Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1801 to 1825 of 4944 results

1801. Easter 5

John 15:1-17, Acts 8:26-40, Acts 9:19b-31, 1 John 4:7-21

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

Theme: The life of faith, begun in baptism, remains alive if we stay close to Christ. Christ is the vine and we are the branches. COMMENTARY Epistle: Acts 8:26-40 Philip is instructed by an angel to go to the road that leads from Jerusalem past Gaza down to Egypt. On the road he encounters an Ethiopian official, the steward of the queen's treasury. He is traveling along in a chariot and reading the Old Testament, Isaiah 53. He was either a proselyte of the Jewish faith, one who was circumcised and accepted ...

1802. Praying To Win

John 14:5-14

Illustration

John E. Sumwalt

Ithaca High School has been known over the years for its championship wrestling teams. I wrestled on some of those teams in the late 1960s when Steve Waterman was our coach. Steve encouraged us to give our best for the school and the team, but he also made it very clear that church, family and relationships with friends came first. His supportive style of coaching and his caring personality fostered a team spirit that, for many of us, resulted in great individual achievements. We knew that he cared about ...

1803. Where Have All The Visible Miracles Gone?

Matthew 17:1-13

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

Today we celebrate the miracle of transfiguration. It is a great story - a great way to continue our Lenten discipline of preparing for the Easter season. Jesus takes three of his disciples up on a mountain with him, and before their very eyes he is swallowed up by the glory of God's great might. In the presence of such glory, his clothes turn white as light and his face shines like the sun. Then Moses and Elijah, two men of God who had been dead for more than 1,000 and more than 800 years respectively, ...

1804. The Bread Of Life

Psalm 121:1-8

Eulogy

Joe Barone

Psalm 121, Exodus 16:2-41 Corinthians 11:23-26 and John 6:25-35 There are certain people in every church who have a special love for the Lord's supper. I knew a man once who served as an elder in an open church. He and others came to the table and with their prayers asked God's blessing on the communion service and the congregation. "It's the most awesome thing I've ever done," he told me. "I never step up to the table without a sense of my own inadequacy and a certain fear." Sometimes it is easy to forget ...

1805. To Rebuild or Not to Rebuild

Galatians 2:15-21

Children's Sermon

Tim Carpenter

Exegetical Aim: To explain that we should not keep doing things that we know are wrong. Props: Some building blocks. Lesson: [As you talk to the children, illustrate by using the building blocks. Begin by building a "barn" with a couple of blocks falling off, and then adapt the structure as you tell the story.] Sometimes you can drive on the highway or out in the country and see an old barn that is falling in. Have any of you ever seen an old barn that was falling in and rotting? (response) When a barn ...

1806. God's Training Wheels

Mark 1:1-8, Mark 1:9-13

Children's Sermon

Brett Blair

Exegetical Aim: To teach that baptism is a foundational event in the life of a Christian. Props: Bicycle training wheels. Lesson: Good morning. (response) What do I have in my hands? (response) How many of you have bicycles? (response) How old were you when you learned to ride it? (response) Who taught you how to ride? (response) Before you learned to ride you had to use some special wheels called? (response) That's right and these are training wheels. What would have happened, when you got on a bicycle ...

1807. Innocent of the Blood of Jesus

Matthew 27:1-10

Drama

Joe Barone

As we continue our walk with Jesus to the cross, it might be well to consider where we've been. It all started when Mary anointed Jesus with an expensive flask of oil. From there Jesus went to the last supper where he acknowledged that Judas would betray him. We were at Gethsemane with the apostle James, and we watched Jesus stand before the Sanhedrin through the eyes of the high priest Caiaphas. Today, we look through the eyes of Pontius Pilate. Dramatic Monologue: Pontius Pilate He was no threat to the ...

