Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 176 to 200 of 656 results

John 11:17-37

Sermon

Johnny Dean

... with the healing balm of Gilead and our tears will be wiped away by Jesus himself, who has been crying with us because he knows our pain. Yes, Lord, we DO believe all this. That’s what keeps us going despite the harsh realities of life and death in an imperfect world. We believe everything you’ve told us will come to pass, some day. Some day. But not today, Lord. We’re not looking for any miracles today. Just let us cry over our losses today, okay, Jesus? Is that so much to ask? And Jesus, kind and ...

177. When the Tie That Binds is a Slipknot

1 Corinthians 11:17-34

Sermon

Johnny Dean

... Moves the church of God. Brethren, we are treading Where we’ve always trod . We are all divided, Many bodies we. Very strong on doctrine, Weak on charity. The kingdom of God has not yet fully arrived, and until it does the church will always be an imperfect image of what that kingdom will ultimately look like. But there are evidences of God’s grace and peace when we face problems in the church in a Christian manner. It’s important in our disagreements not to try to make someone a winner and someone a ...

178. In Quest of a Treasure

James 1:1-18

Sermon

Larry Powell

... verses as the congregation, and every once in a while, we are not even on the same page. Preoccupation with the sermon and all that kind of thing, you know. Wouldn't life be wonderful if we could eliminate the blunders! Humanity, though, is perfected by its imperfections. We do not live forever, do not always stay young, and do not always do the proper thing. That is indicative of our kind. It is "perfectly" human. To be anything more would be superhuman, and it is nowhere written that any of us can achieve ...

179. Divorce-Proofing Your Marriage

Genesis 2:4-25

Sermon

R. E. Lybrand

... , and certainly it is essential for the supreme human relationship between husbands and wives. Every marriage is composed of two sinners. Regardless of how spiritual and how committed to Christ you are, you are still not the perfect husband or perfect wife. Our imperfections can oftentimes lead us into periods of struggle and conflicts. Our sins can tempt us into demanding more than we are willing to give. We become cross and short-tempered; we fail in our roles as husband and wife. That is just a ...

180. What Children Owe Their Parents

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

R. E. Lybrand

... ". Our parents are not really perfect. They are sinners, just like you and me. But when we look at them through eyes of love, the way God expects us to, we can make them feel just about perfect. Eyes of love can overlook a multitude of imperfections. Children, love your parents - for God says you owe them that! Honor The second thing we children, regardless of age, owe our parents is honor! In Exodus 20:12, the commandment instructs us to "Honor your father and mother ..." According to the Bible, honor is ...

181. Ash Wednesday

Sermon

William Luoma

... coal stove and the crematorium -Ashes.Blighted with mortalityWe carry ourselves to the ash pile of our death,Yet need reminding:There is no lasting city here,To dust we shall return. Reader 2:A gray smudge on our foreheadsLike our smudged, imperfect lives,Streaked with selfishness,Singed by the angers, jealousies, greed andLust that flame within,Dying embers of good intentions compromised, forgotten.Ashen remains of resolutions soon burnt out. Reader 3:As we wear the sign of the cross with ashes,We enter ...

182. Encounters With Christ VI: Jesus and Caiaphas

Matthew 26:57-68

Sermon

James W. Moore

... cleanses the temple”… look what He does! He brings the lame and blind and maimed into the Temple… and He heals them. This is significant… because the authorities did not permit the lame and blind and maimed people to come into the Temple… because they were imperfect and because they felt the wrath of God was upon them. Not so with Jesus… He says in effect, “The Temple is not here to exploit the people. The Temple is here to bring healing to the people.” Now, let me conclude with this… In ...

183. Becoming What You Are

John 14:15-31

Sermon

Carl Jech

... his vision of Christian love at close quarters he said, "We should lose the illusions of perfection ... if we are looking for perfection here, we had better go somewhere else. But no one else has it either. We need to deal with the fact that we are imperfect and yet are in love as community. The community cannot save us from anything and we cannot save anyone else, not on our own skills and not on our charms. But trusting in God we become more trustworthy to each other, and more available for the authentic ...

