Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 551 to 575 of 3852 results

Exodus 12:1-30

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... Swiss gymnastic team in the 1996 Olympic Games. (2) When we gather at the Lord's table, we are reminded that there is One who cheers us on in the game of life. We are reminded that we are people of hope. The Lord's Supper had its origins in the Jewish Passover, the remembrance of the night that God sent death upon the first-born of all the Egyptian households but "passed over" the households whose doorposts were covered by the blood of the lamb. It was this incident that led to the Israelites gaining their ...

552. He Touched Me

Mark 1:40-45

Sermon

King Duncan

... retirement we are going back to his earliest sermons and renewing them. The newly modernized sermon is shown first and below, for reference sake, is the old sermon. We will continue this updating throughout the year bringing fresh takes on King's best sermons.] Original Title: He Touched Me New Title: A Little of That Human Touch Liz O’Dwyer, a mother of two, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016. She underwent chemotherapy and a double mastectomy, but the cancer returned and spread to her bones. She ...

553. All That From A Little Bit Of Water?

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... retirement we are going back to his earliest sermons and renewing them. The newly modernized sermon is shown first and below, for reference sake, is the old sermon. We will continue this updating throughout the year bringing fresh takes on King's best sermons.] Original Title: All That From A Little Bit Of Water? New Title: All That From A Little Water There was the Baptist minister who, at his first baptism, became stage-struck. Standing in the baptismal pool with the candidate for this sacred rite, the ...

554. A Great Love Story Gone Awry

Genesis 24:1-67

Sermon

King Duncan

... --and the water from both churns and splashes and foams in a noisy, rushing current. From the vantage point of the bluff,” says Ed Young, “it is obvious that after their somewhat violent meeting, these two bodies of water combine to form a wider, more impressive river than either was originally.” (1) Isaac and Rebekah’s marriage was more like the churning, splashing, noisy, rushing current than it was like a placid river. They had twin boys. Enough said. Twin boys are a challenge to any family ...

555. On "supersizing" Our Vision

Mark 12:41-44

Sermon

Siegfried S. Johnson

... faith. The African-American man withheld his piece of wood as a way of getting even with the whites for all they had done to him and his race. And, the fire died as each person withheld their piece of fuel for reasons justifiable to them. This story was originally told in a poem that ends with these tragic lines: "Six logs held fast in death's still hand was proof of human sin; They did not die from the cold without; they died from the cold within." (4) The wealthy people in our story were cold within, but ...

556. If You Are The King Of The Jews . . .

Luke 23:26-43

Children's Sermon

King Duncan

... insurance purposes. "A Number 1" was the highest rating, and quickly caught on in English society as a way to signify any person, place or thing that was of superior quality. The phrase was sustained by its use as a brand name for steak sauce originally developed for Kind George the IV. The King's personal chef developed the condiment, and popular legend has the King exclaiming "This sauce is A-1!" after his first taste. The chef manufactured the sauce privately after the King's death, ultimately making a ...

557. Who's Your Daddy?

Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

King Duncan

... as moms are important. A number of slang phrases entered our vocabulary in the 1990s. Phrases like, "Don't go there!" "Duh!!" "Get Over It," "Whassup," and "Whatever!" One of those popular slang phrases is, "Who's your daddy?" The origin of this phrase is unclear, but "Who's your daddy?" appears to have originated on urban basketball courts. It is meant as a putdown. It's a way of saying, "I'm better than you." "Who's your daddy?" has always been an important question in human society. That's why the Gospel ...

558. Would You Please Listen To Me?

John 1:1-18

Children's Sermon

King Duncan

... says on it . . . (Read the appropriate part.) This paper means that it is official. I am a minister. I enjoy being a minister. I believe this is where God wants me to be--serving as your minister. The other day, however, I ran across the original meaning of the word "minister." It originally meant, "a lowly person." How would you like to he thought of as a lowly person? We all like to think we are important, don't we? We like to think we are special. None of us wants to think of ourselves as lowly. It was ...

559. Casting Out Demons

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

... But there is yet another demon that troubles many of us. AND THAT IS THE DEMON OF EMPTINESS. At the center of our lives there is a void that only God can fill. There is a famous myth in Plato's Symposium. This myth was told to explain the origin of love. This myth says that, at first, human beings were round with four hands and four feet, and one head with two faces looking opposite ways. These primitive pre-human creatures could walk on their legs if they liked, but they also could roll over and over with ...

