Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 951 to 975 of 2962 results

Matthew 11:25-30, Romans 7:7-25, Exodus 1:1-22

Bulletin Aid

... Pastor: Praise be to God for his presence in our past, present, and future! People: We look where we have been, and we see God's hand; we see where we are, and we know God is here. Pastor: Tomorrow is yet to be revealed, but it too, is designed by God to fulfill his plan for us. People: Praise be to God for his presence in our past, present, and future. Collect God of all ages, as your story unfolds, life becomes an exciting drama of your divine providence. Grant us steadfastness in our faith to trust in ...

952. Teachers Without Chalkboards

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

... and act and speak in person. When our Lord gave us the task of making disciples he also told us that we can count on him. Through our teaching, through our obedient words and actions, the living God will act and speak in person. 1. Ministry, May 1985. 2. This designation is used by Paul Minear in Matthew: The Teacher's Gospel. New York: The Pilgrim Press, 1982, page 73. 3. Eduard Schweizer, The Holy Spirit. Translated by Reginald H. and Ilse Fuller. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1980, page 50.

953. God's Glory Manifest

Exodus 24:1-18

Sermon

... Golgotha, where Jesus the Son of God is glorified in suffering agony and dark defeat accompanied by cries of "Crucify! Crucify!" The horror and terror of the divine presence manifested in such reality of crushing death repels and terrifies us. Jesus is the Son of God so designated by the heavenly voice from the cloud and we are to listen to him. We are commanded to be obedient to this one who is surely God with us. What Jesus says to us can be frightening. We are attracted by victory and honor and power and ...

954. And You Thought God Didn't Care!

Exodus 3:1-22

Sermon

... do you want it shortened?" "Toots," replied the Indian chief. So now God is revealing himself in a new name, a name never used before. When God said, "I AM WHO I AM," it revealed to Moses the sum of the entire divine character and attributes. The Name designates the essential nature of the One who speaks. So, knowing it is Yahweh, the Lord, who sends him, Moses then knows the outcome - to those who believe in the Name - is already assured. Victory is certain because of the Name. This is the Name of the God ...

955. R.S.V.P.

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon

... a start, the makings of a committed core group. Let them assume as much responsibility for things as they’re able to handle. Like all of us, they need to invest themselves if they’re to feel any ownership. Don’t program for them; plan and design ministry with them. Support ‘em, love ‘em and don’t be afraid to challenge ‘em. And keep me informed. In Christ, Mark September 29 Dear Sue, Well, look on the bright side: at least they were honest with you. Calling on every household with junior and ...

956. The Things That Are God’s

Matthew 22:15-22

Sermon

... giving of oneself to God. Generosity follows commitment, but commitment comes first. And commitment is the subject of the Gospel for today. Matthew says that an uncommon coalition of Pharisees and Herodians approached Jesus to ask him a loaded question, one designed to have no answer except a wrong one. So, like reporters encircling a presidential candidate, they pressed him, "Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?" Of course it was lawful in Roman jurisprudence, but religious law was uppermost ...

957. Life in The Meantime

Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon

D. Wayne Burkette

... were asleep. Finally, about three o’clock, someone yelled, "Look, look, there it is!" Like an enormous water fowl, it descended across the bay, nose tilted to afford the pilot a better view of the airstrip. It was majestic in its glide path, awesome in its speed and design. All of us cheered. We had seen the Concorde, and we were glad. It was worth the wait. Maybe we were just in the right place at the right time, and others were not. Maybe we were just more patient, more willing to "waste some time" as ...

958. A Day For All the Saints

Revelation 7:9-17

Sermon

... join sooner or later: For all the saints who from their labors rest, All who by faith before the world confessed, Your name, O Jesus, be forever blessed. Alleluia! A lleluia! Oh, blessed communion, fellowship divine, We feebly struggle, they in glory shine; Yet all are one within your grand design. Alleluia! Alleluia! The golden evening brightens in the west; Soon, soon to faithful warriors comes their rest; Sweet is the calm of paradise the blest. Alleluia! Alleluia!

