Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1901 to 1925 of 4944 results

1901. Right in Front of Our Eyes

Matthew 17:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

Pastor Jeff Strite tells a fascinating story about a businessman named John Henry Patterson who back in 1884 founded the National Cash Register Company. Almost immediately the company was profitable. Patterson made it successful because he paid attention to details and kept an eye on each department in the company. At one point, it became apparent that the factory was having a high number of burglaries. Patterson was convinced that the security staff was not doing their job. So, one night, he put on a ...

1902. Ignite: Set On Fire!

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

James Merritt

Without question, perhaps the most famous well-known name outside of politics and entertainment would be Billy Graham. Of all the stories I’ve ever heard about Dr. Graham, probably my favorite is the time when he was going to a certain city to do one of his crusades. There were some critics who didn’t particularly care for either his style or his methods. They didn’t want him to come. They called a press conference and said, “If we let that man come to our city and preach his message he will set the church ...

1903. When You Drop the Ball, What Next?

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

There are two things we absolutely crave in our lives: predictability and spontaneity. We crave the comfort of predictability. We work long and hard to grow life in a steady job, a certain career, a consistent source of income. We earn degrees, save money, buy insurance, invest for retirement. We have a home, a family, a schedule, which gives structure and meaning to our days and nights. We build our lives on the secure foundation of predictability. But conversely, we also crave spontaneity. We hunger for ...

1904. Planting Your Feet

Psalm 32:1-11

Sermon

James Merritt

Rolling Stone Magazine recently made a list of who they considered to be the greatest, most prolific songwriters of all time. I am going to give you the top nine in their list in reverse order and see if you can guess who was #1. #9 – Elton John #8 – Joni Mitchell #7 – Paul Simon #6 – Mick Jagger #5 - Neil Young #4 - Paul McCarty #3 - Bruce Springsteen #2 - John Lennon Who wants to guess who they said was the #1 songwriter of all time? #1 – Bob Dylan I really have no qualms with that list except for the ...

1905. Submission to Rulers and Masters

1 Peter 2:13-25

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

Respect for Authority 2:13 What living the Christian life entails is now spelled out in some practical detail. Peter applies the admonition Submit yourselves to a series of relationships: to civil government (vv. 13–17), to slavery (vv. 18–20), to Christ himself (vv. 21–25), and to marriage (3:1–7). The relationship of Christians to the state was one which soon became problematic, for in the early centuries of the church all states not only were governed by pagans but included pagan worship within their ...

1906. A Call to Build the House of the Lord

Haggai 1:1-15

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

August: The overlaps between Haggai’s various sayings in verses 2–11, with their repeated resumptive beginnings describing them as Yahweh’s words, suggest that these are sayings Haggai delivered on different occasions and that the narrator has brought them together into a coherent longer account of Haggai’ s challenge concerning the need to take up the task of building the temple. The account thus brings together the fact that the people are living in restored homes when Yahweh is not and the fact that ...

1907. The Wind

Mark 1:4-11

Sermon

Charley Reeb

John the Baptist says something interesting in Mark, “He (Jesus) will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” Those were prophetic words. John was pointing to a time when those who followed Jesus would be infused with the power of the Holy Spirit. Later this prophetic word would be underscored by Jesus’ baptism when the Spirit of God descended upon him like a dove. Just a few years later John’s words would be confirmed on the day of Pentecost when the church was born by the power of the Holy Spirit. On this ...

1908. Gratitude and Coping

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

Tom Garrison

Nothing in recent years has been more upsetting than the sharp increase in the use of drugs among young. People have become so traumatized by the subject that any reasonable discussion of it has become well-nigh impossible. This is why I was particularly impressed with a speech made not long ago by a public health official at a large university, for he wisely avoided histrionics and went straight to the heart of the problem. He openly acknowledged that "the jury was still out" as to all of the physical ...

1909. Daniel’s Vision of a Man

Daniel 10:1--11:1

Understanding Series

William Nelson

The Final Revelation: Prologue: Chapters 10 through 12 form one long unit containing the last apocalypse of the book. This unit can be subdivided into three smaller sections: the prologue (10:1–11:1), the body (11:2–12:4), and the epilogue (12:5–13). The proper divisions do not line up with the chapter breaks in our modern Bibles because those chapter breaks are not original; they were inserted long after the Bible was completed and not always in the most helpful places. The prologue sets the stage for the ...

