Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1626 to 1650 of 5000 results

1626. God's Kingdom Shall Endure Forever

Daniel 7:1-14, Daniel 7:15-28, Hebrews 12:1-13

Bulletin Aid

James Wilson

Call to Worship Leader: Come, let the saints of the church gather this day for worship! People: Many of God's saints have gone before us and many are yet to come. Leader: The saints of God's kingdom will reign with Christ forever. People: And when the last trumpet sounds our hearts will be filled with joy. Leader: Then let our voices be raised in praise and song before Almighty God. All: Blessed be the name of the Lord! Collect Almighty and gracious God, in Your power and glory Your kingdom will endure ...

1627. Hermon: The Camel Who Was Humbled

Matthew 19:24

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

Object: None Do you know what it means to be humble? Most people like to think that they are humble, but many of them are not. How many of you think that it is good to be proud? People are always telling us that we should be proud of doing this or doing that? If you get good grades in school or can play ball very well, people might tell you, that you should be very proud. Maybe there are different ways to be proud but we know that Jesus approved of the humble and taught us not to think too much of ...

1628. Living Passionately

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

Text: Luke 4:18-19 - "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." Some years ago a friend wrote to the Russian author, Turgenev, telling him that he felt that the most important thing in life was to put one's self in second place. Turgenev replied to his friend: "I suspect that the ...

1629. What Makes Us Human?

Isaiah 6:1-13

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

Text: Isaiah 6:1-5 - In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim; each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory." And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. ...

1630. Is Christianity Practical?

Jeremiah 17:19-27

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

Text: Jeremiah 17:5 - Thus says the Lord: "Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his arm, whose heart turns away from the Lord." Let's face it, we are paradoxical, a people who, while expressing our trust in Almighty God, are motivated by the apparent conviction that humanity is more to be trusted. That which is real is that which is pragmatically, empirically proved to be of value to humanity, and it is almost without exception something that humanity has produced. We have closed our ears to ...

1631. Is It Well With Your Family? (Mother's Day)

2 Kings 4:8-26

Sermon

Brett Blair

[Read up to verse 26b and end with "Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with your child?"] I am going to read a quote to you first and then tell you who said it: A small child waits, with impatience, the arrival home of a parent. She wishes to relate some sandbox experience. She is excited to share the thrill that she has known that day. The time comes; the parent arrives. Beaten down by the stresses of the workplace the parent often replies: “Not now, honey, I’m busy, go watch ...

1632. The Kind of Church to Become

Acts 2:1-13

Illustration

Johnny Dean

In his marvelous book, The Kingdom of God is a Party, Tony Campolo tells a story that illustrates how I believe the church must begin to live out our witness in the new millennium. Campolo was attending a Christian conference in Honolulu, Hawaii. Since there was a six-hour time differential between Honolulu and his hometown in Pennsylvania, on his first night there Campolo experienced some confusion in his sleep pattern. He woke up about 3 o’clock in the morning and couldn’t get back to sleep. So he got up ...

1633. Saving A Church

Hebrews 12:1-13

Sermon

I imagine that different letters in the New Testament were written with varying degrees of haste. Paul wrote an angry letter to the church at Corinth. You can tell that as he wrote it he had a lot of things on his mind. On the other hand, the Book of 1st Thessalonians consists almost entirely of prayers and praise. Obviously, there was not a great sense of urgency about the letter. When Paul wrote his brief letter to Philemon, he told his friend and former slave, Onesimus, to personally deliver it. It ...

1634. Saving A Church

Hebrews 12:1-13

Sermon

1635. Learning to Walk on the Water

Matthew 14:22-36

Sermon

"Take heart ... it is I ..." It was not the custom of Jesus to go about walking on water. When he wanted to cross a lake or stream, he normally got into a boat, as you and I would. When he walked, he usually walked on earth, as you and I do. But in Matthew 14:22-33 we have an exception. Here the story is told of a night when Jesus walked on the storm-driven waves of Galilee. Some of his disciples were out there in a boat, fearing for their very lives, many furlongs from land, beaten by the waves, the wind ...

1636. A Change of Direction

Matthew 21:28-32

Sermon

"... but afterward he repented and went." - Matthew 21:29 In Matthew 21:28-32 Jesus tells a story about afterthoughts. In this story two young men had second thoughts about choices they had made. Each had made up his mind to go in a certain direction, but later reconsidered and went another. Here is the story as Jesus told it: "A man had two sons; and he went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work in the vineyard today.' and he answered, 'I will not;' but afterward he repented and went. And he went to ...

1637. The Man Who Came to Dinner

Luke 14:1-14

Sermon

Carveth Mitchell

To the thoughtful reader of this Gospel two questions jump out at once: Why was Jesus invited to a dinner with the Pharisees on the Sabbath? And why did he accept? In answer to that, there are three key sentences in this Gospel, and all three come across the centuries and speak Jesus’ word to us. I "They were watching him." (verse 1) Lo! Our two questions are answered. He was invited so they could watch him. What further evidence could they gather to feed the fire of their animosity toward him? Obviously ...

1638. The Man Who Didn’t Care

Luke 16:19-31

Sermon

Carveth Mitchell

A woman once said to her pastor, "I enjoy your Bible classes very much. You get so much out of the text that isn’t there." What she meant, of course, was that he saw and explained things that were not evident to her. Let’s take her literally for a moment. As we study the Gospel for today, let’s get out of it some of the things that are not there in order to see clearly the things that are there. It’s easy to read some unwarranted meanings into this parable - like putting on a suit of armor to keep the real ...

