Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1676 to 1700 of 2844 results

1676. Those Guilty of Intermarriage

Ezra 10:18-44

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

The Message Hits Home: The story continues so smoothly from chapter 9 that, although it switches to third-person references to Ezra, this must be an editorial change made to the Ezra memoirs. He is labeled Ezra the priest in verses 10 and 16, for he was engaging in priestly work as he instructed the people about their uncleanness and pointed to the remedy, along the lines of Leviticus 10:10–11. In this way he discharged the second half of his mission, teaching the Torah and making it the basis of communal ...

1677. The Completion of the Wall

Nehemiah 6:15-7:3

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

Success in Spite of Intimidation: The keyword of this chapter is intimidation. Of the major English versions, only the NJPS is consistent in its fivefold rendering of the same Hebrew verb for intimidation. It occurs regularly at the conclusion of paragraphs, in verses 9, 13–14, 16, and 19. The first main section, consisting of verses 1–14, is divided into two parallel subsections describing different attempts to intimidate, in verses 1–9 and 10–14. Then verses 15–16 record a great reversal of the ...

1678. Everlasting Salvation for Zion

Isaiah 51:1-16

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

Four Wake-up Calls and a Departure Call: In 50:4 the subject suddenly changes again—in two senses. The grammatical subject is once again a human “I” rather than a divine “I,” and the thematic subject is the pressure upon this human “I.” In both respects the passage parallels 49:1–6, and it will emerge that 50:4–52:12 forms a sequence parallel to 49:1–50:4, analogous to double sequences we have noted earlier in chapters 40–55. The arrangement of sections is not as tightly parallel as in earlier instances, ...

1679. Like Fighting a Giant Tuna

Romans 7:14-25a

Sermon

King Duncan

Pastor Spencer Homan tells an exciting true story about the Great Tuna run of 1998. The story begins with tuna running only 30 miles off Cape Cod. What made that exciting was that such a run hadn’t happened in 47 years. The tuna were not only running, but they were also biting! It was a fisherman’s dream. All you needed was a sharp hook and some bait and you could haul in a bountiful catch. You could even make some money. Rumor had it that Japanese buyers would pay up to $50,000 for a nice blue fin tuna. ...

1680. Deathbed Confessions

Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon

King Duncan

Did you know that Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis and one of the most important figures of the early 20th century was a teller of jokes? He was. In fact, way back in 1915 he told a joke about a minister who was summoned by a group of anxious relatives. They wanted him to extract a deathbed conversion from an atheistic and unrepentant insurance salesman. The meeting between the minister and the insurance salesman took place, and the longer the meeting continued behind the hospital's closed ...

1681. The Sacred Power of a Listening Heart

1 Samuel 3:1-10, 19

Sermon

King Duncan

Over 80 years ago, Jed Harris was a successful producer of plays. One of his successful works was the production of Thornton Wilder’s play, “Our Town.” In the middle of a lengthy season mixed with the intense pressure of many details, Harris began to lose his sense of hearing. He could not even hear what other people close to him were saying and so he was missing crucial details during conversations. As a result, Jed Harris decided to pay a visit to a renowned audiologist who listened attentively as the ...

1682. Before You Start Ripping Your Clothing

Joel 2:12-17

Sermon

King Duncan

I don’t know about you, but it feels a little strange to me to celebrate Ash Wednesday on St. Valentine’s Day. It puts some of you who are romantically inclined in a real bind. “How shall we celebrate Valentines, dear? How about we go to an Ash Wednesday service where the pastor will read from the prophet Joel telling us to ‘rend your hearts and not your clothing?’” Does that put you in a romantic mood? It doesn’t sound that romantic to me. I can hear some of you men now. “Honey I’ve decided to treat you ...

1683. The Lazarus Experience

John 11:17-44

Sermon

April Yamasaki

One of Rembrandt's early paintings is The Raising of Lazarus, an oil painting that's just over three feet high and just under three feet wide. To the lower right, there is Lazarus -- half lying down, half sitting up, just starting to rise. Crouched around him, half bent over with grief and growing wonder, are his two sisters, Mary and Martha, and some of the people who had come to comfort them. Standing over and above them all, is Jesus -- not bent over like the others, but standing fully upright, with his ...

