Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1601 to 1625 of 4946 results

1601. Wake Up! Get Ready!

Luke 12:32-40

Sermon

King Duncan

Do you ever feel like you spend your life waiting on other people to get ready? Or are you on the other side of this equation? Maybe you’re the one who can never be on time, and other people are constantly nagging you to hurry up. Parents often feel like their life is one long cycle of “hurry up and wait.” A dad named Rodney LaCroix posted the following thoughts on Twitter: What I say: Be ready, we are leaving in five minutes. What the child hears: Get undressed. Start finger painting. Lose at least one ...

1602. Spirit Soaked

Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon

Lori Wagner

What depletes you? We live in a culture that is highly stressed. Since COVID, people suffer more from anxiety than any recent time in the past. Prices are up. Salaries have stayed the same. Houses, whether rentals or purchases, have become unaffordable for many. People are suffering from loss, grief, and anxiety from overworking, lack of financial stability, worries about the future, and most of all, lack of an emotional or spiritual anchor. Many retirees, thinking they can escape the rat race, now suffer ...

1603. When God Is The Problem

Psalm 13:1-6

Sermon

Robert G. McCreight

Introduction During Lent we are focusing our biblical attention almost exclusively on the passages from the psalms, allowing their themes and their spirit to rise up and identify themselves to us. Today we are continuing to gain a greater familiarity with these conversations from the heart. Through song and reading and spoken word the religiosity of the psalmists of old is speaking to us today. A For the first two Sundays in Lent our attention was on what Old Testament professor Walter Brueggeman called ...

1604. What Do You Do When Life Ain't Fair?

Genesis 29:15-30

Sermon

Steve Burt

Life doesn't always hand us what we want when we want it. In those times there's the temptation to shortcut, or to do the unethical, or to run from the problem. It's then that we need to keep our eyes on our goals and keep plugging along, honestly and diligently. A farmer's crops failed one year because of the drought. The previous year there had been too much rain, and it had flooded everything. The year before that he'd suffered due to an influx of imports. Discouraged, the farmer went fishing far off ...

1605. Can You Dig It?

Genesis 26:1-35

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

Our scripture today finds Isaac, the son of Abraham, faced with the formidable task of holding his family together, restoring their spiritual legacy and vouchsafing their future amid death threats and vehement opposition from the Philistines. Isaac must decide whether to dig or not to dig the wells of his father and exalt his people to their rightful place in history or allow his adversaries and enemies to foil his plans. The question for Isaac is: Can he dig the wells of hope, prosperity, and the ...

1606. True And False Prophecy

Mark 14:27-31

Drama

Setting: The temple courtyard of the high priest. Caiaphas, entering from the sacristy or the front, will be at a podium or pulpit in the chancel throughout the drama. Everything about his posture and voice should suggest authority edged with arrogance and pomposity. He will be dressed in elaborate vestments or robes, ideally with a Velcro fastening which will make a noticeable tearing sound at the end of the play. Peter will enter from the rear of the nave, and will stay outside the chance! throughout the ...

1607. Do It For the Joy of It!

Matthew 22:34-40

Sermon

In the text for last week we saw how impossible it becomes to try to limit a description of appropriate Christian behavior to a rigid, inflexible code. There is a danger on the other extreme as well: The Christian can come to the (erroneous) conclusion that everything is relative, in constant flux, and totally dependent on the situation, one’s own feelings, and the individual’s point of view. Not so. Christianity is flexible enough to address a changing world. But Christian faith is also rooted. There is a ...

1608. For Those in Church: Joy and Service

Matthew 23:1-39

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

Matthew 23:1-12 is a good checklist for our practice of religion. So many sermons are appropriate for all those Christians who are not there in church to hear them. This Gospel story and these comments are written especially for those who come to church - those of us who consider ourselves the faithful. Jesus spoke these words to his disciples. They are about the pillars of the church in his day - the scribes and Pharisees. Rather then spend our time today giving thunder to the scribes and Pharisees (as ...

