Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 676 to 700 of 4934 results

676. Voluntary Blindness

Matthew 6:1-15

Sermon

Herchel H. Sheets

"Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing." That sounds impossible, doesn’t it? Wholeness was a major emphasis of Jesus’ message, was it not? Is he here asking us to become split personalities? No, with purposeful exaggeration he is simply emphasizing that "theatrical virtue does not count in the Kingdom of God,"1 and that we, therefore, should pay little attention to our good deeds. Some of the people among whom he lived were doing just the opposite of that. They were "religious" ...

677. An Understated Masterpiece

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

Thomas Long

Some people are masters of understatement. They are able to communicate the size, power, or importance of something, not by flapping their arms wildly and loudly piling one hyperbolic adjective on top of another, but by the slight arch of a single eyebrow and the deft choice of a muted phrase. Masters of understatement. There are, for example, relatives of mine in the South who still describe the American Civil War, a war of immense destructiveness and tragic proportions, by pursing their lips and speaking ...

678. 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 ...

679. The Lord's Prayer: Thy Kingdom Come

Matthew 6:5-15

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Have you been watching the Olympics? I have...some. I am a sports fan. And even though these winter events do not have the same appeal for me as some others, I still watch. I am glad that Dan Jansen finally won a medal. After so many tries, on his last ever attempt, he came through. Strange, isn't it - here is a man who is recognized in speed skating as the best sprinter in the world, but just because he had never won an Olympic medal, people asked, "What's wrong with Dan?" Just three weeks ago, the most ...

680. Hope Wins!

Revelation 21:1-27

Sermon

King Duncan

The scene is a church camp in Illinois with about 100 kids and various counselors. Jim, the camp director, and Frank, the maintenance director, are away from the camp on business. The next day they return to camp to find everyone gone. Everyone. Gone. There are no campers or counselors anywhere. Empty kayaks float out on the camp lake. An electric typewriter is left on. In it is a sheet of paper. It looks like someone has stopped typing in mid-sentence. But the strangest thing is the clothes. Everywhere ...

681. More Than A Mannequin; Not Quite A Masterpiece

Acts 4:32-37

Sermon

King Duncan

One of my favorite pieces of humor is the blooper. These unique manifestations of our humanness appear from time to time in newspapers, magazines and even church bulletins. Often they are typos that give a whole new meaning to a sentence or a phrase. Kathleen Hunzeker in Kimball, Nebraska noticed this item in the President's Report of the First English Lutheran Church of Kimball: "We as a congregation have achieved many accomplishments. We have been truly blessed in our missions and ministry. All of the ...

682. The Gift Has Arrived

Isaiah 61:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

I read recently about a woman who had waited till the last minute to send Christmas cards. She rushed into a store and bought a package of 50 cards without really looking at them. Still in a big hurry she addressed 49 of the 50 and signed them without reading the message inside. On Christmas Day, when things had quieted down somewhat she chanced to run upon the leftover card and finally read the message she had sent to 49 of her friends. Much to her dismay, it read like this: "This card is just to say A ...

683. Aren't You Glad?

Mark 16:1-20

Sermon

Anne-Rose Reeves

Pastor Jones, at St. Michaels Lutheran Church, wasn't quite sure just how to put his Easter sermon together. And believe me, it wasn't for lack of advice and study. At the last council meeting, the church president had jokingly told him he hoped that this year's Easter sermon would finally say something significant to all those "Christmas and Easter Christians" who show up only twice a year and only put a dollar in the plate. "Pastor, tell them how much money it takes to keep this building in good repair, ...

684. Annie's Gift

Mark 12:41-44

Sermon

King Duncan

Annie tried to keep her feelings of distress from showing. Why was it so hard? For seventythree years she had been struggling to keep her feelings to herself. That was how she was brought up. "Don't make a scene, Annie," her father would say to her. "Show them you've got some backbone." And she had listened. No matter how much she hurt inside, she was usually able to keep her emotions bottled up. Only once had she failed. It was when Frank died. Frank had been her life. Forty years they had been husband ...

