Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 4651 to 4675 of 4943 results

4651. Easter 3

Luke 24:13-35, Acts 2:14a, 36-41, 1 Peter 1:17-23

Bulletin Aid

... and baptism Call to Worship Pastor: If we were to be honest in our confessions, our sins would accuse us of being enemies of Christ. People: Sin has possessed us, but we long to be set free in order to love and serve our Lord. Pastor: The church continues to proclaim God's eternal truth: Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus. People: We believe in Jesus; and are convinced he will forgive us, and enable us by the Holy Spirit to be Christian disciples. Collect Almighty God, who gives your Holy Spirit to ...

4652. Ascension

Luke 24:46-53, Acts 1:1-11, Ephesians 1:15-23

Bulletin Aid

... the church is sent to be witnesses of the risen Lord. People: God help us accept our mission, that we may prepare our world for our Lord's final triumph when he returns. Collect Father in heaven, who glorified your Son through his ascension, and who continues to glorify him through the witnessing faith of his church: Make us sensitive to our mission, that we may convince others to accept him as Lord and Savior. In his name we pray. Amen. Prayer of Confession We are thankful for being a part of the world ...

4653. PROPER 8

Genesis 32:22-32

Bulletin Aid

... to which our baptism witnesses, that we may keep ourselves firmly rooted in the new life to which Christ has saved us. In our Savior's name we pray. Amen. Prayer of Confession Father, we have died to sin with Christ on his cross. That is our faith. But sin continues to try to get a hold on us; and we have difficulty letting Christ raise us to new life. Forgive us for a witness which denies our baptism, and fails to destroy the power of sin in our lives. Give us faith which is strong enough to convince us of ...

4654. Proper 9

Matthew 11:25-30, Romans 7:7-25, Exodus 1:1-22

Bulletin Aid

... to be righteous, but we are possessed by sin. Forgive us when our human nature makes it so difficult for us to express the righteousness we desire. Cause us to depend more on Christ to enable us to live the life of the Spirit; that we may not continue with our minds controlled by our human nature. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Hymns "Be Thou My Vision" "Dear Master, in Whose Life I See" "I Need Thee Every Hour" "Lead Us, O Father" Gospel: Matthew 11:25-30 Theme: Christ's invitation to take his yoke Call ...

4655. Living Water

John 4:1-26

Children's Sermon

... a Samaritan woman at the well one day and offered her a chance to vote, a little like I just offered you a chance to vote. They talked about water - different kinds of water - but what they were really talking about was life. Jesus told her if she continued to live the kind of life she was living, it would be like drinking dirty, used water. Her life was filled with trouble. She only did what made her happy for the moment. If something looked good, felt good, or tasted good, she did it. Sometimes she got ...

4656. Teachers Without Chalkboards

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

... and conclude that the assignment is theirs. The noun "Church" does not pinpoint the responsibility as does the pronoun "you." It is the pronoun "you" that Jesus uses in the Great Commission. Jesus' immediate audience was the disciples, but the promise he made about his continuing presence extends far beyond that group of eleven. That is to say, Jesus' "you" includes each of us who calls him Lord. The task of teaching is ours. Such an assignment is awesome. But before we begin to resist it or begin to scurry ...

4657. Walking the Streets

Matthew 10:1-42, Matthew 9:35-38

Sermon

Richard L. Thulin

... the towns and villages." It was compassion that he enacted when he preached "the good news" and healed "every disease and sickness." It was compassion by which he still saw the people when he completed his walk, and it was compassion by which he continued to serve them. When one really walks the streets and gets in touch with real people, one need not see "cheats, liars and bums." Compassion paints a different picture. Compassion helps us cut through the quick and preset judgments of stereotypes. It sees ...

4658. Ready or Not

Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

... it was like to face his seven-year-old daughter who had heard of it at school. He speaks of the loving concern of friends who urged him to take it easier, who counseled him to think about his wife and children. Boesak and his wife determined that he must continue in the struggle for justice, that he must do God's bidding. He did so, he says, with fear and trepidation. Yet, he writes, "I have a strange joy ... I have discovered that I am no longer afraid, my life is in the hands of the God who is the ...

