Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1901 to 1925 of 2844 results

1901. Whoever Would Be King

2 Samuel 5:1-5

Sermon

The path to David’s coronation did not run as smoothly as this passage may indicate. His succession was nothing like the transition from King George VI to the present Queen Elizabeth. Despite the fact that God had anointed David king, that anointing preceded this one of the text by quite some time. Blood was shed, more than we like to remember - some by David, though he was careful never to lay his hand on God’s anointed, his predecessor Saul, but much of the slaughter was by David’s lieutenants. Despite ...

1902. The Second Sunday of Easter

John 20:19-23

Sermon

Kendall K. McCabe

The Protestant probably thinks of a dimly-lit church with rows of curtain-draped boxes along the side or at the rear. The lone individual slips into one, kneels, and begins to whisper to an unknown hearer on the other side of the partition, "Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned." Then, thinks the Protestant, after mumbling through a catalog of misdemeanors, the Catholic penitent is assigned some token duty, such as saying a few prayers, and then is free to go and do those same things all over again. And, ...

1903. The Third Sunday of Easter

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Kendall McCabe

Visiting Mrs. Campbell was always great fun for a child in southern Maryland. Mrs. Campbell was from Scotland, and talked as no one else the child had ever heard. Besides that, she had had marvelous adventures and been to lands the child had only read about and seen pictures of. She had danced in the Vienna of Franz Joseph and crossed the Atlantic in the days of the great ocean liners. Her eyes would sparkle as she entertained the child with her reminiscences, and it was plain, as she talked, she was ...

1904. A Wandering Aramean

Genesis 12:1-8

Sermon

Ten years ago history was made in the broadcast of a television show. The show was Roots. As you may remember, Roots was a documentary of one man's search for his ancestry. Black author, Alex Haley's hunger to know his identity led him to record his own roots, his own heritage, first on paper, then on the screen. And the significance of this T.V. show? This mini-series attracted more viewers than any other television program in history. With eighty-five million viewers, this story of the black man's ...

1905. The Focus of Fitness

Jeremiah 18:1--19:15

Sermon

"Return, every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your doings." (v. 11) Prayer: Lord, you have made it plain that you care what we do with our lives. You are pleased when we seek to do your will, and you grieve for us when we ignore it. Speak to us in this time of worship and enable us to re-discover the joy and the blessing of doing it your way. Amen Has there been a more popular pastime in recent years, than that of "getting in shape"? One magazine called it "America’s Health and Fitness ...

1906. I Never Promised You a Rose Garden

Jeremiah 20:7-18

Sermon

"The word of the Lord has become for me a reproach and derision all day long." (v. 8) Prayer: Lord, you have called us to a faith that is much more than a sentimental security blanket. You have challenged us to live out what we say we believe. You never said it would be easy. Give us the courage to stand up and be counted, and also the courage to keep standing after we have been counted. "I beg your pardon; I never promised you a rose garden. Along with the sunshine, there’s got to be a little rain, ...

1907. ... and Justice for All

Ezekiel 18:1-32

Sermon

"Is my way not just?" (v. 25) Prayer: O Lord, keep us from making hasty judgments until all the facts are in. Then let us temper our judgments with mercy, as you do to us. Amen Husbands and wives were invited to a Prayer Breakfast, sponsored by the local Kiwanis Club. After the opening prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance, one woman remarked, "I don’t think I’ve said the Pledge of Allegiance since I was in grade school." Many of us have learned the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag in elementary school. ...

1908. Authority Through Servanthood

Matthew 20:20-28, Matthew 20:17-19

Sermon

Dean Lueking

The Question Of Our Time Today’s sermon is on the subject of authority, based on the text above. It is no overstatement to say that authority is the question of our time. Wherever one looks in our world today, in family, government, business life, and the church, the conclusion seems unanimous. Authority is in a bad state of erosion. Why is this so? What can be done about a matter so vital to people in every aspect of life? The story St. Matthew tells us in today’s text speaks directly to the problem of ...

