Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1351 to 1375 of 4944 results

1351. Lost Baggage: Empty Your Suitcase

Matthew 18:10-14

Sermon

James Merritt

If I have ever done a series of messages in my life that struck home, hit a nerve, scratched an itch or met a real felt need it is the series that we are concluding today that we have called “Lost Baggage.” As we have said repeatedly, everybody has baggage. Even if you grew up in what you would consider a perfect environment, that environment itself may have loaded you with baggage. What kind of baggage do people carry? Many times it’s relationships baggage. Maybe a failed marriage in your past. Maybe you ...

1352. How to Forgive

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon

King Duncan

Old Joe was dying. For years he’d been at odds with Bill, formerly one of his best friends. Wanting to straighten things out, he sent word for Bill to come and see him. When Bill arrived, Joe told him that he was afraid to go into eternity with such bad feelings between them. Then, very reluctantly and with great effort, Joe apologized for things he had said and done. He also assured Bill that he forgave him for his offenses. Everything seemed fine until Bill turned to go. As he walked out of the room, Joe ...

1353. Satisfied Customer

John 6:25-59

Sermon

James Merritt

Well just who is this man known all over the world as “Jesus?” It is a fascinating question and when I was up in Canada recently I was able to ask a lady named Ingrid that very question. We had a chance to get into a spiritual conversation and she said she had rarely gone to church growing up except at Christmas and Easter and it had been many years since she had been in any kind of church at all. I asked her if she would mind us talking about spiritual things and she admitted that she hadn’t had a ...

1354. How God Looks at Marriage

Mark 10:2-16

Sermon

King Duncan

A young couple decided to wed. As the big day approached, they grew apprehensive. Each had a problem they had never before shared with anyone, not even each other. The groom-to-be, overcoming his fear, decided to ask his father for advice. “Dad,” he said, “I am deeply concerned about the success of my marriage. I love my fiancée very much, but you see, I have very smelly feet, and I’m afraid that my future wife will be put off by them.” “No problem,” said his dad. “All you have to do is wash your feet as ...

1355. Timeout at Tiberias

John 21:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

Since this is that time of year for major league baseball to be getting under way, I want to begin with a story New York Yankees Hall-of-Famer Mickey Mantle once told on himself. It was about a game in which he struck out three times in a row. He says, “When I got back to the clubhouse, I just sat down on my stool and held my head in my hands, like I was going to start crying. I heard somebody come up to me, and it was little Timmy Berra, Yogi’s boy, standing there next to me. He tapped me on the knee, ...

1356. Mission Possible!

John 1:43-51

Sermon

Charley Reeb

Jesus and Moses went golfing one day. Jesus was about to hit a shot and said, “Hey Moses, watch this! Just like Arnold Palmer!” Moses said, “Jesus, you can do anything but don’t try to be like Arnold Palmer.” Jesus said, “No, watch this — just like Arnold Palmer!” Jesus hit the ball in the water so Jesus asked Moses to get the ball. Moses parted the water and got the ball. This continued for about fifteen minutes. Finally, Jesus hit the ball in the water for the seventh time. “Please get my ball for me,” ...

1357. Prayer Changes Things

Mark 2:1-12

Sermon

Charley Reeb

Dr. Arthur Caliandro, long-time pastor of Marble Collegiate Church, had a therapist on his church staff. One day they were having a conversation about prayer. The therapist told him that prayer was the most therapeutic behavior for a human being. Caliandro was not surprised but he was excited because an expert in human behavior was telling him what he knew all along — prayer is powerful! Do you desire power for living? Try prayer power! In Acts we read that in God “we live and move and have our being.” You ...

1358. In It for the Long Haul

John 6:60-69

Sermon

King Duncan

Youth speaker Wayne Rice tells a delightful story about the Sydney Swans of the Australian football league. Australian football, of course, is what we usually think of as Rugby. It is the most successful sport in terms of TV viewership in Australia. An exception to the success of the league for many years was the Sydney Swans. Until recently, the Swans had the worst record of any team in the league. They also had the worst attendance. Most of their home games were played in front of empty seats. But a ...

