Sermon and Worship Resources

Mark 13:1-31

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... living in a secular society but a spiritual culture." We are one of the most religious nations in the industrial world, yet at the same time one of the most secular (Thomas Reeves, "Not So Christian America," First Things, October 1996, 16-21). This double ring can be confusing, as it was in The New Republic (September 12, 1994), where on the same day, and on the same page, one story read "Spiritual Renewal Flourishes" while another story was headlined, "Religion's Influence May Be Fading." Jessica Lipnack ...

677. Hear the Vision?

1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20)

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... living in a secular society but a spiritual culture." We are one of the most religious nations in the industrial world, yet at the same time one of the most secular (Thomas Reeves, "Not So Christian America," First Things, October 1996, 16-21). This double ring can be confusing, as it was in The New Republic (September 12, 1994), where on the same day, and on the same page, one story read "Spiritual Renewal Flourishes" while another story was headlined, "Religion's Influence May Be Fading." Jessica Lipnack ...

678. The One and Only Original Sin

1 Peter 3:18-22

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... living in a secular society but a spiritual culture." We are one of the most religious nations in the industrial world, yet at the same time one of the most secular (Thomas Reeves, "Not So Christian America," First Things, October 1996, 16-21). This double ring can be confusing, as it was in The New Republic (September 12, 1994), where on the same day, and on the same page, one story read "Spiritual Renewal Flourishes" while another story was headlined, "Religion's Influence May Be Fading." Jessica Lipnack ...

679. The Trace of Grace

Ephesians 2:1-10

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... living in a secular society but a spiritual culture." We are one of the most religious nations in the industrial world, yet at the same time one of the most secular (Thomas Reeves, "Not So Christian America," First Things, October 1996, 16-21). This double ring can be confusing, as it was in The New Republic (September 12, 1994), where on the same day, and on the same page, one story read "Spiritual Renewal Flourishes" while another story was headlined, "Religion's Influence May Be Fading." Jessica Lipnack ...

680. Count Your Wows!

Luke 21:5-38

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... living in a secular society but a spiritual culture." We are one of the most religious nations in the industrial world, yet at the same time one of the most secular (Thomas Reeves, "Not So Christian America," First Things, October 1996, 16-21). This double ring can be confusing, as it was in The New Republic (September 12, 1994), where on the same day, and on the same page, one story read "Spiritual Renewal Flourishes" while another story was headlined, "Religion's Influence May Be Fading." Jessica Lipnack ...

681. Waging Wisdom

James 3:13—4:8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... living in a secular society but a spiritual culture." We are one of the most religious nations in the industrial world, yet at the same time one of the most secular (Thomas Reeves, "Not So Christian America," First Things, October 1996, 16-21). This double ring can be confusing, as it was in The New Republic (September 12, 1994), where on the same day, and on the same page, one story read "Spiritual Renewal Flourishes" while another story was headlined, "Religion's Influence May Be Fading." Jessica Lipnack ...

682. Wanted: A Lasting Marriage. Only Good Chemists, Bad mathematicians, Expert Soul-O-Flexors Need Apply

Mark 10:2-16

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... from her, as well as from a second wife, and is in another relationship. Glenn Stanton says that we have gone from "till death do us part" to "satisfaction guaranteed or your money back." Between 1960 and 1990, the American divorce rate more than doubled. Forty percent of all American children can expect to experience the divorce of their parents. In a culture that has made the shelf life of husbands, wives and families as disposable and perishable as a fresh container of milk, any marriage without an ...

683. The Great Postmodern Soul Train

Mark 13:1-8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... living in a secular society but a spiritual culture." We are one of the most religious nations in the industrial world, yet at the same time one of the most secular (Thomas Reeves, "Not So Christian America," First Things, October 1996, 16-21). This double ring can be confusing, as it was in The New Republic (September 12, 1994), where on the same day, and on the same page, one story read "Spiritual Renewal Flourishes" while another story was headlined, "Religion's Influence May Be Fading." Jessica Lipnack ...

