Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 4676 to 4700 of 5000 results

Matthew 24:36-44

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... or Bloomingdale's? Holy days, if they are truly holy, do not fit neatly into a "religious" compartment in our lives. The power and grace of a holy day spills out over everything and everyone we encounter. Preparing for the holy day of Christ's birth should mark us as Christians before our colleagues and friends. As Matthew insists - we are to stand prepared for the Lord's arrival, but we are not to stand still. When the Lord arrives, we should be caught busily carrying out God's will. One of the most ...

4677. Welcome Home, Joseph

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... no room at the inn. The word translated in Luke as "inn" is katalyma - a term elsewhere used to designate a special guest chamber - often attached to a home. Indeed it is in a katalyma where Jesus and the disciples gather for their last Passover supper (Mark 14:14, Luke 22:11). What seems likely then is that upon arriving in Bethlehem, Joseph sought out family with which to stay. Yet because of the census, the town was crowded with visitors and the separate guest room of this relative's house was already ...

4678. The Arrival of Hope

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

... . The elder Jarvis little agreed with his son's passion for working against the evils of apartheid. But in the aftermath of Arthur's death, the father struggles to make sense of the changes in his son's perspective that had set him on such a markedly different course in life. As a result, the father reads and rereads his son's manuscript. And that seems to explain what enabled the elder Jarvis not to berate or reject Pastor Kumalo, but instead to receive him kindly. In the days and weeks that follow, the ...

4679. Extending Christ’s Love

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Illustration

King Duncan

... greeted them. It was Christmastime and he said to them “Merry Christmas to you!” And they said “We’re Jews.” “Well, I know,” said Dr. Golter, “but Merry Christmas anyway.” “I tell you,” they responded, “we’re Jews. We don’t mark Christmas.” “I know” he said, “but if you did, what would you want for Christmas?” “Well if we did,” they replied, “then we probably would want some fine German pastries.” So Dr. Golter found a shop that sold fine German pastries, cashed ...

4680. Prophets or Professionals?

Deuteronomy 18:14-22

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... late to choose life! Will we? Will you? The church has an opportunity to exercise its prophetic gift; today, it is clearly being called to do so. Yet, the challenge of the church is not merely to survive; that issue has been settled. To paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of its death have been greatly exaggerated. Jesus, in his words to the disciples (Matthew 16:18), affirms the church's continued and growing strength and presence in the world. The church will grow, not wither; it will march, not falter; and it ...

4681. Everyone's a Fundamentalist About Something

Mark 2:23-3:6

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... of security for the marginality that is required of disciples of Jesus. Fundamentalism only becomes a problem when those rocks of certainty we have placed in our lives spread their stoniness to the depth of our souls, or harden to immovability the compassion of our hearts. Mark's gospel pinpoints this problem in the second pericope of today's text. Even as he is moved to compassion by the sight of the man with the withered hand, Jesus is moved to anger as he detects the "hardness of heart" shared by those ...

4682. Take an Ember Day

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... you are convinced that ultimately things are taken care of, unless you know somebody else is watching out. Jesus demonstrates both certainty of self and security of purpose in today's gospel text. First, Jesus suddenly decides enough is enough. Instructional time is over. Mark 4:33 notes that Jesus only taught as long "as they were able to hear it." He knew that pouring water into an already overflowing cup doesn't really give you any more water. Along with this abrupt halt in lessons, Jesus directs his ...

4683. Soul-Scrubbing

2 Corinthians 12:2-10

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... a deep sense of spiritual humility. God hates nothing more than spiritual pride and arrogance. The inability to see over a lumping mountain of such arrogance is one of the reasons Jesus' hometown couldn't accept his teachings or authority (as recounted in Mark 6:1-13, today's gospel text). This same lack of humility and spiritual arrogance live on today in our churches. In the words of theologian Jack Deere, "Religious pride is the worst form of arrogance." The sternest rebukes Jesus ever delivered were ...

