Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 851 to 875 of 4986 results

851. The Dogmatics of Aluminum Foil

Luke 20:27-38

Illustration

Brett Blair

... column: Ask any great cook about aluminum foil and you're bound to get an opinion on which side is "best." Some swear the shiny side must always be on the outside of a baked potato, while others condemn such nonsense and emphatically claim exactly the opposite. Meanwhile, the manufacturer stays amused and gives a good lesson in dogmatism and tolerance. When foil is made, it is rolled. One side of the foil gets shiny because it comes in contact with the heavy roller. The other side ...

852. Sole Brother

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

... ’." Such outreach contains more hurt than help. There is little wonder that writers have called this parable one of the most universal, timeless messages ever written. While the surface may be modernized and changed, and while the center lines may be repainted, the highway stays the same. And its message could never be more appropriate to any age than it is to us today. New York City and the nation were shocked when a young woman was attacked and killed on a Manhattan sidewalk. Murder wasn’t new, but it ...

853. The First Council

Acts 15:1-21

Sermon Aid

CSS

... hastened back to Antioch, where the decree of the council was greeted with great joy. Judas and Silas were strangers to Antioch, but the congregation treated them as honored visitors. They stayed at Antioch "for some time." They also exhorted the Antioch Christians with "many words." The combination makes it seem that they stayed for weeks and perhaps even for months. Then they were sent back to Jerusalem. The record at this point seems incomplete and confusing, because these four were commissioned by the ...

854. Advance into Europe

Acts 15:36-41

Sermon Aid

CSS

... island, and then went on to Neapolis, where Paul for the first time set foot on European soil. Neapolis was a small village on the coast, but a few miles inland was the important city of Philippi, which was also Luke’s home town. The group stayed for some days at Philippi. Normally, whenever Paul came into a strange city, he sought out the synagogue where he could meet other Jews who might offer him the hospitality of their homes. In the synagogue, he could also present his message to the congregation at ...

855. Paul in Chains

Acts 21:27-36

Sermon Aid

CSS

... been killed? What would the Romans do with him? Even worse, what would the Jews do? Was this the end of the peaceful existence for the church at Jerusalem? More than one must have sighed and observed, "Why didn’t Paul listen to our warnings and stay away from Jerusalem?" Thoughts (for personal reflection and group discussion) 1. Do extremely "religious" people sometimes embarrass us? If someone likes to boom out "Praise the Lord" or "Are you saved?" how do we handle it? Do we urge them to be quiet when we ...

856. Status Quo

Illustration

Staff

A traveling salesman on vacation had been duck shooting in the marshes all day. When darkness overtook him he found he was miles from his motel and hopelessly lost. After walking for many miles he finally came upon a farmhouse and banged on the door. A window was opened at last and a man stuck his head out demanding to know what he wanted. "I want to stay here all night," the salesman pleaded. "It’s okay with me; stay there all night!" yelled the farmer, slamming down the window.

857. Surprise! Surprise!

Matthew 25:31-46

Sermon

Michael L. Sherer

... , please feel free to leave. I won’t make you uncomfortable by making you sit down with them. But if you want to get to know them better and to learn some ways to become better friends with them and help them after they go home tonight, then you can stay for dinner. You decide." With that, the meal was served. The dirty, poor folk who had not come wearing masks sat down first. Then the friends of the host were invited to find seats. But while some of them did, a lot of them simply slipped out the door and ...

858. The Blessing Of Bondage

Genesis 2:4-25, Genesis 3:1-24

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... and tend the trees of the garden (v. 15), the fruit of the trees were to be eaten for food (v. 16), and he was to stay away from one, just one of them - the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (v. 17). God didn’t tell Adam why, he just ... of God. It’s disastrous. Recall that God gave three rules about the trees in the Garden of Eden: Tend them, eat of them, and stay away from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We forget that Adam only broke one rule; the first two were completely acceptable ...

859. Returning: Real or Ruse?

Hosea 5:1-15

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... disturb, worry, or frighten us. The St. Petersburg Times reported that a man was on trial for the murder of an elderly woman. The attorney was pleading for his life, and the accused was fighting to stay awake. His actions were described: "The eyes closed, opened, closed again. Every time the lids came down, they stayed shut a little longer!" How can you possibly be charged with killing an eighty-one-year-old woman and doze off at your murder trial? But, the devil infects you and me with the same slumbering ...

