Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 4826 to 4850 of 4943 results

4826. Christians Die Well

Acts 7:54--8:1a

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... not desirable that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables. Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business; but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word." And the saying pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch, whom they ...

4827. Which Jesus? This Jesus!

Acts 17:1-9

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... else he traveled, "For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified." (1 Corinthians 2:2) He told the Thessalonicans that "Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead." Then, to make certain he was not misunderstood, he continued, "This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ." Notice his emphasis on "this Jesus!" The name was a common one in Jesus’ and Paul’s day. It was derived from "Joshua." Paul pointed to one certain person by the name of Jesus, not just ...

4828. Power to Forgive

John 20:19-23

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

... it. In this case, God lets them have their way and they are lost eternally. But if God would have his way, he would have all persons be forgiven, the men who crucified him as well as these who would crucify him today by their continual sinning. (Hebrews 6:6) Christ died for all. He wants to pardon us regardless of how unspeakable our past. ... God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them ... (2 Corinthians 5:19) (RSV) Christ has utterly wiped out the ...

4829. Sinners Anonymous

Matthew 9:9-13

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

... of Christ is going to be blown right out of the house with you. "As soon as your husband sees you goof he will not only believe he could never be a Christian, but he will also write off the validity of your Christianity as well." Then the minister continued, "You go home and tell your husband that you have discovered that all those things he said about you in that recent quarrel he had with you were correct. That may place him in a state of shock for several minutes at least. And while he is out, you ...

4830. Listening or Hearing?

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

... , plow up and open up your life to the Word. Don’t think it was good enough to have been open at the time of your confirmation, or at the time when you used to teach Sunday school, or the time when you attended Sunday school as a child. Be continually opened like a cultivated garden, for where there is no "real openness," there will be no fruits of faith, no harvest for the Divine Reaper when he comes to gather at the end of days. From such a fate we must be preserved! Instead may we be found not only ...

4831. Scenes From a Marriage

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Sermon

Craig Erickson

... God and His people. It is a marriage that has survived over the ages because God possesses an inexhaustible reservoir of grace. No matter what humans do, even those who have entered into this marriage through baptism, God remains faithful and true. He continues to give himself through a promise that is always there. God’s eternal will, to bring people into lifegiving communion with him, remains unchanged. Ash Wednesday is a little scene from this marriage. It is not a pretty scene. It is a dramatic ...

4832. Do you know exactly how I feel?

Matthew 2:19-23, Matthew 2:13-18

Illustration

Frank Luchsinger

... group was a boy named Cash Box because he always seemed to have money in his pocket, which won him favor with some. His social awkwardness and offensive banter, however, usually left his interpersonal balance sheet in the negative. As the rehearsal continued, Melissa's friend became more and more embarrassed, feeling clumsy and out of place. Finally she broke from the group. Down the hallway she fled, trying not to be noticed, pretending to read a bulletin board, flushed with tears, mortified, wishing she ...

4833. We Know Exactly How You Feel, Jesus

Matthew 8:3, Luke 7:14, Luke 8:44

Sermon

Frank Luchsinger

4834. Have This Mind

Philippians 2:1-11

Sermon

Craig Erickson

... biting, jealousy, envy, strife, dissension, lust, self-pity. These are the forces of evil that threaten to undo us from within. Baptism is the church’s prayer that those who enter it will have the mind of Christ, will turn from sin, and will continue to renounce it throughout their lives. That’s why renunciations are used even in the Baptism of infants, who are too little to know what evil is. Baptism marks the beginning of the Christian pilgrimage, which consists of spiritual warfare against the powers ...

4835. The Spirit - For Me Too?

Joel 2:28-32

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... of good report. In the Spirit, we sing: I would be true, for there are those who trust me. I would be pure, for there are those who care. I would be strong, for there is much to suffer. I would be brave, for there is much to dare. Joel continues with another reason for wanting the Holy Spirit: "Your young men will see visions." This reminds one of an old story of an Indian chief, about to die, who was to choose one of his sons as his successor. He sent them on a hike to the top of a ...

4836. What’s God Going to Do With You?

Hosea 5:1-15, Hosea 6:1--7:16

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... ; for he has torn, that he may heal us; he has stricken, and he will bind us up." This is good news for a sick society such as ours. To overcome our physical illnesses, we Americans are spending billions for health care. Cancer and heart disease continue to be our chief killers. God can and does heal our physical infirmities, through natural means, medical science, and faith. But God’s Word has more than physical illness in mind. There is a worse illness. Our society is morally sick also. When a man rapes ...

4837. Who Are God’s People?

Exodus 19:1-25

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... , the summum bonum, our ultimate concern in life. Though we say that God is our God, isn’t money or power or fame or success or family or self the real god we worship? What really comes first in our lives is our god. If we want to be and continue as God’s people, we must "seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness." If we keep his covenant, God says we shall be "a kingdom of priests." Did you as a Christian ever think of yourself as a priest or priestess? Who is a priest - a clergyman ordained ...

4838. Is God Still God?

Isaiah 44:6-23

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... have faith in Christ that he is our Redeemer and by faith to receive now the redemption by asking for and receiving the forgiveness of sins. God the Rock Christianity is a rock religion. God is not only our ruler and redeemer but also our rock. Our text continues to tell us who God is - "Is there a God besides hie? There is no Rock; I know not any." In the Old Testament, God as Rock is referred to thirty-three times. God as Rock makes God our security. As Linus in Peanuts has a security blanket, Christians ...

