Sermon and Worship Resources

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776. Spirit-anointed Son Of God The Father

John 1:29-34

Sermon

Mark Radecke

... but part of the very fabric of faith, the identity of the God who rescued Israel from Egypt, raised Jesus from the dead and pours out the liberating, vivifying Spirit on the church. This rubs late twentieth century Americans the wrong way. We like choices. What sort of choice do we have with regard to the triune identity of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit? None, whatsoever. And that is precisely our salvation! Listen: The Trinity is a mystery that is prior to us, and eternally so: the mystery of the God ...

777. Jesus' Countercultural Sermon

Matthew 5:38-42, Matthew 5:43-48

Sermon

Mark Radecke

... kingdom rather than by the values of the present age. Those who place their trust in the God whose perfect will Jesus' sermon proclaims find themselves no longer consumed by the love of power, but perfected by the power of love. And in late twentieth century America, my friends, that sort of lifestyle is definitely countercultural.

778. Loving Jesus, Hating The Church

John 9:35-41

Sermon

Thomas Long

... . The thrust of our story, then, is not spirit versus institution, not living experience with Christ versus dead creeds, not loving Jesus and hating the church. What this story calls us to do is to think about the kind of church we ought to be, the sort of institution and organization the Christian community should seek, the style of leadership and theology we ought to nurture. When we think about it this way, the key to the story jumps out in the form of a curious statement of Jesus. The religious leaders ...

779. Bad Timing

Matthew 20:20-28

Sermon

Thomas Long

... and John for our amusement or our scorn. True, what she does is an atrocious, almost ludicrous, example of bad timing, but the purpose of the story is not to make a comic figure out of her but, rather, to see ourselves in her, to discern the sort of bad timing that threatens to undo us all. Let us try, then, to see ourselves in her, to grasp how her drive typifies and represents what is in us, too. First, this mother's question expresses a fundamental human craving for recognition. We all want that, too ...

780. The Man From Galilee IV: The Treasure Of His Kingdom

Matthew 13:44-46

Sermon

Thomas A. Pilgrim

... taking a chance, living on the edge. There was an Indian down in Florida who used to wrestle alligators for tourists. One time after one of his performances a lady noticed he wore a string of alligator teeth around his neck. She said, "Oh, that is sort of like wearing a string of pearls." He replied, "Not quite. Anyone can open an oyster." Anyone can be religious. Having kingdom of God treasure is something else altogether. It always requires commitment. It calls us to give our lives to Christ and the rule ...

781. Speak For Yourself!

Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon

William B. Kincaid, III

... what they have done to our lives. We are left without the ones we love and with a gaping hole in our lives. One man was accused falsely of raping a family member's friend. He was the victim of a sick world where people allege all sorts of things which never happened anywhere except in their own imagination. That man has experienced enormous pain, yet he made no mistake. Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel has written over thirty books. Each one has been informed and shaped by his experience as a Holocaust ...

782. Room For Questions

Matthew 11:2-11

Sermon

William B. Kincaid, III

... are neither. They are simply questions. They are the cries of people who have found the easy answers to be empty. They are the yearnings of people who have found the neat answers to be inadequate. Frequently we ask questions as a means of sorting through the options, or gaining firsthand knowledge of something, or of becoming separate individuals. After all, at some point we need to know for ourselves. We may find that our discoveries are different from those of our parents, teachers, and ministers, or we ...

783. Going Ahead Anyway

Matthew 2:1-12, Matthew 2:13-18

Sermon

William B. Kincaid, III

... and unnecessary devastation might be prevented. People are working in other ways to eliminate evil in all its manifestations. Tremendous amounts of money are devoted to research with the hope that cures to our most dreaded diseases will be found. All sorts of technological developments may point the way to a better quality of life for us all. Educational programs are geared to equip us with the knowledge necessary to deal with everything from crime in our communities to adopting a healthier diet. Progress ...

784. Essential Personnel!

Matthew 4:18-22

Sermon

William B. Kincaid, III

... into our own willingness to be more tolerant of that horrible disease. We are glad to see Jesus healing the sick, those who are on death's door, but that doesn't mean we want the house in our neighborhood converted into a shelter for AIDS patients. We sort of like the idea of Jesus letting children sit in his lap, but that is a long way from appreciating the gifts and presence of children and overlooking the messes created in their celebrations. When Jesus bypasses the church on his way to eat at the house ...

