Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 2001 to 2025 of 2157 results

2001. The God Who Comforts

Isaiah 40:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... you know the history of this splendid piece of music. In the summer of 1741, over the course of only twenty-four days, George Frederic Handel composed the music for Messiah. The lyrics, however, a combination of scripture texts from the King James Version of the Bible and The Book of Common Prayer, were compiled by Charles Jennens. Here’s what’s important to us. The first words sung in Messiah are taken directly from this passage of Scripture. The tenor soloist sets the mood. He sings: “Comfort ...

2002. Among You Stands One

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Sermon

King Duncan

... the librarian spontaneously, joyously, and loudly shout, “The Messiah is here! The Messiah is back!” Every head in the library turned toward the voice, but, sadly, as the Times reported, “A few minutes later everyone went back to work.” (1) Only a paper version of Messiah had come back to the library, not the Messiah himself. If people had only known who was in their midst when Jesus walked the byways of Israel more than 2,000 years ago, a similar cry would have rung out--spontaneously, joyously ...

2003. The Bethsaida Boys

Mark 8:31-38

Sermon

John Jamison

... be prepared for whatever he might do next. Let’s not single out Simon Peter and make it sound like he was some kind of a problem disciple. As the story is told, every one of the disciples turned out to be what you might call a challenge. Mark’s version of the story gives us some good examples. Remember the day a bunch of them came running up to Jesus saying, “We found someone over there who was casting out demons and helping people, and he was doing it in your name. So we made him cut it out and ...

2004. Zeal!

John 2:13-22

Sermon

John Jamison

... of the confusion around this incident and get it out of the way so we can hear what the story actually has to say to us. Sometimes we get distracted by things and miss out on what the story is actually trying to tell us. Today’s version of the story from John’s gospel takes place at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, during his first visit to Jerusalem for Passover. John tells us that Jesus actually made at least three trips to Jerusalem for the Passover. The other gospel writers only tell us about ...

2005. Rebirth

John 3:14-21

Sermon

John Jamison

... shepherds, doors, light, and darkness. But his goal is to shine light on the freedom and the new life that comes from following Jesus’ commandment to love one another. As we look at these books we call the gospels, we find that Mark is the first version, focusing on the basic and simple facts, told in a way that was easy to remember and retell, almost like an early news story about what has happened. Matthew probably wrote next, directly addressing his stories to the Jewish readers as the early church was ...

2006. Some Greeks

John 12:20-33

Sermon

John Jamison

... anything or not. Sometimes we are completely misunderstood and end up with things spiraling completely out of control, as people take something we say or do and use it for their own reasons. Sometimes we just want to walk away and hide from it all. That is the more preferable version of the story. Because if it is true, and if God ended up taking what Jesus did and used it to change the world, then maybe there is still hope for what we’re doing here today.

2007. What a Friend

John 15:9-17

Sermon

John Jamison

... what they can do to help out if you ever need them. They are a friend. This was the friendship Jesus was describing to the men sitting around the table that evening in Jerusalem, and the one offered again to us. It’s not the warm and fuzzy, good-buddy version of Jesus that we sometimes sing about and see pictured. It is not a Jesus who is our equal, but rather one who has abilities far beyond our own and who has offered to use those abilities to help when we need them, when we pray in his name. It ...

2008. Would You Take the Crown Without the Cross?

Mark 1:9-15

Sermon

Brett Blair

... in the Garden of Eden by viewing him as he is now. Imagine if you knew nothing of aircrafts and mankind’s ability of flight. Now imagine that you came upon the wreckage of an aircraft and you along with many others tried to reconstruct the original version of the aircraft. If we knew nothing of flying, we would hardly suspect that this pile of rubbish had once soared above the earth. The material would be the same; the capability of flight, however, would be lost. What we have lost is our understanding of ...

