Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 451 to 475 of 793 results

John 9:1-12, John 9:13-34, John 9:35-41

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

How dark is dark? I did not realize how dark darkness can be until recently. We were conducting a teaching-preaching mission in Prestonburg, Kentucky. A member of the congregation was president of a local coal mining company which sold its coal to North Carolina's Duke Power Company for the production of electric power. He invited us to inspect his mine. After donning mining clothes and equipment, we were taken one mile into a mountain where we observed the mining operation. There were no lights except the ...

452. Hostage Crisis

1 Kings 19:1-8

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

Sweat swarmed and beaded the palms of his hands as his heart thumped and pulse escalated. Bulging eyes blinked rapidly as his face twitched. His brown, swollen hands rumbled nervously through the inside pocket of his urine-stained tweed overcoat. "I got to find a match," he said to himself. "I got to find a match." Again he jerked through every pocket of his pants, jacket, and shirt. Still no match. Wildly flailing his arms more frantically now, he began overturning chairs and tables in the room. Yellow ...

453. Nothing Is Impossible

Exodus 13:17--14:31

Sermon

Walter Kimbrough

A marvelous story is told by the synoptic gospel writers about a boy who was possessed by an evil spirit. His father was concerned sufficiently enough to seek help for the boy in a time when all help had failed. The boy was brought to the disciples of Jesus with the request for healing, but they were powerless and confused. The father did not give up hope in the quest of healing for his son. So, with an insistent spirit he saw Jesus and reported on the condition of his son with the declaration of the ...

454. Robert Paul, You Were Right!

Daniel 7:1-14, Daniel 7:15-28

Sermon

Richard Hasler

Professor Robert Paul and his family had just returned to Hartford Seminary from a trip to the Rocky Mountains. As a doctoral student in church history studying with him I had always been stimulated by his lectures and seminars. Now, I was anxious to talk with him and with his gracious and perceptive wife, Eunice, to get their impressions of the trip. Paul, a native of England, was ecstatic about the natural beauty of America, but he also was appalled by the lack of appreciation for what he called “a sense ...

455. The Best Offense Is A Good Defense

Zephaniah 3:1-20

Sermon

Richard Hasler

Reading the title you may jump to the conclusion that I do not know football. To be sure, the saying usually goes: “The best defense is a good offense.” But consider the plight of Joe Paterno when he became head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions in 1967. He realized that he did not have a squad of outstanding athletes, particularly defensive players. To Paterno, defense was the key to winning football games. What was he to do? In his own words: “I had to find a way of playing great defense without ...

456. Are You Asking The Right Questions?

Zechariah 7:1-14

Sermon

Richard Hasler

An article titled Widespread Spiritual Hunger Should Be Major News Story caught my eye on the editorial page of the Sunday paper. The author, Bill Tammeus, a columnist for the Kansas City Star, speculated about some journalists and some scientists who refused to see truths that are not physical. The case in point was Pope John Paul II’s visit to Mexico. Huge crowds appeared wherever he spoke. In San Juan los Lagos an estimated one million people gathered in a meadow to listen to him. Why did these enormous ...

457. To Be Sure

Luke 17:11-19

Sermon

Theodore F. Schneider

I am always impressed with the litany-like phrases Martin Luther uses in The Small Catechism as petition by petition he explains the Lord's Prayer: To be sure, God's name is holy itself ...To be sure, the kingdom of God comes of itself, without our prayers ...To be sure, the good and gracious will of God is done without our prayer ...To be sure, God provides daily bread, even to the wicked, without our prayer ...1 To be sure, to be sure, to be sure! God's gifts come to us despite our unfaithfulness and ...

458. WHAT IS MAN?

Sermon

Larry Powell

Fascinations often come upon me from the strangest sources. For instance, two recent obituaries strike me as being peculiarly fascinating. The first is that of Vitaly Rubin, aged fifty-eight, a Soviet scholar. Rubin, a native of Moscow, was the former leader of the Soviet Jewish emigration movement. The intrigue here is that in 1976, Rubin, a Russian, was allowed to emigrate to Israel where he taught Chinese philosophy, of all things, at Hebrew University. The other obituary was David Wadell Guion's, aged ...

