Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 126 to 150 of 4999 results

Matthew 25:31-46

Sermon

Peter Rudowski

... have done something great in art today. Ah, I must be wonderful to get all these rewards. I must be the citizen of the week. I bet I got another A in history, and the principal just wants to ask me some perspective types of questions." We all know those kinds of people. We delight when the principal says to them, "You parked your car in the wrong spot. Get it out of there or we tow it away. If it happens again, you’re suspended." We’re all saying, "good." When Jesus says the words of the Gospel, he’s ...

127. One Commandment, Slightly Used

John 13:31-38

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... and he theorized about the true love which aims at the moral improvement of the beloved. In the Scriptures of Buddhism one can find words like the following: Even as by the Buddha it is taught, With all am I a friend, comrade to all, And to all creatures kind and merciful; A heart of amity I cultivate And ever in goodwill is my delight. So we may well ask, “A new commandment? New in what way?” A cynic might reply: “It is new in that it has been so rarely used!” Of Jesus’ commandment in that Upper ...

128. Poem: In Memoriam

Eulogy

Alfred Lord Tennyson

... thou may’st roam, My blessing, like a line of light, Is on the waters day and night, And like a beacon guards thee home. So may whatever tempest mars Mid-ocean, spare thee, sacred bark; And balmy drops in summer dark Slide from the bosom of the stars. So kind an office hath been done, Such precious relics brought by thee; The dust of him I shall not see Till all my widow’d race be run. XVIII ‘Tis well; ’tis something; we may stand Where he in English earth is laid, And from his ashes may be made The ...

129. By Faith

Hebrews 11:1-40

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

... :32–35a The words about the lack of time to speak fully of the great paragons of faith could strengthen the hypothesis that Hebrews, in large part if not totally, is a homily (as is suggested by 13:22 and the repeated exhortations of the book). But this kind of expression is not uncommon in purely literary works of the time (e.g., Philo, On the Special Laws, 4.238; On Dreams 2.63; The Life of Moses 1.213). The Greek participle underlying NIV’s to tell (diēgoumenon) is masculine and makes the hypothesis ...

130. Uncertain Certainties

John 20:19-31

Sermon

John Jamison

... , I sometimes wonder why old Thomas was able to get the proof he asked for, while some of us keep asking and asking for any kind of proof, and we still haven’t seen anything yet. That’s the key issue in this story, isn’t it? That’s the question ... I don’t see that as an indication of any lack of faith. I recall many stories of God standing up to all kinds of questioning throughout the Bible. While the answers weren’t always the ones the people were looking for, the questioners were not seen as ...

131. She Waits

Acts 1:1-11, Luke 24:50-53, Luke 24:36-49

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... good at doing that! But Jesus’ gospel isn’t about achieving the goal of perfect rule following. It’s about coming into a perfecting kind of relationship, one that will improve us, sustain us, cause us to grow, cause us to live in relationship with God in a ... a time of preparation. In that time, we will learn the stories of scripture, learn about Jesus and what it takes to be the kind of disciples Jesus needs us to be. We will accumulate wisdom, grow in our understanding of what it means to be united in ...

132. Deep Faith

Genesis 6:1-8:22, Genesis 5:1-32

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... space into which we have no idea where we are going, and what we will become when we emerge. But this much we know --the act of submersion will change us. When we resurface, we will be a new creature, half of the sea, half of the land, a new kind of human with Spirit infused, the Holy Spirit of Jesus, who calls us in, and sends us forth –into the world. To be the lure. To voice the music. To call others….to go Deep. And then . . . Go Deeper Still. [Optional Prayer]: O God, who created the heavens and ...

133. Scroll Bread and Honey

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... ’s sweetness and fullness to every human being in the world. “Taste and see that the Lord is good” says the Psalmist (34:8). All of you probably remember the cartoon: eat a violin…and every time you open your mouth, you hear violin music. That’s kind of how it goes when you commune with Jesus. He is the shewbread, the bread of presence, the Torah, God’s promise, the sustenance of Life, all wrapped up into one heavenly bread for the body and spirit. Born in Bethlehem (the house of bread), He is ...

