Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 676 to 700 of 1138 results

John 20:1-18

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

... . If we have not seen him, what good does it do to go on living with a miraculous affirmation and story never reenacted into our lives? It is a pressingly relevant way to get at religion, which is alive and well. Really, no other kind or variety is worth having. Not to have some conversion experience, regardless of how and when it comes about, may be the most sad void known to those who continually hear the gospel preached. Offering after offering is made through Word and sacrament. What's our response? Don ...

677. What Happens When You're Not Prepared for What Happens

Luke 8:26-39

Sermon

David R. Cartwright

... heads. But I think the demon-possessed man in Luke's story probably knew it better than most, for he was literally in over his head. What happens when you're not prepared for what happens? It can take various forms. In this healing story, we see a variety of reactions. It all begins when Jesus arrives from the district of the Gerasenes. We're not exactly sure just where this village is. There's no real scholarly agreement on the exact location of the town, but wherever it is, Jesus has just arrived by boat ...

678. Cured Cripples and Crabby Critics

Luke 13:10-17

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... but not healings of people. Those are the facts of the story, but what difference does all this make today? This story makes a difference because Jesus Christ continues to heal handicapped people today. The handicaps he heals are not all of the physical variety. Betty was crippled by divorce. Jack, her husband of ten years, left her for another woman. Jack said, "You chased me away by your criticisms. You always found what was wrong with me. You never showed any confidence in me." That confrontation turned ...

679. Lean on Me

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

John Wayne Clarke

... on and we can excel because in Jesus we have a friend that will carry us when we can no longer carry ourselves. This chapter of Luke is marked with important transitions. Jesus is embarking on a preaching ministry that will carry him into a variety of settings. The section we are dealing with is one of those teaching gems that Jesus so carefully scatters throughout his ministry. It is followed up later with four very important miracles. But, as always, it is just as important to understand the story that ...

680. My Earlier Life

Galatians 1:11-24

Sermon

John Jamison

... excited to see new groups show up and try to change the way things worked. They began using their powers to put down this new revolution, and destroy this new church before it destroyed them. These authorities developed a wide variety of methods of finding and threatening Christians. They followed the normal methods of all great oppressors throughout history. First, threaten someone's livelihood, then their family, then their very life. Unfortunately, these Christians were a difficult lot. They were willing ...

681. The Gospel Is Unchained

2 Timothy 2:8-13

Sermon

Donna Schaper

... slim fit, easy fit, or relaxed fit, regular or faded, stone washed or acid washed, button fly or regular fly ... and that's when I started to sputter. Can't I just have a pair of blue jeans, size fourteen? Then I went to the grocery store and found 85 varieties of crackers, 285 kinds of cookies, and thirteen different kinds of raspberry jelly. Can't I just get a cookie and a cracker and a bottle of jelly any more? I am in chains by the number of choices that I have! They keep me too busy to pray and ...

682. The Hard Sell

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

... who believe in the innate goodness of man. They will tell you that at birth we are totally clean and rightly motivated. Whatever we do is simply a means to enhance a goodness we have had from the very beginning. In fact, serious religion of any variety may be an obstruction to our naturally intended growth. How do we answer this? If they are right, then the Adam and Eve story has no validity. Even more importantly, the coming of a Savior to right our wrongs — indeed, forgive our sins — is mostly hogwash ...

683. Responses to Divorce

Mark 10:1-12

Illustration

William G. Carter

Jesus' teaching about divorce provokes a variety of responses. Some people hear the text snarl at them like a wild animal. Others grow angry when they simply hear the words, and vow to cross their fingers the next time they encounter that piece of scripture. Still others wish their preacher would stand up and swing this text ...

684. Called by a New Name

Isaiah 62:1-5

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

... as a coil of rope. The author defines "quoyle" as a coil of rope, a spiral coil of only one layer that is made on a ship's deck and can be walked on. Quoyle is decidedly walked all over, as well as called by a variety of unflattering names. Born in Brooklyn and raised in a shuffle of dreary upstate towns, Quoyle is called "failure" by his abusive father: Failure in swimming, failure in ambition, failure in sitting up straight, failure in speaking clearly, failure at everything. In adulthood, he is called ...