1910. Lion of Judah

Gen 49:1-28, Judges 13-15, Matt 4:12-17

Sermon

Lori Wagner

[If there is a Lions Club still functioning in your community, find out if any member of your church is a member. Then either use this moment as an interactive to talk about their club, and rituals, or you tell the story and use them to back you up so that you make sure you’re getting the story right.] So the interview might go like this . . . . or turn this into a narrative . . . or make it a personal story. How many here belong to or know someone who belongs to a local Lion’s Club . . . . . Do you have ...

1911. God's Little Acre

Matthew 13:24-30

Sermon

Will Willimon

"Another parable he put before them, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven may be compared to one who sowed good seeds in his field...'" I'll admit it. Sometimes I have this fantasy about the church. The fantasy is this: That someday, somewhere, there will be this church where there will be no inactive members, nobody who slams the door in your face when you go soliciting pledges in the fall pledge campaign. Nobody in this church ever says "No" when they're asked to keep the nursery or teach Sunday school, in ...

1912. Do You Believe in Miracles?

Mark 4:26-34

Sermon

Lori Wagner

[Optional beginning: Have the congregation share about the men who have left an imprint on their lives. Fathers, dads, also learn from their children. What have you learned? We all live in covenant together, and a covenant relationship is one in which we all learn, grow, and take responsibility for a role.] Do you believe in miracles? How do you define a miracle? Sometimes, in our culture, we’ve come to disregard “miracles,” because we’ve set the bar so high for what “wows” us and “pows” us that we end up ...

1913. Developing Staying Power

1 Peter 4:12-19

Sermon

Sandra Hefter Herrma

Some people read this passage, and they decide that everything that happens to us is to be seen as a "blessing" from God. They will tell you, quite straightforwardly, that God has every event of your life planned, including anything that seems to be bad at the time. If that gives them faith that everything will come out right in the end, it could be a blessing. But too often, what happens is that we then think that every evil thing that happens is visited on us by God. And instead of being led to a renewed ...

1914. The Wheat Among The Weeds

Matthew 13:24-30, Matthew 13:36-43

Sermon

Marc Kolden

Our gospel passage today is this peculiar parable of Jesus about the wheat and the weeds. Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven (that is, the rule of God) is like this: A man went out in his field and sowed (by hand, of course, in those days) the good seed that he had saved from the previous year's crop. It was sown all over, not in neat rows or spaced evenly. And since nearly 2,000 years ago there were no chemical fertilizers or insecticides, weeds grew up with the wheat: worthless weeds that competed for ...

1915. What Really Happened Christmas Day

Luke 2:8-20

Sermon

Jerry Eckert

December 26, 1982 Comment: Having focused on doing the story sermons during the summer of 1982, all fall I missed the creativity I had felt. When Christmastime came around, the urge hit me again. Some years earlier, I had done a Christmas story (see the next story sermon) and so I decided to try it again. What really happened Christmas Day? Who took care of the sheep while the shepherds went to town? What happened to Joseph and Mary and the baby? How did they get into a house where the Wisemen were to find ...

1916. The Flame, The Wind, And The Walk

Acts 2:1-13

Drama

Marion Fairman

A Trialogue For Pentecost (The man and the woman are seated in the audience near the front, one to the right, one to the left of the leader, who is standing, facing the audience. Leader reads Acts 2:1-13. When finished, he or she makes preparatory small actions as if about to teach or speak.) Man: (Stands in place looking a bit awkward but determined) Uh, say, is it all right to ask a question? Leader: (Shocked) On Pentecost? (Incredulous) Just when I'm about to begin? (Trying to recover) Well, well, let's ...

1917. Loving

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Larry Powell

If I speak in the tongues of men and angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. (verse 1) A gong has always impressed me as an almost unnecessary instrument. Each time a musician slams into one with a mallet to achieve the dull, disconcerting clash, I fully expect a secret passage to appear, or an oriental servant to fawn onto the stage. Cymbals provide slightly more flexible, functional accents of emphasis. However, both the gong and the cymbal produce but a single monotonous tone ...