1808. Is Free Just Loose?

Galatians 5:1-15

Children's Sermon

Object: a wristwatch or a pocket watch on a chain. Good morning, boys and girls, and how are you today? Did you get up this morning filled with God's love and joy? Are you very glad to be alive? Is that the way that you got up this morning? Very good! When you got up this morning, did you also thank God for being free? [Wait for some answers.] What does it mean to be free? Is free being loose? Suppose I grab [Take one of the boys who wouldn't be frightened] Jim and just hold him so that he cannot get away ...

1809. Is Free Just Loose?

Galatians 4:21-31

Children's Sermon

1810. Christ the King

Lk 23:35-43 · Jn 12:9-19 · Col 1:11-20 · Jer 23:2-6 · 2 Sam 5:1-5

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY 2 Samuel 5:1-5 David is crowned king of Israel at Hebron at age thirty. Among the Hebrews David was always regarded as the ideal king. The promised Messiah was to be a son of David and be a king like David. In the Old Testament the king was an expression of Yahweh's kingship. Christians see David as a type of Christ the King. Like David Jesus was our "bone and flesh" through the Incarnation. Like David as a military leader and conqueror, Jesus had the power over sin, sickness, and death so that ...

1811. Advent 3

Isaiah 35:1-10, Psalm 146:1-10, James 5:7-12, Matthew 11:1-19

Sermon Aid

THEOLOGICAL CLUE The liturgical/homiletical purpose of this Sunday is to deal with a question that is fundamental to the incarnation, Jesus' identity as the Messiah, who has come to God's people and who will come again. The focus of the gospel shows how Jesus' word and works identified him as the Messiah, the incarnate Word, giving a better understanding of the incarnation as it was revealed in his life and ministry to the church that is about to celebrate his birth. The Gospel also points to John the ...

1812. What Will He Find… When He Comes? - Shorter Version

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

Theodore F. Schneider

In Paul’s great letter to the Corinthians he addresses many issues: conflicts, divisions and hardships abound on every side. The crowning achievement of that letter is the 13th chapter. The chapter on love. At the end of that chapter Paul says that of all the qualities of our faith there are three most important: Faith, hope and love. I would like to spend our time this morning on hope. In difficult times we must have hope. But hardship is relentless and can come in many ways. I am reminded of Lucy's ...

1813. No Sooner Said Than Done!

Isaiah 55:1-13

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

"For the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and return not thither but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it." Words! Words! Words! Today we are bombarded on every side and saturated throughout with words coming to us through press, radio, and TV. There are 490,000 ...

1814. The Need for Transfiguration

2 Peter 1:12-21

Sermon

Hubert Beck

Who has not felt the need for transfiguration? Who has not felt the Cinderella in them needing to be transformed from a deprived stepsister to a beautiful princess? Who has not felt so drab, so hum-drum, so dull, so boring even to one’s own self that one could hardly stand it? In moments like that - and for some people a good part of their life seems to be spent like that! - we feel that we simply must get beyond ourselves. We want to feel transfigured at least, to feel bright and cheery and extraordinary ...

1815. "I Don’t Want to Be Perfect - Or Do I?"

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

"I don’t want to be perfect" - but I do want to be better than am. I do want to be as good as I can be. I will never be mathematically perfect, everything just right, fixed. But as long as I live, I am going to be yearning after something that I have not yet achieved, and I am going to be responding to a pull that ever tugs me to a higher level of life. I don’t want to be a semi-Christian. I don’t want to be a "born again" Christian whose "conversion turns him around ninety degrees instead of one hundred ...

1816. Laying Hold On God's Willingness

Matthew 7:7-12

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

We who experienced the nearness of a recent tornado can appreciate the experience of a certain Kansas farmer. He heard that a tornado was coming so he went down into his cellar. It was an awful storm. Windows were knocked out of his house and roofing was snatched away. His barn was blown away and his car flipped over. After the terrible storm finally passed, a neighbor came to the cellar and called down to him: "Is anybody down there?" The farmer replied, "Nobody is down here but me and God, and we are ...

