Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 4826 to 4850 of 4999 results

Mark 11:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... have. Nor he was he riding on a mighty elephant, as Alexander the Great might have. Instead, he was riding on a humble donkey. The man the people of Jerusalem expected to lead them to victory over their enemies was riding a lowly beast of burden. What kind of Messiah was this, they wondered to themselves? Where was his armor? Where was the pomp and grandeur that was expected out of a leader? Think if one of our candidates for president came to town this election year, not in a limousine with flags waving ...

4827. A Table Like No Others

1 Corinthians 11:17-34

Sermon

King Duncan

... woman’s shoulder and, in broken English, said sternly, “Take it, girl! It was meant for you. Do you hear me?” The young woman raised her head and nodded and then she took the bread and ate it. Tony Campolo writes, “I knew that at that moment some kind of heavy burden was lifted from her heart and mind. Since then, I have always known that a church that could offer Communion to hurting people was a special gift from God.” (1) Jesus didn’t even turn Judas away from the table. If there’s room for ...

4828. Seeking Christ

Mark 1:29-34

Sermon

King Duncan

... of the people who responded to the poll did see Mary and not Jesus. It makes sense that Jesus’ image should appear in a door, says one commentator. After all, Jesus did say, “I am the door.” (John 10:7) And he was a carpenter. Of course, we see this kind of thing all the time. One lady in St. Petersburg Florida claims seeing Jesus’ image in a potato chip! (2) My guess is that we see what we want to see, and our deepest yearning of all is to see Jesus. Our deepest yearning is to encounter God. And so ...

4829. How Can I Keep From Singing?

Mark 1:40-45

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... and to reveal who had made that wholeness possible. Primed and juiced by joy, this man’s exuberant exclamations acted as a kind of controlled “leak” about the person and power of Jesus the Christ. Mark’s text declares that it was because of the ... to Edwards, when a human encounters the emanation of the divine, the human spirit responds with its own reflection, its own kind of bounce-back echo, of that divinity. Of course, the emanation Edwards meant was the person and presence of Jesus Christ. ...

4830. Let Your Diamond-Light Shine

2 Corinthians 4:1-18

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... .” By comparison, the largest earth-diamond, the Golden Jubilee Diamond, is 545 carats — a sandal toe full of diamond “sand” on one of Lucy’s dunes. Diamonds are a chosen and cherished gem because of their sparkle and glow. They ignite with a kind of inner fire when the light hits them. Unfortunately for “Lucy,” that means that the solid diamond core of that dwarf star is as unremarkable and unassuming as any other stone. You could take a drawer full of exquisite diamond gemstones and dump ...

4831. Holiness Shining through Humanity

Mark 9:2-9

Illustration

Scott Hoezee

... the bus or walking down a sidewalk. But on the other hand, he may be on to something, and I would add to his musings this one: Even on all kinds of days when the disciples and Jesus were by no means having a mountaintop experience and when dazzling garments whiter than white were nowhere to be seen, even then when Jesus smiled kindly at lepers, looked pained to see a "sinner" being shunned by the Temple establishment, or looked winsome after telling a hurting prostitute to go in peace because her sins were ...

4832. Are You Doing Time On the Bench?

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... , practicing his craft, sacrificing for his advancement. He worked long hours, practiced and persevered, put up with harassment, labored at the jobs we all take to make ends meet, slept on friends’ couches, and kept on going. Jeremy Lin is now being lauded as some kind of amazing superstar. He is called Super-Lin-tendo. His fans are caught up in Lin-sanity. His story is dubbed Lin-derella. But in reality Jeremy Lin is a ditch digger. He has made his mark by continually working, chipping away at that which ...

4833. John 2:13-22

John 2:12-25

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... be fed and watered along the way, was an exorbitant hardship. To alleviate the need for that transportation a kind of sacrificial marketplace had sprung up around the Temple. Locating themselves conveniently on the Temple Mount, sellers of sacrificial animals ... deemed “God-fearers,” to gather and pray. It was into this courtyard that Jesus entered and found himself in a kind of “Black Friday” atmosphere. There was a crowded crush of buyers and sellers haggling and haranguing about the costs of ...

