Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1851 to 1875 of 4997 results

Acts 1:12-26

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... said he would. What if they had failed to wait? What if they had given up the third day, the seventh day, the ninth day? Legend has it that one time a man had a dream and found himself in heaven. He was taken to a huge room, containing all kinds of gifts, blessings, and marvelous things. He asked what they were, and St. Peter replied, "Those are answers to your prayers that you simply couldn’t wait for!" There is so much in life that doesn’t have to be done instantly. Day by day there are phone calls ...

1852. Power to Forgive

John 20:19-23

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

... of the handle sticking out - just in case. That is not forgiving. True forgiving can only be done in God’s manner, as he himself says: "I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins." (Isaiah 43:25) This kind of forgiveness (total forgiveness) can truly be done, of course, only when he resides within us. A minister once told of a woman who cried: "I can’t forgive him even if it costs my soul; I can’t and I won’t. How can God ask me to?" Only ...

1853. Stephen’s Stones

Acts 7:54--8:1a

Sermon

Richard F. Bansemer

... Happens every day to thousands. Think back for a moment to the reading of this lesson from Acts. Did any of us feel anything at all when this account of murder was read from Scripture? Maybe the story is so familiar that it discourages any kind of reaction. But a cynical hunch says that not a person here today really felt anything like sorrow, or bewilderment, or despair, because of this historic stoning. Rather, the suspicion is that our minds were elsewhere in this beautiful country - on the lake - by the ...

1854. Gabriel Speaks to Mary

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

George Bass

... square and stage mock naval battles on it. Right in the middle, they are told, is Bernini’s Fountain of the Four Rivers; it stands in front of the Church of St. Agnes in Agone. One of the four figures has a hand upraised - toward the church - as a kind of joke by Bernini, who disliked Borromini’s facade on the church that the figure had to shield his eyes or protect himself in case it should fall. But not many people go into that church, descend to the level beneath the church where there are parts of ...

1855. The Joy of Sorrow?

Matthew 5:4

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

... : the blood drained away, his skin became gray, tears ran down his cheeks, his voice broke. "What did I care about my money, all my money? My boy was gone!" Blessed are they that mourn, for they will discover the things that matter, and that discovery will bring a kind of joy. Sorrow also helps us discover the meaning of friendship and loving support. No one of us lives totally unto himself or herself. We are social beings. Part of us is made up of other people. All we need do to realize this is to stop and ...

1856. How’s Your Appetite?

Matthew 5:6 · Luke 14:1-14

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

... man would food, as a dying man gasps for air, then, and only then, will you find it." A recent letter from a friend said, "Since our Lenten Prayer Group, I hunger to read the Bible." I thought as I read that sentence, "Watch out, friend, with that kind of hunger, you will be filled." I offered a prayer of thanksgiving for her hunger. In an air battle somewhere over the Pacific Ocean during the Second World War, one of our planes was hit by artillery from a Japanese ship. The crew tried to keep the plane ...

1857. Why Are We So Split Apart?

Matthew 5:9

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

... step he takes to mend it may involve difficulty and problems which will not be pleasant to face. He may decide to do nothing and to say nothing for the sake of "peace." He may allow the whole matter to drift uneasily on because his love of a certain kind of peace makes him evade trouble. Such a man may be called a peaceable man or a peacelover, but he is not a peacemaker. in the end he is really a troublemaker, for the longer any such situation is allowed to continue the more serious its consequences. The ...

1858. The Strength of Poverty

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5

Sermon

Hubert Beck

... or against the poverty that is strength. So let neither the title of the sermon nor the sermon itself suggest that we are glorying in the ghetto and lauding those who have no means of livelihood. With that clearly in mind, we must address ourselves to the question, "What kind of poverty is the source of strength?" We are taught by word and example the importance of ownership through the whole of our life. The world is a hard place to live in if we own nothing. It is but one more step to say that, if owning ...