1359. Who Owns the Cloud: Google or God?

Luke 21:25-36

Sermon

King Duncan

Welcome on this First Sunday of Advent. Today’s lesson from Luke’s Gospel is a little unsettling. In it Christ seems to be describing the end of the world. Listen to his words: “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken . . .” That’s vivid imagery. “Signs in the sun, moon and stars . . . ...

1360. The World's Most Extraordinary Club

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

Series: Seeing God More Clearly in 2020 When you were a kid, did you ever create your own exclusive club? Only you and your best friends could be in the club, and everyone else was an outsider. You got to create the rules, the club name, the secret handshake. And you got to decide who you let into the club and who you kept out. It gave you a feeling of real power. Rev. Will Nickles tells a story of when he was around seven years old, and his older brother started a secret club with a friend next door. Will ...

1361. A Pep Talk for a New Year

Matthew 2:13-23

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

I’d like to start this morning by wishing everyone a very Happy New Year. I can’t think of a better way to start this New Year than gathering with other believers and worshiping God. Most of us try to go into the New Year with a positive attitude. Sometimes it helps if we get a little encouragement, maybe a “pep talk” to get us in the right mindset. If so, we’re in luck. There is a kindergarten class in Healdsburg, California, that runs their own free hotline which they call “Peptoc,” P-E-P-T-O-C. The ...

1362. When God Leads

Joshua 3:7-17

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

Have you ever been in a situation that needed leadership and direction before it got out of hand? Sometimes one good leader can keep a situation from descending into chaos. But that kind of leadership can be hard to find. When the COVID-19 pandemic first started, health departments around the nation organized mass vaccination clinics in every community. The challenge of vaccinating hundreds or thousands of people each day in a safe and timely manner proved to be a logistical nightmare. The health ...

1363. Advocating For Whom?

John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15

Sermon

David Coffin

In March of 2019, a New Hampshire lunch cafeteria worker was fired for giving a high school student an $8.00 meal because there was no money left in his account. She saw the student’s lunch account was empty as he went through the line and allowed him to keep his food. She also asked him to have his mother add money to the account. The next day, the mother paid his lunch bill. However, the cafeteria manager who witnessed her act of leniency fired her. This quiet hero might be an advocate for students, as ...

1364. The Five-a-Day Rule

John 20:24-31

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

By now all last week’s hard-boiled eggs have been transformed into egg salad and consumed. Right? Of course, it goes without saying that the contents of all those Easter baskets have disappeared, except, of course, the nasty black jelly beans. On this Sunday the spiritual and sugar high of Easter Sunday is wearing off. Hence the colloquial designation of this week as “Low Sunday.” After the “high” of Easter, we come back to the everydayness of life. It is when we are most “low” in energy, in desire, in ...

1365. Are You Ready to Wait?

Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon

Albert G. Butzer III

And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet. — Matthew 25:10 Have you ever noticed how waiting — waiting for something or someone — can be either wonderful or dreadful? To a large degree the difference is determined by what you are waiting for. Waiting for your bride to come down the aisle of the church can be wonderful. Waiting to learn if your loved one has cancer can be dreadful. Waiting at the airport to meet your best friend can be ...

1366. Pay Attention!

Luke 21:25-36

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Have you ever been so distracted that you started forgetting simple things? I remember when I was in graduate school at Penn that I would be so focused on thinking about my latest research that I would sometimes come out of the shower wondering whether or not I had actually washed my hair. My mind had been on autopilot. I really wasn’t sure. According to the National Institutes of Health, the instances of ADD in the United States has risen from 6.1% in 1997 to a whopping 10.2% in 2016 –the significant ...

