Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1501 to 1525 of 1679 results

1501. Epiphany 3, Ordinary Time 3

Psalm 27:1, 4-9, Isaiah 9:1-4, Matthew 4:12-17, 1 Corinthians 1:10-17

Bulletin Aid

Amy C. Schifrin

Litany Of Confession Leader: Discord, dissention, strife, All: anger, violence, hatred; Leader: we confess to you, O God, All: our schemes, our willful rebellion, our hidden hostilities toward your children. Leader: We confess to you, O God, All: our lack of trust in your presence, our need to control, our insatiable appetite for praise. Leader: We confess to you, O God, All: our fear of speaking the truth in love, our self-hatred, our moments of utter despair when we no longer believe you are at work in ...

1502. Proper 24/ Pentecost 22/ Ordinary Time 29

Psalm 96:1-13, Isaiah 45:1-7, Matthew 22:15-22, 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

Bulletin Aid

Amy C. Schifrin

Litany Of Confession Leader: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, + and of the Holy Spirit. All: Amen. I: We confess to you, O God, that we wish to be you. II: We try to make you in our image and to define your power in ways that set us above our neighbors. I: We wish to control our own destinies. II: We confess to you our worship of the world’s power and wealth: oil, land, and money; strength, speed, and physical beauty. Silence for self-examination and prayer All: Loving God, every gift is from you ...

1503. You Bring Me Great Pleasure

Matthew 3:13-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

How many of your New Year’s Resolutions have made it intact through the first full week of 2011? Have you missed a day of exercise yet? Have you stuck to your diet? Are you texting less, talking more, always telling the truth? Most “resolutions” we make are self-directed: get thinner, work smarter, be stronger, take control of your life. We want to make changes that will help us, improve us, and bring us good feelings about ourselves. Jesus said to be “in” the world but not to be “of” the world. So let’s ...

1504. Cheap Talk about an All Powerful God

John 1:29-42

Illustration

Shirley Guthrie

One Christian writer has said, "All cheap and easy talk about a God of sovereign power who is in control of a world in which there is so much poverty, suffering, and injustice is obscene. All self-confident talk about a powerful church that has the mandate and the ability to change society with this or that conservative or liberal social/political agenda or with this or that evangelistic program is increasingly absurd in a disintegrating church that cannot solve its own problems, much less the problems of ...

1505. Kilkenny Cats

Matthew 5:21-26

Illustration

Staff

Jesus warns us against anger, and reminds us to find a better way to resolve our conflicts. It is impossible to avoid confrontations and conflict, but we should never let anger poison our relationships or lead to damage that is impossible to undo. It reminds me of a traditional Irish poem: There once were two cats of Kilkenny, Each thought there was one cat too many; So they fought and they fit, And they scratched and they bit, Till, excepting their nails, And the tips of their tails, Instead of two cats ...

1506. It's Not Fair!

1 Peter 2:13-25

Sermon

King Duncan

Strange things happen in this world. Surely you’ve noticed that. There was a news report about two motorists who had a head-on collision and I do mean a head-on collision. It happened in heavy fog near the small town of Guetersloh, Germany. The two motorists were guiding their cars at a snail’s pace near the center of the road in the dense fog. Each of them had his head out of the car window trying to see. And yes, before they realized it, they smacked their heads together. Both men were hospitalized with ...

1507. Romans 7:15-25a

Romans 7:7-25

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

Practice what you preach. Except sometimes you can’t. Practice makes perfect. Except sometimes it doesn’t. In this week’s epistle text, Paul continues with his discussion of the relationship between God’s law and human sinfulness. Although Paul testifies that the law is a divine gift, in fact “holy,” and all God’s commandments “holy and just and good” (Romans 7:12), the consequences of the law for humanity have been disastrous. Indeed, the consequence of the law is nothing less than a death sentence. There ...

1508. Don't Be Afraid

Matthew 14:22-36

Sermon

King Duncan

Have you ever noticed that fear can cause people to do some really stupid things? When that terrible earthquake and tsunami hit Japan last spring, it reminded me of a Serbian man named Lucas who was a victim of a giant tsunami that devastated countries around the Indian Ocean a couple of years ago. Lucas, aged 30, was nowhere near where the tsunami hit. He was safely at home in Serbia at the time. However, he was watching television and he was so shocked when he saw the tsunami footage on TV that he jumped ...

