Sermon and Worship Resources

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Psalm 32:1-11, Joshua 5:1-12, 2 Corinthians 5:11--6:2, Luke 15:1-7

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... being alive. It is reported that very few people use even a large fraction of their intellectual capacity. They are usually satisfied to get by with average activity. They shrink back from the discipline of hard thinking or the mastery of difficult subject matter. Most people could master several languages, for example, if they really tried. They could explore many areas of knowledge and develop many skills. It does not take a great intellect to love many people. Most people narrowly restrict the extent of ...

777. Proper 12

Psalm 85:1-13, Colossians 2:6-23, Hosea 1:1-2:1, Luke 11:1-13

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... of Acts is prayer. He frequently notes the prayer life of Jesus. Before every major crisis in his ministry Jesus spent time in prayer. The parables for today with their surrounding materials give an occasion for the preacher to deal with the whole subject of proper praying. It is an opportunity to deal with common misconceptions of prayer. It is also an opportunity to consider the whole discipline involved in praying. While Jesus gave a model prayer, just repeating it is not necessarily good praying. It is ...

778. Proper 25

Psalm 65:1-13, Luke 18:9-14, Joel 2:28-32, 2 Timothy 4:9-18, 2 Timothy 3:10--4:8

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... and on Thursday when he came down with the law. 6. "A Tenth of All My Income." (v. 12) The law of Moses did not require tithing of all income. Capital was exempted once it was tithed. Some indicate that only certain crops were subject to the tithe. The Pharisees wanted to assure their righteousness by going beyond the minimal requirements and tithed everything they had or received. 7. "Standing Far Off." (v. 13) The tax collector showed his sense of extreme alienation from God and the people. He separated ...

779. When Did Jesus Pray?

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

John G. Lynn

... to encourage them to move forward with hope and honor and success. He gave them a prayer: the prayer of God's sovereignty in our lives. "Father, hallowed be thy name." God is father, above and beyond what his creatures are, not subject to their hatreds and jealousies and their discomfort with success. "Thy kingdom come." Thy kingdom -- that's wherever you act on our behalf, wherever your light burns out our darkness, wherever your hope destroys our despair, wherever your faith enables us to believe ...

780. Making Our Feelings Known

Job 23:1--24:25

Sermon

John A. Stroman

... act of bold faith on the one hand, because it insists that the world must be experienced as it really is and not in some pretended way. On the one hand, it is bold because it insists that all such experiences of disorder are a proper subject for discourse with God. There is nothing out of bounds, nothing precluded or inappropriate. Everything properly belongs to this conversation of the heart. To withhold parts of life from that conversation is in fact to withhold part of life from the sovereignty of God. 3 ...

781. What's So Great About Jesus?

2 Samuel 23:1-7

Sermon

John A. Stroman

... own pilgrimage in the image of Christ, to his final coming trailing on clouds of glory. Today we reach the liturgical end of the story. Today our liturgy celebrates the high point of creation, when humankind and all that is, even death itself, will be subjected to Christ. This is so clearly expressed by the apostle Paul when he wrote, "When he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power" (1 Corinthians 15:24). Walter J. Burghardt states: "At the ...

782. All Mine To Give!

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... significant? Let's look in the Bible and see. In Proverbs 22:9 we're told, "A generous man will himself be blessed." What is the blessing of giving? In the New Testament the authors are very specific about giving. But they never wear out the subject by overusing any one word. In fact, there are at least ten different words they used for financial offerings. And each word is ripe with insight into the experience of giving. Loggia In Matthew 5:47 Jesus asks his disciples, "What more are you doing than ...

783. Miracle Ten: Healing A Blind Beggar

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon Aid

Harold H. Lentz

... It Is Spring And I Am Blind When we consider the handicap of blindness, a spring of pity arises for those who cannot see. One thinks of the beauty of nature, climaxing in a gorgeous sunrise or sunset. Then there is a full moon, or a starry night, the subjects of so many romantic songs. A blind person is denied the joy of seeing the faces of loved ones, including little children. An impressive story of a blind man is one that tells of a man on the streets of New York City. It was in the beautiful month ...