4659. The Promise of Peace

Isaiah 2:1-5

Sermon

... mortal conflict for oppression and freedom. In Central America there is fighting and killing for control of land and destinies. In South Africa there is a race war of horrendous proportions being waged, that destroys and imprisons people. In our own country we continue to expend billions upon billions of dollars to fuel a military machine. We claim that machine is for defensive purposes. We must be strong in order to keep and maintain peace. We seem more than determined to be militarily mighty so nobody on ...

4660. The Promise of the Savior King

Isaiah 11:1-16

Sermon

... pushed this hope into the future again and again. In fact, we today still await the fulfillment, in final form, of this vision of a ruler whose reign will create a just social order and peace on the earth. And yet this vision, this dream, this hope continues to stir the imagination of people and move them to seek ways and means and people to enflesh and make reality a just and peaceful community. This promise of a savior king makes us uneasy and dissatisfied with leaders who are not wise nor just nor ...

4661. The Promise of Wholeness

Isaiah 35:1-10

Sermon

... 's creative act of deliverance. In Jesus is God's deed which gives shape and meaning to our present and our future, which makes us whole. In our present time of anxiety, fear, international tensions, domestic brokenness, economic ills, God is at work creating, continuing to bring about new possibilities, new life, new hope. God is at work creating new attitudes, new situations. The prophet in today's text spoke of the desert blooming, lush growth in the midst of dryness. In the dry despair of an alcoholic ...

4662. The Promise of Emmanuel

Isaiah 7:1-25

Sermon

... birth to a child. That child was the sign of God's promised help for King Ahaz. Centuries later another pregnant woman, named Mary, gave birth to a baby boy. That child born in Bethlehem is God with us. In Jesus the mighty, exalted, holy God became like us and continues to be with us. Because our God is with us, we can apprehend the dual nature of our Advent anticipation and deal with this duality in our own lives and world. The advent promise is that God is coming to us ever new and ever fresh. And yet the ...

4663. The Promise of Homecoming

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

... life. Cate Strickland Galitsky is a major character in Gail Godwin's novel, A Mother and Two Daughters. Gail Godwin narrates that one can go home again and, in the homecoming, there is a healing and renewing which can occur in order to continue to live life afresh. The promise of homecoming permeates our text for this day. Israel - both the Northern Kingdom and Judah - have experienced the shattering reality of military defeat and exile. The life of God's people has been broken by divine judgment because ...

4664. Light Shines

Isaiah 9:1-7

Sermon

... is God's gift to us. And that gift is given flesh and meaning in Jesus of Nazareth, the Light of the World. This promise does not mean we shall not be afraid, that we shall not stumble and fumble in darkness, or not still do all we can to continue to make life here full and free. But it does seem to me that God's goodness, God's word of promise to be light shining into our world, throws a very illuminating beam into the midst of our darkest moments. This word says we are not alone. This word ...

4665. And You Thought God Didn't Care!

Exodus 3:1-22

Sermon

... - is already assured. Victory is certain because of the Name. This is the Name of the God of the fugitive Moses and of the Hebrew slaves. This all-conquering Name would not be fully understood by any one generation of Israelities, and God would continually manifest himself in new and glorious ways to his people. For the Christian, the interpretation wonderfully describes Jesus Christ, the great "I Am the Way, the Truth, and the Life." No wonder so many songs are written to laud "The Name" - "All Hail the ...

4666. Is God With You, Or Not?

Exodus 17:1-7

Sermon

... her body, and, after a time, her voice grew hoarse and she could no longer sing. I prayed and prayed that she would be healed. I begged God, I promised him things, and even bargained with him, but her suffering got worse and the disease continued to ravage her body. I recall visiting her in the state cancer hospital. There she was with other victims of the same disease, only in the ward where she was placed, there were horrible signs of ugly disfigurement, the stench was overpowering, and the hopelessness ...

