Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 451 to 475 of 2561 results

451. If There Isn’t Enough To Go Around

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

William G. Carter

Nobody could blame the disciples for their concern. It had been a long and exhausting day. People from all over the countryside had followed Jesus with their aches and pains. Rather than retreat or rest, the gospel of Matthew tells us that Jesus sat there and saved all of them, one at a time. Meanwhile his twelve followers were overwhelmed by the need. It was getting late, and all they could see was a long line of needy people who would not go away. “Lord,” they said, “there isn’t enough food to go around ...

452. Put To Death The Old; Put On The New

Colossians 3:1-17

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Last week we talked about our lives as Christians being hidden in Christ with God. Today we pick up the theme again, for the larger theme is what it means to live the new life Christ gives us. Baptism is Paul's reference point for talking about life "hidden with Christ in God." A Christian's baptism is not unlike Jewish circumcision, Paul says. In baptism we are marked as Christians. This is a circumcision made without hands, the circumcision of Christ in which we are "buried with Him in baptism." He then ...

453. All Dressed Up And Somewhere To Go!

Isaiah 62:1-12, Isaiah 61:1-11

Sermon

Harold Warlick

In Tennessee Williams' play Sweet Bird of Youth, the heckler says to Miss Lucy, "I believe that the silence of God, the absolute speechlessness of God, is a long, long and awful thing...." The late Carlyle Marney retired from his church in Charlotte and went to Wolf Pen Mountain. There he waited for God to say something. He confessed that he had figured if he could get some time completely free from his preaching, his church work, and his worldly obligations that God would really jabber. After five years ...

454. Regis and Jesus

Matthew 6:19-24

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Have you been caught up in the "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" frenzy? For one-million dollars, what insect got into the works of the world's first computer causing it to short out and in the process started use of the phrase "computer bug?" A) Moth, B) Roach, C) Fly, D) Japanese Beetle. Dee-doo-dee-doo, dee-doo-dee-doo. A 25-year-old California man sat in the "hot seat" on Thursday night and agonized over the answer as millions of Americans looked on, and those who knew the answer in their living rooms ...

455. Two Shepherds

Zechariah 11:4-17

Understanding Series

Pamela J. Scalise

Prophetic Sign-Acts: Two Shepherds: Scholars regularly name this passage as one of the most difficult in the book. Part of the reason for this assessment is that it frustrates the reader’s initial expectations. It appears to be a narrative report of prophetic sign-acts commissioned by God and performed by the prophet, who narrates in the first person. The two commissions (vv. 4, 15) and divine words of judgment that interpret the sign-acts (vv. 6, 16) fit this pattern well. Yet God’s words of explanation ...

456. Hear, Hear

Acts 8:26-40

Sermon

Paul W. Kummer

A woman went to see a divorce lawyer. Frantically she told him, "I must have a divorce from my husband immediately!" The lawyer asked, "Do you have any grounds?" "Yes, about five acres." "I mean, do you have a grudge?" the lawyer questioned. "No, just a carport." Then the lawyer asked, "Does he beat you up?" "No," the woman replied, "I get up before he does." Exasperated, the attorney demanded, "Madam, why do you want a divorce from your husband?" "Because it is impossible to communicate with that man!" ...

457. God Knows!

2 Samuel 11:1-27

Sermon

Robert R. Kopp

You are the man! -- 2 Samuel 12:7 It has become fashionable to pretend a separation of private from public lives. You know how it goes: "What I do in private is nobody's business ... Keep your nose out of my affairs! ... There's no connection between a person's private life and her or his profession ... What I do on my own time is of no concern of yours ... We're not a reincarnation of the Soviet Union! ... He's doing a good job! So leave him alone! Everybody deserves a private life!" The assumption ...

458. All Choices Have Consequences

Drama

Karren Boehr

Theme: Teenage Drinking Teenage drinking often brings with it painful, irreversible consequences. This particular drama not only shows the price of uncontrolled actions, but also incorporates the role every responsible Christian has in the problem. Scene: Living room of a house several days after a fatal car accident Characters:ROB: Nice-looking Christian young man, clean cut, has just killed his mother while driving drunkMARY: Christian young woman, Rob's classmate, sensitive, caring JIM: Christian young ...

