Sermon and Worship Resources

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Psalm 143:1-12

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... within the nation (see further the Introduction, and comments on Ps. 106). We cannot be certain that Psalm 143 is postexilic, but verse 2 may reflect this theological development (cf. 130:3). Second, the Hebrew term “righteousness” can be used in a variety of senses. The request for judgment “according to my righteousness” in 7:8 lies in the context of false accusers (also 35:24). Thus, relative to these wicked, the speaker of the psalm is righteous. The Hebrew terms for “wicked” (rāšāʿ) and ...

1127. Blessings for a Defiled People

Haggai 2:10-19

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... in Zech. 1–8 and Isa. 56–66 provide some of the relevant data). We cannot be sure which of these Haggai had in mind, and he need not have had particular problems in mind. It would be an uncontroversial view that, for a variety of reasons, the community had a problem with its defilement. The temple was designed to have a key role in resolving questions about defilement; hence the link between Haggai’ s stress on the significance of the building project and his questions about defilement. When ...

1128. Gathered Around Jesus

Mark 6:30-34; 53-56

Sermon

David Coffin

... retreat. The council was told that they were not the only ones who had experienced such a sudden change in both worship and giving numbers. It was happening throughout both mainline and conservative congregations in North America for a variety of demographic and cultural reasons. The church council was given various models of what other churches had experimented with in terms of bi-vocational pastoral ministry, consolidation of congregations, and multiple point parishes (where a pastor serves more than ...

1129. Breathe

John 6:56-69

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... . Stress, as we’ve probably all experienced at one time or another, remains one ofthe greatest challenges to our mental, physical, and spiritual health. Human beings today undergo serious amounts of stress and anxiety, which affects our health in a variety of ways. We can suffer from insomnia. We can feel easily fatigued and overwhelmed by life. We can become distracted and forgetful. We can experience panic attacks, restlessness, depression, or shortness of breath. Our immune system can weaken. Our hair ...

1130. It’s Lonely At The Top

Mark 9:38-50 · Esther 7:1-10; 9:20-22 · Psalm 124 · Numbers 11:4-29

Sermon

Thomas C. Willadsen

... be lonely at the top. The Hebrews were whining to Moses. They were tired of manna. They recalled all the delicious food they enjoyed in Egypt. Through the eyes of nostalgia, slavery looked pretty good. At least they got three squares a day, and there was a little variety in the menu. Moses was sick and tired of leading the people. It was too big a job! Moses didn’t ask for this gig! He was not the Hebrews’ mother and father. If God really wanted to do something nice for Moses, he’d simply kill him ...

1131. What's In a Name?

Mark 10:2-16 · Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12 · Psalm 8

Sermon

Thomas C. Willadsen

... .” (St. Augustine Quotes, St. Augustine R.C. Church, staugny.org/quotes) Knowing that words will always fall short of describing the reality of God should spur us to be more creative and more imaginative. I try to begin prayers spoken in worship in a variety of ways. Sometimes I get stuck on “master of the universe” which is a name for God favored by many Jews. Sometimes “mighty” or “holy” God works. When Jesus taught his disciples the prayer we call the Lord’s Prayer he began in a startling ...

1132. Scandal

Luke 22:14-23:56

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... is big enough to be able to handle it. What is more important is that we have offended ourselves. We have lost touch with our place in the house of God. We need a high priest who can help us find our way back home. Jesus did this in a variety of ways. Irenaeus thought that Jesus had to be at least fifty years old when he died, because the point of Jesus’ coming to earth was to go through all the stages of human life (fifty was certainly old age at the time) in order to show us how to ...

1133. Living Through Hard Times

2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10

Sermon

Bonnie Bates

... ignoring my message — rather there were tears in the eyes of women, participation and affirmation, clapping and cheering at the conclusion of the message, and a deep sense of reverence in the attention paid to me. I cannot imagine a US group, even of a variety of Christian denominations, being more engaged and more attentive to the words of my mouth, which I know were the words God asked me to share. This reconciling of the people gathered as simply children of God, not of sects or faith traditions, was a ...

1134. Time to Light the Fire

Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” From the beginning of time, humankind has been fascinated with fire. We found that fire can produce both heat and light, both of which can aid us in our daily lives in a variety of ways. From the time we discovered fire to today’s use of heat and fire, we’ve learned to use heat and light for lasers that heal and for bombs that kill, for fire that cooks our food and heats our home to fire that burns down our homes ...

1135. Messiah’s Community

John 20:19-31

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit into the disciples, and they rose up the living Body of Christ. Paul S. Minear served us well when he penned his famous study years ago, Images of the Church in the New Testament. After identifying a variety of what he termed “minor images,” such as “salt,” “letter,” “fish,” “boat,” “net,” “loaf,” and a dozen or so more, Minear went on to focus a chapter each on the “major images” of “People of God,” “New Creation,” and “Fellowship in ...

1136. A Gift With YOUR Name On It

Romans 1:1-7

Sermon

Heather Sugden

... to wait until Christmas to open. Each one got added to the pile, which grew and wrapped itself around the tree. We kids would rearrange the gifts into our own little piles and dream of what might be inside the pretty paper, underneath the bows, and inside the variety of boxes. We kids also dreamed out loud about what gifts still might be coming our way. We wondered if a certain toy could possibly be in a box that size and shape, or if it was still to come… The focus on our gifts became so all-consuming ...

1137. God Is Like...a Name

Exodus 3:1-15

Sermon

Kenneth L. Gibble

... of a man named Abraham, a tribe of people known as the Israelites. The world in which they lived, in which Moses lived, was a world filled with the worship of many gods. People in that time believed that human life was surrounded and influenced by a variety of divine powers. But this wasn’t necessarily comforting because some of those divine powers brought calamity and suffering. If you were dealing with a god, you had better know what kind of god it was. Furthermore, it was a good idea to know the deity ...

1138. God Is Like...a Potter

Jeremiah 18:1-11 · 1 Corinthians 15:20-26

Sermon

Kenneth L. Gibble

... present a striking alternative: Before Jehovah’s awe-full throne, Ye nations bow with sacred joy; Know that the Lord is God alone; He can create and He destroy, He can create and He destroy. (in the public domain) What does God destroy? Evil in its great variety of forms. “Deliver us from evil,” we pray. And what we mean is there are those things in the world and in our own lives that threaten us, conspire against us. Deliver us, O Lord, from these things. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians that, in the end ...

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