Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1126 to 1150 of 5000 results

Mark 12:38-44

Sermon

William G. Carter

... ? We don't know where she lived, what she did with her days, or what kind of support she received from the extended family. Mark suggests only three details about her. First, she was a widow. Second, she was poor. And third, she gave everything she had as a ... not, could not, hold anything back from God; neither would he. She gave away all she had; and according to the Gospel of Mark, within a few days of leaving that temple, Jesus himself would give everything away. "Look at her," he said. "Take a good, hard ...

1127. Beyond a Friendly, Cuddly Christmas

Matthew 2:13-23

Sermon

King Duncan

... shouted for joy. So the Hicks’ were puzzled when, a few weeks later, Joshua didn’t get excited when he saw the school bus pull up. In fact, he dragged his feet and tried to talk his parents out of sending him to school. As the bus pulled away, John Mark Hicks realized why Joshua had lost his joy. He heard the older kids on the bus making fun of Joshua. He saw his son stumble up the aisle of the school bus, searching for someone to sit with. And it broke John Hicks’ heart. How could they treat his son ...

1128. The Surrogate

Matthew 1:1-17

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... window. When they would see the crimson cord, they would not attack her house, and she and her family would be spared. Then Joshua and his men along with the Arc of the Covenant (the shekinah) crossed the Jordan and set up stones at Gilgal to mark the 12 tribes, and there they celebrated Passover before sounding the seven ram’s horns that would bring the walls of the city to ruin. When they took Jericho, upon seeing the red cord, they spared Rahab and her family. Later Rahab would marry into the Hebrew ...

1129. By the Sea

Matthew 4:18-22, John 1:35-42, John 1:43-51

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... bring you sadness? Today, let the Father’s voice resonate in your heart. May Jesus’ voice remind you of a time when you created in God’s mind and cradled in God’s loving arms. Open your heart. Remember your primal memory when God put God’s mark on YOU: G--O--D. Grand Organizing Designer. G—O—D. Each one of your souls is stamped G—O—D. Grand Organizing Designer. You are designed by the Divine. Come Home. Come Home. *Good News Bible translation. “On the road by the sea” NRSV. Based on ...

1130. Parabola

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time, I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’” The Parable of the Growing Seed (as told by Mark) He also said, “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head ...

1131. The Death of John the Baptist

Matthew 14:1-12, Mark 6:14-29, Luke 9:1-9

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... on a platter and given to the girl, who brought it to her mother. His disciples came and took the body and buried it; then they went and told Jesus. Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. Mark’s Witness to the Death of John the Baptist King Herod heard of [the things Jesus was doing, including healing and casting out demons], for Jesus name had become known. Some were saying, “John the Baptizer has been raised from the dead; and for this reason these ...

1132. The Tragedy of Caiaphas

John 18:1-27 · John 11:45-47 · Matthew 26:36-75

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... the Coming Priest (The Testament of Levi) The Priest in the Order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 5 and 7) Zechariah’s Vision About His Son John (To Be Called The Baptist) (Luke 1:5-17) Jesus’ Prayer in Gethsemane, His Arrest, and His Confrontation by Caiaphas the High Priest (Mark 14:32-51 and 53-72; Luke 22:39-53 and 54-71) Caiaphas’ Dream of the Messiah [After Lazarus is resurrected by Jesus in front of many who were there….] Therefore, many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus ...

1133. Deep Faith

Genesis 6:1-8:22, Genesis 5:1-32

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... 42; 43; 44) God Will Redeem the Righteous (Isaiah 57) The Righteous Branch Will Come, the Lord’s Salvation (Jeremiah 23; 31) The Lord is Israel’s Shepherd (Ezekiel 34) The Messenger of the Covenant is Coming (Malachi 3) Jesus’ Baptism and the Sign of the Messiah (Matthew 3; Mark 1:1-11; John 1:1-34) The Story of God’s Vision to Cornelius, Peter’s Vision of the Net, and the Holy Spirit’s Blessing of the Gentiles (Acts 10) [Read Genesis 5-8: The Story of Noah. I will not print it here due to space ...

