Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 26 to 50 of 189 results

Luke 12:35-48

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... ceremony of marriage may be brief, the feasting associated with it may run for a very long time. It may go late into the night. Slaves had to be ready to receive the master whenever he chose to return home. A wedding feast was often used as a symbolic representation of the kind of joy experienced in the kingdom of God. 5. "He Comes and Knocks." (v. 36) Jesus does not force entry into a life as a thief might do. He presents himself and invites people to open their lives to him. Jesus' entry into a life is ...

27. The Shepherd's Staff

Luke 15:1-7

Children's Sermon

Kenneth Mortonson

Object: A homemade shepherd's staff. Candy canes to share. Lesson: To help children understand that Christmas is about caring for others. Do any of you know what this is called? ... This is a representation of a shepherd's staff. The shepherd had a stick like this that he used to help care for the sheep. With the hook, he could pull a little lamb out of the bushes or out of a hole in the ground, if it should happen to fall in. At ...

28. Week Five Of Lent

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... pictured in a garden standing before a door to a small cottage. Jesus is knocking on the door. The scene appears to be normal, but a closer examination reveals one important oddity. The door upon which the Lord is knocking has no handle. The painting is a representation of the popular passage from the Book of Revelation, "Here I stand, knocking at the door. If anyone hears me calling and opens the door, I will enter his house and have supper with him, and he with me." The door to the cottage has no handle ...

29. Take Dead Aim

Hebrews 12:1-13

Sermon

Robert R. Kopp

... exemplified in Jesus and explained in the Bible." The golfer's goal is simple: "Keep on hitting it straight until the wee ball goes into the hole" (James Braid). The Christian's goal is simple: "Be like Jesus!" That's what Christian means -- a representation of Jesus or a little Christ. Christians want to grow up to be just like Jesus. In other words, Christians have a better model than any professor, pastor, president, and so on. Dr. Bob Rotella, Director of Sports Psychology at the University of Virginia ...

30. The Lesser Commision

Matthew 28:16-20

Drama

Robert F. Crowley

... It's easy for me to believe He has authority in heaven. He is the Son of God, but not on earth. Just look at the earth. It's in pretty bad shape. MATTHEW: I'll say. He probably means He has some limited authority on earth as a representation of the authority He has in heaven. JESUS: Go, therefore and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. THOMAS: Whoa! What was that? JESUS: Go, therefore and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the ...

31. Reflections On the Sacred Head

Sermon

Glenn E. Ludwig

... closest to him, the derision of those who claimed to be closest to God. "Pale" is not strong enough a word. He looked like death. He became death for us. How does that visage languish Which once was bright as morn! It was his eyes. In all the representations of Jesus I have ever seen, from paintings to movies, it was his eyes that always fascinated me. Whether they really were like we picture them, we will never know. But we do know that people we know who are alive, and spirited, and exciting have those ...

32. The Unveiled Truth

Exodus 34:29-35

Sermon

Robert A. Hausman

... horn. Here it seems to be used in the sense of a ray (of the sun) coming forth from the head as a symbol of divinity. The Latin translation, the Vulgate, took it literally and referred to a "horned Moses." From that translation came the pictorial representation of Moses with horns. Questions of interpretation come not only from the shining face, but also from the veil which Moses put on his face. What kind of a veil was this? The text never describes it. Some have sought a connection between the veil and ...

33. Easter 2

Jn 20:19-31 · 1 Pet 1:3-9 · Acts 2:14a, 22-32 · Ps 16 · Ps 111

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... dead..." (1 Peter 1:3-9). Suggested Text For Preaching: 1 Peter 1:3-9 (For sermon series) COMMENTARY Lesson 1: Acts 2:14a, 22-32 This pericope contains a portion of Peter's Pentecost sermon, as recalled by Luke. It is a good representation of the major themes contained in the early apostolic preaching. The following points seemed to be central to the preaching of Peter and the other apostles and evangelists: (1) the signs and wonders performed by Jesus during his earthly ministry; (2) Jesus was handed over ...

