Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 851 to 875 of 4508 results

Bulletin Aid

I'm still working on that "Salt of the Earth""Light of the World" stuff! What do you mean I am the Salt I am the Light? Sounds like more responsibility Than I want to take! I just want to be an ordinary Christian A regular church member. I want to pull my weight Do my share Blend in with the rest. I don't want to be special Singled out, Especially if that means more responsibility! I'll take a...

852. Engaged In Self-Giving Ministry

Bulletin Aid

Call to Worship Pastor: Christ has called his church into being to share his message of salvation with our world. People: The church has brought God's love to us; now we are commissioned to share his love with others. Pastor: Jesus used the illustrations of salt and light to show we have a caring and sharing ministry. People: We are in Christ's ministry. May God help us to be effective in that min...

853. The Law of Unintended Consequences

Sermon

King Duncan

Series: Seeing God More Clearly in 2020 How many of us consider ourselves to be law-abiding individuals—let me see your hands? Most of us take it for granted that most of the laws in our society are worthwhile and reasonable, and we’re thankful for them. Laws are absolutely essential to keeping us safe and providing us with an orderly society. But ever so often we encounter a law that has uninten...

854. Epiphany 5

Bulletin Aid

Theme: Enlightened discipleship Exegetical note In an odd combination (though not quite a mixture) of metaphors, Matthew here has Jesus refer to his disciples as "salt" and "light" with respect to their role in bringing salvation to the world. The more developed of the two images is the latter: the disciples' "light," which is to be flaunted rather than obscured, is apparently their good works, w...

855. Epiphany 5

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

Salt is very important to life. If a person lacks salt, the hunger for it is one of the strongest desires we have. Any farmer knows how cattle will find a salt block and lick it to maintain the proper balance in its body. Salt is so valuable that in some societies it has been used as a medium of exchange, a substitute for money. In the scripture, light is often used as a symbol for the existence ...

856. Epiphany 5

Sermon Aid

Liturgical Color: Green Gospel: Matthew 5:13-20 Theme: Called to be salt and light to a tasteless and darkening world. Pastoral Invitation to the Celebration One pastor did this: He began, "Good morning, church, welcome to Christ's world, a world in which we, the saints in communion, are called to be salt and light." He continued with this response between pastor and ministers: Pastor: Greetin...

857. Epiphany 5

Sermon Aid

THEOLOGICAL CLUE The theological framework provided by the church year for the Epiphany season throws light upon this Sunday primarily in the incarnational/manifestation scope of the season. By this time in Epiphany, the preacher may well have the same reaction that is often felt in the Pentecost Cycle; there seems to be little theological help for the preacher in the church year or the liturgy. ...

858. Epiphany 5

Bulletin Aid

James Wilson

First Lesson: Isaiah 59:1-9a (9b-20) Theme: The Lord is Faithful Call To Worship Leader: Come, let us repent and lift our prayers before the Lord! People: But the Lord has not heard us and our pleas have not been answered. Leader: For we have all sinned and strayed away from God's paths. People: Then let us repent that once again we might know God's love and grace. Leader: For God has always hea...

859. Epiphany 5

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Old Testament: Isaiah 58:1-9a (9b-12) A comparison of proper and improper fasting. The passage, written by Trito-Isaiah in the sixth century B.C., deals with the returned exiles in Jerusalem where conditions were deplorable. In those days fasting was used to express great sorrow or supplication. This encourages many fasts, but God seemingly did nothing! Why not? What kind of fasting is...

860. Epiphany 5

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

Theme: God's Illuminating Spirit COMMENTARY Lesson 1: Isaiah 58:1-9a (9b-12) (C); Isaiah 58:7-10 (RC); Isaiah 58:5-9a (L) This passage is a dialogue between the pommeled people of Israel and God. The prophet voices the complaints of the people, as well as the Lord's response. This profound passage is from the hand of trito-Isaiah in the sixth century B.C. and the issue is fasting. The people com...

861. Two Sayings Of Jesus: Salt Of The Earth And Light Of The Wor

Drama

Dallas A. Brauninger

Suggestions: Use in ordinary sequence with the scripture reading. Characters: 2 readers - 2 men or 2 women Key: 1 = stronger voice 2 = softer voice 1: "You are the salt of the earth; 2: but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. 1: "You are the light of the world. 2: A city built on a hill c...

862. You and The Law

Drama

Robert F. Crowley

Theme: There is a relationship between being guilty, the law, and forgiveness. But how does it really operate? Summary: Dave, an eighteen year old, has had an accident with the family car. It's not a horrible accident but the other car was a police car. Marge, Dave's mom, is understandably angry and grounds her son. Their discussion of the punishment reveals the nature of forgiveness. Playing Ti...

