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 151 to 175 of 2815 results

151. Parable of the Rich Man's Wife

Matthew 6:19-24

Illustration

Staff

Two couples stood at the altar in a double wedding ceremony. Capable, hopeful, ambitious young people they entered the ways of wedded bliss with faith and confidence. As time wrote its story the one young man was exceedingly successful in business and year by year his income grew larger. The other young man was successful, but his work of service never made him rich in income. Strangely as the wealthy business man grew richer, his wife became less and less capable; so that her duties as wife, mother and ...

152. Parable at the Candy Store

Proverbs 16:16

Illustration

Staff

Three children were taken into the candy store by their father who said, "Now each of you can have a candy bar -- whatever kind you'd like." The first child said, "I'll take that giant-sized bar." The youngest said, "I'd like several kinds, but I can't have chocolate. I am allergic to it, so what can I have?" Then she made her choice shortly. The third child was dismayed at the great number of choices. She wavered back and forth and finally started to cry. "I can't make up my mind," she said in her tears ...

153. Parable of Four Chained Men

John 3:1-21

Illustration

Staff

Four men were chained to trees in the black woods. They were hungry, heartsick, discouraged prisoners. Then came a traveler. He knew the way to free them. He knew the combination to the locks, which held the chains, and could set the prisoners free. He set the first man free, and then he went to the second man and freed him. In turn he cared for the third man, but failed to be able to loose the fourth. The fourth was left in chains with the combination to his lock in doubt. Many rejoiced at the heroic ...

154. Parable of the Two Keys

Illustration

Staff

They were made for the same door -- the two keys. One old and worn, the other shiny and new. When the father gave his child the key he said, "Here is your first key to our home and now you are old enough to come and go." "This is wonderful," said the young lady. "I can stay out as long as I please." As usual when she arrived home the door was locked. This time it was later than usual and the parents had gone to bed. She took out her shiny new key. It fit the lock, but it wouldn't turn. She tried and tried ...

155. Parable of the Garden Hose

Matthew 7:1-2

Illustration

Staff

"I'm selling garden hose," said the little boy. "It's ten cents a foot." "Wonderful," said the neighbor, "I'll take thirty feet." "Alright," said the little boy, who began to measure the amount of hose with his own feet. "Just a minute, son," said the neighbor. "You need a ruler or a tape measure." "No," said the boy, "I use my own feet to measure with. I make more money that way." There are many men in business who find ways to give 9 1/2 pounds of potatoes in a 10 pound bag or get an extra bag of ...

156. PARABLE OF MY NAME

Proverbs 22:1

Illustration

Staff

"Mother, where did I get my name?" said Ralph. "Why daddy and I gave it to you. We just liked the name. Why do you ask?" "Well, Mary said she was named after the mother of Jesus. And John said he was named after one of the desciples and David said he was named after a great Bible hero. Who was I named after?" "Well, no one in particular, but people will learn to think well of you and of your name, as you do good deeds and are kind and friendly to them." "Aw gee! I wish I were named after someone." said ...

157. Parable of the Three Stewards

Matthew 25:14-30

Bulletin Aid

Call to Worship Pastor: God has entrusted us with the gift of life: life which is responsible to Christ our Lord. People: Every day we live is a day which cannot be relived. We must do our best while it is ours. Pastor: The gift is from God. But he expects us to invest ourselves in it, that life may become more rewarding. People: May God help us be faithful with our stewardship, as we invest our lives in the joy of his love. Collect Gracious Father, whose gift of life includes abilities which demand ...

158. Parable of the Sown Seed

Matthew 13:1-23

Bulletin Aid

James Wilson

Call To Worship Leader: Come, let us worship, all who have received the Good News of Christ. People: But not all who have heard the Gospel have come to worship. Leader: The Lord warned some would hear of but not understand God's Love People: And Jesus warned some would hear yet not truly commit their hearts. Leader: But Jesus also taught that all who receive Christ, receive eternity. All: Blessed be the name of the Lord! Collect O God, whose glory is manifest in the beauty of the day and the vastness of ...

