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Showing 926 to 950 of 2561 results

926. Don't Try So Hard!

Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

"For the man who wants to save his own life will lose it; but the man who loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it." (St. Mark 8:35 TEV) "We're only number two; we try harder!" I'm sure you've all seen the magazine ad of the car rental agency that uses this slogan. In a way the slogan strongly reflects some of our national thinking. One of the key doctrines of our American enterprise is hard work. If a person's going to succeed in life, we say, he will have to exert himself. It is often ...

927. Lent 3

Psalm 142:1-7, Isaiah 42:10-17, Isaiah 42:18-25, Ephesians 4:17--5:21, John 9:1-12, John 9:13-34, John 9:35-41

Sermon Aid

THEOLOGICAL CLUE In the pre-Vatican II scheme of the liturgical year, which was employed in the Lutheran and Episcopalian Churches, too, the Sundays of Lent had definite and identifiable themes built into them; these were announced in the Introits of the several Sundays. Thus, the First Sunday in Lent was invocabit - "He shall call upon me, and I will answer him;" the Second Sunday in Lent was reminiscere - "Remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses;" the Third Sunday in Lent was oculi ...

928. The Daniel Diet

Daniel 1:1-21

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

I recall a song I learned in Sunday School long years ago. Perhaps I should sing it to you. Ever since Bishop Morris was here last month and ended his sermon with a beautiful song, you have been asking me why I don't do the same. Frankly, you can't afford the number of voice lessons it would require to bring me up to an acceptable level. Here are the words of the song I remember: "Dare to be a Daniel, Dare to stand alone, Dare to have a purpose firm, Dare to make it known." For the next seven weeks we will ...

929. Which Way?

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon

There is something contradictory and unexpected - inexplicable, in fact - about the way that leads to life. Given the two choices Jesus offers in this text, we on our own would not, not in a million years, make the right choice. Given the options of redemptive suffering on the one hand and, on the other, strongarming the enemy for Jesus’ sake, we’d choose the latter every time. Simon Peter chose plan B even after Jesus gave him all the clues he needed to reject it. It should not surprise us that humanity, ...

930. Separation of God and State?

Isaiah 44:24--45:25

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him and ungird the loins of kings, to open doors before him that gates may not be closed: "I will go before you and level the mountains. I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut asunder the bars of iron, I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hoards in secret places, that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who call you by your name. For the sake of my servant ...

931. As Good As God

Leviticus 19:1-37

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

The Lord said to Moses, "Say to all the congregation of the people of Israel, You shall be holy; for I the Lord your God am holy. You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor. You shall not go up and down as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand forth against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord. You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason with your neighbor ...

932. Sowing to the Flesh

Romans 8:1-17

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

Some years ago a well-to-do man, caught in a scandal, was serving a prison term when a friend paid him a visit. The well-to-do man was sitting cross-legged, and with an enormous needle and a ball of twine was sewing burlap bags. "Hello," said the friend, "Sewing, eh?" "No," replied the prisoner with a sober-looking smile, "I’m reaping." With the arrival of spring upon us, and soon to be followed by growing plants and a subsequent harvest, we who live in North America are reminded of the rhythmical pattern ...

933. A Daughter of Jacob

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

Richard Hoefler

This miracle is not simply the story of a mother and her demon-possessed child; it is really an international incident which was to affect the future shape of Christendom. What happened to the Canaanite woman that day affects us today in a most direct and vital way. Like most international incidents it happened at the border between two adversaries. Jesus had traveled to the extreme north end of the Jordan Valley. He was standing at the border line between Syria and Galilee. The inhabitants of Syria were ...

934. The Post Launch Slump

2 Cor 8:10-11

Sermon

Robert Noblett

If you still haven’t heard of Murphy’s law, let me tell you how it reads: Says Murphy’s law, "If anything can go wrong, it will." Murphy’s law and others like it are not laws in a scientific sense; they are not laws in the sense that the law of gravity is a law. But they do capture human moments that are repeatable among us to the point where they seem more the rule than the exception. An enterprising fellow by the name of Arthur Bloch has put laws of this kind together between two covers and the result ...

935. On Being Able to Be Sorry

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

Allan J. Weenink

In the book, Love Story, Jennifer and Oliver have their first serious fight as newlyweds. Jennifer runs from the apartment and disappears. She has tried to build a bridge of reconciliation between her husband and his father ... and Oliver in anger tells her to get out of his life. Suddenly, Oliver realizes he has hurt her deeply, but she is gone! Frantically he rushes to the old familiar places searching for her. All the while she becomes more beloved to him in the emptiness of estrangement. Searching ...

936. When The Cheering Stopped

Matthew 21:1-11

Sermon

Brett Blair

Some years ago a book was written by a noted American historian entitled “When The Cheering Stopped.” It was the story of President Woodrow Wilson and the events leading up to and following WWI. When that war was over Wilson was an international hero, There was a great spirit of optimism abroad, and people actually believed that the last war had been fought and the world had been made safe for democracy. On his first visit to Paris after the war Wilson was greeted by cheering mobs. He was actually more ...

937. Fingertip Embalming

John 20:24-31

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

Have you ever noticed? It seems that there is always one at every party. No matter how carefully you select the guests, there is always one - the wet blanket, the killjoy, the party pooper, the spoilsport, the kind of person to whom you’d like to say: "I never forget a face, but in your case, I’m going to make an exception." I am reminded of the mother whom I was visiting in a home and, as we visited, the sounds of the children’s hilarity was coming up from the family room below. Finally, the mother got up ...

