Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1601 to 1625 of 4681 results

1601. Wind -- Word -- Spirit -- Community

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

Arthur H. Kolsti

... in history. In both accounts we meet a configuration of the words wind, breath, and spirit. How do you describe the creative action of God in our human experience? Can it all be wrapped up in a neat verbal package? Can our human vocabulary bear the weight of a reality that transcends our powers of precise definition? Do we not have to rely on metaphors, especially when dealing with the mystery of God? Wind, breath, spirit: these words are interchangeable in biblical metaphor for the creative action of God ...

1602. Acquaintances Or Friends?

2 Samuel 16:15--17:29

Sermon

Arthur H. Kolsti

... ? Do we nourish this relationship by interacting with his words? Do we sustain it through prayer, silent or spoken? Are we there for him the way he is and always will be for us? "What a friend we have in Jesus, all our cares and griefs to bear." Do we share the griefs that weighed upon him? Do we share the imperatives that sent him into a ministry of compassion and conviction? Each gospel writer in his own way tells us that friendship with God is not a possibility bound by either geography or time ...

1603. Lyrics For The Centuries

2 Samuel 1:1-16

Sermon

Arthur H. Kolsti

... you these lines from an ancient hymn of the church, "Jerusalem, My Happy Home." There David stands with harp in hand As master of the choir; Ten thousand times that one were blest That might this music hear. There Mary sings Magnificat With tune surpassing sweet; And all the sisters bear their part, Sitting about her feet. 1. Heller, Joseph. God Knows. (Alfred A. Knopf: New York. 1984), p. 5.

1604. Invitation To Community

Mark 10:1-12

Sermon

William G. Carter

... not. Would it help to remind us that when Jesus spoke about divorce, he was responding against the backdrop of casual attitudes that men held about marriage? In that time and culture, the husband had all the power. If a wife burned the supper or did not bear enough male children, her husband could merely turn his back to her and say three times, "I divorce you." Then he was free to find a more appealing mate. His ex-wife was left standing alone in humiliation. Her only recourse was to return to her father ...

1605. Something To Do While The World Falls Apart

Mark 13:1-31

Sermon

William G. Carter

... 't know what to say. He didn't know what to do. Suddenly his daughters did an unexpected thing. They grabbed up some of the flowers that they had brought and started pelting him with them -- orange hawkweed, daisies, clover -- and stooping over like a great, pale bear in his baggy seersucker suit, he kept on lunging at them with his finger. Nicolet threw back his head and laughed as Poteat went lumbering off with the little girls after him. When he got as far as Nicolet's car, he turned around for a moment ...

1606. A Blessing Behind Locked Doors

John 20:19-23

Sermon

William G. Carter

... hear a merciful word from your lips. Today you could set somebody free. When the benediction is over, you could climb out of your pew, go to that person, and say, "Peace be with you." It is possible because Jesus Christ is risen. He is here among us, bearing a perfect love that casts out fear. He gives us the power to forgive and to stand with others. So what are we going to do about it? 1. Aidan Kavanagh, Elements of Rite: A Handbook of Liturgical Style (New York: Pueblo Publishing Company, Inc., 1982), pp ...

1607. How To Plant An English Garden

Mark 4:26-29, Mark 4:30-34

Sermon

William G. Carter

... in all of life. There is a gracious governance to claim. Divine care is extended over the entire creation. All heaven waits for the creatures of earth to acknowledge God's generous dominion. The affirmation will not happen, except by the work of God taking root and bearing fruit. All we can do is sow the seed, then watch and wait. Then we give God the room to be God. As Fred Craddock notes, the growth of the kingdom "takes place totally apart from human effort (for the sower sleeps and rises) and from human ...

1608. A Voice Crying In The Wilderness

John 1:1-18, John 1:19-28

Sermon

John A. Stroman

... s message is relevant, truthful, and urgent, it is one that the people do not easily receive. We are not particularly fond of those people who tell us what is wrong with us. The prophet's frankness, boldness, and honesty are more than the people can bear to hear. Both John's attire and his preaching of repentance embody a wilderness motif. Today, we ignore the prophets, considering them as strange people. Strange in the sense that they can't accept the status-quo like the rest of the people. Strange in that ...

