Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 2026 to 2050 of 4963 results

2026. Lord, I Want To See

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

Brett Blair

... as blindness is in the 21st century, however, it was so much worse in Jesus' day. Today a blind person at least has the hope of living a useful life with proper training. Some of the most skilled and creative people in our society are blind. But in ... need. He expects from us total love and total commitment. Why can't we see that? But for those of us who are blind there is hope. For Jesus came to heal the blind. It happened to Bartimaeus. It happened the disciples. It can happen to you. How do we go about it ...

2027. Advent 4. Won't You Let Him Into Your Christmas?

Luke 2:8-20

Sermon

James W. Moore

... all around us. The question is: Do we have the eyes of faith to see them, and the ears of faith to hear them, and the hearts of faith to sense and feel their presence? That’s number one: The Shepherds saw the Angel, and they responded in faith, hope and love. II. SECOND, THEY SAW THE CHRIST-CHILD. You may say: How could they miss Him? There was that “Bright Star” in the sky. But, most everybody else did miss Him. Most people ignored the star and the baby, but not the Shepherds. They came to see the ...

2028. A Little Robe

1 Samuel 2:12-26, 1 Samuel 1:21-28, 1 Samuel 2:1-11

Bulletin Aid

Dallas A. Brauninger

... the little sustaining things for a child in the name of love. Parents will know later what this teaches a child. So be of good courage, you who are a parent, for being a parent is a holy trust. Collect We have come to worship God who keeps on hoping. We rejoice in God who encourages us to believe the way of compassion will endure. In the name of Christ. Amen. Prayer Of Confession Sometimes being a parent is hard, God. Sometimes it seems impossible to do what is best or to say the right thing. Sometimes we ...

2029. All Is Calm, All Is Bright

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

William G. Carter

... he favors!” Maybe we are thinking about peace tonight. A stack of Christmas cards has come to the mailbox. About half of them bear the greeting, “Peace on earth.” Peace is a wonderful thing to wish for somebody else. It is a blessed thing for which to hope — primarily because it seems to be in such short supply. This is December 24, after all. For many people it is the busiest, most erratic day of the year. How many of you were out on the roads this afternoon? Anybody dare to stop at the supermarket ...

2030. A Secret Is Finally Revealed

Ephesians 1:1-14

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... God’s inheritance was not a codicil added to God’s original “Jews only” testament. Jesus was a part of the plan since the beginning. And in Jesus, said Paul, we were “predestined” to be adopted as God’s daughters and sons. Now, we hope, this sermon has been progressing nicely to this point. But there is that confusing Presbyterian word “predestined” being used. Before the foundation of the world, God destined those first-century Asians and Greeks and you and me to belong to God as adopted ...

2031. Good News for Good Living

1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... is an epiphany, a magnificent recognition. It is this creed, not economics, science, or knowledge that predicates a free society! Paul restates the tradition to the divided Corinthians — “This is what we preach and this is what you believed” (v. 11). It is the ultimate hope of the world. There is a new way of living in the world. It’s called “good news” for “good living”! Too often have we focused on the good news as good news for dying. Human dignity is the ever present appeal for a “good ...

2032. Even Our Business Belongs to God!

Jeremiah 32:1-44

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... those unusual divine business strategies in our other assigned Bible lessons. In our Second Lesson from 1 Timothy 6 we hear that “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (v. 10) and that those who are rich are not to be haughty or set their hopes on their riches, but are to be generous (vv. 17-18). The Gospel Lesson from Luke 16:19-31 echoes these themes with the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus. The rich man ignored the needs of the poor man Lazarus, and we learn that that was not God ...

2033. When Life Gets Hard, Christian, Rebel!

Lamentations 1:1-22

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... of the sword in the wilderness. — 5:8-9 Women are raped ... virgins in the towns ... Princes are hung up by their hands; no respect is shown to the elders. — 5:11-12 In a fundamental sense, times have not changed much. But is there no hope? Are we condemned merely to sing and live with the laments of Lamentations and Jeremiah? Can anything be done to set us free from all the hopelessness and despair? It will take a bunch of rebellious (Christian) malcontents. Our other Bible lessons (2 Timothy 1:1-14 ...

