Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 2126 to 2150 of 4972 results

2126. The Great Discovery

Luke 15:14b-18a

Drama

Arley K. Fadness

... of my fields. It was a hot day, a tiring day. Up and down, down and up the furrows I walked. It was monotonous to be sure. Then it happened! All of a sudden I heard the clink of metal on my plowshare. Should I keep going or should I stop? I stopped. I dug into the soft sandy dirt as quickly as I could with my bare hands. And would you know? There it was! Buried treasure! Oh my. Surprise. Surprise. ALEXANDER FLEMING: Hello. I am Alexander Fleming. I was a botanist. I lived in Scotland and in London. You may ...

2127. We Don’t Have To Do This

Mark 8:31-38

Children's Sermon

Various Authors

... expression do you think the girl made when she heard this? (Let them answer and show you the expression.) I’m telling you this story because the same thing happened to Jesus’ disciple, Peter. Jesus told his disciples that he was soon going to die. Peter stopped Jesus and said, “No, we are having too good of a time. You don’t have to do this!” Jesus replied to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan!” Jesus then told Peter that he was not thinking about the right things. Can you imagine what Peter’s ...

2128. Jews and Christians: All in the Family

Romans 15:4-13

Sermon

Will Willimon

... how miserably our religion failed when it needed to be laid on the line for Jesus' family. We had our chance to show that faith in Jesus enables us to be courageous, peaceful, heroic, and true and we blew it. We turned away Joseph and Mary from our door; we stopped our ears to the wailing of Rachel in Ramah. Paul's solution to this sadness is a simple one of hospitality: Welcome the Jew as the Jew has welcomed you. The one who is hospitable knows what it’s like to be a stranger, for he has been a stranger ...

2129. Gifts You Can’t Return

John 17:6-19

Sermon

Mary Austin

... , MOPS group, labor union hall, and hospital is a potential arena of God’s presence similar to McDonald’s.”1 Jesus invites us to get out in the world and find him there, too. His living presence is in the classroom and the office presentation, at the bus stop and on the subway. He’s waiting at the library and the bowling alley and the VFW hall. This is the last Sunday in the Easter season, this is the time of year when we spend all these weeks thinking about the resurrection. This is the season of ...

2130. Can I Get a Witness?

Luke 24:44-53

Sermon

Mary Austin

... room, which was stacked high with things Mrs. Low thought she might need some day … or things someone had given her, that she planned to give to someone else. Each month it was a struggle to pay the rent. Mr. Low was too sick to work, and Mrs. Low stopped working at the deli when her feet hurt too much. Some days there was enough, and other days, she wondered how they would have enough to eat. Somehow, in spite of that, or because of it, she had the most vibrant faith of anyone I’ve ever known. If ...

2131. The Seventy “Sevens”

Daniel 9:20-27

Understanding Series

William Nelson

... half years, which relates to “time, times and half a time” (Dan. 7:25; 12:7; cf. 8:14; 12:11, 12). One thing seems clear from the context of the book of Daniel: the author is pointing to the evil deeds of Antiochus IV, who made Judaism illegal, stopped the holy sacrifices in the Jerusalem temple, and committed the desolating abomination in 167 B.C. by offering sacrifices to Zeus Olympios in Yahweh’s sanctuary (Dan. 8:13; 9:27; 11:31; 12:11; 1 Macc. 1:54; 2 Macc. 6:5). Even though the time between the ...

2132. Redefining “Blessed”

Luke 1:39-45 (46-55)

Sermon

John B. Jamison

... that hit daddy Joseph pretty hard, and I’m guessing there may have been similar experiences for Mary. I’m thinking it wasn’t all that easy raising the Son of God. I imagine you are understanding my point about the meaning of “blessing”, but we can’t stop yet. We need to remember the day Jesus left Mary and Joseph in Nazareth and moved to Galilee to begin his ministry. Mary knew that Nazareth was a safe place, but Galilee was not. She had to know in her heart what was coming. And we need to ...

2133. Bread for the Journey

Mark 12:28-34

Sermon

Thomas C. Willadsen

... we can work through, with difficulties that we overcome together, by working as a team.” That moment when we leave the church parking lot’s gravitation field always gives me a frisson of excitement. The other moment comes either on the last night or the last lunch stop on our way back home. We gather around the Lord’s table, which may be a picnic table just off the I-road, and we share the Lord’s Supper. This is the sacrament that Christ commanded his followers to do to remember him. This is the ...

