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Showing 151 to 175 of 438 results

151. Proclaiming Jesus Christ

2 Corinthians 4:3-6

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

It is not easy to promote someone else. Human nature rises up against it. If we believe in our self-worth and capabilities, why should we try to sell someone else? Yes, and why should we seek to gain acceptance of a religious leader, who will eventually cause us trouble. For example, Jesus for some was not only an irritant; he was an anathema as well. As usual, Saint Paul is not much interested in whether you like or accept him as a person. His driving mission is to proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord. He and ...

152. Birthpangs of the New Age

Romans 8:22-23

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

153. We Are Not The Light

Sermon

Craig MacCreary

By now, most congregations are in the home stretch of their pre-Christmas preparations. There is much at stake for the life of any church. Try and imagine what a bad or indifferent Christmas would do to the morale of your church. We want if not a “Currier and Ives” Christmas for our families at least enough joy and good cheer to override any past enmity. Hopefully tinsel, garlands, and ornaments will chase away any seasonal affective disorder we may be suffering. Most of us are determined that the ...

154. Walking in the Light

1 John 1:5--2:14, 1 John 2:15-17

Understanding Series

Thomas F. Johnson

Walking in the Light and the Problem of Sin The next two sections of 1 John are on the theme of walking in the light. The first section, 1 John 1:5–2:2, addresses the theme in relation to the issue of sin, while the second section, 1 John 2:3–11, focuses on walking in the light in relation to obedience, especially to the love command. The terms walk, light, and darkness occur throughout the section (1:5–7; 2:6, 8–11) and unify it. The Elder’s opponents are always present in the background. They have made ...

155. Walking in the Light and the Problem of Sin

1 John 2:15-17, 1 John 1:5--2:14

Understanding Series

Thomas F. Johnson

156. The Chicken or the Egg

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

In his book Dateline America, Charles Kuralt tells of a sign he saw on the door of a cafe in Indiana. It said, Open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Closed Thursday. (Dateline America, New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1979, p. 223) Now, that’s what is known as sending out mixed signals. I. THE CHURCH HAS BEEN KNOWN TO SEND OUT MIXED SIGNALS, TOO. For instance, one minister relates that during one summer vacation he and his family visited a church in Ohio where he was moved by the worship experience: the ...

157. SURVIVAL IN THE RAT RACE

Psalm 46:1-11

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

Dear friends, I know what I am supposed to do up here in this pulpit. I’m supposed to startle you with some stabbing statement of Scripture. I’m supposed to challenge you with some call of Christ. I’m supposed to impress you with some imperative of the Gospel. But, do you know something? I don’t want to do any of those things today. I just want to tell you to relax, to rest, unwind, sit loose, take it easy, let your mind wander, if you will. In fact, you don’t have to listen to what I’m saying, if there’s ...

158. The Good, The Bad, And The Justified

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

Larry R. Kalajainen

The famous actor Gregory Peck was once standing in line with a friend, waiting for a table in a crowded Los Angeles restaurant. They had been waiting for some time, the diners seemed to be taking their time eating and new tables weren't opening up very fast. They weren't even that close to the front of the line. Peck's friend became impatient, and he said to Gregory Peck, "Why don't you tell the maitre d' who you are?" Gregory Peck responded with great wisdom. "No," he said, "if you have to tell them who ...

159. A Fireside Chat

Exodus 3:1-22

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

In the middle of the 20th century the fireside chat became a popular event: dignitaries who sit down before a fireplace, and there, in a more or less person-to-person manner, address the listeners. The intention, of course, is that each hearer will feel it is a personal message on an important mater. By radio Roosevelt had his fireside chats. Jimmy Carter did the same thing, only by television. Billy Graham used ot do them during his Christmas specials. But the fireside chat of our text is not an easy, ...

