Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1551 to 1575 of 2404 results

1551. How, Then, Shall We Live?

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

... historical figures at the museum while guiding school children through the exhibits. Shopping on-line, Ben had acquired a few period costumes, complete with white wigs. He delved into the lives of these figures, sharing their trials, tribulations, and achievements with the visiting students. Benjamin Franklin was Ben's favorite character, possibly because they shared the same first name. One morning, Ben was guiding a group of first graders when one small girl asked Benjamin Franklin how he could live ...

1552. Legacies of Power

Ephesians 1:15-23

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

... is empowerment, which is the act of giving power to another. We discuss groups that have felt relatively powerless, such as African Americans, Native Americans, Mexicans, and women. There are some who will say that we must never allow a small minority to achieve power over the great majority. Others, who sometimes are the same people, say that we must never allow the majority to gain power over minorities because the majority may oppress them. Our agenda as servants of God is different from these political ...

1553. Help Me, I'm Lost

Luke 15:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... we can do for ourselves, but something that has been done in our behalf. This theme is very important in the writings of St. Paul. He saw the dangers of people believing that they were among the spiritual elite and furthermore believing that they had achieved this status by their own doing. Such an attitude breeds pride. Jesus doesn’t need any more smug, self-righteous followers looking down at the spiritually unwashed among them. It’s like the story of Mildred, the self-appointed church gossip who kept ...

1554. God Loves Me

Luke 15:1-32

Illustration

Mark Trotter

... some truth in this statement. That there was a possibility that God really loves, me, Maya Angelou. I suddenly began to cry at the grandness of it all. I knew if God loved me, I could do wonderful things. I could do great things. I could learn anything. I could achieve anything. For what could stand against me with God, since one person, any person, with God form a majority now."

1555. There's Something about Con Men

Luke 16:1-15

Sermon

King Duncan

... . Have you ever heard someone say, “He worked like the dickens”? The “dickens” is another name for Satan. In fact, you may hear someone say, “He worked like the devil to get it done.” The implication is that the devil is always busy seeking to achieve his wicked ends. He never misses an opportunity to tempt, to discourage, to embitter. Well, there’s a little truth in that. I guarantee you that if you hit a rough patch in the road, and you sit around feeling sorry for yourself, the tempter will ...

1556. Made Perfect In Weakness

2 Corinthians 12:2-10

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... the strangest paradoxes and, at the same time, one of the most encouraging facts in human life is that your weakness can be your greatest asset. Men, like kites and airplanes, rise against and not with the wind." Oswald Chambers wrote: "God can achieve his purpose either through the absence of human power and resources, or the abandonment of reliance on them. All through history God has chosen and used nobodies, because their unusual dependence on him made possible the unique display of his power and grace ...

1557. Totally Poured Out

2 Timothy 4:9-18

Sermon

King Duncan

... Christ? The British writer C. C. Montague once told a remarkable short story about a man is his early fifties who awoke one morning with a curious numb feeling in his right side, which affected him from head to foot. The man had lived an active life, achieved a reasonable degree of success, but was now alone in the world, his wife being dead and his children grown and married. He saw the numbness as the beginning of old age. As he pondered his situation, he came at length to a decision. This moment was ...

1558. Forgetting Your Own Fatigue

2 Tim 3:10--4:8

Illustration

C. E. Montague

The British writer C. C. Montague once told a remarkable short story about a man in his early fifties who awoke one morning with a curious numb feeling in his right side, which affected him from head to foot. The man had lived an active life, achieved a reasonable degree of success, but was now alone in the world, his wife being dead and his children grown and married. He saw the numbness as the beginning of old age. As he pondered his situation, he came at length to a decision. This moment was an ...

