Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1851 to 1875 of 2561 results

1851. The Violence Within, The Violence Without

Zephaniah 3:1-20

Sermon

I will utterly sweep away everything from the face of the earth. I will sweep away man and beast. I will sweep away the birds of the air and the fish of the sea. I will overthrow the wicked. I will cut off mankind from the face of the earth. I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. I will punish the officials and the kings’ sons. And I will punish those who fill their master’s house with violence and fraud. That’s hardly the kind of talk our children hear in ...

1852. Religion - One Way to Get in God’s Way

Zechariah 7:1-14

Sermon

Another clash between religion and the worship of God. To put it another way, "The Bible is anti-religious because it is pro-God." That statement strikes at some of our most cherished traditions. Isn’t religion automatically pro-God? Both the Old and New Testaments say, "Not automatically so." The Bible takes issue not only with the pagan religions, it takes issue with the religion of God’s people when their religion puts God in second place. Christ said of some of the religious leaders who worshiped ...

1853. There’s Gotta Be a Day

Malachi 4:1-6

Sermon

We’ve heard that song before, haven’t we? We’ve heard it with some variations, but the theme is the same. Perhaps the same problems create the same theme - with some variations. Even the variations do not nuance the repetitions enough to make us pay attention, finally. If it were not for two things, Malachi’s oracle of God could be passed by as "just the same old thing." The oracle is from God. Secondly, it comes because God insists on keeping his covenant. He simply cares. There it is. Do we wish to ...

1854. Christ's Passion Portraits

Isaiah 50:1-11

Sermon

Paul Hegele

The task before us that afternoon was simple enough. The newly remodeled church lounge had a wall which needed a picture; everyone agreed it should be a portrait of Christ. The question was - what should Jesus look like? Five hundred years before Christ's birth, Isaiah had predicted he would have "no form or comeliness that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him." Except for the unnerving remark, the Bible never mentions Jesus' appearance. So, which of the scores of paintings ...

1855. God Is No Respecter Of Persons

Acts 10:23b-48

Sermon

Do you like trivia questions? Try these: In what country of the world are the most Bic pens sold per capita? What has replaced the 44 revolver as the Great Equalizer in the West? What unique design appears on Sears, Roebuck's best-selling women's shirts? The answers: Bic pens are most popular in Zaire. In that African country, however, people don't write with most of the Bic pens - they wear them. Any man who can scrape together an extra $2.00 will buy a half dozen pens and stick them all in his shirt ...

1856. Taking Risks

Mt 4:1-11 · Lk 4:1-13 · Mk 1:12-13

Children's Sermon

Object: A quarantine sign and/or a highway sign such as "Reduce Speed." Good morning to you, boys and girls. Sunday really is a beautiful day no matter what the weather is outside. Even when it is cold, the church is warm, not just because the furnace is on but because you are so welcome and everybody wants you to be here. It takes a long time to get acquainted in some places but not in the church. Here everybody is your friend and you are a friend to everybody. That is the way Jesus teaches us to be. He ...

1857. Proper 6

Lk 7:36--8:3 · Gal 2:11-21 · 1 Ki 19:1-8

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Old Testament: 1 Kings 19:1-8 Threatened by Jezebel, Elijah flees for his life and is fed by an angel on his way to Mount Horeb. To understand this pericope, we need to get the background in chapter 18. On Mount Carmel, Elijah calls down fire from heaven to prove that Yahweh is the only true God. This is followed by his slaughter of the four hundred fifty prophets of Baal supported by King Ahab and Queen Jezebel who sends a messenger to Elijah to tell him that within twenty-four hours she will ...

1858. Proper 16

Lk 13:22-30 · Heb 12:5-7, 11-13, 18-29 · Jer 28:1-9 · Isa 66:18-23

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Jeremiah 28:1-9 Hananiah, a prophet, contradicts Jeremiah's prophecy of doom. Jeremiah is confronted by Hananiah, a prophet from Gibeon, in the temple. It is a dramatic scene with Jeremiah's wearing a yoke to symbolize the coming bondage of Judah to Babylon. To Jeremiah in the presence of the priests and people, Hananiah tells Jeremiah that Babylon will be defeated and within two years the king, exiles, and the temple treasures will be returned to Jerusalem. Sarcastically Jeremiah says "Amen" to ...

