Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 526 to 550 of 1138 results

Ephesians 3:14-21

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... my life. Nothing contributes more to my spiritual growth and maturity than those three days with those persons, and I almost missed it. Does my confession make the point? The worthlessness syndrome is a dreadful spiritual disease. The problem expresses itself in a variety of ways, through lack of confidence, through fear and anxiety about performance, in jealousy and envy. It grows in us because we focus on the chasm between the ideal and the real self. The vast difference between and who and what we would ...

527. Playing A Role Or Being A Truth

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... Ministers are especially vulnerable, and I want you to know that. People are dogmatic in their image of the minister and the minister’s wife. Now it would be easier of course if the image was the same for every person in the congregation. But the variety is myriad, and the expectations multitudinous. We ministers are often victimized in at least two ways. One, we think we must try to respond to all the expectations and so the tendency is to become a kind of quick change artist. Chameleons who take on the ...

528. The Medicine Of A Cheerful Heart

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... missing another? I want to speak to you." So they talked, and the man unfolded a story of personal and domestic problems. Before this Aunt eventually caught her train, she had helped the man to a vital faith in Christ, and to new hope. In a variety of less dramatic ways, our own inner conviction and happiness can lift others into newness of life." (John N. Gladstone, "The Good Medicine of Cheerfulness", Pulpit Digest) I'm happy, and I hope you are, that my happiness does not depend upon circumstance. IV. I ...

529. Epiphany:The Joy of Fulfillment

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

... they hadn't, they wouldn't have put their lives on the line so freely for their beliefs. It is sometimes pointed out that, though the four Gospels and the several epistles are so different in style, and though they clearly come from a wide variety of authors, they have one characteristic in common: the quality of certainty. There is no querulous tone, no hesitancy, not even a reasonable caution -- just this grand, "I know whom I have believed...." They may differ regarding the time and order of events. That ...

530. Epiphany: The Tragedy of Rejection

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

... of lords; and, as such, he insists on being Lord of all of life. At that point Jesus becomes difficult. We are tempted, in our own fashion to follow the people of Nazareth in pushing him over some cliff. III. Getting Ready for Revelation Our hymnals contain a variety of hymns which plead for an epiphany a moment of revelation. "Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart," we sing. Or, "Open my eyes, that I may see / Glimpses of truth thou hast for me." And again, "Talk with us, Lord, thyself reveal, / While here ...

531. Evaluating Our Names

Isaiah 62:1-12

Sermon

Elizabeth Achtemeier

For those who like to preach from all three lectionary texts, the stated readings for this Sunday could cause a preacher great perplexity. How on earth do they all fit together? The Epistle lesson deals with the variety of gifts given by the Spirit to the church. The Gospel lesson recounts Jesus' first "sign" at the wedding at Cana, when the water turned into wine, became the symbol of his blood poured out for us all. Our Isaiah text concerns the eschatological future of Jerusalem. Other than the ...

532. A Church Shaped By The Great Commission

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... be crucified and die without restoring the Davidic kingdom to Israel. It was incredible to scientists and medical people who knew that ‘dead men don’t rise’ (hardly a modern discovery). It was incredible to adherents of other religions, for these and a variety of other reasons.” (Howard A. Snyder, Global Good News: Mission in a New Context, Abingdon Press, Nashville, 2001, p. 222). In this post-modern age, we must become apostolic in our style and passions. In style, we must move from being “come ...

533. Homesick For a Future: New Life for the New Millenium

Genesis 12:1-8

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... children; she calls it “Kirubai”, which is the Tamil word for God’s grace. She has a vision of a home which will simply be a place where children can find hope, joy, peace, unconditional love, and safety. These children will come from a variety of backgrounds – street children, AIDS orphans, abandoned and lost little ones – and they will all find grace. I wish you could read the email messages that Tammy sends back. In the November-December (1998) issue of Good News magazine there is a story about ...