785. Baptism of The Lord

Mt 3:13-17 ·Acts 10:34-48 · Is 42:1-9

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... for my sake and the sake of the gospel will find it." Prison Ministry. Chuck Colson discovered not only Christ in prison, he also found his mission there. Colson's ministry recognizes that those locked behind bars were confined in a prison of another sort long before they were incarcerated -- a prison of spiritual darkness. Colson believes that no person can be spiritually free until he or she is free in Christ. The prisoner labors to free other prisoners. We see this same principle at work in this text ...

786. Easter 5

John 14:1-4, John 14:5-14, Acts 7:54--8:1a, Acts 17:1-9, 1 Peter 2:4-12

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... host, who opens his arms of welcome to us at the end of our life's journey. Many rooms. Could this possibly mean that heaven will be an inclusive, rather than exclusive, state of being? Many people think of the heavenly home as hemmed in by all sorts of zoning regulations. Only those who believe as I do will enter the gates of glory, they think. It makes sense that the One who ate with sinners and tax collectors, will welcome many whom we have deemed wanting. What the Lord seeks above all is a repentant ...

787. Epiphany 4

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5, Micah 6:1-8, Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... five don't fit here because they don't maintain the judicial image of the Lord. Some scholars think that verses 6-8 are editorial additions from a later period, composed by a different author. Could it not also be possible that Micah had a sort of Damascus road experience where he received a radical new concept of God? Could it not be that the Spirit of God enabled Micah to transcend the legalistic image of the Almighty with a more personal concept? Or, if not a sudden transformation, perhaps the prophet ...

788. Proper 22

Philippians 4:2-9, Philippians 3:1-11, Philippians 3:12-4:1, Isaiah 5:1-7, Exodus 20:1-21, Matthew 21:33-46

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... to collect the rent, but they are beaten, robbed, and killed. He then sends his own son, thinking that the tenants would respect his son, but these wicked persons slay the son, reasoning that they can now have the vineyard for themselves. But this is sort of an opened-ended story. Jesus asks the religious leaders what they think should be done with such wicked people. They respond that such tenants should be put to a miserable death and the vineyard rented out to someone who would yield up the fruit ...

789. Proper 23

Exodus 32:1-33:6, Isaiah 25:1-12, Matthew 22:1-14, Philippians 4:1-9

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... . External appearances are not the issue here but rather the inner attitude. The man knew what was required for the occasion and yet failed to prepare himself. That attitude, which is needed in order to enter into the King's presence, is faith. Christ will accept all sorts of people into the banquet hall of heaven but all who enter must have on the garment of faith. The rejection of the Jews should not be the point emphasized, but rather, the grace of God that issues an invitation to all who will humbly and ...

790. The Man Born Blind

Sermon

Jerry Eckert

... about becoming a follower of the Way. Rabbi: (Silence) Daughter: Well ... say something. Do you hate me? What? Rabbi: No, I don't hate you at all, Honey. I'm just not sure what to say. Daughter: I can come back later. Rabbi: No, stay. I'm just sorting out a few things. What got you started? Daughter: It was six years ago. Rabbi: Six years!? Daughter: I was downtown shopping when I saw a strange thing happen. A rabbi stopped to give first aid to a blind man. I had seen him many times before. Rabbi: The ...

791. The Righteous

Sermon

John A. Terry

... and just, as often and as intently as we crave food and drink. This is a challenge to examine that for which we hunger and thirst. John Stuart Mill said his life was changed by his suddenly asking himself this question: "Suppose I attain what I am now pursuing. What sort of man shall I be at the end?" Jesus promised that there is a way of satisfying the hunger of the soul just as we crave to satisfy the hunger of the body. We try to satisfy ourselves with what we can see and smell and taste, but Saint Paul ...

