Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 701 to 725 of 4977 results

701. Time and Stewardship

Sermon

Larry Powell

... , small voice" is allowed to speak to us above the flurry. When we do not stop to think, meditate, get in touch with ourselves, and get in touch with God, we are surrendering power. (3) It is a method of God. Just as powerful forces in nature occur quite unheard, the ways of God come quietly, unnoticed, more often than not catching us from behind. Usually, when we look back, we are aware that God "was involved" in the same quiet way that the yeast is present in bread, silently active. And when we look ahead ...

702. "Crown Him Lord of all!"

Sermon

William Luoma

... five hours one night with a sick friend? Would it make a difference to God if I told him that I've suffered and worried quite a bit more than the average person has? Would any of these be enough? I doubt it. When I stand before the throne of God, ... eternal. Jesus Christ has all the credentials of a king. Pilate's question, "Are you the King of the Jews?" was accurate, but didn't quite go far enough. Jesus is not only King of the Jews, but he is the King for all believers, of all generations, for all time. ...

703. Encounters With Christ V: Jesus and James and John

Matthew 20:20-28

Sermon

James W. Moore

... the talk, but the real question is: “Can you walk the walk?” This is where the famous hymn: “Are You Able? Said the Master” comes from. James and John answer boldly: “Lord, We Are Able.” End of story and they all live happily ever after. No! Not quite! The other disciples get wind of this (of how James and John are trying to slip in ahead of them)… and they don’t like it… The scriptures say they began to be indignant (angry) with James and John. So, Jesus calls them all together and gives ...

704. Compelled to Carry

Matthew 27:11-26

Drama

Joe Barone

... feel but in what you do. We weren't alone. There were two other prisoners, a centurion, a few soldiers, and there were some, maybe quite a few, bystandars looking on. There may have been others touched as I was, but there was nothing special there that day except for the ... about them. "Truly this was the Son of God," the centurion at the foot of the cross was heard to say, but it wasn't quite that way for me. I had watched him hang there, and I had watched him die on a cross I helped him carry. No matter ...

705. Laughing in Church

Acts 9:1-19a

Sermon

Carl Jech

... to be afraid of even painful truths - and it means that our knowledge of the truth can make us whole and free again. Last Christmas I sent some friends a card that showed Mary, Joseph and the babe in the manger under the star, with Joseph saying to Mary: "Quit complaining! What did you expect with a one-star hotel?" Inside the card I wrote: "To be 'full of grace,' is to have a sense of humor." Now I suspect some people might be offended by this kind of "religious" humor. But I stand by the card and would ...

706. The Piety That Isn't

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Sermon

Carl Jech

... God can reflect on how, without that grace, they felt like lost wretches: but they should not go around labeling other people as lost and wretched. It is one thing to say that I was lost or spiritually blind, but it is quite another thing, quite inappropriate, for me to call others lost, blind or wretched. To do so would be not evangelistic, but arrogant. Watching the "Church Lady" on Saturday Night Live reminds, us that the line between true evangelism and holier-than-thou self-righteousness is extremely ...

707. Jesus, Mary, Gustav Mahler, Brother Martin, and the Magi

Luke 20:9-19

Sermon

Carl Jech

... in touch with their religious traditions are like people who say "I've listened to enough concerts, I've read enough books, I quit." Then he adds: "There are concerts, books waiting. Why deprive yourself?" Peli reminds us that the Jewish Talmud encourages and welcomes differing ... reliance and the Christian doctrine of reliance upon the grace of God converge to produce what might quite appropriately be called "religious secular humanism!" I realize that upon hearing of such non-traditional, paradoxical ...

708. Will the Real Jesus Christ Arise?

John 20:1-18

Sermon

Carl Jech

... outgrowth of the Pharisaic movement with its radical new belief in Resurrection. Another recent suggestion is that the real Jesus Christ was not a solemn, sad-eyed ascetic but a fun-loving and joyous person. A famous painting of "the laughing Jesus" has become quite popular, and it may well be a good antidote to the many overly-serious portraits which artists have imagined. Jesus has also been described as a "religious genius," and, as you might guess, this image of Jesus was put forward by an academically ...

