Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1451 to 1475 of 4999 results

Luke 13:1-9

Sermon

John M. Braaten

... way you do it? But isn't that a little like pulling on the flowers to make them grow? We ought to have trouble with that kind of approach. Neither our Lord nor his disciples ever dealt with anybody in that way. Yet we are called to be evangelists, to bear witness to ... it's just awful! We are to be present for one another with compassion and respect. That orientation toward people has all kinds of things to say about how we run a congregation. It has an impact on everything we do, from our stewardship program ...

1452. Worthless Slaves

Luke 17:5-10

Sermon

George Reed

... have examples of those who knew the truth of how to serve God in the way of Jesus. We are not above others. We are only servants who, at best, have done only what we were told to do. When we can serve God and God’s creatures with this kind of Christ Spirit, then we begin to participate in the joy of Jesus. In this humble attitude we are removed from trying to prove ourselves and to make ourselves worthy of God’s love. In this attitude we can serve joyously knowing we are side-by-side with the Christ ...

1453. The Art of Impersonation

Matthew 5:21-37

Sermon

King Duncan

... strong-willed brothers. As you can imagine, the brothers got into all sorts of arguments and fights with each other. Usually the arguments would blow over, but sometimes Nathan’s mother had to get involved. And she always had the same formula for ending any kind of fight or argument: “You boys go back and resolve it,” she would say, “and remember you are brothers.” It didn’t matter what they were fighting about. It didn’t matter who was at fault. Her command was always the same: “You boys go ...

1454. Clearing the Eyes

John 9:1-12, John 9:13-34, John 9:35-41

Sermon

David & Marian Plant

... . The survey attempted to determine if one’s views of God and church affiliation were influenced by the political party one belonged to or if one’s political party of choice was determined by one’s view of God. Of course, this is sort of a chicken and egg kind of question. I’ve tried unsuccessfully to use the internet to find the story with no avail but my understanding of the results were that if one tended to see God as a judging God, that heaven and hell were an absolute, and that we needed to be ...

1455. Lost in the Wonder of God

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... kicked up. His fear makes him vacillate in his confidence. His faith is shaken in the wind. His mind is no longer focused only on Jesus, but the wind has distracted his mind, and he is conflicted. This sense of “conflict” is at the core of this kind of doubt. Being of heart or mind in “two places at the same time” does not work for God. As Jesus puts it, “you cannot serve two masters.” Your mind and heart must be unflappably devoted to God. This “wavering” is a very Jewish understanding of ...

1456. The Cure

Luke 4:31-37, Luke 4:38-44

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... , in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong." We all are disabled by demons of one kind or another. Each one of us has our own demonology. My demons don’t come in a bottle of glass or plastic; they come on ... so she serves up. How does she serve? We don’t know if she’s making them supper. We do know Jesus loves to eat. It’s kind of funny if you think about it. They get home from the synagogue, and there’s nothing to eat because Peter’s mother-in-law is ...

1457. Jacob's Well

John 4:1-26, John 4:27-38, John 4:39-42

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... that there is nothing like it. It’s mouth-watering fresh and thirst-quenching pure. It’s water untouched by humanity. Its sources are mysterious to us, its nature and how it gets to be so pure, only a secret of the rocks and the earth itself. This is the kind of living water that Jesus wants to give us –to nourish our stagnant minds and dry souls. This is the message had for the woman he met at Jacob’s Well that hot day outside of Sychar. And it’s the message he still has for us today. Samaria ...

1458. The Proof is in the Roof

Luke 5:17-26

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... and in joy with God. To reduce one’s relationship with God to mere rules and regulations would cripple one’s ability to function as the kind of human God intended us to be. One that can dance, praise, honor God in one’s life with actions and love. As we see at ... our faith and keep us from being close to God. Our sins can bind us down in ways that don’t allow us to be the kind of whole humans we were meant to be as well. We never leave our past behind. When we are healed and made whole, we don’t ...

1459. Parabola

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... all that he had and bought it.” “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. So it will be at the ... ripe and beautiful to the eye. When you peel it, you can smell the scent of it, and you can find out a bit more about what kind of fruit it is and what it’s texture is like, and what color it is, and you can compare it to other fruits. When you cut ...

