Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 76 to 100 of 200 results

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... we select the most viable one. So moving from one parish to the next, one minister may take off the pious parson mask and don the button-down collar sophisticate image, to try to fit into the new suburban secular setting. In either choice, we get all tangled up in duplicity and guilt. And I want you to know I’m not going to be victimized by that. We’re driven by the fear of being found out when we participate in that sort of thing, and our energy is used in efforts to convince everyone that the front is ...

77. God Shaves With A Borrowed Razor

Isaiah 7:1-25

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... considerable periods the four oboe players had nothing to do. The number should be reduced and the work spread more evenly over the whole of the concert, thus eliminating peaks of activity. "All the twelve violins were playing identical notes; this seems unnecessary duplication. The staff of this section should be drastically cut. If a larger volume of sound is required, it could be obtained by means of electronic apparatus. "Much effort was absorbed in the playing of demiz-semi-quavers; this seems to be an ...

78. King of the Mountain

1 Peter 3:13-22

Sermon

Richard W. Ferris

... my opening story, how close do we come to sending him away without giving him the chance to play beautiful music in our cathedrals? Now some of us cannot make music of any kind, and others of us can play chopsticks, if we're lucky. But none of us can duplicate the works of the Master, nor can we find substitutes to take his place. There is only room for one King of the Mountain. And that means all of the others must be pushed off. Who, in your life, will stand alone at the top?

79. Easter

Acts 10:23b-48, Colossians 3:1-17, John 20:1-9, John 20:10-18

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... for Jesus as an historical event. Each Christian has a resurrection to a new life in Christ. Because of this, Easter can be not just a celebration of a past event, but of a present experience. "If then you have been raised with Christ" means to duplicate Jesus' rising. This death and resurrection takes place in baptism - a drowning of the old self and the emergence of a new self, rising from death to life. This new life is a life in Christ, a participation in the life of Christ. 3. The Christian dimension ...

80. Proper 12

1 Kings 3:1-15, Matthew 13:47-52, Matthew 13:44-46, Genesis 29:15-30

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... a surprise. It may come in unexpected ways and places. Must we ask whether the average Christian considers Christianity the top treasure? 2. Pearl (v. 46). A pearl in ancient times was more precious than gold. It had tremendous value in itself. In this sense it duplicates the idea of treasure. But a pearl is also a thing of beauty which lasts forever. Beauty and God go together. There is a beauty of character, of truth, and of love. The kingdom is beautiful. Unlike the treasure, the pearl of the kingdom is ...

81. Let the River Flow

Colossians 1:15-23

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... of Christ? The divine creator, who can manage to make something as simple as one snowflake completely unique and unrepeatable from all other snowflakes, creates within each and everyone one of us our own melody – your own style – which is never duplicated in any other individual. We each resonate with the sound God plays upon the universe with a slightly different frequency. But without Christ our individual melodies are incomplete. It is only when we accept Christ's redemptive love that our personal ...

82. Ash Wednesday

Mt 6:1-6, 16-21 · 2 Cor 5:20b--6:10 · Ps 51:1-17 · Jl 2:1-2, 12-17

Sermon Aid

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

... almsgiving be given a corporate rather than merely an individual expression? Psalm 51, as it appears in the lectionary, is intended as a response to the Joel lesson. In some Ash Wednesday liturgies, it also appears as part of the imposition rite. To avoid duplication, Psalm 103:6-18 might be used as an alternative (preferably after Joel). The Revised Common Lectionary lists Isaiah 58:1-12 as an alternative Old Testament lesson, though it was recently used on the Fourth Sunday After Epiphany. If it is not ...

83. Proper 14

Genesis 37:1-11, Matthew 14:22-36, Romans 9:30--10:21, Psalm 105:1-45

Sermon Aid

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

... to do what is humanly impossible (forget gurus in India!); but the disciples cower in their own reasonable sense of inadequacy. Yet, in the story one disciple, Peter, starts to believe that Jesus called them to do the things that he did (see 10:1). Thus Peter asks to duplicate what Jesus did, and initially he is able to move like Jesus. But the moment Peter loses sight of Jesus and begins to focus on the chaos, he sinks back into a worse state than he was in when he was in the boat! Yet again he turns to ...

