Sermon and Worship Resources

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Deuteronomy 16:18-20

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... 14, it lies here. Israel might admire the kings of the nations. But the king they are to have is to be as unlike the kings of other nations as one can imagine. Clearly the issue is not merely if Israel should have a king or not, but what kind of king that should be. What matters fundamentally for Deuteronomy is whether or not the whole covenant people of Israel will remain wholly loyal to Yahweh their God. The value of a king is assessed solely by the extent to which he will help or hinder that loyalty. A ...

202. Slow Burn

Matthew 5:13-16, Matthew 6:19-24

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... it. And they used it in their ovens. But the salt they used was not what you think of as your table salt, which is pretty much pure sodium chloride. This “purification” agent was far from pure salt. In fact, it was a “crude” salt, filled with all kinds of minerals and metals, derived from the salt of the Dead Sea. This salt in fact was better used as a medium in your oven than as a seasoning in your stew! In fact, priests and those offering sacrifices were not allowed to have salt, taste salt. They ...

203. Vendetta

2 Kings 1:1-18

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... one’s own self by allowing envious and jealous inclinations to guide one’s actions. I call this a “baalzebul spirit.” The irony is, the more you form a vendetta against someone else, the more you undermine yourself. Jesus runs across the irony of this kind of baalzebub or baalzubul spirit in his dealings with Pharisees when he speaks in the synagogue in Nazareth. They accuse him of healing others by way of using powers that come from an evil source or from a foreign god. Jesus firmly defends himself ...

204. Meet the Rose Family

Mark 3:20-35

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

... family by acting like him. You don’t have to share the same blood, the same lineage, the same parents or grandparents. All you have to do to be a member of the Jesus family is to be like Jesus, act like Jesus, do what Jesus did. A New Kind of Family There are lots of words in the English language that are overused – arguably — no, I mean, that’s one of the overused words. As in, “Orson Wells was, arguably, one of the greatest movie directors of all time.” Well, either he was or he wasn’t. Take ...

205. The Art of Fruit

Luke 3:7-18

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... to allow God to mold and change the inner composition of our hearts, so that everything we do reveals the nature of that change. John’s proclamation is a call to action –to live out the faith we claim to have by truly letting God in to determine the kind of fruit that will emerge through our acts. Our face to the world reveals the germination happening in our hearts, minds, and spirits. John knows that we cannot figure all of this out on our own. We need God’s help, our creator’s breath, in order to ...

206. A Caring Woman

Acts 9:36-43

Sermon

King Duncan

... we can find some concrete deed we can do to reach out to show someone else the love of Jesus. Tabitha, this truly caring woman, lived a fulfilling life. She had a sense of purpose for her life. She translated her compassion into action. And because of the kind of life she lived, she will live forever. Now please don’t misunderstand. I’m not saying that because, by the power of God, Peter raised her from the dead, she will live forever. Tabitha eventually did die. But think of it, here we are in the year ...

207. Casters and Menders

Mark 1:14-20

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... “ballo” –to cast, throw, drop in a circular fashion of throwing.[1] By this method of fishing, a strong, heavy, circular net with weights attached all around it is wound around the arm and then is cast out into the sea by a circular kind of motion. One wound the net around the arm (kind of like a hula-hoop motion) and then threw it outward into the sea to sink. The hope would be that after a period of time (often after lying there all night) the net would fill with fish. At that time, they would drag ...

208. Swimming Against the Tide

Luke 6:27-38

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... challenge of his a real doozy! But Jesus has a point, doesn’t he? He says, well, gosh people, it’s easy to love your friends. They are already your friends! Even the gnarliest of folk love their own friends! It’s easy to be kind to people who are kind to you! It’s simple reciprocation, right? And sure, it’s easy to make a loan to someone, knowing and expecting to get it back. Easy peazy. All good here. But Jesus says, that’s not discipleship. That’s just the general consensus that everyone ...

209. No Box Seats In The Kingdom

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

William G. Carter

... is wrong when he replies, "You don't know what you're asking." We know perfectly well what we are asking. We want God to meet our unlimited needs and help us get ahead. Yet in a deeper sense, any request for cheap success reveals we do not know what kind of God we meet in Jesus. "Look," he said to his disciples, "we are going up to Jerusalem. And it's uphill all the way. The road is hard and difficult. We face painful twists and turns. There will be suffering, humiliation, and death. There is no easy road ...

210. Proper 18

Psalm 139:1-24, Philemon 1:8-25, Philemon 1:1-7, Jeremiah 18:1--19:15, Luke 14:25-35

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... total commitment, including family ties, possessions, and risk of death. 5. "Cannot be My Disciple." (vv. 26, 27, 33) Though a disciple might be a learner and a follower of a teacher, Jesus expected more. He wanted those who identified with him to live fully the kind of life he had dedicated himself to follow. 6. "Carry the Cross." (v. 27) Crucifixion was a cruel and shameful punishment. It not only was a lingering death, it exposed the person to full view as he lost control of all the bodily functions. On ...

211. Who Lives In You?

Luke 13:31-35

Sermon

Lee Griess

... do what he must! Let your imagination run free for a moment and picture yourself, your personality, who you are really, as a house. Any kind of house will do -- just so it's yours. For some it may be a huge castle, with lofty turrets and banners waving in the ... of us would like to say that it is our Christian faith that determines who we are. But is that so? For there are two kinds of people who can be home -- citizens of the world and citizens of heaven. Who lives in you? Think back over the decisions you' ...

212. The Persecuted

Sermon

John A. Terry

... be possible, let this cup (of suffering) pass from me" (Matthew 26:39). Jesus accepted suffering when it was forced upon him, but he never sought or desired it. When we try to be the best Christians we can, but find ourselves being reviled and persecuted, having all kinds of evil uttered against us falsely, we can say it is not fair, which it is not. If our concern is our immediate reward, we will pity ourselves for the injustice done us. However, if our concern is to do what we do for Jesus' sake, then the ...