4834. No Other Name

Acts 4:1-22

Sermon

King Duncan

... had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: ‘By what power or what name did you do this?’ “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: ‘Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands ...

4835. Love Each Other (Mother's Day)

John 15:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... He didn’t love her perfectly, not by a long shot. But he loved her when loving was hardest. He loved her when no one else would love her, and he remembered her with kind words.” (3) That must have been difficult loving her when she showed him so little love. But that’s what Christian love is. That’s the kind of love Christ gave us when we were undeserving. Love is a command. Note, secondly, that love is sacrificial. Christ speaks of “laying down one’s life for one’s friends . . .” For many ...

4836. God’s Two Hands

John 16:5-16

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... of fruitfulness. The outcome is called the “fruit of the Spirit,” a singular cornucopia of fruits. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self‑control” (Galatians 5:22). Notice that we are not being told to go out and try to be more loving, joyful, peaceful, forbearing, kind, good, faithful, gentle. That’s not what the passage says. No, it says that when we “live in the Spirit” we will bear this bundle of fruit. Note ...

4837. Stand by Me

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Crazy?! These seemingly illogical suggestion are actually good ideas. Why? Because our culture is addicted to “climate control.” Air conditioning and central heating make it possible for us to create any kind of climate, any sort of indoor “weather,” we want. Since we still cannot control what kind of weather we encounter outside, in the real world, we over-compensate in our encapsulated climates — our homes, shopping malls, restaurants, office buildings, airplanes. The hotter it gets outside the ...

4838. The Object of Envy Is Trapped

Mark 6:1-6

Illustration

Scott Hoezee

... to use him in one of his famous paintings! How dare Abel NOT use his face! De Unamuno's point is clear: when you are the object of envy, you cannot do a blessed thing to make the situation any better. Try to be extra kind to the one who envies you, and this kindness will get written off as condescension and charity. Try to rise above things by ignoring the one torn up with envy and you will be written off as arrogant and rude, thereby merely confirming the envier's low opinion of you. Neither approach nor ...

4839. Walls, Walls, Everywhere Walls

Ephesians 2:11-22

Sermon

King Duncan

... knew that was wrong. His next thought was to sue the man. But Paul makes it clear in the 6th chapter of 1st Corinthians that Christians don’t sue Christians. “I’ll build a wall,” he thought, but that would have been expensive. He didn’t have that kind of money. And besides, walls are such ugly things. Finally he prayed, “Lord, what should I do about my neighbor’s dogs?” Then that night the answer came to him. The next morning he went out to his sheep. He selected two baby lambs and he took ...

4840. What Would You Like Written?

John 6:24-35

Illustration

David E. Leininger

... OWN obituary might look like if suddenly it became necessary to publish one. As he thought about it, he realized that there would not be very much to say beyond place of birth, job, family, and so on. So he began to compose the kind of obituary for himself that he would LIKE to have written. In it he included all sorts of church activities and community service, involvement with young people, his community, support for the various educational institutions, help with the United Way - one worthwhile activity ...

4841. Food for the Soul

Ephesians 5:15-20 and John 6

Illustration

Johnold Strey

... , but that just seems like it crosses the line. Maybe the obligatory cream puff should be a part of one's Wisconsin State Fair experience, but too much of the fair's menu might not be a good thing. It is important to fill up our bodies with the proper kind of nourishment. It will probably come as no surprise that the same can be said for our souls. In the Gospel of John chapter six, in his "Bread of Life" discourse, Jesus explained to his listeners how important it was to fill up their souls with the proper ...

4842. There’s Still Time

Mt 6:1-2, 5-6

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... . And it's getting harder to find, but any coin with 1954 is my birth year. I enjoy laying out the change in my pocket and just glancing at the dates. It's nice to carry these little reminders of important events, good and bad. But they're just one kind of reminder. We carry all sorts of reminders around. One of the most obvious is our date book, which we use to remind us of important events that are not in the past but in the future. We especially need a reminder for Ash Wednesday. It comes in the middle ...

