Sermon and Worship Resources

Ephesians 1:3-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... in commemorative junk. Party planners have been plotting big New Year's Eve blowouts for years. Except for those nerdy computer types who are wringing their hands and predicting crash and burn for all computer systems that use just two digits to designate a year, there has been a generally jovial, party atmosphere about the whole event. But the deadly, misguided, apocalyptic-steeped visions of the "Heaven's Gate" cult have suddenly brought us up short. Thirty-nine sad, strange, purple-shrouded figures have ...

1602. Holy Hocus-Pocus!

Mark 13:1-31

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... in commemorative junk. Party planners have been plotting big New Year's Eve blowouts for years. Except for those nerdy computer types who are wringing their hands and predicting crash and burn for all computer systems that use just two digits to designate a year, there has been a generally jovial, party atmosphere about the whole event. But the deadly, misguided, apocalyptic-steeped visions of the "Heaven's Gate" cult have suddenly brought us up short. Thirty-nine sad, strange, purple-shrouded figures have ...

1603. Hear the Vision?

1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20)

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... in commemorative junk. Party planners have been plotting big New Year's Eve blowouts for years. Except for those nerdy computer types who are wringing their hands and predicting crash and burn for all computer systems that use just two digits to designate a year, there has been a generally jovial, party atmosphere about the whole event. But the deadly, misguided, apocalyptic-steeped visions of the "Heaven's Gate" cult have suddenly brought us up short. Thirty-nine sad, strange, purple-shrouded figures have ...

1604. The One and Only Original Sin

1 Peter 3:18-22

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... in commemorative junk. Party planners have been plotting big New Year's Eve blowouts for years. Except for those nerdy computer types who are wringing their hands and predicting crash and burn for all computer systems that use just two digits to designate a year, there has been a generally jovial, party atmosphere about the whole event. But the deadly, misguided, apocalyptic-steeped visions of the "Heaven's Gate" cult have suddenly brought us up short. Thirty-nine sad, strange, purple-shrouded figures have ...

1605. The Trace of Grace

Ephesians 2:1-10

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... in commemorative junk. Party planners have been plotting big New Year's Eve blowouts for years. Except for those nerdy computer types who are wringing their hands and predicting crash and burn for all computer systems that use just two digits to designate a year, there has been a generally jovial, party atmosphere about the whole event. But the deadly, misguided, apocalyptic-steeped visions of the "Heaven's Gate" cult have suddenly brought us up short. Thirty-nine sad, strange, purple-shrouded figures have ...

1606. Count Your Wows!

Luke 21:5-38

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... in commemorative junk. Party planners have been plotting big New Year's Eve blowouts for years. Except for those nerdy computer types who are wringing their hands and predicting crash and burn for all computer systems that use just two digits to designate a year, there has been a generally jovial, party atmosphere about the whole event. But the deadly, misguided, apocalyptic-steeped visions of the "Heaven's Gate" cult have suddenly brought us up short. Thirty-nine sad, strange, purple-shrouded figures have ...

1607. The Hand, the Lamb and the Dove

John 3:1-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... some of us started bringing small pill bottles to school with a few drops of liquid mercury swimming around in the bottom. During the duller parts of class, we would empty the contents of our bottles into the little craters on the desks that were designed to hold pencils. While the teacher droned on, we amused ourselves by taking the points of our pencils and dividing the large, single mercury bead into dozens of tiny little balls that shimmered and skittered on the desktop. Most amazing of all was that ...

1608. Take an Ember Day

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... up to. Look at all the products consumer culture has developed to aid us in our quest for sleep. There are sleeping pills, herbal sleep remedies, sleep music, white-noise machines, earplugs and eyeshades, adjustable beds, water beds, air beds and complete isolation tanks all designed to help us shut out the world and shut down our minds. On the other hand, here is Jesus. He sets out in a creaky, leaky boat, letting other people drive, happily curls up and is sound asleep before they've hardly drifted away ...