863. A Light In The Darkness

Children's Sermon

Teresa L. Major

Object: A flashlight. Lesson: Even one light can make a big difference in the darkness. Have you ever been someplace that is dark? I mean really dark. So dark you can't see your hand in front of your face? So dark someone could be standing five inches in front of you and you would never know? So dark you feel totally and completely alone? When I was in college, I worked as a summer missionary a...

864. Spice It Up

Children's Sermon

Teresa L. Major

Object: A salt shaker. Lesson: As salt makes a difference in food, we, as Christian people, are called to make a difference in the world. What kinds of foods do you like to put salt on? (Children respond. Acknowledge each response.) We really like to put salt on scrambled eggs and french fries and popcorn. Anything else? French fries without salt taste kind of different, don't they? They taste k...

865. Counterfeit Christianity

Children's Sermon

King Duncan

Object: A candle Good morning, boys and girls. A couple of weeks ago we talked about lanterns and that Jesus is the light of the world. I have this candle with me today to remind me of an old story about a little candle back in the old days when ships depended on lighthouses and they didn't have electric lights. All they had were candles and gas lights. One day the keeper of the lighthouse took a...

866. Nervous Hands

Children's Sermon

Object: Child's night light What is this? Do most of you have one in your home? Why? It is a night light. It helps us see in the dark. In our house we use them when we go to bed so in case we need to get up, the light will help us see in the dark. I like having a light like this. With a light I am not afraid of the dark. Did you know that the Bible says Jesus is a light? He is the Light of the...

867. The Day the Lights Went Off

Children's Sermon

Shirley Jennings

Object: A warm sweater. Lesson: When the electricity goes off, we need to do things differently. That was quite a surprise we had the other day when all the lights blinked off and on a few times and then went off and stayed off for a long time. Because the electricity was off, our furnaces didn’t work, so we felt cold. What did you do to stay warm? We put on sweaters - like this one; we sat by t...

868. Lighten Up

Sermon

Mark Trotter

I have selected the hymn you have just sung to bring back memories of Sunday School. Imagine this image: a little girl in a white Sunday School dress, in a church pageant, holding a little candle, singing, "This Little Light of Mine." That is the image that most of us, I imagine, have in mind when we think of this hymn, "This Little Light of Mine." It is so sentimental, and cute, even. Which is t...

869. Scaring the Church, So It Will Be the Church

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

Sometimes when we read a passage of scripture, we may need to pay careful attention to who in the text is speaking. Our understanding of the words themselves may change, depending on whose mouth they come from. If we are reading Job, we need to know which character is speaking in the passage. If Job's friends are talking, we know their words cannot be trusted. They are too self-righteous. Sometime...

870. Jesus Light

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

What’s your favorite color? Is it more 450? Or do you tend towards 600? Maybe even 700? In case those numbers don’t immediately mean anything to you, on the visible spectrum scale for light 450 nanometers means “blue,” 600 is yellow, and at 700 nanometers you are seeing red. But we don’t “see” numbers, do we? We see the beautiful, variable, illuminating colors that light takes on as it is refra...

871. The Difference Disciples Make

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

Criminologists tell us no person enters and exits a room without leaving something of themselves behind. There will be a fingerprint, a footprint, a trace of hair, a thread of clothing or some other DNA evidence that we have been there and done that. On our way to Holy Communion today, I want to raise a few questions with you who are seeking to be disciples of Jesus Christ: What kind of footprin...

872. Lite - Or Light?

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

There is, in this congregation, a running conversation as to what to call this structural wonder that rises above my head. Is it a dome? Or is it a lantern? The answer, of course, is both/and, depending on your perspective. It is a modern dome - the 1960s version of those elegant Byzantine basilicas that grace much of Europe, reminiscent of glittery mosaics and luminous paintings proclaiming the p...

873. Two Worlds

Sermon

James McCormick

I was a young pastor attending a seminar. The featured speaker opened his mouth to speak, and these were his first words: “You and I are living today in a world God did not make. He allowed it, but He did not make it.” That took place many years ago, but I still remember those words vividly. And, I remember the surprise I felt upon hearing them. It had never occurred to me that there was anything ...

874. Pour the Salt and Turn on the Light

Sermon

James Merritt

I am beginning a brand new series of messages today on the Sermon on the Mount that I have entitled, "The Only Way to Live." The reason I have given it that title is because that is exactly what Jesus tells us in the greatest sermon ever preached in the history of the world—the Sermon on the Mount. A Chinese Christian came to a missionary one time and said, "I have learned to quote the entire Ser...

875. What Kind of Pillar Are You?

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Who are the pillars of the church? If others look to you as a “pillar of the church,” what kind of pillar are you? Jesus answers that question in our gospel reading for this morning, but to get to his answer we’ve got to exercise the discipline of historical context. We’ve got to put his words and images in the context of the culture of his day. So here we go . . . Anyone who has ever had a clas...

Showing 851 to 875 of 4508 results