Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 4801 to 4825 of 4972 results

4801. On "supersizing" Our Vision

Mark 12:41-44

Sermon

Siegfried S. Johnson

... . C., during the reign of King Yoash of Judah. (The greatest mystery about the inscription is the name of the king, Ashyahu -- not a king known from the Bible, thus opening the question regarding which biblical king this name might be a variant of). (3) Leaving that question for another time, let me just say that the piece, if authentic, will add a great deal of color to our knowledge of how temple donations were handled, and certainly fleshes out the well-known gospel account which we have been considering ...

4802. Is It Time To Tear Down Our Church?

Mark 13:1-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... members of the church were outraged that anyone would think of moving the back pew, even temporarily. How dare they tamper with tradition! The opposition was so intense that Pastor Bohlman would write, "œIt was easier to rally people together to fight to keep a pew from leaving the church, than getting them to fight to put people into it!" (1) Our lesson today is from the 13th chapter of Mark. It is stark chapter about the return of the Son of Man. But the chapter begins with a warning that you and I need ...

4803. Easter In November

Luke 20:27-40

Sermon

King Duncan

... . We know of a family of seven brothers. The oldest married and then died without any children. His brother married the widow and he, too, died. Still no children. And so it went, one after the other, until each of the seven had married her and died, leaving no children. Finally the woman died also. Now here is our question: Whose wife will she be in the resurrection? For all of them were married to her!" Jesus was not tricked. He knew these Sadducees did not even believe in the resurrection, but note his ...

4804. Children Of The Light

1 Thessalonians 4:13--5:11

Sermon

King Duncan

... too long, the reporter called the police to trace the call. They found James Lee dead in the telephone booth. In one of his pockets was a child's drawing, crayon on paper, folded and worn. An adult hand had scrawled a message on the back side: “Please leave in my coat pocket. I want to have it buried with me." And the child's signature at the bottom of the paper was “Shirley Lee." Five months before, James' daughter Shirley had died in a fire. And James had walked up and down the sidewalks outside the ...

4805. 'Thanking" About Thanksgiving

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

King Duncan

... job and, in tears, was walking across a bridge over the Chicago River. She happened upon Studs. "Why the tears, kid?" he asked. She told him her story, and he responded, "Do you like the theater?" Claire nodded. "I can't give you a job," he said, "but I'll leave a couple of tickets for a show I'm in at the Goodman. Bring a friend, have a laugh or two, and things will brighten up." This incident took place about thirty years ago, and things did work out for Claire. Her encounter with Studs gave her a new ...

4806. Being A Sheep Is Not So Bad (compared With Being A Goat)

Ezekiel 34:1-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... second time that Billy asked, Jeff had to ponder why he could not grant the simple request of a little boy who probably would not be going home. "Hold me." It was such a simple request, and yet Jeff searched for any reasonable response that would allow him to leave. He could not find one--except that if he lost his job he would also lose his car, then his home. Still, he finally decided, he could not pass up the opportunity to bring a little happiness to a dying boy. He sent Mom, Dad, Grandma and Grandpa ...

4807. Held Hostage

John 18:28-40

Sermon

King Duncan

... young people in street gangs. Many street gangs have their own customs, slang words, and codes of conduct and dress. Gang members can also identify one another through special gang symbols tattooed on their bodies. But what if a young person wants to leave a gang and start his life over again? In Detroit, Michigan there's a program called, appropriately enough, GRACE (Gang Retirement and Continued Education), that helps young men and women get out of gangs. They assist these young people in getting jobs or ...

4808. Look Who's Giving Thanks!

Philippians 4:2-9

Sermon

King Duncan

... body, and others who have been dealt blow after blow, seem overwhelming in their thankfulness. In 1993, Robert Greene was severely injured in a head-on traffic collision. He spent weeks in a coma, and over a year in rehabilitation before he was able to leave the hospital. During this grueling and painful time, Robert wrote a wonderful letter to his mother, Anita, listing ten different reasons he had to be thankful in his situation. Reason #3 to be thankful: “I have good strength in my arms. This helps me ...

