Sermon and Worship Resources

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Zephaniah 1:4-13, Zephaniah 1:14--2:3

Sermon

Sims Robert

... faith and yet in sin, that we are children of the kingdom of God and yet citizens of this world. The New Testament tells us that the ruler of this present darkness is Satan. Whether we use the name Beelzebub, Lucifer, the Devil, Force of Evil or some other designation, the truth remains that the world in which we live is under an evil power. It is broken, shattered and corrupt. The truth is we do not have to be convinced of the brokenness of our world, do we? We experience it in our own lives every day. We ...

877. To Be Sure

Luke 17:11-19

Sermon

Theodore F. Schneider

... , Fortress Press, 1986), p. 19. 3. Joseph A. Fitzmyer, S.J., The Gospel According to Saint Luke X-XXXIV, The Anchor Bible, Vol. 28A, (Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1985), p. 1149. 4. B.C.E. is now the preferred designation for dates previously coded as B.C. It is not preferential to a specific religious tradition. "Before Christ" becomes "Before the Contemporary Era" or "Before the Common Era." 5. Wilbers F. Howard, The Interpreter's Bible, Vol. 8, (New York, Abingdon Press, 1952 ...

878. The Victory Of The Cross

Sermon

Erskine White

... to give a huge donation to the church in order to take the cross out of the wall and replace it with a stained glass window. But when he presented his idea to the church's leaders, they said to him, "We cannot do what you ask. The architect designed the church to have this cross; it gives strength to the wall. If you take away the cross, you will destroy the church." In the church I attended as a boy, they brought a big, plain wooden cross into the sanctuary one year during Lent, and for five Sundays ...

879. Bartolome’ de Las Casas Protector Of The Indians

Drama

Thomas A. Renquist

... these charges. It was arranged as a debate between him and Sepulveda, a well-known scholar who supported the right of Spaniards to enslave the Indians. Sepulveda appealed to Aristotle’s doctrine of natural slavery, that one part of humanity is designated by nature to be slaves for the other part. He also quoted scriptures, especially Jesus’ Parable of the Great Banquet where the banquet host “compelled the people to come in,” maintaining that the Spanish crown should force the Indians to become ...

880. You Have to Work At It

John 21:15-25

Children's Sermon

Brett Blair

Exegetical Aim: The effort involved in loving God and one another. Props: None. This sermon may need some adaptation if you have a large sanctuary; however, the sermon is designed to create commotion within the congregation and the closer to which this is allowed the better the effect. Especially if the reading of John 21:1-19 or 15-19 immediately follows. Lesson: [When the children are settled:] I have a question for you this morning, "Do you love your ...

881. Seek Good, Not Evil (That You May Live)

Amos 5:1-17

Sermon

Paul W. F. Harms

... good will reign. We are to be consumed by the same kind of passion that consumed our Lord. The purpose of the text and of this sermon is not the development of a new program in niceness. It is a seeking after life itself, as God describes and designs that life. To live, to be alive means to seek good, not evil, to establish justice, to uphold righteousness, rather than cast it down; to be exacting in charity rather than in covetousness. That's but a partial description of what it means to be alive. That is ...

882. The Time Is Coming

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

Paul W. F. Harms

... for all who have such faith - all, without distinction. For all alike have sinned, and are deprived of the divine splendor, and all are justified by God's free grace alone, through his act of liberation in the person of Christ Jesus. For God designed him to be the means of expiating sin by his sacrificial death, effective through faith. God meant by this to demonstrate his justice because in his forbearance he had overlooked the sins of the past - to demonstrate his justice now in the present, showing ...

883. Step Seven - Humiltiy

Mt 23:25-36 · 2 Ti 2:20-26 · Ps 51:1-14

Sermon

John A. Terry

... think that their job is to purge the community of all errors in thinking. Some think there has to be someone in opposition or something is wrong. I remember my father telling me that in every church there needed to be an "SOB," and my father designated himself to fill that role. I trust that now he is singing with the angels, that he has mellowed. Contrary to such thinking, what the gospel says is: "Having nothing to do with stupid, senseless controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord's ...