792. The Merciful

Sermon

John A. Terry

... years ago, Lavrenti Beria, the former chief of the Russian Secret Police, was arrested and "liquidated." He became the victim of his own actions. Locked in the prison where he had locked others, subjected to treatment that he had taught his secret police, tried in the sort of trial he had helped to engineer, he was mocked by his own cruelty. We know the blessing of this beatitude, but we need also to consider the warning of the parable. In March of 1976, Carlo Gambino, boss of all bosses of the Mafia, died ...

793. When Imagination Replaces Memory

Isaiah 42:18-25

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... by keeping old grudges, resentments, and vexations in mind. There are some things we have to forget. If we remember all the hurt we have experienced, life becomes clogged and choked. Life is essentially a process of managing our memories. We should constantly sort out our memories, throwing away things we ought to forget and keeping things that are precious. We either manage our memories or they manage us. This is easy to say and hard to realize. It is not human nature to forget our unpleasant experiences ...

794. Repentance: A New Relationship

Joel 2:1-11

Sermon

E. Carver McGriff

... I could return to the scene of my crime, since one doesn't back up on a high speed highway while a police officer is watching. The only good thing I can say about that is that I felt badly enough that I have honestly tried not to do that sort of thing again. The harm was done, but I didn't like myself very well. To put this yet another way: to repent, as Joel here is calling his people to do, means bringing our conduct under the scrutiny of our faith in such a way as we honestly see ...

795. Death Shall Be No More

Isaiah 25:1-12

Sermon

E. Carver McGriff

... through the skylight windows. Too distraught to kneel or sit quietly, I paced the deserted room, praying for an answer. Suddenly, I sensed a presence. Not a physical presence, not one discernible by sight or hearing, but a presence. I have always been skeptical of this sort of thing, passing up the sensational books that spoke of such reports. But this was real, too real to ignore. It was as though I was suddenly offered the opportunity to say those things I'd never said, to ask forgiveness for what I felt ...

796. On Not Being First

Acts 1:12-26

Sermon

E. Carver McGriff

We Americans have long had a love affair with winners. Successful undertakings of nearly every sort quickly receive the admiration of those around us. As a group, we take great delight in banquets and other ceremonies at which honors are distributed. People who come in second are rarely remembered in our culture. The runner-up usually receives a brief word of recognition and then is quickly ...

797. The Sadness Of God

Isaiah 51:17--52:12

Sermon

E. Carver McGriff

... situations in the hope that we'd make the right decisions. Here's what we need to understand. Our choices do matter. What kind of person I become does matter. My moral conduct does affect other people, and therefore it affects God. It's up to me to choose what sort of person I shall be, but God has decided to bet on me, as it were, to pay the price which that entails. If I make the wrong choice, it will affect not only me and my friends and loved ones. It will affect God. Leslie Weatherhead tells in one ...

798. Rules For A Happy Life

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

E. Carver McGriff

... do what is right. But as yet that's not the case. Most of us still need guidelines for the practice of our faith in the arenas of life. The Ten Commandments are a good start, kind of a moral backbone. But good intentions need some sort of practical guidelines as a way of helping us choose our course of conduct in the face of a world which often confronts us with difficult ethical and practical choices. This sermon is an effort to suggest such guidelines, with acknowledgement, incidentally, of a certain ...

799. Written On The Heart

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

E. Carver McGriff

... word "husband" by Jeremiah to describe the message God has given him. But let's jump, for a moment, to the Old Testament book of Hosea. It's a metaphorical story about a man, Hosea, whose wife was unfaithful. Ancient law would have permitted all sorts of dire punishment for that, but Hosea loved his wife too much to think in terms of punishment. Instead, he wanted her back, hopefully as things had been before her adultery. Thereafter, the story tells of Hosea's love and his willingness to begin again. The ...

800. Standing Firm

Isaiah 50:1-11

Sermon

E. Carver McGriff

... hates to say this but there are petty little people out there who have little to contribute and who hate to see someone else getting credit for what they themselves are either too lazy or too selfish to do. Minnows. Usually the best policy is to ignore that sort of thing and press on in what one believes to be right. One bishop told of a rather bothersome individual who disagreed with her and contended that she was much too sure of herself. The bishop said, "Go and stand outside in the darkness and look up ...

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