Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 4651 to 4675 of 5000 results

Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

King Duncan

... man on a park bench watching squirrels scamper among the trees. Suddenly, a squirrel attempted to jump from one high tree to another. It appeared to be aiming for a limb so far out of reach that the leap looked like suicide. And the squirrel did miss its mark, but it landed, safe and unconcerned, on a branch several feet lower. Then it climbed to its goal, and all was well. The old man sitting on the bench next to the young man remarked, “Funny. I’ve seen hundreds of ’em jump like that especially when ...

4652. Virtue in Anxious Times

Illustration

Paul J. Wadell

Anxiety's central message is that we cannot afford to share because we can never have enough. Put more strongly, in a culture marked by anxiety and fear, the very things we have traditionally called sins or vices (hoarding, greed, suspicion) become wise and prudent virtues. Fear, rather than love, governs our lives. But such fear is a kind of idolatry because it suggests we are giving more attention to our own security than ...

4653. Jehovah's Witnesses Error

Mark 13:1-31

Illustration

Staff

... would end within this present generation, the leaders of the sect announced in December 1995 that they have softened their position. As a spokesman explained, "Jesus said that 'this generation will not pass away' until a number of signs have taken place (Mark 13:30)." They continued, and listen to this explanation, "When we reflected on the scriptures, we decided that he was talking about his generation rather than ours." Really? That's what you decided? You mean, you thought, that when Jesus said "This ...

4654. In the Wrong Place?

Mark 1:1-8

Illustration

King Duncan

Many years ago a pastor was invited to preach at a nearby country church he had never been to before. As he set out he was uncertain which road to take since most rural roads are not clearly marked and the directions he had been given left something to be desired. He stopped to ask directions along the way. The person he asked tried, but mistakenly steered him down the wrong road. The morning was pleasant and although the road seemed a little longer than the pastor had expected, ...

4655. Getting to Bethlehem

Mark 1:1-8

Illustration

Mickey Anders

... man out there, standing knee deep in the water, baptizing people. That's John the Baptizer. You ask him. If you want to go to Bethlehem, you've got to start there. There is no other way to get there." They all say the same thing, all four gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. They all say that if you want to go to Bethlehem, you've got to start with John the Baptizer.

4656. A Camel on the Roof

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the Epiphany News is that God is found in incarnation, in the humility of birth in a stable. As startling as a camel on a roof is the Christian message that the vulnerability of a life of homelessness, and the suffering of death on a cross, are heralded as marks of God's most powerful work in the human life. All these texts remind us that light has come upon the "little ones" to share with the "learned," a light more brilliant than the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night, more brilliant ...

4657. No Comment

2 Kings 2:1-12a

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... doubts in Gethsemane, Jesus remained obedient to the unfathomable will of God, to the mystery of the impending crucifixion and the resurrection, by maintaining a consistent "no comment" in the face of the apparently reasonable requests by the authorities to explain himself (cf Mark 14:60-61, Luke 23:9, Matthew 27:14 and John 19:9). Withstanding the temptation to put God's plans for him into words, Jesus' ultimately deadly "no comment" to Pilate was the most eloquent response he could have given. Through his ...

4658. Wild Beasts

Genesis 9:8-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

As Lent begins let your congregation reflect not just on the private, individual journey to the cross, but on the cosmic, communal nature of God's redeeming activity. This Sunday marks the first Sunday of Lent. Lent is traditionally thought of as a special period of time, once again forty days, set aside for introspection, self-denial, prayer, and study as the events of Passion week and Easter Sunday approach. As Christians we should find ourselves journeying towards the cross, drawing ...

4659. A Womb With a View

Mark 8:31-38

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... reminds us that if we faithfully intend to follow Christ, we must be willing to step outside the door. We must be willing to leave our safe sanctuaries, our "wombs with a view" and risk entering the world naked and vulnerable, clad only in our faith. Mark portrays Jesus spending a good deal of his time and energy on the trip to Jerusalem preparing his disciples for what lay ahead. But each of the three incidents of the "passion narratives" are met with outright denial (8:32), frightened silence (9:32), or ...

4660. Used Tombstones

John 20:1-18

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... us is the divine image in which we were created. Yet instead of growing souls as foretastes of the future, we treat them as no-deposit, no-return items. Without investing and depositing our souls in things of lasting value, the essence of the divine image, the mark of divinity, is all but gone. Those souls cut off from resurrection joy become candidates for new tombstones, heavy gray markers of our failure to understand God's purpose for our lives. All of this week's texts show the early church's attempt to ...

4661. Stand Together or Fall Apart

Acts 2:42-47

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... . In Acts the post-resurrection, post-ascension band of believers is shown trying to discern the non-violent glue that will establish and maintain their identity. Before his death Jesus spoke often about what should be the true nature of this new community. In Mark 10:42-44 he responded to the petty but disruptive rivalry among the disciples by proclaiming that "You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it ...

4662. A Postmodern Coat of Crayola Colors

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... proverb). Jeremiah 6:15 reads "They acted shamefully, they committed abomination; yet they were not ashamed, they did not know how to blush" (NRSV). Honor presupposes being able to blush. We have all but forgotten how to blush anymore. Teal Blue - Faithfulness. Mark's Gospel is right. Faith, fidelity and trust are intimately related. If we genuinely have faith in God and the reconciling activity in Jesus, then our lives should reflect a confident, trusting calmness in that presence. A woman writing for the ...

4663. The Urge to Purge

2 Samuel 12:1-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... /penance/forgiveness, an emphasis on individuals and their personal catalogs of transgressions has eroded the broader communal base of involvement and responsibility for participation in a fractured, sinful world. Confession as a quick and easy means of expunging the marks against you, so that you may get to work on racking up a new, even more impressive list of improprieties, is hardly the biblical or orthodox model. The second century church found itself needing to deal institutionally with those ...

