Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1301 to 1325 of 4884 results

1301. Family Values

Mark 3:20-30

Illustration

Kristin Borsgard Wee

... around like yours and mine. But, there are so many others that fall short, families like the Walker spy family or the Medicis in Italy or the Macbeths of Scotland or the Oedipus Rexes of Greece. Rosenblatt's point was that there is no perfect family and that family values have become so generalized they are meaningless. He said what is valuable in families is that they are normal people struggling to do good and be good, strengthening themselves by listening to each other, paying attention to other families ...

1302. Adopted

Ephesians 1:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... to cause you to be denied your rights as an heir to my wealth. Nothing could be further from the truth. If I can forgive you for your part in my Son’s death, I can forgive you for anything. I know you never will be perfect, but you do not have to be perfect to receive my offer. Besides, I believe that once you have accepted my offer and begin to experience the riches that will come to you from me, that your primary (though not always) response will be gratitude and loyalty. Some would call me foolish for ...

1303. Aroma of Christ Church

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... takes up residence in the heart, offers a potential place (“topos”) for the devil to take up residence. The sacred space that is the community of faith must avoid offering the powers of darkness any foothold within their midst. The next directive sounds perfectly Pauline. It is an admonition to thieves: turn from stealing to working “with their own hands” in order to be able to share the fruit of their labors “with the needy.” Paul, the disciple who never gave up his craft of sewing leather and ...

1304. Don’t Touch Me With That Water!

Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

Sermon

Cynthia Cowen

... Holy Spirit, and marked with the cross of Christ forever. Jesus was fully human and fully divine. The great English evangelist, C. H. Spurgeon, tells us that Christ was not a “deified man," neither was he a "humanized God." He was perfectly God and at the same time perfectly man. In his baptism, Jesus identified with us in all ways. He could have gone up to Jerusalem and identified with the established religious leaders, but he chose to go to the Jordan River and identify himself with sinners. Jesus did ...

1305. Veni, Spiritus Sanctus, Veni

John 14:8-17 (25-27)

Sermon

Arley K. Fadness

... realize, standing there, right in front of Pilate, was and is the truth! The old speech professor, the teacher, who has been around a long time, urges all to know the truth, teach the truth, and tell the truth. "Come, Holy Spirit, come." Today is a perfect day to give thanks to God for teachers. Many of us have been blessed with excellent teachers, mentors, and models. I attended a one-room country school for eight years learning like the characters in the The Little House on the Praire. There was Miss ...

1306. Be a Night Light

James 1:1-18

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... The light of the Creator is always consistent. And the focus of that creative light is always the “word of truth,” the message of forgiveness and redemption. When we embrace that word, when we walk towards that light, we are reborn as “first fruits” — perfect and acceptable before God. That is the light in the night that offers safety and sanctity, that gives faith and forgiveness James’ text in today’s epistle reading reminds us that we are not just to bask in the illuminating presence of the ...

1307. Washed Clean

Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... costly, decision. In his acceptance speech, he said he was "profoundly grateful" for the recognition. Finally, we had come to understand. There is something powerful about being washed clean. In O Brother, Where Art Thou? Delmar was not made perfect by his baptism any more than any of the rest of us are made perfect by our own. But he was conscious that his baptism meant a new beginning. Perhaps that is why when the three of them stole a pie from a kitchen window sill, he went back later and put a dollar ...

1308. The Locust Years

Joel 2:23-32

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... has eaten" (Joel 2:25). The words are no different today. We can all look back over our lives and see locust years, years in which we were perfectly content to go our own way, years in which the faith of our fathers may as well have been a fairy tale for all it meant to ... have been eaten by bugs for all they mean now. Spiritual immaturity is another cause of lost years. Too many Christians are perfectly content to take the great truths of God's word to heart that they learned by the age of nine and neglect ...

