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Showing 4876 to 4900 of 4937 results

4876. Proper 21

Luke 16:19-31, Psalm 146:1-10, Amos 6:1-7, Joel 2:18-27, 1 Timothy 6:11-21

Sermon Aid

George Bass

THEOLOGICAL CLUE Depending on the lectionary followed and the calendar year, the Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost occurs near St. Luke's Day (October 18th). St. Luke's Day is a celebration of the gospel, as well as a day of remembrance for the evangelist. As such, it reinforces the theology of the church year which has been shaped by the gospel of the Lord. It is the second half of the church year, in particular, which needs reinforcement by the gospel of the risen Lord, inasmuch as there are fewer ...

4877. What Children Can Teach Adults

Luke 10:1-24

Sermon

Thomas Slavens

• Children’s Day • Children’s Day • Children’s Day It is the usual thing to think in terms of what adults can teach children. Adults have much to teach. They teach children ways to develop their bodies, personalities and their relationships with God. At the same time children can often teach adults. Adults sometimes become so proud, skeptical or self-righteous that they need to recover some of the spirit of childhood. Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a ...

4878. Christ Is Coming…

Luke 21:5-38

Sermon

James Garrett

Today is the start of the season of Advent. A season of anticipation. A season of hope and waiting. It is a time of preparation for the coming of Jesus Christ. It has been said: “The extraordinary thing that is about to happen is matched only by the extraordinary moment just before it happens. Advent is the name of that moment.”1 Jesus shares with his disciples concerning his second coming. An extraordinary thing… matched only by the extraordinary moment before it happens. A strange text for the season of ...

4879. The Marked Man

Sermon

George Bass

“Then taking the Twelve aside he said to them, ‘Now we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man is to come true. For he will be handed over to the pagans and will be mocked, maltreated and spat on, and when they have scourged him they will put him to death; and on the third day he will rise again.’ But they could make nothing of this; what he said was quite obscure to them, they had no idea what it means.” Luke 18:31-34 The beginning of Lent marks the ...

4880. Wedding: Love and Fear

1 John 4:1-6

Sermon Aid

Charles E. Wolfe

The verb or the noun ‘‘love” occurs in twenty-six of the 105 verses of First John. In all cases, it is the familiar root agape. The leading idea is that God is love by nature and that he revealed this by sending Christ into the world. (4:9) We are not love by nature, and therefore God loved us first. The measure of this love was the death of Christ on our behalf (3:16) and therefore the Father could call us children. (3:1) This makes possible our own response of love and so if we abide in love, we abide in ...

4881. Rejoice In The Lord

Isaiah 9:1-7

Sermon

Robert Beringer

After a service of ordination to the Christian ministry, a sad-faced woman came up to the newly-ordained pastor and said, "It's a grand thing you are doing as a young man - giving up the joys of life to serve the Lord." That woman's attitude reflects a commonly held belief that to be serious about our faith means that we expect all joy to be taken out of living. For many, Christianity appears to be a depressing faith, with unwelcome disciplines, that cramps our lifestyle and crushes our spirits. In a ...

4882. Lessons From The Mountaintop

Exodus 24:1-18, Matthew 17:1-13

Sermon

Robert Beringer

Frederick Buechner in his book, Peculiar Treasures, writes about Moses in the following way: "Whenever Hollywood cranks out a movie about Moses, they always give the part to somebody like Chariton Heston with some fake whiskers glued on. The truth of it is, he probably looked a lot more like Tevye the milkman after 10 rounds with Mohammed Ali. Moses up there on the mountain with his sore feet and aching back serves as a good example of the fact that when God puts the finger on people, their troubles have ...

4883. Light For Our Darkness

Sermon

Robert Beringer

The Feast of Christmas celebrates God's wondrous gift of Jesus Christ to be the Savior of the world. The Feast of Epiphany celebrates our human gifts to God, symbolized by those gifts given by the wise men to the Christ Child. More than any other characters in the Christmas story, the three wise men have been the subject of much good humor. Perhaps you recall the story of the little boy who was setting up a manger scene in the corner of his schoolroom. Puzzled for a moment, he called out to his teacher, " ...

