Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1201 to 1225 of 5000 results

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... kings" and "Lord of lords" inscribed on its back. Maybe it is set with the very diadems of heaven - but no matter what it looks like, its glory is dimmed by the brightness of the One who sits upon it. Christ is there as our Savior and Redeemer. The marks of our redemption are upon him, and we shall know him by his nail-pierced hands. And he also reigns as our high priest, intercessor, and advocate. We lift our prayers to God the Father, but close them "in Jesus' name," or "for Jesus' sake." But he is there ...

1202. Healing For The Past

Joshua 5:1-12

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... and disobedience. Because of that, no Passover. There can never be any real, true, worship of God if there is disobedience to God in our lives. But as soon as the rite of circumcision was renewed, they kept the Passover. The original Passover marked the beginning of Israel's national life and inaugurated the day when God redeemed them from the long and oppressive Egyptian bondage. The New Testament clearly identifies the death of Christ as the fulfillment of the Passover. John the Baptist hailed Jesus as ...

1203. Fish Miracle

1 Corinthians 15:1-11, Isaiah 6:1-13, Luke 5:1-11

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... of people hungry for the love of God in Christ. Everything (v. 11) - Did Peter and his fishing partners walk off the job on the basis of one meeting with Jesus? It is not probable. Surely there were prior meetings. John tells us Andrew introduced Peter to Jesus. Matthew and Mark tell of the two sets of brothers with Jesus at the lake. Prior to Luke's account of Peter's call, we are told that Jesus was in Peter's home and healed Peter's mother-in-law. At the time of the fish miracle a close relationship was ...

1204. Tilted Haloes

Mark 3:20-30

Sermon

James Weekley

... Australia who preached on the topic of evil. One of his members commented, "We do not want you to talk so plainly as you do about sin, because if our children hear you, they will more easily become sinners." The minister picked up a bottle of strychnine that was marked "poison." He said, "I see what you want me to do. You want me to change the label. Suppose I take off this label and put on some mild label, such as 'Essence of Peppermint.' Don't you see what would happen? The milder you make the label, the ...

1205. Redemption Near And Dear

Luke 21:5-38

Sermon

Erskine White

... ). He told His followers that they would be persecuted for His sake and even crucified (John 21:18), and that this would be a blessing to them (Matthew 5:10). He promised that the world would hate them (Mark 13:13), that they would be delivered up into courts and councils to go on trial for their lives (Mark 13:9). He even warned that their own families would turn against them because of Him (Matthew 10:36). These are hardly the words of a Man who is trying to attract people by promising them a rose garden ...

1206. Giving Your All

Mark 12:35-40

Sermon

Erskine White

... is no question that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, could be moved to righteous anger, and He could express this anger in no uncertain terms. Like I said before, it couldn't have been much fun to be on the receiving end. In our text from Mark, Jesus is again speaking of the scribes; and again, He is excoriating them for their religious hypocrisy, which is probably the sin that angers Jesus the most. They are the celebrities, the big names, the superstars of the faith, and they love every minute of it. They ...

1207. Mountains and Valleys

Mark 9:2-13

Children's Sermon

... .) It's from a special machine at the doctor's office or the hospital. It shows how your heart is beating. It looks kind of funny. But people who know what all these marks mean can tell if you have a healthy heart or not. I brought this paper with these funny marks on it because I wanted to talk about mountains and valleys and these marks look like mountains and valleys to me. Our lesson today is a story about Jesus and his friends. One day they climbed up a mountain and they were very happy when they were ...

1208. Two Birthdays

John 3:6

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

... they going to do with two birthdays! Let's look and see when the party is. (Open the invitation and read it. Yours may differ slightly.) Let's see who it's for. It says you! When is it? It has a question mark. Where is it? It has another question mark. What time is it? It has another question mark! This party is for YOU but we don't know where, or when or what time! Let's read some more. How old? It says born of the spirit. I wonder what the means. Let's read our lesson today and see ...