1559. An Unmoored Boat on an Outgoing Tide

Luke 20:27-38

Illustration

Julian M. Aldridge

John Updike, in his novels, portrays the spiritual bankruptcy of so many modern Americans who deceive themselves into thinking that disbelief is an intellectual achievement. In his book, "In The Beauty of the Lilies," the major character ends his life in disbelief and Updike says when the character dies, "He slipped away as an unmoored boat on an outgoing tide." Interestingly, this character is a Presbyterian minister, Clarence Wilmot, Princeton-educated, he has all the ...

1560. Fighting Back Against Falling Back

2 Thessalonians 3:6-15

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... . It takes initiative. And a key method of fighting back against fall back is to exercise some initiative to move something from 0 to 1. Second, industry: the battle of good vs. evil is partly the battle of industry over inertia. One of the greatest intellectual achievements of the Christian tradition is the notion of original sin. People will make a mess of anything, of everything, and it takes major industry, ladled and laddered with showers of God’s grace, for us to climb out of old pits and to keep us ...

1561. More Than A Kumbaya King

Luke 23:26-43

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... in the first century. We still want to see the “proof” of any power, of any positive force, in purely physical form. The ideas and ideals we “crown” are those that “win” at the ballot box, or in our bank accounts, or that help us achieve the social or professional status we crave. It is far too frightening to give kingship and obedience over to a “king” whose reign began on a cross. We don’t want to hear that Jesus’ kingship, the reign of Christ, began with sacrifice. Instead we ...

1562. John Had an Outlook

Matt 3:1-12; John 3:22-36

Illustration

Leonard Mann

... himself to be that divine event. He seemed to have the idea that all of time and circumstance, up to then, had conspired to accomplish only one purpose, and that was just to get him into the world. He saw himself as creation's ultimate achievement, the apex toward which all else had forever been aimed, and beyond which nothing of any notable quality would ever appear again. There isn't much future in that. This man John was a different type; beyond himself he saw something else, something better, something ...

1563. Matthew 2:13-23

Matthew 2:13-18

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... further validated to Matthew’s readers by his citation of Hosea 11:1: “Out of Egypt I have called my Son” (although Hosea’s text was describing Israel’s movement out of Egypt). The true fulfillment of that text will not be achieved until v. 21, when another divine transmission instructs Joseph to bring the child back into Israel. In verses 16-19 Matthew famously demonstrates just how timely and necessary was this divinely orchestrated escape into Egypt. Herod realizes he has been “deceived” or ...

1564. Adopted! Thank God!

Ephesians 1:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... , and he was studying to become a licensed practical nurse. Markquart looked at the grade card. The young man had an A in pharmacology. He had an A in practicum; the on-the-floor practical nursing which is so important. He was proud of his achievement. Then the young man reminded Markquart of his story: Twenty years ago he had dropped out of school as well as life . . . at the age of thirteen. “It was twenty years since he had been in school. He used drugs, marijuana, cocaine, alcohol, and everything ...

1565. Don't Ever Say That Again

John 1:29-34

Illustration

Keith Wagner

... made more demands of him. He made him accountable. He enabled him to believe in himself. Years later the famous, Les Brown, produced five specials on public television. Mr. Washington saw the program and called Les Brown to tell him how proud he was of his achievement. When others believe in us we gain confidence in ourselves and are able to do great things. Naturally, we still have to apply ourselves. Les Brown had to work hard to finish high school. But, he was now motivated to learn. Our children need to ...

1566. The True Nature of Happiness

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

Brett Blair

... children: Happiness. The problem is that we really don’t grasp the true nature of happiness, and because of that it so often seems to elude us. You see, we think that happiness deals with our outer circumstances. We think that the truly happy man is one who has achieved outer success. Thus our beatitudes read: 1. Blessed is the man who makes a fortune. 2. Blessed is he who earns six figures. 3. Happy is the man who has a palace in the city and a summer home in the mountains. 4. Blessed is he who has won ...

1567. The Case of the Dancing Men

Psalm 51:1-19

Sermon

King Duncan

... me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.” David knew that he could not achieve the kind of change he needed on his own. Only by the grace and love of God could he really become the kind of man his family and his nation needed the kind of man God intended him to be. A conference on comparative religions was held sometime back in ...

