Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 451 to 475 of 4938 results

451. Stop the PANIC!

Luke 15:1-32 · Exodux 15:1-27--16:36 · Psalm 23

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Optional Prop: Shepherd’s crooked staff Stories about hikers lost in the woods have some common features. At some point, everything starts to look and feel the same. Instead of moving forward, the lost hikers circle around and around endlessly until, exhausted, they collapse in tears, resigned to never getting out, sure that the journey is impossible, complicated, and ultimately vexed? Thankfully, the helicopter or rescue vehicle snatches them from their lostness. And to their amazement they discover they ...

452. The Bridge over Troubled Water

Psalm 23:1-6

Sermon

James W. Moore

On Monday, August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina slammed with devastating and amazing force into the Gulf Coast just east of New Orleans, Louisiana. With screaming, shrieking 175 MPH winds, Katrina smashed ashore and… - destroyed houses and buildings, - turned over cars, trucks and boats, - swamped Mississippi’s beachfront, - blew out windows in hospitals, hotels and high-rises in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi, - submerged entire neighborhoods up to their roof-tops in flood water, - separated families ...

453. Don't Get Stuck!

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

Michael L. Sherer

We begin with a modern parable, “a story that never actually happened” but that’s still true in some profound way. Here’s the story. A businessman from a metropolitan area received a registered letter informing him that an entrepreneurial group in another city had decided to honor him with their prestigious “Innovator of the Year” award. He was delighted. On the day of the presentation he allowed himself plenty of time to drive the Interstate, from one community to the other. But at the last minute, his ...

454. Apostles of Christ

1 Corinthians 4:1-21

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

God as the Only Real Judge The thought and logic of this passage are clear, although in Greek much of Paul’s language is awkward. Any translation struggles to render Paul’s statements in a sensible and reliable way. These verses begin by informing the Corinthians how they are to regard Paul, Apollos, Cephas, and all other early Christian workers. They are merely servants and stewards who are called to serve Christ as agents of the proclamation of the mysteries of God’s grace. A single quality must ...

455. The Art of Living Until

Matthew 24:36-51

Sermon

Leonard Mann

There are many things about your life which I do not know. But one thing I do know: you are living in an interim. And so am I. We are in time-in-between; we are between what has happened and what will happen. We know a great deal about the former and very little about the latter. What has been is past, and we are moving away from it, going on to what is to be. How we make this journey is very important, the attitudes with which we travel, the guiding stars we follow. So I want to speak with you about The ...

456. Gifts of Prophecy and Tongues

1 Corinthians 14:1-25

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

The Practice of Prophecy The discussion returns to the direct consideration of spiritual gifts that was the explicit focus of Paul’s remarks up to 12:31a. One should notice at the outset that Paul’s general concern is with orderly worship, but there are bends and turns to the argumentation that are hard to follow and highly debated. Moreover, as later readers turn to this passage they sometimes forget the concrete historical circumstances that lie behind Paul’s remarks, but to do so is a disaster. Paul ...

457. Resurrection: From Sin to a Second Chance

Psalm 23:1-6

Sermon

Leonard H. Budd

The afternoon sun was waning as the shepherd boy, David, led his sheep down the well-worn path that led from the green pastures to the pool of still water where his flock would quench their thirst before heading back to the fold. He glanced back at the flock following him; then stopped and looked more closely. Where was Ayin, his big ram? One of the lambs was gone, too. The shepherd boy shaded his eyes against the late afternoon sun. In the distance he saw the big ram lumbering down the hill along a ...

458. The Upside Down Life

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

I confuse “inversion therapy” with “aversion therapy.” The latter (“aversion therapy”) is where you train your dog not to leave your yard, or not dig, or not bark, with a collar that shocks the dog when it does run off, dig, or bark. “Inversion therapy” helps alleviate back and neck pain by taking the usual gravitational press we live with and literally “standing it on its head.” One method is to strap your feet into boots and hang upside down like a big bat. Rosie O’Donnell once did this on the Ellen ...