160. A Broken Vessel for Jesus

Mark 14:1-11

Sermon

Michael Milton

It was the ancient custom to anoint the feet of the honored rabbi. Jesus was likely anointed on many occasions, but two stand out. One is recorded in Luke 7:36-50 in the house of Simon the Pharisee. There, in a scene filled with pathos, a woman tenderly wipes Jesus’ feet with her tears. The other is our text for today. As we come to Mark 14, we come to plotting and betrayal. But sandwiched between this evil is the second story of anointing. It is the story of a broken vessel by a broken woman. It just may ...

161. PROPER 13

Lk 12:13-21 · Col 3:1-11 · Ecc 1:2; 2:18-26 · 2 Ki 13:14-20a

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

THE LESSONS 2 Kings 13:14-20a A sick and dying Elisha promises victory over Syria to Joash, king of Israel. This, the last appearance of Elisha, concludes the series of Lessons on Elijah and his successor, Elisha. The scene is Elisha on his death-bed. Joash, king of Israel, comes to him for guidance. He and the country are in deep trouble. Syria is oppressing Israel. With the symbol of a bow and arrow, Elisha promises victory over Syria as Joash shoots an arrow from Elisha's window toward the East. Again, ...

162. Recovering From the Blahs

1 Kings 19:9-18

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

There he came to a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" He said, "I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the people of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thy altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away." And he said, "Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord." And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great ...

163. Blessed With Peace

John 14:15-31

Sermon

O. Garfield Beckstrand, II

This week two thoughts were foremost in my mind. One thought was quite normal for a preacher as well as a basic necessity. What shall I emphasize Sunday morning when I am using for my text the words of Jesus which he spoke on his last night upon earth to his disciples? "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you ..." The other thought was quite different. I remembered that 31 years ago last Wednesday I was ordained into the ministry at the fiftieth anniversary of Trinity Church. After my father gave ...

164. How the Lord has Covered the Daughter of Zion

Lamentations 2:1-22

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

The Lord Is Like an Enemy: 2:1 Alef. The opening word (How) invites the reader to contemplate the extent of Judah’s destruction. It also strikes a tone of lament over that same suffering. One can hear a note of disbelief that God would bring such a horrific judgment on his people. Indeed, it is total as expressed by the fact that the cloud of his anger has engulfed all of the Daughter of Zion. The expression Daughter of Zion is an intimate way of referring to Jerusalem by its most sacred space and then ...

165. The Play's Playbook for the Game of Life

1 Peter 4:12-19

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

It is known simply as “The Play.” “The Play” is the name of the greatest game of football ever played--anywhere, anytime. Can anyone here this morning tell me who played in “The Play?” Right: California vs. Stanford. Can anyone tell me the year of “The Play.?” Right: 1982. Can anyone tell me what was so special about “The Play?” Right: With 53 seconds left in the game, Stanford was down 17-19, stuck in their own backfield. It was fourth down, 17 yards to go. But miraculously the Stanford QB (anyone? . . . ...

166. Matthew 16:21-28

Matthew 16:21-28

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

One mark of the Synoptic Gospels is how they carefully divide Jesus' ministry into two definite stages. Matthew and Luke follow Mark's lead by having Jesus remain in the region of Galilee, preaching, teaching and healing for the first half of their gospels. Only after Jesus makes his explicit passion prediction does his one and only journey toward Jerusalem begin. Our gospel text today offers Matthew's version of that crucial "hinge" moment when Jesus reveals to his disciples the shocking nature of the ...

167. What Shall We Become?

Luke 3:7-18

Sermon

Gary L. Carver

More than forty years ago a play titled, Mourning Pictures, opened off-Broadway. Written by Honor Moore, it is the moving account of the last six months of her mother's life. Jenny Moore was no ordinary human being. She was the wife of the Episcopal Bishop of New York and the mother of nine vivacious children and an author in her own right. About a year before her death, she was in an automobile accident that led to a partial nervous breakdown, and just when she was about to recover from this ordeal, she ...