2009. Jesus' No-Nonsense Guide to Being Rich

Mark 10:17-31

Sermon

April Yamasaki

... to say, "Teacher, I have kept all of these"? But Jesus didn't go there. Instead, he looked at the young man, he loved him, and he said, "You lack one thing." The gospel of Mark adds this touching detail that doesn't appear in the other two versions of this story. Jesus loved this stranger -- who interrupted the start of his journey, who was rich and arrogant and more than a little self-righteous, and who was lacking just one thing. That one thing came in two parts -- part 1: "Sell what you own, and give ...

2010. Things a Child Can Teach Us

Mark 9:30-37

Sermon

King Duncan

... children. He enjoyed the presence of children. You remember that wonderful scene where the disciples were keeping the children away from Jesus, afraid that they might bother the Master. And Jesus said, as translated in the King James English Version, “Suffer the little children to come to me.” (Mt. 19:14) Some of us smile at that particular archaic translation: “Suffer the little children . . .” We can remember “suffering” through Sunday school and worship as children ourselves. The modern ...

2011. The Year of the Woman

Genesis 2:18-24

Sermon

King Duncan

... thinking. Yes, we are different. Every once in a while, something comes across the Internet that is so amusing it has to be shared. Have you seen the one that features a wife and a husband writing in their individual diaries about the same event? Here is the wife’s version: Tonight, I thought my husband was acting weird. We had made plans to meet at a nice restaurant for dinner. I was shopping with my friends all day long, so I thought he was upset at the fact that I was a bit late, but he made no comment ...

2012. Wilderness Work

Luke 3:1-6

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

... is wrapped in soft, sweet celebration. John comes to us in the glare of biblical truth to confront us, to afflict us, to discomfort us, and to remind us that most of our preparations for Christmas don’t prepare us for Christ at all. Luke’s version of the John story begins in the immediacy of history. It begins right where we are, in the sixth year of Barack Obama’s presidency, when Andrew Cuomo serves as governor of New York, and Nita Lowey sits in the House of Representatives, when Gradye Parsons ...

2013. Hard and Soft Hearts

Mark 10:2-16

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

... of public morality, the Pharisees. We need to remind ourselves again and again that in the eyes of the common people the Pharisees were the good guys. They were the ones who took their religion seriously. They were first century Judaism's version of "Dr. Laura." They valued morality. They believed in character and integrity. They were serious about right and wrong. In the case of divorce, they had developed a complicated system of rules and regulations defining under what conditions divorce was right and ...

2014. Sheepish Shalom

Matthew 25:31-46

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

... us. Our text from Matthew is Jesus’ final teaching — his final lesson to his disciples and to us before he faced torture and death. There is an urgency in these words. There was a special authority in this vision. This, my friends, is the only version of the last judgment that appears in the gospels and the only one that comes from Jesus’ lips. Old time religion — and increasingly right-wing religion — is religion based not on faith, but on fear. Some of the greatest art in the world depicts the ...

2015. It's Not About Me

Luke 6:39-49

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

... ignore are the very ones that most describe me. And when it comes to specks and logs, I am an expert. But then most of us are. These three parables at the end of Luke 6 are the very end of Jesus’ sermon on the plain — Luke’s version of the Sermon on the Mount. As you may remember in Matthew, Jesus’ most famous sermon takes place on a mountain far away from the crowd — hard and demanding words for just a few — the inner circle — the chosen twelve. But in Luke, this very same sermon is preached ...

2016. The Natural Look

Luke 9:28-36 (37-43)

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

... with God has polished Moses with a particular patina of the holiness of God — the glowing image of God shining out of the very heart of who Moses is. The text tells us that when Moses comes down from the mountain the second time, clutching version two of the Ten Commandments, his face literally shines. Why? Because he has been talking to God. But — and this is important — Moses does not know it. You see, far from pretense, far from politically motivated posturing, Moses is just being his fresh and ...

2017. The Reception was Excellent

John 2:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... ://www.preacherrhetorica.com/epiphany-2.html. 2. Ray C. Stedman, https://www.raystedman.org/new-testament/john/water-to-wine. 3. Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Nancy Mitchell-Autio and Patty Aubery, Chicken Soup for the Christian Family Soul: Stories to Open the Heart and Rekindle the Spirit (HCI; Unabridged Version edition, 2000). 4. “Extravagant Joy!” John Killinger, 30 Good Minutes, Chicago Sunday Evening Club, 2007. http://www.csec.org/csec/sermon/killinger_5008.htm.

