Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 2001 to 2025 of 2962 results

2001. The Old Medallion

Humor Illustration

There is a story told of a woman who, while on a trip to China, bought an old medallion which she liked so well she began to wear it almost constantly about her neck. It's bizarre and striking design always gave rise to interested conversation; and the woman became so fond of it she adopted it as her good-luck charm. At a diplomatic dinner in Washington she met the Chinese ambassador who, she noticed, was observing the medallion with a faint smile upon his lips. "Have you seen ...

2002. Made In America?

Illustration

Staff

... alarm clock (made in China), for 6:00 A.M. While his coffee pot (made in China), is perking, he puts his blow dryer (made in Taiwan) to work and shaves with his electric razor (made in China). He puts on a dress shirt (made in Taiwan), his designer jeans (made in Singapore), and a pair of tennis shoes (made in Korea). After cooking up some breakfast in his new electric skillet (made in Philippines), he sits down to figure out on his calculator (made in Mexico), how much he can spend today. After setting his ...

2003. The Four Sacred Chords of Home

Mark 13:24-37

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... , or several holiday pounds to lose, why don’t we anticipate, why don’t we “advent,” a “homecoming?” Why don’t we anticipate the “welcome home” that the coming Christ child offers us? However much we might hope for designer duds or plane tickets to Hawaii, there is still something undeniably attractive about homemade gifts. Baked goods, lumpy kid-crafts, artisan creations . . . knowing that someone YOU KNOW made possible what you’re receiving makes the gift tender and treasured. No ...

2004. John 1:6-8, 19-28

John 1:1-18

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... tread perilously close to out-right lying, for most of us it is just a matter of dressing up some dreary job with a more impressive title. The baby-sitting job becomes “child care management.” Mowing lawns and raking leaves translates into “landscape design and maintenance.” Helping serve the food and do dishes at a neighbor’s party is redefined as “catering services.” Especially when we are just starting out in the workplace and don’t have much experience, it seems necessary to make what we ...

2005. Bear the Light

John 1:19-28

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

2006. A Table Like No Others

1 Corinthians 11:17-34

Sermon

King Duncan

... death until he comes.” What powerful words. “The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed . . .” Notice who was at the table that sacred night. Judas the betrayer was there, already plotting his diabolical scheme . . . Selling the Lord for thirty pieces of silver . . . Designating him as the one to be captured and crucified with a kiss. And yet there Judas is at the table with Jesus. Could that happen here, this night? Could there be someone who comes to a Maundy Thursday service knowing in your heart ...

2007. Sandbox First, Soapbox Second

Mark 1:29-34, Mark 1:35-39

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... sense of being a genuine part of something larger than ourselves, some organism that is bigger than we are. We have no alone time. We have no communal time. We have no one-on-one time. We have no one another time. We have only designated time — the moments of our days divvied up between demands and filing in the spaces in other peoples equally crowded schedules. Sometimes it only takes a strong wind to demonstrate how strained and artificially structured our lives have become. February is prime storm time ...

2008. Seeking Christ

Mark 1:29-34

Sermon

King Duncan

... part of the world over the years, and carefully kept it in their home. However, there was always one piece in this beautiful collection that always seemed out of place. This piece had once been a fine antique vase with a cream glaze and blue Japanese design, but now it was damaged. And yet her parents kept it amid their finer pieces, even though it was a mass of cracks, crudely glued together with what was obviously the wrong type of adhesive. Ms. Daniels notes that everywhere the 20 or so pieces of that ...

2009. How Can I Keep From Singing?

Mark 1:40-45

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... with my life. I came to understand that I am not the light or the source of light. But light ‑‑ truth, understanding, knowledge ‑‑ is there, and it will only shine in many dark places if I reflect it. "I am a fragment of a mirror whose whole design and shape I do not know. Nevertheless, with what I have I can reflect light into the dark places of this world ‑‑ into the black places in the hearts of men ‑‑ and change some things in some people. Perhaps others may see and do likewise. This is ...

2010. Listening to Your Life

Mark 8:31-38

Illustration

Winifred Collin

Frederick Buechner asks a series of questions designed to help us think about where we have been and where we are going: When you look at your face in the mirror, what do you see in it that you most like and what do you see in it that you most deplore? If you had only one last ...

2011. No Cleansing, No Refreshment

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... , or one of those “buff-puff” thingies, as you rub and scrub in the bathtub or shower you are roughing up and sloughing off dead skin cells. Pumice stones grate off rough calluses. Facial scrubs are peppered with “micro beads,” gritty bits designed to gently “rough up” your tired skin, exfoliating and revealing a fresh new layer. To “come clean” some things have to go — dirt, sweat, and a layer of old skin cells. That’s why cleansing involves some “rough stuff.” In today’s gospel ...

2012. No Other Name

Acts 4:1-22

Sermon

King Duncan

... ashore. Then he begins to speak to the volleyball as if it were a human being. He even gives his volleyball a name, “Wilson.” Once the volleyball has a name, he is able to relate to it as if it were human. Names are important. Maya Lin, designer of the Vietnam War Memorial was explaining to a TV interviewer why her remarkable work has come to have such a strong grip upon the emotions of the American people. “It’s the names,” she said, “the names are the memorial. No edifice or structure can ...

