Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 951 to 975 of 5000 results

951. The Church: An Enclave of Resistance v1

Romans 12:1-8, Romans 12:9-21

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... discipleship which is not separated from grace but is the result of grace and empowered by grace. When we practice a discipleship which calls us to bind up the broken and identify with the oppressed, we will be a sign of the Kingdom. When that happens to a marked degree within any community of faith, that community of faith becomes an enclave of resistance -- a hint, a glimpse, of the Kingdom that is certain to come one day. IV And now this. If we’re going to be an enclave of resistance, we must seek and ...

952. A Friend in Low Places

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... history, said that was a time of testing for the nation. So Jesus, chosen by God, goes into the wilderness for forty days and forty nights, to be tested. That parallel was so important for the early Church, because the early Church, at the time when Mark wrote his gospel, saw itself as still a part of Judaism, still trying to convince relatives and friends that Jesus is the one Israel was expecting. So it was significant that Jesus' life paralleled Israel's. But there is a better parallel for us, the story ...

953. News from the Flood

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... before their eyes. It was a time when they proclaimed that God had recreated the world. Ancient people, who were not only smart enough to get out of the way of a flood, but also spiritually sensitive enough to order their lives the way God has ordered nature, marked the rhythms of nature with the rituals of their lives. They acted out in ritual the pattern that they saw in nature: a time of dying, a time of being reborn, a time of repentance, a time of renewal, a time of withdrawal, and a time of return ...

954. Say What?

1 John 3:5-6

Sermon

Rick Brand

... have seen every day of your life and still feel homesick for somewhere else?" What is it that makes us all feel a little sad when our new clothes get washed and they are not new anymore? When that pretty, clean white sheet of paper has to have an erasure mark on it? Maybe you saw the movie Grand Canyon. Remember the scene where the immigration attorney breaks out of a traffic jam and tries to go around it? He gets off the freeway and since he does not know the town, he begins to enter a more and more run ...

955. Blind Ambition

Mark 9:30-37

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... is one of them. "The Son of Man will be delivered into the hands of men, and be killed, and will rise again." Mark says of the disciples, "They did not understand what he was saying, and they were afraid to ask." That evening they came to ... here on earth. That's not going to happen. This is the way it is going to happen. I'm going to give my life for you. Mark says, "They didn't understand, and they were afraid to ask." I think they understood. I think they understood, but their ambition wouldn't let them ...

956. If You Look Like Your Passport Photo

Luke 9:28-36

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... to be with Jesus. All the apostles did that. That is how we got the stories that are in the New Testament. The apostles told what it was like to be with Jesus, and the Church wrote the stories down and eventually they became the four gospels. Matthew, Mark and Luke tell this story, and each gospel puts it in the same place. That kind of agreement in detail about chronologies is rare. They all say that it happened just before they left for Jerusalem, testifying to the importance of this story in the life of ...

957. Lord of the Dance

Mark 2:13-22

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... to announce that the Messiah has come to defeat the evil powers of this world, the powers that control our lives and keep us from the fullness of life that God intended for each one of us in the creation. So to call Jesus Messiah, according to Mark, means that he is the one who can release you from bondage, whatever holds you back from life. And this story which follows the healings announces that the proper response to this liberation is celebration. Let's look at it. The story begins with the calling of ...

958. You Can't Win them All

Matthew 10:2-14

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... with us this time." Paul said, "No. Absolutely not. He's not going with us. He's too immature. He's got to grow up. Remember, he started with us on this last journey, then he dropped out, left us in the lurch. He's too immature." Barnabas replied, "Mark is the most promising young person we have in this movement. We can't lose him. We've got to take him with us." Paul said, "No." The argument got hotter. Then the text says, "The dispute was so sharp they parted company." That's the common translation. The ...

959. A Brand New Church Out of an Old Brand

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... other cheese cracker? · Despite the fact they don't want anything but the plastic toy, what child doesn't beg for a Happy Meal? (Our vegetarian friends even get them, with no meat in the bun!) (For more see Patrick Barwise, Andrea Dunham, and Mark Ritson, "Ties That Bind: Brands, Consumers and Businesses," 70-97 in Jane Pavitt, Brand.new (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press). We live in a world of "brandscapes" (John Sherry) and our kids know how to read this world of brandscapes even better than we ...

