Sermon and Worship Resources

Synonyms: Levi, disciple, evangelist, tax collector, the 12, the twelve, apostle, sermon on the mount, jewish audience, beatitudes, lord's prayer, great commission, parables, olivet discourse, mount of olives, olivet, synoptic

Showing 1576 to 1600 of 2815 results

1576. The Proof Is In The Fruit

Luke 6:39-49

Sermon

James Garrett

... 49, Jesus underscores the inseparable union of what one is and what one does. Here is an example of the humor of Jesus. If you have any doubts that God has a sense of humor, look in the mirror! It must have been with a smile that Jesus gave the parable of a person with a log in his eye trying to extract a speck of dust from someone else’s eye. We have no right to criticize unless we ourselves are free of faults. That means we have no right to criticize… “There is so much bad in the rest ...

1577. Safe With The Shepherd

John 10:22-42

Sermon

John M. Braaten

... to fight the gladiators, fed to the lions? Theirs were frightful issues of life and death. Let's look at how John reached out to minister to the temptations and insecurities of the people of his day by telling a story about Jesus. He relates the Lord's parable of the Good Shepherd. "Jesus," says John, "is the Good Shepherd." He is the trustworthy one who is willing to lay down his life for his sheep-like people. Trust Jesus for he will shepherd you safely through life. And how do you know you are on the ...

1578. Expectations of Hope

John 12:20-36

Eulogy

Daniel M. Shutters

... when it was first found that Christ had within himself the power to heal, to alleviate suffering, to raise Lazarus from the dead. There must have been high hopes for the people who were around him then. Just to listen to the teachings of Christ - the parables and sermons - must have given encouragement to many in those days. But the thirty-three year progress of life also contained seeds of an adverse nature. There was bad news as well as good news, and the bad came to outshadow the good. With our hindsight ...

1579. Marked By The Cross

Romans 6:2-4

Sermon

George Bass

... the bulb is burned out. If I unscrew it a bit and then screw it back into the socket, it often burns brightly once again but, before long, it may go out entirely. That lamp, which I suspect that I don’t fix because it is something of a parable of the Christian life, reminds me that my “illuminated cross” has a tendency to flicker and go out, and that it takes the word and the Holy Spirit to keep it burning brightly through my life and witness in the world. Cross-marked people are expected to live ...

1580. Are Greatness and Christianity Compatible?

Mark 9:33-37

Sermon

Donald Macleod

... and, instead of great imaginative novels, we are given only the seamy side of life. Jesus "took a child and put him in the midst of them." This was his way of showing men and women there was another dimension to life than they had ever recognized. Parables, miracles, teaching made them see that life was not merely a-b-c, that there was a world of the unseen impinging upon their ordinary commonplace living and, if they opened their hearts to it, they would see, as James S. Stewart said, "wonder upon wonder ...

1581. It's Performance That Counts

Matthew 7:15-23, Matthew 7:24-29

Sermon

Larry Goodpaster

... God,’ and hate their brothers or sisters are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen (1 John 4:19-20).” One of the most familiar expressions of such a love is found in the parable Jesus told of a man who met with violence on his way from business in Jerusalem to his home in the suburb of Jericho. Beaten, robbed, and left by the side of the road for dead, the man was an instant outcast to all who walked that road. No one ...

1582. Enter God

Mark 9:33-37

Sermon

Thomas Peterson

When Jesus put the child on his knee, he acted out a parable. “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me.” At first this incident appears simple, easy to understand. Don’t we all know how to receive a little child? Assuming we know all about it, we slide over “in my name” and “receives me.” We assume we know how ...

1583. The Needle’s Eye

Mark 9:42-50

Sermon

Thomas Peterson

... exact cataloguing of experience. He calls us to be alive, causing life to blossom wherever we may be. These daily qualities, though highly prized by Jesus and readily desirable by us all, seem hard to acquire. How do we get them? Let’s look closely at the parable of losing the hand, foot, or eye. Perhaps it contains the key to entering the fellowship of Jesus. Suppose we are tempted to steal. We cut off a hand to prevent us from stealing. Does that stop our thievery? Of course not! Thieving is in the soul ...

