Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 551 to 575 of 1967 results

551. Epiphany: A Faith to Work Miracles

John 2:1-11

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

I consider it divine good fortune that we have a scripture lesson so early in the year which encourages us to ponder a miracle. You and I need to become more sensitive to the possibility of miracles. Such a sensitivity will help us recognize present miracles, which we either do not see or which we take for granted; and it will prepare us to receive still more miracles. Walt Whitman felt that "each part and tag" of his own person was a miracle, and that "a mouse is miracle enough to stagger sextillions of ...

552. If the Shoe Fits, Wear It

Matthew 4:18-22, Matthew 4:12-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

On a recent trip I noticed that my wife had one suitcase for clothes and another suitcase devoted wholly to shoes. No, her name is not Imelda. Her name is Elizabeth. Since I habitually travel with one pair of black loafers and one pair of brown loafers, this seemed a mite excessive, but not surprising. The floor of Elizabeth's closet looks like it belongs to a well-shod centipede. So I suppose it's only natural that a large segment of that shoe population should travel with her. Men and women appear to ...

553. The Weakest Link

1 Timothy 1:12-20

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Am I the only one left who gets embarrassed watching other people stand up and make fools of themselves? I cringe when anyone is caught on camera and on-mike saying and doing stupid things. I close my eyes when someone on television gets tongue-tied, looks ridiculous, or just generally exposes their humanity. I even get squeamish and decide it's time to pour another cup of coffee when Al Roker starts chatting up the crowd lined outside "The Today Show" broadcast window. But the rash of "reality TV" ...

554. John 2:1-11

John 2:1-11

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

In the middle of January it is imperative to dress in layers. The past week a bitter cold blasted its way through the mid-section of the US and even sank its icy claws into the citrus crops in Florida. That meant layers of warm winter clothing were necessary just to survive. Layers help us in two ways. First, they block cold air from penetrating to our skin. Second, they keep skin-warmed air trapped next to our body, which is the real source of the warmth. Not the layers, but the heat from our bodies keeps ...

555. A Friday We Call “Good”

Hebrews 10:16-25

Sermon

David O. Bales

After our last trip to Israel, a number in our group met to share photos and memories. Several of us said that we didn't respond favorably to the elaborate Byzantine and medieval church buildings. They made none of us feel particularly worshipful. We'd rather be outside and see the place something like it was when the folk of the Bible were there. Yet, our visiting Jerusalem and seeing the places was sufficient for us because we already have our times and places that make us feel worshipful. The tragedy ...

556. Looking for Jesus?

John 20:1-18

Sermon

John Smylie

The Lord is risen! The Lord is risen indeed! As we review the gospel text, we discover that it's much easier for us to say that than it was for those first disciples who encountered the empty tomb. We have been given the rest of the story while they are still discovering the joy and wonder of the events that are unfolding right before them. The first Easter didn't start off clear and wonderful. Mary Magdalene didn't rush off to the tomb dressed in her finest outfit with a corsage attached to her blouse, ...

557. The Failure of Israel’s Leadership

Luke 11:37-54

Teach the Text

R.T. France

Big Idea: Those who should be leaders of the people of God have lost their way spiritually, and judgment is inevitable and imminent. Understanding the Text In 5:17–6:11 Luke recorded a series of events that reveal how Pharisees and scribes disagreed with Jesus over matters of legal interpretation and religious practice (see also 7:30, 36–50). Now Jesus takes the initiative in criticizing these two groups. The resultant standoff, with Jesus denouncing the leaders as ripe for judgment and the leaders ...

558. House of Stone

Psalm 118:1-29, Isaiah 18:1-7, 1 Corinthians 3:1-23, 1 Peter 2:4-12

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Prop: Visuals of Mosaic, Stone Altars, Basalt Stones, Fitted Stones, Pearls, Coal Formed Rough Diamonds Unlike a quilt, formed from unique but uniform patches that have been previously storied and designed, a mosaic uses natural stones, each differently shaped and of different sizes and edges each with a fossilized backstory, and fits them together into one communal living story. Their design evokes a communal memory. For early Jewish people, the art of mosaic was a way to remember biblical stories and to ...

