Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 2151 to 2175 of 2331 results

2151. Dolley's Courageous Rescue

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

... in August 1814. While President Madison rode out to the battlefield in an attempt to instill confidence in the untrained troops, the citizens of Washington streamed out of the city into Virginia. Even the militia assigned to protect the White House deserted their posts. But First Lady Dolley Madison refused to budge. Before the White House was burned, Dolley saved her husband's papers, a framed copy of the Declaration of Independence, and a valuable portrait of George Washington. She would leave only ...

2152. Christianity and Patriotism

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

... own part, of property I have some; of reputation, more. That reputation is staked, that property is pledged on the issue of this contest; and although these gray hairs must soon descend into the sepulcher, I would infinitely rather that they descend thither by the hand of the executioner than desert at this crisis the sacred cause of my country."

2153. Shelley on Pride

Illustration

Percy Bysshe Shelley

I met a traveler from an antique land Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand, Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed, And on the ...

2154. Use Your Head as Well as Your Heart

Luke 14:25-33

Sermon

King Duncan

... of his legs in chains. Everything went well until he finished the drawing. Then it dawned on him he didn’t have the key with him to unlock the chains. So what did he do? There were few options open to him. So Trevor painfully hopped across the desert for 12 hours before finding help. “It took him over 12 hours because he had to hop through boulders and sand,” a sheriff’s deputy said. Fortunately, “he did put on his shoes before hopping.” That’s a relief. Corneliusien finally made it to a gas ...

2155. Being Neighborly

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Robert C. Cochran

... action of the story through his eyes. Because we’re told nothing about him, we know that we’re to see ourselves in him. We are to see ourselves falling into hands of robbers: stripped/beaten/left for dead. The land between Jerusalem and Jericho is primarily desert and rocky ground that drops 3,300 feet in eighteen miles. And it is here, in this desolate country, that the story takes place. And then, miraculously, we are to be saved! Here comes a priest, a temple leader. He sees us... and passes by on ...

2156. Do You Recognize Satan?

Romans 7:7-25

Illustration

Max Lucado

... The first is to recognize Satan. So often, we are lured into a sin because it looks so attractive, so fulfilling, so right at the time. So we find ways to rationalize our actions and make excuses for our attitudes. Instead, we must be like Jesus in the desert and call Satan by name. No more sugar-coating the truth. Don’t try to water down the power of sin. Second, Lucado urges us to accept God’s forgiveness. He calls chapter 7 in the book of Romans our “Emancipation Proclamation.” In chapter 7, Paul ...

2157. If Your Cry for Help Is Loud Enough...

Luke 17:11-19

Sermon

King Duncan

... others. And it affected them spiritually, cutting them off from worship in the Temple. The first, last and only option these men had was to cry out for help, and Jesus heard them. It reminds me of the story of a cruise ship that passes a small desert island. Everyone watches as a ratty-looking bearded man runs out on the beach and starts shouting and waving his hands. “Who’s that?” asks one of the passengers. “I have no idea,” replies the captain. “But every year we sail past, and he goes nuts ...

2158. Preparing the Way

Matthew 11:2-11

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

... s also a time of preparing and getting ready for the arrival of the Messiah. To help us in our preparation, Saint Matthew tells us a story about John the Baptist. In this morning’s reading, John had been arrested and was being held in jail at Herod’s desert fortress of Machaerus. John’s disciples had been visiting him in prison and one of the topics they talked with him about was the ministry of Jesus. John sent them back out with a question for Jesus: “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to ...

2159. Jesus Destroys the Power of Sin

Mark 2:1-12

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... . The physical distance from Egypt to the promised land was not great and even people in Moses' day could, with adequate supplies, have made the journey in a few weeks or less. But we know that the Jews wandered rather aimlessly for forty years in the desert. We also know why -- sin. The people were rebellious and disobeyed God's Law, as provided to Moses on Mount Sinai. The people's worship of the golden calf was only one of many similar incidents where the people broke faith with Yahweh. The destructive ...