884. Faith

Hebrews 11:1

Children's Sermon

Tim Carpenter

... lights to go off. I need someone to walk by himself/herself over to the wall, and knock three times. If you do that, the lights will go out. Do you believe me? Send a volunteer to knock on the wall. The person working the lights will immediately turn the designated lights off after the third knock, and then back on after a couple of seconds. Application: Did you think that was really going to work? Usually, you have to turn on a light switch to make lights turn on and off. But I knew it would work if you ...

885. Nothing Difficult Is Ever Easy

Matthew 22:34-40

Sermon

Johnny Dean

... part of the group who asked Jesus that tricky question we talked about last week, the one about whether or not they should pay taxes to the Roman government. So this new question about the greatest commandment is most likely another test, a trap, a trick question designed to get Jesus into trouble. You would think Jesus would be able to see through these folks by now, wouldn’t you? You would think that he would just ignore the question and the questioner and go on about his business. But he doesn’t. In ...

886. We Don't Know How To Pray

Romans 8:18-27

Sermon

Johnny Dean

... her all my life, I knew that crying with her wasn’t enough, that she wouldn’t feel right about leaving him until a prayer had been offered. And she expected me to pray. But even though I am a seminary-educated, ordained preacher, a professional prayer, a designated prayer at every community function, in the face of the death of my stepfather, I didn’t have any idea what to say. Oh, I stammered out a few sentences, but I couldn’t tell you what I said, only that it was passionate and heartfelt and ...

887. He Who Has Ears to Hear, Let Him Hear

Luke 8:1-15

Sermon

Larry Powell

... not state it in these terms, thinking people must make allowances for accidents, human choice, and the chain reaction of circumstances. To casually mutter that whatever happens is the will of God is cheap theology; it removes any responsibility from humanity and erases orderly design from the universe. Now, those are my words and not Weatherhead's, but he did imply that to piously dismiss everything with the phrase, "it is God's will," is the intellectually lazy man's way of not thinking it through, and a ...

888. WHAT IS MAN?

Sermon

Larry Powell

... blood transfusions and potentially premature babies can receive drugs that hasten lung development. We live in a day when it is possible to treat people before they are born, but not only that, as we all know, - DNA makes it possible to "design" an offspring. However, despite medical wonders, scientific achievements, and technological advances, we still are unable to bring everything under our control. Recently, a lady in Illinois gave birth to Siamese twin boys. They had only a single trunk below the waist ...

889. Mother's Day Gifts

Ephesians 6:10-20

Sermon

R. E. Lybrand

... realization, we salute you today, in the fashion that we should honor you every day - for all you do for us and for all you give to your family. (Mother's Day was declared an annual National Holiday in 1914 by President Woodrow Wilson. He directed the Congress to designate the second Sunday of May as a special day for public expression of love and reverence for the mothers of America. Since that time there has been a "Mother's Day," and, I must say that even in 1914, it was long overdue.) Few of us show our ...

890. The Household Leader

Deuteronomy 6:1-25

Sermon

R. E. Lybrand

... the Lord God expected the Israelite fathers to teach their children by talking about the ordinances of God. The father is to be God's spokesman in the family. Martin Luther recognized this biblical principle. That is why he wrote his Large Catechism. As Luther designed it, the Catechism was not to be taught by the pastor at church; it was to be taught by the father at home. It was written by Luther to aid fathers in fulfilling their baptismal promises to teach their children the Ten Commandments, the Creed ...

891. "Crown Him Lord of all!"

Sermon

William Luoma

... When else, and where else, do we ever use palms or hand them out? Palms are a memorable and meaningful symbol to many Christians. I think of Mike, a retired Army man living in southeastern Ohio. He can take a palm leaf, and weave it into an intricate, curled "designer cross," in a way he learned as a child. I think of Ray, a maintenance man in Illinois, who keeps some palm leaves in his car, "to ward off anything bad." I think of Ethel, in whose Bible there is a small cross made of palm leaves, pressed flat ...

892. Reflecting Light in the Dark Places

Luke 5:1-11

Illustration

Brett Blair

... might do with my life. I came to understand that I am not the light or the source of light. The light [or truth] is there, and it will shine in many dark places only if I reflect it." He concluded: "I am a fragment of a mirror whose whole design and shape I do not know. Nevertheless, with what I have, I can reflect light into the dark places of the world...and change some things in some people. Perhaps others may see and do likewise." As related in Robert Fulghum, "It Was on Fire When I Lay Down on ...