1859. The Glory of the Cross

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5

Sermon

Hubert Beck

... in before Jesus will be taken to trial, condemned and crucified. "When he (Judas) had gone out, Jesus said, ‘Now is the Son of man glorified, and in him God is glorified.’ " (John 13:31) Did you know it all along ... or at least suspect it? It is not the kind of time one would usually think of as being the moment to claim glory for oneself or for God. We think of glory as strength, power, wealth, honor, fame. That is why it is so difficult to capture the power of the words in our text when Paul says, "I ...

1860. Discerning the Way of God

1 Corinthians 2:6-16

Sermon

Hubert Beck

... of activity can be called Christian. It has to do with what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what is evil, and many people outside Christendom are concerned about the same kinds of questions. It is a bigger question than the everyday kinds of questions about whether one should do this or that, for that matter. One daily encounters questions about whether a given action is good or bad or whether a particular deed is right or wrong. We are concerned, however, with asking about a whole style of ...

1861. Binding Up the Fractured World

1 Corinthians 3:1-23

Sermon

Hubert Beck

... did to you in order to gain revenge. "You shall do to him as he had meant to do to his brother; so you shall purge the evil from the midst of you," Israel is instructed over against people who prove to be false witnesses. This kind of instruction toward purging evil and restoring righteousness into its midst is particular instruction given to the "priests and judges who are in office in those days; the judges shall inquire diligently." So it is a specific instruction to those who are to enforce justice in ...

1862. The True Nature of Happiness

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

Brett Blair

... of history, that this concept of happiness is a foundation built on sand. Happiness is not at all based upon what we have. True happiness is based upon who we are. Happiness is not based upon the kind of house that we live in; it depends on the kind of people who live in the house. It is not the kind of clothes that we wear, but the person wears the clothes. It is important to understand that Jesus did not give the Beatitudes, a word meaning blessed or happy, to the CROWD. The scripture very clearly states ...

1863. Journey To The Cross V: Jesus and Simon Peter

Mark 14:66-72

Sermon

James W. Moore

... that they thought it was okay for a man to force himself on a woman if he had spent money on her or it they had been dating for six months.” (Rhode Island Rape Center Survey reported in The Houston Chronicle 5-3-88) But, you see that kind of attitude is so profane… because it endorses the abuse of another person. To use or abuse another person in any way is wrong. The abusive, arrogant attitude is a total denial of everything Jesus taught and stood for. Our words can be profane, and our attitudes can ...

1864. The Necessity of Moral Commitment

Gen 3:1-24 · Is 28:15

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

... ethical situations. The authentic sovereignty of more than a billion human persons in a billion, billion human situations; a billion blind little sovereignties against a billion other blind little sovereignties, cancelling each other, destroying each other, within and without - a kind of well-intentioned chaos! Already we can see that T. S. Eliot’s "Decent, Godless people" have unwittingly become "an indecent, Godless people." We say, "Evil be thou good," but it just doesn’t work; and we look around us ...

1865. The Joy of Being a Caring Person

Mt 25:31-46 · Lk 16:19-31

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

... I have loved you." When his spirit possesses us, Christ actually spreads his love through us, thus scattering his love about in our world. This love changes things. It changes me and my family. It changes others. It changes the climate of life. This is the kind of Kingdom that Jesus is building, and that no one has yet been able to grasp fully nor understand totally. The Kingdom of Christ is simply a world of a different spirit - a totally caring spirit. But how does this caring work? It is contagious. It ...

1866. The Miracle of Christ

Ephesians 3:14-21

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

... Christ and him crucified." Then Paul got results. Miracles happened. Mankind was launched into new levels of experience.2 Man is the kind of creature, by nature, who can walk with God - who can talk with God. What a shame that we seldom do. ... doing every day of his ministry on earth. It is what he is still doing in every nook and corner of this world; helping people - all kinds of people - to come alive. All of us need some "spiritual surgery," but "incisions of the soul" hurt; so we dodge them. We put off ...

1867. WE ARE THE BELIEVERS: TESTIMONIES

Drama

Marcia Miller

... wanted to see what was to be said about this. As John was preaching, this man walked past. He was no common man. His face was kind and peaceful. Something made a group of us follow him. He hadn’t said a word to us, but we knew he could answer many ... the room? When the servants left, this man walked to the bed and said, "Get up, child." My eyes opened to see the face of this kind man who had given me my life. As the excitement of my recovery spread throughout the house, I felt that this man called Jesus had ...

