Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 2001 to 2025 of 4884 results

2001. Are There Any Questions?

Luke 20:27-40

Sermon

... he had always brought on his heart the turmoil, the confusion, and the doubt his questions reflected, and often while away at college, he would write long letters that expressed the same. This time as he came in, he couldn’t wait to get it out: "I have found perfect peace!" And when I must have looked surprised, he blurted out, "I am now an atheist." "Tell me about that," I responded. And he told me. He told me of the dogma he had tried to swallow in his younger years that had been fed to him by parents ...

2002. Christ Is King

John 12:12-19

Sermon

... play for her the gospel hymns she loved to sing on winter evenings. I remember in particular the one we never missed. It had the line, "Wondrous Sovereign of the sea, Jesus, Savior, pilot me." Too bad we lost it in our high church passion for the perfect hymn. Although less than forty miles from the beaches of Lake Michigan, we had never seen a sea, but we knew what it meant, this Edward Hopper line, and it would stand us in good stead through boisterous waves and hiding rocks and treacherous shoal of life ...

2003. Remember Me?

Luke 13:22-30

Sermon

... but not a meaningful relationship. Other people who seemed to have a casual association with Jesus were those who wanted to use him. Jesus was their best friend when they needed him, but at other times they were not in his company. The ten lepers were perfectly willing to use Jesus, but after they were healed only one of the ten bothered to return to give him thanks. Some people relate to the church of Christ only when they are in great need. Sickness, divorce, death or some other calamity in life nudges ...

2004. The Turnstile at the Pearly Gate

Luke 13:22-30

Sermon

Carveth Mitchell

... not." "Well," he said, "it must be awfully lonesome there with only God and George Washington." Of course. So "lie a little," the forces of evil say. "Why struggle with it? Be partially honest, relatively pure, occasionally forgiving, comparatively loving, sometimes reverent. Relax. Nobody’s perfect." III Each of us must enter on our own - not because we ate and drank where he happened to be; not because he taught on our street. Each one is to strive to enter the Kingdom. We enter in not because we go to ...

2005. The Season of the Spirit

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

... living. We twentieth century folk, especially we Americans, are the lords and givers of quantity life, that's for sure. What a layout we have provided for ourselves. The comfortable, affluent, middle-class American sitting in these church pews this morning is the perfect example of how fully and successfully we have produced and distributed "the quantity life." As far as sheer over-abundance goes, things have never been better. But if we are lords and givers of quantity life, I don't think the same can ...

2006. Life's Greatest Treasure

Matthew 13:44-46

Sermon

... even ask us where we've been. He is just setting before us this Meal of forgiveness. By now our eyes ought to be popping out of our head. God just asks us to focus our eyes on the Cross of his son. He wants us to see there the perfect sacrifice and payment. He directs us to the living Lord of Easter morning, hoping that we see the certainty of eternal life in his shining face. What a surprise! The treasure's been here all the time. God's grace has been waiting for us. But the treasure is buried ...

2007. Overcoming Life's Obstacles

Matthew 14:22-36

Sermon

... among us begin to plan and dream about retirement. So to have our dreams shattered can be frustrating. To miss our goals, to have them blocked by insurmountable obstacles, can put even the best of us to the test. The story in our text here today is a perfect example of all this, I believe, It sets before us a man who had a dream. It points out the heavy obstacles that flared up in the pursuit of that dream. And then it lays before us the courage of faith, faith that overcomes the obstacles and accomplishes ...

2008. Everybody Pray!

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

... , he said, "There were no psychiatric programs to speak of at the time, and what I learned was mostly on-the-job training. I still learn as much from the patients as they learn from us. Every new patient gives me more insight into life." Oh, yes, it's perfectly clear that some of the greatest lessons in life are not learned in university lecture halls nor from books at the grandest libraries. Many a lesser soul in his life has lessons to teach you and me. So we do not despise this heathen woman here as she ...

2009. Saving Sinners

Matthew 9:9-13

Sermon

... am not considered a radical, and on the other hand I don't neglect my duty to others. I'm a responsible family man. I'm almost a model of what it means to provide for wife and children. At church, on the job, in school, I fit in almost perfectly. People seem to like me generally and I get along with folks. In my own mind I know that I slip a few times here and there, but others don't know it. Now and then I have a few moral ills to face, but I certainly can't be ...

2010. Don't Try So Hard!

Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

... done to bring you to a loving relationship with God! See Jesus Christ. Look at him. He did the work. He tried harder. He tried harder than any mere man could. He exerted himself and knocked himself out for you and me when he died on the cross. As the perfect Son of God his work was enough. No more need to carry around spiritual burdens and the weight of guilt and shame. Now we are even bold enough as forgiven Christians to say, "Don't try so hard! Christ has done the work. Take the gift of salvation. You ...

2011. Snapping Back

2 Corinthians 11:30

Children's Sermon

... be good even if it’s broken, because all I have to do is tie it in a knot and put it back together and it’s good as new. Sometimes, after we have broken at our weakest point, we find out how important God is and we see how perfectly God works. If you are sad, pray that God will make you happy. I even know stories about people who were sick and who were made well by God. When God helps us over our weakness we learn to know him better, and God is always ready to give us ...

2012. Bringing Back the Shine

Romans 6:6

Children's Sermon

... anymore like it once was, the metal is starting to shine and if I wanted to repaint it I think it would be as good as new and maybe even better. That is kind of like the way we are, God says. When he made us originally he made us perfect, bright and shiny. But as we grow up we sin here and there and while we don’t think it will hurt us much at the time we soon begin to look pretty bad to ourselves, to say nothing of how we look to God. But then we think that ...