1367. Getting Out Of Our Own Way

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon

Roger G. Talbott

I'd like to ask you to relax for a moment about the clothes that you are wearing. Think about how your clothes say something about who you are: your gender, your age, your economic status, maybe even how you feel about yourself. As you think about that, imagine yourself in quite different clothes. Note that your real self would not change. Even if you were wearing Eskimo clothes or Arabian clothes, you would still be who you are, so your real self is not your clothes. Therefore, you are not your clothes." ...

1368. The First Hole

Acts 2:42-47

Sermon

Robert R. Kopp

Awe came upon everyone.... -- Acts 2:43 I grew up in the Forty Fort United Presbyterian Church near Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Though the church has been around for over 200 years, I'm its only son who became a pastor. They even have a picture of me hanging near the back door under an exit sign. Despite my mom's assurances, I've always wondered why it ended up there. That suspicion aside, Forty Fort U-P did more than any other in shaping my life and ministry. That's where I met Jesus, kissed a girl for ...

1369. Jesus And The Disciples

Sermon

Jerry Eckert

Comment: I have always wondered how Jesus gathered his Disciples. The way the biblical stories go, it seems like he knew most of them one way or another. So I hypothesized that they may have known each other as children. How, since they were from a number of different towns not that close together, could they have had contact? Having taught a few lab schools, I decided that maybe something like that might have occurred! Since the Sunday for which I was preparing was Rally Day, I wondered what a teacher ...

1370. Jesus And The Disciples

Mark 10:17-31

Sermon

Jerry Eckert

1371. How A Young Man Fell

Judges 16:1-22

Sermon

Erskine White

He awoke from his sleep and said, "I will go out as at other times and shake myself free. "And he did not know that the Lord had left him.(Judges 1:20) (I will be speaking directly to the children in church this morning, but the rest of you can listen if you want to.) I imagine some of you like to watch the cartoons on Saturday morning. Am I right? You watch the superheroes, as I did when I was a kid. In my day, it was Superman and Wonder Woman; of course, they're still around, but there are also some new ...

1372. Encounters With Christ VI: Jesus and Caiaphas

Matthew 26:57-68

Sermon

James W. Moore

Rev. James W . Moore tells a story about his six-year-old granddaughter Sarah who was visiting some friends of the family. He says: These friends are a wonderful couple who have been happily married for over 40 years. They have just moved into their dream retirement home. They love each other very much, but on this particular day when Sarah was there for her visit with our friends, they were still in the process of moving and arranging furniture. They were trying to move a large chair through a narrow ...

1373. The Quality of Mercy

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon

"... Forgive your brother from your heart ..." - Matthew 18:35 A very long time ago a ruler of many people, a king, decided to settle accounts with all who were in his realm. As they came one by one before him, one of those who came was found to owe the astronomical sum of 10,000 talents. Now that was a lot of money, literally an imponderable amount - something like the "national debt," I suppose. Of course, the man was unable to pay. In those days a citizen who owed more then he was able to pay could be ...

1374. Lord, I Believe - Or Do I?

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

In his ministry of teaching, Jesus was a master at the art of storytelling. Many of his stories, known as parables, have been our favorites through the years since first we heard them. They can be repeated many times, and we will never tire of them - the story of the Good Samaritan, the prodigal, the two men praying in the temple, the sower in the field. And the lessons that the Master taught in parables are pointed, holding up for our inspection virtues to be practiced, vices to avoid, relationships to be ...

1375. The Reins of Power

2 Samuel 5:1-5

Sermon

In keeping with the directives of our church calendar, we celebrate Christ the King today. As we do so, two great events are in the background of our thinking. One has to do with the occasion when the Israelites came to David at Hebron and petitioned him to take on the additional responsibility of being their king as well as the king of Judah. The other is the remembrance of Jesus riding a donkey into Jerusalem, and being acclaimed a king by the excited multitude that had gathered, because they had heard ...

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