Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1601 to 1625 of 4963 results

1601. Solomon's Death

1 Kings 11:41-43

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... has been meted out to David is not, it turns out, eternal punishment. Though it appears that God has treated Solomon very much like Saul (in spite of 2 Sam. 7:15), in reality he is merely handing down fatherly discipline (2 Sam. 7:14). Here is a glimmer of hope to hold on to as the story that follows unfolds. Law does indeed appear to prevail in the last Judean king’s loss of his throne at the end of Kings. But law is not in the end more powerful than grace, and grace, 11:39 implies, does not function ...

1602. Jehoiakim King of Judah

2 Kings 23:36--24:7

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... yet necessarily lost after all; the destruction of the family of the “last king of Judah” does not mean that there is no member of the house of David left. As the prayer of Solomon in 1 Kings 8:22–53 looks beyond the disaster of exile, grounding its hope for the restoration of Israel to the land in God’s gracious and unconditional election of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (cf. also 1 Kgs. 18:36–37; 2 Kgs. 13:23; 14:27); as it refuses to accept that God’s words about the rejection of people, city and ...

1603. Jehoiachin King of Judah

2 Kings 24:8-17

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

1604. Zedekiah King of Judah

2 Kings 24:18-20a

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

1605. The Fall of Jerusalem

2 Kings 24:20b--25:26

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

1606. A Prophecy Against Moab

Isaiah 15:1--16:14

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... they comprise a series of independent poems that were not originally linked. If so, they have been arranged so that two sections of very similar length, comprising laments that close with warning, form a bracket around a shorter section in which Moab expresses its hopes. Like the poem about the king of Babylon, the bulk of the material about Moab thus takes the form of laments over the disaster that has overcome the people. Like that preceding lament, they invite hearing at a literal level so that we grieve ...

1607. How to Have a Rich Future

Mark 13:24-37

Sermon

King Duncan

... utters is not a deception, but a true insight that is vital for the child to receive as it grows into maturity. “In other words, there is a profound human conviction that ultimately all will be well, a belief that is a sign of the stirring of a deep hope within us.” (5) In other words, we are confident that all will be well because God is in control. As long as God is in control, God’s children have nothing to fear. It’s like a delightful story told by Irish writer Patrick Taylor in his book, An ...

1608. John Mellencamp and the Danger of Procrastination

Mark 1:14-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... . Luckily, she did know of the origin of the dishes. For years before her death Florence collected these dishes piece by piece because she couldn’t afford to buy a complete set. When the collection neared completion she kept the dishes put away in hopes of using them during a special occasion. And because no “special occasion” came around, she chose to lock them away in the box Oliver had found. Think how much joy Florence could have had displaying her beloved dishes to her friends and family. But ...

1609. Jesus' No-Nonsense Guide to Success

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

April Yamasaki

... to test him out first. Like children coming to Mom and Dad with something they know isn't quite right, they apparently hoped that he would say yes first and ask questions later. But Jesus wisely and quite rightly responded with a question of his ... did not come because he needed to win the approval of others. For Jesus, serving came out of knowing who he was. That's my hope for your service and for my service. Serving will come out of knowing who we are in relationship to God through Jesus Christ. We will ...

1610. What Does It Mean to Be Blessed?

Ephesians 1:3-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... priest sprinkled holy water on the unruly 11‑month‑old pooch. “It’s totally deceptive. When he was blessed, I was really happy that his head didn’t start spinning and green stuff didn’t spray out of his mouth.” (1) Well, I hope the blessing worked. I hope Rusty the cat gained some courage and that the “Devil Dog” experienced a thorough exorcism. If we find out it did work, maybe we ought to try having a “Blessing of the Politicians” ceremony in Washington, D.C. sometime. Maybe you’ve ...

1611. Light Living

John 1:(1-9) 10-18

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

... darkness of Mount Sinai that gave birth to the Ten Commandments. It was the darkness of the cave that gave birth to Elijah’s hope. It was the darkness of Mary’s womb that gave birth to the Messiah. It was the darkness of Gethsemane that gave birth to ... of resurrection. Modern television served us well on the birth of the new millennium on January 1, 2000, as images of human hope, and a bit of human hubris, were beamed to us from around the world. Twenty hours of millennium marvels played with our human ...

1612. Eyes Set on Jerusalem

Luke 13:31-35

Sermon

King Duncan

... he asked, “What about Salt Lake City?” “Oh,” said the agent, “we have a really great rate right now to Salt Lake City . . . only $99, but there is a stopover.” “Where?” asked the man. “In Denver,” the agent answered. What a crazy system! I hope he was able to stay in Denver once he got there . . . but who knows? Usually it pays in life to know your destination before you set out on your journey. Business people know that. There is a famous study involving graduates of Yale University of ...

1613. Be Ready for the Possibility of the Resurrection

John 20:1-18

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

... of what was happening. It was as if a little corner of the drab reality of her life lifted, and Mary Magdalene was able to take a peek at eternity. She reacted by shouting, “I have seen the Lord” and her life was changed. If she had lost hope and let herself be crushed by despair would Mary Magdalene have even recognized the risen Christ when he called her name? On one hand, I really do not know. One the other hand, I am convinced that Elizabeth Barrett Browning had it right when she wrote, Earth’s ...

1614. Start with a Brownie

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

... " was locked in the dungeon. The dungeon was the only place, said the doctors, for those who were hopelessly insane. In Little Annie’s case, they saw no hope for her, so she was consigned to a living death in that small cage which received little light and even less hope. About that time, an elderly nurse was nearing retirement. She felt there was hope for all of God's children, so she started taking her lunch into the dungeon and eating outside Little Annie's cage. She felt perhaps she should communicate ...

