Sermon and Worship Resources

Synonyms: Levi, disciple, evangelist, tax collector, the 12, the twelve, apostle, sermon on the mount, jewish audience, beatitudes, lord's prayer, great commission, parables, olivet discourse, mount of olives, olivet, synoptic

Showing 1701 to 1725 of 2273 results

1701. Caring for the “Little Ones”

Mark 5:21-43

Sermon

George Reed

This Gospel Reading from Mark is two stories entwined together. Separately, they are powerful stories but when they are combined their force is greatly increased. Here, in one episode, we have Jesus, the healer, raising a little girl from the dead and curing a woman who has suffered for twelve years from her affliction. While these two healings are wondrous in their power it is the status of the ones who are healed that gives the story its power. It is difficult for us today to understand the social ...

1702. It’s Good to Know Who Is Calling

1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20)

Sermon

Schuyler Rhodes

When I was a boy, our family used to have a parakeet. The bird's name was "Beauty." Beauty was a bird like most. She spent her life in the cage poking at a mirror and whistling while my mom played classical music. She was quite tame, and we all loved playing with her. One special skill that she acquired, however, was whistling. In fact, she was able to perfectly copy the whistle that my dad used to call our pet dog. It was amazing. You really couldn't tell whether it was my dad or the bird whistling. ...

1703. What Part of “You Shall Not” Don’t You Understand?

Exodus 20:1-17

Sermon

Ron Lavin

Ethical relativists have moved into our lives like a horde of invading barbarians threatening to conquer the land. Increasingly, people seem to be succumbing to the enemy. Many today say, "Nothing is absolute, not God, not the Bible, not the Ten Commandments." The only absolute for many people today seems to be the statement, "There are no absolutes." Guess again. The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17) are biblical correctives for a society that too easily has been overcome by the ethical relativists who ...

1704. With Friends Like These ...

Job 38:1-7 (34-41)

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day is a favorite book of children and adults alike. Things are always going wrong in Alexander's life, and we can identify with his laments. Alexander goes to bed with gum in his mouth and wakes up with gum in his hair. His teacher likes his friend Paul's sailboat picture better than Alexander's invisible castle, which she can't quite see. At the lunch table, while others are enjoying various delicious sweets, Alexander discovers that his mother is ...

1705. Are You a Crazy Dog?

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

The essence of the gospel is inside-out paradox and upside-down preposterousness: The way up is down, the way in is out, the way high is low. Jesus turns the world upside-down, and invites us to an upside-down way of living, an inside-out way of thinking. Are you brave enough to be a Crazy Dog? Jesus spent most of his ministry promoting "Crazy Dog" thinking - urging his disciples to join with him in the Crazy Dog pursuit of faithfulness and fulfillment. The Kingdom of God, Jesus insisted, would be filled ...

1706. Interior Decorations

Luke 21:5-38

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

The Advent season invites us to consider sprucing up our inner selves and souls along with our homes and offices and churches - interior decorations that will go with all our exterior decorations. The Advent season is a decoration season. In fact, most churches designate a decoration day called "Hanging of the Greens" or some such title. During Advent we spend a great deal of time decorating - we decorate our shops, streets, homes, trees, sometimes even ourselves with an upbeat mood, unusual sprightliness ...

1707. Back to School

Luke 2:41-52

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

In November 1987, Time carried a cover story entitled "Who's in Charge?" The magazine answered its own question with these words: "The nation calls for leadership, and there is no one home." How can the church assert leadership in the world today? In many churches the Sunday after Christmas is also "Student Recognition Sunday" - the reason being that on this Sunday there is probably a pretty good chance that those kids who grew up in the congregation and have gone off to college are in town for the weekend ...

1708. Has He Appeared to You?

1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

How does Christ appear to you? And if Christ hasn't appeared to you lately - why not? If you think God only visits on Sundays, maybe you need to start looking at different parts of your life, different days in your week, in order to rediscover God's presence there. Jesus' physical appearance on this earth was just the beginning of the greatest story ever told. For a few, like Simon Peter and the rest of the disciples, the physical presence of this living, breathing Jesus was enough impetus to effect ...

1709. Speak Up for Forgiveness

Hebrews 13:1-8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

The Christian faith boasts a "Six Step" Recovery Program to repair and restore broken relationships. If, as we discussed in last week's sermon ideas, the marriage covenant is sealed in freshness and finality through the culturally dubious virtue of faithfulness, that is still only half the story. In order for one weak, struggling, stumbling, sinful human being to remain faithful to another similarly hamstrung human being, there needs to be an enormous flow of forgiveness between the two. Faithfulness ...

1710. Is Your Christmas Spirit a Controlled Substance?

1 Thessalonians 5:12-28

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Note: It is recommended that you hand out to every one a wooden match as part of this sermon. We are two days into the “Twelve Days of Christmas” countdown. This means you are either swimming in the “Christmas spirit,” or you have by now been swamped by the “Christmas spirit.” Which is it? How many of you are swamped? How many of you are swimming? We are supposed to be suffused with the “Christmas spirit” ...

1711. Out of the Box Gifts

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Three days before the first big winter storm hit, the phone rang. It was “Odie,” the local plumber, volunteering to come over and do some work. He offered to drain out the hot water tanks and outside pipes ahead of the blast of arctic air headed our way. “Odie” wasn’t trying to drum up any business for himself. In fact, if all our pipes burst he would make a lot of money repairing the damages. He was simply thinking of others and offering the gift of his unique talents to help out a family with a man with ...