4884. The Burning Bush Within Us

Exodus 3:1-22

Sermon

Justin Tull

The flame is a part of our biblical heritage, from the burning bush, to pillars of fire, to the flaming tongues of the Spirit at Pentecost. The flame is a part of our church tradition and biblical tradition. It symbolizes the Spirit of God that interacts with us in so many different ways. Today we take a look at Moses’ experience at the burning bush. From this account we may learn many things about ourselves and about the God we worship. Several years ago, Dr. Bill Power, professor of Old Testament at ...

4885. Thanksgiving

Ephesians 1:1

Sermon

Brett Blair

This morning I would like to hold up for you three different scenes. The strange thing about these scenarios is that when you first hear them you will be hard pressed to understand why I selected these stories to exemplify Thanksgiving. On the surface they will seem to be the antithesis of Thanksgiving. Yet, I am convinced that at the heart of these stories is the real Biblical understanding of what it means to be thankful. The first scene comes from the Old Testament. It is the familiar story of Job. Job ...

4886. Charlie Used To Do That

John 6:25-59

Sermon

Robert Salzgeber

The people said, "Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, just as the scripture says, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.' " Jesus answered, "What Moses gave you was not the bread from heaven; it is my Father who gives you the real bread from heaven." Jesus is referring to the fact that even when God gave the whole Israelite community manna the people still complained; they were not satisfied. God then gave the Hebrews quail and they continued to be dissatisfied. Later on the whole Israelite community ...

4887. Reality Check

Matthew 17:1-13

Sermon

Johnny Dean

Many of us have had them, those times when we felt like we were on top of the world, really happy, confident that we knew all the answers, could solve any problem that came up. Or we felt that we were really close to God, really in tune with God’s plan for us. In those moments we were excited and alive, and everything seemed new. The moment might have come at some exciting event in your life: graduation, baptism, your first kiss, your first day on your first job, your wedding, the birth of a child, even ...

4888. Reuben:The Rooster With a Reminder

Matthew 26:69-75

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

Object: None How many boys and girls know what I mean when I talk about reminders? Can anyone think of something which we might call a reminder? (Let the children give you some things which they think of as reminders.) That's pretty good. When I think of a reminder I can't help but think of a string that my mother used to tie around my finger so that I would not forget about the time that I was supposed to be home or the job that she wanted me to do. That was one kind of reminder but there are a lot of ...

4889. Is It Well With Your Family? (Mother's Day)

2 Kings 4:8-26

Sermon

Brett Blair

[Read up to verse 26b and end with "Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with your child?"] I am going to read a quote to you first and then tell you who said it: A small child waits, with impatience, the arrival home of a parent. She wishes to relate some sandbox experience. She is excited to share the thrill that she has known that day. The time comes; the parent arrives. Beaten down by the stresses of the workplace the parent often replies: “Not now, honey, I’m busy, go watch ...

4890. Saving A Church

Hebrews 12:1-13

Sermon

I imagine that different letters in the New Testament were written with varying degrees of haste. Paul wrote an angry letter to the church at Corinth. You can tell that as he wrote it he had a lot of things on his mind. On the other hand, the Book of 1st Thessalonians consists almost entirely of prayers and praise. Obviously, there was not a great sense of urgency about the letter. When Paul wrote his brief letter to Philemon, he told his friend and former slave, Onesimus, to personally deliver it. It ...

4891. Saving A Church

Hebrews 12:1-13

Sermon

4892. The Two Fires

Luke 12:49-53

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

There is something mysterious and provocative about fire. We don’t need fireplaces when we have central heating, but we have fireplaces anyway. We pay the utility company extra to have them; and we take much time and effort to haul and cut wood for burning. Our fascination with fire can’t be put into words, but watching a fire is as close to meaningful prayer as some of us get. The discovery of fire changed the life of primitive people. Fire made possible the change from a nomadic to a settled existence. ...