459. Freedom In Christ

Galatians 5:1-15, Galatians 5:16-26

Understanding Series

L. Ann Jervis

Paul’s Direct Warning: To Become Circumcised Is to Be Divorced from Christ 5:2 Now Paul turns up the heat with a direct address—Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you. No longer using Scripture, Paul states forthrightly: if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. The options are clearly laid out: either circumcision without Christ or Christ without circumcision. While Paul has referred to the “circumcision group” (2:12) as those who are opposed to the “truth of the gospel” ...

460. Good Morning, Jerusalem!

Drama

Notes on the Service Set within the framework of an Easter morning worship celebration, the following drama script intends to bring to the worshiper’s mind the sound and style of a familiar weekday morning American network television news/talk program. Any steps which the worship planner(s) can take to create this atmosphere will add to the effectiveness of the presentation. Depending upon the physical arrangements in the chancel area, it might even be possible to set up a comfortable living room setting ...

461. The Day of the Lord

Malachi 4:1-6

Understanding Series

Pamela J. Scalise

Those Who Fear the Lord (3:17--4:3): 3:17–4:1 Malachi 3:17–4:1 addresses the concerns of Malachi’s audience directly. God promises that, “in the day when I act” (v. 17, NIV margin), you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not (v. 18). On the day of divine judgment, the arrogant will not seem to be blessed and the people who challenge God will not escape (3:14–15). The arrogant and every evildoer will be destroyed by fire until ...

462. Eliphaz

Job 4:1-5:27

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

Trust in Your Piety: Here what is commonly known as the “first dialogue cycle” begins, taking the reader through Job 14:22. Having been unable to find words to respond to the extremity of Job’s physical suffering earlier, the friends are much less reticent in replying to Job’s angry monologue. Job’s words, and not his situation, spark the dialogue and debate. The first to speak is Eliphaz, who appears to be the eldest and is given pride of place as well as space (regarding Eliphaz’s seniority see Pope, Job ...

463. Tears on Easter?

John 20:10-18

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb, and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him." Saying this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek ...

464. What Are You Going to Do with My World?

1 Corinthians 9:1-27

Sermon

Fredrick R. Harm

A friend tells of his son who asked for a globe of the world as one of his Christmas gifts last year. Of course his parents were pleased to purchase something so useful for their child. So many Christmas lists leave much to be desired! The boy thoroughly enjoyed his gift and kept it on a small table in his bedroom. One evening his parents were discussing the fact that so many of our clothing items are imported from foreign countries. The wife recalled that a recently purchased scarf had come from Sri Lanka ...

465. Going the Second Mile

Matthew 5:38-42

Sermon

James Merritt

Mark Twain once said this about the Bible: "I have no problem with those parts of the Bible I don't understand. It's those parts of the Bible I do understand that gives me fits." The passage that we are going to study certainly fits into that category. This passage illustrates something I bet most of you have never thought about before. One of the easiest things in the world to do is to become a Christian. It is ridiculously easy. All you have to do is confess you are a sinner, repent of your sin, believe ...

466. Dusted

Mark 6:7-13, Matthew 10:1-42, Luke 9:1-9, Luke 10:1-24

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Dust is one of those things in life that confounds us a bit, doesn’t it? Think about it. You clean. You dust. A day later, you look, and lo and behold, dust! Where did it come from? You cleaned everything! It’s as though the world “sheds.” And in fact, it does! All the time. Even you shed. Every two to four weeks, you shed the entire outer layer of your skin. That’s 8 lbs per year!* But in fact, skin is only a small percentage of the dust we find settling on our furniture and floors or hanging in our air. ...

