Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 2126 to 2150 of 4681 results

2126. The Most Misunderstood Gift

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... or what to say? Have you not, at that time, gone to God in earnest prayer - and literally wept, groaned, wrestled, agonized, often inarticulately, in prayer for the need? This is not new; the Psalmist said: "He that goeth forth weeping, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." The prophet said: "When Zion travails, she brings forth" - indicating that all good, all new birth, comes of travail, groaning, agonizing of spirit, weeping, labor. How long has ...

2127. On Being a Tenant

Matthew 21:33-46

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

... , "I will give God five minutes to strike me dead for the things I have said." After five minutes and nothing had happened, Ingersoll’s friend remarked, "Did you think you could exhaust God’s patience in just five minutes?" It’s a great thing that God bears with us in all of our shortcomings and in all the ways that we disappoint him. He doesn’t "chuck it" all and decide to obliterate us for our behavior. It is the very nature of God to make appeal after appeal to us and often through other ...

2128. For Those in Church: Joy and Service

Matthew 23:1-39

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

... spend our time today giving thunder to the scribes and Pharisees (as often happens), let us see how Jesus’ words affect the practice of our religion. Jesus says about those scribes and Pharisees: "... they preach, but do not practice. They bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with their finger" (Matthew 23:3-4). Our practice of the faith should be a help and not a burden. The scribes and Pharisees had worked out a religion based on ...

2129. The Return to Catholicity

John 17:6-19

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... think that I stand here as a representative of the Lutheran Church, then may I disabuse your minds by saying that there is no such thing. There is no Lutheran Church. As Martin Luther, a faithful priest of God, once said: "God forbid that any church should bear the name of such a worm as I." If I say without equivocation, not only is there no Lutheran Church, but we hold no doctrine because it is Lutheran, we celebrate no Sacrament because it is Lutheran, we participate in no liturgy because it is Lutheran ...

2130. Justification and Reconciliation

Romans 3:21-31

Sermon Aid

T. A. Kantonen

... of love." And it inspired James Denney to wish that he could enter every church in Scotland and, holding a crucifix before the congregation, shout, "God loves like that!" Reconciliation Justification may be the gospel in a nutshell, but no one word can bear the full weight of Paul’s impassioned exposition of the grace which sets men right with God. Another rich word is reconciliation. Paul uses the Greek noun katallage and the verb katallasso or opokatallasso or katallagenai. The meaning is the same as ...

2131. Salvation as Hope

Romans 13:8-14, 1 Thessalonians 4:13--5:11, 1 Corinthians 15:35-58

Sermon Aid

T. A. Kantonen

... on the Damascus road. Christ "will change our lowly body to be like his glorious body" (Philippians 3:21). We shall not only be with Christ but also become more and more like Christ. "Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven" (1 Corinthians 15:49). When Paul speaks of this transformation in 1 Corinthians 15, it is in the context of the resurrection of the dead at the parousia. But in 2 Corinthians 5 the destruction of the "earthly tent" and the ...

2132. EPISODE 2: THE SECOND WEEK IN LENT

Drama

Robert Clausen

... That’s what we’ll do. Sit down, Jenny. Let me push you home. WOMAN: [Seating herself] Say, this will be a treat. MAN: Thanks again, mister. Off we go. [They exit] THOMAS: A good work, Lord. FIRST CLERGYMAN: Infamous! People must learn to bear their burdens. JUDAS: A waste of time. How can you make a kingdom out of these? JESUS: By loving them. MARY MAGDALENE: [Entering] Lord! JESUS: Mary Magdalene! FIRST CLERGYMAN: This woman is one of your followers? JESUS: Yes. FIRST CLERGYMAN: She’s not respectable ...

2133. The Art of Living Until

Matthew 24:36-51

Sermon

Leonard Mann

... ; and this way has some aspects of panic. Not long ago a popular song advised, "Kiss her now." Kiss her right now - while she’s yours; while you’ve got the chance, grab the opportunity. On a young man’s powerful sports car I saw a bumper sticker bearing this message: "If it feels good, do it." This is saying there is only one consideration - how it feels, now. No matter what doing it does, do it. Whatever shackles it puts upon the future, go ahead - today is all that matters. And even it matters only ...

