Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1851 to 1875 of 3926 results

1851. Blind No More

Mark 10:46-52

Drama

Robert F. Crowley

... , "Teacher, I want to regain my sight." You know what? I could have asked for anything. Here he was, the son of God, asking me what I wanted. I wanted my sight again. I wanted to see things like I had before. To be a man who could work and support a family. I wanted to use my talents for the Lord, Jesus. I wanted my sight back. Jesus said, "Go your way, your faith has made you well." That was what I wanted to hear. But I didn't go my way. I went his way. I followed him. I ...

1852. Single Mom

Mark 12:41-44, Mark 12:35-40

Drama

Robert F. Crowley

Theme: The single parent has pressures and stresses that are overwhelming. The church should be helping. Summary: Sarah, a single mom, is in over her head. The baby is crying, her ex-husband won't send the support check, she is trying to raise a teenage daughter, and is taking a course at the university. Playing Time: 3 minutes Setting: Sarah's apartment Props: A Phone Theme: paper for class a storybook Costumes: Contemporary, casual Time: The present Cast: Sarah -- mom Evie -- her teenage daughter Tiff ...

1853. Lion Friendship

2 Samuel 1:17-27, 2 Samuel 1:1-16

Bulletin Aid

Dallas A. Brauninger

Call to Worship Leader: By what qualities do we measure a friendship as strong as lions? People: Persons who stand by each other during rough times. Leader: Persons who can speak to each other without censor. People: Persons who support each other as they undertake adventures. Leader: Persons who are dependable, trustworthy, and loyal. All: Persons who accept each other for who they are. Collect You, O God, who lifts the cloud of night in our lives, are as a friend to us. We are grateful that we can speak ...

1854. In A Careless Moment

Mark 6:14-29

Bulletin Aid

Dallas A. Brauninger

... , and leaders in all positions risk losing heads in scheming struggles for power. Collect We would dance the dance of leadership with integrity. We would hold to high values with tenacity. We would stay with what is right despite the risks. We need your support, O God. Amen. Prayer of Confession As nations and as individuals, give us the strength, O mighty God, to choose between right and wrong, between what is moral and immoral, despite the times, vanity, and careless moments. For the sake of Christ. Amen ...

1855. An Understanding Mind

1 Kings 3:1-15, 1 Kings 2:1-12

Bulletin Aid

Dallas A. Brauninger

... you? God also gave Solomon something he had not asked for. What unrequested gift do you suppose God might give you that you also need? Collect At your invitation, O God, we ponder what is most important to us. In your generosity, you give us support and encouragement beyond our requests. We come to you with hearts filled with gratitude. Amen. Prayer Of Confession In our haste, we may wish for or ask for the wrong things, Holy Parent. Help us to focus on cultivating the enduring qualities that will sustain ...

1856. Christ and Time

Galatians 3:26--4:7

Sermon

T. A. Kantonen

... animal," he said, "is man. In the morning of life, as a baby, he walks on all fours; at midday, in full strength, he walks upright on his two feet; and in the evening of life, when his strength is failing, he walks on three feet, for he is supported by a cane." But man continues to be a riddle to himself. Recall Shakespeare’s description: "All the world’s a stage, and men and women in it are merely players who have their exits and their entrances." He proceeds to portray the various stages of life from ...

1857. Easter People

Colossians 3:1-17

Sermon

T. A. Kantonen

... He must say that when the life process comes to an end we are really dead. The voyage of life has ended in nothingness. The Christian faith shares this grim realism as far as it goes. It does not deny the reality of death. It gives no support to sentimental dreaming about a "beautiful isle of somewhere." It does not engage in wishful speculation about the immortality of the soul. It admits that there is nothing in man which can withstand the destructive fury of death. Were we left to our own resources, the ...

1858. The Dynamic Word

Isaiah 55:1-13

Sermon

T. A. Kantonen

... by frenzied but meaningless activity on the surface. Kierkegaard’s description of the man who lives only by the physical senses fits many modern men: He sticks his finger into existence and it smells of nothing. Driven by a demonic pursuit of the joy of living, supported only by himself, he dances over the abyss as a stone skimmed over the surface of the water skips lightly for a time, but as soon as it ceases to skip, it sinks down into the depths. The skipping may take the form of work or play ...