1609. How Do You Sell A Vacuum Cleaner?

Mark 7:31-37

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... else revolved: He was what he said he was. He turned on his life to God's Spirit working through him. Unless we ourselves are "turned on" to the transforming power of the Spirit, we can't be good instruments for redemption and reconciliation. This sermon idea is designed to portray the essence of evangelism in as pointed and as graphic a fashion as Jesus' "spit method." The essence of evangelism is this: a life that is "turned on" to the power of the gospel, a life that is so "turned over" to the Word that ...

1610. Waging Wisdom

James 3:13—4:8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... in commemorative junk. Party planners have been plotting big New Year's Eve blowouts for years. Except for those nerdy computer types who are wringing their hands and predicting crash and burn for all computer systems that use just two digits to designate a year, there has been a generally jovial, party atmosphere about the whole event. But the deadly, misguided, apocalyptic-steeped visions of the "Heaven's Gate" cult have suddenly brought us up short. Thirty-nine sad, strange, purple-shrouded figures have ...

1611. A 24-7-365 God

Hebrews 7:23-28

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Jesus was a 1-time Savior. In football, the quarterback calls out a series of numbers before the ball is hiked. Sometimes these numbers are random. Other times they themselves are signals, letting the other players know what play the quarterback wants to run. Christians can also designate a series of numbers that represent how God's presence will be played out in their lives: 24-7-365. It's not a very complex code to crack. The God revealed through Christ's sacrifice is a 24-hour-a-day, 7-day-a-week, 365 ...

1612. The Widow's Might

Mark 12:38-44

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... -size" your soft drink ... for just 20 cents more. Pay 80 bucks to stay in a cheap motel ... but get a complimentary "continental" breakfast. Spring for the sports car and lose the back seat ... but regain your youth and your sex appeal. Get the designer label instead of the knockoff ... and feel superior and elegant. The standards that calibrate our 21st-century scales weigh out the gift of the poor widow and find it pathetically light, virtually meaningless. We look at the amount she gave both nothing and ...

1613. The Great Postmodern Soul Train

Mark 13:1-8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... in commemorative junk. Party planners have been plotting big New Year's Eve blowouts for years. Except for those nerdy computer types who are wringing their hands and predicting crash and burn for all computer systems that use just two digits to designate a year, there has been a generally jovial, party atmosphere about the whole event. But the deadly, misguided, apocalyptic-steeped visions of the "Heaven's Gate" cult have suddenly brought us up short. Thirty-nine sad, strange, purple-shrouded figures have ...

1614. An Advent Attitude

1 Thessalonians 3:9-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... in commemorative junk. Party planners have been plotting big New Year's Eve blowouts for years. Except for those nerdy computer types who are wringing their hands and predicting crash and burn for all computer systems that use just two digits to designate a year, there has been a generally jovial, party atmosphere about the whole event. But the deadly, misguided, apocalyptic-steeped visions of the "Heaven's Gate" cult have suddenly brought us up short. Thirty-nine sad, strange, purple-shrouded figures have ...

1615. Stable-Time

Luke 21:5-38

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... in commemorative junk. Party planners have been plotting big New Year's Eve blowouts for years. Except for those nerdy computer types who are wringing their hands and predicting crash and burn for all computer systems that use just two digits to designate a year, there has been a generally jovial, party atmosphere about the whole event. But the deadly, misguided, apocalyptic-steeped visions of the "Heaven's Gate" cult have suddenly brought us up short. Thirty-nine sad, strange, purple-shrouded figures have ...

1616. The Perfect Time to Lose Your Luggage

Colossians 3:12-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... in commemorative junk. Party planners have been plotting big New Year's Eve blowouts for years. Except for those nerdy computer types who are wringing their hands and predicting crash and burn for all computer systems that use just two digits to designate a year, there has been a generally jovial, party atmosphere about the whole event. But the deadly, misguided, apocalyptic-steeped visions of the "Heaven's Gate" cult have suddenly brought us up short. Thirty-nine sad, strange, purple-shrouded figures have ...

