Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 126 to 150 of 388 results

126. Proper 12

John 6:16-24, John 6:1-15, Psalm 14:1-7

Bulletin Aid

B. David Hostetter

... EXHORTATION Grasp what is the breadth and length and height and depth of the love of Christ, and to know it, though it is beyond knowledge. So may you attain to fullness of being, the fullness of God. PRAYER OF THE DAY Modest Master, teach us to withdraw from the praise that would put us in the power of others and prevent our doing what you want us to do and when. Amen. PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING God of all families in heaven and earth, receive our praise and thanksgiving for the manifestation of your love for ...

127. The Church The Body of Christ

1 Corinthians 12:12-31

Bulletin Aid

Leader: The body isn’t made up of just one part, but many. A foot cannot withdraw from the body just because it wanted to be a hand and cannot. Women: If the whole body were an eye, how would it hear? If the whole body were an ear, how would it smell? Men: God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as ...

128. Three-Dimensional Christianity

James 1:19-27

Sermon

Michael J. Anton

... to save my own mind by my tricky little formulas. And I completely distorted and denied the meaning of the Gospel. I had to give the Savior a helping hand. This gross distortion is not what James has in mind. Nor is he urging us to withdraw from the world like hermits in a cave or monks in a monastery. Rather, remaining unstained is avoiding the attitude of the Pharisee who claims true religion is keeping all the rules and doing all the rituals, avoiding the attitude of a Pontius Pilate who washes his ...

129. Armageddon Anxiety

John 6:56-69

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... " headlines of world disasters, weather disasters, alien abductions, etc. We can become so fixated on the Jesus who is to come that we do not see or hear the Jesus who is in the midst. Thus, doom-and-gloomers use the approaching eschaton as an excuse to withdraw from this world, abandoning it to the powers of evil. Satan's six-pack gives us the greatest excuse not to know Christ and make Christ known for the times that God has given us. A bishop was presiding over the liturgy in a large cathedral. He sensed ...

130. Trinity Sunday

Matthew 28:16-20, Psalm 8:1-9, Genesis 1:1-2:3, 2 Corinthians 13:11-14

Bulletin Aid

B. David Hostetter

... seen that we are off the track, we do not readily mend our ways. We may exchange the kiss of peace around your table, but we are not always as agreeable in committee meetings. We want to live in peace, but sometimes do so only by withdrawing from people with whom we disagree. Grant us your loving forgiveness, that we may be gracious to those with whom we differ and not break up the community you meant to be unified in the Spirit, for Jesus' sake. Amen Declaration of Pardon Pastor: Friends, hear the Good ...

131. Further Instructions

Colossians 4:2-6

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... preach the mystery of Christ clearly. 4:5–6 In the next two verses Paul provides some guidelines for Christian relationships with unbelievers (cf. 1 Thess. 4:12). He would not sanction any movement of Christianity into private cliques or withdrawal from society. Rather, believers are to give visible (conduct) and verbal (speech) witness to their faith. The apostle seeks to encourage his readers to behave in a way that will authenticate their faith before outsiders (tous exō). The idea behind opportunity ...

132. An Uppity Woman

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

Kristin Borsgard Wee

... that is going on between Jesus and the Canaanite woman. There is a stand-off happening here. I think it is helpful to know that Jesus has just gone through a difficult time. He recently learned of the beheading of his cousin, John the Baptist. Jesus tries to withdraw from the crowds of people who were following him, but they won't let him escape. He ends up feeding thousands with a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish. Then there is a storm at sea and Peter's walking on the water, which is sabotaged ...

133. One Spirit, but Many Gifts

1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Bulletin Aid

Carl Hoefler

... your spirit, that our many different gifts may contribute to our corporate service, rather than cause division and ineffectiveness. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Prayer of Confession O Lord, we are quick to notice our differences, and because of them, we withdraw from one another, or find ourselves in conflict. Forgive us for resisting your Holy Spirit that would unite us as your church. Forgive us for not being more cooperative with one another in our different gifts, to conduct a more effective ministry ...

134. The Freedom To Be Wrong

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

... friends on the farm. Films like "Country" and "The River" are bringing it home to us, how the economics of agriculture are stacked against the farmer, how even prudent managers are losing their land. One of the signs of the pain is the tendency to withdraw from the world. Farmers who used to be regular at church and who enjoyed watching the high school basketball team now are staying home. We can understand why. They’re embarrassed. They’ve done their job well but they’re failing. Who wants to admit ...

135. Proper 12

2 Samuel 11:1-27, Psalm 14:1-7, John 6:1-21, Ephesians 3:14-21

Bulletin Aid

B. David Hostetter

... . Exhortation Grasp what is the breadth and length and height and depth of the love of Christ, and to know it, though it is beyond knowledge. So may you attain to fullness of being, the fullness of God. PRAYER OF THE DAY Modest Master, teach us to withdraw from the praise that would put us in the power of others and prevent our doing what you want us to do and when. Amen PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING God of all families in heaven and earth, receive our praise and thanksgiving for the manifestation of your love for ...

Even in the deepest sinking there is the hidden purpose of an ultimate rising. Thus it is for all men, from none is the source of light withheld unless he himself withdraws from it. Therefore the most important thing is not to despair.

Hasidic saying

137. Easter 4

John 10:1-21

Bulletin Aid

Dennis Koch

... My Redeemer Lives The Lord's My Shepherd O God Of Jacob Prayer for Easter 4 Lord God, we need a constant reminder that the Good Shepherd is looking for us ...for our world is constantly threatening to split up and break apart. Neighbors withdraw from neighbors. The cycle of poverty persists. Leadership decisions are short-sighted. Even our own behavior blocks our ability to make sense out of life. Our best intentions fail to become positive actions. We feel like sheep without a shepherd. Remind us that the ...

