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Showing 1476 to 1500 of 4914 results

1476. Ephesians 1:11-23

Ephesians 1:11-23

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

Ephesians is one of the most optimistic communications in the Bible. Whether or not authentically Paul's work, the fact remains that the distinctively Pauline nature of faith is presented here with a distinctively celebratory note. This week's epistle reading introduces one of the central tenets of this entire section - that of the special "inheritance" available to us through Christ. Verse 11 declares that this inheritance is experienced once believers accept the fact of their destiny, their calling. In ...

1477. The Fruitful Vine

John 15:1-17, 1 John 4:7-21, Acts 8:26-40, Psalm 22:1-31

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

The Fruitful Vine What is a preacher to make of a parable or extended allegory about a vine in an urban and industrial culture? If you are living in a small town or a rural area, people might know something about growing grapes. They might know about the need to prune back old growth since the grapes only form on the new growth. But how many in a large city would know about cultivating a grape vine so that it produces a good crop? For them grapes are something you buy in the produce section of the ...

1478. All The World Is Waiting For The Sunrise

Acts 10:34-43

Sermon

Gerald Whetstone

Is it tomorrow, or is it still yesterday? In the cartoon, Dennis the Menace is tugging at his dad's covers, and Mr. Mitchell is trying to lift one eyelid. Dennis wants to know, "Is it tomorrow yet? Or is it still yesterday?" It's a profound question. Something like that -- some 2000-year-old Aramaic version of it anyway -- must have been in the minds of the women on their way to the tomb. In fact, they went to the tomb fully expecting to find yesterday, and instead found tomorrow. They went expecting death ...

1479. Christmas Eve / Christmas Day

Luke 2:1-7, Luke 2:8-20

Bulletin Aid

RobertT D. Ingram

Call to Worship Leader: Jesus Christ is the Word from God who becomes flesh and blood. Cng: God of beginning, God who sends life, God who names us your children, we have gathered here to worship you. Ldr: Jesus Christ is the light from God who enlightens everyone. Cng: Word with God, Word in the beginning, Word who brings life, we have gathered here to worship you. Ldr: Jesus Christ is the grace and truth from God who embraces all who receive him. Cng: Will of God shining in darkness, Will of God giving ...

1480. The Fruitful Vine

John 15:1-17

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

What is a preacher to make of a parable or extended allegory about a vine in an urban and industrial culture? If you are living in a small town or a rural area, people might know something about growing grapes. They might know about the need to prune back old growth since the grapes only form on the new growth. But how many in a large city would know about cultivating a grape vine so that it produces a good crop? For them grapes are something you buy in the produce section of the supermarket. Perhaps a ...

1481. Epiphany 7

2 Corinthians 1:12--2:4, Isaiah 43:14-28, Mark 2:1-12

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

Theme: Forgiveness of sins. In the First Lesson God identifies himself as the one who "blots out your transgressions." In the Gospel Jesus heals the paralytic by pronouncing the forgiveness of his sins. COMMENTARY Old Testament: Isaiah 43:18-25 The prophet announces that the Lord is about to accomplish a new thing: he will free Israel from captivity and restore them to a more idyllic existence. The image here is that of a new Exodus, as God provides for his people, as he leads and guides them back home (vv ...

1482. Living Water

John 7:25-44

Sermon

Leonard H. Budd

To call it a "wilderness" is not strong enough, not descriptive enough. That land surrounding the Dead Sea is a wild part of earth, burned by the sun of day and frozen by the winds of night. The rocks of this terrible terrain between the depths of Jericho and the heights of Jerusalem are jagged and upended. It is eternally dry. Jarib had foolishly set out from the Jordan River banks without enough water. The animal skin was only half full as he began his journey. His travel to the high Jerusalem was taking ...

1483. Epiphany 4

Psalm 71:1-24, 1 Corinthians 14:1-25, 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, 1 Corinthians 12:12-31, Jeremiah 1:1-19, Luke 4:14-30

Sermon Aid

George Bass

THEOLOGICAL CLUE The birth story, with the visit of the magi, and the baptism of our Lord, at the beginning of the season, and the Transfiguration story, at the conclusion of Epiphany in many lectionaries, combine to enclose the other Sundays of Epiphany in a period of time when the manifestation/ministry of Jesus are celebrated in worship and preaching. Each Sunday, some aspect of Jesus' Epiphany in his teaching and/or his miraculous works/signs is put before the people of God to confirm the faith of ...

