Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1101 to 1125 of 4944 results

1101. Reflections On A Calling (ten-year Anniversary Sermon)

2 Corinthians 4:1-18

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

One of my heroes is Bishop Gerald Kennedy. He was the Bishop in Southern California who extended me the invitation to join his conference when we were under such great pressure in Mississippi back in 1964. I spent ten wonderful years under his leadership there in Southern California. He's one of the greatest preachers, I believe, on this century. He was fond of telling about the Anglican Bishop who defined a sermon in this fashion: "A sermon is what a preacher will travel across the continent to deliver, ...

1102. You've Got Mail!

John 10:22-42

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Our extremely elderly American Eskimo dog Signe knows her family and their movements better than she knows what dogs do. Lying at her master's feet she knows whether to get up and follow Elizabeth when she rises or to stay put because Elizabeth is just getting a cup of tea and will be right back. · She's right at the door even before we can grab the car keys, but doesn't budge if we head for the laundry room. · The sound of the refrigerator door opening coupled with the crinkling sound of something being ...

1103. In His Steps

1 Peter 2:21

Children's Sermon

Brett Blair

Exegetical Aim: We have been called to follow in the steps of Jesus. Props: Several footprints cut out from construction paper, a sign with the words “Name Calling,” a sign with the word “Meanness,” and a sign with the word “Suffering.” Before the church service, tape the footprints in a trail on the floor of the sanctuary so that they wind around the sanctuary, behind the back seats, and eventually lead to the altar. The more the footprints wind the better. Along the trail, place the three signs at ...

1104. Just When We Think We're Safest, There's a Sunset Touch

Mark 6:30-44

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Today we’re beginning a series of sermons on coping - coping as a Christian. To cope is to “contend or struggle successfully.” Now I had some hesitancy about the use of the word cope in the title of this series. A lot of people are talking about coping. Being who I am, a Christian minister seeking to proclaim the word of God, I was not interested just in a series of self-help, psychological messages. So I thought for awhile that I would talk about conquering as Christians. Paul said we Christians are to be ...

1105. Will I Really Live Forever?

John 11:18-27, 39-45

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

Would anybody here like to live forever? At the crossroads of faith we come today to discuss the question of immortality. Yes, Virginia, there is a heaven. Yes, Jim, you can live forever. I believe that with all of my heart. Yet to explain the unexplainable and to describe the indescribable and to peek through the shadows of earth and catch a glimpse of eternity is often more than our grieving minds can grasp and our questioning intellects can assimilate. We, like Mary and Martha, may be more inclined to ...

1106. O Holy Night

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

King Duncan

You are probably familiar with the story of the woman who went to the post office to buy stamps for Christmas cards. She said to the clerk, “May I have 50 Christmas stamps?” The clerk said, “What denomination?” The woman said, “God help us. Has it come to this? Give me 6 Catholic, 12 Presbyterian, 10 Lutheran and 22 Baptist.” It never ceases to amaze me that around this world on this night among Christians of every nation, and yes, every denomination, people of every age and race and language are bowing ...

1107. Peace Be With You

John 20:19-23

Sermon

King Duncan

A man tells of visiting a college which had for its students’ protection, security call boxes every few hundred feet. If you were wandering around the campus at night and felt uneasy about somebody following you, you could hit the button on that call box and have a security officer come investigate immediately. On one of these phones hung a sign that said, “Out of Order.” Underneath the “Out of Order” sign someone had scrawled, “Keep Running!” (1) To me that is a metaphor of how many people live their ...

1108. Invincible

John 14:15-21

Sermon

Lori Wagner

How many of you have someone in your life who you always know will tell you the truth, even if you don’t want to hear it? Someone you can trust to be entirely honest with you? Someone who accepts you as you are, sees your faults, and will not judge you for them, but who will guide you and encourage you to go the right paths, admit your mistakes, and live authentically in your own skin? Someone who you know cares about you so much that he or she calls you out on your “bads” and celebrates your “goods?” Who ...

1109. God, The Son

Sermon

Jerry Eckert

Comment: I spoke earlier of having someone in mind as I wrote a part. For the second sermon of a series on the Trinity, I decided to interview John the Baptist. In the congregation was a young man who weighed about 240 pounds, most of it muscle. He had a very large, full, nearly black beard. Although he is a gentleman in every respect, he is able to hold his own in a car repair shop and on an athletic field. He also happened to be in the church's drama group. I called him early in the week to see if he was ...