860. No Longer Spectators - But Participants!

Acts 2:14-41

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... kitchen today. Didn’t you, Johnny?" Then she leaned over and whispered to him, "Remember the duck." So Johnny did the dishes. Later in the day, Grandfather called the children to go fishing. Grandmother said, "I’m sorry, but Sally can’t go. She has to stay here and help me clean the house and get supper." Sally smiled, "That’s all been taken care of. Johnny said he wanted to help you today, didn’t you, Johnny?" Then she whispered, "Remember the duck." This sort of thing went on for several days ...

861. Which Jesus? This Jesus!

Acts 17:1-9

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... prayer meeting. When a revival was in progress, mother attended every service, even if it lasted for two or three weeks. Sometimes, when we would see how tired she was, how her feet hurt her, we’d ask her not to go to church that night: "Why not just stay home and rest?" we’d ask. Her reply was always the same, "Why, child, it RESTS me to go to church. I always feel so much better by the time the service is over." The personal presence of "this Jesus" literally invigorated her. What would it do for the ...

862. If You Had But One Request

1 Kings 3:1-15

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... ." Have in you the mind of Christ and wisdom will be yours. He is wisdom because he is the personification of truth and the very Son of God. To have truth is to have wisdom. Daily we should pray, "Come into my mind, Lord Jesus. Come into my mind to stay." Another way to acquire wisdom is to receive the Holy Spirit. He is God who abides in us. Jesus taught that the Holy Spirit will guide us into truth. He is the one who will enlighten us so that we will have good judgment and common sense. Stupidity is being ...

863. Does God Give A Damn?

Exodus 5:22--6:12

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... two million Americans were without homes. It is a national tragedy and disgrace in the richest country of the world. In New York City, 36,000 people walk the streets, sleep on park benches or in alleys and eat out of garbage cans because they have no place to stay. Imagine sleeping night after night over a warm air vent on a sidewalk of a deserted city street! Does God care that people are hungry and homeless? Indeed, he does, just as much as he was concerned about the 5,000 in Jesus’ day. If so, why then ...

864. The Danger of Being Religious

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... not Jesus’ way. For him, religion was a one-to-one relationship. The one lost sheep was as important as the ninety-nine which stayed in the flock. He emphasized that God knew even how many hairs were on each head, and of the billions of people on earth ... in the sacristy that promises people who say the Lord’s Prayer five times that they will get 30,000 years off their stay in Purgatory. In our century, we still have religion that enslaves by literalism and legalism as well as fundamentalism. In cases like ...

865. Out of the Barnyard

John 11:38-44

Sermon

Robert Bachelder

... many people. We tend to think that people will leave the Church if we deal with controversial social issues; but as Reinhold Niebuhr said once, it probably is the case that we lose more people, or more people stay away, precisely because we do not deal with the pressing issues of the day. We could stay home with these unhappy folks, but that is not a very viable alternative. That would leave the barnyard in the hands of the earthbound geese, and then the Church would be doomed indeed. Instead let us listen ...

866. Elijah’s If

Mark 9:2-13, 2 Kings 2:1-18

Drama

Richard F. Bansemer

... a person, alive, and well, and moving! Had Peter known what was ahead for his Lord, and for himself, he probably would have stayed on that mountaintop and built his booths alone. A last supper was coming, and Gethsemane, and a denial, and a crowing rooster, and ... could try to wall in what we know, what we’ve had, what we liked. But the shack won’t stand. The nails won’t stay in the wood, The wind will blow the building down. We will find it too confining, too small, for the God of glory and mountaintops ...

867. The Disciples’ Dumb Dream

Mark 9:33-37

Sermon

Richard F. Bansemer

... want to tell me, or should I tell you?" Jesus must have been a little bit worried by now. What would happen when it happened? What would these ambitious servants think when they saw their dream die like a criminal on a cross? How would they stay together? Would they stay together? Would they remember then, what he tried to tell them now? Would they drift away, or quit, or panic and run? You see, there’s not a single instance in all of Scripture where Jesus says thank you to his disciples. They were his ...

