Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 851 to 875 of 975 results

851. When Your Life Is Put On Hold

Mark 5:21-43

Sermon

King Duncan

... Daniel Webster and some of his friends concerning the most beautiful passage in literature. Webster slowly quoted these exquisite words from Habakkuk: “Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls; yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.” (3: 17-18). And of course this is the central ...

852. A Word to the Wealthy

Mark 10:17-30

Sermon

King Duncan

... of California coastline. He collected stuff for eighty-eight years. Then you know what he did?” asks John Ortberg. “He died.” (5) He died. You know how much William Randolph Hearst left behind? That’s right . . . all of it. “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest,” said Jesus in one of his parables. “He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and ...

853. How Intelligent Is God’s Design?

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

... be the foundation of faith in the public square... Mystery suggests a call to public action in search of God’s ways... science, with all its majesty and achievement, has only one thing in common with religion: When it reaches its most profound questions, it, too, yields to mystery.[2] I have come to believe in my own journey of faith that God lives in the questions. I believe that seeking understanding with my mind is the preparation I need to trust with my heart. I believe that faith is the frontier ...

854. Holy Happiness

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

... is to be fully alive and in harmony with God’s ways both in the good times and the bad. Let us be comforted and instructed by the words of the psalmist: Happy are those who delight in the Lord. They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper. (Psalm 1) May it be so for you and for me. Amen.

855. What Will We Do When He Is Gone?

John 13:1-17, 31b-35

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

... strength for your life from these words. O Love that wilt not let me go, I rest my weary soul in thee; I give thee back the life I owe, That in thine ocean depths its flow May richer, fuller be. O light that foll’west all my way, I yield my flick’ring torch to thee; My heart restores its borrowed ray, That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day May brighter, fairer be. O Joy that seekest me through pain, I cannot close my heart to thee; I trace the rainbow through the rain, And feel the promise is ...

856. Known By Our Love

John 13:31-35

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

... hours short. Ordinary faces beautiful, Houses into homes, Picnics into banquets, Wilted daisies into bouquets, God into sacrifice and sinners into saints. The poet ends with a challenging query. Doesn’t it make you wonder what might happen to you If you yielded to God’s love? (source unknown) Love has the potential to change everything. Experiencing love in your life can change you. Loving another person can change that person. Even you loving another person can change you. In fact, even loving your ...

857. The Nine Tests of Confucius

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

... . But man hides his character behind an inscrutable appearance. There are those who appear tame and self-effacing, but conceal a terrible pride. There are those who have some special ability but appear to be stupid. There are those who are compliant and yielding but always get their objective. Some are hard outside but soft inside, and some are slow without but impatient within. Therefore those who rush forward to do the righteous thing as if they were craving for it, drop it like something hot. "Therefore ...

858. The Extravagance of God

Illustration

Ralph W. Seager

More sky than man can see, More seas than he can sail, More sun than he can bear to watch, More stars than he can scale. More breath than he can breathe, More yield than he can sow, More grace than he can comprehend, More love than he can know.

859. Thanks for Familiar Things

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

I offer thanks for just familiar things— The ruddy glory of the sunset sky, The shine of firelight as the dusk draws nigh, The cheery song my little kettle sings, The woodland music of my giant pine, The last sweet tokens that my garden yields, The mellow tints upon the autumn fields, The far-off misty mountains' purple line, The sense of rest that home so surely brings, The books that wait my pleasure, true and fine, Old friendships that I joy to feel are mine. I offer thanks for just familiar things.

860. Don't Be Too Cheap with the Seed

2 Cor 9:8

Illustration

Jack Exum

... . "We take that double tandem truck, fill it with certified seed, back it up to the distributor, open the slots, and pour in the seed." He went on to say, "If you're ever going to be cheap, don't be cheap with the seed." One bushel of seed invested yields thirty bushels of grain harvested in a good year. Thirty to one—not a bad return, if you are ready to believe and willing to invest. God says, "Believe Me, trust Me, try My plan, prove My ways, and see the kind of harvest I will give." So Paul guarantees ...

861. The Master Is Always In

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

... direction and seeing no one, he crept through the fence. He was just about ready to help himself when the youngster startled him by crying out, "Dad! Dad! You didn't look UP! You forgot to see if God is watching." When temptation besets you and you're inclined to yield because no one else seems to be around, remember, if you're a Christian, your "Master is always in!"

862. Next Man Up

John 17:20-26

Sermon

King Duncan

... measuring nearly every aspect of Google employees’ lives. The company’s executives interviewed hundreds of employees over several years, and analyzed all sorts of data on the productivity and innovation of almost every team in the company. All this in-depth research yielded one result. Listen up those of you in business or education or sports or any endeavor that requires teamwork. This is research by one of America’s great companies. What they discovered was this: The best teams have members who are ...

863. Speaking with Prophetic Authority

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... Jeremiah proclaimed impending doom to the southern kingdom of Judah unless the nation once again turned to the Lord. Many of us recall Isaiah's famous "Song of the Unfaithful Vineyard" (5:1-7), where God asks what more could have been done for Judah yet the nation yielded "wild grapes." God's justice will be complete as the prophet predicts, "I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down the wall, and it shall be trampled down. I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed ...

864. Don't Give In

Matthew 4:1-11

Sermon

David & Marian Plant

... streets and in shelters what difference in this world has it meant that Jesus did not give in? Perhaps, upon entering my 39th year of ordained ministry, my bias of Lent as a time of intense reflection, affirmation, and commitment to action shows. If Lent does not yield in us the same stalwartness of Christ’s not giving in, not just through words but through deeds, how easy it remains for us to give in to the temptation to just slide through Lent. Frankly, it is easier to come to another Lent with its ...

