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Showing 951 to 975 of 4914 results

951. Proper 15 & Pentecost 13

Isaiah 56:1-8, Psalm 67:1-7, Psalm 78:1-72, Exodus 16:1-36, Romans 11:11-24, Romans 11:25-32, Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon Aid

THEOLOGICAL CLUE The phrase used in the title for the day, "after Pentecost," reminds the church and its preachers that the journey to Christ the King Sunday is roughly half-completed. The Holy Spirit is still at work in the church, bringing people to the Lord, undergirding the faith of the believers, and inspiring the people of God to devote themselves to good works and loving service in the name of Jesus Christ. Of itself, the church year "theological framework" has little direct influence upon the ...

952. A Dead Man in a Witch’s Cave

1 Samuel 28:1-25

Sermon

R. Blaine Detrick

You will remember that, in God’s dealings with mankind, he chose one particular man, Abraham. Through that man, God intended to raise a special nation, through which he could bring his message of redemption to the whole world. God directed that nation down into the land of Egypt to preserve it during a time of world-wide famine and need. Joseph was our outstanding leader at that point. In the last chapter, God brought his chosen people back across the wilderness to the very edge of the land of promise, and ...

953. The Second Naiveté: Babies, Angels, Shepherds, And God

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

You would have liked him as did thousands, perhaps millions. He was engaging, intriguing, brilliant, and humorous. Had you met him on the street you probably would not have guessed who he was -- a businessman possibly, even a taxi driver. But as a leading scientist he was known to thousands through his popular television series, The Ascent of Man, later developed into a marvelous book of the same title. His name? Jacob Bronowski. I first heard Jacob Bronowski in Minnesota at a college conference on ...

954. All I Want for Christmas is Hope

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

James W. Moore

A friend of mine who is a psychologist told me once that he has found the perfect formula for getting through Christmas. He says, “You just put your mind in neutral... and go where you are shoved!” Of course, he was just kidding around... but we know full well what he was talking about. The Christmas rush, the hectic pace, the heavy traffic, the long lines, the frayed nerves, the bills, the deadlines, the pressures... all combine to cause some people to give up and give in and just stonewall through the ...

955. Peacemaking and Self Control

Matthew 5:21-26

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

The date was June 11, 1963; the place- The University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. Vivian Malone, a young black woman, enrolled that day as a freshman. Federal troops ensured her entrance, but the doorway was blocked by Governor George Wallace. Holding out for segregation, the governor ultimately failed, and Ms. Malone became the first African-American to graduate from the University of Alabama. Vivian wasn't the only newcomer that day. James Hood was at her side and needed encouragement. So she slipped him a ...

956. It Was for Us

Luke 23:26-43

Sermon

James McCormick

There is a Lenten hymn whose words have special meaning for me: “There is a green hill far away, beyond the city wall, Where the dear Lord was crucified, who died to save us all. We may not know, we cannot tell what pains he had to bear, But we believe it was for us he hung and suffered there That has been the affirmation of the Christian faith for 2,000 years now, that although the crucifixion of Jesus took place a long time ago, at a location far removed from where we are, somehow in a profound way it ...

957. Proper 11

Mt 13:24-30, 36-43 · Rom 8:12-25 · Ps 139 · Gen 28:10-19a

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

OLD TESTAMENT TEXTS Genesis 28:10-19a is the story of Jacob's dream at Bethel in which he sees a ladder extending from heaven to earth, receives the divine promise of progeny, and then responds to it, while Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24 is a confession about the breadth of God's presence, which extends from the depths of Sheol to the heights of the heavens. Genesis 28:10-19a - "Putting Conditions on Visions" Setting. This is the second lesson from the Jacob cycle. The trickster Jacob has been living out the ...

958. Easter 2

Acts 4:32-37, 1 John 1:5--2:14, John 20:19-23, John 20:24-31

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Epistle: Acts 4:32-35 Here is a picture of the apostolic church. In this passage we see its oneness. They were one in belief: "believed were of one heart and soul." They proclaimed one message: "gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus." They were one in having received grace. They were one in physical resources: common property and each receiving according to the personal need. It was a Christian community they had all things in common: faith, witnessing, property. Epistle: 1 ...

