Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 526 to 550 of 4977 results

526. Rest

Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

Sermon

William G. Carter

... pushing on, persisting through, often in the vain hope that if we just add another inch to the span of our day, we will speed by or gloss over the deep wound that we are trying to avoid. That’s what Wayne Muller identified as he reflected the practice of keeping sabbath – and why so many people resist it. He wrote: This is one of our fears of quiet; if we stop and listen, we will hear this emptiness. If we worry we are not good or whole inside, we will be reluctant to stop and rest, afraid we will find ...

527. God's GPS

Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

... wasted time or energy going in the wrong direction. We’re not exactly proud of our “lost miles,” are we? I believe we can look at the Ten Commandments in our Bible passage for this morning as God’s desire to point us in the right direction, to keep us from wasting our lives to “lost miles.” The Ten Commandments are a reflection of God’s love for us. Instead of focusing on the what the commandments say, I’m focusing this morning on why God gave them. We find that answer in Exodus 20:20. After ...

528. The Case of the Stolen Inheritance

Matthew 21:33-46

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... us that desires goodness, mercy, love, and peace. Sometimes, we need a little help to draw upon that nature when presented with temptation and opportunity. How do we choose good over evil? We align ourselves with the owner, the master, and his vineyard mission. We keep our eyes focused on our work, and in our humility, we cultivate his fruit with joy in our hearts together. We know our place. We know our role. In the case of God’s kingdom, the metaphor for Jesus’ story, we all “inherit” by being ...

529. The Main Thing

Luke 12:32-40

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

... we commit ourselves to having that relationship. That is, we make a commitment; we decide to be in the relationship. One of the things I point out to a couple who come to me to be married is that when they take their vow to love, cherish, honor, and keep their spouse, they do not say “I do.” They say, “I will.” That is, they make a decision and a commitment to be in the relationship regardless of what may come. When they say, “I will,” they are saying that they will love and cherish, honor, and ...

530. When The Fat Lady Sings

Mark 13:1-31

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

... rest of the world go on living our lives as if the fat lady will never sing. But like that pesky fly who keeps buzzing in the bedroom and disturbing our nap, there always seem to be those interruptions, these disturbing surprises that jolt us of our ... all in the heavens above and on the earth below that Jesus was right. God is gracious and merciful. God can be trusted. God will keep his promises to those who have trusted him. On that day not only will our lives be different, but also life will be different for ...

531. The Burdens Of The Past

Haggai 2:1-9, Haggai 1:1-15

Sermon

Robert P. Hines

... spiritual and emotional cargoes can be far more harmful and have a more negative impact on our lives than any physical burden. When the prophet Haggai ministered to the Jewish people, they were carrying a tremendous spiritual and emotional burden that was keeping them from experiencing the goodness of God. The time that Haggai ministered to the Jews was around 520 B.C., about seventy years after the Babylonian victory that had destroyed the Temple and sent the best and brightest of the nation into exile ...

532. A Most Important Dawning

Isaiah 60:1-22

Sermon

Paul E. Robinson

... marvelous words: Earth's crammed with heaven, And every common bush afire with God; But only he who sees takes off his shoes; The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries. Aurora Leigh, Book VII I tried so hard not to tell the following joke, but it simply would not keep itself off the computer screen. For those of you who have heard it often, forgive me. It's the story of the man who went into the hardware store in need of a chain saw. He was finally sold on one after being told he could cut up 10 cords ...

533. Good Guys And Bad Guys Alike

Genesis 37:1-11, 12-36

Sermon

Steve Burt

... mediator with God for us, great liberator -- and great murderer, great fugitive from justice in Egypt where he was sought by a legitimate government. If you think about it, America isn't much different from either Egypt or Rome. We're trying to keep the peace and help weaker governments run their countries efficiently. Moses and Jesus, taken from the American viewpoint, would have been the bad guys. But somehow the Bible says it was through Moses and in Jesus that God revealed justice and salvation for ...

534. Proper 12

Mt 13:31-33, 44-52 · Rom 8:26-39 · Gen 29:15-28 · Ps 105:1-11, 45b

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... the enemy. Matthew 6:19-21 - (Luke 12:33-34) - Treasures on earth or heaven. Matthew 6:33 - Seeking first the kingdom. Matthew 7:6 - Throwing pearls before swine. Matthew 25:14-30 - Note that one of the servants buried a talent in the earth for safe keeping. Revelation 22:21 - Each of the 12 gates are made from a single pearl. CONTENT The first two parables are more similes than parables. They do not provide many details. Nothing is said about the amount of the treasure in the first instance. It is assumed ...

