Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 176 to 200 of 1409 results

176. The Chosen One

John 1:43-51

Drama

Robert F. Crowley

Theme: The call to follow Jesus is not without difficulty. Summary: Jesus calls Nathanael to be a disciple but Nathanael is also listening to two other voices -- one encouraging him to respond and the other discouraging him. Playing Time: 3 minutes Setting: A neutral playing area Props: None Costumes: Contemporary, casual; Jesus in robe Time: The present Cast: Jesus Disturbing Angel Ministering Angel Nathanael JESUS: (ENTERS AND CROSSES TO NATHANAEL) Nathanael, follow me. DISTURBING ANGEL: (ENTERS AND ...

177. What Do You Mean 'Born Again?'

John 3:1-21

Sermon

Ron Lavin

"Unless one is born again, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God." John 3:3, RSV Saul the persecutor of Christians became Paul the great witness for Christianity through his Damascus Road experience. Consider this poem as you consider Paul’s life and your own. Only one life 'Twill soon be past Only what’s done for Christ Will last. Recently as I looked over the list of deaths in our parish for the year, I remembered this little poem as the favorite saying of one of our members who died recently Vicki Tannous ...

178. Change

Mark 6:7-13

Drama

Robert F. Crowley

Theme: God will supply all our needs. Summary: Two disciples talk about the upcoming missions trip and how Jesus limits their dependence on things. Playing Time: 3 1/2 minutes Setting: Anywhere disciples meet Props: List Costumes: Contemporary, casual Time: Now Cast: Matthew -- a disciple Thaddeus -- another disciple MATTHEW: (ENTERS ALONG WITH THADDEUS) Did you prepare your missions support newsletter? THADDEUS: I tore it up. MATTHEW: How are you going to go on a missions trip if you don't send out your ...

179. Anything Better Than the Golden Rule?

Luke 6:27-36

Sermon

William G. Carter

A few years ago, I accepted an invitation to preach in a church in upstate New York. The sermon was based on Matthew’s version of what we have just heard from the Gospel of Luke: “Turn the other cheek. Give to everyone who begs from you. Pray for those who curse you. And love your enemies.” These are nearly impossible words to put into practice, much less hear, and I said as much in my sermon. Jesus is instructing us to take the initiative for making peace, to move beyond revenge and retaliation. We cannot ...

180. Old Favorite

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Harold Warlick

Most of us play favorites, whether we admit it or not. All parents try to love their children with equal devotion. That’s hard to do. My own parents had a favorite: it was my sister, I’m convinced. Yet from her incorrect perspective, I was the favorite. Favoritism seems to be a part of our biblical perspective. Abraham and Sarah favored Isaac over Ishmael. Then old Isaac favored Esau the country boy, but his wife Rebekah favored pompous little Jacob. There’s no doubt old Jacob himself later favored and ...

181. The Peace Of Christ In A Chaotic World

John 14:15-31

Sermon

Brett Blair

One of the best newspaper cartoons of all time is Calvin and Hobbes. One day Calvin and Hobbes come marching into the living room early one morning. His mother is seated there in her favorite chair. She is sipping her morning coffee. She looks up at young Calvin. She is amused and amazed at how he is dressed. Calvin’s head is encased in a large space helmet. A cape is draped around his neck, across his shoulders, down his back and is dragging on the floor. One hand is holding a flashlight and the other a ...

182. Grace and Golf

1 Corinthians 9:1-27

Sermon

David E. Leininger

"Beatin' balls and beatin' balls." That title comes from our fair city's attention to golf this week with the presence of the PGA Tour here for the Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic. (It will always be the GGO to me though.) "Beatin' balls and beatin' balls." Whoever happens to win this afternoon will undoubtedly offer a phrase like that to anyone looking for advice about how to win at golf. Get out on the practice tee and spend hour upon hour upon hour upon hour "beatin' balls and beatin' balls." As ...