184. The New Jerusalem

Revelation 21:1-27

Bulletin Aid

Carl Hoefler

Call to Worship Pastor: The church is the house of God. But we know it also houses imperfection because of man's presence. People: We are creatures of sin. But Christ cleanses us, and the church represents his cleansing presence. Pastor: The time will come when we will not need churches, because God himself, and Christ his Son, will be the temple. People: Such glory is beyond our ...

185. Tragedy and Triumph in the Life of David

2 Samuel 11:1-27

Bulletin Aid

Carl Hoefler

... all of us; but he became great because of what he let God do through him. People: May God find us receptive to his will in our lives. Collect Loving Father, whose creative redemption is able to make strong saints out of weak sinners: Receive us with our imperfections, and remake us to be strong in your power. May our past sins in life make us all the more aware of our dependence on you. We pray through Christ our Lord. Amen. Prayer of Confession Father in heaven, we come in confession of our sins. Not only ...

186. Love is Greater Than the Law

Luke 13:10-17

Bulletin Aid

James Wilson

... would know the freedom of God's grace come together! People: Must we know all the Laws and must we be perfect in our hearts? Leader: Jesus fulfilled the Law, and in Christ we are perfected before God. People: What if our clothes are not fine or our bodies imperfect and worn? Leader: Sing praises unto the Lord! In the cross, God's love came to us all! All: Blessed be the name of the Lord! Collect Most loving and merciful God, You saw that we were bound and hurting under the laws that were meant to lead us ...

187. A Community of Love

John 14:15-31

Illustration

Carl Jech

188. A Change of Direction

Matthew 21:28-32

Sermon

... rutted road: we get into a rut and stay there. There is a common saying that "practice makes perfect." Of course it doesn't, but it does tend to do so, assuming that the practice is of the right kind. Some other kinds of practice can also tend to make imperfect. Most of us put on virtues or take them off like we put on fat or take it off, an ounce at a time. We tend to go on in the way we're headed, to go farther along whatever road we're already on. In the relationship between Jesus ...

189. Lord, I Believe - Or Do I?

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

... Son of man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" Two caveats as an aside may be in order here. First, with a hint at humor, this is not designed to tell us how to handle judges when we feel that justice handed down has been imperfect. Court costs and attorney fees can be expensive in repeat performances. Appeals are finally exhausted. Even the suggestion that a judge might be unjust can lead to charges of contempt. And secondly, the parable does not imply through this dim picture of the jurist that God ...

190. Christ Is King

John 12:12-19

Sermon

... the important people scorned. When he died, he had nothing but a rag to leave behind. But is there evidence of royal trappings in his reign today? Is there anything to suggest that Christ is in control - in the world of war, or in this imperfect church, or in the pain and pressure and disaster of our personal empires where foundations shake and shatter? Does not the evidence suggest the question, "Where is now your God?" Has your king deserted you, or lost control, or has he been impeached, deposed, sent ...

191. Let Jesus Forgive You!

Romans 3:21-31

Children's Sermon

... nice, almost perfect. The wood is smooth and the grain is lovely. But suppose you took this ordinary magnifying glass and gave the wood a close look. What do you think you would find? Why don't you look with me? [Bring the children in close and show them the imperfections.] Do you see the little holes in the wood and the changes in the grain? You do? That's good. That piece of wood is a lot like us. No matter how good we look from a distance, we all have the same problems when you look closely. God calls ...

192. Preaching Your Life

Acts 2:14-41

Sermon

... share our lives. He invites us to share His." (Is God Necessary? p. 11) This is what all preaching, indeed all speaking of faith needs to be - not an argument to persuade you to believe, but an invitation to join the story of Christ. Our own stories are imperfect, laced as they are with fears, and defeats, and only those successes which leave us empty inside. Yet, each of us is only the sum of our experiences, our story - Mom and Dad's divorce when you were five taught you to be suspicious of love; making ...

