Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1151 to 1175 of 4884 results

Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... what? All of Jesus’ parables are like depth-charges, but this one seems to give off a dazzling display of fireworks when it explodes. The power of Jesus’ parables is that even though they were all set in the first century world, they have perfect twenty-first century pitch, both in terms of resonance and relevance. Granted, today’s parable talks about strange wedding traditions, midnight processions, a late bridegroom, and nearly a dozen dozing bridesmaids, but the whole situation Jesus described is ...

1152. John the Stall Cleaner

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... in networked connections. There is only one time we don’t need anyone or anything else to keep us going. That’s when we are dead. 5) I know some of you need to need to clean out your perfectionism. Are you not happy unless everything is tidy and perfect? The Good Housekeeping motto has always been, “A place for everything and everything in its place.” Not. Dump that. Life is all about thriving in the midst of chaos. Stuff happens. You are not going to have a zip-lock freezer bag to put it into. Mary ...

1153. The Ultimate Athlete

Ephesians 6:10-20

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... letter to the Ephesians is an admonition to keep the community of the church in constant communication with each other. The language of devotion, like the idiosyncratic languages spoken by athletes and fans ("RBIs", "draw plays," "pick-and-go") takes time to learn and practice to perfect. But when we give ourselves completely over to prayer, it is like discovering that elusive state of "flow" that athletes talk about - where the whole body, the whole mind, and the whole spirit are so completely engaged and ...

1154. Getting the Face We Deserve

Exodus 34:29-35

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... of joint; poor, clumsy Uzzah stumbled against the Ark of the Covenant and was struck dead; and Isaiah cried out in anguish "Woe is me," when he, "a man of unclean lips, " saw God with his own eyes. Many of those who met with God were hardly "perfect-model" types - at least not after their confrontation. While our spiritual ancestors in the faith clearly met God face to face at their own risk, today our sense of awe and our "fear of the Lord" appears to have dissolved. When it comes to encountering God, we ...

1155. Settle for an F

Hebrews 13:1-8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... thought of as a static relationship. God, the cosmic dynamo of all creation, can hardly be accused of being stationary and tedious. Using Warner's focus on the archetypal couple, Adam and Eve, we must see their relationship prior to the fall as one that perfectly reflected the boundless flowing love of God in all its shapes and forms. By living in harmony with God and each other, their marriage mirrored "the oneness between themselves as individuals and as a couple on the one hand and with God on the other ...

1156. Christ the Apple Tree

Isaiah 11:1-10

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... -your-own" tree farm to get a Christmas tree. Million of evergreens, from the tiny to the tremendous, will be sacrificed for a few weeks of home, office and shopping mall decoration. Growing Christmas trees is now a huge industry, dedicated to producing acre after acre of perfectly symmetrical, closely-clipped, firm and bushy tree clones - varying from each other only in height. Finding an endearingly scruffy "Charlie Brown" tree has become virtually impossible. Every tree has been pinched and pruned into a ...

1157. Three Wise Gifts

Matthew 2:13-23

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... (see Glamour Magazine December 1991, 86). Ministering to the human spirit does not take anything out of you - it puts life and love back into you while multiplying itself through your actions. Think how the other person will feel when you wave them into that perfect parking place that opened up, even though you were there first. Isn't it possible that they might then smile and thank the check-out clerk, wishing her a nice afternoon - and mean it? Ever consider what it might mean to the volunteers and the ...

1158. Everyone's a Fundamentalist About Something

Mark 2:23-3:6

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... . Donors were sought, but none was suitable. Finally, Victoria Ingram said: "What about me? Could I give him one of my kidneys?" Tests were made, and, remarkably, she was the perfect donor. The wedding was postponed, and a surgery was scheduled instead. When asked by the press why she would go through all of this, her answer was perfect: "This is what love is. This is what relationships are all about" (R. Scott Colglazier, Finding a Faith That Makes Sense [St. Louis: Chalice Press, 1996], 151). She and her ...

