Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 2001 to 2025 of 4914 results

2001. Abysmal Heights

Philippians 3:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Sometime in life we have all had to endure a “know it all.” Maybe it was that annoying kid in class who read the dictionary for fun and whose hand was always waving wildly in the air while claiming “Oh, I know, I know.” Know-it-alls plague us later in life as well. The co-worker who always has a “better way” to do things. The naysayer who “just knows” that your new idea is doomed to failure. The clueless who claim they “know” just how you feel. The powerful who “know” what is best for the powerless. The ...

2002. Valley of Weakness (Series: Peace in the Valley)

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

“Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ...For when I am weak, then I am strong” (II Corinthians 12:9-10). Let me tell you a very personal story. As a kid I was bullied a lot by older siblings and teased to tears almost daily by adults who somehow saw something humorous about intimidating a small child. In elementary school, I stayed to myself and avoided conflicts at all costs with the big eighth graders in that little four room schoolhouse. ...

2003. Happy Marriage...It's All About Choices

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

James W. Moore

The power mower broke down and wouldn’t run… and the grass in the front yard was getting totally out of hand. The wife was embarrassed about the way the lawn looked… so she began hinting to her husband that it was time to get the power mower fixed. But, somehow her hints didn’t work. The message never sank in. Finally, she thought of a clever way to make her point: When her husband arrived home one day, he found her seated in the tall grass on the front lawn fussily snipping away (one blade of grass at a ...

2004. Fresh Every Morning - A Test

Exodus 16:1-36

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Albert Camus, distinguished French author, once described a fellow-writer who kept searching for the right word. Because he could never find it, he was last seen sitting motionless before a blank piece of paper. I feel like that sometime in my sermon preparation - sitting motionless before a blank piece of paper. What I want to communicate is so important, I must not fail. I feel the powerful impact of the scripture. The truth of it is so crucial, and I’m so committed to being faithful in preaching God’s ...

2005. Let Go of the Stone

Mark 16:1-8

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

A friend and colleague of mine was declared dead by the IRS a few years ago, even though he was very much alive. Due to MS, Jim was confined to a wheel chair and depended on disability Social Security for survival. So you can imagine the shock of being informed you are dead and no longer eligible for benefits. Jim called the IRS. They asked him multiple questions, but could not by conversation declare Jim to be alive. He wrote them letters and sent them pictures, but such correspondence did no good. It was ...

2006. Checking Out the Scene

John 1:35-42

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

It is the mission of the Church to make disciples of Jesus Christ. Jesus said it plainly: “Go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.” By the waters of baptism we are claimed and cleansed. Along the river of discipleship we are shaped and formed into Christ-likeness. Salvation is God’s free gift to us. The best we can do is to receive it with grateful hearts. Discipleship is a life long ...

2007. Cheering from the Stands

Hebrews 12:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

Dr. Thomas Lane Butts tells about a World Series baseball game that took place on October 13, 1963, between the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Sandy Koufax was pitching for the Dodgers before a record crowd of 69,000 in Yankee Stadium. It was a crucial game, and Koufax was one strike-out short of breaking the record of 14 strike-outs in a World Series game. Koufax later said it was not only a challenge but an inspiration to know that among the spectators that day was former Dodger pitcher ...

2008. Kingdoms in Conflict

Matthew 21:33-46

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

When Vince Lombardi was hired as head coach of the Green Bay Packers in 1958, the team was in dismal shape. A single win in season play the year before had socked the club solidly into the basement of the NFL, and sportscasters everywhere used it as the butt of loser jokes. But Lombardi picked and pulled and prodded and trained and discipled the players into become a winning team. They were NFL champions in three consecutive seasons, and took the game honors for the first two Super Bowls. Lombardi was a ...

2009. Dressed for the Banquet

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon

Chris Ewing

2010. Mystery of the Unlikely

Luke 1:39-55

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

In the year 1870 the Methodists in Indiana were having their Annual Conference. At one point, the president of the college where they were meeting said, "I think we live in a very exciting age." The presiding bishop said "What do you see in our future?" The college president responded, "I believe we are coming into a time of great inventions. I believe, for example, that men will fly through the air like birds." The Bishop was indignant and said, "That's heresy! The Bible says that flight is reserved for ...

