Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1226 to 1250 of 2157 results

Acts 4:35-5:16

Sermon

John E. Harnish

... the opposite, and they end in death. Eugene Peterson has done a contemporary paraphrase of the scriptures which catches the power of some of the passages we have heard so often they have lost their punch. Here is his translation of Jesus' words from Luke's version of the "Sermon on the Mount." Maybe Luke was remembering this when he told the story of Barnabas and Mr. and Mrs. Ananias. Jesus said: Give away your life; you'll find life given back to you, but not merely given back—given back with bonus ...

1227. The Revelation Code I: DaVinci, A to Z

Revelation 1:1-20

Sermon

John E. Harnish

... the Rings and its ability to speak truth in ways more powerful than static literalism. Or C.S. Lewis and the land of Narnia, or Harry Potter at Hogwarts. And now this week…Superman Returns. A reviewer in the New York Times, no less, says this version of the tale "…returns Superman to the status of savior. There's always been a hint of Jesus to the character…a hint that proves impossible not to take." [1] Theologian Walter Brueggemann says all good preaching is "poetry in a prose-flattened world." [2 ...

1228. What Ever Happened to Norman Rockwell?

Colossians 3:1-17

Sermon

John E. Harnish

... in Vermont, www.normanrockwellvt.com. Prints of the "Four Freedoms" hang in the hallway outside Runkel Chapel. The sermon includes a quotation from one of my favorite books on family life, Robert Farrar Capon's Bed and Board. I have included a longer version of the passage here than I used in the actual preaching of the sermon. The book is out of print, but you can find copies available through www.alibris.com, a used book site. For a further discussion of a contemporary understanding of ...

1229. A Matter Of The Heart

Psalm 51:1-19

Sermon

John E. Harnish

... congregation. The changes in store for us involved more than just tinkering around the edges of our life together. The transformation God had in mind would go all the way to the heart of our identity. [1] He calls it "congregational cardiomyopathy": ...an ecclesiastical version of the medical condition that hardens the heart so that it is no longer able to function; it's the lack of heart-level clarity and warm-hearted passion about God's mission and vision for the church.[1] And it calls for nothing short ...

1230. From Father Failure to Divine Father

Romans 8:12-17

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

... accept death and confess our powerlessness before it. But through such radical humility and courage, we prepare ourselves for the Spirit of God which is life and life-giving. Instead of projecting a divine Father that is an idealized, infallible version of the earthly, failing father, children of the Spirit receive instead the true image of the heavenly Father that calls them neither to infantile dependency nor to grotesque superman or superwoman self-images, but to healthy, mature, cooperative relationship ...

1231. Dots on a Screen

Hebrews 9:24-28

Sermon

Lee Ann Dunlap

... . The Survivor contestants were to live similarly, with "no lights, no phone, no motorcars — not a single luxury," but unlike the Sherwood Schwartz series, the basic theme is competition, and someone gets booted off the island each week. Like a hybrid version of the old daytime drama mixed with the competition of professional wrestling, what we now term "Reality TV" was born. Other shows have since emerged with exotic locations or other variations to the theme. Some have a more romantic angle, placing ...

1232. Get Carried Away!

Luke 24:44-53

Bulletin Aid

Frank Ramirez

... vision of our eyes these brief hours of our lives, then shine the brighter in our hearts that we may bear your love to the ends of the earth, and bear the harvest which you have prepared to your glory. Amen. Hymns All Hail The Power Of Jesus' Name — Alternate Version (Miles Lane) Come Christians, Join To Sing Majesty

1233. Matthew 20:1-16

Matthew 20:1-16

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... gathering in the early morning seeking employment and a day’s wage. It is hardly a scene we find unusual. In every big city, in every small town, willing workers (often immigrants) appear on known street corners, waiting for a prospective employer. In today’s version the lucky ones climb into the back of a contractor’s or farm manager’s pickup, to be driven out to the day’s job site. The same requirement inspires this dawn ritual in the twenty-first century even as it did in the first century ...

