Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 2176 to 2200 of 4935 results

2176. Worthy Is The Lamb

Revelation 5:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

In her book Responding to God, Martha Graybeal Rowlett tells about a column in The San Francisco Chronicle called the "Question Man." People write to the Question Man with various questions they'd like to have answered. However, years ago the Question Man turned the tables. He asked children for their answers to a question. The question was, "What does God look like?"One child wrote, "Jesus and God both have a circle over their heads. They try to walk careful and stay right underneath it because it lights ...

2177. Dealing with Our Doubts

Mark 9:14-32

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

David Heller is a young Boston psychologist who, as part of a continuing research interest, collects letters children have written to God. “Dear God: Children’s Letters to God” (New York: Doubleday, 1987) is Heller’s second publication on this subject. In it he reports the following letter: “Dear God, I have doubts about you sometimes. Sometimes I really believe. Like when I was four and I hurt my arm and you healed it up fast. But my question is, if you could do this why don’t you stop all the bad in the ...

2178. God's Timing or Our Timing -The Tension of Time

James 4:13-17

Sermon

Eric Ritz

In September 1991, the ruling government of the Soviet Union admitted something it had denied for nearly 60 years. During the Stalin era, officials once forgot to set the national clocks back one hour when they came off winter daylight-saving time. They were so embarrassed by the oversight that the Soviet government stayed on the wrong time and denied the whole thing for nearly six decades. (1) The issue of time is at the center of our Biblical text for today. We would do well not to deny its crucial ...

2179. Bedlam or Bethleham?

Titus 2:1-15

Sermon

Fredrick R. Harm

I wonder if you have ever realized how the word "bedlam" entered our language? Here's how it came about. St. Mary of Bethlehem was founded as a hospital in England in 1247. Two centuries later it was restructured as an institution for the hopelessly insane. The noise and confusion of the hospital became widely known throughout the country. The cockney accent, over the years, contracted Bethlehem into Bed'lam. So "bedlam," which means "a place, scene, or state of uproar or confusion" is simply a contracted ...

2180. So Great a Love

Ephesians 2:1-10

Sermon

Paul E. Robinson

I've been trying to decide whether it's good or bad that one cannot fully appreciate what others are going through in life, either their joys or their sorrows, until one has experienced them oneself. It's probably more on the bad side, if we are not as sensitive either to people's joy or pain, leaving them feeling lonely, either in need of more compassion or celebration than is being offered. On the other hand, one could probably make a case for it being a good thing, because to appreciate fully and to ...

2181. The Proof Is In the Pudding

Luke 7:18-35

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Some of you will know the name Norman Cousins. For many years he was the eminent editor of The Saturday Review. During his last years he served as a faculty member at the UCLA Medical School. He had developed what was considered an incurable disease—and he discovered that laughter was a way that helped. In fact, he convinced some medical folks to include laughter as a part of their treatment programs. As a part of this, there was a particular room in a hospital in Houston, Texas, called the “Living Room.” ...

2182. In the Darkness of Anxiety, There Is the Light of Peace

Luke 2:8-20

Sermon

Thomas A. Pilgrim

On a recent Sunday night, my wife and I went to a nearby church for their “Bethlehem Walk.” Each year, they re-create the town of Bethlehem with shops, sheep, Roman soldiers, a prophet crying out in the street who looked, strangely enough, like the pastor of the church, and a young couple with a new baby out in an animal shed. We arrived early so we would not have to wait in line long. That probably does not make sense, since we were in line long, but not a long line being at the front of it. As we stood ...

2183. The Offense of Grace

Matthew 5:43-48, Matthew 5:38-42

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

Victor Hugo begins Les Miserables with the story of Jean Valjean. He is an ex-convict who has just been released from nineteen years in prison for stealing bread to feed his sister's children. As he reenters society, no one will house him or give him work because of his criminal record - that is until he stumbles into the bishop's house. Much to Valjean's bewilderment, the bishop treats him with kindness and hospitality. Seizing the moment, Valjean steals the bishop's silver plates and, then, flees into ...