960. Catch the Fever

Mark 1:29-34

Sermon

James Caldwell III

... window. He goes do her, lifts her up, and touches her. And she's healed. On the Sabbath, mind you. This is the first healing reported in Mark's Gospel. Don't tell me that Jesus is telling us that healing begins at home. That is the last place we want to do it. ... action in the ghetto, or in a Scout helping an elderly person across the street. But can we see Jesus in the kitchen?" Mark goes on to tell us that after sundown, when the Sabbath was over, such that Jesus could heal without breaking the law, people ...

961. Orient Your "itudes"

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... for him. Of course, not even Jesus started by cleaning out congress, or the Roman Senate, or even the synagogue (that came at the end of his ministry). Jesus started one mind at a time, one spirit at a time, saving and healing person by person. Mark's text today focuses on the very start of Jesus' Galilean ministry, a ministry that begins with Jesus revealing three truths about himself: 1. Jesus had Attitude 2. Jesus had Aptitude 3. Jesus had Latitude Jesus had Attitude. Jesus had an Attitude. Some saw it ...

962. The Day of the Lord

Joel 2:1-11

Sermon

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... the Son of Man (Matthew 25:31-46). We, who have been made in the image of God, are responsible to him, and his question to us will be, “What is this you have done?” (Genesis 3:13). Thus, on this Ash Wednesday, in some churches our foreheads are marked with ashes from the Palm Sunday celebration of the Christ whom we have crucified, and we are told, “Remember that you are dust,” (cf. Genesis 3:19), just as Paul reminds us that “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:21). That is not the end of the ...

963. Changed Lives - Nicodemus

John 3:1-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... (the two terms are interchangeable), 17 of them refer to a Kingdom that is already here. The Kingdom of God is anywhere God reigns. Jesus said on one occasion, “The Kingdom is within you.” (Luke 17:21) On another he said, “You are not far from the Kingdom.” (Mark 12:34) He even taught us to pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven . . .” The kingdom is here. The kingdom is now. Now let’s consider his words to the Pharisee Nicodemus: “I tell you the truth, no one ...

964. God's Dirty Job

Romans 5:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... souls. Ever get a good, hard rope burn hauling in a fishing line or hoisting a sail? Burns hurt, and burns leave marks. A working man in the first century, like a working man in the twenty-first century, would have calluses, scars, many a ... of anything else of me works real well these hands hold me up, lay me down, and again continue to fold in prayer. These hands are the mark of where I’ve been and the ruggedness of my life. But more importantly it will be these hands that God will reach out and take when ...

965. Hit the Road Jack

John 20:1-18

Illustration

Billy D. Strayhorn

... a shoe box and a burial place in the backyard. The boys thought it was a great idea, so they all proceeded to the backyard. Taking the lead, the older boy said a prayer. Then he turned and asked little Mark if he wouldn't like to sing a song. With tears in his eyes, Mark clasped his hands, bowed his head, and belted out "Hit the Road, Jack" by Ray Charles. That's exactly what Pilate, Herod, the Scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, Caiaphas, Ananias and everyone else who had plotted the death of Jesus was singing ...

966. You Can Take It to the Bank

2 Peter 3:1-10

Sermon

James Merritt

... and planets, has done so with such mathematical precision that we check our own measures of time by the precise constellations of the stars. God sets his own prophetic clock with equal precision. The fact that He has not come yet is not a mark of slowness or tardiness; rather it is a mark of His patience. You see, God is more interested in mercy than He is in judgment. There are people who say "Well, I don't believe a loving God sends anyone to hell." They are exactly right. My friend, if you go to hell ...

967. My God Is Real

Psalm 14:1-7

Sermon

James Merritt

... 5 The Scriptures tell us that there are three characteristics of anyone who denies the reality of God. First of all, the foolish are marked by ignorance. "The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek God ... on to say in John 15:18, "If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you." Finally, the foolish are marked by indifference. "And do not call on the Lord." (v.4b) The reason why an atheist can't find God is the same reason a ...

