Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1576 to 1600 of 4986 results

1576. Please Pass the Resurrection Biscuits

Luke 24:35-48

Sermon

King Duncan

... ’s love, that she shares her own life with us.” As the weeks stretched into months, the twins noticed how much each was changing. “What does it mean?” asked the one. “It means that our stay in this world is drawing to an end,” said the other. “But I don’t want to go,” said the one. “I want to stay here always.” “We have no choice,” said the other. “But maybe there is life after birth!” “But how can there be?” responded the one. “We will shed our life cord, and how is life ...

1577. The Mighty Wind of God

Acts 2:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... Louis on business. This was years ago when Christians still kept Sunday as a very special day. For this man, “keeping the Sabbath” meant not riding the trains on Sunday. So, after he finished up his business late on a Saturday night, he had to stay over in St. Louis until the following Monday morning. On Sunday morning, he left the hotel looking for a place to worship. The streets were quite deserted, but finally he saw a policeman and asked him for directions to the nearest church. The stranger thanked ...

1578. Why Am I Afraid?

Romans 8:14-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... anyone tried to break in, they would at least have a little difficulty getting through. She also placed metal objects against the windows so they would clatter to the floor if anyone tried to open them. Can anybody here relate to this? That night she stayed awake later than usual and spent extra time praying. She even asked God to send a special angel to protect her. Finally, sometime around 2:30 in the morning, weariness overtook her anxieties, and she fell asleep. About an hour later she was awakened by ...

1579. His Name Is John

Luke 1:57-66, 80

Sermon

King Duncan

... beautiful. All they had was simple faith. And that’s what’s important. Happy families don’t just happen. They are part of a package. It has to do with a commitment to God and to one another. The family that prays together generally does stay together--as trite as that may sound. Faith was important to Elizabeth and Zechariah. They trusted God and they taught their son to trust God. Notice, however, their faith did not protect them from pain. The story does not have a happy ending. Probably Elizabeth ...

1580. Holy Happiness

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

... ways of the world, we will quickly shrivel up and die. But rooted in the moist promises of God, we — in the words of the prophet — “shall not fear when the heat comes,” and “in the year of the drought, we will not be anxious” and “our leaves will stay green and our branches will bear fruit.” I think Jesus is saying two things to us today. First of all, he is saying that when we live out of vulnerability and need — out of our emptiness and not out of our fullness — it is then that we can ...

1581. In Awe of Christ

Luke 9:28-36

Sermon

King Duncan

... three shelters--one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” Luke tells us Peter “did not know what he was saying.” The Master was growing accustomed to that with Simon Peter. Peter wanted to stay on the mountain with his teacher and these two iconic figures. You can’t blame him for that. All of us want to stay on the mountain. And like Peter we want to build monuments to memorialize high sacred moments. Peter said to him, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters--one ...

1582. From Deep Unto Deep

Luke 22:14--23:56

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

... of Gethsemane is partway up the steep hill. Jesus’ experience in the quiet garden of prayer was marked by anguish. Those trusted apostles had the attention spans of small children. They lost interest and fell asleep. How disappointed Jesus was in them. “Could you not even stay awake with me?” The master knew where this night was headed and he was not looking forward to it. He prayed, “Lord, let this cup pass from me.” That’s a polite way to say, “God, I don’t want to do this. Judas Iscariot ...

1583. Four Lessons from Geese

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

... to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front. (If we have as much sense as a goose, we will stay in formation with those who are headed the same way we are going.) When the lead goose gets tired, he rotates back in the ... gees sick, or is wounded by a shot and falls out, two geese fall out of formation and follow him down to help and protect him. They stay with him until he is either able to fly, or until he is dead, and then they launch out on their own or with another formation to ...

1584. The Critical Spirit

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

... was about to take a trip to Rome. The barber, who came from Italy, said, "Rome is a terribly overrated city. What airline are you taking and what hotel are you staying at?" When the salesman told him, the barber criticized the airline for being undependable and the hotel for having horrible service. He told him "You'd be better off to stay home." But the salesman insisted: “Tm expecting to close a big deal, and then I' m going to see the pope." The barber shook his head and said, "You'll be disappointed ...

1585. The Irreplaceable You

Humor Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

... , and three very important dates this afternoon, and then the Building Committee at church this evening. There's no way I can be sick today doctor." “I’m sorry," says his doctor friend, "but Dick, I don't know anyone who’s indispensable, and I suggest you stay in bed." But at that very moment, as the story goes, Dick's high fever sent him into a trance. And there in that trance, he saw himself looking in on heaven. The angels were gathering around God and His holy throne. But everything seemed to be ...

1586. Next Man Up

John 17:20-26

Sermon

King Duncan

... in Jesus Christ? You say, I don’t know any calling I am qualified for. Here’s what you need to understand: God does not call the qualified; He qualifies the called. In Jesus’ final prayer, he says in effect to God, “If the believers just stay in relationship with me like I stay in relationship with You, You will enable them to do my work.” We don’t need to rely on our own talents, strength or intellect to do God’s will. It is God’s power working in us that allows us to have an impact on ...

1587. The Girl in the Front Row

Illustration

Fred Craddock

... the children to homes and toys, to which they rushed at the very moment of the tolling of the bell. This is how it was every day, with every child except one. She came early to help the teacher prepare the room and materials for the day. She stayed late to help the teacher clean the board, dust erasers, and put away materials. And during the day she sat close to the teacher, all eyes and ears for the lessons being taught. One day when noise and inattention were worse than usual, the teacher called the class ...