534. Gifts From The Holy Spirit

1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Bulletin Aid

H. Burnham Kirkland

Call To Worship Leader: Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever, for he is the source of all our gifts of the Spirit. People: He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. Leader: We have a variety of gifts, but the same Spirit gives them all. People: Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised, for the gifts of the Spirit are for the good of all. Collect Lord God, we come together this morning as part of your church universal. As individuals or as a ...

535. We Are God's Children

Romans 8:1-17

Bulletin Aid

H. Burnham Kirkland

... with our songs, for our gladness comes from him. People:Praise the Lord, my soul! Praise the Lord. Collect Yes, Lord, we will sing your praises all the days of our life for mighty are your works and wondrous is your creation. You have created us in many varieties, but we are meant to be one in the Spirit, for we are all your children. Fill us with your Holy Spirit as on the Day of Pentecost so that we might live together in peace and harmony, in accordance with your will. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen ...

536. I Am Too Young

Jeremiah 1:1-19

Bulletin Aid

H. Burnham Kirkland

... Lord, I put my hope in you; People: I have trusted you since I was young. Leader: I have relied on you all my life. People: You have protected me since the day I was born. All: I will always praise you. Collect Creator God, we come this morning a variety of believers: some of us are young, some middle-aged, and some have passed the prime of life. We are often tempted to refuse your call to service because we are too young or too old, or just too busy. We come now seeking to learn your will for us ...

537. A Cloud of Witness

Hebrews 12:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... Dublin usually filtered out by our limited range of hearing. That is, they were sounds that were normally outside the range of pitches audible to human ears. He played a collection of these specially recorded sounds on the program, “All Things Considered.” This variety of high-pitched whines and screeches undoubted caused many listeners of NPR to be grateful they were not able to hear everything their dog hears. (2) Here’s the point: Just because we cannot hear a sound does not mean that it does not ...

538. Discipline

Hebrews 12:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... they resolve, as they eat some more. “We need willpower,” Frog finally says, grabbing another cookie. “What is willpower?” asks Toad, swallowing another mouthful. “Willpower is trying very hard not to do something you want to do very much,” Frog says. Frog discusses a variety of ways to help with willpower--for example, putting the cookies in a box, tying the box shut, putting it high up in a tree--but Toad points out (in between bites) that this won’t work. They could still climb the tree and ...

539. The Way to Happy Endings

Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67

Sermon

James L. Killen

... . They learned of his condition when he was three years old. They loved him through the experiences of suffering until he died at the age of fourteen. They experienced the anger at the injustice of his suffering and the self-blame and the great variety of other painful emotions that go with such tragedies. They made no pretense about what was happening. Something bad and unjust was happening, something that called into question all of their beliefs about God and about life. But, in time, they were able to ...

540. Filling Moses’ Shoes

Joshua 3:7-17

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

... of that class of troublemakers came three clergy (one of whom was a bishop), a theology professor, and a conference lay leader. God worked through a railroad engineer, even if he didn't feel prepared for what God called him to do. God may call us to a variety of ministries that are demanding or that don't bring much recognition. Responding to that call may fill us with uncertainty. If we answer God's call, we will find that God is with us. What God may accomplish through us may surprise us. Let us take the ...

541. The Church that Jesus Built

1 Peter 2:2-10

Sermon

Richard W. Ferris

... and position. There were no kings in his foundation. He didn't use any successful business personalities in his first floor. And he completed the first stage of his structure without the help of aggressive marketers and developers. Jesus just used stones, a variety of living stones. He used stones that would weather the cause. Stones that would not crumble under the weight that would be built upon them. The building material that Jesus chose was well suited for the building he intended to construct. For the ...

542. King of the Mountain

1 Peter 3:13-22

Sermon

Richard W. Ferris

... somebody else trying to throw him off the mountain. There is always something else trying to take his place in our hearts. We might say that Jesus is on top, our number one priority, but then we knock him off on a daily basis, allowing the lordship of a variety of things to take over our lives. And so it becomes a daily battle: a struggle to be the "king" of our own mountain. Peter's message to Christians is to "not be intimidated" by the world around us. We are "not to fear" what others fear, but are ...

