Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 576 to 600 of 1138 results

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... , bringing form to our fruit, should never be mistaken for the mission itself. The fruit of Christ may be expressed in an incalculable number of ways. And not all expressions will be palatable to all people. Beauty, truth and goodness find form in a variety of ways. The opera diva whose exquisite rendition of Aida can send some souls soaring. It sends others scurrying as far and as fast as possible. A weekend wilderness camping trek with a scout troop would be a heavenly conception for some. For others ...

577. The Whole Shebang in Six Words

John 11:38-44

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... , a Ph.D. at 20 from Caltech, proposes that instead of looking for more and more complex theories to creation, we should be looking for simpler ones (primitives, he calls them). Complex results do not require complex designs. A simple 8 bit code could produce variety and randomness on a huge scale using what he calls cellular automatons. All of creation, Wolfram argues, could be based on only 4 or 5 lines of programming code. How's this for a simple line of programming code: "And God said, "' Let there be ...

578. Drop It!

John 6:25-59

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... You can teach a dog to sit, to lie down, to roll over. But to drop it? [Ask a couple of your parishioners who have dogs trained to drop it to bring their dogs to church and go through the drop it routine with them. Experiment with a variety of items that become increasingly difficult to drop, ending with a steak bone.] Jesus' entire teaching was punctuated with one Drop it! after another. Jesus said to the disciples, "DROP IT!" "Don't worry about what you will eat or drink. Is not life more important than ...

579. Atlas or Jesus?

1 John 1:1-4

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... own. The one who loved the world so much that he died for the sake of all creation holds us gently, firmly, tenderly, in the palm of his hand. 1 John's advice to his readers is to walk in the light. But light falls into a tremendous variety of spectrums. The rainbow hues of different light frequencies make each of our journeys unique, illumined by a place on the spectrum that compliments our needs, suits our eyesight, shines ahead on our path. 1 John's caution is to avoid treading off the lighted path into ...

580. What to Do with Yesterday - A Sermon for a New Year

Psalm 103:1-22

Sermon

James McCormick

... to learn when we moved to Big Canoe was how to deal with our garbage. We learned very quickly that if we just let it sit there, it would begin to stink up our lives. It would invite all sorts of pests. It would make our lives unpleasant in a variety of ways. So, as a matter of regular discipline, we had to pack it up, load it in the car, and take it to the dump. We had to get rid of it. Of course, there is more than one kind of garbage. The kind of garbage we put into ...

581. The Church on Main Street

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

James McCormick

During my years of ministry, church buildings have been located in a variety of places. There was Monterey Road, Clinton Boulevard, Culver Avenue, Gibbs Street, Duarte Road, Hardy Street. And in 1982, for the first time I became pastor of a church on Main Street. I’ve always thought that is where the church should be – not off on some side street somewhere - ...

582. The Imperishable Dream

1 Corinthians 9:1-27

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... search for the next American Idol has drawn more viewers in this, its fifth season, than ever before. Traveling from city to city, holding open auditions, giving everybody their chance to compete for the big title, produces an expected variety of results. Some contestants are outstanding, but not necessarily talented. These are left out, standing and often crying. Some contestants have that special something, that charisma that brings audiences to their feet. These go to Hollywood. Some contestants have ...

583. 1 Corinthians 1:3-9

1 Corinthians 1:1-9

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... in strength. In verse 7 Paul closes his first theme. He expresses thankfulness for the Corinthians' spiritual gifts by introducing the timely observation that they're waiting for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul links these spiritual gifts their variety, their function in the community and their source both to the present and to the not-yet-fully realized eschaton. This reminder of the yet-to-come fulfillment enables the apostle to praise the giftedness of the Corinthians while subtly suggesting ...

584. The Lonesome George Church

Matthew 4:23-25, Matthew 4:18-22, Matthew 4:12-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the past 10 years. These churches were near death, and yet came back from the brink. What brought them back? Here is a summary of his book Comeback Churches: How 300 Churches Turned-Around, and Yours Can, Too (Broadman & Holman, 2007). From variety of denominational perspectives, the same three “faith factors,” he called them, cropped up again and again: 1) Renewed faith in Jesus Christ and the church’s mission in the world. In other words, these churches “re-discovered” the unique voice of Jesus ...

585. Cha-cha-cha Christians: The Dance that Advances

2 Peter 1:12-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... . Each distinct dance form comes to life, and showcasing its own unique grace is the goal of each dancing couple. My waterloo on the dance floor is the waltz, which makes a dance like the “Cha-Cha-Cha” such a wonder. The dancers can move in a variety of ways, add a succession of steps, but must always be ready to stomp out the rhythm of the “cha-cha-cha” when it comes along. Couples can separate, innovate, gyrate, spin-around — as long as they come back together and re-affirm that central, driving ...

586. Advent 2

Matthew 3:1-12, Romans 14:1--15:13, Isaiah 11:1-16, Psalm 72:1-20

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