1584. An Invitation

Matthew 22:1-14

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

... for children on Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m." This invitation is for all of the children who are here. I wish there were more so that we could fill the church with children to worship God. Let me tell you why I would like this.Jesus told a parable or a story one day about a king who had a big party for his son who was getting married. He invited all of his friends and the friends of his son. But on the day of the party, no one that he invited could come. They all had excuses ...

1585. We Must Be Blind!

John 9:35-41

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... not to be too anxious about the future? How many times? Yet, we keep on worrying about tomorrow. We pile up more and more - more money, more things. We do not even seem to have enough. We need more - for security. It is as if we had never heard Jesus' parable. How about the good news? How about the good news that, because of Jesus Christ, God has forgiven us, that he loves us just the way we are - that we do not have to earn his love? That means that we are lovable. We cannot be all bad. What other ...

1586. The Road To The Cross

Matthew 27:11-26

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... . But the chief priests and the scribes were indignant about it (Matthew 21:12-15.) Next came other verbal confrontations with the religious establishment. After a time Jesus returned to the temple to teach, and according to Matthew, at least one parable Jesus taught was perceived by the religious establishment as being told at their expense. It was then that they resolved to arrest Jesus, and they only refrained at that time for fear of inciting Jesus' supporters (especially Matthew 21:45-46.) Finally ...

1587. Mourning Turned To Joy

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... stone tablets (Jeremiah 31:31-34). This predicted time of hope, joy and fulfillment was experienced by the people of God in about 517 B.C. as they returned to Jerusalem from Babylonian captivity and rebuilt the temple. In this historical movement back home we have a parable of the movement from sad to glad in our lives. Why So Sad? Why were the Israelites so sad? How are we like them in this sadness? Some of the mourning in Babylon came because of sin and the refusal to acknowledge that sin against God and ...

1588. How To Hear A Sermon

Micah 1:1-7

Sermon

Richard Hasler

... go to sleep listening to their own sermons, how much more might we be susceptible to dozing off when the words are not even our own? Of course, the aim of the sermon is not to put us to sleep, but rather to goad us to action. Jesus’ parable about the sower is a story of how people respond to the Word of God. The seed distributed by the sower is symbolic of the Word. The different kinds of soils represent different human responses to hearing the Word. The best response, according to our Lord, is the soil ...

1589. The Baby Who Changes Everything

Isaiah 7:1-25

Sermon

Robert Beringer

... 've got vines and flowers round their cabins, and they wash themselves twice a day ... and they sure worship an Injun baby." A baby - a baby who changed life! Bret Harte's memorable short story was never intended to be a Christmas story, but it nonetheless is a parable that can help us understand God's dealing with us in Jesus Christ. It has been said that when a wrong wants righting, or a truth wants presenting, or a continent wants opening, God sends a baby into the world to do it. People may think that ...

1590. What Christmas Is About

Isaiah 9:1-7

Sermon

Robert Beringer

... taken from the manger, no cow or donkey or sheep or goat would eat the hay left there where he had been cradled. And when the stable boy wondered why, he discovered that the wisps of hay had turned to gold. It is only a legend, but this much is parable enough to tell us that where Christ enters in - in those hearts where he finds room to be born - everything changes, and the peace with God and with one another we so need becomes God's gift to us. By the grace of God, it can happen to us.

1591. What Is God Like?

Isaiah 63:7--64:12

Sermon

Robert Beringer

... has suffered physical torture, rejection, the abandonment of friends, betrayal, and even death itself? This is the God about whom Isaiah speaks whom you and I are privileged to know in the person of Jesus Christ. Years ago I remember someone telling a modern parable of the Last Judgment. All the people on earth were gathered before Almighty God on a great plain, but they were an angry crowd. They mumbled and murmured about what right God had to judge their lives. There were black slaves who questioned how ...

1592. Forgiving the Bully

Matthew 5:38-42, Matthew 5:43-48

Sermon

John Jamison

I like the first part of this story about Jesus. All those blessings, and that neat parable about the salt of the earth, and the light of the world. It makes me feel good inside. But now it gets difficult. Let me put this in terms that I can understand. The first time I ever remember hating anyone was in the third grade. The kid's name ...

