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 1251 to 1275 of 2273 results
Sermon
R. E. Lybrand
Then some Pharisees and teachers of the Law came from Jerusalem to Jesus and asked him, "Why is it that your disciples disobey the teaching handed down by our ancestors? They don't wash their hands in the proper way before they eat!" Jesus answered, "And why do you disobey God's command and follow your own teaching? For God said, 'Respect your father and your mother.' and 'Whoever curses his father or his mother is to be put to death.' But you teach that if a person has something he could use to help his ...
Sermon
Alan Bacon Bond
Scripture:Isaiah 57:14-19John 20:19-23Colossians 1:1-2, 15-20 Text: "Peace be with you." The run-of-the-mill soldier belonged to a surly lot in the Tenth Roman Legion which occupied Israel in the days of Jesus. The soldier probably had been pressed into duty involuntarily. His assignment to this back-water outpost of the empire was nearly an insult. With the exception of the occasional threat of a riot, the duty was terribly boring. Amusement was hard to come by. Life had little value; so this scurrilous ...
Sermon
William Luoma
According to the three-year ecumenical lectionary, developed in recent years, the Sunday before Easter is primarily known as the Sunday of the Passion, instead of Palm Sunday. The procession with palm branches is still recommended, but the emphasis of the day has shifted to the Passion of Christ, as seen in the suggested lengthy Gospel readings appointed. In this worship service, however, we have chosen to lift up the Palm Sunday theme, and to focus on the kingship of Christ and his triumphal entry into ...
1254. Walking on Water
Matthew 14:22-36
Children's Sermon
Brett Blair
Exegetical Aim: When we are scared we should have faith in God. Props: A basin of water. Three objects that will float in water and three that will sink. If possible, one of the floating objects should be a toy boat. Lesson: Good Morning. I’ve got a game for us to play. This game is called the sink and float game. Your going to help me figure out if these objects sink or float. I have a quarter. Will it sink or float? (response) What if I lay it flat on the water? (response) Ok, here goes. You are right it ...
Children's Sermon
Tim Carpnter
Exegetical Aim: To demonstrate that time is not a factor to God or His plan. Props: A watch with a second hand and minute marks. Lesson: Today I want us to learn how to count time. I have a watch here, and it has some numbers. Each number is an hour. One hour is worth sixty minutes, this is represented by the little lines in between the numbers. Each minute is worth sixty seconds, which is how long it takes for this big hand to go all the way around the clock. So, if we count to ten, how much time has ...
Sermon
James W. Moore
Bill Bryson has written a fascinating book called… The Lost Continent: Travels in Small Town America. In the book, he tells of traveling to Hannibal, Missouri to visit the boyhood home of the noted author Mark Twain. He described the house as a “trim, white-washed house with green shutters… set incongruously in the middle of downtown.” It costs two dollars to visit Mark Twain’s home and to walk around the site. Bill Bryson said he found the home to be a disappointment. He expressed his disillusionment like ...
Children's Sermon
Brett Blair
Exegetical Aim: To teach that the value of things or people are sometimes hidden from our eyes. Props: A family heirloom of some kind. Lesson: Good morning! (response) I have something here in my hands. Can someone tell me what this is? (a watch) What kind of watch? (a pocket watch) It looks like a pocket watch doesn't it? It is round like a watch. How many hands does it have? (two) What kind of hands are they? (minute and hour) How many numbers are there? (twelve) It looks like it's just an old pocket ...
1258. Being Cool!
Mark 6:14-29
Children's Sermon
Brett Blair
Exegetical Aim: Peer pressure can divert us from doing what is right and cause us to do evil. Props: A baseball, a skateboard, name brand sunglasses, and an opened pack of cigarettes. You may use any combination of items. The cigarettes are the necessary props. Alternative: If space allows have someone ride a skateboard down the isle and flip the skateboard up in the air before the children and then ride out of the sanctuary. Lesson: Good morning! (response) Can anyone tell me what you have to do to be ...
Sermon
Carl Jech
Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus ... Now none of the disciples dared ask him, "Who are you?" They knew it was the Lord.(John 21:4, 12b) Now wait a minute! Either they knew it was Jesus or they didn't. Why would it even occur to them to ask who he was if they already knew who it was? The answer is that the editors of the gospel of John (and many scholars think that John went through at least three major revisions) are using this story to ...
1260. 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 ...
Sermon
Carl Hoefler
You may, or you may not be a fan of Elvis Presley. Fans or not, most people agree that he was the King of Rock and Roll. When Elvis shook his hips, the public was shocked. His gyrations vibrated the public's moral standards and dislodged them from their conservative moorings. He opened a door that cannot be easily closed. Things, once held as strictly private, became openly public. Critics tell us that his most innovative song was entitled "Jail House Rock." Up until this time, "blues" had been associated ...