1484. Proper 9

Galatians 6:11-18, Galatians 6:1-10, 1 Kings 21:1-29, Isaiah 66:1-24, Psalm 66:1-20, Luke 10:1-24

Sermon Aid

George Bass

THEOLOGICAL CLUE In 1992, the festival of St. James the Elder will occur on Saturday, July 25th, while the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost will fall on Sunday, July 26th (Thus, in 1993, the feast of St. James the Elder, will be on a Sunday). He is the brother of John, the "beloved disciple," and he was the first of the disciples to be martyred and the only one whose death was recorded in the Bible. Acts 12:2 mentions Herod's persecution of the church, and how he killed James with the sword (and arrested ...

1485. Proper 12

Luke 11:1-13, Psalm 138:1-8, Genesis 18:16-33, 2 Kings 5:1-27, Colossians 2:6-23

Sermon Aid

George Bass

THEOLOGICAL CLUE At one time, the Pentecost season of the church year was divided into four parts, which were marked by saints' days. The first section ran from Trinity Sunday to June 29th, the day of Sts. Peter and Paul, and Sundays were numbered consecutively; the second went from the end of June to August 10th, St. Lawrence Day, and were numbered "after the Aposties;" the third extended from August 10th to September 29th, the feast of St. Michael and All Angels, and were called Sundays "after St. ...

1486. Is He Really Coming?

Sermon

Rolf E. Aaseng

In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also (John 14:2-3). In the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and indulging their own lusts and saying, "Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since our ancestors died, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation!" (2 Peter ...

1487. The Ambiguity of Life, Deciding for Christ

John 10:22-42

Sermon

Carl Jech

I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. (John 10:28) I've seen it from both sides - from the side of the family with a difficult child and from the side of the mother who complained that one "rotten apple" in her son's third grade class was disrupting the learning environment for the whole group. Both sets of parents would no doubt prefer to live in a simple, unambiguous world in which everything rolled smoothly along like clockwork. The fact is, ...

1488. Walking the Streets

Matthew 10:1-42, Matthew 9:35-38

Sermon

Richard L. Thulin

Most of us have been victims of some kind of stereotyping. Mine is usually attached to the fact that I am a professor. Every once in awhile someone will accost me with words like, "Well, you wouldn't know about that! You live in an ivory tower." The plain fact is that the speaker doesn't even know me, but then that is what gives birth to stereotypes in the first place. I'm usually able to avoid an immediate defensive reaction. "What do you mean?" I ask. "Oh," he says, "you live behind safety glass. You don ...

1489. Proper 12 & Pentecost 10

1 Kings 3:1-15, Exodus 3:1-22, Romans 8:18-27, Romans 8:28-39, Matthew 13:44-46, Matthew 13:47-52

Sermon Aid

THEOLOGICAL CLUE Once more the eschatological framework of the church year is reinforced by the day's readings, especially the lesson from Romans 8 and verses 47-50 of the Gospel of the Day, which speak specifically of the "end of the age" and the judgment that will come with it. Matthew's Gospel also spells out the nature of realized and present eschatology in the two little parables of the treasure and the precious pearl. Without the readings, the eschatological motif of Pentecost would be virtually ...

1490. Eternal Echo Of Easter - Part 1

Matthew 28:1-10

Drama

Esther R. Russ

PROGRAM 1. Candlelight Ceremony Choir 2. In the Beginning Narration 3. "I, Mary, Mother of Jesus" Reading 4. Jesus’ Ministry Narration and Drama 5. Choral Arrangement Depicting the Upper Room Choir 6. The Betrayal Narration 7. Choral Arrangement Depicting the Betrayal Choir 8. The Garden of Gethsemane Narration 9. Choral Arrangement Depicting the Garden Choir 10. The Trials Narration and Drama 11. The Soldiers, Part One Dialogue Drama 12. The Processional and Crucifixion Choir, Drama 13. The Soldiers, Part ...

1491. A Shepherd Who Became a Sovereign

2 Samuel 12:1-31

Sermon

R. Blaine Detrick

In the beginning, God created his world and his people. Mankind fell into sin in the Garden of Eden. God worked out a plan of salvation. To institute that plan, he selected a man and determined that through that one man, he would build a nation - a nation to accomplish his redemptive purpose. That man was Abraham. Through the lives of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, God was building a chosen people. During Joseph’s lifetime, God preserved his people in a desperate time of famine by taking them down into the ...

