Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 126 to 150 of 1182 results

When there is freedom from mechanical conditioning, there is simplicity. The classical man is just a bundle of routine, ideas and tradition. If you follow the classical pattern, you are understanding the routine, the tradition, the shadow – you are not understanding yourself.

Bruce Lee

127. By D Grace of God

Luke 6:27-38

Sermon

King Duncan

... /01/collins-talks-giving-away-wealth-working-societal-inequality/. 6. “28 Beautiful Words for Love from Around the World . . .” by Benny Lewis, https://www.fluentin3months.com/words-for-love/?utm_term=OZY&utm_campaign=sundaymagazine&utm_content=Sunday_04.11.7. 21&utm_source=Campaigner&utm_medium=email#:~:text=Sanskrit%20is%20a%20 classical%20language,of%20Sanskrit%20words%20for%20love. 8. “We Need to Know the Shirley Chisholms” by George Raveling and Michael Lombardi, The Daily Coach, Oct 28, 2020.

128. Ordinary Sin

Luke 22:28-34, 54-60

Sermon

Will Willimon

... we will stoop to betrayal if the price is right. Fifty years ago Eric Auerbach wrote, Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western Literature, in which he contrasts the pictures of human beings in Roman and Greek classics with their depiction in the New Testament. In the classics, ''ordinary'' folk were almost invisible, unfit subjects for drama, ordinary people appearing in Greek tragedies only as buffoons. But in · Simon Peter, Auerbach finds a much richer depiction of what it means to be a person ...

129. The Gift of Forgiveness

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

... landscape wall, they drove into a full-grown palm tree. The front wheels of the car came to rest halfway up the tree trunk. Damage to the car was the least of their troubles. Jamie and Hannah were both wearing seat belts, but in the classic Malibu, there were no shoulder harnesses. As a result, Jamie cracked her cheekbone on the steering wheel; Hannah’s forehead had split wide open on the dash. Both girls survived but both would need the services of a plastic surgeon. Particularly Hannah. When Hannah’s ...

130. Food For The Body And Food For The Soul

John 6:25-59

Sermon

J. Will Ormond

... a certain theological seminary in the South there was a professor of theology who was the master of the pithy, memorable saying. He used to give young seminarians about to graduate this advice: "Marry as soon as possible and as often as necessary." He had a classic table blessing which he used frequently, especially at public functions: "Lord, we thank you for food: food for the body and food for the soul. May we never lack for either and give us an appetite for both." This blessing, it seems to me, sums up ...

131. The Wretched Of The Earth

Luke 1:46-56, Luke 1:39-45

Illustration

Richard A. Jensen

... show some mercy if you can. Look down and see the sweepings of the street. Look down, look down upon your fellow man!" Thus reads the text of a song from the most popular work of musical theater in history: Les Miserables. In the musical version of the classic French novel by Victor Hugo this song shifts the scene to the squalid streets of Paris: 1832. It is sung by "the miserable ones," those from whom the novel and the musical takes its name. The beggars, the poor, the dregs of society sing to the upper ...

132. The Agony And The Ecstasy Of The Family

Mark 3:20-35

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... agony of the conflict as you hear the story of how family members decided among themselves to "put him away quietly" before he did any more damage to himself and them. In the family conflict there was misunderstanding, miscommunication, and misjudgment -- classic symptoms of agony in all families. Conflict arose because it appeared to Jesus' family that he had thrown away security, safety, and society's values. Jesus' family thought he had thrown away security. Jesus had left home and the carpentry business ...

133. It Is Blessed To Receive

Luke 17:11-19

Sermon

William G. Carter

... . See Leviticus 13 and 14 for a description of the process by which lepers were restored to community life. 3. David Owen, "No Thanks," The New Yorker 18 December 1995: p. 128. 4. Edgar Lee Masters, Spoon River Anthology (New York: Signet Classic, 1992), p. 10. 5. Craddock, 121. 6. Curiously, this saying does not appear in the four gospels, causing some scholars to doubt its authenticity. 7. As quoted by B. A. Gerrish, Grace and Gratitude: The Eucharistic Theology of John Calvin (Minneapolis: Fortress Press ...

