Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 826 to 850 of 4972 results

826. The First Sign of Civilization

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

King Duncan

... the heart of God. If they had loved God more, they would have loved the injured man the way God did. (5) Jesus finishes the story: “But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.” Let’s stop right there for a moment. The particular word used here for “took pity on him” refers to a heartfelt compassion, a compassion that you feel deep in your gut. Bible scholar A.T. Roberson notes that this word is only used twelve times in the New Testament, and ...

827. He Loves You Anyway

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... foreheads and pray for them. Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? Almost as crazy as inviting yourself to the home of the Least Popular Guy in Jericho. And yet people stopped and received the sign of the cross in ashes. They asked for and received prayer. They talked about their faith, or their faith struggles, or their rejection of God. But they stopped to talk. They stopped to listen. It turns out, a lot of people who never go inside a church were still looking for God. And so many people who were touched by their ...

828. Why the Cross?

Hebrews 2:17-18

Sermon

Charley Reeb

... when the kingdom of God comes in all of its glory. One thing remains is the overcoming power of God’s love revealed on the cross. This love is something that is available to each of us. It is available to you right now. Remember, the only thing that can stop the force of evil is the force of God’s love. It is the one thing that changes everything. Now that you have a different understanding of the cross, perhaps your heart is opening up to God’s love. God’s love is always available to you and can ...

829. Capernaum by the Sea

Matthew 4:12-23

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... mission. His choice of ground zero at Capernaum by the Sea was not lost on anyone. He had a mission to do. God’s mission. To seek out the lost and shine the light of God on every nation of the world. And he would not stop until he had completed that mission. Chutzpah? For sure. Dangerous? You bet. This is your heritage. This is your savior. Not the milquetoast, sugary sweet, calm guy we often depict in Christian art, but the fiercely determined, street savvy, multi-lingual, disruptive leader of a movement ...

830. Why Doesn’t God Prove Himself To Doubters?

2 Peter 1:16-21

Sermon

Charley Reeb

... it. So, proof of God doesn’t always guarantee a belief in God. Proof Does Not Always Lead To Faith Many make the assumption that if God showed up and proved he existed to everyone, then all would be right with the world. Your Uncle Billy would stop drinking and come to church. Your atheist friend would convert and become a preacher. Sorry to burst your bubble, but proof of God does not always lead to faith in God. The Bible says, “Even the demons believe and tremble.” We must remember that there were ...

831. The Cost of Commitment

Genesis 22:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

... Desert between Mongolia and China. Can you imagine that—1,600 miles? Walking on foot that whole way allowed the Thayers to stop and meet the local nomads who lived in the desert, and to learn about their culture. Along the way, they faced tough ... of the LORD it will be provided.” I can only imagine the relief and joy and gratitude Abraham and Isaac experienced when God stopped the sacrifice and provided a ram instead. The Lord had provided, and the beloved son Isaac would live. But what if they could have ...

832. The Window Of Time Is Closing

2 Peter 3:8-15a

Sermon

Ronald Love

... believe in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. We must encourage individuals to invite Jesus into their lives. We must be willing to share biblical passages. We need to avoid excuse making as to why I am not qualified to be an evangelist. We need to stop pretending that we don’t know anyone who is not already a Christian. And as much as I dislike scare tactics, we must be serious in our presentation that there is a day of judgment. Lauren Daigle is a Christian singer who has won most every award possible ...

833. Ashes at Starbucks

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Sermon

Mary Austin

... display of our Christian faith. “Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them,” Jesus says. Good advice. Then we go ahead and mark our foreheads with ashes for everyone to see. If we stop for bread and milk on the way home or go to an early service and wear our ashes to work, if we stop by for some drive-thru ashes, we can’t help but advertise our faith. Most days of the year, no one knows from the outside that we’re Christians. We don’t wear a hijab, like some of our ...

