Sermon and Worship Resources

Synonyms: Levi, disciple, evangelist, tax collector, the 12, the twelve, apostle, sermon on the mount, jewish audience, beatitudes, lord's prayer, great commission, parables, olivet discourse, mount of olives, olivet, synoptic

Showing 2076 to 2100 of 4942 results

2076. Epiphany 3

Matthew 4:18-22, Matthew 4:12-17, 1 Corinthians 1:10-17, Psalm 27:1-14, Isaiah 9:1-7

Sermon Aid

THEOLOGICAL CLUE The liturgical/homiletical clue provided for the Third Sunday after the Epiphany combines manifestation and ministry within the overall Christmas Cycle clues of incarnation and Parousia. Jesus comes as the light of the world in his ministry. As the Epiphany Season progresses, however, some of the sharpness of definition is lost, not so much because the theological framework of the church year is blurred, but mostly because the lectio selecta method for the selection and reading of the ...

2077. Transfiguration of Our Lord

Matthew 17:1-13, 2 Peter 1:12-21, Exodus 24:1-18, Psalm 2:1-12

Sermon Aid

THEOLOGICAL CLUE Most Lutheran, Episcopal, and some other churches celebrate the Transfiguration on the Last Sunday after the Epiphany, rather than on the traditional date of August 6. This tends to give theological definition to the end of the Epiphany season and the entire Christmas cycle, as well. The incarnation/manifestation note is sounded again in the Gospel for the Day, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him." The word God spoke at Jesus' baptism is repeated here and is ...

2078. Proper 21 & Pentecost 19

Ezekiel 18:1-32, Psalm 25:1-22, Psalm 99:1-9, Exodus 32:1-33:6, Philippians 2:1-11, Philippians 2:12-18, Matthew 21:28-32

Sermon Aid

THEOLOGICAL CLUE As the church enters the last week of Sundays in the church year, the theological framework - eschatology - is renewed by the readings, particularly by the Gospel for the Day with its emphasis upon divine authority and repentance. The Gospel-context for this week's worship and preaching is the events that occurred after Jesus entered the Holy City to the day now called the Sunday of the Passion, or Palm Sunday. But the theme of today's worship takes the church all the way back to the ...

2079. A Glory Revealed in Truth and Faithfulness

John 19:28-37

Sermon

"It is finished." - John 19:30 (RSV) Tonight we are confronted with the culmination of Jesus’ life and ministry. Last night we saw how Jesus knew that his death was imminent, that he was about to be betrayed, tortured and publicly executed. Even though he knew it, he did not give in to panic or cowardice, but calmly, with all the aplomb of a king, he faced the personal disaster head-on. We read that "he loved his own ... [and] he loved them to the end." He loved them to the end of his earthly life with a ...

2080. The Sin of Judging

Matthew 13:36-43, Matthew 13:24-30

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

Another parable he (Jesus) put before them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the householder came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then has it weeds?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Then do you ...

2081. A LITURGICAL DRAMA FOR ALL SAINTS’

Drama

Tom Eberle

A LITURGICAL DRAMA FOR ALL SAINTS’ [Placed in the chancel area of the sanctuary is a large cardboard box, about two to three feet high, with a chair setting in it. At the end of the prelude "Box" takes his place on the chair. Immediately in front of the pews, on both sides of the center aisle, is an arrangement of candles. Five candles are necessary for the chancel drama, plus a candle for each member of the congregation who died in the past 12 months.] Prelude Box: Before we go any further, let’s lay all ...

2082. For Those in Church: Joy and Service

Matthew 23:1-39

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

Matthew 23:1-12 is a good checklist for our practice of religion. So many sermons are appropriate for all those Christians who are not there in church to hear them. This Gospel story and these comments are written especially for those who come to church - those of us who consider ourselves the faithful. Jesus spoke these words to his disciples. They are about the pillars of the church in his day - the scribes and Pharisees. Rather then spend our time today giving thunder to the scribes and Pharisees (as ...

2083. Paul Today

Acts 17:16-34

Sermon Aid

T. A. Kantonen

The task that remains is to summarize our study of Paul’s theology and to make a specific application of it to the present day. Our point of view has been to regard Paul as the foremost theologian of the early church, the supreme interpreter of Jesus and his gospel to the world of his day. He was not, as liberals at the beginning of the present century thought, the second founder of Christianity who introduced dogma and mysticism to transform Jesus’ simple message of the fatherhood of God and the ...