2160. Speaking with Prophetic Authority

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... a prophet? A prophet is one who speaks God's word. A prophet speaks with great authority, but also incurs significant responsibility. Scripture describes the office, mission, and responsibility of the prophet and the great authority with which one speaks. While in the desert, Moses spoke with God about his successor. In response, Yahweh describes very clearly what is expected of both the prophet and his audience: "I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their own people; I will put my words ...

2161. Saved By the Light

Isaiah 60:1-6

Sermon

King Duncan

... world is in South Korea. Of course our nation is one of the most brightly lit nations on earth. In and around all our biggest cities, it is almost impossible to see more than a few stars even on a clear night. You have to go out into the desert or high on a nearby mountain. That, too, is symbolic. The lights of the secular world almost overpower the light of God. But even if that were not true, we know that many people in our society live in darkness. They live without God in their lives. Quite obviously ...

2162. No Longer Home Alone

John 15:13-17

Sermon

Arley K. Fadness

... her boyfriend broke up with her, and she felt so alone, she decided to get sympathy and attention by pretending she had cancer.3 Mother Teresa once said, "The biggest disease today is not leprosy or cancer. It is the feeling of being uncared for, unwanted -- of being deserted and alone!"4 I believe she was right. The surveys show it and deep within our hearts we know it. Three persons in ten say they have been lonely for a long period of time. A haunting song you still hear is "Eleanor Rigby." "Look at all ...

2163. Learning to Walk in the Dark

Matthew 26:14-16

Sermon

David & Marian Plant

... if we learn to walk in the dark? What life-recovering discoveries can we make? Near the US Southwest border, a group calling themselves the Samaritans gathers at a local church to fill gallon jugs with drinking water. Later they will drive to a stretch of desert on the US side of the Mexican border. They will hike into the barren, waterless terrain, leave the jugs of water where they will be found and hike back out again. This is a high traffic area for those fleeing from the terror and violence in their ...

2164. Lost in the Wonder of God

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... to baptize, to teach.” To do it, they would need every bit of courage they could muster. It’s easy to make promises when you’re standing on top of the world. It’s hard to take those promises into the caverns, plains, deserts, and thistles of the world. The disciples’ mountaintop experience, foreshadowed by Jesus’ transfiguration and now confirmed by his mountaintop announcement of power and presence, would need to stay with them throughout the rest of their journey. Baptized in the wonder of God ...

2165. The Cure

Luke 4:31-37, Luke 4:38-44

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... his hands on each of them and cured them. Demons also came out of many, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Messiah. At daybreak, he departed and went into a deserted place. And the crowds were looking for him; and when they reached him, they wanted to prevent him from leaving them. But he said to them, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities, also; for I was sent for this purpose ...

2166. Do you need a Pharisectomy?

Matthew 9:27-34, Matthew 9:35-38, Matthew 12:15-21, Matthew 12:22-37, Matthew 12:38-45, Matthew 12:46-50

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... his time on the cross. Jesus final warning, he uses the metaphor of the “house.” The house is a common metaphor for the soul/heart. If one’s heart is too tidy, too orderly, but without the passion of the Holy Spirit, it becomes a barren and desert-like place. The metaphor of water is the metaphor for the presence of the Holy Spirit that dwells within a person who “walks with God.” To fill your “house” with Jesus means that your life will be far from orderly and regulated. It will be filled ...

2167. Parabola

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... family to carry on her lineage. Now let me give you some background –a bit of a “provenance” about the ostrich and her egg. The ostrich has a poor memory, the original “bird brain” about the size of a pea. When she lays her eggs in the desert, she buries them in the sand, so that predators cannot find them. However, if she takes her eyes off of the place where she buried them, she will forget where she hid them, and they will die of neglect, or in time, the predator will discover them. Therefore ...