213. The Persecuted

John 15:18-27

Sermon

John A. Terry

214. Who Lives In You?

Luke 13:31-35

Sermon

Lee Griess

215. Dressing For The Marriage

Colossians 3:1-17

Sermon

Mary Venema Swierenga

... garment with healing in its wings. Then there's another item of clothing that does a marriage good: humility. If ever there is an arena where pride and the need to be right and the struggle for power occur, it's in a marriage. Lack of humility leads to every kind of struggle, whether it's a struggle for power over the checking account, over the kids, over whose turn it is to make sure you don't run out of milk and orange juice, or a power struggle over who was supposed to be home when to do what. Humility ...

216. CEREAL BOXES AND THE REAL YOU

1 Peter 3:3-4

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

... the box because of the other things, then you will be disappointed most of the time. God feels the same way about people. Some people take a lot of time to make sure that they look good on the outside. They comb their hair for hours, and put on all kinds of fancy clothes and jewels, but the truth is that those things are not very important to other people and certainly not to God. God looks on the inside of a man or woman and thinks about how he or she is. Do you want to look good to God ...

217. The Problem With Finding The Kingdom

Matthew 13:44-46

Sermon

William J. Carl

... laughter is the best medicine, shouldn’t we be regulating it?” There’s always someone trying to put a damper on things. But, of course, there are others who seem too joyful, too happy all the time. Life can’t be that good, that wonderful! And if that’s the kind of joy that comes when we find the kingdom, then we don’t want any part of it. It seems too frivolous and empty. But as you would imagine, that’s not the joy Jesus had in mind at all. He’s talking here about real joy, deep joy, the ...

218. The Pitfalls Of Practicing Piety

Matthew 6:19-24, Matthew 6:16-18, Matthew 6:5-15, Matthew 6:1-4

Sermon

John M. Braaten

... a shed, working with apparatus tied together with strings. Then one day some of his friends called him to the attention of the German government and he was given an important position in the health office in Berlin. There he was given a fine laboratory with all kinds of modern equipment and a couple of assistants. He was given a generous grant of money and Robert Caulk was overjoyed. Why? Simply because now he could do more, because now he could expend himself to the tune of 60 to 70 hours a week doing the ...

219. Wash Up First For The Meal Before You Eat!

John 13:1-17

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... :10). The work of preparation, of repenting and resolving to live lives of servants, is nothing more than being what we already are. It is nothing more than an appropriation of our baptism. For a life lived denying your sin for the sake of God and your neighbor is the kind of person that your baptism made you. As such, it is not something we do. God has done it to us. He already has made us people who are sorry for our sin, aware of our total dependence on him, and ready to serve. That is the real you and ...

220. The Bottom Line

Micah 6:1-8

Sermon

Robert Beringer

... after me." One who so walks with God will not be exempt from the dark places of life, but that person lives each day in the assurance that he or she will never walk alone! It is here that Micah's words really come alive for me in describing the kind of God with whom we walk each day. All that Micah has said about justice and about love helps us to grasp something of the greatness of this God we know in Jesus Christ. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once wrote these meaningful words: "The greatness of God lies in ...

221. The Poor in Spirit

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

... God which, according to the New Testament, comes to those who suffer because of their faithfulness. Blessedness is not a Hollywood kind of happiness. Instead, blessedness refers to a deep abiding happiness that can neither be given nor taken away by the world ... , I decided that I would go to the University of Tennessee Dental School to let them look at my mouth and help me decide what kind of work I needed to have done. They accepted me in a rather routine manner. They cleaned my teeth and took some x-rays of ...

222. Beyond the Ordinary

Matthew 5:38-42

Sermon

Joe Pennel

... curse of the century - a plague as virulent and as deadly to our cities as the plagues of the Middle Ages were - wrecking a kind of societal havoc against which we seem to be defenseless. They tell us that there are all sorts of people on drugs, and that ... who ask, and to turn away from those who want to borrow. Praying for those who stand against us is the only way to find the kind of love that reaches out to both friends and enemies. And, we must not deter from this because Jesus put it on the line when ...

223. The Danger of Being Religious

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... God. That means we are free to be ourselves, to enjoy life, to live as in God’s presence, and free to live, to laugh, and to love. Now, every one of us needs to be religious. It is not a matter of whether we are religious, but of what kind of religion we have. For surely we have learned by this time that one religion is not as good as another. There is nothing worse than bad religion and there is nothing better than the true Christian religion. Here is the danger of being religious. We may have the wrong ...

224. Journey To The Cross III: Jesus And The Extravagant Woman

Mark 14:1-11

Sermon

James W. Moore

... ? I have the money here to pay for it. It’s all that I have saved. If it isn’t enough, I will get the rest. Just tell me how much a miracle costs.” The pharmacist’s brother was a well-dressed man. He stooped down and asked Tess, “What kind of miracle does your brother need?” “I don’t know,” Tess replied, with her eyes welling up. “I just know he’s really sick and Mommy says he needs an operation. But my parents can’t pay for it, so I want to use my money.” “How much do you ...

225. How Do You Like Yourself?

1 Peter 3:8-22

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... of one mind." And I don’t think that we have to distort the meaning of that text very much to discover that it has a kind of double-barreled implication. Of course, it does mean that all who are in the Church should try to live in a unity of mind and ... all. No man can live unto himself and live. As Socrates said when he was speaking of the role of a teacher: "A teacher is a kind of midwife who brings the pupil into life, but, at the same time, the needs of the pupil are bringing the teacher into life." Like ...

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