Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 26 to 50 of 4489 results

26. Breaking Through

Acts 2:1-21 · John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15

Sermon

Lori Wagner

And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing. (Isaiah 10:27) Summer is coming soon! And with it, all of God’s creatures come out to work their magic in and among us on the earth. One of God’s fascinating creatures is the spider. How many of you have been going on your way or coming into your doorway, and you without knowing it walked right into a spider’s web? You ...

27. Breaking The Negative Cycle

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

One of the most destructive foibles of human nature is the tendency to lock ourselves into rigid patterns of thinking, ruts of responding, and unalterable avenues of acting. It was this way of thinking that caused Jesus to condemn the Pharisees, admonishing them about straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel. The most common pattern into which we humans tend to move is what I call a negative cycle. I doubt if there’s anything more devastating to daily living, to our effective functioning, to creative and ...

28. Prison Break

Matthew 28:1-10

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Christ is alive! Can I get a witness? Hallelujah! Or as some of us learned in Sunday School, “Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelujah . . . Praise Ye The Lord.” If Christ is alive, why aren’t we more alive? Why don’t we feel more alive this morning? One word: agoraphobia. Ever heard of it? Every know of anyone who had it? Of all the dozens of phobias people can suffer from, one of the most debilitating is the fear of open spaces. Agoraphobia. A friend born and raised in the Midwest described how she felt ...

29. The Power to Rise Again

Mark 16:1-8

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

A church organist made a horrible blunder on Easter Sunday. He failed to set his alarm and managed to sleep right through the first service. The congregation forgave him. His colleagues teased him. The senior pastor pondered it all in his heart and one year later phoned the organist at 4:00 a.m. When the organist answered the phone, the pastor said, “It's Easter! Christ is risen! You should do the same!" It's Easter. Christ is risen and best of all, we can do the same. As the early Church scrambled to ...

30. Proper 8 & Pentecost 6

2 Kings 4:8-37, Genesis 32:22-32, Psalm 89:1-52, Psalm 17:1-15, Isaiah 2:6-22, Jeremiah 28:1-17, Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon Aid

THEOLOGICAL CLUE Beyond the natural progression of the Pentecost cycle/season, with its eschatological emphasis, there is no clear and definitive clue from the church year. The insertion of these particular readings within the theological framework of the church year does, however, tend to emphasize realized eschatology as much as it does any future eschatology. The latter, of course, is always present, if only in the Eucharist with its "as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the ...

31. When God Gets Excited

Mark 2:1-12

Sermon

James Merritt

What excites you the most? I don't mean just any one thing, but what are the things that come to your mind that really get you excited? I thought about this and this is just a short list for me, but it will give you some idea of the things that really get me excited. Knowing that I am going to heaven Knowing that God loves me unconditionally A romantic get away with Teresa Spending time with my sons (James, Jonathan and Joshua) Breaking ninety on the golf course Hot homemade chocolate chip cookies Anytime ...

32. He Breaks the Power of Cancelled Sin

John 8:1-11

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Dr. Carl Meninger, well-known psychiatrist, wrote a book a few years ago entitled, Whatever Became of Sin. In it, he reported how a stern, plainly dressed man appeared on a busy corner of Chicago’s Loop. As people passed by, he would from time-to-time solemnly lift his arm and point to a passerby and say just one word; “Guilty!” Then without changing expression, he would drop his arm. After a few seconds, he would raise his arm again, and with an accusing finger pointing at another person, he would utter ...

33. All Tangled Up

James 4:7

Children's Sermon

Teresa L. Major

Concept: Sin sneaks up on us slowly, then all at once, it ensnares us. Preparation: A spool of thread. I need a helper this morning. (Choose one youngster to assist. Position him/her where he/she can be seen by the congregation. Have the child extend his/her hands, wrists together, as you tie one loop of thread around the wrists while beginning to speak.) Let's see how strong you are. Can you pull your wrists apart and break that thread? Sure you can, it's just a little piece of wimpy string. Anyone can ...

