Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 4701 to 4725 of 4999 results

4701. The Good Samaritan - Sermon Starter

Luke 10:25-37

Illustration

Brett Blair

... the law. The stage is set by Luke with these words: "Behold a lawyer stood up to put him to the test." Well, it's not the first time and probably won't be the last time that a lawyer phrased a trick question. It was the kind of question in which any kind of an answer would pose still further problems. It was a test question: "Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life." Now right away we know that this man was a Pharisee, because the Pharisees believed in eternal life and the Sadducees did not. Jesus ...

4702. The King on a Donkey

Mark 11:1-11

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, thy king cometh unto thee. He is just and having salvation, lowly, and riding upon an on a horse, when he came in peace he rode on an ass.” (Ibid., p. 274-275) So here was a king making his way into Jerusalem but what kind of king? That’s the question. The picture is one of blatant contradiction. The people were looking for a Messiah who would be emperor-like. Can this be the one a king on an ass? So we see here the nature of the kingdom Jesus brings: the peaceable kingdom ...

4703. Who Is This Jesus?

Mark 8:27-30

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... shall learn in their own experience Who He is. (Albert Schweitzer, The Quest of the Historical Jesus p. 403) Who is this Jesus? The pursuit of this question has occupied volumes of books - and dare we do it in a communion meditation? But preaching is that kind of exercise — probing a truth, planting an idea, painting a picture with a story, pulling in our minds and hearts in such a way that the process goes on beyond this ten minutes, beyond this worship service the process goes on in our prayers, in our ...

4704. You Can't Stay on the Mountain Forever

Mark 9:2-13

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... his irrelevant remarks — he didn’t know what to say. I’m not sure that’s the reason Peter said what he did. But the word is a very suggestive one: “For he did not know what to say.” How often do we find ourselves in that kind of predicament. Silence settles over a group, and you think that if someone doesn’t say something, you will scream — so, you say something, and everybody else screams. There are all sorts of times when we grope for something to say. I heard of a minister who returned ...

4705. Sisters

Luke 10:38-42

Sermon

King Duncan

... of his time both in the office and in his personal life to the service of the firm, and children might interfere with this.” (4) The firm wanted him to have no other god than his work. And there are many people today who are making that kind of commitment to their employer. A study by the Roper Organization sometime back showed that recent MBA graduates work at least 80 hours per week. I am certainly not knocking hard work. As Homer Simpson once said, “If you really want something in this life, you have ...

4706. Making the Situation Worse

Luke 12:13-21

Illustration

Charles Hoffacker

... of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions." Clarence Jordan's translation of this verse brings out its original earthiness. Here's what Jesus says according to Jordan: "You all be careful and stay on your guard against all kinds of greediness. For a person's life is not for the piling up of possessions." In these few words, Jesus rejects much of what keeps our society humming. He warns us against greed, avarice, the desire to possess more than we need, more than we can use ...

4707. Leaping Where You Cannot Look

Hebrews 11:1-40

Sermon

King Duncan

... boy on the second floor of a burning building. “Jump!” his father calls out to him. “I will catch you.” The little boy cries out timidly, “But, father, I can’t see you.” And his father says, “Yes, but I can see you.” That is the kind of faith that the writer of Hebrews is commending. And beginning with the eighth verse he gives examples of such faith: “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know ...

4708. Faithful Servants

Luke 12:32-40

Illustration

Mickey Anders

... the pistol. So eager are they to be onto the next piece of the Kingdom's business that they never get around to unrolling their cuffs. They rarely light on a chair, much less settle in for a nap between jobs… Faithful servants are more than ready. They are the kind of people who not only leave the porch light on for you but also meet you at the door with warm milk, and when you say that your bride is craving for anchovy ice cream, they ask whether she would prefer a cup or a cone…" Faithful servants are ...

4709. Be Square

Hebrews 11:1-40

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... did any of us know they were there before the violence? Did that team of medical professionals wear square halos for men and women of faith before they received in death their round halos? You can go to bed hungry on a full stomach. There are many kinds of hunger. And you have full-bellied friends and family going to bed hungry every night . . . hungry for recognition, hungry for someone to say thank you, someone to say “I know what you did, and you’re THE BEST.” So I’m giving you two assignments ...

4710. Hard Sayings

Luke 12:49-53

Illustration

Hubert Beck

... but in a nice way, of course), courteous, compassionate, sympathetic, benevolent man devoted to righting the wrongs of this world. He does go through some hard times and his death is a really, really tortured one, but by and large he is the kind or person who knows and understands our human foibles. He gathers the poor, the sick, the troubled, the outsiders, those who are discarded by society in general and incorporates them into a nice little family where peace reigns, forgiveness is an everyday experience ...

4711. A Kingdom that Cannot Be Shaken

Hebrews 1:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... people. And when fires that raged all around the hotel threatened to spread, bucket brigades kept the structure wetted down with water from the hotel’s pool. Frank Lloyd Wright had built a hotel that could stand an earthquake. However, there is more than one kind of earthquake. Even this world-renowned architect could not protect the hotel from the shifting ground of change. The Imperial Hotel isn’t there any more. It was torn down in the 1960s to be replaced by a more modern structure. (4) There are ...

4712. Exactly How Wide Is It?

Luke 13:22-30

Sermon

King Duncan

... grow. The concept of the narrow door is present in every worthwhile task in life. The only place in our society where we expect to have gain with no pain is the life of faith! We have turned God into a doting Grandparent who is eager to bestow all kinds of blessings on us and demand very little from us in return. “Make every effort,” says Jesus, “to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.” Those are strong words. Jesus tells us the door is ...

