Sermon and Worship Resources

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Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... . The debtor of Jesus' parable begged for mercy as he and his family were about to be thrown into debtor's prison. He ought to be the object of mercy but when he came upon his fellow debtor who owed him a little money, he was unwilling to be the subject of mercy. If I ask God to mercy me, I must also be willing to mercy thee. Getting more than we bargained for. The servant did not request that his debt be canceled but that his master would be patient and give him more time to pay it back. He ...

877. Proper 27

1 Thessalonians 4:13--5:11, Hosea 11:1-11, Joshua 24:1-27, Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... coming? 4. Let us live as those who eagerly await Christ's return 2. Sermon Title: Good Grief. Sermon Angle: Grief is integral to human existence but the grief of a believer is markedly different than that of an unbeliever. A valuable sermon on the subject could, first of all, discuss the universal aspects of human grief and how to healthfully deal with loss. This would be followed by a proclamation of how Christ's death and resurrection transforms the way in which we view death. Hope is the key difference ...

878. Proper 4

Genesis 6:1-8:22, Deuteronomy 11:1-32, Matthew 7:21-29, Romans 1:1-17, Romans 3:21-31

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... Righteousness Of God. Sermon Angle: Our lesson starts out: "Now the righteousness of God has been revealed." The biblical religions take great pains to establish the righteousness of God. The gods of the Greeks and Romans were not particularly good. They seemed to be subject to all the corruptions and weaknesses of human beings. They were noted not for their goodness but their strength. The God of the Bible is holy, just, sinless and righteous. God's act of self-giving love through Christ lifts up as never ...

879. Proper 6

Matthew 9:35-38, Matthew 10:1-42, Genesis 18:1-15, Exodus 19:1-25, Romans 5:1-11

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... 1). He goes on to explain that our reconciliation with God is accomplished as God's initiative through Christ's death on the cross. Humankind had done nothing to merit God's saving action, since all have sinned (v. 8). For Christians, reconciliation is past tense; God is the subject and we are the objects. The believer has but to accept this reconciliation and rejoice. Gospel: Matthew 9:35--10:8 (9-23) (C); Matthew 9:36--10:8 (RC); Matthew 9:35--10:8 (L); Matthew 9:35--10:8 (9-15) (E) The Gospel begins with ...

880. Reformation Sunday

Jn 8:31-36 · Rom 3:19-28 · Jer 31:31-34 · Ps 46

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... preceding idea a step further, Jesus taught that if we continue in his teaching, we will know the truth. Truth does not come easily. It takes struggle and perseverance. Liberating truth. Every tyrant has sought to hold power by concealing the truth from his subjects. They know the liberating power of truth. Psychotherapy also seeks to free clients by assisting them in unveiling personal truth. The Jews of our Gospel Lesson were unaware of their bondage to sin; even Christ couldn't free them apart from their ...

881. Transfiguration

2 Peter 1:12-21, Daniel 7:1-14, Exodus 24:1-18, Matthew 17:1-13

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... , selfless service, prayer According to Time Magazine, a majority of Americans believe in the existence of angels (69%) and 46% believe that they have their own Guardian Angel. Harvard Divinity School has a course on angels and Boston College has two. The subject is so popular that bookstores have established special angel sections and five of the ten top religious books, according to Publisher's Weekly, have been about angels. Billy Graham's 1975 book, Angels: God's Secret Agents was a best-seller at ...

882. The Babel Disaster -- You Are There

Sermon

Jerry Eckert

... rescue crewshave cleared rubble away as they have gone along and theheavy equipment teams have then removed the arches andpillars for our perusal. It appears that by hyper-thermal action, the bindingmaterial between the bricks lost its cohesion, thus becomingincreasingly subject to structural stress of thesuperstructure. But we will have to examine all of theremnants of the temple before we can bring a judgment ofblame. What seems to have slowed down the rescue efforts isthat people don't seem to understand ...

883. God, The Father

Sermon

Jerry Eckert

Comment: It was the beginning of summer and I was chomping at the bit to do some more story sermons. Only I was interested in doing something that explained the Trinity, something that might prove more memorable than other sermons I had tried on the subject. For Father's Day, I tackled the First Person of the Trinity. Matthew 6:1-8 "Jake! Jacob ben Jacob! Is that you?" Samuel's voice was very excited. The peculiar puffy eyelids could only be those of his childhood friend. The man turned and looked at him ...