709. Divine Liturgy, Divine Play, Divine Comedy

John 13:31-38

Sermon

Carl Jech

... merchant and buying the spices and ointments they need to embalm the body of Jesus. In more ways than one, therefore, the divine liturgy is a form of divine play. The liturgies of the Eastern Orthodox churches tend to be quite long because they are essentially an acting out of the life of Jesus. Most liturgies play around quite a bit with names, images and symbols for God. More often than not we begin "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." It is fair to say that we are playing ...

710. The Lion Who Learned About God

Dan 6:21-23

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

... hadn't eaten for awhile and he just knew that before long he would hear shouting and screaming and then the trap door would open and you could see with a little bit of light, something being thrown down into their prison, the den. Sure enough, before he could quit thinking about what he had thought, the trap door opened and a man was thrown into the hole. Rehoboam couldn't watch as he heard the other lions growl and leap towards the man who had been thrown in with them. As hungry as they were this wouldn't ...

711. The Bridge

John 1:1-18, Matthew 2:1-12, Luke 2:8-20, Luke 2:1-7, Luke 1:26-38, Genesis 3:1-24

Drama

H. J. Hizer

... : Well, ahh, there is just one minor thing. Two: I knew it! What is it? Five: I'll be out of the office for quite awhile. One: Going to take a vacation, Lord? Great idea. Five: Not exactly a vacation. Three: [Ignoring Five] Swell, you need a rest -- don' ... I should have known that anything that belongs to him would never get lost. Two: You know something? Three: What? Two: The Chief is quite a guy. Four: He sure is! SCENE 11 DEVIL'S COUNCIL One: Has anyone seen Discord? We're all here but Discord. Three: I ...

712. The Messiah For All

Ephesians 3:4-6

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... going out to kill them. But here is the Epiphany, the "showing forth" of the glory of Christ. Here is the miracle of joy, and here is the sadness, also. Matthew, recording this event in his Gospel - and he's the only one who does record it - couldn't quite get over it, because, you see, Matthew was a Jew, through and through, and he was writing his Gospel to the Jews. He could only say, "Now when Jesus was born ... behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, 'Where is he who has been born king ...

713. The Ultimate Question

Isaiah 42:1-9

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... in the Person of our only-begotten Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In himself incarnate in human flesh, he showed us that life was eminently meaningful and purposeful. What is the purpose of life? I like the answer of the old Westminster Catechism. It put it quite simply and profoundly when it answered, "The purpose of human life is to love and serve God and enjoy him forever." Isn't that delightful? Enjoy him forever! Or as Paul put it, perhaps more succinctly: "For me to live is Christ," - I am living in ...

714. Never Cry Uncle - Malchus

Matthew 26:47-56

Drama

Thomas Blowers

... the extra things to tend to because of Passover and all, I really didn't look forward to interrupting my duties for a little jaunt out to the garden. But I went, you can be sure of that, not because I wanted tobut because I knew I had to. Now, quite a crowd gathered at the appointed hour to head out to the arrest site. And as we all walked along, I listened to the guys next to me argue about what to expect. Several were insisting that Jesus would be surprised and angry. They thought he would hurl insults at ...

715. Independence Day - The Mission of the Mighty

John 8:31-41

Sermon

... the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is right of the people to alter or abolish it.” Well, some of the folks said that they thought it was very radical, much too radical. Some said it was silly idealism. Quite a few said that it was probably written by some communist. Others thought it was the work of some counterculture group. They were only 13 out of 122 people who recognized it as part of the Declaration of Independence. All right. We are free people ...

716. The Friend At Midnight

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

Brett Blair

... out. When the election was held and the results counted, to many people’s disappointment, they discovered that Boss Tweed had been reelected. The next day the New York Times ran an editorial and analyzed what had happened. It said: The good people quit being good before the bad people quit being bad” Isn’t that so often our dilemma? We are not tenacious. We throw up our hands in disgust. In our witnessing if we don’t have instant affirmation then we throw in the towel. The same thing is true with ...

