Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1751 to 1775 of 4977 results

1751. Prepare The Way

Malachi 2:17--3:5

Sermon

Robert A. Hausman

... of running around, so Tiberius banished her. Their marriage had produced only daughters, so there was no successor for the throne. Caesar then adopted Tiberius as his son, so that he could become the new emperor. You could keep Days Of Our Lives running quite a while on that plot! We could go on forever if we spoke of the other characters in the plot: Pilate, Herod, Philip, Annas, and Caiaphas. It was a time of power struggles and intrigue, propaganda and dirty campaigns, political posturing and political ...

1752. Flatliners

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

Richard A. Wing

... a group of people. He was quoting Shakespeare and all kinds of other literature. He made a mistake one night. He began quoting scripture and people started fidgeting around and becoming disinterested. All of a sudden, right in the middle of quoting from scripture, he quit and sat down. There was a man in the audience who pointed to an uneducated farmer in Nebraska and said, "Mr. Laughton, would you allow him to recite scripture?" And that man in coveralls came to the platform and recited by heart Psalm 23 ...

1753. Why Did Pastor Hypnotize Jenny?

Jeremiah 33:1-26

Sermon

Tony Everett

... baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen." Well, all this was too much for little Gary who began to shout, "Why did Pastor hypnotize Jenny? Why did Pastor hypnotize Jenny?" Well, the word wasn't quite precise, Gary, but you certainly caught the excitement of the sacrament. You'll grow in wisdom, knowledge, and understanding as you remain in God's family. You were on target about something though. Sometimes it appears as if we Christians face the world's problems and ...

1754. Roots Near The River

Jeremiah 16:1--17:18

Sermon

Tony Everett

... do for himself would reduce his desperation. Now some psychological insights are definitely important for our mental well-being. However, without connection to the forgiving and redeeming mercy of the Lord, they can leave us empty, living an "almost-but-not-quite" existence. Something is still missing. This is the human condition Jeremiah address in today's Old Testament lesson. In the four verses of the chapter which precede our text, Jeremiah describes the self-help attempts of the people of Judah. They ...

1755. Looking Back; Moving Forward

Exodus 34:29-35

Sermon

Tony Everett

... and promise. Here we discover new insights into God's will; new discoveries of identity; new directions for living. Something fresh and exciting has been added. Have you ever ridden in a canoe? You know that maintaining equilibrium in that canoe is quite precarious at times, especially when proceeding along a rapidly flowing river. Now imagine that another person is attempting to get into that canoe with you. What happens? Definitely a lot of shifting and adjusting must happen or a terribly cold dunking for ...

1756. What Money Can't Buy

2 Kings 5:1-27

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

... him to pull out all stops in an effort to save his life. Sadly, he had come to realize that even his life's savings weren't enough to reveal information about a cure, but, ironically, he stumbled across some invaluable information quite by accident. Overhearing a conversation between two gay people in a restaurant, he discovered that different formulas for cures were being aggressively pursued in other countries. This was information received that money could not buy. This young man is now actively pursuing ...

1757. Disney and the Owl

2 Corinthians 6:3-13

Illustration

John R. Steward

... land of make-believe. On this particular day in the middle of summer, Walter Elias decided to go exploring. Living on a farm meant that his parents were very busy and did not seem to mind that he was off playing, using that wonderful imagination of his. He went quite a way from the farmhouse to an apple orchard. When he got close to the orchard, to his absolute amazement, he saw sitting on a branch of one of the apple trees an owl. He just stood there and stared at the owl. He thought about what his father ...

1758. Vicarious Faith Won't Help

Luke 15:1

Illustration

John R. Steward

From time to time I have, as most pastors do, a conversation with someone about his or her relationship with God. Most often it is during pre-baptism or pre-marital counseling. Quite often it becomes rather apparent that while these people believe in God they feel very far from him. For many there is a certain amount of fear in their understanding of how God wants to relate to them. It then is my joy to share with them how the incarnate ...

