Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 26 to 50 of 165 results

Exodus 3:1-22

Sermon

Will Willimon

The game was over. The roaring stadium was now silent, empty of fans, a forlorn place of crushed popcorn boxes and drink cups, trampled programs, spent confetti. The coach entered a sullen, utterly quiet locker room. Helmets were down on the floor, jerseys pulled off and piled in a washbin. "I just want you guys to know that I am real proud of the way you played this afternoon," he said. "Real pro...

27. Faith in Jesus Christ

Luke 21:25-36

Illustration

Will Willimon

Princeton preacher James F. Kay puts it this way, "If the Gospel is good news, it is not because it predicts a bright, shiny future based on our morality or piety. The Gospel is neither a cocoon that insulates us from the sufferings of this present age nor a pair of ear plugs that shuts out the groaning of creation....The Gospel is Good News, not because it predicts a future based on our good beha...

28. Family Reunion

Genesis 29:15-28

Sermon

Will Willimon

"I wish I had no history to report. I've pretended for so long, that my childhood did not happen. I had to keep it tight, up near the chest. I could not let it out. I followed the redoubtable example or my mother. It's an act or will to have a memory or not, I chose not to have one. Because I needed to love my mother and father in all their flawed, outrageous humanity, I could not afford to addres...

29. Fear and Blessing

Psalm 128:1-6

Sermon

Will Willimon

It is Parents' Weekend in the University. But it is the Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost here in the chapel. In the interest of continuity, we ask our preachers to follow the ecumenical lectionary which assigns certain scripture for each Sunday. I immediately expected a conflict. To my surprise, the assigned Psal1n for today is Psalm 128: Blessed is every one who fears the LORD, who walks in his ...

30. Finding Your Place

Romans 12:1-12

Sermon

Will Willimon

“Some days the world is a tuxedo and you are a pair of brown shoes.” Do you know the feeling? You are the extra wide tie when everyone else has gone narrow, the three piece suit when everyone else heard that it was to be casual, the only one who didn't weep during E.T. Is it too much to simply find a place, to be like others, to, chameleon-like, blend with the landscape? So Ernest Becker sees h...

31. First Things First

Genesis 1:1-2:3

Sermon

Will Willimon

“In the beginning…God.'' The lection for the first Sunday after Pentecost is the first verse of the first chapter of the first book of the Bible, ''In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth…” How fitting a text for Father's Day--a reflection upon the work of God the Father. For whether you take this as a description of God as Father or God as Mother (all this creating and bega...

32. For Us

Luke 22:7-38

Sermon

Will Willimon

Tonight, this night, we are preparing to partake of the Lord's Supper, a sacrament. We will give you a piece of bread, a sip of wine and promise you that God is here. What's going on here? Because we could not, knew not how, had not the means to come to God, God came to us. This is not how we climb up to God—through our good works, our projects, our noble ideals, our beautiful services of worship...

33. Forgiveness Is Not Innate

Matthew 18:21-35

Illustration

Will Willimon

William Willimon writes: "The human animal is not supposed to be good at forgiveness. Forgiveness is not some innate, natural human emotion. Vengeance, retribution, violence, these are natural human qualities. It is natural for the human animal to defend itself, to snarl and crouch into a defensive position when attacked, to howl when wronged, to bite back when bitten. Forgiveness is not natural....

34. Freedom

Acts 16:16-40

Sermon

Will Willimon

"One thing which I like about living in New York," he said, “as opposed to where you live, is the freedom. Here there is freedom to live the lifestyle I choose -- to eat where I want and to dress as I like. Freedom." Then he closed his door behind us. He locked the latch, turned the deadbolt, inserted the chain, and switched on the electronic alarm, telling me, "Don't dare open that door without s...

35. Get Up

Mark 5:21-43

Sermon

Will Willimon

In her novel The Living, Annie Dillard describes this scene from a funeral: ''Hugh stood with stiff Lulu and supple Bert at the graveside. The Nooksacks stood together with their preacher. ''Before the funeral, in mourning for his father, they had shrieked and pounded on boards... ''At last big-faced Norval Tawes read Scripture and prayed. 'O Death, where is thy sting?' Norval Tawes called out, ...

36. Glimpses of Eternity

Luke 9:28-36

Sermon

Will Willimon

''Peter said to Jesus, 'Master, it is well that we are here; let us make three booths, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah'...and they were afraid. And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!" At the beginning of Remembrance of Things Past, Marcel Proust remembers his childhood, not through conscious effort, but through revelation. As an adul...

37. Go!

Acts 9:10-19

Sermon

Will Willimon

About a year after he graduated from Duke, he left an excited message on our telephone answering machine. "I've got my big break! I got hired for a TV show! I'm going to be on 'Friends,' tonight, Eastern Standard Time, 8:00 p.m. Watch for me." I was surprised, but pleased for him. I had advised him, just before graduation, that attempting to go into acting was the dumbest thing I had ever heard o...

