Sermon and Worship Resources

Synonyms: Levi, disciple, evangelist, tax collector, the 12, the twelve, apostle, sermon on the mount, jewish audience, beatitudes, lord's prayer, great commission, parables, olivet discourse, mount of olives, olivet, synoptic

Showing 1151 to 1175 of 1232 results

1151. Death Of A Dream - Birth Of A Church

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

Genesis 11:1-9 This Old Testament lesson is a story of failure, but there is a great truth for all of us in it. I had a dear friend who used to say, "Every man is my teacher. I either learn what to do from him, or what not to do." It reminds me of a cartoon, which showed a bum sitting on a park bench; his clothes were tattered and torn, his toes were coming out of his shoes - the stereotypical hobo. Beneath the picture was the caption, "No man is completely worthless - he can always serve as a horrible ...

1152. Healing For The Past

Joshua 5:1-12

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

Occasionally I hear a senior citizen complain, "I just can't remember names like I used to," or, "I can't remember a thing anymore." Reminds me of a Peanuts cartoon strip I saw some time ago. Charlie Brown says, "My grandfather loves to sing hymns. He can remember the words to over a hundred hymns." Linus asks, "Does he sing in the choir?" Charlie replies, "No, he can't remember where the church is!" But the problem for many is not that they can't remember, but they can't forget. Psychologists remind us ...

1153. Our God Delivers!

Daniel 3:1-30

Sermon

Erskine White

There is no other God who can deliver in this way. (Daniel 3:29) We live in an age of increasing religion and decreasing faith. On the one hand, the "business" of religion is booming. More and more best-selling books are being published in which people tell how religion has made them successful, or given them solutions to the problems in their lives. More and more religious programs fill the airwaves of television and radio. You can go to Christian stores and buy Christian products of every kind; you can ...

1154. Advent 1

Luke 21:5-38, Jeremiah 33:1-26, Zechariah 14:1-21, 1 Thessalonians 3:6-13

Sermon Aid

George Bass

THEOLOGICAL CLUE The powerful impetus toward eschatological awareness and preparedness, which comes from the theological framework of the Christian year, as well as the particular lections as-signed to this day, makes the preacher conscious of how the future affects the present age. The result is a "get your house, and the world, in order" kind of theology emanating from a reading of the propers for this day. Advent makes Christians realize that "the best is yet to come, "in the promised return of Jesus ...

1155. Ascension

Acts 1:1-11, Psalm 110:1-7, Ephesians 1:15-23, Luke 24:36-49, Luke 24:50-53, 2 Kings 2:1-18

Sermon Aid

George Bass

THEOLOGICAL CLUE As the church year developed, the ascension was celebrated as part of the Easter event, and not as a separate festival. Luke's account of the ascension provided the "40th day" location of the festival within the calendar of the church; it became known as the Quadragesima, matching, in that respect, the other Quadragesima, Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. Ascension Day was also known as Holy Thursday, in some ancient calendars. (There is no evidence of a post-Easter sexagesima or ...

1156. Dim Visions And Blind Guides

Sermon

Harold Warlick

The societal limits which impinge on our world also affect our personal existence in profound ways. Nowhere is this more critical than in our own dreams and visions. Dreams and visions are important in life. Every action we take in life was designed by someone. Every piece of clothing, every building, every hymn book, every chair, every light fixture, and every automobile existed first in someone's vision. Someone had to have the idea or the dream to turn out the product. The same holds true for the way we ...

1157. The Water Gate And The Word Proclaimed

Nehemiah 7:73b--8:18

Sermon

Ron Lavin

The story of Nehemiah and Ezra is a drama in three parts. The first part takes place in the sixth century B.C. in Babylon where the Persians under King Cyrus conquered the Babylonians and decreed that the exiled Israelites could return home to Jerusalem. Nehemiah, a Jew living in Babylon at peace with the Persians, rose to a place of honor as a royal cup-bearer in the Persian court. In about 445 B.C., Nehemiah received a message from a relative who had just returned from a visit in Jerusalem. The relative ...

