Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1101 to 1125 of 2665 results

1101. When God Overdoes It

Lamentations 1:1-22

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... he has, his house, his money, his family." "His health." "Makes him sick." "To test his faith." "Right. To test his faith. So I'm wondering." "What are you wondering?" "What do you think about that?" Morrie coughs violently, his hands quiver as he drops them to his side. "I think," he says, smiling, "God overdid it."(1) If you have been following the news lately, it is easy to agree with Morrie. Sometimes it does indeed seem like God overdoes this suffering business. The little book of Lamentations ...

1102. I'm On a Mission from God!

Jonah 1:1-17

Sermon

... for our 175th anniversary, Marj Carpenter. In her most recent book,(3) Marj says, "I admit I am sinfully proud of being Presbyterian. It's a sin to be proud but we don't waste that one much. When anybody asks what church we attend, we drop our heads and sheepishly say, 'Presbyterian.' But there are 90-million people out there in more than 120 countries who are very proud of being Presbyterian and Reformed, and we helped put them there." She talks about speaking in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley to a gathering ...

1103. Going Fishing

Mark 1:14-20

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... not work according to our Timex, even in getting fish to respond to our efforts. Stick with the program. Do not let discouragement keep you from GOIN' FISHIN'. One day, long ago, Jesus said to some friends, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of people." They dropped what they were doing and came along. Now Jesus says to 20th century friends, "Follow me and I will make you fishers of people." Our response? How about, "OK, Lord. Let's do it. We're GOIN' FISHIN'." Let us pray. Lord, we confess that we are ...

1104. Giving Dangerously

Malachi 3:6-18

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... , played store at home that afternoon. The pre-schooler was left in charge of the counter while the older brother went off in search of items to use for merchandise. The boys' father saw their intention and, to go along with their game, went up and dropped a few coins on the counter for a purchase. The youngster at the counter said, "Dad, this is a store, not a church." Hmmm. What had those kids learned? There is another danger in giving only in response to an appeal - self-righteousness. You have heard ...

1105. God and Hurricanes

Matthew 5:43-48

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... having to stop. I reached over and turned on the CB radio to see if there was an accident ahead. Suddenly I noticed a woman and her friend stranded along the road with their hood raised. Their car had overheated. People were jumping from their cars and dropping off gallons of their own drinking water to the woman. As we passed, giving her another gallon of water, the woman was pouring water into her radiator when it spewed back into her face scalding her on the side of the head. Immediately three or four ...

1106. The Lord's Prayer: "Thy Will Be Done"

Matthew 6:5-15

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... night, we are in for trouble and we know it. Many of the physical infirmities that we have are of human making, some as individuals, some as society as a whole. But God should not be blamed. Sickness and disease are no more God's will than are bombs dropping on little children in Sarajevo. We make a mockery of our concept of a God who loves us if we really believe that, for some folks, God arranges terrible and excruciating pain. Again, that would not be the act of GOD, but rather some kind of devil. What ...

1107. The Lord's Prayer: "Our Daily Bread"

Matthew 6:5-15

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... painfully obvious as it is in many parts of the world, but the need remains nonetheless. Perhaps we will understand that more fully when we think of the words we use. We begin with GIVE. "GIVE us this day..." What do we mean? Are we asking that God drop our food magically from heaven like he did with the children of Israel in the desert? Of course not. If we WERE, I suspect our disappointment at not finding any manna on the ground would have long since destroyed what little faith we have. Our request is for ...

1108. The Lord's Prayer: The Kingdom, The Power, and The Glory

Matthew 6:5-15

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... ] sustain this universe (as He once founded it) by His boundless might, regulate it by His wisdom, preserve it by His goodness, and especially rule mankind by His righteousness and judgment, bear with it in His mercy, watch over it by His protection; but also...no drop will be found either of wisdom and light, or of righteousness or power or rectitude or of genuine truth, which does not flow from Him and of which He is not the cause.(1) In our Westminster Confession of Faith we affirm "God...alone [is the ...