1309. Life-Long Relationships Take Work

Mark 10:1-12

Illustration

King Duncan

... said. "I am very excited!" Then he asked the philosopher, "Tell me, have you ever thought about getting married yourself?" "When I was younger," the philosopher said. "I used to think about it all the time. I very much wanted to get married; but I decided to wait for the perfect woman. I searched all over the world to find her. And finally I did. She was a beautiful creature with a brilliant mind." "And did you marry her?" asked his friend. "Alas," the philosopher said sadly, "she was looking for the ...

1310. Serving the King of Kings

John 18:28-40

Sermon

King Duncan

... in a hundred ways, and who would blame them? But Diana did. She touched the lepers, put herself on the same level with them, and did it of her own free will. (4) In that sense Princess Diana was a worthy role model, but she was not perfect just as none of us are perfect. Every celebrity who has ever lived has fallen short in one area of their lives or another. Only one person has ever lived who merits our worship. And that is the man for others, the man who not only touched the lepers but gave his life for ...

1311. Born at Bethlehem — Hope

Micah 5:1-4

Sermon

Derl G. Keefer

... and model surrender and service to a motley group of disciples. He took off his robe, picked up a pitcher of water used for ceremonial cleansing, wrapped a towel around his waist, and proceeded to wash the grime off the feet of each of those men. It was a perfect act of love. Then he said to the men, “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because it is true. And since I, the Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example ...

1312. Thanksgiving Means Giving

1 Thessalonians 3:6-13

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... as we abound in love for you” (1 Thessalonians 3:12). As the first season of the new liturgical year, Advent presents us the opportunity for new beginnings, to start afresh in demonstrating mutual love. If we are at odds with someone it is the perfect time to once again demonstrate the love to which all Christians are called. Jesus never held a grudge. In fact, we recall his words on the cross, “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). Disagreements arise within ...

1313. For All the Saints

Colossians 1:1-14

Sermon

April Yamasaki

... who live as God's people through faith in Jesus are called the "holy ones." It's very similar to the way the early believers acquired the name Christian — not because they were perfectly Christlike, but because they followed Christ. In the same way, the believers were called the saints, the "holy ones" — not because they were perfectly holy, but because they were the people of God, set apart to worship and serve the "holy one" revealed in Jesus Christ. In the language of the Bible, if we have faith and ...

1314. To God Be The Glory!

Isaiah 60:1-6

Sermon

Derl G. Keefer

... related to very well. Sing with her words: To God be the glory, great things he hath done! So loved he the world that he gave us His Son, who yielded his life an atonement for sin, and opened the lifegate that all may go in. O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood, to every believer, the promise of God; The vilest offender who truly believes, that moment from Jesus a pardon receives. Great things he hath taught us, great things he hath done, and great our rejoicing thru Jesus, the Son; but purer, and ...

1315. A Resume of Righteousness

Genesis 15:1-18

Sermon

David J. Kalas

... are left forever on the tragic division of the kingdom after his death. Likewise in the stories of Jacob or Elijah, of Joseph or Mary, of Peter or Paul. They rank among the great heroes of faith, but the Bible does not pretend that they were perfect. On the contrary, it is generous with the evidence of their humanness and imperfections. And so it is, too, with the character at the center of our Old Testament reading today. Four thousand years after he lived and died, Abraham is remembered and honored by ...

1316. On Loan From God

1 Kings 21:1-10 (11-14) 15-21a

Sermon

Stephen P. McCutchan

... after the loss of her husband a little over a year ago. She felt undergirded and sustained by this beautiful setting. A week into their summer stay, a wealthy neighbor on the cape decides that the little house in which Sally and her sons are staying would be a perfect spillover for guests that he wished to have visit him during the summer. He comes to Sally and says, "Look, in the past I have not had the best relationship with the owner of this place, but I want to make a deal with you that will benefit ...

1317. The Servant Leader

John 13:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... to the tugging on her heart that she had felt for many years. She became a nun. When she announced her intention to enter a convent to her brother who was a soldier, he reacted with disbelief because his sister was such a vivacious young woman. Agnes had the perfect answer for him. She replied that he was proud as a soldier to be serving a king who ruled over a few million subjects. She, on the other hand, would be serving the King of the entire world. Agnes entered a convent where she remained for 17 years ...