2168. Scandal

Matthew 16:21-28, Matthew 17:14-23, Matthew 20:17-19, Matthew 26:1-5

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... revolt was found copiously in the Dead Sea Scrolls. At least 10 manuscript copies were found in the collection that was hidden in the mountains. While we can’t be sure whether these were documents from the destroyed Temple or whether they belonged to the desert group, the Essenes, we do know they had an eschatological flavor. We also know that the Book of Enoch was quite popular in Jesus’ day, and even with the early Church Fathers, only being cast out of the canon and forbidden at Laodicea in the ...

2169. Grounds for Blessing

Matthew 13:1-23, Luke 8:1-15, Mark 4:1-20

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... –you’d do it in the language your listeners knew best –farming. The region of Galilee surrounding the Sea of Galilee, as well as next to the Jordan, were known as areas in which anything could grow and flourish. This is in contrast to the deserts of the Transjordan, which were too dry and rocky to produce anything. Josephus says of Judea and Samaria that they were hilly and fertile and filled with plains, so that agriculture was good, especially for fruit trees. But they also had lots of weeds. The ...

2170. Lazarus

Luke 16:19-31

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... the gates” of our gated communities. Every notice how high salaries and high fences go together? The poor and needy need a place in our hearts and homes. Think of the many elderly left alone for years in nursing homes without a single visit. Or the handicapped deserted by their parents. Think of young children abandoned. The ill whom we don’t have time for. Who else can you think of who has been treated this way? There are many more. Jesus says that all of these are our brothers and sisters. The rich ...

2171. Fleeced

Judges 6:1-40, John 20:24-31

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... .” Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Image Exegesis: Fleeced “They did not thirst when He led them through the deserts. He made the water flow out of the rock for them; He split the rock and the water gushed forth. "There is no peace for the wicked," says the LORD.” (Isaiah 48:21-22) “Peace. Do not be afraid.” (Judges 6) The post-resurrection appearances of ...

2172. The Prophet of Locusts and Honey

Luke 3:1-20, Luke 3:21-38

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... invite God’s wrath! But turn to God and repent, and all abundance will be yours –the land of milk and honey. Hmm. Say what? Honey! That sweet, succulent stuff dripping from the rocks and trees in the holy land. Bees were everywhere –in the deserts, in caves, even in the rafters of homes and buildings. But “honey” meant much more. It referred to the “land of milk and honey,” that place overflowing with God’s abundant gifts of crops, land, sheep, pastures, trees, and bees. It was a place where ...

2173. Vetted

Luke 3:21-38, Luke 4:1-13

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... you may know that you have eternal life.” (1 John 5:13) OUR identity rests upon the identity of the One True Son of the One True God. In Jesus, we too are “vetted” into God’s heavenly kingdom. No longer do we have to go 40 years through the deserts of Arabia, or follow rigorous sets of rules, or pass a series of portals and tests, as some have done before us. Jesus has been vetted for all of us. All we need to do is follow Jesus. All we need to do is trust Him enough to believe in ...

2174. Sparkle

Luke 4:31-37

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... Encyclopedia. Demons were said to live in graveyards and in the “wilderness.” **For example, even David is incited by satan to take a census in 1 Chronicles 21. ^Herod had divorced his Nabataean wife Malthrace (daughter of Aretes IV, King of the “desert”) to marry Herodias (wife of his half brother), an act that offended many Jews, including John the Baptist. Named Tetrarch of Galilee and Perea, he spent most of his time Hellenizing the region. Interesting is also that Sepphoris was the location of ...

2175. Dry As Toast

Matthew 12:15-21

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... THE STREETS. “A BATTERED REED HE WILL NOT BREAK OFF, AND A SMOLDERING WICK HE WILL NOT PUT OUT, UNTIL HE LEADS JUSTICE TO VICTORY. “AND IN HIS NAME THE GENTILES WILL HOPE.” Image Exegesis: Dry as Toast "Woe to the worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock! May the sword strike his arm and his right eye! May his arm be completely withered, his right eye totally blinded!" (Zechariah 11:17) The metaphors of hand, particularly withered hand, and the reaching out of the hand dominate this scriptural story ...

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