1609. Fuel for Our Faith

Matthew 20:25-28

Sermon

Shirley Gupton Lynn

"Whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant." (20:26) In 2005, the journal Science reported that scientists in South Korea had successfully created eleven human embryonic stem-cell lines perfectly matched to the DNA of human patients. Some scientists are elated because this may be a step toward treating diseases like Parkinson's, cancer, and Alzheimer's. Others are appalled that this may be a step toward cloning of human beings. The question of the future, said one scientist ten years ago, ...

1610. Isaiah 42:1-9

Isaiah 42:1-9

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

This week's text introduces the first of the four wonderful "servant songs" found in Second Isaiah. This first "song" (so-called because of its poetic form) is seen by many scholars as this servant's original "call" or "commission." It begins with the unmitigated exuberance of the Lord for this servant. The cry "Here is" or "See" (Hebrew hen) which introduces verse 1 is emphatic with its positive delight - starkly contrasting this approved servant with the condemnation of the worthless idols also pointed ...

1611. Standing Tall in the Lord

Philippians 3:17-4:1

Sermon

Richard Gribble

History records the expression, Athanasius contra mundum — Athanasius against the world. These words aptly express the situation in the fourth-century church when heresy almost reigned supreme — save Athanasius, a bishop who was a persistent and staunch defender of the faith. Athanasius was born into a Christian family in Alexandria, Egypt, in 295 A.D. In his early twenties he was ordained and entered the service of Alexander, Bishop of Alexandria. He accompanied the bishop to the first ecumenical council ...

1612. The Road of Peace

Isaiah 9:2-7

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

The word on our Advent Wreath today is PEACE. About 2,700 years ago, the Hebrew Prophet Isaiah caught a vision of a child to be born who would be called the Prince of Peace. This leader from the lineage of David would rule the world and there would be no limits to the peace he would bring. Cynics among us are saying why cry peace, when there has been no peace in the history of human kind? The militants remind us that even Jesus said, “I came not to bring peace but a sword." Meanwhile, American soldiers and ...

1613. The Prayer Life of Highly Effective Christians

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

A mother had been teaching her three-year-old daughter the Lord’s Prayer. For several evenings at bedtime, the little girl would repeat the lines from the prayer after her mother. Finally, the little girl decided to go solo. Her Mom listened with pride as the child carefully enunciated each word right up to the end of the prayer: “Lead us not into temptation,” she prayed, “but deliver us some E-mail.” Well, she nearly got it right. It reminds me of another child, a boy, who was also into computers. His ...

1614. A Higher Calling

Ephesians 4:1-16

Sermon

Thomas Lentz

You and I have received a higher calling. Every person here this morning is going to be challenged to live according to a higher calling. A few years ago, my daughter and her husband lived next door to a difficult family in Columbus. There was a large lot separating their two houses, which belonged to the neighbor. Although the neighbor was quick to claim the property and run off our grandchildren any time they ventured onto this side lot, he was, nevertheless, lax in taking care of it. Branches and fruit ...

1615. On Not Giving Up

Galatians 6: 7-16

Sermon

April Yamasaki

A word of encouragement came from an unlikely source the other day in a television interview with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. The former football player, wrestler, and now actor was asked about a low time in his life when he was very discouraged about his career and future. "How did you make your way back from that?" he was asked. The Rock replied, "You have to put yourself out there. You have to get out there and fail, and learn from your failures." What advice would you give to someone who is discouraged ...

1616. Great Balls of Fire!

John 20:19-23

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Happy Natal Day, church! As a kid did you ever terrorize a sibling by scuffing your feet on the carpet and walking towards your “prey” with an index finger pointing at them? The threat, of course, was “static electricity.” If you touched you brother or sister, it meant a small but smarting little zap. A small shock — big fun! A local grocery store (actually, the local Orcas Island Supermarket where we live) recently bit the bullet and spent big money on some major renovations. Among the improvements was ...

1617. Still Surprised After Christmas

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

David J. Kalas

The Christmas story is so familiar to us and to our people that we may no longer see it clearly. Specifically, I wonder if we can fathom how full of surprises was that event — and the days preceding it — for Joseph and Mary. Between the two Christmas accounts (both Matthew and Luke offer versions of the story), we see both Joseph and Mary having angelic visitations and communications. Likewise, the shepherds outside of Bethlehem and Zechariah in the temple were visited by angels. Assuming such appearances ...

