Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 51 to 75 of 112 results

51. Merry Christmas or Happy Kitschmas?

1 Corinthians 1:1-9

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... gift of running some errands, sitting for a cup of coffee, walking a dog, weeding a flower bed, doing a load of laundry whenever, for whomever, no questions asked. No mission too small. But natal gifts are not well-formed. They are unruly, boisterous, rambunctious, messy. The Czech novelist Milan Kundera wrote a masterpiece called The Incredible Lightness of Being that was turned into a mediocre movie. In this novel Kundera defined “kitsch” as the absolute denial of the negative or imperfect. That is ...

52. The Devil's I

Acts 5:27-32

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... to put one's present at risk. 2. Serve God Above All. Serving God takes more than faith it takes sweat and patience and strength and spirit. Moses served God and had to spend his final years wandering the wilderness with arguably the most unruly, headstrong people the world has ever known. Jeremiah served God and found himself hated, ridiculed and feared by his fellow countrymen. Mary served God and faced an uncertain future with her husband and family because of her unlikely pregnancy. To serve God means ...

53. Luke 5:1-11

Luke 5:1-11

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... the continual crowds and the recurrence of Simon's specific presence (in 4:38 and again in 5:4) indicate to the reader, however, that these events took place close to one another in time. Jesus is preaching "the Word of God" to a large, rather unruly, tumultuous assembly. By choosing the phrase "Word of God," Luke emphasizes that Jesus' preaching and teaching were not based on Jesus' own thoughts but were in fact the Word God was speaking through him _ Jesus as God's chosen messenger. But while the message ...

54. Matthew 16:13-20

Matthew 16:13-20

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... scholars often part ways at interpreting Simon Peter's eager leap into the awkward silence that followed. Some insist that Peter was simply the representative voice of all the disciples there - suggesting that his view was not unique. It was just that his unruly, impetuous nature got him first in line to speak what they all acknowledged. Whatever judgment is made at this juncture colors the interpretation for the remainder of the exchange between Jesus and Peter. If Peter is speaking on behalf of all the ...

55. The Ride of Your Life

Mark 4:35-41

Illustration

Leonard Sweet

... be courageous when waves start to swamp our boat. ("Now remember children, if you are ever caught in a storm, try to be a little more like Jesus.") The purpose of this story is altogether different. The purpose is to identify Jesus as one who can master the demonic and unruly forces of life and hold them at bay. Mark says he'll be there. He will be right in the boat with you. But you may not know it until the storm comes. You may not know it until it looks, for all the world, as if your boat is ...

56. Proper 10

Mark 6:14-29, Psalm 24:1-10, 2 Samuel 6:1-23, Ephesians 1:1-14

Bulletin Aid

B. David Hostetter

... your Holy Spirit, that our prayers may serve your will and show your steadfast love; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Creator God, you made all things in your wisdom, and in your love you save us. We pray for the whole creation. Order unruly powers, deal with injustice, feed and satisfy those who thirst for justice, so that your children may freely enjoy the earth you have made, and cheerfully sing your praises; through Jesus Christ our Lord. God of compassion, in Jesus Christ you cared for those who ...

57. Easter 4

Psalm 23:1-6, John 10:11-18, Acts 4:5-12, 1 John 3:16-24

Bulletin Aid

B. David Hostetter

... Jesus Christ you dealt with spirits that darken minds or set people against themselves and others. Give peace to people who are torn by conflict, are cast down or dream deceiving dreams. By your power, drive from our mind demons that shake confidence and wreck love. Tame unruly forces in us, and bring us to your truth, so that we may accept ourselves as good, glad children of your love, known in Jesus Christ. We pray that all may go well with our family and friends and that they may be in good health, both ...

58. Easter 3

Psalm 4:1-8, Luke 24:36b-48, Acts 3:11-26, 1 John 3:1-7

Bulletin Aid

B. David Hostetter

... and a measure of resignation or healing. Creator God, you made all things in your wisdom, and in your love you save us. We pray for the whole creation. Confront both godless and believing world leaders with your call to justice and peace. Order unruly powers, deal with injustice. Teach us effective ways to challenge injustice and evil in the power of your Spirit, and with humility, acknowledging our own faults and failings. God of patriarchs and matriarchs, you are the God of the living, not of the dead ...