559. Clean and Unclean

Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

Some think that the purpose of science fiction is to predict the future, but those tend to be people who don’t read science fiction. In fact, science fiction is sometimes written to prevent the future by holding a mirror to our society to show us truth. Once we get over being startled we realize that we’re looking at ourselves. In 1957, the science fiction writer Isaac Asimov published a short story called Strikebreaker. In the story a human society of around thirty thousand individuals lives inside of a ...

560. The Silence Broken, The Bride Restored

Isaiah 62:1-12

Sermon

Robert A. Hausman

"For Zion's sake I will not keep silent" (v. 1). The issue here is silence, the silence of God. Our text comes from the section of Isaiah which is usually dated during the time of rebuilding after the return from exile. It is from the part of the tradition called Third Isaiah. It reflects a time of great discouragement. Israel lived and worshipped among ruins. Foreign overlords seized the harvest of the fields and the fruit of the vineyards, while the people went hungry (62:8). Enemies continually ...

561. Share Your Unique Story

Acts 10:23b-48

Sermon

Richard Hasler

The ageless comedian George Burns once told how a church amateur contest started him in show business more than 90 years ago. When he was only seven years old he and three other Jewish kids from the neighborhood organized a singing group and called themselves "The PeeWee Quartet." In those days growing up in New York City a large department store, Siegel and Cooper, used to hold an annual picnic. The highlight of the festivity was an amateur contest involving churches throughout the city. Near where George ...

562. The Witness Of A Member Of The Crowd Who Shouted, "Crucify"

Drama

Dann J. Ettner

Invocation Hymn Responsive Dialogue 1 Corinthians 2 P: When I came to you, brothers, I did not come witheloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimonyof God. C: We have not received the spirit of the world but thespirit who is from God, that we may understand what God hasfreely given us. P: For I resolved to know nothing while I was with youexcept Jesus Christ and Him crucified. C: This is what we speak, not in words taught us by humanwisdom but in words taught by the Holy Spirit, ...

563. Ash Wednesday

Matthew 6:19-24, Matthew 6:16-18, Matthew 6:5-15, Matthew 6:1-4

Bulletin Aid

RobertT D. Ingram

Note: What reward do we seek from God? Financial security? Respect of others? Success in achieving our goals? What Jesus offers is eternal life in God's kingdom, starting now. Greeting Leader: Shhhhh. Don't attract attention from others. Come quietly before your Father in heaven, who sees in secret and will reward you. Congregation: We are here, Father, not to be praised by people but to praise you with our whole-hearted devotion. Prayer Holy God, we come not to be informed, but to be formed. We come, not ...

564. Proper 13

John 6:25-59, Psalm 51:1-19

Bulletin Aid

B. David Hostetter

CALL TO WORSHIP Come into God's presence with a clean heart, with a new and right spirit, indeed in the discipline of the Holy Spirit from me. PRAYER OF CONFESSION Giver of manna, Breaker of bread, Creator of the new, it is true that we still do what we have not learned from Christ. We can be hardhearted when we should be forgiving. We can be selfish when we should be willing to share. We can be greedy and complaining when we have enough to get by. We can be as unscrupulous in our dealing as if we did not ...

565. Have You Accepted Jesus' Invitation?

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon

George Johnson

This morning I want to talk to you about becoming a Christian - the invitation of Jesus to come and follow him. It is not my intention to judge who is or is not a Christian, or criticize anyone's experience of salvation, or to suggest that you are not already a member of God's family. My intention is rather to allow this text to speak clearly to us about Jesus' invitation. My purpose is to give voice to Jesus' call to discipleship. I approach this text from Matthew with a few assumptions, a few underlying ...

566. The Road To The Cross

Matthew 27:11-26

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

Passion Sunday, the whole story of the dastardly plots and betrayals that brought Jesus to the cross, lies before us. You know the story well. It is filled with a number of subplots, all of which provide insights about the kind of people that we are and how our sins nailed Jesus to the cross. We see how the disciples (especially Judas and Peter, as well as the sons of Zebedee), each in his own way, failed our Lord. In similar ways we have failed him. We hear the story of our Lord's courage, his love of ...

