Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 2101 to 2125 of 4943 results

2101. The Temptation Of His Life

Matthew 4:1-11

Sermon

Thomas A. Pilgrim

Robert Penn Warren wrote a novel called All The King's Men. It was the story of a governor of Louisiana and his rise to power. His name was Willie Stark. At the end of his story he is shot down dead.1 Here was a man who gained a kingdom and lost all he ever had. Two thousand years earlier a man from Galilee said, "What would it profit a man if he gained the whole world and lost his soul?" Perhaps when He made that statement He was not only addressing it to those who heard Him, but also was looking back to ...

2102. The Voices Of Christmas

Drama

Jerry Nordstrom

Cast PATIENT - Resident of a nursing home (male) HOMEMAKER - Food-happy matron (female) SHOPPER - Wealthy, materialistic socialite (female) SPORTSMAN - Young ski enthusiast (male) MERCHANT - Toy store owner (male) TRADITIONALIST - Sentimental Swedish-American grandma (female) CORPORATION MAN - Heavy-drinking party-goer (male) *CHILD - Greedy little girl (female) WORKING WIFE - Frazzled victim of the Christmas rush (female) *May be read, in character, by an adult. Presentation time: about half an hour Using ...

2103. Looking for Shoots or Roots?

Matthew 11:1-19

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

The more we move into the Advent season, the more our scripture texts bring the Christ-child’s birth closer and closer to us. Yet here in Matthew 11:2-11 we are back to the relationship between Jesus and John the Baptist. Yet even though this is not part of our text for this week, the mere mention of John’s name should remind us of their cousinly kinship, even of an in utero jump for joy that marked their first meeting--making cousin John the first person to celebrate Advent. As out text opens Jesus has ...

2104. The Greatest Ability Is Dependability (Fruit of the Spirit: Faithfulness)

Galatians 5:22

Sermon

James Merritt

There are over two hundred geysers in Yellow Stone National Park. But there is one geyser that stands out from all the others. It is not the largest geyser, nor does it reach the greatest height. Yet it is by far the most popular geyser. Its popularity is due to one thing—its dependability. Because once every sixty-five minutes it shoots a stream of boiling water over 170 ft. into the air. You can practically set your clock by it. They call it "Old Faithful." There are many things in life that you could ...

2105. Focus on the Finish

Hebrews 12:1-2

Sermon

James Merritt

It was Mexico City 1968. John Steven Akhwari of Tanzania had started the Olympic marathon with all the other runners hours before, but he finished it alone. When he finally arrived at the stadium there were only a few spectators remaining in the stands. The winner of the marathon had crossed the finish line over an hour earlier. It was getting dark; his right leg was bandaged and heavily bleeding. He was obviously in great pain, but he crossed the finish line suffering from fatigue, leg cramps, dehydration ...

2106. In Search of a New Life

Revelation 21:1-5a

Sermon

King Duncan

Do you like stories of buried treasure? Here’s one that you may not have heard. According to a legend from the Wild West, back in the 1870s, notorious outlaw Jesse James and his gang stole millions of dollars worth of gold bullion from a Mexican general. The men proceeded to bury their treasure somewhere in the Wichita Mountains of Oklahoma. Rumor had it that Jesse had scratched a secretly-coded map on an old bucket and left it as a marker. One source says that after Jesse’s death, his brother Frank James ...

2107. The Death of John the Baptist

Matthew 14:1-12, Mark 6:14-29, Luke 9:1-9

Sermon

Lori Wagner

On the news one day a short while ago --some of you may remember this—we heard that eight young high school boys viciously attacked and gang raped an 8 year old girl, a special needs child. One by one, they took turns raping her and beating her until at last she died. The town was shocked. These were their star varsity players…their A students...their church acolytes...their beloved sons. How could this happen? It's called “peer pressure.” A similar thing happened in the case of a young college freshman, ...

2108. All the Pretty Horses

Luke 12:13-21, Luke 12:1-12, 1 Kings 3:16-28

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Storing up! When we hear that parable that Jesus told, we immediately think of silos and cornfields and harvest and grain. And that’s exactly the metaphor Jesus uses to describe “storing up” to the man in the crowd who approached him about help to get his deserved portion of inheritance. But it’s too easy merely to say, don’t put your security into money but into God. “Be on guard against all kinds of greed!” warned Jesus. “This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you ...