4684. Close the Loopholes

Ephesians 4:25-5:2

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... them. Not one button do I understand, but I know they're mine." (Paul Reiser, Couplehood [New York: Bantam Books], 1994), 318-319.) Reiser concludes his thoughts by finally recognizing the truth about the compulsive greediness and never-satisfied neediness that marks our culture. It only brings exhaustion and emptiness. The problem is, they keep coming up with technology nobody asks for. They believe we want Freeze-Frame Search, and Split Screen, and 14-Day Timers. Clocks that make coffee and cameras that ...

4685. Armageddon Anxiety

John 6:56-69

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... of rejection, John 6:66, one more time: "Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him." The devastating nature of this message, coupled with the doomsday number it is assigned 666, the number of the Antichrist, the Mark of the Beast, "Satan's Six-Pack" has made this text a flash point favorite for those trying to figure out millennial mathematics. At the doorstep of the year 2000, there is an increased frenzy and fervor over anything smacking of an apocalyptic message ...

4686. Quenching St. Anthony's Fire

Mark 8:27-38

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... out, community is born and healing is begun. Pain and suffering open to birth and resurrection. In the words of St. Augustine: "The greater the joy, the greater is the pain which precedes it." Or in the lesson Jesus sought to teach his disciples in Mark, before he could reach "the joy set before him," Jesus had to pass through the pain of many "dark nights" and "shadowed valleys." The journey of Jesus' life teaches us, as it taught those with St. Anthony's Fire, that before resurrection sunrise, we must ...

4687. The Double Cross

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... ' Gethsemane Supper turned sweet as he raised his hands and heart upward toward the heavenly presence of his Father's will. It was in the velvet shadow of the vertical beam of the cross that Jesus could pray, at last, "not what I want, but what you want" (Mark 14:36). Yet even in the midst of this most vertical of moments in Jesus' life and mission, the horizontal beam of the cross is present as well. It is because of Jesus' sacrificial love, his commitment to be a servant for others, even to the point of ...

4688. Give me a C...

1 Corinthians 1:18-31

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Don't you think Paul would approve? Aren't these the most foolish sounding excuses for "cheers" that any "team" might chant? Who could possibly be impressed by a team that taunts itself as poor in spirit, meek, merciful and persecuted? Surely these are the marks of losers, not winners. But that is exactly what Paul is telling the Corinthians to stand up and shout about. We have become numbed to the cross as a symbol of scandal and shame. In our culture, it is simply a jewelry design or an architectural ...

4689. Lamplight vs. Starlight

Matthew 5:13-16

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Don't worry about whether or not you are "star material." Instead, turn up your lamp and hold it up to help your neighbor around the unexpected holes and rocks that mark every path. In the middle of the New Mexico desert, astronomers fume about the "light pollution" from all the sprawling cities that are gradually snaking out across the land. Even on the darkest moonless nights, the stars that used to gleam and twinkle so brilliantly look faded and dim. We ...

4690. Holy Spirit Holes

Acts 2:1-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... determine what biblical texts were read each Sunday. The church calendar shaped the daily lives of the people. Festivals, saint's days, holy days, all lived and breathed in the world of the medieval church. It was the church's job to see that the marking of these days remained the dominant guiding force in daily life. Professor Eck has discovered that Pentecost was one of the most unique and creatively celebrated days on the church's calendar. In 10th-century Rome, for example, the church really knew how to ...

4691. Dr. God

Matthew 9:18-26

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... to this woman by addressing her as "daughter." While love is not the cause of any healing that takes place, it is the only environment in which it can occur. Faith Heals: In today's gospel text, Matthew reworks the stories he shares with Mark and Luke in order to emphasize that faith in Jesus' healing abilities, not some magical healing "aura" surrounding him, is what makes healing possible. The hemorrhaging woman's faith is both demonstrated by her actions and then declared by Jesus himself when he says ...