865. The True Story Wins

Matthew 28:11-15

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... drag us down like a rock around our neck. Whenever relationships get hard, whenever we encounter problems in life, how we react has a genesis in those stories that lurk below the surface of our souls. A heart of stone built by years of stonewalling will yield a stony disposition. One story that poisons the soul can make for a toxic life. Our stories anchor us to a root identity. Our stories form the fabric of our relationships and responses. When we construct our own stories, or hide from Jesus’ story, we ...

866. The Power of the Wilderness

Luke 4:1-13

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... ,” the Hebrew/ Jewish tradition sees “satan” as a metaphor for humankind’s inclination toward sin, which is part of human nature. “ha satan” means literally “hinderer,” and indicates a soul struggling with whether or not to do God’s will, or whether to yield to the passions of the human heart. “Satan” can mean stumbling block, or obstacle as well. Note the gospel passage: Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the ...

867. By the Sea

Matthew 4:18-22, John 1:35-42, John 1:43-51

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... Bethsaida (house of fish) was also a thriving city, as well as 7 other cities on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. On its northern shores, hot springs attracted the sick. The sea’s shores sparkled with colored stones and small shells. The sea yielded vast amounts of muscht (tilapia or St. Peter’s fish), sardines (tiny fish), and shellfish (sold to the gentiles). But the region has a history too among God’s people. Simon bar Jonah the prophet was from Bethsaida. But more important, it was here that ...

868. Jacob's Well

John 4:1-26, John 4:27-38, John 4:39-42

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit." (Jeremiah 17:8) My roots will reach to the water, and the dew will lie all night on my branches. (Job 29:19) That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither-- whatever they do prospers. (Psalm 1:3) Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear fruit, because the water ...

869. Do you need a Pharisectomy?

Matthew 9:27-34, Matthew 9:35-38, Matthew 12:15-21, Matthew 12:22-37, Matthew 12:38-45, Matthew 12:46-50

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... one Sunday a year. But the Holy Spirit’s presence is an all-year-round experience! We are to “keep Pentecost” like we “keep Lent” or “keep Advent.” In the scripture story today, it’s the Holy Spirit at play in Jesus, the Messiah, that wields and yields the tremendous healing and grace given to all those following him in the crowd that day. Listen to Jesus’ story again, as Matthew tells it! [Read the story again or part of it.] In the story, we have a turf war going on. It’s the Pharisees ...

870. Soul Food

Luke 9:10-17, Matthew 14:13-21, Mark 6:30-44, John 6:1-15

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children. [Later in Matthew, Jesus would feed 4,000 people in a similar way with seven loaves and two fish, yielding enough for seven baskets left.] Mark’s Witness to Jesus’ Feeding of 5,000 People [Mark’s witness is similar to Matthew’s, except that the disciples note it would cost about two hundred denarii worth of bread to feed the crowd. Mark also tells us ...

871. Syrophoenician Lives Matter!

Mark 7:24-30, Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... grace is unfathomable in power and forgiveness. God’s blessings are so vast (as are the heavens….as are the descendents promised in the Hebrew scriptures by God to Abraham and his kind –more than the stars and the sand)! God’s “bread” of Life yields enough for all….with much leftover! What falls from God’s breadbasket rains upon all and is meant for all! “You [Israel] shall be a Light to the Gentiles” says Yahweh according to Isaiah, “so that my salvation might reach the ends of the ...

872. Scandal

Matthew 16:21-28, Matthew 17:14-23, Matthew 20:17-19, Matthew 26:1-5

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... and Philip together went to tell Jesus. Jesus replied to them: ‘Now the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you, most solemnly, unless a wheat grain falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single grain; but if it dies, it yields a rich harvest. Anyone who loves his life loses it; anyone who hates his life in this world will keep it for the eternal life. If a man serves me, he must follow me, wherever I am, my servant will be there too. If anyone serves me, my Father will ...

873. Praise God! Selah!

Luke 1:67-80, Luke 1:57-66, Luke 1:46-56, Luke 1:39-45, Luke 1:26-38, Luke 1:5-25, Luke 1:1-4

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... has done! And with each “Selah”….let’s praise even bigger and better! Because the advent of our Lord has begun! To God be the glory!!! Hymn: To God be the glory, great things He has done; So loved He the world that He gave us His Son, Who yielded His life an atonement for sin, And opened the life gate that all may go in. Refrain (a selah of praise) Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, Let the earth hear His voice! Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, Let the people rejoice! O come to the Father, through ...

874. The Gardener

John 20:10-18

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... was brewing. Gardeners knew when a frost would nip the flowers if they didn’t get covered. During the depression, many a garden got a family through a hard time. It was a sign of abundance and hope each spring when small inexpensive seeds would yield enough food to get a family through a winter. Now, in an age when organic foods have become all the rave (once foods were always organic!) and natural farmers have regained their status as the most desirable food producers, we again appreciate the beauty and ...

875. Higher Ground

Luke 24:36-49, Luke 24:50-53

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... true, what a beautiful set of metaphors, for surely Jesus has told us many times that to “bear fruit” for God means to be a servant to those of God’s children who most need help. While Bethany was said to be a little patch of beauty, yielding lush foliage and fruit trees, as opposed to its surrounding barren fields, it also may have been in fact the location of a “hospice” run by the Essenes, who typically ministered to the outcast, poor, ill, and dying in small towns in the outskirts of a major ...

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