2109. Run Away Bride

Exodus 24:1-18, Matthew 22:1-14, Hosea 1:1-2:1

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Better is a dish of vegetables where love is than a fattened ox served with hatred. Proverbs 15:17 If you are a fan of Facebook, you know that by looking at someone’s “status,” you can find out some things about a person: whether they are male or female, where they live, and most intriguingly, their “relationship status.” That is, of course, if they have filled in those blanks and answered those questions when they set up the account. Some status indicators say: “In a relationship.” Others simply say “ ...

2110. Advancers Over Decliners

Luke 19:11-27

Sermon

The parable of Jesus that Luke shares with us today does not rate highly in the polls. If, indeed, we did a survey among Christians with regard to parables, not only favorite ones, but parables in general, it is likely that this story would be missing from the list entirely. With slight variations, it appears in Matthew and in Luke, in Matthew as the Parable of the Talents and in Luke as the Parable of the Pounds, but while each writer has his own unique elaborations, in substance both of them are writing ...

2111. What To Do When Everyone's Doing It

Judges 6:1-40

Sermon

Harold Warlick

I harbor few illusions that people take to heart sermons like I'm about to preach. Yet later on in life we just might look back and remember. W. T. Leitze taught me that very early in life. W. T. Leitze was one of the kindest, most trusting individuals who ever lived. Mr. Leitze, a 60-year-old bachelor who weighed at least 300 pounds, was my ninth grade algebra teacher. Mr. Leitze's whole life was centered around his students. His lectures always interwove basic algebraic principles with basic Christian ...

2112. Mary of Bethany and Jesus’ Mother

Drama

Jon Joyce

Setting Imagination - in the actresses and in the audience - is the only requirement for a setting for this drama. The scene is Jerusalem, a city crowded with pilgrims attending the Festival, not far from the Temple, which is the center of Festival activity. A bench or two shall be provided, stage left, for the women to sit upon during part of their conversation. You may wish to use extras to show the audience there is a crowd in the city, although the dialogue will tell them that. If you do use extras, ...

2113. What Goes Around Comes Around

Luke 16:19-31

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

"Grandfather's Corner," is the story of an old man who lived with his son and his son's wife and children. The man was almost deaf and blind and had difficulty eating without spilling his food. Occasionally, he would drop a bowl and break it. His son and his wife thought it was disgusting and made the old man eat in a corner behind the stove. They gave him a wooden bowl which could not be broken. One day the old man's little grandson was working with some pieces of wood. When his father asked what he was ...

2114. Samaria and Our Spiritual Journey

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Edward DeBono is a man who travels all over the world, giving seminars on how to think. He teaches what he calls “lateral thinking,” and he illustrates what he means by that from an experience early in his life. Some thirty years ago he was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford. One night he attended a party in London. The party lasted late, and he got back to Oxford after the gates were closed. Traditionally in that college the gates were locked at twenty minutes past midnight. So, in order to get to his room, he ...

2115. I Never Promised You a Rose Garden

John 16:17-33

Sermon

James McCormick

I first heard the words of today’s sermon title when I was a teenager. They came over the radio in a country and western song. The words: “I beg your pardon; I never promised you a rose garden.” I encountered those words again a few years ago when they appeared as the unofficial slogan of the emerging nation of Israel. When Jews migrated to Israel and were asked to settle in “kibbutzim” in parched desert frontiers, they were reminded of the arduous task ahead by the signs posted all around the settlements ...

2116. The Only Way to Fly

2 Timothy 3:15-17

Sermon

James Merritt

Whenever I think about the last day of JFK, two words will always stick with me: "Graveyard spiral." From all indications it was a graveyard spiral that took the life of John F. Kennedy, Jr. The graveyard spiral is a series of ever-tightening turns that corkscrew a plane toward earth. It is the leading danger when new pilots leave clear weather for clouds or darkness. An inexperienced pilot will lose his bearings and the plane will begin to turn without his even knowing it. By the time the force of gravity ...