1158. The Boy Who Ran Away

Mark 14:43-52

Sermon

Erskine White

A young man followed Him, with nothing but a linen cloth about his body; and they seized him, but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked. (Mark 14:51-52) To understand what follows, cast loose your imagination for the moment. In this sermon, I am going to pretend that I am a Bible character who lived two thousand years ago, and I am writing a letter to the modern-day Christian church. The letter begins as follows: I. My name is John Mark. I was a witness to the last night Jesus spent on earth, and I ...

1159. The Burning Bush Within Us

Exodus 3:1-22

Sermon

Justin Tull

The flame is a part of our biblical heritage, from the burning bush, to pillars of fire, to the flaming tongues of the Spirit at Pentecost. The flame is a part of our church tradition and biblical tradition. It symbolizes the Spirit of God that interacts with us in so many different ways. Today we take a look at Moses’ experience at the burning bush. From this account we may learn many things about ourselves and about the God we worship. Several years ago, Dr. Bill Power, professor of Old Testament at ...

1160. Nothing Difficult Is Ever Easy

Matthew 22:34-40

Sermon

Johnny Dean

Let’s play a little game of "What If" this morning. What if someone who was visiting Snow Creek Christian Church for the very first time came to you after the worship service and said something like this: "You know, I used to go to church a lot when I was a kid, but I’ve been out of the church for a long time now. It just didn’t seem that important to me, I guess. I couldn’t fit it in to my busy schedule. But now I want to come back. I feel like something is missing in my life, and I think I know what it ...

1161. Peace Through Sacrifice

Sermon

Alan Bacon Bond

Scripture: Psalm 85:8-13 Zechariah 9:9-12Luke 19:29-44 Text: "Would that even today you knew the things that make for peace." I have held in my hand the only known existing acheological evidence in the world, that crucifixion was actually practiced, as the Bible and other literature asserts. At the Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem, Joe Zias, a nephew to one of our group and custodian of the Dead Sea Scrolls, handed to us a hand-wrought iron spike about six inches long and with the tip bent over at right ...

1162. A Holy Hunger

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

Carl Hoefler

Tonight we come to the altar-table to celebrate Holy Communion. Why do we say, "Holy Communion"? Is there such a thing as "unholy communion"? Yes, there is. When one comes to the Lord's table with a hardened heart and with a life that is turned in upon itself; when one comes with a proud and an arrogant attitude; and when one comes thinking that he or she is worthy of what is about to be received; then, that person will receive communion, but it will not be holy. Jeremiah, who speaks to us in our First ...

1163. The Lord's People Together

Matthew 18:15-20

Sermon

"... if two of you agree ... about anything ..." - Matthew 18:19 The inimitable Will Rogers was once asked, "What's wrong with the world?" And he replied, "People!" Of course, the famous humorist was being humorous. Others have been seriously cynical concerning the human race. One said, "The world would be a pretty good place to live if it weren't for the people in it." But when all the cynics have had their say, I will still believe, that in general, we human creatures really have some pretty good things ...

1164. Familiarity Breeds Contempt

Exodus 19:1-25

Sermon

Our "take-it-or-leave-it" attitude concerning God is evidence that we do not always fully appreciate who he is. You may have watched Marlin Perkins of TV's "Wild Kingdom." This wonderful animal lover and trainer has been trying to get people on a first-name basis with animals for most of his seventy-seven years. His wife, Carol, gave this account: "When Marlin and I were dating, I wanted him so badly that I never let him know how little I knew about animals. Soon after our marriage we went to the Belgian ...

1165. Worship at a Deeper Level

Illustration

Staff

The story is told of a country boy who learned that a circus was coming to town. For many weeks he saved what coins he could, until he had the required fifty cents to pay for admission. On the appointed day he mounted the family mule and rode into town. As he arrived, the parade was just getting under way from the railway station to the circus grounds. The boy stood at the curbside and watched it all go by - the clowns, the animals, and all the rest. As the last of it passed, he suddenly realized that he ...

1166. Healing And Forgiveness

Luke 5:17-26

Sermon

Let us pray: Gracious and eternal God, we continue our worship during this season of Lent, seeking to understand the gifts of healing which you bring to our lives. Lord, in these moments, may we catch a glimpse of the truth that your spirit can touch and heal us of our afflictions. In the precious name of Jesus we pray, Amen. There is a story about an old Maori woman in the country of New Zealand who had earned a reputation for being an argumentative, combative person, for which she received the nickname ...