685. Jesus and the Baptists

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

A little girl who normally attended another Sunday School happened to attend a Methodist Sunday School one week-end, while visiting her grandmother. In the course of the morning she heard a number of things she wasn’t quite sure about, but when the teacher said that Jesus was a Jew she responded, “Maybe Jesus was a Jew, but God is a Baptist!” Of course, God isn’t a Baptist; and neither was John the Baptist, for that matter. That is why the Revised Standard Version calls him “John the Baptizer”...to avoid ...

686. Return to the Father

Joel 2:12-17

Sermon

Elizabeth Achtemeier

Karl Barth once remarked that the greatest tragedy in human life would be to come to the end of our days and to realize that we have been totally worthless in the purpose of God. Or in the thought of our Epistle lesson, at the end to realize that God has poured out his grace on us through all our years, and yet we have done nothing with it (2 Corinthians 6:1). It is that "end" that the prophet Joel is preaching about in our Old Testament lesson, the end of our lives, and in fact, the end of human history. ...

687. The Model of Success

Luke 16:1-15

Sermon

Mark Trotter

Some of you know that the church is involved inevitably in matters of business. In some churches, particularly smaller churches, the ministers take a very important role in administering the business side of the church. This church decided not to do that with its minister. Its business affairs are managed by the Board of Trustees and the Finance Committee. They have done a wonderful job, and I congratulate them. I am not allowed to manage the business affairs of the church, but I am still interested in ...

688. Taking You Up with Him

Colossians 3:1-4

Sermon

Richard W. Ferris

"If I go down, I'm taking you down with me." We've all heard that line. It's been used in movies and on television shows. We've seen it written in books and even in real-life news articles. Maybe we've even had it said directly to us. Somebody is in big trouble, and they are not going to face the punishment without involving someone else in their suffering. Sometimes there's even a line that follows: "That's not just a threat; it's a promise," just to let us know that they are not bluffing. If they are ...

689. Worthy of God

1 Thessalonians 2:9-13

Sermon

Rick Brand

It seems fair to say that the saints of the Lord have always shown us what it is to be worthy of God. It is why we remember them and rejoice for them. They have shown us what a life worthy of God might look like. To talk about the saints, we may talk about Kagawa in Japan, about Mother Teresa, about Bishop Tutu and Nelson Mandela, about D. T. Niles in India, and about Saint Patrick in Ireland. To know the stories of Dorothy Day in New York City and Oscar Romero in Latin America is to have examples of what ...

690. The Gift of Newness

2 Corinthians 5:17-20

Sermon

James McCormick

What picture pops into your mind when someone says the word, “church”? Is it a picture that quickens your pulse and stirs your blood? Or, is it a picture more likely to encourage a snooze? Is it characterized more by excitement and adventure? Or more by dullness and predictability? If we are talking about the first century church, those questions are easy to answer. Those first century Christians became so excited about their message that onlookers accused them of being drunk. They became so energetic ...

691. The Servant Leader

John 13:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

Actress Mae West produced many memorable quotes, some of them quite naughty. It was she who said, “Between two evils, I always pick the one I never tried before” and, “Any time you’ve got nothing to do and lots of time to do it come on up.” Her most revealing quote however is the theme of many celebrities today, “I never loved another person the way I loved myself.” That is a typical celebrity attitude. However it is not true of every celebrity. Veteran television star Tom Selleck seems to have avoided the ...

692. Proper 17

Psalm 81:1-16, Hebrews 13:1-25, Jeremiah 2:1-3:5, Luke 14:1-14

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

Honor Or Humility Emily Post was a well-known expert on etiquette. She would tell you the proper table manners to observe. Her advice helped a person to be gracious in polite society. She told you not to put your elbows on the table -- and so did your mother probably -- and not to talk with your mouth full. She also told you which knife, fork, or spoon to use. Jesus also had some words about table etiquette. They had less to do with how to behave in polite society. They had to do with the proper ...

