Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 26 to 50 of 112 results

26. Call Waiting

1 Samuel 3:1--4:1

Sermon

Frederick C. Edwards

... have been no relationship. God may call us, but the call awaits our answer. The story in the scripture is quick to tell us that Eli was not a perfect example. None of us are. The chief criticism of Eli was that he was unable to control his unruly and contemptuous sons. Still God calls us through the imperfect examples of people like ourselves. (Bible scholars feel the condemnation of Eli may have been a later addition.) We may feel some sympathy with Eli if we are at all aware of our own failings. But still ...

27. Pontius Pilate - Adamant, But Acquiescent

Luke 22:66--23:25

Sermon

Carl E. Zahrte

... their faith. They say in the Creed that Jesus Christ, God’s only son, their Lord, suffered under Pontius Pilate. Yes, I am Pontius Pilate, the man who had the authority of Rome, and the armed might of a trained army, but the man who capitulated to an unruly mob in what some claim was the greatest miscarriage of justice the world has ever seen. Yes, I sent Jesus Christ to his death on the Cross, even though I knew that he was innocent of any crime deserving such inhumane treatment. Does that make me the ...

28. Unwavering Light

1 Corinthians 7:1-40

Sermon

William F. Dunkle

... Corinth is not solely to offer counsel about marriage but "to promote good order and to secure undivided devotion to the Lord." In other words, to help alleviate confusion. Nothing has afflicted churches much more in all ages than has confusion. What an unruly, contentious lot we humans are! We seem so much more easily divided than easily united. We let opinions become dogmas. We let denominations become abominations. We let ourselves separate into "us and them" enclaves. We break the bond of peace in the ...

29. God Knows

Isaiah 5:1-7

Sermon

John W. Wurster

... vines that produced only wild grapes. That’s where this passage ends, but the story goes on. And love motivates the vineyard owner to plant anew. Growing fine grapes is his life’s passion and the vineyard owner will not be thwarted. God knows that an unruly people can be made whole and complete, that the corruption of sin can be taken away, that lives can be changed. In the rubble of this failed attempt to grow fine grapes, the persistent vineyard owner starts again with a new vine, a vine that cannot ...

30. The God of the Unlikely

Deuteronomy 34:1-12

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... of the unlikely; • It was unlikely that a Hebrew child would be made a member of the Egyptian royal family, but God arranged it...the God of the unlikely; • It was unlikely that a prince would become a shepherd, learning what it took to care for an unruly flock (whether it be sheep or people), but God provided...the God of the unlikely; • It was unlikely that a tongue-tied, stammering 80-year-old would inspire a nation of slaves or overwhelm a reluctant ruler, but God was behind it...the God of the ...

31. A World in Turmoil

Matthew 21:1-11

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... legions and freedom was gone again. It was not that Judea was such a prize province. It was rather poor in comparison to many others. It was well-located on the trade routes both north-south and east-west. And it was more than a bit unruly, because the people of Israel were not inclined to suffer in silence. Not too many years before Jesus' arrival there had been the Zealot revolt inspired by Judas of Galilee and Zadok the Pharisee. Some 2,000 were taken captive in that rebellion. Not content to simply ...

32. Peace in the Midst of the Storm

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... .(4) Deliverance...and did you notice how it came? Just his word. He calmly stood up in that storm-tossed boat as you and your friends looked on in wonder. He spoke to the winds and waves with as much familiarity as you would speak to one of your own unruly children. "Quiet! Be Still!" And that was all there was to it. As suddenly as it had come up, the storm was gone. You sit there now in that boat as it gently rocks to and fro in the midst of the lake. You look at your traveling companions with ...

33. We Know Where You Came From

John 6:41-51

Sermon

King Duncan

... that Tracey Bailey ” captain of the wrestling team, member of the student council, good student, from the church-going Bailey family ” had been one of the teens involved in the devastating vandalism attack on the local high school. He had fallen in with an unruly group who used alcohol to fuel their frequent petty vandalisms and thefts. But one night, the boys, in a drunken frenzy, had broken into the high school and torn apart whole classrooms. Now the judge wanted to hold them up as an example to ...

