Sermon and Worship Resources

Synonyms: Levi, disciple, evangelist, tax collector, the 12, the twelve, apostle, sermon on the mount, jewish audience, beatitudes, lord's prayer, great commission, parables, olivet discourse, mount of olives, olivet, synoptic

Showing 4701 to 4725 of 4943 results

4701. Be At Peace With One Another

Mark 9:38-50

Sermon

Brett Blair

One person armed with the Gospel of peace can change the world. Telemachus did. Who was Telemachus? He was a monk who lived in the 5th century. And his story is a story of courage. He felt God saying to him, "Go to Rome." He was in a cloistered monastery but he put his possessions in a sack and set out for Rome. When he arrived in the city, people were thronging in the streets. He asked why all the excitement and was told that this was the day that the gladiators would be fighting in the coliseum, the day ...

4702. Advent 3: Won't You Let Him Into Your Gift-Giving?

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

James W. Moore

This sermon is based on Matthew 2:7-12. Not the Luke text above. Many of you will recognize the name of Robert Fulghum. He is the author of the popular book, “All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten.” In a later book, he told a wonderful story about his daughter Molly. When Molly was seven years old, she liked to help pack lunches each morning for her brothers, her dad, and herself. Into each bag, she would put a share of sandwiches, apples, milk money, and sometimes she would add a surprise ...

4703. The Long Lonliness

Romans 13:8-14

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

The Beatles surprised the world in the 1960s and took the United States by storm, introducing a new era in popular music. And many of us were pleasantly surprised by the deep insights expressed in rather direct and poignant lyrics. In "Eleanor Rigby," for example, they sing of a woman picking up rice at a church where a wedding has been. Holding the rice, peering through a window, living in a dream she someday will wed, death comes instead. As she lived alone, so she died alone. And so the Beatles lament, ...

4704. Beyond Our Sight, Within Our Hearing

Luke 9:28-36

Sermon

William G. Carter

I wonder what they were thinking as they started up the mountain. Peter, James, and John were tagging along. I’m sure Jesus was a few steps ahead. After all, he was the only one who knew where they were going. Those three disciples had put in a lot of miles. Every one of those miles was spent following wherever he went. It had been that way since the first day, when they got in step behind him on level ground. Jesus was walking around the lakeshore, snatching them one at a time. >From that day forward, ...

4705. Your Sins Are Remembered No More! You Are Free!

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

Have you ever felt weighed down by your sins and shortcomings? Have you ever despaired over your ability to live up to expectations — God’s expectations, society’s expectations, your own self-expectations? Do you wish that you could have a fresh start? The Prophet Jeremiah was proclaiming a Word to sinful, insecure people like us, to people whose confidence in the future had been badly shaken. Have you ever made a big mistake in your life, a mistake for which you paid for many years? Maybe you are still ...

4706. Bad News from a Good Man!

1 Kings 21:1-29

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

There are two facts we all need to remember before we can make any real sense out of life. The first is that God is sovereign and holy, just and loving. The second is that we are not. We are servants, unholy, self-centered, and self-seeking. This Scripture passage is a marvelous illustration of this. You would think that seeing God send fire from heaven would change a corrupt heart every time. That, however, is not the case, as we can see from the life of Ahab and his Jezebel. I. The Sliding Spiral Of ...

4707. A Messenger of Promise

Malachi 2:17--3:5

Sermon

Harry N. Huxhold

A journal titled The Religion and Society Report once editorialized that people are tempted to treat religion and society purely in terms of sociology or in terms of the politics of religion. The fact is that church bodies and ecclesiastical institutions are fair game for the sociologists who like to try to measure the churches as being either to the right or to the left. However, most sociologists are not in a favorable position to make judgments in that regard, because they do not understand that they ...

4708. Mr. Smith Goes to Jerusalem

John 20:1-9

Drama

Dave Marsh

Director's Notes: "Easter. So What? What does it mean to me today?" Perhaps someone you know has asked you these very questions. Many people don't understand what the empty tomb means to them. Of course, it means that Jesus is alive and we now have hope for an eternity with Him. It also means that the same Jesus who had power over death has the same power to transform our lives. The family in this drama learns the hard way that they haven't taken the time to think about what the empty tomb means to their ...