567. The Master Has Come - To Face Jerusalem

Mark 11:1-11

Sermon

Thomas A. Pilgrim

During the last part of the nineteenth century there was a well-known preacher in England named Thomas Cook. He was going to preach in a certain town over a weekend. The people who were to keep him in their home talked about him so much their maid got sick of hearing about him. She went to the butcher shop on Saturday and mentioned all the fuss to the butcher. She said, "You would think Jesus Christ was coming." But, the preacher captivated her too with his messages about the Master, and on Sunday night ...

568. Servants Without Fiber

Isaiah 42:1-9

Sermon

Donald Macleod

A biblical scholar once remarked: "One of the most common expressions in the Old Testament of the relationship between humankind and God is contained in the words ‘serve,’ ‘service,’ and ‘servant.’ " What comes to your mind when you hear any one of these words? What do you think of when you hear the word "servant"? A flunky? A gofer? A Victorian called "Jeeves"? Someone with no mind of his or her own? A person who lacks fiber and is easily a patsy for someone else to use or "lord it over"? Unfortunately, ...

569. Going Down to Look Up

2 Kings 5:1-27

Sermon

Curtis Lewis

Our story opens with Naaman, the military Chief of Staff of the Aramean army. Naaman is a very great man who has received the favor of the King of Aram, Syria, because of his victory over Israel. Anytime Israel lost a battle or a war, the disaster was felt to be the hand of God at work. In the theology of ancient Israel, no foreign army could be victorious over Israel unless it was God's will. As we read this story in 2 Kings 5, we come to the conclusion that Israel's defeat is in accordance with the will ...

570. God Who Is Mighty Has Done Great Things

Luke 1:46-56

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Sometime ago a woman from Houston was out in Los Angeles visiting some relatives. While there, she went to an ice cream shop and ordered an ice cream cone. As she was sitting there at the counter, waiting for her cone, she happened to glance to her right. Who should be there, right next to her, but Paul Newman! She couldn't believe it! He had been her heart throb and dream boat for years. She was crazy about him. And there he was, sitting on the stool right next to her, close enough to touch. But she didn' ...

571. Costly Extravagance

John 12:1-11

Sermon

Frank G. Honeycutt

"Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?" Well, it's not a bad question. Judas may have been a thief and informant, he may have embezzled money from the common purse occasionally, he may have had other motives besides the high moral road he seems to project, and he probably really didn't give a fig for the poor. But isn't he basically right? Couldn't the pound of expensive perfume dumped on Jesus' feet have been used for a better purpose? I must admit that I ...

572. The Devil Takes Visa

Isaiah 55:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Our five-year-old, Soren, attends the local Montessori preschool for kindergarten. Her classroom is a delightful mix of about 20 3-, 4-, and 5-year-old children. At home, with just three kids, pandemonium seems to be a normative state. Despite closets, toy boxes, and floor sprawl that says the opposite, there are never enough toys to go around, never enough things for everyone to be satisfied. Yet every time we arrive to collect Soren from school the children in the classroom are going about their business ...

573. The True Feng Shui Life

Matthew 14:22-36

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Our world has been shaped by one image. It may be the most powerful image to come out of the 20th century. If you were asked about the most important image of the 20th century, what would you pick? Here is my pick . . . [if you use screens]. The one picture that did the most to transform our perception of this world was that look-back at Earth from the tiny port-hole window in the first Apollo mission to the moon. Dangling in the bleak blackness of space was this beautiful blue-ball planet — with swirling ...

574. Does Jesus Have a Health Plan?

James 2:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Back-to-school time is lay-down-the law time. As all the kids go back to school, Moms and Dads are busy laying down the ground rules to help make it a successful year. Little ones get instructions on crossing the street, holding hands, and eating their lunch. Middle-school kids get cautionary tales about bullying behavior, harder homework, and budgeting their time. High school students get lectures on safe driving, curfews, and the looming threat/promise of college — which means “buck down and buckle-down ...

575. Reassessing Our Laughter (Series: Questioning Our Values)

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

On that tragic Tuesday of September 11, 2001, a New York City parish priest standing on the corner of 14th Street and 1st Avenue witnessed the first terrorist plane plunging into the Twin Towers. “I stood there in shock and disbelief,” says the priest. “Without fully comprehending what was happening, I walked into the church and said the morning Mass.” Normally, about a hundred persons attend this weekday service. That morning there were several hundred. The Gospel reading for the day was, “Blessed are you ...

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