Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 726 to 750 of 2332 results

726. Dabar Adonai

Jeremiah 1:1-19

Sermon

Tony Everett

... often came into conflict with his prophetic mission. His heartrending struggles with the Lord are described in chapters 9, 12, 15, and 20. Yet, in pouring out his inner turmoil to the Lord, he found renewal and strength. The word of the Lord did not desert him. Jeremiah was never on his own. Neither are we. The word of the Lord is also with us. Relying only upon our own insights and initiative, we are bound to experience confusion and helplessness. Admiral William T. "Bull" Halsey was an Allied commander in ...

727. Proper 13

Luke 11:1-13, Hosea 11:1-11, Colossians 3:1-17, Psalm 107:1-43

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... who thinks he can control his future by adding to his wealth. Psalm. (Psalm 107:1-9, 43) The psalm begins with thanks to the Lord. The psalmist urges recognition that God is good and shows steadfast love. The Lord gathers those who wander in the desert and helps those who are in distress. In contrast to the foolish who think they are self-sufficient (such as the farmer in Jesus' parable), the wise person rests upon the steadfast love of the Lord. Context of Related Scripture Exodus 2:14 -- The Hebrew people ...

728. Weather Signs

Luke 12:49-53

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... ." (v. 54) Clouds were brought by a west wind. They brought moisture from the Mediterranean. When the moisture-laden winds rose as they met the cooler land, they brought rain. 6. "The South Wind Blowing." (v. 55) South winds came across the Sinai desert. They picked up the heat so that they brought scorching temperatures. 7. "You Hypocrites!" (v. 56) It is not entirely clear why this term is used to describe the crowd. Some among them would be the professional religionists who professed obedience to God ...

729. Blessed Betrayal

1 Corinthians 11:17-34

Sermon

Don M. Aycock

... kingdom and didn't know what he meant when he would say things like 'He who would be first must become the servant of all.' We betrayed him by our hunger for power." On and on it might have gone as each disciple confessed his own reason for deserting Jesus on that fateful Friday. But it was to that very group -- who followed with mixed motives -- that Jesus broke the bread and gave it as a blessing. There is hope! The beginning of the Lenten season is called Ash Wednesday. It is the day when many Christians ...

730. Bowing Before The Mystery

John 1:1-18

Sermon

Charles H. Bayer

... acquired the disease. We will still hurt and cry over our failures and the perfidy of others. We will still climb over each other on our way to some mythical top where the tree of happiness is said to be planted, but which is as barren as a desert. We will still put each other down and wonder why we are not loved more than we are. You see, the most important issues of life are not, cannot be solved by all the technological competence, gadgetry and wisdom we have presently amassed, or ever will. For these ...

731. Thankful Living

Joel 2:18-27

Sermon

John A. Stroman

... good relationships with others, with all of God's creation, as well as the land and all its creatures. He points out that this abundant life of relationships is possible by first having a harmonious relationship with God. The prophet warns Judah if they desert God, making God unnecessary, and turn to other sources for life, then Judah is faced with hopelessness and the threat of annihilation. The prophet informs Judah that when God's salvation comes, nature too will be healed. Peace with God brings a peace ...

732. Friendship? Yes, Please!

2 Samuel 11:1-27

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... a poet and musician, and proved himself again and again on the battlefield. The women used to sing, "Saul has killed his thousands, but David his ten thousands!" But there was a problem. King Saul grew jealous. And he tried to kill David. Fleeing into the desert, David lived a wanted man, hounded, often hungry. That's when Jonathan befriended David. Now Jonathan was Saul's son, and as such, he was the rightful heir to the throne of Israel. Still, he accepted David's anointing by Samuel, so selfless was he ...

733. How To Treat Your Enemies

2 Samuel 18:1-18

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... the prophet Samuel, soothed King Saul with his music, become a military hero, and made his reputation as a poet with Psalm 23. But now David's success has threatened King Saul. The man is jealous and he actually tries to kill young David. But David slips into the desert and hides out. Twice he has the opportunity to slay Saul, and twice he refuses. Now David is driven to the edge of Israel. He is reduced to living in a cave. He is hot, thirsty, hungry, and lord of a band of renegades in search of survival ...

