Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1851 to 1875 of 4943 results

1851. In the Beginning, God

Genesis 1:1-2:3

Sermon

Johnny Dean

... surgery; you on whom the sun shines today, but for whom darkness is never more than a phone call away – you need to hear the message that God is still in control, still actively involved in the business of creation. The Good News is that God continues to wrestle with the formless void, bringing something out of nothing. The formless void will never be destroyed, but it is no match for God. And hearing this good news, in all the days of our lives, wherever we should find ourselves, in whatever circumstance ...

1852. Is He Really Coming?

Sermon

Rolf E. Aaseng

... and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also (John 14:2-3). In the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and indulging their own lusts and saying, "Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since our ancestors died, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation!" (2 Peter 3:3-4). Every Sunday we say we believe it: "I believe ... he will come again to judge the living and the dead." But do our words mean anything to us? Do they have any effect on our attitudes ...

1853. The Sound of Everlasting Joy

Luke 15:11-32, Matthew 28:1-10

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

... religious novel. I would never have read it if there had been any other reading material available. But that book told how everyone who came under the influence of Jesus had wonderful things happen to them, and how it helped them to start living new lives. "And you know," he continued, "it helped me, there in prison. I was set free in my heart long before the army came to set me free. When I got home to my wife, I found her to be downhearted and scared and sort of bound up in herself. So, I've come to get ...

1854. Does Love Make You Sorry?

Luke 7:36-50

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... and would not allow her to touch him." Jesus was a good mind reader. He knew what Simon was thinking, and so he called Simon's attention to the fact that, in contrast, he did not express his love as the woman did. "When I came into your house," Jesus continued, "you gave me no water to wash my feet, but this woman washed my feet with her tears. You gave me no kiss of greeting, but this prostitute kissed my feet. You did not anoint my head, but she anointed my feet." The reason for her devotion to Jesus was ...

1855. Tears on Easter?

John 20:10-18

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... Paul wrote, nothing, not even death, can separate us from the love of God or God himself. Though we physically die, we shall continue to live in and with God. And this is our comfort when we mourn the loss of those who died in Christ. Each ... number! For the state, we are only a number, for every child entering first grade is given a Social Security card with a number and this continues throughout the child's life. With Christ we are more than a number; we are a person. You can say, "God knows me. He even calls ...

1856. A House Or A Home?

Joshua 24:1-27

Sermon

R. E. Lybrand

... in your home? If you want to have a strong Christian home, your family life must revolve around the powerful presence of Jesus Christ. Conclusion Our nation will stand strong or feebly fall on the foundation of its homes. If moral and spiritual decay continue to nibble away at the fiber of American family life, then the downfall of this country is approaching rapidly. But if you and I, as Believers, will set an example by constantly working to create strong Christian homes for our families, there may be ...

1857. The Cross And Our Shadows

Joel 2:1-11

Sermon

Carl Jech

... and even seemingly impossible beginnings, God is able to do great things! God works often through the most unlikely "heroes." Abram will lose his faith many times only to have it continually restored and to become known as the "father" or ultimate exemplar of faith. (Hebrews 2) Still today, God continues to accomplish great things through unlikely people, through people who appear at least to be outside the church. I think, for example, of some great playwrights or composers. The second problem ...

1858. A Shepherd Returns

Luke 2:8-20

Drama

Edward G. Hunter

... promised God a long time ago that he would not interfere in his life. He belonged to God. God had told him, through prayer, and in dreams, that he would take care of the lad. What more could he do than leave him in God's hands?" The elderly shepherd continues: "I followed his life closely. I heard him speak a number of times on the hillside, or in the temple courtyard. I saw him heal, even a man blind from birth. He healed the sick before my very eyes. He cast out demons from the insane. It was said that ...

1859. Winning Isn't the Only Thing ... It's Irrelevant

Luke 13:31-35

Sermon

Carl Jech

... Gideon society provides a wonderful service by making Bibles available in jails, motels, nursing homes - all over the world. But when Gideons and others say that it is their basic goal to "win others for Christ," it could well mean that we are continuing to misunderstand Jesus, that we continue to "not know what we say." (Luke 9:33) We need to be more careful in the words we use to witness. Careless terminology can corrupt our message. Suppose we alter a phrase: "Sticks and stones may break one's bones, but ...