1209. Baptism of the Lord

Acts 10:23b-48, Isaiah 61:1-11, Isaiah 42:1-9, Psalm 45:1-17, Psalm 89:1-52, Luke 3:1-20, Luke 3:21-38

Sermon Aid

George Bass

... by John the Baptist! And Luke adds that Jesus was praying after he came out of the river and "the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form, as a dove, and a voice came from heaven ..." He does agree with Mark that the "voice" from heaven spoke directly to Jesus, "You are my beloved Son ..." Scholars believe that the variations and additions in Luke's story of Jesus' baptism do not simply reflect that he used a different source than the other gospel writers, but that he ...

1210. Ash Wednesday

Matthew 6:1-4, Matthew 6:16-18, Joel 2:12-17, 2 Corinthians 5:11--6:2

Sermon Aid

George Bass

... for death with Adam and Eve; we are born to die, and the death process begins with our birth. 2. Ash Wednesday reminds us that we need to be washed clean of our sin, and that our hope in Christ needs to be renewed. Perhaps the cross, which has been marked on our foreheads with water or oil, as well as with ashes, has become blurred and almost invisible by our sin. The ashes need to be washed away. 3. With Easter comes the offer of new life in the renewal of our baptism and our baptismal vows; the water of ...

1211. Proper 15

Hebrews 12:1-13, Luke 12:54-59, Luke 12:49-53, Psalm 82:1-8, Jeremiah 20:7-18, Jeremiah 23:9-32, Jeremiah 38:1-13

Sermon Aid

George Bass

... that he really was the Son of God. 3. This time Jesus would be baptized with his own blood, not water and from that time on, those who received baptism were marked forever with a "bloody cross." The mix of blood and water in baptism creates an indelible mark that cannot be erased by time or anything else; in baptism, Jesus Christ puts his mark upon us and it will always be there. We are baptized into his death and resurrection! 4. Some people will deny him and the cross and even their baptism, placing their ...

1212. Epiphany 4

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon Aid

Wayne B. Keller

... the silence, you may want to use the following as a printed prayer for the congregation to pray silently, and then, verbally: God, help me to make mistakes courageously this day. I know that I won't hit the mark in everything I do. Prevent me from getting bogged down every time I miss the mark and shoot at the wrong target. Give me patience with the mistakes, deliberate or unconscious sins of others. Give us health, in which we affirm each other, rather than looking for each other's brokenness. Take all our ...

1213. Don’t Be a Mama Bear

John 8:31-41

Sermon

Thomas Slavens

... These are the people who would have the United States abandon the United Nations, who would abolish the technical assistance program and who would arm the nation to the teeth. “If any one would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all,” said Jesus. (Mark 9:35b) Only thus will America be first. Again he said, “you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” (John 8:32) Those who do not want to be mama bears do well to resolve not to become propaganda tools, not to shout slogans ...

1214. African-American Spirituality: The African's Gift To America

Exodus 3:1-22

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

... and to make life better; to turn disadvantages into advantages and to claim the spiritual victory to press on towards the mark. Many scholars speak of the expressive needs of African-American spirituality, but the adaptive needs - that is the ability to face, ... need rather than a people of great resources. We are defined as always not quite having it together, as never fully hitting the mark, and this is because of the negative labels used to limit and define us. Once we buy into the negative mythology, we ...

1215. What Happens When We Can't Believe It?

John 20:24-31

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... you, God." Does it sound familiar? Do you hear a little bit of yourself in my confession of sin? We all sound a lot like "doubting Thomas" in our gospel lesson for today. "Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails ... I will not believe (John 20:25)." That is what Thomas said, when he had missed sharing the experience the other disciples had had with the Risen Lord. "Until I feel your love, God, until you give me joy and make life good, until then, God, I ...

1216. Where Have All The Visible Miracles Gone?

Matthew 17:1-13

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... come God does not do any miracles anymore?" The great theologian took his time with the question, looked at me very intently - as is his custom. He looked at me, and then in his slight Brooklyn accent, he said, "Because God knows we don't need 'em so much anymore, Mark." We do not need them anymore. That answer has stayed with me, and I have especially kept it in mind during the last few years, not so much because it was an answer given to a seven-year-old child by a father whom the child very much did and ...

