Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 576 to 600 of 1185 results

576. God, The Venture Capitalist?

Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... what they had was taken away. In every game there is a buzzer, a whistle, a finish line, a bell that rings signaling the end. Then winners and losers are announced. So will come a day in each of our lives. A trumpet will sound from on high. We will cease all commerce. We each shall stand before the Lord, and we shall give account of our stewardship. The text says some of us are given five talents, others two, some of us one. We're not all equally endowed. But a man shows who he is by what he does ...

577. Faith's Curious Dynamic

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... its citizens forced into exile. But amid the dirges is a short passage that seems a departure from the gloom of the rest of the book. Here it is: But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. - Lamentations 3:22-23 This eruption of hope in the bleak landscape of defeat and destruction occurred because though the people of Judah and Jerusalem had sinned against God and ...

578. Predictable Surprises

Matthew 24:36-51

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... , not the angels in heaven, not even the Son, is privy to the divine timetable for the coming eschaton. Only the one who determined when the clock would start knows when the clock will stop. Only the Father knows the moment when the days of this world will cease. Jesus knew that if the budding faith community bound itself to some fixed timetable, it was doomed to failure - a failure in fact, a failure in faith. It was to faith in the word of God, it was to faith in the Father's providence and grace, that ...

579. Don't Fit In, Fit Together

Philippians 3:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... together so perfectly that we take the miraculously coordinated symphony of systems for granted--as long as they function flawless. We call this state health. We call this state fitness. It's only when something goes wrong, something malfunctions and the body ceases to be perfectly in tune with itself, that we become aware. We call this altered, bad-fitting, uncoordinated state disease. We call his physical unfitness. The systems that had worked so well, that had fit together with such harmony to create ...

580. The Difference between Happiness and Joy

1 Peter 1:1-12

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... which happiness and joy are different. 1) Joy is a command. "This is the day the Lord hath made; let us rejoice and be glad in it" (Psalms 118:24). "Rejoice in the Lord, always, and again I say, rejoice" (Philippians 4). "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you" (1 Thessalonians 5:16). 2) Joy holds on and holds out. Happiness blows off and on, hot and cold. Happiness is fleeting; joy endures. Christians can maintain a spirit ...

581. Soren's Heart

2 Timothy 3:10--4:8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... examples of confessional statements concerning Yahweh" (John Noble Wilford, "Solving a Riddle Written in Silver," The New York Times, 28 September 2004, F1.). (You may want to pass out little amulets this morning with this prayer on it to remind your people to pray without ceasing.) In today's epistle text Paul's life and ministry is used to demonstrate to Timothy, and to other Christians who face suffering and failure (that's to say, ALL of us), the response of faith. At this point in the apostle's life he ...

582. Keep on Praying

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... transformation take place. What's missing in your life? Is it the courage of persistence? Is it the power of prayer? Are you searching the skies for cargo? Or are you searching the Spirit in prayer without ceasing? Prayer is the spiritual terminology for these words: "Lift off." Prayer is "lift off" for living. Christians are imperfect, humble people who love sacrificially, forgive generously, welcome unconditionally, act irrationally, live gratefully, listen constantly, and pray persistently . . . which ...

583. The FUD Club: Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt

2 Thessalonians 2:13-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... had ever faced-—a sweeping epidemic of the “Black Death”, the dreaded bubonic plague. The death toll from this plague was astronomical. Nearly half the population of major cities and towns were wiped out throughout Europe. Smaller communities, once infected, simply ceased to exist. The Indian tribe that discovered Columbus in October of 1492 would die of the plague. All of them. Follett’s novel makes a startling observation about the fate of religion during plague times. The medieval church lost not ...

584. Don't Forget the Mustard

Luke 17:1-10

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the blood supply to the affected area, allowing the body to work more efficiently at carrying away toxins, speeding digestion, easing sore muscles, and generally accelerating the body's own healing abilities. Fevers broke, lungs cleared, headaches subsided, muscle cramps ceased...when a good strong mustard plaster was applied. Today we have relegated mustard to the door-rack of our refrigerators. [Here is where you need some samples. If you can get everyone in your congregation a mustard packet, great. But ...

