Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1551 to 1575 of 1967 results

1551. Sycamore Blues

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” (Hebrews 4:13) There are no secret sins. But oh, we LOVE our secrets, don’t we? We have secret rendezvous, secret accounts, secret passwords, secret societies, secret meetings, secret diaries, secret pasts, and secret habits. Some of us even have secret desires and secret aspirations that we never share with anyone but our closest and trusted friends. All to ...

1552. Rain of Grace

Hosea 6:1--7:16

Sermon

Lori Wagner

[You may want to use the sound of rain….like you get from a rainstick; or if a rainy day, call attention to the sound of the rain outside.] The sound of rain. That steady, pattering on windows and spouting, sidewalks and cars. It can almost lull you to sleep. It’s a comforting sound. It’s almost a lullaby sound. If you’re a farmer or a gardener, you may keep rain barrels. Years ago, people would catch rain in buckets. Why? Because rainwater is gentle, free of chemicals, clean, and fresh. Plants and crops ...

1553. A Deserted Place

Mark 1:29-39

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

A friend of mine who is in the computer business and real estate business used to have a sign hanging in his office which maybe you've seen. The sign reads: "Every morning in Africa, a gazelle awakens. It knows it must run faster than the lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion awakens. It knows it must run faster than the gazelle or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle -- when the sun comes up, you'd better be running." I know how both the lion and the ...

1554. Moving Heaven and Earth

Acts 16:16-34

Sermon

King Duncan

The story’s told about a Chinese gentleman who was visiting the United States. His hosts took him to play golf. This was a new experience for him. When he returned to China, a friend asked what he had done in the United States. He replied, “I played most interesting game. I hit a little white ball with a long stick in a large cow pasture. “What’s this game called?” asked his friend. The Chinese gentleman thought for a minute and replied, “I think it’s called, ‘Oh, no!’” Some of us may have played the game ...

1555. Facing Death

John 18:1-19:42

Sermon

April Yamasaki

“That was a good funeral.” Before becoming a pastor, I wouldn’t have understood what she meant, but now I could agree with this senior member of my church. We had just said goodbye to one of our dear saints who had been an active volunteer in the church and community until she had fallen ill, who had remained on good terms with all of her family who surrounded her with love and care, who had been a woman of prayer and faithful to the end. At her funeral, we sang some of her favorite songs, read words of ...

1556. Free to Forgive

John 20:19-31

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Just before Easter, Jewish people celebrated a holiday in their tradition called Purim. During Purim, the story of Esther is read aloud, sometimes enacted. The story of Esther tells of a an upright, young Jewish woman who becomes Queen of Persia and reveals to the King the evil intentions of his right hand man, Haman, who is out to exterminate the Jewish people. Esther’s uncle Mordechai has angered Haman, who builds a gallows intending to have Mordechai hanged upon it. But when his treacherous plan to ...

1557. Sow's Ears And Silk Purses

John 2:1-11

Sermon

Charles H. Bayer

The story of Jesus turning water into wine has long been a puzzle. It was not just a bit of wine he produced, but a tank full! Those committed to abstinence at best and temperance at least find it hard to imagine Jesus beginning his ministry with such an invitation to drunkenness. Nor is it much comfort to construe the wine as unfermented grape juice. In the first place, the Greek word is wine, and in the second place any effort in those pre-pasteurized days to keep grape juice free from the yeasts of the ...

1558. The Peace That Invades

John 14:15-31

Sermon

Glenn E. Ludwig

It was not like they had anticipated. It was supposed to be a celebration -- a celebration of deliverance as they remembered the Passover in that upper room. But Jesus had upset them ƒ with his actions and with his words. Before the meal even began, he knelt before each one of them with towel and water insisting on washing the grime from their feet; it was the action of a common servant, and yet, most intimate. Then, after the meal, he made predictions that shocked them: "I'm telling you the truth, one of ...

1559. By What Authority?

Mark 1:14-20

Sermon

John A. Stroman

And Jesus said to them, "Follow me and I will make you fish for people." And immediately they left their nets and followed him. -- Mark 1:17-18 This text is a statement about a radical discipleship. It needs to be pointed out at the beginning that this reading is the most compact and compressed statement of the gospel expressed anywhere in the New Testament. Leonard Sweet points out, "In these few verses, Jesus' role as an authoritative, compelling, charismatic preacher is defined; the kernel of the gospel ...

