Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 926 to 950 of 4946 results

926. Lent 2

Mark 8:31--9:1, Romans 4:1-25, Genesis 17:1-27

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Old Testament: Genesis 17:1-27 This is the account of Yahweh's covenant with Abraham. As with Noah, Yahweh offers a covenant with Abraham. Through the covenant Yahweh offers him a people, a land, a son and a God. The outward sign of the covenant is circumcision. The effect of the covenant is a change in Abraham's life symbolized by the change of his name from Abram to Abraham. In response Abraham has the responsibility to walk before Yahweh and to live blamelessly. Yet, when Yahweh informed him ...

927. Up Close & Personal: Seeing Clearly

Isaiah 6:1-13

Sermon

James Merritt

I am not much of a game show fan, but my all-time favorite is Jeopardy. If I ever became a teacher or a professor, Jeopardy would be the model that I would use to teach students. It makes learning fun. It is educational, challenging and makes you think. So, we are going to play the game, but we are going to skip all the way to final Jeopardy. The category is “Smarter Than A 5th Grader.” Remember – you have to put your answer in the form of a question. The answer is “By consensus the most brilliant person ...

928. The House on The Rock

Lk 6:12-49 · Mt 5:1-12

Sermon

Lori Wagner

I love you, Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. (Psalm 18) Props: river stones (rocks) passed out among the people at the beginning of the service or beginning of the sermon OR small tools (such as small hammer, nails, concrete trowel) OR bricks Setting: Consider holding your service outdoors on the lawn today. One option may be to read the entirety of Jesus’ sermon (scriptures ...

929. The Funeral Crasher

John 14:1-4, John 14:5-14, John 14:15-31

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Ash Wednesday is only a few days away. For most of us Ash Wednesday means a time of sackcloth and ashes, repentance, mourning, sadness, the beginning of a season of Lent, a solemn time of contemplation and seeking until we enter Eastertide. The shift from Lent to Easter is the shift from cerebration to celebration. But most of all, Ash Wednesday reminds us of our ashes-to-ashes mortality. “From ashes we came, to ashes we return” is a reminder of our humanness, our inevitable cycle of birth, life and death ...

930. Avoiding the “F” Word

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Growing up, we are taught never to use the “F” word. We all know what that means. It’s simply not “nice” language. Not “relational” language. We’re taught that the way we speak matters, that the words we use can either make or break our most important relationships. These kinds of lessons help us to navigate our emotional and relational world. If we want to build bridges instead of burning them down, it helps to use appropriate words, even when we feel angry and bitter. In our western culture, we’re taught ...

931. Taking the Long Way Home

Mark 7:31-37

Sermon

Will Willimon

“Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, through the region of the Decapolis.” Mark 7:31 Durham is one of the toughest places on earth to find your way around in. Bisected by a freeway and this campus, a downtown full of one way streets (all one way in the wrong direction) -- am I now on Chapel Hill Street, Chapel Hill Road, or simply the main road to Chapel Hill? The things that Cornwallis Road does are positively criminal. Where are we? Where are we in ...

932. The Open Hand

Mark 2:23-3:6

Sermon

Ron Lavin

Whenever you consider the meaning of a Bible text, it is always good to look at the context. As we consider the meaning of Jesus' words to the man with a shriveled hand, we need to look at what happened before he spoke these words. The context of Jesus' words to the man with the shriveled-up hand in Mark 3:5 is conflict with the Pharisees in the areas of fasting, the Sabbath, and worship. The reason for this conflict was the Pharisees' closed minds, hard hearts, and clenched fists. The Context In some ...

933. Who Was That Masked Man?

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Alexander H. Wales

"I just knew it was going to be that kind of a day! I got started late. The people I was traveling with decided to go on without me. My donkey came up lame. And the beggar at the gate of the city warned me that the road to Jericho could be a dangerous place. "But I had to go. I was already behind schedule, and you know how those things go. I was supposed to be in Tarsus by the end of the month. I hadn't seen my family in weeks. So, I did what I knew I shouldn't do and headed for Jericho. I wasn't more than ...

