Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1301 to 1325 of 4936 results

1301. The First Songs of Christmas

Luke 1:39-45, Luke 1:46-56

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“Be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart, giving thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Ephesians 5:18-20) Everyone loves Christmas carols! As the seasons of Advent and Christmas approach, and we begin to hear those familiar songs on the radio, in stores, on loudspeakers, in our worship, our hearts leap a little for joy. Let’s face it. Carols instill joy in ...

1302. For the Glory of Christ

John 12:20-33 · Hebrews 5:5-10

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

Maybe you've had a similar experience. There was a mother who asked her two and 1/2 year old daughter: "Would you like an ice cream sundae?" The daughter got real upset and replied, "No...I want ice cream now." (1) Then some time back, in the comic strip The Ryatts, the little boy, Winky is sitting on the couch, Mom comes in and says, "Winky, your socks don't match." Winky looks at his socks and then says, "I tried to find some...but none of the socks in the drawer belong to the same family." (2) Sometimes ...

1303. The Steady March Forward

Luke 9:51-62

Sermon

Dave Zuchelli

Some people get distracted by almost anything. As focused as I can often be, I’m also one of those guys who can walk from one room to another and forget why I went in there. I remember once, when I was about twelve years old, my Dad gave me some money to go pick up a loaf of bread. I hopped on my trusty bike with the basket on the handlebars and set out for the convenience store a mile or two down the road. When I got there, I looked around to grab the… Uh oh! I couldn’t remember what my Dad had sent me to ...

1304. You Can Be A Livesaver

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Michael B. Brown

Perhaps any who ever watched William Shatner's television show Rescue 911 share my feelings of inadequacy. Viewing makes you think that some guy hanging by his ankles off a 40-story building to rescue a stranded window washer is everyday stuff. One episode dealt with a three-year-old who saved his mother from a seizure. Someone told me of a dog who saved his entire family from a burning house. Me? I'm lucky once in a blue moon just to save somebody a parking space. There was one occasion when I physically ...

1305. A Ransom Paid

1 Peter 2:4-12

Sermon

Sandra Hefter Herrma

A few years back, an evangelist came to a modest-sized congregation for a 4-day weekend revival. On the closing night, the congregation formed a circle around the sanctuary and the evangelist turned to the person on her right and said, at a volume easily heard by all, "God loves you. Pass it on." The message was passed through about one-third of the circle when a lady turned to her neighbor and said, "Jesus loves you," rather than "God loves you." Her neighbor caught the error and passed on the original ...

1306. Proper 18

Philemon 1:8-25, Philemon 1:1-7, Jeremiah 18:1--19:15, Luke 14:25-35

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Old Testament: Jeremiah 18:1-11 Jeremiah's parable of the potter. In a potter's house, Yahweh speaks to Jeremiah non-verbally. Upon Yahweh's direction, Jeremiah goes to a potter's house and watches him make and re-make vessels. When the potter makes a mistake and the vessel turns out badly, he reworks the clay into another vessel that pleases him. Yahweh is saying: "That is what I can do with Judah. I can destroy Judah and re-make it into a people pleasing to me." Judah has a chance of a ...

1307. The Nativity Of Our Lord

Luke 2:1-20 · Titus 2:11-14 · Isaiah 9:2-7 · Ps 96

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

THIS WEEK'S TEXT Revised Common: Isaiah 9:2-7 · Titus 2:11-14 · Luke 2:1-14 (15-20) Roman Catholic: Isaiah 9:2-7 · Titus 2:11-14 · Luke 2:1-14 Episcopal: Isaiah 9:2-4, 6-7 · Titus 2:11-14 · Luke 2:1-14 (15-20) Lutheran: Isaiah 9:2-7 · Titus 2:11-14 · Luke 2:1-20 Theme For The Day: The Good News of Christ's Birth COMMENTARY Lesson 1: Isaiah 9:2-7 The prophet declares the dawning of a new day of light, justice and everlasting peace for the downtrodden of the Lord. A son is given who mediates the very ...

1308. Proper 21

Matthew 21:23-27, Matthew 21:28-32, Exodus 17:1-7, Ezekiel 18:1-32, Philippians 2:1-11

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

Theme: God judges us not based on what we were but what we are. If a sinner turns away from his sin to the Lord, he is accounted as righteous. This is the point of Ezekiel 18. The Gospel makes a similar point, if the rebel turns to obedience, he is accounted as righteous. COMMENTARY Lesson 1: Exodus 17:1-7 (C) The Israelites complain loudly to Moses that they had no water. They question whether the Lord was really with them. In desperation, Moses cries out to the Lord, fearing that they might stone him. ...

