Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 2001 to 2025 of 4943 results

2001. The Sweet Fragrance of Brokenness

Luke 7:36-50

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Prop: A mortar and pestle. Assorted spices (such as cinnamon sticks, cedar, aloe, pomegranate seeds, saffron). Pine nuts, garlic, basil, salt and olive oil (the ingredients for pesto). Rose petals. A rosary (you can find a true rosary online). Anointing oil (such as spikenard). Candles and/or incense (frankincense and/or myrrh). [You may want to have scents/fragrances in the sanctuary for your service, ie incense and candles. If desired, you may have roses on the altar and/or an olive tree standing nearby ...

2002. She Waits

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

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“In My Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and welcome you into My presence, so that you also may be where I am.” John 14:2-3 “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have told you.” John 14:26 “Instead, your hearts are filled with sorrow because I have told you these ...

2003. Fasting In A Fast-food World

Joel 2:1-11

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

If I told you that I have a sure-fire, effortless plan whereby you can lose 25 pounds, with no exercise, and no money, would I have your attention? I thought so. You can't pick up a Woman's Day magazine, Good Housekeeping, McCalls, Red-book, Ladies' Home Journal, Cosmopolitan, Reader's Digest, or even the National Enquirer without finding at least one article on how to lose weight. It's a multi-million dollar business in America. And, if you are overweight, you probably need to lose some fat to be more ...

2004. Refusing to Quit

2 Timothy 4:5-8

Sermon

James McCormick

Years ago, a Midwestern University unveiled a plaque honoring an undistinguished alumnus. During his college years, this alumnus had participated in a variety of campus activities, but he had never been president of any organization. For four years he had gone out for football, but he had never made the first team or played in an important game. His scholastic average was in the B’s. When World War I came, he served in a minor capacity in a medical unit, and one day met his death trying to help a wounded ...

2005. When God Tests Us

Exodus 32:1-33:6

Sermon

Argile Smith

When we get nervous about the unknown, we can make mountains out of mole hills. But we aren’t by ourselves. Loads of people down through history have made the same mistake. Take the Israelites, for example. God had delivered them from Egyptian bondage through a series of mystifying miracles at the hand of Moses. Then Moses led them on a three-month journey to Mount Sinai. There God called Moses to the top of the mountain for a meeting with him. Soon Moses came down from the mountain with the Ten ...

2006. Ten Pounds of Mercy, One Pound of Faith

Luke 19:11-27, Matthew 25:1-13, Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

Lori Wagner

In the early days of WWII, Navy pilots were so afraid of crashing in shark infested waters that it became a prime cause of pilot error. The Navy’s response was to issue shark repellent, which the Navy knew had no impact on sharks, but enabled frightened pilots to fly with greater confidence. Sometimes you hand people some shark repellent rather than argue with them about their fears. Fear. It’s paralyzing. Ever hear a sound in the dark, and your whole body stops ….and freezes? Especially when you’re in ...

2007. The Mustard and the Cedar

Ezekiel 17:1-24, Matthew 13:31-35

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Prop: Photo or painting of an image with multiple figures within it. [You can start out interactively showing people the picture and asking them to find the image within it.] Anyone look at a photo of an art piece with multiple image possibilities? Our eyes are trained to see one familiar image. But if someone points out another, all of a sudden, our vision takes in the new image, and our whole perspective on the photo is radically changed. Take a look at these. What do you see? How many see a face? How ...

2008. All Mine To Give!

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

Do you ever get tired of giving? Have you ever seriously considered dropping out of the ranks of tithers? I have. Sometimes I get so overwhelmed by those computer generated appeal letters that come into my office, three or four a day, from ministries in urgent need. Then a man raising his support calls and wants to drop by for an hour to solicit financial backing. After him follows a brother in dire straits who wants an extra 500 dollars for unexpected ministry expenses. Driving across town one sees a ...

2009. Giving Away the Store

Luke 22:7-38, John 13:1-17

Sermon

Carl Jech

He will show you a large upper room furnished. (Luke 22:12) If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. (John 13:14) A friend of mine once had a job briefly at a car rental agency. The job didn't last for long because the owner of the agency complained that my friend was too nice, too diplomatic with the customers. He felt that if my friend were left alone he would probably end up giving the cars away - "giving away the store!" The idea behind this ...