784. Famous Last Words

Deuteronomy 18:14-22

Sermon

William L. Self

... the service. This created such an uproar that a special congregational meeting was called and they approved a resolution that instructed him to meet with a group of laypersons regularly concerning the order of worship. He was also instructed to preach only from texts and subjects approved by the committee and told that he must read from a manuscript. Leadership is God's gift to his church. In Ephesians 4:11-14, he gives gifts to his people as individuals and the gift of leadership to the community of faith ...

785. Held In His Arms

Isaiah 51:17--52:12

Sermon

Paul W. Kummer

... victory as he ascended back to his Father. Does God still use his arms to demonstrate his power today? Yes. Usually to lift us up and place us on solid footing again. What if you fell into a pit and there was no way out by yourself. A subjective person would come along and say, "I feel for you down there." An objective person would look at you and say, "It's logical that you would fall down there." A mathematician would calculate how you fell into the pit. A news reporter would want the exclusive story ...

786. To Be Continued

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

Paul W. Kummer

... on the past. And God wanted them focused on the comings! When Jesus soared heavenward and they knew he wasn't coming back in a few minutes, all the earthly hopes and dreams of the disciples vanished. These Jewish men and all their countrymen had been under subjection to so many nations: the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks and now the Romans; and they all looked forward to the day when God would break into their world directly. Isn't that what Jesus' 33 years on the earth were about? Wait, Jesus, don't ...

787. The Fruitful Vine

John 15:1-17, 1 John 4:7-21, Acts 8:26-40, Psalm 22:1-31

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... A love song concerning the vineyard. Jeremiah 2:21 -- A lament that the good transplanted vine became a wild one. Ezekiel 15:1-6 -- A judgment on the dead vine in the midst of the woods. Ezekiel 19:10-14 -- The image of a vine that has been subjected to fire. Hosea 10:1 -- Israel is compared to a luxuriant vine. Matthew 21:28-41 -- Two parables about the vineyard. Galatians 5:22 -- The fruits of the Spirit. CONTENT Precis (John 15:1-8) Jesus identifies himself as the vine and the vinegrower as the Father ...

788. The Heart Of The Matter

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

Robert P. Hines

... unity of wills. God's people will automatically do God's will because they will want to do so. I know a family that just got a puppy at their house, and they've been working on house-training the dog. They have read a lot of books on the subject and talked to many people. One thing has been mentioned several times. Experts claim that the dog really wants to please its owner. It wants to do things that result in praise rather than a scolding. And, for the most part, this family has found that to be true. It ...

789. Whispers From A Dream

Daniel 7:1-14, Daniel 7:15-28

Sermon

Thomas G. Rogers

... tyrant kings of all time. His name was Antiochus IV, but he gave himself the name "Epiphanes," which means "manifestation." The king believed that the Olympian god Zeus was manifest in him. However, this arch villain was anything but a god. In secret, his subjects called him not Epiphanes, but "Epimanes," which means "madman." He was mad with power. He used his power cruelly for his own purposes and gave no thought to the pain he caused. For example, the ritual of sacrifice by the Jerusalem temple priests ...

790. God's A Catcher

Exodus 17:1-7

Sermon

Gerald Whetstone

... the promises God had made to them as a people. Foolish people. Or notice the man healed by Jesus in today's gospel. Don't you suppose he had always assumed his troubles would be over if only he could see? Yet once healed he is subject to a barrage of questions by the townsfolk and by the Pharisees. Even his parents distance themselves enough to let him be interrogated by their suspicious neighbors. Unsatisfied with his answers, those who ran that village cast him out. To an outcast, perhaps blindness wasn't ...

791. A Cross For A Doorpost

Exodus 12:1-30

Sermon

Gerald Whetstone

... the twelve sharing their Passover supper. No more is it a matter of escaping pharaohs and kings, of evading soldiers and their weapons. In fact, this is the night of his betrayal, the night before he would submit to the sentence of petty rulers, be subjected to the cruelty of forgotten soldiers and be executed high on a hill called the Skull. Yet what was accomplished in that death was not just the continuing of the redemptive story but its climax. His death is the proclamation of the redemption God wills ...