1309. Church As Redemptive Community

Acts 4:32-37

Sermon

E. Carver McGriff

Some people aren't comfortable with this passage because it seems to them to be a forerunner of certain social systems which are unpopular in this country: socialism, communism, communes in general. However, let's remind ourselves that this experiment in communal living pre-dates all those unpopular living styles by many centuries. These were people who were still euphoric from the recent infusion of the Holy Spirit. Filled with love for the people around them in life, they wanted to share. They were ...

1310. Stand Tall

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

Several years ago a police officer received a call to respond to a drowning in a small lake. Eugene was surprised since the lake at the deepest point was only about five feet deep. He assumed that the victim was a child or maybe a teenager. When he arrived he was shocked to find that a person over six feet tall had fallen out of a boat and drowned in five feet of water. He imagined him thrashing and fighting the water until he was completely exhausted and "all hope of being saved was at last abandoned." ...

1311. Redemption Near And Dear

Luke 21:5-38

Sermon

Erskine White

Look up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. (Luke 21:28) A few years ago, a rather well-known preacher wrote a book called Shaping a Successful Life, and as is customary in the book business, his publisher arranged a series of interviews on radio and television as a way of promoting sales of the book. Now, amid everything he had written on being successful, he also included one chapter on coping with troubles and tragedies in life, and to this man’s surprise, everyone who ...

1312. Who Do You say He Is?

Mark 8:27-30

Sermon

Erskine White

And Jesus asked them, "But who do you say I am?" (Mark 8:29) You have to like Peter, the burly fisherman who became Christ's leading disciple and the rock upon which Jesus built His church (Matthew 16:18). Peter failed greatly many times. Many times, he showed his confusion and lack of understanding about the message and ministry of Jesus. He especially failed on the night Jesus was arrested, when he denied three times that he knew his Lord and ran away to save his own skin. Even so, you have to like Peter ...

1313. Rocky

Matthew 16:13-20

Sermon

William J. Carl

It is said that Winston Churchill never liked talking to subordinates. He always wanted to go to the top because he figured that was the only way he could get any action. So, as the story goes, when Churchill went to heaven, he met St. Peter at the gate and said, “Who are you?” When Peter said, “I’m St. Peter,” Churchill said, “To hell with you, get God!” How did poor Peter get this job in the first place? It all started with the story recounted in this text when Jesus renamed him “Rocky” and gave him the ...

1314. The Rich Young Ruler

Mark 10:17-31

Sermon

Brett Blair

The rich young ruler falls into that unique category of Bible characters that have been maligned by generations of commentators. We might compare him to the elder brother in the story of the prodigal son. It seems like both of these young men have always gotten bad press and therefore a bad reputation. We have been impressed with the f ct that the rich young ruler was seemingly so near to the Kingdom, but alas his love of money kept him out. We see him as a moral coward, a man who lacked commitment. And ...

1315. Remember Me?

Luke 13:22-30

Sermon

He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. And some one said to him, "Lord, will those who are saved befew?" And he said to them, "Strive to enter by the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the householder has risen up and shut the door, you will begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, 'Lord, open to us.' He will answer you, 'I do not know where you come from.' Then you will begin to say, 'We ...

1316. Jesus and the Rascal

Luke 16:1-15

Sermon

Carveth Mitchell

Why in the world would Jesus tell this story? On casual reading it seems as though he is making a hero out of a villain. What does it mean? To help us answer that we put the spotlight on three verses; but first, a bit of background. In Palestine there were absentee landlords who employed overseers to manage the property in their absence. The tenants paid their rents "in kind" - that is, with a portion of their produce; in this case, a hundred measures of oil, a hundred measures of wheat. Any thought that ...

1317. "Gone Fishing!"

Luke 5:1-11

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

If fishing is one of your passions, you will love our scripture lesson for today. Though I prefer hunting to fishing, I have a soft spot in my heart for fishing because of a childhood experience. I was about 10 or 11 years old. One Wednesday afternoon Papa took me with him to a nearby pond to do a little fishing. I was just learning to use a rod and reel. Papa caught a little bass weighing about half a pound. Then he had to leave for prayer meeting. He asked me if I wanted to stay a bit longer and make a ...