959. Enduring the Trials of Faith

Revelation 7:9-17

Sermon

Richard Gribble

"In the seventh year of his reign, two days before his 65th birthday, in the presence of a full consistory of cardinals, Jean Marie Barette, Pope Gregory XVII, signed an instrument of abdication, took off the Fisherman's ring, handed his seal to the Cardinal Camerlengo and made a curt speech of farewell." So begins the power novel, The Clowns of God, the second volume of a trilogy of tales about popes and faith written by Morris West, the Australian-born novelist. In the story, the pope has seen a vision ...

960. A Soul Restored

Psalm 23:2-3a

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

A young woman shared the story of her mother who has a fear of tunnels which isn't unusual. Anyway, one Spring this Mother had to drive the Pennsylvania Turnpike to visit her daughter at college. Knowing the mother's fear of tunnels, the daughter was a little concerned about the trip. When Mom arrived safely the daughter asked: "Did you have any trouble?" "Just the tunnels," Mom replied. "One of them was 2 1\2." Puzzled the daughter asked if she meant 2 1\2 miles or 2 1\2 minutes. Mom answered, "Neither - ...

961. Political Pardon

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

My parents were married in the wave of weddings that followed World War II. Dad came home from military operations in Europe to start a new life on the farm, and Mom became his partner in the enterprise. There was only one problem — Dad had an older brother who was destined to take over the family agricultural enterprise, and there was not enough work or income to support two families. So Dad began to look for other opportunities. For a while he drove a cattle truck, bringing fattened animals to the sales ...

962. Actions Speak Louder than Words

John 17:6-19

Sermon

John Smylie

Actions and words are both important, but sometimes actions do speak louder than words. Jesus is coming to the end of his ministry. He knows his time is short. He is aware that before much longer his days of teaching and preaching with his disciples will come to an end, a brutal and terrifying end, as he will be handed over, tortured, harassed, mocked, and finally crucified. As our Lord approaches the end of his life, he draws near to the source of life and in a way he summarizes the work that he has done ...

963. Saint and Sinner

Romans 3:21-31

Sermon

Scott Suskovic

"Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). In the mid-1920s there was a successful, young, stockbroker who made it big on Wall Street. Really big! He had it all, materially speaking; money, country club membership, wealthy friends. He also drank. A lot! When the crash hit in 1929 and lasted for several years, he lost everything ... except his bottle of gin. His wife had to go to work only to come home day after day exhausted to find her husband drunk on the couch again. He ...

964. Epilogue to the Law of the Temple: River, Land, City

Ezekiel 47:1-12, Ezekiel 47:13-23, Ezekiel 48:1-29, Ezekiel 48:30-35

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

47:1–12 With the vision of the river of life in verses 1–12, we return to Ezekiel’s original vision report. Although the insertion of material belonging to the Law of the Temple interrupted the original continuity between 44:1–2 and 47:1, the technique of resumptive repetition still signals the connection. The same Hebrew verb, shub (“return”) occurs in 44:1 (Heb. wayyasheb ʾoti, NIV “Then the man brought me back”) and 47:1 (Heb. wayeshibeni, NIV The man brought me back). The connection is also apparent ...

965. Getting Ready for the Passover

Luke 22:7-38, Luke 22:1-6

Teach the Text

R.T. France

Big Idea: It is at Passover time that Jesus is to die, and he is determined to have a last Passover meal with his disciples before his death occurrs. Understanding the Text In 21:37–38 Luke rounds off the account of Jesus’s teaching in the temple courtyard, which began at 20:1. With the mention of the Passover in 22:1 the long-anticipated climax of the story (see 9:22, 31, 44, 51; 13:31–35; 18:31–33) begins, as these verses relate the plotting of the Jerusalem authorities, the fateful decision of Judas ...

966. Being Wronged versus Claiming One’s Right

1 Corinthians 6:1-11

Teach the Text

Preben Vang

Big Idea: The church must be vigilant in protecting its identity as a Christ-empowered community and recognize that it is more Christlike to accept being wronged than to pursue retaliation through means that contradict Christ’s teaching. In the community of Christ, no interpersonal differences should be irreconcilable. Understanding the Text In a second practical example of the troubles arising from the behavior and wrongheaded allegiances discussed in chapters 1–4, Paul confronts a situation where one ...

967. He Abides In Us

John 15:1-17

Sermon

Harry N. Huxhold

John Updike once more revealed his remarkably brilliant powers of description in the novel Brazil. Updike shares his uncanny ability to portray the setting and landscape that surround his characters in order to highlight their nature and their roles. However, Updike's greatest gift is the manner in which he is able to crawl inside the characters to reveal their restless and frantic struggles to discover themselves. The principal characters in Brazil are Tristao and Isabel. Their love for each other ...

