Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1101 to 1125 of 5000 results

1101. I Voted for God

Luke 14:25-35

Sermon

Carveth Mitchell

The Gospel for today begins with these words of Jesus: Now great multitudes accompanied him; and he turned and said to them, "If any one comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple." Is that what it means to be a Christian? That we should hate the members of our own family? We must make allowances here not only for the circumstances, but also for the fact that Eastern language is sharp and vivid ...

1102. Why Aspire to Sainthood?

Daniel 7:1-14

Sermon

Today on the church calendar is designated All Saints’ Sunday. It is a time for remembering persons who through the generations have been so outstanding in faith and ministry that their lives have been a special blessing to all who have known them. As someone has said, they have adorned the Gospel of Jesus Christ, though it might be better to say they received the Gospel so fully that it adorned and glorified them. Who are the saints? How many can you name? Saint Peter? Saint Stephen? Saints Matthew, Mark ...

1103. Wellspring for the Soul

John 4:1-26

Sermon

Dean Lueking

When Water is Scarce Some time ago I had an experience unique in my life - living in a place for several weeks where no drinking water was piped in. On the western edge of Kenya I learned what it is to go to the village well, draw water for two buckets, and carry them back to the small house where our family was living. The African women at the well always wanted me to do it their way - carry the bucket on my head. I have neither the balance that takes, nor enough hair to give a water bucket much support. ...

1104. Here Comes Jesus

John 1:1-18

Children's Sermon

Object: Fanfare and banners. Good morning, boys and girls. How are you on this first beautiful Sunday in the New Year? Isn't it wonderful to get started off in the right way by coming to worship? I think it is so right that I want to show you how we ought to do it. [If someone can play the trumpet, have him play some opening bars of a stirring fanfare. Perhaps the organist could use the trumpet stop on the organ. Then let someone come in carrying some banners. Example: Blessed New Year -- God Bless Us in ...

1105. Epiphany 2

Isaiah 49:1-7, 1 Corinthians 1:1-9, John 1:29-34, John 1:35-42

Bulletin Aid

First Lesson: Isaiah 49:1-7 Theme: God's love is like that of a husband for his bride Call To Worship Pastor: When Jesus was anointed to be God's Servant, he was sent not as Savior of the Jews only. People: His was a worldwide mission, that "salvation may reach to the end of the earth." Pastor: Our Lord continues his mission through his church. We are to carry his message of salvation to all parts of the world. People: We are servants of God's Servant. May we be faithful in telling our world the good news ...

1106. Pilgrimage of Faith John M. Cobb

Exodus 3:1-22

Sermon

To begin, let me just note that some of what follows is quoted.2 "In 1817 a group of 1,400 families, consisting of about 9,000 souls, set out under the leadership of [one] Johann Koch, a miller of [the town of] Schluchter in Wuerttemberg"3 (i.e., in Southwest Germany) to emigrate to the Caucasus region of Central Russia. From studies in the Book of Daniel and the Revelation, they were convinced that somewhere there in the east, " ‘near the original cradle of the human race’ ... the Savior would [return and ...

1107. Trouble on the Mountain

Exodus 32:1-33:6

Sermon

A man was riding on a train. He was pacing back and forth and one of his kids was yelling, "Papa, Papa, I want a glass of water. I want a glass of water." The harried man just kept walking back and forth, and the kid kept yelling. Finally, the man smacked the kid on the seat and told her to shut up. A nice old lady across the aisle stopped him and said, "Mister, I'm going to call the conductor and make trouble for you!" The guy said, "Lady, you're gonna make trouble for me? That kid there is my Becky; she ...

1108. Miracle In the Bethlehem Inn

Drama

Program for Worship Bulletin "And she gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn." (Luke 2:7) Welcome Prayer Carol "O Little Town Of Bethlehem" Scene I Joshua, Miriam, and their children Adam, Lela, Lydia and Susanna arrive in Bethlehem where they expect Joshua's brother, Aaron, to put them up in his inn. They, like most people in town at that time, are there to be enrolled for the census. They arrive outside ...

