Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1801 to 1825 of 2332 results

1801. Work Like the Who?

Luke 16:1-15

Sermon

King Duncan

... . One estimate has it that close to one‑half of the nation’s divorces are due to differences of opinion on how to handle the family finances. And those couples are comparatively lucky. A sociological study in Chicago found that some 40.2 percent of all desertion cases were rooted in monetary tension between the husband and wife as were 45 percent of the reported cases of cruelty. (5) So it makes sense that this was one more of Jesus’ warnings about the danger of loving money. However, there is a third ...

1802. The Widow and the Unjust Judge

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... to wait expectantly. Stir me, oh, stir me, Lord, I care not how, But stir my heart in passion for the world, Stir me to give, to go, but most to pray; Stir till the blood‑red banner be unfurled O’er lands that still in darkness lie, O’er deserts where no cross is lifted high. Stir me, oh, stir me, Lord, Thy heart was stirred By love’s intensest fire, till Thou didst give Thine only Son, Thy best beloved One, E’en to the dreadful cross, that I might live. Stir me to give myself so back to ...

1803. Suffered under (Saint) Pontius Pilate

John 18:28-40

Sermon

David O. Bales

... colleague. He finally said, “Why do you Jews always answer a question with a question?” The Jew answered, “Why not?” Receiving the same kind of answer, Pilate thinks, “Oh, no, a smart aleck holy man. Why can’t this kind stay in the desert looking for burning bushes?” See what he’s facing: Outside wait these haughty Jewish leaders who, of course, can’t enter a non-Jew’s domicile or they’d become ritually defiled. Inside stands this wacky itinerant preacher who’s now going to banter ...

1804. Jesus Tempted In Us

Matthew 4:1-11

Sermon

David O. Bales

... to do what’s completely wrong so much as to do some things for the wrong reason. It’s a struggle! The word “temptation” in the New Testament also means a trial or a struggle. Matthew chapter 4 records a lot of spiritual struggle going on in this deserted spot of Palestine. Because Jesus is our brother, he’s out in the wilderness struggling against Satan on our behalf. Jesus didn’t just die for us. He was born for us, was baptized for us, and was tempted for us. Jesus is the person who lived for ...

1805. In the Shadow of His Brother

John 1:35-42

Sermon

King Duncan

... John’s stature in New Testament times. John had disciples people who followed him and studied under him, just as Jesus did. We usually put the emphasis on how strange John the Baptist was with his diet of locusts and honey and wearing skins and living in the desert. But John was regarded by many of the people as a prophet. Remember how it was said of him that “people went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan” (Matthew 3:5). But, like Andrew, John’s destiny was ...

1806. What Difference Does it Make?

Acts 10:23b-48

Sermon

Tony Everett

... Jesus for this foolish mission (Matthew 16:22). Jesus told Peter to get out of the way, calling Peter selfish, a stumbling block, and even Satan himself (Matthew 16:21-23). On the night of Jesus’ arrest, Peter promised Jesus that he would never desert him (Matthew 26:33) and then immediately fell asleep during Jesus’ agonizing prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:40-41). Hypocrite! Peter declared to Jesus, “Even though I must die with you, I will never deny you” (Matthew 26:35). A few ...

1807. You Are the Light of the World

Matthew 5:13-16

Sermon

King Duncan

... the world. The Rev. Christopher Henry tells about a friend of his named Sara who spent six weeks one summer along the United States-Mexico border working with an organization called “No More Deaths.” This organization provides humanitarian aid to migrants crossing the desert into the U.S. Over 2000 people have died over the past decade trying to cross into the United States, most from dehydration or exhaustion caused by the oppressive heat and meager supplies. No matter how you feel about this flow of ...

1808. Voice in a Vacuum

Genesis 12:1-8

Sermon

Tony Everett

... hang around the campfire with old friends and relatives waiting for folks to come to him to get a blessing. Because he received God’s promise and power, he set off on God’s mission to pull up stakes and go to an unknown destination of desert spaces: parched lands, frozen hearts, and false promises. Abram met with people who didn’t look like him, didn’t think like him, didn’t speak like him; people who were broken, fragile, empty, oppressed, searching. Hey, that sounds a lot like us. And Abram’s ...

