Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1501 to 1525 of 2157 results

John 20:19-23

Sweet

... least convoluted understanding of John’s description simply accepts that the gospel writer did not know of the Acts 2 event at the time of his writing, but he did know that the promised Holy Spirit had been received by Jesus’ followers. John’s version in no way negates Luke’s detailed account in Acts 2. The private experience here recorded by John is made a public demonstration in acts. Together both affirm a change in the disciples’ status, both internally and externally. In the second half of ...

1502. Will You Dance the Metanoia with Me?

Acts 2:14-41

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... face a new reality where truth is a person. When Peter offered his anxious angst-ridden audience an answer for what they could do to get right with God, he did not create a creed. He did not propose a prayer. He did not come up with an updated version of “The Ten Commandments.” All that was required was to repent, to turn around, and to do so in “the name of Jesus Christ.” Believing in the person of Jesus, not in any list of rules or litany of principles, was what brought the forgiveness of sins and ...

1503. Wrong!

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... ].) WRONG! Since 2011 is the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible, I throw this one into the wrong hopper: The learned Hebrew scholar Hugh Broughton, who wasn’t chosen to be on the KJV translation committee, wrote to the King when the “Authorized Version” was published that he would “rather be rent in pieces with wild horses” than see the new Bible used in churches, “it is so ill done.” WRONG! Soren Kierkegaard wrote this: “It is an edifying thought, to know that before God I am always ...

1504. 2 Corinthians 13:11-13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... identity. All who can participate in the community joined together by the “holy kiss” are truly “the saints.” Paul’s final benediction here is the reason the lectionary chose this text for “Trinity Sunday.” Here in v.13 (or v.14 in some versions — a final clang of Corinthian discord!) Paul expresses the triune nature of this Christian faith. It is Paul’s succinct declaration of “the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit” that led Karl ...

1505. The Rewards Program for Christians

Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... final reward” was described best in the old folk tune “Sixteen Tons” — where the miner admits he is just “another year older and deeper in debt . . . I owe my soul to the company store.” [You might consider playing the Tennessee Ernie Ford version of this chorus right here.] A “reward” shouldn’t suck your soul away. A “reward” should set your soul soaring. Remember how good it made you feel to be “rewarded” for memorizing Bible verses in Sunday school? Remember how you coveted your ...

1506. Super-Size Your Faith

Romans 8:18-27

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... that? How many of you have no idea who Mary Poppins is? There’s the generational divide right in front of us…although Broadway has just introduced a new “Mary Poppins” musical to catch those of you who only know the more postmodern Nannie McPhee version of the story. [Here’s the link if you want to play it . . . to remind some and acquaint others http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8VHc49ZdP4] Nanny Mary Poppins sang this song in the 1964 movie to get her employers’ closed-mouth children to open ...

1507. Matthew 14:22-36

Matthew 14:22-36

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... “It is I” serves as the defacto “name” of God (Exodus 3:14; Deuteronomy 32:39; Isaiah 41:4; 43:10). It is no less than the water-walking “It is I” who stands before the drenched disciples. Only Matthew’s version of this miracle includes Peter’s unique, active involvement. Matthew often uses the irrepressible Peter as the spokesman for all the disciples. Here it seems Peter does understand the divine significance of Jesus’ mastery over the water and his self-identification (“It ...

1508. Surprise!

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... religious conviction than most all of us put together, the one who decided that he was going to destroy this heresy called Christianity, so he set about to. He went around the countryside as scripture says in the marvelous phrasing of the King James Version, "breathing out threatenings and slaughter" (Acts 9:1). His name was Saul of Tarsus. If you remember the story from your Sunday school days, Saul got bounced on his babushka on the Damascus Road and he became the greatest missionary the church has ever ...

