Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 151 to 175 of 266 results

151. Birthing the Kingdom

Mark 13:1-31

Sermon

Cathy A. Ammlung

I for one am heartily glad that the millennium (and its attendant madness) is well behind us. I'm glad that the millennium comes only once in a, well, millennium. The major reason for my relief is that I became sick of "Millennium Fever" and the doom-saying prophecies that (mercifully) did not come to pass. End of the world prophecies are nothing new, of course. They were around for centuries before our Lord was born. They exist in most major religions and cults. And every time a new disaster -- of natural ...

152. Grace in the Midst of Exasperation

Romans 8:1-17

Sermon

Glenn McDonald

Spiritual storytelling (a.k.a. "my testimony") is often an inspiring experience for a gathered group of Christians. It is also inherently risky. The risk is that the story will sound wonderful. Whenever the overwhelming number of details of someone's garden-variety life are squeezed down to a significant few, it can seem that that four-minute abridged version of existence is fabulously more exciting or meaningful than anything the rest of us have experienced in the previous forty years. We may say to each ...

153. Why I Believe In Tithing

Malachi 3:6-18

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Let’s pray together. Come Holy Spirit, Heavenly dove, with all your quickening powers. Come shed abroad a Savior’s love, and that will quicken ours. I believe that preaching is not so much the preparing and the delivering of sermons, as it is the preparing and the delivering of oneself. I hope you know by now that there is nothing I take more seriously than my call to preach. And there is nothing I invest more time, energy, and spirit power in than the task of preaching from Sunday to Sunday. When I ...

154. Dealing With Guilt And Shame

Romans 7:7-25

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

In the "Better-Half" cartoon series, Bob Barnes pictured a husband and wife in their bedroom. The wife is combing her hair and "fixing" her face across the room from the husband who is struggling to get out of bed. He sits wearily on the side of the bed, bedraggled, and moans, "I hope in my next reincarnation I come back as something easier to be than a human being." When I read that I remembered the word of Jules Pfieffer. "Getting out of bed in the morning is an act of false confidence." It's not easy to ...

155. Old and New Commandments

Exodus 34:29-35

Sermon

Elizabeth Achtemeier

Perhaps some of you have seen Michelangelo's great marble statue of Moses. Or if you have just seen a picture of that statue, you know that it depicts Moses sitting, holding the tablets of the law. And strangely enough, on Moses' head are two tiny horns. That depiction furnishes us with a good lesson in the history of Old Testament manuscripts. The verb "shone" in verse 29 of our text can also be translated as "horned," and that apparently was the rendering that the Exodus manuscript available to ...

156. Who Died and Made You God?

1 Corinthians 4:1-5

Bulletin Aid

Frank Ramirez

Call To Worship Approach, God's people, the one who is true judge with true justice. Approach the throne of mercy. Receive God's commendation and care. Collect Lord, we come fearing condemnation and are surprised in the Lesson of your word that you dispense commendation. Surely you see the world differently than us, you who are creator, you who are family, you who are friend. In the Lesson of your word may we learn more of your good will. Amen. Prayer Of Confession If we have set ourselves up in our place ...

157. Thank God, We're Already Dead

Romans 6:1b-11

Sermon

William G. Carter

If you ever find yourself on the corner of 56th Street and Lexington Avenue in New York City, stop in to see the baptismal font at St. Peter's Lutheran Church. Not long ago, a small group of tourists went for a visit. We were astonished by what we saw. The font is off to the left, by the main entrance into the sanctuary. That in itself is appropriate, for baptism is the entry into the Christian life. We are brought into the church when we are baptized, so the people in St. Peter's put the font right by the ...

158. Called to Freedom

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

Mark Trotter

The temptation in all times, the temptation in the Middle ages and the temptation of many in our time, is to make religion a matter of rules, and to believe that those who obey the rules are the ones who are good, and saved, and those who do not obey the rules are the ones who are damned. Which is bad enough as religion, but what made it worse is that God is made the enforcer of this system of rewards and punishment. What Luther did was break through all of that and establish for all time that Christianity ...