717. Is Jesus Safe?

Luke 12:35-53

Illustration

Brett Blair

... tell you he is the King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea. Don't you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan is a lion THE Lion, the great Lion." "Ooh!" said Susan, "I'd thought he was a man. Is he quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion." "That you will, dearie, and no mistake," said Mrs. Beaver, "if anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they're either braver than most or else just silly." "Then he isn't safe?" said Lucy. "Safe?" said ...

718. Life's Third Dimension

Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon

... we will look more carefully at the lessons of this story, we will discover the tremendous importance of this. When the householder hired those men, he did not say, "I will pay you the amount you think is fair." Rather, he said, "Whatever is right I will give." It is quite clear that when he paid his workers at day's end, he was thinking of something more than mere length of time. And if you and I are to understand life, we've got to do this also - we've got to give attention to something besides length. So ...

719. On Having "The Right Stuff"

Luke 14:25-35

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

... the end of the discussion a girl stood up and said, "You talk to us about following Christ and then speak to us about singing in the choir." Then she said, "What we really want is a challenge!" We are told that this generation of young people is quite conservative and committed to the status quo. Perhaps they are this way because they are not certain that there will be meaningful jobs for them when they try to enter the work force. So they are investing heavily in study and preparation and have not taken on ...

720. Mission to Unbelievers

Luke 16:19-31

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

... walking and his speech. One cold February day Coburn was in a low mood. He happened to see Bishop Lichtenberger, on his wife’s arm, shuffling along the icy walk. It was a refreshment of faith for John Coburn: "All I could do was rejoice in them." Quite likely, Bishop Lichtenberger never knew what he meant to John Coburn’s spirit that bitter, winter day. As unforced as this witness must be, it cannot be taken lightly by any who are concerned to witness to the faith by the quality of our lives. Personal ...

721. Faith Bridges the Gap

Luke 7:1-10

Sermon

... is simply that the Roman centurion comes off as more of a Christian than we do, I’m afraid, and in more ways than one. He not only - and rather miraculously - believed in Christ, but he had a deep sense of personal unworthiness that you and I quite often lack. Rather, it is our sense of worth - before God, and because we believe in Christ - that impresses us, prompting us to protest to God when tragedy enters our lives with an "I don’t deserve that" kind of attitude. We can resent God and blame him ...

722. Real Security

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

... accepting his role realizes that only later does the truth of what he believes in - the American way of life and all that sustains it - come out. Suddenly he understands why his son died. He knew too much about the American involvement in the coup. And not quite accepting his role and responsibility in it all as a businessman, he threatens to sue the ambassador and the military people who not only knew of his son’s death but probably had approved of it. The sad thing about the movie is that it is a true ...

723. Everybody Pray!

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

... is still a baffling activity. They don't know for sure if they're handling it right. Prayer is awkward and clumsy for a lot of us. If we were ever asked to pray outloud for someone else, well, we might just fall through the floor. It's quite clear that most of us could stand some additional encouragement and teaching about prayer. If this is the case, the Gospel lesson we have before us this morning is made to order. This is one of the classic true-life stories about prayer in the Bible. It begins with ...

724. The Demanding Word

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

... Word. It makes a claim on our whole being; and it gives vibrant new life to our whole being as well. We begin, then, by saying quite clearly that God's Word is always a demanding Word. It won't settle for anything less than the good rich top soil. What's the ... a Word that is like a devouring fire, like a crushing hammer, as sharp as a two-edged sword. We really need to face the question quite seriously of what the Word of God is for. Is it to soothe, to comfort, to confirm a style of life that I have long ago ...

725. A Touch of the Master's Hand

Luke 13:10-17

Illustration

... And he held it up with the bow. A thousand dollars, and who'll make it two? Two thousand! And who'll make it three? Three thousand, once; three thousand twice; And going, and gone!" said he. The people cheered, but some of them cried, "We do not quite understand What changed its worth?" Swift came the reply: "The touch of the master's hand." And many a man with life out of tune, And battered and scattered with sin, Is auctioned off cheap to the thoughtless crowd, Much like the old violin. A "mess of pottage ...

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