Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1401 to 1425 of 4972 results

1401. Lazarus Laughed

John 11:17-37

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... severe challenge to their authority. And John says that “...from that day on they planned to put him (Jesus) to death.” (11:53) That may be the clue to the meaning of the whole story. Here, as always in this Gospel, we have to stop and ask: What message did the author wish to convey by remembering this story? The fact of the matter is that it was just this event which precipitated Jesus’ own crucifixion and death. Because of this stupendous miracle, Jesus’ enemies—the religious establishment in ...

1402. The Laying on of Hands

Mark 5:21-43

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... of Jesus Himself. Pilate’s wife: “Do you think he is dead?” Centurion: “No, lady, I don’t.” Pilate’s wife: “Then, where is he?” Centurion: “Let loose in the world, lady, where neither Roman nor Jew can stop His truth.” Now, I have used that dialogue several times in sermons. I usually quote that and stop there. But the drama goes on with Jesus saying: “Open your hearts, open your mind, If ye bind your souls, it is me ye bind; Ask of me: seek, and ye shall find.; Knock, and behold the ...

1403. When Compassion Overcomes Irritation

Mark 6:30-44

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... -trailer. At various times we owned a 16-foot Shasta, a 17-foot Shasta, and a 20-foot Shasta. One advantage of the bigger travel trailer was that it had a bookshelf on one wall. One summer we were packing and preparing to leave, when our family physician stopped by to drop off his daughter, who was a friend of our daughter’s and who was going to accompany us as we went to the East Coast. We were showing our doctor-friend around the trailer, and he was admiring the little nooks and crannies - amazed at ...

1404. Men Like Trees Walking

Mark 8:22-26

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... seen bumpers so covered with stickers that there wasn’t much bumper left. The cars usually look as though the bumper stickers might be holding the bumper itself together! I am afraid that someday I will be so busy reading the darn things that I will forget to stop and go crashing into the car ahead of me. I wonder if the policeman who arrives at the scene will accept the excuse, “But officer, I was only trying to read all the messages the person in the other car had for me!” This summer I came across ...

1405. Salty Saints

Mark 9:42-50

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... . Down through the centuries from the time of the Emperor Constantine onward, most Christians have acted more like attack dogs than apostles of the Prince of Peace. The government (any government) says: “Kill!” and Christians obediently say: “Tell me who.” They don’t even stop to ask: “Is this what Christ would do?” Or better, “Is this what Christ would have me do?” We are much like the fellow I saw in a cartoon many years ago. It showed a historical scene, the runner from the Battle of ...

1406. Childish or Child-like?

Mark 10:13-16

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... there have been far too many Christians who have felt that their primary calling in life was that of rebuking somebody. There have been too many who have felt that God wanted them to look around to see if anybody was having any fun, so they could put a stop to it. A priest once said to Groucho Marx: “Oh, Mr. Marx, I want to thank you for bringing so much joy into the world.” To which Groucho, always quick on the uptake replied, rather ungraciously, I think, “I want to thank you for taking so much out ...

1407. Not the Seasons for Figs

Mark 11:12-19

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... Jerusalem. They climbed a long, narrow, dusty, rocky road, until they reached the ridge of the Mount where they were within sight of their goal. There they could see the splendor of the Temple spread out before them. It would have been a reasonable time to stop for a “coffee break” and have something to eat. Mark tells us that Jesus was hungry. Mark’s Jesus is nothing if not human. He experiences hunger and thirst, just like everybody else. But then He does something that seems much TOO human. He gets ...

1408. Opposite the Treasury

Mark 12:41-44

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... on a cold wintry day. We talked about many things, read the Bible together, and had a moment of prayer. As I was about to leave, she stopped me. “Pastor,” she said, “I haven’t been able to get to church much lately. This has been a hard winter for me. But I have ... . He is here...watching us during the Offertory. Some folks say, “I wish my minister would preach the Gospel and stop talking about money.” But, my friends, it is virtually impossible to preach the Gospel and not talk about money. When ...

