Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1851 to 1875 of 4963 results

1851. Bold Talk Of Faith

Job 23:1--24:25

Sermon

John P. Rossing

... members who haven't spoken to each other in years out of indignation over some injustice or hurt feelings. You may also know people who don't believe in God any more because God let their child die, or their business fail. That's just what Satan was hoping Job would do when he proposed his test. Satan suspected that once the material advantage of faith in God was lost, Job would want nothing more to do with God. But he was wrong. Instead of swearing off religion once God let him down, Job went looking for ...

1852. God's Way Of Doing Things

Ruth 3:1-18, 4:13-22

Sermon

John P. Rossing

... dying sinners into resurrected saints through our baptism into Jesus' resurrection. And he'll change the old corrupt world into a new world at the end of time. We live in a world of sin and death, of frustration and disappointment, but we never need to give up hope for better things. Changing bitterness to joy is God's trademark. A third thing this story tells us about God's way of doing things is that God's way is full of surprises. What confounded Job in his dealings with God was that God didn't follow ...

1853. Amen

John 14:1-4

Eulogy

Richard F. Bansemer

... who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." More importantly, however, are two messages that appear to contradict each other. Often, when we gather on occasions like this, we pray to God asking that strength be given not to grieve like those who have no hope. On the other hand, Jesus taught us in his sermon on the mount: "Blessed are those who mourn (or grieve), for they shall be comforted."You feel the tension, don't you? This very sad day is a very glad day! The only way to get through it is ...

1854. L. T.: The Lonely Terrestrial

Drama

Edward Long

... ; we should have talked honestly before all the resentment and hurt built up. I know our love can grow with some help from the pastor and others ... MRS. T.: Tom ... (Dabs at her eyes.) I know so, too, and I can't wait to share our new and real hope with Lee; he's been so upset at the thought of a divorce. (They join hands and silently look at each other thoughtfully, as lights dim.) VISITOR: Let's move the time ahead to Christmas Eve, tomorrow evening after all the stores have closed and after early church ...

1855. Where the Scary Things Live

Matthew 4:12-17

Sermon

Johnny Dean

... seen a great light, and to those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned." And there’s something inside us that wants to believe that if anything in this life is true, THIS is! Something inside us wants to believe that this is the only hope worth hanging on to, that here is a way out of the fearful mess we’ve made of our lives. Somewhere, sometime, we believe that WE have seen that light. We remember seeing it, once upon a time, a long time ago. If only we could find it again – or ...

1856. The Family of Judas

Drama

William Grimbol

... guys bought his message completely. Twelve decent young men. They thought they could do it. He knew they wouldn't. He wanted martyrdom. To be another great prophet. Betrayal! My son didn't betray him ... he betrayed my son ... he betrayed all of them. He put false hopes in their hearts. He put false dreams in their heads. He had so much charisma, so much talent, he had them all spell-bound ... in a stupor. He betrayed them! (Pause) My son is dead ... suicide ... you want to know why? Why? Because my son had ...

1857. Good News Or Bad News?

Sermon

Rolf E. Aaseng

... prospect. We know we are guilty of sins of many kinds and we do not relish the idea of being brought before a bar of justice. But the return of Christ is meant to be good news. The Bible speaks of it so often because it is a message of hope and encouragement. The early Christians understood it in this way. They were eagerly anticipating the return of Jesus, "waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God," as Peter put it (2 Peter 3:12). They did not fear a future judgment because they knew that for ...

1858. Get Ready

Sermon

Rolf E. Aaseng

... Word, his Spirit, and the fellowship of his followers. The message of the Second Coming is primarily one of encouragement to Christians. To others it may be a warning of impending judgment - a call to repentance. But to believers it is good news. It gives us hope! It strengthens our faith, enabling us to endure trials and to witness to Christ. It motivates us to carry out God's will and proclaim his love by serving others. Christ is coming again! Not to suffer but to reign. He brings with him blessing and ...