2034. A Match Made In Heaven

Hosea 1:1-2:1

Sermon

John W. Wurster

... ourselves and corrupted the life for which we have been created. Truly, God could say of us, “You are not my people and I am not your God.” Our only hope is in the possibility that we might be changed, transformed, forgiven, saved. Our only hope is that the God whose judgment is fierce is also abundant in mercy. Our only hope is that the God whose anger we provoke is bountiful in redeeming love, life-changing love. That’s the same God who, at the end of this passage, mysteriously contradicting the ...

2035. Changing Seasons, Constant Love

Jeremiah 8:4--9:26

Sermon

John W. Wurster

... I’m here. And I suppose that’s why you’re here, because you know it is so, too. Or you suspect it is so. Or you hope it is so. Friends, the tear-stained face of Jesus is a reminder that our suffering is God’s suffering. Our pain is God’s pain. God ... us a new chance to keep those promises and follow through on those good intentions and make those dreams come true and see those hopes come to pass. Friends, we have been saved. The news is good. I know it is so. There is a balm in Gilead. Hallelujah! ...

2036. With All Your Heart

Joel 2:12-17, Joel 2:1-11

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

... redemption for others. The people of Joel’s time were hurting from their past. Some of them had lost all hope of ever achieving the spiritual greatness of their forbears. But God always sees new possibilities amid the disabilities of our ... truth when the people of God will return to him with all their hearts. This is the season of return, restoration, and renewal. A season of hope and joy, comfort and celebration, for a comforter has come to lay down his life for those who are seeking life. It is not enough ...

2037. Deformed, Disfigured, and Despised: A Marred but Magnificent Messiah

Isaiah 52:13--53:12

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

... sense he could provide a cure for them? Jesus embodies two basic contradictory realities: one of being deformed, disfigured, and despised, which is the man we shall never want to be; and the other is having the power to heal others, which is the man we hope to become. He at once is the personification of the extremities of our human condition. He is the man we never want to become and the man we want to become. Being disfigured and marred, he was utterly unattractive, which means his looks were repelling ...

2038. A Town of Promise

Micah 5:1-4

Sermon

Harry N. Huxhold

... did fall within a short period of time, and ultimately, Judah, the Southern Kingdom, fell also. The dreaded days the prophet had predicted became reality. At the same time those harsh prophetic judgments which fell on deaf ears had always been matched with the hopeful promises Micah had also written. If they fell on deaf ears, that was most unfortunate. Yet the thread of the promise God wove into all of history was discernable finally in the rich tapestry God wove with the life, death, and resurrection of ...

2039. The Children of Promise

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

Harry N. Huxhold

... and confidence that God was in their midst to work their redemption as the people of God. Now their sorrow will be turned into gladness, their mourning into joy. The sign of their repentance is that they would have hope when there would be no apparent reasons for them to have hope. They will believe that they were going home when there was no announcement of a deliverer on the scene. But they would know who the Deliver is. He who had scattered Israel would gather them and keep them as a shepherd keeps his ...

2040. Reason for the Season

Luke 1:39-45, Luke 1:46-56, Luke 2:1-7, Luke 2:8-20

Drama

Dave Marsh

... wrapping paper and a few gifts to wrap.) Dave: Hey honey! Teri: Oh, hey. Are those the last of the gifts? Dave: I certainly hope so! We're running out of paper. Did the bank call? Teri: The bank? Dave: Yeah. You know, we're gonna need a second ... weather. The snow has really been coming down and your brother might not be able to get out of O'Hare. Dave: Oh, that's awful! I hope their flight gets out ok. Teri: Exactly. I mean, I know the kids are going to be crushed if they don't see their cousins but it' ...

2041. Keep Looking For Jesus

Matthew 2:1-12

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

... : Items used in a search such as map, flashlight, dog leash (bloodhound), magnifying glass. Good morning, boys and girls! Today I need some help. I want to begin a search for a missing child. I have looked around my house, and I have found these things which I hope will help me in my search. How many of you have ever had to look for something and you didn't know where to look? (Let them answer.) Oh! Good. That means I will have some experienced people to help me. Experience is very important when you are ...

2042. The Healing of the Gerasene Demoniac

Mark 5:1-20

Sermon

James W. Moore

... to pray especially for her grandson who is a jet pilot stationed somewhere in Kuwait because she said, “If war breaks out, he will be one of the first to see action.” The image of a little pre-school girl saying on television, “I hope we don’t have war because people might get hurt.” The image of world leaders and congressional leaders and people in the streets agreeing that something should be done, but strongly disagreeing over how to do it. The image of television newscasters suddenly realizing ...