1159. Close the Loopholes

Ephesians 4:25-5:2

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... 1 Lying: Lying is one of those cultural faux pas that has never gone out of style. Ephesians starts with Christians' need to close this loophole and "put away falsehood" because the pagan culture of the first century taught that lying could be a perfectly valid activity. "When telling a lie will be profitable, let it be told." (Darius to Herodotus) "There is nothing decorous in truth but when it is profitable; yea, sometimes truth is hurtful, and lying is profitable to men." (Maximus Tyrius) "He may lie who ...

1160. A 24-7-365 God

Hebrews 7:23-28

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... caught in the middle of one of history's worst nightmares on the nature of Christ's being and the sacrifice that was made to transform our relationship to the divine. Far from being "otherworldly," the message from Hebrews of Jesus' unique identity, his perfect qualifications as our heavenly high priest, and his once-and-for-all sacrifice breathed faith and hope into the gray walls of Finkenwalde. It still does today for all who find themselves in prisons of their own making or imprisoned by forces beyond ...

1161. The Well That Will Never Run Dry

Exodus 17:1-7

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... to make sure the living water of God's redeeming love, Jesus Christ, is made accessible for the tastes of the next generation to come. As long as we don't try to tamper with the recipe, living water - like plain old H2O - is perfectly adaptable to almost any shape or size of container. [Note: You may want to demonstrate this. Have some weird-shaped bottles, glasses, etc. to show the fact that water fills every shape imaginable without changing its nature.] Good thing! - because all generations need a ...

1162. The Longest Journey Is the Shortest Distance

Acts 17:22-31

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... soul in ... White Plains, New York; Topeka, Kansas; Boise, Idaho; Green Bay, Wisconsin; or (name your community here)? Perhaps that is one reason so many of us decide that setting out on a spiritual quest, going on a journey in search of God's perfect presence, is simply too much effort. Assuming that an experience of holiness requires some exotic, remote location, we despair of any hope of experiencing God in our own lives before we even get started. Paul's speech before the Athenians dared them to look ...

1163. Sleep Loose

2 Corinthians 13:11-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... of faith. It is in feeling the strength of all that support that we can relax and "sleep loose." Nancy Wilson is one of my favorite singers. There is a T-shirt that says "Aged to Perfection." Nancy Wilson's singing of the blues, jazz and Big Band tunes is just that "aged to perfection." At a fundraiser for United Theological Seminary called "Ebony and Ivory," she and Willie Nelson came to give the Dayton community an evening of total enchantment. The final song on her latest compact disk, Love, Nancy ...

1164. Just Showing Up Doesn't Get the Job Done

Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... failed to embody the qualities of honor, loyalty, bravery and commitment. John Wayne's cowboys didn't just look good. They were good. In the classic, "Rio Bravo," Wayne's character summed up the essence of his cowboy philosophy by declaring to a less-than-perfect sidekick "Just showing up doesn't get the job done!" Matthew's parable-allegory of the 10 bridesmaids seems to emphasize this same kind of message to his reader it takes more than good intentions to be a faithful member of the Christian community ...

1165. The Resolution to End All Resolutions

Luke 2:41-52

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... to read the Bible in the morning! On January 1 your whole life can be transformed. For one day at least, all your good intentions can be jump-started, and all your bad habits can be unplugged. At least for a few hours (or minutes?), the year is a perfect reflection of your best self. But January 1 is followed inevitably by January 2 and January 3. Someday soon you will opt for staying in a cozy bed a few more minutes rather than plunging out into the cold on that jog. Pretty soon candy wrappers will start ...

1166. The Lord Needs You

Jeremiah 1:4-10

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... almost immobilized - Ezekiel - rendered speechless - Paul - whose "thorn in the flesh" was constantly crippling him - Peter - fearful and impetuous - Jesus of Nazareth- can you think of a more unlikely candidate for "world Messiah" than Jesus? Yet for God, "strength made perfect in weakness "makes the perfect servant. Zechariah 4:6 says it all, "Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord." 4. The Lord Needs You Now!!! Gore Vidal, one of my most favorite writers and one of my least favorite ...

1167. The Cream of the Crop, or The Skimmed Milk of the Earth

Luke 14:1, 7-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... only destroy the status of the host among his precious "A-list" acquaintances, but according to the old law, it could actually threaten his own chances of being well-received by God. Associating with "less-than-perfect" people was just not safe. But Jesus denies that God is looking for human perfection for only those who are healthy and whole and clean and beautiful. Jesus stuns his listeners by asserting that the coming kingdom of God will reveal these outcast, humbled humans as among God's favorite, the ...