134. It's OK To Stir Up God

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

Richard Patt

... pray...." Like us, they too wanted to know about the reality of prayer. When Jesus responded by giving them the words we now know as the Lord's Prayer, I believe his goal was more general than specific. Though the words have turned out to be the classic prayer of Christendom, I believe that Jesus initially intended them to portray the spirit of our prayers instead of specified words. Look closely at the Lord's Prayer sometime. What it expresses is an attitude about how we're going to think of God and how we ...

135. A Tale Of Two Cities

Amos 7:1-9, Amos 7:10-17

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

... form and that such insolence would bring certain death to Amos! Amaziah was uncomfortable with the presence of this country herdsman, speaking fire and brimstone and shaking the foundations of the religious/political establishment. Thus the stage was set for a classic confrontation between priest and prophet. By what authority did Amos speak? By what authority did Amaziah command Amos to prophesy elsewhere? A number of key issues may be derived from this text which set the stage for the clash between priest ...

136. On Golf, Swimming, Gardening and Lent?

Luke 13:1-9

Sermon

Glenn E. Ludwig

... in the grace period we are given, and stands by us with a love that will not let us be destroyed, no matter what life will bring our way. The autobiography of G. Stanley Jones is titled A Song of Ascent, and is considered to be one of the spiritual classics. Jones was a great man: a missionary to India, a friend to Gandhi, a tireless world traveler, and a great writer and speaker. Now, what is amazing to me is that this book was actually his third attempt at an autobiography. And he was 83 at the time. He ...

137. Out Of The Whirlwind

Job 38:1--41:34

Sermon

John A. Stroman

... infinitely caring God. God is a sustaining and forgiving God. God comes to us in the midst of our whirlwind. Another thing we notice in this story of Job is that God has a wonderful sense of humor. Job 38-41 is a remarkable discourse where God's classic reply to Job puts him in his place, firmly, absolutely, but with infinite love and compassion. One cannot help but read this discourse with a smile. For a long period of time Job takes God to task for his plight, and then calmly and with assurance God says ...

138. How Good News Spreads!

1 Kings 8:22-61

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... . I even fantasized that Leo himself walked into the room, greeted me heartily, and asked me to work with him on his newest novel! That would be some invitation, wouldn't it? To co-labor with Tolstoy. A commission to co-author the latest Russian classic! But, alas, there was no risen Tolstoy, no voice of commission. Only silence broken by the shrill November winter winds sweeping across the Soviet plains. And to this day I remain an uncommissioned artist. There is in my life and yours, however, a genuine ...

139. What's In It For Me?

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

... that best meets their needs. The churches that are best able to serve the needs of the consumer grow and thrive. The churches that fail to meet the needs of the consumer shrink and die. Some have looked to the empty, established state churches of Europe as classic examples of what happens when you don't have a free market. In many of those countries, there is one official state religion. It is given all sorts of privileges by the state. It gets to operate a religious monopoly. It is supported by state taxes ...

140. Praying With Bloody Knuckles

Isaiah 62:1-12, Isaiah 61:1-11

Sermon

William L. Self

... I make intercession for you always in my prayers" (Romans 1:9). This rugged missionary was an intercessor of the highest magnitude. (You may wish to note Romans 10:1, 1 Thessalonians 3:13, Colossians 1:10.) The finest book on prayer I know is the classic by Harry Emerson Fosdick, The Meaning of Prayer. In this work he describes intercession and importunity as dominant desire. He widens the circle of prayer to make it, not the words we utter in public meetings, but rather the total focus of our lives. Our ...

141. Famous Last Words

Deuteronomy 18:14-22

Sermon

William L. Self

... captain let the passengers vote as to whether he should turn on the radar. George Buttrick, longtime pastor of the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City, was asked if he would have a layman preach on Layman's Sunday, and his reply was classic: "When they have Layman's Day at Mount Sinai Hospital and let me operate." A leader is one who is trained, competent, a visionary, and an agent for change. Regardless of its theology, denomination, or form of worship, no church ever makes progress toward ...

142. What Is God Doing In Our Bad Times?

Joel 2:18-27, Joel 2:28-32

Sermon

Thomas G. Rogers

... and writing conventions differ from century to century and from genre to genre. The Bible is very much like an anthology. When we read the book of Joel, we need to read it for what it is. It is itself a complex mixture. It includes classic Old Testament prophecy, which assumes that God does indeed punish bad deeds. Some scholars suggest that it also borders on being apocalyptic literature that looks to the future using symbolic language. Perhaps the best method for unraveling the puzzle that is the Bible is ...

