Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1851 to 1875 of 4977 results

1851. Surprised by God

Genesis 28:10-19a

Sermon

James L. Killen

... In polite society, it is considered rude to talk about religion. Yet, many people seem to feel that it is appropriate to take every opportunity to ridicule religion and religious people. Now, we are given to understand that it is acceptable to have a religion, but we must keep it a very personal matter. That is to say, we may believe that there is a God, but we must live as if we don't. In that atmosphere, faith tends to wither away. Our beliefs are supposed to shape our actions. When they are not allowed ...

1852. Ten Friends Drive Us to the Promise

Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20

Sermon

Arley K. Fadness

... based on two premises: the sense of reverence for a majesty and the sense of moral obligation to others." Someone has said that there was a reason why the Ten were written on stone instead of parchment. They were written in stone so that people could only keep them or break them -- they cannot bend them. A pompous gentleman once announced to a group which included Mark Twain: "Before I die I will go to the Holy Land, climb Mount Sinai, and read the Ten Commandments aloud at the top." "I have a better idea ...

1853. Writing the Law on Our Hearts

Jeremiah 31:31-34

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

... and confused about life and the God who created this life. Our pain crowds out our attempts to think the problem through and may even keep us from offering joyous worship to God. Our pain blocks our access to God. We do not even have to be in grief or ... someday we will triumph over our weakness and sinfulness. If we are battered by the grief and pain of life and wonder if we can keep going, we can rejoice because God is writing the law on our hearts, and someday we can put away our grief. The days are surely ...

1854. Access Denied

Romans 5:1-11

Sermon

Richard W. Ferris

... minutes and then wrote: "All winter long hibernating animals subsist on the hope of a coming spring." Is it food and water that keep us going? Is it mental stimulation that helps us endure the long winters of life? Is it a sense of purpose that makes ... door. And now, as Saint Paul says, we can even boast about it. It's not a secret and it's not something we have to keep hidden. We boast not about ourselves, for we have done nothing to achieve this grace, this forgiveness of sins. But we boast of God who has ...

1855. At War with Myself

Romans 7:15-25a

Sermon

William G. Carter

... come in the power of God through Jesus Christ. In Christ, God has come right into our tangled messes to rescue and restore. Jesus came to us, and our sin was so pervasive that we killed him. But God raised him up. And Jesus Christ keeps after us, keeps rescuing, keeps restoring - until the day comes when he turns his kingdom over to the Father - washed, renewed, redeemed. That is our Christian hope. We trust that the work of Christ is greater than the work we can do. On the cross, he takes away the sin ...

1856. Say What?

1 John 3:5-6

Sermon

Rick Brand

... intended for us. Others are supposed to stop, but we live here. We know the community; we'll just drive through if it looks clear. For decades the medical community has been telling us the rule that smoking has a negative impact on the quality of life, and people keep saying, "Well, maybe for others but, hey, our mother died at age 87 and she smoked." Here, sin is the rebellion of the heart that refuses to allow something else or another to rule. This is what 1 John is saying. This is the word for sin that ...

1857. A More Perfect Union

Habakkuk 2:1-5

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... the state. And just to prove who was in charge, the people reserved the right to dismantle the government anytime and create a new one. Just to make sure that no one forgot that, especially the politicians, we do it every four years just to keep them honest. Americans have always delighted in throwing the rascals out. When President Buchanan left office, Henry Ward Beecher, who was a great preacher in Brooklyn in the 19th century and one of the more powerful leaders in the country, prayed, "Thank you Lord ...

1858. Are You Trying to Prove Something?

Genesis 12:1-9

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... into an unknown future. When that happens, then we are all Abraham, and we are all Sarah, with a choice. We can hunker down in fear and resentment that this has happened to us, that lif e isn't fair, or we can go forth in faith, trusting that God keeps the promise. In the old Methodist hymnal there was a wonderful hymn written by John Greenleaf Whittier. The older I get the more I discover that the hymns I love are all in hymnals that are out of print. In fact, I got a letter this week from Abingdon Press ...

