Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1076 to 1100 of 2844 results

1076. A New Look for a New Year

Ephesians 1:1-14

Sermon

Fredrick R. Harm

Just a few days ago we greeted loved ones and friends with a cheery, "Happy New Year." And we sincerely hoped it would be a year of joy and happiness for all. A New Year's card put it beautifully: "I am the New Year -- all that I have I give with love unspoken. All that I ask -- you keep the faith unbroken!" Newspapers and magazines covered the fascinating story of Admiral Richard Byrd's second trip to the South Pole. The 180th meridian is an imaginary but important marker. It is the International Date ...

1077. Jesus Brings Us to New Life

Isaiah 25:1-12

Sermon

Richard Gribble

Pastor David Johnson was all prepared, he thought, for his Easter sermon. Having only graduated from the seminary three months prior to taking his present position at the MapleStreetCommunityChurch, he possessed all the latest and most interesting theology. He made the final touches to his sermon on Holy Saturday morning and outlined its content to his wife. He told her that his sermon was based on theology of Paul Tillich, who spoke of the resurrection as a symbol that the estrangement from our authentic ...

1078. Dying And Rising With Christ

John 15:1-17

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

I have a friend who is a Benedictine monk. The way we live out our lives is vastly different, but I feel a real kinship, a oneness of spirit with Brother Sam. One of the most memorable evenings, one to which I return often in my mind, is the time he and I spent together alone in our home in Nashville, sharing our Christian pilgrimages. The vivid highlight of that evening still alive in my mind was his sharing with me the occasion of his solemn vows, the service when he made his life commitment to the ...

1079. Soul Drain

Psalm 63:1-11

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Some time ago, I was reading Newsweek magazine and came across an article by Herbert Gold. Now I don’t know who Herbert Gold is, but he wrote a marvelous article about his visit to the Soviet Union and his sharing with the dissenters that Soltzeneitzen after __ defection. Gold was disturbed, as I was when I was in the Soviet Union a few months ago, about the abandonment of hope he found among the people of Russia. There was a tremendously morbid sense of despair. He closed his article by sharing a personal ...

1080. Getting It All Together Inside

Psalm 51:1-19, 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

R.D. Lange is an imminent philosopher, and one of the most perceptive observers and discerning describers of the human situation. He has said this, what we think is less than what we know. What we know is less than what we love. What we love is so much less than there is, and to this precise extent we are much less than what we are. What a challenging assessment. We are much less than what we are. Now that’s a needed perspective, but unfortunately our perspective is poisoned. We are confused about what is ...

1081. The House Of Our Dreams

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

There is an old Rabbinic story about a poor man who left the village of his birth, and set out to find the city of his dreams, where all was bright and perfect. After a day's walk he lay down to rest the night in a forest. Before going to sleep he removed his shoes and placed them carefully in the path, pointing them in the direction of his journey toward the magical city. While he slept, a practical joker came along and turned his shoes around so that they pointed in the direction of the village he had ...

1082. Walk In Newness Of Life

Romans 6:1-14

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Jerry and I celebrated our thirty-third anniversary on March 15. Well, some might question the word "celebrated", and she might have even questioned it a bit. On that very day, Thursday, March 15th, I was in a meeting of the Regional Secretaries of the World Methodist Council. But we celebrated, though I'll not tell you how! One thing I did was reread an anniversary gift of years back -- a book by Lois Wyse entitled Love Poems for the Very Married. If we were very married then -- we are very, very married ...

1083. How To Be Rich And Poor

James 1:1-18

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

One day, Herman and Clara were riding along in their shiny new car. Clara spoke up and said, "You know, Herman, if it weren't for my money, we probably wouldn't have this wonderful new car." Herman just sat there and didn't say a word. As they pulled into their driveway, Herman turned off the engine. They quietly admired their beautiful home and Clara said, "You know, Herman, if it weren't for my money, we probably wouldn't have this house." Herman just sat there and didn't say a word. That afternoon, a ...

1084. He Comes As He Came

Luke 19:28-44

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Sometime ago there appeared a cartoon in The New Yorker magazine which depicted that dramatic story in the Old Testament of Moses' parting the Red Sea and the Israelites passing through on dry land. Actually, the moment depicted in the cartoon is when the water has been parted and the Israelites are moving swiftly through the passage. Moses is irritated because, obviously, someone has said something to him, so he replies to the man next to him, "Of course, it's damp underfoot, but that strikes me as a ...