1918. Speak From Personal Experience

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

Robert V. Dodd

They can't refute it! Fatigue is one of the products of modern society: We tend to either get excited about the wrong things, or we don't get excited about anything. Perhaps an appropriate contemporary paraphrase of Matthew 6:25-34 would be, "Don't get excited about food and drink to keep you alive or clothes to cover your body. Surely there is more to life than this. Those who are without God get excited about such things, but you should not, because your heavenly Father already knows your needs and will ...

1919. The Joy of Being a Caring Person

Mt 25:31-46 · Lk 16:19-31

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

Being a Christian is really a matter of spirit, but this spirit, when acted out in life relationships, becomes a many-dimensioned thing. You are not a Christian if you are not a caring person. Jesus put the emphasis here. He shocks us a bit in Matthew when he tells those that have neglected the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the lonely, the sick, and those in prison, that they have totally missed life. He puts it bluntly - "Depart from me." Then he turns around and says to those who had cared for the ...

1920. How To Be A Saint In A Storm

Acts 27:13-26

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

How do you act in a storm? A friend, who is terribly afraid to fly, was invited to speak at a special gathering of the religious body of which he was a part, in Frankfurt, Germany. As he approached the airport in New York a terrific storm was taking place. He dreaded the trip, and now that the storm increased in velocity, he was sure that the flight would be cancelled. He continued to think this, even as he approached the ticket desk, and finally was ushered aboard his plane. He began to think seriously ...

1921. Must Jesus Bear the Cross Alone?

Luke 9:18-27

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

In Douglas Southall Freeman’s classic biography of the famous Southern commander, Robert E. Lee, he tells about a young mother who brought her baby to him to be blessed. General Lee took the infant in his arms, looked at it, and then said to the mother, “Teach him that he must deny himself.” Both of our scriptural texts for today agree wholeheartedly with General Lee. The prophet Joel declared, “Return to the Lord with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.” Jesus said, “If any want to become my ...

1922. You Don’t Really Feel That Way

Job 6:1-7:21

Sermon

Thomas D. Peterson

As a young soldier I was on my way to the Pacific Theater. The trip was at the height of World War II, with troop ships easy targets. To avoid the enemy our ship wove an irregular pattern across the ocean. The trip to Manila took 36 days. I was not a good sailor. Between sea sickness and infections, I was on sick call more than half the days. At one period I knew I had naso-pharyngitis, a condition for which I had often been diagnosed. On sick call, the doctor said, "Well, what’s wrong with you," not in a ...

1923. When The Recession Reaches Your House

1 Kings 17:7-24

Sermon

King Duncan

Someone has defined the difference between prosperity, recession, and depression like this: During prosperity you are annoyed because the dog and cat won't eat the expensive canned food you buy for them. In a recession you are delighted that the dog and cat won't eat the expensive canned food. You hope they remain finicky until things get better. In a depression you begin to look thoughtfully at the dog and cat. The recession is officially over according to experts in Washington. A lot of Americans are ...

1924. Family Survival

Genesis 37:1-11

Sermon

Stephen DeFur

This morning I want to spend a few moments talking about families. And to do that, I want us to look at a family in the Bible. It is the family of the Old Testament character, Joseph. Joseph's family was an imperfect one much like yours and mine. So we start with Genesis, Chapter 37, verse 1. "Joseph, being seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers; he was a helper to the sons of Bihah and Zilpah, his father's wives. And Joseph had brought a bad report of them to their father." ...

1925. How about Something Different?

Luke 17:11-19

Sermon

Mark Trotter

I can recall three rhetorical questions that accompanied me throughout my childhood. The first was, "Were you born in a barn?" That usually came when I left a door open, or didn't clean up my room. The second was, "When will you ever grow up?" Which was a question my sisters asked me as a carefully planned, relentless program of persecution. The third one was, "Have you forgotten something?" That was the parental admonition, usually for not saying thank you after receiving some gift. Which is what I ...

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