1509. Our Magnificent, Mysterious, Mischievous God

2 Kings 5:1-14

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... leprosy" (v. 3). It is a measure of Naaman's desperation that he would bother to listen, much less act on this slave's suggestion. But he does. He risks, not only his favored position with the king by requesting permission to go on this ancient version of a pilgrimage to Lourdes for healing, but he would risk his fortune loading up the caravan with an outrageous sum of money (health care was obviously overpriced back then, too). He would risk his very life with this journey into the hostile territory of a ...

1510. Gifts For The Christ Child

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

David E. Leininger

The three wise men. "They opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense (or frankincense, from the King James Version) and of myrrh" (Luke 2:11b). Simple words, but if we analyze them carefully (as an email that my wife forwarded to me attests), we discover an important, yet often-overlooked, theological fact: There is no mention of wrapping paper. If there had been wrapping paper, Matthew would have said ...

1511. Sunday’s Comin’

Hebrews 10:16-25

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... we would be willing to make sacrifices and endure hardship in pursuit of something greater and more worthwhile. We think the future is worth it. Why? Because of Jesus ... and what he had to say to us concerning what lies ahead. In the familiar phrases of the old King James Version in which we were nurtured, "Let not your heart be troubled. Ye believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go to ...

1512. Handling Freedom

Exodus 20:1-17

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... have because, quite frankly, some people will end up worshiping that and doing themselves and their neighbors more harm than good. No — no idols. Commandment #3: "You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God" (v. 7). Or in the language of the King James Version, "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain." Be careful of misunderstanding this one. Despite what your grandmother told you and that billboard to which we referred earlier, this is not a rule about not using God's name as an ...

1513. The Day God Voted

1 Samuel 15:34-35, 16:1-13

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... the question, Saul should have been the winner hands down. He was a handsome fellow, a big fellow. Scripture says he stood "a head taller" (1 Samuel 9:2) than all the men of the nation. If he had not been the king, he could have played in some ancient version of the NBA. Saul looked the part of king. But God voted for David. We have heard a lot in recent years about the image of candidates and how they are "sold" to us like boxes of Tide or Big Macs. It is sad but true, but that is what ...

1514. Being a Christian “Survivor”

Ephesians 6:10-20

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... legionnaire, and suggests the way he is outfitted as a metaphor for our Christian survival equipment. Paul calls it "the armor of God." First he talks about the belt, that which holds things together. The "girdle of truth," as the old King James Version has it. One of the complaints we hear from contestants on the Survivor series is that they often were not truthful with one another. In fact, outright lies are employed as a strategy of the contest. If deliberate deception were limited to tropical islands ...

1515. Can Teach, Can Do

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

Robert J. Elder

... Who is Jesus? That is the question either asked or implied at the conclusion of almost every story about him in Mark. Some scholars have suggested that Mark was just an inept storyteller, and that was why other gospel writers had to wade in with fuller versions of the same stories. Perhaps this was true. Others have suggested that he was uncommonly shrewd, forcing us to ask over and over again who this Jesus was and is until we start to answer our own questions. Probably the biggest question we have to ask ...

1516. A Whole City at The Door

Mark 1:29-39

Sermon

Robert J. Elder

... ," the man answered. "And how do you know," asked the pastor, "that your livelihood is running on in front of you so that you have to rush after it? Perhaps it's behind you, and all you need to do is stand still." Have you heard the type-A personality version of the old "Now I Lay Me Down" child's bedtime prayer? Now I wake me up to work, I pray the Lord I will not shirk. If I should die before the night, I pray the Lord my work's all right. It has been said that "most middle ...

1517. When the Impossible Becomes Imminently Possible!

John 6:1-21

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

... 's death, and Jesus and his disciples retired across Galilee. It was the backdrop for an incredibly timeless human story. Of all the gospel writers, only John writes, "He [Jesus] himself knew what he was going to do" (John 6:6 NRSV). The New International Version translates it, Christ "already had in mind what he was going to do." The Things We Have In Mind The disciples, even though they had witnessed many miracles, were frustrated for they did not know what the sovereign Lord "had in mind to do." Life ...

