Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 126 to 150 of 609 results

126. Three Days To See

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

Helen Keller

... First I should like to gaze long upon the face of my dear teacher, Mrs. Ann Sullivan Macy, who came to me when I was a child and opened the outer world to me. I should want not merely to see the outline of her face, so that I could cherish it in my memory, but to study that face and find in it the living evidence of the sympathetic tenderness and patience with which she accomplished the difficult task of my education. I should like to see in her eyes that strength of character which has enabled her to stand ...

127. Why Did Jesus Do That?

Matthew 3:13-17

Sermon

Johnny Dean

If there’s one thing we Americans value above everything else, it’s freedom. We cherish, guard and exercise our freedom, and woe be unto those who threaten it in any way. We’re even willing to go to war to defend freedom, whether it’s ours or someone else’s. We are the world’s self-appointed watchdogs of freedom. But Jesus says there’s ...

128. Divorce-Proofing Your Marriage

Genesis 2:4-25

Sermon

R. E. Lybrand

... as we stand at his altar on the day of our wedding. Most of us made pretty much the same vows! We promised "... to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, TIL DEATH US DO PART ... and thereto I promise you my FAITHFULNESS." That's a definite commitment, a commitment to the partner and the marriage; one which was declared by Jesus to be permanent in Matthew 19:6 when he said, "What God has joined together, let not ...

129. Mary Of Nazareth

Luke 2:1-7, Luke 2:8-20, Ephesians 1:15-23

Drama

Lynda Pujad

... said I would bear the Messiah and call him Jesus. His kingdom would be everlasting. I wondered about this because I was not yet married, but every Jewish girl dreamed of being the mother to the Messiah. The angel gave me a verse which I have always cherished in my heart. He said, "... nothing will be impossible with God." He also mentioned my cousin Elizabeth would be having a child which was seemingly impossible for her because of her advanced age. I wanted to do the will of God even though I did not ...

130. Monologue: Elizabeth

Luke 1:5-25

Drama

Lynda Pujad

... no matter how dangerous it was. However, his wife was angry about John's accusations. She demanded that my son be murdered. Herod did not want to stand up to his wife, and so for her, my only son whom I had waited and longed for, my son whom I cherished and raised and dedicated to the Lord was senselessly murdered. He was only a little over 30 years old and had just begun his ministry. He had his entire life ahead of him. I wondered why this had happened. I wondered why someone didn't do something to Herod ...

131. Six Nails of the Cross VI: The Nail of Cruelty

Isaiah 52:13--53:12

Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

... alone. I am not altogether sure that we can accept such a doctrine of atonement. I am not altogether certain that we are big enough to accept it. If we make any attempt to affirm such a belief in atonement, it will stagger many of the cherished notions that we have held about ourselves, both as individuals and as a Christian community. Can we accept an understanding of atonement that insists upon reconciliation with all persons? This is a stern test indeed of our life together in this place. Can a community ...

132. A Covenant Sealed By a Sacrifice

Genesis 15:1-18

Sermon

Carl Hoefler

... income for the church, for missions, and for social services. We sacrifice for our children. We feed them, clothe them, and send them to college. Most of our experience with sacrifice is associated with suffering and the giving up of something that we cherish and desire for ourselves. Sacrifice is conceived of as a loss incurred without an expected return. However, in the Bible, sacrifice is associated with a gift gladly given. It is an offering which creates a special communion and an in-dissolvable union ...

133. Be Faithful to the Christian Hope

Colossians 1:15-23

Bulletin Aid

Carl Hoefler

... 's name we pray. Amen. Prayer of Confession Father, our sins keep us separated far from you as your enemies. Yet you have offered us friendship through Christ, that we may be accepted in your presence as though we were sinless. That hope is our most cherished gospel, but we handle it so carelessly. Forgive us when we give our attention to other concerns that cause this hope to fade in the background. Grant us steadfastness to this hope given by the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we pray. Amen ...

