Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 801 to 825 of 4936 results

801. Bridging the Generation Gap

Ephesians 6:1-4

Sermon

James Merritt

I read something recently about childbirth that I had never thought about before. But when you think about it, it is extremely profound. The pain of childbirth is twofold: there is the pain of bringing the child into the world, and there is the pain of bringing that child up in the world, and the latter is greater. The physical pain of bearing a child is tremendous, but usually lasts only a few hours. But the pain of rearing that same child lasts a lifetime and never lessens.1 Every time I preach on the ...

802. Upside Down Christmas

Luke 1:46-56

Sermon

Will Willimon

We spent much of last summer “Down Under” in Australia and New Zealand. Of course, in New Zealand, “down under” is up, since, when you're in New Zealand, you're up and we, on the wrong side of the world, are down. I said I spent Summer there -- July and August -- but there, July and August are the dead of winter, not summer. There, people in the cold South, speak of the conservatism of their tropical “deep north." It's all very upside down. Down there, in New Zealand, or up there, or wherever, thumbing ...

803. The Beginning of the End

Luke 9:57-62

Sermon

As they were going along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head." To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father." But he said to him, "Leave the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home." ...

804. The Whip of War

John 2:12-25

Sermon

Brett Blair

The subject of war can be found throughout the bible. And why is this? After all it is a holy book. The answer: The Bible is full of war because life is full of war. The Bible not only tells us about God it tells us about mankind, and therefore it addresses the most significant events in human history. We are currently in such a time, and because we are at war it is appropriate for us this morning to take a look at the subject of war and what the Bible has to say. Let me start by asking you a question. Do ...

805. Proper 17

Exodus 3:1-22, Jeremiah 15:15-21; 20:7-18, Matthew 16:21-28, Romans 12:1-8

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

Theme: Suffering for righteousness' sake. Both Jeremiah and Peter rebelled against the idea of suffering for the sake of the kingdom of God; both of them had to be reprimanded by God and brought back into a state of obedience. COMMENTARY Old Testament: Exodus 3:1-15 Moses observes the mysterious burning bush on Mount Horeb and draws closer for an examination. An angelic presence is seen in the fire and then the voice of God calls out to Moses. The voice identifies himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac and ...

806. Preparing The Way

Malachi 2:17--3:5

Sermon

Ron Lavin

Frank kept the strangest of Christmas lists. He called it "My Refinement List." He first made one out when he was 45 years old. He worked at it faithfully for 29 years. He was 74 and a grandfather. In all that time it had remained a secret, but now his youngest grandchild, with the piece of paper clutched in hand, looked Frank dead in the eye, and said, "What's this?" "A special Christmas list," answered Frank, a bit vaguely. "Is it what you want?" asked the boy. "It's not that kind of a list," answered ...

807. Rejoice! It's Lent

Joel 2:1-11

Sermon

Carl Hoefler

Rejoice! It's Lent. Sounds strange doesn't it? Joy and Lent just do not seem to go together. Lent is the somber season. In popular practice Lent possesses all the marks of a six-week funeral. The paraments are the deep purple of a dowager's dress. Hallelujahs are silenced within the service of the liturgy. Social celebrations are cancelled - or at least curtailed. Our attention is focused exclusively on the crucified body of a young man dying in agony on a criminal's cross. Our emotions are moved to tears ...

808. "But, Lord, I Didn’t Want To Be Saved in That Way"

2 Kings 5:1-27

Sermon

Thomas D. Peterson

The encounter between Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria and a leper, and the prophet Elisha is quite a treat. The story opens with Naaman bringing a fortune in gifts which the king had provided him to buy the healing powers of Elisha. It concludes with Naaman asking for "two mules’ burdens of earth" so that he may sacrifice to the true God when he returns home. Two stories from my own life came to me when I began to unpack this text. When I was in seminary there was a young professor whom ...

809. Dealing With The Dividing Walls

Ephesians 2:11-22

Sermon

James W. Moore

Have you heard about the young man who was an All-American football player in college? He went on to play professional football for a few years and then came back to his alma mater as an assistant coach. One of his main responsibilities in his new job would be to go out and scout and recruit players for his college team. Before he made his first recruiting trip, he went in to visit with the head coach, the same coach for whom he had played when he was there in college some years before. The head coach was ...