1817. Straight Talk With A Young Adult

Matthew 19:16-30

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

One of my favorite stories concerns a young man who was working in a grocery store. A lady came in and asked for half a grapefruit. Thinking that request rather strange, the young man went to the back of the store and said to the manager, “There is some nut out front who wants to buy half a grapefruit.” Just then he glanced over his shoulder and noticed that the lady had followed him to the back of the store, so he added immediately, “And this gracious lady is willing to buy the other half. I hope that is ...

1818. Stewards and the Hungry

Matthew 25:31-46

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

So God called into existence his creation and then, according to Genesis 1:28, he said to us humans, "I’m putting you in charge." That makes us caretakers of all which God has given to us. That includes the Earth and all its natural resources. In the days ahead, we’ll discover that being a caretaker and steward involves a lot more than whether we tithe or not and what we put in the church offering plate. It involves our caring for our bodies, how we use our skills, how we apportion our time, and what we do ...

1819. God's Training Wheels

Mark 1:9-13, Mark 1:1-8

Children's Sermon

Brett Blair

1820. Enduring

Mark 13:1-31

Sermon

Warren Thomas Smith

"But he who endures to the end will be saved." (v. 13) We regard this chapter as the Little Apocalypse - a section that refers to the conclusion of history, similar to what we read in Daniel and Revelation. It is a grim piece, uncomfortable, unsettling. It may have been written as a warning of the impending fall of Jerusalem, which indeed took place in A.D. 70. Why would this passage be incorporated in Mark? Why not omit such jarring predictions? In truth, most of us do not care to be troubled about ...

1821. Thankful Day By Day

Philippians 4:2-9

Sermon

King Duncan

There is an Israeli folktale about a king named Shah Abbas who wanted to get to know his subjects. At night he would dress himself as a monk and go out to the poor part of town to see how these people lived. One day the disguised king came to a simple hut, where he met a cobbler. The cobbler was a poor man who was just barely able to support himself, but he praised God mightily, even in his lowly circumstances. The king was impressed but he did a curious thing. The king issued a decree that no one could ...

1822. In Praise Of Goofing Off

Mark 6:30-44

Sermon

King Duncan

Have you ever noticed that different people have different attitudes about work? I heard about a congregation who had the same pastor for many years. He resigned and they hired a new young pastor with new ideas about church leadership. The first suggestion he made to the church's ruling body was that they hire a part-time person to look after the church lawn. "I'll have you know, parson," said one of the members indignantly, that our former pastor always took care of the church's lawn himself." "I'm aware ...

1823. He Is Who He Says He Is

Acts 5:17-42

Sermon

King Duncan

Hubert Humphrey loved meeting people. That made him a much-loved politician. On a fishing trip in northern Minnesota, Hubert and federal judge Miles Lord were in a sporting-goods store. Lord noticed that a tour bus from California had broken down outside. Lord sneaked out to the bus and introduced himself as the mayor. "Folks, I'm sorry to see you're having trouble," he said. "If there's anything we can do for you, just stop by my office. And by the way, there's something you can do for us. We have a ...

1824. Did He Dance?

Mark 10:46-52

Children's Sermon

King Duncan

Object: None or bring a child's paddle ball game (a ping-pong shaped paddle with an elastic string attached with a ball on the end that you hit away from you and it bounces back OR another possible game to use would be Lesson: And many were sternly telling him to be quiet, but he kept crying out all the more. Catch a ball party game favors--that is a ball on a string attached to a cup with a handle on the bottom and you throw the ball up and try to catch it in the cup.) Option: Go to a party store and buy ...

1825. A New You or a New Year

Philippians 3:1-11

Sermon

Eric Ritz

Most of us will not have the unique opportunity of Alfred Nobel who read his own obituary. It happened because of a mistaken identity. Alfred''s brother died, but the news media had confused the name and thought Alfred had died. As he read his own obituary, he was horrified to find that he was referred to as the "dynamite king." He was pictured as someone who had spent his life gathering a great fortune from the manufacture of weapons of destruction. When he invented dynamite, he thought it would be an ...

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