Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 4651 to 4675 of 4938 results

4651. Out On A Limb

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

Larry R. Kalajainen

A friend told me of the hours he spent as a child in a large cherry tree in his grandmother's backyard. The tree was very large and high, at least as he remembered it. He remembered the very first time he climbed it. He had to jump to catch hold of the lowest branch, and then pull himself by sheer muscle power up onto it. Then he could work his way up the tree. The tree seemed so high, that he got dizzy looking down, and yet, scary as it was, he couldn't resist climbing higher and higher. Finally he got ...

4652. Edges

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

Richard A. Wing

"Life is a daring adventure or it is nothing." Helen Keller said that, a lady robbed of her sight, hearing, and ability to speak. She was saying that life is to be lived on the edge, or not at all. There is a difference between living on the edge and being what we call an "edgy" or irritable person. Jesus was on the edge at all times, and only once can I recall when he was edgy. That moment was when he went storming into the Temple, white-hot with rage, and made a whip and turned over tables. Matthew, Mark ...

4653. First Sunday In Christmastide

John 15:1-17

Bulletin Aid

David M. Oliver

Introduction to this Service Everyone is to bring an evergreen branch to worship. Extra boughs may be brought by church members and handed out to those who do not have any. The evergreen is a useful symbol for the Christian life. The focus of the message is to consider how we can remain "ever-green" and fruitful as people of faith. During enjoyable holiday periods, most of us are like the fresh-cut evergreen. The sweet aroma of our lives is readily lavished on everyone. After these periods of celebration, ...

4654. Let Us Pray!

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

W. Robert McClelland

In James Baldwin's Blues For Mister Charlie, there is an arresting scene in which a young boy announces before his grandmother and the world that he no longer believes in God. The wise and unperturbed woman replies, "Ain't no way you can't believe in God, boy. You just try holding your breath long enough to die." No less than breathing or the sucking of a newborn infant, prayer is instinctive human behavior. The disciples' plea, "Lord, teach us to pray," arises from a primal urge deep within the human ...

4655. The Gospel Of Christmas

John 1:1-18

Sermon

James Garrett

A wife gave her husband two ties for Christmas. He, being an obedient and peace-loving man, went immediately and put on one of the ties. He returned to the kitchen where his wife was preparing breakfast. Seeing he had one of the ties on she asked: “What’s the matter, don’t you like the other tie?” Through the Advent season we read Luke’s story of the coming of the Lord and of his birth. These weeks leading up to today, Christmas, we have made preparations. We have anticipated with great expectancy the ...

4656. The God Of The Past, The Present, And The Future

Psalm 23:1-6

Eulogy

Joe Barone

Psalm 23, Genesis 15:12-15John 14:1-3 and Revelation 22:1-5 I had an old friend once who told me, "When I go to a funeral I go to hear about a loving God." And then she added, "When it comes time to preach my funeral, don't talk about me. Just preach my funeral, don't talk about me. Just preach the Scripture and the comfort that it brings." What comfort does the Scripture have to bring us here today? First, it tells us that God, and God alone, is in charge of both life and death. When it came time for ...

4657. The Flame, The Wind, And The Walk

Acts 2:1-13

Drama

Marion Fairman

A Trialogue For Pentecost (The man and the woman are seated in the audience near the front, one to the right, one to the left of the leader, who is standing, facing the audience. Leader reads Acts 2:1-13. When finished, he or she makes preparatory small actions as if about to teach or speak.) Man: (Stands in place looking a bit awkward but determined) Uh, say, is it all right to ask a question? Leader: (Shocked) On Pentecost? (Incredulous) Just when I'm about to begin? (Trying to recover) Well, well, let's ...

4658. Quantum Leap

Acts 13:13-52

Sermon

Carl Jech

Introduction The evidence is everywhere: we have made a quantum leap into "the age of the computer." In schools, hospitals, businesses, publishers, even local and national church offices, everything is "computerized," digitalized, programmed. You may be fascinated by computer technology or you may hate this computer craze. But none of us can escape a concern with the impact this "revolution" is having on our lives. (The other day I had to wait about three minutes for the clerk at Kentucky Fried Chicken to ...