459. Praise God For Adversity

Isaiah 43:14-28

Sermon

Carl Hoefler

Praise fills the pages of the Bible and dominates our hymnals; but, it is often difficult to find it in us as Christians. Praise is not easy to define. Most Bible dictionaries include it under the general classification of prayer, and it is frequently associated with the act of thanksgiving. In our First Lesson today, the author of Second Isaiah presents praise as the only response that a faithful people can make; because there is nothing else that God requires or desires. God is about to do a great deed. ...

460. An Easter-Life

Acts 10:23b-48

Sermon

Carl Hoefler

What does Easter mean to you? In the secular world, it means fluffy bunnies, brightly colored eggs, hidden baskets, and lots of lush chocolate candy. If you are a child, there is nothing wrong with this. Easter is a happy day, and God loves to hear the laughter of little children; but, if you are an adult and this is all that Easter means to you, then there is something tragically missing in your faith-life. Interestingly enough, the word "Easter" appears nowhere in the Bible. The word "Easter" was ...

461. Barefoot in the Palace

Luke 13:22-30

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

The late J. Wallace Hamilton preached a sermon titled, "Bare Feet in the Palace." Borrowing an image from the author, Agnes Newton Keith, he suggested that this illustrates our times. The palace has undergone a radical change. The privileged who used to live there are gone: in their place have come the have-nots of the earth. They are now "barefoot in the palace." They have taken over the privileges of the few, and they do not intend to return to their former places of misery and destitution. If you want a ...

462. The Resurrection of Our Lord

John 20:1-9

Sermon

Kendall McCabe

Today is a time of special joy for us because some of our congregation have participated in Christ's resurrection through the sacrament of Holy Baptism, and the rest of us have (or will) renew our baptismal promises as we remember we have died and been raised with Christ. We will find a new pleasure in sharing the Eucharistic banquet with one another and our risen Lord. The alleluias will bubble out of us because we know God is faithful and we have something to celebrate - not life simply, but the new life ...

463. Let God Be God

John 3:1-21

Sermon

Dean Lueking

What an Immense Privilege is Ours! Today it is with an especially deep sense of gratitude and humility that I preach the text chosen for this sermon. Think of it - we come together in faith, health, and freedom to worship the living God. He welcomes us. He knows us by name. He invites us to know him by name. These are all wondrous and momentous gifts. Just to be able to know God and to proclaim the truth of his being here among us and his being for us is the first privilege of life. At times we are tempted ...

464. Advent 2

Isaiah 11:1-16, Psalm 72:1-20, Romans 14:1--15:13, Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon Aid

THEOLOGICAL CLUE The Second Sunday in Advent is clearly oriented toward preparation for the coming of the Lord. This preparation has two dimensions: to prepare "our hearts" - which God is constantly attempting to do through his Word and Spirit - for the Second Coming of the Lord; and, to "prepare our hearts" for his incarnation, as he comes to us through Word and Spirit at Christmas and every day of our lives. This much ought to be evident to us; that if our hearts are prepared for his eschatological ...

465. Easter 4

Acts 2:14-41, Psalm 23:1-6, Acts 6:1-7, Acts 7:54--8:1a, 1 Peter 2:13-25, John 10:1-21

Sermon Aid

THEOLOGICAL CLUE The Fourth Sunday of Easter, in years A and B, at least, has the biblical content that the Second Sunday after Easter used to have: namely, Good Shepherd Sunday. John 10 is read in all three years: Year A is assigned John 10:1-10; Year B has the original Good Shepherd Sunday Gospel, John 10:11-16; and Year C contains the last part of the chapter, John 10:22-30. The figure of the Good Shepherd was central to the symbolism of all of the ancient churches, picturing the risen Christ, ascended ...

466. Easter 7

Acts 1:1-11, Psalm 47:1-9, 1 Peter 4:12-19, John 17:1-5, John 17:6-19

Sermon Aid

THEOLOGICAL CLUE The Sunday after the Ascension, as the Seventh Sunday of Easter previously was designated, was known as Exaudi Sunday and served much the same function as the Seventh Sunday of Easter does today. This Sunday is a time of reflection on the glory God has given Christ by lifting him up to his right hand on the completion of his work. It is also a period of expectation for the coming of the Holy Spirit to the church and the world to empower the church to do the work of Christ. It is also the ...

467. Some Assembly Required

Malachi 2:17--3:5

Sermon

But who can endure the day of His coming, and who can stand when He appears? (Malachi 3:2) Some of you might know from your own experience that there are three words which can give a parent serious nightmares. Three words can drive real fear into a parent’s heart. I’m talking about mothers and fathers cringing in abject terror at the mere sound of three simple words: "Some Assembly Required." How well I learned this on Christmas Eve when I engaged in fierce hand-to-hand combat with a hobby horse! It came ...