1318. Mary AND Martha, Heart AND Home

Luke 10:38-42

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... behind her “behold me busy” self-righteousness. There is only “one thing” that needs Martha’s full attention. There is only “one thing” that is of ultimate importance. There is only “one thing” required of her — and that is NOT serving the perfect meal. In fact, as Augustine noted, Jesus is showing Martha the difference between providing yet another home-cooked meal, and receiving the eternal Bread of Life (Sermon 179.5) That night in Martha and Mary’s house, the “good eats” were ...

1319. Real Heros

Hebrews 11:1-40

Sermon

King Duncan

... words, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” The metaphor that the writer uses is that of a race, a marathon that lasts the duration of our lives ...

1320. Hebrews 11:29-12:2

Hebrews 11:1-40

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... author now invokes familiar athletic imagery describing continued faithfulness as a “race that is set before us.” This is a “race” that has already been won. Jesus has won the victory over sin and death and as such is the “pioneer” (“archegos”) of perfected faithfulness, the first to be welcomed into the full presence of God. The “race” Jesus ran ahead of us took him to the cross, to what looked to the world like utter defeat. But his faithfulness took him to the ultimate victory — to ...

1321. The Gift that Matters

Hebrews 2:5-18

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

... that God desires to be in relationship with us, “in bringing many children to glory.” It is through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection that he achieved the goal God set before him, making “the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings.” Perfection signifies completeness. Through his suffering and death Jesus Christ gained “glory” not for only himself but for “many children,” in fact all people. Thanks to Jesus we can count ourselves as God’s own children. Through Jesus ...

1322. The Right Reason

Matthew 6:1-4

Sermon

David O. Bales

... pole.” “Yes, I see that,” he said. “But how do you really, really do that?” The tightrope walker put one hand on his chin said, “Well….” and fell off. Jesus knows our hearts, thus he knows we’ll never perfectly understand the Christian faith or have perfect motives. He doesn’t want to unhinge us like that unfortunate tightrope walker or like those sad Christians who every minute take their spiritual temperature to see how they’re doing with God. Jesus isn’t binding us, but freeing us ...

1323. A Faith that Leaves a Legacy

2 Timothy 3:10--4:8

Sermon

King Duncan

... , realized that even his striving was a gift from God. God had chosen him for His service and now Paul would enjoy the rewards that go with that calling. Think about it: Paul was to be given a crown of righteousness that makes a person perfect before God righteous and perfect so that he can live before God forever and ever. What a contrast with the fading and deteriorating crowns and trophies given by this world. And here is the good news for the day: That is our reward as well. As the Greek scholar Kenneth ...

1324. Jesus’ Prayer: The Pause in the Battle

John 17:1-11

Sermon

David O. Bales

... because of them. That’s a huge prayer for Jesus and a big assignment for us. Our faith isn’t merely about us but about our reaching others with Jesus’ faith, compassion, and healing. As we live for Jesus our lives aren’t perfect. As we pray, our prayers aren’t perfect and others can misunderstand our prayers. If the truth be told, on the scale of what’s necessary we often, even in our religious life, focus on what ranks second or third (or twenty-eighth or twenty-ninth). Our life with God can ...

1325. Five Ways to be "Holy" During Holy Week

Matthew 21:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... “flash-in-the-pan” confessors in just a few days. Interspersed among the lambs led through the Damascus Gate to be inspected by the High Priest of Israel, who each year choose the most perfect yearling Pesach lamb that would become the Korban Lamb for the upcoming Passover offering four days later, the Perfect Lamb of God entered Jerusalem amidst a crowd of cheerleaders. But Jesus knew that interspersed in that crowd were killers. He knew the outcome of his final visit to Jerusalem. Those who initially ...

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