134. Sweet Vine

John 15:1-17

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... in “grafted” covenant relationship to the One who bears its origins, the One who rendered its heartbeat. How can we ensure that we bear the kind of fruit that God intends for us in the world? We need a Jesus DNA. We need to allow God to graft within us our ... the Almighty God has the power to reshape our hearts and redirect our thoughts, to create in our lives and in our churches the kind of Vineyard that will bear the sweetest fruit in the world, so that all will be fed, and all may be touched. I invite ...

135. For the Love of God Is . . .

1 John 5:3-4

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... love pizza or peanut butter or chocolate." or "I love the works of Charles Dickens and John Grisham." Or even, "I love your house." But it's not limited to inanimate objects. It also has to do with those things which cannot reciprocate. I think maybe that's why this kind of affection also has to do with the feelings we have for pets. You can love a cat but they're so independent that you're never quite sure they return your affection. I saw a bumper sticker that read, "If you call a dog and it will come. If ...

136. Inside Out

James 5:7-10

Sermon

Charley Reeb

... out of us. It is called the fruit of the Spirit: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23 NIV). As followers of Christ, these are the qualities or virtues that should ... why Paul puts love at the top of the list. Love is what opens up the rest of the fruit. But it is not just any kind of love. The word love Paul uses here is seen about 540 times in the Bible. In the Old Testament, it is the word, “hesed.” ...

137. The Creation Story

Genesis 1:1-2:3

Drama

Dallas A. Brauninger

... God said, 5 and 6: "Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky." 2: So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind with which the waters swarm, and every winged bird of every kind. 4: And God saw that it was good. 1: God blessed them, saying, 5 and 6: "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters and the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth." 1: And there was evening and there was morning ...

138. In Quest of a Treasure

James 1:1-18

Sermon

Larry Powell

... going to stay awake as a watchman, one of them might as well get some sleep. The sheep is smart; it entrusts its welfare to the one who knows where the green pastures are and is capably leading the way. (b) Free from friction among their own kind. Sheep will inevitably bump, brush, and rub against one another as the flock moves along toward its destination. The friction cannot be avoided; it is part of the journey - that is, unless one chooses to wander off on his own, away from the flock, to avoid contact ...

139. Time and Stewardship

Sermon

Larry Powell

... Exodus 34:21), as was pressing wines and canning goods (Nehemiah 13:15), bearing burdens (Jeremiah 27:21), carrying on trade (Amos 16:26), gathering wood (Numbers 15:32), and kindling fire for the purpose of boiling or baking (Numbers 35:3). There were even rules prescribing the kinds of knots which one might tie on the Sabbath: It was unlawful for a camel driver or sailor either to tie or untie a knot. However, a knot which could be untied with one hand was allowed. A pitcher at a spring could be tied to a ...

140. The Bridge

John 1:1-18, Matthew 2:1-12, Luke 2:8-20, Luke 2:1-7, Luke 1:26-38, Genesis 3:1-24

Drama

H. J. Hizer

... motivate life into them. Five: I'm ... I'm not sure exactly what you have in mind. One: Well, for instance, when somebody does something good, we could give them some green stamps. Two: Right, Lord -- then they could turn the stamps in for prizes. Five: Aah -- what kind of prizes did you have in mind? Three: Well, we could give them little prizes for a few stamps -- a year of good health for example. Four: Stereos, color T.V., and hi-fis will be big in about two thousand years -- we could pass out a lot ...

141. The Call for Justice

Micah 6:1-8

Sermon

... s needs and acting to meet those needs. In walking humbly with our God, we become more sensitive and adept in our discernment and more resolute in our action, even though we may give up our safety, power, prestige and position. But we can do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God because he/she has already done this for us and promises us there is nothing in the whole cosmos that can separate us from God's love in Christ Jesus. Or to paraphrase Declan Walsh, Pope Francesco I, "God has promised ...

