Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1151 to 1175 of 3926 results

1151. The Peace That Invades

John 14:15-31

Sermon

Glenn E. Ludwig

... isn't one among us who doesn't need what Jesus offered his first disciples. When life is in a state of confusion: personal relationships are at the straining point, job pressures seem more than we can bear, family and friends offer little support to the lonely, hurting person inside. And "peace" is what we need ƒ some respite from the frustrations, some solace from the pressures, some relief from the inner turmoils. But where does peace come from? Certainly not from the world. The prescription written in ...

1152. Breakthrough!

1 John 4:7-21

Sermon

B. Kathleen Fannin

... the furthest thing from her mind, definitely not part of her life! Feeling a bit stunned, she decided to sit down. She leaned her back against the tree, and slid down onto a branch. BIG MISTAKE! Her momentum added force to her weight: the branch couldn't support both. With an ear-splitting crack it snapped, and now she was falling ... But this was like no fall she had ever experienced. It was as if someone invisible force had grabbed her when the branch collapsed and was now slowing her descent. "That's it ...

1153. Thankful Living

Joel 2:18-27

Sermon

John A. Stroman

... thanksgiving hymns when we realize what we have done through the greed of our commercialism and consumerism. Somehow we Christians have come to believe that creation and every created creature is to serve human need. We have developed a warped theology that has supported the idea that humans are superior to nature, even contemptuous of it, encouraging the use of nature for our slightest whims. How can we express our thanksgiving to God for something we have so tragically misused? What on earth are we to do ...

1154. Friendship? Yes, Please!

2 Samuel 11:1-27

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... you," God promises (Genesis 2). And so it is that the finest accomplishments of the human race are not done solo, but in the community of friends. We talk about Jesus and the twelve, a writer and his publisher, Neil Armstrong -- first man on the moon -- and his support crew, a coach and his team, a president and his congress, a doctor and his nurses. Fact is, life is a team sport. And it is in coming together that we find a power given to friendships that is denied the individual. Or as Solomon put it in ...

1155. Take Up Your Ministry

Mark 9:38-41

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

... good at doing such things, since they do not have all the education and training of a pastor, they either feel guilty for not being better ministers or completely excuse themselves from having anything to do with the ministry of the church, except for supporting it financially, as they pay someone else to do it "for them." The ministry -- preaching and teaching and counseling and talking about Jesus and raising money and running meetings -- that's what the pastor is supposed to do for them. "After all, isn ...

1156. Judgment Day

Mark 13:1-31

Drama

Steven E. Albertin

... that all the concerns about the environmental problems we are creating (air pollution, depletion of the ozone layer, global warming, and so on) and it is easy to start thinking of giving up. But there is a strange irony in all of this. The supporters of nuclear weapons and the critics, the environmentalists and the disciples of big business, the hawks and the doves, all have one fundamental assumption in common: Survival of this world and this life is all that matters. Fearful about the water we drink, the ...

1157. Mine Eyes Have Seen The Glory!

John 11:17-37

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

... U. S. and Russia, how Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, had triumphantly announced to the world that he had been "up there" and he had seen neither God nor heaven. Of course, his comments pleased the leaders of the communist government and supported their official atheism. The question of heaven (Where is it?) is a timely one for us to consider on this All Saints' Sunday. This is that one day during the church year when we make a special effort to remember and celebrate all of those ...

1158. Miracle Ten: Healing A Blind Beggar

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon Aid

Harold H. Lentz

... Was Sitting By The Roadside" There are still beggars on the street in our age, mostly in large cities. We can only wonder at their story and their real need. Some are no doubt homeless. Some are badly crippled, while others could probably get a job and support themselves if they wanted to. As we pass them, various thoughts are apt to race through our minds. We question their sincerity, and we do not wish to be gullible. Are they really crippled? Do they seek money in order to buy alcohol or drugs rather ...

1159. When God Steps Out Of Shadows

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

William L. Self

... to protect the child. How could they exist alone and vulnerable against the powers of evil either in Israel or Egypt? Would they ever be brought back to the land of their birth, the comfort of their family and faith, the place of support and security? No people on earth knew the value of community more than Israel, and nothing could be more frightening for a young mother and child and their carpenter husband/father than this additional separation. Yet this fulfilled the prophecy about the Messiah coming ...