1460. The Death of John the Baptist

Matthew 14:1-12, Mark 6:14-29, Luke 9:1-9

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... What stories or metaphors in their own lives can help them connect with this narraphoric event? And how? How can your apps help you do that? What will your organic architecture look like? Will it pass the test of MRI? Will your style pass the test of fMri? What kinds of apps can pump up your semiotic sermon so that it connects with people on multiple levels and in a variety of ways and in surround sound? Can you hear the voice of Jesus within it? Once you can answer these questions, you can move on to look ...

1461. Do(n't) Rock the Boat

Mt 14:22-36, Mk 4:35-41, Lk 8:22-25, Jn 6:16-24

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... life blinds you and deafens you. We, the Church, need to sail the seas too. Sometimes, the boat will rock. And that’s ok. Because Jesus is here. As long as the Church has Jesus at the helm, there is nothing to fear going out there in any kind of weather. In any kind of storm. So the question is today, do you know that Jesus is in the boat? Because a church cannot “do” Jesus. You have to be in relationship with Jesus! You can’t be the Church of Christ, if Christ is missing. The good news is….Jesus ...

1462. God Gives the Pharisees the Finger!

John 7:25-44, John 7:45--8:11

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... dust upon the stone of the Temple floor to those “stiff-necked” Pharisees, just as God’s finger wrote upon the dust and shadow of the Temple wall during Belshazzar’s feast. Both times, a sentence is leveled! It’s important to realize that as kind and salvific Jesus is among those who are loyal to God, those who are not (the Pharisees and Scribes take the brunt of this) are severely chastised, and finally convicted. We will see this theme increase as Jesus condemns the Pharisees, the Temple, and ...

1463. The Light That Dwells Among Us

Matthew 16:13-20, Matthew 16:21-28, Matthew 17:1-13

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... ? There is an ancient story that comes from Celtic Christianity. It goes like this: One day, long ago - when the faith was new to the Irish - a new priest decided to take his time and visit every house and invite all the people to church. Over time, and with the kind heart of the priest, all the town was in church every Sunday. Soon the priest heard of a man living in a far glen that had never stepped foot into the church. In fact, the man never heard of church. So the priest decided to visit the man and ...

1464. Little Ones

Luke 18:15-17, Matthew 19:13-15

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... to “stumble” in his or her faith. Children for Jesus have an innocence, a trust, a loyalty, a beauty and purity of faith that must not be sullied or soiled. While Jesus literally talks about children, he also uses “child” as a metaphor for the kind of faith he wants all of his followers to have. And he will protect their faith in him and in God no matter what. Jesus has encountered several people in the scriptures whom he praised for their faith –a Syrophoenician woman, a Roman Centurion, a ...

1465. True Colors

Acts 9:1-19a, Acts 9:19b-31

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... that is the foundation that proves us in the image of God. Jesus Is One with the Father. He was there from the beginning of time, from the very foundations of the earth. And He is the foundation from which God will rebuild us into a new person, the kind of human being we were all meant to be. May you all become children of the Light. And may Jesus be revealed in you, so that your True Colors may be revealed to the world. Live as Christ in you. *www.livescience.com **See www.realclearscience.com/2012 ***The ...

1466. Lord of the Harvest

Matthew 9:35-38, Luke 10:1-24

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... celebrate the Harvest festival in Jerusalem –shavuot. Jesus seems to have a sense of urgency about needing workers in the field. God’s kingdom time was coming. And there was much to be done. Would they become part of the bread of life? Or would they be the kind of weeds that would poison the food? (Darnel is in fact poisonous to human consumption). Are you wheat or are you tare? That was the question. And Jesus would need help to guide those lost in the midst of the darnel into the arms of God. It was ...

1467. The Healer

Matthew 4:23-25, Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... us probably believe that our hearts are in the right places. We certainly believe we are beating to the right drummer, don’t we? After all, we are here this morning, in church, where we are supposed to be. We try to do the right things. We try to be kind and generous. We tithe. We give and live a moral life. We serve on committees. We work in the kitchen. We teach Sunday School. We try to live a good life. We should be “heart” healthy, shouldn’t we? We do our best for the church. We’ve gone to ...