142. An Invitation to a Feast

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

... as a wedding reception or a rehearsal dinner. The invitation God gives us is a joyous one. If we think of Christianity as some kind of gloomy giving up of everything which brings laughter and sunshine and happy fellowship to life, we have the mistaken idea about our ... couldn’t spell convenience so I made it risk." I like this invitation from the King because it tells us very much about the kind of invitation Christ issues to us. He doesn’t try to frighten us with hell to get us to come to the banquet. ...

143. Your Image of Tomorrow

Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon

Leonard Mann

... to mark his grave, and here is the inscription Theodore Roosevelt wrote: "he has outsoared the shadows of our night." It is, I think, the privilege of each of us to do that. In the ongoing process of our human living, shadows occur in many forms, and there are many kinds of night. Most of us who have lived very long can testify to the truth of this. But we will not be terrified by either the night or the shadows if we can have an image of tomorrow with enough brightness in it to drive the dark away. Now let ...

144. The Sheep And The Goats

Matthew 25:31-46

Sermon

Brett Blair

... on that fateful night in the Gethsemane garden, no doubt they would followed him. Our goodness must be uncalculating. If we do a kind act simply because we think that it will assist us in gaining entrance into heaven, then our motivation was not love but selfishness ... flag with a red cross. And so the Red Cross was born! We need to look upon each person as though he or she was Christ. Kindness is the criteria by which we will be judged. It is not the bad that we do that will keep us out of heaven (we have ...

145. On Loneliness

Sermon

Gregory J. Johanson

... is very easy for us to find ourselves caught in one or the other of these two extremes. On the one hand we may look for people to be dependent on, whom we can lean on and who will take care of us. But the price we pay for this kind of closeness is that we never really feel that we are people in our own right - that we have feet of our own on which to stand. Or on the other hand, we may find ourselves dedicated to becoming completely independent - self-sufficient, detached, successful, where we need no one ...

146. Jesus, Our Hope

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

Darrick Acre

... on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” The babe in the manger is the hope of the world, and this is Christmas. The babe in the manger is exactly what we need. You see, we are foolish. We are disobedient. We are deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We live in malice and envy and hatred. That’s us! We are foreigners to the covenant of promise. We are far away, and without hope. We are hopeless! We are a hopeless cause. We can’t fix ourselves. We can’t make our day ...

147. Staying Alive All Your Ministry Life: Will You Finish Well?

Exodus 32:1-33:6

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... the same old thing. I had to preach at a great convention attended by a lot of people. I had not had time to make the kind of preparation I’m committed to making; I was just too busy. I kept saying to myself, “Well, undoubtedly, I’ll get some time and I ... to be by myself and get some notes ready for my speaking. I went into the first door that was available and found myself in a kind of canteen. There were chairs and tables and a counter. I sat down at a table and I began to go through the file and find ...

148. The Pride Is Right

Jeremiah 9:23-24

Sermon

James Merritt

... God." That preacher bowed his head and said, "Oh Lord, may I always be known as a man that knows You." We should take pride if we conceive God. We should take pride if we believe God. If you really do know God, you know the God who "exercises loving kindness, judgment, and righteous-ness in the earth. There are a lot of people who draw up their own picture of God, say they don't like it, and then refuse to believe in it. If you want to know who God really is, and what God is really like, hear ...

149. Three Wise Gifts

Matthew 2:13-23

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Way to Live (New York: Bantam Books, 1990); Mandino reveals some of his "secrets" to a full and grace-filled life. Among what he calls "17 Rules to Live By" featured in this book, is a remarkable and easily repeatable method that everyone can practice as a kind of "guerilla grace." Mandino's Rule Number 10 advises us to " ... treat everyone you meet, friend or foe, loved one or stranger, as if they were going to be dead at midnight" (90). Mandino suggests that we all think of this tactic as a new rendition ...

150. Living In The Spirit Of Love

Galatians 5:22-25

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... brings us to Agape or Caritas or Unconditional Love. This is the Love which drives the Church. This is the Love you and I experience from God through Jesus Christ. This is the Love which allowed Jesus to take up His cross and suffer for our sakes. This is the kind of love which has no conditions on it at all. This is the love which allows and motivates us to love our neighbor as our selves and motivates us to love our enemies, even though that's the last thing we want to do. Unconditional Love is what leads ...

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