1712. Acts 1:15-17, 21-26

Acts 1:15-17, 21-26

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

The remaining disciples must now take action to restore their ranks to a full complement of twelve. Luke makes sure that we know this is not an unintended development. In verses 16-20 Peter re-tells the tale of Judas' betrayal and ultimate fate through the eyes of scripture which "had to be fulfilled." "Proof-from-prophecy" is one of Luke's favorite ways of validating events surrounding the newly emerging church. The Christian community in no way belittles its Jewish heritage in Luke's tradition. It is the ...

1713. Mark 4:26-34

Mark 4:26-34

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

We owe Mark a great debt, for he alone records this parable of the seed (4:26-29). There is no clearer insight into the mysterious transformations of the Spirit of God, the germinal power of the gospel, than in these companion parables of the seed and the mustard seed. The seed parables instruct us not to expect complete comprehension of the transforming power of the Spirit's presence. It comes by God's initiative and appointment, not by our understanding and manipulation. There is something fundamentally ...

1714. Mark 5:21-43

Mark 5:21-43

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

This week's gospel text finds Jesus once again arriving to a gathered crowd and a waiting crisis. Upon his arrival Jesus is immediately approached by Jairus, a leader in the local synagogue. This time, however, Jairus does not represent ecclesial authority. Rather, he symbolizes every desperately worried parent that ever lived. Imploring aid for his grievously ill child, Jairus throws accepted standards of behavior to the winds and falls at the feet of this virtual stranger. Jesus responds instantly, ...

1715. Mark 6:30-44

Mark 6:30-44

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

Of all Jesus' miracles, only this feeding of the 5000 is recorded in all four gospels. Obviously this story, and the complementary feeding of the 4000 (found in two gospels), were favorites of the early church. Perhaps part of the reason for their popularity is that the feeding miracles communicate on so many different levels. If we focus on Jesus we see the image of a compassionate good shepherd. Shift our gaze to the disciples and the text becomes yet another example of their failure to understand Jesus ...

1716. Luke 2:41-52

Luke 2:41-52

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

Luke's two-chapter description of the events surrounding Jesus' birth concludes with a kind of epilogue. After following prescribed law and presenting the baby Jesus at the temple, Joseph takes his family and returns to Nazareth. Instead of then fast-forwarding to the beginning of John the Baptist's preaching ministry, however, Luke freeze-frames an event in Jesus' childhood. Although several non-canonical "gospels" relate miraculous tales of remarkable feats performed by the boy Jesus, Luke's re-telling ...

1717. Matthew 14:13-21

Matthew 14:13-21

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

This week's gospel reading offers the one miracle story that all four gospel writers saw fit to include in their works the feeding of the 5,000. In the synoptics, this miracle story follows on the heels of the news of John the Baptist's death with both Matthew and Mark giving a full account of the treacherous events that led up to his execution. John the Baptist's death obviously disturbed Jesus deeply. John was both Jesus' kinsman and his messianic confederate. Matthew's text does not try to intrude upon ...

1718. Luke 2:41-52

Luke 2:41-52

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

Despite all the miraculous pronouncements and portents surrounding Jesus' birth, Luke never allows his narrative to soar too far away from the essential Jewish roots of Jesus' heritage. Luke is never too shy to claim a miracle. But he also refuses to allow the occasion of miracles to be a shortcut around law and tradition. Thus it is that Luke's birth narrative celebrates and glorifies the extraordinary events that accompanied Jesus' nativity the special prophecies and messengers and guests only quickly to ...

1719. Acts 1:15-17, 21-26

Acts 1:15-17, 21-26

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

1720. Mark 4:26-34

Mark 4:26-34

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

1721. Mark 6:30-44

Mark 6:30-44

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

1722. Acts 19:1-7

Acts 19:1-22

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

Sometime around second or third grade we all start to feel the need to “go clubbing.” No, I don’t mean visiting some late-night hot spot. I do mean joining some kind of club or another. Do you know an elementary school without its own resident organizational savant? You know, the kid who starts “clubs” and who suggests, organizes, and dictates the rules that define their “club.” The whole point of a “club” is to let some “belong” while letting others know they do NOT belong. Being accepted to the group of ...

1723. Mark 6:1-13

Mark 6:1-13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

This week's two separate pericopes combine to paint a poignant picture of Jesus' ministry. Together they demonstrate both the risks and rewards that are a part of Christian discipleship. Chapter six continues Mark's theme of movement along the way of the Lord (1:2,3) but for Jesus this next stop is filled with disappointment. In Mark's gospel Jesus has just accomplished some of his most amazing miracles stilling the wild storm at sea (4:35-41), healing the frightening man at Gerasene (5:1-20), and ...

1724. The Fishermen

Mark 1:14-20

Illustration

Maurice A. Fetty

Peter, Andrew, James, and John, with their fathers, were professional, commercial fishermen on Lake Galilee. This small, oval-shaped lake, twelve by seven miles, had long been an important source of fish not only for Palestine, but for export to places as distant as Rome. The Jewish historian Josephus tells us that in his time (shortly after Christ) at least 130 fishing boats sailed Galilee. Their catches were salted and sent everywhere as a staple in their diets. While Peter, Andrew, James, and John were ...

1725. The Heart of the Matter

Psalm 51:1-19

Sermon

King Duncan

“Let’s say it’s 4:17 p.m. and you’re driving home alone after an unusually hard day on the job. Not only was the workload extraordinarily heavy, you also had a disagreement with your boss, and no matter how hard you tried he just wouldn’t see your side of the situation. You’re really upset and the more you think about it the more uptight you become. All of a sudden you start experiencing severe pain in your chest that starts to radiate out into your arm and up into your jaw. You are only about five miles ...

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