1809. Peace Be With You

John 20:19-23

Sermon

King Duncan

... had asked 16 prominent Americans what they did in order to find peace of mind in the midst of our stressful world. The responses were quite revealing. Noted author James Michener reported that he found peace of mind by walking his two dogs along deserted country roads, old streams and fields that had not been plowed for half a century. Barry Goldwater, whom some of you will remember as a former Republican candidate for President, said that he found peace of mind in his hobbies boating, photography and ...

1810. Appetites and Desires

Romans 7:7-25

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... and hardships which might lie in Peru. Calling his men together, Pizzaro dramatically pulled out his sword and drew line from east to west in the sand. “Friends and comrades!” he cried. “On my side are toil and hunger, nakedness and drenching storm, desertion and death. On your side, ease and pleasure. This way lies Peru with its uncertainty and endless possibilities, there lies Panama and its surety and safety. Choose each man what best becomes a brave Castillian. For my part, I go south.” Jesus ...

1811. First Thing

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

James Merritt

... being pre-occupied with a problem. There is a difference between being active in solving a problem and being anxious that you have one. What happened is that he realized that his priorities were out of order. This is also illustrated in a story I read about Desert Storm. There was a colonel by the name of William Post. He was in charge of receiving all of the incoming supplies for the United States Ground Forces. Among these supplies were the tons of food that would come in every day. One day, Colonel Post ...

1812. For the Hearing Impaired

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

James Merritt

... the first time trouble hits they disappear. They thought they were joining God’s army as a four-star general who could sit behind a desk and give orders, but the first time they hear a bullet go by their head or a bomb explode they desert. The first time they realize that following Jesus means surrender, obedience, and commitment they check out. We have people here who will check off on our decision card that they prayed to receive Christ and give us contact information. We will call them, email them, and ...

1813. Drowsy Disciples

Mark 13:1-31

Sermon

David J. Kalas

... conspicuous absence from one of Paul’s letters. Galatians is clearly the angriest of Paul’s epistles, and he noticeably passes the traditional thanksgiving section in order to go straight to his lament: “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you” (Galatians 1:6). While they are customary, therefore, thanksgiving sections should not be dismissed as empty or meaningless. Paul does not write the same thing to every church in this section, and he does not include this ...

1814. Changing Times

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... she talked with her pastor. “How long did it last for you,” he asked, “these months of loneliness in the wilderness of your grief?” She said, “Longer than I had hoped, but not as long as I feared.” Bound by time, she wrestled alone in the deserts with it, captive to its march of dictation. We can call it “Wilderness Standard” time, the time of struggle, the time of depression, the time of empty hands. Some of us linger in that time zone today. But today’s lectionary passages remind us that ...

1815. We Are Not The Light

Sermon

Craig MacCreary

... . Though John baptized with water, the implication is that there is the greater baptism through immersion in the Holy Spirit. In the midst of the wilderness, this is what we can do. We can point to the one who is the Messiah who has led us through the desert, who like Moses, has sustained us with thirst-quenching water and nourishment enough for each day. He is the one who gives even more than water. If we can point to him it might even get us through the spiritual and commercial wilderness than can be ...

1816. Come Home

Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... get. The more we yearn for “home.” Birds are nature’s first “frequent fliers.” Birds log lots of miles just to “get home.” But this homing instinct seems to be almost universal throughout nature. Bees make a “beeline” back to the hive. Desert ants make an “antline” back to their holes in the sand. Sea turtles return to the same beaches they were born on after roaming the oceans for twenty years or more. Aphids, ladybirds, dragonflies, moths, amphibians all display their own version of ...

1817. A Reminder to God...and to Us

Genesis 9:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... causes. They hold on to a love grown cold. They stay with people who have become pains in the neck. They still dare to make promises and care enough to keep the promises they make. I want to say to you that if you have a ship you will not desert, if you have people you will not forsake, if you have causes you will not abandon, then you are like God. “What a marvelous thing a promise is! When a person makes a promise, she reaches out into an unpredictable future and makes one thing predictable: she will be ...