1609. A Moment Of Decision

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

John A. Stroman

... , to get away from the cares and burdens of modern life. It is not a modern Noah's ark. Our baptism calls us to the ministry of involvement as it did Jesus. Through our baptism we are called to bring the might and the power of the Gospel to bear on every aspect of human life. We cannot do that if we stand aloof, unrelated to the world. In our baptism, we identify with others as Christ has identified with us. We willingly become the hands of Christ to do the work of love and reconciliation. 1. Howard Thurman ...

1610. Discovering The Unexpected

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

John A. Stroman

... true that the nation of Israel had anticipated the coming of the Messiah for centuries. The whole nation expected him and the fiber of their stories, art, literature, and songs carried this theme for more than 300 years. Because of this expectation they were willing to bear the indignities of exile and Roman occupation. But the birth of Jesus was so unexpected, not as to his coming, but because of the manner of his coming. The Messiah did come, but they did not know it, because the manner and the style of ...

1611. Clean House

John 2:12-25

Sermon

Harry N. Huxhold

... together in this Christ. For us that means that we are not alone. Not only is God present in us, but we are also present in one another to be a strength and a presence for one another. We emphasize that when we go to the home of shut-ins bearing bread and wine that have been consecrated in the Eucharist. For those who have not been present with us, Christ is present with them in the Sacrament, so we also are united with them in this body of Christ. Our Worship in the Spirit of the Lord Later in his ...

1612. The Sponge And Wine

Mark 14:1--15:47

Sermon

Harry N. Huxhold

... struggled with the full weight of knowing that all such scenes were necessary. An Inadequate Drug Jesus was more than an innocent victim of injustice. Jesus was contending with the false judgment of the world, its unbelief, and its lack of love. What Jesus had to bear as he suffered at the miserable hands of religious and civil courts would not have to take place for anyone if only humanity had not succumbed to its own self. What Jesus had proved, when he stood trial before the judges of religious and civil ...

1613. Emulating God's Love

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

Bulletin Aid

Dennis Koch

... Color Green Suggested Hymns O God Of Mercy, God Of Light In Thee Is Gladness Lord Jesus Christ, We Humbly Pray O God, Our Help In Ages Past Oh, Love, How Deep Lord, Keep Us Steadfast In Your Word Epiphany 7 It is too easy for us to bear grudges, Lord. We are too easily offended. Our pride makes us vulnerable. We hurt others and they hurt back. We play our favorites and others become offended. If allowed to run unchecked, situations can quickly get out of control. Lord, you challenge us to love our neighbor ...

1614. A Christ for All Nations

Matthew 2:1-12

Bulletin Aid

Dennis Koch

Gospel Notes Matthew here artfully pieces together elements drawn from specific Old Testament texts (foreigners drawn to a divine light and bringing gold and frankincense from Isaiah 60:1-6; foreigners bearing gifts and paying tribute to a new king from Psalm 72; Bethlehem from Micah 5:2), in order to express the common belief that the salvation under the Messiah would apply to all nations. Later popular imagination went back to those source texts in order to turn the Magi into ...

1615. Facing Failures With the Gospel Proclamation

Matthew 13:1-23

Bulletin Aid

Dennis Koch

... the rain of your Spirit into our hearts, so that the ground of our souls may be softened and your word will take root and grow. Then, Lord, may the word of life take hold of us so that we grow into productive members of your kingdom. Help us to bear fruit thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold. Depth of soil, Lord. That's what we need. Amen.

1616. Proper 17

Matthew 16:21-28

Bulletin Aid

Dennis Koch

Gospel Notes Jesus' warnings here about the cost of discipleship -- including cross-bearing and loss of life -- culminate in the apocalyptic vision of the Son of Man coming in glory with angels to reward (or punish), not humanity in general, but the disciples, and precisely on the basis of their performance. This is a particularly Matthean warning to the Church of his own ...

1617. The One Who Radiates God

Matthew 17:1-13

Bulletin Aid

Dennis Koch

... idea of God's presence being signified by a cloud (albeit a bright one!) has much Old Testament precedent (e.g., Exodus 24:15-18), and here provides a marvelous contrast with the sun-like radiance of Jesus. It is noteworthy that the disciples here cannot bear either the sight or the sound of the awesome "enclouded" God (v. 6) but the God whom Jesus radiates (versus reflects) they may behold directly (v. 8). Liturgical Color White Suggested Hymns All Hail The Power Of Jesus' Name! How Good, Lord, To Be Here ...