2043. His Triumphal Entry

Luke 19:28-44

Sermon

Brett Blair

... a one man liberation army that had marched right into the heart of Jerusalem in the midst of these poor troubled peoples groveling under the yoke of pagan Rome. This was the moment that had kept their faith alive throughout the centuries. This had been their hope, This moment had been the inspiration of their worship. They saw Jesus as the right man for the right time. Then the moment that everyone had been waiting for came. Jesus entered the temple. They crowd grew faint, Only a low murmuring now as all ...

2044. Why Do You Seek The Living Among The Dead?

John 20:10-18

Sermon

Brett Blair

... that person looks exactly like a departed loved one. And we feel a little bit silly, but for a moment we actually find ourselves hoping against hope. I don’t know whether or not you have ever had that happen to you or not, but death has a way of being ... . It has a way of haunting us. Why do you seek the living among the dead? Not only because the Torah gives us no hope whatsoever, but perhaps even more importantly because we know, or at least we think that we know, that death has the final word. We have ...

2045. The Storyteller's Creed

Luke 6:17-26

Illustration

Brett Blair

... only cure for grief. And I believe that love is stronger than death. He calls that the Storyteller's Creed. I think he is right on all counts because life, real life, is not about knowledge, history, facts, grief, and death; rather life is about imagination, dreams, hope, laughter, and love. When we hear good stories those are the things that inspire us, move and motivate us. Now you might say to me, "Now preacher, life most certainly is about grief and death. The world is full of it." Yes it is! But they ...

2046. A Tsunami Appeal

Sermon

Eric Hudson

... disaster to an acknowledgement that there is something good out there, in spite of the tears, and the death, and the suffering. And so there is only one thing I want to leave with you this morning as we stand on the edge of a new year with all its hopes and its dreams. It is this: In a world where we have grown used to evil men doing evil things, not because poverty has forced them into it, but doing evil because they choose to do it … in this world of bin Ladens, and murdering kidnappers who can behead ...

2047. I've Got a Strong Case of the 'Can't Help Its'

John 1:35-42

Sermon

James W. Moore

... CHRISTIANS, WE CAN’T HELP BUT BE GRATEFUL. Andrew, along with the people of his time, was longing for a Messiah to come, hoping for a Messiah, praying for a Messiah. When he found the Messiah in Jesus, he was incredibly grateful. You know there is ... life would be better for all of us. Her name is Donna. Donna is a member of our church. She is a mentor in our Kids Hope USA program. Every week she goes to a nearby elementary school to be a friend, encourager, and mentor to a little boy named John. John looks ...

2048. Sometimes You've Got to Shout!

John 12:12-19

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... I. "Oh really?" I responded. I was much more awake now. "What makes you think so?" "I've been feeling some twinges. Nothing much. About every ten or twelve minutes, but not bad...they only last about fifteen seconds." By this time, I was really awake. I was hoping that she was right...that today WOULD be the day. This child was already five days overdue and both of us were getting anxious about it. Three-and-a-half years before, our David had been kind enough to make his appearance six days early, so we had ...

2049. When God Is Gone

Job 23:1--24:25

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... right, my husband was...and everyone clapped their hands and felt real funny.” This migrant family sums up the dilemma of pain and suffering about as well as it can be expressed. Why does God allow a world of sick children and no money and no hope? Why cancer? Why do families fall apart? Why? Why? Why? These problems are not abstract and philosophical. They are profoundly human, and people see no solution. Does God care? Is God there? I can say on one point the angry farmhand was dead wrong. Holding his ...

2050. A Disaster of Biblical Proportions

Job 38:1--41:34

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... are beyond our understanding. Our call is to not lose our faith in the face of them, not to begin foolishly blaming God for earthquakes or tsunamis or plane crashes or whatever is not to our satisfaction in this world. As Job said, "Though he slay me, yet will I hope in Him."(2) It was that same kind of trust that sent Jesus to the cross. The Gospels make clear that Jesus had no desire to be tortured or to die - no sane person would. But he endured it...and the tragedy of Good Friday turned into the triumph ...

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