Sermon and Worship Resources

Synonyms: Levi, disciple, evangelist, tax collector, the 12, the twelve, apostle, sermon on the mount, jewish audience, beatitudes, lord's prayer, great commission, parables, olivet discourse, mount of olives, olivet, synoptic

Showing 4601 to 4625 of 4943 results

4601. The Voices Of Christmas

Drama

Jerry Nordstrom

Cast PATIENT - Resident of a nursing home (male) HOMEMAKER - Food-happy matron (female) SHOPPER - Wealthy, materialistic socialite (female) SPORTSMAN - Young ski enthusiast (male) MERCHANT - Toy store owner (male) TRADITIONALIST - Sentimental Swedish-American grandma (female) CORPORATION MAN - Heavy-drinking party-goer (male) *CHILD - Greedy little girl (female) WORKING WIFE - Frazzled victim of the Christmas rush (female) *May be read, in character, by an adult. Presentation time: about half an hour Using ...

4602. Putting Lent into Focus

Joel 2:12-17

Sermon

Donald Macleod

Within the lifetime of many of us of the Reformed or Free Church tradition, any serious observance of the season of Lent had been somewhat rare or, indeed, optional. Lent was the private and sophisticated preserve of the Episcopalians and Roman Catholics and of a few Protestants who wanted others to think they were "with it." Nowadays, however, the whole Christian world recognizes Lent almost routinely, and seemingly it has now a secure place with everyone in the Church Year. Familiarity with Lent has bred ...

4603. Reviving Our Moral Responsibility

2 Chronicles 36:15-23

Sermon

Donald Macleod

Some years ago I spent several weeks during the summer indexing and classifying the Scripture texts in all the volumes of published sermons on my study shelves. Many interesting trends and preferences emerged from this tabulation; for example, among some 4,000 printed sermons only two preachers had ever done a sermon from the Book of Chronicles. And little wonder, someone might very well say. Here is an Old Testament book which in 65 chapters attempts an accounting of a confused and confusing mishmash of ...

4604. Service Without Witness

Isaiah 50:1-11

Sermon

Donald Macleod

Most worshiping Christians are familiar with at least that part of a wonderful prayer by St. Francis of Assisi that goes this way: Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon. Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope. Where there is darkness, light. Where there is sadness, joy.1 These words reach into the deepest meaning of service, but note this very significant feature: St. Francis combines serving with being. Many ...

4605. Servant Worship

Psalm 116:1-19

Sermon

Donald Macleod

The season of Lent is drawing now to a close. On Ash Wednesday we said that Lent is not primarily a period when we "don’t do this" or "don’t do that;" rather it is intended to be a time of self-denial and self-discipline during which we tone up the moral fiber of our inner being and when we place greater emphasis upon the spiritual and less upon the material. As someone has said, "It is a matter of adding as well as subtracting." If we have been serious at all, our aim during the past few weeks should have ...

4606. The Vicarious Servant

Isaiah 52:13--53:12

Sermon

Donald Macleod

The beloved English cleric, Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy, wrote a poem, titled The Unutterable Beauty, which makes appropriate hearing on Good Friday: When Jesus came to Golgotha, they hanged him to a tree; They drove great nails in hands and feet and made a Calvary. They placed on him a crown of thorns; red were his wounds and deep, For those were crude and cruel days, and human flesh was cheap. When Jesus came to Birmingham, they simply passed him by; They never hurt a hair of him; they only let him die. ...

4607. Passing the Easter Miracle On

Acts 3:11-26

Sermon

Donald Macleod

Three short illustrations fit aptly into the pattern of our thinking today: 1. Mark Antony, in his eulogy at the funeral of Julius Caesar, had just whipped up the emotions of the crowd to fever pitch, and as they broke out into a vengeful mob seeking Brutus and the other traitors, Antony stood by and remarked: "There let it work!" 2. A visitor to the City of Rome was being shown the wealth and riches of the Roman Church - its monuments, shrines, gilded altars and diamond studded chalices - and the guide ...

4608. Genes of Joash

2 Kings 12:1-21

Illustration

Larry Powell

This is a difficult, and not-too-pretty story to tell. Let us begin by identifying some of the principle characters: Athaliah, daughter of Jezebel, married Jehoram the king of Judah. Like her mother, she was a fanatical champion of Baal worship. She was directly responsible for the desecration of the Jerusalem Temple, the conversion of its sacred vessels into articles used for Baal worship, inciting a general massacre, and seizing the royal throne which she occupied for six years. Ahaziah, son of Athaliah ...

