Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1676 to 1700 of 4946 results

1676. A Rock Thrown, A Lesson Learned

Mark 12:28-34

Sermon

King Duncan

Author Ron Dykstra tells about a young and successful executive who was traveling through a neighborhood, driving a bit too fast in his new Jaguar. Suddenly a brick smashed into the Jag’s side door! The young executive slammed on the brakes and backed up to the spot where the brick had been thrown. He then jumped out of the car, grabbed the nearest kid and pushed him up against a parked car, shouting, “What was all that about and who are you? Just what the heck are you doing? That’s a new car and that ...

1677. Right in Front of Our Eyes

Matthew 17:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

Pastor Jeff Strite tells a fascinating story about a businessman named John Henry Patterson who back in 1884 founded the National Cash Register Company. Almost immediately the company was profitable. Patterson made it successful because he paid attention to details and kept an eye on each department in the company. At one point, it became apparent that the factory was having a high number of burglaries. Patterson was convinced that the security staff was not doing their job. So, one night, he put on a ...

1678. The Knot: Frayed (Part 2)

1 Peter 3:1-7

Sermon

James Merritt

There is a man in Chicago by the name of Slats Grobnik who sold Christmas trees. One year he noticed a couple on a hunt for a Christmas tree. Someone told him the couple was barely making ends meet. After looking at all the expensive trees they found a Scotch pine that was okay on one side, but it was really bare on the other one. They picked up another tree that was not much better. It was kind of full on one side and scraggly on the other. She whispered something in her husband’s ear and he walked over ...

1679. Paradise Lost

Genesis 3:1-24

Sermon

James Merritt

Vesna Vulovic made history on January 26, 1972 and in doing so made the Guinness World Book of Records. It is not an honor that she wanted, was looking for, or particularly enjoyed. She was a flight attendant on a DC-9 that was flying over what is now the Czech Republic when a bomb went off and blew the plane apart. She fell 33,330 feet and going 122 miles an hour landed on the side of a mountain and even though she suffered a fractured skull, three broken vertebrae, and two broken legs, and was in a coma ...

1680. “I Am from Him and He Sent Me”

John 7:25-44

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

The temple discourse begins anew with a notice that Jesus cried out. This second announcement (vv. 28–29), like the first (vv. 16–19), initiates an encounter with the crowd, yet itself comes as a response to something already expressed. As verses 16–19 addressed the question that perplexed the religious authorities in verse 15, so verses 28–29 address the debate among the people of Jerusalem in verses 25–27. Specifically, they address the objection that Jesus cannot be the Messiah because everyone knows ...

1681. The Art of Following

Matthew 4:12-17, Matthew 4:18-22

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

If you’re my age or older you may remember Homer and Jethro. They were a comedy team who specialized in country music parodies and satire. They were sometimes referred to as “the thinking man’s hillbillies.” One of their routines went like this: HOMER: Jethro, if you was to win the Irish sweepstakes for two million dollars, would you give me half? JETHRO: Why, Homer, you’re my best and closest friend. You know I would. HOMER: I do know you would. That’s what friendship is all about. HOMER: Jethro, if you ...

1682. Fleeced

Judges 6:1-40, John 20:24-31

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. (Psalm 34:8) Prop: Fleece / lamb’s wool Shalom! Peace of the Lord be with you! I have here some genuine lamb’s wool. The wool of a lamb is called “fleece.” And it’s very soft, and very thick. Would anyone like to touch it. [Some can come up…..or you can walk it around and allow people to touch it.] We see something soft, or interesting. We want to touch it. It’s ingrained in us as humans to want to see, to touch, to feel, to ...

1683. Easter 6

Jn 14:15-31; Acts 15:22-29, 16:6-15; Rev 21:22--22:5

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Epistle: Acts 16:9-15 Paul responds to the Holy Spirit's call to go to Macedonia. Paul was on his second missionary journey. He was planning to preach in Asia Minor, but the Holy Spirit prevented him from doing so. One night he received a call to go to Macedonia. Since Luke joined him, Luke could now say "we." They sailed from Troas to Philippi, a Roman province. Because the city was mainly a place for retired Roman soldiers, there were few Jews and the city had no synagogue. Consequently, Paul ...

