Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 701 to 725 of 813 results

Mark 1:40-45

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... had been wrecked in that place. "I tried to find all the pieces and put them together, but it was not possible, so I kept only the largest piece. This one. And by scratching it on a stone I made it round. I began to play with it as a toy and became fascinated by the fact that I could reflect light into dark places where the sun would never shine ‑‑ in deep holes and crevices and dark closets. It became a game for me to get light into the most inaccessible places I could find. "I kept the little mirror ...

702. Love Each Other (Mother's Day)

John 15:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... blessings the church, Scripture, family exponentially greater than this guy, and I don’t know if I could love like this.” When his friend’s mother died sixteen people came to the funeral. None of her other kids came. The son who cared for her had a little toy tape recorder his mother had gotten him one Christmas and he played a tape of he and his mom singing a Christmas carol. He talked about how she loved Christmas and how that when he was a kid he would play the guitar and she would sing with him ...

703. Don’t Be Childish, Do Be Child-like

Romans 8:1-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... on a Disney cruise. But the hard truth of this side of the equation is that we really aren’t acting like children. In fact, our “childish” behaviors are the give-away age marks of our actual adulthood. We “how come?” the “toys” of others — the bigger house, flashier car, discretionary income, lavish lifestyle of those living in a higher income bracket. We “how come” a friend’s stunning good looks, or a co-workers talents and successes. Poet Sylvia Plath, who never was a commercial ...

704. The Power of Memories with Dad

Illustration

Billy D. Strayhorn

... smiled. 'Doctor,' I replied, 'this is so cool! I remember standing at my dad's side as a little boy, infatuated with the process of shaving. It got to the point that when he shaved in the mornings I was always there, watching him. My dad bought me a little toy razor, with a little knob on the bottom of the handle that opened the top, just like his. The blade was a piece of cardboard that looked like a razor blade. 'After that, I got to smear shaving cream all over my face and shave with my dad.' My ...

705. Christmas Grass and Easter Tinsel

Luke 2:1-14 (15-20)

Sermon

Cynthia Cowen

... blanket adorned with paw prints. The picture card announced the birth of a son to Nick and Sara. Birth date: November 18, 2009. Place of birth: their town, USA. The first line said, "Mommy can't wait to share the joys; Daddy can't wait to share the toys!" Cute. Everyone who received this card was asked to celebrate the good news of the arrival of a special gift from God. Skip back 2,000 years to another birth announcement. That announcement wasn't on a WalMart picture card and didn't go through the US ...

706. A Fool and His Money

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... with those potentially deadly possessions. Until the voice of God interrupted, all we heard about was stuff — his "land, crops, barns, grain, ample goods." He sounded as if he came from the school of thought that was convinced that the one who died with the most toys won. But he had more of a problem than an accumulation of stuff. He had come to believe that the stuff was his security. Wrong, fool! Even without the problem of an untimely demise, this never works. Ask anyone who has ever been robbed, had ...

707. Lent 1

Deuteronomy 26:1-11, Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16, Luke 4:1-13, Romans 10:8b-13

Bulletin Aid

Julia Ross Strope

... things in right order. Community Confession Holy One — our minds are open before you. When temptations come — for they surely will — give us clarity about your will for our lives. When idols sneak into our thoughts and activities, remind us not to toy with your grace and power. Nurture our souls with words and silences, with relationships and fresh opportunities. We walk the human path Jesus walked; grant us insight to be faithful. Amen. Congregational Choral Response Dear God And Father Of Mankind (v ...

708. Blind Ambition

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

King Duncan

... were killed, Amber would be too grief-stricken to compete in the cheerleading contest. Holloway had asked her ex-brother-in-law to arrange for a hit man to perform the murder, but he went to the police instead. He told the police Holloway toyed with the idea of killing both mother and daughter, but couldn’t afford the $7,500 fee. It was then that Wanda Webb Holloway became nationally known as the “Texas-Cheerleader-Murdering-Mom” and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. The school principal, James ...