84. Changed Lives: Judas

Matthew 26:14-16

Sermon

King Duncan

... respect, so Judas’ kiss would not have made the other disciples suspicious when it happened. That kiss has become notorious, however, because a sign of affection and honor was given with completely opposite intentions, as a mark of identity for execution. Such duplicity scorned the friendship which Jesus offered his disciples. It was a betrayal which sentenced Jesus to capture by his enemies, and Judas must have realized that it was highly likely to lead to a most violent death. (3) Judas kissed Jesus on ...

85. Watch and You'll See

John 20:19-23

Illustration

... the restroom door and said, "Ticket, please." The door opened a crack and a single arm emerges with a ticket in hand. The conductor took it and moved on. The accountants agree that this is a rather clever idea so after the conference, they decide to duplicate the engineers' feat. They buy only one ticket, but are astonished when the engineers buy no ticket at all! "How are you going to travel without a ticket?" the accountants ask. Watch and you'll see, reply the engineers. When they boarded the train, the ...

86. They Lied and They Died

Acts 5:1-11

Sermon

James Merritt

... is the hinge on which great doors swing." The first four chapters of the book of Acts represent life on the spiritual mountaintop. But in chapter 5, the church comes crashing down into a spiritual valley. With the word "but" we see hypocrisy, thievery, duplicity, trickery. For four chapters, the church was going, growing, and glowing for God. God had brought an explosion to the church, but Satan was now trying to bring an implosion to the church. In the first four chapters, Satan tried to conquer the church ...

87. Matthew 22:15-22

Matthew 22:15-22

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... Actually, Roman sensibility to the religious problems posed by the official coin of the realm had allowed for the separate minting of coinage for Jews to use in everyday business exchanges (the shekel). Jesus’ first demonstration of his sincerity, and his questioners duplicity, is revealed when he asks for "the coin used for the tax." Jesus, a pious Jew, did not carry any such coin upon his person. But this contingent of Pharisees and Herodians had no problem producing a Roman denairius. Jesus’ response ...

88. 1 Kings 19:9-14

1 Kings 19:1-18

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... of this text, there is no divine response immediately following Elijah's indictment. Instead vv.11-12 begin with God directing Elijah to "stand on the mountain before the Lord." Having brought Elijah to the holy site of Mt.Horeb, the redactor now takes pains to duplicate as much as possible Moses' mountaintop encounter with God in Elijah's own experience. Thus as Moses had been commanded to go out and view the Lord passing by in Exodus 33:19, so Elijah is likewise instructed to prepare to meet God. On the ...

89. Matthew 18:15-20

Matthew 18:15-20

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... important to note that there is no specification of "sins" given here. While in other New Testament writings, the authors do not hesitate to discuss the exact nature of the misbehaviors that trouble the church whether they be issues of sexual license, economic duplicity or grievous theological error this text is content to leave open the question of what kind of sin. The indication of this text, however, is that all sins are subject to this communal scrutiny and judgment. In short, there is no evidence that ...

90. Matthew 22:15-22

Matthew 22:15-22

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?" Jesus' first response gives these well-educated disciples and well-heeled Herodians a first-hand taste of Jesus' famous impartiality and equanimity. Instead of answering outright, he first reveals their true intent entrapment and duplicity. Then, Jesus boldly labels them for what they are "hypocrites." Part of the power of Jesus' preaching in parables was his refusal to use just words when pictures would do. When we think of the teachings of Jesus, we don't recall ...

91. Luke 2:22-40

Luke 2:22-40

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... 1977]) has suggested that originally what is now Simeon's second oracle (vv.34-35) may have been the first, and for a time, the only utterance of the aged holy man recorded in Luke's gospel (454-456). As evidence, Brown cites the unnecessary duplicate introductions in verse 28: "Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying ...."; and in verse 34: "Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary ...." Brown suggests that verses 29-32, the Nunc Dimittis, like the preceding canticles in Luke's infancy ...

92. Worship on the Mountaintop...And Everywhere Else

Mark 9:2-13

Sermon

Mike Ripski

... other ourselves. Jesus calls it love. He shows us how to do it as he washes the disciples’ feet. E. Not in our control. The final truth from the Mountaintop about Christian worship is that our spiritual experiences refuse both our preserving them and our duplicating them. Peter wanted to build booths to house Moses, Elijah, and Jesus. This way he could hold on to the experience and revisit it. The temptation of mountaintop experiences is to believe that, once we have them, we can replicate them. So we go ...