884. The Persecuted

Sermon

John A. Terry

... . For that's the way they treated men of conscience in the past." (Jordon) "Happy are those who are ridiculed for living their lives on a high spiritual plane. They are approved by God. Happy are those who are criticized and ridiculed and the subject of gossip because of their attempt to be Christlike. That ridicule has been heaped on others. Do not be disturbed about it, because God will give you a great reward." (The Pulpit 12/54) "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs ...

885. The Babel Disaster - You Are There

Genesis 11:1-9

Drama

Jerry Eckert

... have cleared rubble away as they have gone along and the heavy equipment teams have then removed the arches and pillars for our perusal. It appears that by hyper-thermal action, the binding material between the bricks lost its cohesion, thus becoming increasingly subject to structural stress of the superstructure. But we will have to examine all of the remnants of the temple before we can bring a judgment of blame. What seems to have slowed down the rescue efforts is that people don't seem to understand ...

886. Doing The Right Thing

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

E. Carver McGriff

... was already written. It was the Sermon on the Mount. He said that for all his expertise on the happy life, he could think of nothing to add to what Jesus had said there. He concluded by saying that if all the literature he'd ever read on the subject of successful living were compiled and creatively combined, it would still be a clumsy and inadequate alternative to what Jesus taught there in that "sermon." Now let me step back a bit and observe that this needn't seem too severe and grim. We can still have a ...

887. Kindness In Action: Evangelism

Acts 8:26-40

Sermon

E. Carver McGriff

... for a bit and see what deductions we can make about the characters in this passage. The "eunuch" was probably either a prisoner of some earlier war, or born as a child into a poverty-stricken family, since those were the people who most usually were subjected to the mutilation he had suffered. However, we see he had risen to a position of high rank in Ethiopia. Obviously, then, he was a bright and highly-motivated man. Yet we find him referred to by vocation but not by name. Members of ethnic minority ...

888. Rules For A Happy Life

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

E. Carver McGriff

... words of a man whose reputation is certainly known to every preaching minister, Phillips Brooks. "It is an awful hour when the first necessity of hiding anything comes. The whole life is different thenceforth. When there are questions to be feared, and eyes to be avoided, and subjects which must not be touched, then the bloom of life is gone. Put off that day as long as possible. Put it off forever if you can." Fifth: The Rule Of The Most Admired Person You Know. We all have one or more people who influence ...

889. Standing Firm

Isaiah 50:1-11

Sermon

E. Carver McGriff

... the issue so long as they were expressed in a Christian way, he then made this memorable observation: "I am willing to be consumed by a great fish. I am not willing to be nibbled to death by minnows." This came to mind as we examined the subject text today. It appears that Isaiah was experiencing a lot of opposition in his work, not all of it by people of integrity. He expressed two sentiments -- his willingness to accept the fact that a person in a position of high visibility must endure criticism, some of ...

890. Acquaintances Or Friends?

2 Samuel 16:15--17:29

Sermon

Arthur H. Kolsti

... one day: "Strangers can only be polite; it requires friends to quarrel. When strangers have an argument about politics, religion, or art, they are but defending their personality rather than their point of view. Two friends can come to grips with the subject honestly and rudely. This is why so many social arguments are fruitless and shallow. Each contestant is secretly trying to prove his or her supremacy to the other; logic and reason are only incidental weapons." The quality of our relationships can be ...

891. Something To Do While The World Falls Apart

Mark 13:1-31

Sermon

William G. Carter

... the center of commerce and banking, the heart of history and tradition. Jesus said, "The temple shall fall to the ground, stone by stone, piece by piece." The four disciples were understandably shaken. As Jesus went on to say, his disciples will be subject to every kind of pain and abuse: wars, famines, earthquakes, persecutions, beatings, betrayals, and death. In such a world, what can anybody do? Jesus gives his disciples something to do. He gives them a commandment, an imperative in the midst of passive ...

892. Choose To Be Chosen

Mark 6:7-13

Sermon

George W. Hoyer

... were always good at games, all the games. And so some of you might not be on this wave length at all about how good it is to be chosen, even if only for right field. Of course, what we're talking about here is more serious than softball. The subject is about players on God's field and the question is "Who can be on God's side?" May I risk again speaking directly to those of you who have been content to sit on the sidelines of the Church, who have not yet agreed to try for the team ...

