Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 626 to 650 of 3160 results

Mark 6:1-13

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... we are faced with doing something we’ve never done before or daring a risk we are not prepared to take. Some of us may be daring sorts, who simply go off and do that thing! But if you are like the most of us, it’s not that easy. And in fact, the older ... to stay where we are in life, we also, no matter how hard we try, cannot seem to move forward into a different sort of place. We are just “stuck.” Chris Germer, the co-founder of a program called “Mindful Self-Compassion” says that when we ...

627. Public Sex

Mark 10:2-16

Sermon

Will Willimon

... gospel sing at some little church. The college students who are there with Habitat do a lot of sitting on the porch in the evenings. We just have a beer and sit and talk." ''Millard Fuller doesn't mind if you have a beer?'' I asked.. ''Well, I guess he sort of looks the other way. But you can't sleep with each other," she said. ''Really? Is that because Millard is a Presbyterian?'' I asked. ''Doesn't want people to have a good time?'' ''No. I don't think so," she said. ''Millard says that there are just too ...

628. Down by the Riverside

Mark 1:4-11 · Genesis 1:1-5

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... we need to remember that wearing a wedding ring doesn't make you married any more than being baptized makes you saved. To extend the parallel, if a person, especially a woman, doesn't wear a wedding ring, most people assume that the person isn't married. That's sort of the way it was in New Testament times. If a person wasn't baptized, you could probably assume he or she wasn't a believer. But like a wedding ring, baptism is such an effective symbol, that it should never be taken for granted. A wedding ring ...

629. Fathers Need A Giant Sized Faith

1 Samuel 17:1, 4-11, 19-23, 32-49

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... . If there was trouble the father would be there. The son might have thought he was all alone, but his father was behind him all the way. (3) Like that father and son, knowing that God is with us is a great comfort. People are able to face all sorts of giants when they know that God is with them. Like David, we need to depend fully upon God. CONCLUSION: The story of David and Goliath was being taught in five-year-old Sunday School class one Sunday. In explaining the story to the children, the teacher asked ...

630. For The Love of God Is Empowering

Matthew 22:36 -40 · John 4:1-32

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... . It might be your birthday. It might be your anniversary or the day you got a promotion. It might just be one of those surprise sort of special days that come along in life. But it's one of those special days, everything about it is right. To top it off, ... of them wouldn't even travel through the area unless the absolutely had to. Jews and Samaritans didn't mix, it was sort of like putting cats and dogs together. There was a long standing religious dispute about where they were supposed to worship. They ...

631. Why the Greatest?

Mark 12:28-34

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... one who is wrong has to confront their neighbor and confront the wrong. When the chapter in Leviticus tells us, “You shall reprove your neighbor,” you have to bring things out into the open in order to solve the problem. We don’t always like to do this sort of thing. We don’t want conflict or confrontation in the church. But true neighboring means you have to be open about these things and face the issues squarely. You can’t solve this by wishing it would go away. If you do, you may end up doing ...

632. In the Wilderness of Temptation

Mark 1:9-15

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... all about. After his baptism by John, Jesus went into the Judean Wilderness where he was tempted for forty days and forty nights. That's sort of the Biblical way of saying we really don't know how long but it was a real long time. Mark says that the Spirit ... ) It's funny how we accept the little things, the little thefts, the little lies. We don't think they amount to much so we just sort of over look them. But each time we give in to one of the small temptations, each time we let one of the little things go ...

633. A New Beginning

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... are not totally satisfied with the way things have happened in life. We wish things were different, better. Americans still have hope (sort of). Our feel-good, therapeutic ethos and its media gurus say it is possible, especially if we buy the right products, network with ... enough important people, and make wise investments.[2] But what we do will not provide this sort of security for which we yearn. In line with Paul’s warning in Romans 7:18b-19 that we are trapped by ...

