Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1401 to 1425 of 4935 results

1401. An Unholy History

Ezekiel 20:1-29, Ezekiel 20:30-49

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

Oracles of Destruction: The date formula in Ezekiel 20:1 is the first since 8:1; the next date in Ezekiel appears at 24:1. These dated oracles thus set chapters 20–24 apart. Still, we can find little if any formal unity here. Ezekiel 20–24 is a miscellaneous collection of various types of material, from historical recitation (20:1–26) to judgment oracle (21:25–27) to allegory (ch. 23). In many ways, this material reprises earlier images and themes (e.g., compare 22:23–31 with 7:23–27; and ch. 23 with ch. ...

1402. “May All the Peoples Praise You”

Psalm 67:1-7

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

Big Idea: As the nations see God’s equitable judgment and guidance in the life of Israel, they will come to acknowledge his sovereignty. Understanding the Text Judging from its first-person plural pronouns (“us”), this psalm is a community psalm of thanksgiving.1 Hakham calls it a psalm of thanksgiving for an abundant harvest.2 Israel acknowledges God’s blessings and prays for their extension, even salvation to the nations of the world (67:2, 7). Psalm 66 ends with a word of blessing (“Blessed [baruk] be ...

1403. Need a Lift?

Acts 9:36-43

Sermon

Charley Reeb

Journalist Bob Garfield researched health articles in The Washington Post, USA Today, and The New York Times. His research showed that, according to so-called experts, 59 million Americans have heart disease 53 million suffer migraines 25 million people have osteoporosis 16 million struggle with obesity 3 million have cancer 12 million have severe disorders such as brain disease.[1] The results are that 543 million Americans are seriously ill, which is shocking in a country whose population is only 266 ...

1404. The Real Thing

Matthew 5:21-48

Sermon

James L. Killen

Once an amateur archeologist saw a man wearing a bolo tie on which was mounted what appeared to be an almost perfect Indian arrowhead chipped out of obsidian. His imagination began to run away with him. He imagined a time in the distant past when someone had quarried the stone from a place far to the north, where obsidian is to be found. He imagined it being crafted by an ancient artisan and sent along some long-forgotten trade routes to be traded to a member of one of the southern tribes. He wondered if ...

1405. The Funeral Crasher

John 14:1-4, John 14:5-14, John 14:15-31

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Ash Wednesday is only a few days away. For most of us Ash Wednesday means a time of sackcloth and ashes, repentance, mourning, sadness, the beginning of a season of Lent, a solemn time of contemplation and seeking until we enter Eastertide. The shift from Lent to Easter is the shift from cerebration to celebration. But most of all, Ash Wednesday reminds us of our ashes-to-ashes mortality. “From ashes we came, to ashes we return” is a reminder of our humanness, our inevitable cycle of birth, life and death ...

1406. Instructions on Worship

1 Timothy 2:1-15

Understanding Series

Gordon D. Fee

Proper Objects of Prayer Following the charge to Timothy in chapter 1, which points to the presence of false teachers as the occasion of the letter, Paul now moves on to give a series of specific instructions (2:1–7 on the proper objects of prayer; 2:8–15 on the proper demeanor for prayer; 3:1–13 on qualifications for church leadership). All of this leads directly to 3:14–15, where Paul repeats his purpose for writing in terms of the believers’ knowing how to conduct themselves in God’s household. Because ...

1407. Not Your Leftovers But Your First Fruits

Deuteronomy 26:1-15

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

In the text, Moses exhorts the people to offer unto God their first fruits in remembrance and thanksgiving for their inheritance of the new land. They have toiled and struggled in the wilderness for many years and have come at long last to the place of divine promise. God has been good to them. God has kept his promises and has brought them to a place of great wealth and prosperity. The soil is ripe for planting and harvesting. The hills and valleys are rich with minerals. The water flows like milk and ...

1408. Proper 18

Psalm 139:1-24, Philemon 1:8-25, Philemon 1:1-7, Jeremiah 18:1--19:15, Luke 14:25-35

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

The Price Of Discipleship In the mid-1960s President Lyndon Johnson introduced a so-called war on poverty. At about the same time he got involved in escalating the American participation in the Vietnam war. It soon began to cost about two billion dollars per month. He was unwilling to raise taxes. The attempt to wage the wars on two fronts, domestic and international, soon affected the economy adversely. Through the Nixon, Ford, and Carter administrations the effects of deficits sent inflation rates up ...