1868. It Takes Two to Preach!

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... lesson for today paints the picture of Jesus sitting on the beach and soon crowds come to hear him preach. To avoid getting pushed into the water, he borrows a boat, sits down, and begins to preach by telling the parable of the sower. The seed falls on four different kinds of ground, but only one produces results. Later he explains that this is the way it is with people who hear the Word of God. He pleads for better listening as he cries, "He who has ears, let him hear." To Preach Is To Hear If it takes two ...

1869. Food for Faith

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... a famine on the land; not a famine of bread ... but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord." Once John Wesley advised, "Do justice to your soul. Do not starve yourself any longer." On the surface it may not seem as though our text deals with this kind of bread. Scholars tell us that this account of the feeding of the five thousand is closely related to the Eucharist. It seems like a re-enactment of the Last Supper: "Taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and broke ...

1870. Caiaphas and Pilate

Drama

Jon Joyce

... what he’ll do next. PILATE: Yes, I’ve heard plenty about him, Caiaphas. I am concerned that he might be planning some kind of uprising against Rome. We are alert, don’t worry. CAIAPHAS: [Pleased that PILATE is alert to the problem, he speaks confidently] Well, ... leading a rebellion. PILATE: I have thought of that, Antonius, but Caiaphas is too cunning and money-minded to fall into that kind of trap. He’s better off working with me. It fills his coffers. The carpenter’s the only present threat of ...

1871. Incalculable Riches by Bishop Roy C. Nichols

Ephesians 3:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Mann

... by an exceedingly courteous but coldly perfunctory waitress. She placed the menu in front of him and stood stiffly awaiting his order. "I’ll take bacon and eggs and toast and coffee." She mechanically took the menu. Then the bishop added: "and a few kind words." She disappeared, and shortly she returned with all the goodies. She placed each item on the table with great ease. Then, standing quite stiffly, she enjoined "Sir, will there be anything else?" With a smile on his face, the Bishop asked, "What ...

1872. Peace

John 14:15-31

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

... as being fragile is peace in the world. We know that what he said is true because we have a hard time keeping the peace. Someone is always fighting with guns and bombs and breaking the peace. That kind of peace is very fragile. It is being broken all the time. It is like a piece of glass in the box. There is another kind of peace that is not fragile. This peace comes from Jesus and it brings peace in your heart and your mind. When Jesus forgives you your sin he gives you peace that is not broken. When Jesus ...

1873. When Love Runs Out of Breath

Matthew 22:34-40

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... me!" Did you get that, "even me?" I can understand God loving someone like St. Francis, or my saintly mother, or my Christ-like husband, John, or a sweet little innocent baby - but me? - even me? I just can’t get over God - over that kind of love. Now when that kind of love dawns upon us ... in gratitude to Christ for his love to me, I can now love others. They have not necessarily changed. They may still be unloving, dirty, ungrateful, worthless, not nice - they are the same, only now I am different. I ...

1874. Love of God, Self, and Neighbor

Matthew 22:34-40

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

... . You’ve read in the newspapers about a whole community turning out to find a lost child. Hundreds of people gathered around a mine shaft while they searched for a lost miner. A whole nation watches and prays while one policeman is held hostage. We have the same kind of lavish attention focused on us by God. There is something sacred about life - any life. If people would turn out a whole community to find a lost child, or dig out a lost miner, think how much more concern God has about each of our lives ...

1875. Fingertip Embalming

John 20:24-31

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... our own faith. We will not to believe what we believe. I don’t care whether it’s Thomas or one who stands in the pulpit or one who sits in the pew. We will not have faith in our own faith. Genuine doubt, you see, is not just some kind of intellectual difficulty. It is fear - a ghastly fear - that futility and despair and death are the last words of this world. David Hume, to whom we point as the father of the modern Age of Doubt in philosophy in the middle of the 18th Century, admitted, late in life ...

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