1617. Give me a C...

1 Corinthians 1:18-31

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... ? Surely these are the marks of losers, not winners. But that is exactly what Paul is telling the Corinthians to stand up and shout about. We have become numbed to the cross as a symbol of scandal and shame. In our culture, it is simply a jewelry design or an architectural adornment. We forget just how shocking it was for the first Christians to claim that the Cross was a victory. As Christians, we don't make "the wave" when someone hits a home run, but when someone turns the other cheek. As Christians, we ...

1618. Cut It Out!

Matthew 5:27-30

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... . Despite dwindling natural resources, massive pollution, overpopulation and overconsumption, we still love our "throwaway" culture. We toss away more and more styrofoam, paper and plastic with every passing day. Not only do we casually toss those things that are designed to be disposable - takeout food containers, diapers, coffee filters, vacuum-cleaner bags - we also prefer to throw away, rather than fix, increasing quantities of our fairly durable goods. It is just too much bother and trouble to try to ...

1619. The Longest Journey Is the Shortest Distance

Acts 17:22-31

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the "Unknown God," Paul declared, doesn't take an extended journey or clever philosophical argument. It only takes ear and eye and nose and fingers and tongue for truth. The truth, Paul revealed, had been present among them for a long time. God's design for humanity was outlined in God's creation and defined in the holy Scriptures. Paul rejects the Athenians' vague searching for some unknown, out-of-sight god that remains forever evasive. The God Paul knows so well had not only been eternally close, the ...

1620. B.T.D.T.

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... million kinds of merchandise guaranteed to make our lives easier. computer software programs offer us new ways to pay monthly bills, organize our taxes, keep track of expenses and plan our calendars. health clubs offer us personalized fitness programs designed to make us thinner, firmer and friskier. cable television offers us mindless entertainment, endless sports events, a few educational opportunities and perpetual infomercials. But do any of these really offer us rest? How many catalogs can you look at ...

1621. The Four R's

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... help settle our souls. Rituals move us through life with intention and integrity. Without rituals, the sands of time run unheeded through the hourglass of our lives. With rituals, these same grains of sand create a particular pattern or design that helps tell the story of our lives. The church, of course, is steeped in ritual. Protestant churches may seem rather less concerned with formalized ritual. And some denominations are taught to view rituals suspiciously, deeming them a superstitious substitution ...

1622. A Bill of Rights

Matthew 15:(10-20) 21-28

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... . As Jesus revealed in the text for today, taking a stand ensures the presence of opposition even enemies. But for too long, the church has avoided discussing the notion that categories like "right" and "wrong" are valid. In fact, they are God-designed ways of organizing our lives and developing our character. By trying to play amidst the ever-shifting sands of cultural rules and cultural relativism, the church has greatly muffled (if not muzzled) its voice. In the words of Baptist historian Glenn T ...

1623. What Gift Do You Have For Us?

Romans 12:1-8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... seldom talked about, the widespread nature of this malady is evident by the large number of airport gift shops whose entire inventory is devoted to these poor, gift-searching parents. Why else would our airports be filled with exorbitantly expensive stuffed animals, designer felt-tip marker sets, thousands of tiny-sized T-shirts and replicas of every Disney creature ever imagined. You will also note that all these shops are doing quite well. The unfortunate side effect of this gift-giving syndrome is not ...

1624. God Will Be God

Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... -sized aspirations. God will not be domesticated to our fads and fancies. God has purposes and ways that are far beyond us and our reckonings. In the parable told in this week's gospel text, Jesus provides a wry glimpse at the difference between God's designs and human desires. Jesus' parable opens a tiny portal of light into the Divine as he incarnates the genuine kingdom of God (or "heaven") by engaging us in his story. The landowner's generosity is bestowed on these last-hired laborers for a reason known ...

1625. Was Jesus the First Buster?

Matthew 21:23-32

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Hands" (193). - The musical group, Intro is announcing its new album "New Life," along with a game whereby you can "Win yourself 'New Life' and a new stereo...." - The Smashing Pumpkins' new album, "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness," which carries the cover design of an angel riding a star through the sky, narrates "one of Billy Corgan's long nights of the soul, divided into 'Dawn to Dusk' and 'Twilight to Starlight'" (105). The key to reaching Busters is the key to reaching every other generation: to ...