2013. How Was Jesus' Death Different?

John 19:28-37, John 19:17-27

Sermon

... who repeatedly prayed as a son, "Father." The unbiased Roman soldier exclaimed, when Jesus died, "Truly this was a son of God!" Wasn't Paul right when he wrote, "God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself"? There is no other way to explain the perfect life, the absolute poise, arid the beautiful death of Jesus. We come to the conclusion that on this cross was God in Christ, the Messiah, Lord, and Redeemer. This fact of the person on the cross changes things. We get more concerned and excited over ...

2014. Life Is Supposed to be Enjoyable

Luke 13:10-17

Illustration

Richard Patt

When Jesus healed this hunchbacked woman, a perfectly good deed caused contention. In our own lives, we can have such an experience. There is, for instance, the proverbial mother of the bride, who takes a wonderfully fine day, such as her daughter's wedding, and turns it into a tension-filled day preceded by months of laborious planning ...

2015. A Crippling Spirit

Luke 13:10-17

Sermon

Brett Blair

... the next day. Both of these cases could have waited to the next day. These were not emergency room situations. On the other hand, if Jesus had healed say a child who was burning up with fever and in imminent danger of dying, it would have made perfect sense even to the synagogue ruler. But that kind of healing would have undermined the point he was making. You see this was a test. Jesus was purposely and flagrantly breaking scribal law to make a point, and that point was: people are more important than ...

2016. If Only We Would Let God Mold Us ...

Jeremiah 18:1--19:15

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

... the potter’s house. There he watched the craftsman working at his wheel, shaping and reshaping lumps of clay, until they turned into objects of beauty. Jeremiah must have wondered why the artist would often start over again with a pot or jar that looked perfect to the observer. We can imagine that the sensitivity of the potter’s eye and fingers awed the prophet, and that he was deeply impressed by the potter’s control over the clay as he molded and remolded it over and over again. As Jeremiah watched ...

2017. Jesus Gave Himself

Philippians 2:5-11

Children's Sermon

... must have been riding down the streets of Jerusalem with the people shouting and singing loud Hosannas and covering the streets with palm branches and coats. Jesus is someone you can never forget once you have heard about him. People used to wonder how anyone could be so perfect and still look like other people and live with other people. Sometimes we still wonder about that and ask ourselves how Jesus could be God and suffer and die like a man. I mean, if he were God, he should not be like a man, and if he ...

2018. COUGH DROPS, LIKE LOVE?

1 Peter 4:8

Children's Sermon

... hurt a bit. Now, how are cough drops and love alike? Well, St. Peter tells us that love covers a multitude of sins. The cough drop covers the sore places in our throats just like love covers sins. You see, St. Peter says that God knows that we are not perfect, and that sometimes we do things that he doesn't approve of, but if we try always to love everybody and love what we are doing, and love even the things that other people find hard to love, then some of the things that we have done wrong are a ...

2019. God's Right Plan

Galatians 4:1-7

Children's Sermon

... . That's why I told you that Jesus came as the result of a plan by God. The Bible says that God sent Jesus when the time was full, just like when I pull the string all of the way out. Not until it was complete and the plan was perfect did God give Jesus to the world. The next time you think that God sent Jesus a long time ago and you wished that he would send him now instead of then, you remember what you learned today. When the string was pulled all of the way, the doll could ...

2020. Prayer

John 3:22-36

Bulletin Aid

Who's a Saint? Surely not me! I'm not perfect, Not by any means! I enjoy life too much ... All parts of it! I like to have fun Enjoy myself Not spend all day praying Or trying to work miracles! I'm not pure enough Or pious enough Or good enough. I'm not a "saint" in any sense of ...

2021. Prayer

John 4:1-26

Bulletin Aid

... , I messed up. "Tell me everything I've ever done?" No, thank you! Lord, forgive me my dishonesty To you Even to myself, And help me accept your forgiving love That takes me "Just as I am" "Warts and all," And then let me grow beyond my faults, Into the perfection you hold up for me. I ask it in Jesus' name. Amen

2022. Prayer

John 20:19-23

Bulletin Aid

... /God, But the Spirit? All I have is symbols! Wind Fire A dove The "Holy Ghost" Some look for the Spirit in signs Like ecstasy Like tongues Like unbridled joy Like uncontrolled behavior Like prophetic announcements; Others look for "spirituality" Devotion Prayer Perfection. Paul says, "The greatest gift is Love!" Not flashy Not exciting But constant Present and active Forever. Lord, forgive my lack of understanding Of your mystery Of your nature, And give me the power of the Spirit For life And for work ...

2023. Prayer

Matthew 9:9-13

Bulletin Aid

Good news and Bad news! First the good news - Jesus associated with sinners! That means there's hope for me! God knows I'm not perfect But he loves me anyway! Now the bad news - Jesus associated with sinners! Not the good Church people Pillars of the community But the bums The crooks The drunks What kind of example is that? And even worse news A dilemma - Who should I associate with? The good people Pious ...

2024. Prayer

Matthew 13:24-30

Bulletin Aid

"Be patient - God hasn't finished with me yet!" I like the thought. I want people to remember it! I'm not perfect. I forget things. I procrastinate (Never do today What you can put off till tomorrow - Or longer!) I make mistakes, And I want - I expect - People to forgive me To make allowances Not to judge me too harshly. Yet I don't give others the same privileges! "I want what ...

2025. Prayer

Matthew 5:1-12

Bulletin Aid

... Assistance - Whatever is needed Whenever it's needed Without thinking twice about it, And to forgive Again and Again. Probably none of them think of themselves as saints - Or even as outstandingly good! They are conscious of their faults The ways they fall short of perfection. They laugh at the idea! How many people would think of me as a "saint"? The ones who don't know me well Who only see my religious facade? Some who do know me well And who (Saint-like themselves) Overlook my flaws? Or Maybe ...

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