Sermon and Worship Resources

Antonyms: keep, claim, continue, stick by, self-control, power through, achieve, defend, bear, hope, acquire, quick visit, adopt, continue along, adhere, remain, pursue, support, take up, keep up, reuse, advocate, stay, persevere, cherish, keep going, carry on

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726. The Great Debates

Matthew 22:34-46

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... , heart, soul, and strength; love neighbor as you love yourself. What does it mean to accept Jesus as your messiah? It means that you accept that messiah is Jesus, Son of God, who sits at the right hand of God, who has sent the Holy Spirit to us as our advocate, to guide us, to teach us, to empower us, to infuse us with the saving and healing energy of God, so that we may heal and bless others with his power and love. Psalm 110 was quoted often in the New Testament scriptures. The Apostles and those of the ...

727. The Rant

Matthew 23:1-12

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... to practice justice and mercy in their own, personal lives. Their hearts aren’t stirred by faith, but they are enticed with starry-eyed fascination with themselves, their power, their status, their money, and their titles. Jesus is a no-holds-barred advocate of Judaism, of God, love, faith, and service, but he is no friend to the institutionalism and hypocrisy that has emerged in the Jerusalem Temple. Why is he searingly laying into the Pharisees and scribes the way he is? Because Jesus is passionate ...

728. Spirit Soaked

Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... but would go on to spread, so that God’s love could light up the world again and all who live in it. He needed them to listen. Today, we too need to hear Jesus’ message, encouraging us to stay faithful, no matter what happens. Jesus promised us an advocate in the form of the Holy Spirit, who would guide us with his own light, the holy light of God, and who would keep us steady, passionate, mission-focused, and identity-rich in the times to come. No matter how difficult life can feel. No matter how bad ...

729. Dynamic Preaching January 2024 Sermons

Sermon

King Duncan

... clearly than ever before that there is a remarkable interrelationship between the mind, the soul and the body. Our thoughts and our attitudes can literally make us sick. We know that. Of course, we must approach this subject with care. We are not advocating replacing medicine with so-called "faith healing." This is a field where so much damage has been done by spiritual quacks that most responsible religious people are even afraid to approach the subject. Even as great a man as Mahatma Gandhi was guilty ...

730. That Mountaintop Moment

Mark 9:2-9

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... in a transformative kind of way, we will not experience the kind of transformative shift in our perspective that will serve as a life-altering moment. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism understood this better than anyone. John had been a social advocate, a sincere loyalist to God, a disciplined disciple, and an Oxford professor of theology. But until his encounter at Aldersgate in which his “heart was warmed” and his spirit touched by God in an emotional and spiritual way, his faith remained an ...

731. Who’s Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf?

John 10:11-18

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... down his life for their sake. He ensured God’s victory not just from the pack but from the sins that create their aggression, so that one day “wolf could lay down with lamb” (Isaiah 11:6), and no one would accuse another. Jesus, in his great gift of life, advocated for a different world in which all would follow him and be part of a peaceful fold. We are all sheep. You are. I am. Every person God created good in his eyes. Every person with potential to be the creature God meant him or her to be. And ...

732. Living Bread

John 6:51-58

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... both negative and positive ways. He warned against emulating or reproducing the “yeast” of the Pharisees –the prolific negative, internal character they represented with their exclusive and hypocritical tendencies. But on the other hand, he advocated for internalizing and reproducing the “yeast” of the “kingdom”! Both could multiply prolifically. Whether one chooses to reproduce negative or positive characteristics (or spirits!) in one’s life, lineage, or heritage became of utmost importance ...

733. Scandal

Luke 22:14-23:56

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... Enter Jesus. Jesus came as the lawyer for the accused. He did not pretend we were innocent, but openly marked our guilt. Yet when the holy sentence is passed, and capital punishment is ascribed against us, Jesus showed the extent to which he will advocate on our behalf. He himself stepped into the penalty box, he himself climbed up to the gallows, he himself was strapped into the electric chair, he himself received our toxic chemical cocktail, and died our death for us. There is good news about resurrection ...

734. The Unmasking of Nazareth

Luke 4:21-30

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... authentic. From this point onward, we would see again and again, Jesus challenging hypocrisy, pretend, pompousness, and showiness not just by those in power but even by some of his own disciples. From this point onward, Jesus will spend his entire ministry demonstrating and advocating for authenticity. For if there’s anything we learn from Jesus, it’s that God cherishes an open and revealed heart. It may be a damaged heart. It may be a suffering heart. It may be a heart oozing with pain, guilt, sin, or ...

735. Stay Close

John 10:22-30

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... grief has become tinged with hope, excitement, acknowledgment, and above all, comfort. Although they felt Jesus’ strength before, now looking back at his words and predictions, they felt Jesus magnify that strength, and they looked forward to the coming of the Advocate, the Holy Spirit of Christ, which would continue to be with them from the day of Pentecost forward. And they suddenly realized….he would never be “gone.” They would never be “alone.” Not only that, he would be a “safe space ...

736. For Someone Who Led A Magnificent Life

Ecclesiastes 3:1-11 · 1 Corinthians 2:9-10 · 2 Corinthians 4:6-11 · Luke 24:13-35

Eulogy

Richard E. Zajac

... in attention. A model of church and worship got set into motion that weekend and our lives have been dramatically altered for the better ever since. Think of the way he empowered us to take charge of this parish. Think of the courage he had to raise issues and advocate for causes that weren’t very popular here in South Buffalo, how he often spoke a truth few of us wished to hear. Think of how he was always there when we needed him, at our house if someone we loved died, at our bedside if we were sick ...

