Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1601 to 1625 of 4490 results

1601. At Mount Sinai

Exodus 19:1-25

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

Meeting God at Sinai: Exodus 19 is the theological and literary pivot of Exodus. Nowhere do we find a fuller revelation of God in relation to the people. In the preceding chapters Israel had been “let go” from serving the pharaoh so that they might serve/worship the Lord. Here they serve/worship at the place of Moses’ original calling and receive their own call to be God’s “kingdom of priests” to the world (chs. 25–31; 35–40). The larger literary structure of Exodus 19–24 comprises a chiasm (see below) and ...

1602. Rebirth

John 3:14-21

Sermon

John Jamison

The city of Jerusalem was packed with strangers during the Passover feast, so you could walk a long distance and never see anyone you recognized. He was counting on that, as he quickly moved along the streets with his head held low and his face covered. He moved from alleyway to alleyway, looking carefully in all directions before stepping into the openness of a street, making sure there was not someone who might recognize him. But while he tried to remain hidden, he had to be careful to not appear too ...

1603. A Taxing Encounter

Matthew 9:9-13, Mark 2:13-17, Luke 5:27-32

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. (1 John 4:8) Prop: Envelope…junk mail marked IMPORTANT You know those envelopes you get in the mail sometimes marked IMPORTANT! Here is one of them. You scramble to open it, thinking it’s a check or some important document that you need . . . only to find that it’s an ad to buy life insurance or something you don’t need! Yikes! Fooled again. Living in our culture is a lot like that. Signs are everywhere telling you that THIS message is IMPORTANT! ...

1604. Soul Food

Luke 9:10-17, Matthew 14:13-21, Mark 6:30-44, John 6:1-15

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“I am the Bread of Life.” (John 6:35) Prop: a puppy or kitten; recipe for barley flat bread I have with me a little friend today [allow for the oohs and aahs]. Who would like to come and pet him? I know last Sunday was World Animal Sunday. But every Sunday should be World Animal Sunday, our pets are such an important part of our families. [No rushing, give people time … especially children to come up front or walk about the congregation with him….allowing people to see him and touch him. Consider letting ...

1605. God Gives the Pharisees the Finger!

John 7:25-44, John 7:45--8:11

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Prop (Animation): Scale or coins (three types) and blackboard with the words: mene, mene, tekel, upharsin; clay pot Judging. It’s something we do almost without thinking. Judging. And justifying. And we’re so GOOD at it! We love to sit on our holy thrones (or in the case of football, cause it’s the season now –lounge in our armchairs) and cast judgments upon those people who are on tv, in the spotlight, on trial, or in any way aren’t in our circle of friends. Many of us judge our friends too! All you have ...

1606. The Temptation Of His Life

Matthew 4:1-11

Sermon

Thomas A. Pilgrim

Robert Penn Warren wrote a novel called All The King's Men. It was the story of a governor of Louisiana and his rise to power. His name was Willie Stark. At the end of his story he is shot down dead.1 Here was a man who gained a kingdom and lost all he ever had. Two thousand years earlier a man from Galilee said, "What would it profit a man if he gained the whole world and lost his soul?" Perhaps when He made that statement He was not only addressing it to those who heard Him, but also was looking back to ...

1607. Why Not Walk On What Jesus Walked On When He Walked On Water

Matthew 14:22-36

Sermon

Roger G. Talbott

I wish Matthew, Mark and John had consulted me before they wrote their gospels. If they had only sent me their rough drafts, I could have put a big red "X" through this story about Jesus walking on the water. (Luke apparently had a good editor. He didn't include this story.) I would have written a note in the margin stating that I think it would be best not to include this story because it would cause two kinds of reactions in the twentieth century: some people would laugh at it, and others would take it ...

1608. Proper 27

Psalm 17:1-15, Psalm 9:1-20, 2 Thessalonians 3:1-5, 2 Thessalonians 2:13-17, Zechariah 7:1-14, 1 Chronicles 29:10-20, Job 19:1-29, Luke 20:27-40

Sermon Aid

George Bass

THEOLOGICAL CLUE The so-called "new" church year and lectionary make a significant contribution to liturgical and theological order in the last three Sundays of the year. Those churches, which employed lectionaries before the ORDO was developed, were not in agreement about the necessity for providing separate propers for these last three Sundays. The Roman Catholic Church had propers for 24 Sundays after Pentecost. In the years when there were 26, 27, or 28 Sundays after Pentecost, the propers for the ...