159. Parable of the Crabby Grass

Matthew 13:24-30

Children's Sermon

Brett Blair

Exegetical Aim: Encouragement to be wheat rather than tares. Props: A tray, a strand or clump of good grass, and a patch of crabgrass (or weed). Try and pull up one whole system of each. Place the grass side by side in the tray so that they initially look like one system of grass. Lesson: I have something in this tray. Can anybody tell me what it is? (grass) Is there anything strange about the grass? (response) Look at it closely; do you notice anything odd? (response) If they do not see the difference ...

160. A Russian Parable

Illustration

Michael P. Green

A hunter raised his rifle and took careful aim at a large bear. When about to pull the trigger, the bear spoke in a soft, soothing voice, “Isn’t it better to talk than to shoot? What do you want? Let us negotiate the matter.” Lowering his rifle, the hunter replied, “I want a fur coat.” “Good,” said the bear, “that is a negotiable question. I only want a full stomach, so let us negotiate a compromise.” They sat down to negotiate, and after a time the bear walked away alone. The negotiations had been ...

161. The Church's Mission--A Parable

Illustration

Philip Anderson

Pastor Philip Anderson tells this heart wrenching story: Not long ago I visited my sister, a director of patient services for the children's unit of a large southern California hospital. She was conducting me on a tour through that unit. All the time, echoing through the halls, we could hear the cry of a baby coming from one of the rooms. Finally, we came to that room. It was a little child, about a year old, covered with terrible bruises, scratches, scars, from head to toe. At first, I assumed the child ...

162. A Parable of Christmas Eve

John 1:1-18

Illustration

Michael Daves

There lived a king who had power over all nations and peoples. His courts were of richest splendor; his tables were heavy with finest food. Music and laughter and gaiety floated from his castle. Clouds wrapped it in ethereal majesty. Peasants—in their valley of violence and hunger—stopped and looked at the castle for a long while, wishing they might know the king. But none were able to reach it. In the cold of winter, the king's tailor entered the royal chambers with the latest additions to the king's ...

163. Parable of the Birds

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

There once was a flock of birds who forgot to fly south for the winter. Now it was late in December and it was getting awfully cold. God loved those birds and didn't want them to freeze so He sent His only Son to become a bird and to show them the way to a warm barn where they would be saved from the cold. Most of the birds were leery of this cocky new bird who said he knew the way to safety. The leaders of the flock felt threatened by this bird so they killed him. Some of the flock believed this new bird ...

164. A Parable in Mime

Luke 15:20-24

Drama

Arley K. Fadness

Setup: The following characters are in simple clown face makeup. Characters: Father Clown Elder Son Clown Younger Son Clown – (spiffy at first, then comes back a hobo clown) (Soft circus music in background) The Action: Father Clown comes in on stage, busies himself with little tasks around the room. Elder Son Clown comes in and talks to Father Clown. Elder Son Clown receives a list with detailed instructions for work around the room. He gets busy doing the tasks. Younger Son Clown comes in receives a ...

165. Parabola

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... .” But he said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you? And he said to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my ...

166. The Mustard and the Cedar

Ezekiel 17:1-24, Matthew 13:31-35

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... lofty or regal, but that’s not the true nature of God’s kingdom, Jesus teaches. It’s not about the Temple or the nation state. It’s about the state of our hearts, and the energy of our proclamation, the depth and breadth of our faith. In both parables, Ezekiel’s words hold true: “The Lord brings down the tall tree and makes the low tree grow tall. I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish.” But the tree is reimaged. For Jesus tells us, “the smallest of seeds grows to the largest ...

167. Hearing and Responding

Luke 8:19-21, Luke 8:16-18, Luke 8:1-15

Teach the Text

R.T. France

... ” bond that can supersede that of natural kinship. Stated so briefly, this seems an unnecessarily negative way for Jesus to speak of his own family, but the issue is one of priority. For the emphasis on hearing and doing, see 6:43–49, as well as the parable of the sower. Theological Insights This whole section is about how to “hear” God’s word in the right way: all can hear it, but not all hear it profitably. So everyone is responsible for the way he or she responds to God’s message with faith ...