834. Seeing What We Don’t Want To See

John 12:20-33

Sermon

Mary Austin

... Some of us are, I’m sure, and some of us are still hoping for a better look at him. This story begins right after Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. The crowd of people who see him bring life out of death can’t stop talking about it, can’t stop testifying. Word is spreading far and wide. Even these strangers have heard about it and came to see Jesus. The story calls them “Greeks,” probably meaning Jews who lived outside the area and had come for the Passover. The Greeks came to Phillip and Andrew ...

835. Is This All There Is?

Revelation 21:1-6

Sermon

Will Willimon

... of when or how the end comes, Hal Lindsey is wrong, but rather in terms of who stands at the end. We use that phrase the end in a twofold sense. “The end” means final--the last act of the play, the final second of the game, where the road stops. The end is when it’s all over, finished, done. But in another sense the end also means the purpose--the result of the game, the intention of the play, the point of the journey. The end, in this more profound sense, is what it all finally means, where it ...

836. Christ, Our King

John 18:33-37

Sermon

Thomas C. Willadsen

... of the world, our spheres of influence — our families, those with whom we work, our personal space — but looking up into the vastness of the heavens makes us stop and wonder. Pilate wasn’t a guy who stopped and wondered much. But he did when he spoke to Jesus. In that conversation we saw how closely wonder and fear were linked. Stopping and wondering — whether prompted by gazing at the sky, marveling at God’s love for humanity displayed on the cross or cherishing the embrace of someone we love ...

837. Christ, Our King

John 18:33-37

Sermon

Thomas C. Willadsen

838. Going Home – Part One: Which Me Will It Be?

Luke 4:14-21

Sermon

John B. Jamison

... It will once again be like it was. But it won’t be. It can’t be. It’s the old story of putting new wine in old wineskins. As wineskins age, they grow stiff and brittle. If you put new wine in them, wine that has not yet fully stopped fermenting, the gasses will build inside until the wineskin bursts from the pressure. It just doesn’t work. The reality is that the changes that have taken place might make the time being together even better than it ever was before. We have new things to share, more to ...

839. Faith and Fury

Luke 19:28-40

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... Once you let others follow their path, you are freed to follow yours. Get on with the business of enriching your life and your path, and act with intention and integrity. Let your call be your guide and God’s wisdom be your grounding. The more you stop trying to exert power over others, the more you will empower yourself to grow, stretch, and be at peace, and the more clearly your will hear God’s voice ensuring your path. What may feel impossible for you, will never be impossible for God. Put your faith ...

840. Getters of Things Done

Luke 10:38-42

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

... have not taken up the task with us… When our devotion to the law is so obsessive, we may end up living our lives in a state of indignation, irritation, exasperation, and pique… Before we come to any of those places, Jesus said, we must first learn to stop, to sit, to rest, to listen, and to learn from him. Martha, lay down your scrub brush and towel. Sit. Listen. Fred Craddock has placed these two stories ― the story of the lawyer and the rabbi and the story of Mary and Martha in the same chapter of ...

841. For Someone Deeply Troubled

Isaiah 40:27-31 · John 14:1-6

Eulogy

Richard E. Zajac

... turning to his new friend on the shore, he said: “I’m not foolish, mister! You see, my father is the captain of this boat, and we’re going to a new home up the river.” My fellow grievers, this past Friday, the ship of death made an unexpected stop along the river of life and picked up our friend Jim. The good news is that God was the captain of that ship, and that ship has made its way to Jim’s new home, where peace and happiness eternally reigns. Unfortunately for Jim, peace and happiness was not ...

842. Do We REALLY Know What Time It Is?

Romans 13:11-14

Sermon

Heather Sugden

... in the time in which we find ourselves, particularly as we enter the season of Advent. I wonder also at our ability to stop — and listen — to the prophetic words before us today, which do call us into a moment which will fade. One of the ... not bother to look around us at the signs of true time, and the journey into which we are called. But God’s story does not stop. No, this Advent we are re-minded once again that God’s story is ongoing, alive, active, and calling us into its light. We could spend ...

