Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 626 to 650 of 1409 results

626. Home Economy

1 Kings 17:7-24

Sermon

Alton F. Wedel

This style of home economy is difficult to find today. In fact, the story that God spreads before us as our diet for this harvest Sunday is so far removed from the complexities of poverty in our society, the issues of world hunger, and the problems of production that it seems a legend, something out of this world. Things like this don’t happen any more. We would hardly want to teach this style of home economy in our home economics classes. Much to our regret and loss, God seems to have been sent off into ...

627. Greatness

Mark 9:33-37

Drama

Robert F. Crowley

Theme: The kingdom of God is different than any other. To be first in the kingdom you must be servant of all. Summary: Peter, James, and John want to be great and they are arguing about their achievements. Jesus sets them straight. Playing Time: 3 minutes Setting: The Holy Land Props: A small black book Costumes: Peasant, first century Time: The Time of Christ Cast: Peter James John Jesus JAMES: (ENTERS CARRYING A SMALL BLACK BOOK) I've got the list right here. You'll see. PETER: (ENTERS) Throw that list ...

628. The Dynamic Word

Isaiah 55:1-13

Sermon

T. A. Kantonen

"The whole life and substance of the church," said Luther, "is in the Word of God." To the Reformer the Word of God was something much more than a collection of sentences or a set of beliefs. It is the living voice of God himself as he speaks to us, revealing, reconciling, energizing, creating, and sustaining the church. This is precisely the way scripture, both the Old Testament and the New, describes the Word of God. Let us examine this dynamic Word, observing first the dynamic nature of the Word, second ...

629. When You Reach Wit’s End

Psalm 107:1-43

Sermon

Gregory J. Johanson

Ray Balcomb's Ph.D. is in New Testament studies. He is the author of many books and until his recent appointment as a District Superintendent, his weekly sermons were distributed nationally where they were well-known for their classical three point construction and supportive illustrations. His sermon included here was preached to the congregation of the First United Methodist Church in Portland, Oregon, where he had been senior pastor from 1963 to 1982. Balcomb concludes the volume, dealing with the ...

630. Creeds or Deeds

Mark 7:1-23

Sermon

Brett Blair

Rev. David Chadwell posed a rather interesting question: Which would you prefer for a next-door neighbor: a person of excellent habits or a person with a good heart? Which would you prefer for a good friend: a person of excellent habits, or a person with a good heart? Which would you prefer for a husband or a wife: a person of excellent habits, or a person with a good heart? Which would you prefer for a child: a child with excellent habits, or a child with a good heart? It is wonderful to have a neighbor ...

631. God With A Human Face

John 1:1-18

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

After only a week of married life, a young husband had to leave his bride to fight in the war. Though they were a half- world apart in distance, they frequently exchanged letters and occasionally he would send her a gift to remind her of his love. Then one night there was a sudden and unexpected knock on her door. Cautiously she opened it and to her amazement there stood her soldier-husband. On his face was a grin that extended from ear to ear. They ran into each other's arms and laughed and cried with the ...

632. You Are A Name!

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

Today a name does not seem to mean much. We glibly ask, "What is a name?" As children we chanted, "Sticks and stones can break my bones, but names can never hurt me." A person's name is only a label, a mark of identification. A name answers the question, "Who are you?" Because a name seems to mean little in our time, some give their children odd names. One had the name "Miss Ima Hogg." One mother named her daughter "Alpha Omega" because she was her first and hopefully her last child. A black child was ...

633. When the Sermon Turns Sour

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

William G. Carter

I want to let you in on an industry secret. Ready? Most preachers have a difficult time preaching in the congregations where they grew up. It is true for me. I was recently invited to preach in the church where I grew up. My mixed feelings about the invitation were justified. Before anybody heard a word I said, they remembered little Billy Carter, who made paper airplanes out of worship bulletins and dropped them from the balcony when nobody was looking. Even the newcomers who joined long after I moved ...

