Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1801 to 1825 of 4977 results

1801. Keep Your Mind On The Spirit

Romans 8:5

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

... He was a little black boy who lived in a poor neighborhood with his family. Most of the time Ervin and his brothers and sisters didn't get lots of presents for Christmas or birthdays because there were too many of them, and Ervin's dad didn't have quite enough money to buy the food, pay the bills, and buy lots of presents, too. However, one Christmas, some of the people who lived in the richer section of town decided to collect gifts for the children who were poor. Well, one of the gifts that came to Ervin ...

1802. Why A Cross?

John 19:17-27

Sermon

Robert Beringer

... of the father. As we walked into the station, Donald said to his father, "Dad, why do you even bother coming after me? Don't you and Mom know by now that I'm just no good? Why don't you just give up on me?" Now I tell you quite honestly that no one in that community would have blamed that father if he had done exactly that! But I will never forget what Donald's father said to his son that night. "Don, your mother and I love you, and as long as there is breath in our bodies ...

1803. Letting God

Luke 2:1-7, Luke 2:8-20, Matthew 2:1-12

Drama

Pamela Urfer

... for him. MARY: Of course. You can be the loving husband and father God made you to be. And if, in the future, we come up a little short financially, we can thank God for sending those nice shepherds and kings. JOSEPH: You're right. I wasn't feeling quite as grateful earlier as I do now. MARY: I think they're camped just outside. Let's go out and thank them again. JOSEPH: Yes, let's. And let's thank God for his perfect provision. MARY: (Taking his arm) And his perfect understanding of our weaknesses. JOSEPH ...

1804. Divine Naivet

Isaiah 63:7--64:12

Sermon

Paul E. Robinson

... loved him," the song says. Not until Rudolph was approved by the authority figure Santa, not until Rudolph had proven that his disability could actually be useful, not until he had done something heroic was Rudolph, with all his differences and disabilities, accepted! Quite a thought, isn't it? Love and acceptance in this world tends to be conditional, and the terrible thing around Christmas time is that that ungodly secular tendency has crept into our Christmas songs. You won't find it, though, in our ...

1805. A Special Night

Exodus 12:1-30

Drama

Pamela Urfer

... generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance." Every year they were supposed to go through the same ceremony to remember how God had freed them from their enemies, how he loves us and cares for us and, perhaps most importantly, how, although he doesn't move quite as quickly as we would like, he always comes through in the end. Then he took them through the wilderness to the Promised Land. SON: But why don't we? FATHER: Why don't we what? SON: Why don't we celebrate this every year like God said ...

1806. Citizenship

Philippians 3:1-11

Drama

Pamela Urfer

... . TERRY: Canada, you know, never tolerated slavery. CHRIS: What's that got to do with anything? TERRY: Canada has not thrown its weight around in morally dubious foreign ventures. CHRIS: I don't know about any foreign adventures. TERRY: Canada has not done quite so poorly with its Native Americans. We have tribal chiefs in our parliament. CHRIS: We gave our Indians reservations! What more do they want? (Slyly) Does your country have God's name on your dollar bill? TERRY: No. But in Canada religious groups ...

1807. Let Our Kids Pray

Matthew 6:5-15

Sermon

Carl B. Rife

Quite a few years ago I saw a bumper sticker on a car that said, "Let Our Kids Pray." I had an immediate reaction and I acted immediately on the reaction. I went to my car and got a pen and paper and wrote on the paper "Who's stopping them?" ...

1808. A Most Important Dawning

Isaiah 60:1-22

Sermon

Paul E. Robinson

... were told of Jesus' birth, "Glory to God in the highest." Think for a moment. Have you recognized the glory of God? And has it dawned on you the importance of God's revelation through Jesus of what God is really like? Many things in our life take quite a while to really get through. We hear something and think, "Yeah, that's right, I guess." Then we see its truth again and we think, "Oh, yeah, that really is true." And then, after perhaps many moments of casual insight we finally say, with full conviction ...