467. A Call to Return to the Lord

Zechariah 1:1-6

Understanding Series

Pamela J. Scalise

Superscription (1:1): Zechariah prophesied to a community that knew the fulfillment of prophecy as a fact of their lives. Earlier prophetic announcements of judgment had been proven true in the destruction of their nation. The prophet’s ministry, and the ongoing ministry of the book, is to persuade its audience that the reliability of God’s earlier words of judgment stands as evidence that God’s promises and commands are also true. While fulfillment of salvation promises began in the early years of the ...

468. Inevitabilities and the Last Days

Mark 13:1-31

Sermon

James W. Robinson

Few natural phenomena are as spectacular as the storm clouds that assemble over a mountaintop. One can hear the thunder grumble ominously among them. The tempo increases until its grumble glides into a rumble and an intermittent crash. In the forest below, one feels the quickening fresh-scented breeze turn into a hard-muscled wind that bends the creaking leafy forest giants into submission. The camper cringes in his tent as, in the now imminent storm, the thunder applauds the pyrotechnics of the lightning ...

469. Your Image of Tomorrow

Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon

Leonard Mann

"Among those who are born of women ..." If you are thinking of the human race, this is a rather inclusive statement; I can’t think of very many people it leaves out! And this is a statement of Jesus as he offers a summa cum laude of highest praise to one of his associates in the dissemination of truth and light. He says, "Among those who are born of women, there has not arisen a greater prophet than John the Baptizer" (Matthew 11:11; Luke 7:28). What was it that was so great about John - this son of ...

470. In Quest of a Treasure

James 1:1-18

Sermon

Larry Powell

The Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon's obsession with discovering the fountain of eternal youth led him eventually to the land of flowers, or as we know it, Florida. Even now, there are those who claim that the bold adventurer did, in fact, discover such a fountain and that its perpetual waters contain the treasure of agelessness, or the much pursued "ever young" potion. Several years ago, somewhere in Florida, I took a drink from a fountain which was allegedly the genuine source designated by Ponce de Leon ...

471. It Takes Two to Preach!

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

Pentecost VIII That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat there; and the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: "A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they had not much soil and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil but when the sun rose ...

472. The Resurrection of the Dead

1 Corinthians 15:12-34

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

Controversy in Corinth These verses move from the foundational issues to a controversy in the Corinthian church, and the verses articulate a tough-minded logic that proves the error of the position taken by some of the Corinthians. The problem was that some of the Corinthians said there is no resurrection of the dead. The statement as Paul reports it could mean that they said there is no resurrection at all, or they advocated “immortality” (survival of the spirit) rather than “resurrection” (new creation ...

473. Forsaking All Others

Joel 2:1-11

Sermon

Paul W. Kummer

Can you see the young boys running through the city of Jerusalem yelling, "Blow the trumpets!" and the people of that city yelling back, "What?" "Blow the trumpets! Grab the shofar! We need to let everyone know!" And the people still scream back, "Why? What's going on?" The adults know that the blowing of the trumpets in Jewish tradition can only mean one of three things: 1) It's time to move camp (but wait, we haven't lived in tents for decades!); 2) We need to get ready for war (but I didn't know there ...

474. Why?

Job 3:11-12, 16, 20, 23

Sermon

James Merritt

Every generation for the last sixty years has had an event occur that they will never forget. It is a bookmark on the hard drive of their memory. The World War II generation, still living, remembers exactly where they were December 7, 1941, when they heard about Pearl Harbor. For my generation, the boomer generation, the singular event we remember occurred on November 22, 1963, when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. I still remember walking back from the library to my sixth grade class, where ...

475. Trouble In the Parsonage

Hosea 1:2-10

Sermon

David E. Leininger

There once was a retreat attended by the clergy of a community for the purpose of establishing support groups. To kick things off the leader broke the participants up into groups of four and instructed them to confide in one another. In one group, a rabbi broke the ice by saying, "I'll begin by sharing one of my most disturbing problems. Occasionally I slip out of town and give in to my craving for pork - I stuff myself with bacon, sausage, ham, pork chops, and sometimes even babyback ribs." At this point ...

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