1509. When Did This Start? — Part 2

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Sermon

Robert J. Elder

This is the second of a little two-part series on the beginnings of the gospel about Jesus from perspectives of the not-so-usual Christmas gospels of Mark and John. The idea of using such passages, apart from the fact that they appear in the suggested lectionary passages to be read on these Sundays, is to jar us a little bit out of our comfortable, acculturated vision of the season leading up to Christmas as a season entirely of warm cozy fireplaces, Christmas trees, and jingle bells, and to remind us that ...

1510. Tough Talk for Tentative Disciples

John 6:56-69

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

Many years ago, a missionary society wrote to David Livingstone, a Scottish Presbyterian pioneer medical missionary in Central Africa, and asked, "Have you found a good road to where you are? If so, we want to send other men to join you." Livingstone wrote back, "If you have men who will come only because there is a good road, I don't want them. I want men who will come if there is no road at all." Every ministry and every ministry leader in the history of the Christian faith has faced tough times. Usually ...

1511. It’s God’s Will?

Ephesians 1:3-14

Sermon

Scott Suskovic

Harold is 81 years old and one day after worship he came up to me and said, "There is something I want you to preach on before too long. When I was eleven years old, my mother died. The good people at the church kept on telling me it was God's will for her to die. Do you think that it was God's will to take the life of a young boy's mom? Now that I'm getting older, I plan on seeing her again, soon. Before I do, I'd like to hear what you think about God's will." That question and Paul's words in Ephesians 1 ...

1512. Reconciliation Day

Matthew 18:15-20

Sermon

King Duncan

Some of you may be fans of “Click and Clack, the Tappet brothers,” the mechanics on NPR’s Car Talk. Click and Clack are the radio names for the hosts of Car Talk, Tom and Ray Magliozzi. Someone wrote Tom and Ray a letter sometime back. Dear Tom and Ray: Today I was involved in an accident. I was happily cruising along at the speed limit . . . in the right lane, when someone came up behind me. He was clearly very upset that I was doing just the speed limit, and he could not stand being unable to get around ...

1513. Jesus Brings New Life

Isaiah 63:7--64:12

Sermon

Richard Gribble

The end of World War II and the onset of the Cold War, which saw the super powers of the United States and the Soviet Union at odds, brought a dark night to eastern Europe, which almost overnight seemed to come under the control of the Soviets and their ideology of Communism. The Iron Curtain, as it came to be known, seemed impenetrable. In 1980, however, at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk, Poland, some brave workers, seeking rights and freedom, provided the catalyst to bring this dark night to an end. The ...

1514. Do Not Forget Your Servant

1 Samuel 1:4-20

Sermon

Robert A. Hausman

How to have law and order without tyranny? That is the question. Israel began as a rather loosely connected tribal confederacy. The Israelite tribes were led by charismatic leaders, or judges, under the divine direction of Yahweh. They were supposed to be knit together in one harmonious unit. They would avoid the tyranny, which was the result of being governed by a king. Instead, they would have Yahweh alone as their king. It sounded good, and certainly the book of the Judges reflects moments of such ...

1515. Selecting a New President

Illustration

Staff

When the board of directors of a large food company was considering the selection of a new president, one of the directors worked out this questionnaire: Who of the possible candidates is the best known as a personality to the most company people? Who is the most liked and trusted by them? Who is held in the highest regard outside the organization...in public life and "in the trade"? Who is the most warmly human in his dealings with people? Who has demonstrated the best capacity for selecting able people, ...

1516. Be Watchful of the Future

Illustration

James Enery White

If people would have been asked in 1968 which nation would dominate the world in watch making during the 1990s and into the twenty-first century the answer would have been uniform: Switzerland. Why? Because Switzerland had dominated the world of watch making for the previous sixty years. The Swiss made the best watches in the world and were committed to constant refinement of their expertise. It was the Swiss who came forward with the minute hand and the second hand. They led the world in discovering ...