1860. Comfort the Disturbed/ Disturb the Comfortable

Luke 22:66--23:25

Sermon

Carl Jech

... there is more than one aspect to being "biblical." One facet of a Bible-based faith is a matter simply of becoming biblically literate. That is, we need to regularly retell the old, old stories. But another aspect of what it means to be biblical is that we should continue to do the kinds of things that the great pioneers of faith did in their day. Just because Abraham left his native land and went west, trusting that God was leading him, does not mean that we must all do exactly the same thing and act as if ...

1861. Giving Away the Store

Luke 22:7-38, John 13:1-17

Sermon

Carl Jech

... mother. What better way to affirm life than by affirming motherhood - (an obvious symbol of life)? Far from wishing that he had never been born, Jesus recognizes that it is for this very moment that he has been born - to affirm life in the face of death. It continues to boggle the mind of many people that Christians sing "Lift high the cross ... So shall our song of triumph ever be! Praise to the Crucified for victory!" What does the Cross of Jesus have to do with love and victory? The Cross is the sign and ...

1862. Colorizing Jesus

John 20:24-31

Sermon

Carl Jech

... . "It simply reminds me that long before me and long after me people have dealt with such trials and have survived." In spite of his obvious awareness of the dark side of life, in spite of his struggle with the ambiguity of life, Shakespeare basically continued to celebrate life. He has enriched all of our lives - he has colored our world with the beauty and insight of his words. The real, colorized Jesus Christ likewise shines through the ambiguity and confusion of our world and rises to meet us with the ...

1863. Jesus Meets Buddha and Confucius

Luke 24:36-49

Sermon

Carl Jech

... where therisen Jesus eats a fish to demonstrate that he is not simply a disembodied ghost. Luke is concerned to point out that he takes the physical world, and history, seriously. Yet, on the other hand, at the very end of his Gospel and our text (and in his continuation of the story in the book of Acts), Luke pictures Jesus as more or less vanishing into thin air as he ascends into heaven. It does make some sense that if Jesus is able to vanish into thin air at the conclusion of his ministry, he could also ...

1864. Praise God For Adversity

Isaiah 43:14-28

Sermon

Carl Hoefler

... , a new way in the wilderness, a new river in the desert - all this God is about to accomplish in the process of fulfilling his promise to the people he has created and chosen. A new rescue, a new act of liberation, a new demonstration of God's continuing care for his people is about to surprise and to startle the whole of creation. Even the wild beasts and jackals and ostriches will bow down and give praise to the Lord. This message from Isaiah is appropriate as we observe the last Sunday in Lent, and as ...

1865. God's Servant is Anointed with his Spirit

Isaiah 34:1-17

Bulletin Aid

Carl Hoefler

... Worship Pastor: God called Israel to be his servant, but not until Jesus came did anyone fulfill the mission God assigned to his servant. People: We believe Jesus was anointed with God's Spirit to establish his justice on earth. Pastor: That mission is to be continued by Christ's church, which also is called to be God's servant. People: We worship our Lord Jesus, anointed as God's Servant; and commit ourselves to follow him in bringing God's order to our world. Collect Almighty God, who anointed your Son to ...

1866. No Ignorant Brethren

1 Thessalonians 4:13--5:11

Sermon

Rev. Kenneth H. Sauer

... far surpass their income. They are struggling to exist. We who are strong ought to help the weak. This is only an example of the needs of the brethren. Our benevolence gifts help meet those needs. Our own congregation has program needs. We want to continue our education, our ministry, our worship. Our facilities have needs. We must keep our home base operative so we can do our work. Let us not be ignorant of our resources for meeting the needs. The paper last week noted that the most expensive restaurants ...

1867. What Makes Us Human?

Isaiah 6:1-13

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... all of that 'Thee' and 'Thou' language, all of the singing of the chants and all of the rest of it. Don't get me wrong," he continued, "I like to go to church once in a while and hear a good, snappy sermon, but I don't feel that I have to get ... Sunday, or whenever it worships. We do this, we give our reasons, not out of defense of what we do, because anything that has continued for some twenty-eight or twenty-nine centuries in the life of the human family is, in itself, its own defense. Certainly we do ...