2117. Witness: More than Judgment

1 Corinthians 9:16-23

Sermon

Scott Suskovic

I have this hobby; well, it's not really a hobby, it's more like a habit, a bad habit. All right, if the truth be known, it's a confession. It's something that I don't share with many people. When I am alone, watching television, and no one is around, I find myself clicking on those obscure channels that feature those down-home preachers. I'm not talking about the large church, multimedia, world-class communicators. I'm talking about the guy with the black toupee with his wife at his side playing the ...

2118. Jesus’ Four Surprising Road Rules for the Missional Highway

Luke 9:57-62, Luke 9:51-56

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Road Trip! It’s more than a bad coming-of-age movie comedy (2000). For late teens and twenty-somethings, it is a coming of age rite of passage, even an initiatory pilgrimage into adulthood. Whether it is a short trip from a small town to a big city for the weekend, a coast-to-coast marathon to see the USA in a small over-packed car, or a backpacking Euro-rail adventure, a road trip is a first step in finding our own unique life path. Even for adults and the aged, there is nothing like a road trip to get us ...

2119. Welcome Home

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

James Merritt

A picture is worth a thousand words. Sometimes they should be because certain pictures can leave you speechless. I have often thought that if my house were burning down and I could only grab a few things as I ran out the door, I would bypass the jewelry, the clothes, and any furniture. I would take some pictures because pictures matter to me. And they matter to us all. We’ve now entered what might be called “The age of the snapshot.” 82% of Americans say they take pictures with their cell phones, up from a ...

2120. An Extraordinary Wedding Gift

John 2:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

During a wedding rehearsal, the groom approached the priest with an unusual offer. “Look, I’ll give you $100 if you’ll change the wedding vows. When you get to the part where I’m to promise to ‘love, honor, and obey’ and ‘forsaking all others, be faithful to her forever,’ I’d appreciate it if you’d just leave that part out.” He slipped the priest the cash and walked away. The wedding day arrived. When it came time for the groom’s vows, the priest looked the young man in the eye and said, “Will you promise ...

2121. Stay in the Boat!

Matthew 14:22-36

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Familiar story. Mark Twain refers to it in one of his books. He recalls a visit to the Holy Land and a stay in Capernaum. It was a moonlit night, so he decided to take his wife on a romantic boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. Twain asked a man in a rowboat how much he would charge to take them out on the water. The man saw Twain's white suit, white shoes and white hat and supposed he was a rich Texan. So he said the cost would be twenty-five dollars. Twain walked away as he said, "Now I know why Jesus walked ...

2122. Mary: After The Angel

Drama

Arlys M. Winkler

A Christmas Play Notes This play explores the thoughts and feelings of Mary, her peers, her parents, and Joseph as they learn that Mary is expecting a child. Each act takes place in someone's house, making the changing of props simple (for example: different tablecloths would signal a change of location). Programs could provide scene changes as well. Simple wooden tables and stools and costuming of the period are all that is needed. All scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version of the ...

2123. Separation of God and State?

Isaiah 44:24--45:25

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him and ungird the loins of kings, to open doors before him that gates may not be closed: "I will go before you and level the mountains. I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut asunder the bars of iron, I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hoards in secret places, that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who call you by your name. For the sake of my servant ...

2124. The Play's Playbook for the Game of Life

1 Peter 4:12-19

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

It is known simply as “The Play.” “The Play” is the name of the greatest game of football ever played--anywhere, anytime. Can anyone here this morning tell me who played in “The Play?” Right: California vs. Stanford. Can anyone tell me the year of “The Play.?” Right: 1982. Can anyone tell me what was so special about “The Play?” Right: With 53 seconds left in the game, Stanford was down 17-19, stuck in their own backfield. It was fourth down, 17 yards to go. But miraculously the Stanford QB (anyone? . . . ...

2125. The Spin Zone

2 Samuel 11:1-27

Sermon

James Merritt

Question - What do King David, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton have in common? They all at one time entered "THE SPIN ZONE." What is "The Spin Zone"? The "Spin Zone" is when you enter into God's "No Sin Zone" out of a lust for power, sex, influence or money which causes you to sin which you then try to cover up. In the Garden of Eden God warned Adam and Eve about His "No Sin Zone" and they refused to listen, they entered into "The Spin Zone" and you know the rest of the story. Nixon had his Watergate, ...

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