Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 2176 to 2200 of 5000 results

2176. The Ad Vent Wheat

John 1:1-18

Drama

Frank Ramirez

Characters Courtney Alexis Garrison Bradley Alex Kristin Krystal Teacher One Teacher Two Props Box labeled “Holiday Decorations” String of Christmas lights Nativity set Large metal vent Sheaves of wheat Bag (big enough to carry the puppets) Two hand puppets per child (Courtney, Alexis, Garrison, Bradley, and Alex are getting ready to decorate their Sunday school classroom for Christmas. Two or three of them are dragging a big box labeled “Holiday Decorations” to the middle of the sanctuary.) Courtney: Let’ ...

2177. If I But Touch…

Mark 5:21-43

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Happy ending. Two wonderful healing stories, one sandwiched in the middle of the other. First, we hear about the little girl, Jairus' daughter. Word had spread that this itinerant rabbi from Nazareth who reportedly had incredible healing powers had arrived in town. Enter Jairus, one of the high muckety-mucks in the local synagogue who happens to be the father of a very sick child. He wants his sweet baby well (and she would always be his sweet baby, no matter how old she was — any father knows that). That ...

2178. The Living Advent Wreath (Trust: Purple Candle of the Magi)

Luke 2:8-20, Luke 2:1-7, Isaiah 61:1-11

Drama

Frank Ramirez

Note Pilgrim and Guide have minimal singing parts. Attendant carries the candlelighter and lights the candles in the Advent wreath each week. Faith, Hope, Love, and Trust, representing the four candles of the Advent wreath, enter one per week, then remain through the final weeks. They have mostly singing parts. Mary, Joseph, and Infant have nonspeaking parts and are seated behind a curtain in the final week of presentation. Cast Pilgrim Guide Attendant Faith Hope Love Trust (three people) Mary Joseph ...

2179. Grand Opening

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Robert J. Elder

Carefully the plans are laid. The property is purchased, the foundations are poured, the combination of bricks and sticks are put in their proper places, so that, after weeks of work and waiting, the building begins to take shape. Then, when the building is completed, a merchant makes his appearance on the scene, having long since made his purchasing plans and placed his orders for the first selection of goods to be offered to his anticipated customers. The empty store shelves and racks fill with ...

2180. Looking for Jesus?

John 20:1-18

Sermon

John Smylie

The Lord is risen! The Lord is risen indeed! As we review the gospel text, we discover that it's much easier for us to say that than it was for those first disciples who encountered the empty tomb. We have been given the rest of the story while they are still discovering the joy and wonder of the events that are unfolding right before them. The first Easter didn't start off clear and wonderful. Mary Magdalene didn't rush off to the tomb dressed in her finest outfit with a corsage attached to her blouse, ...

2181. Right-Handed Sinners!

Mark 9:42-50

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

For the above title, I reach back across Matthew's more detailed record of the same message where he recalls that Jesus specified the right hand, "If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off" (Matthew 5:30). That might be significant because research indicates the somewhere around 85% of humans are right-hand dominant, and it could mean that Jesus is not just saying that a sinning hand should be excised but that even if it is the dominant hand that sins it must go! Let us think about it, and ...

2182. It’s about Grace

Ephesians 2:1-10

Sermon

Nancy Kraft

When Bill Clinton was running for president, there was a phrase that drove his political campaign. It was invoked repeatedly so that no one in the campaign would lose sight of the core issue at stake. Do you remember what it was? "It's about the economy, stupid." Lest anyone get sidetracked on unrelated issues, the reminder was ever before them: "It's about the economy, stupid." As Christians who happen to also be Lutheran, there is a phrase that we could adopt that might help us clarify the core issue at ...

2183. The Story That Shapes Us

Philippians 2:5-11

Sermon

Nancy Kraft

Note: This sermon is intended to be presented before the reading of the Passion narrative as a way to prepare the listeners by reflecting on its significance. Imagine a Friday night and you're caught in heavy traffic. It's bumper to bumper and you're late. You're in the right hand lane on the freeway and all the cars come to a stop. You look into your rearview mirror and notice that, a long way back, a car has gotten out of line and it's traveling on the shoulder, passing all the other cars that are stuck ...