4659. Wellspring for the Soul

John 4:1-26

Sermon

Dean Lueking

When Water is Scarce Some time ago I had an experience unique in my life - living in a place for several weeks where no drinking water was piped in. On the western edge of Kenya I learned what it is to go to the village well, draw water for two buckets, and carry them back to the small house where our family was living. The African women at the well always wanted me to do it their way - carry the bucket on my head. I have neither the balance that takes, nor enough hair to give a water bucket much support. ...

4660. Is God With You, Or Not?

Exodus 17:1-7

Sermon

A mortician tells of an incident on the way to a funeral one day. He pulled up to a curb, the rear wheel of his car dropped off the edge of the road and fell into a drain, and the car was stuck. Since he was already late for the funeral he rushed over to the trunk of the car, got out the jack, and started to raise the wheel of the car out of the drain. The motion of the jack caused the trunk lid to fall down and hit him squarely on the head. It was getting really late now, so he decided he'd better call ...

4661. Easter 5

Acts 17:1-9, Psalm 33:1-22, Acts 17:10-15, 1 Peter 2:4-12, John 14:1-4, John 14:5-14

Sermon Aid

THEOLOGICAL CLUE Cantate, the Fourth Sunday after Easter, with its theme of "sing a new song for the Lord," which came to be known and celebrated as "Church Music Sundays" in many parts of the church, finds expression on the Fifth Sunday of Easter. In the older liturgies, because Cantate had become a "cause" Sunday, the Easter celebration was interrupted or was lost entirely. The Cantate theme is not mentioned specifically on this Sunday, but it is set forth in the appointed Psalm for the Day - Psalm 33:1- ...

4662. Suffering for Christ

Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

Jesus said: "Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man's foes will be those of his own household. He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and he who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. He who ...

4663. The Stiller of Storms

Matthew 14:22-36

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

Then he (Jesus) made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat by this time was many furlongs distant from the land, beaten by the waves; for the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, ...

4664. A Tale to be Told

Matthew 23:1-39

Sermon

George Bass

In James Michener’s recent novel, Space, Astronaut John Pope is asked by the President of the United States of America to make a good-will tour of the world after an astounding flight to the Moon. In Autralia, he meets a Korean newspaper woman, Cindy, whose real name is Rhee Soon-Ka, who wants to write the story of the astronauts for her paper. They go to an inn and talk at considerable length - and innocently - but a story reaches Washington that Pope and Cindy are having an affair. NASA, the State ...

4665. Salvation Through His Suffering

Hebrews 4:14-5:10

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

The people of his ignoble day harassed him, hunted him, and lied about him until they got him where they wanted him - on a T-shaped scaffold intended for the worst of criminals! But though it is true that Jesus thus suffered, nevertheless when we look at Calvary, we are not witnessing a murder. We are not witnessing the death of a martyr. We are not witnessing the execution of a political revolutionary who made a mistake in public relations and got himself crucified. We are not witnessing drama - an actor ...

4666. Paul: The Man and His Message

Romans 9:1-29

Sermon Aid

T. A. Kantonen

Hans Lietzmann, noted New Testament scholar, once remarked that no one has correctly understood Jesus except Paul and no one has correctly understood Paul. The attempts to understand Paul are legion. The literature on him is immense and the interpretations of his thought are varied. To Bultmann he is "the founder of Christian theology," while to Morton Enslin he is not a theologian at all but simply a "practical and forthright man" who taught new life in Christ but had little regard for logical consistency ...

4667. Moving Fences

2 Corinthians 5:16-19

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

During World War II a Protestant chaplain with the American troops in Italy became a friend of a local Roman Catholic priest. In time, the chaplain moved on with his unit and was killed in combat. The priest heard of his death, and knowing that the chaplain had no close family back in the States, he asked the military authorities if the chaplain could be buried in the cemetery behind his church. Permission was granted. But the priest ran into a problem with his own church authorities. They were sympathetic ...