4809. Invited To A Feast

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... . The convicts had been sent to help with sandbags for shoring up a levee. If it failed, the little town of Inota on the Iowa-Illinois border faced destruction. The criminals worked with furious passion and energy. They refused to sleep. They wouldn't leave the sandbag brigades even to eat. Still, the levee gave way and the town, with its two hundred houses, was lost. Now the convicts wept openly in frustration and compassion. Why had these men from the local prison suddenly become good Samaritans? Because ...

4810. On Forgetting To Do A Business Plan

Luke 14:25-35

Sermon

King Duncan

... . According to Time magazine, the American Center in Paris was forced to close just 19 months after opening its dazzling new $41 million building designed by West Coast architect Frank Gehry. Why? Construction costs ate up the center’s entire endowment, leaving nothing for running the literature, language and dance classes that had made the center the pre-eminent showplace for American artistry in Europe. (4) It’s a story told time and time again. Somebody didn’t look ahead. As someone has said ...

4811. Why The British Coast Guard Doesn't Like Eric, But God Does

Luke 15:1-7

Sermon

King Duncan

... , family feuds. There are all sorts of ways to get yourself lost. And yet, the focus of today's scripture lesson is not our lostness; the focus is God's love. The lesson is about a sheep that has gone astray. It's also about a shepherd who leaves ninety-nine other sheep out in the wilderness to search for this one lost one. And when the shepherd finds this wandering one, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, "Rejoice with me; I have ...

4812. The Good Son

Matthew 21:28-32

Children's Sermon

King Duncan

... your room and you only halfway cleaned it. You didn't do a great job on it. Maybe you pushed everything under the bed instead of putting it away. When you don't do your very best on a job, when you only do part of a job and then leave it, that's doing a halfway job. For instance, did I do a good job on lacing up these shoes? No, they're only laced halfway up. What if I put these shoes on and tried to run around the church? The shoes would probably fall right off my feet ...

4813. I Smell Bread

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Mebane Pridgen McMahon

... , who often protects himself from the horror of suffering and death around him, finally breaks and is left defenseless. He slips into depression and struggles to find some answers to life's most perplexing problem . . . death. Finally, in utter desperation, he leaves the base hospital and goes up to the battalion aid station where the wounded are first taken from the lines of battle. Colonel Potter discovers his whereabouts and calls him, ordering him to return to the MASH unit. However, a medical corpsman ...

4814. Come Home To God

Joel 2:1-11

Sermon

Angela Akers

... use these ashes to place the mark of the cross on your forehead. If you are not ready to earnestly repent of your sins and live a new life, then this will be nothing more than a dirty smudge. You would be smart to wipe it off before you leave the service. But if you are ready to "rend your heart" with the work of repentance, then let this cross be a visible reminder of a sincere, inward commitment to a changed life. Welcome home. 1. Clean-Cut-Jokes-subscribe@topica.com. doughels@erols.com (Aiken Drum). 2 ...

4815. Temptation Island

Genesis 3:1-24

Sermon

King Duncan

... for sin. We were made for a saving relationship with God through Jesus Christ.. According to Ronald Dunn, there are three characteristics of true, cleansing confession of sins. It would be helpful to many of us to consider these three characteristics before we leave this place. FIRST, CONFESSION MUST BE CONTINUAL. Each day we must acknowledge our sins and turn them over to God for forgiveness. We may feel foolish at times. We are not always conscious of our sinfulness. But part and parcel of being human ...

4816. It's All In The Blood

John 18:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... life." And Nicodemus wanted to believe, more than he wanted to take his next breath. But as the blood runs down and stains the ground at his feet, he thinks to himself, "I don't know what to believe anymore." And that's where Good Friday leaves the followers of Jesus--confused, disappointed and heartbroken. They did not know that Christ's blood had been poured out for them. They could not know the joy that lay ahead. [One lone instrument (piano, trumpet, flute, etc.) plays the first eleven notes of the ...