2184. Eyes on the Prize

2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1

Sermon

Gibson “Nibs” Stroupe

"I believed, and I spoke." Paul begins this passage with a reference to the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament. It is from Psalm 116:10 in which the psalmist thanks God for saving him even in, and especially in, the midst of his conflicts and struggles: "I kept my faith, even when I said: 'I am greatly afflicted.' " Paul knows the feeling! He has had many struggles in his journey to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the church at Corinth is one of the main sources of those ...

2185. The Vision of God

2 Corinthians 12:2-10

Sermon

Gibson “Nibs” Stroupe

Chapter 10 of 2 Corinthians begins a sharp divide with the nine chapters that have preceded it, a break that continues through the rest of the letter. The first nine chapters revealed a significant struggle between Paul and the Corinthians, but it seems in those chapters that Paul felt that they were making progress. As we saw in the previous lectionary passage, Paul felt confident enough in chapter 8 to urge the Corinthians to finish taking up the offering for the church in Jerusalem. From chapter 10 on, ...

2186. Words That Wound, Words That Heal

Ephesians 4:25-5:2

Sermon

Thomas Lentz

Often we fail to recognize the power of our speech, our language, the words we use. A public speaker once began his address by commanding his audience to "stand up." Then he said, "Turn and face the back of the church ... now turn and face me." Finally he commanded them to "sit down." "The point I am making," he explained, "is that words have power. They can make things happen. They can be bullets which penetrate the heart, wounding the one for whom they are intended. Or they can bring joy, celebration, ...

2187. The Ear, the Tongue, and the Temper: A Lesson in Spiritual Anatomy

James 1:17-27

Sermon

Thomas Lentz

Today's lesson is from the book of James. James identifies himself only as a "servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ." In the early church it was thought by some to have been written by the Lord's brother. It was written later than most of Paul's letters because, James says, of "foolish fellows" whom he describes as the "ignorant and unstable." They had distorted Paul's message of love and faith. They were twisting Paul's words to justify their own lack of hard work in the mission of the church. James ...

2188. Praying in Boldness and Faith

Hebrews 4:12-16

Sermon

Patrick J. Rooney

It is the holiest of days. And on this holy day, the day of atonement, a man stands alone inside the great temple, stands at the very heart of the temple itself, stands in front of that place named the holy of holies, the very mercy seat of God. A massive curtain soars above him dividing off this holy of holies from the rest of the temple. One man alone comes this far, daring to tread upon this most holy of ground. Dressed in the robes of the high priest and serving in that office under call from God, this ...

2189. The Waiting Man

Mark 1:1-8

Drama

Arley K. Fadness

Theme: Waiting for someone — really special Characters: Passerby Waiting Man Spouse Person 1 Person 2 Teen 1 Teen 2 Tone: Mysterious Setting/Props: Mall door backdrop (optional) Shopping bags Books Rollerblades Approximate time: 5 minutes (A man is waiting by a door in a shopping mall. He appears bored and is shuffling his feet and whistling. He is approached by another person. They do not know one another.) Passerby: (causally) What’s happening? Waiting Man: I’m just waiting. Passerby: Oh, yeah? Man, don’ ...

2190. Don't Mess with the IRS

Matthew 22:15-22

Sermon

King Duncan

It is a familiar saying, even to non-believers particularly in the King James translation: “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.” There are only two things which are inevitable goes the old expression, death and taxes. At least death doesn’t increase, someone has opined, every time Congress meets. The Eiffel Tower, someone else has said, is the Empire State Building after taxes. Have you ever noticed that when you combine the two words, “THE” ...

2191. You Are in Good Hands with God

Isaiah 40:21-31

Sermon

Richard Gribble

The SS seemed more preoccupied and more disturbed than normal. The idea of executing a young boy in front of hundreds of spectators was no light matter. The commandant of the camp read the verdict. All eyes were on the child. He was extremely pale, almost calm, and he bit his lip. The gallows threw its shadow over him. This time, the Lagerkapo refused to be the executioner. Three SS soldiers replaced him. The three victims were seated next to each other on chairs. A single noose was placed around each man' ...