792. Accepting The Call

1 Peter 3:8-22

Sermon

Sandra Hefter Herrma

... love. And we prepare ourselves for surprise after surprise, because there is no limit to what can be accomplished by a person so open to the movement of the spirit. For the Lord whom we represent is the one who, as Peter reminds us, has "angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him."

793. You Can Be Less Worried

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

Michael B. Brown

... and more motivated by our faith. "Less worried" is a reasonable and achievable goal. Jesus had a lot to say about worry and how to deal with the sort of anxiety that takes the joy out of life. Perhaps better known than any other word on the subject is his famous passage from the Sermon on the Mount, a passage that speaks directly to the 13 million of us who will waste 90 minutes today worrying (usually about things that will never happen to begin with). Jesus opened his remarks by asking his hearers: "Why ...

794. Say Goodbye -- Say Hello

Sermon

Richard Hasler

... that we have someone who understands our plight, and better yet, someone who can help us. Our first task is to learn more effectively how to "Say Goodbye." Joyce Rupp, who has written extensively on the grieving process, relates how she became interested in the subject. As a young woman she had never experienced death in her family until 1968 when her 23-year-old brother died in a drowning accident. Her first reaction was to run away from her sorrow, but she soon realized that painful though it was she ...

795. Gomer, God's "Yet"

Hosea 1:1-2:1

Sermon

Richard L. Sheffield

For everybody who assumed that everybody in the Bible is nice, the message this morning is that everybody in the Bible is real, and God loved them anyway! Our subject this morning is Gomer. Not Gomer, Ohio, but the not-so-nice wife of the Prophet Hosea. I have never preached about Gomer before. And, quite honestly, I probably would not be preaching about her now, except that I have to. The CSS Publishing Company, here in Lima, has asked ...

796. Week Four Of Lent

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... in the cases of all three of these men, the end was an untimely death. The challenges that they provided to the people with whom they had contact were, in the end, too great. For many it is easier to eliminate the source of challenge, rather than subject themselves to change. Like Gandhi, King and Romero, Jesus was one who challenged the system and the peoples of his day. The First Reading from the Book of Wisdom foreshadows the reaction of people to the life and work of Jesus. Jesus was all too much for ...

797. An Arranged Wedding, But An Intentional Marriage

Genesis 24:1-67

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

... , the principles which lead to emotionally fulfilling marriages have not changed. Whether the marriage is between ancient goatherders or modern stoc_esermonskbrokers, whether the engagement is arranged by the parents or announced by the couple, whether the bride and groom are subjects of the Bible story or they just happen to read the Bible occasionally, marriage provides deep satisfaction when husband and wife commit themselves to love one another and then do all they can do to meet the emotional needs of ...

798. When The Saints Come Marching In

Revelation 7:9-17

Sermon

Robert S. Crilley

... ordeal," the elder explains, "they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb" (Revelation 7:13-14). Some months ago my grandfather died. For my children it was their first experience with a death in the immediate family, and the subject came up a few weeks after the funeral, as I was driving my five-year-old daughter to school. I forget now what we were talking about at the time, but the conversation took a rather dramatic turn when Kathy suddenly asked, "Daddy, is your grandpa ...

799. Veiled Glimpses of God's Glory

Exodus 33:12-23

Sermon

Robert S. Crilley

... ). Now the curtain rises again and there kneels Moses, shielding his eyes as he strains to look out upon the pillar of cloud which swirls ominously before the entrance of his tent. He appears somewhat tentative, as if still debating how best to broach this delicate subject with the Lord: "See, you have said to me, 'Bring up this people'; but you have not let me know whom you will send with me" (Exodus 33:12a). Out in the audience, a few of us lean forward hoping to discern Moses' expression. Is he searching ...

800. Heaven's Wait

Joshua 24:1-27

Sermon

Robert S. Crilley

... dire necessity of this decision. And no doubt, a few in the crowd might have found his stern insistence somewhat startling at first. However, what should have absolutely shocked them is the offer itself. After all, for most of Israel's history, Yahweh has been the subject of choice, not the object. Usually, it is God who does the choosing, and the people who are mercifully chosen. Usually, it is the people who call out, and it is they who must wait upon the Lord's reply. Here, surprisingly, the roles are ...

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