585. Set Life Free

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... once more. "Wait a minute, Possum," he said. "You can't make the seeds grow. You can only make sure they get sun and water, then watch them do their work. The life is in the seed, not in you." As the truth sank in, the opossum ceased his yelling and began to care for the seeds as the raccoon instructed, watering them regularly and getting rid of any weeds that invaded his garden. (On some days, though, when no one was watching, he still shouted a bit.) Then one glorious morning the opossum wandered outside ...

586. ASAP

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... moved, valleys made smooth, rivers made crossable, the inaccessible made accessible, the impossible made possible, dreams come through to the one who prays. Then why don't we pray? Jesus said that we ought always to pray. So why don't we pray? Paul encouraged prayer without ceasing. Then why don't we pray? The riches of heaven are open to those who pray in his name. Then why don't we pray? Everyone can pray, the young, the old, the rich, the poor, the strong, the weak, the child, the aged, the sinner, the ...

587. Go Meditate!

Revelation 19:1-10

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... nail polish, burps and other bodily functions, rolled eyes and crossed arms, messy rooms and sleep-overs. Love never fails. But where there are memories of thousands of diaper changes and painful labor(s), they will fade away. Where there is talking back, it will (eventually) cease. (Please, Lord?) Where there's a teenager who thinks he knows everything, there will one day be an adult who knows you did your best. For we know we fail our children, and we pray they don't end up in therapy, but when we get ...

588. Prayer

Matthew 11:1-19

Bulletin Aid

Stephen Brown

... we will not listen for hope. We are lame and lost… afraid to walk among the darkness in the streets, refusing to pass by the battlefields, given up marching for peace. We are speechless and lost… we no longer utter harsh truths, we stopped naming the wrongs, we ceased lifting our spirits in prayers. We are lost in the wilderness… O God. We look and do not see. We listen and do not hear. We walk and get nowhere. We talk and do not speak. We wander blindly while the world needs vision. We wander deafly ...

589. The Candles of Advent - Year A

Bulletin Aid

Richard J. Fairchild

... which will come when he returns to judge the world. Bless our worship that it may be pleasing unto you, and bless us that we may prove to be your faithful servants. Amen. SONG: A Candle is burning, a candle of peace, a candle to signal that conflict must cease: for Jesus is coming to show us the way; a message of peace humbly laid in the hay. RETURN TO YOUR SEATS AS SONG IS SUNG THE THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT: WHITE GIFT SUNDAY - JOY INTROIT - O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel, that mourns in ...

590. Get Out of Your Big Pickup Truck!

John 12:20-36

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... discarded shells of other creatures. They find a shell, move in, eat, and grow. Then they get to this point, after they've scuttled around and eaten enough seaweed, that they've gotten big enough to need another shell, and if they don't find another shell, they cease to grow, and eventually die. The decision to move [is] a critical point in the life of a hermit crab. If they decide to go to the other shell, they take this moment of risk where they move beyond the protection of one shell into the other shell ...

591. Lord, Teach Us How to Pray

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

James McCormick

... life, ours must be a matter of discipline as well. There must be a definite time set aside each day for prayer. Certainly that is not the only time we pray. Our goal is to reach the place, as Paul put it, when we pray without ceasing; that is, we are aware of God wherever we are, whatever we are doing. But that consciousness begins with daily, disciplined prayer. That becomes the fertile soil out of which all other prayer grows. One reason daily discipline is so important is that prayer, like anything ...

592. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

1 Thessalonians 5:12-28

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... of the other philosophies so popular in the first century (Stoicism, pantheism, Gnosticism), Paul identifies a continual state of joyfulness as one of the particular marks of the Christian faithful. 2) Next the apostle directs the Thessalonians to pray without ceasing identifying yet another definitive Christian attitude. All religious advocates identified prayer as a means of addressing the deity. But Paul emphasizes that for Christians prayer isn't so much an activity as it's an enduring attitude and life ...