134. Make Way For Poets Of The Heart

Sermon

James Angell

... " being the religious name he took when he joined the Order. When we got ready to leave about 7:30, I spoke for a few moments with Father Louis, asking if I might some day return and have time to talk to him. Thus began a cherished friendship. The subsequent visit, about a month later, resulted in this original verse: Meeting With Thomas Merton Two long rows of September trees, like mower teeth Clipped the lawn of sky. We sat Beneath them, on folding chairs (ugly invention), To pass through our eye-fingers ...

135. Life's Third Dimension

Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon

... way God sees us. We are equally third-dimensional beings, creatures of spirit, designed to be alive not just in length of years or reach of mind, but in depth of soul. We celebrate life's length; we commemorate birthdays; we recognize milestones; we cherish the linear extension of life. I wish there were some way to celebrate the extension of life in its other directions, directions other than length alone, in its breadth, in its depth. Such extensions are more difficult to measure, yes. To measure them we ...

136. Real Security

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

... in one of the noblest organizations (the United Nations) ever born from the heart of man. I will go in peace and joy, thankful for having been blessed with the miracle of life. He adds, I will have loved my life with passion, embraced it with fervor, cherished every single moment of it. I will have contemplated with wonder the sky and its running clouds, my brethren the humans, my sisters the flowers and the stars. I will have feasted unceasingly on the treasure of life in all its forms. I will not have ...

137. The Sermon on the Level

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

... ’ Day reviews the fellowship we have been given, "the glorious company of the apostles, the noble fellowship of the prophets, the white-robed army of martyrs," and all who fought the good fight to the end, whose company includes all those whose presence we once cherished and whose memory we now honor, who died in faith to live eternally with Christ. These are visions of faith, of course, visions totally out of touch with the world as we know it, but visions that transform our ordinary days into a great ...

138. Advancers Over Decliners

Luke 19:11-27

Sermon

... in Matthew and in Luke, in Matthew as the Parable of the Talents and in Luke as the Parable of the Pounds, but while each writer has his own unique elaborations, in substance both of them are writing the same story. But this one does not occupy a cherished place within the hearts of most of us as other parables of Jesus do. This one can’t be sentimentalized as we have often sentimentalized the favorite and familiar. This one can’t be sweetened with a little sugar from the bowl of pop-style religion. It ...

139. The Now-ness of Eternity

Zechariah 7:1-14

Sermon

... . It is what comes through most vividly to me in the many words and images of the Scriptures. A simplistic analogy was brought to my mind somewhere along the line in the days of my schooling. I am sure it is nothing new to most of you, but I have cherished it as both provocative and intriguing. It states that if you and I could maintain sight of this scene in this moment in time and be swept away from it at the speed of light, we would see it as forever remaining the same, unchanging. As I ponder this, I ...

140. Life's Greatest Treasure

Matthew 13:44-46

Sermon

... our natural grain. The fact knocks a few holes in our religious sails. Salvation is a gift! And so all of our religious pretenses have to go out the window. The fine church, the correct liturgy and music, the proper family background, our present moral uprightness, our own cherished goodness - all that goes out the window. God's grace can really lay us low, can't it? It tells us that any poor soul can have this treasure. Yes, as Jesus once indicated in another parable, the man who comes to work at 3 in the ...

141. Born Naked With A Cross

Sermon

... Second Lesson: "Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse ..." The past is gladly given up as worthless. We sing, "So I'll cherish the old rugged cross, till my trophies at last I lay down." As Christians we say, "Good riddance" to past trophies and we look forward to a whole new life in Christ. In today's first lesson, God urges us to do just this: "Remember not the former ...

142. If Only We Could Remember ...

Genesis 32:22-32

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

... know the Lord." (2:19-20, NEB) These prophetic words sound very much like the covenant in the wedding ritual: "... to have and to hold from this day forward ... to comfort ... to honor ... to keep in sickness and in health ... to love and to cherish until death ..." If only we could remember the time when we first came to God, and made promises, took vows, and became acutely aware of God’s kindness, mercy, and faithfulness ... II. The second phase of Hosea’s marriage and his theological reflection is ...

