Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1601 to 1625 of 4977 results

1601. A Divided Family

Mark 3:20-25

Sermon

King Duncan

... happened in this family that had been torn with so much conflict that they tried to take Jesus home and deny him of his ministry, something that made them change their minds about his teachings. In fact, we later learn that these same brothers became quite important in the history of the early church. According to tradition Jesus’ brother James was the leader of the church in Jerusalem and the author of the book of James. He is sometimes referred to as James the Righteous to distinguish him from James the ...

1602. Some Things I've Learned Since I Knew It All

Mark 4:26-34

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... . He was studying to be an engineer at the University of Illinois in Urbana. On Christmas break, he got quite caught up with himself and started acting as if he had much more knowledge than his family. He excused them, of course, because his family members had ... never been to college, but he was quite sure that his father just didn't know much about anything and his mother knew even less. As for his younger brother and ...

1603. Am I Eating Manna or Bread from Heaven?

John 6:35, 41-51

Sermon

Rick McCracken-Bennett

... followed the instructions of the ushers and began to solemnly walk up the aisle, hands folded in prayer. When we finally got to the communion rail we knelt and waited for the priest to come and put the host, the bread, on our tongues. This was, as I said, quite some time ago. I received first by virtue of the priest traveling from our right to our left. My mother was next and that's when it happened. The priest missed her tongue. Or maybe she closed her mouth too soon. We'll never know. But the host missed ...

1604. Just Who Does This Guy Think He Is?

John 6:56-69

Sermon

Rick McCracken-Bennett

... couldn't take it anymore. If they took his words literally they couldn't stomach it. And they couldn't see past those words to the truth that Jesus was trying to convey. Disciples stood and walked away. The crowd got smaller, quite a bit smaller. And eventually they got quieter, quite a bit quieter. Jesus watched them leave and then turned back to the twelve disciples who had been with him from the beginning. "How about you? Are you going to go away too? Do you find my words offensive? Do you think ...

1605. And They Lived Happily Ever After... or Did They?

Mark 10:2-16

Sermon

Rick McCracken-Bennett

... God intends for you to marry. Will you promise me?" "Yes, father. When the time comes I will ask my best friend to find for me the woman that God intends for me to marry." Soon after the king died and the son assumed the throne. Though he was still quite young he was found to be a strong and capable leader. Though he was not loved by all, for no leader is, still he loved everyone and treated them with the same kindness and mercy that his father had shown them. Time passed and the young king in his twenties ...

1606. Sheep Without a Shepherd

Mark 6:30-34

Sermon

King Duncan

... and confused. It doesn’t take much to scramble the simple mental yolk of a nervous sheep. They’ve even been known to plunge straight over the edge of a high precipice in a panic, one following right after another.” (5) Sheep are fragile and quite vulnerable--like many people. We have heard much about sexual abuse over the past couple of years. It is about those who prey upon the vulnerable like wolves prey on sheep. Laura Davis, who writes about sexual abuse, tells a story from her childhood. She ...

1607. Do You Believe in Miracles?

Mark 7:31-37

Sermon

King Duncan

... was evidently causing this woman some distress. Not only was she blind, but some of her so-called friends were telling her it was her fault. If she just had enough faith, God would heal her. The radio pastor asked her something that I felt was quite humorous and yet also right on target. “Tell me,” he asked this blind lady, “do you carry one of those white canes?” “Yes I do,” she replied. “Then,” said the radio pastor, “the next time someone says that hit them over the head with the cane ...

1608. What Really Counts

Mark 9:38-43

Sermon

King Duncan

... he realized that he had forgotten to put out chairs for his guests to sit in during the service. In a state of great agitation, he whispered in the ear of one of his elderly laymen, “Please get some chairs for the guest pastors.” The elderly gentleman was quite hard of hearing, so he asked the priest to repeat his request. The priest did so a little louder: “Please get up and get three chairs for the Protestants.” The old man had a puzzled look on his face as he rose to his feet. Turning to the ...

1609. The Year of the Woman

Genesis 2:18-24

Sermon

King Duncan

... J. Allan Petersen tells about a flight he took on a 747 out of Brazil one time. Midway through the flight he was awakened from sleep by a strong voice announcing, “We have a very serious emergency.” The emergency was that three engines had quit because of fuel contamination and the fourth was expected to go at any second. The plane began to drop and turn in the night, preparing for an emergency landing. At first the situation seemed unreal to Petersen, but when the steward barked, “Prepare for impact ...

1610. Playing Golf at Midnight

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

King Duncan

... Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” How did Jesus possibly pick Bartimaeus out in that crowd? How does Christ pick us out when we make our requests of him? So they called to Bartimaeus, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” Then Bartimaeus did something quite unusual. Mark tells us that “throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.” Scholars tell us that for a blind man to throw aside his cloak in a busy crowd was risky. What if he wasn’t able to retrieve it? His ...

1611. At the Intersection of Heaven and Earth

Luke 3:1-6

Sermon

King Duncan

... is a humorous story about a church having an outdoor Nativity Pageant. They decided to use live animals in this pageant. It was quite a feat, because the church was located in the very heart of downtown in a large metropolitan area. The evening of the pageant ... . Nobody noticed that the donkey that was to be used in the pageant wandered off and trotted down the street. He caused quite a commotion. Finally he entered a nearby bar. Obviously, one of the customers was startled when he saw a donkey come into ...

1612. Hard and Soft Hearts

Mark 10:2-16

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

... serious about right and wrong. In the case of divorce, they had developed a complicated system of rules and regulations defining under what conditions divorce was right and wrong. They came to test Jesus. They came to check him out on divorce. Jesus had created quite a controversy by hanging around with people of suspect moral character. He had even chosen a tax collector to be one of his disciples. He seemed a little too liberal, a little too permissive, when it came to the moral issues of right and wrong ...