1618. Judah and Tamar

Genesis 38:1-30

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

Judah and Tamar: The account of Judah and Tamar is set as an interlude in the Joseph narrative. It adds to the suspense of the Joseph story, as the reader wonders what is going to happen to Joseph. The action takes place in four scenes: the failure of Judah’s sons to have an heir (vv. 1–11), Judah’s relationship with a supposed prostitute (vv. 12–23), Tamar’s vindication (vv. 24–26), and Tamar’s bearing twins (vv. 27–30). Although this account appears to interrupt the long, closely knit Joseph narrative, ...

1619. Ten Commandments and the People’s Response

Exodus 20:1-21

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

Overview: When Jesus is asked which commandment is the most important, he affirms two fundamental principles that characterize the Law and the Prophets: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength,” and “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:28–34; Matt. 22:34–40; Luke 10:25–27). The Decalogue (literally the “Ten Words,” or the Ten Commandments) itself opens with “the Lord your God” (20:2) and closes with “your neighbor” (20:17). ...

1620. Things a Child Can Teach Us

Mark 9:30-37

Sermon

King Duncan

Some of you of a certain age will remember when Roman Catholic Bishop Fulton J. Sheen was one of television’s brightest stars. For those of you who were not even born when Sheen was giving his televised talks, you might be amazed that he twice won an Emmy Award for Most Outstanding Television Personality, and was featured on the cover of Time magazine. He also received thousands of letters from his viewers. One mother wrote that her son was under her feet while she was working in the kitchen. She said to ...

1621. Crisis Management

Luke 21:25-36

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

It is a newspaper image I will never forget. And for me it is an image of Advent. The time was the early 1990s. The place was Sarajevo — the gutted, bombed out epicenter of the Balkan War — when ethnic violence had destroyed beauty and buildings and any sense of human community. One day, a man put on his tuxedo, picked up his cello and a chair, and went and sat at the central intersection of town — in the cross fire of hatred and brokenness and devastation — and there he played his cello for hours — ...

1622. The Case of the Stolen Inheritance

Matthew 21:33-46

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Jesus’ love for stories is well known. He knew that human beings learn better through stories that demonstrate, resonate, and reverberate with their experiences and lives than simply telling them what they ought to do. The goal for Jesus was not just to infuse learning but to provoke “turning” one’s behavior around in a different direction. This required not just a cognitive register in the brain, but a genuine movement of the heart. What moves your heart? Think about the books you’ve read or the movies ...

1623. The Sending Plan (Alternate title: Our Human Predicament)

Mark 6:7-13

Sermon

Ron Lavin

In his sermon at the hometown synagogue in Nazareth, Jesus preached to the hometown folks -- family and friends who rejected him. One of the reasons for rejection was apparently overfamiliarity. Jesus went about healing, casting out demons, and preaching the need for repentance. Some people rejoiced. The hometown folks were offended. Jesus was rejected in his own hometown. Therefore Jesus made plans to send others out in his name. We pick up the story in verse 6: "And he was amazed at their lack of faith. ...

1624. Judgment Day

Mark 13:1-31

Drama

Steven E. Albertin

Characters: Man and Woman Scene: The entrance to eternity. (A man sits at a desk, papers before him. Woman enters. She goes to the man and stands quietly. The man looks up.) Man: Heaven on your right -- hell on your left. Woman: (Looking at the doors, in awe) You mean that door leads to heaven ... and that one to hell? Man: That is correct. Please don't take too long. There are others waiting. Woman: But ... what do I do? Man: You go through one of them. Woman: You mean I have the choice? Man: That is ...

1625. Structure And Clarity

Sermon

Michael Rogness

I understand the stories the pastor told and thought they were interesting, but I couldn't see how the sermon fit together. -- A 15-year-old's comment during the writing of this book Many sermons with good material fall flat simply because the audience doesn't follow the flow of the message. With today's audience listening superficially with a short attention span, there are some basic principles one can use so that the sermon will be (a) heard, (b) understood and (c) remembered. Our View And Their View ...

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