1409. Through The Eye Of The Needle

Mark 10:17-31

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." It is sayings like this that shatter any notions we have of Jesus being simply another Mr. Nice Guy. These are tough words. They have been a flashpoint for controversy in the church for centuries. They have ignited heated debates about the role of money in the Christian life. These tough words of Jesus have usually provoked two kinds of reactions. One interprets Jesus' words to mean that you ...

1410. Christmas 1

Hebrews 2:5-18, Colossians 3:1-17, 1 Samuel 2:12-26, Luke 2:41-52

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Old Testament: 1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26 Hannah gives her first child, Samuel, to the service of Yahweh under the high priest, Eli, at Shiloh where Samuel grew physically and spiritually. Samuel was the answer to Hannah's prayer for a child. When she weaned him, she took him to Eli at Shiloh to serve Yahweh permanently. Each year when Hannah came to worship, she brought Samuel a handmade robe. The little lad, wearing a linen apron-like vestment, an ephod, ministered to Yahweh. In this service Samuel ...

1411. Proper 23

Job 23:1-9, 16-17, Mark 10:17-31, Hebrews 4:12-16

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

Theme: The difficulty of entering the kingdom of heaven when material things have a hold on you. COMMENTARY Old Testament: Job 23:1-9, 16-17 Job responds to Eliaphaz, one of Job's friends and supposed comforters. Job wants to talk with God face to face, to make his case and hear God's response. But Job experiences only God's absence and it upsets him. Job's arguments sounds like what humanistic philosophers of the twentieth century have said about the so-called death of God. Yet the absence of God is a ...

1412. Made New By 180 Degrees

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

Richard A. Wing

For those of you who have come here a mite tense today, I have good news for you. Without tension you cannot know the ultimate joy of Christmas. Without facing tension, Christmas is almost certainly missed. We have a tension between our texts today. We find tension between what John says and what Paul proclaims in Philippians. Two things emerge from the texts. First, the essential problem with John the Baptist. William Willimon, Chaplain at Duke University, says that John the Baptist reminds us of ...

1413. Wedding: How God Blesses a Marriage

Sermon Aid

John M. Braaten

(Name) and (name), it is good that you are here, in this church, with relatives and friends, to take your holy vows and to begin your life as husband and wife. What a great day of celebration! Most importantly, our Lord is here to accept you both and to bless you, through his presence, and through you to each other. The opportunities of sharing the love of Christ are greater in marriage than in any other relationship. Thus we cherish for you, ______, that God has chosen you to be an instrument of his mercy ...

1414. The Role of the Father (Father's Day)

Matthew 7:7-12

Sermon

Brett Blair

What's the difference between Mother's Day and Father's Day? Someone once said that Mother's Day is a much bigger deal because Mothers are more organized. Mothers say to their children: Now here is a list of what I want. Go get the money from your father and you surprise me on Mothers Day. You do that for me. For Father’s Day I give each of my five kids $20 so that they can go out and by me a present--a total of $100. They go to the store and buy two packages of underwear, each of which costs $5 and ...

1415. Proper 7

Lk 9:18-24 · Gal 3:23-29 · 1 Ki 19:9-14 · Zech 12:7-10

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY 1 Kings 19:9-14 A discouraged Elijah hears God speak in a still, small voice. This pericope is a continuation of the story begun last Sunday. We left a scared and dejected Elijah in the wilderness where an angel brought him food to give him strength to go to Mount Horeb, the mountain of God. When he arrives Yahweh asks him why he is there. Elijah explains that he has been jealous for the Lord, that God's people turned to idols, and that he is the only faithful one left in Israel. Yahweh told ...

1416. Christmas 1

Lk 2:41-52 · Col 3:12-17 · 1 Sam 2:18-20, 26

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY 1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26 Hannah gives her first child, Samuel, to the service of Yahweh under the high priest, Eli, at Shiloh where Samuel grew physically and spiritually. Samuel was the answer to Hannah's prayer for a child. When she weaned him, she took him to Eli at Shiloh to serve Yahweh permanently. Each year when Hannah came to worship, she brought Samuel a handmade robe. The little lad, wearing a linen apron-like vestment, an ephod, ministered to Yahweh. In this service Samuel grew physically ...

