Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 4601 to 4625 of 4915 results

4601. Government and Marriage

Mark 12:18-27, Mark 12:13-17

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: Two critical issues for all believers come out of the attempt of the leaders to entrap Jesus: (1) submission to government; and (2) the doctrine of resurrection, grounding our faith and hope in the reality of Christ’s resurrection and the certain afterlife that God’s people will enjoy. Understanding the Text David Daube has shown that the next four passages (12:13–37 = Matt. 22:15–46) correspond to the four major types of rabbinic questions: (1) of wisdom, on a point of Torah regarding taxes (12: ...

4602. John the Baptist

Luke 3:1-20

Teach the Text

R.T. France

Big Idea: John calls the people to a new beginning, and so prepares the way for the Messiah. Understanding the Text We now move into the story proper, and it begins, as chapter 1 led us to expect, not with Jesus but rather with John, the forerunner. At 3:21 the focus will turn to Jesus, but John’s call to repentance, and the considerable impact that it had on public opinion, will remain in the background of Jesus’s own ministry. In many ways Jesus will be, as he was popularly perceived to be, the successor ...

4603. Prayer for Enlightenment

Ephesians 1:15-23

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

The immense significance of this threefold work of God on behalf of humanity makes it imperative that people understand it. For the more they do so, the greater their ability will be to live and grow in their new relationship with God and each other. Therefore (“for this reason”), Paul prays for his readers, whose faith he has heard about, that they may increase in understanding. Their two-dimensional faith encapsulates the sort of life the epistle promotes. It consists of faith in the Lord Jesus and love ...

4604. Praise the Slain Lamb

Revelation 5:1-14

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

As though the second movement in a symphony, the celebration in the eschatological temple of God continues, with a reading of a scroll. Typically, in a Jewish synagogue liturgy, the seals on a Torah scroll are broken so that God’s Word may be read to the whole congregation. However, this scroll in the right hand of the enthroned Creator cannot be opened or read (5:1). Even a being as powerful as the angel with the great voice must ask, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” (5:2). The ...

4605. The Babylonian Whore

Revelation 17:1-18

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

17:1–19:10 Review · The end of the empire: The next three chapters (Revelation 17–19) are an expansion of the sixth and seventh bowl judgments against “Babylon,” which has stood for Rome throughout Revelation (14:8; 16:19; 17:5; 18:2, 10, 21). The dissolution of Roman power, which was anticipated in 14:8 (“Fallen is Babylon the Great!”) and 16:19 (God “gave her [Babylon] the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath”), is elaborated on in 17:1–19:10, as Rome’s entire domination system of military ...

4606. God Has the Last Word

Acts 10:34-43

Sermon

Charley Reeb

It is amazing how sounds will stir the mind and heart. For instance, music has a marvelous way of igniting an array of emotions. Someone can listen to a song, close their eyes, and feel once again the exhilaration of their first kiss or the bittersweet memory of love that was lost. A note or two of music can resonate a deep chord within. Movie makers know this well and use it to their advantage. Ever tried to watch a movie with your television muted? The drama of the movie is removed. The screeches, ...

4607. The Seals

Revelation 6:1-17

Understanding Series

Robert W. Wall

The judgment of God against a fallen world is one yield of the death and exaltation of Christ. The breaking of the seals, which opens the scroll and declares God’s decree of salvation, occurs as an essential part of Christ’s entrance into the heavenly throneroom. The seal judgments, and the trumpet judgments that follow, do not depict a sequence of future historical events; rather, they symbolize together God’s response to—and are in that sense co-terminus with—chapter five’s exaltation of the risen Lamb. ...

4608. A Prophecy Against Egypt

Isaiah 19:1-25

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

Poems about the Southern Powers: For three chapters we turn to the far south. Cush covers an area corresponding to the very south of modern Egypt and the northern part of Sudan. A Cushite dynasty ruled Egypt itself at the end of the eighth century, so this poem about Cush is as much a poem about Egypt (cf. 20:1–6). 19:1–15 It is not surprising that Egypt should feature in these prophecies. It was Israel’s old oppressor and would in due course be Judah’s biggest temptation. It seemed a resource for ...

