Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1601 to 1625 of 3160 results

1601. The Lord's Prayer: Thine Is the Kingdom

Matthew 6:5-13

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... will never grow deaf. Regardless of what we have done and where we are, something will always get through to us and to God. I love the story that is told by an oldest son concerning his mother who had recently died. Soon after the funeral the oldest son was sorting out his mother''s belongings at the old home place. It was hard to decide what to keep, what to give to the other members of the family, and what to get rid of. He sat down to rest with a cup of coffee in his mother''s favorite rocking ...

1602. The Ninth Commandment: Liar, Liar

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... it all comes from lying, lying to others and to yourself." Remember, the nation of Israel had just been delivered from the harsh life they had experienced in Egypt. It all started when a Pharaoh came to power who did not know Joseph. All sorts of false things were told about the Jews. They became a scapegoat for all the problems of Egypt. They were stripped of their dignity and eventually were enslaved. The people whom Moses delivered were hardly saints or Sunday school students. They had been influenced ...

1603. Emptying and Exalting (Part XI)

Philippians 1:1-11

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... , misunderstanding, hurt, pain, and even the greatest enemy, which is death. He felt all of these and much more. C. S. Lewis is absolutely correct when he so beautifully writes: "God could, had He pleased, have been incarnate in a man of iron nerves, the Stoic sort who lets no sign escape him. Of His great humility, He chose to be incarnate in a man of delicate sensibilities who wept at the grave of Lazarus and sweated blood in Gethsemane. Otherwise, we should have missed the great lesson that it is by His ...

1604. Taxes and Tightwads

James 5:1-6

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... the Word of God--to be sure wealth is always held in the proper perspective. Gold, silver and other material resources just do not hold all the ingredients necessary for an authentic life. We know that the Tempter will try to trip us up with all sorts of sweet, seductive offers. However, we should not listen to his tongue, but to every word that has been planted in us by the Holy Spirit. I have a special word for the parents and grandparents here today. Albert Schweitzer said, "we teach our children and ...

1605. Singing in the Storm

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... . And for others, the storm will take place tomorrow. However, the Word of God does reveal that there will be a storm! It is not very difficult these days to find people who feel that their primary efforts are directed towards riding out a storm of some sort. Our lives are surrounded by difficulties that render invalid any long-term goals and aims. It is easy to forfeit our dreams and visions to direct our energies to the daily struggle for survival. It reminds me of a story I heard in my college days about ...

1606. Waiting

John 1:1-18

Sermon

Brett Blair

... dissension, no more drugs. There careful use of resources. By the time she got back to the counter, she had a long list. Jesus looked over the list, then smiled at her and said, "No problem." And then he bent down behind the counter and picked out all sorts of things, and finally stood up, and laid out the packets on the counter. "What are these?" the woman asked. "Seed packets," Jesus answered. "This is a catalog store." "You mean I don't get the finished product?" "No, this is a place of dreams. You come ...

1607. Holy Vexation

John 2:12-25

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... easy to lose sight of why we are here and, like an unmanned garden hose to which a powerful force of water is introduced, squanders our energies in any number of directions. Any parish worth its salt has a governing body of some sort that oversees various boards and committees. When it comes to undertakings like securing ushers and greeters and church school teachers, or running out to buy grape juice for communion, it is absolutely essential that people see the deeper reasons for doing what they ...

1608. What Gets Into People?

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

... as “trepanning.” The purpose of “trepanning” was to “let the devils out” of people’s heads. The surgeons must have been skilled since so many of these patients survived to under the repeated sessions of cutting holes into their skulls. (2) I’m sort of glad this practice no longer exists. Science has affected how we view such things as demon possession. However, there are still many people who take the demon world seriously. And maybe they are right. I don’t know. There was an interesting ...

1609. Bearing the Cross

Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

King Duncan

... informed all his competitors in the medical manufacturing business of the possible flaws in Baxter’s filters, so that they could benefit from the research his investigation turned up. (4) Now I know nothing of Harry Kraemer’s religious affiliation. But I do know that is the sort of action that bearing a cross requires. When it is a matter of ethics, the follower of Christ is held to a higher standard than the world. That is why I say that, without the Gospel, it makes no sense to take up a cross. If we ...

