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Showing 1376 to 1400 of 2561 results

1376. Confusion Over a Questioned Book

Daniel 7:1-14

Sermon

George Paul Mocko

Were you confused by that passage read from the Book of Daniel? Don't feel bad. You are in good company. Daniel has been confusing people ever since it was written. It confused those rabbis who in the year 90 met in the coastal town of Jamnia to cast their votes on which of the historical writings were to be designated "sacred scripture." Daniel made it into the Bible by a majority vote, but many of those rabbis felt it should not have. It confused early Christians, many of whom were as unsure of its value ...

1377. Death Of A Dream - Birth Of A Church

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

Genesis 11:1-9 This Old Testament lesson is a story of failure, but there is a great truth for all of us in it. I had a dear friend who used to say, "Every man is my teacher. I either learn what to do from him, or what not to do." It reminds me of a cartoon, which showed a bum sitting on a park bench; his clothes were tattered and torn, his toes were coming out of his shoes - the stereotypical hobo. Beneath the picture was the caption, "No man is completely worthless - he can always serve as a horrible ...

1378. Friendship Arms or Cold Shoulders

Mark 6:1-6

Sermon

James Weekley

A man began buttering his wife with romantic talk. "My dear, let me feast my eyes upon your lovely face, and I'll buy you a sable muff. Let me hold your hand, and I'll buy you a silverfox scarf. Let me kiss you, and I'll give you a mink cape. Let me ..." "Stop!" she pleaded. "that's fur enough!" Like two porcupines, some people will never get too close for comfort. The poets and theologians have reminded us, perhaps too often, that the real problem of our generation is loneliness. Is our current craze for ...

1379. Proper 13

Luke 12:13-21, Psalm 49:1-20, Ecclesiastes 2:17-26, 2 Kings 13:10-25, Colossians 3:1-17

Sermon Aid

George Bass

THEOLOGICAL CLUE Liturgical purists might call this "skin them alive" Sunday, according to the long-standing tradition that St. Bartholomew, whose day may be celebrated near this Sunday, depending on the lectionary followed and calendar year, was actually skinned while alive. Of course, that is only conjecture and the truth is that no one knows for certain when he died, or how, or where. In iconography, St. Bartholomew is represented by a skinning knife and a book, and sometimes he is pictured holding a ...

1380. Joy Songs, Trumpet Blasts, And Hallelujah Shouts!

Joshua 5:13--6:27

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

The Israelites have come to the end of a long, long journey. They had wandered in the wilderness for forty years and now have come to the valley of their dreams. Finally, after years of false starts, dark detours, and dashed hopes, they have come to the land which God had promised. They could have toiled out of the wilderness in forty days, but took forty years because of discontent, disbelief, and disobedience. But now God was willing, because they were willing, to move them into a paradise oasis - a land ...

1381. Nothing Is Impossible

Exodus 13:17--14:31

Sermon

Walter Kimbrough

A marvelous story is told by the synoptic gospel writers about a boy who was possessed by an evil spirit. His father was concerned sufficiently enough to seek help for the boy in a time when all help had failed. The boy was brought to the disciples of Jesus with the request for healing, but they were powerless and confused. The father did not give up hope in the quest of healing for his son. So, with an insistent spirit he saw Jesus and reported on the condition of his son with the declaration of the ...

1382. Revealed Glory

Exodus 16:1-36

Sermon

Walter Kimbrough

Glory is best defined as the outward shining of God’s inner-being. Or as George F. Handel contended, “The glory of the Lord shall be revealed.” Glory is, then, the revelation of God to the world. The New Testament writers see the glory of God in the person of Jesus Christ. It was the Apostle Paul who told us, “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ… (2 Corinthians 4:6 NIV).” ...

1383. Saved By Grace

Exodus 32:1-33:6

Sermon

Walter Kimbrough

This subject causes one to focus on two significant theological expressions having a direct bearing on the quality of human life: salvation and grace. The apostle Paul adds a third expression that he calls faith; “For it is by grace that you have been saved through faith -- and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God -- not by works, so that no one can boast… (Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV).” So then, Paul contends that salvation is realized when grace is activated and faith comes alive. All three are ...