1492. Choosing the Way to the Cross

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon

James W. Moore

Recently I ran across a story that absolutely amazed me… and yet it’s a story that may well represent the “cater-culture-give-‘em-what-they-want world” in which we now live. A church wanted to improve attendance at their major worship services, so they hired a powerful advertising agency to come in, study their situation, and make recommendations. The ad agency did their research… and then suggested to the church that they should get rid of all the crosses in the church… because the crosses might send a ...

1493. Faith for Troubling Times

Luke 21:5-38

Sermon

King Duncan

Two-year-old son Jack leans on his father’s knee. His rumpled baseball jersey bears a fresh spaghetti sauce stain from that night’s dinner. "Daddy, tell me a bunny story." Rob tears his gaze away from the computer screen. "What was that, son?" asks Rob. "Tell me a bunny story," says Jack. "One with a truck in it." Rob sighs as his glance swings back to the screen. His paper is due in two days. His professor tries to be sympathetic, but there are only so many times she’ll let her students stretch a deadline ...

1494. Speaking of the Spirit

Romans 8:12-17

Sermon

William G. Carter

There's something you might not know about the Apostle Paul. The Apostle Paul never tells any stories about Jesus. But he does talk about the meaning of those stories. For instance, Paul never tells the story of Christmas, but he does say, "When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law" (Galatians 4:4). He doesn't speak of shepherds, angels, or Magi, but he talks about the meaning of Jesus' birth. Paul never tells ...

1495. You Have Outwitted Me

Hosea 11:1-9

Sermon

Mark Trotter

The title of this sermon, "You Have Outwitted Me," comes from the writings of Brother Lawrence. I am indebted to John Imel, who discovered the quote, shared it at a staff devotion some years ago. Brother Lawrence entered a monastic order thinking that he was giving up the happiness of this world to become a monk. He discovered instead a deeper happiness in a monastic life than he had ever imagined. He said, "God, you have outwitted me." That's a wonderful phrase, and a testimony to what we call the ...

1496. Saints By Faith: Good to the Last Drop

Revelation 7:9-17

Sermon

John E. Harnish

The adventures in C. S. Lewis's The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe begin in a rambling old British manor house in an empty room with nothing but a wardrobe. Looking inside, Lucy saw several coats hanging up—mostly long fur coats. There was nothing Lucy liked so much as the smell and feel of fur. She immediately stepped into the wardrobe and got in among the coats and rubbed her face against them. Soon she found a second row of coats and took two or three steps in. "This must be an enormous wardrobe!" ...

1497. Precious and Privileged Children

Galatians 4:4-7

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

The remarkable world of children has always fascinated me. Their naturalness and innocence — in particular — thrills me and serves as a reminder of the intended relationship between us and our Father. Even more, when they are pouty and sometimes destructive, there is a genuineness about them that is so winsome. Regardless of our attainments, we never seem to rise above the fact we are simply the Father's boys and girls. The great and the less than great are called to admit to this eternal verity, in time. ...

1498. Make Disciples

Matthew 9:35-10:8 (9-23)

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

What would it mean if we were to become disciple-making churches? A tourist collected a few of the signs in English that monolingual Americans traveling abroad must contend with. In an airline ticket office in Copenhagen, there is this promise: "We take your bags and send them in all directions." A Swiss restaurant announces to its customers that "Our wines leave you with nothing to hope for." A rather severe Acapulco hotel posts a sign assuring its customers that "The manager has personally passed all the ...

1499. The Bible: Head and Heart

Luke 4:21-30

Sermon

Gary L. Carver

"With Jesus in your heart, you just can't hate anybody." That is our destination, but sometimes the journey is just as important as the destination. I want to take you on a journey through the text for today. As we continue to preach on the life of our Lord Jesus, we will basically arrive at the same destination: "With Jesus in your heart, you just can't hate anybody." This is a wonderful text, a dense text that is chock full. It's almost like a good hamburger with all that good stuff hanging over the ...

1500. God's 'Yes!' To Every Promise

2 Corinthians 1:18-22

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

It's kind of silly now, nothing more than a fond memory that has been replaced by the deep love I have for my wife, Mary. But as a boy in the third and fourth grade it was major. It was no simple school boy crush. I was completely, madly, irrevocably head over heels in love with a girl by the name of Barbara Wissman. I remember one of our teachers reading Tom Sawyer to us. In my mind, I was her Tom Sawyer and she was my Becky Thatcher. When she walked into the room my heart would skip a beat. For a long ...

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