1109. Image and Inscription

Matthew 22:15-22

Sermon

"Malicious hypocrites," Matthew calls them. They’re the Pharisees, of course; Jesus’ antagonists, and they attempt an ancient ploy: they want to present Jesus with an "either/or" decision. They want to force him into a no-win situation - darned if you do, darned if you don’t. And so they ask: "Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or is it not?" The trap is admirably well laid. For Jesus to say "Yes" would be to antagonize his countrymen and women who staggered under the yoke of Roman oppression, who ...

1110. Worship in the Pioneer Spirit

Illustration

Gathering here today, we have come without dread of enemies or fear for our lives; we have come in some great measure of security and of comfort. It was not always so. Less than half a century ago in central Europe the Nazi storm troopers could invade any sanctuary on any Sunday and carry off to prison or to death whomever they would, and this they often did. Yet the people came. Eighteen hundred years ago the Christian Faith was outlawed; the Christians were hunted like animals almost; it was a crime for ...

1111. Let Christ Speak The Word

Luke 7:1-10

Sermon

Let us pray: Gracious and eternal God, today we come to you seeking to deepen our understanding of the ways in which you are present and working in our lives to heal us of our afflictions. May we in these moments receive the gift of wisdom. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. You may be familiar with the life story of Thomas Dooley, the Christian military doctor who devoted his life to serving sick and dying people living in Vietnam and Laos in the 1950s. When he died of cancer in 1961, the world considered his ...

1112. Being Different

Daniel 3:1-30

Sermon

Harold Warlick

You can learn something from a hurricane. I've noticed that the trees which tended to survive the onslaught of Hurricane Hugo were those which leaned against the wind. Most of the trees that were leaning with the wind were snapped in two or blown up by their roots. Students need to be challenged to occasionally lean against the wind. All people occasionally need to lean against the wind. This isn't easy in a world like ours. The mass media begins training children to be consumers before they are three ...

1113. The Master Has Come - And Is Moved With Compassion

Matthew 8:1-4, Mark 1:40-45

Sermon

There lived in India a well-known poet named Tagore. One morning his servant was late coming to work. Tagore became more angry by the minute as he waited for him to arrive. Finally, the servant came in and began his duties. Tagore had already decided to fire him. He said, "Stop what you are doing and get out. You are fired." The man kept sweeping and said, "My little girl died last night." This incident points up one of the great needs in the world today - the need for compassion. Compassion has been ...

1114. At Table With The Lord

Drama

Production Notes The drama may be presented either as a reader's theater presentation, with all parts read, or as a dramatic presentation with parts memorized. If produced as reader's theater, be certain that all parts are read with animation, in a mood appropriate in each case to capture the character of the person and the part. If offered as a dramatic presentation, characters may want to consider costumes and some simple props and staging. At those places where action is suggested (such as Jesus washing ...

1115. When Old Nick Met Nicodemus

Drama

Cast (in order of appearance) NICK (an old newspaper vendor) JIM/NICODEMUS (a younger man) JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA SOLDIER I SOLDIER II PETER JOHN SALOME MARY MARY MAGDALENE EXTRAS Introduction We are blessed with a professional actor in our church, who loves to play the part of old men. This play was written with him in mind, but any man with a bit of make-up and whitened hair can win your audience with this warm story of an old man on Easter morning. The scenery is very simple ... an old street corner ...

1116. When I Was Hungry...

Matthew 4:1-11

Drama

If this play is performed in a church, it would be best to have the characters walk down different aisles from the back of the church to the chancel for their entrances. They should exit the same way. On a stage, any number of variations of this idea may be used. Three people are standing at different points, away from center stage. 1: I’ve been in the wilderness for forty days. 2: I’ve been in the wilderness for twenty years! 3: [Pause] We’ve all been in the wilderness a long time. 1: And we’re hungry. 2 ...

1117. NO HELP WANTED

Drama

AMAZING GRACE These two plays are serious discussions of the everyday problems which face women trying to be whole persons in our society. No Help Wanted is an abstract and stereo-typed look at the problem of being yourself, without guidance or direction from others. Amazing Grace is a type of comic strip and, therefore, also quite stereotyped. Character descriptions are given for most characters; when they are not, character type is not vital to the production. Sets for both of these plays may be as ...