4709. The Favor

John 20:1-9

Drama

Dave Marsh

Director's Notes: How is it that we allow ourselves to get caught up in other stuff that just pulls us away from the joy of our salvation? This drama shows that the most dangerous thing Satan can do to us is slowly and subtly encourage apathy and put stuff in our lives that just doesn't matter. Another unfortunate thing here is how the husband seems resigned to his wife's spiritual condition... The good thing about this drama is that it can also be used on Easter (or the week before as in this case) as a ...

4710. When Our Children Teach Us - Sermon Opener

Luke 2:41-52

Illustration

James W. Moore

Some years ago, the Journal of the American Medical Association published an article by Dr. Paul Ruskin on the “Stages of Aging.” In the article, Dr. Ruskin described a case study he had presented to his students when teaching a class in medical school. He described the case study patient under his care like this: “The patient neither speaks nor comprehends the spoken word. Sometimes she babbles incoherently for hours on end. She is disoriented about person, place, and time. She does, however, respond to ...

4711. A Man, A Woman, and the Test of Doom (A Drama about Marriage)

Drama

Dave Marsh

Director's Notes: Pastor Ray asked me to write a light-hearted drama for this weekend centering around marriage. As I thought about what I would write, I asked myself how the world tells you if you have a healthy marriage or not. I quickly scanned the Internet until I found what I was looking for - a marriage cyber-test. I pulled some questions from it and added my own for the drama. Amazing... if we would only go to God's word, we could find out exactly what He has to say about a healthy marriage... Note ...

4712. Wisdom Sold Separately

Drama

Dave Marsh

Director's Notes: The book of James says that if we ask God for wisdom, He will gladly give it. He will supply us with all the wisdom we need. The question is: Whether we know God or not, where do we go to find true wisdom? Universities, books, newspapers, the Bible, friends, the Internet, etc? God will speak to us in prayer and meditation through His Spirit (which whispers to our spirit), through other believers, through circumstances, and, obviously through the Bible. This drama focuses on our vain ...

4713. The Favor (A Drama about Backsliding)

John 6:60-71

Drama

Dave Marsh

4714. Sticky Situations (A Drama about Lordship)

Drama

Dave Marsh

Director's Notes: Every now and then I wear a rubber band around my wrist that reminds me of something I need to do. I thought, "what if someone had something on them to remind them of stuff they've given (and need to continue to give) to God?" Of course, I took this to the extreme... Cast: Dave: An average Joe. Tina: Dave's wife who is trying to practice Lordship Props: Lots of yellow 'Post-its' A list (could be page 2 of the script) Setting: A family room (LIGHTS UP CENTER STAGE where Dave comes walking ...

4715. G.O.D. (A Drama about Tough Choices)

Drama

Dave Marsh

Director's Notes: There are some choices in life that are easy to make and some, like following Christ, that are difficult. I wrote this drama to illustrate the fact that following Christ is a yes/no deal. Either you decide to or not. There are no other choices, no middle ground. Cast: Dave: A college student taking a test Teacher: This is either live or taped. The voice must sound like Charlie Brown's teacher. Props: Table/desk Paper (script) pencil Setting: A college classroom. (LIGHTS UP CENTER STAGE - ...

4716. The Healing of the Gerasene Demoniac

Mark 5:1-20

Sermon

James W. Moore

It is always sad when nations go to war. In recent years the sadness has been magnified because just a little more than a decade ago, we seemed so close to a lasting peace. The wall had gone down in Berlin. Eastern Europe had opened up. The cold war with Russia had thawed… and at that time in the early 1990s, we thought, “Finally! At long last, we can have a peaceful world. But then suddenly on August 2, 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait launching a crescendo of tension-packed events that led to the Persian Gulf ...