685. Like a Tree Planted

Jeremiah 17:5-10

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

... and to expect life experiences that would help them bear even more fruit (John 15:1-2, 4-8). The tree depends on its leaves as well as its roots. You and I can be compared to the leaves on trees, presenting ourselves in an infinite variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. Oak, pine needle, weeping willow, or maple leaf, we are each unique. Even the same tree can have great variations in its individual leaves, adding to its appeal and interest. We can celebrate the diversity found throughout God's good creation ...

686. Abraham Believed God

Genesis 15:1-18

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... a follower of Jesus. Yet, anyone who has lived in a multicultural setting knows that worship takes delightfully different forms in the African churches, in the many Hispanic traditions, among Asians of various sorts, as well as all the different European varieties. At the Jerusalem Council described in Acts 15:1-35, James, the brother of Jesus, and the other Jerusalem leaders met with Paul, Barnabas, and others to discuss the matter. The result, described both in Acts and in Galatians, seems to indicate ...

687. Thanks for Receiving Thanksgiving

Deuteronomy 26:1-11

Sermon

John Wayne Clarke

... God, the one presenting the gift was to engage in a spoken confession of her or his faith. This confession rehearsed the mighty acts of God in the deliverance from Egypt and the occupation of Canaan. In our world today, Thanksgiving is a time when we, through a variety of ways, give thanks for all the bounty that we are so lucky to have and then to share. At least, that is what we are supposed to be doing. In reality, however, Thanksgiving has become for many just another day off, albeit with family, and of ...

688. Asking for Help

Mark 10:46-52

Illustration

Richard J. Fairchild

... was worth the time and the postage he'd spent on it. To Fred's amazement, Mrs. Roosevelt agreed to meet him. When the meeting ended, she promised to help him. In the months and years ahead Fred got checks through Mrs. Roosevelt from a variety of sources, including her own personal checks. Fred, in turn, kept her informed of his progress and sent her copies of all his term papers. Her secretary said later that she always read them with great interest. Later Mrs. Roosevelt visited the couple in their sparsely ...

689. Good News about Death

John 11:38-44

Sermon

King Duncan

... be more than 2000 years old?” Death is part of God’s plan. Lazarus was raised from the dead so that you and I would know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I don’t know who Jesus is to you. In any church you will find a variety of opinions. Some see Jesus principally as a good teacher others, as an inspirational leader. Certainly he was both of these. But do you see him as the one who raised Lazarus from the dead? If you do, it will change your life. If Jesus has power over life and ...

690. Christmas Eve at Angel School

Luke 2:1-7

Drama

Lois Anne DeLong

... 3 1st Child 2nd Child 3rd Child 4th Child 5th Child Props Chairs Blackboard with “Junior Angel Training” written on it Lectern or music stand Christmas tree Christmas tree decorations 4 Bibles Manger, with a baby “Christmas Eve At Angel School” offers a variety of speaking roles for children of all ages, making it a good choice for medium-sized Sunday schools or churches. There are two different “set” areas. Stage left is the “classroom.” Several small chairs are arranged in a half-circle. A ...

691. Only Jesus

Mark 9:2-9

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... $3. He looked out the window at the threatening clouds and thought about his family at home. For that price it was foolish not to buy, so he took out the coverage. He then looked for a place to eat. Some airports now carry a pretty good variety of eateries so he settled on his favorite - Chinese. It was a very relaxing and calming meal until he opened his fortune cookie. It read: "Your recent investment will pay big dividends." He took a different flight. (2) B. The poor guy lost his focus. He let little ...

692. A Heart that Sings with Joy

Luke 15:1-32

Illustration

Scott Hoezee

... this. Jesus overheard their comments and knew their hearts and so told them three stories that reveal the heart of God. And that's really what is going on in Luke 15: we're not here first of all being given stories of the "go and do likewise" variety. The parable in verses 11-32 is not in Scripture first of all to encourage fathers to be forgiving of their naughty kids any more than the first two stories were an instruction to shepherds or a cautionary tale to take better care of your fiscal assets. No ...