2013. John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15

John 16:5-16

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... Spirit will “declare to you the things that are to come” should here be understood more temporally than eschatologically. Those “things” that are “coming” are Jesus’ conviction, crucifixion, resurrection, and glorification. The coming of the Paraclete will unpack the divine design for the world’s redemption as made possible by Jesus’ mission and ministry. It is through the presence of the Paraclete that those who believe in the Son may get a glimpse into the ways of the Father. The Spirit ...

2014. Don’t Be Childish, Do Be Child-like

Romans 8:1-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... 30 kids by 11 women – and he’s only 33. If as children we act like an adult, as adults we spend a lot of time acting like children, or at least doing things we call “being childish.” This is the secret of the Disney franchise. Disney has designed a playground for adults even more than for children. I know someone who is celebrating his 75th birthday by taking everyone in the family on a Disney cruise. But the hard truth of this side of the equation is that we really aren’t acting like children. In ...

2015. The Quality Inside

Illustration

Merritt W. Ednie

... of dog food had a meeting. Sales of the company product were slumping and the chairman was angry: "I don't understand," he shouted as he pounded the table, "we have the best brains in the nutrition business advising us; our art department has designed award-winning labels; our advertising people have put together an aggressive marketing campaign, So, why are sales down? Can anybody tell me why our dog food isn't selling?" There was silence around the table as the various members of the board wilted under ...

2016. Mark 6:14-29

Mark 6:14-29

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... than his heart. Despite all of Herodias’ plots and ploys, it is Herod himself who ultimately gives the order for John’s beheading. The parallel to Pilate’s bowing to the shouts of the crowd to crucify Jesus is evident. Likewise, not unlike crucifixion, beheading was a form of execution designed to dishonor and belittle the reputation of the one being executed. Finally, even as Jesus’ body was claimed by Joseph of Arimethea, John’s disciples claim his corpse and “lay it in a tomb.”

2017. When Others Serve Your Head on a Platter

Mark 6:14-29

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

2018. The 4 Spiritual Flaws

John 6:1-15

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... not neglect counting women and children. Considering the seemingly militant mindset of this crowd as revealed in v.15, the focus on the number of "men" -that is, potential combatants against the ruling powers -may be the message behind John's gender designation. With complete confidence Jesus takes the mini-meal of the little boy and offers thanks ("eucharistesas") for the morsels. While John's Greek would clearly have had a Eucharistic meal meaning for his later first century readers, Jesus' own prayer at ...

2019. John 6:1-21

John 6:1-15

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

2020. Where Is Your Pebble?

Ephesians 4:1-16

Sermon

King Duncan

... Jesse Lee. He once preached a sermon on Acts 17:6 that reads like this in the new King James Version: “These that turned the world upside down have come here also.” The thrust of his sermon was that sin has turned the world upside down, and the design of the gospel and the business of the ministry are to set the world right side up again. Well, the people of the town decided to have some fun with this passionate circuit rider and so the next day when he rode into town nearly everything looked ridiculous ...

2021. Fit the Picture

Luke 4:21-30

Sermon

Cynthia Cowen

It was the History Day Parade at James T. Jones Elementary School. Each class picked a period of time to portray. The sixth grade chose the medieval days. Every student was to design a costume, and, of course, mom, auntie, grandma, or another family member - female or male - was to create it. Those who couldn't sew could make a placard or paper bag costume or wrap themselves in universal duct tape. Teddy and Mike were to be the front and back of ...

2022. No Pleasing Some People

John 12:1-8

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... grow rich off the system (and these are rare, trust me) are blown out of proportion by the conservative media as justification for denying aid to many who desperately need it. The depiction of black faces supposedly engaged in fraud is designed to instill fear in those elements of a white population who want justification for their lack of sympathy. Fortunately most Christians, even while practicing some measure of discernment in their stewardship, are more likely to err on the side of charity than ...

2023. Sit Up and Speak!

Luke 7:11-17

Sermon

Arley K. Fadness

... , young man," are listed in the book, Coming of Age, by Hill, Anderson, and Martinson. Young men are sitting up and speaking at a new mission church in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, under the leadership of a young visionary pastor. A men's retreat designed to meet the yearnings and thirst for vision, leadership, purpose, challenge, risk taking, hunting, and sports. Christ speaks, "Young man, I say to you, rise!" not only to young men but to young women, to children, to Boomers, and to the elderly. All of ...

2024. Finish What You Start

Luke 14:25-33

Sermon

... our first building. We set priorities for the space and estimated the attendance in five and ten years. Then we put our architect to work by first asking him to show us what we could do on our property if the sky was the limit. The result was a beautiful design with a cost of over twelve million dollars! If you had looked up the word "crestfallen" in the dictionary you would have found our picture. "Oh," we said once we caught our breath. "Well then, tell us what it would cost to build part of it. Maybe the ...

2025. They Are Biting

Luke 5:1-11

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... said the old man, "I can't understand a word you're saying." The boy leaned over, brought his hand to his mouth and spat out a mess of bait. He said again, "You have to keep the worms warm!" Our text is the source of that "fisher of men" designation we learned to sing about in Sunday school. It too is a "fish story" of sorts. It starts out with Jesus being pursued by the curious crowd, folks who have heard about this amazing young man: his healing miracles, casting out demons. What does he have to say? So ...

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