1384. Christmas Preparations We Often Forget

Isaiah 35:1-10

Sermon

Robert Beringer

It does not seem to bother the children that Christmas is so close. Why is it they never seem to have any trouble getting ready for it? We older and wiser ones make a much harder thing of it; we always insist there is so much to do to get ready. Perhaps the difference is that the children are content to let Christmas happen, while we are so sure that it can't happen unless we do all the right things to make it happen. Many of the things we do to adorn this season, to set the stage for the drama that is ...

1385. Questions

Matthew 4:18-22

Sermon

John Jamison

Have you ever had news to tell someone that you were afraid to tell them because you really didn't know how they would respond? You don't want to tell them, but you know eventually you will have to? In my mind, that is how it happened. All the way back from the well, Mary stewed. Would he be angry or sad, or say nothing at all? Would he go away, or stay here? For months he had been paying close attention to everything John had been doing. He had questioned every traveler through town for news of John, the ...

1386. Mary Christmas

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

John Jamison

So, where are the shepherds? And what about the "multitude of the heavenly host" shining their glory on everyone and breaking into song about God, and salvation, and peace? Sure, there is an angel. One angel, who sounds more like a meditating attorney in a three-piece suit, speaking in one long sentence which tells Joseph he ought to see this thing through and try to work things out with Mary. And that even happens in a dream. But that seems to fit Matthew's purpose. Matthew isn't interested in the ...

1387. The Message Of The Morning Light

2 Corinthians 5:11--6:2

Sermon

Erskine White

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come. (2 Corinthians 5:17) Just as a handful of women and disciples came early in the day to the garden tomb, so do Christians come out early on this Easter Sunday to find the empty grave. Let us try to recapture the original wonder, the original excitement they felt on that special day so long ago. Let us imagine that God is speaking directly to us this morning, down through the heavens and deep into ...

1388. Palms By Day And Plots By Night

Sermon

Erskine White

Old Testament Text: Isaiah 50:4-9aNew Testament Text: John 12:9-19 Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who is my adversary? Let him come near to me." (Isaiah 50:8) I am so glad Jesus lived long enough in the flesh to see Palm Sunday. He deserved it; you might even say He needed it. Everyone needs a day like the day Jesus had in Jerusalem.After spending our lives in thankless toil and turmoil, we all need at least one day of recognition and praise. It might come to you as a mother or father ...

1389. Don’t Be Alarmed

Mark 16:1-20

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

In the Des Moines Register was a story titled, “Man, Believed Killed by Log, Sits on It.” “It happened in Hamburg, Wisconsin. William Bartelt, 71, of Hamburg, was recovering in a Wausau hospital Saturday after friends gave him up for dead after a log struck him on the head. Bartelt was hit by a limb cut down by his hired hand at his central Wisconsin farm, officials said. The limb knocked him out and the hired hand, Gerhardt Stueber, determined that Bartelt was not breathing and called relatives to the ...

1390. Deaths, Our Teacher

Psalm 90:1-17

Eulogy

Allen Puffenberger

Part 1. Peaceful Death For an Eighty-four-year-old Woman The outline of this meditation has enabled me to address a number of the vital issues that are raised by death. The message is wide enough that it can be comforting to the bereaved, regardless of the circumstances of their loved one's death. The four points are greatly strengthened by references to the deceased's life - here, that of "Eve, " who was one of my parishioners. Even if the pastor has not known the deceased, an interview with his or her ...

1391. And Who is my Neighbor?

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Johnny Dean

The final Episode of the Seinfeld show which aired at the end of the 1998 TV season received a lot of flack for being disappointing. Perhaps the reason so many were disappointed in the show is because it moralized. It wasn’t very funny; in fact, it was self deprecating. All of the characters receive a one year sentence for failing to help someone who was robbed. What happens is this: Jerry plays a comedian on the show and he has just received a contract from NBC to do a sitcom and the network is flying ...