1593. Love Without Demand

Ruth 1:1-22

Sermon

Sims Robert

... person are the most difficult experiences in life. Once again it appeared that love was able to promise far more than it could produce. When love fails we withdraw, play it safe and take what is left of our hopes and dreams and, like the man in the parable, bury our talents in the ground. Of course, when we bury what is left of our love we lose it. Many people today feel that they have lost everything and that life is empty. They hear popular songs suggesting that what the world needs now is “love, sweet ...

1594. To Be Sure

Luke 17:11-19

Sermon

Theodore F. Schneider

... lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices and said, 'Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. (Luke 17:12-13)." To be sure! Though we are faithless, God remains faithful, even patient and hopeful, for he cannot deny himself. He is the waiting father in the parable misnamed for the prodigal son.8 The gifts God gives us are real. They become fully ours to use in our freedom. That is for us both the good news and the bad. It is good news because of God's gracious faithfulness. It becomes bad news when ...

1595. On The Night He Was Betrayed

Mark 14:12-26

Sermon

Erskine White

... That is why all of us must ask the question tonight: "Is it I, Lord; is it I?" Jesus also took time on this Maundy Thursday night to wash His disciples' feet - a ritual which many churches are also performing tonight. Jesus gave His disciples a vivid reminder, a living parable for the servant life He was calling them to. Maundy Thursday is a good time to remember that we get it all wrong if we come to faith or come to the church asking what we can get out of it. The better question is: what can we give? By ...

1596. Checking The Vital Signs

Luke 24:36-49

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

... we love them very dearly and then are terribly stingy with them, they know that something is wrong and we really aren’t being truthful. Some could say that this vital sign should never be mentioned in the pulpit. Yet, two-thirds of our Lord’s parables have dealt with this very subject. I’m not just making a plea for your money today; I’m making a plea for Christianity to be practiced. For the vital sign of response to be real in this congregation, Christianity is not just alive in our checkbooks ...

1597. Deaths, Our Teacher

Psalm 90:1-17

Eulogy

Allen Puffenberger

... our hands on more and more and by taking all kinds of measures to preserve and to protect what we gain. We may succeed for a while in keeping our hoard from moths, rust and thieves. We may reach the point where we declare, with the rich man in Jesus' parable in Luke 12, "I have ample goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry." But Jesus warns that we cannot be separated from what we have: "Fool! This night your soul is required of you; and the things you have prepared, whose will ...

1598. For a Thirty-three-year-old Cancer Victim

Matthew 13:24-30

Eulogy

Harold Warlick

... could not quite understand how indiscriminately disease and evil would appear on this planet. They saw good people dying young from disease. They witnessed bad people living to a ripe old age. So Jesus gathered those people around him and he told them a parable. The kingdom of heaven is like a man who plants good seed in a field. Here is this body, this person, who marries a wonderful girl, has two fine children and loves physical activity. He plays basketball at Andrews; he loves stoc_esermonskcar racing ...

1599. Bartolome’ de Las Casas Protector Of The Indians

Drama

Thomas A. Renquist

... who supported the right of Spaniards to enslave the Indians. Sepulveda appealed to Aristotle’s doctrine of natural slavery, that one part of humanity is designated by nature to be slaves for the other part. He also quoted scriptures, especially Jesus’ Parable of the Great Banquet where the banquet host “compelled the people to come in,” maintaining that the Spanish crown should force the Indians to become Christians. Las Casas spent five days responding to Sepulveda’s arguments. Among other things ...

1600. Birthright Blues

Genesis 25:19-34

Sermon

Justin Tull

... birthright? Do you feel gypped? Do you resent the body you received, your face, your intelligence, your lack of intelligence, your background, your inheritance, your lack of inheritance? Jesus evidently was aware of the “birthright blues” syndrome. He even dedicated an entire parable to speak to it. You do remember the story about the talents, don’t you? The master called his servants together and to one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one. When he returned to receive back the ...

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