634. A Caring Woman

Acts 9:36-43

Sermon

King Duncan

... letter. She wrote, “I’ve often realized that it takes courage to care. Caring is dangerous . . . It leaves you open to hurt and to looking like a fool . . . I have found many places in my own life where I keep a secret store of indifference as a sort of self‑protection.” (4) That’s interesting, don’t you think? “A secret store of indifference.” Do you think that’s why our world seems less compassionate these days? Do you think we’ve lost the courage to care? Do we keep a secret store of ...

635. Your Ordination

Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

Sermon

Will Willimon

... . From these stories I draw a couple of conclusions: 1. Ministry is a gift of God. It is not our idea. It is God's idea. 2. Ministry is a gift of God through the descent of the Holy Spirit. We are given the Spirit in baptism, not for some sort of personal comfort (though we well may receive comfort from the Holy Spirit) but rather so that we might be empowered to participate fully in the ministry of Christ in the world. 3. Ministry is a gift of God to all the baptized. The church which had on its bulletin ...

636. Amazing Grace

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

Will Willimon

... I'm a preacher not a probation office. Finally, the meeting ended. I'm heading for the door and pass this unshaven, beefy sort of person propping up a wall who says to me, ''That was a killer sermon today." I was stunned. ''You, go to church?'' ''Sure. I ... 'm there most every Sunday. Sit on the back row. George (he gestures toward this other unshaven sort of person in an inappropriate tee shirt next to him) goes with me. George said he liked your sermon a couple of weeks ago ...

637. The Power Of The Resurrection

Revelation 1:4-8

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... as full members.[1] Where are the fruits? Where are the fruits in our lives? Why don’t we feel them? Why don’t we feel the fruits of the resurrection on a daily basis in our lives? Is it possible that Jesus really has not risen? In trying to sort out this set of problems, in trying to come to terms without doubts or at least our lack of enthusiasm about our faith, the book of Revelation is a good place to start. Revelation was written to Christians who felt some anxiety about their faith. We may not be ...

638. Fear and Blessing

Psalm 128:1-6

Sermon

Will Willimon

... to myself, this is the church, not free babysitting. “Are you new in town?” I would ask them. “No, we've been here for some time. But we haven't started looking for a church until now. Of course, we don't really feel the need for this sort of thing for ourselves. But with Susie starting school and ballet and all, we thought it would be good to bring her now.” That used to really get me. Statistics show that the average American couple becomes active in the church when its eldest child reaches school ...

639. Lamb and Wolves

Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

Sermon

Dave Zuchelli

... did in a helter-skelter manner. It appears that, after his disciples and followers had received a fair amount of preparation from him, he began to send them out ahead of him. From what we can tell in scripture, Jesus would send them out as advance men of sorts to the towns and villages to which he was about to travel. He sent them in pairs and gave them some pretty wild instructions. First of all, he warned them that there was a large harvest out in the hinterlands, but there were very few people going into ...

640. Disabled

Luke 13:10-17

Sermon

Dave Zuchelli

... on the sabbath, and any self-respecting Jew would observe that law. The leader of the synagogue obviously felt that healing was some form of work. There were doctors of sorts back then. They were “physicians” who, at best, were people who used herbs, spices, and oils to attempt healing. At worst, they were shamans of a sort and used incantations and magic spells. Either way, they had to “work” to attempt a healing. So in the synagogue leader’s defense, this judgment would have been correct in ...

641. If It Had Been a Snake

John 1:29-42

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

... of psychological studies. Alejandro Lleras is a professor of psychology who studies what he calls “inattentional blindness,” or the ability to miss something obvious. He believes that our brains have developed highly selective ways of scanning and sorting information. And this scanning and sorting function in our brain works more efficiently if we “create biases against certain images it deems distracting.” My keys couldn’t possibly be right in front of me or I would have noticed them earlier. So ...

642. Sharing God's Vision

Acts 2:1-21

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

... Trans World Radio. Mahesh began listening to the program in his own Hindi language, and the message changed his life. As he says, “God filled me with joy.” Today Mahesh is a member of a small Christian congregation in his rural town. He says, “(God) helped me sort out my problems and my life became a testimony for people going through depression.” (6) At Pentecost, God sent the Holy Spirit on a group of believers to fill them with the mind of God and enabled them to share the truth of God with grace ...