1909. Is the Lord Among Us or Not?

Exodus 17:1-7

Sermon

Can the story of an event, which occurred almost three thousand years ago have anything meaningful or significant to say to us in our contemporary, human situation? The exodus of the people of Israel out of enslavement in Egypt happened that long ago. It is a story with which most of us are familiar; our lesson is a part of that story. In the lesson we find the people of Israel somewhere in the desert wilderness of the Negev, or Sinai area of the southern part of Israel, on their journey toward the ...

1910. Epiphany 4

Lk 4:21-30 · 1 Cor 13:1-13 · Jer 1:4-10

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Jeremiah 1:4-5, 17-19 (RC) Even before his birth Jeremiah was appointed a prophet. Jeremiah tells us of his call to preach. It came at the time Josiah was king of Judah (ca. 627 BC). It came as a dialogue with Yahweh who even before his birth was destined to be a prophet. In this dialogue he heard the voice of Yahweh and felt his hand on his lips. There was no human initiative in the call. The words he was to speak were totally the Lord's words. The message he was to proclaim was one of judgment ...

1911. Joseph’s Dream

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

God was working overtime when he visited Joseph, Mary’s fiance, in a fantastic dream shortly before the two of them were to be married. An angel - it must have been Gabriel - appeared in his dream and told him to go ahead with the marriage, despite the fact Mary was pregnant. That would make a story in itself; who would think of marrying someone who was going to deliver a child fathered by another person, especially in those times and that kind of society? But this is not the beginning of the story. ...

1912. A Manger is Christ’s Cradle

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

Christ is born! A rough manger is his cradle. We have a reason for rejoicing, even today, in a world that makes us ponder the fate of the whole human race, perhaps of all life on the earth. The story of the birth of Christ unfolds, according to St. Luke, much like a play in four acts, therein revealing our cause for celebration of Christ’s birth at his cradle in Bethlehem. The first act has to do with the journey Mary and Joseph had to make from Nazareth to Bethlehem. About all we know of the journey is it ...

1913. Jesus - the Holiest Name

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

(Note: This is the shortest text in the lectionary. It poses the problem of how to preach on it. Should the preacher simply construct what used to be known as a textual sermon, emphasizing and expounding a single verse of the Bible, or are there other homiletical possibilities? I suggest it has to be preached in the context of the Christmas story and as the heart of the Christmas cycle. A type of story sermon suggests itself, which picks up the story, but also allows the specific text to speak. Should the ...

1914. God as Woodcutter

Isaiah 11:1-16

Sermon

I have a long-standing love affair with trees. I love the forests, and I hate to see a tree chopped down. Any tree. I have a ficus tree that has died, but I can’t bring myself to cut it down and throw it away. When I was very young I had a favorite tree. It grew in the middle of a corn field. I looked forward to spring when my mother would pack me and my sisters in our car and drive out to that field to see that tree. It grew there, a stately king in a black loam field, reigning gloriously over the budding ...

1915. Given as Light

Isaiah 42:1-9

Sermon

A young man sat near a small river, his feet cooling in the gently rippling water. He had walked many miles that day through the desert dust. The river soothed him and calmed the restless longing in his soul. He was almost thirty years old. As he grew up in his father’s carpenter shop, his kinsfolk thought he would be a carpenter, too. But he left one day, never to return, to become a teacher, a wandering rabbi calling men and women to follow him. As he sat there on the banks of the shallow river, another ...

1916. Where Does One Go When Darkness Floods One’s Life?

Genesis 32:22-32

Sermon

James Cobb

There are many places in the providence of God where he waits to meet with us. But there is one strange place where he can always be found. The Psalmist has described the place as the place called wits-end. In the 107th Psalm, verse 28 the Psalmist declares, "They are at their wits-end then they cry to God in their trouble." The place called wits-end is the place of our frustrations and despair. It is the place where we come to the end of our strength and wisdom and are thereby brought to that humility and ...

1917. When God Provides, It’s a Manna Miracle James G. Cobb

Exodus 16:1-36

Sermon

It was really an unusual story the one I heard that day. I was used to people occasionally coming in off the street to talk. Every day in parish ministry you never know what that particular day will be like. The woman, mid-thirties, came in and asked if I had just a few minutes to listen to her story. She said she didn’t go to church and was not affiliated with any denomination. She was a school teacher and in her teachers’ lounge at school a number of people mentioned our congregation and now she had to ...