2018. What Will It Take to Make You Happy?

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

King Duncan

... or I would talk about it. In fact, he turned our understanding of happiness upside down. In the Sermon on the Mount, for example, he made some unique and unusual statements about happiness which we know as the Beatitudes. Luke, in his Gospel, gives us a condensed version of some of those stirring statements: Happy are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Happy are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Happy are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Happy are you when people hate you ...

2019. From Deep Unto Deep

Luke 22:14--23:56

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

... going to let his son die in vain. The congregation he served bought a youth camp and named it for Jonathan. Raymond used his personal grief and suffering to become an instrument of God’s healing to other parents who have lost children. Actually, the King James Version does not state the meaning of Job 13:15 as clearly as it might. Perhaps it is better stated that “I have no hope, yet I have hope in God.” When something happens to us that is similar to what happened to Charley Otera and Raymond Gaylord ...

2020. The Age of Elizabeth I

Illustration

John Richard Green

... became a people of the book, and that book was the Bible. It was read at churches and read at home, and everywhere its words, as they fell on ears which custom had not deadened, kindled a startling enthusiasm. As a mere literary monument, the English version of the Bible remains the noblest example of the English tongue. But far greater was the effect of the Bible on the character of the people. Elizabeth might silence or tune the pulpits, but it was impossible for her to silence or rune the great preachers ...

2021. Scarred Hands

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

... around the stranger's neck and held on for life. The farmer rose and left. The teacher, too. Then the rich man. Everyone departed, leaving the boy and his rescuer who had won him without a word. Those marred hands spoke more effectively than any words. SHORT VERSION The story has been told of a boy who was living with his grandmother when their house caught fire. The grandmother, trying to get upstairs to rescue the boy, died in the flames. The boy’s cries for help were finally answered by a man who ...

2022. So, Do Something About It

Lk 1:39-56

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

... , went to his room, and wrote his first hymn. The year was 1690, and the young man was Isaac Watts. Among his 350 hymns are "Joy to the World," "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross," "I Sing the Almighty Power of God," and many other classics. HERE'S ANOTHER VERSION OF WATT' S STORY Consider the story of one young man. He was often sick as a baby. He was always small, puny some would say. As a youth he was always frail and delicate. He was not able to play sports with the other boys his age. Eventually ...

2023. Can We Really Love Our Enemies

Luke 6:27-36

Sermon

Charles H. Bayer

... with that. But one doesn't need to hold the Christian faith, or any faith for that matter, to love those who love them. As Jesus said, "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same." Matthew's version has Jesus say, "They have their reward": people who love those who love them back. The phrase is derived from a Greek term stamped on bills. "Mark his receipt 'paid in full.' " Loving those who love you is no more than a mutually satisfactory commercial transaction. But ...

2024. We Are Not Alone

John 14:15-31

Sermon

Robert C. Cochran

... enough, class is over!” So, what does this strand that is the Holy Spirit look like? Who did Jesus send to us as we await the second coming? Jesus says that the Father will send an advocate for us in his absence. The Greek word that our version translates as “advocate” is paraklatos, paraclete. Literally, a paraclete is “one who stands alongside.” The divine paraclete is here to defend us when no one else will, to teach us what we don’t know, and to help us do what we need to do. In addition ...

2025. A Mystery

John 16:12-15

Sermon

Robert C. Cochran

... a good job removing our Lord from the service until I got to the one line I’d ad-libbed all day, and he sneaked back in! I can be forgiven for this lapse, however, because almost every prayer we say during Sunday worship ends with some version of “through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.” So, there are precedents for addressing our prayers to the Father or the Son. What about dedicating them to the Spirit? Just before departing from this world, in one of my favorite Bible passages, Jesus himself told his ...

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