4609. Song of a Prophet

Psalm 46:1-11

Sermon

Gordon Pratt Baker

The author of the Forty-sixth Psalm is not only a student of Israel’s prophets; he stands in their ranks as one among them in his own right. What they have preached he sings, and songs have a way of lingering in the heart long after sermons are forgotten. Indeed, this one gives rise in the Sixteenth Century to Martin Luther’s marching song of the Reformation, "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God." Political circumstances in Israel at the time of the poet’s writing are not clear. Some see the Psalm as associated ...

4610. Song of an Historian

Psalm 78:1-72

Sermon

Gordon Pratt Baker

The author of the Seventy-eighth Psalm is a person with his eye on the events that have shaped Israel. Not that he is engrossed in the bare facts of her history. He is too strongly steeped in the traditions of his people in general and the prophets in particular for that. It is rather that he sees the happenings of her past as God’s footprints in the sands of time. History: A Sacred Trust The psalmist’s approach to his country’s story takes advantage of a poet’s license regarding it. So he departs from the ...

4611. Song of a Churchgoer

Psalm 92:1-15

Sermon

Gordon Pratt Baker

The author of the Ninety-second Psalm is a person who loves the church. Never is he happier than when he worships within her walls. It has been so with him all his life. Now, however, he has an additional reason for loving her. He has been on a sick bed where gloating enemies have taunted him. But God has confounded them and restored him to health. And that is not all; the Lord has called the singer’s hecklers to strict account for their actions (Psalm 92:10, 11). Special Moments with God How good it is, ...

4612. Song of an Evangelist

Psalm 103:1-22

Sermon

Gordon Pratt Baker

The author of the One hundred and third Psalm is an evangelist who cannot refrain from telling the world of God’s goodness to him. Indeed, he is fairly bursting with joy at the very thought of witnessing to what the Lord has done. He is so filled with the spirit of praise and thanksgiving, in fact, that his song flows from his lips in an unbroken stream. Moreover, he is offering its testimony before the faithful gathered in the Temple for Sabbath worship; and the spiritual depth of its message can only ...

4613. Song of a Philosopher

Psalm 139:1-24

Sermon

Gordon Pratt Baker

The author of the One hundred and thirty-ninth Psalm is a philosopher who, like Socrates, dares to examine his own inner life. Nor does he do so without benefiting thereby. For the more he probes the labyrinths of his mind the closer to God he finds himself. Awesome as the experience is for him, however, it never conjures up fear in him. Instead, it brings him a deep sense of peace. Amazing Grace To begin with, through his self-study the psalmist has learned that the best of life derives from intimate ...

4614. You Are All That Matters To God

Psalm 50:7-12

Children's Sermon

Erskine White

Object: None Text: Psalm 50:7-12 - "I know all the birds of the air, and all that moves in the field is mine." (v. 11) Imagine you had 35 brothers and sisters! Think of it ... 36 children in the family, including yourself, all living in one house! What do you think that would be like? How do you think a family like that would manage? (Let them answer.) I imagine they would have to take turns eating, since it would be hard to find a table and a dining room big enough for 36 kids and two parents. I imagine ...

4615. The Ultimate Christmas Gift

Psalm 85:1-13, Ephesians 2:11-22

Sermon

Erskine White

"The Lord will speak ... to His people." (Psalm 85:8) As we consider the wide variety of gifts we might receive this Christmas, we could probably place those gifts in one of several categories. First and least importantly, there are those entirely frivolous items which we do not need and never intend to use. How many of us, for example, have received things like automatic toothpick dispensers or electric yarn untanglers which now sit forgotten on some closet shelf collecting dust? Then again, there is no ...

4616. Blessed among Women

Luke 1:39-45, 1 Samuel 2:1-11

Sermon

Erskine White

"And Elizabeth ... exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.’ " (Luke 1:42) No one knows what she looked like. European artists have made her look European. African artists have made her look African. Native American artists have drawn her in their image, as have artists from South America, the Far East and nearly every other part of the world as well. In a sense, she has become the universal woman, adapted in every generation to every race and culture ...

