Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 76 to 100 of 2404 results

76. Salvaging Our Lives

Genesis 29:15-30

Sermon

... Laban proposes to Jacob that if he will work for him another seven years, he may marry Rachel in seven days. And so Jacob agrees, and in seven days he marries Rachel, the love of his life. But all this is a sordid affair. Laban uses and abuses Jacob to achieve his own ends. And while it may be said that Jacob gets only what he has given, it is still another sad story of deception in which people are used and hurt. Of particular note is the treatment of Leah and Rachel, who seem to be played as mere objects ...

77. He Shepherds Us!

John 10:1-21

Sermon

Harry N. Huxhold

... book, The Way Out of No Way, contains Young's observations about how real change occurs. He notes that changes for the better do not happen simply because we teach people how to work better or harder. Reforms take place when people exert their spirituality to achieve change. In his aristoc_esermonsratic and very intelligent manner, Mr. Young uses both personal and public experiences to make his points. Most certainly, the most obvious to all of us has been the civil rights movement which was inspired and ...

78. God’s Great Final Day

Daniel 7:1-14

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... given over to be burned with fire.” The beast was Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the cruel despot, and his corrupt government. He persecuted and slew the people of God. He tried to destroy their religion and replace it with pagan gods. But his whole career and all his achievements were for naught. He was destroyed by God in the end. Note that there was a triple finality to his end. He was slain, then his body was destroyed, and then the destroyed pieces were burned to ashes. It was a total wipe-out of all that ...

79. The Word Of The Cross Is The Power of God

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5

Sermon

Mark J. Molldrem

When Neil Armstrong was on the moon, an American flag was planted to signify the accomplishment of his journey. The goal had been established in 1960 to set a man on the moon before the end of the decade. In 1969, that goal was achieved in a most dramatic way. When Jesus was on the earth, he planted a cross to signify the accomplishment of his journey. The goal had been established from the foundation of the world that God would love the world, no matter what it took. On a place called The Skull ...

80. Dealing with the Devil

Matthew 4:1-11

Sermon

Johnny Dean

... imagine. Allow me to offer you an alternative plan. All you have to do is shift your allegiance from God to me, and I’ll give you all this, right now, absolutely free. What do you say, Jesus? The end justifies the means, right?" Does it matter how you achieve God’s will for your life? Does it matter what methods you use to realize your ambition? What is more important – the way you live, or the result of your living? The story is not so outdated after all, is it? We are tested every day just as Jesus ...

81. Which Jesus Do You See?

John 12:20-36

Sermon

Brett Blair

... . The Dalai Lama, who resides in India, and is a kind of "Pope" figure for Buddhist is viewed as the vice-regent of the Buddha and the reincarnation of the previous Dalai Lama. He says that Christ was either a fully enlightened being or achieved a very high spiritual realization. 4. Judaism Today, in Jewish circles, Jesus is almost completely ignored among laymen but there is a growing concern among Jewish students and scholars to understand Jesus. There is no longer a question that Jesus was a Jew. That ...

82. WHAT IS MAN?

Sermon

Larry Powell

... They also report that in a fifty-block area, voodoo is practiced regularly. Another cult has at least 10,000 followers. They are, of course, Cuban-Americans who have brought their religion with them - another grim reminder that we are not in total control. Monumental achievements, miracles if you will, either in medicine or religion, make the news in this generation, but they will be assumed by the next. Still, there is always an element about birth and life that is totally out of our hands. We have not yet ...

83. Time and Stewardship

Sermon

Larry Powell

... who will continue to be fascinated by the end of the world, will pine for it, and anticipate it with a peculiar kind of joy. Others will continue to wonder when people are going to stop harping about the end of the world and start trying to achieve a full, productive, happy, meaningful life in the NOW. When all we have to look forward to is death and destruction, then somewhere along the line we have totally misunderstood the meaning of life. The Bible says that God created, made alive, and judged that it ...