159. Why Join the Church?

Acts 2:1-21

Sermon

Mark Trotter

My wife and I were driving down the freeway one day, and she saw the title of the sermon on the marquee, "Why Join The Church?" She said, "That's the dullest title I've ever seen!" I asked her if she had ever heard Tammy Wynette sing, "Stand By Your Man"? Actually I believe it is a good title because it reflects the opinion of many people, that it is not necessary to join the Church in order to be a Christian. I suppose most of your neighbors feel that way. They probably wonder what you are doing getting ...

160. Will You Be in that Number?

John 11:32-44

Sermon

Mark Trotter

I want to tell you about a grave in Peru. I shared this story with you about ten years ago when a grave of a warrior priest was discovered near the pyramids of the ancient Moche Indians. The Moche Indians preceded the Incas in Peru. Their graves have yielded a treasure trove of artifacts, and a thriving black market for the residents in that isolated, northern part of Peru. The inhabitants up there regularly loot the graves and sell the artifacts to collectors. The government decided to crack down on the ...

161. You Can't Win them All

Matthew 10:2-14

Sermon

Mark Trotter

The title of this sermon, "You Can't Win Them All," sounds like what Bruce Bochy might say in the locker room after each game the Padres play. At least the Padres aren't as bad as the 1962 Mets, who managed to lose 120 games that season. The last game of the season in 1962, Joe Pignatano hit a triple play to end the game. It was a wonderful ending for an infamous season of the Mets. Casey Stengel was the manager of the Mets that year. After that last game, he called the team together in the locker room, ...

162. Ever Been Robbed?

John 3:1-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

It's a sad life-lesson. You probably learned it first as a young child. Leave something out, unattended, not locked-down or locked-up, and it's a pretty safe bet it's going to get stolen. Depending upon where and when you grew up, this lesson might have been learned later or earlier. But I doubt if there's anyone here today who hasn't had the experience of being robbed of something at sometime in their life. (You may want to get stories from your congregation of things they had stolen as children or as ...

163. God Loves a Cheerful Giver

II Corinthians 9:6-7

Sermon

James W. Moore

One of the things I love most about St. Luke’s is the way our church members give of themselves so quickly, so graciously, so willingly, so sacrificially, so generously… always, but especially, when there is a problem. Let me show you what I mean with a four-minute video that beautifully and powerfully summarizes the work of St. Luke’s as we reached out to help the evacuees from Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita. (The video was shown.) (Members of our church rushed to the Astrodome to help and we ...

164. After the Casket Is Closed

Luke 23:46

Sermon

James Merritt

I recently read a letter from the South Carolina Department of Social Services that gives great insight into how the government can sometimes look upon death. Dear Sir: Your food stamps will be stopped effective March 1992, because we received notice that you passed away. May God bless you. You may re-apply if there is a change in your circumstances.1 Circumstances do not change death, but death does change circumstances. We saw that this past week when John McSherry, a 51 year old umpire, collapsed and ...

165. Going the Second Mile

Matthew 5:38-42

Sermon

James Merritt

Mark Twain once said this about the Bible: "I have no problem with those parts of the Bible I don't understand. It's those parts of the Bible I do understand that gives me fits." The passage that we are going to study certainly fits into that category. This passage illustrates something I bet most of you have never thought about before. One of the easiest things in the world to do is to become a Christian. It is ridiculously easy. All you have to do is confess you are a sinner, repent of your sin, believe ...

166. Jesus: The Hope of a Godly Family

Psalm 127:1-2

Sermon

James Merritt

... give far more attention To repairing the results than to stopping the cause, When they'd much better aim at prevention. "Let us stop at its source all this hurt," cried he, Come, neighbors and friends, let us rally. If the cliff we will fence, we might almost dispense With the ambulance down in the valley. The point is, it is better to begin with a fence than to end with an ambulance. Start early and you start right when you let the Lord start from the first. II. Only the Lord Can Build a Godly Family The ...