1109. Are You the One?

Matthew 11:1-19

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... as big as the Kingdom of God."(4) "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?" I wonder if Jesus' response is a way of saying don't get tripped up on all this Messiah stuff. You might be pinning your hopes on someone dropping on to the scene like some deus ex machina in a Greek play here to magically fix things and make everything all right. POOF. Well, if that is what you are counting on, stop counting. It does not work that way. You are in this too. You have a part ...

1110. Good News for Tenant Farmers

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... the seed that falls onto a path beaten hard by many feet. Is that you? Then there is the one whose mind is like the shallow ground, someone who follows the fads, responds to the emotion of the moment, who takes something up quickly and just as quickly drops it. Is that you? Or there is that busy, busy, busy individual who has so many irons in the fire, so many interests in life, that often the most important things, get crowded out. Is that you? Finally, the good ground, the fertile mind - like good soil ...

1111. Hang in There!

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... were of people confused with their imprisonment and sometimes destroyed with their release. Painfully, silently, the audience relived the events of Wiesel's young life when he was the only surviving member of his family. Finally the stories ceased. His eyes dropped to the floor. There was no sound at all in that mammoth room for what seemed an agonizing eternity. Then he repeated the question, "After Auschwitz, can we still believe!" He shook his head slowly, sadly, "No, no,..." before concluding powerfully ...

1112. Stay in the Boat!

Matthew 14:22-36

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... 't be afraid." What got Peter in trouble? He got out of the boat. STAY IN THE BOAT! Our friend Will Willimon, the Dean of the Chapel at Duke, tells of a visit he made one afternoon to the office of a lawyer in his congregation. It was just a drop-in. Will says he did not know the man that well - his wife seemed to bear the church interest for the family. Listen to the story in Will's own words: "It was at the end of the day. I entered the outer office of his law firm. Everyone had ...

1113. The Power to Change the Past

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... God's rule in our lives when, and only when, we are willing to be as forgiving as God, no matter what the cost. Are there people in your life who need your forgiveness? What are you willing to do about it? Make a phone call? Write a letter? Drop by for a visit? In our Creed we say "I believe in the forgiveness of sins," and that forgiveness is not simply limited to the marvelous grace GOD shows to you and me. If we genuinely believe in the forgiveness of sins, we will make that forgiveness real to ...

1114. Ephphatha...Be Opened

Mark 7:31-37

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... would just as soon skip over because, at first blush, it makes Jesus come off like some insensitive jerk. This does not sound like the Jesus I know. In fact, I wonder why such a story was preserved in the gospel record anyway. But then the lectionary drops it in our homiletical lap and says HANDLE IT! Can we "rescue" Jesus here, find some way of explicating this conversation that will put him in a bit more flattering light? The commentators have tried to explain. Some have said that Jesus was just having a ...

1115. Surprise!

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... and magazines describing the way the baby boom generation and their children are looking to religion for meaning for their lives. Not all of them, obviously, but the articles note that, at one time or another, roughly two-thirds of the baby boomers dropped out of organized religion. Now, in recent years, more than one-third of them have returned. Almost 60% say they now attend church or synagogue. More than 80% of the baby boomers consider themselves religious, and they believe in life after death. The ...

1116. The News from Nazareth

Luke 1:46-56, Luke 1:39-45

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Interesting item in the paper the other day. "According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, while both male and female reindeer grow antlers in the summer each year...Male reindeer drop their antlers at the beginning of winter, usually late November to mid-December. Female reindeer, however, retain their antlers until after they give birth in the spring. Therefore, according to every historical rendition depicting Santa's reindeer, every single one of them, from Rudolph to Blitzen...had to be a ...

1117. Ready or Not, Here He Comes!

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... share the extra coat, we might discover that we suddenly have more closet space at home without the cost of more fancy racks or building on another room. When we who have plenty of food share it with someone who is hungry, we might discover a way to drop those ten extra pounds we picked up over Thanksgiving. That may all be true, but I would not imagine John buying that as appropriate motivation. We share because it is RIGHT to share. PERIOD! If you want do right, then DO IT! Jesse Jackson has said, "It is ...