709. Two Sticker Books and a Cabbage Patch Doll

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

King Duncan

... ! If we aren’t careful, Thanksgiving can be the most superficial holiday of the year. We start thanking God for our affluent lifestyle, for the new flat screen TV and the SUV out in the driveway, and the cruise we took last spring, and the multitude of toys we will give our kids this Christmas, and we have no awareness that there are people in the Sudan who have nothing . . . nothing but the clothes on their back and yet they, too are giving thanks. Indeed, some of them are more thankful than some of us ...

710. Open the Window, Aunt Minnie, Here It Comes!

Jeremiah 33:1-26

Sermon

King Duncan

... The day after the tornado the pastor of St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church walked through the devastation. She writes that it was an unbelievable sight a grain elevator twisted and fallen, a water tower toppled, vehicles and other heavy items strewn around like toys, whole buildings gone from their foundations. When she got near the site of the Church someone called out: “Look! There He is! There’s Jesus!” “Sure enough,” this pastor writes, “there was the statue of Jesus that had stood at the altar ...

711. Made for Joy

Philippians 4:2-9

Sermon

King Duncan

... others will create an increasing epidemic of comparative anxiety a national wave of insecurity. (4) Is that what is robbing you of your joy comparing yourself with others? There may be someone who is already worrying because a neighbor’s child will be getting more toys under the tree this Christmas than your child. Or that Uncle Bob will be able to give the family more treats than you can afford. Comedian George Gobel found one way to deal with this particular anxiety. Some of the older members of our ...

712. Christmas Eve

Psalm 96:1-13, Isaiah 9:2-7, Luke 2:1-7, Titus 2:11-14

Bulletin Aid

Julia Ross Strope

... Masking tape on the floor, labeled for each role, is helpful. A manger can be set in the chancel as a visual focal point. A doll can be hidden close by. (If you do not want the mess of straw, use some colorful blankets of fabric.) Haloes, shepherd staffs, and toy sheep can be laid out on the back pew to be picked up as children and adults enter the worship space. At the time of the Luke 2 reading, people leave their pews and “embody” their parts of the story. The reader must have a good sense of pacing ...

713. Finding Redemption in the Midst of Judgment

Malachi 2:17--3:5

Sermon

Derl G. Keefer

A vase shatters, brushed by a careless elbow; a toy breaks, handled roughly by young fingers; and fabric rips, pulled by strong angry hands. Spills and rips take time to clean up, effort to repair, and money to replace, but far more costly are shattered relationships. Unfaithfulness, untruths, hateful words, and forsaken vows tear delicate personal bonds and inflict ...

714. It’s Complicated

Galatians 2:11-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Weather forecasters have the coolest toys. They have satellite “eyes in the sky.” They can track off-shore flows and coastal disturbances, high pressure systems and low pressure cells, the rise and fall of the jet stream (whatever that is!). Television weather people even have the most interesting screens to work with, with all kinds of ...

715. No Substitutes

Galatians 3:15-25

Sermon

King Duncan

... of life who are rejecting many of the false idols of our society and are reaching out to God. Some of them are coming back to church. And no wonder. These other idols are inferior. No chemical, no beverage can satisfy your deepest need. There is no toy you can buy regardless of the size of your bank account. There is no substitute, my friend, for the real thing. Put God first in your life and everything else will fall in place. 1. The Jokesmith. 2. http://www.christianpost.com/news/woman-living-biblically ...

716. Anything to Declare?

Luke 10:1-24

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... what? More “stuff.” It is a hard thing to hear, then, today’s gospel text. For in this third “sending” story in which Jesus gives his missionaries instructions for the road, he tells his trusted troubadours of the kingdom not to take any “toys” with them. No “stuff.” They are not to pack up any “extras” as they undertake their journey. They are not to bring extra money, extra clothing, extra sandals. (Yes, even in the first century, shoes are different than packing other stuff!) In ...

717. The Dirt on Jesus

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... your computer send everything you file to the all-knowing and all-saving “Cloud” so that you don’t ever lose any of your on-line “stuff?” Even if you don’t have boxes of odd papers, old clothes, broken tools, or raggedy toys squirreled away in some physical storage space, chances are you’ve got old files, months of e-mails, forgettable photos, and just general information, all stacked on your electronic “stuff” and all safely crated and cared for by some electronic gatekeeper and security ...