1615. In Search of a New Life

Revelation 21:1-5a

Sermon

King Duncan

... there. At Lystra there was a disabled man who could not use his feet. It was St. Paul whom God used to give this man new hope--new life. Paul, looking at him intently, said in a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And the man sprang up and walked. He ... a ditch by a mother who left me there naked and cold and too hungry to cry. I never blamed her. I’m sure she left hoping I’d have the good sense to die. Oh, don’t call me a lady,” she screams. “I’m only a kitchen slut reeking with sweat ...

1616. Joseph, When Did You Know?

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

King Duncan

We are just days away from Christmas, and I hope that this season has been full of hope, joy, love and peace for you. I hope that you have had time to reflect on the promises of the Advent season, the season in which we prepare ourselves for the coming of Jesus. It’ ... fb. See also Keep Calm and Carry On: Good Advice for Hard Times (Kansas City: Andrews McMeel, 2009), introduction. Cited in Max Lucado, You’ll Get Through This: Hope and Help for Your Turbulent Times (Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition), p. 215.

1617. If Your Cry for Help Is Loud Enough...

Luke 17:11-19

Sermon

King Duncan

... you expect an answer? I think these leprous men just wanted Jesus to see them. To pray over them. To offer them some words of hope. They were so cut off from normal life, so isolated and hopeless. If Jesus could just offer them some kind words and the presence ... for granted, when we return to our old lives without experiencing and expressing our overwhelming gratitude to Jesus for the salvation and hope he has given us. Now there may be someone in the room who is thinking cynically, “Well, if I had some of ...

1618. Surprised by Joy

Luke 2:8-14

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

... state was founded in 1636, Representative Doreen Costa erected a Christmas tree, that’s right, a Christmas tree in her office. So take that, Mr. Governor. We Christians are winning the “War on Christmas,” we are told, not because we are living examples of the peace, hope, love, and joy that have marked this season for Christians for roughly 2,000 years, but because we are angry, fed up, and tired of being victims and we are standing, arm in arm and marching in lock-step, up to those cash registers and ...

1619. Keeping the Faith

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

Molly F. James

... I have struggled with my faith. I have struggled to hold on to my belief in the goodness of God and the possibilities of hope and resurrection in the midst of darkness and loss. I had bone cancer as a young teen. I had eighteen chemotherapy treatments, and each ... would feel better and in a day or two I would be home and a few days after that I would be back at school. That hope, that possibility, seemed elusive to me, and it was hard to trust in that seemingly far off reality. But what I could trust in was my ...

1620. Don't Give In

Matthew 4:1-11

Sermon

David & Marian Plant

... co-participants with Jesus in not giving in. His story helps us in turning away from the temptations, rebuffing the call to abandon our hope for some sort of worldly perception that other things are better than God, or that the world is not really in the hands of ... difference to know that Jesus did not give in to the temptations laid before him. For all of us must know anew that putting our hope in Jesus enables us to put our feet, one in front of the other, to follow the Christ on the way to the cross. It ...

1621. A Man Under Authority / A Centurion's Faith, An Elder's Love

Matthew 8:5-13, Luke 7:1-10

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... :1-10) Minor Text Deuteronomy 28 Psalm 41: God the Healer Zechariah (20-23): All peoples will be drawn to the Jews 2 Kings 5: The Healing of Naaman the Syrian by Elisha due to the witness of a young Jewish girl Romans 15 (1-13): Christ the hope of the gentiles Acts 10: The Story of Cornelius and the Gentiles Baptized by Peter Matthew’s Witness to the Healing of a Centurion’s Servant When [Jesus] entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, appealing to him and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home ...

1622. The Gardener

John 20:10-18

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... when it threatened to rain, and when a storm was brewing. Gardeners knew when a frost would nip the flowers if they didn’t get covered. During the depression, many a garden got a family through a hard time. It was a sign of abundance and hope each spring when small inexpensive seeds would yield enough food to get a family through a winter. Now, in an age when organic foods have become all the rave (once foods were always organic!) and natural farmers have regained their status as the most desirable food ...

1623. Fleeced

Judges 6:1-40, John 20:24-31

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... Isaac into Blessing Jacob Instead of Esau By Touching Goat Skin (Genesis 27) Massah and Meribah (Exodus 17:1-7 and Numbers 20) Psalm 18: Praise Be the Rock Psalm 25: In You I Put My Trust Psalm 34: Taste and See that the Lord is Good Psalm 42: Put Hope in God Psalm 98: The Lord Has Made His Salvation Known Psalm 103: Praise the Lord My Soul Psalm 135: God’s Signs Paul Preaches: Christ Crucified Is Our Wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:18-31) The Story of Gideon’s Conversations with God and the Sign of the Fleece ...

1624. Lay It All Down

Mark 11:1-11

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... in the synagogue in Nazareth and relayed by Luke, and as promised in Isaiah, resounded in the minds of people that day, as they lauded his symbolic entry into Jerusalem for the Passover feast. They knew who he was. And they laid down all of their prayers, their hopes, and their faith at his feet as the one to restore Israel’s future. But Jesus was up to so much more than that, so much more than they could ever imagine possible. He had tried to tell his followers and disciples about what was to come. They ...

1625. Sim Lev!

Mark 13:1-31, Mark 13:32-37, Matthew 24:1-35, Matthew 24:36-51

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... to the end of the age,” Jesus promised. Dorothy, in the Wizard of Oz, had a dream. She dreamt that good prevails over evil, that her friends would always be friends, that she could find her way home, despite all the forces of evil. She dreamt that hope is born in the heart, and that what is most important harbors in the heart. She was right. Sometimes living in the world can seem like a bad dream. Sometimes more a nightmare than a nightingale. Reality is not reality TV. Life is full of pain and tragedy ...

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