Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 2076 to 2100 of 4935 results

2076. The Lost and Found Elder Brother

Luke 15:25-32

Sermon

James W. Moore

Have you heard the story about a little girl named Mikki who was walking down the sidewalk with her mother one day? They were walking together, (mom and daughter) holding hands. As they walk along, little Mikki asks: “Mommy, what is God?” Her mother answers: “Well, Mikki, God is the creative force, the first cause, the unmoved mover, the unseen primal producer of existence, the binding, sentient energy which underpins all physical manifestation, the…” At this point, the little girl interrupts. “Mommy, ...

2077. The Empire Strikes Back

Jude 1:14-15

Sermon

James Merritt

My sermon is not going to be anything like the movie with the same title. It is different in two very distinct ways. I am not going to be talking about Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, Darth Vader, Chewbacca, Yoda, nor R2D2. Rather, I am going to be speaking about a real empire, the Kingdom of God, and the real Emperor, whose name is Jesus. Furthermore, in the movie “The Empire Strikes Back” the hero, Han Solo, is left carbon-frozen in need of being rescued. But when this empire strikes back, the ...

2078. Power Failures and Power Surges

Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Is this a great parable, or what? All of Jesus’ parables are like depth-charges, but this one seems to give off a dazzling display of fireworks when it explodes. The power of Jesus’ parables is that even though they were all set in the first century world, they have perfect twenty-first century pitch, both in terms of resonance and relevance. Granted, today’s parable talks about strange wedding traditions, midnight processions, a late bridegroom, and nearly a dozen dozing bridesmaids, but the whole ...

2079. Baptism Of Our Lord

Mark 1:9-13, Mark 1:1-8, Acts 19:1-22, Genesis 1:1-2:3

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Old Testament: Genesis 1:1-5 The universe was created by God out of chaos and darkness through the Spirit's moving over the waters. By his word of command, light was separated from the darkness resulting in day and night. God pronounced the light good. Out of nothing came the universe. Out of darkness came light. Epistle: Acts 19:1-7 When Paul came to Ephesus, he asked if they received the Holy Spirit. They replied that they never heard of him. Upon further inquiry, Paul learned they received ...

2080. A Certain Word in an Uncertain World

1 Chronicles 29:1-9

Sermon

James Merritt

I want to put two famous quotations side by side and see which one you think is closest to the truth. Here is the first one. "There is no such thing as a sure thing." Now that would probably capture the sentiment of most people around the world as in the year 2004. 9/11 and terrorism around the world has changed everything. Security on New Year's Eve this last year was unprecedented. International flights were cancelled for the first time in the history of airlines over terroristic threats. One train of ...

2081. A Frightening Friday

John 18:1-19:42

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

So much happening in so little time! We are left gasping for breath. We stagger under the weight of the mighty arm of historical occurrence. You and I praise God because we know the rest of the story. Those present did not know how things would turn out. They must have been like awestruck children nearing exasperation. Those of us who have read and perhaps studied the great writers amazingly discover that Saint John tops them all. Shakespeare was truly brilliant but there is a peculiar demeanor about our ...

2082. Joshua People: Remember, Remind and Recommit

Joshua 24:14-18, 2 Peter 1:10-17

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

The older I get the more I realize that memory is tricky. I can remember the address and phone number of the house I lived in when I was 5 (2470 Highway 66, Zone 2, St. Louis, MO. Harrison 8;7378) but I can't remember which of my kids or Grandkids I'm talking to. I seem to start at the oldest child and work my way down, including the names of all the pets we've ever had, too. But it's nice to know I'm not the only one with this affliction. A number of years ago, the church I was serving received a memorial ...

2083. Unexpected Invasions

Isaiah 64:1-9

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

He looked me in the eye with deep intensity, as young adults tend to do, and then he said, “Do you believe in miracles?" “Indeed I do," I said with all the authority of my office and ordination. “Good," he replied. “I need an especially big one this week." With that he disappeared in the crowd and I never saw him again although I continue to pray for him often when his face comes into my mind's eye. Here we are in December. December is not so much another month as it is another state of mind. In December ...