2010. THE RECEPTIONIST

Drama

Jerome W. Nilssen

A travel agency. There may be several large, exotic travel posters in the background. GRACE WILLOW, in her early twenties, a receptionist, is behind a desk or counter. SETH is on the other side, facing away. SETH (Singing) Tall in a grove of willow trees A tower stands, white as tombs; Tall is my Daddy, tower tall, He has a castle with many rooms. The linen’s starched, still and white, The tower’s eye is desert red; White sand sifts into the rooms - I stand at the door and scratch for bread. Daddy above, ...

2011. Comfort

Isaiah 40:1-31

Sermon

Frederick C. Edwards

"Comfort! Comfort my people, says your God." How wonderful those words sound to us. How many times we feel the need for comfort. How often we need an assuring and tender word to ease the hurt we feel. Every year about this time we hear those wonderful prophetic words sung in Handel’s Messiah, or read in our churches from the portion of scripture that biblical scholars call "Second Isaiah," to distinguish it from the writings of the eighth-century prophet. They were written for a people for whom things had ...

2012. The Powerful Moments that Change Your Life Forever

Matthew 4:12-23

Sermon

James W. Moore

I am a collector of lists. I want to share with you this morning my favorite list of all time. It’s a list of answers given by English school children on their religion exams. Noah’s wife was called Joan of the Ark A myth is a female moth. Sometimes it is difficult to hear in church because the agnostics are so terrible. The Pope lives in a vacuum. The Fifth Commandment is “Humor your father and mother.” This is my favorite of all: Lot’s wife was a pillar of salt by day and a ball of fire by night. The ...

2013. Sonny Moneybags

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

David E. Leininger

As most of you know, I am a golfer. I use the term loosely because I do not play very well and I do not get to play very often any more, but I still consider myself a golfer. There is an old expression in the game that says, "Every shot makes somebody happy," which means if you hit a good one, you are happy. If you hit a lousy one, your opponent is happy. Whoever came up with that line was not quite as charitable to the gentle folk who play the game as he or she might have been, but the point is well taken ...

2014. Where Is Your Home?

2 Corinthians 5:6-10

Sermon

King Duncan

Children say the most outrageous things. Laurie and her husband, Ralph, have a little ritual they go through with their kids when one of their pet goldfish dies. The whole family gathers in the bathroom and around the commode. Little Anthony, the 3-year-old, holds the "deceased" while his sister says a little prayer. Then Anthony drops the fish in the bowl and Lexy, the 5-year-old, flushes it to heaven. One day, during one of these rituals, Lexy asked her dad if "Wito," her Grandpa who passed away a few ...

2015. The Deal Of A Lifetime

Mark 10:17-31

Sermon

King Duncan

Many of you pride yourself on being good business people. Suppose someone reputable made you the following offer: You go into business with me. It will be expensive, but I guarantee it will be worth it. You dig up whatever cash you can find. Take out an equity loan on your house, cash in the value of your life insurance policy, pay the penalty, and take the money out of your IRA accounthowever you can come up with cash, do it. Then, if you work hard, and follow the company manual, sacrifice and give your ...

2016. A Bridge over Troubled Waters

Psalm 23:2

Sermon

James Merritt

Is there anyone here today dealing with stress? Just looking out, I see a lot of people who are all stressed up and no place to go. Stress is a problem. Believe it or not, this is a problem for the pastor. In a recent Los Angeles Times article, psychologist Richard Blackmon said, “Pastors are the single most occupationally frustrated group in America.” About 75% of pastors go through a period of stress so great that they consider quitting the ministry; 35-40% actually do. Incidents of mental breakdown are ...

2017. Healing Aerobics

2 Kings 5:1-15ab

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

There's healing for you today. Getting sick is so easy. Consider the dreaded winter "flu season," when all you have to do is encounter one school-age child or shake hands with someone in order to suddenly be the new home base for some exotically named virus that has dismally familiar symptoms. Summertime colds are similarly transmitted, but are much sneakier - they prefer to wait until you are on your long-anticipated fun'n'sun vacation to remind you that sinusitis flourishes in tropical as well as in ...