1517. Sister Act(s)

Luke 10:38-42

Sermon

Arley K. Fadness

Today's gospel from Luke 10 follows the parable of the Good Samaritan. Luke positions the Good Samaritan and the Mary-Martha story back to back for good reason. The parable and the story are examples of the Great Commandment "to love the Lord your God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself." The Good Samaritan parable illustrates "love to neighbor," whereas the Mary-Martha story illustrates "love to God." Meet the two M & M sisters — Mary and Martha. They are two peas in the same pod and yet so ...

1518. Year-Round Christmas

1 Kings 17:1-24

Sermon

David E. Leininger

"When elephants fight, the grass suffers." So goes an old African proverb.[1] The elephants in question here, Yahweh and Baal — gods competing for a nation's allegiance with the original weapons of mass destruction. Drought and disaster, the grass, this widow and her son, were caught in this cosmic struggle between fertility and famine. We meet one of faith's greatest heroes as this story begins. With Elijah there is no question whose side he is on; his name means Yahweh is my God. He gets no introduction ...

1519. Dinner With Jesus

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

David E. Leininger

I used to wish I were tall. All the other children were bigger. They were stronger ... faster. I was a shrimp ... and it used to bother me. I used to lie in my bed at night wishing that I was the biggest kid in town. Then nobody would push me around. None of the other children could beat me up. None of them could ever call Zacchaeus names (at least not if they wanted to keep their teeth in). None of them would ever give me any trouble again. Yeah, I wanted to be tall, but.... As time went along, of course ...

1520. Learning the Recipe for Love

Colossians 3:1-17

Sermon

Richard Gribble

In ancient times, a king decided to find and honor the greatest person among his subjects. A man of wealth and property was singled out. Another was praised for his healing powers and a third for his wisdom and knowledge of the law. Still another was lauded for his business acumen. Many other successful people were brought to the palace, and it became evident that the task of choosing the greatest would be difficult. Finally the last candidate stood before the king. This woman had white hair and her eyes ...

1521. Learning the Recipe for Love

Colossians 3:12-17

Sermon

Richard Gribble

1522. Strength through Diversity

1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Sermon

Richard Gribble

Recently on a British Airways flight from Johannesburg, South Africa, a middle-aged and apparently quite wealthy South African woman found herself sitting next to a black man. As the passengers were filing in and taking their seats she called a member of the cabin crew to ask about her seating. "What seems to be the matter, madam?" asked the attendant. "Can't you see?" the woman responded. "You have assigned me a seat next to a kaffir (a pejorative word referring to a native black African). I cannot ...

1523. On Not Giving Up

Galatians 6: 7-16

Sermon

April Yamasaki

A word of encouragement came from an unlikely source the other day in a television interview with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. The former football player, wrestler, and now actor was asked about a low time in his life when he was very discouraged about his career and future. "How did you make your way back from that?" he was asked. The Rock replied, "You have to put yourself out there. You have to get out there and fail, and learn from your failures." What advice would you give to someone who is discouraged ...

1524. When God Adds Insult to Injury

Colossians 2:6-15

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

So many things separate Christians into groups: denominations, different ways of practicing the sacraments, different understandings of how to organize the church, different attitudes toward social issues like sexuality and money, even different perceptions of who Christ was. With all of that disagreement and separation, what unites us? Is there any common ground among us, other than simply calling ourselves Christians? Are we hopelessly divided, or can we push aside some of these barriers and embrace as ...

1525. Strengthening Your Grip On Prayer

1 Kings 8:22-23, 41-43

Sermon

Derl G. Keefer

In 1982, Chuck Swindoll wrote a book titled Strengthening Your Grip. The introduction chronicles his maturing years from his birth in 1934 through his ministry of the early 1980s. Face it, ours is simply not the same world as it was a few short decades ago. The full picture hidden in the puzzle is still unclear, but the border is in place. The scene has changed drastically ... I found myself having to face the frightening facts of reality. We cannot drift on the ship of aimless indifference very long ...

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