Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1601 to 1625 of 1858 results

1601. Holy Extravagance

Mark 14:3-9

Sermon

Will Willimon

... branches, waving them in greeting. “Hosanna!" they shout. "The whole city was stirred up," says Matthew. It's a story about a parade, a ticker-tape entry into the capital city, the most festive season of Israel's year made all the more festive by the wild, exuberant entry of this one who comes in the name of the Lord. You get this sort of excessive, exuberc1nt behavior when people are doing their religion. You may have noted that people in worship are prone to excess. They shout, "Thank you Jesus!" Clap ...

1602. The Mighty Mustard Seed

Mark 4:26-34

Sermon

King Duncan

... of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.” According to William Barclay, mustard was not a garden plant. Mustard plants in Palestine grew in the wild. Even though the mustard seed is the tiniest of all seeds, the mustard plant can grow 8-12 feet high. (2) Jesus compared the kingdom of God to a mustard seed. He called it the tiniest seed on earth but when it grows up, it is taller than ...

1603. Good Show

Revelation 5:11-14

Sermon

Will Willimon

... and blessing" (5:12). The chorus prepares us for the breaking of the seals and the scene ends with the lamb and God, seated together, center stage backed by a loud, operatic, "Amen." Oh what a lovely show! And what does it mean? What does a wild vision like that mean for ordinary people like you and me? What difference does it make that the slaughtered lamb sits beside exalted God, the Creator almighty on the golden throne at the center of heaven? A friend of mine, Jim Wallis of the Sojourners Community ...

1604. Chosen and Appointed

John 15:9-17

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... position in the new order. The financial treasurer of the movement, he was organized and savvy, but also could be untrustworthy and underhanded with the funds. He protected himself above others and could easily switch sides if he felt it in his own interests. The wild card in the bunch, he was loyal to Jesus until Jesus challenged his sense of direction and the way he thought things should be handled. Then he took over and went his own way. Recognize any of these personalities? Every church has at least ...

1605. Mary's Song

Luke 1:46-47, 52

Sermon

Will Willimon

... woman like Mary sing, a black mother in Soweto sing, you don't know where it might lead. I'm a child of the Sixties. When the German magazine, Der Spiegel, did a special issue this summer on my student years, "Der Wilden Sechstige" ("The Wild Sixties"), most of the article was about the music of the Sixties. You can't understand what drove rebelling, protesting, out-of control students into the streets of Detroit, Berlin, Paris, Chicago, or Duke if you never heard Janis Joplin, if you never beard Dylan ...

1606. What Do You Expect?

John 6:24-35

Sermon

King Duncan

... out of college and went to Hollywood. He became a movie producer. He invested money in a few successful films, such as “The Polar Express,” but he also invested in several films that were flops. Along the way, Steve also became known for his wild parties, his gambling and drug use and time spent with prostitutes, and his many girlfriends. He was very generous with his friends but refused to help support the children he had fathered in his many dalliances. That is, until he lost paternity suits in court ...

1607. Out of the Saltshaker

Mark 9:38-50

Sermon

King Duncan

... them, they used salt to preserve their food. Meat in particular would rapidly decay under the hot weather conditions of the equator, and salt was the only ingredient that could slow such a process. Keller recalls how tons and tons of beef, lamb and wild game meat were cut up into slender strips of flesh that were soaked in salt solution. Then those strips would be hung to dry in the fierce sunlight, becoming what we in North America would call “Jerky.” Keller never took anything but “Jerky” with ...

1608. Consuming Fire

Hebrews 12:18-29

Sermon

Will Willimon

... us by the neck and shake us. Then this isn't anymore a pulpit but a rocket into unknown space and you aren't just bright boys and girls who made 1350 on your SATs, who always did what your mother told you and come to church -you're a wild, spirit-filled, cut- loose mob set free to roam. Doesn't happen often. But it does happen. Knowing that it can happen keeps me reaching for Maalox. The place is big, dark, threatening. So is today's text from Hebrews. I bet that you never heard it before. Back home ...

