Sermon and Worship Resources

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 1351 to 1375 of 2273 results

1351. How To Be A Saint In A Storm

Acts 27:13-26

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

How do you act in a storm? A friend, who is terribly afraid to fly, was invited to speak at a special gathering of the religious body of which he was a part, in Frankfurt, Germany. As he approached the airport in New York a terrific storm was taking place. He dreaded the trip, and now that the storm increased in velocity, he was sure that the flight would be cancelled. He continued to think this, even as he approached the ticket desk, and finally was ushered aboard his plane. He began to think seriously ...

1352. God Made Me Do It!

Genesis 45:1-28

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

"God sent me," "God made me" - strange words for most people to say! We say instead, "The devil made me do it!" It is almost remarkable then, that in a few short verses in the text, Joseph says four times: "God sent me," "God made me." Joseph feels that all of his life is under the guiding hand of God. Since God is his master, Joseph feels that no matter what happens - of good or bad - sadness or joy - God is in it and nothing can touch him but that God will ultimately work it out for the best. Things did ...

1353. Double Citizenship

Matthew 22:15-22

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

Jesus had attacked the orthodox Jewish leaders by telling the story of the two sons (Matthew 21:28-32). The Jewish leaders are the son who did not do the father’s will. Then he told the story of the wicked husbandmen (Matthew 21:33-46). Again, the religious leaders are the bad guys! In the story of the King’s feast (Matthew 22:1-14), they are the condemned guests who turn down the invitation. In the Scripture for today, we see the Jews launching their counterattack - they go at him by asking him ...

1354. When We Mourn

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

Did you ever wish you could have been in on the heart to heart talks that Jesus had with that little band of twelve? In our Gospel for this All Saints’ Sunday, we have what are called "Beatitudes" from the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew has a habit of collecting together all the sayings of Jesus on a particular subject and putting them together in his Gospel. Most scholars agree that this sermon on the mount is Matthew’s collection and distillation and summary of Jesus’ consistent teaching to his disciples. ...

1355. Embalmed With Cardiac Arrest

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

I always wonder what an agnostic or an unbeliever or a skeptic does on Easter Day. Have you ever wondered that? Out of curiosity, let’s join two of them on the first Easter day. For them, the story was all over, the last curtain was rung down. Their hopes lay shattered. Their dreams lay twisted and ruined. Easter Day found them on the way back home to Emmaus, back to the old home town, about seven miles from Jerusalem, back to the workaday world, back to the dull, monotonous business of eking out an ...

1356. The Embalmed Come Alive

Luke 24:36-49

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

I was amused, if a bit sadly amused, at the cartoon that I saw in an issue of The Lutheran magazine. It shows a man leaping up from his pew in the middle of a worshiping congregation. He is waving his arms in the air. His mouth is open with a shout of joy and glee. And beside him, his wife is frantically trying to pull him back into his seat, and she is saying: "Okay, so you feel the Spirit, but not here in this Worship Service." That’s about the way it is with us, isn’t it, the main line denominations ...

1357. Strained Gnats

Matthew 23:1-39

Sermon

Herchel H. Sheets

Family illnesses and other problems caused Margery Wilson, later to become an outstanding actress, author, and lecturer, to have to try to earn money to support her mother and sister while she was still a young girl. She got a job playing a piano two hours per day, during luncheon and dinner breaks for the orchestra, in a theatre in Cincinnati. But about that time, some well-meaning social workers had put through a child-labor law, which was applied to her. Two indignant women came with a police officer ...

1358. What Are Christian Liberals? - 1951

John 16:5-16

Sermon

Kent Moorehead

The principle wrapped up in that text would seem to be quite obvious - that the most important thing to remember in dealing with all ambiguities, controversies, uncertainties, is that there is a spirit of truth available and if we keep our hearts and minds receptive, attentive responsive, we shall be led into all truth. Now that’s the core of the liberal’s approach to life. Keep that in mind as we proceed to discuss this very interesting and important issue: What Are Christian Liberals? I shall never ...