737. Eyes Like a Hawk

Luke 14:1, 7-14

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... the next meal on the schedule but invites to the table those who could never afford to be there, let alone host the group around them. In one short parable, Jesus challenged their closed system selective vision and advocated for an open door invitational viewpoint that went against every cultural expectation that informed their view of both themselves and others. Giving without expectation! Invitation without reciprocation! Exceeding instead of conforming! Humility rather than the hawkish competitive spirit ...

738. Where's the One?

Luke 15:1-10

Sermon

Jill J. Duffield

... compelled to help. Jesus says to you and to me, “Where’s the one?” Do you have it? It’s okay if it is you or your next door neighbor or the person you’ve not seen in church for a while. The Spirit works in all of this, intercedes, advocates, counsels. Jesus asks you, “Where is the one?” Don’t overthink what or who comes to your consciousness. Do you have the one? Now do one thing, one thing to seek out that one. Think of one thing that one may need to hear or know or feel. It does ...

739. Persistent Prayer

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

Jill J. Duffield

... for our own righteousness. Without prayer we lose our orientation toward God and desire not God’s will, be done on earth as it is in heaven, but assume our will is divinely ordained and not subject to correction or critique. Prayer enables us to advocate for the widow and honestly hope that the judge is changed in the process. Prayer allows us to persist in working for justice and walking humbly with God and loving kindness even when it feels like a perpetual Good Friday with no resurrection in sight ...

740. The Rebirth

John 3:1-21

Sermon

Ron Lavin

The story of Nicodemus is fascinating and intriguing. Nicodemus came to Jesus secretly by night, probably because he didn't want anyone to see him. He came to Jesus with a compliment. He said, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him" (John 3:2), thinking that Jesus, like most people, would be impressed by a compliment. He came wanting to discuss theology, assuming that Jesus would be interested in a ...

741. The Open Hand

Mark 2:23-3:6

Sermon

Ron Lavin

Whenever you consider the meaning of a Bible text, it is always good to look at the context. As we consider the meaning of Jesus' words to the man with a shriveled hand, we need to look at what happened before he spoke these words. The context of Jesus' words to the man with the shriveled-up hand in Mark 3:5 is conflict with the Pharisees in the areas of fasting, the Sabbath, and worship. The reason for this conflict was the Pharisees' closed minds, hard hearts, and clenched fists. The Context In some ...

742. The Agony And The Ecstasy Of The Family

Mark 3:20-35

Sermon

Ron Lavin

Jesus experienced conflict in his family. In today's text we hear that his family was so upset by what they saw he was doing and heard he was saying, that they decided to "take charge of him" because they thought "he was out of his mind" (Mark 3:21). Later in our story we hear that Jesus' family arrived while he was debating with the religious leaders about Satan, the prince of demons. Someone told him that his mother and brothers were there. Jesus responded, "My true family members are those who do the ...

743. The Parables About Response

Mark 4:30-34, Mark 4:26-29

Sermon

Ron Lavin

The kingdom of God is described in many different ways in the Bible. In Mark 4, the kingdom of God is described in terms of small seeds quietly planted by a farmer. The seeds can grow to great size, like a mustard plant which in ancient Israel became one of the largest of bushes. Small beginnings can have great endings. Before looking further at this slow but potentially great growth in Mark 4:26-34, it helps to look at the context of our text, the passage before the two parables of the slow growing seeds ...

744. The Little Boat

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon

Ron Lavin

Picture Jesus and the disciples on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. The day had started off well enough -- crowds clamoring to see Jesus, bringing their illnesses and troubles to him as they always did, seeking his help and healing. Jesus was in control. He helped them all. The disciples observed the power of the Lord as they had so many times before. A good day to be alive! A good day for a sail and a rest! As they moved onto the water, the waves lapped against the small boat. The boat gently rocked back ...

745. The Compassionate Healings

Mark 5:21-43

Sermon

Ron Lavin

We have before us two stories, the story of a sick woman with a twelve-year-old hemorrhage and the story of a twelve-year-old girl who has died. The stories are integrated by one theme -- the compassionate healing of Jesus. The Sick Woman Our stories start out with Jairus, a synagogue leader, approaching Jesus with a request to come and heal his sick daughter. On his way to the home of Jairus, Jesus was met by a woman who had been sick with bleeding for twelve years. In terms of modern medicine, she ...

746. The Sending Plan (Alternate title: Our Human Predicament)

Mark 6:7-13

Sermon

Ron Lavin

In his sermon at the hometown synagogue in Nazareth, Jesus preached to the hometown folks -- family and friends who rejected him. One of the reasons for rejection was apparently overfamiliarity. Jesus went about healing, casting out demons, and preaching the need for repentance. Some people rejoiced. The hometown folks were offended. Jesus was rejected in his own hometown. Therefore Jesus made plans to send others out in his name. We pick up the story in verse 6: "And he was amazed at their lack of faith. ...

747. We Are Called to Plant

Mark 4:26-34

Illustration

Ron Lavin

When it comes to being God's fellow workers, the first thing to realize is that we are not in control of the growth. We are called to plant. God gives the growth. God gets the credit. We cannot boast about the success that comes when the seeds are planted. We must be very cautious about taking too much credit for apparent success in the spiritual area. A visitor to the Vatican was quite impressed with the beauty and power of the place. He asked Pope John XXIII this question: "How many people do you have ...

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