1918. Talents and Trust

Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

A half-generation ago, Joseph Heller’s book Catch-22 was all but required reading on every college campus. The title of the book refers to a certain clause in military law, a clause having to do with grounding mentally unstable combat pilots. At one point Yossarian, the book’s main character, talks with Doc Daneeka about grounding an obviously unstable pilot by the name of Orr. Yossarian learns how the rule works: The doctor can ground Orr if Orr claims he’s unstable and asks to be grounded. But if Orr ...

1919. The Trifocal Festival

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

(The sermon for All Saints’ Sunday takes the form of a dialogue. At least two voices are required and more can certainly be employed.) Introduction: The festivals of the church year - occasions to contemplate and celebrate the divine mysteries. Both ingredients are essential. Churchly celebration without contemplation can be form without substance, a liturgical extravaganza for who-knows-what reason. By the same token, contemplation without celebration can leave us sitting cadaverous in the stone-cold tomb ...

1920. Promise or Threat?

Matthew 24:1-35

Sermon

"Wars and rumors of wars," Jesus said. Nation against nation, kingdom against kingdom, famines, earthquakes, tribulation, even death sentences for the faithful, wickedness multiplied, and all the while the Gospel is preached around the world - these are some of the signs of Christ’s second coming and the end of the age. Tell me, would you consider his words a promise or a threat? My first recollection of any mention of Christ’s second coming goes back to when I was six or seven years old. My grandfather ...

1921. Round Trip to Bethlehem

Ruth 1:1-22

Sermon

This story has the stuff in it for creating a modern day television soap opera. It mirrors life as it was, and is right now in this world, at its worst and at its best. The Book of Ruth begins with a refugee problem. Elimelech, a native of Bethlehem, leaves home with his wife and two sons to seek refuge in Moab (of all places); it was here Moses was buried. As a result of his sin Moses got into real trouble with God and was not allowed to enter the Promised Land. The move from Bethlehem to Moab was nothing ...

1922. Coping With Anger In A Close-up World

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Sermon

Harold Warlick

A volcano is a very tall mountain until it blows its top. Some people are that way as well. I'm one of them. I speak to you this evening as a top blower. The subject of anger intrigues me. One week I was enjoying a cup of coffee with some friends. We were discussing our various work plans for the weeks ahead, and I casually mentioned that I would have to make certain that we removed all the politicians' campaign signs from the yard of the church I pastored. It is a voting place and not all the signs get ...

1923. Don't Give Up Too Soon!

Acts 15:36-41

Sermon

Harold Warlick

These are very exciting times in which to live. Eastern Europeans in communist countries are enjoying freedoms they have waited for, for 30 years. Nelson Mandela is free after 27 years of being in prison in South Africa. Perhaps it's hard for us to comprehend the faith and the hope which sustained these people for so long. Why didn't they give up sooner? Why not just accept failure, quit, drop out, transfer somewhere else, hang it up? One of my joys in life was visiting the famous Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam ...

1924. Submission

Matthew 3:13-17

Sermon

Pete Maravich and Lily Laskin had something in common aside from the fact that they both died one day apart. They both gave themselves to that which they considered important. People who keep up with harps and harpists say that Lily Laskin, the French harpist, took the harp out of the living room and made it a featured solo instrument on concert stages all over the world. She died on January 4, 1988, at the age of ninety-four. Upon her death, she was credited with popularizing the harp and reviving many ...

1925. The Poor in Spirit

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

Most of us would say that the Beatitudes are well known and greatly loved by Christian people. They are beautiful. They dance and sing on the lips of those who say them. They have an unparalleled syntax that only the Jewish mind can capture and express. They are immortal. Hymns, anthems, songs, prayers, and liturgy have reflected upon their meaning and beauty. Although we read them in our personal devotion because of their beauty, most of us do not get very excited about poverty of spirit, mourning, ...

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