2184. Missing the Mark

1 Samuel 8:1-22

Sermon

Charles Allo

I love movies. I love movies because they make me think. No matter what I am going through, I can walk into the theatre and focus on a story other than mine. I see the images and how they paint a story about situations in life. Real situations. Unreal situations. It doesn't matter. For two hours and seven bucks, I get to experience a situation. Just a combination of circumstances; a state of affairs. In which I become lost, engaged in the flashes and personalities that remind me of my world, a world I want ...

2185. Advent 1

Matthew 24:36-51, Romans 13:8-14, Isaiah 2:1-5, Psalm 122:1-9

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

OLD TESTAMENT TEXTS The Old Testament lesson and the psalm inaugurate the Advent season with a powerful symbol of salvation: Zion. Isaiah 2:1-5 provides a utopian vision of Zion as an end-time reality, while the pilgrimage hymn in Psalm 122 encourages us to claim this salvation in our present lives through worship. Taken together these Old Testament texts provide a strong commentary on Advent. They underscore how Advent points us to a future reality that reaches backwards and embraces us in worship, even ...

2186. Easter 7

Jn 17:1-11 · 1 Pet 4:12-14; 5:6-11 · Ps 68 · Acts 1:6-14

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

TEXTS FROM ACTS AND PSALMS The texts from Acts 1 and Psalm 68 have no overt parallel motif that would cast them into a prophecy-fulfillment scheme. Yet strikingly, both passages assume a common, profoundly biblical point of view of God's Reign. In Acts 1 the Ascension means that the Jesus of the past is the risen Lord of the present, who through the Ascension moves into a position to return as the Lord of the future. In turn, Psalm 68 celebrates the kingship of God by recalling the Lord's past saving ...

2187. Lent 2

Psalm 121:1-8, Genesis 12:1-8, Romans 4:1-25, John 3:1-21

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

OLD TESTAMENT TEXTS The themes of sin and death, which have been central to the Lenten Old Testament lessons up to this point, give way to divine promise of life and blessing in Genesis 12:1-4a . Psalm 122 takes the divine promise of life and blessing into the setting of worship, where it functions both as a song of praise to God for the gift of peace and salvation, and as encouragement to the worshiper to seek the security of God's grace. Genesis 12:1-4a - "The Working Out of God's Blessing" Setting. ...

2188. Changed Lives: Lazarus

John 11:1-16

Sermon

King Duncan

Over the years, Reader’s Digest has printed many quirky items from the daily lives of ordinary people. Many of these items are quite amusing. For example, Jennifer Pace wrote in a few years ago to tell about a billboard she passed while driving through Texas. The billboard read: “Stand Up and Be Counted for the 2000 Census.” The sign was sponsored by the Rosewood Cemetery. (1) Another woman wrote in with a funny excuse she heard from a co-worker. The man explained his absence from work by saying, “I’m ...

2189. Gentle On My Mind (Fruit of the Spirit: Gentleness)

Galatians 5:23

Sermon

James Merritt

I don't know of anyone that disputes the fact that John Wooden is the greatest basketball coach who has ever lived. His UCLA basketball teams won ten NCAA National Championships in twelve years, including seven in a row. In his book entitled Wooden, he begins with this story: My Dad, Joshua Wooden, was a strong man in one sense, but a gentle man. While he could lift heavy things men half his age couldn't lift, he would also read poetry to us each night after a day working in the fields raising corn, hay, ...

2190. Guilt: How to Keep Your Conscience Clear

Psalm 32:1-11

Sermon

James Merritt

Ogden Nash once wrote this little couplet: There’s only one way to achieve happiness on this terrestrial ball, And that is to have either a clear conscience or none at all.1 Perhaps the most powerful and poisonous of all human emotions is the emotion of guilt. Guilt can make a person afraid of their own shadow. There is a story told of the time when Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the English writer, who created the character Sherlock Holmes, decided to play a practical joke on twelve of his best friends. He sent ...

2191. Hell under Fire

Matthew 5:22; 28-30

Sermon

James Merritt

We are in a middle of a series that we have entitled "The War of the Worlds" and today the series is really going to heat up (no pun intended!) What we are talking about is the war of the world views. Remember, every person has a world view; a lens through which they see the world they live in, the life they live and it is the guide they use to make the crucial decisions about how they are going to live and what they are going to believe. There are basically only two world views the Christian world view ...