193. Let God Be God

John 3:1-21

Sermon

Dean Lueking

... lordship of the Son of God throughout creation. It is possible to get comfortable with a Jesus-and-me-alone religion which is closed to the care of creation or to the unifying work of the Holy Spirit in gathering Christ's people into congregations of imperfect people with plenty of problems to solve. We need the stretching, safeguarding work of the Triune God to spare us the problem of narrowing God's work in Christ to the exclusion of his creation and its care, his sanctifying and its meaning for the ...

194. Seeing as the Lord Sees

1 Samuel 16:1-13

Sermon

... Jesus saying, "He who is without sin cast the first stone." For those willing to see more than just the outward appearances of things, who are willing to look, as God does, into the heart of the person, we see in David a symbol of hope for ourselves in our imperfections. If he, having done what he did, by repenting of his sins, was able to be restored to a joyful and happy relationship with God, then that gives hope for us, who are also sinners. David was a man after God’s own heart, not because he was a ...

195. Life in the Community of Believers

Acts 2:42-47

Sermon

... : Will you be here for the Church? That is what it means to claim our life together as the people of God. What a tremendous claim! What a beautiful opportunity to celebrate life! Let us pray: Gracious God, you love us so much you are willing to use us, imperfect as we are, self-centered and selfish at times as we are and yet you have chosen no other means of communicating the good news of salvation and love in Christ than us. Let us see our opportunity then and seize it with commitment, courage and joy that ...

196. Christmas 1

Lk 2:41-52 · Col 3:12-17 · 1 Sam 2:18-20, 26

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... reflect the love and guidance of a loving heavenly parent. Whether they succeed or not, they are a gift from God to us, to lead us to know God himself. Outline: A. Thank God for parents 1. Without our parents' love and care we wouldn't be alive today 2. Imperfect as they are, parents merit our love - God placed them over us 3. We may be parents one day too (if not already): how will we wish our children to regard us? B. Our parents are but stand-ins 1. Our true Father is in heaven (Jesus' conversation in ...

197. Communion Is Real Presence

John 1:1-18

Sermon

... through the market place, worked in the fields and ate at the tables of his peasant people. All of that was done by King Charles in an attempt to better understand and more fully identify with the people of his kingdom. But what he did partially and imperfectly, God did completely and perfectly. In Jesus Christ, God became human and lived on this earth. He did not come to learn more about us and to identify with us. He came to help us know and identify with Him. We read about the glorious incarnation in ...

198. Promise or Threat?

Matthew 24:1-35

Sermon

... to myself, "Lord, if you really are coming again, could you please wait until after Christmas?" Ever since that evening, the thought of the second coming has always evoked a little fear and anxiousness on my part. I guess my enjoyment of life, imperfect as it is now, causes some sadness at the thought of it all being changed. There are lots of different feelings, questions, doubts, and misunderstandings concerning this teaching of the Bible. More than a few preachers have used Christ’s words about the ...

199. The Necessity Of Forgiveness

Luke 7:36-50

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... a permanent attitude. You cannot serve two masters. Either you will bow before the altar of revenge and scissor people out of your life; or you will bow before the altar of forgiveness and sew yourself to the wider fabric of humanity, as imperfect and impulsive as it is. Peter had not realized the greatness of forgiveness. You cannot forgive someone and pray for them, even if they persecute you, without becoming a person of love. Forgiveness creates a loving spirit. Jesus told Peter, "You must forgive ...

200. Christian Values

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Bulletin Aid

... not rude, self-seeking or easily angered. It holds no grudges and doesn’t rejoice at misfortune. Men: "Love never fails, but prophecies will cease, tongues will be stilled and knowledge will pass away. We know in part, prophecy in part, but when perfection comes the imperfect disappears. Youth: "When I was a child, I talked, thought and reasoned like a child. As I grow up, I will put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection; then we shall see face to face. All: "Now we know in part; then ...

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