2018. Lean on Me

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

John Wayne Clarke

One of the tangible benefits of reading the Bible is that we discover that God calls people to service in areas they may not have thought possible. People often discover that with God's help they are able to reach deep within themselves and find strength they did not know existed. Back in the '60s, Bill Withers sang, "Lean on me when you're not strong, and I'll be your friend, I'll help you carry on." For most of us, it is not until we find ourselves unable to carry on that we discover that with God we can ...

2019. Whose Inheritance Is It?

Ephesians 1:11-23

Sermon

Donna Schaper

The Holy Spirit gives us our inheritance. It does not come from our parents or grandparents, our nation or our race. Our inheritance is a gift from God. We have it as a dominion and domination. Domination — when we get first things absolutely first — is not a bad thing! Once we know the source of our inheritance, no other gods can rule us. Saints are the people who know this. Saints know who gave them what they have — and they don't imagine that they are like the used car dealer who, having inherited the ...

2020. The Unforgivable Sin

Mark 3:20-30

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

One of my favorite preachers, Clarence Forsberg, tells a story about a man who realized his life-long ambition by going on a safari in Africa. “He took along his wife, even though she was not the outdoors type. They set up camp in a jungle cleaning, and as he prepared to go out the first day he presented his wife with a little silver bell. He explained, ‘There is really nothing to worry about. I’m not going to be very far away. If you have any trouble at all, just ring this bell, and I’ll come right back.’ ...

2021. Are You Part of the Scandal?

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

In many local elementary schools, every few weeks the “Lost and Found” box is emptied out and the contents are scattered down the length of the main hall. Coats, mittens, shoes, sweatshirts, gym clothes, are all laid down and spread out in the hopes that their owners will spot them and take them home. But the scene of all those empty clothes creates an eerie sensation, as if it is not the clothes that had been left behind, but that the children themselves have somehow been “lost” — zapped out of their ...

2022. Everything Must Go: “Abandon Ship!”

1 Chronicles 29:1-9

Sermon

James Merritt

In America, it is called a dollar. In England, it is called a pound. In Europe, it is called a euro. In Israel, it is called a shekel. In China, it is called a yen. Different countries call it different things, but we all know it is money. It is everywhere. Money has been around forever. Interestingly, we didn’t start using paper money until the mid-1600’s, before that it was gold, silver, and bronze. Before that it was a unit of weight like barley or bread. By itself money really is nothing. It is just ...

2023. Satisfied Customer

John 6:25-59

Sermon

James Merritt

Well just who is this man known all over the world as “Jesus?” It is a fascinating question and when I was up in Canada recently I was able to ask a lady named Ingrid that very question. We had a chance to get into a spiritual conversation and she said she had rarely gone to church growing up except at Christmas and Easter and it had been many years since she had been in any kind of church at all. I asked her if she would mind us talking about spiritual things and she admitted that she hadn’t had a ...

2024. A Jiffy for Eternity

John 3:1-17

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

Character Sometimes Who's Who doesn't know for sure just what's what! Consider the character of this man who comes to Jesus at night. Nicodemus clearly was a well-connected man yet it is clear he lacks some very vital information. He is remembered here as a "Pharisee," the highest sect among the Jews. We often think of the Pharisees as harsh, hypocritical, and uppity (and certainly there were moments when Jesus heaped scorn on them). Here, however, is a Pharisee, Nicodemus, who does not fit that mold. He ...

2025. True North

Matthew 22:34-40

Sermon

Charley Reeb

Sha Jahan was the emperor of India during the 1600s. When he lost his wife he was devastated. In fact, his grief was so great that he decided to build a grand temple that would serve as her tomb. Her coffin was placed in the center of a large piece of land and a big temple was built around it. The emperor was determined to build a magnificent resting place for his wife. However, as the weeks turned into months the emperor’s grief was overshadowed by his passion for the project. He was obsessed with the ...

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