4717. The True Story of The Magi

Matthew 2:1-12

Illustration

Brett Blair

There is a beautiful old tradition about the star in the East. The story says that when the star had finished its task of directing the wise men to the baby, it fell from the sky and dropped down into the city well of Bethlehem. According to some legend, that star is there to this day, and can sometimes still be seen by those whose hearts are pure and clean. It's a pretty story. It kind of makes you feel warm inside. There are other legends about this story of the wise men from the east. For instance, how ...

4718. A Happy Ending

Luke 24:50-53

Sermon

Brett Blair

He ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.” This is what we recite weekly in the Apostles’ Creed. But what do we really know about the Ascension. In the church we spend surprisingly little time on the events of Jesus life following the resurrection, particularly the Ascension. The ascension was that time when Jesus visibly departed from his disciples and came into the presence of God the Father. It represented the culmination of his earthly ministry. The ascension was ...

4719. Shaping People's Lives Through Forgiveness

Luke 7:36-50

Sermon

Brett Blair

At the University of Notre Dame in 1981 a rather prophetic lecture was given that predicted the collapse of the Soviet Union. The lecturer called Communism “a sad, bizarre chapter in human history whose last pages are even now being written." A year later the same speaker told the British House of Commons that the march of freedom and democracy "will leave Marxism-Leninism on the ash heap of history." Years later, in 1988, students at Moscow University sat and listened as this same speaker told them how ...

4720. Liberty And Civility

Galatians 5:1-15

Sermon

Brett Blair

The United States of America will be 247 years old on July 4. That's a long time for a nation to remain free. But, when you look at our history in the context of world history America is just a CHILD among the nations. Egypt, China, Japan, Rome, Greece all make America's history seem so short. Consider what a brief time we've really been here as a nation: When Thomas Jefferson died, Abraham Lincoln was a young man of 17. When Lincoln was assassinated, Woodrow Wilson was a boy of 8. By the time Woodrow ...

4721. All I Want for Christmas is Hope

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

James W. Moore

A friend of mine who is a psychologist told me once that he has found the perfect formula for getting through Christmas. He says, “You just put your mind in neutral... and go where you are shoved!” Of course, he was just kidding around... but we know full well what he was talking about. The Christmas rush, the hectic pace, the heavy traffic, the long lines, the frayed nerves, the bills, the deadlines, the pressures... all combine to cause some people to give up and give in and just stonewall through the ...

4722. I've Got a Strong Case of the 'Can't Help Its'

John 1:35-42

Sermon

James W. Moore

One of the great celebrative anthems that comes to us out of African-American culture is the powerful spiritual “Ain’t Got Time To Die.” It was written by Hall Johnson and it has these joyfully dramatic words: “Been so busy praising my Jesus, Been so busy working for the Kingdom, Been so busy serving my Master… Ain’t got time to die. If I don’t praise him, If I don’t serve him, The rocks gonna cry out Glory and honor, glory and honor… Ain’t got time to die.” In this inspiring and wonderful spiritual song, ...

4723. Jesus and Andrew

John 1:35-42

Sermon

James W. Moore

Back in the 15th century in a tiny village near Nuremberg, Germany there lived a family with eighteen children. That’s right… eighteen! In order merely to keep food on the table for this large family, the father (who was a goldsmith by profession) worked almost eighteen hours a day at this trade and any other paying job he could find in the neighborhood. Despite their seemingly hopeless condition, two of the older children had a dream. They both wanted to pursue their talent for art, but they knew full ...

4724. Jesus and Bartimaeus

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

James W. Moore

It happened almost twenty years ago. I had been here at St. Luke’s for only a few months. It was a beautiful spring day. The phone rang in our home on a Sunday afternoon. I answered and a young man on the other end of the line said he needed to tell me something and then ask me a question. The words came in a rush of emotion. He told me that a month ago, he was in our church and he felt God touching his heart and urging him to come down front to be baptized and to join the church. “It was so powerful,” he ...

4725. Jesus and Bartimaeus

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

James W. Moore

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