Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 526 to 550 of 975 results

526. Gift of Positive Thinking

2 Corinthians 1:18-22

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

... . Even in pain of the previous day(s) we sense God is still in control and will see us through all circumstances. Again, we must accept the gift and understand it is not a tool or instrument for us to seek self-aggrandizement. If we yield to that temptation, our ministries become plighted with poisonous debris. The gift of Christ, indeed, conquers negatives, especially as we are totally co-operative. An abundant life is there for the taking. It all sounds so easy. The best way to overcome such an easy ...

527. Making Disciples

2 Corinthians 3:1-6

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

... is here that clergy are summoned to take a closer look. Our own résumés may contain misleading — if not outright — misrepresentation and they are circulating! We confront a common and sometimes agonizing dilemma: Are we really that good or have we yielded to the temptation of dishonest presentation? Our competence is from God and requires thanksgiving for who and what we are, as best we can truthfully assess that. To advertise ourselves in ways we suspect or know Christ condemns is simply stupidity or ...

528. Proclaiming Jesus Christ

2 Corinthians 4:3-6

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

... . We are instruments and means. We are not the ends of much of anything because of a simple fact: we are mortal, being created and not the creator. To be sure, for those of us who have been in ministry this is common ground. Yet, how quickly we can yield to the temptation of placing ourselves first. We are called to be on guard. 2. We are to take slave status that provides a clear image of the Christ. How can cherished human beings in the sight of God see, unless we are obedient and work to remove dangerous ...

529. Birthpangs of the New Age

Romans 8:22-23

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

530. Looking in All the Wrong Places

Romans 3:19-28

Sermon

Lee Ann Dunlap

... given a purpose beyond ourselves and find our true life beyond our mortal existence. It is not by our own efforts, our own striving, our own brilliance, that we find our place in the cosmos, or find purpose and power in our place on earth. By trusting in Christ and yielding only to his command, we find both ourselves and our home in paradise.

531. Why We Need to Forgive

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon

King Duncan

... man is stooped and bent with their weight. When we carry anger and resentment toward someone else, the person we really hurt is ourselves. Philip Yancey writes: “Not to forgive imprisons me in the past and locks out all potential for change. I thus yield control to another, my enemy, and doom myself to suffer the consequences of the wrong. I once heard an immigrant rabbi make an astonishing statement. ‘Before coming to America, I had to forgive Adolf Hitler,’ he said. ‘I did not want to bring Hitler ...

532. Advent 2

Mk 1:1-8; 2 Pet 3:8-15a; Is 40:1-11; Ps 85:8-13

Bulletin Aid

Frank Ramirez

... our land. Women: Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other. Men: Faithfulness will spring up from the ground, and righteousness will look down from the sky. One and Two: The Lord will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase. All: Righteousness will go before him, and will make a path for his steps. Amen. Prayer Of Confession The Lord is not slow in recalling his promise. Like a thief in the night, with a boom and a bang, in glory and might will ...

533. With One Hand Tied Behind Her Back

Psalm 1:1-6, Proverbs 31:10-31

Bulletin Aid

Frank Ramirez

... not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers; but their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law they meditate day and night. They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper. Amen. (Based on Psalm 1:1-3) Hymns Great Is The Lord Mothering God, Who From Our Birth I Shall Not Be Moved

534. Our Hope, Our Terror

Matthew 22:1-14

Illustration

Barbara Brown Taylor

... upside down. Our hope, through all our own terrors, is that we are being saved. Sometimes God's blessing does not come until daybreak, after a full night of wandering in the wrong direction. Our job is to struggle with the terrors, neither surrendering nor stealing away until they have yielded their blessings.

535. The Long Haul

Matthew 25:14-30

Illustration

David Beckett

... long term. It's about being more concerned with faithfulness than success. When success is our goal we are often tempted to take short cuts. And when we do we often miss out on vital life lessons faithfulness can teach us. Are you presently committed to something that is not yielding much return? Are you tempted to quit and try something else? Maybe a spirit of sticktuitiveness is what is needed, a long term vision to be patient and wait for the return.

536. John 6:24-35

John 6:24-35

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... Father, and successfully finish the work he has been given. The work required of human beings is the work of faith. As Jesus makes clear in verse 29 all humanity needs to do is believe in him as the one sent by God. This simple act of faith yields the gift of life for all who "work" it Peter F. Ellis, The Genius of John (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1984), 122. But the crowd is not satisfied. Despite the fact that a scant twenty-four hours has passed since Jesus miraculously fed the whole lot of ...

537. James 3:13-18

James 3:13-18

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... with this purity are a string of adjectives that reflect a distinctively Christ-like complex. In contrast to Hellenistic tradition, where meekness and humility are regarded as weak and undesirable, James counsels gentleness, tolerance, and a "yielding" or tractable nature. These are the true "values" that will bring forth "good fruits." Leaving behind strategic alliances and politically astute maneuverings, James insists that Christians must strive for impartiality. The reward for such peacemakers is ...