560. Finding Peace

John 20:19-23

Sermon

King Duncan

... . According to Strand, it really should read, "I will never, no, not ever, no never leave you or forsake you!" It is a synergistic compounding negative. It's a forever never which has no exceptions! Then he asks, "What does "˜leave' mean?" He says that in the original Greek it means "to leave behind, to abandon, to give up on, to send back." Well then, so far our verse will read: "I will never, no not ever, no never leave you behind, abandon you, give up on you, or send you back!" Finally he asks, "What ...

561. Maturity In Christ

Colossians 1:27-28

Sermon

King Duncan

... you must be servant of all; if you want to be the greatest, become like a little child, if you would save your life, then you must lose it. Cheryl and Charlie could have invested their money in a lot of other things--including that new car that had originally been their focus. Do you think in a million years that car would have brought them as much joy as their investment in a happy-faced, but starving little boy from Africa? If you think any of the things Madison Avenue tries to sell us could have brought ...

562. The Sower and the Seed

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

Brett Blair

... as he drove down the road, had the weeds and thorns indeed taken over the garden. Much to his surprise and total delight, however, he discovered that the garden was in tact and more beautiful than ever. What had happened? Just a few months after he had filmed the original story a Korean lady drove by and stopped at the park. She too was met by the kindly old man. She said that she didn’t really want to go through the entire garden but he insisted. A few weeks later, after she had returned to her home to ...

563. To Hell and Back

Luke 15:1-7

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... (p. 286) Perhaps there is hope, then, even in hell! I want to talk more about that later; but there are many of us who simply cannot conceive of the God of infinite love described by Jesus, in the role of commandant of an eternal concentration camp! But originally the phrase in the Creed meant simply that Jesus really and truly died. This not only made His resurrection even more remarkable, but it demonstrated the lengths to which God was willing to go to show His love for us. What is it that St. Paul said ...

564. What on Earth Is the Trinity?

John 14:15-31

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... stands beside us to give us strength.Again, who is to doubt that the Church, and all of us who are within the Church, could use an mextra portion of spiritual strength? Last week I sent off to the publishers a manuscript of a book on the origins of the United Methodist Church in the Wesleyan Revival of the eighteenth century in England. Believe it or not, one of the nick-names given to the early Methodists was The Enthusiasts. It was not intended to be a compliment. They were looked upon as being weirdos ...

565. Through the Eyes of an Eagle (Introduction)

John 20:24-31

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... . I believe that there are many things in His teachings which differ drastically from the Essenes. But there was a theological climate in the first century which was shared by more than one group within Judaism. So perhaps the Fourth Gospel, whatever its origin, may have had a very early date - perhaps even being written at the same time the other three “synoptic” Gospels were committed to writing. I find it most interesting that scholars who live and work in the Holy Land tend to give strong credence ...

566. Grace Is Not a Blue-eyed Blond

John 1:1-18

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... the punishment for us. As the old gospel song put it, “Jesus paid it all.” Many people believe that this is the one and only Biblical notion of forgiveness. Thus it may come as a surprise to learn that this concept is of relatively recent origin, and was propounded by Anselm of Canterbury in the 11th century. There are some Biblical passages which can be adduced which seem to support this view of the atonement, but our relationship to God cannot be described by simply quoting a few Bible passages out ...

567. Born Again? When?

John 3:1-21

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... to have been “born again.” Commenting on the 1980 election, satirist Andy Rooney asked, “If a person is born again does that mean that he gets to vote twice?” Interestingly enough, this whole business of a new birth is not original with Christianity. The ancient Greek “mystery religions” talked a lot about being born again. The initiates into those religions usually went through a long course of preparation which included fasting, meditation, and instruction. Then they participated in a dramatic ...

568. The Thirteenth Apostle

Acts 9:1-19a

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... fellow Jews who did not believe in Jesus, and in Romans 9-11 came to the theory that they are still God’s people, and Christians are also God’s people, but only through the grace of God, and should therefore not feel themselves superior to God’s original people. Paul believed that it is only because of God’s gift to the world in Jesus Christ that the doors of the kingdom have been opened to all, and so he became uniquely the “apostle to the Gentiles.” There are those who believe that Paul’s ...