4893. The Witness and the Witnesses

John 15:18--16:4

Sermon

Easter ends and the season of Pentecost begins with the singing of an old and much beloved hymn: Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire And lighten with celestial fire; Thou the anointing Spirit art Who dost thy seven-fold gifts impart. Thy blessed unction from above Is comfort, life, and fire of love. Enable with perpetual light The dullness of our blinded sight. Finally, we pray: Teach us to know the Father, Son, And thee, of both, to be but One; That through the ages all along This may be our endless song ...

4894. Lord, I Believe - Or Do I?

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

In his ministry of teaching, Jesus was a master at the art of storytelling. Many of his stories, known as parables, have been our favorites through the years since first we heard them. They can be repeated many times, and we will never tire of them - the story of the Good Samaritan, the prodigal, the two men praying in the temple, the sower in the field. And the lessons that the Master taught in parables are pointed, holding up for our inspection virtues to be practiced, vices to avoid, relationships to be ...

4895. The Challenge of God's Harvest

Matthew 9:35-38

Sermon

"Then saith he unto his disciples, 'The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will sent forth laborers into his harvest.' " (St. Matthew 9:37, 38 KJV) What a stirring picture Jesus lays before us in this text! He looks out, as it were, on the whole world. He sees mankind as a great field to be harvested. Have you ever looked out on a golden grain field in the summertime? Here in Wisconsin it always seems to be such a beautiful sight - ...

4896. Why Must We Suffer?

Romans 8:17

Children's Sermon

Object: Orange and orange peeling: would be good if you had enough oranges for all the children. Today we are going to learn a great lesson about life that St. Paul learned from God and passed on to us. A lot of people have asked why certain things happened to them. I mean, have you ever badly wanted to go some place with a friend, but you had to stay home with your parents instead? Did you ever ask why you had to do something that you didn’t like to do, like homework, when you could have so much fun if ...

4897. If Only We Would Do The Obvious ...

2 Kings 5:1-27

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

Ann, a new member of our church, gave the outward appearance of having her life all together. Tall and good-looking, she dressed well, was extremely neat, and seemed secure in pursuing an advanced degree after some years of teaching. She immediately became active in the life of the church and was especially gifted in creating excitement in some of the programs. The staff was concerned about overloading her with responsibilities, but her graciousness in accepting them and the efficient manner in which she ...

4898. If Only We Would Hold On ...

Jeremiah 20:7-18

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

"Staying in school is too much for me right now," Evelyn began. As her supervising pastor, I could understand the pressures she was under. She and her husband were both in their first year of seminary, and, on top of classes, he had just been appointed to serve a two-point charge. Bill and Evelyn were conscientious young people and wanted to give their best to their studies and to their church members. "I need some time to back away and get a new perspective on my life," she continued. "I still feel a call ...

4899. Nervous Hands

Psalm 139:1-24

Sermon

All of us at some point have been so nervous that it was obvious to everyone - our knees shook, our hands trembled. It's happened to every one of us. I remember one incident in particular in my own life. It was the first time I ever assisted with Communion. I was a Lay Minister. It was my installation, and I was to assist in distributing Communion. My hands shook so badly in trying to pass out the bread that I'm quite certain that everyone who received a wafer had to shake his head to catch my hand. I was ...

4900. Parable of the Garden Hose

Matthew 7:1-2

Illustration

Staff

"I'm selling garden hose," said the little boy. "It's ten cents a foot." "Wonderful," said the neighbor, "I'll take thirty feet." "Alright," said the little boy, who began to measure the amount of hose with his own feet. "Just a minute, son," said the neighbor. "You need a ruler or a tape measure." "No," said the boy, "I use my own feet to measure with. I make more money that way." There are many men in business who find ways to give 9 1/2 pounds of potatoes in a 10 pound bag or get an extra bag of ...

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