459. Facing Up To Temptation

Matthew 4:1-11

Sermon

Thomas Long

Searching the aisles of the hardware store the other day for a tube of "Super Glue," I couldn't find it, so I went up to the customer service desk to ask for help from the young man standing at the cash register. He was on the telephone and, when he saw me coming his direction, he turned his back toward me. I could tell he was making a personal call, but I just waited. The call went on and on ... "So did you like the movie ... really? ... Oh you're kidding! ... What did Susan say? ..." Finally I cleared my ...

460. The Man From Galilee IV: The Treasure Of His Kingdom

Matthew 13:44-46

Sermon

Thomas A. Pilgrim

Some time ago we had a man speak at one of our suppers who is a shareholder in Mel Fisher's enterprise. Mel Fisher is the man who discovered a Spanish ship which had gone down in a hurricane off the Florida Keys centuries ago. Fisher became fascinated with hunting for lost treasure. Through his research he was able to determine about where the ship went down. He thought it would take him at least twelve weeks to find it. Twelve weeks turned into twelve years, and still there was no treasure. Finally, after ...

461. Doing The Right Thing

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

E. Carver McGriff

A well-known businessman in this community was recently asked to do something for the United Methodist Church, something inconvenient and expensive. It would require him to make available for a period of several months some facilities which he used in his business. Frankly, when it was decided to ask this man's help no one was very optimistic about a favorable response. For one thing, the man is a leading Catholic layman. He would have nothing at all to gain by agreeing to the request. At the very least, ...

462. Putting God In His Place

Matthew 6:33

Children's Sermon

Kenneth Mortonson

Purpose: To show the importance of keeping God at the center of life. Materials: A small toy car with a friction motor. Several large cardboard disks, glued together. A pencil. Drill a hole, the diameter of the pencil, through the center of the disk; and drill another hole about one inch off the center. Lesson: By just looking at this toy car, you cannot tell what kind it is; but when I spin the wheels, the sound tells you that this is a special kind of car. Once you have the wheels turning fast, they will ...

463. Marked At The Cross

Sermon

George Bass

“When they reached the place called The Skull, they crucified him there and the two criminals also, one on the right, the other on the left.”Luke 23:33-46 Yes, “the cross is still there;” Jesus’ death on Good Friday on that little hill that looked like a skull tells us so. That cross will forever be a sign and symbol of the unmeasurable and undying love that God has for every human being. It really does declare that “God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son” to die for all of us “… that ...

464. So You Want To Go To Bethlehem, Do You?

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

Johnny Dean

Not too long ago, our family made a journey. It was a long journey, and it took the better part of a day to get there and the better part of another day to get back. It was a tiring journey, but it was well worth everything we had to endure to get there. "There" was home, and "there" was a place where we were surrounded by the love of family members, some of whom we had not seen in more years than we care to count. And when we came back, we were not the same people we were before the journey. We felt ...

465. So You Want to go to Bethlehem, Do You?

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

Johnny Dean

466. Trouble on the Mountain

Exodus 32:1-33:6

Sermon

A man was riding on a train. He was pacing back and forth and one of his kids was yelling, "Papa, Papa, I want a glass of water. I want a glass of water." The harried man just kept walking back and forth, and the kid kept yelling. Finally, the man smacked the kid on the seat and told her to shut up. A nice old lady across the aisle stopped him and said, "Mister, I'm going to call the conductor and make trouble for you!" The guy said, "Lady, you're gonna make trouble for me? That kid there is my Becky; she ...

467. Kindness That Makes You Sorry!

Joel 2:12-17

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

"... Now return to the Lord your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness, and relenting of evil." (NAS) A gentle Christian of the Society of Friends, a lady by the name of May Haviland, lived alone. One night as she entered her bedroom, she found a burglar rifling through her bureau drawers. When she turned on the light, he pointed a gun at her heart. She gently said to him: "Put that thing away. If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s guns. Besides, if your ...