934. God Made Me Do It!

Genesis 45:1-28

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

"God sent me," "God made me" - strange words for most people to say! We say instead, "The devil made me do it!" It is almost remarkable then, that in a few short verses in the text, Joseph says four times: "God sent me," "God made me." Joseph feels that all of his life is under the guiding hand of God. Since God is his master, Joseph feels that no matter what happens - of good or bad - sadness or joy - God is in it and nothing can touch him but that God will ultimately work it out for the best. Things did ...

935. Been There, Done That, No Thanks!

Philippians 3:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

"There have been a lot of changes around here," said the old man proudly, "and I want you to know I've been against every one of them." Have you ever noticed that some people have a difficult time with change? Some people would rather fight than switch. Their motto seems to be "Don't rock the boat even if it's the Titanic!" Of course, some changes are difficult to accept. As someone has said, "It just doesn't seem right to go over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's condo." And not all change ...

936. Jesus and the Divorced Evangelist

John 4:1-26

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

As I read the Gospels, I often find the disciples moving along briskly, going from this place to that place, when suddenly, one of them looks around and says, “Where is Jesus?” Then they must backtrack and they usually find Him off on a side street talking to an old woman, or stopping by the wayside to talk to a beggar, or to heal a man born blind, or to speak to an outcast woman at a well. Thus Jesus was constantly surprising His disciples, and nowhere more so than in the event recorded in our Scripture ...

937. At Home In The Daylight

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Mrs. Adams was preparing an early supper for her 12-year-old son so he could get to football practice on time. Everything was ready when she discovered she was almost out of ketchup. She was thumping away at the end of the nearly empty bottle when the phone rang. You know how you do that -- when the ketchup is scarce and it's hard to get out, you turn the bottle upside down and you thump on the bottom of it. Well she was doing this when the phone rang. "Would you get that?", she called to her son. ...

938. What Do You Want To Be Like When You Are 65?

Proverbs 3:1-35

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

There is a classic story of a Russian countess who sits in the theater on a cold, winter night. Her emotions are played upon by the sad scene depicted on stage -- so much so that she sheds copious tears. Meanwhile, outside, her coachman is shivering in the cold as he awaits to take her home. She allows the emotion of pity to be excited by an imaginary scene, but refuses to allow pity to play on the chords of her daily life in relation to her driver. The Proverbs will play on the cords of our daily life if ...

939. The Lost and Found Celebration

Luke 15:15-24

Sermon

James W. Moore

There is a fascinating story that comes out of World War II. U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, Great Britain’s Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, and Soviet Union Premier, Joseph Stalin, met together in The Teheran Conference to shape a common policy to work together to win the war. The discussion went well and the three great nations for the most part reached cordial agreement on their strategy to end the war and to create a lasting peace. However, there was one point that Roosevelt and Churchill could ...

940. Confronting a Christless Culture

2 Timothy 3:1-17

Sermon

James Merritt

I heard of a pastor who resigned his church to go to another pastorate. After announcing his resignation, he was approached by one of the sweet older members of his congregation. She was weeping over the pastor's decision to leave. She said, "Things will never be the same after you're gone." Well, the preacher tried to console her by saying, "Don't worry, I'm confident God will send you a new pastor who is far better than me." When he said that, she let out a large wail and said, "That's what the last ...

941. A Trip to God's Woodshed

Hebrews 12: 5-11

Sermon

James Merritt

I heard about a young boy that went off to one of these extremely expensive universities. The bills were coming in monthly to these parents, and they were struggling to keep their head above water. One day his mother received a letter from him that read like this: Dear Mom: I'm writing to inform you that I have flunked all of my courses. I had an accident and totally wrecked my car. I owe the clothing store in town $2000, and I have been suspended for the next semester because of misconduct. I am coming ...

942. The Perfect Storm

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon

James Merritt

October 1991, the Andrea Gail, a seventy-two foot long fishing boat, with a 365 horsepower turbo-charged diesel engine, leaves a New England port headed for the Atlantic Ocean. It is going on what was supposed to be another routine fishing trip. But it was to be her last voyage. Why? Because she ran into the most powerful and dangerous force on earth—a full-blown hurricane on the open seas. An ocean hurricane is so powerful that the combined nuclear arsenals of the United States and the former Soviet Union ...