1168. What Jesus Wants for Chrismas (Part 1)

Isaiah 35:1-10

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

What might we consider giving to Jesus at Christmas? In a season of gift-giving, the giver of every good and perfect gift often gets left out. What might our gift be? What is the "perfect gift" for Jesus? Every year, all of us get caught up in making Christmas "wish lists." Children's lists are typically very long and densely populated with plastic (Power Rangers/Barbies), fur (puppies/kittens) and microchips (computer/video games). Teenagers often add gas guzzlers and machines that emit very high ...

1169. New Beginnings

John 1:1-18

Sermon

King Duncan

... Please leave a message after the beep. If I do not return your call, you are one of the changes.” (2) It’s good to make changes, for the most part. As we are often reminded by our critics, our spouses or our children, none of us is perfect. In fact, some of us might have some deep regrets about the way we’ve lived our lives. Dr. Les Parrott tells about a guy in Fredericksburg, Virginia named Cliff Satterthwaite who helps people get rid of their regrets. Each New Year’s Eve Mr. Satterthwaite sets up ...

1170. John 14:23-29

John 14:23-29

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... of Jesus' being once again restored to his former glory after he has ascended to heaven. Our final verse for today unveils Jesus' whole reason for revealing these upcoming events to his disciples before they occur. If the disciples already had the perfect love and perfect peace that Jesus offers, they would not have needed this sneak preview into the future. But because they are still riddled with fears and driven with faithlessness, Jesus has braced and buoyed them for the future so that they might believe ...

1171. 2 Corinthians 12:2-10

2 Corinthians 12:2-10

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... derived from two sources. As early as the time of John Calvin, biblical scholars have linked Paul's three-tiered heaven with the number of the Trinity. Paul's Trinitarian mind-set naturally associated three with that which is the highest, the most complete, the most perfect. That this third heaven should be equated with paradise is suggested by a more specific source. In Luke 23:43, Jesus' words of comfort to the thief on the cross next to him promise "today you will be with me in Paradise." But while Paul ...

1172. Philippians 3:4b-14

Philippians 3:4b-14

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... as his call to ministry. It is part of being a servant of Christ. Only by becoming a servant like Christ can believers hope to obtain full knowledge of Christ and so "attain the resurrection from the dead." Just as Paul had "boasted" about his previous perfection under the Law, he denies any inference that he has yet reached his new goal of being fully in Christ. The apostle once again invokes the image of a runner (see Philippians 2:16) to describe the spiritual quest he finds himself embodying. It is not ...

1173. Revelation 21:1-6

Revelation 21:1-6

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... the first, middle and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Thus God, the truth, is a God who is present at the beginning, the center and the end of all created existence. The final image in verse 6 again echoes Isaiah's prophetic visions of divinely perfected life. For a desert people the divinely renewed future was always envisioned as having abundant water (see Isaiah 35:1-2; Ezekiel 47:1-12). Those whose names have been found in "The Book of Life" receive the reward of knowing that for all eternity they ...

1174. Hebrews 11:29-12:2

Hebrews 11:29-12:2

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... has been a repeating refrain in Hebrews (see 1:4; 6:9; 7:7; 7:19; 7:22; 8:6; 9:23; 10:34; 11:16; 11:35). The ultimate "something better" God has provided is Jesus Christ, "the pioneer and perfecter of our faith" (12:2). As he looks to this new day and new perfection, the author employs a new set of images for faithfulness. The multitude of faithful that have come before this generation are remembered as a great "cloud of witnesses" (12:1). These gathered faithful assemble to observe each new generation as ...

1175. John 15:9-17

John 15:9-17

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... to his Father's commandments, and offers himself as a model of obedience and abiding love. Indeed the "joy" Jesus goes on to speak of in verse 11 is the joy that he knows as a result of his absolute obedience to the Father, and the perfect unity they share. Jesus urges his disciples to choose obedience and to experience his abiding love so that they may also experience this kind of total joy. Jesus' emphasis on "keeping his commandments" might have been unsettling to the tableful of disciples. After all, as ...

Showing results