1609. The Significance Of An Insignificant Man

Luke 23:26-43

Sermon

Erskine White

They seized one Simon of Cyrene ... and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus. (Luke 23:26) We might call Simon of Cyrene a rather insignificant man in the larger sweep and sway of scripture. He's not a major figure; in fact, the Bible mentions him just once, almost in passing: "They seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus." It is worth noting that Simon was an African, from the city of Cyrene in what is now northern ...

1610. Time and Stewardship

Sermon

Larry Powell

Religious authorities in Jesus' day pressed the matter of Sabbath observance to the extent of ridiculous extreme. In addition to those regulations which had long been entrenched in tradition, others were continually being produced by ambitious rabbis. The list of prohibitions was exhaustive. Ploughing and reaping were disallowed on the Sabbath (Exodus 34:21), as was pressing wines and canning goods (Nehemiah 13:15), bearing burdens (Jeremiah 27:21), carrying on trade (Amos 16:26), gathering wood (Numbers ...

1611. Natural Or Supernatural?

Luke 9:28-36

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

Text: Luke 9:29-31 - And as he was praying, the appearance of his countenance was altered, and his raiment became dazzling white. And behold, two men talked with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was to accomplish at Jerasalem. I am sure that there is no one within the sound of my voice who was not vitally aware that a few weeks ago we celebrated Super Sunday. For at least three weeks before that event, every news media, every form of mass communication, had ...

1612. Seeking What Matters

Matthew 13:44-46

Sermon

"... in his joy ... he sells all ..." - Matthew 13:44 Have you ever thought of it? The process of our living involves a lot of trade-off and barter. We are forever giving up some things in order that we might have others; we are perpetually sacrificing this so we may have that. We do this in our marriages; we do this in our occupational choices; we do this in the matter of having children; we do it at almost every juncture of the journey we make. In most of our choices we are actually giving up certain ...

1613. Sunrise Surprise

Drama

Cast (in order of appearance) NARRATOR MARY MAGDALENE JOHN PETER JESUS Production Note At the beginning, and then at the close, of "Sunrise Surprise," it is suggested that the scene be changed by "revolving the stage." This option is possible in a stage or theatre setting where such mechanics can be attended to. For those planning to present the drama in a chancel setting, the stage setting could be changed by manually moving the props; by the use of lighting; or by suggestion on the part of the actors. ...

1614. A Daughter of Jacob

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

Richard Hoefler

This miracle is not simply the story of a mother and her demon-possessed child; it is really an international incident which was to affect the future shape of Christendom. What happened to the Canaanite woman that day affects us today in a most direct and vital way. Like most international incidents it happened at the border between two adversaries. Jesus had traveled to the extreme north end of the Jordan Valley. He was standing at the border line between Syria and Galilee. The inhabitants of Syria were ...

1615. Luther of Wittenberg

Drama

Michael L. Sherer

"All I want is to know Christ and to experience the power of his resurrection, to share in his sufferings and become like him in his death ..." Philippians 3:8-11 Participants enter and take their places in the chancel. As they come forward, the congregation sings the hymn, "In the Hour of Trial." When the hymn is completed, the drama begins. LECTOR: I reckon everything as complete loss for the sake of what is so much more valuable, the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have thrown ...

1616. You Have Outwitted Me

Hosea 11:1-9

Sermon

Mark Trotter

The title of this sermon, "You Have Outwitted Me," comes from the writings of Brother Lawrence. I am indebted to John Imel, who discovered the quote, shared it at a staff devotion some years ago. Brother Lawrence entered a monastic order thinking that he was giving up the happiness of this world to become a monk. He discovered instead a deeper happiness in a monastic life than he had ever imagined. He said, "God, you have outwitted me." That's a wonderful phrase, and a testimony to what we call the ...

