Sermon and Worship Resources

Synonyms: Levi, disciple, evangelist, tax collector, the 12, the twelve, apostle, sermon on the mount, jewish audience, beatitudes, lord's prayer, great commission, parables, olivet discourse, mount of olives, olivet, synoptic

Showing 2001 to 2025 of 4967 results

2001. Do you need a Pharisectomy?

Matthew 9:27-34, Matthew 9:35-38, Matthew 12:15-21, Matthew 12:22-37, Matthew 12:38-45, Matthew 12:46-50

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... we share in this body of Christ, and then resolve to make more of them throughout our neighborhoods. This is a time of feasting and celebration!! For we are in God’s house. Jesus is the host. And he says to all his guests, “Welcome to the feast.” Disciples of Jesus –is the Lord in this house? The Lord is in the house!!! *Photo from henryherz.com (The Misty Montes) Based on the Story Lectionary Major Text Matthew’s Witness to Jesus accused of beelzebul (9:27-9:38 and 12:15-12:50) Minor Text Exodus ...

2002. Revised and Revisioned

John 8:48-59, John 9:1-12, John 9:13-34, John 9:35-41, John 10:1-21

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... , I’ll tell you the truth, before Abraham, “I am.” Then they took up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and left. As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me ...

2003. No Fair!

Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” Image Exegesis: The Vineyard Jesus tells this parable to his disciples in response to their quest to be powerful and rich, to sit at his right hand. While his parable of the evil tenants of the vineyard was directed at the Pharisees, this parable of the vineyard is directed at his own ...

2004. The Plank

Matthew 5:38-48; 7:1-6

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... wrong. An old Hebrew sage once made it a rule of life, “Do not judge someone else, unless you have stood in his or her shoes in the same situation and have made a better decision.” Jesus takes it one step further. Today in our scripture story, Jesus tells His disciples: “Why do you look at the speck of dust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in ...

2005. Dressed for Success?

Luke 24:36-49, Luke 24:50-53, Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... of the Holy Spirit is a clothing we don’t take off. Once we receive Jesus into our lives and allow the Holy Spirit to clothe us with power and God’s presence, we go out protected, blessed, empowered, and humbled by the power and glory of Jesus. Jesus’ disciples are told to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit to clothe them with power. Later, they would refer to this as a “baptism” of the Holy Spirit. In fact, these are one and the same. When we allow ourselves to be baptized by the power of the ...

2006. Rooted and Rebooted

Psalm 126:1-6, Luke 13:31-35, 2 Samuel 15:13-37

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: 38 “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”[a] “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” 40 “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” 41 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42 and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but ...

2007. You Feed the Hungry

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

Roy Howard

... in our world and, in particular, in Africa. But, what’s the connection with our text? We know that food is basic to life; when one is hungry, there is nothing more urgent than satisfying an empty belly. That is why the gospel story of Jesus and the disciples feeding the 5,000 is so instructive. It began in a lonely place where Jesus had gone to grieve the death of his cousin, John the Baptist. As is so often the case, the crowds found him because they wanted what only he could provide. Watch what Jesus ...

2008. The Redemptive Side of Suffering

Hebrews 5:5-10

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... was first coined. The season of Lent should be a period when Christians take the time that is often not set aside throughout the year, to truly evaluate our spiritual lives in every aspect. Christ has called each one of us by name to be a contemporary disciple in whatever vocation has been mapped out for us. Certainly this season of grace prompts us to think more about our life of prayer, our commitment to our community of faith, our service to our brothers and sisters in physical need, and how we can do a ...

2009. Holy Extravagance

Mark 14:3-9

Sermon

Will Willimon

... church." (Ephesians 5:25) His love becomes the source, the reason for our worship. His love explains the worship of the church. Mark tells the story of a woman who took a bottle of expensive French perfume and poured the whole thing all over Jesus. The disciples were quick to criticize Mary for her mixed-up priorities. "What a waste," they cried. "She could have taken this perfume, sold it for $20, and done something useful with it -- like giving money to the poor." Jesus, preparing to go to Calvary and do ...

2010. I Doubt It!

John 20:19-31

Sermon

Timothy W. Ayers

... that little tells us a lot about his character. He was nicknamed “the twin” but the scripture never says who his twin brother was. We also know he was brave and loyal to Jesus. In John 11:16, “So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” A person does not commit themselves to that sort of future unless they are loyal and truly brave. He obviously believed in his master and also believed that Jesus was the Messiah. What caused this brave and ...

2011. Following God's Plan

1 John 5:1-6

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... Christ; what is the vocation of a true believer? The little story indicates and Saint John in our second lesson today tells us that by love of neighbor and service toward others we demonstrate our love for God and are, thereby, acting as his contemporary disciples. There are many vocations that reach the destination of life with God, that is being a contemporary saint and attaining salvation, but there is only one common path. It is our faith that keeps us on track and will in the end conquer the world ...

2012. The Power to Witness

Luke 24:44-53 · Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... resurrection spread. Why? It’s not just about the fact of the resurrection, but it’s about the new reality this belief creates for us, the potential for a world, a reality, that God imagines for all people. In our scripture for today, Jesus and his disciples continue to emphasize the importance of witnessing, but not just any witness or any story, but we are called to witness to the witness of the truth of the resurrection, and Jesus’ continuing presence in the world and in our lives in the form of ...

2013. Easter Power

Acts 14:8-18

Sermon

Will Willimon

... beck and call, not to be controlled, corralled, captured for even our best purposes. This power blows where it wills. It's a gift. It is the power of the Living God, not the ersatz power of our little idols. Wherever the good news of Easter is present, disciples must also be teachers, teaching the world the difference between the ways of God and those of Zeus and Hermes. "Well, I don't really agree with what these people believe, but they do a lot of good." What could be more utterly American than that? Who ...