1859. St. Jim, Your Halo Is Tipped

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... set. The tension has peaked. The drama unfolds. The man of God, the only one left, in his opinion, is ready to give up. What will God do? First, Elijah, standing on a great rock on a great mountain just outside his cave, feels a wind beginning to blow. His hopes rise. "Maybe God will be in the wind." But no. Trees tumble. Rocks fall. But God is not in the wind. Then an earthquake begins to rumble. "Surely," thinks the prophet, "God will speak to me and revive me with the power of his voice coming out of the ...

1860. "Oh Yeah, Thanks a Lot" -The Grateful Leper

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... to praise him at all. I understand that now, although I must admit that there were times when I was damnably close to giving up all hope. I shudder to think of how close I was to being like the other nine. There are times when it seems that the silence of God ... learned that praise is the spiritual life blood of the soul. These are things that I have learned about prayer and praise. I hope that they will be helpful to you in your day and your town. For your own spiritual health, you must learn how to persevere ...

1861. The Cross And Our Shadows

Joel 2:1-11

Sermon

Carl Jech

... the most inconvenient moment! Lent is a little like a trip to the dentist. If we ignore what is wrong and never do anything but hope for the best, chances are the shadows will suddenly catch up with us and engulf us in darkness. We dare not sweep sin under ... on sin in order to overcome it. We face our shadows because doing so enhances our ability to experience joy, peace, love, understanding, hope and all the gifts of the Spirit. As we gather around the Lord's table and as in the coming weeks we consider ...

1862. Pruning Season

Luke 13:1-9

Drama

Pamela Urfer

... So you say. H.G.: I don't know why I'm standing here arguing with a tree. If you don't want to do it, fine. TREE: (Hopefully) You mean I don't have to? H.G.: Of course you don't have to. TREE: Great! H.G.: Just wait here. I'll get my saw ... know what will happen if you can't? TREE: (Impatiently) Yeah, yeah! The fire next time. Only that's not going to happen. H.G.: I hope not. I really hope not. For your sake. TREE: Fine. Now get out of here and leave me alone. I've got things to do. H.G.: Okay. (Turning to ...

1863. Monologue: Naomi And Ruth

Ruth 1:1-22

Drama

Lynda Pujad

... bent over all day in the hot sun. My back ached every day and so did my fingers. My hands became rough and raw. I hurt so badly in many ways that I wondered if Naomi's God was real anymore. I hurt inside my heart because there seemed no hope for either of us. I had never been a beggar before, and I had never been that hungry before. I wondered how much pain, exhaustion and humiliation I could take. Gleaning was a rough job. The gleaners were very poor, aggressive and desperate for food and it wasn't easy ...

1864. Six Nails of the Cross VI: The Nail of Cruelty

Isaiah 52:13--53:12

Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

... -feaser." He showed what it meant to be fully human, to take the real risk of living. To live the Christian life is to take the risk of acting, becoming involved, opening the doors to outsiders, not closing yourself off in safety behind your walls and barriers. To hope and to act, these are our duties and misfortunes. To do nothing and finally to despair is to neglect our duty. Yes, it would be easy for most of us to non-fease our way through life -- to do nothing and finally despair. But Christ asks us to ...

1865. What's A Savior Worth?

Matthew 6:19-24, Matthew 6:16-18, Matthew 6:5-15, Matthew 6:1-4

Drama

Joe Barone

... him, it was the women who remained. It was the women who stood there and watched the one they had loved -- no, more than loved -- they hoped in him, and yet they watched him die. I like to think that, as his father, I would have been there, but I was dead ... , and even so, I wonder. What's a Savior worth? Is a Savior worth a mother's tears? Is a Savior worth a mother's hopes, turned somehow upside down and fulfilled in a way which even she could not have anticipated or understood? What's a Savior worth? I was ...

1866. Encounter with a Stranger

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Robert Allen

... arms of another man's wife -- but I can't remember who it was to save my life." Just as that young preacher was confused; so were the two men walking along the Emmaus Road. The events that had taken place in Jerusalem left them confused. Their hopes and dreams had been shattered. You can catch the confusion and regret in their voices when they looked at the stranger and told him all the recent events concerning Jesus of Nazareth. There was a note of sorrow and confusion in their voices as they said: "And ...