4713. Hard Words to Hear at Christmas

Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

... "Lay Thy hand upon the neck of Thine enemies."1 How does this work for us as preparation for Advent? We usually think of the Christmas season as a time for peace. During a war, both sides often honor a cease-fire around Christmas. We hope Christmas will be a kind of cease-fire in the stress and strain of life. We are used to quotes from the Bible in our Christmas cards. How often do we find Christmas cards that talk of the chaff being burned in unquenchable fire? Not only do John's words grate on our ears ...

4714. A Shepherd's Story

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

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

... we calmed down a bit, the angel said to us, "I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people." That's the kind of thing they say when a member of the royal family is born, only the joy is mostly for the royals and the big shots. This ... you understand what this thing was like? Here we were out in the middle of a sheep pasture, fighting off the weariness — all kinds of weariness — expecting the same old thing. First one angel, then more angels than anyone could count, show up. Now, heaven is up ...

4715. The Cross No One Wants To See

John 18:1-19:42

Sermon

Lee Griess

... the post, it was an instrument of torture, a cruel form of death reserved for rebels, robbers, and criminals of various kinds. So cruel and painful was the practice that Roman law forbade its use on any Roman citizen. And even though the ... more than a place of shame and suffering. It is also a place of love — love divine, all loves excelling. And how we need that kind of love. Love — not in abstract terms; love — not in silly songs or rhymes. Love — made real for everyone. Love — for all to see. For ...

4716. One in Faith and One in Service

John 17:1-11

Sermon

Lee Griess

... . "Look at the way I give of myself," he says. "I produce bacon, ham, and pork chops. The bristles of my skin are used for brushes, my hide for luggage. Why, some people even pickle my feet and consider them a delicacy. Why is it then that everyone speaks more kindly of you, the cow, than of me?" To which the cow replied, "My friend, perhaps it is that I give of myself while I am still alive." We are one in faith and one in service and in serving those around us, our faith becomes real and the message of ...

4717. and Forgiveness Come Easy When You’re Filled with The Spirit

John 20:19-23

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... But Jesus breaks though those locked doors of our lives. And when he comes, he comes in a warm friendly manner. That's what the offer of peace is all about. Luther goes on to add that with this example Christ presents his heart, who he is and what kind of heart he bears to us. Christ treats his disciples and us so tenderly, not reproaching anyone for unbelief and sin. Instead he comforts, strengthens, and lifts them, and us, up. This was done for our good and comfort.5 Isn't this a comforting word? You and ...

4718. Having Fun with The Great Commission

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... created in the image of our social God. Evangelism, making new friends in Christ, comes natural! It's only tough when you forget that you are God's creature, forget that you have a God who is naturally social and who has made you that way. It is kind of hard to be unconcerned about society and the things of the world when you know who you are. People created in the image of God are not loners. They are people passionate about social relations as God originally created them. There is another aspect to the ...

4719. Religious Balkanization

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... not Jewish. Jesus and his disciples recognize that immediately. When she requests that he heal her daughter, Jesus comes back with the standard segregationist rhetoric announced day by day in the streets and shops and synagogues. "You seek help from someone from your own kind and we'll look after ours." Did Jesus mean it? Was he as bigoted as all the rest? There are dozens of other texts that say otherwise. Think of his camaraderie with the Samaritan woman in John 4. Samaritans were even more despised by ...

4720. Kingdoms in Conflict

Matthew 21:33-46

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... has clearly expressed his divine power and wisdom. Enough so, in fact, that he can begin to speak about the sacrificial death toward which he is heading. In these verses he almost shouts out what is about to happen, hoping to shock us into spiritual recovery in a kind of critical intervention. Winning, for Jesus, means playing by a set of rules that has not been used for a long time on planet earth. It is like the "deep magic" of Aslan in C. S. Lewis' great tale, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Most ...

4721. Dressed for the Banquet

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon

Chris Ewing

4722. Masks

Matthew 23:1-12

Sermon

Chris Ewing

... skydiving, the shy child goes to camp and starts enthralling cabin mates with tall tales, and the white-collar worker tries life at a dude ranch, while the busy life-of-the-party person takes a silent retreat. For some people, getting drunk may be a kind of party mask, giving them the freedom to try on a different approach to social relations. In that case, the alcoholic mask tries both to hide shyness and to bring out a more daring and connected personality. Masks can conceal, or they can reveal; often ...

4723. Nations on Trial

Matthew 25:31-46

Drama

Chris Ewing

... rich nations, and therefore Christians are a lobby or can be a lobby of incomprehensible importance."7 2: That doesn't sound like the kind of Christian lobbying that's getting press right now. 3: I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you ... me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me (Matthew 25:42-43). 1: Is that the kind of record you want for your country? 2: Well, that's hardly the whole story! 1: True. Are you asking what is the least we can do ...

4724. Putting the Genie Back in the Bottle…

Genesis 2:15-17, Genesis 3:1-7

Sermon

Schuyler Rhodes

... a nice evening was had by all. The next day, though, my wife and I were upstairs cleaning when we became aware of a kind of frightening silence down in the dining room. We tiptoed down the stairs and there they were. They had found a gallon bottle of ... Adam and Eve is a mourning story. It mourns the loss of innocence for us all and speaks to a deep yearning in each of us for some kind of return to Eden and its ways. Why else would we be so charmed by the antics of children? But alas, the genie is out of the ...

4725. Converting to Christianity

Acts 2:14, 36-41

Sermon

Schuyler Rhodes

... he said, "Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned" (Luke 6:37)? Moreover, Jesus kind of took the idea of sin itself and turned it on its head, didn't he? In fact, there are innumerable times in the gospels ... repentance and conversion. It's really that simple — not easy, it's true, but it is simple. Can we step into this kind of repentance together? This move toward transformation and change? Can we envision what our lives would be like if we laid everything ...

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