Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 526 to 550 of 1533 results

Exodus 20:1-21, Psalm 19:7-14

Sermon

The Covenant is a Covenant of Law. WHOA! Isn’t the Christian Covenant a covenant of grace, as opposed to works? Doesn’t Saint Paul complain that the Law, the "dispensation of death," kills, while only the Spirit gives life? (2 Corinthians 3:6-7) "Law" has often gotten bad press among Christians. While not arguing for the kind of legalism that rightly offended Jesus and very nearly made a neurotic out of Saint Paul, there are some positive features of God’s Law. 1. Martin Luther, who waged a famous quarrel ...

527. A King Worth Having

Zechariah 9:9-13

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on an ass, on a colt the foal of an ass. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall command peace to the nations; his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your ...

528. Loving Unconditionally

John 13:31-38

Sermon

Robert Bachelder

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another ..." The love which Christians show for one another has always been a compelling, even unanswerable argument for the truth of our faith. Jesus said: "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." So well did the early Christians follow Jesus’ prescription that it was said of them: "See how they love each other." St. John Chrysostom, who was made Bishop of Constantinople in A.D. 398, remarked: "If we ...

529. Mairead Corrigan and Betty Williams

Luke 1:67-80

Sermon

Carroll Gunkel

I suggested that the sermon I preached on the life and ministry of Dr. Tom Dooley was begun more than twenty years before it was actually preached and had no real starting point. This message has a more recent and specific beginning. This sermon was begun on Tuesday, August 10, 1976, in Belfast, Northern Ireland. On that day and in that place Anne Maguire went for a walk. With her was her daughter, Joanna, aged eight years, who preceded her mother, pushing her infant brother Andrew, aged six weeks, in a ...

530. "Can Do" Christianity

Philippians 4:10-20

Sermon

Raymond Gibson

Those who lived through the long years of World War II remember a remarkable group of men called the Seabees. "Seabees" was their nickname, based upon their official designation as the U.S. Naval Construction Battalions. These were the men who went ashore right behind the Marines during the Pacific island battles, constructing the new facilities necessary for the support and establishment of our nation's combat forces. They referred to themselves as "can do" people, and were often quoted as saying, "The ...

531. Holy Tares!

Matthew 13:24-30

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

Another parable he put before them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the householder came and said, to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then has it weeds?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us ...

532. Jesus and Andrew

John 1:35-42

Sermon

James W. Moore

Back in the 15th century in a tiny village near Nuremberg, Germany there lived a family with eighteen children. That’s right… eighteen! In order merely to keep food on the table for this large family, the father (who was a goldsmith by profession) worked almost eighteen hours a day at this trade and any other paying job he could find in the neighborhood. Despite their seemingly hopeless condition, two of the older children had a dream. They both wanted to pursue their talent for art, but they knew full ...

533. What Makes You Blush?

Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

King Duncan

An ad once appeared in the personals column of a newsletter. It read like this: "Married, professional man, 47, with problems in home, seeks dalliance with a married/unmarried, intelligent woman." The ad had been written by some researchers. They were curious about who would respond to such an ad. Much to their astonishment, they were deluged by responses. For example, here's one: "I am a 34-year-old female, pretty, rubenesque, brown hair, dark blue eyes. I work as a nurse in large urban hospital. My ...

534. Where Have All The Heroes Gone?

Hebrews 11:1-40

Sermon

King Duncan

A certain Eskimo man was taken on one of the expeditions to the North Pole a number of years ago. Later, as a reward for faithful service, he was brought to New York City for a short visit. He was amazed at what he saw. When he returned to his native village, he told stories of buildings that rose into the very face of the sky; of streetcars, which he described as houses that moved along the trail, with people living in them as they moved; of mammoth bridges, artificial lights, and all the other dazzling ...