4817. All My Children

John 1:1-18

Sermon

Frank Lyman

... Civil Rights March, Wallace called him every name in the book. The last thirty years of his life dealt George Wallace some cruel blows. His wife Lurleen died an early death of cancer. A would-be assassin's bullet confined him to a wheelchair leaving him in constant pain, and Wallace just plain got older. Whether it was the injuries, the aging, or a spiritual change--Wallace did make some dramatic U-turns. He recanted his "Segregation Forever" speech, he met with Vivian Malone-Jones, one of the students ...

4818. As The World Turns

Matthew 4:12-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... for many people though the years--including many celebrities. People whom we would never have thought of having a religious conversion have found meaning in the person of Jesus. When Jesus heard that John was in prison, Matthew tells us, he withdrew to Galilee. Leaving Nazareth, he dwelt in Capernaum, that he might fulfill a prophecy of Isaiah: "The people which sat in darkness saw great light," wrote the prophet, "and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death, light is sprung up." "From that time ...

4819. Dark Shadows

Exodus 17:1-7

Sermon

King Duncan

... needs. What they needed at that moment was not so much water as reassurance. So God told Moses to strike the rock, and that is what Moses did. And water poured forth from the rock. But the children of Israel were on a journey. Soon they would need to leave that rock behind. What about the next time they grew thirsty, and the next? What would they do for water then? Well, Moses still had his rod. Moses' rod was a symbol of the power and presence of God. More than water, the children of Israel needed to know ...

4820. Love Of Life

Ezekiel 37:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... as well. He will never forget us or forsake us. For fifteen years, Zoe Koplowitz had let multiple sclerosis rule her life. The disease results in weakened muscles, blurred vision, loss of balance, slurring of speech. Depending on how far it progresses, MS can leave a person paralyzed, blind, and unable to speak. For those fifteen years after she was diagnosed, Zoe didn't push herself much physically. She was afraid of the advance of the disease. But then one day she got angry. She decided to fight this ...

4821. The Servant-king

John 13:1-17

Sermon

Angela Akers

... grace. They wanted quick results. Jesus taught the value of patience and perseverance. The disciples wanted easy answers. Jesus challenged them to ask different questions. In our Bible passage for today, Jesus knows that he will be returning to the Father soon. He will be leaving his disciples to carry on his message. And so Jesus takes this opportunity to teach them one last valuable lesson. As our first verse says, "Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love ...

4822. Schadenfreude

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

Rev. Dr. S. Ronald Parks

... it is nothing less than rejoicing in the misery of another. And the amazing thing is that we experience this sinister joy in an indiscriminate manner. It doesn't matter who failed; friend or foe, rich or poor, stranger or family"”as long as it isn't me. Leave it to our Teutonic ancestors to come up with a word for this ghastly facet of our psyche. I've noticed that my experience of schadenfreude is proportionate to feelings of envy I have toward another human being. Isn't it great when people who have it ...

4823. Loving From The Heart

1 Peter 1:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... to the 36th floor, when the man's energy gave out. His legs wouldn't move at all. He was unable to go any farther. Firemen who had entered the building were screaming at Zhu and Ramos to save themselves. But Harry Ramos said simply, "I'm not going to leave." Hong Zhu escaped the building just before it collapsed. Harry Ramos stayed inside and died trying to help a stranger. (1) No, this is not an easy world. Sometimes it is a very cruel world. Even for people who are trying to do good. We can understand why ...

4824. Ready For A Change

Matthew 9:9-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... Matthew "locked on" to Jesus. Scripture says that Jesus said, "Follow me," and, just like that, Matthew rose and followed him. He could have gone home and taken a hot bath. Who could have blamed him. It would have been easier. Most of us don't like to leave our comfortable situations. Most of us don't like to take on new challenges. Someone has said that the only exercise some people get is fighting the current when the bath water drains out of the tub. It would have been easier for Matthew if he had stayed ...

4825. The Idiot's Guide To Christianity

Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

King Duncan

... the minstrel his daughter's hand in marriage. The princess was, of course, horrified by her father's proposal. But the king ordered the marriage ceremony to begin immediately. Afterwards, he directed the princess to gather up a few belongings and leave the palace. As the miserable princess and her new husband traveled along, they passed through a lush forest. "Who owns this beautiful land?" the princess asked. "King Thrushbeard," the minstrel replied. "The one who takes the king gets everything." Later in ...

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