183. Theology in Snow

Psalm 147:1-20

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Snow, snow, snow. Had enough? I bet. A quiet week this past week, but FIVE TIMES in the previous two weeks? Enough already. Schools and businesses shut down; airports closed stranding travelers; icy highways like bumper-car rinks...boom, bang, bam. No church on Sunday for two weeks in a row - the few people who could get out of their driveways could not safely venture on to the streets. We were reduced to joining the congregation of the Church of the All-Seeing Eye. The words of the Psalmist came to mind ...

184. Ask the Average Person...

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Are you an "average person?" Not in terms of ability or common sense or something that might be quantifiable, but in the sense that your opinions would be more or less typical? What I mean is, if someone began a statement with that phrase, "Ask the average person," would the rest of the sentence sound like something you might say? For example, "Ask the average person, and he would say the sky is blue." Or "Ask the average person and she would say she does not have quite enough money (no matter how much she ...

185. The Apostles' Creed: I Believe

Mark 9:14-32

Sermon

David E. Leininger

That fellow [the father in the lesson] has always been one of my heros. I can identify with him as much as anyone in all of scripture. He is a man who loves his son - I know how that feels. His boy is sick - an epileptic, subject to violent seizures. I know how it feels to have a sick child. Dad has heard the neighborhood scuttlebutt about a certain Nazarene rabbi who had been touring the countryside with a reputation for being able to heal all sorts of diseases. He is not quite sure what to make of the ...

186. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

Luke 13:22-30

Sermon

David E. Leininger

A little girl came home from school and asked her mother if she knew Christopher Columbus was Italian. "Yes," said Mom. And the girl continued, "Did you know that Queen Isabella furnished the money to buy his ships?" "Yes, dear, I had heard that." The little girl thought for a moment and then said reflectively, "Well, really, Mother, if you already know the things I come home and tell you, I don't see any use in going to school." By the time we get done here this morning, you may feel the same about coming ...

187. God Is Greater

John 10:22-42

Sermon

King Duncan

A new kind of modern airplane was on an experimental flight. It was full of reporters and journalists. A few minutes after the takeoff the captain's voice was heard from the loudspeakers: "I'm delighted to be your pilot, and the captain of this airplane on its first historical flight. I can tell you that the flight is going well. Nevertheless, I still have to tell you about a minor inconvenience that has occurred. The passengers that are sitting on the right side can, if they look through the window, see ...

188. Preparing For A Royal Visit

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

[Note: While King Duncan is enjoying a well deserved retirement we are going back to his earliest sermons and renewing them. The newly modernized sermon is shown first and below, for reference sake, is the old sermon. We will continue this updating throughout the year bringing fresh takes on King's best sermons.] Original Name: Preparing for a Royal Visit New Name: Getting Ready A little boy attended his first symphony concert. He was excited by the splendid hall, the beautiful people in all their formal ...

189. Love In Action

1 John 3:11-24

Sermon

King Duncan

There is a ridiculous old story about a fisherman who was enormously successful. Each morning he would take his small boat out on the lake and within a few hours he would return with a boat loaded with fish. People wondered, how did he do it? One day a stranger showed up and asked the man if he could go along the next time the man went out fishing. The man said, "Sure. Meet me here tomorrow morning at 5:00 and we will go out." The next morning the two of them made their way through the early morning mist ...

190. A New Daddy

2 Corinthians 5:11--6:2

Sermon

King Duncan

Bob Stamps was on the faculty at Oral Roberts University. Bob is a delightful man with a good sense of humor. He is also bald. One night he and his wife decided to go out to dinner and hired a babysitter to take care of their little children. While they were gone, the babysitter got interested in a television program and wasn't watching the children very carefully. Their little boy Peter Andrew, got into his father's electric shaver and shaved a big landing strip right down the middle of his head. When his ...

191. 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 ...

192. Staying Close

Isaiah 6:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

There is a familiar cartoon about an elderly couple on a Sunday afternoon drive in their car. They are driving behind a cuddling young couple who are more interested in each other than they are in the road in front of them. The little old lady looks across at her husband behind the wheel of the car, then looks at the two young people in front of them, and asks her husband, "Why don't we sit together like that anymore?" Quick as a flash the old man answers, "Well, dear, I haven't moved." You have probably ...