167. Introducing A Child to God

1 Samuel 1:1-21

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

Some years ago I noticed that a particular family had dropped out of church. So, I made some inquiries concerning them. I found out that one of their children was an excellent young soccer player. His particular soccer league had scheduled their games for Sunday mornings. So, the parents and the child had a choice to make—whether to attend Sunday School and church or participate in a soccer league. They chose soccer. Just think of the tragic lesson that child learned about priorities in his life. Just ...

168. Secret Revealed

Romans 16:25-27

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

At last it happens! Jesus the Christ is born of a woman and is here for all to see in flesh and blood. Paul, as is often the case, is in a celebrative mood. It is as though all of creation is pulsating with his entrance into history. Human nature has a way of enjoying secrets and naturally wants exposures to occur. We are fascinated by the possibility of something or someone being revealed. In this case it is far more than fascinating. It is thrilling beyond adequate words to depict. History seems to stop ...

169. When Too Much Can Be Too Little

Mark 10:17-31

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Our parents complained that "the world is going to hell in a hand basket." It's closer to the truth to say that "the world is going to hell in a shopping cart." Your soul not to mention your budget is in mortal danger as you approach the grocery store checkout lane. You say, "How?" You've carefully filled your cart with the needed items outlined on your list. You patiently wait in line, always seeming to pick the one that's slowest. Yet somehow, by the time the checker begins tallying up the items in your ...

170. Mark 2:23-3:6

Mark 2:23-3:6

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

As the briefest, tersest version of the Good News, Mark's gospel tends to condense and compress events that the other gospel writers leisurely scatter throughout their books. In Mark, therefore, we end up with units of his gospel known as the journey motif, the miracles section or the confrontation unit. Today's text is taken from the midst of Mark's so-called confrontation section (Mark 2:1-3:6), including two distinct scenes. In both examples the common topic is Sabbath observance. In the first pericope ...

171. Acts 5:27-32

Acts 5:27-32

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

At the beginning of the book of Acts the risen Jesus articulates what will remain the central thrust of this entire narrative Christ's directive that the disciples "will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (1:8). Acts is no less than a missionary journal recalling how the apostles preached the gospel, formed the church, and tirelessly worked to spread the Good News first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles. While the gift of the Holy Spirit miraculously ...

172. Revelation 7:9-17

Revelation 7:9-17

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

The odd images and vivid visions that combine to make up the book of Revelation's three-tiered proclamation of judgments (using seals, trumpets and bowls) have made it a love-hate favorite. Depending upon one's denominational heritage, psychological disposition, and dispensational worldview, the book of Revelation has been used as a window to view the future, a rearview mirror for fatalistic excuses and explanations, or a mirror when immersed in personal turmoil and/or social tribulation. Within the old ...

173. John the Baptist, Sanctified Indifference, & the King of Pop

Mark 6:14-29

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Who wants your head on a platter? What truth is worth your head? What truth is worth your life? There are two types of people in the world we despise. The first are people who can never be trusted to tell the truth. The second are people who can only be trusted to tell the truth. We all know people who have trouble telling the truth. Is there anyone here who doesn’t know someone for whom a lie is just a more convenient interpretation of reality? The great psychoanalyst Carl Jung once noted that there were ...

174. What Outsiders Can Teach Us

Luke 7:1-10

Sermon

David R. Cartwright

Those of us ministers actively engaged in congregational worship don't get many opportunities to visit other churches and to worship in different settings. We're pretty much committed to being in our own congregations for the better part of the year. Four or six Sundays at most is about all we have to experience how others go about it. Actually, this pattern begins for most of us even before we're ordained. A colleague related that in divinity school he was a youth minister and only got a couple of Sundays ...

175. Family Matters

Luke 2:41-52

Sermon

King Duncan

Pastor Tom Rietveld tells about a wedding he performed several years ago. There was a very precocious little seven-year-old boy who was the ring bearer. At the wedding rehearsal, the soloist asked Pastor Tom when she should begin singing. He told her, “After the vows.” She wanted a more specific answer, so she asked: “What are the vows? I’ll need a cue.” And at that point, the little boy turned to the soloist with an exasperated look, and said: “The vowels are A-E-I-O-U. There is no Q!” (1) We never know ...

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