959. Painting Out the Lace

Illustration

Staff

... the version which we now see. There was initially, it is believed, an exquisite lace border on the tablecloth. When, immediately upon completion, Leonardo invited a group of art students to view his masterpiece, they were immensely impressed by the delicate design of that lacework. They studied it intensely and praised it highly. Upon seeing the reaction of these young men, the artist took up a brush, dipped it, and made a few long strokes across the canvas, obliterating the lace. Then, with uncontrollable ...

960. A Time for Kneeling

Illustration

... some who saw it. Somehow, something about it seemed not to be right; it was as though some essential quality was not there. Then Thorvalsden explained: "You cannot see His face unless you kneel at His feet." And so it was. And so it is: the statue is so artfully designed that, really to see it, one must kneel and look up. It is not really seen by merely walking by. So it is with our life: there are many things which call for more than a passing glance. One does not get a disciple's feel for Christ by ...

961. Lighting Our Lamps

Illustration

Along our highways, well placed at appropriate locations, are official signs which give us direction and warn us of danger. Most of these are the reflector type; that is, they are designed to reflect the light of auto headlamps. In darkness, they are invisible to anyone who travels without a light. But when our auto headlights are flashed upon these signs, they reflect back to us their message of guidance or caution. Their night-time aid to us depends upon the light ...

962. Being Different

Daniel 3:1-30

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... and perform his wedding ceremony. I really looked forward to it. His father, a physician in Ann Arbor, Michigan, arranged for Diane and me to have a room for four days at a Country Club. We drove into this magnificent estate that had been designed by Thomas Jefferson. Porters in formalwear and white gloves ushered us past the lavish gardens and fountains to a section overlooking the golf course. When the porter opened the door, I thought I'd entered heaven. It was a magnificent suite. "Hmmm," I thought ...

963. Christians Values Worry

Matthew 6:25-34

Bulletin Aid

... I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, what you will wear. Isn’t life more important than food and clothing? Consider the birds of the air; they don’t have paychecks and banks, yet God feeds them. Youth: Life is more than designer jeans and junk food. If we live in trust of God, he will give us good gifts now and in eternity. Leader: Are you not much more valuable than they? By worry can you add a single hour to your life? Men: Life is more than being president of the ...

964. Different Worlds

Luke 16:19-31

Illustration

Brett Blair

... destitute people. The producer interviewed her as she made her rounds in that dreadful place. Throughout the program commercials interrupted the flow of the discussion. Here is the sequence of the topics and commercials: lepers (bikinis for sale); mass starvation (designer jeans); agonizing poverty (fur coats); abandoned babies (ice cream sundaes) the dying (diamond watches). The irony was so apparent. Two different worlds were on display--the world of the poor and the world of the affluent. It seems that ...

965. The Master Has Come - And Is Calling For You

John 11:38-44

Sermon

... collectors, people in different political parties, of various dispositions, talents, interests. He still calls us today, whoever we are. It does not matter who we are. He is able to take us as we are, and make us into those people he wants us to become - the people God designed us to be, the children of God. We are all eligible for that, no matter how we feel, live, or look. Early one morning a lady heard the garbage man outside her door. She ran to the door, and said, "Am I too late for the garbage?" He ...

966. Searching for Peace

Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

... s pages, And Time’s great volume make. I live to hold communion With all that is divine, To feel there is a union Twixt Nature’s heart and mine; To profit by affliction, Reap truth from fields of fiction, Grow wiser from conviction, And fulfil God’s grand design. I live to hail that season By gifted ones foretold, When men shall love by reason, And not alone by gold; When man to man united, And every wrong thing righted, The whole world shall be lighted As Eden was of old. I live for those who love me ...

967. Advent 2

Isaiah 11:1-16, Psalm 72:1-20, Romans 14:1--15:13, Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon Aid

... way. Romans 15:4-13 Paul's first words in this pericope, "for whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction," prompted some American Lutheran bodies (the ULCA, for example) to follow the lead of the Anglican communion and designate the Second Sunday of Advent as "Bible Sunday," a day to promote the regular reading ofthe Bible. This emphasis, which is sorely needed in the contemporary church, is an appropriate exercise as part of the spiritual discipline connected to Advent, but ought ...

