Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 4826 to 4850 of 4938 results

4826. A Tree Well Watered

Jeremiah 16:1--17:18

Sermon

Robert A. Hausman

In Washington, D.C., where the city thrives on politics, there is something called "conventional wisdom." It is what people perceive as the present judgment of the community on the present status of people: who is in and who is out, who has a future and who does not, what is stylish or socially acceptable, and what is not, who has the clout and who is ineffectual. The Bible also has wisdom, which is concentrated in the books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Job, and Psalms. To some extent, the wisdom is that of ...

4827. Thankful Living

Joel 2:18-27

Sermon

John A. Stroman

Joel informs the people of Judah that God has willed that humankind should have abundant life. This abundant life is characterized by good relationships with others, with all of God's creation, as well as the land and all its creatures. He points out that this abundant life of relationships is possible by first having a harmonious relationship with God. The prophet warns Judah if they desert God, making God unnecessary, and turn to other sources for life, then Judah is faced with hopelessness and the ...

4828. Point Of Origin

Genesis 1:1-2:3

Sermon

Harold Warlick

The beginning of the world's story is our story. This magisterial word "create" suggests no point of origin other than God. This creation is an absolute new beginning which carries profound implications for what it means to be a human being. For the universe and humankind to be created by God demonstrates the surprising and uncontrollable power of God. For humankind to be created in the image of God indicates a uniqueness that leads to a significant purpose in life. Despite the first five verses of the ...

4829. Hear, Hear

Acts 8:26-40

Sermon

Paul W. Kummer

A woman went to see a divorce lawyer. Frantically she told him, "I must have a divorce from my husband immediately!" The lawyer asked, "Do you have any grounds?" "Yes, about five acres." "I mean, do you have a grudge?" the lawyer questioned. "No, just a carport." Then the lawyer asked, "Does he beat you up?" "No," the woman replied, "I get up before he does." Exasperated, the attorney demanded, "Madam, why do you want a divorce from your husband?" "Because it is impossible to communicate with that man!" ...

4830. The Chain Of Command

Luke 7:1-10

Sermon

Alexander H. Wales

When I spoke with the Rabbi about this itinerant preacher, Jesus, I knew right away that he was the one I would have to go to if Gaius was going to survive. Gaius has been with me since the campaigns against the barbarians in the north. He's probably the closest servant and friend I've ever had in all my years of military service. Knowing how sick he was, knowing that our doctors had done all they could, there wasn't really anywhere I could turn except for some miraculous cure. "This Jesus fellow has been ...

4831. Daring To Trust The Roots

Isaiah 11:1-16

Sermon

Paul E. Robinson

There is so much uncertainty in life that most of us look hard and long for as many "sure things" as we can find. A fisherman goes back again and again to that hole that always produces fish and leaves on his line that special lure that always does the trick. The fishing hole and the lure are sure things. A gardener finds it hard to switch from tried and true varieties of vegetables. Blue Lake or Provider green beans, Silver Queen white corn, Beefsteak tomatoes, Detroit Red beets all have a familiar, solid ...

4832. People With A Mission

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

Gerald Whetstone

"What I have here is really going to turn things around in this country," he said. "Maybe even the world." Actually, he didn't have very much to say. He just kept eating, trying not to seem famished, and all the while never letting a bulging, tattered briefcase off his lap. It wasn't the Sunday noon dinner I had pleasantly anticipated. But there had been a knock on the front door just after noon. Though I'd long before taken down the brass plaque identifying my home as the Lutheran parsonage, I had a ...

4833. Working In The Family Business

1 Peter 2:4-12

Sermon

Sandra Hefter Herrma

How everyone loves a newborn baby! We cannot help but turn when we hear the distinctive cry of a very new person. And when we see new babies, we almost always go over for a look, even if we don't talk to the parents. It's instinctive, really -- an inborn guarantee that this tiny infant, dependent for its every need on the goodwill of those around it, will get what it needs. So when the baby cries, mothers who are nursing find that their bodies automatically "let down" the milk, and even if they wanted not ...