634. Secondhand Religion

1 Kings 17:7-24

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

The life of Elijah is filled with fascinating experiences that help us to see God more clearly and live on a higher plane. Today’s Scripture reading is a good example of that. In a nation whose laws required its citizens to provide for the prophets, God used saucy, impudent birds noted for their thievery and dirty lifestyle to feed Elijah. “The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening” (1 Kings 17:6). Ravens live off dead carcasses and steal food stored up by ...

635. Twelve O'Clock Rock: When the Jailhouse is Rocked

Acts 16:16-40

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

The prisoners and the jailers had their world rocked one midnight 2,000 years ago. The report includes the following details: 1:00: Paul and Silas while on their way to a place of prayer see a slave girl who was popular for telling the fortunes of others. She made much money from this enterprise and a fortune for her owners. Each day she would go to the town square and as people passed by she would shout out her readings of their future. Some revered the slave girl for the accuracy of her predictions. ...

636. Mr. Smith Goes to Jerusalem

John 20:1-9

Drama

Dave Marsh

Director's Notes: "Easter. So What? What does it mean to me today?" Perhaps someone you know has asked you these very questions. Many people don't understand what the empty tomb means to them. Of course, it means that Jesus is alive and we now have hope for an eternity with Him. It also means that the same Jesus who had power over death has the same power to transform our lives. The family in this drama learns the hard way that they haven't taken the time to think about what the empty tomb means to their ...

637. Middle C

John 1:1-18

Illustration

Lloyd C. Douglas, author of The Robe and other novels lived in a boarding house when he was a student. On the first floor of the house there lived a retired music teacher who was confined to a wheelchair. Every morning as Douglas went down stairs he would stick his head in the music teacher's room and ask his friend; “What's the good news?” To which the music teacher would respond each day by striking a tuning fork against the side of his wheelchair and saying; “Middle C! Hear that, it's middle C! It was ...

638. The Healing Power of the Resurrection

Mark 16:1-20

Sermon

James W. Moore

IMPORTANT NOTE: The illustration that opens this sermon about Mel Gibson is not true. It is an urban legend. It has no bases in fact. Some years ago, a hard-working man took his family from New York State to Australia so he could take advantage of a job opportunity there. One member of this man’s family was a handsome young son who dreamed of joining the circus. He wanted to become a trapeze artist or actor in the circus. This young man, biding his time until a circus job or even one as a stagehand came ...

639. Choosing the Way to the Cross

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon

James W. Moore

Recently I ran across a story that absolutely amazed me… and yet it’s a story that may well represent the “cater-culture-give-‘em-what-they-want world” in which we now live. A church wanted to improve attendance at their major worship services, so they hired a powerful advertising agency to come in, study their situation, and make recommendations. The ad agency did their research… and then suggested to the church that they should get rid of all the crosses in the church… because the crosses might send a ...

640. The Ten Commandments #4: The Sabbath

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Let me tell you a story.(1) It seems a young Martian was studying comparative anthropology and, in preparation for a doctoral dissertation which was long overdue, made a quick flight down to earth in his flying saucer to check on the habits of the residents of the planet. He could not get too close or make any prolonged inspection because his work had to be submitted in just a few days, so time was of the essence. He had made a fortunate choice of days and locations - a fine summer Sunday over the United ...

641. Remembering the Good Old Days

Numbers 14:1-10a

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Some of you may remember the name John Gilbert, a famous actor of silent film days, a "sexy" leading man. His career declined with the advent of "talkies" because his high, thin voice was not at all what folks had imagined of this great screen lover. Gilbert was once called on short notice to play the role of the heroine's father in a Chicago production. He learned his lines in record time, but was still struggling to remember the name of his character, Numitorius, when the play opened. A colleague ...

642. Super Sunday

Deuteronomy 5:1-33

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Super Sunday. Super Bowl this afternoon. Are you going to watch? Most of us will, even those who have little interest in football. The Super Bowl, as an annual spectacle, has transcended its own sport and becomes the focus of national attention beyond reason. Churches recognize the impact. In bulletins across America today are no doubt a zillion sermon titles similar to the one in our own. On PresbyNet last week was the description of one of last year's services on Super Bowl Sunday. The ushers were ...