684. An Advent Attitude

1 Thessalonians 3:9-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... living in a secular society but a spiritual culture." We are one of the most religious nations in the industrial world, yet at the same time one of the most secular (Thomas Reeves, "Not So Christian America," First Things, October 1996, 16-21). This double ring can be confusing, as it was in The New Republic (September 12, 1994), where on the same day, and on the same page, one story read "Spiritual Renewal Flourishes" while another story was headlined, "Religion's Influence May Be Fading." Jessica Lipnack ...

685. Stable-Time

Luke 21:5-38

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... living in a secular society but a spiritual culture." We are one of the most religious nations in the industrial world, yet at the same time one of the most secular (Thomas Reeves, "Not So Christian America," First Things, October 1996, 16-21). This double ring can be confusing, as it was in The New Republic (September 12, 1994), where on the same day, and on the same page, one story read "Spiritual Renewal Flourishes" while another story was headlined, "Religion's Influence May Be Fading." Jessica Lipnack ...

686. The Perfect Time to Lose Your Luggage

Colossians 3:12-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... living in a secular society but a spiritual culture." We are one of the most religious nations in the industrial world, yet at the same time one of the most secular (Thomas Reeves, "Not So Christian America," First Things, October 1996, 16-21). This double ring can be confusing, as it was in The New Republic (September 12, 1994), where on the same day, and on the same page, one story read "Spiritual Renewal Flourishes" while another story was headlined, "Religion's Influence May Be Fading." Jessica Lipnack ...

687. Stand Against or Walk Alongside?

Philippians 2:5-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... confronted Caiaphas. - He stood before Pilate. - He sojourned with Barabbas. - He stumbled to Golgotha. - He took his final journey, up onto the cross. To be a disciple of Jesus the Christ is to live life not standing against, but walking alongside. The life of a disciple is a double movement - a life of dying with Christ and a life of rising with Christ; a life of emptying oneself and a life of utter fulfillment; a life of taking up one's cross and crying and a life of taking up one's bed and rejoicing; a ...

688. Ten Commandments of Trust

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... another human being for directions and trust they are right again. Trust is a scarce commodity. We neither have it ourselves nor expect others to have trust in us. We are trapped in a "trust deficit" that keeps us looking over our shoulders and double-checking our locks. In his hefty new book Trust (New York: The Free Press, 1995), Francis Fukuyama defines "trust" as the expectation that the interests of the whole will take precedence over the interests of a parochial part or small group. This is exactly ...

689. Tremendous Trifles

Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... most terrifying thing about this new breed of super-criminals our culture has created is their age. The most sociopathic, conscienceless, blood-thirsty, remorseless killers, thieves and rapists are typically between the ages of 12 and 18. Sometimes younger. Juvenile crime has doubled since 1960. From 1960 to 1990, the proportion of children born to unmarried mothers ballooned from one in 15 to one in four. New statistics now reveal that for children aged 10-18, the second most likely cause of death is by ...

690. And Again I Say...Amen!

Luke 6:27-36

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... makes nothing happen" (see her review in Times Literary Supplement, 15 November 1991, 29). Chekov complained about critics in these terms: Critics are like horseflies which prevent the horse from ploughing. The horse works, all its muscles drawn tight like the strings on a double bass, and a fly settles on his flanks and tickles and buzzes ... he has to twitch his skin and swish his tail. And what does the fly buzz about? It scarcely knows itself; simply because it is restless and wants to proclaim: "Look ...

691. The Devil's Sermon

Philippians 3:17-4:1

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... . Change can be good or bad. Cancer cells are cells that change, not for the good but for the worse. Change can be diabolical or divine. Paul's pleading to the Philippians to "imitate me" demonstrates just how well he knew the sword of change is double-edged. Paul was changing the church severely _ he challenged both the pagan lifestyles of the Gentiles and the law-fixated actions of the Jews. But all the changes with which people were experimenting were not for the good. Some changes led so far from the ...