1609. The Power of the Staff

Mark 6:1-13

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... . The sky out there looked wide and vast. Yet they couldn’t stay where they were. The space was growing tight. If they wanted to live, grow, and flourish, they would need to leave their nest. One by one, they moved to the edge, fluttered their wings wildly and suddenly took off. Except the last bird. He moved to the edge. Then moved back again. He moved to the edge, looked around. Then nervously backed away. He appeared to look down, to the sides, up into the air, and then decided, taking that risk was ...

1610. Lazarus, Arise!

John 11:1-44

Sermon

Will Willimon

... Martha's confession. We still think like the Pharisees that resurrection is some time in the future. In the sweet by-and-by, Jesus got Martha to the stunning recognition that resurrection is, present, in the flesh, face-to-face in front of her. It's not some wild theological idea concocted by the Gospel of John. Jesus raised a widow's son (Luke 7:11-17). He raised Jairus's daughter (Luke 8:41-56). Then, there's Lazarus. They all rise, because Jesus has that effect on the dead. They rise months, years before ...

1611. Ordinary People

Ruth 1:1-16

Sermon

Will Willimon

... there is economic disaster as well. There was "a famine in the land'' (Ruth 1:1). Bloated bellies of little children, old people dying in the streets, vast wanderings of hungry beggars. Not a pretty sight. Naomi and her husband leave their home in Bethlehem and travel to the wilds of Moab, hearing that things are better there. Have you ever been to Moab? It's a rough, out-of-the-way sort of place. You don't want to go down there unless you have to. Back in Genesis, after Abraham and Lot parted, Lot went up ...

1612. Metaphors Be with You

John 6:35, 41-51

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

... lives. But these learned scholars and leaders don’t get the metaphor. They take it literally. “Wait a minute,” they all say. “We know this guy. We know his mother and father and we knew him when he was a snotty nosed little kid and when he was a wild teenager and we know for a fact that he didn’t come from heaven. Please! Don’t make me laugh.” So, in verses 43-47 Jesus gets literal. He says what he means and he makes four important points: 1) Stop whining and complaining about the things I’m ...

1613. Call It Like You See It

Mark 7:24-37

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... if humans invited the dogs into their homes, or if some dogs invited themselves, providing protection and help with hunting. But it’s thought that those dogs that were less feral and found a way to work with people ate better and were more successful than wild dogs, and so the genes for domesticity were passed on. And the partnership has been good both ways. Studies show, for instance, that infants that grow up around dogs have more immunities. And there’s nothing like the loyalty of a dog when it comes ...

1614. The Blind See!

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

King Duncan

... -connects-blind-low-vision-people-sighted-volunteers. 2. “When You Ask for Help, but Get to Help Someone,” BeMyEyes.com, https://www.bemyeyes.com/community-stories/when-you-ask-for-help-but-get-to-help-someone. 3. “16 Wildly Successful People Who Overcame Huge Obstacles to Get There” by Renee Jacques, September 25, 2013, HuffPost.com, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/successful-people-obstacles_n_3964459. 4. “Celebrities with Learning Disabilities,” Ranker.com, December 6, 2020, https://www.ranker ...

1615. Mary's Witness

Luke 1:39-45, (46-55)

Sermon

King Duncan

... come to my house there will be cookies for you. But if you are real hungry you can use our phone and order a pizza to go. Dear Santa, I want a Puppy. I want a playhouse. Thank you. I’ve been good most of the time. Sometimes I’m wild. This one’s from a four-year-old: Dear Santa, I’ll take anything because I haven’t been that good. I’ve got some good news for you this morning. It doesn’t matter if you haven’t been that good this year. Jesus still came for you. The ...

1616. Ordering Up A Set Of False Gods On Amazon

1 Thessalonians 3:9-13

Sermon

Mary Austin

... a God whom I could get close to, put my arms around, and cry with in the deep-sea darkness of my childhood….God Will Punish You was written large in our daily lives.” Neither college nor work filled the empty hole within him. He became wildly successful in his work life, and yet more lonely in his personal life. He tried all kinds of jobs, including nightclub entertainer and peach grower. He married, had a daughter, and divorced. His friends made him promise to pray, and when he did, things happened. He ...