1085. Our Father's Love Begotten

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Some of you may recognize the name Olin Stockwell. He was the last Methodist Missionary out of China when the Communist take-over came in 1949. Before he left the country, he was in prison for a time. He was placed in solitary confinement in a maximum security prison surrounded by dozens of other cells housing faceless prisoners. It was close to Christmas. From one of the distant cells came the solo sounds of a favorite Christmas carol...sung in Chinese. Olin Stockwell joined in the singing...in English. ...

1086. Get off the Throne and Learn Wisdom

Matthew 7:1-6

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

A check-out clerk once wrote columnist Ann Landers a letter of complaint: she had seen shoppers with food stamps buy luxury items like birthday cakes and bags of shrimp. The angry woman went on to say that people on welfare who treat themselves to non-necessities were “lazy and wasteful." A few weeks later Lander's column was devoted entirely to people who responded to the grocery clerk with letters of their own. One woman wrote: “I didn't buy a cake, but I did buy a big bag of shrimp with food stamps. So ...

1087. Where's the Fire?

Exodus 3:1-22

Sermon

Mark Trotter

Jean and I have just gotten back from a three-week vacation trip up in Northern California. When I returned to the office I discovered that a lot of people thought that we were in Germany. That is because four weeks ago this weekend, there was a wonderful event here at this church celebrating my twenty years as one of the ministers on the staff. That evening it was announced that we would be given a trip to Germany. That was the first we had heard of it. It was a surprise. So we have yet to even start to ...

1088. Still Under Construction

1 Corinthians 3:1-9

Sermon

James L. Killen

People print all sorts of things on T-shirts, from advertisements to obscenities to affirmations of faith. One fellow was seen wearing a T-shirt with the words, "Christian Under Construction," printed on it. We can all appreciate what he meant by that. We can talk about the difference faith in Christ is supposed to make in our lives and about how it is supposed to work and even about the samples of the new life in Christ that we have already experienced. But, most of us know that we are not yet what God ...

1089. Beautiful Feet

Romans 10:5-15

Sermon

Jeff Wedge

There are some things which are not often associated with the word "beautiful." Our lesson today ends with an image associating such an item with "beautiful," and then bringing up another topic which seems completely unrelated. This odd sentence is: "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news." It is strange enough to call feet beautiful. Most often we think of feet in a much more utilitarian context, as something we stand on and walk on, our basic support for standing upright. People who ...

1090. On the Beach

John 21:15-25, John 21:1-14

Sermon

Mark Trotter

On this third Sunday in the season of Easter, we look at yet another resurrection appearance, this one from the Gospel of John. The disciples are despondent. The world has collapsed around them. Their Lord has been crucified. I suppose that by the time this story takes place, which is at least a week after the Resurrection, we can assume that they have heard of the Resurrection, if they have not actually experienced the Resurrected Christ. Although we know that some did see him, if you think of the Upper ...

1091. The Great I Am

John 14:5-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

It happened in an instant. From top of the mountain to bottom of the heap--literally, the bottom of a heap. Joe Kay was a high school golden boy. All conference basketball star. Senior Valedictorian scholastic star. Lead saxophone musical star. Joe Kay was headed to Stanford after graduation. On the night of February 6, 2004, he was leading the basketball victory of Tucson High School against their arch rivals. A glorious last moment slam dunk by Joe and the game was won. It was the perfect pinnacle of his ...

1092. A Sourdough Sprirituality

Matthew 13:31-35

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

[To do this sermon in the best fashion, you'll need a couple things. First, find someone in your congregation or a local baker who will share with you their sourdough starter. A bowl you can use for this sermon will greatly enhance your presentation. Also, to the extent that you can, integrate their sourdough story into your sermon, replacing as much of the story below with their story as you can. Secondly, you'll need one or two bags (per service) of different kinds of bread. The easiest way of doing this ...

