Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1551 to 1575 of 4963 results

1551. You Are My Witnesses

Luke 24:36-49

Sermon

Harry N. Huxhold

... his death. Now they were partners with the Risen Christ in sharing the good news. Now they would be involved in a new way. He would depart from them to be with the Father. Yet he would be present with them in a new and remarkable way. They should remain in Jerusalem to receive from him the gift of the Spirit. To be sure, they had been prompted by the Spirit of God to be in his entourage to begin with. However, now Jesus said the disciples would be "clothed with power from on high." What would happen is ...

1552. The Open Hand

Mark 2:23-3:6

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... were looking for ways to trap the Lord. Jesus was very disturbed by what he saw. One translation puts it this way: "Jesus said to them, 'Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath day? Or to do evil? To save a life? Or to kill it?' But they remained silent. He looked round on them with anger, for he was grieved at the obtuseness of their hearts" (Mark 3:5).2 The opposite of an obtuse heart is an open heart. The opposite of closed minds is the mind which is caught up in self-forgetfulness which is what ...

1553. From Singleness To Solidarity

Ruth 1:1-22

Sermon

Zan W. Holmes

... they would fare better there. But they soon learned that they could not run away from trouble. Shortly after they arrived in Moab, Elimelech died, and Naomi was left as a single parent with two sons in a foreign land. Nevertheless, Naomi and her two sons remained in the foreign land of Moab. Even though they were Hebrews, each of her sons married a foreign wife from Moab. One of the wives was Orpah, which means in Hebrew "she who turns back." The other was named Ruth, which in Hebrew means "companion." But ...

1554. When It's Hard To Give Thanks

Joel 2:18-27

Sermon

Zan W. Holmes

Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859-1937) was the first black artist to acquire an international reputation in this century. He remains well known today in museum and academic circles, although his name is not familiar to a more general audience. One of his most popular paintings is titled The Thankful Poor. It is a painting which features an elderly father and his little son as they are seated at a table ...

1555. Children, Just Forever

Mark 9:42-50

Sermon

George W. Hoyer

... tonight. Matthew's account of this gospel ends with the words, "It is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost" (Matthew 18:14). None of us little ones wants that either. But the mystery of "why some, not others" remains. Think of Judas and be very sober about this. Think of Peter and be saved. Judas thought he could betray and still be Christ's disciple. Jesus knew and Jesus let Judas know that he knew: "One of you will betray me." Judas was warned. Jesus said, "It ...

1556. Love And Money

Mark 10:17-31

Sermon

William G. Carter

... issue with large, general steps. The church talks in generalities about the electric bill, the rising cost of church school curricula, and mission projects worthy of our support. Those are worthy topics of conversation. That's usually where the conversation remains with the list of the good services the church provides. Any actual mention of money seems distasteful. A few years ago, an interchange of letters appeared in a nationally syndicated newspaper column. Dear Abby: We are not overly religious people ...

1557. No Box Seats In The Kingdom

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

William G. Carter

... is operating with purely Christian motivation. The other 95 percent is asking, 'What's in it for me?' "2 When I first read those words I thought, "Oh, no. That's not true. Church people are inherently generous and gracious. They are always eager to help, remaining free from selfish motives and concerns about getting their own way." Then I tried to gather a youth group from a list of Senior Highs, and one after another said, "What's in it for me?" Somewhat discouraged, I attempted to gather some adults to ...

1558. Can You See Where We're Going

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

William G. Carter

... do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asked. "Give me eyes to see," said the beggar. As Ched Myers notes, faith according to the Gospel of Mark is "the determination to shed denial and face the world as it is, in order to struggle for what could be. Remaining clear-eyed is a constant struggle."5 The world can distort our vision. Like people who have been wearing the same pair of eyeglasses for the past 25 years, we may have gone out of focus and not even known it. We begin to enjoy our own importance, or we ...

1559. Tears At The Tomb

John 11:17-37

Sermon

William G. Carter

... who don't know any way out. The Gospel of John says Jesus acted, but only on his terms and only according to his timetable. When he heard Lazarus was ill, Jesus didn't drop everything and rush to the bedside of his sick friend. Instead he remained where he was for two days longer. By the time he went to Bethany, Lazarus had been stone-cold in the tomb for four days. When Jesus arrived in Bethany, he seemed strangely free from gushy sentiments or emotional entanglements. He went on his own initiative, not ...