1639. Of Preachers and Preaching

Micah 1:8-16

Sermon

Of the several significant themes which may be identified in the Scripture lessons read today, I choose the one about preachers and preaching. Perhaps this is because I tune in most easily on this wave length. The prophet Micah came out of the village of Moresheth with a message concerning Samaria and Jerusalem which he was sure the Lord wanted him to deliver. It was a social Gospel message condemning the prominent and powerful of those societies for their many sins. "Have you no sense of justice?" he ...

1640. The Golden Gift

Drama

A Christmas play based on a scene from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo Program Notes Our play is based on an incident which comes early in one of Victor Hugo's greatest novels, Les Misérables - ("The Wretched Ones"). This book was published while Hugo was in exile in England in 1862. It was written as a social novel in which he made society itself the heavy in the piece. The novel was received with mixed reactions. One reviewer called it "his pernicious book." Another more charitably wrote: "It is ... the ...

1641. Parable of the Three Candles

Matthew 5:13-16

Illustration

Three children carried their candles home from church. Each thought of it preciously in relationship to the commitment made in the beautiful Candle Light Service. One had not even lit the candle in order to keep it good as new. The other had let the candle burn during the service and carried it forth still lit from the church, but it blew out at the doorway. The third blew out his candle and took it home and lit it a number of times during the year until it was burned down into the dish. "Look," said Mary ...

1642. Beasts, Saints and Chaos

Daniel 7:1-14

Sermon

"But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingly power and shall retain it for ever, for ever and ever." But we are not there yet; neither were the people of the text. Because they were not yet there and we are not yet there, we gather here to reflect that some are already there but the rest of us are not yet there. We have enough trouble without the troublesome word "saint" - "the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingly power and shall retain it for ever, for ever and ever." "But I’m no ...

1643. To Thank Is To ...

Deuteronomy 26:1-15

Sermon

This ritual of Thanksgiving is a ritual of identification. A traditional American parade ritualizes the sacredness and centeredness of money in American life. This Deuteronomic ritual identifies God as the center of thanksgiving and is our way of saying so. One does not thank anybody if self is the center. Thanks, then, may be little more than the oil of social facilitation. The thanksgiving of this text expresses a relationship of debt. It calls forth one’s history - not of one’s lifetime alone, but that ...

1644. I Never Promised You a Rose Garden

Jeremiah 20:7-18

Sermon

"The word of the Lord has become for me a reproach and derision all day long." (v. 8) Prayer: Lord, you have called us to a faith that is much more than a sentimental security blanket. You have challenged us to live out what we say we believe. You never said it would be easy. Give us the courage to stand up and be counted, and also the courage to keep standing after we have been counted. "I beg your pardon; I never promised you a rose garden. Along with the sunshine, there’s got to be a little rain, ...

1645. Tempter and Tempted

Matthew 4:1-11

Sermon

Dean Lueking

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And he fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." But he answered, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.' "Then the devil took him to the holy city, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, "If you are ...

1646. Parable of the Rich Man's Wife

Matthew 6:19-24

Illustration

Staff

Two couples stood at the altar in a double wedding ceremony. Capable, hopeful, ambitious young people they entered the ways of wedded bliss with faith and confidence. As time wrote its story the one young man was exceedingly successful in business and year by year his income grew larger. The other young man was successful, but his work of service never made him rich in income. Strangely as the wealthy business man grew richer, his wife became less and less capable; so that her duties as wife, mother and ...

1647. Advent 2

Malachi 2:17--3:5, Philippians 1:1-11, Luke 3:1-20

Sermon Aid

COMMENTARY Malachi 3:1-4 (C, L) Yahweh promises to send his messenger to prepare the way for his coming. The messenger is the center of this pericope. Malachi means "my messenger." (v. 1) The book was written by an unknown prophet who considered himself the messenger to prepare the way for Yahweh's coming to the rebuilt temple after the return of the Exiles from Babylon. When Yahweh comes, he, like a refiner's fire, will cleanse the Levitical priesthood and their sacrifices. Christians interpret this ...

1648. Easter 6

Jn 14:23-29 · Acts 14:8-18; 15:1-2, 22-29 · Rev 21:10, 22-27

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

COMMENTARY Acts 15:1-2, 22-29 The church decided not to require circumcision to be a Christian. Here is the first possible division in the church. The issue was whether it was necessary for a Gentile to become a Jew before becoming a Christian. The problem is given in verses 1-2 and the solution is in verses 22-29. The basic issue was, is a person saved by keeping the Law (circumcision) or by grace? A conference was called at Jerusalem where Peter and James took the position that it was not necessary to be ...

1649. Proper 7

Lk 9:18-24 · Gal 3:23-29 · 1 Ki 19:9-14 · Zech 12:7-10

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY 1 Kings 19:9-14 A discouraged Elijah hears God speak in a still, small voice. This pericope is a continuation of the story begun last Sunday. We left a scared and dejected Elijah in the wilderness where an angel brought him food to give him strength to go to Mount Horeb, the mountain of God. When he arrives Yahweh asks him why he is there. Elijah explains that he has been jealous for the Lord, that God's people turned to idols, and that he is the only faithful one left in Israel. Yahweh told ...

1650. Proper 18

Lk 14:25-33 · Eze 33:1-11 · Phm 1-20 · Prov 9:8-12

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Ezekiel 33:1-11 The watchman saves his life by giving God's warning to the wicked in the hope that the wicked will repent and live. The setting for this pericope is the defense alarm system of Ezekiel's day. A watchman was posted on a hill to warn the city by blowing a trumpet when an enemy approached. This gave the people in the fields an opportunity to come into the walled city for protection. If the watchman failed to warn, he was responsible for the death of those killed by the invaders. On ...

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