1868. The Unjust Steward

Luke 16:1-15

Drama

Robert A. Lehmann

... Solo 1: truth ... Rich Man: But will you get to heaven by dishonesty? Accountant: But ... Solo 1: No! Accountant: I ... Solo 2: No! Accountant: I ... Solo 3: No! [Solos 1, 2, 3 start softly to chant "honest" when Rich Man says "honest" in the following line ... the chant continues to the end of the line] Rich Man: Unless you are honest in small matters, you won't be honest in large matters either. [Solos 1, 2, 3 start softly to chant "cheat" when Rich Man says "cheat" in the following line ... the chant ...

1869. The Power Of God

Philippians 4:13

Illustration

Brett Blair

... spectators walked with her for safety. Then an ABC-TV camera crew showed up and followed the story of her courage. She continued to run. She wore a hole in one sneaker from dragging it across the ground; her hands ached and throbbed; her arms became black ... and blue and swollen; she couldn't speak to anyone because of fatigue, but she continued to run because she prayed: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me...I can do all things." Then two parks ...

1870. The Friend At Midnight

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

Brett Blair

... aisles. He was doing just fine until they came to the cookie section. Seeing the chocolate chip cookies he said, “Mom, can I have some chocolate chip cookies?” She said, “I told you not even to ask. You’re not going to get any at all.” They continued down the aisles, but in their search for certain items she had to back track and they ended up in the cookie aisle again. “Mom, can I please have some chocolate chip cookies?” She said, “I told you that you can ’t have any. Now sit down and ...

1871. The Lord's People Together

Matthew 18:15-20

Sermon

... near gathered in the area and searched frantically for a long time. At last someone said, "The swamp is so wide, and somewhere out there we are missing the child as we go back and forth. If we would join hands, and so keep ourselves in one straight, continuous line, and walk abreast carefully from this side of the swamp to the other, if the child is in there, surely we will find her." This was done: the long column made its sweep across the darkness - and the child was found, but not alive - dead from long ...

1872. The Witness and the Witnesses

John 15:18--16:4

Sermon

... bolts sporadically split the dark. I could see through the bedroom window a torrential rain in progress. After each stroke of lightning I waited for the following thunder. There was none. I was deaf ... I was alone with that knowledge in the dark.1 He continues: "Mabel," I said to my sleeping wife. "Say something. For God’s sake, say something." The lightning flickered again. I saw my wife start up. Her lips moved. I heard nothing, nothing at all. I arose and lit the lamp and stared at her. Fearful ...

1873. The Spirit and the Truth

John 16:5-16

Sermon

George Bass

... to tell how another man had loved her before she met Lydia’s grandfather. But he was married, and since he was very rich, he wanted her as his mistress, offering her a little house and money. But she refused because, as she wrote, "I had my standards." Her letter continued: "He sent me this necklace ... I never saw him again. I kept this necklace all those years since and now I want you to have it ... (I)f you take it to the United States, you can sell it. and you can use that money to go to school and ...

1874. Faith Bridges the Gap

Luke 7:1-10

Sermon

... the centurion wasn’t ready to allow him to die without doing everything he could to restore him to health. Apparently, Jesus was his last resort, and remarkably, he called on the Christ to heal this beloved servant. Tradition established long before that day, and continuing up to the 1930s in Africa and parts of the Middle East, decreed that the treatment of a slave should be quite different than this. Antoine de St. Exupery, in Wind, Sand and Stars, tells how the Arabs treated their slaves toward the end ...

1875. Tomb for Sale

Luke 7:11-17

Sermon

George Bass

... , "He was bitter. He cried a lot. He wouldn’t talk much about what he had seen in Vietnam, but he cried that everyone was guilty - the lowest private to the highest general, and every civilian who slept peaceably in his bed at night and let the war continue for one more day ... As I looked at my friend in the wheelchair, I could only ask: ‘Why? What for?’ " Kirtland learned the details of the story of how his friend was so severely wounded; only he and one other soldier survived an ambush, part of a ...

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