4692. The Four R's

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the seed could do was lie on top of the soil, exposed and barren. Not surprisingly, these seeds were swiftly scooped up by hungry birds. None of us can survive in a life that is barren of beauty, devoid of decoration, empty of ritual. We need special markings and moments to help us define the parameters of our lives and the passing of our days. To this end, all of us create rituals that help guide us forward and bring us back again. Some rituals are practiced so often they become ingrained habits. We have ...

4693. Rules for the Road

Joshua 3:7-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... raging torrent of the rain-swollen Jordan. Surely there were other places to cross that were narrower. Why didn't Joshua find a sandbar somewhere near Jordan's ever shifting banks, which would make the way across just a short skip? But the road forward was clearly marked by God. The priests bearing the ark stood firmly in the center of the river, pointing the way. By sticking to the road, the people of Israel found a path of dry, safe ground on which to cross into the uncertain future. Road Rule #4: Stay ...

4694. And Again I Say...Amen!

Luke 6:27-36

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

What are the marks of an Amen discipleship? How would a Yes spirit manifest itself? The second of a two-part sermon. When your car starts making bad noises _ banging, or whining, or knocking _ you take it in to get its carburetor, or timing, or fan belt adjusted. When some people feel ...

4695. Never Give Up

Luke 13:1-9

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... however, for by age 12, Percy had already stacked up 57 arrests. His nickname was "Crime Boy." Slowly, as the church elders and youth worked and won with Percy, he began to be known instead as "Church Boy." The entire congregation celebrated when Percy marked one year free of crime. But now something has gone awry. Arrested once again, this time for breaking into a shed to steal a bicycle, Percy is now being rechristened "Backslide Boy." (This story comes out of National and International Religion Report 8 ...

4696. Fingerprints of the Soul

Romans 5:1-5

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the wonderful deeds such a person could enact. "Virtue" was also derived from the Greek "dynamis," meaning "power" or "influence," especially the healing influence that proceeded from Christ. Spiritual power, excellence, moral worthiness and healing were the original marks of a "virtuous" man or woman of Christ. But by the 19th century, Victorian culture had exchanged the concept of many Christian virtues for a life of virtue. In this designation, virtue became conscientious rule-following instead of ...

4697. Luke 1:26-38

Luke 1:26-38

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... what is on the mind of the player. Each gospel writer revels their own “tell” at the beginning of each of their unique renditions of the story of Jesus. The birth narratives, or lack thereof, are especially “telling.” While Mark says nothing about Jesus’ parentage and birth, moving immediately into mission and message, Matthew provides an extensive genealogy and pre-history concerning Jesus. John’s genealogy isn’t even biological; it is cosmological and comprehensive. Divinity and destiny, not ...

4698. Luke 2:22-40

Luke 2:21-40

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... . One name never present in those classrooms was “Jesus.” Although Latino culture is comfortable with re-using the name Jesus for children, the same has never been true in Anglo traditions. Biblical names have always been popular, lots of Johns, Pauls, Marks, Sarahs, Marys, Deborahs, even Joshuas (the Hebrew equivalent of Jesus). But not “Jesus.” There is “something about that name” that makes us hesitant to attach the name of “Jesus” to a new baby. As Luke describes the events in today’s ...

4699. Do You Know Your Name?

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... and “Savior.” *Simeon also dubs the baby Jesus as the “Consolation of Israel” and as the “Revelation to the Gentiles.” *John the Baptist names Jesus the “Lamb of God” (John 1:29). *At Jesus’ baptism the heavenly voice declares him to be “My Beloved Son” (Mark 1:4; Matthew 3:17). *Finally, in Revelation 2:17 there is a reference to yet another name, a secret name “a new name that no one knows except the one who receives it.” When expecting a new baby in the family, at some point ...

4700. Preparing the Way, Preparing Our Hearts

John 1:1-18

Illustration

Scott Hoezee

All four gospels talk about John the Baptist and his fiery message of repentance. Two of the four gospels do not mention Jesus' birth at all. But Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all recognized that no gospel would be complete without John the Baptist. A gospel may skip Christmas but it may not skip John. Why? Because as Zechariah knew already when John was just eight days old, John was going to be the necessary advance man to get ...

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