Sermon and Worship Resources

Antonyms: keep, claim, continue, stick by, self-control, power through, achieve, defend, bear, hope, acquire, quick visit, adopt, continue along, adhere, remain, pursue, support, take up, keep up, reuse, advocate, stay, persevere, cherish, keep going, carry on

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1401. Mountaintop Experience

Luke 9:28-36 (37-43a)

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

Some years ago, the History Network created a strange new hit series. It began as “Ice Road Truckers,” monitoring the dangerous winter haulage north of Yellowknife on the frozen Canadian tundra. Then, after several seasons of gaining familiarity with the top tonnage truckers, the network displaced them to northern Alaska and introduced new challenges and new road masters. Finally, in a thrilling new twist, three of these rig lords and ladies were transported to the Himalayan heights of upper India. There ...

1402. Whose Fault Is It?

Luke 13:1-9

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

The youth pastor at one of my former congregations had a cartoon taped to his office door. It pictured a little guy standing, trembling, in front of a massive desk behind which was sitting a big, big man. The little guy wore torn jeans and a T-shirt, and had a leather loop around his neck holding a cross in front of his chest. His hair was messy and his toes peeked out the front of his sandals. A stick-on name patch read, “Hi! I’m Mike! I’m the Youth Pastor.” On the dark and imposing desk was a bronze ...

1403. Starting Over

John 21:1-19

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

Sometimes the healing of our hurts starts only when we find another song to sing. Take the story of Helen, for instance. She had her sights set on a law degree from Ohio Wesleyan College. But then the flu epidemic of 1918 hit, taking her father as a victim. Suddenly everything had changed. Helen could not go to college; she had to get a job to support her mother. For the next ten years, Helen worked at an electrical utility; a simple, repetitive cog in the company machine. Just when she thought she was ...

1404. The Grey Zone

John 21:1-19

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Are you friends? Or are you in a committed relationship? How do you know? This appears to be one of the most common dilemmas in 21st century relationships. The internet is filled with “influencers” trying to help people navigate this strange new sea called “online dating,” in which many “fish” do not necessarily guarantee a great “catch.” Today, resistance to defining the “status” of a relationship abounds among those dealing with online dating apps, fast-paced, ambivalent social media, time constraints, ...

1405. The Accent Of Heaven

John 13:31-35

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

She opened our eyes to the way that civilizations unfold and develop. Cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead became the talk of society with her study, Coming of Age in Samoa. For decades she toured the world, explaining what she had observed as children were born, how they were raised, what families and groups did to reinforce certain behaviors, what happened to non-conformists, what marriage looked like, and how people aged and died. When Ms. Mead was speaking at a university, one student asked her what ...

1406. Bare Stage

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

One of the best parts of Christmas is getting out the nativity set. There’s often a family history behind the one in your home. Perhaps it belonged to your grandparents, or was given to you by a beloved aunt. Maybe there’s a chip on Mary’s arm or the leg of the baby Jesus, which tells a story about how you played with it as a child. Maybe there’s a missing Magi, who has been replaced by a super hero action figure, by the kid who accidentally broke it, in the hopes you won’t notice. If our nativity sets ...

1407. The Art and Agony of Patience

James 5:7-10

Sermon

Heather Sugden

My first child’s due date was the week before Thanksgiving. In the early months of pregnancy, I imagined this date the doctor assigned to her to be a great blessing: a Thanksgiving baby! I actually envisioned having family around our home the entire holiday week — all there to welcome my baby. I could picture perfectly in my mind’s eye this vision of everyone together, everyone happy, with food and the joy of saying our blessings out loud, creating the best possible environment for a new baby. Of course, a ...

1408. Give Me Your Word

Luke 16:1-13

Sermon

Jill J. Duffield

I am telling the truth. I am not lying. Believe me. It seems every newscast contains a story about truth telling these days. We are in the throes of the election season and talk of “fact checking” abounds. Politifact has the “Truth-O-Meter” (a term that they have trademarked, by the way) that ranks candidates’ statements anywhere from true to half-truth to pants on fire. There is talk of “transparency” ad nauseam, not only in the government but in the church. The Presbyterian Mission Agency Board just ...

1409. The Grande Masquerade

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

Lori Wagner

In 1842, Edgar Allen Poe wrote a disturbing short story called “The Masque of the Red Death.” The story follows a character named Prince Prospero during a time in which a strain of plague is causing people throughout the land to bleed to death. Confident that he can outwit and escape “death,” Prospero seals himself and a large number of his friends inside of his abbey away from the outside world. He then decides to conduct a lavish masquerade ball. At the stroke of midnight, a strange guest appears, ...

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