Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 676 to 700 of 1230 results

Matthew 18:23-35

Sermon

Shirley Gupton Lynn

... failures and begin again. Sometimes we fail in our ambitions. I saw a sampler: Ambitions: To grow up To fill out To slim down To hold it in To heck with it. Many of us expect to complete our education, hold a certain kind of job, be in an ideal family situation. But it doesn't always work out as we expected. We make bad choices, unintended mistakes. We are disappointed in ourselves and feel we don't measure up. We blame ourselves when the years get away, and we suddenly realize we will not be president of ...

677. Discipleship: The Beauty and the Cross

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... , rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching." In fact, we should respond most generously when the road is not clear or the path known to be difficult. G. K. Chesterton, the famous early twentieth-century essayist, reminded us, "The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried." Discipleship requires much patience and a willingness to accept the cross. Jesus made that very clear, "Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be ...

678. Having the Last Word

2 Samuel 23:1-7

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

... altars. Many people in Israel believed that somehow, sometime, God would keep the covenant with David. In the fullness of time, God would send a new king, a Messiah, who would not disappoint in the way many of their earlier kings had. They looked forward to an ideal king and a peaceable and just kingdom here on earth. King David was "a man after God's own heart" (1 Samuel 13:14). David's parting words echo down through the ages, calling the human heart to respond to an everlasting covenant. "One who rules ...

679. Matthew 23:1-12

Matthew 23:1-39

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... reference. Those who sit “on Moses’ seat” are those who teach and speak under the auspices of Mosaic authority. The reference would be akin to a modern day ethics professor appointed to a Martin Luther King “chair” at a prestigious university. Ideally whoever fills that “chair” feels the weight of the legacy they represent. The “occupant” of the chair also strives to embody the significance of that legacy as fully as possible. No wonder Jesus urges his audience comprised of both his ...

680. Keeper of the Springs

Proverbs 31:10-31

Sermon

Peter Marshall

... so much needed in these times: ‘Suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God.'” I believe that this generation of young people has courage enough to face the challenging future. I believe that their idealism is not dead. I believe that they have the same bravery and the same devotion to the things worthwhile that their grandmothers had. I have every confidence that they are anxious to preserve the best of our heritage, and God knows if we lose it here ...

681. John the Stall Cleaner

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the Way. Making room. Opening doors for a new incarnation, a new world of possibility, that God was offering to the world. “Preparing,” “cleaning out,” “opening” takes some genuine labor. It also takes some “mucking out”— moving out old, decayed matter, false ideals, bad attitudes, and faulty assumptions, in order to make room for God’s new miracle among us. So I ask you this morning: What are the things in your life that need to be “mucked out” in order to prepare room for the 2008 ...

682. The Dawn's Early Light

2 Samuel 7:1-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... tradition, Christianity has a history which reaches across national boundaries. Unfortunately, this has not meant that one culture or one nation has not, at one time or another, seen itself as the "true" or "chosen" embodiment of Christian ideals. Successfully entwining the sentiments and convictions of heart-felt religion and soul-stirring patriotism has always been a tricky business. The historical disasters resulting from imprudently mixing these two range from the barbarism of the European "Crusaders ...

683. Miss Manners and Mr. Goodwrench

Ephesians 4:25-5:2

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... on earth. Besides, as Baldrige says, "When you ask someone to share a meal, it is the ultimate compliment" (65). Perhaps another way to encapsulate what Paul is urging is to contrast our frantic, fractured, unfocused rush through life with the Second Testament ideal. We have all heard people speak of a person suffering from some sort of personality dysfunction or mental disorder as being not "all there." We flick our wrist and make an excuse for someone, saying, "Oh, she's just not all there." A strange ...

684. The Job Description of a Leader

2 Samuel 23:1-7

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... vigil for peace; or even hitting the highways, the waterways, or the abandoned byways with garbage bags and a sense of responsibility for the safekeeping of our fragile planet. Christian leadership is not afraid to act on God's commitment to the ideals of justice and social action. The third item in this job description gives the encouragement "never faltering, never breaking down." A Christian leader never loses hope or courage. That doesn't mean there won't be reason to. The spiritual life of people ...

685. The Ultimate Athlete

Ephesians 6:10-20

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... : If that same person, recognizably transformed in body, mind, and spirit, takes this experience as the impetus for further explorations and boundary crossings and the heightening of awareness, then he or she must be said to have embodied the ultimate athletic ideal" Ibid, (288). "The Ultimate Athlete" is the truest embodiment of The Olympic Creed, as expressed by Baron de Coubertin: "The important thing in the Olympic games is not winning but taking part. The essential thing in life is not conquering but ...

686. Protecting Your Valuables

James 3:13-18

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... " of something in an economic sense. It was then that German philosopher Friederich Nietzsche, unhappy with this identification, expanded the context of "values" into the psychological realm using the term to signify "the sum total of principles, ideals, desires, and so forth that constitute the basic motivational structure of a person or, indeed, an entire culture." Now the word "value" means something more subjective than objective. Previously people saw themselves pursuing certain kinds of activities ...

687. The World's Fittest Human

Mark 12:28-34

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... triathlete Julie Moss) include a grueling triathlon of swimming, bicycling and running, designed to push the capabilities of the human body to their limits. To compete as an Ironman/Ironwoman, one must be in superb, all-round, peak physical condition. If there is an ideal form for the human body, a "body canon" if you will (see George L. Hersey's The Evolution of Allure: Sexual Selection From the Medici Venus to the Incredible Hulk [Cambridge: MIT Press, 1997]), the Ironman is it. Mark Allen has devised a ...