1134. Rooted and Rebooted

Psalm 126:1-6, Luke 13:31-35, 2 Samuel 15:13-37

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... destruction of the Temples) Psalm 11: The Lord Will Examine Psalm 12: Help Lord, for No One is Faithful Anymore Psalm 30: Weeping May Endure for a Night, but Joy Comes in the Morning Psalm 69: Zeal for Your House Consumes Me (A Lament of David) The Mark of the Saved and Ezekiel’s Lament for Jerusalem (Ezekiel 9) I Weep for My People Who Have Been Deceitful (Jeremiah 9) Restrain Your Eyes from Tears for Your Work Will Be Rewarded (Jeremiah 31 –Rachel’s Weeping in Ramah) Joel’s Call for Lament (Joel 1 ...

1135. Are You Troubled by Demons?

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

... troubled people who were more trouble to themselves than they were to anyone else. Take the man known as the Gerasene demoniac (Mark 5:1-17). He was living in a cemetery and, evidently, he was no danger to anyone but himself. He was quite disturbed, however. “Night ... and day among the tombs and in the hills, he would cry out,” says the Gospel of Mark, “and cut himself with stones.” What a sad man. When Jesus asked him his name, he responded, “My name is Legion, for we ...

1136. To Whom Do You Belong?

Mark 1:4-11

Sermon

Michael L. Sherer

... truth. When we know to whom we belong, and we trust implicitly that it is indeed true, it makes all the difference in the world. The story about Jesus’ baptism is about several things. Underlying the story, in this case told by the writer of the earliest gospel, Mark, is the theme of belonging. At the outset of his ministry, Jesus needed to know what we need to know: To whom do you belong? Why does it matter? When we know whose we are, we are able to discern who we are. This is the meaning of Christian ...

1137. The Dean's Dilemma

Ephesians 5:15-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... supernatural gift that comes from knowing Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, and having his spirit live in you. Dr. Mark Jacobson graduated as valedictorian of his class at Harvard University. He earned top honors in medical school and went on to ... But there is another life available to us. One that is centered on knowing God and living in God’s will. A life that is marked by contagious joy and thankfulness. And the end result of this life is purposeful living now and eternal life with God. If you want ...

1138. Little Start, Big Finish

Mark 4:26-34

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

... they always have? We live with mystery every day of our lives and have come to love it and accept it and even enjoy it. Mark tells us, in this parable of Jesus, that the kingdom of God is like those other mysteries, a gift, offered to us by God, and ... Can you remember the name of the place?” “Sure, it was in the East Village right next to a church — a little place called Saint Mark’s Pizza.” A father, a mensch, took his son into the city to buy a pair of combat boots the kid didn’t really need ...

1139. Missional Discontinuity

Mark 6:30-44, Mark 6:45-56

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

... that comes from prayer, meditation, corporate worship, and the study of scripture. An old friend of mine, an avid fisherman, had a bumper sticker on his truck that said, “If you’re too busy to fish, you’re too busy.” In the stories we heard the gospel writer, Mark, made the same case for eating. If you’re too busy to eat, you’re too busy. And, by extension, he made this point as well: If, in our ministry to others, we find ourselves too busy to learn, too busy to love, too busy to worship, too ...

1140. Never on Sunday

Mark 2:23-3:6

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

... a question with a question: Haven’t you read in the sacred texts how David was starving and broke into the temple and tricked the priest into giving him some sacred bread that only the priests could lawfully eat? Before we go on, let’s be honest. Mark had just massacred the story that was recounted in 1 Samuel 21. The parallels between David and Jesus were, pretty much, nonexistent. In the David story there was no mention of hunger, he didn’t have any companions with him, he did not enter the house of ...

1141. Clean and Unclean

Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... that defiles,” Jesus said. “For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person (Mark 7:21-23).” The implication is that the self-appointed guardians of cleanliness are guilty of some or all of these things themselves. Jesus said as much elsewhere in the gospels. And in the Acts of the Apostles Peter had a ...