2134. Your Image of Tomorrow

Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon

Leonard Mann

... and walkers. You can wear yourself away worrying whether, with your next step, your foot will land on a banana peel - when as a matter of fact there may not be a banana peel anywhere within a thousand city blocks. Did you hear about the mother bear that was teaching her cubs to walk? One said, "Momma, which foot shall we put forward first?" and she growled, "Shut up and walk!" That’s pretty good advice, really. The centipede would soon go crazy with frustration if he should start worrying about which of ...

2135. The Light that Shines Within

John 1:1-18

Sermon

Leonard Mann

... New Testament it is John more than any other who undertakes to tell us what really happened at Bethlehem. He is saying that God was so loving the world that he was giving his own Son (John 3:16). And here in the prologue to the Gospel which bears John’s name we have a supreme philosophical setting-forth of that incomparable Event. The Word was becoming flesh (1:14). The light was shining into the darkness (1:5). The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world (1:9). John does not deal ...

2136. It will Crumble into Dust!

Isaiah 12:1-6

Illustration

Jon L. Joyce

... , deep meadows, trees plentiful with fruit. But even as he ate the fruit, it turned to dust. No feeding of the flesh could satisfy his deepest hunger. Further on he saw a home, a lovely woman standing in its open door, her eyes innocent and kind and all her bearing gracious, and he thought that surely the love of a woman and the shelter of a home would be his answer; but she, too, fell into dust at his touch and the home crumbled into a broken shed. Later in his journey, the knight came to a warrior clad ...

2137. The Open Door

John 10:1-21

Bulletin Aid

James Wilson

... to manage our lives and we tend to ignore You. And, like sheep, we each tend to stray in or even run away on our own separate paths from Your Love. Forgive us, Lord, and gather us back into Your loving fold. Make us one with Christ that we might bear witness of Your healing and Your Love. In Christ we pray. Amen. Hymns "Fairest Lord Jesus" "Near To The Heart Of God" "Jesus Calls Us"

2138. Thorns and Roses

2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... pain yields some good." I have known couples whose thorn was their inability to have children. Sometimes, despite much prayer, that condition does not change. Some of these couples have decided that with God's help they will force this thorn to bear dividends. Some have adopted children. In some cases these have been so-called "hard to place" children. Others have become foster parents for children in crisis situations. These brave adults did not become bitter or bemoan their fate. Instead, they forced that ...

2139. Laying Hold On God's Willingness

Matthew 7:7-12

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... some wonderful things about Charles. But most of his testimony was about their mother. What a woman she must have been! Her first two sons died when they were very young. Then she gave birth to three healthy boys. Because of the rigors of child-bearing, she suffered chronic circulation problems in her legs. For the rest of her life they were swollen and painful. Her husband had alcohol problems and lost both of the stores he owned. He died early, leaving her to raise the boys in near poverty. Mrs. Grant ...

2140. Like Buoys In The River

Exodus 19:1-25

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... tumble of forty-five years in the Christian ministry. And I will tell you the outstanding thing I have learned. It is this: Life will only work out one way, and that is God's way. He made it like that. Every other way has across it a barricade bearing a notice which says, 'No Trespassing.' If you climb over the barricade and plunge onward, there is a cliff up ahead. Outside God there is only death. Jesus said it this way: 'I am the way, the truth and the life.' He was right." In her beautiful novel about ...

2141. A Mother Who Could Let Go

1 Samuel 9:1--10:8

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... to do with putting our boys to bed. I didn't help with their baths as much as I should have, but I was in charge of bedtime stories and prayers. Dr. Seuss and I were on close terms. I became an accomplished Uncle Remus, imitating the sounds of Bier Bear and all the other animals. Many times I related how the little train engine chugged up the hill, saying, "I think I can, I think I can..." Then I would read one of the little paperback Bible stories, as our son would check out the brightly colored pictures ...

2142. Who Is This Jesus?

Colossians 1:15-23

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... law of science and nature is an expression of the Christ-spirit, though now all of it is tainted by sin. All of creation is intended to be his and to give him glory. What does all that mean in practical terms? It means that every new baby bears the fingerprint of Christ. None of us could sustain a marriage relationship even one day if the Christ-Spirit were not present. The nations of the world would be at war constantly were it not for the Christ-spirit at work, opposing the forces of evil. Every chemical ...