543. Effective Suffering

Romans 8:26-39

Sermon

Jeff Wedge

... 's right here, with us. But that idea of all things working for good? There's plenty of bad news about that, too. There are certainly things happening to people which do not seem to be working for good. The difficult events can be explained in a variety of ways. We could talk about the need for bad things to enable us to appreciate the good things that happen to us. While this might sound quite rational and comforting, it is a terrible, gruesome interpretation of this verse when it is applied to things such ...

544. Body Parts and Pride

Romans 12:1-8

Sermon

Jeff Wedge

... our minds. The ways of the world, the ways the world judges and evaluates things are not the way things really are. And that is precisely Paul's point. As we study the word of God, as we participate in worship and find ourselves renewed, as we minister in a variety of ways, most of them not flashy but all of them as part of the Body of Christ, we find that our minds are renewed by the promises of God. Because of that renewal, we are enabled to see what is the will of God. This is often an idea ...

545. Doing Well and Doing Good

Romans 13:8-14

Sermon

Jeff Wedge

... on the Lord Jesus Christ. Surprisingly, all this is without a single shred of a promise about doing anything, either doing well or doing poorly. Often, especially when trying to convince people that they should act in a responsible, Christian manner, people promise a variety of things as rewards for such behavior. Behave as we know we should, and you will be given eternal life, God's love, and other things. Sometimes the promises are more specific, as when our good behavior is promised a reward of a good ...

546. I Thought You'd Never Ask

John 1:35-46

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... to the poor." So in Luke, Jesus is the one who comes to be with the poor and the oppressed in this world. First words in the gospels are important. They announce who this man is, and why he's come, and what he means for us. And the variety of opening scenes in the gospels ought to dispel any notion that there is one simple picture of Jesus in the New Testament. The pictures of Jesus in the New Testament vary because Jesus has come for everyone. Everyone can find in Jesus something that they are looking for ...

547. Stirring Things Up

Mark 13:1-8, Hebrews 10:11-25

Sermon

Mark Trotter

The Union Tribune carried a series of articles this last week on the variety of religions that are emerging as we approach the millennium. We used to talk about religion in America as Protestant, Catholic and Jew. Now there are more Muslims in America than there are Episcopalians, and soon there will be more than there are Jews. Now with the largest in-migration ...

548. Two Babes In The Manger

Luke 2:1-14

Drama

Matthew Powell

... or art supplies, were delighted. They busily set about cutting, tearing, and folding the materials. Storyteller 2: The teacher walked around the room examining what the children were doing. She was very pleased. Teacher: My, they certainly have come up with an amazing variety of Nativity scenes. (Misha stands) Storyteller 1: Finally, she came to little Misha, a boy of about six, and was startled to find that he had ... two babies in his manger. Teacher: Oh, dear! No, no, Misha! Storyteller 2: So she said to ...

549. Demonstrating the Divine

John 1:10-18

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

... girl, nothing could more surely convince me of God's unending mercy than the continued existence of the church."1 Yes, my friends, it is only by God's mercy that all of us, or any of us, exist. But exist we do with great variety and texture. When I served as Moderator of National Capital Presbytery, it was a pleasure to wander through the churches across the metro area - big churches and little churches, churches with fancy choirs and churches with slightly out-of-tune organs, churches with velvet cushions ...

550. Worry and Wonder

Matthew 6:24-34

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

... , "Don't be human." After all, psychologists tell us that anxiety is central to human existence. And far from being debilitating, anxiety can be fertile territory for growth and change and maturity. Actually the Greek word which Jesus uses is not referring to the garden-variety worries of the day. No, it is the word for extreme angst - for anxious worrying - for being so full of care for oneself and one's survival that the world shrinks to me, myself, and I. The anxiety Jesus is talking about is the exact ...

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