734. You Can Create A Godly Heritage!

1 Kings 2:1-12

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... and so on through four generations, there will be nearly 200 people in my immediate legacy. That makes you and me quite the pastors of prosperous flocks! Actually, Exodus 20:6 says your faithfulness can bless literally "thousands." Take Abraham as an example. A simple desert shepherd was told by God, "Look toward the stars. So shall your descendants be" (Genesis 12). And so it is that we ourselves should be careful how we live. For we, too, are creating a legacy that will affect the lives of hundreds of ...

735. The Agenda Factor

2 Samuel 7:1-17

Sermon

William L. Self

... in a tent" -- very noble indeed. People who covet power and court it constantly know instinctively that every opportunity to demonstrate the power they possess must be taken. Yes, David lived well but his God did not. Could David be so powerful and his nomadic desert God live in a battered old tent? After all, the other deities in surrounding empires lived well. Could the God of Israel be much at all if his house was so scruffy? David prepares to build a suitable "house" for God, a temple fitting for the ...

736. Have I Got News For You!

Isaiah 9:1-7

Sermon

William L. Self

... of the world -- no wonder they killed him. On November 11, 1918, the sun rose on the city of Mons, Belgium. All night long, the darkness had been shot through with the lurid flashes of gunfire and the staccato chatter of machine guns that echoed through the deserted streets. But at dawn, the last German outpost withdrew, and from their burned and shattered homes the people streamed into the streets. Down the street came the cry, "Hang out your flags." When the sun rose, it shone on a city of banners and the ...

737. When God Steps Out Of Shadows

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

William L. Self

... alone" (Romans 14:7). He knows we are not complete unto ourselves. We need each other. One man is no man. The community of God's people, first Israel and then the church, is as essential for life as manna in the wilderness -- or water in the desert. The apostle Paul says we are not complete unto ourselves. We are only individual parts of the body. We are of no use unless we are connected. However, in American culture we are still greatly influenced by models such as the Lone Ranger, the Marlboro Man, the ...

738. Famous Last Words

Deuteronomy 18:14-22

Sermon

William L. Self

... words we can measure our understanding of the world. This fourth Sunday of Epiphany brings us to some famous last words -- those of Moses as he was preparing to leave his people. For forty years he had led Israel across the Red Sea and the burning desert. For forty years he had suffered their rebellion, immaturity, ingratitude, and complaining. Now it was time for him to say good-bye. After the long course his task had been completed. The plagues were over, the shadow of the death angel was gone, the sea of ...

739. No Shortcut To Glory

2 Kings 2:1-18

Sermon

William L. Self

... a cave while running away from Queen Jezebel after he had the prophets of Baal killed, the Lord appeared to him. Among the things that the Lord spoke to Elijah about were some instructions. He told Elijah to go back the way he came and go to the Desert of Damascus, and while there anoint Elisha, son of Shaphat, to succeed him as prophet. Elijah did this by throwing his cloak over Elisha's shoulders (1 Kings 19:19). This act denoted God's intention to bestow the prophetic powers upon him as the successor to ...

740. Just What The Doctor Ordered

Numbers 21:4-9

Sermon

Paul W. Kummer

... as he looked contentedly at the sea. In today's text, the people of Israel play the role of the rich tycoon and God wanted them to be like the contented fisherman. The people of Israel would have killed for some fish to eat in the middle of the desert as they wandered, but all they had was an attitude: "We detest this miserable food" (v. 5)! It was manna, heavenly food, angel's food, but they were tired of it. Some scholars say that the word "manna" came from the word meaning, "to despise," so that the very ...

741. Something Old, Something New

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

Paul W. Kummer

... and that broke God's heart. The covenant with Noah wasn't enough for the wayward wife. Abraham's covenant wasn't honored for very long. The other covenants were ignored after a while and the people of Israel didn't even go to a lawyer. They just deserted their first love. This was the only marriage in trouble that didn't have two sides to the story. God was totally innocent; the people defiantly guilty. Yet God wouldn't give up. He didn't find another wife. He just kept wooing the adulterous one. His love ...