4617. The Flight From Light

Isaiah 60:1-22, Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Erskine White

"And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way." (Matthew 2:12) The other day I called someone to compliment her on a job she had done exceedingly well. We had worked on a project together which became a great success, in no small part because of the leadership she provided. As I spoke with her, I went on and on about how much her work had been appreciated. "Everyone who was there really loved you," I told her; "in fact, they’re raving about you!" ...

4618. Just A Whisper

Isaiah 9:1-7

Sermon

Frederick C. Edwards

A newborn child is such a small and fragile thing. Can it have the power to change anything? In the eighth century B.C.E., Ahaz, King of Judah, faced the armies of two kings advancing to attack Jerusalem, and a state of mind bordering on panic seized the king and the people. Into that climate of fear came the prophet Isaiah, who met Ahaz one day as he was inspecting the water supply of Jerusalem in anticipation of the siege of the city. Isaiah called upon Ahaz to have unwavering faith in Yahweh, so that ...

4619. Give Us A New Name!

Isaiah 61:1-11

Sermon

Frederick C. Edwards

What’s in a name? Apparently more than we sometimes realize. Our names are important to us. They carry the message of who we are. Parents think carefully of what to name a new child. How is it going to sound when that child grows to adulthood? Will it be dignified? Distinctive? Pleasant? We want names that will not be embarrassing or cause people to make jokes of them. Probably all of us have been amused by someone’s unfortunate name; one probably chosen by a parent who failed to think of the long term ...

4620. Call Waiting

1 Samuel 3:1--4:1

Sermon

Frederick C. Edwards

Samuel was one of those children born rather late in the life of a woman who dearly wanted a child. To have a child was Hannah’s most earnest prayer. Indeed the writers of the scriptures regarded a child born late in life as an indication of God’s special favor. Hannah, Samuel’s mother, must have thought so too, and while he was still an infant, as soon as he was weaned, he was offered into the service of the Lord in thanks to God for his birth. That’s how it happened that this young boy named Samuel came ...

4621. We Do Not Have To Stay The Way We Are!

Joel 2:1-11

Sermon

Durwood L. Buchheim

"Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know me, Philip?" (John 14:9). So Jesus responded to Philip’s question about wanting to know and sense the presence of God. It is a good question for all of us as we once again make our Lenten journey to Easter. How would you answer if asked to share your thoughts about God? What thoughts come to mind when we think about God? Do we take the time to think about God? Do we believe there is a God? Are we more confident this year than last, that there is a God ...

4622. Christian Courage

Acts 4:1-22

Sermon

Durwood L. Buchheim

"You will go to prison for six months," said the Judge. So John Bunyan went to prison for nothing worse than preaching in the little Bedford Baptist Church. "Baptist" preaching was against the law. But Bunyan persisted in breaking the law. He told Justice Keeling, "If I was out of prison today, I would preach again tomorrow, by the help of God." So it was back to prison. This time for twelve years. And again for six months. John Bunyan, who gave us the great classic, Pilgrim’s Progress, spent one fifth of ...

4623. Dual Citizenship I - What Do We Owe To Our Country?

Matthew 22:15-22

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

What a country is America! As Erma Bombeck says, "You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4th, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers in front of the White House, but by family picnics where kids throw frisbees, the potato salad gets soggy, and the flies die from happiness." Some years ago in a U.S. District Court, I had the privilege of participating in a naturalization ceremony. Some sixty foreign-born persons were ready to take their citizenship vows. Every place on ...

4624. The Marvelous Style Of Jesus: Truth And Love

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon

Joseph M. Freeman

Jesus' use of parables is his way of communicating a striking truth with significant love. In my own journey as a Christian person, the most amazing quality of God which has been so instructive to me, is that He approaches us with equal doses of love and truth. How different He is than us. When I see someone in error and that error has personally hurt me, I go for that person's jugular, to deliver the truth, but little or no love accompanies it. Hence, the person becomes defensive and flatly refuses the ...

4625. The King's Reception (What Are You Wearing to the Wedding?)

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon

Brett Blair

Perhaps you have heard of the family that moved into the neighborhood and the little country church decided to reach out to the family. When they arrived at the doorstep the members of the church were surprised to find that the family had 12 kids and were for the most part poor. They invited the family to services and said goodbye. Later that week the church responded to their need. They delivered a package to the family and said, "We want you to know that you and your entire family are welcome at our ...

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