34. Easter 6

Acts 8:9-25, 1 Peter 3:8-22, Acts 17:16-34, John 14:15-31

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... Title: Public Defender. Sermon Angle: If a person is accused of a crime and can't afford a lawyer to defend him, the state appoints and pays for a public defender. No one has to face the judgment seat alone, unless he refuses legal representation. Before Jesus left his disciples, he promised that he would send the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete. This term is variously translated as comforter, counselor or advocate. We have here a legal image merged with a personal image. Like an attorney, the Spirit is there ...

35. Proper 24

Exodus 33:12-23, Isaiah 45:1-7, Matthew 22:15-22, 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... hand, caught on to the phoniness of his inquisitors right away (v. 18). 2. Sermon Title: Paying Taxes. Sermon Angle: Paying Taxes to the government has never been popular. It has sparked revolutions, such as in our own country. The rally cry was, "No taxation without representation." Such an attitude was prevalent in Israel during Jesus' day. That's why the Lord's enemies brought this issue to him. The Pharisees held that it was right to pay taxes only to God and to the government only in the context of a ...

36. God’s Flowing and Our Ebbing

Isaiah 6:1-13

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... Up In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up ... (Isaiah 6:1) That’s God flowing. “I saw the Lord ...” Often, very often, we see much less. Occasionally, someone will give us a photographic representation of one thing or another, designed in such a way that initially we may have a difficult time discerning anything but shadings and blobs of light and darkness. But if we are persistent, and perhaps turn the photograph around and look at it from different ...

37. An Untouchable God?

1 Samuel 6:1-7:1

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... not write it off with undue haste. We are never quite as sophisticated as we think we are and, inversely, the pioneers of faith are never quite as simple-minded as we might be led to believe. Some Background The ark, you will recall, was a representation of the presence of God. Writes Norman Gottwald, “The ark was a portable box, probably representing an imageless throne. It accompanied the Hebrews in their wanderings and went with them into battle.” (A Light To The Nations, p. 143) It is the removal of ...

38. Tying Up A Strong Man

Mark 3:20-30, 1 Samuel 8:1-22, 2 Corinthians 4:1-18, Mark 3:31-35, Psalm 138:1-8

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... the separations as amicable as possible rather than being filled with hostility and bitterness. 3. Devil Worship and Demon Possession. Movies such as The Exorcist and reports of devil worship probably have people unsettled. False images of the devil, fostered by such representations as occur at Halloween, lead people to dismiss too easily the reality of the forces of evil. Forces are at work which tend to lead people to evil. People become obsessed with certain ideas that are demonic. Some people become so ...

39. Lent 4

John 3:1-21, Numbers 21:4-9, Ephesians 2:1-10

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... up on the cross is equivalent to being lifted up on a throne. John has a point. In the cross we view the surpassing greatness and majesty of our God. Antitoxin. For the Jews in the wilderness the cure for snake bite was to look at a representation of the very creature which had the potential to harm. The serpent symbolizes both death and healing. God took the form that death took and transformed it into life. The cure for snake bite is detoxified venom, transformed to serve life rather than death. So too ...

40. Easter 3

Luke 24:36-49, Acts 3:11-26, 1 John 2:28--3:10

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... he's real? When the believers saw the risen Jesus, they thought they had seen a ghost. Jesus showed them the marks of crucifixion and he ate some fish to demonstrate that he was real, body and all. There are many Jesus clones, various and sundry representations of the Christ. There's the glitzy Jesus in designer suits and ties, sitting on a couch of gold, selling his latest formula for success. There's the pinched nose Jesus, raising his eyebrows contemptuously to those who do not agree with his concept of ...

41. Marked By The Cross

Romans 6:2-4

Sermon

George Bass

... This “sort of exchange went on for some time” and, then, one day he saw “a large outdoor crucifix” and said, ‘That Jesus is dead.’ ” Schmich continues, “Not knowing what to say any more and feeling a certain embarrassment at the poverty of our representations of the paschal mystery,… responded only, ‘Yes, he looks dead.’ ” She says that “he took my face in his hands and looked straight into my eyes, his own wide with sudden realization. He spoke in a hushed voice as if telling me a ...