168. Grounds for Blessing

Matthew 13:1-23, Luke 8:1-15, Mark 4:1-20

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... of Seed and Harvest As Told By His Disciples (Mark 4, Luke 8, Matthew 13) Paul Warns That You Reap What You Sow (Galatians 5 and 6) The Restoration of Eden and the Tree of Life Bearing 12 Crops of Fruit for Healing (Revelation 22) Mark’s Version of Jesus’ Parables of Seed and Harvest Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. He taught ...

169. Proper 19

Psalm 14:1-7, 1 Timothy 1:12-20, Jeremiah 4:5-31, Luke 15:8-10, Luke 15:1-7

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... the sheep even though it might bring him into danger. It would at least require extra time and effort. Once the shepherd found the sheep he carried it on his shoulders to bring it back to the flock. Seeking the lost persons will take time and effort. In both the parable of the lost sheep and the lost coin the person had to search to find that which was lost. It is not always that those who are lost know they need to be found. So it takes unusual attention and effort to find them. It may also take more than ...

170. Prepared Or Not?

Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... . It may also result from a poor, distorted or inadequate modeling by those who claim to know God in Christ Jesus. It may also be some ethical or moral barrier in their own lives which will not let God into their lives. 2. Awake or Asleep. The parable seems to have an internal inconsistency. All ten maidens are asleep when the shout arises that the bridegroom is coming. It makes no difference whether it is the wise or the foolish maidens. Then in the final verse of the pericope we find the admonition to be ...

171. Proper 12

Mt 13:31-33, 44-52 · Rom 8:26-39 · Gen 29:15-28 · Ps 105:1-11, 45b

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... that the evil is winning and the good is being defeated? Is our hope in a just outcome to life and history a reasonable hope? If so, how do we act in light of that hope? 5. Interpreting the Net. Is it proper to use allegory in interpreting the parable of the dragnet? Does the boat represent the church that should be gathering the people in by its evangelizing? Or is the basket the church into which the good is gathered? Will history come to an end when the net is full and the time for the separation of ...

172. Proper 10

Psalm 119:1-176, Romans 8:1-17, Matthew 13:1-23, Genesis 25:19-34

Sermon Aid

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

... we know that work in the power of God, which raised Jesus from the grave. In the Resurrection of Jesus, we perceive the presence and the power of God that has now grasped us in order to bathe us in saving grace. Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 - "The Parable of the..." Setting. The third section of Matthew's presentation of the ministry of Jesus (11:2-13:53) takes a clear turn in 13:1-2 to present some of the material preserved Jesus' teaching. In the story, Jesus is apparently in Galilee, specifically in a boat on ...

173. Proper 11

Mt 13:24-30, 36-43 · Rom 8:12-25 · Ps 139 · Gen 28:10-19a

Sermon Aid

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

... and evil, does not approve of the evil, and intends to take care of the problem at the appropriate time. Although this message may not suit everyone, it offers hope and even beckons persons to identify with God's ways. The hope to which this parable leads us is more than the purely negative hope of looking forward to the elimination of evil. Rather, the allegorical interpretation steers us to the positive dimensions of the text, "Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father." In ...

174. For the Hearing Impaired

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

James Merritt

... is scattered. Why? Because it is not the expertise of the sower, but it is the quality of the soil that determines the harvest. Our part is to just go and sow. Our part is sowing the seed. II. Others’ Part Is Receiving The Message Remember the focus of the parable is not on the sower of the seed, but on the soil. Even the best sower with the best seed will not have a harvest if he has bad soil. Jesus identifies the soil as the heart of the missing people we are trying to reach. “When anyone hears the ...

175. What Will He Find ... When He Comes?

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

Theodore F. Schneider

... a long while. "I'm just tired," he mumbled over and over, shaking his head. A saint of many more years watched for a while and then said, "Young man, if you're tired already, you are not going to make it." That's the question Jesus addresses in this parable and its conclusion. Are we going to make it? Do we pray constantly, keeping our eyes fixed on him whose will is our guide and whose faithfulness is the root of our hope? Do we live in the faith, expecting great things to happen in our lives, in our ...

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