1560. It Is Blessed To Receive

Luke 17:11-19

Sermon

William G. Carter

... 5 Gratitude is a genuine miracle of God. Like the apostle Paul, most of us would ascribe to Jesus the saying, "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35). 6 Good Christian people have often given themselves to selfless charity, and remained reticent to welcome any gift. As a result, churches are full of people who are experts at giving. They spend hours with needy children. They volunteer to serve on a hundred different committees. They sign up for payroll deductions for United Way. They stay ...

1561. All Stirred Up

Luke 10:38-42

Sermon

Richard Patt

... it. An awesome menial task stared her in the face. She had a table to spread. Company was coming, and she had invited them. So this potentially beautiful occasion quickly grew ugly. While she was busy in the kitchen, Mary, her sister, chose to remain with Jesus in the living room, listening to his words of wisdom. Martha wanted everything in the kitchen to turn out just right. Sometimes striving for perfection spells pressure. The resulting tension can drive us to search for an explanation -- even for blame ...

1562. It's OK To Stir Up God

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

Richard Patt

... have found such a person who listens to us and trusts us, we want to be assured that such a person is on our side. We don't want to be involved with someone who will misuse or abuse our story (through gossip, for instance), but who will remain on our side, perhaps despite our story. From personal experience I'd say the speaker touched on an important aspect of our deepest need as people. The promise of prayer -- of Christian prayer -- is that for the sake of Jesus Christ our Savior, a loving Father is ready ...

1563. The Fear Of Taking The Plunge

Luke 12:35-48

Sermon

Richard Patt

... in that sparse geography that she found her own spirit more than ever. In Lemmon, South Dakota, she blossomed as the person and writer she suspected she could be. Most of her self-discovery was pleasing and would have been impossible had she insisted on remaining in the "safe" literary environment of New York. Jesus says, "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom," and we might add, "kingdoms you never dreamed possible." People find this out when they take the ...

1564. Clever Christians

Luke 16:1-15

Sermon

Richard Patt

... of worship that are "attractive" to people, or should such a "user-friendly" attitude be of secondary importance? Or how about moral issues? Do technology and other advancements of the twentieth century suggest a change in some of our moral stances, or does everything remain rigidly standard according to religious laws, some of which, by the way, are now over 4,000 years old? The final answers to such questions are beyond the scope of a Sunday morning sermon, of course. But the very fact that such questions ...

1565. A New Kingdom Coming

Luke 9:57-62

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

... these lands and my family too much to share them." And the King's vice-regent will say, "He who loves houses and lands and family more than me is not worthy of me." There's a new kingdom coming. Will you be a part of the union or remain a selfish, separatist state? There's a new kingdom coming -- coming out of the future -- a kingdom needing to come, wanting to come, waiting to come. Waiting for you. For me. For this church, this nation, this world. "I will build my church," said Jesus, "and the gates of ...

1566. The Silence Broken, The Bride Restored

Isaiah 62:1-12

Sermon

Robert A. Hausman

... you, has been burned by fire, and all our pleasant places have become ruins. After all this, will you restrain yourself, O Lord? Will you keep silent, and punish us so severely? In the face of the silence of God, the first problem was that the people themselves remained silent. They had drifted away from Yahweh. They had become comfortable with their reality. They found solace in other gods. The Lord said to them: I was ready to be sought out by those who did not ask, to be found by those who did not seek ...

1567. Made New By Taking A Different Road Home

Luke 1:39-45, Luke 1:46-56

Sermon

Richard A. Wing

We are made new when we dare to go home by another way. This reality has ancient roots. The stories of the season are about people who were made new by taking a different road home. Mary visited Elizabeth and remained there three months. She went home by another way. After saying earlier, "Do with me as you will," before God, and after singing her song of praise to God, she went home a different way. Bethlehem is a place from which, once you've been there, you cannot go home ...