2014. Driven to Complete

Mark 9:30-37

Sermon

King Duncan

... how it has changed me. For the first time in my life, I’m at peace. Here there is no competing, no trying to get ahead of anyone. This way of life is so in harmony with my inner soul that in only six months I’ve become the #2 disciple in the entire community, and I think I can be #1 by June.” (1) It’s not so easy giving up the need to compete, is it? There are big rewards for competition in our culture. Status. Promotions. Paychecks. Bragging rights. But what does competition do to our soul? It ...

2015. Being Good

Matthew 5:17-20

Sermon

Will Willimon

... poor." Matthew says that, with that, the young man slumped down and got real depressed and went away. Isn't that typical of Jesus in Matthew? Here you've got these commands which are already burdensome enough and he lays an even tougher command on you! So the disciples spoke for us all when they then asked, "God, who can be saved?" And Jesus responds with the good news: with you, it's impossible, but with Go all things, even the salvation of people like you, is possible. With God it's possible. The law, the ...

2016. Going Into Labor

Mark 13:1-8

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... Jerusalem, and his bitter crucifixion. He would receive the praise of the crowds, but also their scorn. It’s a week of despair, but also a week of wonder, because there is no denying that the temple of Jerusalem was a thing of wonder! Yet Jesus told his disciples a time was coming when not one stone would stand upon another. But this kind of cataclysm is not an event that happens to someone else. It happens to us all the time. That’s why Jesus used the language of labor and childbirth to make it clear ...

2017. The Wedding Planner's Worst Nightmare

John 2:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... immediately after the ceremony to help the first responders responding to the hurricane. (3) You have to be good at handling stress to be a good wedding planner. Our Scripture this morning is about a wedding planner faced with a crisis. Jesus and his disciples and his mother are attending a wedding in Cana. In that culture, wedding parties lasted for days. At some point during the festivities, the hosting family ran out of wine. Jesus lived in a culture that valued hospitality and community. No more wine ...

2018. Get Your Third-Class Tickets Here!

Acts 1:6-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... be the testimony of many Christians. Each day with Jesus is better than the day before, says a Gospel tune, and it’s true. And the Good News for the day is that the best is yet to come. Jesus had not gone away. He had gone up. His disciples received a promise that one day he would return. That’s an important promise. It says that this world is headed somewhere. It says that third-class ticket holders will one day see the fruit of their labors. It says that one day Christ will reign overall. Several ...

2019. The Unlocked Brain

John 20:19-31

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... Jesus’ body. His mind, like the others, has been in lock down. And he needs to be released. There is more than one “resurrection” in the Easter story. This is another. It is a story in which Jesus resurrects the faith, the hope, and the joy of his disciples. He lifts them from the depths of grief and despair and sets them back upon their feet, so to speak. He makes them “whole” again by allowing them to process that he is not dead but alive, that the mission has not ended, but has only just begun ...

2020. More Than a Popularity Contest

Luke 12:49-53, Luke 12:54-59

Sermon

King Duncan

... the streets of Jerusalem and loudly demanding Jesus’ death at the hands of the Roman government. So Luke 12 is basically one long teaching on how to disengage from the world’s attractions, from its values, from its popularity contests. Jesus is trying to warn his disciples that they can’t count on the crowd’s approval for long. He knows he will be leaving them soon, and they will suffer greatly as they try to carry on his mission without him. They will pay a price for following him, so they’d ...

2021. Brush It Off

Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... doesn’t it? To a point of detriment! If you care about something or someone, that issue or person naturally becomes personal to us, and what happens in the relationship with them becomes personally to us. So here’s the dilemma. How can you stay vulnerable as a disciple and care about the mission of the gospel, and care about people, and yet let their rejection roll off of your back? So you can brush the dust off of your feet? The secret is in who has your heart, your loyalty, your stability. You see, if ...

2022. Christmas Is Out of Control

Matthew 24:36-44

Sermon

John Jamison

... kept that power because they went along with the Romans. The Zealots hated them almost as much as the Romans themselves. Simon looked nervous but excited. He had waited for this day for a very long time. According to Matthew, Jesus began talking to his disciples, and anyone else nearby, telling them a couple of parables. He didn’t turn over tables that day, but his stories had a way of getting the point across, and most of them pointed directly at those Pharisees, Sadducees, priests, and scribes. It didn ...

2023. John and Frank

Matthew 11:2-11

Sermon

John Jamison

... doing what we can for others, but there are times when I just get angry at how things work out. I remember people like Frank and it just bothers me. Maybe that’s why Jesus said that piece that we left off a while ago. After he told John’s disciples what to tell him about, he then said, “Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.” Many people skip that line, like we did, because it doesn’t seem to make any sense. Why on earth would someone stumble because of Jesus? Isn’t he the one ...

2024. A Young Man's Vow

Luke 14:25-33

Sermon

Richard Hasler

... he has been reading about Jesus’ call in the gospels: “Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” “From everyone to whom much is given, much will be required.” Whoever would save his life shall lose it, and whoever ... Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out his eyes which causes him to stumble; it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him.”[4] We all want to be in control of our lives, believing that is what is best for us. But ...

2025. Facing Death

John 18:1-19:42

Sermon

April Yamasaki

... Peter to put away his sword, and he healed the high priest’s slave whose ear had been cut off in his brief scuffle with Peter. Even while he suffered on the cross, he cared tenderly for his mother and arranged for her to live with one of his disciples. Jesus knew he was dying, and he faced death with the same care that he had always shown to others, with the same confidence in God that characterized his life and ministry. In his suffering and death, Jesus certainly did not see himself as a victim. He was ...

Showing results