1617. Focus on the Finish

Hebrews 12:1-2

Sermon

James Merritt

It was Mexico City 1968. John Steven Akhwari of Tanzania had started the Olympic marathon with all the other runners hours before, but he finished it alone. When he finally arrived at the stadium there were only a few spectators remaining in the stands. The winner of the marathon had crossed the finish line over an hour earlier. It was getting dark; his right leg was bandaged and heavily bleeding. He was obviously in great pain, but he crossed the finish line suffering from fatigue, leg cramps, dehydration ...

1618. One Step at a Time

Nehemiah 2:1-10

Sermon

James Merritt

Two hundred thousand miles from home. You can't pull over to a gas station. You can't take your spaceship into the garage, but you now know that you have two hours to keep your space ship from becoming a permanent tomb floating in outer space. Jim Lovell, John Swigert, and Fred Haise realized they were facing an elephant of a problem, but they kept their wits about them enough to realize that the way to solve their problem was the same way you eat an elephant - one bite at a time. Has it ever occurred to ...

1619. What Do I Do When I Can't Get Started?

Proverbs 6:6-11

Sermon

James Merritt

Today, I am going to deal with a problem that I freely admit that I have and I am absolutely convinced everyone has this problem to one degree or another. I am going to be honest with you. Sometimes, I have a problem with procrastination and starting tomorrow I am going to do something about it! The truth of the matter is everybody in this room has at least one thing that you haven't yet done in your life and the only reason you haven't done it is simply because you've procrastinated. I heard about two ...

1620. Cheering from the Stands

Hebrews 12:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

Dr. Thomas Lane Butts tells about a World Series baseball game that took place on October 13, 1963, between the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Sandy Koufax was pitching for the Dodgers before a record crowd of 69,000 in Yankee Stadium. It was a crucial game, and Koufax was one strike-out short of breaking the record of 14 strike-outs in a World Series game. Koufax later said it was not only a challenge but an inspiration to know that among the spectators that day was former Dodger pitcher ...

1621. Ignite: Fire Extinguishers

Acts 15:1-21

Sermon

James Merritt

Five words and regardless of where you are on the political spectrum you would agree they became one of the most famous political slogans of any political candidate in the last 50 years, “Change We Can Believe In.” Regardless of what you think about the slogan or even the man, one thing we all can agree on is that change is difficult. The older you get the harder change is. There are a lot of people I know who are more comfortable with putting up with old problems than they are finding new solutions. They ...

1622. Apostles of Christ

1 Corinthians 4:1-21

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

God as the Only Real Judge The thought and logic of this passage are clear, although in Greek much of Paul’s language is awkward. Any translation struggles to render Paul’s statements in a sensible and reliable way. These verses begin by informing the Corinthians how they are to regard Paul, Apollos, Cephas, and all other early Christian workers. They are merely servants and stewards who are called to serve Christ as agents of the proclamation of the mysteries of God’s grace. A single quality must ...

1623. Proper 14

Ephesians 4:17--5:21, 2 Samuel 18:1-18, John 6:25-59

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

Theme: Jesus is the Bread from heaven that truly satisfies us. COMMENTARY Old Testament: 2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33 David's son, Absalom, rebels against his father to gain the crown for himself. David splits his army into three parts and surprises Absalom's troops near a wooded area. The rebellious army is put into panic and Absalom flees into the woods on his donkey where his hair is caught in the thicket of a tree. He is left hanging there but is still alive. David had charged his men prior to battle not ...

1624. Palms By Day And Plots By Night

Sermon

Erskine White

Old Testament Text: Isaiah 50:4-9aNew Testament Text: John 12:9-19 Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who is my adversary? Let him come near to me." (Isaiah 50:8) I am so glad Jesus lived long enough in the flesh to see Palm Sunday. He deserved it; you might even say He needed it. Everyone needs a day like the day Jesus had in Jerusalem.After spending our lives in thankless toil and turmoil, we all need at least one day of recognition and praise. It might come to you as a mother or father ...

1625. The Friend At Midnight

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

Brett Blair

Paul Harvey told about a 3-year-old boy who went to the grocery store with his mother. Before they entered she had certain instructions for the little tike: "Now you’re not going to get any chocolate chip cookies, so don’t even ask." She put him in the child's seat and off they went up and down the aisles. He was doing just fine until they came to the cookie section. Seeing the chocolate chip cookies he said, “Mom, can I have some chocolate chip cookies?” She said, “I told you not even to ask. You’re not ...

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