968. Advent 4

Isaiah 7:1-25, Romans 1:1-17, Matthew 1:18-25, Psalm 24:1-10

Sermon Aid

CSS

... his other epistles - but with some differences - so that the church in Rome would understand that his kerygmatic theology was identical to that which the people had been taught. He emphasizes that Jesus "descended from David according to the flesh" and was "designated Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead...." The reading seems to have been selected primarily because it asserts that Jesus/Immanuel comes from the Davidic line and thereby substantiates the ...

969. Lent 2

Genesis 12:1-8, Psalm 105:1-45, Matthew 17:1-13, John 3:1-21; 4:5-42, Romans 4:1-25

Sermon Aid

George Bass

THEOLOGICAL CLUE Lent is structured so that those who keep it will go through devotional exercises designed to bring about conversion of the penitent to the life in Christ. Lent is really the altar (font) call of the church, at which the believers will find forgiveness of their sins and renewal of the gifts God gives in baptism to those who will have him as their God ...

970. Easter 4

Acts 2:14-41, Psalm 23:1-6, Acts 6:1-7, Acts 7:54--8:1a, 1 Peter 2:13-25, John 10:1-21

Sermon Aid

... sermon on the First Lesson, Acts 6:1-9; 7:2a, 51-60 - "Stones Break Bones - and Kill." My son, daughter-in-law, and two granddaughters live in Williamsburg, Virginia, where they are members of St. Stephen Lutheran Church, which was built after a design by Thomas Jefferson right across from the campus of William and Mary College. It is an interesting building, not in the round, but hexagonal in the floor plan, and octagonal in the clerestory windows, with a centrally located table and pulpit. The clerestory ...

971. Easter 7

Acts 1:1-11, Psalm 47:1-9, 1 Peter 4:12-19, John 17:1-5, John 17:6-19

Sermon Aid

THEOLOGICAL CLUE The Sunday after the Ascension, as the Seventh Sunday of Easter previously was designated, was known as Exaudi Sunday and served much the same function as the Seventh Sunday of Easter does today. This Sunday is a time of reflection on the glory God has given Christ by lifting him up to his right hand on the completion of his work. It is also ...

972. Proper 13 & Pentecost 11

Matthew 14:13-21, Nehemiah 9:1-37, Exodus 12:1-30, Romans 8:28-39, Isaiah 55:1-13

Sermon Aid

... of the classic collect for the Tenth Sunday after Trinity/the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost. The first prayer is oriented toward the "bread" theme in the Gospels for Year A (Matthew 14:13-21) and Year B (John 6:24-35); the second prayer has been designed for use with Year C and its Gospel (Luke 12:13-21). The first prayer addresses God the Father: "Gracious Father, your blessed Son came down from heaven to be the true bread which gives life to the world," and, not unexpectedly, asks, "Give us this ...

973. A Dynasty of Destiny

2 Samuel 7:1-17

Sermon

... place. David’s kingdom had disappeared under the sands of a desert resounding to the beat of Babylonian hoofbeats. It was as if magician David Copperfield were not making cards disappear, but was ordering that hope fade like an old pair of designer jeans. An everlasting kingdom for David’s house? A kingdom of peace and prosperity and joy? Laughable. Absurd. Pipedreams for pied pipers leading nowhere. Yet the editor’s stylus wrote the words about the everlasting kingdom. The people heard and read and ...

974. Born One Of Us

Drama

Production Notes This play, Born, One Of Us, is designed to be used in the church service at any time during the Christmas season; perhaps it is particularly appropriate for Christmas Eve. The play is preceded by three persons reading paraphrased portions of scripture (chapters and verses indicated) concerning Bethlehem. These readings should be read dramatically. The readers may sit ...

975. The Attitude of Readiness

Matthew 24:36-51

Sermon

Russell F. Anderson

... and anticipating, leading to joyful fulfillment, but so should Advent. The world was not ready for the birth of Jesus. Are we any better prepared now? We need to pay heed to the quickening of Christ within so that we are ready for his appearing. Life is designed to flow along at a reasonable pace so that we have time to take in our surroundings. We might compare the flow of existence to one of those people movers which are seen in airports and other places where it is necessary to transport large volumes of ...

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