4667. God Is Into Birds!

Exodus 19:1-25

Sermon

... children's TV program, the announcer asked a little boy what he wanted to be when he grew up. "I want to be a wild animal trainer," said the child, loudly and clearly into the microphone. "And then I'll have lots of wild lions and tigers and leopards," he continued boldly. "And then I'll walk into the cage with them and ..." Then the picture he had painted for himself grew scary and he added softly, "But, of course, I'll have my mother with me." If we didn't have God to come swiftly to our aid, our fears ...

4668. Communion Is Reformed

Luke 22:7-38

Sermon

... say. But Luther said his mother meant well. She was determined that he know right from wrong and that he learn to fear the righteousness of God. And fear God he did! His fear of the Lord plagued him throughout his early years of development and even continued when he became a priest. All of his fear of God came to a head when he celebrated his first Mass, his first service of Holy Communion. Luther believed, as the Church taught, that a priest was closer to God than any other human, except the Pope of ...

4669. Communion Is Running No More

Mark 9:42-50

Sermon

... first Communion Sunday is this: Even though we can remove ourselves from situations, activities and relationships which lead us into sinful deed, we cannot remove the sinful nature from our lives. This is simply a fact of fallen humanity. We were born with and will continue to struggle with our tendency to rebel against God and our desire to follow our will instead of his. No matter how devoted to Christ we are ... no matter how serious we are in striving for spiritual growth ... no matter how much we pray ...

4670. Communion Is Reconciliation

2 Corinthians 5:11--6:2

Sermon

... me today. When we rise from the Lord's Table this morning, we shall be completely forgiven and reconciled to God and he expects us to go and be reconciled to those who have sinned against us. That is God's will! We do not have the privilege of continuing to hold that grudge, hatred, or seething anger. We must forgive and be reconciled no matter how much we've been wronged; no matter how deeply we've been hurt, no matter how sorry we might be feeling for ourselves. Since God has fully forgiven us we have a ...

4671. R.S.V.P.

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon

... sometimes even understand why it is so; I know that I am called to invite others into deeper fellowship with the God of the gospel. My vocation and yours and that of every baptized believer is simply (and sometimes not so simply!) to be faithful, continuing to share the unconditional good news of God’s love and forgiveness for Christ’s sake and trust the Holy Spirit to make of that proclamation what he will. When we extend invitations to involvement and ministry, we trust God to use such invitations as ...

4672. Talents and Trust

Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

... . Sure it’s scary. Few things worthwhile are not. That’s life, and God called it good. But what about the persistent old problem of sin and human cussedness - the propensity to screw things up? God does not leave us alone. As Sustainer and Sanctifier of life, God continues to meddle in our affairs. As counselor, God’s Spirit gently and persistently guides us - and guides us always back to the God who says, "Go on. Live the life I give you. Enjoy it. Savor it. I gave my Son that you might live and not ...

4673. The Trifocal Festival

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

... baptism, we are clothed with the robes of Christ’s righteousness. We are not saved from sinning; we are saved in our sinning.6 And that tension of being at once a saint and a sinner, obedient and rebellious, alive and dead, faithful and faithless, continues throughout this life. I: Nor is this a morbid, maudlin, depressing doctrine meant to moderate the joy of being a child of God. II: It is a truthful teaching bearing honest witness to the paradox and ambiguity of the Christian life: we know ourselves to ...

4674. The Things That Are God’s

Matthew 22:15-22

Sermon

... Caesar’s image may be on your coins, but God’s image is on you. The wonder in Jesus’ answer is that it calls forth an examination of all our commitments and loyalties. It suggests that all our earthly loyalties are penultimate and must be reevaluated continually in light of an ultimate commitment to God. No one seriously denies that we all have legions of loyalties. Sometimes there are too many for our own good. I remember watching a film a few years ago in which a scene opened to show two puppeteers ...

4675. The Love God Wants

Matthew 22:34-40

Sermon

... as susceptible to it as is obedience to any of the other Commandments, maybe more so. The impossible possibility of the dual love for God and neighbor thus serves to cast us anew upon God’s grace and mercy. As our love, feeble as it is, continually falls short of the complete and selfless love Jesus commanded, we experience that essential inability and ineptness which is basic to our nature, and which makes us dependent upon a merciful and gracious God to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. There ...

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