1409. What the Maid Said to the Fisherman

Mark 14:66-72, Mark 14:53-65

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... you think that you have betrayed Jesus, fallen short, committed some horrible sin, just look at what I did! I swaggered up and said that ‘Even if everyone else fails, I will not.’ Yet I slipped and fell. And the amazing thing is that Jesus never stopped loving me! Nor will he ever stop loving you! All you have to do is open your hearts to receive that love!” One of the world’s favorite hymns was written by a man named John Newton. Let me tell you about John Newton. He was born in 1725, the son of a ...

1410. Holy Monday

Matthew 21:1-11

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... to face an angry Christ in judgment.” (Christian Century, January 24, 1990, page 73) That sentence set my mind to thinking. Whatever we may think of the good father’s sartorial preferences, I was shocked awake by his words: “an angry Christ.” They made me stop and think. An angry Christ? Yes, according to the Gospel record, Christ did get angry. And He got angry over something a whole lot more important than a dress code. In fact, it might be argued that the attitude expressed by the good father in ...

1411. On the Threshold: From Law to Gospel

Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon

David Busic

... if they don’t. If you do not repent, you will die. This is what you are doing, these are the consequences. Stop what you are doing, and there will be different consequences. Very straight forward. But is this the Gospel? There is something less ... that salvation goes deeper than following a religious code. John has perfected the message of turning from our sins. But we can’t stop there, short of the full gospel. The higher, deeper, wider, comes from Jesus the Christ, the Messiah who comes. John’s baptism ...

1412. A Man Named Pain (Part 1)

1 Chronicles 4:1-23

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... Jabez, saying, ''Because I bore him in pain.''" If this portion of the Bible were preserved on videotape, the camera would be scanning through a parade of people, but on the 44th person it would stop, zoom in for a close-up of this one man and then continue scanning. It is like a prospector sifting grains of sand and suddenly stopping for a pearl. What is there about this man Jabez and the prayer he prayed that we should remember him 2500 years after his death? Maybe it’s his name. A mother names her son ...

1413. The Lord's Prayer: Our Father

Matthew 6:5-15

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... all of her life. She had loved God, loved people. She became a cynic. She said she really did not have contact with anyone. She just removed herself from life. And then one day she was with a person who gave her a note that asked, "Why don''t you stop fighting it and start using it?" She said she had not thought of that. A short time later she began teaching deaf children. She said, "It took me ten years to learn to say three words: I am deaf." (First UMC Sermons, May 17, 1992.) "Listen up church!" Don''t ...

1414. The Lord's Prayer: Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done

Matthew 6:5-15

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... best. "However, on the other hand though, if place two is far too low, I might get a strange pain in my big toe. So, place one might be best, so he started to go. "Then he stopped and said, 'On the other hand, the other hand, the other hand though...'' "So for 36 hours and a half, the poor Zoad made starts and stops in the middle of the road. And that is how the Zoad who would not take a chance GOT NO PLACE AT ALL. He had a split in his pants." The Zoad is a spiritual stand-in ...

1415. Dealing with the "F" Words of Life

John 21:1-14

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... such matters with anyone under thirty years of age." Marney continued, "Look at you! Just look at you. You are in the prime of your life. Full of talent and energy. Very few if any of you have experienced poverty, failure, defeat, heartbreak or a brick wall that stops you dead in your tracks. So tell me, what in God''s name can any of you know of a dark harsh world which only makes sense if Christ is raised from the dead?" Recently Pastor Jim Dethmer of the Willow Creek Community Church in Illinois said ...

1416. Blank Walls or Filled Lives (Part V)

Philippians 1:1-11

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... and inspiring stories of faith that have come out of the former Soviet Union. In the region of Estonia, we have a small United Methodist Church which was pastored by The Reverend Alexander Krums. He was ordered by the Communists to disband the church and stop preaching the Gospel. He refused! He was put in prison for five years. The government felt they had given a death stroke to the church. When they released Pastor Krums, he discovered the church was five times larger than when he had gone to prison ...

1417. Facing Difficult Decisions in Life! Part VI

Philippians 1:1-11

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... ''s true. But there''s one big difference. We cows are glad to do our giving while we''re living. You pigs only do your giving after you''re dead." Paul would not let the threat of death prevent him from making his joyful witness now. Death could not stop Paul''s great joy in Jesus. It only brought him closer to the source of his joy. Paul was going to make his witness in the present and not be stingy about it. He was sacrificial in his orientation to life and death. Dr. John Killinger of Samford University ...