593. Proper 7

Psalm 86:1-17, Romans 6:1-14, Matthew 10:1-42, Genesis 21:8-21

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

... the threat of fire and sword! A re-reading of Bonhoeffer's The Cost of Discipleship will be helpful homework in preparing to preach on this text. "Those who are still afraid of men have no fear of God, and those who have fear of God have ceased to be afraid of men. All preachers of the gospel will do well to recollect this saying daily" (p. 195). The exhortation to confess Christ before the world is certainly pertinent in a society that is as embarrassed by verbal professions of faith, however mild (unless ...

594. Proper 11

Mt 13:24-30, 36-43 · Rom 8:12-25 · Ps 139 · Gen 28:10-19a

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

... Before thy throne of grace: Great God of Jacob, be the God Of each succeeding race. Through each perplexing path of life Our wandering footsteps guide; Give us each day our daily bread, And raiment fit provide. O spread thy covering wings around, Till all our wanderings cease, And at our Father's loved abode Our souls arrive in peace. To thee as to our Covenant-God Our whole selves we'll resign; And this not as a tithe alone, For all we have is thine. Responses to the epistle and preparations for the Gospel ...

595. Proper 27

Joshua 24:1-27, Psalm 78:1-72, 1 Thessalonians 4:13--5:11, Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon Aid

Soards, Dozeman, McCabe

... the first place as a gift from God, new life comes to us afresh as another gift from God. In Christian thought we do not have souls that are trapped in our bodies and waiting to be released at death. Instead, we are souls, and at death our creaturely existence ceases. The good news of the gospel is that God does not allow death to destroy the creatures whom God made and loves; rather, God acts in Christ to give us new life, not so much preserving us as re-creating us. It is easy to be distracted or to ...

596. Christmas Gifts That Always Fit

Luke 2:8-20

Sermon

James W. Moore

... year when we did this, our family members mentioned family, friends, food… and June’s good results from her chemotherapy. We got all the way around the table and finally, our granddaughter, Sarah, was the last one. She always rises to the occasion and never ceases to surprise… so she said: “I’m thankful for Mimi, for family, for friends, for food, and for those world famous words, ‘Let’s Dig In!’” Well, actually that’s what the season of Advent is for. It helps us to “dig into” the ...

597. Passing the Peace

John 14:27

Illustration

Jeremy Rebman

... but pointed letter on his firm's letterhead. "I am writing to complain about the congregational ritual known as 'passing the peace,' " he wrote. "I disagree with it, both personally and professionally, and I am prepared to take legal action to cause this practice to cease." When the pastor phoned to talk with the lawyer about the letter, he asked why he was so disturbed about sharing the peace of Christ. The lawyer said, "The passing of the peace is an invasion of my privacy." And, in the Pastor's response ...

598. True Communication

Acts 2:1-41

Illustration

Will Willimon

... there was any way in which the acid might be harmful to the pipes. The plumbing manufacturer wrote him back. "Thank you for your letter. The effect of such acid upon ferrous-constructed materials is certain to be deleterious. We therefore strongly urge you to cease such activity in the interest of the future of your plumbing." He read their letter and responded, thanking them for their letter, telling them that he was relieved that he was doing the right thing in using the acid on the pipes. Another letter ...

599. The Messiah Is Among You

Matthew 10: 24-39

Illustration

William White

... his face with his hands and began to cry, too. For the first time in his life, he cried his heart out. The two men sat there like lost children, filling the hut with their sobs and moistening the wood of the table with their tears. After the tears had ceased to flow and all was quiet again, the rabbi lifted his head. "You and your brothers are serving God with heavy hearts," he said. "You have come to ask a teaching of me. I will give you a teaching, but you can only repeat it once. After that, no one ...

600. Rewards

Matthew 10:40-42

Illustration

Thomas a Kempis

... Instead, let My promise strengthen and comfort you under every circumstance. I am well able to reward you above all measure and degree. You shall not toil here long nor always be oppressed with griefs. A time will come when all labor and trouble will cease. Labor faithfully in My vineyard; I will be thy recompense. Life everlasting is worth all these conflict, and greater than these. Are not all plentiful labors to be endured for the sake of life eternal? Lift your face therefore to heaven; behold I and all ...

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