84. Loving

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Larry Powell

... in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood. (verse 12) Such mirrors as Paul had in mind were made of highly polished metal, usually of silver or bronze. I have read that Egyptian women poured water upon the metal to achieve a clearer reflection. However, ancient mirrors, with or without water, produced only a dim image. Paul claims that even our best conceptions of God are but poor, distorted images, for we do not possess God's mind. To be sure, we have clues to his nature ...

85. Partners With the Eternal

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

... ; we need the divine touch to accomplish anything which ultimately will matter very much. Partnership with God! It is here that all of life's good qualities are at their best, that all of life's assets are worth their most, that life's joy of achievement reaches its highest summit. Not mere pupils, but participants! Not just receivers, but givers! This understanding of who they were began to come clear to the first disciples of Jesus long ago. May it be so clear to us today that it will take possession of ...

86. An Encounter With Two Old Friends

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

... ?" We begin our worship always, not in our own name, but in the name of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We cannot saunter down this aisle and take our place before the Lord, tell him who we are and what we have achieved, as though he should enjoy the privilege of our presence. The error of the Pharisee was that he came in his own name, reminding God of lawful obligations that he had fulfilled, behavior which ought to bring God’s approbation. To him God might have said, "Indeed! Does ...

87. Overcoming Life's Obstacles

Matthew 14:22-36

Sermon

... 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 work. Even the younger among us begin to plan and dream about retirement. So to have our dreams shattered can be frustrating. To miss our goals, to have them blocked by insurmountable obstacles, can put even the best of us to the test. The story in our ...

88. The Holy Trinity

Deuteronomy 4:32-40

Sermon

... risk what we have, even if we are not totally satisfied with it. So we mentally erect a sign at the edge of our lives which says, "No challenges or growth demands beyond this point." It is all right for us to be asked to recognize and acclaim the achievements of the past, as long as we, today, are not asked to risk our situation to make the future better. No growth or change is required for the modern saints. God made all of his demands generations ago. We are safe from his intrusions. At least, we hope so ...

89. To Thank Is To ...

Deuteronomy 26:1-15

Sermon

... . He is our new country. No land is like that land. We come to him as receivers, cupped hands held high, mouths open to receive gifts of life, the gift of God. Luther bluntly calls us "beggars before God." No matter who we are, no matter what our achievements, we are beggars before God. And when beggars eat, that calls for rejoicing. We celebrate the Sacrament. We joy in the Eucharist as God’s giving of himself over arid over again, as God once more reaches down with a mighty hand and a stretched-out arm ...

90. Epiphany 5

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5

Bulletin Aid

... gracious! People: PRAISE GOD, WHO IS RIGHTEOUS! Leader: Praise God, who is merciful! People: PRAISE GOD, WHO BRINGS LIGHT TO THE DARKNESS FOR THE UPRIGHT! Collect Eternal God, you have taught us repeatedly that our hope is not in the spiritual knowledge that we achieve for ourselves, or the insights that we accept from pious professionals, but in the wisdom we receive from you in Christ Jesus. Remind us again of that great truth: that, trusting at last in the Word of Wisdom that alone is effective, we may ...

91. Our Search for Intimacy - The "Father" God

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... ! I belong! I am a member of the family." Indeed, member of the family or nothng are we. We recognize that loss of intimacy is loss of everything. Perhaps our greatest challenge in the coat-and-tie world in which we live is that of achieving intimate relationships in an intimacy-deprived world. Rollo May has noted how strange it is that, in our society, sharing tastes, fantasies, dreams, hopes, and fears makes people more shy than going to bed with someone. Perhaps we are more afraid of the tenderness that ...

92. The Narrowness Of The Christian Way - 1950 (date estimated)

Matthew 7:13-14

Sermon

Kent Moorehead

... of stupidity or stubbornness, means disaster. But awareness of the demands of the particular conditions, and willingness to obey them without the slightest deviation, and finally the ability to carry them out completely, always means success, fullness of life, genuine achievement - not maybe, but certainly. In short, the narrow way leads inevitably to a broad life; the broad way leads to a narrow life. Now these conditions are not arbitrarily superimposed by some whimsical Diety, as some persons seem to ...