1217. The Resurrection Is Freedom

John 11:38-44

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... . Jesus had gone to the tomb of Lazarus, a cave with a stone on it. And Jesus commanded that the stone be removed. (We have another reminder of Jesus' own resurrection, of the stone that the angels rolled away on that first Easter [John 20:1; Luke 24:2; Mark 16:4; Matthew 28:2].) Lazarus' sister Martha noted how after four days the body would smell if they removed the stone (John 11:39). But after the stone was rolled away (Jesus had promised that they would see the glory of God if they believed [John 11:40 ...

1218. What Will He Find ... When He Comes?

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

Theodore F. Schneider

... the Roman legions in 70 C.E. after a devastating siege and a fierce burning of the city on the day of its fall. It was as Jesus had predicted. Mark records the prediction, and Luke adds some very specific information to Mark's account, suggesting that Luke had information about the actual event which was not available to Mark at his earlier writing date. With the temple's destruction, Jerusalem had become less and less the center of the church, and Christianity was losing its "Palestinian matrix." Even Luke ...

1219. Wounded Glory

John 20:24-31

Sermon

Erskine White

... The answer lies in the experience of the disciples on that first Easter. They recognized the Risen Christ when they saw His wounds - the marks on His hands and the hole in His side. Now that Christ is Risen from the grave, how will we recognize Him when ... but He is not distant or detached from us. He is standing here beside us when life is neither kind nor fair. He shows us the marks on His hands and in His side, that our joy may be complete as we behold our Risen Lord in all His wounded glory. Amen. Pastoral ...

1220. For a Nineteen-year-old Who Died of Cancer

Mark 15:1-15

Eulogy

Arthur H. Kolsti

... tell us: And they compelled a passer-by, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. Oh, there is a story there! Mark tells us Simon is the father of Rufus and Alexander. These were evidently two well-known members in the community for which Mark wrote, That the sons of Simon were in the church around the year A.D. 50 can only mean that Simon became a follower of Jesus. Evidently, something happened to Simon under the cross. He who was sent ...

1221. Washed By Water: The Jordan

Matthew 3:13-17

Sermon

Steve Swanson

... or other, when Jesus died, his holy and precious blood spattered over the entire world. There's a spot of his blood on every one of us and that spot won't wash off. We can cover it up; we can pretend it isn't there, but we are marked. We are marked with the blood of the Lamb. That blood can cleanse us; that blood can save us. Christ's blood washes us clean and baptism reminds us of that. When the little bitty babies and the children and the young people and the adults are brought forward in every kind ...

1222. Back to the Basics

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Johnny Dean

... of Exodus. It didn’t make the top ten list. But Jesus thought it was important. In fact, he thought it was the most important commandment of all. In the twelfth chapter of the Gospel according to Mark, there is a retelling of an encounter between Jesus and an expert in the law. Listen to Mark’s description of that conversation: ((read Mark 12:28-31)) Isn’t it time we got back to the basics of being the church, the body of Christ on earth? Isn’t it time for us to examine where we are in the light ...

1223. The Dynamics of Doubt

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... , they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. When the other disciples told him that they had seen the Lord, he declared, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it." A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among ...

1224. Maundy Thursday Service

John 13:1-17, 31b-35

Bulletin Aid

Howard Eshbaugh

... the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God." (14:24b-25) The Lord's Supper The Lord's Supper will be celebrated in simplicity and in a manner that the congregation can follow. It is suggested that the words from Mark's Gospel be used as the rubrics of celebration. Hymn Exodus 15:1b-3 is the oldest hymn of the Bible. It tells of Israel's escape from Egypt by the power of God. This deliverance followed the first passover. It is to be sung antiphonally. (See instructions in ...

1225. Faith, Hope, and Love

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Brett Blair

... 3-foot string to a child's toy top and secured it to the top of the blackboard with a thumbtack. He pulled the top to one side and made a mark on the blackboard where he let it go. Each time it swung back a new mark. It took less than a minute for the top to complete its swinging and come to rest. When he finished the demonstration, the markings on the blackboard had proved his thesis. He says, I then asked how many people in the room BELIEVED the law of the pendulum was true. All of my classmates raised ...

Showing results