1859. Beware of Crowds

Mark 1:29-39

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... tell you something even stranger, he hides the fact that he is Messiah. When the demons recognize him, he says, "Don't tell anyone. Keep it quiet." Which makes it even more curious, because in this phase of his ministry, it's at the beginning, he's in ... And he turned his back on the crowd, and he walked away. When everybody is looking for him, he leaves. When he is recognized, he says, "Keep it quiet." What kind of a Messiah is this, anyway? What's he up to? What are we to make of this? Well the first and ...

1860. Can't Help Dreaming

Acts 2:1-21

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... now. There can be a new heaven and a new earth because of Christ's resurrection. From that point on, from Pentecost on, the mission of the Church is to give young people a vision of what this world can be, and of who they can be, and to keep old people dreaming, not let them get discouraged about the dream. Do you know what the reaction of the world was to the first Christians? They said, "What has come over them?" "Are not these Galileans?" That is what the crowd said when they saw the disciples. They ...

1861. Get Lost

Mark 8:31-38

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... dependent upon reciprocation. The vow is unqualified. It asks you to lose yourself in order to find yourself. The old service of the ritual, which we don't read anymore, had this wonderful paragraph. It's called, The Charge. It went like this. "If you keep these vows inviolate, then God will bless your marriage, will grant you fulfillment in it, and will establish your home in peace." What that means is that blessings are byproducts of giving to other people. If you try to get those blessings any other way ...

1862. I Thought You'd Never Ask

John 1:35-46

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... you are still working, you are still growing, you are still getting better. And it never ends. He also called it "going on to perfection." And from what I can see of this congregation, we've got an awful lot to work on in order to be perfect--enough to keep us busy, all of us, for the rest of our lives. So with the style of being Christian that says, I am a work in progress, I am always trying to become a better person, there must also be an accompanying humility. If you haven't arrived, you ought to ...

1863. Is There Anything I Can Do?

Luke 3:1-6

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... will ask, "Is there anything I can do?" when someone is in trouble, or when they are in sorrow, or sickness. "Is there anything I can do?" That is so appropriate and most welcome, even though there is probably nothing that you can do, except express your concern and keep them in your prayers. There are just times when it is the right thing to do. It is good manners and a sign of thoughtfulness to ask, "Is there anything I can do?" There was a time 2000 years ago when it was the most commonly asked question ...

1864. Pre-Game Analysis

I Corinthians 9:19-27

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... you seven times a day. I give more than a tithe to this synagogue. My wife goes without so that we can provide for our children. But when I look at Moshe, I wonder, why is he so blessed and I am not? The Lord answered, "Because he doesn't keep bugging me."1 That man sounds like Jeremiah. This passage that was read to us is called, Jeremiah's "first lament." There will be a lot more. In fact, there's a whole book in the Old Testament called The Lamentations of Jeremiah. He's always complaining. He says to ...

1865. The Cathedral Within

II Corinthians 9:6-15

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... it that we will diagnose poverty as a spiritual problem, but not see that the rich also have a spiritual problem? We will say, the poor need a purpose in their life, a sense of meaning in their life to motivate them, a discipline to put aside the habits that keep them from the fullness of life. Why don't we say that of the rich? That they need a sense of purpose in their life, and disciplines that will bring them to the fullness of life? The poor need the discipline to save. The rich need the discipline to ...

1866. Try to Be Nice

Philippians 4:2-9

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... way you would end a letter formally. He says, "Finally my brethren, Rejoice." "Xairete." It is like saying, "Thanks for everything," "Keep in touch," "See you soon," "Sincerely." It is obviously the ending of a letter. I propose this theory, that he ... the wound would be reopened, and the healing would have to start all over again." He said, "There are people like that who are determined to keep old wounds open. They don't want to heal." There is a time for sorrow. There is a time for guilt. There is a time ...

1867. What Will They Think Up Next?

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... any gifts this Christmas. They said they were not going to buy any gifts, but make them. They were going to start early, think about it, and do something that they had given thought to, something they had worked on just for this person. They are going to keep it a secret and give the gift on Christmas, so it's a surprise. One of the most beautiful presents I ever received, I received years ago when our oldest daughter was seven or eight, and taking piano lessons. She learned a little Bach piece, one Bach ...