1859. The Gospel for Labor Day

Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon

T. A. Kantonen

... work. There is an undertone of sadness in the words, "We are without work because no one has hired us." Today we are experiencing once more the tragedy of unemployment, reminding the older generation of the depression in the thirties when skilled workmen had to support their families by trying to sell apples on street corners. When a man cannot sell his services to anyone, when no one will hire him, the result is not only financial distress but, worst of all, loss of self-respect. As Richard Cabot pointed ...

1860. Paul's Thorn In The Flesh

2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... Was Given Me..." What was this thorn? We don't know. It was some very painful, chronic affliction. Sometimes Paul was totally disabled by it. Some cynic has suggested that Paul's thorn in the flesh was his wife, but there is no evidence to support that. The best guesses are that the thorn was epilepsy or migraine headaches or a malarial fever common in the eastern Mediterranean area. Notice that Paul refers to the thorn as a "messenger of Satan." The Bible teaches that all diseases and death came into the ...

1861. God’s Wounded Healers

Jeremiah 8:4--9:26

Sermon

Gregory J. Johanson

... My heart ached and I was moved deeply by the pain you were feeling this morning, and I know you have felt on other occasions. I don’t really know how to comfort you, but I want you to know that I pray for you, love you, and support you to the fullest extent of my being. May you be healed, strengthened, blessed, made whole. May you be persistent, and your vision be kept clear. May you know that you are loved as a beautiful, truly beautiful human being." I never expect to receive a more healing benediction ...

1862. The Gifts of the Left Hand

Luke 7:36-50

Sermon

Gregory J. Johanson

... the more awkward. Try eating your breakfast left-handed sometime - it’s quite an experience. We rub left-ness in by saying a guy like me has "two left feet" on the dance floor. The left hand is the slower, the less powerful. The left hand is the supportive rather than the shaping side of us, the supplementary rather than the primary, so far as order and action are concerned. We even assign virtue and evil to right and left, whether it’s the hand of God in the last judgment, or the slightly sinister left ...

1863. The Flow of Life

Ecclesiastes 3:1-22

Sermon

Gregory J. Johanson

... who was going down again, then returning to his station on the shore. The third stage came as he himself was thrown into deep water and found that he needed saving. From that point he discovered that other people often had their arms around him. Others gave him support, even as he tried to help them. He wrote, "In the admission of great weakness, I found great strength. In the willingness to be helped, I became a better helper."2 We are connected. That this is so helps pull it together for us. Life seems to ...

1864. On Loneliness

Sermon

Gregory J. Johanson

... courage and faith. Let me say finally that God knows what loneliness is, for God has experienced loneliness. In the person of his son our Savior, God himself has experienced loneliness. In the Garden of Gethsemane, for instance, our Lord hungered for the support and companionship of his three closest friends while he prayed. But while he prayed, they slept, and he was alone. There was the loneliness of the forty days in the wilderness, the loneliness of the cross, with its desolate cry, "My God, why hast ...

1865. The Shadow Ascending

John 21:15-25

Sermon

Gregory J. Johanson

... word of grace from others that says both that we are acceptable brothers and sisters in Christ, as is, along with our neediness, anger, caring, sexuality, or whatever, and that we are acting destructively to ourselves and others and should not be supported in that endeavor. Caring and communicating grace to others can therefore definitely have a component of judgment. There is a matter of fact judgment, a judgment of grace that heals as well as a judgment of rejection that destroys. Number 4: The alcoholic ...

1866. Champion In His Name

Mark 9:42-50

Bulletin Aid

Dallas A. Brauninger

Call to Worship Be a champion for the ways of Christ. Be a wholehearted supporter of Christ. Put both your energy and your heart into holding Christ in first place in your life, above all else. Collect Just as Christ is for us, you are for us, O great Encourager, and we are for you. We come joyfully as cheerleaders because you steadily root for ...

1867. Counting On God

Job 2:1-10, Job 1:1-5

Bulletin Aid

Dallas A. Brauninger

Call to Worship God appears to be supportive of us when things go right. In the midst of the easy times in life, we can count on God. God seems to let us down when things go wrong. In the midst of the messes of life, we also can count on God. Come, let us worship the Sustainer, ...