1684. The Natural Look

Luke 9:28-36 (37-43)

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

It was a special day, a spiritual day, the passage from childhood into young adulthood. I was just shy of my thirteenth birthday and I was excited. For six months we had sat through boring classes memorizing the catechism, taking notes, trying to be good at God. After all, the closest thing I knew to God was my teacher, who happened to be my daddy. And I didn’t want to disappoint either God or Daddy! Yes, back then confirmation was a big deal. Nobody ever dreamed of missing a class. We memorized all 196 ...

1685. Listen to the Angels

Revelation 5:11-14

Sermon

King Duncan

A layperson wrote on the Internet that he attends a small village church in rural Pennsylvania. On any given Sunday, he says, they may have six or seven faithful children who come with their parents. The pastor has a white bag which is passed from child to child, making sure they get equal turns to put something in for him to talk about. Each Sunday, the pastor calls all the children up and he opens the bag to find a “surprise” on which he bases his children’s sermon. Easter week, the bag went home with a ...

1686. First the Bad News...

Luke 21:5-19

Sermon

King Duncan

I know they’re corny, but I love good news/bad news jokes. We laugh at them because of the element of surprise, but also because we can relate to the scenarios in them. They appeal to the cynic in us that just expects the world to operate in that order--good news, then bad news. A young man phones up his dad at work for a chat. Dad says, “I’m sorry, son, but I’m up to my neck in work today” Son says, “But I’ve got some good news and some bad news for you, Dad.” Dad says, “OK, but since I’ve got no time now ...

1687. Saved By the Light

Isaiah 60:1-6

Sermon

King Duncan

Series: Seeing God More Clearly in 2020 Rev. Richard Fairchild tells the harrowing story of an event that occurred on Sunday afternoon, June 1st, 1975. A man named Darrel Dore was on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. Suddenly the rig wobbled, tipped to one side, and crashed into the sea. Darrel was trapped inside a room on the rig. As the rig sank deeper and deeper into the sea, the lights went out and the room began to fill with water. Thrashing about in the darkness, Darrel accidentally found a huge air ...

1688. Trusting in the Goodness of God

Genesis 2:15-17, Genesis 3:1-7

Sermon

King Duncan

Welcome to the first Sunday in the season of Lent, the forty-six days from Ash Wednesday to silent Saturday, the day before Easter, the day before our celebration of the Resurrection. All around the world, people celebrate Lent as a time of reflection and preparation. We reflect on the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross, and we prepare ourselves to celebrate the awesome, life-changing joy of the resurrection. Traditionally, we as Christians celebrate Lent by examining our hearts, repenting of our sins ...

1689. Jacob's Well

John 4:1-26, John 4:27-38, John 4:39-42

Sermon

Lori Wagner

With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. (Isaiah 12:3) My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and dug out cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that can hold no water. (Jeremiah 2:13) Props: a fountain of water (you can find small fountains at most greenhouses or online) running; large pot made of pottery or clay; bottle of spring water; baptismal font or other large bowl of water with nearby towel; fishbowl; glasses of water that look ...

1690. Moving On

Luke 6:12-16, Luke 9:1-9, Luke 10:1-24

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Prop: dusty bowl This bowl hasn’t been used in a long time. You can tell, because it’s covered in dust. It hasn’t been touched, cleaned, moved, because it’s been here in this church on this shelf a very long time. [You could also refer to something in a glass case or anything that has sat around for a while.] It’s not being used in ministry or worship. It isn’t something that is used in healing people or baptizing them. It’s here on the shelf, gathering dust. This is perhaps one of the best metaphors we ...

1691. Redemption

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me. (John 12:23-26) Prop: Seeds wrapped in wedding pouch ...

1692. She Waits

Acts 1:1-11, Luke 24:50-53, Luke 24:36-49

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“In My Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and welcome you into My presence, so that you also may be where I am.” John 14:2-3 “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have told you.” John 14:26 “Instead, your hearts are filled with sorrow because I have told you these ...