1160. In The Beginning God

Genesis 1:1-2:3

Sermon

William L. Self

... . The descent of the dove empowers the baptized not only to defeat every form of evil, but also to be the people of God -- as God has called them to be. Henry David Thoreau once went to jail rather than pay his poll tax to a government which supported slavery. His friend, Ralph Waldo Emerson, visited him in jail. Walking up to the cell Emerson asked with surprise, "Henry, what are you doing in there?" Thoreau never missed a beat as he replied, "Nay, Ralph, the question is what are you doing out there?"1 1 ...

1161. The Man With Two Umbrellas

1 Samuel 3:1--4:1

Sermon

William L. Self

... this. She wanted old Eli to influence her boy. He was mature in the faith. He was someone with whom Samuel could be close. This kind of closeness makes one God's usher, leading souls God's way by a relationship of trust, friendship, mutual support, and loving honesty. I strongly believe the living Christ is present in this influence. Christ gets between the two people in the influence, the witness and the listener. Christ himself finally meets the other person, using the witness only as an usher. This is a ...

1162. The Giver Becomes The Receiver

2 Samuel 7:1-17

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... carried religious rites of passage like clear signposts along one's ultimate journey home.2 A wholeness of outlook characterized the civilization of David's time. The private and the social were not separated from one another. Religion tended to unify or support all elements of life, both social and individual. David's recognition that God needed no house was a fundamental aspect of his being allowed the honor of the "Davidic ideal" which ultimately produced the Christ child. Only as David was willing to ...

1163. The Fruitful Vine

John 15:1-17, 1 John 4:7-21, Acts 8:26-40, Psalm 22:1-31

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... the person and message of Christ. C. Exercising Obedience -- As the body is strengthened by exercise, so the spirit develops strength by consciously ordering behavior to concur with the commands and examples of Jesus. D. Fellowship of Believers -- Using the support, encouragement and discernment of other Christians to bring us to fellowship with Christ. 4. Discipleship and Fruitbearing. (vv. 2, 4, 5, 8) If we receive the forgiving and renewing power of Christ, we should bear the fruits and give evidence ...

1164. Remembering Who We Are

Deuteronomy 26:1-15

Sermon

Robert P. Hines

... forgive those who hurt us. People who delay our journey so we can help the wounded person who sits on the side of the road. We are people who hold fast to what is good, and render to no one evil for evil. People who strengthen the fainthearted, who support the weak, help the suffering, and honor all people. Telling the story in the context of worship reminds us of who we are. So we are called by this passage to be givers and storytellers. Our giving helps us become the people of faith that we are, by nature ...

1165. The Demons Within

Luke 8:26-39

Sermon

Alexander H. Wales

... morning. Mental illness is still just as powerful and divisive as ever. It comes as a curse, and we treat its victims as pariahs to be shunned and isolated. The word cancer can make us squirm with discomfort and fear. We run away rather than offering our support and care. AIDS is just as demonic as any other worldly creature. It ravages individuals while others seek to pretend it will go away if one ignores it long enough. Greed is a demon, threatening to make us slaves of want. Avarice has always been one ...

1166. The Voice From Heaven

Luke 3:1-20, Luke 3:21-38

Drama

Dallas A. Brauninger

... know we are the right ones for a job whether the responsibility is as church officer, deacon, teacher, or pastor? Cannot the lifework of anyone become holy depending on how we approach it? Interviewing John Asker: John, what about that delicate line between being the supporter of someone else or becoming the object of notice? Clergy sometimes tell so many "I" stories that instead of using the "I" as an analogy, parishioners focus on the "I" of the clergy. What about the temptation to succumb to this sort of ...