1809. Risen And Recognized

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Robert Beringer

... brought to those two disciples in Emmaus on that Easter evening so long ago. When they recognized Jesus, the disciples suddenly had a new task of telling the good news that Christ is alive to all who would listen. Those two men were quite literally energized by their discovery. Suddenly, their tired feet, which had barely carried them to Emmaus, were forgotten! They ran the seven miles back to Jerusalem with the incredible good news, "We have seen the Lord!" Their experience with the Risen Christ gave ...

1810. Traveling Forgotten Mountains

Isaiah 49:8-26

Sermon

Paul E. Robinson

... It was in the midst of this hopelessness, in the midst of exile in Babylon that Isaiah wrote this hope-filled chapter. "Thus says the Lord: In a time of favor I have answered you, on a day of salvation I have helped you ..." (Isaiah 49:8). This was quite a word of promise at a time when those in exile were saying, "The Lord has forsaken us, our Lord has forgotten us." Is that not the feeling of many today? I talked with someone recently who said she knew few people who were really happy. Problems seem to ...

1811. The Wise Use Of Time

Ecclesiastes 3:1-22

Children's Sermon

Robert B. Lantz

... are learning by looking at clocks and watching Sesame Street, aren't you? How many of you have a watch? Hold them up for me! My, there are so many different kinds and colors. Why do you suppose we need to tell time anyway? (Responses -- Varied; some may be quite useable in developing your theme.) We are people who are very oriented to time, aren't we? We need to know what time it is to get to school, to watch our favorite TV programs, to arrive at the dentist's for an appointment, to meet trains and buses ...

1812. With All Your Heart

1 Peter 1:8

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

... -out heart Lesson: Although you have not seen him, you love him. Good morning, boys and girls. How is everyone today? (Let them answer.) Good. Today we are still thinking about Easter and about Jesus' rising from the dead. We will try to keep Easter on our minds for quite a few more weeks because this is such a special time for us Christians. Today I brought with me this great big heart. It reminded me of some things that Peter has to say in one of our Scripture lessons. What do you think of when you see a ...

1813. A Friend Indeed

1 Corinthians 1:9

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

... store. They thought that they could each get lots of money, like this. (Hold up money.) So Billy went along with them. When they got to the store, they told Billy to stay in the car and watch to see if anyone was coming. So Billy did, but after waiting quite a while, he decided to go into the store and see what was going on. There he saw the older guys beating up the owner of the store. Billy tried to stop them but it was too late. The man later died. Poor Billy ended up having to go to ...

1814. Being Ready

Matthew 24:36-44

Children's Sermon

Teresa L. Major

... gave you chores to do before you could go. You didn't do them and you were not ready when it was time to leave. What would happen? (Children respond.) What happens if we're not ready to meet Jesus and learn about him? We'll miss out on something quite special. If we're not ready for Jesus, we may not learn how much he cares for us and loves us. If we're not ready for him, we might miss out on everything Jesus has for us. We never know what's going to happen to us, but we ...

1815. Serendipity!

Matthew 6:33

Children's Sermon

Teresa L. Major

... a wonderful man who told funny stories and made you laugh. He became your friend. You guessed it. He was a serendipity. We can't go looking for a serendipity, because when we look for it, it's never there. It is something we stumble onto quite by accident when we're looking for something else. Some people never come across serendipities. Not because they aren't there, but because some people are too busy, or hard-headed, or stubborn to notice them. Suppose when you were looking for your game in the attic ...

1816. Thanks, Dad

Exodus 20:1-21

Children's Sermon

Teresa L. Major

... way down, I would have to climb all the way back up. Once we reached the bottom, we were near the foot of a tremendous waterfall. Boy, was it magnificent! The water crashed down and exploded all over us. We could feel the cool spray on our faces. It was quite a sight but I was tired after that long hike down and I really didn't care about waterfalls. After a while, my dad said it was time to head back to the top. Back to the top? Did Daddy expect me to hike back up that mountain? I couldn ...

1817. The Potter Almighty

Jeremiah 18:1--19:15

Sermon

Richard L. Sheffield

... Civil War when asked if he thought God was on his side, Abraham Lincoln responded: "I am not so much concerned as to whether God's on my side as to whether I am on his side" (source unknown). Another time he said: "In the present Civil War, it's quite possible that God's purpose is something different from the purpose of either party."3 God's purpose is not always the purpose we had in mind. And when we are at cross purposes with the will of God, God's still at the wheel like the potter who when ...