693. Foreshadowing

John 12:1-11

Drama

Pamela Urfer

Cast: Jesus Mary Lazarus Judas Length: 7 minutes JESUS, LAZARUS and JUDAS are seated on stools. They mime eating. JESUS: This is a great dinner, Lazarus. Thanks for inviting us. LAZARUS: You should thank my sisters. They did most of the work. JESUS: I certainly will. JUDAS: You spent way too much on the food, Lazarus. We should eat more frugally and give what is left over to the poor. Don't you agree, Lord? JESUS: Another time we will, Judas. But this is a special occasion. JUDAS: Special occasion? What ...

694. Salvaging Our Lives

Genesis 29:15-30

Sermon

If you have ever made an in-depth investigation of your family history, a genealogy, then you probably came across some ancestors who would qualify as so-called "black sheep of the family." Among my own ancestors my father came across a family will dating back to shortly before the Civil War. In that will it speaks of my great-great-great-grandmother selling off slaves. In fact, the will indicates that the slave family she owned was to be divided up at her death. When I first heard about this I was shocked ...

695. Speaking Truth to Power: The Ministry of Nathan

2 Samuel 11:1-27

Sermon

Robert Noblett

In the wake of David’s affair with Bathsheba, God was not content to let matters lie, and it fell to the prophet Nathan to be God’s living word to David. A Horrendous Task How about it? Would you want to have been Nathan? When he realized what it was that God wanted him to do, it must have inaugurated more than a few anxiety attacks. I know it would have for me. Not that kings should be given that kind of power, or in fact have that kind of power, or even on the inside, feel they have that kind of power. ...

696. What's In The Final Exam?

Matthew 25:31-46

Sermon

George Johnson

When I was serving as Director of the Hunger Program for the former American Lutheran Church, I preached at various congregations on Sunday mornings. They would often ask me, "Should we read the Matthew 25 passage for the scripture lesson?" This text is a favorite for any gathering around hunger and poverty issues. I've used it often when I speak about hunger. But the text has a far greater scope and purpose than to muster up a concern for hungry people. The story was not told by Jesus as a fund-raising ...

697. The Pitfalls Of Practicing Piety

Matthew 6:19-24, Matthew 6:16-18, Matthew 6:5-15, Matthew 6:1-4

Sermon

John M. Braaten

I have never liked the word "beware." It always seems to be written in intimidating block letters which suggest life-threatening consequences. The word brings to mind an experience I had as a 12-year-old paperboy. Entering a customer's yard I encountered a collie which, without provocation, charged me with fangs bared, knocking off my glasses and hurling me to the ground. I still remember its moist, rancid breath in my face. Hearing my screams, neighbors came and rescued me. That event not only changed my ...

698. Foreshadowing

John 12:1-11

Drama

Pamela Urfer

Cast: JESUS, MARY, LAZARUS, JUDAS Length: 7 minutes JESUS, LAZARUS and JUDAS are seated on stools. They mime eating. JESUS: This is a great dinner, Lazarus. Thanks for inviting us. LAZARUS: You should thank my sisters. They did most of the work. JESUS: I certainly will. LAZARUS: You spent way too much on the food, Lazarus. We should eat more frugally and give what is left over to the poor. Don't you agree, Lord? JESUS: Another time we will, Judas. But this is a special occasion. JUDAS: Special occasion? ...

699. Advent 4

Isaiah 7:1-25, Romans 1:1-17, Matthew 1:18-25, Psalm 24:1-10

Sermon Aid

CSS

THEOLOGICAL CLUE A quarter of a century ago, there was a movement in Great Britain by the Joint Liturgical Group to move Christmas (and other festivals, too) to a Sunday to encourage greater attendance and participation in the festive worship. This did not happen formally (in fact, the anticipated 1980 merger of the Anglican Church with several Protestant communions did not occur, either), but the Fourth Sunday in Advent, through liturgy and lections and popular piety, has clearly taken the shape of " ...

700. No Sooner Said Than Done!

Isaiah 55:1-13

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

"For the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and return not thither but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it." Words! Words! Words! Today we are bombarded on every side and saturated throughout with words coming to us through press, radio, and TV. There are 490,000 ...

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