4843. No ... On

Luke 22:66--23:25

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... of king. Jesus knew that, but the crowd didn't! Instead it had visions of grandeur and a return to the glory days of King David. Throughout this week in Jerusalem, Jesus will make it clear that he is a different kind of a king. He commands no army, brandishes no weapons, and exerts no brute force. Yet, in the temple he is confrontational. He harasses the religious leadership. He stirs up controversy. He is deliberately provocative. Therefore, we should not be surprised that by Thursday he is betrayed and ...

4844. The Forgiven Love A Lot!

Luke 7:36—8:3

Sermon

Arley K. Fadness

... listening, he prayed for Agnes, "that her life would be changed, and that God would be good to her." When he was finished, the counter man leaned over, and with a trace of hostility in his voice, said, "Hey, you never told me you was a preacher. What kind of church do you belong to anyway?" In one of those moments when just the right words came, Tony answered him quietly, "I belong to a church that throws birthday parties for prostitutes at 3:30 in the morning." The man thought for a moment and said, "No ...

4845. Checked the Ditch Lately?

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Arley K. Fadness

... 'll help you. I'm a Mormon and I'll help you get gas." There is no religious group that I disagree with more doctrinally. The Church of Latter Day Saints claim to be Christian but fail to hold even one orthodox Christian teaching. Nonetheless, it was this kindly Mormon who helped my friend and I get enough gas to get to the next station. He said and acted out essentially, "What's mine is yours." Who is my neighbor? Who is your neighbor? Helmut Thielecke said, "The road to hell is paved, not merely with good ...

4846. The Great Divide

Luke 12:49-56

Sermon

I have to admit, this is not the Jesus I'm comfortable with. All this talk about bringing fire to the earth and that he can't wait until it's set ablaze. What kind of talk is that? Then there is the part about how households will become divided because of him. For goodness' sake, that's exactly opposite from the kind of community we're trying to build here. Can you imagine if I announced an adult education program that promised to teach you how to divide your families in five easy sessions? You wouldn't ...

4847. Humility

Ephesians 6:10-20

Illustration

Billy D. Strayhorn

... out of the window of each of the houses was a little widow lady, a widower, a teenager, or a child. And they all looked overwhelmed by the size of their mansion. The preacher was getting excited. If these people, just your ordinary everyday kind of Christians got these kind of mansions, imagine what he was going to get. As they ended their trek through the neighborhood, they came upon a large Texas style ranch house. It was gorgeous, but wasn't huge. It had everything you could imagine, but it was nowhere ...

4848. Sonny Moneybags

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... than Junior just because he had a couple of years on him. But somehow, that never mattered. When it came to getting any kind of notice, it was always Junior, the personality kid. Aunts and uncles would come to visit and say, "Hi, Sonny, where's ... were fattening up to enter into the competition at the county fair. But good, old, hard-working Sonny, the one who never gives any trouble, what kind of party does he get? None, that's what! Good, old Sonny not only does not get the fatted calf, he doesn't even get a ...

4849. The Uniquely Christian Commandment

John 13:1-17, 31b-35

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... you" (John 13:34). That is a broad and lofty standard indeed. The love that Jesus had for his disciples began with a willingness to ignore the limits of society. He did not content himself with a little group made up of only his "own kind" — he reached out to all kinds and especially to those whom the rest of the world would shun. The love of Jesus enabled him to take on tasks that would have been thought to be beneath him — servant work like washing dusty feet, for example. The love of Jesus was able ...

4850. Dorcas

Acts 9:36-43

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... in and found himself among family and friends. The lifeless body lay at the periphery, but the center of attention was life, her life. This was a time for remembering. Tear-stained faces would be forced into shy smiles as the memories would flood back. A kind word here, a generous gift there. As the text describes it, "All the widows stood around [Peter], crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them" (Acts 9:39). That sharing is therapeutic. You see ...

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