468. The Resurrection of Our Lord

Mt 28:1-10 · Col 3:1-4 · Acts 10:34-43 · Ps 118

Bulletin Aid

First Lesson: Acts 10:34-43 Theme: Easter as God's "Yes" Exegetical note The heart of the kerygmatic recapitulation contained in Peter's speech to Gentiles here is his view of the resurrection (in v. 40) as God's validation of Jesus after the crucifixion. The latter was the "no" of humanity (designated with an indefinite "They") to Jesus' ministry, while Jesus was God's resounding, and ultimately prevailing "Yes." Call to Worship (based on Psalm 118) Leader: God is our strength and song! People: GOD HAS ...

469. Proper 24

Matthew 22:15-22

Bulletin Aid

Theme: Separation of church and state Exegetical note The conversation depicted here must be understood in its original setting, in which the distinction between state and religion was blurred in a number of ways, not the least being the claim of the Roman emperor to be divine (and so designated on coins)! Jesus' famous dictum about "rendering," therefore, is a cleverly "safe" way of dealing with a question meant to entrap him, but also a profound statement about the appropriate separation between the ...

470. Turn Out the Lights! The Party's Over!

Daniel 5:1-31

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

Many of you sports fans will remember Dandy Don Meredith, former great quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys, and later an announcer for Monday Night football. At that moment in a game when Don felt that one team was too far ahead for the other teach to catch, he would sing a little ditty with these words, "Turn out the Lights! The party’s over." Never was that song more appropriate than in the scene depicted in the fifth chapter of Daniel. Let me give you the historical setting. Old King Nebuchadnezzar, whom ...

471. On Mars Hill

Acts 17:16-34

Sermon Aid

CSS

At Athens, Paul found himself in a different world. Although a Jewish synagogue existed in Athens, the Jewish presence was without influence on the life of the city. Athenians thought of the Jews as primitive foreigners. Probably the Jews themselves had been affected by the indifferent environment and had forsaken some of their Jewish customs, for we read that Paul argued in the synagogue "with the Jews and devout persons." From the moment he arrived, Paul’s activities extended beyond the synagogue. He ...

472. Let Yes Be Yes!

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

A popular folk song among Christian youth in the 60s went like this: And God said Yes! Yes! Yes! Said Yes to the world once more! Said Yes with a cosmic roar! Said, Open that Other Door! Said Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! In one word, that’s God’s message for this planet. It’s the gospel. It’s the hope we need, the doorway to the future. Each of us has asked ourselves and one another and the silent stars at night: "Must there not be a better world than this? Must our lives not have been meant to be put right, ...

473. A Person Approved by Christ

John 1:43-51

Sermon

George Bass

Jesus, according to the information that John gives us in the beginning of his Gospel, had a strange system of recruiting his disciples. Two of John’s disciples left the Baptizer when he identified Jesus for them as "the lamb of God" and spent the rest of the day with Jesus. Andrew was one of the two, and he recruited his brother, Simon, whom Jesus immediately labeled "the Rock." The next day Jesus encountered Philip and said to him, "Follow me!" - and he did. Philip went out and found Nathanael, or ...

474. Journey To The Cross VII (Easter): Jesus And The Women At The Tomb

Mark 16:1-20

Sermon

James W. Moore

Do you remember the Legend of the Touchstone? It’s a great story to recall on Easter Sunday morning. According to that ancient legend, if you could find the touchstone on the coast of the Black Sea and hold it in your hand, everything you touched would turn to gold. You could recognize the touchstone by its warmth. The other stones would feel cold, but when you picked up the touchstone, it would turn warm in your hand. Once a man sold everything he had and went to the coast of the Black Sea in search of ...

475. What Are You Going to Do About Death?

Mt 10:28 · Lk 12:4

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

Emerson once wrote words that sound almost like an invitation to death: And now my chains are to be broken; I shall mount above these clouds and opaque airs in which I live ... Life will no more be a noise; this day shall be better than my birthday; for then I became an animal; now I am invited into the (experience) of the real. - The Poet Recently a college student wrote me, "I think it is probable that the death of the body implies the total cessation of being." This fear is not only a problem for ...

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