Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 701 to 725 of 747 results

701. Are you a G.O.A.T.?

Matthew 25:31-46

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... own way, serving their own needs. Jesus makes clear that in God’s love for all people, community care, the nature and personality of the flock, is vital to a kingdom of heaven kind of world. We live in a world today in which we often advocate for a philosophy that says, “the ends justify the means.” We believe often today that behavior doesn’t matter, that personality doesn’t matter, as long as the desired end goal is achieved. Scripture disagrees. Jesus is clear. It matters why we do things. It ...

702. The Eye of the Storm

Mark 11:1-11

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... confidence and were becoming more and more defiant to the authorities about rules and regulations. The authorities were fearing a sizeable uprising. Even Jesus’ disciples, ignoring his explanations of the kind of Messiah he would need to be, were advocating for the sword and a more forceful demonstration of power. Still others, afraid of the momentum, were departing and fleeing for the hills, fearful for their own lives and livelihood. Jesus himself continued to prod his contemporaries, making them ...

703. Shuttered

John 20:19-31

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... t change their current religion, or its structure, or its people. So, they formed the early church, an ecclesia of Jesus’ faithful. As their courage grew, so did their ministry, their mission, and the church. And then came the Roman Paul, adversary turned advocate, who would revolutionize evangelism and create what we now know as the church of Jesus Christ. All this took time. Innovative thinking. Initiative. And yet caution. Today, we too are still called and sent by Jesus to make disciples of all people ...

704. Chosen and Appointed

John 15:9-17

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... brothers, nevertheless, he was interested in overthrowing Rome, and his political sense drove his sense of mission. Thaddeus was also fairly quiet, gentle-hearted, and caring about people. He admired Jesus’ heart for the unsupported and marginalized and was an advocate of healing and mercy. He listened avidly to Jesus’ teaching and was in awe of his healing ministry. Judas could be mercurial and had strong opinions about everything. He was an insider and understood the Temple system, had colleagues ...

705. The Power of the Staff

Mark 6:1-13

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... relationships that will ultimately fulfill us and feed us and help us grow. They are “wing-clipping,” “flight-crippling” feelings that prevent us from being whom God created us to be. But lucky for us, we are not alone in our plight. We have a helper, an advocate, a holy parent, a buoyant staff to lean on. God. Jesus. The Holy Spirit of Christ. “Without him,” as Paul reminds us, “we can do nothing.” But with Him, we can do …anything! (John 15:5) Jesus reminds us that we have a life to live ...

706. Public Sex

Mark 10:2-16

Sermon

Will Willimon

... at their General Assembly, voted it down by a margin of 95 to 5, the report that is. But not before Presbyterians captured many headlines, so shocked was the media to see staid Presbyterians talking in public about a subject like sex. The report advocated ''justice-love'' for Presbyterians who wondered what to think about sex. Justice-love. I couldn't figure out what they were talking about. Neither could their own church. A Duke student said it well: ''Justice-love, I gotta remember that. Next ti111e I'm ...

707. To Love

Mark 12:28-34

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... of our immediate circles. To give others what we would love for ourselves. To gift others what we would love to receive. To give others not our waste but our best. To love others in ways we yearn to be loved. This is the kind of love Jesus advocated. This is the kind of love Jesus knew would change the world. Today, go out in love. Do love. Be love. [1] For more on the shema within the Torah, see thetorah.com/article/love_your_neighbor. [2] Paul (trained in the Hillel school by Gamaliel) would do the same ...

708. A New Identity for a New Year

John 1:(1-9), 10-18

Sermon

King Duncan

... Smith started a residential services company, Master Service Company, that grew into a $30 million enterprise that employs 180 people, some of them ex-offenders. He also started a non-profit foundation to teach life skills and job skills to prisoners, and to advocate for prison reform. In January 2021, Joshua Smith received a Presidential Pardon essentially erasing his former convictions. On the day of his pardon, Smith said, “Today is a day of redemption, but my work is not done. There are a lot of Josh ...