535. Since He's In Charge, We're In Luck

Psalm 33:4-5, 8-9, 13-22

Sermon

Robert G. McCreight

... to do." In the same way God can create and sustain a universe that is still too big for us to see, and at the same time keep you and me safe from danger and guided in a way that accomplishes his purposes. B. How does God tend to the little things, the details that ... out the heavens like tent cloth, You are chambered on the deep Riding on the wings of windstorm, Flame and fire your bidding keep. Lord, you laid the earth's foundation, That it would be always sound. By the word of your commanding, You set forth ...

536. Prayers for Family Days

Bulletin Aid

Rolland R. Reece

... , but because it is the nature of your love to sustain us, no matter what occurs. Grant us now a glimmer of that future day when we will, in the presence of your joy, be free from disease and death. Reach through our vacillating faith with your Spirit that keeps us focused on you, the Creator of the life that never ends. Regardless of the content of our days, we place our trust in you. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen. Gracious, heavenly Spirit, we come to you with a specific need in mind -- the ...

537. Wedding: Unity Candle

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Bulletin Aid

Derl G. Keefer

... Short stints of that can actually be invigorating. But if that becomes the pattern of your married life, watch out. A candle burning at both ends doesn't last long. When all your energy is going toward your own individual stuff, who is going to trim the wick and keep the flame going in your marriage? That's not the job of the wife alone, or the husband alone. Marriage is a two-person job. And it takes time. Give yourselves time, (Bride) and (Groom). Don't burn your candles at both ends. There is one flaw in ...

538. The Season Of The Holy Spirit

Mark 10:46-52

Bulletin Aid

Wayne H. Keller

... integrated within ourselves? (Pause.) Would anyone care to share how that happened? (You may want to ask two or three well before worship to share at this time.) Whatever we do with the Good News, that is, look past it, or beyond it, God keeps showing it to us, and keeps waiting for us to respond. So, rejoice! How will you offer your praise, as persons who have heard and seen the Good News? Response "God Be In My Head" Prayer of Praise Invite the congregation to continue the call to worship with prayers of ...

539. The Bread That Endures

Luke 22:7-38

Sermon

Larry R. Kalajainen

... , not only on food for our physical life, but on God and on others, for the emptiness of our bellies reminds us of other kinds of emptiness which not even the blue plate special can fill. And yet, almost as though we can't help ourselves, we keep striving to get more and more material things, more and more money, as though those things could fill up the spiritual and emotional hungers of our souls. We neglect the life of the spirit, we avoid prayer, we avoid intimacy with others, we run away from ourselves ...

540. You Can Be Happy

1 Chronicles 13:1-14

Sermon

Michael B. Brown

... things I wanted to make up to you when you returned from Vietnam; but you didn't. What a terrible and tragic lesson to learn -- that we waited too long to say or do whatever needed to be said or done. Paul said that real love remembers to "keep the main thing the main thing." Ultimately that is how happiness comes, by making certain that love is never misplaced on our list of priorities and that we never wait too late to say or show it. Do The Unexpected What could be more unexpected than being "patient ...

541. Anger - Eleven Ways To Blow Up, Seven Ways To Cool Off

Matthew 5:21-26

Sermon

R. Curtis Fussell

... fact come here this morning seeking to manage your anger. In fact there are some, to speak tongue in cheek, who even want to manage their life with more anger and misery than they already have. What I want to do is show you eleven ways to ensure that you keep yourself in a state of uproar and anger. These eleven ways to make yourself good and angry come from the psychologist Les Carter in his book on anger.4 But be careful. The tendency on hearing these methods is to say "I hope so-and-so heard that. That's ...

542. Proper 19

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... or sister?" This sermon could address that question coupled with a warning of dangers of passing judgment on others. If we are to pass God's judgment, we must refrain from passing judgment on others. Outline: 1. Why do we judge others? it makes us feel superior it keeps us from facing our own sins 2. Why should we not pass judgment on others? we are not God and don't see the big picture we cannot see inside another person's heart God has forgiven us, we must forgive others we are individually accountable to ...