1684. The Man From Galilee VII: The Triumph Of His Defeat

Matthew 28:1-10

Sermon

Thomas A. Pilgrim

Bishop Walter L. Underwood wrote a book a few years ago called Being Human Being Hopeful. The last chapter is on the subject of death. He refers to a statement made by actor Woody Allen, who said, "I don't want immortality through my work. I want immortality through not dying."1 I read that book with great interest. Then I learned that Bishop Underwood died not long after I had read his book, and I went back and read that last chapter again. It is a great affirmation of our faith in the face of life's ...

1685. The Resurrection

John 20:10-18, John 20:1-9

Drama

Jerry Eckert

This was the first Easter I served as pastor at Emmaus Church in Milwaukee. There were no signs that my dramatized story sermons would work. While there were many wonderful people, there seemed little interest in doing creative things on Sunday mornings. My preaching routine was mostly thematic, occasionally going to the lectionary. My style is conversational but the pulpit was high and to one side in the front. It looked like a battlement hanging out over the slanting floor. There were seldom enough to ...

1686. Ashamed Of The Gospel

Romans 1:1-17

Sermon

Erskine White

For I am not ashamed of the Gospel. (Romans 1:16) I want you to step into a time machine with me this morning. We're going to spend a few minutes today back in ancient Rome. We are going to the place they call "the Eternal City." In this year of 54 or 58 A.D., Rome is certainly the most magnificent city this side of China. It is the hub and heartbeat of an empire from Europe to Africa to the edge of Asia. Everything we see in Rome gives the image of power and wealth. First, we see the Roman army, marching ...

1687. Two R-Rated Stories

John 7:45--8:11

Sermon

John M. Braaten

We are going to look at two R-rated stories from the life of Christ this morning. I use the term "R-rated" in the sense that when some people observed the behavior of Jesus in these events, they were so morally incensed that in each case they felt he should be censured. The opening scene of the first story begins with a woman who had been dragged out of her house by a couple of her pastors; they had not even given her time to comb her hair or properly dress. She had been caught red-handed, found committing ...

1688. Overcoming The Blues

1 Kings 19:1-8

Sermon

Robert Allen

For those of you who are football fans, you know that Lou Holtz is a football coach who likes to win. Every place that he has coached, he has taken the football program and turned it around. He built Arkansas into one of the major football powers in the nation. He was turning the program around at Minnesota when he was offered the position at Notre Dame. Notre Dame’s football program had been struggling for several years and Lou Holtz was hired to restore the “Fighting Irish” to their winning tradition. ...

1689. Stairways Of Heaven

Genesis 28:10-22

Sermon

Justin Tull

As I studied in depth this passage of scripture, I learned that I have long carried misconceptions about “Jacob’s ladder.” My first surprising discovery was that all the commentaries I read suggested that Jacob’s vision was not of a ladder as we know it today, but more of a “ramp” or “stair-like pavement.”9 This “ramp” was to handle traffic between heaven and earth.10 Heavenly messengers could approach thereby those dwelling below. After reading about Jacob’s ladder being a ramp-like structure, I decided ...

1690. The Children

Drama

William Grimbol

SETTING: Seven children gathered in a courtyard garden for conversation TIME: Christ's ministry JOHN: Who is he? KEITH: Who is who? JOHN: Him ... the one you are talking about? PETER: Just be quiet. JULIE: As you know, my father is a Pharisee. JENA: As is my father. KEITH: How could we not know? CHRIS: You tell us every time. JOHN: What is a MESS-I-A? PETER: Quiet. Go play. We know they are Pharisees. JULIE: My father believes he is just nothing more than another crazy cause leader. JENA: Indeed. You know ...

1691. A Glimpse of God

John 14:5-14

Sermon

George Bass

Philip seems, according to St. John, to have more in common with Thomas than he does with James the Less, the son of Alphaeus, of whom we have precious little information as a disciple, an evangelist, or even - as tradition tells us - as a martyr. Not that much more is known about Philip! Circumstance linked Philip and James the Less together because their remains, or relics, were moved to the Church of the Apostles in Rome on May 1; their bodies still lie together in a crypt under the main altar of this ...