4834. The Essence of Spirituality

Genesis 1:1-2:3

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

Our scripture for today comes from the first words of the first book of the Bible. We probably best know it as the seven-day account of creation. By way of orientation, let us remember that this is Holy Writ and not an article from The Journal Of The American Academy Of Science. As such it embodies a statement of our faith. While science has its place in our lives, this is not it. Frankly, science has a very narrow boundary on what it accepts as truth. It can describe the facts very well, but seldom, if ...

4835. Jesus Christ, Our Passover Lamb

Exodus 12:1-30

Sermon

Steve Burt

In the summer of 1976 a hurricane approached eastern Long Island, New York. Older residents recalled the 1938 hurricane which had claimed many lives and destroyed millions of dollars worth of property. Even the younger residents could remember the devastation wreaked by Hurricanes Donna, Carol, and others in the 1950s and 1960s. People took seriously the warnings of the National Weather Service; they battened down the hatches, stored bottled water, provisions, and candles in basements, and prepared for the ...

4836. Light In Darkness, Speech From Silence

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

Sermon

Mark Radecke

This season, the boundaries of darkness are pushed back. A light shines in the darkness and the darkness is powerless to extinguish it. Darkness has always been a potent metaphor for those things in life that oppress and enthrall us, frighten and intimidate us, cause us worry and anxiety and leech the joy from our lives. We know darkness in our physical lives when illness is close at hand, when we lack the basic necessities of life -- food, shelter and clothing. We know darkness in our emotional lives when ...

4837. Light In Darkness, Speech From Silence

John 1:1-18

Sermon

Mark Radecke

4838. Life Beside The Falls

Ezekiel 47:1-12

Sermon

David O. Bales

The first storm of autumn clamped down with unseasonable cold -- lows at night in the teens -- which turned the shores of the falls in the middle of town to parallel strips of white lace. Despite the frozen ground the season's last football game would be played, swirls of snow sometimes making the players invisible from the stands. The teams warmed up on the field, stretching and shouting numbers to the rhythm of their exercises. The band members tuned their instruments, the public address announcer ...

4839. Tenders Of The Sacred Fire

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

Today is Pentecost, the day of the Sacred Fire. It was less than two months since the crucifixion of our Lord. The apostles and other followers of Jesus still spent most of their time in a borrowed room in Jerusalem. They were still too frightened to tell their story to the world. They were waiting for something to happen. They believed somehow God would give them a message of what to do and then give them the strength to do it. They sincerely believed Jesus was to return and usher in the Kingdom of God. ...

4840. Followership

Matthew 4:18-22, Matthew 4:12-17

Sermon

Mark Radecke

In today's Gospel text, Jesus calls for repentance, expects Peter and Andrew to drop their nets and follow him, and calls James and John to leave their Father Zebedee in the boat without so much as a "So long, see you later." My task today is to issue that same call to repentance, that same call to radical obedience and decisive discipleship. For that call is urgent and cries out to be issued in all of its majesty and might. But as preacher of the gospel -- the good news of God in Jesus Christ -- I cannot ...

4841. The Waste In Comparison

Genesis 37:1-11, 12-36

Sermon

Grandparents are some of the most well-balanced people on the face of the earth. They have to be. After all, they have to spend the same amount of time with each grandchild. They have to get something for every grandchild on every trip. And, of course, Christmas gifts must at least look like they cost exactly the same. Jacob has a long way to go in mastering that finesse. He picked a favorite wife and he chose a favorite son. Joseph was the special son who got extravagant gifts and extra attention. He got ...

4842. Justified By Greed: Biography of a Pharisee

Micah 5:1-4, Zechariah 9:9-13, Isaiah 9:1-7, Matthew 27:45-56, Mark 15:33-41, Luke 23:44-49

Drama

Lynda Pujad

Monologue Of A Pharisee For Lent Or Good Friday A Pharisee boldly comes on stage and discusses his adamant position against the person of Jesus Christ. The crucifixion, which he helped to instigate, has occurred. The resurrection has not. Let me tell you, I wasn't pleased at all about this carpenter's son called Jesus doing the things he was doing. It was wrong. We Pharisees have our rules and regulations concerning every facet of life. We have hundreds of rules so we can remain pure and I know them all ...