2084. Can the Rich Be Saved?

Mark 10:17-27

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

It’s been said of Jesus that whenever he met a person, it was as if that person were an island around which Jesus sailed until he found where the real problem was, and there he landed. He did that with the woman at the well and landed on the questions of marriage. He said to her, “Go call your husband.” In a luncheon conversation He landed on the question of integrity with Zaccheus and before lunch was over Zaccheus said, “If I have stolen anything from anybody, I will repay it four-fold.” Here in the ...

2085. Make Disciples—Intentionally

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

It was a clear crisp autumn afternoon. I was on an airplane headed for a preaching mission in Centerville, Kansas. As I got settled into my seat, a big muscular man wedged his way into the seat beside me. The man took a quick glance at a magazine, then turned to me and said, “What do you do?" For most people that must be a simple question. For me it is a temptation to tease rather than answer. So sometimes I say, “I bury people." This guarantees moments of silence. Sometimes I say, “I stand up and make 20- ...

2086. Will It Last?

1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23

Sermon

John N. Brittain

A quarter-century ago, the little college at which I worked offered a scholarship for one year of study to a church official from Liberia who needed updating in business and accounting practices. Since this was a mature individual with a wife and children to support, leaving them for a whole year was a big deal, particularly since the scholarship covered his expenses at school but little else. Nonetheless, this was an important opportunity, and he prepared diligently so that when he set off for America it ...

2087. For Example

Romans 4:1-5, 13-17

Sermon

David O. Bales

If you're going to study a subject or learn a profession, a good strategy is to investigate one of the earliest theoreticians or practitioners. If you study physics, you might start with Albert Einstein. There were others, but he's a good beginning. If you're interested in drama, you could turn to William Shakespeare. Other playwrights are around, but he'll give you a good start. If you're considering nursing, you could read up on Florence Nightingale. The work of other early nurses would benefit you, but ...

2088. Earth, Wind and Fire

Acts 2:1-21; John 15:26-27, 16:1-15

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

A church going family took a little girl who was visiting with them to church one Sunday. This girl had never been to church in her life but seemed to enjoy the experience. When they returned home and were eating lunch, they asked the girl what she thought about the experience. She said she liked it, but she was confused about one thing. She asked why the Whole West Coast wasn't included. Nobody in the family knew what she was talking about. So, she explained, "The man in the front kept talking about the ...

2089. When the Caterers Weren’t Available

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

King Duncan

Today’s lesson is on one of Jesus’ best known miracles, the feeding of the 5,000. Of course, as someone has noted, if Jesus were alive today, he wouldn’t be allowed to get away with half the miracles he performed. It’s not just that we live in such a skeptical, rationalist age. It’s all the red tape as well. Here are a few examples. Turning water into wine. This would provoke immediate protests from the alcoholic beverage industry, who would argue that it was unfair competition, amounting to a monopoly. It ...

2090. Oops! I Did It Again

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

Have you ever had a setback, a defeat, a screw-up? Have you ever snatched failure from the jaws of success? Playwright Oscar Wilde once commented after a disastrous opening night that his play was a great success but the audience was a failure. That’s one way of handling defeat, I guess. Winston Churchill had that same ability to spin a setback a setback into something else. He was once asked, “What most prepared you to lead England through World War II?” His reply? “It was the time I repeated a class in ...

2091. When We Feel Lost

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

King Duncan

A certain aged Catholic priest had become deaf. So members of his parish would write out their sins on a piece of paper before going to confession. One day, a parishioner slipped a piece of paper to the priest which read, “Two loaves of bread, a gallon of milk, a box of detergent and a pound of bananas.” The puzzled priest scanned the note, then passed it back to the parishioner. The parishioner looked at the note, then exclaimed with horror, “Oh, no! I’ve left my sins at the grocery store.” Well, where ...

2092. Pilate's Dilemma

John 18:28-40

Sermon

King Duncan

Pilate was a politician. That says it all, doesn’t it? I read recently that 53 percent of Americans can’t name their representative in Congress. That doesn’t keep Congress from being highly unpopular. As someone once asked, “If pro is the opposite of con, is progress the opposite of Congress?” Someone else has said that the reason a person in Congress try so hard to get re-elected is that they would hate to have to make a living under the laws they’ve passed. I heard about one southern Congressman who had ...