1868. When to Hold On

II Timothy 3:14-4:5

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... everybody else, so I am tempted to talk about baseball. In fact, I am tempted to switch the sermon from this text in II Timothy, to the Gospel lesson, which is the Parable of the Importunate Widow, who keeps banging on the door of the judge, pleading for justice. He won't give it to her, so she keeps banging. She's importunate. She keeps on going, never gives up, no matter what everyone says to her. They say, "You might as well give up. You can't win this. You are just a poor widow, and judges don't pay any ...

1869. Who Gives You Your Grade?

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... the shoulders of animals in order to lead them. It was a wonderful metaphor for the Law. The purpose of the Law is to lead us in the paths of righteousness. The Law is a good thing, a discipline, that will lead you down the right path, that will keep you from straying, keep you on the straight and narrow. The Law was a discipline. If you want to reach a goal in this life, you better have discipline in your life. If you want to excel in life, then you better have a rigorous discipline in your life, or you're ...

1870. In The Darkness of Oppression, There Is the Light of Salvation

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

Thomas A. Pilgrim

... couple. But, I remember him saying, “I’ll tell you what I can do. There’s a place down in the basement, where we keep the animals. I’m sorry, that’s all I have. But this time of the year, it’s really the warmest place I have, ... looking for him. We always look forward to the birth of a baby expectantly. That is why we use the term “expecting.” To keep from using the word “pregnant” we sometimes use a more proper-sounding word, like “expecting,” or we say, “in a family way.” That ...

1871. Call Waiting

John 1:29-42

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

... away to college she said, "Son, now I know you want to be a writer. But I want you to think about brain surgery. You'll keep a lot of people from dying. And you'll make a lot of money." To which Potok responded, "No, Mama, I want to be a writer ... what Mama wanted to hear. So, every vacation break for four years she would repeat her comments about his becoming a brain surgeon and keeping people from dying and making a lot of money, and always his response was the same. Finally the son had enough, and, when the ...

1872. In Our Pastor's Success, So Is Our Own!

Matthew 10:40-42

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... blurted, "How much do we owe you, preacher?" You could look at his face, his body language, and his white-knuckled grip on the church checkbook and see that he was stingy. For years I've heard moronic churchmen say dourly of their pastor, "God, you keep him humble and we'll keep him poor!" Don't do that! The Bible says, "The workman is worthy of his hire." Scripture tells us not to "muzzle the ox while he's treading out the grain." A minister lives in the same world you do. His car runs on gasoline. His ...

1873. Deep Water!

Matthew 14:22-33

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... so this, I sink into the world's miseries. The answer to those times of despair and misery is to be very intentional in looking to God. Time spent in reading the Word, time spent in prayer and meditation, time spent with fellow believers ... all of these help us to keep our gaze where it ought to be. It is only when we look up to God that we seen any difference - the sustaining hope of all nations. The One who is able. The One who sustains me. Indeed! For those who tackle a cause, a work, a labor with God ...

1874. Three Ways to Know a Saint

Sermon

King Duncan

... in an upright position with his head resting against a piece of wood driven into the wall. He wore a habit and cape of the coarsest material made and never covered his head. He lived in extreme poverty. Often in the winter he would take off his cape and keep the door and windows open to suffer the cold. He always went barefoot. He fasted for two days out of every three. He was said to be an excellent preacher, but he preferred solitude. In fact, he once confessed that after living for years as a member of a ...

1875. Gone with the Wind

Matthew 14:22-36

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... are those who would sidetrack us with all sorts of other concerns. They take our focus away from the solution to our problems and back on the problems themselves. As long as Peter kept his eyes focused forward, as long as Peter kept his eyes on Jesus, he could keep his fragile footing. As he had clamored over the edge of the boat Peter hadn't been concerned about the path he had to take. He only wanted to get to Jesus. Jesus' simple directive to come out to join him was enough to put Peter on that watery ...

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