692. On Being a Hot-Fudge-Sunday Church

Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... -fudgy slick around the dish. What's more, you can rationalize eating hot fudge sundaes in January because of that warm topping just as easily as you can rationalize eating them in July for the cool ice cream. It is that hot/cold double identity that makes the hot fudge sundae the perfect postmodern dessert. Postmodern culture is in love with combining opposites. Postmodern culture is determined to change our old "either/or" mentality into "both/and" reality. For example, by using the most advanced computer ...

693. Fingerprints of the Soul

Romans 5:1-5

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... or perseverance or we might even say, a kind of inspired stubbornness. It is out of this crucible of stiff-necked stick-to-itiveness that character is derived. From this definition, it is easy to see how the concept of "character" has come to have a double meaning. We speak highly of those who have character; we speak dubiously about those who are characters. Without a doubt, Paul had a prickly "character." Yet no one would argue that Paul didn't live a life of Christian virtue full of power and worth and ...

694. Treasure Hunters

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... 1,500 and 2,000 square feet. Now, if you want to keep up with current standards, something around 4,000 square feet is considered the bare minimum. Bathrooms are now among the larger rooms in these new houses bathrooms replete with saunas, double showers, hot tubs, televisions and (surely Dave Barry will some day write on this one) telephones installed beside toilets. Who is moving into these vast spaces? Surprisingly, "empty-nesters" are the prime buyers. With their kids all grown and settled, and the old ...

695. Luke 24:35-48

Luke 24:35-48

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

The themes Dr. Luke wants to emphasize in his gospel are made clear by double or sometimes even triple stories, replaying essentially the same message. The good news that God has fulfilled all prophecies in the person of Jesus Christ, the fact of the resurrection, and the imperative that the New Israel (the Church) live in the light of this new reality are all truths ...

696. John 3:1-17

John 3:1-17

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... into this serious theological monologue. The typical Johannine discourse formula is followed to the letter in this first pericope. It begins as a dialogue between Jesus and another, in this case Nicodemus. Jesus proclaims a message loaded with double entendre. The other then grossly misinterprets the meaning of Jesus' proclamation. Correcting this misconception takes the form of a long monologue on Jesus' part, where the accurate interpretation of the pronouncement is given and its implications expanded. In ...

697. Mark 5:21-43

Mark 5:21-43

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... now zooms in on a woman stubbornly threading her way through the crowd, moving ever closer to Jesus. She too is seeking healing. This woman's illness is not immediately fatal like the sickness attacking Jairus' daughter. But the nature of her malady packs a double punch. First, she is seriously, chronically ill. How many of us have known someone like her, someone who has "endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and she was not better, but rather grew worse" (vs 26)? To add to ...

698. Philippians 4:49

Philippians 4:49

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... of others. Magnified by magnanimity, believers are to display this spirit of loving acceptance to "everyone" - not just members of their church, or even to all Christians, but to pagans and scoffers as well. Verse 5 concludes with yet another statement with double entendre. Paul proclaims "The Lord is near." But his words are less straightforward than they appear. "Near" can mean either space or time - and for Paul either understanding agrees with his theology. That the Lord is near to you, close by you ...

699. John 20:19-31 [Genesis 2:5-24]

John 20:19-31 [Genesis 2:5-24]

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... Gospel." Second, it uses image after image (John is also called the "I-Am" Gospel), appealing to a visual culture where the perceptual is more galvanizing and mobilizing than the conceptual. Third, it revels in a pervasive irony and reveals a double vision (what the biblical characters see, and what we know must be seen) which speaks to postmodernity's affinity for irony and play. Lastly, it draws from both ancient and contemporary Jewish Scriptures and proves Judaism's extensive drinking at Hellenistic ...

700. 2 Kings 4:8-17

2 Kings 4:8-17

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... remarkably hospitable. We do not find it all that surprising that someone would go to such trouble to provide an occasional lodging place for the great prophet Elisha. After all, his renown has been carried through the centuries; he is the prophet with the "double portion" of power. But consider this woman's efforts if the "man of God" she seeks to make comfortable is just another nameless worker, never famous, his true identity lost to us forever. Yet the Shunammite woman recognizes a "holy man," an honest ...