1759. Lent 4

Psalm 32:1-11, Joshua 5:1-12, 2 Corinthians 5:11--6:2, Luke 15:1-7

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... God the Father. This parable, more fully than any other, defines Jesus' concept of God as father. When he taught the disciples to pray "Our Father," Jesus probably had in mind the image of the father in this parable. The image of God portrayed in the parable is quite different from the one Abraham had when he thought God required the sacrifice of Isaac, Abraham's firstborn son. Abraham had a concept of a severe God who required a quid pro quo for sin. If a person sinned, he had to give up something of equal ...

1760. Proper 18

Psalm 139:1-24, Philemon 1:8-25, Philemon 1:1-7, Jeremiah 18:1--19:15, Luke 14:25-35

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... to the site of the crucifixion the victim was made to carry the crosspiece of the means of his execution. That attracted a crowd and added to the shame. The Galileans who were probably the major part of the crowd accompanying Jesus at this time were quite familiar with crucifixion. 7. "Build a Tower." (v. 28) It is not clear whether Jesus was referring to the familiar use of a watchtower in a vineyard or if he had some particular half-finished tower that was notorious and the laughingstock of everyone. 8 ...

1761. When It Is Dark Enough

Luke 21:5-38

Sermon

Charles H. Bayer

... to bring life out of death. God brings victory in the face of all our defeats. There's the gospel -- the good news. That brings us to why this text is just right for the first Sunday in Advent. What is the hope of the world? It is that God, quite apart from anything we can do or have done, gives us a gift wrapped in swaddling clothes. We didn't produce it, demand it, earn it, expect it, think it up or will it into being. It is a pure, gracious, unmerited, unexpected gift. God has crept down the backstairs ...

1762. When Your Nets Are Empty

Luke 5:1-11

Sermon

Charles H. Bayer

... at Bethany Beach, Delaware, some of the young people read that story and decided to hold their evening vesper service with me standing in one of the lifeguards' dories. It is one thing to preach from a boat on the shores of a placid lake. It is quite another to try it from the surf of the North Atlantic with four foot breakers. I gave it my best shot but inspired more giggles than faith. Bets were taken on how long I could last before I fell overboard. Whoever held the ticket reading three minutes ...

1763. Getting and Giving

John 13:31-38

Sermon

Glenn E. Ludwig

... their surprise, they saw many people in the marketplace in need of one thing or another. They gave a little grain here or a bartered good there or an act of kindness somewhere else. Each time they gave, they found their hearts no longer skipped quite so anxiously. At the end of the day, their baskets were considerably lighter -- but so were their hearts. When the emperor and empress saw how the young prince and princess had begun to share their gifts with all who lived in the kingdom, they finally trusted ...

1764. The Peace That Invades

John 14:15-31

Sermon

Glenn E. Ludwig

... we have listened to the rhetoric of world leaders claim that peace can be insured through greater arms, more powerful bombs, larger defense budgets. We have listened, we have acquiesced, we have nodded hopefully but peace still eludes us. Jesus has said that his peace is quite different. It is a gift; it comes not with promises of a better life but in the midst of present life to make it better. There is a story of a young family living in Europe during World War II. Those were frightening days to live ...

1765. Ashamed To Beg

Luke 16:1-15

Illustration

John G. Lynn

... survive but we really don't. God knows that. Luther found himself in this position many times in his life. Once, as he began his study of law, he was struck down in a thunderstorm. Terrified, he cried out, "Dear Saint Ann, help me. I will become a monk." He quit his study of law and became a theologian instead -- the identity God wanted for him in the first place. He was wasting himself in law. Later on, as a monk, he studied Paul's Epistle to the Romans. At that time in his life he felt he could not be ...

1766. An Idea Wearing Bid Overalls

1 John 5:1-12

Sermon

James E. Sargent

... she hadn't yet been able to muster the right words or to find the courage to say them. Finally the moment came. She told him how much she appreciated all that he had done. She went on to say that she had been wanting to tell him something for quite a while now, but that she'd been afraid to. "You know," she said, "that your care and concern have touched me deeply." She paused, and then continued. "This must be what it feels like to be loved. I have known other men who say they love me. But you ...

1767. Friendship? Yes, Please!

2 Samuel 11:1-27

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... , "if they fall." But then it kind of corrects itself and says, "when he falls." In life, you see, it is not really a question of if we shall fall but when. All of us sin. All of us get discouraged. All of us will grow disillusioned and want to quit. All of us will suffer confusion, fatigue, and bouts of depression. And the text says, "Woe be to anyone of us who is friendless when such a down time comes." In today's world the friendless American male who is discouraged has to buy a friend by going to an ...