2143. Reverence For Life

Exodus 20:1-21, Matthew 5:21-26

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... 't you have Pete put to sleep?" "Oh no," they said, "Pete is Mike's dog." Mike was their son who was away at the university. "If we put old Pete to sleep, what would we say when Mike came home and looked for his beloved dog? We couldn't bear to say to him, 'oh, we put him to sleep because he was such a bother and he wasn't worth saving."' "Not worth saving." That was the label that Weatherhead could hang on old Pete, but not the parents because of their love for Mike and Mike's love ...

2144. Turn On The Lights!

Matthew 5:13-16

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... Remember this: There are countless opportunities in a typical day for you to say something positive about your Lord, something that fits naturally into the conversation. The key is to be alert and willing. God promised in scripture that every single word about him would bear fruit. He said, "My word shall not return to me void, but shall accomplish that which I purpose for it." For example, how many times are you greeted with this salutation: "Hey, what do you know good?" or "What's the good word?" Often we ...

2145. God's Best Gift in the Worst Times

Micah 5:1-4, Micah 5:5-15

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... the last year, insecurity could be part of your grief. My friend James Moore tells a story about a young man whose wife had died, leaving him with a small son. Back home from the cemetery, they went to bed early because there was nothing else he could bear to do. As he lay there in the darkness--grief-stricken and heartbroken, the little boy broke the stillness from his little bed with a disturbing question, "Daddy, where is mommy?" The father got up and brought the little boy to bed with him, but the child ...

2146. A Shepherd To Lead Us

John 10:1-21

Sermon

Brett Blair

... what the answers might be? I The first question is: What are the needs of a sheep? The first and obvious answer to that question is: protection. Jesus says that there are predators always trying to get into the sheep pen, trying to devour the sheep: coyotes, bears, wolves, or cougars. They will try every trick in the book climbing over the walls. Their intent is to steal and rob. The sheep don’t help the situation much, either. I have heard that if two sheep are grazing together and a wolf comes up beside ...

2147. Where Are You?

Genesis 3:1-24

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... I have seen you admiring your reflections in the lake. Why now are you suddenly ashamed of them? Have you disobeyed me and eaten of the forbidden fruit?" Adam now has a chance to fall on his knees and confess; but no, the forbidden fruit has distorted his spiritual bearings. He says, "The woman whom you gave to me, she gave me that fruit and I just sort of had to eat it." It's the woman's fault. Everybody needs a spouse because one can't blame everything on the government. Notice also that Adam has the gall ...

2148. Failures Need Not Be Fatal!

Mark 14:66-72

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... two brothers in Scotland were convicted of stealing sheep. The penalty in those days was to be branded with red-hot irons, to have the letters "S.T." for "Sheep Thief" burned on the forehead for all to see. One of the brothers was unable to bear the stigma. He fled to another country and died there, full of bitterness. The other brother handled his guilt differently. He confessed to God and became a Christian. Right there at home he became a new person, started a business, and became noted for his integrity ...

2149. A Wonderful Sacrifice

1 Chronicles 21:1-22:1

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... there is not an element of sacrifice involved, our giving is too small. Two weeks from today, at the university of Memphis Field House, you will be challenged to make a sacrificial commitment to underwrite the ministries of Christ Church into a new century. If it bears the aroma of sacrifice, it will please the Lord who sacrificed all for us. A young man was a freshman at Princeton University. One weekend his father drove up to see him in his old dilapidated car. After the father departed, some of the boy's ...

2150. A Haven For Troubled Hearts

John 14:1-4

Sermon

Brett Blair

... I have taught you. - Second, he says, don’t have troubled hearts because I leave my peace with you. Not the peace of this world but “my peace.” - Then he says, don’t let your hearts be troubled because I am the vine and you are the branches. You will bear fruit as long as you remain in me. Make me the source. - Fourth, and this is wonderful, he says, I love you. Let me ask you: Have your heard your Lord say that to you? If you have not I want you to hear it this morning. - Fifth, he is ...

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