718. Your Home Page

Hebrews 13:1-25

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... true for cell phones. The best day of your life? The day you bought your boat. The second best day of your life? The day you sold your boat. That kind of love/hate relationship is even fiercer when it comes to our most beloved, most bemoaned tech toy — the “smart phone.” Every time you “upgrade” from a version “3" to “4” to “5” . . . it seems that only minutes later there is a version “6.” Almost as soon as you can get out your credit card, you are the proud owner of a dodo or a ...

719. Waiting for Christmas

James 5:7-12

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

... resolved to continue with the annual Christmas program. Rae called every local merchant she could think of and explained the problem seeking their financial support. She wrote letters to friends and neighbors asking for donations. Within 24 hours she had collected 500 toys and gifts from area merchants. She was overwhelmed — overjoyed at the outpouring from the community. The Christmas program turned out to be a great success! This is not the end of the story, one month later Rae landed a well-paying job ...

720. Be Patient

James 5:7-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... to wait to see what wonderful gifts Santa would bring? Anyone ever peek through the closets to try to get an advanced view? It’s hard to be patient. It may be even more difficult to be patient if you are a parent seeking to corral the right toy for your children’s Christmas. It would seem that one of the most dangerous places to be this time of year is Wal-Mart particularly on Black Friday, the day stores traditionally kick off the Christmas shopping frenzy. You may remember a few years ago on Black ...

721. Getting out of the Doldrums

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... children’s book, The Phantom Tollbooth (1961), tells the story of a young boy named Milo. One dull, rainy afternoon Milo receives the anonymous gift of a cardboard fold-and-cut tollbooth. Bored Milo builds the tollbooth and “drives through” it with his toy car. Immediately Milo disappears from his room and finds himself traveling along a strange road in a new land. But despite this miraculous relocation, as the road continues on and on, and the countryside rolls by and by, Milo begins to grow bored ...

722. Finding the Perfect Gift

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... any of these and hold them up for everyone to see, or get their owners to hold them up before the congregation, so much the better.] The “it” gift in 1929 was a “Yo-Yo” — high tech for it’s time. In 1943 the must have toy was a strange doo-dad called a “slinky.” Throughout the sixties, seventies, and eighties, at Christmas we were greedy for gifts of the stuffed animal, dolls, action-figures variety: Cabbage Patch dolls and Care Bears, Elmo (“Tickle Me,” “Live,” or “Let’s Rock ...

723. In the Shadow of His Brother

John 1:35-42

Sermon

King Duncan

... the new mother watched her 18-month-old daughter, named Robyn, for signs of jealousy or insecurity. But Robyn seemed to adore her little sister from the start. She loved to help Annie feed and bathe the baby, and she even offered to share her toys. Several weeks passed and the mother, convinced that Robyn was suffering no ill effects, decided she could manage without a nurse. As she watched Annie walk out to her car that last day, she heard an unmistakable cry of distress. “Annie!” yelled Robyn, running ...

724. The Voice-activated Life

2 Peter 1:12-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... to teach their very young children basic social skills one of the first big lessons is “Use your words.” Instead of grabbing, hitting, screaming, or crying, we teach our children to communicate their needs and desires through the use of words. Instead of snatching a toy away from another child we teach our kids to say “May I please play with that for a while?” Instead of screaming and throwing a tantrum, we teach our children to say, “I’m really mad,” or “He was mean to me,” or “She hit ...

725. Voice Recognition

John 20:19-23

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... . But some of the biggest magic around is voice recognition. As a young Samuel was instructed to speak by his mentor Eli, “Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth.” Our technology now is saying to us, “Speak, Lord, for your servant hears and obeys.” We “speak,” and our toys turn on and do our bidding. Your voice is enough to get the GPS systems in your car to be your digital concierge and report back to you with a voice of our choosing. X-Box One recognizes who is speaking to it and obeys the voice ...

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