34. Job's Third Reply to Bildad

Job 26:1--31:40

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

Sarcastic Introduction Job’s response to Bildad’s third speech is extended (six chapters long)—even for the usually loquacious Job! Many commentators divide up the chapters attributed to Job to supply an extension to Bildad’s brief speech, as well as to wholly reconstruct a missing third speech for Zophar. Such reconstruction, however, can only proceed on a presumptive assumption of what each speaker would have said—and is thus controlled ultimately by the reconstructor’s theory rather than challenged and ...

35. All Dressed Up And Somewhere To Go!

Isaiah 62:1-12, Isaiah 61:1-11

Sermon

Harold Warlick

In Tennessee Williams' play Sweet Bird of Youth, the heckler says to Miss Lucy, "I believe that the silence of God, the absolute speechlessness of God, is a long, long and awful thing...." The late Carlyle Marney retired from his church in Charlotte and went to Wolf Pen Mountain. There he waited for God to say something. He confessed that he had figured if he could get some time completely free from his preaching, his church work, and his worldly obligations that God would really jabber. After five years ...

36. Break Through

2 Samuel 7:1-17

Sermon

Frederick C. Edwards

In the reading for today, King David calls the court prophet, Nathan, to him to propose a building project. David considers it unseemly that while he lives in a palace of paneled luxury, the ark of the covenant is still in a tent. Now the ark of the covenant, you should know, was a very important object. It was essentially a box, carved and decorated, and fitted with long pole-handles so it could be carried about from place to place as the people moved. It was important because it was the prime symbol of ...

37. Coping with Fear, Worry, and Anxiety

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

If you do not worry, if you have never worried, if you do not plan to worry, do not read this chapter; it will be a waste of time. But if a dark cloud of worry overshadows your life, read this chapter carefully; the shadow can be dispelled. We live in an age of anxiety. The image is the image of fear - not the image of faith. We respond to the old Scotch litany: "From ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggety beasties. And things that go bump in the night, Good Lord, deliver us!" It seems that we expect the ...

38. Give Us a Break

2 Thessalonians 2:1-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

When was the last time you took a "breather" from all those distractions that claim to be the most important concerns in life? Take a break from the din and listen instead to the voices of biblical and church tradition - our true "sponsor" whose words we should heed, despite the cacophony of advertising that tries to dissuade us from the tradition. Remember when television shows were regularly interrupted by a velvet-voice announcing, "And now a word from our sponsors"? From there the programming moved ...

39. Breaking The Tabboo

Mark 12:41-44

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

"Taboo." It's a strange, mysterious, ancient-sounding word that we don't use much any more in our modern, scientifically enlightened world. A taboo is something that is forbidden. A taboo is a prohibition. It is usually associated with something sacred and mysterious. Something that is taboo is set aside, never to be touched and desecrated by human hands. We are usually afraid of the taboo. We are in awe of its power. Taboos control us. In the ancient world certain places or things may have been considered ...

40. A Faith that Leaves a Legacy

2 Timothy 3:10--4:8

Sermon

King Duncan

What would you like to have as your epitaph some day? Have you ever given that any thought? What will people say about you after you’re gone? It’s always interesting to me to read some of the humorous inscriptions that have appeared on tombstones in days gone past. For example, here is one that should have been edited: Here lies Col. Brown . . . Shot in battle by an enemy soldier. “Well Done Thou Good and Faithful Servant.” A tombstone in Girard, Pennsylvania carries an epitaph that probably would be the ...

41. The Miracle Comes at the Breaking

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Various Authors

Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread. (v. 35) After his resurrection, Jesus promised that he would be with us everywhere. We can be assured and conscious of his presence in the private place of prayer, but also the rush of daily routines, including a classroom or a crowded restaurant; or even in the midst of a rabid crowd at a sports event. But without a doubt there are circumstances and settings where we are more likely to meet our Lord, ...

42. Jesus Is Made Known in the Breaking of the Bread

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Steven Burt

Luke’s narrative here is one of those narratives that we can easily picture. It was late afternoon on the very first Easter day, and two disciples -- apparently not of the original twelve -- but nevertheless, two disciples, were walking along the dry dusty road from Jerusalem to Emmaus. They were pretty down-in-the-mouth for they had just lost their messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, the one they had thought would be the Savior of Israel. So they were walking along this dusty country road, and there was no air ...