1167. Bound for Glory

1 Samuel 25:1-44

Sermon

Beauty and the Beast. The beastly brute is Nabal. A grumpy geezer. A gentleman farmer whose grasp for gold was only exceeded by his grasp for Mogen David. His eyes gazed over the greenly robed spring fields as he saw his herds of sheep gently grazing. His ears heard the bleat of sheep as nine pounds of wool was removed from their fat lamb shoulders. His nose caught the fragrant smell of rich foods placed on his teeming table by servants forced to work for a Simon Legree whip-cracking master. A few miles ...

1168. Christ Our High Priest

John 18:28-40, Isaiah 52:13--53:12

Sermon

Good Friday is a day of conversion. It is a day that focuses on the stark symbol of the cross, upon which our Lord sealed the New Covenant in the shedding of his blood. Just what was accomplished on the cross? The answer to that question is summarized in one word: Atonement. Atonement means a reconciliation of two parties. You can remember this by breaking down the word by syllables: atone-ment. The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross achieves an at-one-ment of humankind with God. How did this happen? Down ...

1169. Paul in Chains

Acts 21:27-36

Sermon Aid

CSS

Paul’s arrival in Jerusalem was inauspicious. Although "the brethren received us gladly," the elders were fidgety and fearful. Not one word of gratitude is recorded for the gifts which Paul and his companions brought with them to alleviate the poverty of the church at Jerusalem. One wonders why? Perhaps those who came with Paul to bring the gifts were too evidently "Gentile Christians." These Gentiles must have felt rebuffed, finding prejudice against them where they might have anticipated brotherly ...

1170. Recovering From the Blahs

1 Kings 19:9-18

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

There he came to a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" He said, "I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the people of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thy altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away." And he said, "Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord." And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great ...

1171. Lift High the Christ!

John 12:20-36

Sermon

George Bass

Suddenly, right here in the middle of September, it is Palm Sunday again, the beginning of the week that we call Holy Week or the Week of the Passion of Christ. That strange procession, which must have been first seen by the guards on the city wall as it moved toward Jerusalem, takes shape before our imaginations again. The central figure - Jesus - is seated upon "a colt of a donkey," and people throw palm branches in his path, shouting "Hosanna! Blessings on the King of Israel, who comes in the name of ...

1172. The Discipline of Witnessing

Isaiah 43:1-13

Sermon

Today we talk about witnessing, or "TELLING OTHERS ABOUT JESUS CHRIST." This is even more difficult for most of us. For, quite frankly, we Presbyterians don’t like to think about witnessing. We leave it to the Mormons, or the Jehovah Witnesses, or some of the fringe groups; we much prefer to do things "decently and in order." Somehow witnessing sounds too fanatic! Someone has characterized us as being parallel to those men who belong to the military reserve. We go to drills once a week but we are not on ...

1173. THE WORD WAS MADE FLESH

Drama

Norman D. Dow

This sermon is most effectively presented in a dramatic form. You may want to verbally introduce the setting before using the actual text - announcing that you are back in Bethlehem on that Night. As you act out the directions, you will capture your listeners’ attention and add a great deal of impact to the words. What strange news has greeted me this night! Shepherds in the fields near Bethlehem claim that in the night watches an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around ...

1174. Butterflies and Jesus

Mark 9:2-13

Sermon

Daniel G. Mueller

As I was working on my sermon this past week I toyed with the idea of bringing a live butterfly along with me to church this morning so I could let it go right about now, as an attention getter. I decided against doing that, however, because I was afraid it would get your attention so well that I might never get it back again. I had visions of all of you sitting out there spending the rest of the service distracted as you followed the butterfly around, your heads bobbing up and down after it. So I brought ...

1175. You're Going To Have A Baby!

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

During a pastoral call, a three-year-old boy climbed in the lap of a pastor and whispered confidentially, "I know a secret!" The pastor asked, "Will you tell me your secret?" "Yes," the little fellow giggled delightedly, "but you mustn't tell my mamma." When the pastor promised not to tell, the boy continued, "My mamma's going to the hospital to have a baby. But don't tell her. Me and Daddy want her to be surprised!" Would you be surprised if someone told you that you were going to have a baby? The men and ...

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