810. Beyond Temptation

Matthew 4:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

There is a silly story out of the Jewish tradition about a rabbi who went on a journey with his servant named Jacob. Their cart was drawn by a lively horse of which the rabbi was very fond. When they came to a roadside inn, the rabbi went in to rest, leaving his horse in Jacob's care. In the meantime, a horse trader passed by and, seeing Jacob, soon made friends with him. He plied him with drink and Jacob soon was so intoxicated it was easy for the horse trader to induce him to sell him the horse for a ...

811. What Time Is It?

Matthew 24:36-51

Sermon

Mark Trotter

As the year wears down, the days become shorter, the nights longer and darker. All people, both in our time and in ancient time, turn to questions of human mortality and the future of the earth. When I was in Mexico at the end of October, I saw the preparation for El Dia de los Muertos, "The Day of the Dead." Shrines were being erected in anticipation of November 2. The picture of the deceased loved one will be placed in the middle of the shrine, the frame of the shrine will be decked with beautiful yellow ...

812. The Only Way to Fly

2 Timothy 3:15-17

Sermon

James Merritt

Whenever I think about the last day of JFK, two words will always stick with me: "Graveyard spiral." From all indications it was a graveyard spiral that took the life of John F. Kennedy, Jr. The graveyard spiral is a series of ever-tightening turns that corkscrew a plane toward earth. It is the leading danger when new pilots leave clear weather for clouds or darkness. An inexperienced pilot will lose his bearings and the plane will begin to turn without his even knowing it. By the time the force of gravity ...

813. Chosen by God

Ephesians 1:1-14

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

My dad is 75 years old and lives with my 76 year old Mom in Perry County, Mississippi. Now if you have not been to Perry County, you haven’t really missed anything n the way of exciting life or beautiful geography. But you’ve missed a unique culture. More than that, you’ve missed knowing two great people. My dad didn’t even go to high school, yet I’ve moved among the high and mighty of the land, and have hobnobbed with some of the brilliant people of the country, but I’ve met few people whose wisdom ...

814. Eyes To See, Ears To Hear

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

James McCormick

Years ago, when I first began the Christian journey, like most people, I understood faith as “belief”. I believe that there is a God, therefore I have faith. Very soon I came to understand that that is not enough. In fact, belief alone can be irrelevant. For example, I may believe that there is intelligent life somewhere out there in space. But, so what? That has nothing to do with how I live my life every day. It’s irrelevant. Just so, many people believe that there is a God, but that belief does not ...

815. An Annual Reminder

John 20:1-9

Sermon

David J. Kalas

In the opening verse of our passage from the epistles, the apostle Paul writes, “Now I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news....” That might well also be the opening line of our sermons this Sunday. After all, it is Easter. The calendar compels us to return to the foundation and the heart of the gospel message. And the people who will fill our pews this Sunday — some of them barely familiar to us since we last saw them on Christmas Eve — already know what we’re going to tell them. I ...

816. A Lament and Call to Repentance

Amos 5:1-17

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

The Sentence of Death: This section is only arbitrarily broken into subunits for the purpose of convenience. Actually it constitutes a whole in the form of a funerary lament, and it begins (v. 2) and ends (vv. 16–17) with wailing over the dead. In addition, the proclamation of the divine name begins (v. 3, Adonai Yahweh), divides (v. 8, Yahweh), and ends (v. 16, Yahweh Elohim Sebaoth Adonai) the lament. But the theme is the same throughout: Israel’s death, brought on by its failure to honor Yahweh by true ...

817. Mountaintop Experience

Luke 9:28-36 (37-43a)

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

Some years ago, the History Network created a strange new hit series. It began as “Ice Road Truckers,” monitoring the dangerous winter haulage north of Yellowknife on the frozen Canadian tundra. Then, after several seasons of gaining familiarity with the top tonnage truckers, the network displaced them to northern Alaska and introduced new challenges and new road masters. Finally, in a thrilling new twist, three of these rig lords and ladies were transported to the Himalayan heights of upper India. There ...