1610. The Hillside and the Basket

John 6:1-15

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... do something. And just because I can't do everything, I will not fail to do that which I can do." We are told in the text that the little boy carried with him a picnic lunch of five barley loaves and two small fish. Barley bread was the cheapest sort of food. And the fish were likely pickled, not unlike today's sardines. This is what Andrew found. This is what the lad offered to Jesus in the midst of 5,000 rumbling stomachs. There was a huge need! There was a woeful inadequacy! And these few loaves and ...

1611. The Dangers of Being Religious

Mark 7:1-23

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... must be so right for you!" And suddenly my way is the only way. 21. Do you have pride in comparisons? "Our church musical is the best in the city!" "Our preacher is a doctor!" "Our church is the most prestigious." The Pharisees were into that sort of thing. "Spiritual peacockery," I call it. 22. Are you unmerciful? Sticklers for the law, the Pharisees caught a woman in the act of adultery and gathered to stone her (John 8). In Matthew 23:23 and following, Jesus complained that they "neglected mercy." A real ...

1612. Deliverance: The Forgotten Third of Jesus' Ministry

Mark 9:14-32

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... ? Just to mention a few: seeing demons behind all human misery, seeing exorcism as a means of instant sainthood, getting ruffled and yelling back at demons, draining oneself with too much ministry, panicking when Satan counter-attacks, thinking everybody is ready for this sort of ministry, and believing it is not okay to fail. Conclusion In the heat of summer, God sends in a cool front to break the drought. Where cold and warm air collide there is a violent storm full of lightning, thunder, wind, and ...

1613. Is Your Love Shy?

Mark 9:33-37

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... explain it and if you have any questions or if you don't understand it, just raise your hand." And after she explains it the class room is full of blank stares, but no one asks any questions for fear of being the only dummy in the class. It's sort of like Abe Lincoln once said, "It's better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool, than to open it and remove all doubt." And people play on our pride, don't they? They profit from our unwillingness to show our ignorance, don't they? How many ...

1614. When Nothing Is Everything

Mark 12:35-40

Sermon

Cathy A. Ammlung

... 't part with them, even for the sake of Jesus and the life he offered. C. S. Lewis wrote that Christian charity is neither Christian nor charity unless our giving "cramps our style" and causes us to sacrifice some needs as well as luxuries. And that sort of giving, he added, was simply the starting point of Christian charitable giving, not its terminus! In his mind he could hear Jesus' words to that rich man, and his approval of the poor widow. "Sell what you own. She has put in everything she had." If ...

1615. Birthing the Kingdom

Mark 13:1-31

Sermon

Cathy A. Ammlung

... a cross before entrusting his will and his life into his Father's keeping? Those who follow him can expect no less hostility and tumult. And yet Jesus himself emerged from a tomb as from a womb, which unexpectedly and gloriously ushered an entirely new sort of life into our world. He is the firstborn of a new creation, and the old creation groans in labor pains for our redemption and for its own deliverance from futility (Romans 8:20-23). Because Jesus' own anguish, death, and resurrection have embraced the ...

1616. The Story behind the Glory

Galatians 3:26--4:7

Sermon

Fredrick R. Harm

... passion. This is a world, I am sad to admit, which is in rebellion against God. The depth and intensity of that spirit of evil is made manifest at the Cross. Here is the true measure of evil and the final judgment upon it. If the question were asked, "What sort of a world is this and how does it stand in relation to God?" the truest answer is that it is a world that could not tolerate in its presence the Christ of Christmas, the blessed Son of God Almighty. When he came, full of grace and truth, he got ...

1617. Don't Fence Me In!

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Sermon

Fredrick R. Harm

... is a good whipping." Perhaps so, but don't be too sure about it. Long before he adopted such an idea, he needed the help and guidance of some older folks who knew the meaning of life. Instead of getting such help, he probably came under the influence of the sort of persons who write some of our modern novels and plays. The advice offered by one of these writers is: "Let a man give rein to his impulses as they come." It is that kind of heresy that has helped produce the moral anarchy we see about us so ...