1568. Echoes

Luke 3:21-38

Sermon

Richard A. Wing

... hear at the time. I read Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from a Birmingham Jail." This letter, written on toilet paper by a man who did not have reference books, was a profound answer to a group of persons who had written him telling him that he should remain quiet and let the courts, not his voice and demonstrations of nonviolence, take care of changes in America. Dr. King told them why he could not wait and why we must not wait. I read that letter long ago, but did not hear it until I was in the ...

1569. Love Your Enemies--It Will Drive Them Crazy

Luke 6:27-36

Sermon

Richard A. Wing

... are constantly in process. It is not an event that happens. Our baptism is not an end; it is a beginning that will leave us stumbling all our lives, stumbling hopefully by some mystery into doing the word that causes us so much difficulty. And still this word remains. "Humanity is never so beautiful as when praying for forgiveness or else forgiving another" (Richter). Look at the Lord's prayer. We pray it every week and yet it is so dangerous. We become so familiar with it, it is as if we own it. But in the ...

1570. Reach For The Light

Isaiah 60:1-22

Sermon

Tony Everett

... ." In biblical language, the word for "dwell" can be literally translated as "build a tabernacle" or "pitch a tent." Jesus, the very Word of God, the true Light, pitched a tent in our midst and chose to live among us. The glory of the risen Christ remains with us. Arise, shine, for your Light has come! What does this mean for us? In today's lesson Isaiah pictures Jerusalem (Zion) as a woman prostrate on the ground at the beginning of the New Year covenant renewal celebration. Zion is bidden to rise and ...

1571. Named And Claimed

Isaiah 43:1-13

Sermon

Tony Everett

... were Mother, Father, Virginia, Grandmother and the pastor. Soon it was Virginia's bedtime. After a bath, Virginia invited everyone to come up and hear her bedside prayers. Grandmother, whose arthritis was bothering her, chose not to go upstairs with the others and remained seated on the sofa. Just as Virginia knelt down, a flash of lightning followed by a crash of thunder filled the room. "I want to go downstairs with Grandmother," cried Virginia. "I'm scared." The adults in the room tried to reassure her ...

1572. New Name, New Status

Isaiah 62:1-12

Sermon

Tony Everett

... When everything goes wrong that can go wrong in our own lives, our perspective becomes that of the "forsaken" by others and by God. Our home, our land, our relationships become "desolate" wastelands. There is no warmth. Only the frigid chill of rejection remains. The Lord's promises seem to be intended for someone else. During a terrible cold spell in January of 1994, the city of Chicago experienced a temperature of 42 degrees below zero Fahrenheit, with a windchill factor approaching minus 75 degrees. Mrs ...

1573. Anything But Trivial

Nehemiah 7:73b--8:18

Sermon

Tony Everett

... general disinterest in reviving the very practices of the faith which united them in their identity as God's people. Interest in rebuilding the city walls and restoring the Temple was low at best. Religious observances were slack; most of the inhabitants who remained in Judah during the exile could not even read or speak Hebrew anymore. Even if they were at all interested in the books of God's law, they could not understand their contents. Complaining and open resistance were frequent. This was an enormous ...

1574. Dabar Adonai

Jeremiah 1:1-19

Sermon

Tony Everett

... might not make it. I'll miss you." Her parents, who were also in tears by this time, presented their daughter with a plaque on which these words were engraved: "The word of God will never lead you where the love of God cannot keep you." That plaque remains prominently displayed in her law office today. "Do not be afraid ... I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord" (v. 8). God has delivered us from confusion and hopelessness. In Jesus Christ, the word of the Lord has entered our lives. In and through the ...

1575. Roots Near The River

Jeremiah 16:1--17:18

Sermon

Tony Everett

... They are like fruitful trees, whose roots are near the river (v. 8a). These are not overcome by the scorching heat of life's pressures. They are not overwhelmed by an apparent absence of quick and easy self-help solutions in times of great stress. They remain nourished and well watered. Their lives continue to bear fruit in faithful service (v. 8b). Left to our own plans and perceptions we are unable to see lasting meaning and hope in life. Too easily we grasp at any straw for life support. Inevitably, we ...

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