868. The Impartiality of God

Acts 10:23b-48

Sermon

Hubert Beck

... , until they find their rest in you, O God." It is also true the other way around! God’s heart is restless until our heart rests in him. Such is the greatness of his love that he cannot leave us alone in our self-deceits and self-destruction. He must stay with us, calling us from our own ways to his. It is this restlessness on our part that makes us so vulnerable to the many false saviors we mentioned at the beginning of this sermon. God takes a calculated risk by stirring us up so endlessly, for he knows ...

869. Called to Be Saints

1 Corinthians 1:1-9

Sermon

Hubert Beck

... us with water and fed us with bread and wine even as he continues to call us and feed us and sustain us in our daily tasks. It is with us, as it was with the disciples in today’s Gospel - we must constantly be asking, "Rabbi, where are you staying?" And he will say, "Come and see." He will instruct us in his word, surround us with his love and grace under the sheltering arms of the cross, sustain us with his body and blood in that life begun in the water. We will hasten, as did Simon Peter’s ...

870. The Need for Transfiguration

2 Peter 1:12-21

Sermon

Hubert Beck

... outside of us that changes us! For all that, is the simple ordinariness of this moment still confusing? Does it seem difficult from here in the valley to fully grasp the glory revealed on the mountain? It surely is, and that is why the disciples wanted to stay. But Jesus told them that it was not to be so. They who had seen the glory of the Lord in this extraordinary moment must now learn to see the extraordinary in every moment. They must go with him again to the plain where they would keep their ...

871. Moses Experiences The Glory Of The Lord

Exodus 24:1-18

Bulletin Aid

... the power of your Spirit to live faithful lives. We pray in the name of Christ our Lord. Amen. Prayer of Confession We know about your glory, Father; but too often it is second-hand information instead of our own experience. Forgive us when we have stayed at the foot of the mountain when you would have lifted us up into your presence. Revive us with the wonder of your glory; that we may be inspired by your holiness, and challenged to deeper commitment. Hear us for Jesus' sake. Amen. Hymns "Holy, Holy, Holy ...

872. BRIDGES NOT WALLS

Illustration

John H. Krahn

... that separated God from us. Faith in him now makes it possible for us to span the gulf that isolates us from certain family members and neighbors. The story is told about a teenage girl who was told that if she stayed out beyond a certain time, she would have to eat bread and water at supper. She stayed out too late, so at supper time she was given bread and water. But as the family started to eat, the father reached over and took the bread and water and gave the daughter his own meal. They ate in silence ...

873. Magnify Your Ministry!

Romans 11:11-24

Sermon

Raymond Gibson

... to speak through us with our Southern drawls and Yankee accents. He might have made us all doctrinal giants like Luther and Calvin, but he didn’t. He chose me, a man who has to struggle to preach an intelligible sermon, and he chose you, who have to struggle to stay awake during my preaching. "We have this treasure in earthen vessels," and it is our ministry, our responsibility. No one else will do it for us. If the good news of God’s love in Jesus Christ is to be made known to others, it is up to us to ...

874. A LITURGICAL DRAMA FOR PENTECOST

Drama

Tom Eberle

... things to do. Voice 2: It sounds like you are better off going nowhere. If you don’t really want to see him/her, then you can just stay here. Voice 3: Sure, suspended in mid-air for the rest of my life. Voice 2: I wouldn’t mind not arriving at my destination. Voice 4: ... there, though, with your father. Voice 2: [surprised] My father - I hadn’t realized I had said anything. Voice 3: Enjoy your stay in Bermuda. You deserve a break. Voice 4: You could take a break, too - why not spend a night on the town ...

875. What Is Your Holy Week Address?

Matthew 27:45-56

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... simply choose to watch it happen. People do that to themselves spiritually and begin to wonder whether there is any other option. Unable to respectfully bow before nature’s invitation to mature and ripen as a growing child of God, they choose to stay locked into the conflicts of their life and take on the dimensions of that house Jesus described as being "divided against itself." Unable to choose between apple pie and chocolate pudding, they go without dessert. Wanting to please excessively yet so angry ...

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