1234. Weaving the Spirit’s Trail

Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... own. The Spirit trail enabled the weaving to open up its own rigid rules of design and prefabrication, allowing freedom, the unpredictable, and even chaos, to enter into the tapestry. What the Navajo artists intended in the “Spirit trail” is the positive version of a tradition found among such diverse artisans as the Amish and the Islamic. You’ve probably heard that when you buy anything made by the Amish, there are three imperfections placed there before you buy it. Islamic metal artisans and Amish ...

1235. Christ’s Twin

Philippians 2:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... way we think and the way we feel. Now imagine that you are a twin of Christ reared 2,000 years apart, but having the same personal attributes. Isn’t that basically what Paul is asking for when he tells us to be “like-minded” with Christ? The King James Version uses these words, “Let this mind be in you that was also in Christ Jesus.” Wow! The same mind in us that was in Christ! Is that possible? Forget how presumptuous it sounds. This is the ideal that we should seek for, according to Paul to be a ...

1236. If It Were Up To Me

Matthew 22:1-14

Illustration

Scott Hoezee

... the sound of wailing and gnashing of teeth. If it were up to me, I would have cut the story off a few verses earlier. And I'm not alone: that is exactly what Luke did when he relayed this story in his gospel. So I rather like Luke's version better. But despite what the Jesus Seminar thinks, it's not up to us to decide what Jesus said and so concoct a Bible more in line with our preferences. Jesus has something to say to us in Matthew 22.

1237. Mary, Did You Know?

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

King Duncan

... way. “Mary, did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation? Mary, did you know that your baby boy will one day rule the nations?” (1) The song’s been around now for nearly two decades. Listen for it on the radio. The most popular version is sung by Kenny Rogers and Wynonna Judd. Mary, did you know . . . ? How could Mary know what was happening to her when the angel Gabriel came to her long ago? Only Luke tells this story. The Gospel of Luke is often called the Gospel of womanhood because Luke ...

1238. Baptism: The Common Call To Holiness

Mark 1:4-11

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... . Antony discovered there were many paths to God and sainthood. Living in the light of the Christmas season just passed, we must see our call to be disciples, to live holy lives consistent with Jesus' message of peace, humility, and love. Saint Mark's version of the baptism of Jesus is rather brief, only three verses. Nonetheless, we learn some very important things about the Lord. First, we learn of the connection between Jesus, the Father, and the Spirit. Today's Gospel Reading is one of the few places ...

1239. A Clock or a Compass?

Mark 1:9-15

Sermon

David T. Ball

... for “the one that knows.” Sometime later, the ancient Egyptians built tall stone towers called obelisks, and everybody could tell the time by looking at the obelisk’s shadow. Around 1500 B.C., smaller Egyptian timepieces were created. The sundial was a smaller version of the obelisk. By the Middle Ages, peasants in northern Europe had cleverly begun to use sundials carved into the bottom of their wooden clogs. To tell time, the peasant would take off his shoe and stand it up facing the sun. The hour ...

1240. A God Smothered in Tradition

Matthew 22:15-22

Illustration

Brett Blair

We try to make God like us and thus limit him. We smother him in tradition. We think: God can be present only in the mass. The Word of God can be found only in the King James version of the Bible. Church music can be played only on an organ. When traditions become dogma they lose their power and their meaning. A young girl watching her mother getting ready to bake a ham, noticed that she cut off both ends. "Why do you cut off both ends of ...

1241. A Sure-Fire Way to End Burn Out

Isaiah 40:21-31

Sermon

Schuyler Rhodes

... around this so that we can cope with it all, but it's a serious issue. From postal workers to social workers; from executives to assembly line jobs, burn out is a growing phenomenon. As a people, we seem somehow to have bought into a hyper-exaggerated version of the old Protestant work ethic. While this work ethic has always been in our culture to some degree or other, there is now a pervasive sense that people are evaluated by the tasks that they accomplish. What's the first question anyone asks you when ...

