Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1301 to 1325 of 3852 results

Drama

William Grimbol

... Not true! BILL: We knew you wouldn't agree. You never do. The eternal idealist. REED: That is why I TRIED to stay quiet. ARNOLD: You believe he is right then? REED: I believe he is a prophet. I believe that every prophet calls us back to our original centered ness on Yahweh. Jesus, it seems to me, is telling us that we are too infatuated by our own power, our own wealth, too mesmerized by our own achievements ... a Tower of Babel mentality ... and we are moving farther and farther away from God. Is that so ...

1302. The Flame, The Wind, And The Walk

Acts 2:1-13

Drama

Marion Fairman

... Leader: (A bit flustered) No, no. That word means "fiftieth." Pentecost was a Jewish holiday - a festival celebrated 50 days after the Feast of Unleavened Bread - one held at harvest time. Man: (Indignant) You mean Pentecost celebrated a good crop of barley? Leader: (Laughing) Originally, yes. Woman: (Scoffing) All those people wouldn't have come to Jerusalem for a harvest feast! They'd stay home on the farms! Leader: You're right! But at the end of the exodus from Egypt when the Jews arrived in Sinai, the ...

1303. The Crowing of a Rooster

Matthew 26:31-35, Matthew 26:69-75

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

... the sound of a rooster crowing as one of those unique, yet ordinary, sounds associated with the passion of Christ? Have you ever thought that something so commonplace as the crowing of a rooster might have significance for us? The importance of this sound originated on Thursday evening of Holy Week, just as Jesus and his disciples left the upper room where they had had supper together. As they entered the city park called Gethsemane, Jesus told the disciples that they would lose their faith in him, desert ...

1304. WHAT IS MAN?

Sermon

Larry Powell

... the statement of surrender. He concluded by saying, "From where the sun now stands, and grass now grows, I will fight no more forever." History has recorded that he was a great and gentle man, revered by his own people, respected by those not of his origin. Not long ago I read that the actual skull of Chief Joseph was one of the many extraordinary items auctioned to the highest bidder in a western sale. A professional man in one of our northern cities paid an enormous sum for the skull, took it home ...

1305. Ash Wednesday

Sermon

William Luoma

... 't have to worry about it. If an offering is customary, it may be included at the time of one of the hymns, or an offering basket may be placed at the door. The Ash Wednesday Reflections, using news stories, is based on an original service, written by Pat Schnapp, and was used at St. Thomas More Parish, in Bowling Green, Ohio. 1. Manual on the Liturgy, Lutheran Book of Worship; Augsburg Publishing House, 1979. Page 307. Quote above begins with 'Ashes are prepared ... (and concludes with) ... to facilitate ...

1306. T.G.I.F

John 1:43-51

Sermon

William Luoma

... significance of what had happened on Calvary. Friday is still a significant day. Many of you know the saying that is associated with Friday. "T.G.I.F.!" Thank God it's Friday! (For some people, it's Thank Goodness it's Friday!) This phrase was probably originated by someone tired of working and anxious for the weekend. After a busy week of problems and pressure on the job, hassle and headaches, Friday is a welcome day because it means a break ... a chance to get away for a day or two until the week begins ...

1307. Faith, Hope, and Love

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Brett Blair

... the physical principle that governs a swinging pendulum. The law of the pendulum is: A pendulum can never return to a point higher than the point from which it was released. Because of friction and gravity, when the pendulum returns, it will fall short of its original release point. Each time it swings it makes less and less of an arc, until finally it is at rest. This point of rest is called the state of equilibrium, where all forces acting on the pendulum are equal. He then attached a 3-foot string ...

1308. Encounters With Christ I: Jesus & the Man Born Blind

John 9:1-12

Sermon

James W. Moore

... his mouth it goes… or a child scrapes her arm and wants mom to kiss it and make it well. Jesus anoints the man’s eyes with the clay. Now, the single most important word in this whole passage is this word “Anoints.” The word, the original Greek uses here for “anoints,” is the same word it uses for the word “Christ”… which, of course, means “The Anointed One.” Listen! He Anoints the man’s eyes! He “Christs” the man’s eyes! Isn’t that beautiful? He “Christs” the man’s eyes ...