Sermon
James Angell
If you could deliver one sermon, what would you speak about? Though the question sounds trite, it has sometimes been asked of most preachers - usually in a half-serious way. What text, truth, or character has come to fill your heart's imagination, changed your life, or made you eager to use one big chance to share it with others? For me, the answer is in the story of the reconciliation in the desert between Esau and Jacob, years after the stealing of the birthright, where, comforted by Esau's forgiveness, ...
1263. The Bridge
John 1:1-18, Matthew 2:1-12, Luke 2:8-20, Luke 2:1-7, Luke 1:26-38, Genesis 3:1-24
Drama
H. J. Hizer
Narrator: Opening: Genesis 3:8-15 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him "Where are you?" And he said "I heard the sound of thee in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself." He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat ...
Sermon
Louis H. Valbracht
We have often heard it stated that a person's wisdom is measured, not by the questions that he answers, but by the questions that he asks. If I were to ask you what the ultimate question in life was, you might, because I am a clergyman or a theologian, reply that the most important question a person can ask is: "Does God really exist?" And you would have missed completely. We know, for instance, that if you ask that question of Americans, about ninety-five percent of them would affirm that there is a God ...
Sermon
Louis H. Valbracht
Text: Luke 9:29-31 - And as he was praying, the appearance of his countenance was altered, and his raiment became dazzling white. And behold, two men talked with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was to accomplish at Jerasalem. I am sure that there is no one within the sound of my voice who was not vitally aware that a few weeks ago we celebrated Super Sunday. For at least three weeks before that event, every news media, every form of mass communication, had ...
Drama
Thomas Blowers
Dramatic Monologue My name is Simon Bar-Jona. And for years I carried that name with pride. Simon-- a strong name, said my mother-- a dependable name, said my father-- a name you can be proud of, said friends and neighbors. "Your great-grandfather's name," everyone reminded me. And I was proud to carry his name as my own. Then one day Jesus began calling me "Peter" and the name stuck. Soon that's what everyone was calling me: Peter. Funny how nicknames get started. We called the old man down on the corner ...
Drama
Thomas Blowers
Dramatic Monologue Funny thing what you can do with a story, how you can read into it what isn't even there until the facts of the story itself begin to say what you keep bringing to it. You pick up a story for the first time and you begin to read, filling in the missing pieces with your own imagination. The next time you read the story again, it's as if those bits and pieces you've added were actually there. They have become part of the story itself and as you remember the story and begin sharing it with ...
Sermon
Robert V. Dodd
Epilogue: Some Early Witnesses to Christ Joseph and Mary were the initial human witnesses to Christ. They had experienced angel visitations concerning their first-born son. And they knew for certain that he was God's special Child - unlike any other person who ever walked the face of the earth. They were privileged to watch him grow and to help him grow in his own understanding of who he was and what he was to accomplish on this earth. Other early witnesses were the shepherds on the night of our Lord's ...
1269. A Conquering Army
Acts 2:1-13
Illustration
Someone has imagined a story of the angel Gabriel meeting Jesus on the day of His ascension into heaven and asking: "How did it go Master, how did it go?" "It went poorly," said Jesus, "they nailed me to a cross. But I preached the love of God as long as I could." Then Gabriel asked, "What did you do to see that it would be carried out?" "I chose twelve," said Jesus, "and I gave them the gospel of God's love for all mankind. I told them to go and tell others." "But what if they don't do it?" Gabriel asked ...
1270. Sermon Opener - So Much To Say, So Little Time
John 16:5-16
Illustration
Alexander H. Wales
The hours were passing rapidly. Time was running out. Jesus was trying to get everything in before the end of his ministry. He had so much to say, and yet, he was aware of the fact that the disciples were just not ready to take it all in. Up to this point, they were struggling just to understand what he had been trying to tell them. They were still stumbling over the meaning of the parables, attempting to put some flesh on stories that seemed to be like a gossamer cloth spun with gold thread, yet ...
Sermon
Brett Blair
What's the difference between Mother's Day and Father's Day? Someone once said that Mother's Day is a much bigger deal because Mothers are more organized. Mothers say to their children: Now here is a list of what I want. Go get the money from your father and you surprise me on Mothers Day. You do that for me. For Father’s Day I give each of my five kids $20 so that they can go out and by me a present--a total of $100. They go to the store and buy two packages of underwear, each of which costs $5 and ...
Sermon
As they were going along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head." To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father." But he said to him, "Leave the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home." ...
Sermon
He (Jesus) was praying in a certain place, and when he ceased, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples." And he said to them, "When you pray, say: "Father, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread; and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive every one who is indebted to us; and lead us not into temptation." And he said to them, "Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me ...
Sermon
Jesus said: "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give alms; provide yourselves with purses that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. "Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the marriage feast, so that they’ may open to ...
Sermon
The word that Christ our Lord would like to have us hear this All Saints’ Sunday is a firm word, gently spoken, lovingly applied. Faintly we recall that he said something similar to this before, in a sermon everyone applauds, but few apply, The Sermon on the Mount. "Blessed are the poor in spirit," we remember, and we like that. It doesn’t touch our assets. "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness," and we could use a little righteousness like ours around the nation and the church today ...
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