1867. Prayers for Year A

Bulletin Aid

William S. Carter

... , within our world today. Amen. FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER · John 14:1-12 Eternal Lord, we are yours. We trust in your promises even though the way seems sometimes hard. May we put our confidence in the power of your new life, and proclaim our sure and certain hope; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and rules with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, within our world today. Amen. SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER · John 14:15-21 O God, we are grateful for your victory. Your promise is to send us the Spirit ...

1868. Faith Restored

1 Kings 17:7-24

Bulletin Aid

Carl Hoefler

... , love and blessing, that we may face all circumstances, confident of your divine presence and aid. We pray through Christ our Lord. Amen. Prayer of Confession Forgive us, Father, for anger we have felt toward you in situations that seemed to prove your absence or your injustice. We depend on hope, joy, life; and many times the experiences we have make us feel we have lost these necessities. Help us to see through our crises to discover your presence even in the depths of our despair. May we feel the ...

1869. Faith Reaches into the Eternal

Hebrews 11:1-40

Bulletin Aid

Carl Hoefler

... our God. We pray in the name of Jesus, your Son. Amen. Prayer of Confession We are so easily disappointed, Father, when our expectations in life are unfulfilled. We tend to confine our hopes and desires to this life, conditioned by what we can experience only with our physical senses. Forgive us when we reduce our faith to religious hopes barred by the physical limitations of this world. Give us a faith that causes us to see into eternity where our true citizenship is held. In our Savior's name we pray ...

1870. The Joy of the Lord is Our Strength

Nehemiah 7:73b--8:18

Bulletin Aid

James Wilson

... of the Lord! Collect O God, Creator and Sustainer of us all, in Your infinite wisdom You knew we needed Your salvation, hope, and joy if we were to be all You created us to be. We praise Your loving kindness, Lord. In Christ we pray. Amen. ... Prayer of Confession Lord, we have chased after everything the world has to offer thinking we would find peace, hope, and joy, only to experience again and again that the world alone cannot meet the needs of our spirit. Forgive us, Lord, and touch ...

1871. Proclaim the Word of the Lord

Luke 4:14-30

Bulletin Aid

James Wilson

... we have allowed the demands of daily life to be so important to us that we have forgotten to share Your Word with others. We have even been so busy that we have not come to You ourselves and we have let the hopelessness of the world drain away the hope You gave us. Forgive us, Lord, and give us the courage to speak out boldly of Your love. In Christ we pray. Amen. Hymns "Ask Ye What Great Thing I Know" "Pass It On" "Take My Life And Let It Be"

1872. Talk! Talk! Talk!

Jeremiah 1:1-19

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... - a period of undistinguishable, inarticulate, and unproductive buzzing. All of this is based on our naive and misguided confidence that ten people with no original or valuable or informed ideas on a subject can produce something that one person can't produce - the wistful hope that zero times ten will equal ten. I am reminded of the time one of our sons got his first tape recorder, and he secretly recorded the table conversation at one of our dinner parties. Later that evening, he played the tape back to ...

1873. Speak From Personal Experience

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

Robert V. Dodd

... One who has straightened out our tangled lives. Be careful not to fall into the trap of trying to argue a person into the Kingdom of God. A lot of so-called atheists know more about the technical contents of the Bible than you or I. And no one could hope to answer all of the questions that theology and philosophy have raised in the past three thousand years! Our purpose is not to be an expert on the Bible or theology, but to tell the story about what Christ has done and is doing in our lives. When you speak ...

1874. Christ, the Cornerstone

1 Peter 2:4-12

Bulletin Aid

James Wilson

... , O God. In Christ we pray. Amen. Prayer Of Confession Lord, so often, like those of the world around us, we have let the focus of our hearts remain on the despair of the Cross and the darkness of the tomb and we have failed to remember the joy and hope in Your Resurrection. Forgive us, Lord, and place in us Your wonderful Holy Spirit that we might become beacons of ...

1875. Holy Trinity Sunday

John 16:12-15

Bulletin Aid

H. Burnham Kirkland

... accompany these gifts by the power of your Spirit, so they may truly express the warmth of your love and the truth of your gospel. Amen. Benediction Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word. Amen. Pastoral Prayer O God, who in fatherly wisdom has given us freedom to lock our heart's door: teach us the secret of an open heart. Let our waiting for your knock ...

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