968. Lent 1

Genesis 2:4-25, Genesis 3:1-24, Romans 5:12-21, Matthew 4:1-11

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Lesson 1: Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7 (C); Genesis 2:7-9; 3:1-7 (RC); Genesis 2:4b-9, 15-17, 25-3:7 (E) The account of humanity's fall into sin. Today's Lesson is taken from the second Genesis account of creation by the Yahwist (J) school of authors. The first part of the pericope gives the setting for the Fall: creation of Adam from dust and spirit, the garden with the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In preparation for the Fall we need to know that Adam and Eve were ...

969. Watch Your Step

Mark 6:1-6

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

There are two types of travelers. There are those that travel light; and, there are those who pack for self-preservation. Do you take a small bag with the basic essentials and figure you’ll pick stuff up as you go? Or do you cram everything you can into every corner of an extra-large expandable bag, making sure that whatever comes your way on your trip, you are prepared? Parents traveling with small children embody both extremes. They bring enough “kid gear,” emergency medicines, food and drink boxes, ...

970. Miracle Three: Healing A Leper

Mark 1:40-45

Sermon Aid

Harold H. Lentz

BACKGROUND MATERIAL There is considerable variety to the miracles performed by Christ. One was performed in a synagogue (curing the demoniac), another in a home (healing Peter's mother-in-law), and this one he performed on a public thoroughfare. While Jesus and his disciples were walking, a man afflicted with the terrible disease of leprosy approached them. Fear of leprosy was so great that strict laws had been passed concerning the actions of one so afflicted. The law demanded that lepers should isolate ...

971. Proper 14

Mt 14:22-33 · Rom 9:1-5 · Ex 14:19-31 · Ps 106:4-12

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

The Miracle Of Walking On Water When it comes to a body of water (river, lake, gulf or sea), there is one thing humans cannot do. We can drink water, float on it, swim in it and under it, and drown in it. We can sail on it, fly over it and in submarines we can travel and explore under it. But, there is one thing we cannot do: walk on it. Yes, we can ski on it, even without skis when we barefoot ski behind a speeding boat. To walk on water like walking on the ground would be a miracle. Since it is ...

972. What Is God Like?

2 Samuel 18:1-18

Sermon

Edward Chinn

When Harry Truman was President of the United States, his daughter Margaret gave a concert in Washington, D.C. The next day Paul Hume, music critic of the Washington Post, gave her performance a bad review. Characteristically, Harry Truman did not let that slight of his daughter’s singing pass without comment. He wrote a letter to Paul Hume. In that letter, Truman wrote: "I have read your lousy review of Margaret’s concert. I’ve come to the conclusion that you are an ‘eight ulcer man on four ulcer pay.’ ...

973. Feasting and Fasting for Lent (Part V)

Philippians 3:1-11

Sermon

Eric Ritz

Today, we are concluding our Lenten sermon series on Feasting and Fasting for Lent. It has been good for us to examine the Word of God each week to see how we can rid ourselves of those values, attitudes, and lifestyles that are an insult to the Holiness of God and by the power of the Holy Spirit to replace them with values, attitudes, and lifestyles that honor God and build us up to maximize our potential as disciples of Jesus Christ. We have been fasting to deny ourselves things that render invalid our ...

974. Such A Babe In Such A Place

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Have you ever noticed, have you ever really contemplated our infinite capacity to complicate things? It’s like we have a built-in aversion to the simple. We take the simplest situation and we make it a complicated affair. We build molehills into mountains. Before we examine a question, we wrap it in confusion. Really though, when you get the heart of it, the great experiences of life, even the great insights, have a way of turning out to be very simple. At the heart of it, Christmas is a very simple thing ...

975. Living Out the Promise of This Child

Isaiah 9:2-7

Sermon

Schuyler Rhodes

It is impossible for me to listen to these words from Isaiah and not hear the baritone part of Handel's Messiah somewhere in the back of my mind. No matter how many times I read or meditate on this passage, the same music courses through my soul. I guess that's a good thing. For many of us, certain events or words serve as triggers for memories or thoughts. There are some things that cause us to smile, some that cause us to wince, and some that stir the fertile substance of hope in our hearts. Isn't that ...

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