538. Romans 5:1-5

Romans 5:1-5

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... of being proved and tested" (Matthew Black, Romans: Based on the Revised Standard Version, The New Century Bible Commentary [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1989], 75). Our integrity is proved and tested through our response to suffering and our ability to endure - yielding probity. The probity of Christian character, the testing and trying of integrity which stands up and comes out true, is the positive outcome of meeting these challenges head-on. Lest we begin to think that we are wholly responsible for creating ...

539. 1 Corinthians 1:18-31

1 Corinthians 1:18-31

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... of the Jew and the Gentile are merged into one unified truth, one common human experience of God's genuine power and wisdom. Neither the Jewish way, nor the Gentile way, will lead to this union. Only God's foolishness, God's weakness, the Cross, yields this salvation. Verses 26-29 remind the Corinthians that despite all their attempts at self-promotion, their own lives point up the apparently contradictory nature of God's workings in the world. The varied status of those in the Corinthian church is held up ...

540. John 6:24-35

John 6:24-35

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

541. James 3:13-18

James 3:13-18

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

542. Romans 5:1-5

Romans 5:1-5

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

543. John 3:1-17

John 3:1-17

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... quite the reverse. Nicodemus is in darkness until he reaches Jesus, the one who is the light, who "shines in the darkness" (1:5). This Pharisee purposively comes to this light when he seeks out Jesus. Likewise, Nicodemus' first words to Jesus yield him both positive and negative marks. In his greeting Nicodemus acknowledges Jesus as a teacher. But he also declares that he has "come from God" a fairly strong confessional statement. But even as he continues his initial address, Nicodemus lets the reader ...

544. James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a

James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... and selfish ambition" and is betrayed by its fruits "disorder and wickedness of every kind" (v.16). Divinely inspired wisdom, on the other hand, has no ulterior motives. It is "pure." As such, it is known through its spread of peace, its gentle and yielding spirit, its merciful nature and the tangibly good and fair results of its presence. It is James' own gift for particularity and practicality that leads him in verse 17 to cite the positive traits of genuine wisdom that come from above. The reason for ...

545. Luke 5:1-11

Luke 5:1-11

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... tradition, Luke must have had access to information that was also known in a different form to John. In John 21, a fruitless night of fishing is followed by Jesus' ordering Peter and his cohorts back out into the water. This new fishing expedition yields nets filled to bursting. In John's text, a heartfelt testimony by Peter at Jesus' feet also follows this fishing miracle. Significantly, John's text is also full of images and numerical symbolism that are not part of Luke's fishing/call scene. It would ...

546. Luke 6:17-26

Luke 6:17-26

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

547. Luke 19:1-10

Luke 19:1-10

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... story of Zacchaeus in today's text is so familiar that one might be tempted to give it a quick rereading and move on. The interpreters of this passage, however, are by no means unanimous in their opinion, and a close examination yields several possibilities for sermonic treatment. The setting for this last incident in the travel narrative Luke has been providing is the wealthy Greco-Roman city of Herodian Jericho. This city, nothing like the Old Testament Jericho, was a beautiful municipality known for ...

548. The Most Stubborn Man in the Bible

Jonah 3:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... days of the great British sailing ships. The British warship Sparrow suspected another vessel, the Nancy, of carrying illegal contraband. And so the Sparrow stopped the Nancy off the coast of Haiti. An examination of the Nancy’s papers and cargo yielded only circumstantial evidence of wrongdoing. Still this was enough for the captain of the Sparrow to seize the ship and to tow it into Kingston, Jamaica. There the captain and crew were charged with transporting illegal cargo. Meanwhile, a British frigate ...

549. The Call to Downward Mobility

Isaiah 49:1-7

Sermon

Mike Ripski

... to him. He so felt God’s hand on him that to try to do anything other than surrender to it would be futile. He wouldn’t be able to shake free of it. The “Hound of Heaven,” as one poet put it, would yap at his heels under he yielded. My own call wasn’t so overwhelming. It wasn’t a loud voice. It was a whisper that kept fading in and out. It didn’t feel God’s heavy hand, so much as I felt a nudge. When I left Atlanta to take my first appointment, 33 years ago ...

550. The Gifts of Word and Table

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Mike Ripski

... . The reason why our worship of God includes our listening to Scripture is that the Living Word of God has the power to expose, judge, and shatter those expectations, assumptions, and beliefs that we bring to it for confirmation and reinforcement. We worship God when we yield to a Word that exposes our biases, prejudices, half-truths, and lies for what they are. Has a sermon or Bible study ever made you aware of the blinders and distorting lenses that we wear but don’t know we do? You see what you’ve ...

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