1242. Final Instructions

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... us today."1 John Koenig, in his book, New Testament Hospitality, adds: From Jeremias' translation we ... learn that the word we call "daily" is best rendered with the phrase "for tomorrow." Furthermore, Jeremias and others have offered strong evidence that in the original Aramaic version of the prayer spoken by Jesus "bread for tomorrow" would have meant the bread of God's great feast at the final coming of the kingdom (as in Luke 14:15). But here in his own special prayer Jesus instructs the disciples to ...

1243. Risking Relationships That Redeem

Ruth 3:1-5, 4:13-17

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

... -day redeemer for another? It will not be necessary for you to give your life, or even to relocate to another country. Much simpler acts of reaching out to help others in need is what the world needs now. In Steven Spielberg's powerful film version of Alice Walker's novel, The Color Purple, a brutalized black woman, stumbles into the general store to buy groceries for her white mistress. She is so bruised around her eyes from the cruel treatment she received on the street that she cannot even focus her ...

1244. Matthew 22:34-46

Matthew 22:34-40

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... , the Lord our God the Lord is One”) which contains within it the commandment to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.” Matthew’s quote of Jesus’ version substitutes “mind” (“dianoia”) for “might” (“dynamis”), an alteration that seems to emphasize the individual’s internal conviction of this love. Heart, soul, mind - all that makes the individual person unique - must be committed to loving God. But this commandment cannot ...

1245. The 2 Love Laws

Matthew 22:34-40

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... is the reason your belt must slide open another notch. Entropy is the reason for hair color, plastic surgeons, and ridiculously small red sports cars. Entropy is another name for Murphy’s Law: “If anything can go wrong, it will.” Or in my favorite version of Murphy’s Law: "Whatever can go wrong will go wrong, and at the worst possible time, in the worst possible way.” The Bible says we are made from “dust, and to dust returneth.” In other words, entropy is the accumulated grim and grime ...

1246. Would We Be Ready?

Matthew 25:1-13

Illustration

Michael L. Sherer

... offends some people by its tone. He asks: "If you should die tonight, why should God let you into his heaven?" The question is worth asking. For those of us who live in the grace of God, who celebrate his "Yes!" to us each day we live, a better-focused version of the question might be, "If we knew we'd die tonight, could we be ready to face God?"

1247. An Exquisite Attitude of Gratitude

Ephesians 1:15-23

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... grace that they crumble before God’s gifts. If thanksgiving is about recognizing the divine in every moment, no matter how unexpected, then you should take a look at the first audition of a completely unassuming contestant on “Britain’s Got Talent”, the British version of “American Idol.” Paul Potts was a cell-phone salesman. He was also pudgy, had horrid teeth, chipped and uneven, and wore a dreadfully ill-fitting, cheap-looking suit. He looked like the guy who never could get a date, and was a ...

1248. A Confusing Scene

Mark 1:1-8

Humor Illustration

King Duncan

In a Family Circus cartoon, the little girl sits her baby brother on her lap and tells him the story of Christmas. According to her version: Jesus was born just in time for Christmas up at the North Pole surrounded by eight tiny reindeer and the Virgin Mary. Then Santa Claus showed up with lots of toys and stuff and some swaddling clothes. The three Wise men and elves all sang carols while the Little Drummer ...

1249. The Ultimate Athlete

Ephesians 6:10-20

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... only slightly cruder substitutes for all-out warfare than our present-day exercises in aggression. The Olympics held under the swastika of Hitler's Germany were a notable failure at an attempt to supplant the real hostilities of war with its pantomimed version in athletics. The Red Badge of Courage (New York: D. Appleton, 1925) was author Stephen Crane's novelistic attempt to capture the spirit of battle on paper. Yet for "research" Crane never experienced the front lines of warfare. Instead Crane contended ...

1250. No Green Without Red

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... of excess, is sick and infesting this whole planet with a virus that kills all living things? People are tailoring their religions and customizing their beliefs to meet their needs. Not surprisingly this religion does little to change behavior or attitudes. In its Christian version, it is either a form of decaffeinated Christianity - it won't keep you awake at night; no need to fear loss of sleep about our troubled world. Or it is a form of "Christaholism," a word Calvin Miller uses to describe those who ...

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