742. Coping With Heartache

Jeremiah 29:1-23

Sermon

Robert P. Hines

... lose something or someone of great value to us in order to fully understand how God is with us always. Most people who are married would tell you that their spouse is a source of great blessing to them. But if our spouse dies, that does not mean God has deserted us. In the midst of our pain and emotional exile, God is still with us. God doesn't always defeat or send the enemy away. But God is with us. God doesn't always cure our diseases, but God is still with us through our illnesses. God doesn't make ...

743. The Burdens Of The Past

Haggai 2:1-9, Haggai 1:1-15

Sermon

Robert P. Hines

... else. If you can do just one thing well, you're needed somewhere by someone. Begin by working on your attitude. Do something for someone else. And finally, trust that God will be with you. The Jews in the time of Haggai must have thought that God had deserted them. God had allowed their temple to be destroyed. God had allowed them to be taken away to Babylon as prisoners of war. God had allowed other people to come and live in the land that had been promised to the descendants of Abraham. There must have ...

744. Our Defense In A Stone-littered World

Acts 7:54--8:1a

Sermon

Gerald Whetstone

... charitably when we could afford more for ourselves. In these and countless situations every day we have opportunity to show the courage and might which is ours by the grace of God. To live with such might is to live full in the faith. To deny and desert our faith is to fill our life with little deaths -- deaths of our hope, and our spirit, and peace. Sometimes our fears are real and sometimes they are exaggerated. In the cartoon strip B.C. the consistently cowardly knight Rodney rushes in to see the king ...

745. God's A Catcher

Exodus 17:1-7

Sermon

Gerald Whetstone

... gospel, once blind, has been cast out. He searches for him. Having found him, he establishes with him an eternal relationship. To this man, he is no longer simply a prophet, or even a healer. He is his Lord. And the man worships him. Jesus did not heal and desert him. Nor will he fail to provide and care for us. Of course, it may not always be when and how and as we expect. Not only does he provide us with food and clothing, home and family (though we dare never take these precious gifts for granted), but ...

746. Unconditional Love

Romans 4:1-25

Sermon

Sandra Hefter Herrma

... that Abraham led an exemplary life himself, for that matter. This man lied twice to powerful rulers in order to save his neck; used a surrogate when his wife didn't conceive; at his wife's insistence, banished this hapless slave along with their son, in a desert place; and complained consistently about his lack of offspring, even though God repeated his promise as well as his care for Abraham numerous times. So it isn't that Abraham is an example of a perfect person, nor has he perfect trust in God. He is a ...

747. Let's Live

Isaiah 1:1-31

Sermon

Richard L. Sheffield

... Paul said once: "... I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do" (Romans 7:19). And even Jesus was tempted to do things his way instead of doing them God's way in his sojourn with the devil in the desert. The devil said: "A little power, a little prestige, a little money, Jesus; you can have it all, if you do things my way." And Jesus could have said, "The devil made me do it." Then he could have gone to church and confessed along with everyone else: "... We have ...

748. Week Two Of Lent

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... fruitful, its leaves will stay green, for it always has a source of nourishment. The signs that lead away from God are equally clear. Those who choose to trust in human solutions, who seek their strength in the flesh, they will be like the barren bush in the desert, that enjoys no change of season, that stands in a lava waste of desolation. The signs are there; they always have been. God is all around, in so many powerful, beautiful and subtle ways. Let us open our eyes to the signs of God's presence. Let ...

749. From A Distance

Exodus 24:1-18

Sermon

Paul E. Robinson

... be, which is usually a warm, cuddly grandpa, whose only desire is to make you happy. A fearful, unapproachable, fire-breathing God, or a harmless, comfortable, wimp. Such are the usual images of God, when experienced ... at a distance. I think it was during Desert Storm that the song "From A Distance" came out, sung by Bette Midler. It was a beautiful song, sung on the radio, sung in religious gatherings. It grabbed our longing for peace and indeed how peaceful and in harmony the earth looks ... from a ...

750. Week Five Of Lent

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... food provided by God. Remember God was the one who provided the manna and the quail in the first place. In punishment God sends serpents which kill many. However, God never abandons the people and sends another sign. The raising of the serpent in the desert prefigures the raising of Christ on the cross. The bronze serpent is a sign of the constant presence of God with the Hebrews. The faithlessness of the Jews continues in the Gospel. Jesus realizes the people's inability to believe. One more sign will be ...

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