468. Life - The Womb of the Eternal

Romans 8:18-27

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

In Romans 8:22 Paul declares: "The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now," waiting for "the manifestation of the sons of God." This life with all of its struggle is the womb of the Eternal, wherein receiving the grace of God, and working with him in human relationships, we develop eternal dimensions and are ready to be received into heaven, or we reject grace and miss heaven. Paul, in Romans 12, puts it another way. "Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the ...

469. Annas, Caiaphas, and Judas

Drama

Jon Joyce

Setting The setting is a dual one, the differentiation most easily left to the audience’s imagination, unless you wish to construct a door to admit Judas to the room in the high priest’s palace where the encounter takes place. The outdoor half of the set is at stage right and may be marked with a palm tree or other foliage appropriate for spring in Israel. The indoor set, at stage left, is a beautifully appointed room in Caiaphas’ palace. This set requires three or four chairs, a cocktail or coffee table ...

470. But Men Loved Darkness

John 3:1-21

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

If you should ask the question: "What is wrong with our world today?" you would probably get as many answers as there are persons who are interrogated. Indeed, it is often like the lady foreman of the all-woman jury who was asked by the judge whether the jury had reached a verdict. "Yes, your Honor," she replied, "we have reached twelve verdicts." I suppose I’m considered a male chauvinist pig for using that story, but it could apply in either men or women. Yet the writer, Glen Drake, has placed his finger ...

471. Strengthened For Life

John 15:1-17

Sermon

O. Garfield Beckstrand, II

During these Lenten Sunday mornings we have been thinking together about some of the things which Jesus shared with his disciples on the last night of his earthly life. These teachings of our Lord are recorded for us in chapters 13 through 17 of John’s Gospel. If you will read these chapters carefully, you will find they contain everything that is most precious in our Christian heritage - every gift, every promise, every commandment, every warning, every spiritual resource that the living Christ gives to ...

472. How Can You Tell When People Are Religious?

Mark 2:18-22

Sermon

Daniel G. Mueller

For seven days King David fasted. Day and night he went without food as he prayed desperately for the life of his newborn child. The baby had been born as a result of his affair with Bathsheba, an adulterous affair that had led to the murder of Bathsheba’s husband. From the moment the baby was born, it was evident the child’s life was hanging by a slim thread. So David prayed for the life of the child. He prayed with great intensity. He fasted as part of his prayers, hoping that by his petitions and by his ...

473. Home for the Holidays

Luke 2:41-52

Sermon

William G. Carter

Laura was going home for the holidays. As she sat in O’Hare Airport one Christmas morning, she bristled with anticipation. Her vacation would last only two and a half days, but two bags of luggage were stuffed with presents. She had finally gotten the first job that paid any real money, and she was eager to go home and lavish gifts upon people she loved. Her family met her at the airport and took her back to the familiar neighborhood. The house was bigger than she remembered. They exchanged gifts that ...

474. A Theology of Work - Labor Day

Deuteronomy 5:1-33

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Labor Day Weekend. Our unique American end-of-summer holiday that celebrates work by not working. Wonderful! Most of the world observes May 1st as Labor Day, but not us. The September date was chosen way back when because it was halfway between the 4th of July and Thanksgiving. September 5, 1882 saw the first American Labor Day parade. It was held in New York City with 20,000 participants carrying banners calling for 8 hours for work, 8 hours for rest, 8 hours for recreation. Samuel Gompers, the founder ...

475. Dealing with Depression

1 Kings 19:9-21

Sermon

David E. Leininger

One of the reasons I love the Bible is that it is not afraid of the truth, even the sometimes sordid truth about its heroes. Abraham was a liar. Jacob was a thief. Moses had a murderous temper. King David was an adulterer. Heroes of the faith, everyone of them, but the Bible refuses to gloss over their shortcomings. It shows them "warts and all." We find another "wart" in our lesson from I Kings - one of the greatest of the prophets - Elijah. To briefly recount the background of the story, three years ...

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