Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 4701 to 4725 of 4935 results

4701. Murphy's Law and Messiah's Law

Luke 8:26-39

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Anybody here not heard of Murphy's Law? We know it by heart, don't we? Let's say it together: "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong." Anybody here know where it started and who Mr. Murphy was? The first reference to Murphy's Law was in the April 1956 issue of Scientific American in the "Amateur Scientist" column. Let me give the quote from which the Murphy's Law phenomenon spread like a virus all over the globe. It all began with three Murphy's Laws: "Dr. Schaefer's observation confirms this department ...

4702. How to Turn the Ballot into a Blessing Box

Proverbs 29:2

Sermon

James Merritt

William Paterson, one of the signers of the United States Constitution, and a Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, said that juries should always be reminded of the text I'm preaching on today: "When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; but when a wicked man rules, the people groan." (v.2) I would go on to add that not only should juries be reminded of it, but also judges, lawyers, doctors, ministers, teachers; in fact, the entire nation should remember it. There is a crisis in America, I ...

4703. That’ll Show Us

Acts 10:44-48

Bulletin Aid

Frank Ramirez

Call To Worship O sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things. (Psalm 98:1) Collect What marvelous things have been done, whether we know it or not. One family, one God, one people, one Lord. With songs of grateful praise we thank you for this bounty! Who'd have guessed? Who would have dared guess that our Lord is so merciful he will touch all lives! Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. Amen. Prayer Of Confession Thanks a lot, Lord God Almighty. Sending your Spirit where you want, among the ...

4704. The Kingdom of Heaven Is Like a Professor

Matthew 25:14-30

Illustration

The kingdom of heaven is like a professor who went off on a long sabbatical. Before he left, he called together his graduate students and gave each of them projects to work on; to one he gave five projects, to another two, and to another one, each according to their ability. The one who received five projects immediately went to work, designing experiments, building equipment, and analyzing data. She worked long and hard, and eventually she achieved good results on each project. Likewise, the one who ...

4705. Returning God's Call

1 Samuel 3:1-10

Illustration

Leonard Sweet

This week's text challenges individuals and your church community to examine how they respond to the persistent voice of God in their lives. From Presbyterian author and editor John C. Purdy comes the title and story that inspired this week's sermon ideas. Purdy recalls that in The Blue Mountains of China (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1970), Canadian Mennonite/English Professor/author Rudy Wiebe tells the story of a Mennonite farmer named Sam Reimer. One night Sam hears a voice saying to him, "Samuel, Samuel ...

4706. The Lord Needs You

Jeremiah 1:4-10

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

God chooses the weak and unlikely people of this world to do God's work. The Bible is filled to bursting with the most astounding, incredible, powerful demonstrations of God's involvement in this world and in human lives. But perhaps the most amazing miracle that Scripture reveals to its readers is not that God created everything in the cosmos, or that God brought a tremendous flood to the earth, or that God helped the Hebrews escape from Pharaoh, or that God rescued Israel through feats of supernatural ...

4707. John 3:14-21

John 3:1-21

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

Everything old is made new again. John’s gospel is so moving and memorable because so much of it takes First Testament images of creation, salvation, and redemption and refreshes them with the new story, the new images, of Jesus Christ. In this week’s text the Genesis story of creation finds new life, new hope, and new direction in the powerful words of the gospel writer. The first of God’s creative words, “Let there be light,” becomes the new watch word for a new way of determining the future of the ...

4708. Repairing Our Lives

1 Corinthians 15:19-26

Sermon

Richard Gribble

Once upon a time, there was a king who ruled over a small kingdom that wasn't powerful nor was it known for anything of any great value. But, the king did possess a large and perfect diamond that had been in his family for many generations. He kept it on display for all to see and appreciate and people came from all over the country to admire this rare and precious gem. People from other lands, hearing about the great diamond, also came and they, too, felt some sense of pride simply by gazing upon the ...

4709. Death to Glory

Revelation 5:11-14

Sermon

Richard Gribble

Once in a far-off land, there was a great king whose dominion extended far and wide. His power and authority were absolute. One day, as events would happen, a young man, a commoner, committed a grave offense against the king. In response, the king and his counselors gathered together to determine what should be done. They decided that since the offense was so grave and had been committed by a commoner against someone so august as the king, the only punishment that would satisfy justice was death. The king' ...