1868. Where On Earth Are You?

Job 23:1--24:25

Bulletin Aid

Dallas A. Brauninger

... trust in you, O Sustainer, to help us to move through the awful times toward healing. Amen. Prayer of Confession When the burdens we carry overwhelm us, we speak nothing but complaint. When pain swallows us, we think of nothing else. Help us to hold on, God. Stay by us. Support us with your healing when we are afraid, when we feel hopeless, when we are weary of it all. Amen. Hymns "O God, My God" "When The Winds Rage All Around Us" "I Walk In Danger All The Way"

1869. Strategy

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

Bulletin Aid

Dallas A. Brauninger

Call to Worship Ruth's loyalty to Naomi was rewarded by Naomi's wise guidance for doing what was practical for survival in their day. Like the women of the neighborhood who named Ruth's baby, let us bring to others the supportive nurture of nearby women. Let us build a sense of encouraging community within the neighborhood that is this church. Collect Gracious God, we bring to you hearts willing to help. Bring to us the insight that can strengthen in those we know the commitments holding their daily lives ...

1870. Hold Fast

1 Thessalonians 5:12-28

Bulletin Aid

Dallas A. Brauninger

... entirely; and may the unity of your spirit and your soul and your body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Come, let us worship the God of peace. People: Let us give praise to God. Collect Be faithful. Be staunch supporters of the faith. Be firm. Be unwavering. Hold fast to what is good. With the strength and encouragement of these words, O God, we hear again our responsibility in receiving the Christ Child. We affirm wanting to do our part to make ready for the holy birth ...

1871. Called Forever

Hebrews 4:14-5:10

Bulletin Aid

Dallas A. Brauninger

... amount of money. Collect You offer to your people, O God, the sustenance of having a purpose and a sense of meaning. You bring us energy of spirit for accomplishing our daily tasks despite weaknesses and frailties. We give you thanks for your bolstering support. Amen. Prayer of Confession We are told, God, that we are better people for our suffering. Suffering makes us stronger. Suffering hones us to use our energy only on what is of greatest importance. We are not certain that we believe these words, God ...

1872. The Three Poison Pills of Position, Prestige, and Power

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

Brett Blair

... you have heard the beautiful children's story about the three trees? The trees were talking in the forest one day about their dreams for the future. The first tree said it would like to be made into a cradle, so that it might go on living as a support for the fragile life of a tiny new baby. The second tree wanted to be made into a big ship, so that it might go on living, carrying important cargo and influential people to exotic new lands. The third tree longed to stay right where it was, existing only ...

1873. The Advent-ure of Joy

Matthew 1:18-25

Bulletin Aid

Dallas A. Brauninger

Call To Worship Leader: When we hear the holiday tone of others through ears dulled by sadness, People: We come needing support. Leader: When we linger with suffering in times of loss, People: We come wanting relief. All: Come, Christ, we wait for your joy. Collect When we feel small in body or spirit, let us remember that the circumstances of Jesus’ birth contrast with the strength of his being. However scrambled ...

1874. Treasures of the Heart

Luke 2:41-52

Bulletin Aid

Dallas A. Brauninger

... accept change and to adjust to the continual remodeling of our lives. Amen. Prayer Of Confession We cling to what is familiar, O God. We like the status quo. Give us courage to let go where it is best to let go. Strengthen our inclination to loosen when creative slack supports another’s growth. Help us to be present while we stay out of the way. Amen. Hymns “When The Morning Stars Together” “I Would Be True” “Born Of God, Eternal Savior”

1875. And On the Third Day...

John 2:1-11

Sermon

William G. Carter

... him, “They have no wine.” Jesus replies, “Woman, what concern is that to you and me?” She looks at him with maternal pressure. He stares through her and says, “It’s not my hour. It’s not my time.” Now, does that sound like a warm and supportive relationship? I don’t think so. Jesus brushes off his mother’s request. She backs off from her request, and then he makes the wine. It is difficult to handle this story without it slipping out of our hands. It defies reduction. There is no simple ...

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