138. Beware Of False Prophets

Jeremiah 29:1-23

Bulletin Aid

H. Burnham Kirkland

... do not allow these false prophets to dampen our faith or diminish our hope that the day will come when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that you are Lord of all. Amen. Prayer Of Confession O Lord, too often we have thought that we must withdraw from the world in order to follow your teachings faithfully. Help us to understand that we are to be a part of the world but not controlled by it. Let us be as lights in the darkness, bringing your message into the world so that the evils may be uncovered ...

139. We Are Citizens of This World

Matthew 22:15-22

Illustration

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

... that our liberty is not the right to do as we please, but the opportunity to please to do what is right." It is unthinkable that a Christian would not vote! It is unthinkable that Christians would not run for public office! It is unthinkable that Christians would withdraw from the responsibility of taking part in public life. The Christian has a responsibility to Caesar for all the privileges which the rule of Caesar brings. We are citizens of this world and must be good ones, if we are Christ's disciples.

140. In the Form of a Man

John 14:5-14

Illustration

Daniel T. Niles

... adoration and submission. The Buddhist dogoba, too, is built in the form of a man. Its figure is that of a man in the posture of meditation: legs crossed the body erect, and the head held straight and unmoving. The approach to reality is by way of inner withdrawal from the world. The Christian church, too, is built in the form of a man, a man stretched out upon a cross. And this has made all the difference. The church does not ask its followers to find their way, or to discover truth within. The church says ...

141. True Worship

John 4:1-26

Illustration

Staff

... pastor. A large audience had already assembled to hear Beecher, and when the substitute pastor stepped into the pulpit, several disappointed listeners began to move toward the exits. That's when the minister stood and said loudly, "All who have come here today to worship Henry Ward Beecher may now withdraw from the church. All who have come to worship God keep your seats!" They returned to their seats.

142. Worthy of Worship

Illustration

Michael P. Green

... , when Thomas Beecher appeared in the pulpit instead, some people got up and started for the doors. Sensing that they were disappointed because he was substituting for his brother, Thomas raised his hand for silence and announced, “All those who came here this morning to worship Henry Ward Beecher may withdraw from the church; all who came to worship God may remain.” The example of godly leaders is helpful, but only the Savior is worthy of our worship and devotion.

It is a fact of history that those who seek to withdraw from its great experiments usually end up being overwhelmed by them.

Barbara Ward

I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend.

Thomas Jefferson

145. Christianity: A Worldly Religion That Makes Sure That Even Animals Matter

Revelation 5:11-14

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... keeping out of politics. And a 2017 poll by Pew found that just over 1 in 2 of us (55%) rank ecological destruction as a major problem. We have had a president who does not want Americans to do much about it (such as Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Accord). Meanwhile, if the most recent US Environmental Protection Agency statistics are to be believed, in 2013 we produced 254 million tons of garbage, so that the average Americans produced 4.4 pounds of disposable stuff a day. We’re not improving on ...

146. From Father Failure to Divine Father

Romans 8:12-17

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

One of the most significant steps in our growth as human beings is the discovery that our earthly parents, contrary to our childish notions, are imperfect. A friend remembered well an incident in that process of discovery in his own life. He always thought his father was the perfect driver and that he was absolutely safe riding with him until one day he almost hit the side of a bridge. His father was a very good driver, but he was not, he was discovering, perfect. Eventually, the discovery of the ...

147. Thank God for the Church

1 Corinthians 1:1-9

Sermon

James L. Killen

Try to visualize yourself on the way to church. Not too difficult? Let's make it a little harder. Imagine that the year is 55 A.D. and that the place is the city of Corinth in Roman Greece. You are a member of the thriving church that has grown up there and you are on your way to a meeting at the house of Gaius. Lots of people will be gathering both from the church that usually meets at the house of Gaius and also from the churches that meet in the houses of several other Christians. News has been passed ...

148. Remember: Live Worthy of the Calling

Ephesians 4:1-16

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

A group of tourists were visiting a rather picturesque town on the outskirts of a well know city. As they walked by an old man sitting beside a fence. One of the tourists, in a rather patronizing way, asked, "Were any great men born in this village?" To which the old man replied, "Nope, only babies." (1) That wisecrack answer holds a lot of truth. There are no instant heroes, there is no instant status or fame, whether in this world or in the Kingdom of God. Growth takes time. We live in the instant age. ...

149. Broken Lives and Broken Chains

Luke 8:26-39

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

Every one of us, men and women, young and old alike live with a Legacy. Unfortunately, you can't choose the Legacy you have to live with. It's given to you by those who have gone before you. By those who raised you and influenced your life. Some of us live with a with Legacy that has set us free and empowered us. Some of us live with a Legacy that is more like chains which bind us. And struggle as we might we've been unable to break those chains. I wanted to start with that modern retelling of the story we ...

150. News from the Flood

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

Mark Trotter

We have all heard the news of the floods in the Pacific Northwest, and in Northern California. Some of you, I know, were up there and saw them. Floods can be terrible, dangerous and devastating, sweeping away houses and other structures. I understand that Sacramento, which is built at the confluence of two rivers, the Sacramento and the American, almost flooded this time. People anticipated what a terrible devastation that would be. If the American River had risen a few more feet, that would have happened ...

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