4843. In The Beginning

Sermon

Jerry Eckert

June 20, 1982 Comment: "Why don't you do sermons as stories?" mywife suggested. "You tell stories well and people seem tolike them. Besides, you won't end up criticizing us asoften!" My wife has a way about her. That was all I needed to try it out. Who wants to bepreached at? I surely didn't! The first time I tried the following sermon in itscurrent format, I served a church which had a lay person whohad taken university level courses in Old Testament. How doyou preach to someone with that kind of ...

4844. The Poor In Spirit

Sermon

John A. Terry

Matthew 5:1-12 When Jesus spoke these words, he had sat down with his disciples. These are not generic "words to live by" that get published in the Sunday magazine section. These are words Jesus spoke particularly to the disciples. That is why they went up the mountain to be alone. The word translated as "blessed" is commonly translated today as "happy." Robert Schuller wrote a book titled The Be Happy Attitudes. There is a joy the word implies. The problem with the word "happy" is that it is rooted in the ...

4845. The Persecuted

Sermon

John A. Terry

Matthew 5:1-12John 15:12-27 Jack Cahill, an advertising executive from Kansas City, Missouri, has suggested new marketing techniques which can help to tap the appeal to popular blessings. Beginning with the Roman Catholic Church (24 percent of the U.S. market), he suggests a strategy of market segmentation, a clear positioning of the church identifying specific subgroups within the brand name. For the contemporary branch of the Roman Catholic Church, "the one that features hip priests, guitar playing, hand ...

4846. A Taste Of Life

Mark 14:12-26

Sermon

William G. Carter

The workshop was winding up. About 25 pleasant church people had gathered in central Pennsylvania to take part in a workshop on worship. The better part of a Saturday morning had dealt with a variety of topics, such as the order of worship, the role of music, the place of preaching, and whether or not children should come to the Lord's table. A few stomachs were growling for lunch when I asked, "Does anybody have any questions?" Most people smiled and sat in that circle of metal folding chairs. One woman, ...

4847. Can Christians Dance?

Sermon

William G. Carter

Mark 2:23--3:6 (C, RC) Mark 2:23-28 (L) A few years ago, I was asked to serve as the worship leader at a regional church conference for teenagers. The enthusiastic recruiter told me about the wonderful experience I could expect from the gathering. "Every summer," she said, "the conference brings together about a hundred or so young people at a camp that has no swimming pool. We gather during the dog days of August. The conference is so much fun, nobody misses the pool!" My assignment was to preach sermons ...

4848. The Poor In Spirit

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

John A. Terry

When Jesus spoke these words, he had sat down with his disciples. These are not generic "words to live by" that get published in the Sunday magazine section. These are words Jesus spoke particularly to the disciples. That is why they went up the mountain to be alone. The word translated as "blessed" is commonly translated today as "happy." Robert Schuller wrote a book titled The Be Happy Attitudes. There is a joy the word implies. The problem with the word "happy" is that it is rooted in the old English ...

4849. The Persecuted

John 15:18-27

Sermon

John A. Terry

Jack Cahill, an advertising executive from Kansas City, Missouri, has suggested new marketing techniques which can help to tap the appeal to popular blessings. Beginning with the Roman Catholic Church (24 percent of the U.S. market), he suggests a strategy of market segmentation, a clear positioning of the church identifying specific subgroups within the brand name. For the contemporary branch of the Roman Catholic Church, "the one that features hip priests, guitar playing, hand shaking, hugging, and other ...

4850. A Lack of Faith

Mark 6:1-6

Sermon Aid

Richard A. Jensen

Our text for this week records a sudden change of context. Jesus had just been at the home of Jairus, a synagogue ruler, and raised his twelve-year-old girl from death. Now, suddenly, he has come to his own country; he has come to Nazareth. It is not just the scene that shifts. In his own home country people take offense at his very presence. "Where did this man get all this?" the hometown folk wonder aloud. "What is this wisdom that has been given to him?" (Mark 6:2). This is a striking shift in the story ...

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