1618. Joseph's Pit

Genesis 37:1-11

Sermon

Jerry Eckert

... money the first time. I told them that God must have put it here, because I had recorded their payment. Just after they left, Joseph sent guards out after them to search for the silver cup. They came back and Joseph met them. He was like a bear. It turned my stomach. "How could you be so ungrateful," he cried. "I'll take the guilty one and make him my slave!" The brothers dissolved in frustration and anger. Their youngest brother, Ben, hadn't been released by Jacob, their father, except for dire concern ...

1619. The Wisemen

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Jerry Eckert

... later they were about six miles south of Jerusalem. "Brothers, according to my calculations, the new king will be found just a little west of here," Balthazar asserted. "But Jerusalem is the capital city. What king would be born away from there? It has the families bearing the royal blood. It has all the comforts that kings do not seem to be able to do without. In fact, I'd like some of them myself right now," Caspar teased. "Seriously," he went on, "it seems more plausible to go to Jerusalem. Not having ...

1620. The Poor In Spirit

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

John A. Terry

... Angelou's autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, she describes the effect of a revival service on a gathering of black worshipers. The preacher extolled the virtues of "charity," called on the believers to forgive their enemies, and encouraged them "to bear up under this life of toil and care, because a blessed home awaited them in the far-off bye and bye." The congregation felt consoled. "They basked," Ms. Angelou wrote, "in the righteousness of the poor and the exclusiveness of the downtrodden ...

1621. Those Who Mourn

Isaiah 40:1-31

Sermon

John A. Terry

... and for his own sin, for out of his sorrow he will find the joy of God!" (Barclay) "Happy are those who have a god-like sympathy toward their fellow man. They shall have the assurance that God cares for them." (Guth, The Pulpit 12/54) "Happy are they who bear their share of the world's pain: in the long run, they will know more happiness than those who avoid it." (The Pulpit 12/59) "Blessed are those who mourn, for if they could not mourn, they could not love. Blessed are those who do not try to escape pain ...

1622. The Meek

Psalm 37:1-40

Sermon

John A. Terry

... finding rest in his soul." J. Hamilton "Meekness cannot well be counterfeited. It is not insensitivity, or unmanliness, or whine. It is benevolence imitating Christ in patience, forbearance, and quietness. It feels keenly, but not malignantly; it abounds in good will, and bears all things." W.S. Plumber We can become over-familiar with the words of the beatitudes -- the meek shall inherit the earth -- and not notice how startling this reward is. The meek get it all. They will inherit the whole earth. They ...

1623. Signs of the End of the Age

Mark 13:1-31, Mark 13:32-37

Sermon Aid

Richard A. Jensen

... reject the coming reign of God? The Parable of the Sower (Mark 4:1-34) says NO! There are a variety of kinds of hearers of the good news. There are "path" hearers and "rocky ground" hearers and "thorn" hearers, to be sure, but there are also those who will bear fruit thirty, sixty and a hundredfold. The kingdom of God, after all, is like a seed scattered on the ground that grows even if we don't know how it grows (4:26-29). The kingdom of God is like a grain of mustard seed that starts out very small ...

1624. The Temptation of Christ

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon Aid

Richard A. Jensen

... the hardened soil of our hearts repents and comes to faith. "I am a generous sower," Jesus says. "I will sow and sow and sow until my seed cracks open the soil of your heart. I will sow until the soil of your heart bears fruit, thirtyfold, sixtyfold and hundredfold." Still another preaching possibility would be to follow up Kingsbury's point that preaching, calling disciples, teaching and healing and exorcism are the aspects of Jesus' ministry as he brings near the kingdom. Stories of Jesus engaged in each ...

1625. Peter's Confession, Christ's Prediction

Mark 8:27-30

Sermon Aid

Richard A. Jensen

... with the disciples' response: they choose the glory road. The structure for this sermon might be as follows: tell the entire text as a story. Make it clear in the telling that you want to highlight Jesus' call to self-denial and cross-bearing. Contrast Peter's confidence in his confession and Jesus' rebuke. Secondly, tell the stories of each "passion/resurrection" prediction along with the disciples' responses of glory thinking. Let Peter's response to Jesus' self-revelation be his wish to build booths on ...

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