193. A Christmas To Remember

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

King Duncan

"My most vivid childhood memory of Christmas," writes columnist Dave Barry, "that does not involve opening presents, putting batteries in presents, playing with presents, and destroying presents before sundown, is the annual Nativity Pageant at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Armonk, New York." Mrs. Elson was the director, and she would tell the children what role they would play, based on their artistic abilities. For example, if you were short you would get a role as an angel, which involved being part ...

194. The Difference Is You

Matthew 5:13-16

Sermon

King Duncan

After the Los Angeles riots, Steve Futterman of CBC radio broadcast an interview he had with one of the riot ™s many looters. The man had been one of many people who had looted a record store. When asked what he had stolen, the man replied, "Gospel tapes. I love Jesus." (1) Our text for the day is about people who love Jesus, but hopefully in a more positive way than did this looter. Jesus defined his followers as the "salt of the earth" and the "light of the world." "You are the salt of the earth," Jesus ...

195. A Time To Remember - Memorial Day

Revelation 7:9-17

Sermon

King Duncan

Memory is a tricky thing. Particularly as we get older. You may know the story about three women who were talking. The first said, "Sometimes I go to the refrigerator and forget what I need by the time I get there." The second woman said, "When I go upstairs, I can't remember whether I'm going up for something or I'm on my way back down." The third woman said, "I'm lucky, I guess (knocking on wood), I don't have that problem. Oh, there's someone at the door." One of our older comedians says he can always ...

196. A New Vantage Point

Colossians 3:1-17

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

Whenever people visit a beautiful, impressive church building, invariably there are two things they want to do: they want to go up to the pulpit and see how things look from this perspective; and then they want to go up in the balcony, if there is one, and look down on everything. And isn't that typical? There's something inside of us that needs to climb to the top and get the view from above. When we were children, we'd climb trees and build secret houses for ourselves up in the branches and spy down on ...

197. More Than Meets The Eye

Luke 17:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

Can you picture this scene? We are sitting on bleachers under the big top having a wonderful time laughing at the clowns, watching lions and tigers jump at the crack of a whip, and gazing in awe as the acrobats perform. We are caught up in the excitement of the circus and join in with the crowd in thunderous applause after each act. The acrobats perform high above us in what seems to us as death-defying feats. Each feat seems greater than the previous one. "Ahhs" can be heard in unison after each act. ...

198. Living With Difficult People

1 Corinthians 1:10-17

Children's Sermon

King Duncan

Object: a church made out of Lego blocks or Tinker Toys Good morning, boys and girls. What do you think of this church I built? Pretty good, isn't it? I made it out of all different colors and sizes of blocks for a very good reason: it takes all kinds of different people to make up a church. It takes people who can sing in the choir, and people who can work on committees, and people who can repair stuff, and people who can teach Sunday School classes, and people who can do the ushering. Now what happens if ...

199. Barking Pigs and Determined Disciples

Matthew 14:22-36

Sermon

King Duncan

Robert Fulghum tells a wonderful story about a kindergarten class that decided to perform the story of "Cinderella." There are lots of roles in "Cinderella," but still casting was a chore. All the girls, of course, wanted to be Cinderella. Finally all the children were assigned roles except one--a small tubby kid named Norman. The teacher asked, "Norman, what are you going to be?" "Well," said Norman, "I think I will be the pig." The teacher said, "Norman, there is no pig in the story of Cinderella." And ...

200. Love Is Not Easy

Romans 13:8-14

Children's Sermon

King Duncan

Object: A telephone Good morning, boys and girls. The great storyteller, Aesop, once told a story about four bulls who were great friends. They went everywhere together, fed together, and lay down to rest together. Always they stayed close to each other so that if any danger were near they could all face it together. Now there was a lion which had been stalking them for some time, but he could never get at them singly--for they were always together. The lion knew he was a match for any one of them alone, ...

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