1588. Playing It Safe

Luke 8:26-39

Sermon

Robert C. Cochran

... tell everyone there that they are being duped! Joining the church and refusing to go out and spread the gospel is like joining the Y and staying home. All the health benefits go to those who get off the couch and get in the game. I was thinking about cardinals the other ... to go out and tell the world what God has done for us. Jesus turned down the man’s request that he be allowed to stay with his master and then redirected him to the place where he could do the most good. The man who could not live in the ...

1589. Are You a Super-Fan?

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... . And Zacchaeus. He’s searching for every sinner you can possibly imagine. Look at what Jesus says to Zacchaeus in verses 5 and 10 in this passage. In verse five, Jesus looks up into the tree and says, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” Out of all the people in the crowd that day, Zacchaeus was a flagrant sinner and an outcast in the Jewish community, and he’s the very person the Messiah, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, MUST hang out with. Why is that ...

1590. Surprised by Joy

Luke 2:8-14

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

... education or our own retirement. Even when the market goes up, no one actually believes that the good news will last, that it will stay up for more than a few days. People no longer celebrate when the price of oil comes down, just that it isn’t going ... spirit and the soul. It reaches deep into the very core of our being, the very center of who we are, but it doesn’t stay there. It cooks and simmers there and, occasionally, it bubbles up and it overflows into the world. We can’t make it overflow. We can ...

1591. Know Jesus--No Peace

Luke 12:49-56

Sermon

George Reed

... t matter to Jesus if the oppression was political, financial, or religious and often it was all three rolled into one. He could have spent his life wandering the hills of Galilee teaching and healing. He could have stayed away from the temple authorities and the Roman occupation forces. Or he even could have stayed with Mary and Joseph taking care of daily business. But that was not what he chose to do. Against all advice of family and friends, he turned his face to Jerusalem and went to face the oppressors ...

1592. The King Will Never Leave

Illustration

Dr. Mickey Anders

... raids. Buckingham Palace, the home of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth was a prime target and was hit at least once. Most families who could afford to leave the city left or at least sent their children away. King George VI and Queen Elizabeth chose to stay. The Queen said, ‘The girls will never leave without me, I will never leave without the King, and the King will never leave.’ This example of the king gave enormous encouragement to the working people of London, those who had no choice but to ...

1593. Healing

Luke 17:11-19

Sermon

Molly F. James

... my favorite Anglican thinkers, C.S. Lewis, got very angry at God when his wife died. It is okay to be angry at God — especially when we have experienced an outcome far different than what we were hoping for. What is not helpful, though, is to stay angry at God. Because staying angry at God only serves to deepen our own suffering, and it is a sign that we are too narrow in our focus. Yes, there are stories like today’s scriptures of miraculous healing that are rarely realized in our own lives. But note I ...

1594. Bless the World

Luke 6:20-31

Sermon

Molly F. James

... am sure we all know people who have had moments of choosing loss, choosing pain. We have all had those times when we have preferred to stay in our own misery and discomfort, because at least they are familiar and may make us feel more in control. We have had those times ... . Sometimes life is really hard. It is okay to be angry and it is okay to be sad. The issue is whether or not we stay in that place — whether we choose to let our anger and our pain get the best of us. The issue is whether we choose to ...

1595. Same Ol’, Same Ol’

Matthew 2:13-18

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

... left, they went by another route and it was only a matter of time before Herod caught wind of what had happened. So the angel visited Joseph told him to be afraid and then gave Joseph instructions for packing and fleeing in the night to Egypt where they would stay for a few months until Herod died. Herod, upon discovering that he had been tricked by the Magi, flew into a paranoid rage and ordered the deaths of every male child under two years of age in the town of Bethlehem, an act that has been depicted in ...

1596. Friday

John 18:1-11

Sermon

David & Marian Plant

... ... gone forever. We do incredible injustice to Jesus in our jump to Easter Sunday while Jesus’ body is still warm in the tomb. [1] Listen closely, and you will hear echoes of the night before in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus was questioning the disciples, “Can you not stay awake? Can you not wait for just an hour?” Jesus’ words rebuke us now but for a different context. “Can you not wait to celebrate? Can you not wait and grieve for me as you would one of your own? As mine grieved for me at my ...

1597. Lost in the Wonder of God

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... ’ll be there . . . Lord willing, Jesus tarrying, creek (crik) not rising, Moses not prohibiting . . . “ I don’t know the last time I used that phrase, rarely if ever do I eat pinto beans and stewed tomatoes now. But you know, there is a part of mountain culture that stays with me wherever in the world I live or go. I will always be a “mountain boy” in my heart. [You can tell your own story here about how place matters to your soul.] Love for mountain culture is not for the weak of body or soul: be ...

1598. Godstruck

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... ’ll find thousands more very soon. Dandelions can’t be killed off very easily. If you try to cut one out at the root, it will simply multiply and make more dandelions. So much for persecution. If you so much as miss a fraction of the plant and it stays in the ground, another will grow immediately. There’s a joke that says that “cutting down a dandelion” is a way of helping it to multiply. That’s the way God’s kingdom works when the breath of the Holy Spirit comes upon YOU. In our story today ...

1599. The Surrogate

Matthew 1:1-17

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... Naomi with her two daughters in law. With no male to provide for them, the women are essentially homeless. Naomi therefore make the decision to travel back to Judah, where she has relatives. She tells Orpah and Ruth, they should stay there in Moab with their own families, and after a while, Orpah stays. But Ruth, in one of the most endearing lines in Hebrew history, tells Naomi, she will never leave her side. “Your people are my people; and your God is my God,” she says. Ruth’s story is yet another ...

1600. By the Sea

Matthew 4:18-22, John 1:35-42, John 1:43-51

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi,” “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon ...

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