1142. What Jesus Saw

Mark 12:38-44

Sermon

King Duncan

... . In December 1944, Betsie died at Ravensbrück. Corrie was released twelve days later. A few days after Corrie’s release all the women of her age group at Ravensbrück were sent to the gas chambers. Rodney L. Holman, author of a commentary on the Book of Mark, suggests we take a moment and see Corrie ten Boom the way Jesus saw her. To the outside world, she was a middle-aged woman now. She was emaciated from lack of food. Dirty from lack of hygiene in the camps. Bruised and battered by the guards. She ...

1143. For Us Or Against Us?

Mark 9:38-50

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... disciple is the greatest (9:33-37). Jesus said that, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all (Mark 9:35).” He then took up a child in his arms. Children were not valued as they are today – they gained value as they ... are salted by our service in the name of Christ, and in our offerings. “Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another (Mark 9:50).” Jesus tells us. Know that we are all salted, all broken in different ways, and yet in our suffering and struggles we ...

1144. Devour And Conquer

Mark 12:38-44

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... that let us know what people ate and what their diet meant for their health, or lack of it. Not only that, you can measure the tooth marks on bones and figure out what people were eating, and if dogs were getting a shot at the bones as well. Knowing this can tell you if ... and they could distinguish what sort of coin was thrown into the Trumpet Chests by the sound of precious metals. As Jesus watched, Mark told us, “A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny (10:42).” As a ...

1145. Get Up

Mark 5:21-43

Sermon

Will Willimon

... on the bottom of society, a one without rights or hope in her condition, is about to be set free. All of this is meant to demonstrate that Jesus is stronger than the one who binds us (a frequent theme throughout these first five chapters of Mark). These mighty acts confound those who witness them, evoking ''fear and trembling'' (verse 33), ''amazement'' (verse 42). What if, in Jesus, we are confronted with a power which heals the sick and raises the dead? What does this mean for the future of all of our ...

1146. Why Doesn’t God Prove Himself To Doubters?

2 Peter 1:16-21

Sermon

Charley Reeb

... in. These doubts led him to give up his faith. Today, he has embraced the faith again and is active in a church but he still has many doubts and questions. My friend reminds me of the man who came to Jesus with his sick boy in the gospel of Mark. He said to Jesus, “I believe; help my unbelief.” If we are honest, that’s where most of us live. There are days when we feel like Jesus is holding our hand, and there are days we feel completely in the dark. If you struggle with doubts and questions about ...

1147. Ready!

Mark 13:24-37

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.”(Mark 13:37) In some churches, the emphasis is very heavily on apocalyptic themes — the rapture of the church, the great tribulation, and the imminent return of Christ. There is the threat of being “left behind” that fueled the interest in those best-selling books and the movie ...

1148. Things That Open

Mark 1:9-15

Sermon

Mary Austin

... heard the voice speaking with Him. In Advent, we heard the prophet Isaiah call out to God, O that you would tear open the heavens and come down. (Isaiah 64:1) Now God has done that very thing. The God who was far away is now a lot closer. Mark wanted to be sure we knew that, in Jesus’ life, God is moving closer to humankind. The door is open for us, too. This same odd thing happens in Jesus’ death. The curtain in the temple — the divider between God and people — was torn in two. The division between ...

1149. The Seventy “Sevens”

Daniel 9:20-27

Understanding Series

William Nelson

... O.T. criticism” (Montgomery, Daniel, p. 400). 9:20–27 The prayer is mostly traditional material, but this last section of the chapter moves into the apocalyptic genre again. Just as the prayer was introduced twice (vv. 3 and 4), so there are two verses that mark the transition from the prayer to the revelation of Gabriel. Verses 20 and 21a are doublets. Verse 21a seems to be more likely original; verse 20 was added later, perhaps when the prayer was added (if it was a later addition). Verse 20 is not a ...

1150. The Power of Weakness

Mark 8:27-38 · Psalm 19

Sermon

Thomas C. Willadsen

... about his identity and their relationship to him. Again, he started with a wide circle, “Who do people say that I am?” and the answers the disciples give him are that he is thought of as a forerunner of the Messiah. But Peter said, “You are the Messiah.” Mark 8:27-29 (NRSV). There’s a huge difference between the one who has come before — the one who announces the coming of the Christ — and the Christ himself. And in just about every way, the Christ who is about to come, but is not yet here, is ...

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