2192. What Outsiders Can Teach Us

Luke 7:1-10

Sermon

David R. Cartwright

Those of us ministers actively engaged in congregational worship don't get many opportunities to visit other churches and to worship in different settings. We're pretty much committed to being in our own congregations for the better part of the year. Four or six Sundays at most is about all we have to experience how others go about it. Actually, this pattern begins for most of us even before we're ordained. A colleague related that in divinity school he was a youth minister and only got a couple of Sundays ...

2193. Better Than a Spanking

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

King Duncan

Bob Beasley belongs to a Baptist Church in Canada, a church that follows the Baptist tradition of baptizing by immersion. Returning home from church one Sunday, his little girl asked, “Daddy, why did the pastor push that guy under the water? Why, daddy?” Bob’s wife tried to answer her question, but the little girl, named Rena, just wouldn’t be satisfied. Later that night Bob and his wife tried to provide an answer from a Baptist perspective that a child’s mind could comprehend. They talked about sin and ...

2194. This Is the Day!

Psalm 118:1-29

Sermon

King Duncan

I want to begin with a suggestion. Tomorrow morning when you wake up, I want you to stand up tall in front of your bathroom mirror, give yourself a big smile and declare with great gusto that wonderful verse from Psalms, “This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it!” Bio-feedback experts suggest that this single act can do wonders for our mental state. The relation between our body and our mind is an interesting one. We don’t smile because we feel great, these experts tell us; ...

2195. Born Again

John 3:1-21

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Nothing is more revealing of persons than the way they share themselves in conversation. Our Scripture lesson today provides one of the most profound encounters Jesus had with a person —— and the deep conversation they shared. The person is Nicodemus, and we need to refresh our minds as to who this person is. Nicodemus is a Jew, a Pharisee, and a member of the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was one of the most important bodies in Judaism. It was a counsel of 70 men, with the High Priest as its chairman. The ...

2196. Righteous!

Romans 1:16-17; 3:22b-31

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

Perhaps some of you are old enough to remember one of the most popular musical groups of the mid 1960s, The Righteous Brothers. Remember "Unchained Melody"? I remember once hearing an interview with one of the Righteous Brothers, Bill Medley, when he described the significance of their name. Normally when we think of the word "righteous," we think of impeccable behavior and sterling moral character. But their name was not so much about their morality as it was about the quality of their music. In the '60s ...

2197. Wedding Bell Blues

John 2:1-11

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

I think marriage is one of the most beautiful gifts God ever gave humanity. I don't say that simply because I'm married to the most beautiful and loving woman in the world. I say that as a pastor who has had the privilege of joining together countless couples. And watching their relationship blossom and grow into a thing of beauty. Now true there are rough moments in marriage. Every day is breakfast in bed or a honeymoon. Take for example the story I just heard about the woman at the airport check-in ...

2198. People of the Book

2 Timothy 3:10--4:8

Sermon

King Duncan

A group of boys and girls was asked to sum up what they had learned from the New Testament. Here is a summation of what they had learned: “Jesus is the star of the New Testament. He was born in Bethlehem in a barn. During His life, Jesus had many arguments with sinners like the Pharisees and the Republicans. Jesus also had twelve opossums. The worst one was Judas Asparagus. Judas was so evil that they named a terrible vegetable after him. “Jesus was a great man. He healed many leopards and even preached to ...

2199. Disintegration and Reintegration

Mark 14:1-15:47

Sermon

John Smylie

Today's reading is the longest assigned reading that we have the entire year. Many churches break the reading up into several parts, assigning individuals and groups to particular lines and sections. Perhaps we do this so we can keep the interest of the listener. Perhaps we do this so we can engage the drama of the reading. It seems to me the reason we have such a long reading today is because we have come to the heart and center of our faith. We need to hear the whole story. We need to be reminded not in ...

2200. A Difficult Day to Follow Jesus

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon

King Duncan

It’s hard to believe this is the tenth anniversary of the tragic event we know simply by its date, 9-11. On September 11, 2001 nineteen members of the terrorist group al-Qaeda hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners. The hijackers intentionally crashed two of the airliners into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing everyone on board. Both buildings collapsed within two hours, destroying nearby buildings and claiming nearly 3,000 lives. The hijackers crashed a third ...

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