2011. Jesus at Home

Mark 2:1-12

Sermon

Robert J. Elder

Have you ever used the phrase, "I felt right at home"? It's a pretty good phrase for purposes of describing some degree of comfort about a situation. I'd say Ichiro Suzuki makes himself right at home standing at first base. I'd say that Tom Brokaw was a broadcaster who was at home in front of a television camera. I know people who feel most at home when they are out tending their garden or working under the hood of a car or standing by a river bank with a fly rod in hand or working a Playstation or Xbox. ...

2012. Oh, That I Knew Where I Might Find Him

Job 23:1-9, 16-17

Sermon

Robert A. Hausman

Then Job answered, "Today also is my complaint bitter." With those words, we go from the patience of Job to the bitterness of Job, from a docile Job to a defiant Job. Last week, Job was the model of submission. To him we owe the powerful proverbs: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away" (Job 1:21). Last week, we left Job sitting in his ash heap, scraping away at his sores, and asking rhetorically, "Shall we receive the good at the ...

2013. Lent 2

Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18, Psalm 27:1-14, Luke 13:31-35, Philippians 3:17--4:1

Bulletin Aid

Julia Ross Strope

Call To Worship Leader: You’re here! Winter is still holding on and things seem very still this second Sunday in Lent. Fortunately, we know that whatever is happening around us, God is with us. (Candles can be lighted to count the Sundays until Easter.) People: We have no reason to be afraid. We’ve asked God to teach us what to do and to lead us along safe paths. Leader: When we look at the world, we see soldiers and terrorists; we hear of violence. Still we trust God. People: We take seriously our own ...

2014. Love - The Basic Christian Call

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Richard Gribble

During the 56 years of his life, Adolf Hitler did incredible harm and was responsible for the death of millions of people. Yet in all of the horror that he unleashed, there were pinpoints of light and nobility. One German soldier, Private Joseph Schultz, was one of those pinpoints. Schultz was sent to Yugoslavia shortly after the Germans invaded that country. He was a loyal, young, German soldier on patrol. One day the sergeant called out eight names, his among them. They thought they were going on a ...

2015. It’s a Good Thing He’s Gone!

Ephesians 1:15-23, Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

Today I want you to participate in the proclamation of today's message. Perhaps it will help you to remember the spectacular event and its significance that we are commemorating today. Today is perhaps the most misunderstood and forgotten holiday of the entire Christian church year. Today, forty days after the resurrection of Jesus, the church for millennia has commemorated the ascension of Jesus. The first reading reports that memorable day when Jesus took his disciples to a hill outside of Jerusalem ...

2016. The Radiant Life

Exodus 34:29-35

Sermon

Derl G. Keefer

We are not citizens of this world trying to make our way to heaven; we are citizens of heaven trying to make our way through this world ... We are not to live so as to earn God's love, inherit heaven, and purchase our salvation ... [these] are gifts bought by Jesus on the cross ... We are to live as God's redeemed, as heirs of heaven, and citizens of another land: the kingdom of God. Because of God's redemption we are now on a journey home! "... a home we know will have the lights on and the door open and ...

2017. The Two Ultimate Questions of Life

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

King Duncan

Someone has made a list of what she calls “The World’s Worse Questions.” Are you ready for these? Will you promise not to get mad it I ask you something? Do you have any statistics to back up that statement? You don’t honestly expect me to believe that, do you? Haven’t you any sense of humor? You don’t remember me, do you? Have I kept you waiting? NOW what’s the matter? You asleep? So what? WHEN are you going TO GROW UP? (1) The World’s worst questions. A friend once asked Isaac Isidor Rabi, a Nobel prize ...