1392. Desire Peace

Sermon

Alan Bacon Bond

Scripture: Psalm 29Amos 5:18-242 Peter 3:8-14 Text: Be zealous to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. 2 Peter 3:14 If you were an astro-physicist from Kitt Peak Observatory, or a nuclear scientist from the Los Alamos Laboratory in New Mexico, how do you suppose you would interpret these words? With a roar the sky will vanish, the elements will catch fire and fall apart, the earth and all that it contains will be burned up. (New Jerusalem Bible) You might nod your head in recognition. You ...

1393. Encounters With Christ IV: Jesus and the Woman at the Well

Sermon

James W. Moore

James W. Moore of St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Houston tells a story about one of his minister friends. His name is Tom and he does a fascinating thing each month. Even though he has an extremely busy schedule (because he serves as pastor of one of the finest churches in our nation)… still he makes the time each month to go down to the homeless shelter in his city to work in their soup kitchen. After the homeless people have been fed, he then invites them to join him in a service of Holy Communion ...

1394. Monologue: The Other Shepherd Speaks

Luke 2:8-20

Drama

Robert F. Scott

The shepherds came to the manger, actors who play one brief scene and then vanish. Luke tells us they returned, "glorifying and praising God for all they had seen and heard, as it had been told them." Beyond that, we know nothing of their later lives. Yet does any person meet the living Christ and remain unchanged? Aye, they said we missed it. "Vie missed it," they said, and they were right. We were out in the fields, five of us, with the sheep, and it was a chilly night. I had the early watch; the sheep ...

1395. An Empty Tomb

Matthew 28:1-10

Sermon

Robert Allen

Perhaps you saw the story on the news about a couple who had adopted a little girl when she was only two or three weeks old. They accepted the child into the home. They grew to love the child. They watched her grow and develop. But, for some reason, the little girl didn't grow and develop normally. She is now two-and-one-half years old and the doctors have told these adoptive parents that their little girl is mentally retarded and she will never be the normal child they wanted. The reason this story made ...

1396. Joseph Gives His Tomb

John 19:38-42

Children's Sermon

Donald Neidigk

Object: masking tape Hello, children. This has been a very sad worship service, hasn't it? Why has it been so sad? Yes, today we remember the suffering of Jesus on the Friday he was crucified. It was an especially sad day for Joseph of Arimathea. He was a follower of Jesus, but he was too afraid of Jesus' enemies to tell anyone about his faith. For Joseph, it was like having his mouth taped shut. I've brought some masking tape with me to help show you what Joseph was experiencing. (Give each child a piece ...

1397. Winning Isn't the Only Thing ... It's Irrelevant

Luke 13:31-35

Sermon

Carl Jech

Moses and Elijah ... appeared in glory and spoke of his departure which he was to accomplish at Jerusalem. (Luke 9:31) "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem ... How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!" (Luke 13:34) The Green Bay Packer football coach, Vince Lombardi, is credited with the declaration: "Winning isn't everything ... It's the only thing!" Now from the very limited perspective of a professional football coach there may be an ...

1398. The Real Jesus is Channeling Grace

John 17:20-26

Sermon

Carl Jech

I made known to them your name, and I will make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them. (John 17:26) Over the last couple decades we have heard critics decry what has been variously described as "civil religion," "religion in general," or "the religion of the American way of life." Recently, Dr. Robert Jenson, a professor at Lutheran Theological Seminary in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, restated the criticism this way: "The God proclaimed in American Protestantism is ...

1399. To Be Somebody

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

A few years ago, Vance Packard wrote a book he called The Staus Seekers. From him and others like him we learn that having an office with a window and a carpet might be more important than getting a raise. So what encouragement is there for those who make sandwiches for a cafeteria? Or who fill mail orders at Wards? Or who make boxes at Hoerner Waldorf? Or who are retired - whose job history is in the past? Martin Luther King Jr. coined a word that says what we all hunger for: somebodiness. It seems to me ...

1400. The Call of the Cross

Luke 9:18-27

Sermon

And he said to all, "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake, he will save it." (Luke 9:18-24) One of my students took the Bell Telephone commercial to heart - "Reach out and touch someone." Last Thanksgiving, he decided that he should talk to his mother and father who were 6,500 miles away. He had to dial a California number, which he did, and from there his call was ...

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