168. What Does It Mean to Be Blessed?

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

“‘I’m so blessed.’ You hear it more and more these days,” notes Pastor Richard Allen. “Most noticeably . . . from famous people, and often in acceptance speeches. Clutching a golden statue they say, ‘I’m so blessed to be here today’ . . . My issue,” continues Allen, “with such usage is not that it is flippant, or even untrue. Actors and politicians can be deeply sincere about feeling blessed. My issue with such usage is that it is so easy. It requires little effort, in a moment of victory, to know oneself ...

169. God's Call for All

Acts 9:35-43

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

A church in Pennsylvania reported the death of one of their members recently. Though this woman and her husband, who had died a few years before, had been immensely wealthy, people spoke not of their wealth, although they were very generous, but of what this woman did. They talked about the cookies she would bake for church functions, the in-home visiting she did, the leadership she provided for the youth, and the soapsuds that lathered her arms as she did dishes after every church dinner. People felt the ...

170. This Grace In Which We Stand by Dr. Gene E. Bartlett

Romans 5:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Mann

Anyone who has browsed through a gift shop sooner or later has come to a polite but insistent sign, "Please Do Not Touch." It was refreshing, therefore, to come recently upon a sign of different tone. In the gift shop at O’Hare Airport the word above some African wood carvings said, "Please touch. You can’t appreciate these until you do." There are many evidences that this in fact was the mood in which the New Testament writings first came into being. Those writers were sure they had come upon something ...

171. Lent 2

Psalm 121:1-8, Genesis 12:1-8, Romans 4:1-25, John 3:1-21

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

OLD TESTAMENT TEXTS The themes of sin and death, which have been central to the Lenten Old Testament lessons up to this point, give way to divine promise of life and blessing in Genesis 12:1-4a . Psalm 122 takes the divine promise of life and blessing into the setting of worship, where it functions both as a song of praise to God for the gift of peace and salvation, and as encouragement to the worshiper to seek the security of God's grace. Genesis 12:1-4a - "The Working Out of God's Blessing" Setting. ...

172. Paul's Longing to Visit Rome

Romans 1:1-17

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

The Salutation The first seventeen verses of Romans serve as an introduction to the epistle and fall into three parts. The first part, verses 1–7, is Paul’s salutation. In the second part, verses 8–15, Paul introduces himself and speaks of his desire to visit Rome. The third and final part is verses 16–17, in which Paul broaches the seminal theme of his gospel, justification by faith for both Jew and Gentile. First, the salutation. Letters in Hellenistic times followed a standard literary pattern. Unlike ...

173. Proper 21

Matthew 21:23-27, Matthew 21:28-32, Exodus 17:1-7, Ezekiel 18:1-32, Philippians 2:1-11

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

Theme: God judges us not based on what we were but what we are. If a sinner turns away from his sin to the Lord, he is accounted as righteous. This is the point of Ezekiel 18. The Gospel makes a similar point, if the rebel turns to obedience, he is accounted as righteous. COMMENTARY Lesson 1: Exodus 17:1-7 (C) The Israelites complain loudly to Moses that they had no water. They question whether the Lord was really with them. In desperation, Moses cries out to the Lord, fearing that they might stone him. ...

174. Epiphany 7

Matthew 5:43-48, Matthew 5:38-42, 1 Corinthians 3:1-23, Leviticus 19:1-37

Sermon Aid

THEOLOGICAL CLUE As the Epiphany season nears its conclusion, the homiletical framework of the season con-tinues to thin out and the role of the readings becomes more important for the establishment of the theme for the day. Under the older church year, this would be Sexagesima Sunday, the second of the "three-to-get-ready for Lent" Sundays. They were removed from the church year's "Pre-Lent" and added to Epiphany simply because they had become part of Lent, making Lent, in effect, nine and a half weeks ...

175. Plea for Discipline

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

In a way, Christians are all in the Olympics! We are running the race that determines our eternal abode. We run to win and the prize is the most valuable we will ever seek. No money or property will purchase it. Only self-control under the banner of Christ grants a chance for winning. The apostle is very clear and speaks to all who would enter the race that leads to everlasting life with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is an old/new teaching to whom all Christians for twenty centuries can relate. It ...

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