2018. One Thing

Philippians 3:12-4:1

Sermon

James Merritt

I believe that every year that God gives us on this earth is to be a year where we are as productive as we can be for His work and as pleasing as we can be for His glory. The longer you live the more you realize just how fleeting these years are and just how important it is to maximize the potential of each year for being what we ought to be and doing what we ought to do. Every year at least half of us in this will do something that in the beginning will be very exhilarating, but in the end very ...

2019. An Announcement to a Virgin

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

King Duncan

Pastor Ben Patterson tells about his 5-year-old niece, Olivia, and her best friend, Claire, who were participating in a nativity play at school. Claire was playing Mary, and Olivia played an angel. Before the show, a young boy was going around the dressing room proclaiming to all who could hear him, “I’m a sheep.” Then asking, “What are you?” Each child responded politely, including Olivia, who proudly declared she was an angel. The boy then turned to Claire, who was still struggling into her costume with ...

2020. Je Suis Jesus

1 Corinthians 7:1-40

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Thirty years ago, the big hit movie, the “it” teen adventure film, was called “Back To The Future” (1985). It starred Michael J. Fox and in that now classic film, time travel was made possible by a machine called the “flux capacitor.” This machine was “hot-wired” to the hottest car of that age, a “DeLorian.” Does anyone remember the year that far-distant, fantastic-future-time-traveling teen hero lands in? 2015. Today. Looking back at the vision which that 1985 movie projected, it is hard not to feel ...

2021. Judah to Serve Nebuchadnezzar

Jeremiah 27:1-22

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

Jeremiah Versus the False Prophet Hananiah: In the midst of a turbulent time, Jeremiah’s message was not the only one that was being heard in Jerusalem. Other prophets with different messages were also active. Hananiah is an example of a rival prophet, and in chapter 28, these two will almost come to blows. The book of Deuteronomy anticipated the presence of false prophets. False prophets are those who are not sent by Yahweh, though they might speak in his name. Deuteronomy 13 and 18 provide the people ...

2022. The Gift of the Spirit

Joel 2:28-32

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

2:28–32 The promise of abundant life and rescue from the judgment of the day of the Lord has been given out of the free grace of God (2:18–27). Joel now turns to tell of the signs that will precede the coming of the day. Thus, afterward in 2:28 refers not to events that will take place after the coming of the day, but before its imminent arrival (cf. before in v. 31). As found also in NT tradition, the day will be preceded by both cosmic and earthly signs (cf. Mark 13:7–8, 24–25 and parallels; Luke 21:20, ...

2023. Robbing God

Malachi 3:6-18

Understanding Series

Pamela J. Scalise

Return to Me (3:6-12): The fifth speech returns to the present with an appeal for repentance demonstrated in a concrete act of obedience, tithing. This obligation contributes to proper worship at the temple and to feeding even the poorest of the people. The Lord, who loves Israel, offers them reconciliation and promises blessing. 3:6–7a The opening statement of this address is a stunning non sequitur, “I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.” The Lord has remained the ...

2024. Ammon, Moab, Edom, and Philistia

Ezekiel 25:1-7, Ezekiel 25:8-11, Ezekiel 25:12-14, Ezekiel 25:15-17

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

Oracles against the Nations: Oracles against foreign nations were an important part of the prophetic repertoire. Collections of such oracles appear in many prophetic books (apart from Ezek. 25–32, see Isa. 13–23; Jer. 46–51; Amos 1–2). However, it is doubtful that the prophets meant for foreigners to read these words, or that any foreign king ever saw them. For though the prophets directed these oracles against other nations, their intended audience was the people of Israel—just as, in our own day, ...

2025. A Prophecy Against Gog

Ezekiel 38:1-39:29

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

Gog of Magog: Both Gog and his kingdom, Magog, are a mystery. Apart from Ezekiel 38–39, the name “Gog” appears in the Old Testament only in 1 Chronicles 5:4, where Gog is a descendant of Reuben—clearly not the foreign ruler Ezekiel describes. Magog appears in Genesis 10:2//1 Chronicles 1:5 as second in the list of nations descended from Japheth, youngest son of Noah, whose descendants populate the lands north of Israel. These texts group Magog with other nations in Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), ...

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