4609. Such a Little Thing

Mark 4:26-34

Sermon

King Duncan

I understand President Ronald Reagan used to tell story about a very timid little man who ventured into a biker bar. The little man cleared his throat nervously and asked, “Which of you gentlemen owns a black Pit Bull which is chained outside to a parking meter?” A giant of a man, wearing biker gear, turned slowly on his stool, looked down at the quivering little man and snarled, “It’s my dog. Why?” “Well, sir,” squeaked the little man, obviously very nervous, “I believe my dog just killed your Pit Bull.” ...

4610. Listen to the Angels

Revelation 5:11-14

Sermon

King Duncan

A layperson wrote on the Internet that he attends a small village church in rural Pennsylvania. On any given Sunday, he says, they may have six or seven faithful children who come with their parents. The pastor has a white bag which is passed from child to child, making sure they get equal turns to put something in for him to talk about. Each Sunday, the pastor calls all the children up and he opens the bag to find a “surprise” on which he bases his children’s sermon. Easter week, the bag went home with a ...

4611. Surely, Surely

Luke 1:1-4, Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“The LORD Almighty has sworn, "Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will happen.” (Isaiah 14:24) Prop: let dove fly through church (if you dare) OR celebrate an event, such as a baptism, or an ordination, or a blessing for mission Today, as we prepare to celebrate the baptism of __________, I invite all of you children to come forward to witness this great event, as all of you too in the congregation bear witness to this momentous occasion. [You can opt to do the baptism ...

4612. Holy Goat!

Leviticus 16:1-34, John 20:24-31

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Hide and seek is everyone’s favorite game as a child. And as an adult. What irony that children play and pretend to hide, then are delighted to be discovered and come out of hiding. But adults hide for real! And for very different reasons! We may not physically hide. But can we emotionally and spiritually hide! And we have no intention of being discovered! For any number of reasons, we adults find it extremely hard to allow anyone to discover the deep reaches and recesses of our souls. We adults find it ...

4613. Job and the Mind Storm

Job 42:7-17, Job 42:1-6, Job 38:1--41:34

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Overthinking is one of the worst stress inducers in our lives. We all know the overthinker –the one who, no matter what the situation is, will make mountains out of molehills and declare tragedy the moment something doesn’t go as planned. Or that person who, when contemplating a change or an event, will worry about every detail so much that he or she derives no enjoyment whatsoever from the event itself. There are “go-with-the-flow” people. And the upright and the uptight. They overthink everything. And ...

4614. Public Sex

Mark 10:2-16

Sermon

Will Willimon

''Therefore a man leaves his father and mother and cleaves to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.'' While you were away over the summer, the Presbyterians (P.C.U.S.A ) discovered sex. They issued a big report on sex at their General Assembly, voted it down by a margin of 95 to 5, the report that is. But not before Presbyterians captured many headlines, so shocked was the media to see staid Presbyterians talking in public about a subject like sex. The report advocated ''justice-love'' for ...

4615. A Caring Woman

Acts 9:36-43

Sermon

King Duncan

Good morning, and Happy Mother’s Day to all our mothers and grandmothers and mother-figures in the congregation this morning. Parents, both mom and dads have the hardest job in the world, and this world would be in a horrible shape without their love and sacrifice and perseverance. Of course it is not easy to be a Mom. In a TikTok video, a woman named Nicole DeRoy explains one of the challenges of motherhood. She says, “My kids wanted to know what it was like being a mom, so I woke them up at 2:00 a.m. to ...

4616. I Am Somebody!

Mark 1:4-11

Sermon

David E. Leininger

I suspect that, having made it to mid-January, you would say that you have successfully survived the holidays. True? The celebration of our Savior’s birth — Christmas; then the New Year; finally the Feast of the Three Kings on January 6th — Epiphany (which for many has become the Feast of Taking Down the Decorations!). Today I want to suggest that there is one more holiday we should be observing — this day, the one the liturgical calendar designates to remember the Baptism of the Lord. If the witness of ...