1859. Proper 20

Lk 16:1-13 · 1 Tim 2:1-8 · Amos 8:4-7 · Hos 11:1-11

Sermon Aid

THE LESSONS Hosea 11:1-11 Yahweh so loves his disobedient people that he cannot give them up to destruction. In one of the most moving passages in the Old Testament (Lesson 1), Israel is pictured as Yahweh's prodigal son. Hosea sees God and the nation as a loving father and his rebellious son. As a loving father Yahweh loves Israel when a child, brought him out of slavery in Egypt, and cared for him in the wilderness. He took his child in his arms, taught him to walk, and nurtured him. In spite of this, ...

1860. Epiphany 4

Lk 4:21-30 · 1 Cor 13:1-13 · Jer 1:4-10

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Jeremiah 1:4-5, 17-19 (RC) Even before his birth Jeremiah was appointed a prophet. Jeremiah tells us of his call to preach. It came at the time Josiah was king of Judah (ca. 627 BC). It came as a dialogue with Yahweh who even before his birth was destined to be a prophet. In this dialogue he heard the voice of Yahweh and felt his hand on his lips. There was no human initiative in the call. The words he was to speak were totally the Lord's words. The message he was to proclaim was one of judgment ...

1861. Lent 3

John 4:1-26

Sermon Aid

COMMENTARY Exodus 3:1-15 (C), Exodus 3:1-8b, 10-15 (L). Exodus 3:1-8, 13-15 (RC) Moses is called to deliver God's people from bondage in Egypt. While tending his father-in-law's sheep, Moses is called by Yahweh to return to Egypt to lead out his oppressed people. First Yahweh must get Moses' attention by having a bush burn without burning up. Because God is present, Moses is ordered to remove his sandals, for he is on holy ground. Wherever God exists, the place becomes sacred. Yahweh tells Moses that he is ...

1862. First Sunday in Advent

Romans 13:11-14

Bulletin Aid

Second Lesson: Romans 13:11-14 Theme: Living in the Light of Christ Call to Worship Pastor: As winter sets in, the days are shorter and we live in more darkness. People: Sometimes we feel that life has its wintertime, too, in which darkness steals the light by which we live. Pastor: Then you can rejoice! For darkness turns to light as we make ready for the advent of Christ, the Light of the world! People: We want to cast off the works of darkness in our lives, and put on the armor of Christ our light! ...

1863. A Call for a Change in Lifestyle

Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon

At the mention of the name, John the Baptizer, I immediately think of two churches that are thousands of miles apart. One is only eighty-five miles from my home, the Benedictine abbey church of St. John the Baptist on the campus of St. John’s University, Collegeville, Minnesota. The other church is thousands of miles away, just outside of Florence, Italy, at the confluence of two superhighways. Each features visual images of John the Baptizer. The church in Italy pictures the life and death of John on ...

1864. Boundaries or Frontiers?

Leviticus 19:1-37

Sermon

In his marvelous account, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, William L. Shirer notes how in 1942 Hitler had stretched his frontiers so wide in Russia that he simply could not defend them anymore. Ignoring Field General Franz Halder’s advice, the Fuhrer dismissed him saying, "We need National Socialist ardor now, not professional ability. I cannot expect this of an officer of the old school such as you." Halder later described the Furhrer as "no longer a responsible warlord, but a political fanatic." The ...

1865. Where Does One Go When Darkness Floods One’s Life?

Genesis 32:22-32

Sermon

James Cobb

There are many places in the providence of God where he waits to meet with us. But there is one strange place where he can always be found. The Psalmist has described the place as the place called wits-end. In the 107th Psalm, verse 28 the Psalmist declares, "They are at their wits-end then they cry to God in their trouble." The place called wits-end is the place of our frustrations and despair. It is the place where we come to the end of our strength and wisdom and are thereby brought to that humility and ...

1866. Forgiveness Forever

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon

Peter's question touches life where we live it, too: "How much forgiving can we be expected to do?" Peter wondered if there was not some cap, which could be imposed in advance, a limit beyond which no reasonable person could be expected to go. In his liberal human generosity, he suggested seven times. Now, if you have been hurt once and again and yet again by another, I think you will understand that forgiving that person seven times is genuinely generous. Even impossibly generous, you might add under your ...