818. Parabola

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Lori Wagner

[This is an interactive sermon. In order to preach this well, you need to allow your congregants to take part, answer questions, imagine themselves as part of the story.] Prop: ostrich egg I have here an egg. [You can pass around the egg.] This egg belongs to an ostrich. Let me tell you a story about the ostrich, who one day took her eyes off of the place in the sand where she buried her eggs. Lo and behold, when she finally remembered where she had hid them, a predator had come in the night and stolen her ...

819. A Light Bulb and God

John 13:31

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

Objects: A light bulb inside of a light globe. Good morning, boys and girls. Today we are going to talk about the way Jesus, and the person whom we call God, are the same. Sometimes this is a very hard thing to explain, but I hope I can make it somewhat easier with the object that I have brought with me this morning. How many of you think that Jesus was part of God's plan? (Let them answer.) Very good, Jesus was part of God's plan. But Jesus was more than just another man who loved God and did what God ...

820. Into The Whirlwind

2 Kings 2:1-18

Sermon

Robert Allen

Certain events, no matter how long ago they happened, are forever etched in your mind. One such event that I shall always remember happened when I was in the third grade. It was late April, but it was not a beautiful spring day. Instead, it was a day marked by spring rains. It was a day that was dark and dreary. It was a day packed full of tornado warnings. Finally, late in the afternoon, the school bells rang at an unscheduled time. The teachers led all of the children into the hallways and told us to ...

821. Epiphany 3

Matthew 4:18-22, Matthew 4:12-17, 1 Corinthians 1:10-17, Psalm 27:1-14, Isaiah 9:1-7

Sermon Aid

THEOLOGICAL CLUE The liturgical/homiletical clue provided for the Third Sunday after the Epiphany combines manifestation and ministry within the overall Christmas Cycle clues of incarnation and Parousia. Jesus comes as the light of the world in his ministry. As the Epiphany Season progresses, however, some of the sharpness of definition is lost, not so much because the theological framework of the church year is blurred, but mostly because the lectio selecta method for the selection and reading of the ...

822. Partners in the Impossible

John 6:1-15

Sermon

Richard Patt

"Where can we buy enough food to feed all these people?" (v. 5b) A minister was making a home visit to one of the younger families in his parish. A five-year-old boy answered the front door and told the minister his mother would be there shortly. To make some conversation, the minister asked the little guy what he would like to be when he grows up. The boy immediately answered, "I’d like to be possible." "What do you mean by that?" the puzzled minister asked. "Well, you see," the boy replied, "just about ...

823. The Family Was God’s Idea

Sermon

Gregory J. Johanson

Currently J. Benton and Faye French Tulley Professor of Pastoral Psychology, San Francisco Theological Seminary, San Anselmo, California, and the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, EDWARD V. STEIN has been contributing books and articles to the field of pastoral care for a number of years, especially in the area of guilt formation and therapy. He has also engaged in considerable post-doctoral training in family therapy. The family in our day and time - ambiguous and needed, imperfect and hopeful, ...

824. May Christ Be Born In You

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

Many years ago a pastor was invited to preach at a nearby country church he had never been to before. As he set out he was uncertain which road to take since most rural roads are not clearly marked and the directions he had been given left something to be desired. He stopped to ask directions along the way. The person he asked tried, but mistakenly steered him down the wrong road. The morning was pleasant and although the road seemed a little longer than the pastor had expected, he cheerfully continued on ...

825. I'm O.k.; You're A Little Suspect

Luke 6:37-42

Sermon

King Duncan

Author Tim Storey tells a great story about how easy it is to rush to pass judgement on others. Tim pulled up in front of his neighborhood barber shop and parked. As he fished around for his wallet, he felt the sickening crunch of metal hitting metal. Somebody hit his car! What an idiot! But when he jumped out to look, Tim didn't see anyone. As he was muttering under his breath about stupid drivers, a little old lady came out of the barber shop and announced, “I saw the whole thing." Turns out, he was the ...

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