143. Religion - One Way to Get in God’s Way

Zechariah 7:1-14

Sermon

Another clash between religion and the worship of God. To put it another way, "The Bible is anti-religious because it is pro-God." That statement strikes at some of our most cherished traditions. Isn’t religion automatically pro-God? Both the Old and New Testaments say, "Not automatically so." The Bible takes issue not only with the pagan religions, it takes issue with the religion of God’s people when their religion puts God in second place. Christ said of some of ...

144. Christ's Passion Portraits

Isaiah 50:1-11

Sermon

Paul Hegele

... ask them for support. Although they kept falling asleep, Jesus returned to them frequently to unburden himself and to talk. The command to love is the command to share loneliness and, in that sharing, to find the community and the intimacy which erases it. A cherished foe, this loneliness, even a divine gift not to be ashamed of or avoided. Without it, we would never hunger for love with others and intimacy with God. In the Garden, the fear and the heartache of loneliness drove Christ to his knees. But that ...

145. Let the Journey Begin

Matthew 6:1-4

Sermon

Dean Lueking

Another Lenten journey begins this Ash Wednesday. A Tradition to Cherish I say, another, because for many the keeping of Lent is a treasured tradition, and these mid-week hours set aside for worship and prayer are a blessing year after year. We journey toward Easter. The purpose of these forty days of spiritual preparation is to hail again the decisive ...

146. The Resurrection of the Body

John 11:17-37

Sermon

Dean Lueking

... brings have been met and conquered by one who is equal to the task is the best news we can ever receive. If you know what it means to listen for a footstep that never comes, to long for a voice that is no more heard, then you can cherish all the more this word of Jesus Christ which is so majestic and unfathomable. Each time we speak the Apostles’ Creed we conclude with this dozen-word phrase that spans all eternity in its meaning: "... the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come." Today ...

147. The Friday We Call Good

John 18:1-11

Sermon

Dean Lueking

... the meaning of the Cross. From these and many other traditions come names for the day that refer to its supreme value and importance to all who believe the Gospel. The Fruits of His Sacrifice We call this Friday good because of its meaning. We cherish the day not because of a sordid curiosity over one man’s excruciating ordeal of going through a crucifixion. It is the consequence of that great sacrifice that occupies us. Its fruits bring about our redemption. We are here in worship to behold the meaning ...

148. That They May Be One

John 17:6-19

Sermon

Dean Lueking

... hands were folded for us and then crucified for our sins and the woes of the whole world. Every Christian Counts Never denigrate the modest events of daily life in which reconciliation, love, and divine grace win the day over hositility, hate, and mutual neglect. Cherish every one of them. Let them multiply. All together as well as individually they bear witness to the prayer of Christ Jesus that the oneness he shares with the Father might be reflected in the oneness he makes possible among us who bear his ...

149. Expectations of a Vital Faith James K. Cobb

Exodus 1:1-22

Sermon

The lessons appointed for the ninth Sunday after Pentecost reflect on the issue of the power and presence of God in the context of suffering. This narrative gives us no easy answers. If anything they exclude some cherished complacencies such as belief that God protects his people from suffering and pain and anguish and hopelessness. But in the text, suffering is undeserved and prolonged and bitter. The fact is that ordinary people lose control of their lives and see their children abused and murdered; but ...

150. One Commandment is Enough!

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

... or a dozen) masters, but we have also enslaved ourselves to them. If we could just keep this one commandment, and keep it well, the other nine would be gloriously simple. How good it is of God to let us be saved from schizophrenia by letting us cherish him, belong to him, have affection for him, worship him only, trust him, surrender to him, belong to him - and to him alone! Luther made it wonderfully simple when he said, about this One Word, "We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things." Our ...

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