Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1501 to 1525 of 4957 results

1501. Four Types of Pride

Matthew 23:1-12

Illustration

John K. Bergland

... described the four types of pride: 1. The pride of power wants power to gain security for self or to maintain a power position considered to be secure. 2. Intellectual pride rises from human knowledge that pretends to be ultimate knowledge. It presumes to be final truth. 3. Moral pride claims that its standards for virtue test and measure all righteousness. Niebuhr observed that most evil is done by "good" people who do not know that they are not good. 4. Spiritual pride is self-glorification. It ...

1502. Stepping Out on Faith

Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

King Duncan

... poem by an unknown author to read like this: There was a very cautious man Who never laughed or played He never risked, he never tried He never sang or prayed And when he one day passed away His insurance was denied For since he never really lived They claimed he never died. (7) It is particularly sad when a church is ruled by fear, when the only refrain heard around in church meetings is, “We can’t afford it.” Some churches serve a mighty puny God. And this, of course, is the crux of the matter: Do ...

1503. The Kingdom of Heaven Is Like a Professor

Matthew 25:14-30

Illustration

... borrow any equipment. See, everything is just the way you left it." Then the professor answered, "You wicked and slothful graduate student! I will judge you by your own words. So, you knew that I was a harsh man, publishing where I did not labor, and claiming credit where I did not contribute; well then, you should have at least gotten a teaching fellowship so that I wouldn't have had to pay your salary out of my research grants! Now depart from me and from this institution ... out into the REAL world ...

1504. Surprised Saints

Matthew 25:31-46

Sermon

King Duncan

... next Passover at his house, and for this purpose provide him and his whole family with everything necessary for the eight days of Passover. Then on the Seder night Elijah will certainly come.” The man did as the rabbi told him, but after Passover he came back and claimed that again he had waited in vain to see Elijah. The rabbi answered, “I know very well that Elijah came on the Seder night to the house of your poor neighbor. But of course you could not see him.” And the rabbi held a mirror before the ...

1505. The Return of the King

Mark 13:24-37

Illustration

King Duncan

... to his throne, and none dared stand in his path. The people shouted their delight. They rang peal after peal on the bells. The Lion was back! Long live the king! John Phillips adds these hopeful words: "One day a King greater than Richard will lay claim to a realm greater than England. Those who have abused the earth in His absence, seized His domains, and mismanaged His world will all be swept aside." That day's coming, friends, and it will be a grand and glorious day. Get ready. No one knows when it will ...

1506. Mark 1:1-8

Mark 1:1-8

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... In Israel’s history, “the wilderness” has always been the place the Word is encountered, where divine plans are revealed. John, then, is a divinely sent messenger (as the Exodus 23:20, 23 text suggests) or the return of Elijah himself (as Malachi 4:5-6 claims), whose job it is to announce the coming of none other than the divine presence. Not only is John the Baptist’s status profoundly elevated by identifying him with this biblical role and mission. Clearly so too is the status of the one whom John ...

1507. Tweed Jackets, Sweat Pants and Wet Suits

Luke 3:21-38

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... and fulfilling, it still involves a certain revolving of faith to fit our daily regime. The sweat-suited believer endeavors to actively engage a Sunday faith in a Monday world. This tends to let the world set the agenda, making faith respond to its claims. The most challenging, exhilarating and intimidating stage of experiencing the Holy Spirit's wind and fire in our lives involves the courage to put on a wet suit of faithfulness. Wet Suits: Wet suits allow one to become immersed completely in a new and ...

1508. A Say-so Spirituality

John 20:19-31

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... , so God gave his only begotten Son for our sake and for our salvation we have disclaimed "As if" at the slightest prospect of sharing any of the wonderful excesses in wealth, natural resources, technology, beauty and freedom that we have been so graciously granted. Church, let's claim the power of God's "say-so." Church, let's realize that as disciples of the risen Lord, we are on a mission from God. Church, let's admit it: Each one of us is a special agent of the Lord. All Christ's disciples are called to ...