1618. Growing Faith

Romans 4:1-25

Sermon

Paul E. Robinson

... said that the concept was that of having a strong tether, ten or twenty miles long, which would be cartwheeling in orbit. By attaching an object to one end of the tether, the cart wheeling effect would swing it up and into a higher energy orbit, with no fuel expended! Sort of like David using his sling shot to hurl a rock at Goliath. A tether, with one end in one orbit and the other end in another orbit. And because it is one tether, it connects the energy of both orbits and enables objects on one end to be ...

1619. The Source

Hebrews 4:14-5:10

Sermon

Paul E. Robinson

... 's been cooked. You know what I mean? I just don't really understand it. But I did just recently learn what a manifold was. Oh, I had heard the term all my life, but I finally asked someone. "What's a manifold?" And I learned that it's a sort of fat pipe off of which several other pipes go. You can have a manifold in the concrete floor of your basement which routes hot water to heat your whole house. The source. Jesus Christ is the source of eternal salvation, the dependable source of hope for this life and ...

1620. The Amazing Holy Week Equation

Philippians 2:1-11

Sermon

Paul E. Robinson

... thoughts than your thoughts. -- Isaiah 55:8-9 (RSV) Saint Paul wrote to the church at Rome. "Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind ..." (Romans 12:2 RSV). To have the mind of Christ is to have an empty head -- well, sort of. At least there is the intent of leaving room, the intent of filling it, or making it available for God's thoughts, not just our own. So what is it for you today? If we stay in A.D. 33 and wave palm branches, but don't make the ...

1621. Do You Hear What I Hear?

1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Sermon

Paul E. Robinson

... other stringy things from my garden. It is nest building time! If you've ever built a house you know the amount of time and effort it takes. Countless hours examining huge books of wall paper samples, floor plans, paint colors and on and on. So many decisions. What sort of house will it be? Birds have it much easier. Each species of bird only makes one kind of nest. One kind. I have often thought, when peering through a pine tree at a robin's nest, that here I am, a reasonably intelligent man with lots of ...

1622. The World's Still Point

1 John 5:1-12

Sermon

Paul E. Robinson

... to the Christian faith is not all the traditions and morals and commandments about which we often spend so much time arguing. What grabs the attention of new Christians is Jesus. I have noted in my own life that it is so easy to get caught up in all sorts of very important matters of life and church and theology. I find all that stimulating and it has a way of consuming one and making one think one is doing something very important. But I have also noticed that when I focus on Jesus, interest turns to awe ...

1623. Height Advantage

Ephesians 1:15-23

Sermon

Paul E. Robinson

... and I really do enjoy most of it!), I would say that, for our human minds, it may be helpful for us to picture God above the earth in order to communicate at all times with all people, in the same way a geostationary satellite does. I'll buy it -- sort of. As a matter of fact, one could say that is what the Ascension is all about. Jesus ascended into Heaven, so that "from a distance," the Spirit of God in Jesus could be available in the heart of every person on earth. Of course, we need to remind ourselves ...

1624. Lift High the Tree

John 12:20-36

Sermon

George Bass

... of our Lord, because it occurs sometime between the days we call Palm Sunday and Maundy Thursday. It was during that interval that a group of Gentiles, who were simply called Greeks, approached Philip with the request to see Jesus. Jesus must have been in some sort of seclusion pondering, no doubt, what was about to happen to him. His retort to Philip and Andrew, when he heard the request, certainly suggests that he has been making a life or death decision - and he has chosen to die. Just think about that ...

1625. Joy to the World

Isaiah 61:1-11

Sermon

Curtis Lewis

... coming to Christ and how to keep those who come to Christ from being effective and productive. In one letter to Wormwood, Screwtape writes about joy. (In his letters, "the Enemy" always means God). He writes to Wormwood: Fun is closely related to joy -- a sort of emotional froth arising from the play instinct. It is of little use to us. It can sometimes be used, of course, to deviate humans from something else which the enemy should like them to be feeling or doing; but in itself it has wholly undesirable ...

Showing results