893. The Voice of the Shepherd

John 10:1-21

Children's Sermon

Brett Blair

Exegetical Aim: Building a relationship with God will help you to hear and recognize his voice. Props: Parents to participate. If you have a large congregation you might want to designate a few parents to participate rather than all the parents coming down. On the other hand a little mayhem in the sanctuary can be a good thing! Lesson: Good Morning! (response) I have a question for you this morning? How many of you think you could recognize your parents voice ...

894. Christmas Eve Candlelight Service

Bulletin Aid

Robert G. McCreight

... should feel free to adapt the service to best fit your circumstances. Scripture passages are taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. You may prefer to use another translation, and may substitute the wording as you prefer. The script is designed to be read by two or more persons. It alternates between passages of scripture and original commentary. People reading from a pulpit and a lectern would be an appropriate way to deliver this program. If possible, it is most appropriate to begin the ...

895. Six Nails of the Cross II: The Nail of Infidelity

Matthew 26:47-56

Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

... shocked by the gall it took for Judas to finger Jesus out as the one the authorites were interested in through the use of a kiss. He didn't point, or lay his hand upon his shoulder or sit beside him. He kissed him, and in so doing designated Jesus as the one to be arrested and crucified. It was a despicable act. No reason, excuse or frustration seems adequate or justifiable to account for Judas' action. If it wasn't the 30 pieces of silver, then whatever the reason was, it wasn't good enough. His betrayal ...

896. Jesus, Mary, Gustav Mahler, Brother Martin, and the Magi

Luke 20:9-19

Sermon

Carl Jech

... in the Greek as "Magi." That is, they were priests of the Zoroastrian faith, the ancient Persian religion. That these leaders of another religious tradition were willing to take an open-minded look at a new and perhaps different faith is cause for us designating them as especially wise. (We must also note here that the Persian/Zoroastrian king Cyrus is described in the book of Isaiah as "God's anointed" - God's Messiah! - when he allows the Jews to return home from captivity in Babylon.) The point is ...

897. Giving Away the Store

Luke 22:7-38, John 13:1-17

Sermon

Carl Jech

... gods must be appeased. Frazer's idea is that religion in most of its forms represents a failure of nerve on humankind's part. Originally, primitive peoples tried to manipulate the gods, "the powers that be," to do their bidding through magical rituals that were designed to force the gods to give them what they wanted. When the magic failed to work, people changed their tune and tried instead to find favor with the gods by appeasement, by petition, by pleading for mercy and grace. Frazer and others tend to ...

898. Will the Real Jesus Christ Arise?

John 20:1-18

Sermon

Carl Jech

... bodies into Nirvana - to be absorbed into God and to cease to exist as a separate entity. Reincarnation talks a lot about the physical body, but doesn't really take it seriously!Reincarnation is also tied together with the doctrine of Karma, which is mainly designed to prove that life is fair (in the long run we all get what we deserve and everything happens for a reason.) In stark contrast, the Christian understanding of resurrection and of the grace of God is intended to deal precisely with the fact that ...

899. Praise God For Adversity

Isaiah 43:14-28

Sermon

Carl Hoefler

... easy to praise God when our waking life is more like a nightmare than a dream. Yet, the Book of Isaiah, from which our text comes, is a delicately woven tapestry where lament and praise, adversity and blessing are mingled together into one harmonious pattern. The design is clear: we are to praise God, not only for our blessings, but for our adversities as well. Our First Lesson, which calls upon us to praise God, was written in a time of disaster and adversity. The cities of Judah had been left desolate by ...

900. A Holy Hunger

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

Carl Hoefler

... that he had made, Judas truly hungered for God's forgiveness. He was driven not to the cross of our Lord, but to an empty tree where he hanged himself, to be left forever hungry for the forgiving words of God. This term "The Last Supper" as a designation for communion is interesting. It appears nowhere in Scripture. For Judas, it is appropriate. In a sense, it is appropriate for all the disciples because it was the last meal that they would share with Jesus while he was in the flesh. However, in a far more ...

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