4668. Thorns and Roses

2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

Around the turn of the century a young man named Clarence took his girlfriend on a summer outing. They took a picnic lunch out to a picturesque island in the middle of a small lake. She wore a long dress with about a dozen petticoats. He was dressed in a suit with a high collar. Clarence rowed them out to the island, dragged the boat into shore, and spread their picnic supplies beneath a shade tree. So hypnotized was he by her beauty that he hardly noticed the hot sun and perspiration on his brow. Softly ...

4669. Rediscovering Our Spiritual Dimension

Genesis 17:1-27

Sermon

Donald Macleod

Nearly one hundred years ago, when Albert Einstein was merely a child and his ideas about time and space were wholly unexplored, a distinguished English headmaster, Edwin A. Abbott, wrote a strange little book titled Flatlands. It portrayed a peculiar world of two dimensions: a world that had length and breadth, but no height; a world of surfaces in which neither from desire nor necessity did its citizens ever look up. Now, to us, the whole idea seems very odd, but on second thought the point becomes ...

4670. Judas

Luke 22:1-6

Sermon

Carl E. Zahrte

Remorse or Repentance? Were you there? Is that what you people were just singing? Is that what you’ve been thinking? Was I there? Of course I was. Do you have to ask that? My name is Judas, the son of Simon. There are not many people who know anything about Jesus Christ who do not know something about me, too. Yes, I was one of the twelve whom Jesus chose to be his apostles. Almost 2,000 years have passed since I lived and died, but people still remember me. They recall that I used a kiss as the sign to ...

4671. Christmas International

Drama

Dory Younger

Director’s Notes CAST: Narrators (1-4) Child of Germany Ireland Mexico England Denmark Poland Italy (7) Mary Joseph Angels (3 or 5) Shepherds (3 or 5) Wise men (3) Child to carry star CHOIR: Remaining available children COSTUMES: German: Shorts with colorful suspenders, knee socks and oxford-type shoes, white shirt for boy OR dirndl or peasant dress for girl. Irish: Green dress or shirt or skirt for girl OR green shirt for boy. Felt or paper shamrocks may be used to decorate costume. Mexican: Sombrero or ...

4672. Getting Ready

Mark 13:24-37

Sermon

Brett Blair

It is hard for us to understand Jesus' delay in his coming. God's time clock is certainly out of sync with ours as Little Jimmy learned one day as he was laying on a hill in the middle of a meadow on a warm spring day. Puffy white clouds rolled by and he pondered their shape. Soon, he began to think about God. "God? Are you really there?" Jimmy said out loud. To his astonishment a voice came from the clouds. "Yes, Jimmy? What can I do for you?" Seizing the opportunity, Jimmy asked, "God? What is a million ...

4673. Waiting

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Sermon

Brett Blair

As a child I remember that the most difficult part of Christmas was simply waiting for it to come. From Thanksgiving to December 25 seemed more like an eternity than a month. Days seemed like weeks. Weeks felt like seasons. Time seemed to stand still. Waiting is foreign to our society. It seems unnatural. We hunger for immediate gratification. The idea of delayed satisfaction is a stranger to our thinking. The symbols of our unwillingness to wait are all around us. Fast food chains boom because we don’t ...

4674. "Job" Is Our Name Too

Job 6:1-7:21

Sermon

Richard L. Eslinger

"Have you considered my servant Job?" God asked Satan in the heavenly court. This "blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?" Well, Satan considered Job all right. But he only considered him a God-fearing man because he was being blessed. Remove all that blessing, Satan argued, and Job’s piety will crumble and he will curse you. So the agreement is made between God and Satan; only Job’s life must not be taken away. But everything else is of Job’s is negotiable - family, servants, ...

4675. John Was not like Gene

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

As the people misunderstood the authentic John the Baptist of history ("What did you go into the forest to see?"), people may misunderstand him now. So suggests this sermon. Because John the Baptist may appear today in clothing other than that of camel’s hair, John’s message may appear in different forms. To illuminate a common distortion of the figure of John the Baptist, the sermon uses a childhood experience, which also captures the listener’s attention. The sermon refers to this experience throughout ...

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