1418. Titles, Credentials, or Resurrection Power

Philippians 3:1-11

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... of legalism for another one. It would be like a prisoner in Sydney, Australia, that I heard about recently. It seems that a certain prisoner managed to escape from the facility. He hid in a delivery truck that made stops at the prison. A few minutes later, when the truck stopped, the prisoner dropped down to the ground and rolled out to freedom. Unfortunately, he discovered that he was now in the courtyard of another prison 5 miles from the first. The Apostle Paul knew from his own conversion experience ...

1419. The Destructive Power of Dis-Unity

Philippians 4:2-9

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... in Jesus"--not victims of juicy jealousies that could infect and steal the joy of the Lord from them. In verse three, we see that the Apostle Paul recognizes the reality that these two sisters in the Lord need both help and encouragement from the congre-gation to stop fighting. There is also a call to action for the members to do exactly that. An ancient Rabbi once asked his pupils how they could tell when the night had ended and the day was on its way back. "Could it be," asked one student, "when you can ...

1420. Tripping the Tempter

James 1:1-18

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... is now Lord of our lives. By faith, we can count ourselves dead to sin and temptation and rely on God''s power to keep us. Let me explain it this way. A missionary in Africa was riding his horse along a narrow path through the jungle. Suddenly the horse stopped and refused to proceed. The missionary got down from the horse to see what was wrong. He saw a huge snake lying in the middle of the path curled up with its head under a loose, flat stone. The missionary was frightened and not sure what to do. The ...

1421. The Telling Trademarks of Truth

James 3:13-18

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... , six camels; the youngest 2 camels. Everyone seemed pleased and content. Then they thought: 9 + 6 + 2 = 17. With just the hint of a smile on her face, the wise old woman picked up the rope from her camel and headed for home. She had wisdom that stopped a war --and was winsome. This is the trademark of truth. When our actions and words agree the message is always loud and clear. James would agree. This is why we must tame the tongue. Some of you know that the Philadelphia 76ers selected Jerry Stackhouse in ...

1422. Still Waters

Psalm 23:1-6

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... people, and you will find every one of them drew apart from the hurry of life for rest and reflection. "Great poems are not written on crowded streets, lovely songs are not created in the midst of noise and commotion. Our visions of God come only when we stop, look and listen. So the Psalmist said, `He makes me to lie down.'' `Be still and know that I am God.''" (Psalm 46:10) There are people in this church today who can identify with what Charles Allen wrote, because we have been there too: flat on our ...

1423. Going Home for Christmas?

John 1:1-18

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... morning, Wavie's parents were in the tiny Georgia town, overjoyed at finding their daughter. Later, Wavie told her story. She really had not intended to run away from home. But on that January day, friendly strangers had offered her a ride to a nearby truck stop--and then on to Georgia. The farther she got away from home, the more frightened she was of being punished for leaving. Each hour away from home made it harder to return. She feared the reunion. Dozens of times she had dialed her parent''s phone ...

1424. The Other Side of Christmas

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... about a man driving home from work on Christmas Eve. He saw a young boy who had fallen through the ice in a nearby lake. He stopped the car and jumped out, tore off his jacket and crawled out onto the ice. He managed to save the boy--even though he had fallen ... , and it created a new historical situation." The birth of a new King, the one Rome didn''t anticipate and Herod couldn''t stop, began another history, which carries in it the end of all royal histories. (4) We must not forget the great truth found in ...

1425. Handling the Harshness of Life

2 Corinthians 4:1-18

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... two signs. The first declares in bold letters, The Road to Success. However, you don''t travel very far before you see the sign, STOP AHEAD AND PAY THE TOLL. I think we can all relate to Ziggy''s discovery. We know very well how true that is. ... I''ll die content." Bravely he swam until it would seem His struggles began to churn the cream. On the top of the butter at last he stopped And out of the bowl he happily hopped. What is the moral? It''s easily found. If you can''t get out--keep swimming around. (2) Do ...

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