143. Boast In The Lord

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5

Sermon

Richard Hasler

... the more staid Church of England officials. As a result, he was imprisoned in the Bedford jail in 1660 for preaching without a license and remained there for 12 years. While in prison he began writing a book, The Pilgrim's Progress, which was to become a classic allegory. In this extraordinary story he depicts a man leaving his family with a book in his hand and a heavy burden on his back. He meets Evangelist who advises him to flee the City of Destruction and points him to the Wicket Gate. Along the way ...

144. Play The Fool

1 Corinthians 3:1-23

Sermon

Richard Hasler

... native of England, educated at Oxford University, a professor of History at Yale University who writes Toynbee-like scholarly tomes, why would such a man dedicate his book to a boys' soccer team? From a person of his background we would normally expect a classical quotation probably written in Latin or Greek. In the Foreword to the book Kennedy explains. It seems that he has enjoyed coaching the boys' soccer team the past four years. It has been a wonderful escape from his books, files and statistics. Then ...

145. When Life Doesn't Go According To Plan

Genesis 21:8-21

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

... I did not care to hear." How universal this painful ordeal of learning that the world doesn't operate according to what we believe is fair. It happens to all of us and it has always been that way. This morning's scripture lesson offers a classic example. God called Abraham from the Tigris-Euphrates River valley and promised to make him the father of a great nation. Unfortunately, Sarah, Abraham's wife, was past the age when women normally have children. Since fathering a child is the logical first step in ...

146. But You Can't Get Water Out Of A Rock!

Exodus 17:1-7

Sermon

Steve Burt

... asked if you'd join him and his wife for a prayer.' I was annoyed at my father-in-law for telling the man I was becoming a minister. "The couple was from California and simply wanted to give me a copy of a book they liked, an old Christian classic, Streams In The Desert. (I hadn't thought about the significance of the title until now.) The man asked me to pray aloud, something I was uncomfortable doing, but I did it. He thanked me and I left. I never saw them again. "On our way home I opened the ...

147. A Long Obedience In The Same Direction

Matthew 3:13-17

Sermon

Mark Radecke

... -to-table meals in 15 minutes at the outside; we want 0 to 60 acceleration in 8.5 seconds; we want the phone answered in 3 rings or we're hanging up; we want that personal pan pizza in 5 minutes or we're outta here. No one reads classical literature any more. Why bother when you've got Barnes and Noble, Monarch Notes and Klassic Komix? Or, if you really must, there's always the Evelyn Wood Speed Reading Course. (I'm reminded of Woody Allen's comment about that course. The comedian said, "I took the Evelyn ...

148. The Holy Spirit As The Dove Of Peace

Sermon

John A. Stroman

... that passed over the wires." In war we always make some appeal to moral idealism. We have regarded war as something of a tragic necessity, justified if fought with conscientious instincts to repel an intolerable wrong. Such reasoning has produced the classic doctrine of the "just war." Most people in most wars think of their own cause as justifiable. To gain support for war, religion and nationalism are forced into a formidable alliance. Without thinking of the incongruity, Christian theology and symbolism ...

149. Knowing The Voice

John 10:1-21

Sermon

Thomas Long

... each name, summoning each and every person to follow. Not long ago a friend told me about a church drama troupe that presented, as a special event on the weekend before Christmas, a "dessert and drama" production of Charles Dickens' classic A Christmas Carol. The church fellowship hall was transformed into a theater, folding chairs clustered around tables, all facing a makeshift stage fitted with painted backdrops of the tenements and sooty chimneys of nineteenth century London. When the audience gathered ...

150. Seeing The Unseeing

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

Sermon

David Belgum

... tithe ... see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing" (Malachi 3:10). Another reason why you may have bad health or many misfortunes is if you come up short in stewardship. Finally, Job was the classic exposition of the thesis that the good prosper and the wicked suffer. A fairly unhelpful counselor, by the name of Eliphaz, comes to Job and says, "Think now, who that was innocent ever perished? Or where were the upright cut off? As I have seen, those ...

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