2192. Joy Is for Leaping

Song of Songs 2:8-13

Sermon

Donna Schaper

This ode to spring and to love is almost always used at Passover. It is part of the most ancient of Passover liturgy. The language dances, like the lover, over the mountains. Imagine a human leaping upon mountains. Imagine a human like a gazelle or a young stag. I saw two men just yesterday on Broadway. I was about to pass out from the heat — they were racing each other to the hot dog stand. I couldn't decide if I was happy or not and finally decided to choose happiness. What joy to see young men leaping ...

2193. Which Mask Will You Wear?

Matthew 23:1-39

Sermon

King Duncan

Tomorrow night is Halloween. In spite of the practice nowadays of thinking of Halloween as the Devil’s night, Halloween is actually a holiday with rich religious origins. The “Hallow” in Halloween comes from the same root as “Hallowed be Thy Name.” Halloween is the day before the traditional Christian celebration known as All Saints’ Day. It was intended to be a “hallow(ed) e’en.” Our tradition in which we think of ghosts and trick‑or‑treating comes from Celtic beliefs. The Celts believed that the souls of ...

2194. Beware Another's Treasures

Illustration

Bob James

Recently I laid a small circle of poison around a hill of stinging ants. Thinking the tiny granules of poison were food, the ants began to pick them up and carry them throughout the colony. I returned later to see how well the poison was working. Hundreds of the stinging ants were carrying the poison down into their hill. Then I noticed a hole in the circle of poison. Some of the poison was moving the opposite way away from the hill. Some smaller, non-stinging ants had found this "food" and were stealing ...

2195. A Second Chance

Illustration

James Newton

Thomas A. Edison was working on a crazy contraption called a "light bulb" and it took a whole team of men 24 straight hours to put just one together. The story goes that when Edison was finished with one light bulb, he gave it to a young boy helper, who nervously carried it up the stairs. Step by step he cautiously watched his hands, obviously frightened of dropping such a priceless piece of work. You've probably guessed what happened by now; the poor young fellow dropped the bulb at the top of the stairs ...

2196. Obsolete Silly Laws

Illustration

Staff

Silly old laws exist on the books of towns all over the United States. Here are some of the silliest. In Lexington, Ky., there is an ordinance forbidding anyone to carry an ice-cream cone in his pocket. In Waterloo, Nebr., barbers are forbidden to eat onions between seven a.m. and seven p.m. In the Commonwealth of Massachusetts it is against the law to eat peanuts in church or to use tomatoes in making clam chowder. In Kansas an old law states that you cannot eat snakes on Sunday or rattlesnake meat in ...

2197. The Whole World

Illustration

Richard A. Hasler

Bruce Larson, in Believe and Belong, tells how he helped people struggling to surrender their lives to Christ: "For many years I worked in New York City and counseled at my office any number of people who were wrestling with this yes-or-no decision. Often I would suggest they walk with me from my office down to the RCA Building on Fifth Avenue. In the entrance of that building is a gigantic statue of Atlas, a beautifully proportioned man who, with all his muscles straining, is holding the world upon his ...

2198. Muffle the Noise

Illustration

Staff

Noise affects human behavior. In one experiment carried out by psychologists, a student leaving a library intentionally dropped an armload of books. In 50% of the cases, a passerby stopped to help the student pick up the books. Then the experimenters brought out a lawn mower without a muffler and started it near where a student would again intentionally drop the books. This time, only about 10% of the people who passed stopped to help. It was clear that behavior changed, because of the earsplitting sound ...

2199. Zero Balance

Illustration

Source Unknown

If you had a bank that credited your account each morning with $86,000 that carried over no balance from day to day...Allowed you to keep no cash in your account, and every evening cancelled whatever part of the amount you failed to use during the day, what would you do? Draw out every cent every day, of course, and use it to your advantage! Well, you have such a bank, and its name is TIME! Every morning it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it rules off as lost whatever of this you failed to ...

2200. Thank You for Coming

Hebrews 1:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

It was Christmas Eve the one night in the year when 7-year-old Bobby was in a hurry to go to bed. His stocking was tacked to the mantel; the beautiful tree stood in the corner. He kissed his mother and father good night. Then he raced upstairs and leaped into bed. It seemed to Bobby that he hadn’t been asleep any time when a harsh voice shouted “Get up!” He opened his eyes, blinking in the bright sunlight. Then he remembered what day it was. With a joyful shout he hurried into his clothes and bounded down ...

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