1818. Prescription on a Pole

John 3:1-21

Sermon

David J. Kalas

... unfamiliar to the people in our pews. Nevertheless, that one reference by Jesus takes that obscure episode from the wilderness and elevates it to an event with enormous significance and meaning. It ceases to be just a strange little incident in the desert, and it becomes a grand foreshadowing of the grandest event of all. Now, as Jesus connects the dots for us in John 3, that peculiar pole becomes the cross. And, more remarkable still, Jesus becomes the bronze serpent. The familiar passage moves beyond ...

1819. Starting Over

John 12:20-36

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... nations would flow to Zion. Ezekiel would soon write of this age as the era when the temple would be rebuilt to greater glory and a refreshing stream would emerge from under God’s throne (the Ark of the Covenant) to bring vegetation in desert places and healing for the nations. Hosea would tell of the renewal of marriage vows between God and Israel, and the lasting love that would permeate their relationship. Jeremiah’s take on these apocalyptic times is a direct mirror of the initial covenant making ...

1820. God Writes Straight with Crooked Lines

Mark 1:35-39

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... ! But “in the morning, while it was still very dark,” which was Jesus’ favorite time of day, Jesus found himself in one of those “senior moments.” Needing to regroup and re-gather his thoughts, his motives, and his mission, Jesus “went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed.” Jesus knew he needed to be at home with himself and with his Father before he could bring it home with others and to the world. Jesus made “early and dark” and sometimes “late and light” (dawn and dusk) a ...

1821. The Story Worth Living

John 3:1-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... of screw-ups or sadness. It is a huge love story, a meta-narrative, that ends in amazing grace and joy to the world. The death of Jesus Christ on the cross was “like” the symbolic snake raised on the stick that saved the Israelites in the desert. The death of Christ at a place called “Golgotha,” “The Place of The Skull,” raised the specter of “death’s head” throughout human history. Jesus, Christ crucified was the big story, the meta-narrative, the God’s final word. And it was a word of ...

1822. The Good Life

John 10:11-18

Sermon

James Merritt

... that moment to protect his children. Regardless of position or possessions everyday we are all helpless against those unexpected tornados that come up in our lives. There simply is no defense against that drunk driver, that deranged killer, that demonic terrorist, or that deserting spouse. Just like sheep we all need a shepherd that can get us where we need to be. Now keep something in mind about shepherds and sheep. Shepherds cannot keep sheep from difficulty. There are wolves and bears that want to devour ...

1823. The Desperate

John 9:1-12

Sermon

James Merritt

... I have seen come to Christ who under ordinary circumstances would never have given Jesus the time of day, but they were in desperation mode. People in this mode normally have three characteristics. First of all, they are hurting. They’ve got a problem such as a deserting spouse, a wayward child or a life-threatening illness. Then they feel helpless. They realize this is a problem they can’t solve. They can’t buy their way out of it and they can’t beg their way out of it. Finally, they feel hopeless ...

1824. The Reject

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

James Merritt

... was the “Godfather”. He was the chief thief of the Roman IRS and in cahoots with the Roman government. You talk about a reject. He was a tax collector. He was a thief and he was a traitor. His family had disowned him, his friends had deserted him and everybody despised him. Understand, he was hated and ostracized because of what he had done. It was his own fault. His rejection came honestly. The chief tax collector was considered no better than a murderer, reprobate, and robber. He didn’t even deserve ...

1825. What Do You See?

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

James Merritt

... it is and how dangerous it is. The Jericho Road is 17 miles long and it drops from Jerusalem, which is 2700 feet above sea level to Jericho, which is 800 feet below sea level. In other words, that road drops almost a football field every mile. It is desert land and there are still bandits and robbers who roam this area. Back in the day, it was such a dangerous road it was called, “The way of blood.” It was one of the most crime-ridden areas in all of Israel. Bible scholars estimate there were at least ...

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