968. The Great Depression

Psalm 42:1-11

Sermon

James Merritt

... run down, to get irritable, to get frustrated and then to get depressed. Oftentimes that can be the cause of a chemical imbalance when the various hormones in our body get out of sync, and it stimulates within us the emotional reaction of depression. You can mark this down. When your body is physically run down and worn out, when your diet and nutrition is bad and unhealthy, when you’re not getting enough rest, when your nerves are shot from pressure and anxiety, you are a prime target for the monster of ...

969. Pass Around Passover

Exodus 12:1-4 (5-10) 11-14

Bulletin Aid

Frank Ramirez

... no fear. Leave your past. This will last. Make no waste. Eat in haste. Collect God's people stand at the edge of true freedom. All God's people want to be free. Once we wore ashes, the symbol of our sins. Now we bear a different mark, the mark of God's chosen, the mark of the saved. Lord, we are not worthy that you should enter under our roof. Only say the word, and we servants will be healed. Amen. Prayer Of Confession Saved by blood? Blood splattered over the door of our home, our hovel in the house of ...

970. Transformation to the Light

Mark 1:14-20

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... challenge as well: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news" (Mark 1:15). Jesus thus presents his listeners, including all of us, with a significant prerequisite to discipleship. We are called to ... at the time of Gabriel's visit, so, too, the ramifications of the first disciples' response could not have been known. Yet, Mark tells us that in all four cases these men immediately left everything and followed in the footsteps of Jesus. Somehow these men ...

971. Parable Power

Mark 4:26-34

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Jesus gave the power of the parable to all those listening to his words. Storytelling is one of the most basic practices common to all human communities. Stories connect us to one another, to our ancestors, to our world and to our God. In this week's gospel text, Mark notes that when Jesus spoke to the crowds around him, he "spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; he did not speak to them except in parables" (v.33). Jesus knew that only parable power had the ability to make the Good News of ...

972. Luke 4:14-21

Luke 4:14-21

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... same material, remain true to the sense and power of the story and yet sculpt it to their own purposes. Here, whereas Luke has the same basic story of Jesus' experience in Nazareth, he uses it quite differently from either Matthew or Mark. Luke 4:14-15 combines comments scattered in Mark (1:14-15, 28, 39) to create a summary-type text, one of Luke's favorite compositions. Having already dealt with John the Baptist (3:20), Luke is ready for Jesus to begin his Galilean ministry. Verses 14-15 serve to close ...

973. Matthew 3:1-12

Matthew 3:1-12

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... ministry and methods were distinct from those of Jesus, Matthew's gospel does more to connect the two than those of either Mark or Luke. Matthew intentionally uses common phrases for the essence of the message they preached - "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has ... The Hebrew, as well as the Greek Septuagint, understands that "the Lord" referred to here is none other than God. Matthew and Mark refine this cry and tailor it to John the Baptist's mission. For "the Lord" now refers to "the Messiah." Finally, ...

974. John 20:1-18

John 20:1-18

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... meaning of "on the first day of the week" and have also noted the absence of the women the synoptists mention (Matthew 28:1, Mark 16:1-3, Luke 24:1-3), John's intention here is simply to focus on what one of the women, Mary Magdalene, did ... returns to the central figure of this unfolding drama: Mary. After leaving the women with whom she had first come to the tomb (see Matthew 28:1, Mark 16:1-3, Luke 24:1-3) to summon Peter and John, she had returned to the tomb after the women and two disciples had been ...

975. The Last Parable

Mark 12:1-12

Sermon

James McCormick

... Jesus had often taught in parables. It was his favorite way of telling the truth. Who can forget those memorable parables: the Prodigal Son, the Good Samaritan, the Builders on Rock and Sand, the Sower and the Soil, the Lost Sheep? Memorable, all! According to Mark, today’s parable is the last one he ever told. In some ways, I think it is his greatest – I don’t know why it is one of the least familiar – because it catches up the meaning of the whole Bible. It’s really the gospel in miniature. Once ...

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