1110. God, The Son

Matthew 2:1-12

Drama

Jerry Eckert

[Author's Note: I spoke earlier of having someone in mind as I wrote a part. For the second sermon of a series on the Trinity, I decided to interview John the Baptist. In the congregation was a young man who weighed about 240 pounds, most of it muscle. He had a very large, full, nearly black beard. Although he is a gentleman in every respect, he is able to hold his own in a car repair shop and on an athletic field. He also happened to be in the church's drama group. I called him early in the week to see if ...

1111. MR. CAIN

Drama

Jerome W. Nilssen

CAIN and his wife, JAREL, in their early forties, have just returned from a gala banquet in CAIN’S honor; now they are preparing for bed. CAIN undresses slowly, still savoring his delight in being named "Rotarian of the Year." JAREL wears a sheer and obviously expensive negligee, but she hasn’t yet removed her jewelry. She is doing this now and she has quite a bit to remove, perhaps a bit too much. CAIN (Singing, off-key) "Happy days are here again, No more skies of gray again, Happy days are here again." ...

1112. What Excites God

Mark 2:1-12

Sermon

James Merritt

As a pastor I can really relate to the story of a pastor who was candidating at a church, and they told him that they wanted to call him provided he would agree to live by faith. When he asked the six men on the committee what they meant by that, they said, "Well, what we mean by that is, you're not going to have any stated salary, but you're just going to trust God to meet your needs." The man thought about it for a minute, and though it cost him the church, he gave a good response. He said, "I've got a ...

1113. A Strong-willed Woman

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

Have you ever noticed that some women are equal to any occasion? And they can be as tough as NFL linebackers. I heard about one woman in a farming community years ago who went to a meeting usually dominated by men. They were discussing some important issues critical to farmers. About midway through the meeting this woman stood up and spoke her piece. One of the old farmers didn’t like her intrusion. He jumped to his feet and said, “What does she know about anything. I would like to ask her if she knows how ...

1114. Minority Report

Matthew 13:1-9; 18-23

Sermon

James Merritt

Put on your thinking caps for a moment; become an amateur pastor or theologian, if you will, and see if you can give an answer to the following three questions: 1. If the gospel is the power of God—why doesn't everybody that hears the gospel become a Christian? 2. If the Bible is the Word of God—why doesn't the Bible have the same effect on everyone who reads it? 3. If Jesus is the Son of God—why doesn't everyone believe in Jesus? We can even narrow those questions. Why don't most people who hear the ...

1115. The Nano-Punch of Pentecost

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

The soul has its seasons. “There is a time to be born, a time to die.” The Bible has its seasons. The biblical New Year begins at the appearance of the first "new moon" of spring, when nature comes to life. The West has its seasons. The New Year begins in the depths of the winter, which is often when the new comes, in the midst of winter, the soul most often coming to life in the wintry seasons of life. The church has its seasons. In the church our “seasons” are not determined by climate changes or a ...

1116. Getting to a Teachable Moment

Mark 15:1-15

Sermon

Craig MacCreary

I spent part of a recent Sunday talking with a public school teacher who was quickly coming to the end of her rope. Talented, dedicated, one of the good people, she found herself with the class from hell and her life coming apart at the seams. We were well beyond being a non-anxious, fully individuated, differentiated presence. In short, we were at critical mess rather than critical mass. I have taught enough confirmation classes and have had experiences in the classroom in other forums to identify with ...

1117. Waiting Is So Hard to Do

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

(Ascension of the Lord) It is said that Americans are the most time-conscious people in the world. We are always in a hurry. We invented fast food, instant coffee, instant messenger, express mail, express oil changes and expressways. We are people constantly on the move. As one man put it, we’re people who shout at our microwave ovens to hurry up. I’m not going to ask you to hold up your hand if you enjoy waiting . . . for anything. That would hold up my sermon too much. And that would be a cardinal sin. ...