643. Dealing with Depression

1 Kings 19:9-21

Sermon

David E. Leininger

One of the reasons I love the Bible is that it is not afraid of the truth, even the sometimes sordid truth about its heroes. Abraham was a liar. Jacob was a thief. Moses had a murderous temper. King David was an adulterer. Heroes of the faith, everyone of them, but the Bible refuses to gloss over their shortcomings. It shows them "warts and all." We find another "wart" in our lesson from I Kings - one of the greatest of the prophets - Elijah. To briefly recount the background of the story, three years ...

644. Remembering Charlie

Job 38:1--41:34

Sermon

David E. Leininger

The story of Job is familiar to all of us - a man whose world was spinning merrily along with everything falling into place suddenly confronted with one misery after another... disaster, death, disease, despair. In some of the most moving poetry ever written, chapter after chapter attempts to deal with the age-old question of why, so often, life is so unfair. People still wrestle with the issue. Did you happen to catch the season finale of "The West Wing" last week?(1) Great show! The scene was the ...

645. A New Look at an Old Treasure

Psalm 23:1-6

Sermon

David E. Leininger

"The Lord is my shepherd..." Probably as well-known and well-loved as any phrase of scripture: the twenty-third psalm. Generations have memorized it, in Sunday School or at the knee of parents or grandparents. It is one of the first Bible passages we learn, and, as often as we hear it funerals, it is among the last words said over us when we die. A wonderful affirmation of our faith in God's ability to protect. "The Lord is my shepherd..." There is an old story out there of the man who, in the midst of a ...

646. There's No Such Thing as Too Much Sugar

Psalm 91:1-16

Sermon

David E. Leininger

The Archangel Michael. We meet him here in Revelation as commanding General of God's forces in heaven. We meet him in the book of Daniel as the guardian of the nation of Israel,(1) who, together with Gabriel, fought against the prince (the angelic patron) of Persia. Then we meet him once more in Jude 9 where we read of a strange dispute between the devil and Michael over Moses' body. We meet him today on the liturgical calendar - in some church traditions, today, September 29th, is the Feast Day of St. ...

647. Thank God, We're Not Alone!

Psalm 133:1-3

Sermon

David E. Leininger

"How good and pleasant it is when brothers [and sisters] live together in unity." A good thought...togetherness. That is one of the reasons I enjoy the church. As we gather together for worship, I am reminded that I am not alone. Not only that GOD is with me, but that other PEOPLE are with me...YOU are with me. I need that. It is strange, you know. As important as it is to us, we do not often celebrate togetherness. We gather at Thanksgiving time and express our gratitude for so many things...for food, for ...

648. Going Fishing

Mark 1:14-20

Sermon

David E. Leininger

An old-timer sat on the river bank, obviously awaiting a nibble, though the fishing season had not officially opened. A uniformed officer stood behind him quietly for several minutes. "You the game warden?" the old-timer inquired. "Yup." Unruffled, the old man began to move the fishing pole from side to side. Finally, he lifted the line out of the water. Pointing to a minnow wriggling on the end of the line, he said, "Just teaching him how to swim."(1) Mark Twain once spent a pleasant three weeks in the ...

649. The Nightmare before Christmas

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

David E. Leininger

What a week! The confluences of history have flowed together as never before. On the one hand, bombshells in Baghdad; on the other, bombast in Washington. For someone who is as much of a history buff as I am, these would seem to be exciting times, but instead they are just sickening. As one congressman noted in the impeachment debate on Friday, this is "The Nightmare before Christmas." Under normal circumstances, you would have found me glued to the tube on Friday and Saturday. After all, this was history ...

650. The Original "Average Joe"

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Do you know the name Melana Scantlin? She is a former NFL cheerleader, a former Miss Missouri. She is beautiful, she is blonde, she is brainy. Melana is the beauty who squared off against 16 "beasts" in television's latest surpassingly strange reality series, "Average Joe." The premise for the show was that, while it is a no-brainer to be attracted to a hunk with washboard abs and $50-million in mutual funds, it is something else to fall for someone who is plain and unexceptional, a toothy geek with a ...

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