1568. Matthew 5:38-48

Matthew 5:38-42

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... , therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (v.48). This demand clearly puts all of Jesus’ directives beyond the scope of any written down law. For while a written code might in principle be kept, attaining perfection can never be achieved except, of course, by the perfect “Heavenly Father.” This final pronouncement once again demonstrates Matthew’s concern that Jesus’ teachings here do not abrogate the law. Rather, Jesus “fulfills” the law by pointing beyond it to the perfection of the ...

1569. When to Take the Shirt off Your Back

Matthew 21:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... 1995, Itzhak Perlman, the Israeli-American violinist, came on stage to give a concert at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City. If you have ever seen Perlman on tv, or been to a Perlman concert, you know that getting on stage is no small achievement for him. He was stricken with polio as a child, and so he has braces on both legs and walks with the aid of two crutches. To see him walk across the stage one step at a time, painfully and slowly, is an unforgettable sight. He walks painfully ...

1570. Palm Sunday: Historical Background

Matthew 21:1-11

Illustration

David E. Leininger

... cleanse and rededicate the desecrated temple. "Mission Accomplished?" Well, it would be a full 20 years more of fighting, after Judas and a successor brother, Jonathan, had died in battle, that a third brother, Simon, took over, and through his diplomacy achieved Judean independence. That would begin a century of Jewish sovereignty. Of course, there was great celebration. "On the twenty-third day of the second month, in the one hundred and seventy-first year, the Jews entered Jerusalem with praise and palm ...

1571. 2 Corinthians 13:11-13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... put things in order,” or even “aim for perfection.” However translated, Paul is calling for the Corinthians strenuously to seek a restored, repaired, mended relationship within their faith community and so, ultimately, with God. In order to achieve this restoration, the Corinthians are next encouraged by Paul to “listen to my appeal.” “Parakaleisthe” also has the sense of being “encouraged” or to “encourage one another” on this journey to a newly restored relationship. Throughout the ...

1572. Kissing Cousins (Father's Day)

2 Corinthians 13:11-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... isn’t on drugs, doesn’t get failing grades, hasn’t been arrested for drunk driving, or kicked out of college for cheating, hasn’t made his girl friend pregnant, or stolen from your purse, that he’s great. But you make no mention of achievement. There’s not a word about integrity, a sense of responsibility, decency, morality or service to others.” Then she went on to add, “What a sad commentary on our times. Good Lord, where is our nation headed,” asks Ann Landers, “and who is going to ...

1573. Romans 7:15-25a

Romans 7:7-25

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... army wresting away control of his own actions. But that is not the case. Paul has already identified the source for this is in “the flesh” which was “sold into slavery under sin” (v.14). The sin that dwells within, thwarting the “willing” from achieving “doing” is not a foreign interloper. It is a part of the genome of the “flesh.” Failure to embody the spiritual goodness of the law is thus inevitable. For those who argue that Paul is describing the experience of Christians as well as ...

1574. A Commitment That Is Entire

Matthew 13:44-46

Illustration

Leonard Mann

A goal that is worthy deserves and demands a commitment that is entire. An Olympic athlete must be committed to training; a great violinist must be committed to practicing; anyone who pursues a goal must be committed to the disciplines the achievement requires. After hearing a famous pianist, a lady said to him, "I would give anything to be able to play like that." He replied, "I'll bet you wouldn't give five minutes a day." Another said to a master musician, "I would give my very life if I could ...

1575. A Winsome Witness

Acts 8:26-40

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... court. He was apparently most intelligent, skilled, and talented, because he had risen to become one of the queen's highest officials — cabinet rank ... Secretary of the Treasury and Chairman of the Federal Reserve all rolled into one. Why would someone who has achieved such a station in life be willing to accept the insults of another religion when he could have avoided such shame by sticking with the beliefs of Ethiopia? Something must have convinced him that the God of the Jews was no ordinary god ...

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