1093. Set Life Free

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

It's one of those June "mornings." It's 3:45 a.m. in the Pacific Northwest. The eastern horizon is pink and puffy with promise. Kids refuse to go to bed at 10:30 p.m. because "it's not dark yet!" In the north country, June is no the season for sleeping. It's the season for growing. Dedicated gardeners have anticipated this insomniac season (the real meaning of "Sleepless in Seattle") since December and January when the seed catalogs started to arrive...along with sky-high winter heating bills. There are ...

1094. The Lamb's Book of Life

John 1:29-34

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Try flipping through the video void any day without landing in the numerical region inhabited by "reality" talk-show TV – Montel, Maury Povich, Sally-Jesse, Ricki Lake, and so on. Whether they had all synchronized their programming schedules or not, on this particular afternoon, every single one of them featured paternity suits. Has anyone here ever seen one of these? There's one woman versus two or three sweating, nervous guys all waiting to find out – thanks to the wonders of DNA testing – who was the ...

1095. Looking for Shoots or Roots?

Matthew 11:1-19

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

The more we move into the Advent season, the more our scripture texts bring the Christ-child’s birth closer and closer to us. Yet here in Matthew 11:2-11 we are back to the relationship between Jesus and John the Baptist. Yet even though this is not part of our text for this week, the mere mention of John’s name should remind us of their cousinly kinship, even of an in utero jump for joy that marked their first meeting--making cousin John the first person to celebrate Advent. As out text opens Jesus has ...

1096. Such a Transformation!

Isaiah 52:13--53:12

Sermon

Elizabeth Achtemeier

For centuries, the Christian Church has regarded this fourth Servant Song in Second Isaiah as a prophecy that foretells the life, suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Certainly the New Testament uses portions of it in connection with our Lord (cf. John 12:38; Acts 8:32-33; 1 Peter 2:24-25, et al.). And yet a great air of mystery surrounds this passage. Who finally is the servant? Why has he been the object of shame and suffering all of his life? Why was he judged and killed? How did others ...

1097. Advent 1

Matthew 24:36-51, Romans 13:8-14, Isaiah 2:1-5, Psalm 122:1-9

Sermon Aid

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

OLD TESTAMENT TEXTS The Old Testament lesson and the psalm inaugurate the Advent season with a powerful symbol of salvation: Zion. Isaiah 2:1-5 provides a utopian vision of Zion as an end-time reality, while the pilgrimage hymn in Psalm 122 encourages us to claim this salvation in our present lives through worship. Taken together these Old Testament texts provide a strong commentary on Advent. They underscore how Advent points us to a future reality that reaches backwards and embraces us in worship, even ...

1098. Palm/Passion Sunday

Mt 26:14-27:66 · Php 2:5-11 · Isa 50:4-9a · Ps 31

Sermon Aid

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

OLD TESTAMENT TEXTS The Old Testament texts are very appropriate for Passion Sunday. Isaiah 50:4-9a explores the call of the suffering servant, while Psalm 31:9-16 is a lament from the perspective of one who is suffering. As we will see, both of these texts share a similar three-part structure and probe the meaning of suffering from different perspectives. Isaiah 50:4-9a: "A Call to Discipleship" Setting. Isaiah 50:4-9a is the third of the suffering servant songs Isaiah 42:1-4[5-9]; 49:1-6; 50:4-9a; 52:13- ...

1099. Breathe on Me, Breath of God

Acts 2:1-4

Sermon

James W. Moore

Let me begin with three quick stories. See if you can find the common thread that runs through them. The First Story is about a woman who lives in Texas. She is a motivational speaker who is often asked to give the key-note address at conventions and convocations. Recently she returned home after speaking five nights in a row. Her husband said: “Honey, I know you must be really tired. Why don’t you “sleep in” in the morning?” That sounded good to her, so she did stay in bed longer than usual. When she ...

1100. What in the World Are We Doing?

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

James W. Moore

Have you heard the story about the young police officer who was on the witness stand testifying in the trial of a man he had arrested for robbery? The defendant was being represented by a hard-nosed attorney who was known far and wide for being tough on police officers. In cross-examination, the tough lawyer was trying to undermine the policeman’s credibility and the exchange between the fiery lawyer and the young policemen went like this. The lawyer speaks first. “Officer… did you see (with your own eyes ...

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