59. Deus Interruptus

Mark 6:45-56

Illustration

Jerry Goebel

... knows what is to happen, and that he functions like the Spirit, who “drove” Jesus out to be tested in the wilderness (1:12; note the amount of wilderness imagery in 6:31–44). This is to be the disciples’ test. It is also possible that there are unruly elements in the crowd, and Jesus does not want his disciples caught up in any messianic fervor (in John 6:14–15 we are told the crowd tried to make Jesus “king by force”), but there is no hint of that in Mark (Baker Publishing Group, Teaching the ...

60. A Song for Tomorrow

Psalm 1:1-6

Sermon

James Merritt

... is described perfectly in Proverbs 30: 20, "Equally amazing is how an adulterous woman can satisfy her sexual appetite, shrug her shoulders, and then say, "What's wrong with that?" (Proverbs 30:20, NLT) Finally, we come to the scornful or the scoffer. This is a person that is unruly. The word refers to "a dog snarl" and it literally means to "make a face at." This is a man who is not only a sinner and wicked, but laughs about it. He mocks God. He mocks sin. He makes fun of the whole concept. Proverbs 14:9 ...

61. Living In The Spirit Of Peace

Galatians 5:22-25, Colossians 3:14-15

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... the individual who was in charge of keeping the peace. The keeper of the public peace, was sort of like the western idea of a sheriff and today's understanding of the police officer whose primary duty is to help us 'keep the peace' when we get unruly. A lot of people are only seeking this kind of peace. They want financial or social peace. But what they are really looking for is not peace but safety. Not peace but security. Not peace but popularity. Not peace but superiority. Not peace but plenty. Not peace ...

62. Getting Real

Genesis 22:1-14

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

Sometime back there was a brief news report about a youth director of a local church who was fired because he had duct taped one of the unruly boys to the wall of the gym and left him there. The pictures you see are of kids and adults who consented to being duct taped to the wall not for punishment purposes but as fund raisers. The Darwin awards came out this week and the winner was James Elliot. ...

63. He Pitched His Tent Among Us

John 1:1-18

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... was expressed forcibly and clearly during the Exodus. Get that story in mind, you’ll find it in the 29th Chapter of Exodus. “Moses had led Israel out of Egypt and through the parted waters of the Red Sea. Safe at last from the Egyptian Army, this unruly horde of humanity - 600,000 men accompanied by women and children - camped out at the foot of Mt. Sinai. There, God called Moses to the mountaintop and instructed him in the laws by which his chosen people were now to live. These laws ranged from the all ...

64. Who Will Cast the First Stone?

John 7:45--8:11

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

There is a down home story about a small town veterinarian who had invented an instrument with which, he boasted, even a child could administer a capsule to a horse, no matter how unruly or reluctant the horse might be. One summer the vet went to county fair to demonstrate his new invention. They couldn’t find anyone who would permit his horse to be a part of the experiment, but they did find a mule, and soon a crowd had gathered to watch. ...

65. What Do You Know about God?

John 16:5-16

Illustration

King Duncan

... . One morning all of the teachers were called to the teachers' room for an emergency meeting, and they hurried over, leaving their classes unsupervised. Everyone was worried, but none as much as Mrs. Whiting, because her class of first graders was especially mischievous and unruly. When they got to the teachers' room, Mrs. Whiting said, "I think I had better listen in and find out what's going on in my classroom." She turned on the intercom, and sure enough, her room was in chaos. Children were yelling and ...

66. A Vision Vanished

Philippians 3:4-14

Sermon

Larry Lange

... and stop and one day, he saw some cars there, and so he did stop. It happened on that day that the ladies aid quilting society had concluded their quilting with an afternoon coffee break. Arnold came tramping in wearing his greasy, tattered, hooded sweatshirt, his unruly hair tumbling out from under a camouflage baseball hat. The ladies gave a perceptible start when they saw him and were greatly relieved when the pastor stuck his head out of his office to ask, "What can we do for you?" Arnold asked if he ...