1167. How Costly Grace? Or Does Spelling Count?

Micah 6:1-8

Sermon

Paul E. Robinson

... -sacrifice of Isaac. I'm talking about what happened with Jephthah, the son of Gilead, who was asked by the Israelites to lead the battle against the Ammonites, some thousand years or so before Jesus' birth. The story is a terrible one. In order to gain the support of God, Jephthah said the following to God, as quoted in Judges 11:30-31: If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, then whoever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return victorious from the Ammonites, shall be the Lord ...

1168. Uplifted By The Blues

Lamentations 1:1-22

Sermon

Thomas G. Rogers

... as far as he would ever advance in his work, which wasn't nearly as far as he had imagined for himself. A mid-life crisis and the loss of his family combined to make Raymond one very miserable person. He turned to his friends for comfort and support. They all agreed that it was tough to go through a divorce, but many of them were divorced themselves and considered it a pretty standard part of life. From their point of view Raymond still had it pretty good. They reminded him that he had his health and ...

1169. Too Light A Thing

Isaiah 49:1-7

Sermon

Paul E. Robinson

... God calling? "Church, I call you to more than this. It is too light a thing that you aim to pay all your bills. I call you to give away half your income. "It is too light a thing that you aim to pay your apportionments. I call you to support the same number of missionaries in the United States and abroad as you have serving in your church office. "It is too light a thing that you have 12 people studying the scriptures once a week in your Disciple class on Monday evening. I call you to have an intensive ...

1170. God Works Wanders

Genesis 12:1-8

Sermon

Gerald Whetstone

... to new life in Christ, our own Easter. Those among us whose lives are more whole need to deepen our sense of humility. Perhaps we haven't faced the same challenges in our lives. Perhaps we wrestled with our own deepest pain long ago, and now are supportive of others with our encouragement and prayers. Or perhaps our greatest challenge is yet unknown and still ahead of us. Nevertheless, all of us can grow in our trust of God to lead and guide us. We have the scriptures and the sacraments to feed us. And ...

1171. God's A Catcher

Exodus 17:1-7

Sermon

Gerald Whetstone

... . There's only the light of God's love in which we live and move. And if it seems we are flyers, suspended in the air, reaching by faith, then know that God is the unfailing Catcher. And if it sometimes seems we are flying through life's air without support, by faith we know that, invisible to the world and more often than not also to us, God has already caught us in his arms.

1172. Developing Staying Power

1 Peter 4:12-19

Sermon

Sandra Hefter Herrma

... stay alert. Keep your self-discipline. But don't let anxiety take its toll on you. When you go to bed at night, don't fret. Give your cares to God, who knows better than we can imagine how to handle what's wrong here. Eventually, Christ himself will restore, support, strengthen, and establish you. Praise God, and in the end, you will have every reason to praise God."

1173. Working In The Family Business

1 Peter 2:4-12

Sermon

Sandra Hefter Herrma

... places to trim our budget so that tithe can come right off the top of our check-writing. Or we might simplify our lives, choosing to have less variety in our wardrobes or meals, cutting down on the use of cosmetics or jewelry so that we can support a special ministry, or help a young person go to college or technical school. This call for each of us to be a priest was one of the cornerstones of the Protestant Reformation. Those early reformers took it very seriously that every Christian is intended to be ...

1174. Surviving The Present Trials

1 Peter 1:1-12

Sermon

Sandra Hefter Herrma

... , having lost a child, become bitter, isolated, God-hating people. Others, having suffered the same loss, go out and start organizations to remove drunk drivers from the road, insist that seatbelts and airbags be standard equipment on all automobiles, provide support for parents who have lost children to SIDS, or work with children in some productive, happy way. Suffering does not guarantee nobility of spirit. Peter is suggesting that since we know that heaven is waiting for us, guaranteed, although nothing ...

1175. You Can Be Less Worried

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

Michael B. Brown

... daily in the streets of Bangladesh, he lost sleep only because of the humiliation of a bounced check. "It's terrible," he said. "I can't imagine anything worse!" While serving a student internship at John Umstead Hospital in Butner, North Carolina (a state supported treatment center for persons with mental and emotional disorders), I encountered an aged woman who had long been a resident there. I never did figure out why she was inside the facility and so many of the rest of us uptight folks were outside ...

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