4710. Seeing God In The Ordinary: Others

John 6:1-15

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

Out in the Holston Conference of the United Methodist Church in Tennessee, there is a young man by the name of Matthew LeSage. He is now in college but for two years he was the President of the CCYM. What makes Matthew so remarkable is that when he was a fifth-grader, he decided he wanted to do something to help the hungry in his city. So, he started a program, Hams for the Hungry. In 2003, Hams for the Hungry raised $40,000 to brighten the holiday season for people with limited resources. In 2007 they ...

4711. Develop Leaders—Humbly

Colossians 3:12-17

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

The Lion King came roaring into Nashville a few weeks ago. This delightful Broadway musical about the circle of life tells the story of Simba, the shame-based, guilt-ridden, lion cub from Pride Rock who avoids becoming King of the Jungle because he doesn't think he's good enough. When I mention the word leader, what images dance in your head — a military officer barking orders, a politician seeking votes, the head of a company telling others what to do? How does ‘leader' strike you? A stranger called a ...

4712. Getting Back into Shape

John 8:31-36

Sermon

Scott Bryte

Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." They answered him, "We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, ‘You will be made free'?" Jesus answered them, "Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. So if the ...

4713. A Time To Laugh

John 20:19-31

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Easter is a time of surprises. There was a lady who, on the Saturday afternoon before, was doing some baking for her Easter dinner the next day. There was a knock at the door. She went to find a man, dressed in shabby clothes, and looking for some odd jobs. He asked her if there was anything he could do. She said, "Can you paint?" "Yes," he said. "I'm a rather good painter." "Well," she said, "there are two gallons of green paint there and a brush, and there's a porch out back that needs to be painted. ...

4714. A New Kind of Authority

Acts 9:1-19a

Sermon

King Duncan

Former President George H. W. Bush, the elder Bush, was speaking to an appreciative audience some years back, immediately after leaving office. He explained what it was like to go from being Vice President for eight years and President for four years, to being a private citizen. “The first day I woke up,” he said, “I reached over to push the button to get somebody to bring me some coffee, but there was no button, and there was nobody to bring any coffee.” Then he added, “Barbara said, ‘Get out of bed and ...

4715. What Does Jesus Look Like?

Isaiah 52:13--53:12

Sermon

Tony Everett

Jenny had spent the past half hour working quietly all by herself at the art table in her Sunday school classroom. This was unusual behavior for any three-year-old child, but for this gregarious extrovert it was extraordinary. When class time was over, Jenny’s parents came in to take her to the sanctuary for worship. “Come on Jenny, it’s time for church,” said Mom. Jenny just shook her head and continued with her crayon drawing. “Jenny, we have to get moving,” added her father. “Just a minute, I’m almost ...

4716. Opposition to the Rebuilding

Ezra 4:1-5

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

A Temporary and Typical Setback: So far, so good. The return home, the construction of an altar to get worship started, and the laying of the temple foundation had marked the first phase of fulfilling the mission given through Cyrus to rebuild the temple. The second phase, building the temple itself, was to last longer than twenty years. We have to wait until 6:15 to read of its completion. This second phase, with its long delay and fresh start, is narrated in 4:1–6:22. Echoes of 4:1–5 in 6:21–22 reveal ...

4717. Further Opposition to the Rebuilding

Nehemiah 6:1-14

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

Success in Spite of Intimidation: The keyword of this chapter is intimidation. Of the major English versions, only the NJPS is consistent in its fivefold rendering of the same Hebrew verb for intimidation. It occurs regularly at the conclusion of paragraphs, in verses 9, 13–14, 16, and 19. The first main section, consisting of verses 1–14, is divided into two parallel subsections describing different attempts to intimidate, in verses 1–9 and 10–14. Then verses 15–16 record a great reversal of the ...