2134. Seating Arrangements

Matthew 25:31-46

Sermon

John B. Jamison

... them. That’s why Jesus used the analogy of separating sheep and goats in the first place. He knew they would get it. At the end of every day, the shepherd sits at the gate to the sheepfold and calls each sheep by name as it comes to him. He stops each sheep and holds a cup of cool water for it to take a drink. He checks each sheep for any cuts and scrapes from sharp rocks and sticks, especially the soft areas around the nose and mouth. He anoints those cuts and scrapes with a healing salve, pulls any ...

2135. Mountaintop Experience

Luke 9:28-36 (37-43a)

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... be ignored. He jumped into the arena and ran through the sands toward the gladiators. “In the name of Christ, forbear!” The crowds laughed at the silly little man and threw stones at him. Telemachus, however, was on a mission. He threw himself between two gladiators to stop their fighting. “In the name of Christ, forbear!” he cried. They hacked him apart! They cut his body from shoulder to stomach and he fell onto the sand with the blood running out of his life. The gladiators were stunned and they ...

2136. Standing Firm

Philippians 3:17-4:1

Sermon

Bonnie Bates

... , and moved to my first call all within a month. My new role was cemented. I had stood firm in my faith and God had stood beside me. God called me to take a bold step and once I stopped long enough to allow God to do the work in my life, I was able to identify a clearer path ahead. I stopped focusing on what I thought I needed in my earthly life and instead began to focus on what God wanted for me, for my life. I know my call is true. I know that all the skills I gained ...

2137. Who Is This Jesus?

John 2:1-11

Sermon

John B. Jamison

... was going to happen, it had to happen, his hour of reckoning would come, but not yet. He had to reach more people before they stopped him. If he did something miraculous now, it was too soon. The second thing that interests me is the look my imagination puts on ... a whip, and he drove the sacrificial sheep and cows out of the temple. As he did these things, he told them all to stop making his father’s house a marketplace. Someone asked him what proof he could give that he was really speaking for God. Jesus ...

2138. Going Home ― Part Two: Then And Now

Luke 4:21-30

Sermon

John B. Jamison

... he went to the synagogue and read from the scroll of prophet Isaiah predicting the coming of the anointed Messiah. When he had finished reading, he said, “Today, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Luke told us that everyone there was amazed. That’s where we stopped the last time. This is what Luke told us happened just a few minutes later. All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which ...

2139. Doing What Matters?

Luke 5:1-11

Sermon

John B. Jamison

... his nets over the side of the boat. He watched the nets sink into the water, and then slowly began to pull them back up. He stopped. “It feels like the nets are caught on a rock,” he said. He leaned over and looked down into the water and saw the nets almost ... touch is even better. God’s care might be in providing a meal, sitting and listening, or showing that we value them enough to stop and not just go past them. It could be many things that have meaning and might give a glimpse of hope. Our role, as ...

2140. The Divine Mission

John 17:20-26

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... back over my years of praying and being prayed over, I realize that there is also a larger picture to paint about prayer. For one thing, as Bishop William Temple said, “I don’t know if prayer works, but I do know that when I stop praying, coincidences stop.” I too have found that truth in my life. Although I cannot document every exact answer to prayer, I do know that unseen forces have often assisted me and those I have prayed with in ways beyond rational explanation. Even the medical community has ...

2141. Never Satisfied

John 14:8-17, (25-27)

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

... to worry about calories. I was so active that I tended to burn off whatever I ate. And I ate a lot. My friends and I would stop by McDonalds on the way home from a ball game or a date just to grab a snack. My snacks, in those days, were usually something ... , and watch his example. It is in that seeing, that hearing, and that watching that we become his disciples. It is when we stop simply reading the gospels and start actually studying them and discussing them with others who are on the same journey we are on ...

2142. The Art and Agony of Patience

James 5:7-10

Sermon

Heather Sugden

... a little bit more time to be ready.” The woman’s words sounded like a lovely description of an apple tree, perhaps even a beautiful metaphor for pregnancy; but at the time, I simply nodded and decided to not pay this woman too much attention. Why stop the perfect holiday dream before it had even had a chance to arrive? I thought it was best to stick to my Thanksgiving baby plans. Somewhere, though, I tucked away these words of the woman’s wisdom for later. Indeed, they would prove to be useful! As ...