569. A Sign for a Sign

Mark 8:11-13

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... made a terrific impact on him. He learned so many things he never knew before - and one of them was that St. Mark’s Gospel has TWO feeding stories instead of one! Why? Some scholars consider them a “doublet.” That is, they believe that there was, originally, only one feeding story, one tradition, but that in passing it down, Mark got hold of two copies of it, or heard the story twice. And so it is the same event. But there are some significant differences. There are some indications that this was a ...

570. Only the Abba Knows

Mark 13:32-37

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... word for God was “Abba.” New Testament scholar Joachim Jeremias is the one who has raised our consciousness about all the word implies. Abba was the term infants employed in addressing their male parent. Its more proper modern equivalent would be: “Daddy.” It was originally a babbling sound, far too immature and childlike to be used in prayer or theology. But Jesus so used it! To speak of God as Abba conveys the sense that God is no longer stern and distant, but close and loving. What is the “Abba ...

571. On Keeping Quiet about Easter

Mark 16:1-20

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... author called away to more important things—called to do something for Jesus instead of merely writing about Him? Why was the Gospel unfinished? Did the ending get torn off of the most ancient manuscripts? We do not know. All we know is that originally, Mark’s Gospel ended with the disciples struck dumb with amazement. “And they went out and fled from the tomb for trembling and astonishment had come upon them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.” (Mark 16:8) Prof.Lamar Williamson ...

572. Holy Thursday

Mark 14:12-26

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... Christians celebrate the Eucharist or Holy Communion, they recall who they are and whose they are. And they do this again and again, for we so easily forget. Some time back I was talking with best-selling author Father Andrew Greeley about our need to rediscover our origins in Judaism, and I told him, with a modicum of pride I am afraid, that in the church which I was serving at the time we celebrated the Passover annually. He replied, with a twinkle in his eye, “I do it daily!” Talk about one-upmanship ...

573. The Lord's Prayer: Deliver us from Evil

Matthew 6:5-13

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... up in people who are different from us, but sometimes it shows up in our own inner circle. YOU CANNOT DEFEAT EVIL BY COOPERATING WITH IT. Dr. Calvin Miller, whom I have already quoted, further shares in his book, OVERTURE OF LIGHT, the story behind the tale of the origin of evil in the heaven and how God had to expel the presence and the person of evil from it. Dr. Calvin Miller writes on page 114, "I met a man who kept two heads, And thus he really kept two minds. His heads fell into quarreling And bit ...

574. Nightline

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... of the Christian faith in relationship to the question of evil lies not solely in explanation of the origin of evil, but in the power that God gives to us through the resurrection of Jesus Christ to overcome evil and render it invalid. I want to ... share in closing a story about the origin of the custom we modern day people have of putting tinsel on our Christmas trees. According to William Barclay, this legend comes from ...

575. Hissing in the Garden

Genesis 3:1-24

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... out to touch, it becomes deadly to us. (5) In verse one of the third chapter of Genesis, it reads, "Now, the Serpent was more subtle than any other wild creature that the Lord God had made." However, in my research this week I discovered that in the original Hebrew account it does not say that there was a snake in the Garden of Eden. The Hebrew word used is "nachash" which means literally to shine or the shining one. If you read it that way, an entirely different being emerges. "Now, the shining one was ...

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Showing 551 to 575 of 3852 results

551. Why We Gather At The Table

Exodus 12:1-30

Sermon

Eric Ritz

552. He Touched Me

Mark 1:40-45

Sermon

King Duncan

553. All That From A Little Bit Of Water?

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... retirement we are going back to his earliest sermons and renewing them. The newly modernized sermon is shown first and below, for reference sake, is the old sermon. We will continue this updating throughout the year bringing fresh takes on King's best sermons.] Original Title: All That From A Little Bit Of Water? New Title: All That From A Little Water There was the Baptist minister who, at his first baptism, became stage-struck. Standing in the baptismal pool with the candidate for this sacred rite, the ...

554. A Great Love Story Gone Awry

Genesis 24:1-67

Sermon

King Duncan

555. On "supersizing" Our Vision

Mark 12:41-44

Sermon

Siegfried S. Johnson

556. If You Are The King Of The Jews . . .

Luke 23:26-43

Children's Sermon

King Duncan