1560. It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over

Ezekiel 37:1-14

Sermon

Gerald Whetstone

Masada is a massive rock, rising from the south Judean desert. Walking round the edge of its flattened height, there is no life to be seen anywhere. All around, only the expanse of the dry, rocky desert. Except for the Sea to the west. Yet this is the salt-soaked Dead Sea whose water is lifeless, absolutely lifeless. On this mount Herod had built a fortress for escape. Later, nearly a thousand Jewish Zealots made their home there to keep the pure faith and to elude the Romans. On the eastern corner of ...

1561. Unconditional Love

Romans 4:1-25

Sermon

Sandra Hefter Herrma

Have you ever stood at the side of a baby's crib, just watching the little chest go up and down, the tiny fingers curl and twitch just a bit, the tiny mouth make sucking movements? At such times, the heart just melts, doesn't it? We cannot help but love this little bundle. What has that baby done to deserve such love, such an upwelling of protective feelings? Nothing, really -- it just was lucky enough to be born your baby! Maybe just an hour ago, you were struggling to get some cereal in her mouth, ...

1562. Flashing Lights

Acts 9:1-19a

Sermon

Robert Beringer

Flashing Lights There is a hunger in human hearts for an experience of God that transforms human life. Years ago, the shrill ring of the telephone awoke me in the night. It was a local doctor asking me to join him in the emergency room where a boy had been taken after a bad drug trip on LSD. The parents were frantic as the boy mumbled incoherently, describing bright flashing lights, beautiful colors, and a "presence" he felt must be God. As I stood there that night, I knew everyone in that room could feel ...

1563. Easter 7

John 17:20-26, Psalm 97:1-12

Bulletin Aid

B. David Hostetter

CALL TO WORSHIP (responsively)Sing praises to God, Sing praises! For God is monarch of all the earth; Sing praises with a psalm. PRAYER OF CONFESSION Holy God, neither through the doors of this house nor through the gates of your eternal city may we enter worthily without your forgiveness and the washing symbolized in baptism. We need the ministry of the Spirit to create in us the desire for the finest things that life offers. Forgive our passions for lesser things unworthy of the princes and princesses of ...

1564. Lent 5

John 11:1-16, Ezekiel 37:1-14, Romans 8:1-17, John 11:17-37, John 11:38-44

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

COMMENTARY Old Testament: Ezekiel 37:12-14 God instructs Ezekiel to preach to the dry bones scattered over the valley floor and as he preaches to them they come together, as flesh and sinew cover them. The dry bones represent the people of Israel, who have been taken captive and live hopeless lives in a strange land. The message is that God will carry his people home and fill their lifeless carcasses with his Spirit. This word of hope helps lift the people from their depressed state. Epistle: Romans 8:8-11 ...

1565. What Really Happened Christmas Day

Sermon

Jerry Eckert

December 26, 1982 Comment: Having focused on doing the story sermonsduring the summer of 1982, all fall I missed the creativityI had felt. When Christmastime came around, the urge hit meagain. Some years earlier, I had done a Christmas story (seethe next story sermon) and so I decided to try it again. What really happened Christmas Day? Who took care ofthe sheep while the shepherds went to town? What happenedto Joseph and Mary and the baby? How did they get into ahouse where the Wisemen were to find them ...

1566. Drop-Everything-Discipleship

Mark 1:14-20

Sermon

John A. Stroman

This text is a statement about a radical discipleship. It needs to be pointed out at the beginning that this reading is the most compact and compressed statement of the gospel expressed anywhere in the New Testament. Leonard Sweet points out, "In these few verses, Jesus' role as an authoritative, compelling, charismatic preacher is defined; the kernel of the gospel message is expressed; and drop-everything-discipleship -- the result of seeing Jesus and hearing his message -- is described." The word " ...