1417. Miracle In the Bethlehem Inn

Drama

Program for Worship Bulletin "And she gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn." (Luke 2:7) Welcome Prayer Carol "O Little Town Of Bethlehem" Scene I Joshua, Miriam, and their children Adam, Lela, Lydia and Susanna arrive in Bethlehem where they expect Joshua's brother, Aaron, to put them up in his inn. They, like most people in town at that time, are there to be enrolled for the census. They arrive outside ...

1418. Barabbas - People’s Choice or Chance of Providence?

John 18:28-40

Sermon

Carl E. Zahrte

Were you there? Is that what you were singing? Yes, I was there, all right. I had no choice in the matter. I was locked up in that lousy, stinking hole that they called a prison. I didn’t think that there was any chance that I would ever get out of there alive. The Romans had been after me for some time. Once they got their hands on me and threw me down into that dungeon, I thought for sure that my days were numbered. Those stone walls were mighty thick, and the guards kept a close watch on me. They liked ...

1419. Advent 2: Let Us Go Over To Bethlehem And Find The Promise of Christmas

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

James W. Moore

This sermon is based on Matthew 1:18-25: Perhaps you have heard the one about the attractive young woman who boarded a plane in Los Angeles heading toward New York. The young woman was tired. She knew it would be a long flight, so immediately she asked the flight attendant for a pillow and a blanket. She hoped to be able to sleep most of the way to New York. Her head had just nestled into the pillow when an obnoxious man with a loud, booming voice boarded the plane… and sat down beside her. He tapped her ...

1420. The Gospel in Two Words

Mark 7:31-37

Sermon

The healing of the deaf and mute person becomes a metaphor for a deeper and more difficult healing, the changing (if not the character, then at least the attitudes) of those touched by the Healer. And all have been touched. This sermon suggests that being deaf (being closed) happens in more than one way. Biblical and contemporary examples flavor the meaning of the biblical "Be opened," and the contemporary "Be open." The fluidity of response to the crucified and Risen Christ breaks barriers, which, if ...

1421. Where Are Your Chickens?

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

King Duncan

A few years ago, a pastor named Harry told about an unusual mission from God. He always began his mornings with prayer. One morning during his prayer time, Harry felt that God was leading him to fulfill a very specific mission: to buy twelve barbecued chickens. Harry didn't know what God wanted him to do with the barbecued chickens, so he drove around town praying and asking God to lead him to people who needed food. He sensed God leading him to five different homes in different parts of town. In one home ...

1422. A Discussion Among Angels

Matthew 24:36-44

Drama

Matthew Powell

Cast Storyteller The Archangel Michael The Archangel Uriel The Archangel Raphael The Archangel Gabriel (The Storyteller stands off to one side. Michael, Uriel, and Raphael are seated in the center and stand when they speak and remain standing. Gabriel sits slightly farther back from the others. He stands and comes forward when he finally speaks) Storyteller: A company of angels, returning from their various labors on earth, was sitting in friendly conversation. There were three of the company who seemed to ...

1423. Proper 20

Exodus 16:1-36, Isaiah 55:1-13, Jonah 3:1-10, Jonah 4:1-11, Philippians 1:12-30, Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Old Testament: Exodus 16:2-15 Yahweh provides food for the Israelites in the wilderness. Only a few weeks after deliverance from Egypt, the people complain about the lack of food. They murmur against Moses and Aaron, but God knows that they complain about him. They doubt whether Yahweh cares about them and his ability to provide for them. In response to their complaints, Yahweh sends quail in the evening and bread, "manna," in the morning. To this day the manna is a mystery - "What is it?" Moses ...

1424. The Church: The Health of a Godly Family

Hebrews 10:22-25

Sermon

James Merritt

The church is taking a beating. On the outside the picture looks bright. Its affluence is at an all-time high. The church is taking in more money and spending out more money than ever before in all of her glorious history. Just take for example the Southern Baptist Convention. Last year 40,000 Southern Baptist churches took in $6 billion, and now owns property valued at $30 billion. The same could be said for practically every major denomination in America. But a closer look reveals a darker picture. First ...

1425. God's Prescription for a Healthy Christian

Jude 1:17-21

Sermon

James Merritt

I heard a story one time about a young doctor just getting started in his first practice out in the country. This was back in the days when doctors made house calls. Late one night he got a call from a farmer who said, "Doctor, come quickly, my wife is seriously ill." Well, grabbing his little black bag he hurried out to the farm. The farmer met him on the steps, rushed him into the house, and upstairs into the bedroom where his wife lay sick. The doctor took a look at her, told the farmer to step outside ...

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