2084. The Art of Living Until

Matthew 24:36-51

Sermon

Leonard Mann

There are many things about your life which I do not know. But one thing I do know: you are living in an interim. And so am I. We are in time-in-between; we are between what has happened and what will happen. We know a great deal about the former and very little about the latter. What has been is past, and we are moving away from it, going on to what is to be. How we make this journey is very important, the attitudes with which we travel, the guiding stars we follow. So I want to speak with you about The ...

2085. To Bethlehem and Beyond

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

Leonard Mann

The Christian gospel began at Bethlehem one star-kissed night when a baby was born, and angels sang, and shepherds came - when the heavenly Father was so loving the world that he was giving his Son. To most of us the outward signals of the Bethlehem Event are rather well known. We know how shepherds received from heavenly messengers the announcement of the birth of Jesus, and how they said, "Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened." We know how, having made their journey there, those ...

2086. Prophecies Concerning the Passion

Matthew 26:57-68, Matthew 26:47-56, Matthew 26:36-46, Matthew 26:31-35, Matthew 26:17-30, Matthew 26:14-16

Illustration

Old Testament prophecies concerning Jesus and the events of Holy Week: Betrayed by a friend - Ps 41:9 Sold for 30 pieces of silver - Zech 11:12 False witnesses accusing Him - Ps 27:12 Silent when accused - Isaiah 53:7 Struck and spit on - Isaiah 50:6 Suffered in our place - Isaiah 53:4-5 Hands and feet pierced - Ps 22:16 Mocked and insulted - Ps 22:16-18 Prayed for His enemies - Ps 109:4 His side pierced - Zech 12:10 Soldiers cast lots for His clothes - Ps 22:18 Not a bone broken - Ps 34:20 Buried with the ...

2087. Put the Cross on Top

1 John 4:7-21

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

One day I clipped a picture from a newspaper because it intrigued me. I wish I could enlarge it and show it to you on a wide screen. It shows a church building under construction. Out front is a huge crane trying to lift the cross to its proper place on top of the steeple. But the crane can't reach high enough. So the cross is just dangling in mid-air. The newspaper article beneath the picture reported that the contractor planned to get another crane with at least a 120-foot boom and try again the ...

2088. God Makes The First Move

John 6:25-59

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

As I was walking the beautiful Augusta National Golf Course several weeks ago; I noticed .the famous German golfer, Bernard Langer, practicing for the Masters. He is a two-time winner of that prestigious tournament. As I watched him, I thought about his personal testimony which he offers far and wide. Langer says that when he won the Masters in 1985, his priorities were golf, golf, and more golf, then himself, then a little time with his wife, and occasionally a nod toward God. He says that if his golf was ...

2089. All We Like Sheep Have Gone Astray

Isaiah 52:13--53:12

Sermon

Durwood L. Buchheim

In the middle 1960s, a seminary student interned in a Lutheran congregation in Berlin, Germany. This intern was much interested in the history of World War II, since he was born about the time his father was fighting in Germany. However, he soon discovered that most of the members of that congregation did not want to talk about the war. It was too painful. But one day, an uncle of one of the intern’s friends came to see him and shared this personal story.1 He was an engineer on the train from Amsterdam to ...

2090. A Man Whose Dreams Came True

Genesis 37:1-11

Sermon

R. Blaine Detrick

We are seeking to tell the story of the Bible by selecting certain key people at particular points along the way. In the previous chapter, we indicated how God had decided, after the fall of man, to choose one person and through him to build a nation - a nation to be the instrument by which his message of redemption might reach the whole world. That man was Abraham. After Abraham, we pass very quickly over his son and grandson, Isaac and Jacob. This is difficult to do, because there are so many interesting ...

2091. A Man Who Wanted to Burn a City

Luke 9:46-50

Sermon

R. Blaine Detrick

Another of the apostles of Jesus, the Messiah and Savior, was selected by our congregation as one of the favorite men of the Bible: John, often called "the beloved disciple." Like Simon Peter, he too was one of the "inner three" - the three disciples whom Jesus seemed to choose to be with him on special occasions. Jesus had a large group of followers; of those, he selected twelve. Of the twelve, he seemed partial to the "inner three." And if we go one step farther, John was probably even closer to Jesus ...