2093. A Faith to Move Mountains

Luke 17:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

A man named Adrian Plass authored what he calls his Sacred Diary. In it, he tells how he once bought a book on faith that told him that real Christians should be able to move mountains by faith. So he decided to try it. He practiced with a paper clip. He put it on his desk and willed it to move. Nothing happened. He tried commanding it in a loud voice. Still nothing happened. He tried it again the next day. The paper clip still wouldn’t budge. He even promised God he would change his life if the clip would ...

2094. Of Peace and War

Deuteronomy 20:1-20

Sermon

James Merritt

I want to give you two dates. The dates are roughly sixty years apart. They were not chosen however randomly and they will strike a chord in every one of us for one reason or another. The first date is December 7, 1941. If you are from what Tom Brokaw called “The Greatest Generation” you know immediately what that date represents. It is when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. The second date is September 11, 2001. If you are a baby boomer, a Gen Xer or even a millennial you will remember that date. That was the ...

2095. Don’t Be a Trender - Be a Trendsetter

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

“Trending” as in “what’s trending?” is a social networking term used to describe what latest “hot new thing” is gaining popularity online and in our TGIF (Twitter, Google, Instagram, Facebook) culture. If you know what is “trending” then supposedly you’ve got your finger, or at least your texting finger, on the pulse of “what’s happening” in the world today. What have you heard is trending? Anyone?...This would be a great time for you to enter the congregational space and interact with your people about ...

2096. Leave Your Calculator Home

Matthew 22:15-22

Sermon

King Duncan

Only two things are inevitable, said a wise person long ago, death and taxes. The Eiffel Tower, someone has said, is the Empire State Building after taxes. Another wit asks if we have heard about the new tax payer’s wrist watch? It doesn’t actually tell the time. It just wrings its hands! A burglar, needing money to pay his income taxes, decided to burgle the safe in a store. On the safe door he was very pleased to find a note reading: “Please don’t use dynamite. The safe is not locked. Just turn the knob ...

2097. When Is Enough...Enough?

Mark 10:17-31

Sermon

King Duncan

Comedienne Joan Rivers who died last year once said something with which many people would agree. “People say that money isn’t the key to happiness,” said Joan Rivers, “but I always figured if you have enough money, you can have a key made.” “I always figured if you have enough money . . .” says Joan Rivers. How much is enough money? That is a good question. A Hollywood film editor once said, “I had this date the other night with a woman who wanted to walk along the beach. I’m wearing a twelve?hundred ...

2098. Be Careful What You Ask For

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

King Duncan

There is a wonderful story about the King and Queen of Sweden who were attending the 1980 Olympic Winter Games in Lake Placid, New York. Trying to get into an ice hockey game featuring the Swedish team, they were stopped by the ticket taker because their tickets were for another game on another day. The King said that the correct tickets were in his car and he asked that they be allowed in without the correct tickets: “Could you make an exception for us, please?” he said. “You see, I’m the King of Sweden.” ...

2099. The Man Among Myrtle Trees

Zechariah 1:7-17

Understanding Series

Pamela J. Scalise

Superscription to the Vision Reports and Oracles (1:1): Zechariah now describes a series of visions received during one night in the second year of Darius. These reports attach revelations of God’s will and works to aspects of the people’s experience as subjects of the emperor. Zechariah 3:8 provides the key to this way of reading part two of Zechariah when it calls the Jerusalem priesthood a mofet, a sign or portent for the “Branch” to come. In every episode of the vision there is some concrete, present ...

2100. Jesus Takes the Initiative

Luke 21:5-38, Luke 21:1-4, Luke 20:41-47

Teach the Text

R.T. France

Big Idea: The pretentious religiousness of scribes and wealthy worshipers and of the magnificent temple buildings contrasts with the simple devotion of a poor widow. Understanding the Text In place of the question-and-answer scenario of the first part of Jesus’s public ministry in the temple (20:1–40), we now have a series of pronouncements by Jesus that bring that phase of the Jerusalem story to an end. They begin with a response to the leaders’ hostile questioning, in which Jesus raises the question of ...

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