1768. How To Treat Your Enemies

2 Samuel 18:1-18

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... him last August just a few years before he could retire with full benefits. It seems the company didn't want to pay full retirement benefits, so they singled out those who'd be getting it soon, pressured them with relocations and impossible responsibilities, hoped they'd quit, but fired them for incompetency when they didn't. No, the world has not changed all that much since Nabal sheared his sheep. Revenge! Back to the text. What's David going to do? He's done right. But he's been treated like an enemy. So ...

1769. You Can Create A Godly Heritage!

1 Kings 2:1-12

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... our family to the third and fourth generations. Just stop and consider how many people that is. If I wed and have three children and so on through four generations, there will be nearly 200 people in my immediate legacy. That makes you and me quite the pastors of prosperous flocks! Actually, Exodus 20:6 says your faithfulness can bless literally "thousands." Take Abraham as an example. A simple desert shepherd was told by God, "Look toward the stars. So shall your descendants be" (Genesis 12). And so it is ...

1770. Judgment Day

Mark 13:1-31

Drama

Steven E. Albertin

... Roman empire did eventually fall, but the world did not come to end. Even Saint Paul told early Christians not to marry, not to worry about whether they were slaves or free because this world was soon to end, but it didn't. Was Paul wrong too? No. Quite the contrary. At the heart of our Christian faith is the belief that we have already seen the end. In a sense the end of the world has already happened. Judgment Day has already occurred in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In his death and ...

1771. Miracle Six: Stilling A Storm

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon Aid

Harold H. Lentz

... was farther from shore than he had thought. Grabbing hold of the ball proved more difficult than he had expected, for it was riding high on the waves. Each time he sought to grip it, the ball slipped out of his hands. About this time he noticed that he was quite a distance from shore, and realized, too, that he was getting tired. At that point some fear gripped him as he realized that he could drown. But he was a Christian and so he spoke a brief prayer, calling on God to protect him. His prayer brought him ...

1772. The Man With Two Umbrellas

1 Samuel 3:1--4:1

Sermon

William L. Self

... call on me.' Then he asked me where I went to church, and I named a church that was prevalent in the Philippine Islands but I wasn't very committed to it. He said, 'I can tell you where that church is. It is not easy to find; it's quite a distance away. Let me make you a map.' So he made an outline of the way to the church and he left. "When I awakened Sunday morning, it was raining. I thought to myself, 'I'll just not go to church this morning. Surely, I can be forgiven for ...

1773. Seven Habits Of Highly Effective Christians

2 Kings 5:1-27

Sermon

William L. Self

... mind rebels. We want a surface cleansing; we don't want to change our souls. In the words of Thoreau, "For every thousand hacking at the leaves of evil, there is one striking at the root."2 We can only achieve quantum improvements in our lives as we quit hacking at the leaves of attitude and behavior and get to work on the roots, the understandings from which our attitudes and behaviors flow.3 We too must wash in the old river Jordan. We affirm that washing in church, in Sunday Bible study, and in prayer ...

1774. Light In The Land Of Shadows

Isaiah 9:1-7

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... . The garden is full of flowers, fruits, and nuts. While the queen stands beneath the greatest tree in the grove, she gives birth to the infant Buddha without pain or discomfort. The child is delivered in a gold net carried by angels.1 The Christmas story is quite different. Instead of an aristocratic and noble birth, we are told the story of a carpenter's wife from a poor village. The birth takes place in a donkey shed. The animals in whose feeding trough the infant is laid are the only witnesses to the ...

1775. Ready Or Not -- He Comes

Mark 13:32-37, Mark 13:1-31

Sermon

John A. Stroman

... entertaining, like a fairy tale. Some will list it along with other holiday fantasies such as Lion King and Swan Princess. It has become wrapped up in so much sentimental embroidery that its stark realism is lost. Its characters have acquired "halos," becoming something quite out of this world. Take a closer look at this story and you will notice the characters are not people with halos, but ordinary men and women of flesh and blood, fears and frustrations, anxiety and hope, just like us. Mary and Joseph ...

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