38. God So Loved

John 3:16-17

Sermon

Will Willimon

Driving through the mountains of North Carolina, winding my way carefully along a narrow, circuitous mountain road, I looked up and saw painted on a rock, large white letters: PREPARE TO MEET THY GOD – READ JOHN 3:16. Fortunately, I already knew John 3:16; but I shuddered at the thought of some other motorist madly thumbing through his Bible trying to find John 3:16 when he should have been watch...

39. God's Little Acre

Matthew 13:24-30

Sermon

Will Willimon

"Another parable he put before them, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven may be compared to one who sowed good seeds in his field...'" I'll admit it. Sometimes I have this fantasy about the church. The fantasy is this: That someday, somewhere, there will be this church where there will be no inactive members, nobody who slams the door in your face when you go soliciting pledges in the fall pledge camp...

40. Good Luck?

Psalm 23:1-6

Sermon

Will Willimon

One student was sharing some of their hopes and fears as they move toward graduation. And I said to them, ''Well, good luck.'' Only later, I questioned why on earth I said that, ''Good luck," since I don't believe a word of it. It's not because they are so bright and blessed that they'll never need any help outside themselves to make it. It's just that the help you need outside yourself has nothi...

41. Good Sex

Genesis 2:4-25

Sermon

Will Willimon

At the beginning I'll admit that this is cheap, sensationalized, misleading title for a sermon, "Good Sex." When you're preaching on a college campus these day s, a preacher must resort to unorthodox tactics to lure people to church! Yet there is more to my sermon than mere sensationalism. In spite of what Dr. Ruth, Playboy and Playgirl have told you, many of you are old enough to know that sex wh...

42. Good Show

Revelation 5:11-14

Sermon

Will Willimon

It was meant to be a put down, a remark aimed to put me in my place. In a way, it did, but not as he intended. Why is Duke Chapel so often full when many university Chapels or local churches are so often empty·? He said, "Well, Duke Chapel puts on such a show on Sunday morning. And there are always those who want church to be nothing but a good show." The buildings, the windows, the great choir,...

43. Good-Bye

John 17:20-26

Sermon

Will Willimon

My wife and I have this running argument - discussion. We differ on how to say good bye, how to bid farewell after say, an evening at someone's home. I decide when it's time to go. I say, "Well, this has all been wonderful, and we wish we could stay, but it's late and we should be going." I then rise and move toward the door. She sits there. She knows it's late, that it's time to go. She also wan...

44. Graciousness and Grumbling

Matthew 20:1-15

Sermon

Will Willimon

Well, religion has suddenly become the burning concern of politicians. I can't remember when religion has been so important in a presidential campaign. It wasn't long ago that John Kennedy had to explain why, although he was a Catholic, his religion would not hinder him from being a good president. And a very short time ago, Jimmy Carter stood before the voters and admitted that, although he was a...

45. Gratitude

Ephesians 5:15-20

Sermon

Will Willimon

"…be filled with the Spirit,...always and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father." I didn't care for him when we first met. He's not the sort of person that you warm up to at first. It takes time, and life, before he becomes part of you. Don't ever think that he comes naturally. You have to work at getting along with him. When we first met, I was youn...

46. Hail, King!

Jeremiah 23:5-6 · Psalm 93 · Revelation 1:4b-8 · John 18:33-37

Sermon

Will Willimon

Let's talk politics! Do I detect a groan? You say that you are sick of politics? That you have had enough of Republicans and Democrats and want to hear of nothing more controversial than basketball? I have a political proposal for you. I couldn't present it during the heat of the campaign, but now the time is right: What we need in this country is monarchy. That's right. A king. Think about it....

47. Harmless Hospitality

Luke 10:38-42 · 2 Kings 4:8-17

Sermon

Will Willimon

A few weeks ago I was to speak at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. I took the last flight out of Durham. We landed late. A hair-raising, fifty-dollar, one hour cab ride later, I was deposited at a now utterly dark, locked up tight, Lutheran Seminary. Had no idea where I was supposed to sleep. Wandered about, Willy Loman-like, bag in hand, trying this door and that, everything loc...

48. He Threw the Book at Them

Luke 4:21-30

Illustration

Will Willimon

A friend of mine returned from an audience with His Holiness the Dali Lama. "When his Holiness speaks," my friend said,"everyone in the room becomes quiet, serene and peaceful." Not so with Jesus. Things were fine in Nazareth until Jesus opened his mouth and all hell broke lose. And this was only his first sermon! One might have thought that Jesus would have used a more effective rhetorical strat...

49. Heaven

Revelation 7:9-17

Sermon

Will Willimon

This summer I received a long email from a student who was in the wilds of Montana. To pass the time, he began reading Augustine's Confessions. He sent me this long list of questions about his reading of Augustine. Why did Augustine appear to be so troubled by sex? Isn't sex good? What was the deal with the stolen pears? Had he not an odd relationship with his mother? I suggested, in my reply, th...

50. Here

Luke 2:1-20

Sermon

Will Willimon

The Seekers Sunday School Class was discussing what to do about Christmas. They were to have their annual Christmas party, but as a Sunday School class, they ought to do more. Gladys suggested that the class restore the custom of adopting a needy family, buying them clothes, food, whatever they needed, taking the stuff by on Christmas Eve. Good idea, Gladys. Adopt a needy family for Christmas. Th...

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