2092. Where Do Sins Go?

2 Samuel 12:1-31

Sermon

Edward Chinn

On August 6, 1945, an atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The light from that explosion was brighter than 25,000 suns. John Hershey wrote a book about that day. The book, titled Hiroshima, described the permanent shadows which were caused by the blast of that bomb. The heat from that burst of energy indelibly etched the shadows of objects and human beings upon the buildings and the roads of that place. When troops later entered that devastated city, they saw the shadow of a person ...

2093. What Makes People Great?

2 Samuel 23:1-7

Sermon

Edward Chinn

In a book titled Irrepressible Churchill, Kay Halle told the story of a little boy who lived near Chartwell, England. It was at Chartwell Manor that Winston Churchill lived after his retirement as prime minister in 1955. This little boy was taken to Chartwell by the woman who cared for him each day. She told the little boy that he was going to see "the greatest man in the whole, wide world." When this woman and the boy in her charge arrived at Chartwell Manor, they learned that Sir Winston had retired for ...

2094. On His Way

Matthew 21:1-11

Sermon

Larry Powell

See in your mind’s eye a city that has doubled in population almost overnight. The city is Jerusalem and faithful Jews have converged upon the holy city from great distances to celebrate the Passover. They have come from every country district and all the lands of the Diaspora. The Jewish historian, Josephus, recorded that as many as 1,000,000 pilgrims came annually to the feast. Families were reunited, friends renewed acquaintances, spirits were high, and from the Temple priests down to the simplest ...

2095. The Promise Of Life ("U" Turns Permitted)

2 Samuel 12:1-31

Sermon

Roger Prescott

Introduction King David had risen to power and put together many good things. But power went to his head and he succumbed to adultery and murder. After Bathsheba had dutifully gone through mourning ceremonies for Uriah, her slain husband, David brought her to his house. She became his wife and bore him a son. Business as usual. Would no one dare raise a voice in protest against the king for taking Uriah’s wife and life - would they? Many times kings and national leaders are able to "get away with" their ...

2096. Light of the World

John 1:1-18

Sermon

William G. Carter

One of the striking features of the Gospel of John is the way it depicts the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. The other gospels usually tell us stories about Jesus. Then, like the disciples, we are left to ask, “Who is this, that wind and sea obey him? Who is this who feeds the multitude on a couple of loaves and a few fish?” But in the Gospel of John, there’s never a doubt who Jesus is, because he tells us. Usually he does so with a statement that begins with the words, “I am.” Put him in a situation ...

2097. Why Earthly Powers Need No Longer Enslave

Daniel 7:15-28, Daniel 7:1-14

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

This is a story written for people who had been or were about to be persecuted, if not enslaved. (The book of Daniel was probably written in the mid-second century B.C. during a period of Seleucid [Syrian] domination in Palestine.) It tells them and us how their ancestors had once faced a similar slavery under the oppression of the Babylonians centuries earlier. The implication was that if these ancestors could endure and overcome such bondage, so could they and so can we. Our lesson for this morning is ...

2098. Salvation Includes Social Justice

Jeremiah 23:1-8

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

On this last Sunday of the Church Year (we call it Christ the King Sunday) our attention is directed to the reign of Christ — to his glorious reign which has already begun with the resurrection on Easter. It is a Sunday to think about salvation, because where Christ reigns salvation is effected. These themes are especially evident in our First Lesson. Jeremiah conducted his ministry in Judah (the Southern Kingdom of the Hebrews ruled by David’s heirs and centered in the great capital of Jerusalem) in ...

2099. There Could Be, Couldn't There?

Jeremiah 2:1-3:5

Sermon

John W. Wurster

Jeremiah tells us that there was a time and a place when God was upset, when the heavens were shocked, and appalled, and utterly desolate (2:12). It sounds like it was a time and place when God was weeping, a time and a place when God hurt. Can you believe that there could be such a time, such a place, such a God? In this time and place God was upset because the people had strayed. God’s very own people had turned away. They had gone after worthless things (2:5). Things that seemed important, but really ...

2100. Remembering 9/11

Exodus 12:1-30

Sermon

David E. Leininger

"This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD--a lasting ordinance." or as the King James has it, "You shall observe it as an ordinance forever." The establishment of the Passover, one of the most important of all Jewish festivals. And they HAVE observed it forever. Every year since, and down to our own day, Jewish families have gathered at the traditional Seder meal. The patriarch of the household asks the children, "What makes this ...

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