1309. Encounters With Christ VII (Easter): Jesus & Mary Magdalene

Mark 16:1-20

Sermon

James W. Moore

... 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 this: “It purported to be a faithful reproduction of the original interiors, but there were wires and water sprinklers clumsily evident in every room. I also very much doubt that young Samuel Clemens’ bedroom had Armstrong vinyl on the floor or that his sister’s bedroom had a plywood partition in it.” He said ...

1310. The Christian Symbol

John 3:1-21

Children's Sermon

Brett Blair

... and they stand for the number of states in our country. You live in Tennessee and one of those stars represent Tennessee. How many stripes are there? (response) What do the stripes stand for? (response) There are 13 stripes and the thirteen stripes stand for the original colonies of the United States. Point at the stripes. In other words this is how we started, with thirteen "states," and this is where we are now. Point at the stars. We have fifty states. We have really grown haven't we? (response) I have ...

1311. A New Teacher

Mark 1:21-28

Children's Sermon

Brett Blair

... ...we will get started on our lesson. You may ask the other children to gather around you and assume the role of students or simply let them watch the interaction between you and the "Teacher." OK teach me something. If he/she cannot come up with something original ask them a question. Teach me some math. How do you add 13+12? (response). Teach me something about the United States. (response). Allow two or three others to assume the role of Teacher. You all did a great job as teachers. How many of you like ...

1312. A Pilgrim Recounts

Psalm 107:1-43

Drama

Edward G. Hunter

A Dramatic Monologue My name is Silas. I am one of the original 103 pilgrims who sailed on the Mayflower from England to America, in the year of our Lord, 1620. I have now been in the new world for ten years, and each year since we first arrived we have celebrated three days of Thanksgiving in November. It is on that first ...

1313. Joseph Ponders

Matthew 1:18-25

Drama

Edward G. Hunter

... in her is of the Holy Spirit.' The Holy Spirit! "I know Mary! She would not think of being untruthful! She is as baffled and confused as I. But the Babe is born. He lies here beside us. In my deepest being I know he is of divine origin, but who can comprehend the ways of the Almighty? I cannot understand it; how am Ito make others understand? But, what I cannot understand I nevertheless accept, because you spoke to me. I know you spoke to me! And you spoke to Mary. She cannot explain it anymore than ...

1314. Mary Of Nazareth

Luke 2:1-7, Luke 2:8-20, Ephesians 1:15-23

Drama

Lynda Pujad

... did not know the gardener, but as he spoke, we knew it was a man, but yet not a man. The voice of the gardener had a deep power that we recognized. The gardener knew us as his own. He loved us with a love that is not of human origin. He came back to us. Christ was alive and we saw him then quietly after the resurrection. There was a tremendous, beautifully flowing peace I knew with Christ after the crucifixion and resurrection. My painful, deep wounds started to heal and it began to be easier for me to ...

1315. Monologue: Sarah

Genesis 20:1-18

Drama

Lynda Pujad

... husband. It was difficult at first to go back to Abraham, but I had to forgive him and continue with our lives. After we settled on our land here in Canaan, for some unknown and impossible reason, I became pregnant. It was totally a surprise, but God had originally promised Abraham a son. I couldn't believe it and it was the joy of my life. The baby was the most precious, and the most beautiful child there ever was. I knew he would be intelligent and wealthy, just as Abraham was. He would be Abraham's heir ...

1316. Monologue: Moses' Mother

Exodus 2:1-10

Drama

Lynda Pujad

... as a separate Hebrew people. But, sometimes, I wonder if the God of our people has forgotten all about us. If we do have a God, then how can our life be so terribly miserable? There is not one of us who has a good life at all. Our people originally came here with our ancestor Jacob because they were starving in the land of Canaan. At that time, Pharaoh had been kind and generous to the Israelite people. Now, we are starving again and Pharaoh is cruel and heartless. We have to do every type of labor. We make ...

1317. The Butterfly Rock

Acts 10:23b-48

Sermon

Carl Jech

... story of Jesus we learn of God's victory over evil and we learn how forgiveness makes us overcome judgment and face life with renewed zest. But in this case, the real Easter message is the preacher himself - Peter. He had been given this new name by Jesus (his original name was Simon) but it has taken quite a while and some profound experiences for the meaning of his new name to sink in! The name Peter means "the rock," but for most of his time as a disciple of Jesus, Peter had been anything but a rock. He ...