943. Traveling Tables

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

On average, you and I gained six pounds between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. That is just the “average.” Some of us gained a lot more. No wonder the past few weeks every other commercial on TV or banner-ad online is about some kind of weight loss program. We are a nation collectively cringing about our six weeks of binging and feasting. I bring you good tidings of great joy: don’t feel guilty about it. Here’s an “indulgence” for your indulging. Between Thanksgiving and New Year’s we have more face to face ...

944. The Silence Broken, The Bride Restored

Isaiah 62:1-12

Sermon

Robert A. Hausman

"For Zion's sake I will not keep silent" (v. 1). The issue here is silence, the silence of God. Our text comes from the section of Isaiah which is usually dated during the time of rebuilding after the return from exile. It is from the part of the tradition called Third Isaiah. It reflects a time of great discouragement. Israel lived and worshipped among ruins. Foreign overlords seized the harvest of the fields and the fruit of the vineyards, while the people went hungry (62:8). Enemies continually ...

945. Grapes Of Wrath Or Grace?

1 Kings 21:1-29

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

A musician in a camp meeting where I preached wrote a country-gospel song titled, "Sin Will Take You Farther Than You Want To Go and Keep You Longer Than You Want To Stay." Nineteen words is a tad long for a song title, but it does state a succinct and compelling truth: sin will get you in serious trouble. In this lesson, Ahab is king and is married to the wicked, Baal-worshipping Jezebel, and covets the vineyard belonging to a worshipper of God named Naboth. Ahab had plenty of property of his own, but he ...

946. Forever and Ever

1 Kings 17:7-24

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

On August 20, 1977, there was launched an 1819 pound space craft, Voyager 2, at Cape Canaveral. At 61,148 miles per hour it was directed toward the planet Neptune. In 1989 it arrived, only twenty-one miles from its destination. From 2.8 billion miles from earth it sent back pictures of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Since it completed its mission, it was turned toward outer space, where it will float through the Milky Way forever and ever. In a world of endings, we long for something or someone that ...

947. Sing A New Song

Acts 10:23b-48

Sermon

Erskine White

What are the seven deadliest words in the whole history of the Christian church? Not the Seven Deadly Sins, mind you, I'm asking about words. Which seven words have been the most destructive to Christian faith, and have set the church back most consistently over the years? What are those seven words? They are: "We've never done it that way before." That single sentence has shot down more new ideas and murdered more enthusiasm in cold blood than any other words ever spoken: "No, that's a terrible idea and ...

948. Proper 10

Colossians 1:15-23, Colossians 1:1-14, 2 Kings 2:1-18, Deuteronomy 30:11-20, Psalm 69:1-36, Psalm 25:1-22, Luke 10:25-37

Sermon Aid

George Bass

THEOLOGICAL CLUE Churches in the Northern Hemisphere will be acutely aware of the fact that the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost will occur in late summer. Many pastors will be deeply concerned about attendance and stewardship in their congregations if they themselves are not on vacation. At the same time, it is only a month to Labor Day, the beginning of school, Rally Day, and all of those other activities which return life, including "church life," to normal, once more. In all of this, the kerygmatic " ...

949. The Greatest Wonder Of All!

John 14:5-14

Sermon

John M. Braaten

The celebration of Pentecost, with its mighty demonstration of power by the Holy Spirit, is a good time to reflect on some of the mighty deeds of God, because God’s awe-inspiring acts aren’t all locked back there in the memory banks of Bible history buffs; they are still happening all around us. Discovering them is a real adventure because we all, young and old, tend to be impressed by that which is uncommon, unusual or extraordinary. I recall seeing a youngster holding a popcorn kernel in his fingers; he ...

950. Overcoming Life's Obstacles

Matthew 14:22-36

Sermon

"Peter got out of the boat and started walking on the water to Jesus. When he noticed the wind, however, he was afraid, and started to sink down in the water." (St. Matthew 14:29, 30 TEV) There is nothing so frustrating in life as a shattered dream. We all have our dreams. We have plans for our children. In the back of our minds we think about a certain dream house. Every young girl has her dream boat in mind. We have goals in our career or job. We hope to arrive at a particular level of achievement in our ...

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