938. Getting Under Your Neighbor's Skin

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

I have a friend who used to be a city judge. One day he said to me, "I want you to come to my courtroom and watch our next dog case." "What in the world is a dog case?" I asked. He smiled and replied, "Periodically a person is charged with having a dog which because of its incessant barking is a public nuisance." "But what," I asked, "could be interesting about that kind of case?" "It's more than interesting," he said. "It's fascinating. I will have five or six neighbors present sworn testimony that the ...

939. Needed: Fidelity Insurance

Ephesians 5:22-33

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

An office telephone rang one day and a receptionist answered. On the other end of the line a female voice asked, "Is this the Fidelity Insurance company?" "Yes it is," the receptionist replied. "May I help you?" The caller said, "I hope so. I want to talk with someone about having my husband's fidelity insured." The surprised receptionist tried to explain that this was not the kind of insurance that Fidelity handled. Not even Lloyds of London offers that kind of policy. But wouldn't it be wonderful if ...

940. Chapter IV

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Frank H. Seilhamer

"Remember the sabbath day, to set it apart for holy purposes. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh (day) is a sabbath to the Lord your God. In it you will not do any work, you or your son, your daghter, your male servant or your female servant, or your beast of burden, or the resident alien who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and he rested on the seventh (day). Therefore, the Lord blessed the sabbath ...

941. Judas

Luke 22:1-6

Sermon

Carl E. Zahrte

Remorse or Repentance? Were you there? Is that what you people were just singing? Is that what you’ve been thinking? Was I there? Of course I was. Do you have to ask that? My name is Judas, the son of Simon. There are not many people who know anything about Jesus Christ who do not know something about me, too. Yes, I was one of the twelve whom Jesus chose to be his apostles. Almost 2,000 years have passed since I lived and died, but people still remember me. They recall that I used a kiss as the sign to ...

942. The Kingdom And The Seed

Mark 4:4-20; 30-32

Sermon

Ron Lavin

Most of us have planted a garden or lived on or near a farm. In my case, I grew up in Chicago where they have to put cows in zoos because so many city people are shielded from agricultural life and would never otherwise get to see one. But for eleven years I served as the pastor of a church in the agriculturally-oriented community of Davenport, Iowa. Davenport is located in Scott County which is Mississippi River land. It is reported to be some of the richest soil in the world. I learned a lot about ...

943. Strong Faith For Tough Times

Mark 5:1-20

Sermon

James W. Moore

It is always sad when nations go to war. In recent years the sadness has been magnified because just a little more than a decade ago, we seemed so close to a lasting peace. The wall had gone down in Berlin. Eastern Europe had opened up. The cold war with Russia had thawed… and at that time in the early 1990s, we thought, “Finally! At long last, we can have a peaceful world. But then suddenly on August 2, 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait launching a crescendo of tension-packed events that led to the Persian Gulf ...

944. When The Cheering Stopped

Mark 11:1-11

Sermon

Brett Blair

945. "I Don’t Hate Any More!"

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

A. E. Housman, in a brief verse, uncovers the awfulness of hate: I see In many an eye that measures me The mortal sickness of a mind Too unhappy to be kind. Undone with misery, all they can Is to hate their fellow man; And till they drop need must still they Look at you and wish you ill. That is a plague I would hope to escape. E. Stanley Jones shares his keen insight into the self-destruction of hate. He reminds us that "a rattlesnake, if cornered, will sometimes become so angry it will bite itself. That ...

946. Dying to Become

2 Corinthians 5:17

Sermon

Gregory J. Johanson

GLENN E. WHITLOCK is a United Presyterian pastor who served as a parish minister and university chaplain before contracting polio and subsequently studying for a Ph.D. in clinical psychology. He is currently Professor of Psychology at the experimental Johnston College of the University of Redlands, Adjunct Professor at San Francisco Theological Seminary, a consultant for a community crisis hot line, and a counselor with a Christian counseling service. He has published three books, numerous journal articles ...

947. The Shadow Ascending

John 21:15-25

Sermon

Gregory J. Johanson

I. Denial by Any Other Name John 21:15ff GREG JOHANSON is a United Methodist minister who has brought to ten years of parish experience a special training and interest in Clinical Pastoral Education and Pastoral Counseling. He has worked in a variety of clinical settings, taught in a number of colleges, served recently as Chaplain and Director of Counseling Services at the Plaza Santa Maria Hospital, Ltd. in Baja, California, and led workshops as a certified trainer in Hakomi Therapy. He presently lives ...

948. Beyond Our Sight, Within Our Hearing

Luke 9:28-36

Sermon

William G. Carter

I wonder what they were thinking as they started up the mountain. Peter, James, and John were tagging along. I’m sure Jesus was a few steps ahead. After all, he was the only one who knew where they were going. Those three disciples had put in a lot of miles. Every one of those miles was spent following wherever he went. It had been that way since the first day, when they got in step behind him on level ground. Jesus was walking around the lakeshore, snatching them one at a time. >From that day forward, ...

949. Taking the Sting Out of Death

1 Chronicles 15:1-16:6

Sermon

Harold Warlick

One of the most lasting images in the New Testament is one from Saint Paul: O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting? The early Christians asserted that Jesus has taken the sting out of death by demonstrating that it is but a doorway into another realm. Have you ever been badly stung? If so, you will recognize the importance of removing the pain and being surrounded by a group of fellow laborers, just like the Bible says. A minister relates the earliest memory from his childhood when he ...

950. Saturday Night Live?

Drama

Dave Marsh

Director's Notes: So, as we grow as Christians, the folks we hang out with begin to change. It's inevitable (and understandable) that we spend more time with friends from our church and see our non-Christian friends less often. Of course, you see the problem - we can't barricade ourselves behind the church or our select friends. Without compromising our convictions, we need to be a witness to our friends and, especially, not be judgmental! Anyway, this drama throws a humorous look at that. Cast: Jeff: A ...

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