1509. Give me a C...

1 Corinthians 1:18-31

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the Corinthians to stand up and shout about. We have become numbed to the cross as a symbol of scandal and shame. In our culture, it is simply a jewelry design or an architectural adornment. We forget just how shocking it was for the first Christians to claim that the Cross was a victory. As Christians, we don't make "the wave" when someone hits a home run, but when someone turns the other cheek. As Christians, we should offer a "high five" when someone sacrifices his or her own welfare for the sake of ...

1510. The Family Ideal, Not Idol

Genesis 12:1-4a

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... realities of a soaring divorce rate, broken families, abused children and neglected home-time, our culture is beginning to make "the family" into one of the most revered idols at which we kneel and worship. When a leading politician can write a book in which it is claimed that the best way to define "family values" is to read the Boy Scout or the Girl Scout handbook or to look at Reader's Digest and the Saturday Evening Post from around 1955; then the Christian must pause and reflect on the uses to which ...

1511. What Gift Do You Have For Us?

Romans 12:1-8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... most of these is that they are still fixated on finding that specially wrapped, little box hidden somewhere in Daddy's or Mommy's luggage. For too many of these studies, a "spiritual gift" is something we can hang onto, fix our identity to, claim as our own personal possession, but any "spiritual" gift that would conform to those norms would be about as "spiritual" as an MBA. If the divinely ordained presence of a genuinely spiritual gift comes from having a "renewed mind," then these gifts themselves must ...

1512. Anywhere Goes

Romans 14:1-12

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... , they declared it was "because the church is filled with judgmental people." What have we done? Why have we blurred people's vision of the body of Christ so far from its true identity? If there is any gathered community that knows it has no claim to judge others, it is the Christ-body community. The church lives and breathes and has its being only because of the existence of unmerited grace and unmitigated love. Don't we somehow manage to convey a judgmental image ... when the church service is geared ...

1513. DisArming Christmas

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... during the Advent season. The whole reason for John the Baptist's ministry of proclamation was to advertise and glorify the miraculous incarnation of the Divine in our midst. John took pains to avoid claiming any glorious titles for himself. He is not "Messiah" or "Elijah" or even "prophet." The only identity John the Baptist claims for himself is that of the nameless, faceless "voice," crying in the wilderness. Will you be a voice for God crying in the wilderness of our day? Will you be a voice that ...

1514. The Devil's I

Acts 5:27-32

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the apostles' will-to-witness. Thumbing a nose at authority is everyone's favorite pastime. But the reason Peter gives for disobeying the Sanhedrin's "strict orders" gives all us "I"s pause: "We must obey God rather than any human authority" (v.29). Peter claimed no self-motivation, no personal agenda. He and the apostles were not working outside the bounds of authority. They were working for the sake of the one absolute authority God. The whole of the biblical witness is this: We are not our own. God is ...

1515. Call the Tribe of Issachar Together

Luke 12:49-56

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... church's mission. So God will be there in this emerging new world. If we would resuscitate the church, make it a vital active force for Christ in this new world, then it must relinquish its identity as a dignified "institution" and "organized religion" and claim a new name for itself as a tribe. Specifically, the church must try to mold itself into the tribe of Issachar (1 Chronicles 12:32). The tribe of Issachar, we are told, "had an understanding of the times, to know what ... to do." When David became ...

1516. Who Are You?

Hebrews 12:18-29

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... constantly. Whether in search of new jobs, new scenery, new chances or a whole new life, we move from place to place without ever putting down roots. Perhaps this is part of the reason it has become so important for all of us to claim ourselves as "hyphenated-Americans" these days. Ironically, since for most of us our moving about occurs within the continental United States, we are quite likely to identify "where we come from" as the one place we have never been: Asian-Americans, African Americans, European ...