535. Emptying and Exalting (Part XI)

Philippians 1:1-11

Sermon

Eric Ritz

Dr. Harold Brack, the much beloved professor of Speech and Communications at Drew Theological Seminary, often shared with us that there are some Biblical texts which should be approached with great awe and reverence and preached only with fear and trembling, because no matter how much we share, it is only a glimpse or a snapshot of a much greater picture of truth. St. Jerome once said, "The Bible is like a stream in which elephants must swim and lambs may wade." This is especially true of this passage. As ...

536. The Telling Trademarks of Truth

James 3:13-18

Sermon

Eric Ritz

Gordon MacDonald wrote a few years ago, "the federal government decided to sponsor the building of an atomic particle accelerator in Texas. Planners said the enormous and astronomically expensive atom smasher would dwarf any other in the world. It would take us several steps closer, they said, to discovering the secrets of the universe, a claim we frequently hear from the scientific community as it requests its billions of dollars for research. "The particle accelerator was to be built underground, and so ...

537. Complete Joy

Philippians 2:1-11

Sermon

Jeff Wedge

There was once a man who decided he was dead. He was actually quite alive, but the man insisted he was really dead. The man's friends were quite concerned over this attitude, and tried hard to persuade the man he was actually alive, but nothing seemed to work. Finally, one friend with a scientific turn of mind tried to convince the man of the error of his insistence. The friend pointed out that dead men don't bleed. After some time to consider the possibilities, the man who said he was dead agreed. At that ...

538. Proper 5

Matthew 9:18-26, Matthew 9:9-13, Hosea 6:1--7:16, Hosea 5:1-15, Romans 4:1-25, Genesis 12:1-8

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Old Testament: Genesis 12:1-9 Yahweh calls Abraham to go to Canaan and promises to make of him a great nation. Today we learn how Jews and Christians came into existence through one man, Abraham. Yahweh commanded him to leave his family, friends, culture, and vocation to go to a strange land. With his barren wife, Sarah, and his nephew, Lot, Abraham obeys the command and accepts the promise that he will become a great nation. His obedience and trust will result in his being a blessing to the ...

539. After the Casket Is Closed

Luke 23:46

Sermon

James Merritt

I recently read a letter from the South Carolina Department of Social Services that gives great insight into how the government can sometimes look upon death. Dear Sir: Your food stamps will be stopped effective March 1992, because we received notice that you passed away. May God bless you. You may re-apply if there is a change in your circumstances.1 Circumstances do not change death, but death does change circumstances. We saw that this past week when John McSherry, a 51 year old umpire, collapsed and ...

540. Acts 2:42-47

Acts 2:42-47

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

Explosive, dramatic events occur throughout Acts 2 - tongues of fire, wafts of wind, dazzling displays of language and discernment, Peter's vivid testimony, the conversion of thousands, etc. These stunning occurrences leave us breathless - for where there had been only a handful of halting believers before, there is suddenly a whole new community of enthusiastic, faithful Christians. If we had never before read Acts, if we knew nothing of the early history of the Christian church, we might expect one of ...

541. Second Sunday in Lent

Genesis 17:1-27, Psalm 22:23-31, Mark 8:31-38, Romans 4:13-25

Bulletin Aid

B. David Hostetter

READINGS Psalter—Psalm 22:23-31 First Lesson—Abram’s name is changed to Abraham as God makes a covenant with him to provide a successor/son through Sarah his wife. Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16 Second Lesson—Paul uses the example of Abraham and Sarah as a model of trust in God’s promises of salvation. Romans 4:13-25 Gospel—Jesus rebukes the idea that his mission can be accomplished without suffering and says that all disciples have a cross to bear. Mark 8:31-38 CALL TO WORSHIP Leader: The grace of our Lord Jesus ...

542. A Kingdom that Cannot Be Shaken

Hebrews 1:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

Most of us probably think of the state of Tennessee as part of the “Bible Belt” an area of the southern United States known for its religious fervor. But it has not always been so. According to author and historian Jack Neely, at the turn of the 19th century, Tennesseans were a largely heathen people. Traveling evangelists and missionaries made little impression on either the cotton growers on the west end of the state or the hillbillies on the eastern end. Then, on December 16th, 1811, a massive ...