709. Which King Do We Worship?

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... at a South African church during the days of apartheid. In those days the government of South Africa officially sanctioned discrimination against and oppression of Black South African citizens. Nelson Mandela, a political leader and Christian, had spent decades in prison for advocating for the end of apartheid. South African Bishop Desmond Tutu planned to hold a political rally at St. George’s Cathedral in Cape Town, South Africa, but it had to be called off. So, Bishop Tutu held a worship service instead ...

710. The Richest Family in Church

Luke 4:14-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... and held close to His heart. He loved them so much He chose to walk in their shoes. And he calls his followers to do the same. Jim Wallis is the founder of the Sojourners community and the magazine of the same name. The Sojourners community advocates for peace and social justice based on the teachings of Jesus. Their ministries focus on meeting the needs of the poor. When Wallis was in seminary, he and some classmates were deeply impressed by all the verses in the Bible emphasizing God’s concern for the ...

711. By D Grace of God

Luke 6:27-38

Sermon

King Duncan

... going to say. But I wouldn’t want what happened to you to happen to anyone.” Her words brought George Wallace to tears. A couple of years later, Shirley Chisholm was fighting for minimum wage for domestic workers, George Wallace approached his colleagues and advocated for her legislation. It passed. (8) We all like stories with happy endings. But look through the history of humanity and you see a story of hatred, violence, suffering and injustice. It didn’t begin that way. And it doesn’t have to end ...

712. Understanding What God Expects of Us

Acts 9:1-6, (7-20)

Sermon

King Duncan

... this one-sentence introduction, “Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples . . .” Saul would lose the “who would you rather have a beer with?” poll. Saul was a member of the Pharisees, a religious group that advocated a strict interpretation of Old Testament law, especially the laws of purity. His mission in life was to protect the purity of Judaism by destroying this heretical cult of Jesus-followers known as The Way. Verse 2 in our Scripture lesson ...

713. Fertilize Your Faith

Luke 13:1-9

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... re-constituted hearts by the hand of God. That’s what God’s “salv-ation” healing is all about. I imagine Jesus must have prayed continually over Jerusalem. And in the end, he could not save them. But he did save many others. Jesus is our advocate today, just as he was in the days he walked the earth. He is a Creator and Artist of Fertilization. Just as God resurrected people, places, lives, and even Jesus from the dead, God can also re-fertilize your heart with life-sustaining faith and nourishing ...

714. A New Heaven And A New Earth: Our Problems Are Fading Away!

Revelation 21:1-6

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... latest trends won’t count so much to you anymore. When all those problems and griefs don’t count so much, that’s God wiping away those tears from your eyes. When you’re lost in God’s majesty, engaged in an uninterrupted union with him (like John Wesley advocated), when you realize your place in the new heaven and the new earth, then all your problems start fading away. What chance do they have in face of such love, with a God who makes all things new (v.5)? No, praise God, they all fade away! [1 ...

715. How to Pray

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... us the same thing. Prayer is not about the words we use; it is about the relationship we have with God. We’ve mentioned before a remarkable woman named Sojourner Truth. Sojourner Truth escaped from slavery in 1826 with her infant daughter. She became an ardent abolitionist and advocate for civil rights and women’s rights in our land. In fact, she was one of the first Black women to win a court case against a white man when she won her young son’s freedom from his slave master in 1828. In the face of ...

716. What's a Human Book?

Luke 13:10-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... years, he stayed away from church and from any thoughts of God. He started a motorcycle club, the Shepherds RC. This club held a special ride each year to raise funds for college scholarships in Channon’s memory. The Newsoms and the Christians advocated for a new law in Tennessee, the Channon Christian Act, which was passed in 2014. It puts limits on how criminal defendants and attorneys can negatively portray the victim of a crime. On Easter 2017, some members of the Shepherds RC motorcycle club invited ...

717. Watch This!

Luke 14:1, 7-14

Sermon

Dave Zuchelli

... a word for his host. It was virtually the opposite end of the honored guest spectrum. He suggested a new guest list to the conniving Pharisee. Instead of inviting the rich and famous, his family and friends, or any other person who could add to his status, Jesus advocated for some new people. He told the man to invite the down and out, the disabled and poor, and the dregs of the earth. I’m sure the Pharisee was beside himself upon hearing those words. He wasn’t about to soil his home with such people ...