1617. Faith and Freedom

Mark 5:21-43

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... . Then he looked at that little girl lying there. He looked into the hearts and eyes of that father and mother and saw their desperate expectation and he was filled with compassion. There wasn't anything showy or flashy, he didn't go through some wild incantation or some hypnotic gyrations, he just took the girl by the hand and spoke simple words: "Talitha cum," which means, "Little girl, get up!" There were a few minutes of total abandon, tears of joy and sorrow were mingled. There was utter amazement at ...

1618. For The Love of God is Creative

1 Corinthians 2:6-12 · Psalm 8

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... of anything, it all looked perfect to them. But then God said, "Let us make humankind, in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth." So God created humankind in God's image, in the image of God he created them; male and female God created them. (Gen 1:26-27) We weren't some accident or some coincidence. We ...

1619. For The Love of God Is Empowering

Matthew 22:36 -40 · John 4:1-32

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... quite a few bikers. They had wonderfully descriptive names like, Leg. (he had a limp); Speed & Shakes, (they were both methamphetamine addicts); and Forger, (guess what he did). A lot of these guys got tattoos. Some of them said things like "Born To Ride." or "Born to be wild." Many of them got their girl friend's name tattooed on their arm. But there's one I remember that really took all the romance out of the biker culture for me, even back then. A biker by the name of Poet had it put on the his right ...

1620. Who Is The Prisoner? Who Is The Judge?

John 18:33-37

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... picture from the other three evangelists, but all four gospels have Pilate asking the crucial question — “Are you the king of the Jews?” Consider Pilate’s confusion — he seemed to be out of his depth. He already had Barabbas in custody, a wild revolutionary, a guerrilla who sought to supplant the almighty emperor in Rome with a Messiah king. Jesus stood before him, accused by the religious authorities of seeking to making himself king, a charge of sedition which meant Pilate must try him. But is ...

1621. In the Wilderness of Temptation

Mark 1:9-15

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... driving when the Holy Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness. And then he asked, is that what it means when we pray, "The Lord is my chauffeur, I shall not walk?" The driving here was an inner compelling. Jesus was compelled to go into to Judean wilderness, out amongst the wild beasts, without food or shelter and wrestle with how he was going to carry out God's mission. He knew what needed to be done, but he had to decide to do it. He had to "set his face to go to Jerusalem" as the Gospel of Luke says. B ...

1622. When Good People Pray

Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

Sermon

King Duncan

... churches celebrate the Baptism of our Lord. For us, it is a major event. The Son of God submits to being baptized at the hands of a somewhat eccentric preacher called John the Baptist. Mark describes John as wearing clothes of camel's hair, living on locusts and wild honey, making his home in the wilderness. John admits that he is not worthy to carry Christ’s sandals (Mt. 3:11). In fact, he seeks to deter Jesus from being baptized at his unworthy hands. And yet Jesus comes to John to be baptized. It is a ...

1623. Welcome, Joe!

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Sermon

King Duncan

... is good news for all of us. It’s about a son who rebels against his family. He asks for his share of the family inheritance so he can go off to a distant country and start a new life. The end result was he squandered his fortune in wild living and ended up broke and alone in a foreign land. When a severe famine spread throughout the whole country, the young man became desperate and hired himself out to a pig farmer just to keep from starving to death. Feeding pigs was rock-bottom, the most shameful job ...

1624. The Favorite

Luke 2:41-52

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... is disappointed –his community, his friends, his colleagues, his family, especially his family. Now he’s exhibiting a God-complex, and those who know him are not only disappointed. They are worried. He’s charismatic, and he’s got a following. He’s a wild card. What happened to the great kid they once knew? How could his family let this happen? We know the thoughts running through everyone’s heads during Jesus’ ministry. So many turned against him. And yet, in today’s scripture, we see a ...

1625. I Shall Rise Again!

I Corinthians 15:19-26 · Luke 24:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... not die. The gift she prayed for became a curse. What use is life if we lose our dignity as human beings? There are things in this world more precious to us than our lives. Archibald Rutledge once told how as a boy he was cured forever of caging wild things. Not content with hearing mockingbirds sing from cedars, he determined to cage a young one, and thus have a young musician all his own. On the second day in the cage, however, the young bird’s mother flew to him with food in her bill. This attention ...

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