1318. Do I Dare Be Different?

Matthew 5:10; 10:1-42

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

William Inge was one of England’s most outstanding preachers. At the beginning of this century, because of his insight and forthrightness, he was either greatly admired or bitterly disliked. After the First World War he was speaking at a public gathering, and in his speech, he urged that realism instead of revenge be his country’s guide in its treatment of a defeated Germany. Three days later, Dr. Inge received a letter which rebuked him for what he had said, and then added: "I have been praying for your ...

1319. A Mother Who Could Let Go

1 Samuel 9:1--10:8

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

In a labor room on the obstetrics wing of a hospital, a doctor found a crumpled paper on which an expectant father had done some scribbling. Obviously, during the pauses in the long labor process, he had been thinking about the child about to be born. This is what he wrote: John Peter Jones, John P. Jones, J.P. Jones, John Jones, Governor John Jones, President John P. Jones, All the Way with JPJ!" Maybe the baby turned out to be Juanita Paulene Jones! I can tell you one thing that father and mother ...

1320. What Do You See?

John 1:43-51

Sermon

Thomas Long

It was a rollicking night at the theater. A young actor named Tom Key was playing the part of Jesus in the play Cotton Patch Gospel and he was clearly bringing the house down. The play, a romping, bluegrass musical which depicts the ministry of Jesus as if it had occurred in the cotton fields and Baptist churches of rural south Georgia, was in its final performance run, and Key was feeling confident and even inventive with his lines. His spontaneous enthusiasm was contagious, and he had forged between ...

1321. A Song of Promise

Zephaniah 3:1-20

Sermon

Harry N. Huxhold

In 1967 Shastokovitch, the Russian composer, wrote a symphony titled October. The work was to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. In East Germany that year the Protestant Church observed the 450th anniversary of the Reformation. However, the dominant theme in East Germany that year was “Roter Oktober,” “Red October,” because of the dominance of the Russian government. The people were to celebrate their release from the yoke of Russian tsars and the freedom they had ...

1322. There's A Better Way Than Shooting Somebody

Matthew 18:15-20

Sermon

King Duncan

There is a story that Alfred, Lord Tennyson once invited a Russian nobleman to his estate to do some hunting. The nobleman went off by himself one morning and returned later in the day. "How did you do?" asked Tennyson. "Not too well," replied the nobleman. "I shot two peasants." "You mean two pheasants," Lord Tennyson said with amusement. "We pronounce it with a ph. Pheasant." "No," the nobleman said, "I mean two peasants. They were insolent to me, and so I shot them." The story is outrageous, of course. ...

1323. Lost In America

Luke 15:8-10, Luke 15:1-7

Sermon

King Duncan

Bruce Kimball was a 1984 Silver Medalist in the Olympics. Bruce was involved in an accident many years ago. We are told he was intoxicated at the time. Two people were killed. Bruce withdrew from life because of that tragedy. He was depressed. He secluded himself in a trailer home with his father. He had the shades drawn. He turned inward. He was feeling sorry for himself. He could not sleep at night. Just to pass time he would sit and watch television all night long until he couldn’t hold his eyes open ...

1324. Internal Medicine

Matthew 6:16-18

Sermon

King Duncan

Mussa Zoabi of Israel claims to be the oldest person alive. He says he's 160 years old. Unfortunately, Guinness Book of World Records isn't going to print his name simply because his age can't be verified. Mr. Zoabi is older than most recordskeeping systems will go. But here's the interesting thing! However old he really is, Mussa Zoabi knows exactly how he managed to live so long. He'll tell the secret to anybody who wants to know. He says: Every day I drink a cup of melted butter or olive oil! Doesn't ...

1325. The Bridge Builder

Luke 6:27-36

Sermon

King Duncan

George Jones, one of country music's greatest stars, has lived a troubled life; his drinking and reckless behavior once came close to ruining his career. Probably the lowest point in his career came the night in 1979 when George performed a major concert in Nashville. That night, Jones did the whole concert--a string of hits--in the voice of Donald Duck. Not long afterwards, Jones checked into a rehab center. Since then, he has been sober and successful. (1) Can you imagine? How would you react if your ...

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