67. Get Down and Dirty for Lent

John 9:1-12

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... your church to let you use their well-used aprons as props. Or better yet, conduct a fashion show of the aprons used by people in your church.] Unless you have lived in a rural area, you might not know the joys of keeping that most unruly, unpredictable, but absolutely crucial-to-life “pet” known as . . . a septic tank. There are some unbendable rules for septic tanks. 1) They will always back up the day your daughter’s wedding reception is being held in your back yard. 2) They will overflow and need ...

68. Peace In the Midst of the Storm

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... expertise. Deliverance ... and did you notice how it came? Just his word. He calmly stood up in that storm-tossed boat as you and your friends looked on in wonder. He spoke to the winds and waves with as much familiarity as you would speak to one of your own unruly children. "Quiet! Be still!" (v. 39). And that was all there was to it. As suddenly as it had come up, the storm was gone. You sit there now in that boat as it gently rocks to and fro in the midst of the lake. You look at your traveling ...

69. Conflict Saps the Life Out of the Church

Matthew 18:15-20

Illustration

Todd Weir

... saps the life out of the church. Pastors that want to survive learn to tell people to talk to the person they are angry with first, then come back if they can't work it out. I'm sure Jesus had to do this all the time with an unruly group of fishermen, a tax collector, a zealot and two brothers known as the Sons of Thunder. There may have been days when he felt like he would be better off without disciples, but his whole purpose was to create a community of believers, not just individuals interested in ...

70. Bear the Light

John 1:19-28

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

The five year old nephew of the bride was chosen to be in charge of carrying the rings down the aisle. At the wedding rehearsal he was unusually unruly. He kept leaping out at people, baring his teeth at and then chasing the flower girls. He growled and snarled as he practiced going down the aisle. He brandished the pillow like a pistol. Finally his mother pulled him aside and demanded to know why he was behaving so badly. “ ...

71. Ring Bear

Matthew 22:1-14

Illustration

Leonard Sweet

72. Adopted

Ephesians 1:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... piles next to containers when they became filled. And parking lot attendants didn’t have to argue with delegates when they were asked to put their cars in certain spaces. Recalling how some other conventions turned into shouting matches because the visitors were unruly and demanding, Kirk summed it up, “But these folks were terrific!” (5) These are small things, of course. But they represent a little of what we mean by excellence in living. We are to seek after excellence in all things. St. Paul says ...

73. Garden Gone Bad

Isaiah 5:1-7

Sermon

Chrysanne Timm

... Isaiah's poem ends with one more twist — the vineyard being lamented isn't just any place. This vineyard is God's people — Israel and Judah. Now we are getting to what is sometimes called the crowning glory of God's creation, aren't we? This unruly, unproductive vineyard is the whole of God's beloved people, who God created, declared to be stewards of God's creation, then later delivered from bondage, and finally planted in a fertile place where they could reflect God's image as readily as a good and ...

74. Praise and Blame

1 Corinthians 4:1-21

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

... . When he first started David felt that this was what God wanted him to do, and he was filled with passion and enthusiasm. Those feelings wore off after the third or fourth week; he claims that he “was spinning my wheels.” The teenagers were unruly, undisciplined, and out of control. “I found myself unsure if this was where I needed to be,” he says of his experience, “but with prayer and soul searching, I kept showing up.” David continued volunteering at the center where over a period of several ...

75. The Story of Christmas

John 1:1-18

Sermon

King Duncan

... Mary in the stable stands her husband a patient and loving man named Joseph. Joseph believes in his young bride nearly as strongly as he believes in God. Some sheep and oxen and a lowly donkey complete the scene. Later they will be joined by some unruly shepherds who will claim to have been serenaded by angels as they guarded their sheep on a hillside. And still later will come three magi from the east bearing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. “We have seen his star,” they will say, “and have ...

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