Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 4876 to 4900 of 4999 results

Isaiah 55:10-13

Sermon

Derl G. Keefer

... that God's goodness will override the negative. He will help us discover how to work through the tragedies of our lives and give us direction to make an impact on others. This is not a giddy happiness, but a deep-rooted joy in the midst of trouble kind of experience because we have the goodness of God at the center. On June 2, 2007, Kelsey Smith ran an errand at a department store in a Kansas City suburb. Kelsey graduated ten days earlier from her high school and was well loved by her family and friends ...

4877. The Good Works We Leave Behind

Acts 9:36-43

Sermon

David J. Kalas

... making clothes. Not just skillful, but generous, as well. Was there a friend or a neighbor who hadn't received something from her hand? The reminiscing turns into a lovely sort of show-and-tell as the townspeople bring out the tokens of Tabitha's kindness. "She gave this to me for my last birthday," one woman tearfully reports, as she holds up a lovely shawl. "She was so thoughtful! She never forgot a birthday, you know." "She was always thinking of other people," another chimes in. "This robe," says ...

4878. Parenting — Not For The Faint Of Heart

Hosea 11:1-11

Sermon

Chrysanne Timm

... the eye and utter those immortal words, "Son, I brought you into this world, and I can take you out!" Parenting — the kind of parenting that sacrifices to bring out the best in children and teens — is not for the faint of heart. The lectionary ... taught Ephraim to walk, I took them up in my arms; but they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of loving kindness, with bands of love. I was to them like those who lift infants to their cheeks. I bent down to them and fed them. — Hosea 11: ...

4879. Garden Gone Bad

Isaiah 5:1-7

Sermon

Chrysanne Timm

... Hebrew text for these wild grapes is most accurately translated "poison berries.") You can't get much more inedible or useless than that. Friends, this is no ordinary love song; this is a sad song, a real tragedy. It is the kind of song that tugs at the heartstrings of its listeners, the kind that wins Country Music Song of the Year Awards hands down! And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem, and people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in ...

4880. Colossians 3:12-17

Colossians 3:1-17

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... within first century pagan culture. It was only with the combination of First Testament testimonies to walking humbly before God (Micah 6:8; Isaiah 57:15) and the person of Jesus himself as “lowly” (Matt.11:29) that humility became a positive attribute. Kindness, gentleness, and patience were all considered to be fruits of the Spirit (Gal.5:22). While the world that first century Christians faced found no benefit in any of these qualities, the community of the faithful, those who are part of the new ...

4881. When Your Parents Don't Understand

Luke 2:41-52

Sermon

King Duncan

... Mary and Joseph lived in a different time. There was perhaps just as much crime as there is today, but it was a different kind of crime than that which stains our world. Parents certainly didn’t worry so much about a twelve-year-old boy being on his ... . You also know she was just kidding. There is nothing she would take in exchange for her children. Children may bring all kinds of heartaches, particularly during adolescent years, but they need to know that your love is a constant in their lives. They need to ...

4882. When We're Estranged from God

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... a staff meeting, and one of his staff members responded by saying, “Well, I guess.” (2) I guess there are all kinds of ways to share in Christ’s suffering. A serious response to this idea of making a sacrifice during Lent has been ... God to touch our lives. We can’t put ourselves back together again, but God can. There was a young man in Wisconsin named John. John was kind of scary. He was in his early twenties and was very active in MMA, or Mixed Martial Arts. He liked to fight. One day his family ...

4883. The Servant Leader

John 13:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... basic care for people on the verge of death. And she did it all with a beautiful smile. We know Agnes, of course, as Mother Teresa, a true saint of God and one of the great people of the twentieth century. She was the perfect example of the kind of greatness Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once talked about: “Everybody can be great,” he said, “because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve . . . You only need a ...

4884. 1 Corinthians 12:1-11

1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... multitude of spiritual gifts made available to all those who reside in the Spirit. Within the Corinthian community there had been various claims and disclaimers about the unique, and uniquely giftedness expressions of the Spirit. As chapter 14 will further discuss, a kind of hierarchy of spiritual giftedness was being touted by some members of the church Paul’s directive here levels the playing field. The only active “player” is the Spirit of God. All members of Christ’s community who confess him as ...

4885. In the Service

1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

4886. Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Luke 15:11-32

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... younger son even this most heinous job doesn’t manage to take the edge off of his desperate plight. He is still so constantly hungry that he would like to eat the unclean animal’s food. The Gentile world tended to consider poverty as a kind of “just reward” for the failures of those who suffered it, and saw alms-giving as pointless, not compassionate. The younger son’s employer offers him nothing in the way of compassionate interest or care. For whatever reason, one day the younger son “came to ...

4887. Are You Part of the Scandal?

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

4888. John 12:1-8

John 12:1-11

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... it for the preparation of my burial.” Of course, Mary had not “kept” the nard. She had just now opened it and spilled it out upon Jesus. But Mary had clearly “kept” this costly perfume for some great occasion. And it is probably this kind of “keeping” to which the text alludes. What Mary poured out in humble gratefulness Jesus reinterprets as an anointing for his own burial, for he already feels the weight of the cross upon his shoulders. Jesus’ reminder that “you always have the poor with ...