1613. The Three Bs

Luke 3:1-22, Psalm 29

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

... of this abstract, awesome God into a fragile, flesh and blood God — after the heavenly one decided to become earthy — to become concrete in bushes that burn and babies that burp and birds that baptize — it is then that the Creator God responded in a very particular way. Quite simply, God was delighted! If you have ever wondered if God is a mean God or a merciful God — if you have ever worried that God may blast us instead of bless us — if you ever have thought that God is a God of law more than ...

1614. Is God Invited?

John 2:1-11

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

... and dead. You know the refrain — the best of life has already passed us by and we wallow in nostalgia. Except that God keeps surprising us with new wine that is sweeter and tastier than that which has come before. Yes, I can’t move quite as fast or do quite as much — but the slower pace helps me savor each moment more fully. Yes, there is too much pain, disappointment, and failure in the world, but allowing rich emotion to flow honestly through me makes the beautiful and the lovely all that much more ...

1615. In the Wilderness with the Devil

Luke 4:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” This obviously frustrated the devil. Luke tells us, “When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.” Notice that Luke doesn’t say that the devil quit tempting Jesus. He says that the devil made a strategic retreat--to tempt him at a more opportune time--for example, in the Garden of Gethsemane when he was tempted to forsake his mission. All of us know what it is to be tempted. Some of us ...

1616. The Greatest Sin

Luke 13:6-9

Sermon

King Duncan

... it’s in the thousands, perhaps the millions. You and I don’t have the kinds of opportunity that Bono has, but even if we help only one person, according to Christ, it will not go unrewarded. But notice something quite interesting in this story of the fig tree. I realize that a sermon like this can be quite guilt-inducing if you take it seriously. I, myself, experience that guilt. But notice there is a note of grace in this story. The owner of the barren fig tree says to the man who takes care of the ...

1617. Can I Get Some Help Over Here?

John 14:23-29

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

... on a far more serious issue. He wrote, “Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup (you planted in class) — they all die. So do we.” I will die. You will die and every single person we love will die. And, quite simply, we have to learn to deal with that and a multitude of other painful realities. That was the concern for Christine and Dan as they drove home from the doctor’s office with the news that her cancer had returned with a vengeance. Assuaging the ...

1618. If the Stones Cried Out

Luke 19:28-40

Sermon

King Duncan

... knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is he up to? The explanation is that he is building quite a different house from the one you thought of -- throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. “You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage, but he is building a palace. He intends ...

1619. The Surrounding Master

Illustration

Darrell Anderson

... they notice the boy up on the bench, innocently picking out, "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." His mother gasped, but before she could retrieve her son, the master appeared on the stage and quickly moved to the keyboard. He whispered to the boy, "Don't quit--keep playing." Leaning over, Paderewski reached down with his left hand and began filling in a bass part. Soon his right arm reached around the other side, encircling the child, to add a running obbligato. Together, the old master and the young novice ...

1620. One Last Chance

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

... wife died and her husband was heartbroken because he truly loved her. Somehow, as the pallbearers brought her casket out of the funeral service, the husband and his family reached the hearse ahead of them. The mortician was back a few feet and, since he knew the husband quite well, he called him by name and said, "Open the door for her, will you?" The man reached for the door handle and then, for one second, just froze. He realized he had never opened a car door for her in life; now in her death it would ...

1621. How About Your Lasting Impact

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

... ago a reader of the British Weekly wrote a letter to the editor as follows: "Dear Sir! I notice that ministers seem to set a great deal of importance on their sermons and spend a great deal of time in preparing them. I have been attending services quite regularly for the past thirty years and during that time, if I estimate correctly, I have listened to no less than three thousand sermons. But, to my consternation, I discover I cannot remember a single one of them. I wonder if a minister's time might be ...

1622. They'll Know We Are Christians by Our...

Galatians 5:1-15

Sermon

King Duncan

... to wear a name tag. We’ve all been to meetings like that, and you rip off the name tag the minute you leave, right? Except Scott didn’t. He thought it might be fun to keep his name tag on and see what happened. What happened was quite refreshing. He found that people paid more attention to him, called him by name and introduced themselves because of his name tag. It was kind of fun to see these responses. So Scott Ginsberg decided that he would leave his name tag on indefinitely. Something about that ...

1623. Jesus' Guide to Wise Investing

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... complicated but very revealing story about two men. It is a fictitious story, but if you will follow me, I think the story will appeal to you. As I have already noted, it is about two men. One was very wealthy but in poor health. The other was quite robust health-wise, but very poor financially. The two men were envious of one another. The wealthy man would have given anything for a healthy body. The poor man would have given anything to be rich. There was a world famous surgeon who could give them both ...

1624. The Problem with "Fawneys"

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

Sermon

King Duncan

... was in effect virtually worthless, in a public place where someone was sure to find it. This ring in the Irish dialect was called a “fawney.” Sure enough, sooner or later someone would come along and discover the ring thinking they had found something quite valuable. Invariably this person would look around fearing that the real owner might see their find and come to claim it. Then, suddenly from nowhere, the con artist would appear. He would then persuade or frighten his victim into paying him to keep ...

1625. For the Glow of It

Matthew 6:1-4, Matthew 6:16-18

Sermon

David & Marian Plant

... for all the special wonderments that have been handed to us: the glorious sunset, the bounty of a world created to feed us, listening ears to hear our pleas and grant us an audience be? Oh yes, not for the show but as a fellow pastor once said quite regularly — for the glow. This Ash Wednesday, let us use this jumping off point for the Lenten season as a means of earnest and deep reflection. Let us use this time to begin practices and habits that bring life more than they bring familiarity. Let us use ...

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