4664. Yellow Wind

Mark 13:1-31

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... world. The Christian church is called to be the town crier of the global village. More often, however, it acts more like the town cricket of the global village, producing a sometimes soothing, sometimes annoying, yet constant chirp somewhere in the background of "real life." Mark's Gospel and Daniel's vision both challenge the church to take up its true identity and proclaim loudly and with joy the hope of all the nations: that Jesus is coming again both now and in the future, in great mystery and glory.

4665. The Crime of Christmas

Luke 2:8-20, Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... since the religion of Mithras had been introduced into Rome by returning soldiers of the Roman Legion. Mithras was an Indo-Iranian god of light, but in the Roman cult Mithras became the invincible god of celestial light: the sun. The ceremonies were marked by a bull sacrifice, a sacramental communion of bread, water and wine, often conducted in caves or grottoes. Jesus' actual natal date is never mentioned in the gospels. The first reference to the Christmas festival comes in the fourth century, when the ...

4666. The First Christmas Card

Philippians 4:4-9

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... in the"good news" of Christ's coming, "good news" that was characterized by five ingredients that set it apart from all other good news before that date and all the good news that comes and will come after that date. What are these five identifying marks of a true Christmas"greeting"? First, is it new? In a little town, just down the hill from Jerusalem, the Word became flesh. God exchanged vows with humanity, for better, for worse; for richer, for poorer. It was a radical, never-before imagined step God ...

4667. Getting the Face We Deserve

Exodus 34:29-35

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... face allowed him to converse with God "unveiled." His initial experience with God's glory so changed Moses that from that time on, he enjoyed a uniquely intimate relationship with the divine. What does your face reveal about your relationship with God? Can people see Christ in you? What face-marks do you have that testify to mountaintop experiences with God and mainstreet encounters with those Jesus died to save?

4668. What's Your Drink?

Isaiah 43:16-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... beautiful rose while "under the influence," it is a hot-house blossom that will wither and curl the moment sobriety returns. The living water offered by the Holy Spirit evokes all these same characteristics, but they are lasting marks of our new participation in eternal life. In the book of Acts we find that the blithering, blundering, bullheaded disciples have been transformed into articulate, charismatic, courageous spiritual leaders. Whereas they were constantly misunderstanding Jesus' words and missing ...

4669. The Seduction of the Palms

Luke 19:28-40

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... certainly knows his Greco-Roman cultural milieu. He takes care to omit the inflammatory palm fronds and the extremely Jewish-sounding "Hosannas" from his version of the entrance parade. Ironically, it is the church itself that has succumbed to the temptation, for we mark this Sunday with waving palm fronds and use the language of "triumphal entry." Remember how Jesus told the disciples to inform the borrowed colt's owner that the animal was being taken because the Lord had "need" of it? Perhaps the need ...

4670. The Compleat Christian

Romans 5:1-5

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

The profile of a mature Christian is marked by suffering, endurance, character and hope. Paul boldly asserts that we are justified by faith through grace - denying that we can in any manner earn our way toward salvation. He then just as boldly declares that there is a definitive set of virtues, a Christian Complex if you will, that ...

4671. Help Wanted: Only Shunammites Need Apply

2 Kings 4:8-37

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... unaware" as had Abraham and Sarah. Indeed when she was granted a child, the similarity between herself and Sarah was magnified. But the Shunammite did not seek any blessing from the prophet - she welcomed him in because that was the proper response to one who bears the mark of God. Seeing the face of Christ in the stranger at our door is often a challenge. But a true spirit of hospitality is one that recognizes the child of God hidden within every man and woman and welcomes that child in. We no longer live ...

4672. Are You on the Gospel Side?

Colossians 3:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Father's right hand, surrounded by the angelic host. If, however, the Colossians fail to excise these negative actions and attitudes from their lives, then they will see the wrath of God coming at them. The "gospel side" is not some dull and dreary sideline marked by austerity or tedium. Once the clutter of "such things" as "anger, wrath, malice, slander and abusive language" have been swept away from our lives there is room for a new abundance of joy, love and hope. Donald J. Shelby tells of a phrase he ...

4673. Doorkeepers, Lampkeepers and Wisdomkeepers

Luke 13:22-30

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Those who teach folly instead of wisdom will inevitably be revealed here by their ability to foster quarreling, gossip, slander and jealousy. In contrast, a wisdomkeeper, such as Barnabas (Acts 4:36), brings the "joy of encouragement" (225). The third identifying mark of a wisdomkeeper is that of hypotasso, an attitude of submission and humility, first towards God and then towards others. A wisdomkeeper lays aside defenses and risks vulnerability for the sake of others (Southard, 225-226). It is so easy to ...

4674. Settle for an F

Hebrews 13:1-8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... faithfulness. Perhaps it is surprising that the first of these "I Do" elements is "to leave." "Forsaking mother and father" to start a new relationship with a spouse is a command repeated throughout Scripture (See Genesis 2:24; Ruth 2:11; Matthew 19:5; Mark 10:7-8; Ephesians 5:31). This leaving is crucial because only by successfully separating from the childhood bonds of family can a shift in devotion and loyalty from parents to spouse take place. We all know families where this kind of separation never ...

4675. FaithRace

2 Timothy 4:6-8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... prefer not to make a big deal out of it. Our "prophetic" acts are about as controversial as a parking ticket. We are circumspect to a fault. We prefer to speak softly. We would rather write in the lower case. What is missing are the exclamation marks. In a world where there are constant spiritual showdowns between hope and despair, love and hatred, faith and fear, we are modest about exclaiming what we believe: that our hope and strength come from the Lord! One of the great moments in sports history came on ...

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