893. A Taste Of Life

Mark 14:12-26

Sermon

William G. Carter

... as gifts. Through these gifts, our relationship with Christ is nourished, sustained, and increased.2 Our only appropriate response to such generosity is to offer a word of thanks. Taken without a sense of gratitude, the story we heard from the Gospel of Mark becomes subject to an unduly sorrowful interpretation. It is the story of the Last Supper, the final occasion for Jesus to be with his disciples. Already we know that Judas has cut a deal with the chief priests. He will turn over Jesus for a handful of ...

894. A Hands-on Religion

Mark 1:40-45

Sermon

John A. Stroman

... . We have been caught up in a "cult of verbal Christianity." We are possessed by the delusion of glowing words. The feeling of many is that if we have talked about something, approved a motion, appointed a committee, or written a definitive paper on the subject then we have done our job. How many church people pass a resolution on racism but never encounter those of another race? How many people take part in heated discussion about how to minister to the homeless, but do not know one homeless person. Jesus ...

895. With Our Heads In The Clouds

Mark 9:2-13

Sermon

John A. Stroman

... Winkle? He fell asleep one day in a quiet spot on the banks of the Hudson River and he didn't wake up for twenty years. When he went to sleep, the sign above his favorite tavern read: "King George III, King of England." He was a subject of the British crown. When he woke up, King George was replaced by George Washington and he was an American citizen. The tragic part was that he slept through a revolution. While he snored, oblivious to his surroundings, fantastic, earth-shaking events had taken place. This ...

896. Baptism of the Lord

Matthew 3:13-17

Bulletin Aid

Dennis Koch

Gospel Notes Whereas Mark's earlier version of Jesus' baptism makes the theophany more subjective (with the voice from heaven addressing Jesus as a "Thou"), Matthew (with Luke) makes it more objective, with the divine declaration from above addressed to the bystanders. By making this personal event, in effect, public, Matthew may be declaring that this baptism was an epiphany to the world. Liturgical Color ...

897. Ash Wednesday

Matthew 6:19-24, Matthew 6:16-18, Matthew 6:5-15, Matthew 6:1-4

Bulletin Aid

RobertT D. Ingram

... and will reward you. Congregation: We are here, Father, not to be praised by people but to praise you with our whole-hearted devotion. Prayer Holy God, we come not to be informed, but to be formed. We come, not seeking human admiration, but to become fitting subjects of your eternal kingdom. Amen. Litany on Piety Leader 1: Isaiah told us that putting on sackcloth and ashes is not a fast acceptable to God. Leader 2: The fast God chooses is to loose the chains of injustice, to set the oppressed free, to feed ...

898. Christ the King

John 18:28-40

Bulletin Aid

RobertT D. Ingram

... shuttles back and forth between the Jewish authorities outside and Jesus inside. In 18:29--19:16 we see Jesus strong and well in control of his own destiny. We also see Pilate, the governor, as weak and bowing to the whims of his noisy subjects, the Jewish leaders. These leaders sound the cries of the world against God's chosen one. At the same time their hypocrisy is exposed as they refuse to ceremonially defile themselves by entering the Gentile Praetorium, but they hatch plots of murder in their hearts ...

899. Reach Out And Touch Someone

Mark 5:21-43

Sermon

Brett Blair

... --the man born blind and the children in Jerusalem being two examples. An embrace, a kiss, an arm on the shoulder, a pat on the back--all of these are ways of expressing a love which goes beyond words. It is lamentable that we are so paranoid on this subject in America. We have grown touchy about touching. In other parts of the world they do not seem to have this hang-up. To me, the guideline that we can use for this is from the 3rd chapter of Ecclesiastes. You recall the familiar verses that read: There is ...

900. Joseph's Pit

Genesis 37:1-11

Sermon

Jerry Eckert

... can't ignore them. You still have Simeon as a hostage." "I know," he said. And he stopped talking. He sat there a long time. And then he said, "Good night." He wasn't smiling. So I left. I asked him about it several times since, but he avoided the subject. Once, he said God would be with us in whatever happened. But that was it. Although I knew it worried him, I was glad to see him enter his work with the old gusto. He asked me to see to Simeon's well-being, but he stayed away and warned ...

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