4839. Is Your Sin My Business?

Ezekiel 33:1-20

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... and to be apart from him spells despair. In the biblical sense, death does not mean extinction. If that were so, death would be a blessing, the end of all our cares. Probably some who commit suicide are under this false impression. The soul apart from God continues to exist, but it is away from God - from life, light, and love. The opposite of this is an existence of darkness, despair, and misery. This is the horror of death, an eternal hell. The good news is that in Christ, God experienced death for us ...

4840. Forgive To Be Forgiven

Genesis 50:15-21

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... was to remove her from office. A motion to do that was made at the monthly Board meeting, but after discussion, it was tabled. Then the Spirit led the church to forgive and to be understanding. As a result, the couple decided to marry and the church continued to give them moral support. After a few years, the father of the child was elected the lay leader of the church. Forgiveness from compassion saved a family for God! Why should we show compassion and mercy to offenders? To be a Christian and as such to ...

4841. Two Bodies for Two Worlds

Isaiah 26:1-21

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... . So God has given us a body to live on earth. If it were not for the body, none of us would be here today. This gift of a body is an expression of God’s love for us. He gave us the privilege of living on earth, and we continue here as long as the body lasts. Good health is a precious gift for which we need to be thankful. But God did not intend for us to live on earth forever, and consequently the body declines in health and ends in death. This is normal and natural, the way ...

4842. Your Money and Your Life

Matthew 6:19-24

Sermon

Robert Bachelder

... on politics, The Republic, Plato observed that the greatest enemy of justice is the family. Yes, the family! I daresay his claim will strike you as being rather silly. After all, most everyone agrees the family is a good and necessary institution. Sociologists continue to say the family is the vital unit or cell of society. We are all disturbed by the disintegration of the family as the divorce rate climbs. Many believe this phenomenon is as dangerous as running out of energy or leaving ourselves vulnerable ...

4843. Free and Faithful

Matthew 4:1-11

Sermon

Robert Bachelder

... through the Bible, then, we have a picture of a God who is almighty, but who does not coerce his creatures. Instead he permits them to choose their own way and to live with the consequences. When I was in England last, I saw a painting at Oxford which continues to haunt me. It was done by the artist Holman Hunt in the last century. It is a picture of Christ standing before a closed door, looking forsaken and disconsolate with a crown of thorns on his brow. The door before him is shut so hard and fast that ...

4844. Out of the Darkness

John 9:1-12

Sermon

Robert Bachelder

... survivors. But capital punishment does not address the real issue. What is the real issue? Consider the people who sit on death row. Who are they? By and large they are poor white people, Blacks, Hispanics, and native Americans. They are all the have-nots who continue to suffer from bigotry in an economy which has no place for them. I do not mean to say this relieves them of moral responsibility for their deeds. It does not. But really, what do we expect? We know perfectly well that cruel poverty breeds ...

4845. No Partiality

Acts 10:23b-48

Children's Sermon

Tim Carpenter

... them are blue, some are red, some are white, and some are yellow. There must be a difference. I’ll show you. Hand me a yellow tack? Attach the paper. Hey, that works pretty well. Let’s see if the red one does as well. Hand me a red tack? Continue with the other colors, putting a sheet of paper on the corkboard for each color tack. You know what? You are right. It doesn’t matter the color of the tack. They all hold the paper up just as well. It doesn’t matter what they look like. Application: In ...

4846. Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Romans 13:1-7

Sermon

Carroll Gunkel

... his prophetic responsibilities. Having met the Master, he chose a course of active resistance, a course which some will never see as compatible with the Christian Gospel, but a course for which Bonhoeffer saw no options. The barbarism which characterized Naziism continued to the end, taking as one of its last victims Dietrich Bonhoeffer. On April 9, 1945, Diefrich Bonhoeffer was executed at Flossenburg Prison. This condemnation probably came as no shock to Bonhoeffer who knew the price of a meeting with the ...

4847. Mairead Corrigan and Betty Williams

Luke 1:67-80

Sermon

Carroll Gunkel

... placards bearing slogans of hatred, but on this occasion their signs were ones of peace and goodwill. This was made possible because Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan had met the Master. Prior to these events, many people in Northern Ireland were distressed by the continuing and escalating violence. So many had wanted to do something, but no one knew what to do or how to do it. But Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan met the Master, and with the Master leading them, they showed the way to a beginning ...

4848. Eternal Echo Of Easter - Part 2

Matthew 28:1-10

Drama

Esther R. Russ

... long sleeves. 1. Gather one end of the material and pin it securely to the individual’s left shoulder. 2. Allow the material to fall loosely and in folds down the front, so that the fold comes nearly to the bottom of the hem of the undergarment. 3. Continue the material under the right arm and up to the nape of the neck, and pin it securely to the undergarment. Allow the excess of the width of the material to fall down the back. 4. From the center back, generously drape the material under the left arm ...

4849. "I Was Hoping for a Longines"

Sermon

Peter Rudowski

... husbands are the biggest kids of all. Nothing is safe in the house. And, several husbands have complained about their wives that they’re worse than the kids and they don’t know how they are going to control them. Then there are the boyfriends and girlfriends who continually ask each other the same question over and over, "What did you get me? What did you get me?" As we get closer and closer to the time to open our presents, the anxiety level rises. Did they hear what I said? Did I take off my watch ...

4850. "Two Men in White Suits"

Matthew 25:31-46

Sermon

Peter Rudowski

... he’s talking to the people who are absolutely sure about what’s going to happen in judgment. He is speaking to the people who are smug, to Pharisees and other people who are so sure that they are so good that they have nothing to fear. They come and continually tell you to the minute how many times they’ve gone to the hospital to drive somebody there. ("Mrs. Smith’s husband is there. I drove Mrs. Smith five times last week. It’s 20.2 miles times 20 cents a mile. That means I have spent x number of ...

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