688. Self-Fulfillment Through Self-Sacrifice

1 Peter 2:19-25

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... isn't always easy and isn't always popular. Traditionally, the church has stressed the idea of self-sacrifice as the proper Christian response to others and the world. The unselfish devotion and commitment of countless generations of believers to this ideal of self-sacrifice is part of the reason the church still exists today. Millions have come to know Christ through the sacrificial love and selfless devotion of Christian missionaries, teachers, reformers and witnesses. But it is also true that there are ...

689. Easter Dreams

Luke 24:1-12

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... "buster generation" (those born between 1964 and 1983) put it this way: "I had a dream." Writing to his church's newsletter, this young man expressed the despair, cynicism and pessimism of his "buster generation" by speaking about the "death of idealism, of passion and dreaming ... of transforming vision." He spoke of an almost ubiquitous death of dreaming among his peers (as referenced by Sharon Dawn Johnson, "Vision in Mission," The Gospel and Our Culture 5 [September 1993]: 5). Because the Good Friday ...

690. Who Are the Encouragers?

Luke 14:1, 7-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

There are few ministries more important than the ministry of encouragement. One of the most idealized lifestyles of all time is that of the American cowboy. The success of movies like "City Slickers" shows that the dream to be a cowboy still ranks right up there on people's "wish lists." What is the big attraction behind the cowboy persona? Perhaps it can be found in ...

691. Acts 4:32-35

Acts 4:32-35

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... a miraculous eschatological moment could the community of believers be described, as they are in verse 32, as being of "one heart and soul." This divinely inspired state of being not only illustrates a harmonized church, it also reflects a harmonized heritage: The Greek ideals of hapata koina and koina ta philon are smoothly integrated by Luke with biblical expressions ("one heart and one soul" cf. Deut. 6:6) and a Jewish concept of attaining equality between those not of equal rank. It is in verse 33 that ...

692. Acts 10:44-48

Acts 10:44-48

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... bind all humanity, and all creation, together. While our faith may result in brotherly and sisterly love, John does not leave it at that. Verses 2 and 3 make it clear that true faith-inspired love takes a definitive shape. Obeying God's commandments, those ideals which reflect God's intentional will for all people, is the single best way to demonstrate our faith and love. Of course it is God's love for us which actually enables us to keep these commandments. Keeping God's commandments is not "burdensome ...

693. Hebrews 10:5-10

Hebrews 10:5-10

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... are all made evident in verses 50-53 - an awesome image that makes the new face of God taking shape in the tiny helpless unborn child Mary carries all the more startling in contrast. What J. Gresham Machen called"a genuinely Jewish religious ideal" ("The Origin of the FirstTwo Chapters of Luke," Princeton Theological Review 10[1912]:260-61) is celebrated in the final verses of this "magnificat." Underlining the personal joy Mary experiences at being chosen as the mother of the Messiah is the jubilation of ...

694. Luke 16:19-31

Luke 16:19-31

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... rich man was "feasting" also suggests he was in the midst of the companionship of friends and family. Lazarus, however, was cut off from human contact with only wild curs hungrily slavering at his wounds. The curtain is drawn on these two disparate ideal types by that great equalizer among the human family, death. Immediately the tables turn, for while the rich man is simply "buried," Lazarus is "carried away by the angels." But it is when these men arrive at their respective destinations that the radical ...

695. 1 Corinthians 12:1-11

1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... in which the early Christians lived and learned. Until quite recently, the Corinthians had been participants in this pagan culture, worshiping human-made idols. Perhaps it is in part a reaction against these worthless idols, constructed by human hands and out of human ideals, that some group has arisen that "curses Jesus." If this is a Gnostic offshoot, emphasizing the spiritual nature of the all-powerful risen Lord, they may well have rejected any need for or recognition of the human side of the man Jesus ...

696. John 14:23-29

John 14:23-29

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... The gospel writer may have intended some ambiguity here, for theologically it is evident that this author would declare that both statements are true. The "peace" this world holds out is a false peace, based wholly on the momentary success of one force (person, country, ideals, status) over another. Since such a peace is never fully held by the world, true peace is not the world's to give. Any "giving" gesture made by the world is empty of content and promise. Because the disciples are to receive Jesus' own ...

697. 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13

2 Thessalonians 3:6-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... these believers to cease working altogether while they waited for Jesus' arrival. It is not unlikely that these misinformed believers also used their identity as Christians - chosen ones of the coming Lord - to envision themselves as "above" menial labor. In the Greek ideal, such labor was carried out only by slaves, not by free men. Paul denounces this misconception with strong words and examples. In place of some Greek notion of who should work, Paul offers a far more direct teaching - those who won't ...

698. Acts 4:32-35

Acts 4:32-35

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

699. Acts 10:44-48

Acts 10:44-48

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

700. 1 Samuel 16:14-23

1 Samuel 16:14-23

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... unsuspecting Saul. This week the noose of God's judgment begins to slip around Saul's neck. As yet its silken texture belies its deadly intent. The author of 1 Samuel can never be accused of possessing a shaky concept of monotheism. So committed is he to this ideal that the whole notion of a just God, a good God, is given a decisive shake in this text. It is one thing for "the spirit of the Lord" to depart from Saul. After all this spirit had been a special gift intimately linked to his recognized kingship ...

Showing results