1693. Rooted and Rebooted

Psalm 126:1-6, Luke 13:31-35, 2 Samuel 15:13-37

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“Remember the Lord Your God.” (Deuteronomy 8:18) “Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy. Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them.” (Psalm 126:5-6) Prop: Olive branch with ripe fruit and if you dare a bowl of kalamata olives to pass out for people to hold and taste during the sermon I have here an olive branch, ripe with fruit. The olive is known for its rich oil and its luscious fruit. When you taste it, it leaves with you a ...

1694. The Physician

Isaiah 38:1-22, Matthew 8:14-17

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“He took our infirmities and bore our diseases.” (Isaiah 53:4) In 1917 during the Bolshevik Revolution a painting by the artist known to us as Rembrandt called “Christ with Arms Folded” was confiscated from the home of Russian Count Alexander Orloff Davidoff of Petrograd. Ten years later, the painting was again stolen from the Pushkin State Museum in Moscow and ruthlessly vandalized, slashing and scarring the canvas. The painting remained missing for four years before it was found buried in a sealed can ...

1695. Don’t Just Do Something, Stand There!

Matthew 17:1-13

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

The Cadillac ELR commercial that was made for and launched during the 2014 Winter Olympics, was called “Poolside.” It featured actor, Neil McDonough, blond, handsome, and cocksure, touting not so much the car as the people who made it and, more importantly, the people who can afford to buy it. In fact, if you don’t watch carefully you don’t even know it’s about a car. It was about hard driving, innovative, creative Americans and it poked a playful stick in the eye of those laconic, lazy Europeans. It ...

1696. Second Sight

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Lori Wagner

This past week alone, I noticed at least 20 things I never noticed before. I saw a mama squirrel protecting her baby in the tree outside my porch. I met neighbors I never saw before. I took walks and noticed new buds, types of trees, all manner of railroad ties, how trains are constructed, found countless new places driving about in the area outside of town. The list could go on. I also noticed new things about myself, my likes and dislikes, and about others around me, especially at places such as the ...

1697. Priceless!

Matthew 13:44-46

Sermon

King Duncan

There was a news story on AOL.com earlier this year about an unnamed U.S. Air Force veteran who bought a Rolex watch in 1974 through the Air Force base exchange while stationed in Thailand. He bought the watch, a Rolex Oyster Cosmograph after hearing it was good for scuba diving. When he received the Rolex, he decided it was too nice to wear in saltwater and decided to lock it away in a safe deposit box. There it remained for nearly five decades At the time he bought it, the watch cost $345.97, which was a ...

1698. Building a Winning Team

Matthew 16:13-20

Sermon

King Duncan

I don’t know if you have noticed or not, but it seems like CEOs and HR departments of nearly every sort of business enterprise as well as every sports coach in the land these days is talking about how to build a winning culture. Building the right culture is said to be the magic formula for uniting your team around a singular vision. Some companies address this challenge by scheduling a team-building retreat. Have any of you ever been on a team-building retreat? These retreats are designed to get people ...

1699. A Personal Question Deserves a Personal Answer

Matthew 16:13-20

Sermon

Roy Howard

One warm August night and only two of us standing on our neighbor’s deck. The others had gone inside to escape the heat and eat the dessert waiting in the cool kitchen. Alone on the deck in the descending darkness of early evening my neighbor asked, “So, how did you find the Lord?” It was not a question I was expecting at a neighborhood dinner party, or any party for that matter, where politics, religion, and conviviality don’t mingle with one another. It made me uncomfortable and slightly embarrassed. ...

1700. It’s Sunday…But Friday’s Comin’

Mark 11:1-11 · John 12:12-16

Sermon

Timothy W. Ayers

As a pastor and a preacher I’ve developed my own top ten of messages I’ve heard preached by other men and women. One of my favorites is Tony Campolo’s “Its Friday…But Sunday’s Comin.’” Dr. Campolo told the story of a little preaching competition that he had with his pastor during services at the church where he attended. Dr. Campolo told how he preached the perfect sermon, perfect in every way. He had taken the congregation to the heights of glory and the depths of despair. As he sat down beside his pastor ...

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