93. What Is Your Name?

Genesis 32:22-32

Sermon

Mike Ripski

... ’t detect the charade but goes along with it. He has known all along that the son best able to manage his property and family was not his oldest son, but his youngest. So Isaac blesses him with a blessing that cannot be taken back or duplicated. Esau returns. He and Isaac together realize they have been deceived. The Supplanter has supplanted. The Go-Getter has gone and gotten. But now Esau, the hunter, hunts for his kid brother. He’s had enough. You wonder, however, how serious his hunt is. You sense ...

94. Until He Comes

2 Timothy 4:7-8

Sermon

James Merritt

... In 1973 a horse named Secretariat became a legend for all time. Thirty years later the efforts of that horse are still gauged as the benchmark for greatness. You see, not only did Secretariat win the Triple Crown, but he did it with a performance never before duplicated nor since. At the Belmont Stakes, the last leg of the Triple Crown, he not only won the race by 31 lengths, but he set new records along the way because he ran each quarter mile succeedingly faster. For one and a half miles that thoroughbred ...

95. Broken Pieces

Matthew 1:3, 5, 6

Sermon

James Merritt

... Antonio Stradivarius was an Italian violin maker who lived over 350 years ago. His violins are now the most prized violins ever made because of the rich and resonating sound that they produce. The unique sound of a Stradivarius violin simply cannot be duplicated. You may be shocked to learn that these precious instruments were not made from treasured pieces of wood; they were carved from discarded lumber. Stradivarius was very poor and he could not afford fine materials like others. He got most of his wood ...

96. Don’t Sweat the Big Stuff

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

James Merritt

... of one flower, you will become lost in the wonder of what you would see. There is a texture, a form, a design, a substance and color to just the petal of a little flower that man with all of its ingenuity and creativity cannot come close to duplicating. The point is very simple. If God will take care of the flowers, won't God take care of you? III. Apply Steadfastness To Worry Now Jesus gets very personal and very practical because He understands our frailties. He understands the nature of us to worry, and ...

97. Men in Black

Matthew 13:24-30; 36-43

Sermon

James Merritt

... that only God can do. We have all heard of the Italian violin maker, Stradivarius. His violins are now the most prized violins ever made because of the rich and resonating sound they produce. The unique sound of a Stradivarius violin cannot be duplicated. Now what may surprise you is these precious instruments were not made from treasured pieces of wood; they were carved from discarded lumber. Stradivarius was very poor, and could not afford fine materials like his contemporaries. So he got most of his wood ...

98. Whose Inheritance Is It?

Ephesians 1:11-23

Sermon

Donna Schaper

... for our inheritance, everything changes. We are no longer people who hold up their own weight. We float with the Spirit. Steven Wright, the famous physicist, swears he woke up one morning and "all of my stuff had been stolen and replaced by exact duplicates." When we tip toward sainthood, when we receive our inheritance, we experience this kind of change. Not only do we change, everything around us changes! The appreciation deficit is gone. The gratitude famine is gone. The empty cup is gone. We fill up and ...

99. Strange Arithmetic

Mark 10:7

Illustration

Donald B. Strobe

... your individuality. Too often one party or the other seems to be saying: "Alright - we two shall become one...and I AM the one!" Obviously, such a marriage is headed for trouble. Ideally, when "two become one" it means that each one is doubled, but not duplicated. You still retain your individual identity, but you add to yourself the identity of the other, and the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts. "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the ...

100. Living In The Spirit Of Faithfulness

Galatians 5:22-25, Hebrews 10:23-24

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... . We have to begin with God who is the ultimate example of Faithfulness. I. God's Faithfulness Years ago, before personal scanners and printers, a young male college student walked into a photography studio with a framed picture of his girlfriend. He wanted the picture duplicated. Of the photo had to be removed from the frame. In doing this, the studio owner noticed the inscription on the back of the photograph: "My dearest Tom, I love you with all my heart. I love you more and more each day. I will ...

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