42. The Resurrection Is Freedom

John 11:38-44

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... . Think how often in the first three (synoptic) gospels Jesus proclaims that the kingdom of God (the new order of things) "is at hand (Matthew 4:17; Mark 1:15; Luke 11:20; 17:21)."2 John seems to make the same point in his representation of Jesus in our gospel story today. When Jesus finally got to Bethany (Lazarus' hometown) and learned from Lazarus' sister Martha that Lazarus was dead, then (according to John) Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again (John 11:23)." Martha responded (sort of ...

43. Just Who Do You Think You Are?

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

Johnny Dean

... governs the playing of the game of life, then what we get out of the Bible is a view of life that says, "Everyone who plays by the rules wins, and everyone who does not play by the rules loses." Based on your personal experience, is that an accurate representation of life? Most of us read the Bible in order to get information that helps us understand our lives in relation to God. We often read the Bible to find stories about God that will help us understand God a little better. We read the Bible to confirm ...

44. Counsel for Discouraged Disciples

Habakkuk 1:1-4

Sermon

John Bunyan had a remarkable ability to represent everyday truth in impressive allegory. One of the most vivid representations in his story, Pilgrim ‘s Progress, has to do with what happened in the Valley of Humiliation. No sooner had Pilgrim entered this valley than he saw the foul fiend Apollyon bearing down upon him, breathing fire and smoke. Pilgrim’s first impulse was to turn and flee for his ...

45. The God You Worship

Acts 17:16-34

Sermon

... . Indeed, we are his offspring." Would the evangelist then offer God to us rather than using God to beat us over the head? God is not "an unknown god." God is not one "who lives in shrines made by men." God is not "like gold, silver or stone, or representation of the art and imagination of human beings." God is a real, personal, knowable God. Can I support that? I think I can. I can support the claim with logic. We use logic in other areas of our life. There are three questions, which serve as criteria. Are ...

46. Trouble on the Mountain

Exodus 32:1-33:6

Sermon

... had entered into Covenant with him, had recited vows of faithfulness, now brazenly denying the reality of God, he is angry! They are renouncing their Emancipator and shamelessly worshiping a pagan bull calf. How low could they go? They made themselves a deity which was a pagan representation. It would seem, if they would make a graven image at all, the least they could do would be to form it into a lamb. After all, the slain lamb had stood for them, by its blood, between life and death. But no, they sank to ...

47. The Gift That Claims Our Response

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon

... given and to do so in ways that show our thanksgiving for the Giver of all good gifts. The connection between this parable and the nature of the church is inescapable. In my study is a nineteenth-century print entitled "Saving the Lost." It is an artist’s representation of the mission of the church to rescue those who are perishing in a sea of sin. A poor soul, awash in an ocean and clinging for life to a floating timber, is being tossed a lifeline by those on board the ship of the church. The implicit ...

48. The Shepherd King

Revelation 7:9-17

Sermon

On those Sundays when I am able to attend worship services in the parish to which I belong, I am confronted, upon entering and taking my place in the nave, with an artist’s attempt to transport the image of the oldest Christian representation into the twentieth century. It is a painting of the risen and ascended Lord, obviously sitting upon a throne in the heavens, surrounded by a half-halo of angel faces amid the clouds. The pastor and building committee, who commissioned the piece of art, knew what ...

49. The Rite of Remembrance

Luke 22:7-38

Sermon

Edward Chinn

... Hebrew Scriptures in mind, think again of the Rite of Remembrance which Christ gave us that Thursday night in Jerusalem so long ago: "Do this so that you will remember me." We do this action commanded by Christ as a perpetual memorial to bring before God this representation of the great sacrifice of Christ on Calvary. In a great hymn written by a bishop of the Church of England, there is a clear statement of what this Rite of Remembrance means: "And now, O Father, mindful of the love That bought us once for ...

50. Lent 1

Genesis 2:4-25

Bulletin Aid

... 's so-called "fall" should be read in light of recent revisionist interpretation, which treats the story, not as a literal-historical or Pauline-Augustinian account of the cause of sinfulness, which ruined a primordial state of human perfection, but as a mythical representation of the process by which every human comes to self-awareness of alienation from God. Call to Worship Leader: Out of our depths we lift our voices to God! People: MAY GOD HEAR AND LISTEN! Leader: If God should number our inquities, who ...

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