1468. Sparkle

Luke 4:31-37

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... YHWH. It’s the place where you might expect people to be living and praising in the Spirit of God, right? It’s the last place you’d expect a demonic spirit. But here in this synagogue, Jesus encounters something else –a man living in a different kind of spirit. And, like Saul, he was evidently having trouble getting rid of it on his own. This is important. Because, when a bad spirit gets hold of you, when a rancid and rotten spirit overtakes you, you start to spew vengefulness or envy or hate or ...

1469. Even in Our Hiding

Matthew 2:19-23, Matthew 2:13-18

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... bad things happen.” No! It’s never God’s will when people hurt other people. It’s never, ever God’s will when people like Hitler or Herod or others in our own world today persecute people and families and children. This is the result of sin….the kind of sin that eats away at the heart and tarnishes the soul. And God mourns for his people hurt by those who would kill and maim. That’s why…sometimes, it’s okay to hide. And God will be with you in your hiding places. God knows that sometimes ...

1470. The Raising of Paul

Acts 14:8-20

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them. In the past, he let all nations go their own way. Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.” Even with these words, they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them. Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium ...

1471. Rain of Grace

Hosea 6:1--7:16

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... is gentle, free of chemicals, clean, and fresh. Plants and crops love rainwater. They thrive in it. So do we. If you live in an arid climate, rain water can be the best gift. Remember that line in the 23rd psalm? “My cup overflows….” Picture the kind of rain that comes down, and comes down, and comes down…..filling those huge rain buckets and rain barrels, and overflowing them from the brim with clear, clean, refreshing water. That’s a true gift. That’s exactly what God loves to do –pour out ...

1472. Elisha's Bones

2 Kings 13:10-25

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... gentle and loving touch has the ability to connect us warmly in a uniquely human way. Touch makes love tangible and real. Touch puts “teeth” in a declaration and makes it live. Or perhaps I should say instead, touch gives love “bones.” It’s one thing to say a kind word to someone. But it’s another thing entirely to lay a palm on one’s shoulder, to give a hug, to take one’s hand, to stroke one’s hair. Touch is powerful. Touch is vital. Vital. What’s there not to love in that word “vital ...

1473. The Mustard and the Cedar

Ezekiel 17:1-24, Matthew 13:31-35

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... takes off in weed-like speed and fashion through field and valley, mountain and hill, without thought to who it is. The metaphor is akin to Jesus’ “fishing” metaphor, in which the net is cast indiscriminately into the sea and pulls in all fish no matter what kind. It’s God’s job later to sort. In fact, Jesus would also later tell a parable indicating that weeds are sown along with wheat. It’s not our job to judge. Only our job to seed, and to continue to spread and germinate the WORD/covenant ...

1474. Holy Quail!

Exodus 16:1-36, Numbers 11:4-35

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... . We want MEAT! Never mind that God was looking after them day by day, making sure they were nourished for their journey. They wanted MORE, MORE, BETTER, BEST! They wanted MEAT! So, God, in God’s kind of wisdom, said…okay then. I’ll give you meat! And I’ll tell you what….your unquenchable, insatiable, “gimme gimme now” kind of appetite is going to lead you into a not so good place. Here you go! Have some Quail. In fact, have ALL the quail you can eat…..eat up! Days and weeks of juicy, meaty ...

1475. Wave Riders and Deep-Sea Divers

Jonah 1:1-17, Jonah 2:1-10, Jonah 3:1-10, Jonah 4:1-11

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... and when you peek out –God! Try to sail off into the sunset. When you look next to you –God again! And that’s the kind of day Jonah was having! Everywhere he went –God was right there with him. Frustrated, Jonah jumps overboard where he’s sure God can’ ... to refer to the time before I was born as when I was “swimming in the deep blue sea.” LOL I think that’s kind of where Jonah is right now. What did Jesus say to Nicodemus? You have to be born again. He had trouble understanding that concept. ...

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