1118. Do It For the Joy of It!

Matthew 22:34-40

Sermon

In the text for last week we saw how impossible it becomes to try to limit a description of appropriate Christian behavior to a rigid, inflexible code. There is a danger on the other extreme as well: The Christian can come to the (erroneous) conclusion that everything is relative, in constant flux, and totally dependent on the situation, one’s own feelings, and the individual’s point of view. Not so. Christianity is flexible enough to address a changing world. But Christian faith is also rooted. There is a ...

1119. What Do You See?

Isaiah 52:13--53:12

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently, He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high. Just as many were astonished at you, so His visage was marred more than any man. And His form more than the sons of men; So shall He sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths at Him; For what had not been told them they shall see, And what they had not heard they shall consider. Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender ...

1120. Eternal Echo Of Easter - Part 2

Matthew 28:1-10

Drama

Esther R. Russ

PROVIDING MUSICAL BACKGROUND This program is most effective if all the narrations, dialogues, readings, and drama are given with background music. We used a combination of two types of musical background: (1) various record selections, which we recorded on a high-quality tape, and (2) live organ music. Taped Background In this area of the production, creativity can be unlimited. Simple music from records may be taped, or more complicated music that requires timing of appropriate words. For example, the ...

1121. Gabriel Speaks to Mary

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

George Bass

Some of the Burma Shave-like signs still stand alongside roads that are not main highways any more and, subsequently, they aren’t seen as often as they used to be. The signs separated what had become a familiar act of devotion and piety in Roman Catholicism into a series of spread-out phrases: Hail, Mary, Mother of God, Blessed are you among women, And blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus ... Holy Mary, pray for us sinners Now and at the hour of our death. But I have never seen a road sign that ...

1122. Magnify Your Ministry!

Romans 11:11-24

Sermon

Raymond Gibson

A very important group in any United Methodist Church is the Committee on Pastor-Parish Relations. The Book of Discipline of our denomination says that one of the primary functions of that body is "to counsel with the minister and staff pertaining to their relationship with the congregation, including priorities to be given in the use of their time and skill in relation to the goals and objectives set for the congregation’s mission and demands upon the ministry." When this sentence was read to the newly- ...

1123. A LITURGICAL DRAMA FOR ALL SAINTS’

Drama

Tom Eberle

A LITURGICAL DRAMA FOR ALL SAINTS’ [Placed in the chancel area of the sanctuary is a large cardboard box, about two to three feet high, with a chair setting in it. At the end of the prelude "Box" takes his place on the chair. Immediately in front of the pews, on both sides of the center aisle, is an arrangement of candles. Five candles are necessary for the chancel drama, plus a candle for each member of the congregation who died in the past 12 months.] Prelude Box: Before we go any further, let’s lay all ...

1124. Are You Under Arrest?

Heb 5:11-13; 10:39

Sermon

Robert Noblett

It was a Saturday morning and I recall it all well. I was at my grandmother’s house when a call came from my mother that there was a policeman who wanted to see me at home. I could hardly believe what she was relating! I couldn’t imagine why a policeman would want to see me. Home I went and there sitting in a chair in the living room was a great big hulk of a sargeant! I still remember his opening greeting - "Hello, Bob!" It seemed that a woman two doors down the street had sent a letter to the Rochester ...

1125. God and the Weather

Matthew 5:45; 16:2-3 · Psalm 18:7-11; 46:1-3, 11

Sermon

Robert Noblett

Imagine for a moment that you are a person who has a great deal of difficulty in sustaining a conversation once you have met a person. After initial introductions, you draw a blank. It wouldn’t surprise me a bit that if in 99% of these situations what you end up talking about is the weather. "Sure is hot today, isn’t it?" "Think it’s going to rain? Sure looks like it." "These weather forecasters, you can never trust them! They said yesterday there was only 10% chance of showers and our picnic was rained on ...

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