1318. Laughing in Church

Acts 9:1-19a

Sermon

Carl Jech

... the same as the impulse to cry. When a parent teasingly throws a child up in the air the first few times, the child cries. But then the infant quickly learns that the parent is just joking. So now instead of crying the infant giggles or laughs when his original impulse had been to cry. According to this theory of laughter, the infant converts the impulse to cry into the impulse to laugh when she knows she's safe. To give an example from the "other end" of life, we can laugh at cemetery jokes whenever we are ...

1319. Quantum Leap

Acts 13:13-52

Sermon

Carl Jech

... preaching about a tiny change that would make a huge difference, a Quantum Leap. Many years after the publication of his novel on which the play and film Cabaret is based, Christopher Isherwood wrote a memoir in which he gives a look behind the scenes of his original stories. He was not saying that the novel had been all wrong. He was simply enlarging the portrait, shifting the focus. In a similar way, Paul in his sermon here is not saying that the faith of Abraham and Moses was all wrong. He simply was ...

1320. Winning Isn't the Only Thing ... It's Irrelevant

Luke 13:31-35

Sermon

Carl Jech

... forms ofarrogant witnessing that go on in his name yet today. When the Gospel that calls us to be self-giving and self-emptying channels of God's grace is converted into a Gospel that makes arrogant claims, then we have ceased to tell the true, original, old, old story of Jesus and his love. There is a huge difference between proclaiming the grace of God as seen in the stories of Jesus and claiming that anyone who doesn't accept a particular theology about Jesus is lost and damned. As the authors ...

1321. Some Women's Stories

John 7:45--8:11

Sermon

Carl Jech

... at her. (John 8:7) This story of the woman caught in adultery might be described as a "second-class story" - because it seems to have been added to John's Gospel as an afterthought. It does not appear in any of the older and more original versions of John, and some experts on the New Testament even think it may belong in Luke. The second-class status of this story is, unfortunately, also mildly appropriatein light of the fact that throughout history, women have been accorded second-class recognition in most ...

1322. Praise God For Adversity

Isaiah 43:14-28

Sermon

Carl Hoefler

... redeeming God. This is why we praise God for adversity; because in so doing we present to God our adversities that he might transform them into good. Do you recall the phrase that came out of World War II: "Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition?" Originally it meant that we were to have both the dedication of faith and the determination to fight. However, with a slight alteration, this familiar phrase could be used to express the reason why we are able to praise God in the midst of adversity. The reworded ...

1323. A Baptism of Blood

Isaiah 52:13--53:12

Sermon

Carl Hoefler

... the cross on which our Lord died. The cross is dated; but, it is not out-dated. What happened then affects us now. Why? Because we come here today, not to admire a cross, but to adore a crucified Lord. The cross has rotted. The Lord has risen. The original cross of Calvary has long since rotted away and is no more. The crucified one is risen, and he lives forevermore. This is good. It is not the wooden cross of Calvary that saves us; rather, the Christ who hung on that cross and who still lives today is ...

1324. An Easter-Life

Acts 10:23b-48

Sermon

Carl Hoefler

... hear the laughter of little children; but, if you are an adult and this is all that Easter means to you, then there is something tragically missing in your faith-life. Interestingly enough, the word "Easter" appears nowhere in the Bible. The word "Easter" was originally a pagan term. It was the name of a spring festival in honor of the goddess of light and spring whose name in Anglo-Saxon was Eastre. Sometime, about the Eighth Century, the name was transformed by the Anglo-Saxons to the Christian festival ...

1325. Christ for the World

Acts 11:1-18

Bulletin Aid

James Wilson

Call to Worship Leader: Celebrate and give thanks, for Christ came to save all nations and tribes! People: The love of Christ fulfills needs in every heart: Jew or Gentile, Leader: Male or female, no matter what color or our national language or origins. People: We are given true life itself in Christ through God's mercy and grace. Leader: Then let us celebrate not our cultural differences but God's love! All: Blessed be the name of the Lord! Collect O God, in Your infinite wisdom You knew our hearts and ...

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