4718. Queen Vashti Deposed

Esther 1:1-22

Understanding Series

Timothy S. Laniak

Three Royal Banquets: The book of Esther opens with an extended description of a royal banquet in the Persian court of Xerxes I. More precisely, there are descriptions of three banquets: one for the noblemen and other male dignitaries, one for the male commoners, and one for the women. Banqueting is a central motif in Esther. There are feasts (mishtot) at the beginning and end of Esther, and the same root (sh-t-h) is used at crucial turning points throughout the story. In chapter 1, the celebrations for ...

4719. Proverbs of Solomon

Proverbs 16:1-33

Understanding Series

Roland E. Murphy

There is a noticeable change here. The antithetic style of previous sayings starts to give way to synonymous and synthetic or progressive parallelism. More important, there are indications of a deliberate arrangement. The Lord is the subject of verses 1–7, 9, 11, 20, 33, and the king is the topic in verses 10, 12–15. Moreover, the Lord and the king seem to be meshed together (cf. 24:21): verse 11 interrupts 10–15. In addition, the decision (mišpāṭ; NIV “justice”) of the king and of the Lord are spoken of ...

4720. The Gift of the Spirit

Joel 2:28-32

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

2:28–32 The promise of abundant life and rescue from the judgment of the day of the Lord has been given out of the free grace of God (2:18–27). Joel now turns to tell of the signs that will precede the coming of the day. Thus, afterward in 2:28 refers not to events that will take place after the coming of the day, but before its imminent arrival (cf. before in v. 31). As found also in NT tradition, the day will be preceded by both cosmic and earthly signs (cf. Mark 13:7–8, 24–25 and parallels; Luke 21:20, ...

4721. The Indictment and Punishment of Israel Spelled Out

Amos 4:1-13

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

The Indictment and Punishment of Israel Spelled Out: Introductory and summarizing material has been concluded. We now enter into the principal collection of Amos’s oracles, encompassing 3:13–6:14, interrupted by the visions and encounter with Amaziah in chapter 7 and 8:1–3, and resuming with 8:4–9:6. This section of 3:13–4:13 forms the first large unit in the collection. 4:1–3 Throughout history women have served as “decorations” for the rich and powerful. In Western society, the more beautiful the woman, ...

4722. Jesus’s Ministry and Popularity Continue to Grow

Mark 1:40-45, Mark 1:35-39, Mark 1:29-34

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: Jesus’s ministry of power and authority is universal. He helps every person who comes, and his popularity with the crowds grows in phenomenal ways. However, his desire is not for the plaudits of the people but to proclaim the kingdom truths to everyone. Understanding the Text Mark 1:21–38 describes one twenty-four-hour period (from Sabbath morn to Sunday morn). All of this material (including through 1:45) traces Jesus’s ministry to the crowds, who are filled with wonder at each new illustration ...

4723. Jesus Interprets the Passover Seder of Himself

Mark 14:12-26

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: The theological motif that unites the Last Supper narrative is Jesus’s sovereign awareness of and control over all that transpires. In its preparation and execution, Jesus redefines the paschal meal as fulfilled in his own sacrificial death. Understanding the Text The woman’s act of worship in anointing Jesus for burial leads to the Last Supper scene, which explains the significance of his coming death. The lengthy preparation (vv. 12–14) shows that Jesus deliberately planned this event so that ...

4724. Message to Laodicea

Revelation 3:14-22

Teach the Text

J. Scott Duvall

Big Idea: Jesus rebukes his church for its pathetic self-sufficiency and exhorts them to repent and open their hearts to him for restored fellowship and a share in his victory and authority. Understanding the Text The message to the church in Laodicea is the seventh (and final) in a series of messages to the seven churches in Revelation 2–3. Influenced by the local culture, the church considers itself wealthy and self-sufficient, but Jesus’s assessment differs markedly. He repeatedly utilizes images from ...

4725. Gratitude, Forgiveness, and Obedience

Num 15:1-41

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

Big Idea: Fellowship with God and defiant sinning are incompatible. Understanding the Text Numbers goes from a narrative about scouts (Num. 13–14) to a seemingly unrelated chapter of laws concerning sacrifices, unintentional sins, Sabbath breaking, and tassels. Why this material is placed here rather than with similar material in Leviticus has mystified interpreters. Numbers 15 does contribute one thing to the previous story. In Numbers 14 Israel is told that the adults will not enter the land (Num. 14:20– ...

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