1517. Life's Two Pockets

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Martin Luther put it, both saint and sinner together. We owe God our best efforts and our undivided loyalty, as well as our dependence upon him for grace and forgiveness all those times we fall short. Each of us is called to embody the definition that claims "a saint is a gargoyle to the grace of God." The environmentalist movement has come up with a saying that works as well to define our spiritual nature as it does our responsibility to the health of this planet. Surely you've all read the slogan "Think ...

1518. Ephesians 2:4-25

Ephesians 2:4-25

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... a safeguard against any moral or ethical slackness that might infiltrate our still all too-human hearts in response to the completeness and immediacy of God's gift. The only appropriate action we can take in response to God's saving grace is to claim our heavenly heritage. We are God's "workmanship" created for the purpose of performing "good works." Therefore it is our genetic destiny to strive to mirror God's love here on earth. Relating the Texts This week's gospel passage begins with the conclusion ...

1519. 2 Corinthians 5:16-21

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... on those commitments." We can all agree that his first two statements reflect historical facts, but his conclusion is, of course, still up for plenty of contentious debate. Paul chooses his vocabulary carefully in verse 20 to further enhance the validity of his claim in verse 19. The word represented as "ambassador" (NRSV) is most commonly translated as "to be older, to rule, to prevail," while the term's second meaning, "to be an envoy," is a special term for the legates of Caesar. Obviously the force ...

1520. Colossians 3:1-11

Colossians 3:1-11

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... throne, and all paradise itself (John R. Levison, "2 Apoc. Bar. 48:42-52:7 and the Apocalyptic Dimension of Colossians 3:1-6," Journal of Biblical Literature 108 [1989], 99). By locating all these things as those to be revealed after the eschaton, the epistle writer further undermines the claims of the Colossian errorists already derided in 2:16-18. These church members were performing secret acts and rituals as part of their alleged worship encounters with members of the angelic host. Not only were they ...

1521. Philemon 1:1-20

Philemon 1:1-20

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... the calm hand of Paul, his master's friend and spiritual mentor. Thus Onesimus had not been thrown into prison with Paul against his will. His presence in the prison cell was intentional and calculated. Even legal precedents were on Onesimus' side, for if he claimed he ran away from his master in order to keep him from maiming or even killing him in his rage, Onesimus could argue that he was saving Philemon's investment in slave property by fleeing. In such a case Onesimus would not be considered a runaway ...

1522. Matthew 5:21-37

Matthew 5:21-37

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... of the validity of a human word, then, borders on the ridiculous. Jesus further emphasizes our own dependence upon God by noting we cannot even control the color of our hair. How can swearing an oath by our own heads have any validity at all? All we can claim to have power over is our own integrity - the staying power of our own simple "yes" or "no." Jesus' mandate encourages his listeners to behave with such conscientious, consistent integrity that their "yes" or "no" may never be doubted or questioned.

1523. Romans 5:1-5

Romans 5:1-5

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... ," or justified state, is brought about "through our Lord Jesus Christ." Faith in Christ is the specific stance that puts one in a new, healthy relationship with God. From the privileged perspective of one who has gained admission to God's grace, Paul claims the believer can now "boast" or "rejoice" in anticipation of a uniquely blessed experience "the hope of sharing the glory of God." Both "hope" and "glory" mean specific things for Paul. His is not a response riddled with doubt or some cautious couching ...

1524. Galatians 5:1, 13-25

Galatians 5:1, 13-25

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... living within Christ's freedom. Some commentators have suggested that this reference to "the law" should be understood as Paul's continued commitment to the "second table" of the Mosaic covenant and the ethical/relational precepts spelled out there. Others claim Paul is stressing the difference between the Judaizer's concern with doing the law and his own urgings that Christians fulfill the law. All these attempts to explain Paul's reference here to "law" immediately after he proclaims Christian freedom ...

1525. Ephesians 2:4-25

Ephesians 2:4-25

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

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