1867. The Promise of Light

Isaiah 60:1-22

Sermon

During the 1960-61 academic year I was a first-year seminarian at Yale Divinity School in New Haven, Connecticut. It snowed that winter the week before Christmas vacation. When we left in mid-March for spring break we had not seen the ground clear of snow since early December. There was a period of two weeks in January-February when the temperature never got above zero. The winter was cold, dark, dreary, and depressing for me. Being from Concord, North Carolina, I had never experienced so much snow at one ...

1868. God's Glory Manifest

Exodus 24:1-18

Sermon

On hot summer nights before air conditioning, when I was a child in North Carolina, my family would sit on the front porch. We hoped to catch any slight breeze that would cool us off. We would watch the night sky with its stars blinking brightly and the moon shining gloriously and be at peace and contentment, even if wet and sticky from sweat. There were nights, however, in which thunderstorms would shake, rattle, and roll our teeth. Lightning would flash, thunder would roll ("the Lord's corn wagons" was ...

1869. Communion Is Reunion

1 Corinthians 10:14-22

Sermon

The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for all partake of the one bread. When I think about the world we live in, the one descriptive word that leaps forth in my mind is "division". Nations are divided against other nations. It's East versus West. Jews versus Arabs. Communism versus Capitalism. The Haves versus the Have-nots. ...

1870. Real Absence

Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon

Some among the faithful have been honest and candid enough to talk about it, even to write about it. James Nestingen said it in a sermon: "Despite pious claims to the contrary, I wonder sometimes if the experience of God’s absence isn't a lot more common to us than the sense of his presence."1 Frederick Buechner said it in some lectures and a book: "Just as sacramental theology speaks of a doctrine of the Real Presence, maybe it should speak also of a doctrine of the Real Absence ..."2 Edmund Steimle said ...

1871. The Sounds at the Summit

Exodus 19:1-25

Sermon

Shortly before dawn one morning a couple years ago, a gasoline pipeline erupted and a terrible fire flared up right down the middle of a suburban St. Paul, Minnesota, street. A woman delivering newspapers was caught in the flames; her car ignited and she was severely burned, but survived. People were awakened to discover flames shooting higher than telegraph poles. "The whole neighborhood is on fire," was one person’s description. In one home, a father woke up his wife, told her to get her daughter while ...

1872. The Shortest Distance Is Not A Straight Line

Sermon

Harold Warlick

None of us relishes complications. We want issues to be simple. But now the freshmen are no longer freshmen - they've got four months under their belts in college. Rush week is over so some are now in fraternities and sororities. Faculty are complaining that second term has been just as rushed and frantic as the first. Dr. Warlick isn't new anymore. People are used to Wednesday nights instead of Sunday mornings as the time for worship. Attendance patterns and the reasons for them become more ambiguous. ...

1873. Christian Values Peace

John 14:15-31

Bulletin Aid

Leader: Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. Women: Peace when the children are sick, the freezer breaks and out-of-town relatives are due in any second. Youth: Peace when your best friend moves away, you’re flunking gym, and the family dog disappears. Men: Peace when you’re laid off with no chance of recall, the doctor has seen something peculiar in the X-ray and the children are mad at you for missing the school play. Leader: I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be ...

1874. Away with the Stable

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

If we could change some of our images of the Christmas story, it would mean more to us. If we could get the birth narrative straight, it would not be diminished but enriched. Luke records the incident of Christ's birth in a very simple and a very beautiful way: "[Mary] gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn." Regardless of the stories that we have been told and hear about the little Bethlehem hotel being ...

1875. Misunderstanding Jesus

John 6:25-59

Sermon

Once a minister was speaking of the difference between fact and fantasy. "That you are sitting here before me in this church is fact! That I am standing here in this pulpit speaking is fact!" Then he paused, and continued, "However to believe that anyone is really listening to me may be fantasy." You know, sometimes it is fun to be a preacher. After his return from church one Sunday a small boy said, "You know what, Mommie? I’m going to be a preacher when I grow up." "That’s fine," said his mother, "but ...

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