4889. Be a Bethany

John 12:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

4890. Collections or Connections?

Luke 24:1-12

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... she knows judges and lawyers toil away without praise, and often get jaded because they deal daily with violence and sorrow. "There is often so much disillusionment," she said. "I found myself thinking that everybody there needed this. Everybody needed the kind of attention that boy got. We all need some source of value in our lives." ________________________ COMMENTARY Although we now experience Easter morning as a time of joyous celebration, on that very first Easter Sunday the initial experience of the ...

4891. Belonging to Christ's Flock

John 10:22-42

Sermon

King Duncan

... the sheep’s equivalent of American Express membership has its privileges. But membership also has its responsibilities. And in our more mule-like character, we are sometimes resistant to those responsibilities. It requires the work of the Holy Spirit to make us into the right kind of sheep to follow Jesus especially those of us who, if you don’t mind a bad pun, are seriously “hard-of-herding.” We need to ask ourselves, what does being a good sheep require? How can we make sure we’re in the right ...

4892. Can you Hear “The Voice?”

John 5:1-15

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... under anesthesia. After the surgery, the donor can’t lift more than 20 pounds over his head. So to donate his marrow meant Lyle had to forfeit his final season on the university track team. Lyle said his decision to give up athletics, to help someone else, was “kind of a no‑brainer.” His mother said, “He is my hero. When your children inspire you to be better people, you know it's come full circle and he's inspired his mom to be a better person." Almost at the same time you are hearing this story ...

4893. It’s Complicated

Galatians 2:11-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... stream (whatever that is!). Television weather people even have the most interesting screens to work with, with all kinds of magic features to make this bigger and smaller. Yet, even with all these sophisticated, complicated technologies ... perfect timing, completely undoing your opponent’s argument and precisely making your point: that’s almost heaven. More often than not, when that kind of synchronized synapse occurs it is fired off more by passion than by planning. For me it’s more not than often. I ...

4894. Two Sinners

Luke 7:36-50

Sermon

King Duncan

... . With a silent sneer he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is that she is a sinner.” Jesus knew exactly what Simon was thinking. He said, “Simon, I have something to ... behavior of others. That is what Simon was doing. “If this man were a prophet,” he sneered, “he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is that she is a sinner.” Yes, she was a sinner, but that was not for Simon to decide. That was for God ...

4895. But First...

Luke 9:57-62

Sermon

King Duncan

... -old boy with the same first name as his Richard. A pile of stones outside the door of the hut marked where they had buried Richard’s father, who had died of AIDS. Another pile of stones marked where they buried his mother, who also died of AIDS. That kind of thing happens every day in Africa. Rich talked for a while with young Richard now the head of the household trying to raise his two younger brothers and asked him at one point, “Do you have a Bible?” Yes, the boy said, and he went into the other ...

4896. What Really Matters

Luke 10:38-42

Sermon

King Duncan

... a call to action. It is a call to duty. It is a summons to take care of your neighbor, whoever that neighbor may be. And for two thousand years Christians have been building hospitals and looking after orphans and widows, feeding the hungry and doing all kinds of good works. And that’s good. Those are things we ought to be doing . . . and more! I am grateful that Christians are in the forefront of every movement designed to make this world a better place. That is exactly where Jesus wants us to be. Former ...

4897. The Keys to Effective Praying

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... one a quarterback. He also wanted to be an adventurer who climbed tall mountains and drove a red Ferrari. As it turned out, the boy hurt his knee one day while playing football. He no longer could climb trees, much less mountains. He married a beautiful and kind woman, who was short with brown eyes. Because of his business, he lived in a city apartment, not a big house with a garden, and he took cabs, and rode subways, not a sleek, expensive Ferrari. He had three loving daughters, not three sons a nurse, an ...

4898. Your Home Page

Hebrews 13:1-25

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... best day of your life? The day you bought your boat. The second best day of your life? The day you sold your boat. That kind of love/hate relationship is even fiercer when it comes to our most beloved, most bemoaned tech toy — the “smart phone.” Every time you “ ... author’s list is a call for the continuation of “mutual” or “brotherly” love. “Philadelphia” describes the kind of “brotherly love” that is exhibited towards one’s blood relations, the love that binds kinfolk together. ...

4899. Re-thinking Our Mission

Luke 14:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... a large group than a small one. He is skeptical of ‘organized’ religion. He likes contemporary music. He thinks he is enjoying life more than he did five years ago. He is self-satisfied, even smug, about his station in life . . .” That’s the kind of person Saddleback Church is geared up to reach. And what church wouldn’t want members like that? Good job, strong family, healthy, well-educated gather enough people in that demographic and your church is going to be extremely successful as the world ...

4900. On Speaking Terms

Exodus 33:12-23

Sermon

Argile Smith

... the path for our journey that God wants us to take. A map provides clear, unmistakable information for us to follow to get to the destination he has in mind for us. When we travel abroad, we would be wise to carry a tourist manual that is complete with all kinds of information about the cities we will visit, including maps. We consult the manual every time we turn the corner in search of tourist sights. The map helps us get where we want to go so we can see what we traveled there to see in the first place ...

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