718. Response Ability

Luke 17:5-10

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... us to do. Yes, Jesus will be there for us. Yes, Jesus will help us and assure us of our strength. Yes, he will guide us in the power of the Holy Spirit. But we are not without responsibility. Our response ability is what makes us worthy disciples or simply advocates of LDS. We all look forward someday to the time when we will enter into God’s heavenly kingdom and sit at his endless feast. But we take on the responsibilities of discipleship not to gain a reward but because it is our job. It is who we are ...

719. Are We Living In The Last Days?

Luke 21:5-19

Sermon

Richard Hasler

... became hotbeds of dispensational premillennialism. Even more so, in 1909 the Scofield Bible was published based upon the King James Version of the Bible, but containing in the margins the whole theory of dispensational premillennialism. In the twentieth century advocates of this view included Hal Lindsey, Pat Robertson, and Jerry B. Jenkins and Tim LaHaye, the latter two co-authors of their highly successful Left Behind books and movies, both based on premillennialism. American church historian Sydney E ...

720. A Sign in the Heavens

Isaiah 60:1-6 · Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

... foreigners.” Prejudice is deeply rooted in human nature. It does not die easily. There was a famous exchange between President Woodrow Wilson and French Premiere Georges Clemenceau at the Paris Peace Conference at the end of World War I. Wilson, a strong advocate of the League of Nations asked Clemenceau, “Don’t you believe in the brotherhood of man?” Clemenceau answered, “Yes, I believe in the brotherhood of man. Cain and Abel! Cain and Abel!” We know that Cain slew Abel and humanity has been ...

721. Stop in the Name of Love

Matthew 3:13-17

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

... Alcantara Bridge will last. But Jesus gave his life to be a bridge between us and the fullness of God, the fullness of fellowship with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. And he lives eternally and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, advocating for us. In his life and death, he became the true bridge that will last forever between us and receiving the fullness of God. Pastor Ben Helmer tells of a 55-year-old man who began attending an Episcopal church. Not long afterwards, the man asked, “What ...

722. What Fills Your Life Now?

Acts 7:55-60

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

... man who knows what it means to suffer for your faith. As he said in an interview many decades later, “The earliest Christians saw suffering for Christ as a joyful experience. I wrestle with that every day.” Dr. Perkins has devoted his life to advocating for equality and justice and opportunity for all people. In his later years, he has also created an organization to bring opportunities to under-resourced communities. He has risked his life many times for the causes he believes in. And he has become an ...

723. Trusting God When You've Been Hurt

Genesis 45:1-28

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

... salvation to those who tried to destroy him. In 1957, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. preached one of his most powerful sermons titled “Loving your enemies.” As a leader of the civil rights movement, Dr. King had been harassed, threatened, and unjustly jailed for advocating for equal rights for all people. Yet his faith in Jesus Christ compelled him to return hatred with love and violence with peace. In this sermon, he preached “The strong person is the person who can cut off the chain of hate, the chain ...

724. Division of the House

Matthew 10:24-39

Sermon

William G. Carter

... It sounds like Jesus was standing against the family. A lot of us don’t want to hear that. We want the church to encourage family members to get along, to bring people closer together especially if they live under the same roof, and to be an advocate for unity not division. Yet Jesus said the very purpose of his mission was not to stop family fights, but to start them. We can look at the context, but the context does not help. After all, Jesus was giving marching orders to the first twelve missionaries ...

725. Cast in the Image of God

Matthew 22:15-22

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... state that Jesus is not lured or impressed by status or power. They are sure they can entrap him in a “political” argument, in that surely he will have no due respect for the Roman Emperor and will entrap himself in a matter of law. Will he advocate for paying taxes to the government, when the Emperor represents the very status and power that Jesus eschews? Or will they nail him as a dissident? They wait for his response, ready to pounce. But Jesus turns the tables on them once again. Like many passages ...

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