543. Seder Service: The Passover Haggadah

Bulletin Aid

Robert L. Linder and Rabbi Sol Ester

... helps us better to appreciate the freedom that is ours, and more fully to understand the plight of such of our brethren as still dwell under the shadow of tyrants. The Seder calls upon us to do all in our power to emancipate them from tyranny. The Seder, which keeps alive in us the love of liberty, has a significance also for all humankind. Freedom, which is one of man's most precious gifts, must not be taken for granted. In every age it must be won anew. The Pharaoh of the Exodus is symbolic of the tyrants ...

544. When Imagination Replaces Memory

Isaiah 42:18-25

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... courage of Joan of Arc? Was Jesus merely an accidental collection of atoms? We should be careful what we remember. There are painful failures in life. There are ghosts from our past that come charging into our present. There are doors that we have to struggle to keep shut. But that is not all of life. In each of us there are some happy memories of times when fortune, even if only for a little while, turned in our favor. Those memories are there to give us joy and confidence, almost like secret helpers, if ...

545. A Lack of Faith

Mark 6:1-6

Sermon Aid

Richard A. Jensen

... prerequisite for Jesus' miracles. He cites the exorcism stories in Mark 1:21-28 and 5:1-20 as examples where that is not the case. "How one gets faith -- how one comes to understand matters that are contrary to ordinary sense and that Jesus seems intent upon keeping hidden -- are questions the narrative has yet to answer." 1 The hometown folk don't get it. They can't figure out the identity of their local carpenter's son. (Note the questions of identity raised in Mark 6:14-16.) Those who should be the real ...

546. Only the Birth Pangs

Mark 13:1-31

Bulletin Aid

RobertT D. Ingram

... the beginning of the birth pangs. Let the signs of your coming kingdom call us to greater dependence upon your faithfulness, today, tomorrow and all the days yet remaining. Amen. Prayer Almighty and merciful God, in a world where everything Christian is under attack, keep us true to our Savior, Jesus Christ. Many are calling us to follow new ways, to accept their versions of the truth, and to adopt their more "enlightened" understandings. Many try to alarm us by making long lists of troubles. "The world is ...

547. Plan Your Leisure - Jesus Did His!

Mark 6:30-44

Sermon

Charles R. Leary

... me the art of taking minute vacations of slowing down to look at a flower, to chat with a friend, to pat a dog, to read a good book.”1 Most important of all, reconnect with that One whose image you are. Jesus is his perfect image. In Jesus, God keeps reminding you that you don’t have to be involved in everything going on in the world, no matter how good it may be just be selective of a few things that draw all your capacities to complete dedication in Jesus Christ. 1. Source unknown.

548. Jesus: The Ultimate Ordinary

John 18:28-40

Sermon

Thomas Peterson

... self and needs desperately to express. Ordinary means those aspects of life that do not vary from day-to-day. When I keep faith with God and put him first every day, I begin to notice something substantial which I call “truth” and in it ... it sends out its branches. At this point God’s voice comes louder to me. To be tried in use is an ordinary experience. When I keep going in spite of obstacles and in the worst of times manage to be loving, courageous, faithful, I experience a power holding me up which I ...

549. God’s Great Final Day

Daniel 7:1-14

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... . One of the company’s consultants says, “This is basically a building filled with nothing.” This may be all right for elevator experimentation, but how sad if a life is full of ups and downs that all add up to nothing! This can’t happen when we keep our eyes on God’s great final day, which promises triumph for good and destruction of evil. This last day is radiant with promise for those whose Lord and Redeemer is Christ, but it is heavy with doom for those who have spurned the Son of God. There ...

550. Let's Have A Fruitful Christmas Season

Drama

May Dembowski

... MAY: If possible, I use throwaway utensils. Frosting detail is like an assembly line. First, some cookies with white icing. Decorate with colorful sprinkles or sugars. Then I tint some frosting with yellow and do some more, then green and so on. The main thing is to KEEP IT SIMPLE. No experimenting. Green sugar on green icing, red sugar on pink icing. Any color on white. You can't goof up that way. They look like you've fussed for hours. Final touch? Display them with some "can't fail" fudge or foil-wrapped ...

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