34. You're A Good Kid!

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... tell us we will become. This brings us to our final point. IN ORDER FOR CHILDREN TO FEEL GOOD ABOUT THEMSELVES, PARENTS NEED TO LEARN TO SEPARATE THEIR CHILDREN'S DEEDS FROM THEIR WORTH AS HUMAN BEINGS. It's not easy being a parent. A mother of three unruly preschoolers was asked whether she'd have children if she had to do it all over again. "Sure," she responded, "but not the same ones!" A famous pediatrician was asked by a mother what the best time was to put her children to bed. "While you still have ...

35. You Might Be A Redneck If . . .

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... to learn that Tracey Bailey captain of the wrestling team, member of the student council, good student, from the churchgoing Bailey familyhad been one of the teens involved in a devastating vandalism attack on the local high school. Tracey had fallen in with an unruly group who used alcohol to fuel their frequent petty vandalism and thefts. But one night, the boys, in a drunken frenzy, had broken into the high school and torn apart whole classrooms. Now the judge wanted to hold them up as an example to ...

36. Building a Nation

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

King Duncan

... of a rule, Marshall was required to memorize a portion of the Constitution. As a result, Marshall reported, he soon knew the whole thing by heart. Marshall's primary school teachers would have been astonished if they could have foreseen that their unruly pupil would one day put that knowledge into practice as a distinguished attorney, and then as this nation's first African-American United States Supreme Court Justice. (5) Wouldn't it be great if every American child could know our Constitution by ...

37. What Do You Really Know?

John 16:5-16

Sermon

King Duncan

... . One morning all of the teachers were called to the teachers' room for an emergency meeting, and they hurried over, leaving their classes unsupervised. Everyone was worried, but none as much as Mrs. Whiting, because her class of first graders was especially mischievous and unruly. When they got to the teachers' room, Mrs. Whiting said, "I think I had better listen in and find out what's going on in my classroom." She turned on the intercom, and sure enough, her room was in chaos. Children were yelling and ...

38. Grace: Amazing or Mystifying?

Romans 3:21-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... and even sold drugs on the high school campus. He never got caught. He made fun of everybody who didn’t smoke pot or shoot up with something. Fred was really wasting his life. But one day in the summer of ‘73, he ‘came to himself’ . . . just as this unruly son did of whom Jesus spoke in Luke 15. Hardly any of us who were Christians could believe it. In fact, Fred was invited to share his testimony in some of the churches there in my hometown. I had never been invited to share my testimony in those ...

39. How Free Are We?

John 8:31-41

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... that very moment they were under the heel of Rome, it was true that even in their bondage they maintained a fierce independence of spirit which must have made Pontius Pilate quake in his boots when he was handed the unwelcome assignment of trying to rule over those unruly Jews in Palestine. To be considered a slave in Jesus’ day was a deadly insult, and so you can see why the people were so disturbed when Jesus said to them, “...you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” But Jesus was ...

40. It’s Hard to Eat While Lying

John 13:18-30

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... t sound like the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ to me. John’s Gospel says simply “Satan entered into him.” (13:27) That was an ancient way of explaining the presence of evil. The Greek “ho satanos” means “The Adversary.” It refers to that unruly power in the universe which works at cross purposes to God’s purposes. I believe that there is such a power. I agree with Luther who once said that the devil’s most devious trick was getting folks to believe that he doesn’t exist. On the ...

41. Jesus Out of Character

Mark 7:24-30

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... :6) We have heard the phrase “casting our pearls before swine.” Many folks probably do not know that it comes from the Bible. It has a rather haughty, snobbish ring in our ears. It can be used humorously, as when a professor I heard of used to quell an unruly class that was beginning to indicate that the time had come for the lecture to end by raising his hand and saying, “One moment please; I have one more pearl to cast.” “Do not give dogs what is holy or cast your pearls before swine.” One can ...