1118. Terms of Endearment

Luke 3:21-38

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... only 22 weeks, we have referred to her, alternately, as: Bridgette, Bridge, Bridgey, Bridgelet, Bridgester, Bridgemeister, Bridgeman, Bridgette-the-Fidgettey-Midget, Bridgettes-of-Madison-County, Pooh, Poop, Poopy, Pumpkin, Pumpkin Seed, Pumpkin Pooch, Peanut, Muffin, Noodle, Doodle, Doodle-Doo, Dew Drop, Sweet Pea, Pea Pod, Boopie, Bubbles, Bundles, and Stinky the Bald-Headed Girl. (That last one was Bridgette's name her first week only. I fully expect her to take me to court over it one day.) In the end ...

1119. Temptation

Luke 4:1-13

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... blamed Jesus for doing something like that? The second temptation was equally enticing. Let folks know beyond the shadow of a doubt that YOU ARE THE MESSIAH, the Chosen One of God. What a spectacular stunt to leap from the Pinnacle of the Temple, drop the 450 feet straight down into the Kidron Valley, and land unharmed. God's angels will protect you. People will SURELY listen to your message when they hear what you have done. Would anyone legitimately reproach Jesus for deciding to take that course? The ...

1120. The Church Should Go to Hell!

Luke 4:1-13

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... it is written: 'He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'" What a spectacular stunt to leap from the Pinnacle of the Temple, drop the 450 feet straight down into the Kidron Valley, and land unharmed. God's angels will protect you. People will SURELY listen to your message when they hear what about this. Showtime! Would anyone legitimately reproach Jesus for deciding to take that course? The ...

1121. Is God Like Daddy? - Father's Day

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... able to eat what the pigs had. But, of course, that is what drove him back home...a shadow of the young man who had left not all that long ago. I can see the face of that father...eyes getting as wide as dinner plates, the jaw dropping and suddenly being completely enveloped in the biggest smile anyone could imagine. Then the run down the road, as fast as those aging legs could carry him. The weary son just standing and staring at the sight approaching him, then when Dad finally arrived, throwing his arms ...

1122. Homecoming

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... exile, and this one we just read, the return of the Prodigal Son, in what has been called the greatest short story ever written. "Father, I want RIGHT NOW what's coming to me." My inheritance!!! It was an outrageous request - it said in effect, "Dad, drop dead!" Dr. Kenneth Bailey, who taught for years at the Near East School of Theology in Beirut, writes of knowing of only one case in modern village life where this kind of request was made. An older son asked his father to divide the family inheritance ...

1123. Would a Loving God Really Let Anyone Go to Hell?

Luke 16:19-31

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... the fire is not quenched."(6) In Luke's gospel, he tells the story that we read a few minutes ago. The rich man cries that he is in torment in the flame and he begs for Lazarus to come and dip his finger in water so, with just a drop, the man's tongue might be cooled. Not pretty pictures. The final description of Hell in the New Testament is found in Revelation 21. Hell is pictured as "the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."(7) How much of that description or the ...

1124. Building a World

Acts 2:1-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... , Kristy, 10 years old, and her half-brother, Mikey, six years old. Deanna proceeded to explain that they were each sired by different fathers, and that Mikey’s father was so abusive that the children’s mother was filing for a divorce from him. The mother had dropped the kids at the park so that she could go gambling at the local casino. With a touch of sadness, Deanna reported that ever since their mother had lost her job, the family had been living in a tent on the outskirts of town. Then Deanna asked ...

1125. The Christ of the Commonplace

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... just as the women had said, but him they did not see." Did Cleopas and Joseph not believe the report of resurrection? An intriguing thought, but probably wishful thinking. More likely, grave robbers. Otherwise, why not stay in the city to see if Jesus would drop by? I wonder. But that wonder pales in comparison to the wonder I have about their not knowing who this was. The lesson says, "they were kept from recognizing him." What kept them? Hold that question. Jesus talks now. "And beginning with Moses and ...

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