2143. No Excuse

Luke 13:10-17

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

... right arm, thought for a moment, then grabbed his left arm, thought again, grabbed his thigh, then his knee. Finally, Brian stopped him. “What’s the matter, Dale?” he asked. “Can’t remember where you were injured this evening?” Brian and his friend ... couldn’t possibly do as the Lord asked: “Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am just a kid.” But God stopped him in his tracks. Don’t say I’m just a kid. Don’t say I’m too young. Don’t make any excuses. God does not ...

2144. God Is Like...

Isaiah 40:18-31 · John 1:1-14

Sermon

Kenneth L. Gibble

... mistake of preferring God on our terms, rather than on God’s terms. The Holy One is far greater and wilder and more wonderful than we dare to imagine. As I said, once I got started on this journey called “God is like. . .,” it was hard to stop. This series has gone on longer than I originally planned. About the time I thought a particular installment would be the last, I would stumble upon something in the scripture or elsewhere that nudged me onward. But, as my dad used to tell me, all good things ...

2145. Chief Among Sinners

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

Jill J. Duffield

... expedite the justice that will overflow into the streets, makes even us new creations in Christ… because salvation is coming... even to those of us who are chief among sinners, even to Zacchaeus because the world is about to turn and nothing, nothing in all creation, can stop the truly righteous one from fulfilling God’s will on earth as it is in heaven. This very day, salvation is coming to my house and to yours, to the halls of power and the hearts of sinners... Good news is surely coming, I pray God ...

2146. Investing Our Inheritance

Deuteronomy 26:1-15

Sermon

Douglas J. Deuel

... face. The minister took the girl's picture. She spoke a little English and, as they talked, he learned that she had no family. She was about eight years old and she lived in the streets near his hotel. The minister tried to give this girl some money, but she stopped him. "Please don't give me money," she said. "Just buy me some milk." He went into a little store and purchased a carton of milk for her. When he came back outside, he gave it to her. It had all seemed so peculiar to him. Why wouldn't she ...

2147. Living A Triumphant Life

Joshua 5:1-12

Sermon

Douglas J. Deuel

... renewed their relationship with God. They showed their desire to be in communion with God and their renewed commitment to be faithful to God by reinstituting the rite of circumcision. During the years they wandered in the wilderness, they had stopped practicing circumcision. Now this new generation of Israelites sought to renew their covenant relationship with God. Circumcision was an important part of that renewal. It symbolized that they were God's people, set apart from others for a holy purpose ...

2148. Suffering And Service

Isaiah 51:17--52:12

Sermon

Douglas J. Deuel

... all the doors, open all the windows...." Again his father struck him to the floor. A third time Gary climbed up on his chair and began his song. Again, he was backhanded to the ground. Gary's mother came rushing in to Gary's defense. When the blows finally stopped, Gary's dad angrily rushed out of the kitchen. Gary stood back up on his chair. As he stood there, red-faced and teary-eyed, he belted out his song for all to hear -- "Open all the doors, open all the windows...." People can be so cruel to one ...

2149. Whom Shall We Obey?

Acts 5:17-42

Sermon

Douglas J. Deuel

... . He was in pain and the minister could sense that his greatest pain was not physical. During the course of their prayer, he sensed God's presence there in that jail cell as strongly as he had ever felt it in a place of worship. And the young man stopped trembling. A sense of peace came over both of them. When the minister finally finished his prayer, he opened his eyes to discover that the other five men in the cell had crowded around and each one had knelt close by the young man. They had strained to put ...

2150. Transforming Love

Acts 9:1-19a

Sermon

Douglas J. Deuel

... violently and tried to destroy it" (Galatians 1:13). All of that changed, though, when Saul encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus. Saul's perspective changed dramatically. From that point on, Saul ceased his persecution of the church. Not only did he stop persecuting the church, but he also began to work actively for the church. The periodic table that hangs in most high school chemistry classes lists the 109 elements according to their atomic number. In the left-hand corner of that chart is an element ...

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