42. What Do You Do When the Lights Go Out?

Isaiah 9:1-7

Sermon

Mike Jackson

... our troubled hearts with his faithful and righteous rule. And the peace of God which passes all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Celebration Are you encountering darkness anywhere in your life… stumbling for direction… terrified by unruly circumstances… shivering in loneliness… paralyzed by anxiety? Does it seem to you that the realm of darkness is winning the day? Are you filled with doubts and fears as you look to the future? There is good news in this Advent ...

43. A Healing Presence

1 Thessalonians 5:12-28

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... and sisters, to get to know those who work so hard among you, they are your spiritual leaders to keep you on the right path. Because of their high tasks, hold them in highest honor. Live together in peace, and our instruction to this end is to reprimand the unruly, encourage the timid, help the weak and be very patient with all persons. Be sure that no one repays a bad turn for a bad turn, good should not be just an objection, but a goal and a objective among yourselves and in the world at large. Be happy ...

44. A Fool and His Money

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... between two people. That is what is happening here. According to the text he is also addressing a large crowd. At the beginning of the 12th chapter, it says that there were thousands there, "stepping on one another." Which means, it was something of a unruly crowd, as well. And there is one man in the crowd, shouting at Jesus, interrupting his sermon (I can tell you preachers don't like that), saying, "Make my brother shape up." Jesus' annoyance is obvious. He replies, "Who made me a divider over you ...

45. Your Cheatin' Heart

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... world, and the whole universe became stable once more, as if the stretching out, the agony of the Cross, had in some way gotten into everything. "For me," Harrison continues, "He has gotten into everything. I see Him in the timely, unaffected gestures of friendship and in the unruly passions of human love; I see Him in the face of a doctor who serendipitously entered my life at a time when I thought I had no more life left. I saw Him once and will see Him forever in a dead teacher of mine, who rescued my ...

46. Go Meditate!

Revelation 19:1-10

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... out no matter what. Love is what makes and keeps a family, a family. In today's gospel text Jesus offered his rag-tag band of disciples a key to living life together. As Jesus knew only too well, they were a group that was unruly, unregulated, and largely un-related. Jesus wanted them to transform themselves into a family, into a community of faith, even into the church. His directive is deceptively simple and straightforward: "love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another ...

47. Sing the Resurrection Song

Mark 16:1-20

Sermon

James McCormick

... , you can’t keep still, you have to run. And you can’t be quiet, you have to tell. Remember the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday? The people were shouting and celebrating, waving palm fronds. The religious leaders, fearful that an unruly crowd would arouse the wrath of Rome, told Jesus to make his followers stop, to be quiet. Do you remember what Jesus said in response? He said, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out!” You can’t keep the good news ...

48. To Be a Christian

Acts 11:19-30

Sermon

James McCormick

... shepherd”, he’s talking about all us sheep who belong to his flock. And that means we all belong together. Now, of course, there are many kinds of sheep in Jesus’ flock: big and small, old and young, black and white, insecure and adventurous, cooperative and unruly, sheep of a variety of inclinations and opinions. In fact, there are no two sheep exactly alike. Perhaps the one thing we all have in common is that we all belong to the same shepherd, and we all respond to the same voice. I am sure that ...

49. Winners Never Quit and Quitters Never Win (Fruit of the Spirit: Patience)

Galatians 5:22

Sermon

James Merritt

... all know that the word of God tells us we are to love everybody. Well, if you will love everybody, then you will be patient with everybody, which is why Paul said in I Thess. 5:14, "Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all." II. A Perseverance with Demanding Problems "My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience. Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard ...

50. The Pride Is Right

Jeremiah 9:23-24

Sermon

James Merritt

... word righteousness is rooted in the Hebrew word that literally means "straight." Even today when a criminal reforms his life, we say he "goes straight." When a person lives an obedient life, he walks the "straight and narrow." A person who is well behaved, rather than unruly is "straight." If someone is dishonest, he is "crooked." Well, God is straight. God is righteous. If you believe in that type of a God, and believe that God is what He says He is, you should take pride in that. Finally, we should take ...

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