1359. A Faith for the Uncharted Way

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

Leonard Mann

A few summers ago my family and I made a motor trip west from our home in Ohio to the Pacific coast, and returned. We crossed the prairies and the plains, the Mojave Desert and the great salt flats of Utah; we drove through the Badlands and the Grand Tetons, and crossed the Sierra Nevadas and the Rocky Mountains twice. We followed the trails of the pioneers, the Mojave, the Wyoming, and the Santa Fe. We traveled on good roads in a good automobile with a good road map. We had never been in any of that ...

1360. The Old and the New

1 Corinthians 5:1-13

Sermon

Jon L. Joyce

"CLEANSE OUT THE OLD LEAVEN THAT YOU MAYBE A NEW LUMP" I suppose that the oldest controversy in history is the struggle between the old and the new. Even our Lord got into it one day when he said to the religious leaders: "No one puts a new patch on an old garment" ... and ... "neither is new wine put into old wine skins." So the conflict goes on between the past and the future. In age after age, there are patchers and there are creators - some who try to patch up the thread-bare garment, and some who are ...

1361. Thorns and Roses

2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

Around the turn of the century a young man named Clarence took his girlfriend on a summer outing. They took a picnic lunch out to a picturesque island in the middle of a small lake. She wore a long dress with about a dozen petticoats. He was dressed in a suit with a high collar. Clarence rowed them out to the island, dragged the boat into shore, and spread their picnic supplies beneath a shade tree. So hypnotized was he by her beauty that he hardly noticed the hot sun and perspiration on his brow. Softly ...

1362. Our Exclusive God (The First Commandment)

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

Two men in a truck, neither one very bright, were passing through a small town. They came to an overpass with a sign which read: "Clearance. 11'3". They got out and measured their rig. It was 12'4" tall. As they climbed back into the cab, one of them asked, "What do you think we should do?" The driver looked around, then shifted into gear, saying, "Not a cop in sight. Let's take a chance." Some people have the same attitude toward God and his Ten Commandments. They visualize God as the great cop in the sky ...

1363. The Unknown Hero

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

Horace Burks is a deacon in the Sycamore Church of Christ in Cookville, Tennessee. He has a burden to reach every home in the United States with the Christian gospel. Horace has developed an eight-page brochure in a comic strip format to mail to 102 million homes. It will be sent bulk rate and will cost about $10 million! I applaud Mr. Burks' motive, but there is a much better method. Person-to-person is one hundred times better than a bulk mailing and a lot more cost effective. Of course, the person-to- ...

1364. Honoring Parents

Exodus 20:1-21, Matthew 15:1-20

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

A man was boarding an airplane one day. As he came on board, he noticed that the person sitting in the pilot's seat was a woman. That was no problem; it was just a new experience for him. As he found his seat, he noticed three persons sitting immediately behind him: a man, a young boy, and an elderly woman. He could not help overhearing their conversation. Soon he realized that they were the woman pilot's family. They were excited because she had just completed her training and had been promoted. This was ...

1365. Reverence For Life

Exodus 20:1-21, Matthew 5:21-26

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

In one of his books, the great preacher and teacher Leslie Weatherhead tells about visiting some friends who had an old dog named Pete. Pete was in sad shape. He tottered about, had a raw spot on his back, and arthritis in his joints. Weatherhead asked his friends, "Why don't you have Pete put to sleep?" "Oh no," they said, "Pete is Mike's dog." Mike was their son who was away at the university. "If we put old Pete to sleep, what would we say when Mike came home and looked for his beloved dog? We couldn't ...

1366. Turn On The Lights!

Matthew 5:13-16

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

Wauconda is a small village in the state of Illinois. For over 40 years the town had placed two large illuminated crosses on the city water towers during the Christmas season. Until one year when the town council received a threat of legal suit if the crosses were continued, based on the separation of church and state. The town council grudgingly took them down. But that's when the citizens of Wauconda took matters into their own hands. They decided to place lighted reminders of Christ on their own ...

1367. No Withdrawal

Sermon

James Bjorge

Christmas is a time to get "hooked" on Jesus. And that is a condition from which you will need no withdrawal. A Catholic Sister, who is blind, told me she has an incurable disease. I thought she was going to elaborate on her blindness which came as a result of diabetes. Rather she said, "I have the Jesus disease." Then she went on to say that she wanted no cure for that state of being. However, we will often have to admit that there is a post-Christmas slump. It is a bit of a let-down after a season’s high ...