1692. Are You Exercising Your Faith?

Mt 4:1-11 · Phil 3:12 · Gen 32:3

Sermon

Robert Noblett

There was once a woman who had faith. When asked the origins of that faith, she supposed they were many. For one thing her mother and father were, in the best sense of the term, religious people. Prayers in their home were regular and natural, and this woman, together with her siblings, were involved as children in this prayer life. What’s more, this woman’s parents were members of a local congregation. In this context, she learned many of the famous stories of the Bible. She also became familiar with a ...

1693. The Drop Out

Drama

Sarah Walton Miller

The three male actors in this brief skit enter and take closed positions. That is, each stands upstage with his back to the audience. Props needed: three chairs scattered over the playing area, to be used at will. To begin, PHIL and DAVE come downstage. PHIL: Well, I don’t know, Dave. For two years now we’ve been planning this bike trip. We’ve both trained for it. You know it will be tough. DAVE: But, Phil, Danny is strong. He’s 18, he weighs 190 and he’s the best tackle his school ever had. PHIL: I know ...

1694. You Don’t Really Feel That Way

Job 6:1-7:21

Sermon

Thomas D. Peterson

As a young soldier I was on my way to the Pacific Theater. The trip was at the height of World War II, with troop ships easy targets. To avoid the enemy our ship wove an irregular pattern across the ocean. The trip to Manila took 36 days. I was not a good sailor. Between sea sickness and infections, I was on sick call more than half the days. At one period I knew I had naso-pharyngitis, a condition for which I had often been diagnosed. On sick call, the doctor said, "Well, what’s wrong with you," not in a ...

1695. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

Luke 13:22-30

Sermon

David E. Leininger

A little girl came home from school and asked her mother if she knew Christopher Columbus was Italian. "Yes," said Mom. And the girl continued, "Did you know that Queen Isabella furnished the money to buy his ships?" "Yes, dear, I had heard that." The little girl thought for a moment and then said reflectively, "Well, really, Mother, if you already know the things I come home and tell you, I don't see any use in going to school." By the time we get done here this morning, you may feel the same about coming ...

1696. Grumblers Among God's People

1 Corinthians 10:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

At a certain popular resort there are hot springs and cold springs side by side. Local people washed clothes in the hot spring and then rinsed them in the cold. A tourist, watching the procedure, said to one of the natives, "How bountiful of nature to supply these springs." "Not so bountiful," said the native. "You'll notice there's no soap." A new pastor was full of enthusiasm on his first Sunday. He mentioned the thrill of accepting the call of the congregation, particularly since it had been a unanimous ...

1697. No Longer Orphans

John 14:15-31

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

Have you ever wondered where sermons come from? I have. Especially when I first entered the ministry. I had an idea what I was going to preach about next Sunday, and a pretty good idea of what I would like to say a week from next Sunday; but I wondered: what on earth I would find to preach about five, ten, fifteen or twenty years down the road? Fortunately, thanks to the limitless resources available in the Holy Scripture, I never ran out of sermon topics in forty years of parish ministry, but the whole ...

1698. When the Boat Begins to Sink

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon

David G. Rogne

In the Gardener Museum in Boston hangs Rembrandt's painting of The Storm on the Sea of Galilee. The artist recreates the scene so powerfully that a viewer can sense the danger the small craft is in and the panic of those who are on board. The small boat is being lifted on the crest of a giant wave; sail and lines are torn loose from the riggings and flailing wildly in the gale. Five disciples are struggling to reef the sail while they hold on desperately to the mast. The rest are in the stern of the boat, ...

1699. The Ministry Of Making Many Rich

1 Timothy 6:11-21

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

One of the most effective and colorful congressmen to ever go to Washington was a crusty old gentlemen from Texas named Sam Rayburn. He served Congress for over 50 years — during the last ten of those years, he was Speaker of the House. But the real greatness of Sam Rayburn was not in the public positions he held. It was in his common touch. One day he heard that the teenage daughter of a Washington reporter had died. Early the next morning he went over to the reporter’s house and knocked on the door. “I ...

1700. O Come, O Come Emmanuel

Isaiah 1:1-31

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Back in the early 1980's, there was a best- selling book entitled Blue Highways. The novel chronicles one man's adventures along the back roads and secondary highways of America. His journeys took him into crossroad villages and almost forgotten towns where he met all kinds of interesting people, including a few hitchhikers whom he befriended. Among the hitchhikers was a Bible-toting self styled evangelist, who passed out religious tracts and confronted everyone he met with questions about their salvation ...

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