1818. Discern How Things Grow

1 Corinthians 3:1-23

Sermon

Richard Hasler

... in the church confirm they are still children in the faith. He touches only briefly upon the image of the builder in the last verse of our text, and he then proceeds to develop it more at length in the next section of the letter. However, Paul is quite clear in applying the work of the farmer in the field to the function of leadership in the church. This image will be our major focus. Paul writes succinctly, "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who ...

1819. Week Five Of Lent

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... of the prophecy of Ezekiel. Jesus came to bring unity to all; Jesus came to gather the scattered children of God. The oneness that Jesus sought within the community of Israel was the same oneness that he enjoyed with the Father. In John's Gospel Jesus has made this quite clear: "That all may be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you. I pray that they may be one in us, that the world may believe that you have sent me." The Jews, however, were not ready for the unity which Jesus offered. The Gospel ...

1820. Don't Sell Your Inheritance for Cabbage Soup

Genesis 25:19-34

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

... that most things worth accomplishing take time -- many times they take decades. Learn to stay a little hungry. It can make such a difference in your life. For one thing, stay hungry for knowledge. In fact, develop a deep hunger for knowledge. Too many people want to quit learning when they reach a certain age. Don't do that. Keep on thinking. As the poet plans his life, Let me die thinking. Let me fare forth still with an open mind, Fresh secrets to unfold, new truths to find. My soul undimmed, alert, no ...

1821. Empowered By A Vision

Genesis 28:10-22

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

... managed to bilk Heaven out of that, he would have been back the next morning for the stars to go with it."1 There just does not seem to be anything particularly likable about this man with whom God covenanted to continue the Hebrew nation. Jacob was, quite frankly, an unrepentant rascal! That's why we find today's story so fascinating. Jacob spends much of his life as a wanderer. Like so many who live on the edge of trouble, his behavior mandates that he keep looking over his shoulder lest someone catch up ...

1822. The Risky Business of Faith

Genesis 12:1-8

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

... "great sweeps of snow that stop suddenly six feet from the house." Unless we risk and keep striving on this journey, we become like the boy who never reads another book after high school graduation or like the child who loses contact with the family and quits calling home. We are cut off from the past and have no tools to open a future. For others, some event shatters the comfortable cocoon. The children are grown. They want nothing more than to settle back and enjoy life. Then one of their children dies ...

1823. The Oil For Squeaking People

Genesis 18:1-15

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

... the news of her pregnancy with a bit of lighthearted laughter. Her laughter didn't change the end result. A son was born to her nine months later. The difference, however, was in how she experienced that wait. I suspect Sarah found the time of waiting much easier than Zechariah. Quite frankly, that is one of the things we know about the value of laughter. It is the oil for tough, squeaky times. It is a wonderful gift of a loving God.

1824. When Life Doesn't Go According To Plan

Genesis 21:8-21

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

... , Abraham prepares to send Hagar and Ishmael into the desert. To be perfectly honest, Abraham doesn't provide much for them. He gives Hagar and Ishmael some bread and one goatskin of water. For a trip through the desert this is not over-provisioning. The text is quite fascinating at this point. It says that Abraham puts both the water bag and Ishmael on the shoulders of Hagar and sends them on their way. How curious! Ishmael is 16 years old and he rides off on his mother's shoulders? The scripture must mean ...

1825. The King Of Hearts

Ezekiel 34:1-31

Sermon

Robert S. Crilley

... can call being encased in amber from the waist up and fire from the waist down being somehow human! It sounds a lot like a close encounter of the third kind, I'll admit. However, for Ezekiel, these mysterious flying objects are hardly unidentified. Quite the contrary. This divine revelation is nothing less than an encounter of the Holy Kind: "the appearance of the likeness of the glory of God" (Ezekiel 1:28b). Small wonder then that the prophet immediately falls to the ground, burying his face in his hands ...

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