643. With Burning Hearts

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

April Yamasaki

... of the blue pieces in one pile, all of the red pieces in another pile, all of the dark pieces together, and so on. For this initial sorting, he wasn’t concerned whether a blue piece was part of the sky or part of the water, or if a dark piece was part of a ... , or the Golden Gate Bridge, or something else, but that would be enough for me. Just as I don’t have the patience to sort hundreds of pieces into colors, I don’t have the patience to scrutinize the picture to find just the right spot for a single ...

644. Weeds

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Sermon

William G. Carter

... by self-interest and twisted out of shape by evil. So if you think you might be pulling up the weeds, you could end up destroying the wheat, the good crop of wheat. This is why we need a Savior, somebody who sees clearly and ultimately will do the final sorting. The day will come, said Christ, when the fisherman’s net has caught all kinds of fish, and the good will be separated from the bad. (Matthew 13:47-50) The day will come, he said, when the sheep will be separated from the goats, all on the basis of ...

645. The Contestant

Matthew 14:22-33

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... underdog, but the only “honor” upheld is that of one person’s ability to outthink or outmaneuver another. Whether dueling men or game show contestants though, both events issue from some sort of provocation, dispute, or challenge, in which something (honor, superior acumen, or strength) must be proved through some sort of testing procedure. The idea of truth through testing for the purposes of striving to “win” in a dispute comes from a much earlier definition of “contestant.” In 1600s France ...

646. Hark, The Herald... What?

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... an angel nonetheless. His name is John. That’s right, the same John that we met in last week’s lesson who gained fame of sorts by baptizing folks in the Jordan River after calling on them to repent of their sins. The John we meet today is actually the same ... of the text is on the message, the messenger is rarely described in detail. Thus, the divine emissary may or may not be some sort of supernatural being. He or she might even be dressed in a camel’s hair tunic cinched with a wide leather belt. To be ...

647. More Than Just Image

Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

... perfect color, sheen and grill pattern. By the time the hamburger was ready for the photo shoot, it was not fit to be eaten. (1) Of course, a little bit of food styling is nothing to worry about. We all know that advertising agencies use all sorts of tricks to make products look better than they really are. But what about using tricks to manipulate our perception of people? In 1988, Bob Dole and George H.W. Bush ran against each other in the Presidential Republican primaries. And it was, like most political ...

648. We're On the Move Now!

Sermon

Ronald Love

... of his sins and was then an active Christian. The man said he owed his conversion to Wesley. To this remark he replied, “Oh no, my friend, not to me, but to the precious blood of Christ that cleanses us from all sin!” We do not want to regret the sort of life we are living. And we certainly don’t want to live a licentious life thinking we can make a death bed confession. Even though the sun is shining, the birds are singing and the air is cool, we must remember that the days for Christ return have ...

649. You're In the Army Now

Ephesians 6:10-20

Sermon

Will Willimon

... and Jerry Falwell running loose, I wouldn't sleep well if I were you.” “We're always having to tell our kids, ‘That's fine for everybody else, but not for you. You're special, you're a Jew. You have a special story, a particular way of life. That sort of talk is fine for everybody else, but not for you. You have your own values, your own way of looking at things.’” I said to him, “Rabbi, you won’t believe this, but I heard very much that same conversation last week right here in my own church ...

650. Jews and Christians: All in the Family

Romans 15:4-13

Sermon

Will Willimon

... we are trying to be. If I am to welcome the Jew, I must welcome the Jew as a Jew, in all his or her differences and he or she must welcome me in the same way. We cannot render up our belief in Jesus as the Christ as a sort of guilt payment for our past sins against the Jews. That solves nothing. Right after I came here, I received a rather irate phone call • from a faculty member who complained about something one of the fundamentalist Christian groups on campus had done. I tried to tell him that those ...

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