843. The Power Of Proximity

Luke 17:11-19

Sermon

Jill J. Duffield

... I was at a distance, came near to me, heard me, saw me, healed and saved me, through no merit of my own. I need to stop, turn back, get close to Jesus, and worship him in order to really be well, not just aware of being cleansed, but astounded at being saved. ... the Lord compels proximity to the one who gives it, when I remember, when I recognize the source of my salvation, stop and give God thanks. Bryan Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, writes and speaks about the power of proximity to ...

844. Becoming A Faithful Witness

Isaiah 50:1-11

Sermon

Douglas J. Deuel

... conspicuous or would seem disruptive in the service. Still, he felt he needed to be obedient to this woman. She was an adult. So he responded. He got up and walked around to the back of the sanctuary. He headed toward the fan. Before he knew it, his father had stopped preaching and all eyes were on him. His father said something like, "I'm sorry. I am used to others walking around, but when it is my own son it is hard to concentrate." So everyone waited and watched as he did what he had been asked to do ...

845. A Call To Community

Acts 16:6-10

Sermon

Douglas J. Deuel

... had been beaten by his first owner and if that was what caused his fearfulness. No matter. Cocoa was the most loving dog they had ever seen. He hungered for the affection of the children. He loved to have someone pet him. And if you stopped petting before he was ready for you to stop, he would simply put both of his paws in your lap until you resumed your petting and he got his fill. Cocoa wasn't really a very smart dog. He couldn't do any tricks. In fact, his intelligence was a bit suspect even by dog ...

846. Naaman Is My Name!

2 Kings 5:1-27

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... to "wash in the Jordan." We think we cannot admit we have sinned, that we can't make it on our own. The Cure But, once we stop insisting on "our way," then there is hope that we can accept God's cure. As soon as we admit we are dying, as soon as we ... far too costly to negate by replacing it with something that is "more pleasant." A woman in my church once asked me to stop using the song, "There Is A Fountain Filled With Blood." "I'd like something a little nicer and more refined," she said. "Something that ...

847. With Fire In His Eyes

Luke 6:17-26

Illustration

Richard A. Jensen

... in a million guises. Poverty has churned up his insides. He has simply seen too much suffering. Speaking to a group of Lutheran missionaries not long ago Dr. Yacob spoke with the accustomed fire in his eyes. "These conditions around the world must stop," he exploded. "I've talked with Lutheran leaders in churches around the world where poverty reigns. We decry the working of the economic systems of our world today. We decry the economic injustice that we see everywhere. We decry a world where some live ...

848. A New Thing

Isaiah 43:14-28

Sermon

Richard A. Jensen

... on the sabbath day," he bellowed at Amos. "That's work on the sabbath day. That's also against our laws. I don't know what we're going to do with this man but we've got to put a stop to him pretty quickly or he is going to mislead our people. The man has got to be stopped. He violates traditions that have been passed on to us for generations. He is not true to our past. Such a one simply cannot be the Messiah." Amos didn't respond to Eliezer's charge. He honestly didn't know just ...

849. A Great Prophet Has Arisen Among Us

1 Kings 17:8-24; 2 Kings 4:1-37

Illustration

Richard A. Jensen

... quite often at the house of the Shunammite woman to get something to eat. The woman sensed that Elisha was a holy one of God. So she persuaded her husband to fix up a permanent guest room for Elisha. She invited Elisha to stop and stay with them whenever he passed through Shunem. And he did. Free room and board is a pretty good deal, after all! Now Elisha was an honorable man. He thought he should really give this woman some kind of gift. He told his servant Gehazi to ask the Shunammite ...

850. Unfair - The Prodigal Son

Luke 13:1-9

Drama

Robert F. Crowley

... worked two jobs at once so he could buy himself a car. Isn't that something? How many boys do you know that can buy themselves a new car at the age of sixteen? And he never stopped. He worked hard. Why, I've seen that boy come home and just drop over with exhaustion. We used to do family things together, but that stopped because Johnny was always working. I guess he got it from my side of the family. My own father was a hard-working man. Of course, we didn't see my dad very much, but he was ...

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