1368. Jacob, the Wanderer

Genesis 28:10-22

Sermon

Don Yocom

A hymn sermon based on the hymn, NEARER, MY GOD TO THEE by Sarah F. Adams. (Choir sings stanza one) Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee! E’en though it be a cross that raiseth me; Still all my song shall be, Nearer, my God, to Thee, Nearer, my God, to Thee, Nearer to Thee! The story of the ancient patriarch, Jacob, needs repeating again and again. All the way from his trickery to his highest moment at Bethel, Jacob was thoroughly human, with feet of clay, and portrays for us the prodigal of every age. ...

1369. The Way I See It

Drama

Sarah Walton Miller

This skit, based on Luke 15:11-32, is a series of monologues in which each character gives his version of the conflict. The older brother has been made an older sister to show the story’s adaptability. Simple staging: four stools or chairs, so arranged that there is the illusion of isolation, each from the others. Always use any available levels. Actors, use your stools: stand by, sit or lean on them at will. Avoid eye contact with the other players. Freeze when not speaking. Characters are the FATHER, ...

1370. But Men Loved Darkness

John 3:1-21

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

If you should ask the question: "What is wrong with our world today?" you would probably get as many answers as there are persons who are interrogated. Indeed, it is often like the lady foreman of the all-woman jury who was asked by the judge whether the jury had reached a verdict. "Yes, your Honor," she replied, "we have reached twelve verdicts." I suppose I’m considered a male chauvinist pig for using that story, but it could apply in either men or women. Yet the writer, Glen Drake, has placed his finger ...

1371. Hungry for Anything?

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

One time I was having lunch with a man in a Chicago Loop restaurant. The waitress came to our table, offered him the menu and asked: "Well, what would you like for lunch;" "I don’t quite know," replied my companion, "but whatever it is, I’m sure that you won’t have it." We never quite get over that kind of childishness, do we? How many people know what they want in life? Try asking them some time, and you will hear a hodgepodge of half-formed, ill-defined ambiguities. The simple truth is that most people ...

1372. SPY

Gen. 42:11; 1 Sam. 26:4

Illustration

Stephen Stewart

Genesis 42:11 - "We are all sons of one man, we are honest men, your servants are not spies." 1 Samuel 26:4 - "David sent out spies, and learned of a certainty that Saul had come." With war going on simultaneously in all parts of the world, with border hostilities, with threats of disruption of our internal security being constantly dented into our ears, we are surely fully familiar with the concept of the spy. Espionage is big business. How many television and movie scripts have been based on spy stories ...

1373. Parents, Tend Those Lambs!

John 21:15-25

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

Two children, a four-year-old and a six-year-old, gave their mother a houseplant for Mother's Day. They had used their own money, and she was thrilled. The older child said with a sad face, "There was a bouquet at the flower shop that we wanted to give you, but it was too expensive. It had a ribbon on it that said, 'Rest in peace."' A parent, particularly a mother, gets little chance to rest in peace this side of heaven. Parenting is intensive leadership, 24 hours per day. The Bible describes parental ...

1374. The Kingdom of God Is a Party

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

A few years ago that wonderfully creative Christian sociologist, Tony Campolo, traveled to Honolulu, Hawaii, for a speaking engagement. He flew all the way from Pennsylvania to Hawaii and had an awful case of jet lag. Therefore, at 3:00 AM, he was wide awake. Tony found a donut shop near his hotel. As he sat there sipping coffee and glancing at a newspaper, the door to the diner swung open and in marched eight or nine provocative and boisterous prostitutes. Their talk was loud and crude. Tony was just ...

1375. Thy Kingdom Come

Luke 17:20-37

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

I usually read that section of the newspaper called "Letters to the Editor." It is always interesting though not always noble or edifying. For example, someone from another section of the country will suggest some way to improve Memphis. Then for the next two weeks, local folks will write in, declaring that if that foreigner doesn't like the way we do things, he can go back where he came from. Some time ago a letter appeared which sparked my interest. At that time a local Christian named Carolyn McKenzie ...

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