543. A Big Enough Reason

1 Peter 2:19-25

Sermon

David O. Bales

Peter writes to Christian slaves. In the late first century AD, when the Christian church spread from Palestine into the larger Roman Empire, a greater and greater percentage of the church was slaves. In the ancient world slaves were any color. Masters thought up excuses why it was allowable to enslave another, but at least they didn't create the most laughable and tragic excuses, reasoning that it was okay to enslave a person of a different color. Slaves were a legal commodity, bought and sold. Some were ...

544. Loving Deeply (Mother's Day)

1 Peter 1:13-2:3

Sermon

King Duncan

Since today is Mother’s Day, I thought I would begin with a list someone has made which they have called “Murphy’s Laws of Parenting.” See if you can identify with any of these: The later you stay up, the earlier your child will wake up the next morning. The gooier the food, the more likely it is to end up on the carpet. The longer it takes you to make a meal, the less your child will like it. A sure way to get something done is to tell a child not to do it. For a child to become clean, something else must ...

545. Getting Through the Grief

2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27

Sermon

William J. Carl, III

Getting through grief may be one of the hardest things we do as human beings. One of the best ways to begin the process is to find it within ourselves to stand up and say something in a public setting that puts into words both the personal and collective feelings of all who have gathered to mourn. History is replete with stunning examples. Pericles' Funeral Oration as recorded by Thucydides in The Peloponnesian War is certainly one of them. At the end of the first year of war, the Athenians held, as was ...

546. Believing Thomas

John 20:19-31

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

They say history is written by the victors, but I'm not always so sure. The forces of the Union roundly and rightfully defeated the forces of slavery known as the Confederacy, but 140 years later I'm not sure it's the victors who tell the whole story. Some things are known by their Union name. The decisive battle of September 17, 1862 is known as the Battle of Antietam, not Sharpsburg, as the Confederates knew it. Then there's the little-known Battle of Monocacy. Get off Interstate 70 at Fredericksburg, ...

547. Good Gossip

James 3:1-12

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

One of the most popular shows from last season is returning this fall with ads asking potential audiences, “What would you do if your weren’t ‘handicapped’ by sight?” “The Voice” is a talent show that keeps the judges in the dark, so to speak. It requires them to judge all the contestants only on the quality of their voices. The judges’ backs are turned and they never see the performer. Power, poise, presence, emotion, erudition, excitement — it all has to be conveyed to the judges only by the sound of the ...

548. James 3:1-12

James 3:1-12

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

Twice already in James’ brief epistle readers have been admonished to mind their tongues. In 1:19 the epistle writer advocated being “slow to speak,” while in 1:26 James affirmed that an unbridled tongue could lead to religious faith that was “worthless.” In this week’s epistle text James sets forth a carefully constructed, organized argument about the need for those who would call themselves members of the community of faith, to tame their tongues. James surprisingly begins with some negative career ...

549. The 5 Worst Things Christians Say After A Tragedy

Luke 13:1-9

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

In the immediate aftermath of the Super Bowl, a reporter asked Ray Lewis, star player of the Baltimore Ravens, "How does it feel to be a Super Bowl Champion?" He responded "When God is for you, who can be against you?" Excuse me? God had a favorite team? You mean God liked one Harbaugh brother over the other? Candidate Richard Mourdock in his losing attempt to win a Senate seat in Indiana, said this: “Even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that is something that God intended to happen." ...

550. Unity and Hope

Romans 14:1--15:13

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

As we make our way through Advent inching closer to Christmas, our days are consumed with many tasks. Our “to do” list grows each day. At times we are often out of breath and wondering if we will complete everything on our list before Christmas Day. We gather on this Second Sunday in Advent to spiritually prepare for what God has done and continues to do in our lives and in our world. We have been too busy with all our activities and tasks so that we are in danger of missing out on the miracle of Christmas ...

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