693. Stewardship of the Earth (Series: Stewardship: Discover This Word and Love It!)

Psalm 8:1-9

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

When God made you and God made me, He gave us a wonderful place to be. We have woods and hills and waterfalls; We have varieties of creatures, great and small. When God made you and God made me, He gave us an awesome responsibility. There is a great political debate waging in our world concerning global warming. Some affirm it and others deny it. Meanwhile, the rest of us sweat our way through one of ...

694. The Color Wheel of Blindness

John 10:22-42

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... categories. They blinked, and they missed their divine visitation. They blinked, and they missed God’s presence. None of us have prefect vision—and our iffy eyesight has nothing to do with the shape of our eyeball or of an inability to focus. We suffer from a variety of colorful maladies. Here are a few of them this morning. See if you suffer from any of these. Let’s call them “The Color Wheel of Blindness.” For when you see life through one of these colors, you are unable to see the divine in the ...

695. Drawn to God

Jn 17:20-26

Illustration

King Duncan

Theodore H. White, Pulitzer Prizewinning expert on American politics, coined a new word recently. Someone asked him about the effect of television on politicians. White answered, "Politicians remind me of a certain variety of plant - the kind that grow under porches and other places where the sun doesn't penetrate. Botanists call these plants heliotropes, meaning that as they grow, they bend in the direction of the sun. Well, politicians today are what I call ‘Videotropic.' As they grow, they follow the ...

696. A Guide for Growth

Philippians 1:1-11

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... Christ also has loved us and given him self for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God We need that – desperately – not the mushy kind of sentiment that often goes under that name, not the sensuous sex neurosis of the Playboy variety, not the coddling, indulgencies of undisciplined, irresponsible relationships. But discerning love – love that grows richer and richer in knowledge and insight. The kind of love Jesus defined in this fashion: “Greater love has no man than this – that he lay down his ...

697. Assurance: The Privilage of All Believers

Romans 8:1-17

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... a moment and sat still. Up to that point the little tragedy had followed the usual pat tern. But suddenly, out of all that area of woodland, a soft sound of complaint began to rise. Into the glade fluttered small birds of half a dozen varieties drawn by the anguished outcries of the tiny parents. “No one dared to attack the raven. But they cried there in some instinctive common misery, the bereaved and the unbereaved. The glade filled with their soft rustling and their cries. They fluttered as though to ...

698. A Sunday Kind of Love

John 16:5-16

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... That’s why the Body of Christ exists. That’s why you and I are here this morning. To be a part of the Love Triangle, and to offer this world “A Sunday Kind of Love.” We are used to defining ourselves by the different roles we play, the variety of “hats we wear” in life. We are a teacher, or an insurance adjuster, or an electrician. But we are also a mom or dad, a son or daughter, a grandmother or grandfather, an aunt or an uncle. And the different categories of our lives do not necessarily inter ...

699. Out of the Miry Bog (Dealing with Depression)

Psalm 22:1-31

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... us from experiencing the abundant life Christ offers. In the workbook on Coping as Christians, I’ve offered far more descriptive and diagnostic data, and hopefully more guidance for coping. I want to offer some guidance for coping with what I call the garden variety of depression, which is common to most of us. So, is there some help for us – some way to cope – some guidance for dealing with depression. There is. The model is in our scripture lesson – Psalm 22. Let’s look at it for guidance ...

700. Not a Servant, but a Son

Galatians 4:6-7

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... had recognized him, and had affirmed him as the person he was; and yet at the same time, he was continually troubled by that feeling that he was “an oddity in the cradle of a belated second marriage.” Maybe not that dramatic, but it is true — a variety of forces impinge upon too many of our lives to cause us to feel unloved and unwanted. It is a time of almost overwhelming grace when we accept the fact that God thoroughly and loves us thoroughly. To know that we are loved and accepted by God frees ...

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