1518. Romans 12:9-21

Romans 12:9-21

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... of occasional incidences of such action. At verse 14 Paul turns his eyes away from strictly intra-community relationships and acknowledges the hostilities and dangers presented by those outside the church. In many ways this whole section is Paul’s version of Jesus’ Beatitudes. His directive to “bless those who persecute you” is almost identical to Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount” (Matthew 5:44). To “bless” and not “curse” the persecutor is the essence of “genuine love.” In verses 15-16 ...

1519. Philippians 3:4b-14

Philippians 3:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... saw as “gain” — his noble lineage, his pharisaic piety, his zealous defense of the Law — a valueless “loss.” They are all garbage (“skybala” — literally “excrement”) now that he has “gained” Christ. In v.9 Paul offers a consolidated version of his “justification by faith” argument, as expanded and expounded in both Romans and Galatians. By “knowing” Christ Paul now finds he is “in him.” It is that relationship which gives the apostle a new claim to “righteousness ...

1520. Matthew 22:1-14

Matthew 22:1-14

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... Anyone who hears of the king’s invitation is welcome to attend, regardless of their social, economic or moral standing in the community. The conclusion to Matthew’s telling of this parable is significantly different than that of Luke’s “great banquet” version. The king himself finally arrives at the wedding banquet and looks over his new crop of invited guests. Within the crowd the king sees one guest who is not respectfully attired. He is not wearing a “wedding robe.” This observation, and ...

1521. Matthew 22:15-22

Matthew 22:15-22

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... Jesus offers one of the all time great “perfect comebacks” to the first of three questions posed to him by the Pharisees. While in Mark’s gospel the Pharisees are merely “sent” to Jesus (Mark 12:13), in Matthew’s version of this confrontation he makes the Pharisees the intentional instigators of a plot to ”entrap” Jesus through their questions. Matthew also introduces another group to those questioning Jesus, “the Herodians.” One assumes these are supporters of the Herodian dynasty. But ...

1522. Troubled Waters

Genesis 9:8-17

Sermon

Ken Lentz

... that time found in the Tigris-Euphrates river valley that tells the story of a man named Utnapishtim who, having been warned by one of his gods (Ea), builds an ark and experiences the same adventure as Noah in the Old Testament version. There are striking differences between the Genesis account and the other ancient-world traditions. The Hebrew account uniquely confesses that there is only one God and that this one God is not capricious but judiciously measured in his interaction with humans. The Hebrew ...

1523. Thanks for the Memories!

Exodus 12:1-4 (5-10) 11-14

Sermon

Ken Lentz

... , the exodus memories are more than memories about family. Whether we march in the line of those headed for Sinai or join in the line of those headed for the communion rail, the focus is on family. A group of Christian students decided to host their own version of the Jewish Seder meal. They asked a local rabbi to join them. The students stuck to the script religiously and reverently. The rabbi suddenly spoke up and offered a suggestion. "Don't be so stiff and formal!" he urged them. "When we do it, we say ...

1524. Ascension Answers

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

Ken Lentz

... rest assured that God's historical game plans have not been changed. The most important earmarks of the believer are joy and anticipation. The first short account of the ascension at the end of the gospel of Luke emphasizes the happiness of the disciples. Luke's version in Acts shows that their joy is founded upon Jesus' power residing in them and the promise that he will come again. A pastor once met a mother at the bedside of her dying son in the hospital. The mother had separated herself from the church ...

1525. The Real Underdog!

1 Samuel 17:1, 4-11, 19-23, 32-49

Sermon

William J. Carl, III

... way Saul's army was when it came face-to-face with the Philistine giant. Too often we only want to see David and Goliath meeting at high noon at the OK Corral. However, when we forget God is Goliath's real foe, we turn this story into another Manichean version of Star Wars where good and evil are equal, duking it out for who's in charge. This story really is an answer to the question, "Who's in charge here?" The answer comes back resoundingly, "God is in charge of our world and your life and mine." In the ...

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