43. When Being Good Is Bad For You Or Breaking The Chains Of Co-dependency

1 John 4:7-21

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

"Have you been writing any personal experience articles lately?", the woman asked the writer. "No," replied the writer. "I've been busy having them." (Ruth Peterman, quoted by Melody Beattie, Beyond Co-Dependency and Getting Better All The Time, Harper & Rowe Publishers, p. xi) Most of us have been having the personal experience I'm talking about today. We may not talk about it a lot, and we certainly may not write about it -- but it's a common experience. I'm talking about co-dependency. Let me begin by ...

44. Breaking News: The Middle East

Genesis 12:1-8

Sermon

James Merritt

We are in a series called “Breaking News.” Pick up your newspaper, go on-line, turn on the TV or the radio, hit a website on the internet and you are likely to hear one of these items talked about frequently if not regularly. There is one region of the world that is guaranteed to be in the news practically every single day. This region is very important to you, and to your family, and to our nation, and to our world primarily for one reason. This region is the number one reason why there will never be a ...

45. Give Me A Break!

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

Larry Goodpaster

Jesus was having one of those days! You know the kind of day when nothing goes exactly the way it was planned. The kind of day when staying in bed seems to be an option that should have been taken the first thing in the morning. The kind of day when the only words spoken to you, or at you, are words of criticism and sarcasm. The kind of day some of us have far too often. That was the kind of day Jesus was having. The picture of that day is painted for us by Matthew in the opening verses of the 11th chapter ...

46. When It's Time to Reconcile

Romans 12:9-21

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

Artist Billy Davis recorded a song a few years ago that goes something like this: “I’d like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony, I’d like to hold it in my arms and keep it company. I’d like to see the world for once all standing hand-in-hand, And hear them echo through the hills for peace throughout the land.” Well, wouldn’t we all? Is peace and harmony a pipe dream or a purposeful pursuit? Is reconciliation a realistic expectation or a useless fascination? What is this ministry of reconciliation ...

47. We Believe in the Forgiveness of Sins

1 John 1:5-2:2

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

Ernest Hemingway wrote a story about a father and son who had a serious misunderstanding. In the story, the boy finally runs away from home. The father, however, is not content to let his son go. In an effort to find the boy, the father puts an ad in the Madrid, Spain newspaper. It contained these words: Dear Paco, Meet me at the town square at noon on Sunday. All is forgiven. Your father. That Sunday 800 males by the name of Paco showed up at the town square. They all came seeking forgiveness from their ...

48. Ignite: The Fire Burns Brightly

Acts 2:42-47

Sermon

James Merritt

I am going to let you in on a little secret that very few people know about me and that is I am deathly afraid of fire. I prefer colder weather to warmer weather. If I had to choose between being in a sweater at 45° or being in a bathing suit at 95° I would choose what is called “sweater-weather.” I have an inordinate fear of fire and heat. My mother thinks it may be because when I was just a six-month-old baby she accidently spilled hot coffee all over my stomach. She says that is the only time she heard ...

49. The Way Up Is the Way Down

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

Potato chips, cheese curls, and candy may be some of your favorites, but for twenty-four mule deer in the Grand Canyon National Park, these indulgences proved deadly. Park rangers were forced to shoot more than two dozen mule deer who became hooked on junk food left by visitors. It was death by Cheetos and suicide by Snicker bar! Why eat twigs or chew bark if a Twinkie is nearby? Once deer taste the sugar and salt of snack foods, they develop an addiction and will go to any lengths to eat only junk food. ...

50. Uncovering Cover-Ups

John 15:18--16:4

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

For some it is ancient history. For others it is as fresh as yesterday. I speak of 1972 when the word "cover-up" came into our consciousness in a big way -- the cover-up by then President Richard Nixon regarding the Watergate scandal. Assured of a landslide victory in his election for a second term, Richard Nixon, overborne with anxiety, apparently felt that was not enough. So he authorized the so-called "Watergate Plumbers," headed by G. Gordon Liddy, to break into the Democratic Headquarters in the posh ...

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