93. The Light that Shines Within

John 1:1-18

Sermon

Leonard Mann

... angels, and he is forever working to bring the angels out. I repeat: He knows what we can become. I suppose there are some things some of us cannot become, because of the limitations of our ability. I doubt if I could ever become a great musician or painter. In achievements such as these, each of us can become only his own best, his own most. Each can rise only to his own ceiling. But how high is this? Probably higher than most of us think. Each can range only to the end of his own tether. But how far is ...

94. Hungry for Anything?

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... ." Anatole France wrote: "At a tender age, I had a longing for renown. I said: ‘I am going to make the whole world know my name.’ " And so the struggle that you see on every side is the struggle of people to make a name for themselves, to achieve significance, to be SOMEBODY. I was watching one of our high school football teams practice one day, and a man standing beside me turned to me and said: "You know, I’ll never understand it - why those boys go out and have their brains knocked out for five ...

95. The Impossible Barrier Myth

Illustration

Alan Loy McGinnis

... Bannister broke the tape at 3:59.4. And what was the result? As soon as the myth of the impossible barrier was dispelled, the four-minute mile was attacked and pierced by many with apparent ease. In almost no time the four-minute achievement was bettered 66 times by 26 different men! If one dismisses this as merely the power of competition, an important motivational point will be missed. There was just as much competition before the four-minute mile was broken. What the succeeding runners discovered from ...

96. Nazareth: The Hidden Years

Luke 2:41-52

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

... , and here I stay in this backwash of a town, cutting a board and fitting a wooden yoke to an ox!"? And yet, I tell you, it may be that life’s most important years are those hidden years. I’m not sure that one can ever achieve anything of lasting worth without some Nazareth time. Take Moses, for instance. He dared to march into Pharaoh’s palace with a challenge, then organized a dispirited group of slaves and led them through the wilderness and its hopeless hardships. But before he did all of that ...

97. Lent 6

Isaiah 50:1-11, Mark 15:16-20, Mark 15:21-32, Philippians 2:1-11

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

... Amen Prayer of Confession Most merciful God, we confess that we are guilty of exalting ourselves, of loving prestige, of counting equality with you a thing to be grasped. Forgive us our arrogance and pride, and inspire us with the person of Jesus Christ, who achieved our salvation and his own exaltation, not through self-promotion and status-seeking but through humility and suffering. In his name we pray. Amen Gospel: Mark 14:1--15:47 or 15:1-39 Theme: The thrill of victory in the agony of defeat Exegetical ...

98. Blessed With Peace

John 14:15-31

Sermon

O. Garfield Beckstrand, II

... , have closed the avenue to heavenly peace. Isn’t it strange that we are tempted to look for peace every place but where it is found? Some people seek the psychiatrist’s couch, others try medicine, John Barleycorn, lustful pursuits, or emotional flings. But we never will achieve peace within ourselves until we place our lives in God’s hands and live according to his will and laws. God’s peace comes to us as his gift when we seek to live in harmony with him. Martin Luther was the most restless of men ...

99. God Notices

Amos 8:1-14

Sermon

John W. Wurster

... basket of summer fruit. Everything looks great right now. At this moment, life is sweet. But a rottenness is just around the corner. The good times won’t last. The good times can’t last. God will spoil them. The plans, the fortunes, the achievements, whatever has been dishonestly gained and deceptively maintained, God will spoil. Because God notices. That’s the claim of prophets like Amos — that God notices. Our lives are lived under the watchful eye of God. God knows the truth about who we are and ...

100. The Fruit of One's Doing

Jeremiah 16:1--17:18

Sermon

Harry N. Huxhold

... better use of his gifts. All of us know that feeling to some extent. Yet Mr. Bogart represents the kind of case history of how devastated one’s life can be if one does not experience a way in which one can deal with the failure to achieve what one ought to be. For that reason it is a wholesome exercise to examine the First Reading appointed for today. In this lesson the Prophet Jeremiah draws a contrast between the lives of those who live dependent upon their own resources alone and those who rely upon ...

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