Augustine wrote, “The Christian should be an alleluia ...

4518. Enemies of the Cross

Philippians 3:17 - 4:1

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

... confess, I try to keep things very simple and boiled down to the basics. I call it an inquiry class because by exploring their questions I hope to help them to see what is at the heart and core of the Christian faith. What is that heart and core? It is revealed by ... society today, a society where we can never get enough, is obesity. We eat too much of the wrong foods, always hoping to satisfy our hunger, and it kills us. We get hypertension, heart disease, and diabetes, the diseases, ironically, of affluence! ...

4519. A New Point of View

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

... father, and wastes it all in a life of decadence. From a "human point of view" he deserved to be on the street begging for crumbs. He deserves to eat pig food. In desperation he decides to return home hoping that his father might be willing to accept him as a slave. From a "human point of view" that is all he could hope for. But his father does not look at him from a "human point of view." No, he looks at him from God's point of view ... in Christ ... and welcomes him home with a new robe on his ...

4520. A Glimpse of Glory

Revelation 21:10-22 - 22:5

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

... the code language of apocalyptic to communicate the faith to one another. The bizarre and fantastic images of Revelation are not just a promise of "pie in the sky in the sweet by and by." If the faith of those first Christians was just a hope that when they died, they would go to heaven; if their faith was just in the life hereafter, then their enemies would have considered them harmless. Everyone in the ancient world believed in some sort of afterlife. The Roman government didn't care what you believed ...

4521. All in God’s Time

Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

... the great-great-great-great grandchildren makes it to the Wailing Wall. In the person and presence of this child, the hopes and dreams of all that went before him are fulfilled. The devout father who died hundreds of years before is at ... , humiliation, and even our jobs because we won't "burn incense to Caesar" takes a whole lot of faith, more faith than you or I could ever hope to muster on our own. So, we get tired of waiting. We get tired of God's timing. We join those first-century Christians in Asia Minor ...

4522. Killing What Is Already Dead

Colossians 3:1-11

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

... , then all of the conflict we see around us and even within us will eventually pass away. God's good creation will live in harmony. Neither of these ideas is self-evident. Only the eyes of faith can see the inherent goodness of creation. Only Christian hope can affirm that all of the conflict of the world will be healed in God's time, in God's way. God will achieve this reconciliation through the cross and resurrection. The cross and resurrection change the whole universe. All of the parts that were in ...

4523. A Peaceful Life in an Unpeaceful World

1 Timothy 2:1-7

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

... God to see us through. If we are involved in real ministry, we must depend on the kind of peace that only God can provide. That kind of peace rests in the assurance that God will win the victory in the end. Our peace comes from the trust, faith, and hope that God will heal the creation and usher in the true peace of a world existing in harmony and justice. That kind of peace is the calm in the midst of a storm. It is the peace that allows inner city pastors to work in the midst of violence but ...

4524. How Rich Is Rich?

1 Timothy 6:3-10

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

... the headlines: the savings and loan crisis of the '80s, the collapse of Enron, the subprime mortgage debacle of a couple of years ago. They all arose out of greed. In order to make big bucks people took risks. Then they tried to cover their mistakes and hoped for the best. In all three cases, things did not work out well. Innocent people were hurt in the wake of the scandals. Taxpayers had to bail out the greedy. Employees lost their pensions. People lost their homes. It has always been the case that we are ...

4525. Guarding the Treasure

2 Timothy 1:1-14

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

... chair our committees, we set our budgets, but we don't appreciate how valuable our work, our very presence in the world is. God has entrusted us with the message of the gospel. God has placed a treasure into our hands and called us to guard it. We guard hope in a world bent on self-destruction. We guard love in a world seething with hate. We guard God's affirmation of life in a world fascinated with death. We may do our ministry in an increasingly secular and even pagan culture. We may feel as though we are ...

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