1567. He Abides In Us

John 15:1-17

Sermon

Harry N. Huxhold

John Updike once more revealed his remarkably brilliant powers of description in the novel Brazil. Updike shares his uncanny ability to portray the setting and landscape that surround his characters in order to highlight their nature and their roles. However, Updike's greatest gift is the manner in which he is able to crawl inside the characters to reveal their restless and frantic struggles to discover themselves. The principal characters in Brazil are Tristao and Isabel. Their love for each other ...

1568. From Mourning to Morning

2 Samuel 18:19--19:8

Sermon

Robert Noblett

It was a perfectly lovely day and we had no reason to suspect that it would be anything but a typically happy Saturday a day to run errands, wash the cars and anticipate an evening with friends. But that all changed when, around 1:30 p.m., a phone call came from my wife’s father in Cleveland indicating that her mother had unexpectedly died. A week earlier she had had a heart attack, but a full recuperation had been the prognosis, and so this word came as shock and radical disruption. Suddenly and without ...

1569. Send Me

Isaiah 6:1-13

Sermon

Charles Curley

It was the year of the dying of the king, when Isaiah saw the Lord, high and lifted up in the incense-shrouded heights of the sanctuary. When he heard God say, "Whom shall I send?" he replied simply, "Here am I, send me!" It was the year when the priests robbed the people in the name of God, when Samuel heard the Lord, as he was waking from sleep by the ark in the temple at Shiloh. When he heard God say, "Samuel," he replied simply, "Here I am ... speak, Lord, for your servant is listening." It was the ...

1570. Grace Is What Christ Has Done

Acts 15:1-21

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

We live in a high-gloss, fix-the-outside, cover-up-the-spots world. We believe in making good first impressions, so we are very adept at cover-ups and shining up the outside. We have cover-ups in politics, in the world of high finance, in big business, and in education. Even if you buy peaches or strawberries from a road-side fruit stand you have to watch lest they have put the smaller, maybe rotten, fruit on the bottom, and then entice you to purchace them by covering it with the larger, more beautiful ...

1571. Joseph's Story

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

Erskine White

An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife." (Matthew 1:20) I am the forgotten person in the Christmas story. Oh sure, you all have little statues of me in your creche scenes at home and you set them out every year at Christmas time, but let's face it: people who look at your creche are looking at the Christ Child and His mother - they're not paying much attention to me. Even the shepherds and Wise Men (and a little drummer boy who wasn ...

1572. Nobody - Simon of Cyrene

Sermon

Ron Lavin

My purpose is to ask you to look again at the way of the cross and to examine the anemic thing that has come to be called Christianity. Perhaps we can see these things from a different perspective. I speak to you from my time - nearly 2,000 years ago. Yet what I have to say to you will have a contemporary ring to it for those who have ears to hear. I speak here about the way of the cross. That is always a timely subject. My name as given in the Gospel of Mark is Simon of Cyrene (Mark 15:21). My name as ...

1573. Ash Wednesday

Sermon

William Luoma

The use of contemporary news stories and ashes focuses on our need for a Savior. The Day: Ash WednesdayIt was Ash Wednesday, and a woman sifting in a crowded Catholic church, leaned over to the young man next to her and asked: "What is it that brings so many people out on a cold night, to get a little dirt smeared on their foreheads, and to be reminded that they are sinners and that they are going to die?" He looked at her somewhat oddly and said, "It's habit, I guess." It must be more than habit. Ash ...

1574. On Staying Awake

Luke 12:35-48

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

"Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes ..." Perhaps this sermon need not be preached. The necessity of wakefulness may already be widely recognized as we gather for worship. We arrive tired, we endure preaching that is often supernaturally dull, and the atmosphere of quietness soon dispatches even the most faithful. This is not a modern problem. Our Puritan ancestors gave a high importance to staying awake. During their long services the ushers roamed the congregation with a ...

1575. The Third Sunday in Lent

John 4:1-26

Sermon

Kendall McCabe

Two weeks ago we went with our Lord into the wilderness where he was tempted by the devil. We saw him hungry and alone, exposed to all the power of the demonic world. You may remember we learned, through that experience, Christ understands the struggles that go on in the garden of every human heart. In the lessons that follow during Lent we are helped to see how Christ's facing of temptation equipped him to help others find the joy of knowing they are daughters and sons of God. The woman at the well in ...

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