1118. Prologue to the Law of the Temple: The Lord Comes Home

Ezekiel 40:1--43:12

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

The Law of the Temple – Intro to Ezek. 40–48: The book of Ezekiel ends as it began: with a vision of the Glory of the Lord. Like all four visions in the book, this one begins with Ezekiel’s favorite expression for entry into the visionary state, “the hand of the LORD was upon me” (40:1; see the discussion of 1:3, and compare 3:14, 22; 8:1; 37:1). However, chapters 40–48 are linked particularly with chapters 1–3 and 8–11, the other two visions of the Lord’s Glory. Not only theme, but also structure join ...

1119. Job Hears the Whispers of God’s Works

Job 26:1--31:40

Teach the Text

Daniel J. Estes

Big Idea: When Job considers God’s greatness, he realizes how little he himself knows. Understanding the Text When Bildad says in Job 25:6 that humans are mere maggots and worms before the transcendent God, Job apparently interrupts him. Although Job agrees with much of Bildad’s lofty view of God, he draws different implications from their shared theology. Bildad claims that God’s greatness means nothing can thwart his justice, so life in God’s world is thoroughly predictable, but Job declares that God’s ...

1120. The Samaritan

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Lori Wagner

This morning, I want you to imagine with me for a moment. Close your eyes if you will. Sit back. I’m going to take you to another place. But first a warning: during a big chunk of this sermon, you will have your eyes closed. You can tell your friends that you went to church this Sunday and the preacher told you to shut your eyes and keep them shut for a long time. Where else can you go to church and be encouraged to shut your eyes? Are you ready? Let’s take a trip in time. [pause] You’re driving home from ...

1121. God's GPS

Genesis 28:10-22

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Prop: Shepherd’s Staff You all know and probably have seen at one time or another the bumper sticker, “God is my co-pilot.” Well, I’m here to tell you, “If God is your co-pilot, someone is in the wrong seat!” Trust me, when we are in relationship with God, God always needs to be driving. Can I get an “amen” to that? The bumper sticker may have gotten it skewed, but the metaphor is a good one. Because when God is driving, when we are together with God at the wheel of our cars, buses, planes, or golf carts – ...

1122. Too Good To Be True

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

Thomas G. Rogers

Jim was 16 years old. He'd only been driving for six months, but already his parents had paid the fines for two tickets that Jim had received for speeding. On the day that Jim's parents received a notice from their insurance company telling them that the cost of their automobile policy had been increased, they told Jim that they needed to talk. After supper, Jim and his parents sat at the kitchen table. It was a serious gathering. His mother began, "We seem to have a problem here. We know you want to be ...

1123. A Faith I Could No Longer Count On

Psalm 73:1-7, 13-18

Sermon

Robert G. McCreight

Introduction The seventy-third psalm mirrors the life of faith for everyone who is honest enough to allow his or her faith to be pushed to the limit. It begins with a simple, Sunday School outlook which lifts up the clear virtue of a good God who is good to good people. We all like that sort of thing, and quickly say "Amen" to that. It doesn't take long at all for the psalmist to "grow up" and realize that the simple theology of a good God smiling on good people doesn't hold much water. Just because that's ...

1124. Proper 22

Philippians 4:2-9, Philippians 3:1-11, Philippians 3:12-4:1, Isaiah 5:1-7, Exodus 20:1-21, Matthew 21:33-46

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

Theme: God's judgment on those who do not produce the fruits of righteousness. In the Isaiah text, God pronounces Israel an unfit fruit and votes to let it go fallow. In the Gospel parable of the Unfaithful Tenants, the Lord promises to take the kingdom away from Israel and give it to a nation producing the fruits of righteousness. COMMENTARY Old Testament: Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20 God had, in his grace, freed the Hebrews from their slavery in Egypt and was leading them into the Promised Land. To govern ...

1125. What’s Inside Comes Out!

Mark 7:1-23

Sermon

Charles R. Leary

My subject is, “What is Inside You Has to Come Out!” Human behavior is very much like the natural order. We sow seeds, set plants, fertilize and attend our gardens. We enroll our children in school to educate their minds. Every day we learn morality, form habits, build character. At our tables we train our tastes for the foods we prefer. The Good News Bible version of the Gospel says: “what comes out of a person makes him unclean ... from the inside, from a person’s heart, come the evil ideas which lead ...

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