4617. Say Goodbye -- Say Hello

Sermon

Richard Hasler

Roy Oswald, a leader at the Alban Institute, relates the following incident from his boyhood in rural Canada. As a young boy, Roy and his two older brothers often took a shortcut to school through an enormous thistle patch. In some places the prickly patches were 50 to 100 feet wide. The boys rarely wore shoes to school in the summertime, hence their dilemma: how to cross the thistle patch in bare feet. The option of taking the long way around and avoiding the thistles was quickly overruled. The only other ...

4618. Life Beside The Falls

Ezekiel 47:1-12

Sermon

David O. Bales

The first storm of autumn clamped down with unseasonable cold -- lows at night in the teens -- which turned the shores of the falls in the middle of town to parallel strips of white lace. Despite the frozen ground the season's last football game would be played, swirls of snow sometimes making the players invisible from the stands. The teams warmed up on the field, stretching and shouting numbers to the rhythm of their exercises. The band members tuned their instruments, the public address announcer ...

4619. Been There, Done That

Matthew 2:13-23

Sermon

William B. Kincaid, III

"Been there, done that" is a popular, and often overused, phrase that excuses us from having to endure anything a second time. It doesn't matter if we have skateboarded up Mt. Everest, or walked from New York to London, or stood on our heads and gargled peanut butter, we are entirely too cool to do any of that stuff again. "Been there, done that" asks other people not to bore us by requesting that we repeat past experiences. We are too hip for that. Those experiences generated excitement that pumped ...

4620. Sixth Sunday After the Epiphany

Sermon

Russell F. Anderson

Revised Common:Deuteronomy 30:15-20 1 Corinthians 3:1-9 Matthew 5:21-37 Roman Catholic:Sirach 15:15-20 1 Corinthians 2:6-10 Matthew 2:17-37 Episcopal:Sirach 15:11-20 1 Corinthians 3:1-9 Matthew 5:21-24, 27- 30, 33-37 Lutheran:Deuteronomy 30:15-20 1 Corinthians 2:6-13 Matthew 5:20-37 Seasonal Theme: The Holy Spirit is prominently featured in the Epiphany Season pericopes. The Spirit does not act in isolation but works to create and sustain the spiritual community. Each week we will examine a different ...

4621. Stuffed Bodies and Skinny Souls!

Isaiah 55:1-13

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

"Ho, every one who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Hearken diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in fatness. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. Behold, I made him a ...

4622. The Challenge of God Brings Hope

Genesis 9:1-17

Sermon

Richard Gribble

Carlo Rienzi, an attorney with no prior mission or court case, had never been tested. He was fearful and apprehensive, because he had never been challenged in his chosen profession. He did not want the trial that would test his will and challenge his skill, but he knew it must eventually come. When the case came, it seemed an impossible task for him. A young woman had shot the mayor of a small village without provocation, at least so it seemed on the surface. Carlo was assigned by the court as the woman's ...

4623. Have You Heard?

Matthew 4:12-23

Sermon

Mark Trotter

This is the day of our Charge Conference, the annual meeting of this congregation when we evaluate and celebrate the past year. And indeed, we can give thanks to God for all that has happened during this past year, and look forward to the future to what God has in store for us, particularly as we look forward to a new millennium. So it is appropriate that on this Sunday the gospel lesson be Matthew's version of the call of the disciples. That is what I want us to look at this morning. There are two classic ...

4624. Discipleship: The Beauty and the Cross

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

Richard Gribble

Once upon a time a bowl was born. It was not much of a birth — no long months of planning and no great anticipation, no patient shaping under loving hands. Scarcely a thought went into the creation of this little bowl. The quick impersonal movement of a few machines and a trip through a hot oven was all it took for him to be created. There was really nothing to look at, no warmth and no beauty. He was shipped off to a store to be sold. One day this bowl was purchased, not because he was beautiful, but ...

4625. Risking Relationships That Redeem

Ruth 3:1-5, 4:13-17

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

The ancient prophet/servant of the Lord Fried green tomatoes were the house specialty at the Whistle Stop Cafe in Alabama during the 1930s. Evelyn is suffering through the growing pains of a midlife crisis when she and her husband come across the quaint Depression-era ghost of a town called Whistle Stop. Their destination is a nearby retirement home where Evelyn quite by chance meets octogenarian Ninny Threadgoode. Evelyn is unhappy with herself and dissatisfied with her marriage. Sensing Evelyn's ...

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