Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 2226 to 2250 of 5000 results

Joshua 3:7-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

NOTE: This sermon, written in the 90s, read the way it's written below, could be a good introduction on how rapidly things have changed. Think about how to rerwork it as an illustration using the original lanuage or completely adapt it by updating the items. How to cruise on the new-century superhighway. People who work at or own a computer should be aware of these two things: First, they have more processing power at their fingertips at home and at the office ...

2227. Teamwork Works!

Judges 4:1-7

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

We don't need to charge the barricades in our lives all by ourselves. One of Leo Lionni's simple yet appealing collage-illustrated children's books tell the story of a little minnow-sized fish named Swimmy. Swimmy is just like all the other fish swimming in the large minnow school, except that while they are all reddish-gold, he is pure black. The school of little fish swims along peacefully until any ...

2228. Heads Down, Thumbs Up

Philippians 2:5-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... rise is to balance both these attitudes successfully being confident without being "puffed up" being humble without being a doormat. When Jesus entered Jerusalem on that donkey colt, he did just that. The little beast bearing the travel-stained, wandering teacher into the city illustrated Jesus' humble obedience to the divine plan of redemption. This was no sign of power; it was a sign of love at work. But even as Jesus humbly bowed to the form his messiahship must take, he knew this was a triumphal entry ...

2229. On Being a Hot-Fudge-Sunday Church

Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... to play in the extremes, can be our message. Alternative Sermon Idea One of the first definitions of Logos comes from the Greek philosopher Heraclitus. For his inspired vision of such a complex topic as "Logos," Heraclitus used a simple stick to illustrate the principle of enantiodromia (the regulative function of opposites by which everything sooner or later runs into its opposite Carl Jung built a psychotherapy on the principle that the only way to escape enantiodromia was to face the opposite from the ...

2230. Who Are the Encouragers?

Luke 14:1, 7-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... news or positive gossip ever goes his way without being passed along as a bit of encouragement to its subject. In fact, Colaw is so faithful in passing on "good news" that one worries when one doesn't get one of his famous notes. (Use an illustration here of someone in your parish who is an "encourager.") Most of us have grown so careful about armoring ourselves against all the bad news that bombards us daily that our antennae are simply not tuned to receive or even register the odd snippet of good news ...

2231. Mark 1:21-28

Mark 1:21-28

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... wrought by Jesus' words. Witnesses present are "amazed" and whisper uneasily about the implications of Jesus' power and authority for their own lives. Relating the Texts Paul uses the eighth chapter of his letter to the Corinthians to illustrate how communal faith is challenged and tested by individual behavior, in this particular instance the act of eating. The Corinthians are mistaken, Paul insists, when they separate the physical need to eat from any larger spiritual implications and responsibilities ...

2232. Mark 8:31-38

Mark 8:31-38

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... and unity among Christians, against the divisions between Jewish versus Gentile believers. All distinctions are artificial devices based on a faulty understanding of our relationship to God. The example of the covenant established between God and Abraham serves Paul well to illustrate how the Christian community is united in faith, not divided by national identity. This week's Epistle text starts with Paul's bold pronouncement that because of God's grace, issued in response to our faith, we are now all ...

2233. Acts 4:32-35

Acts 4:32-35

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... told in this week's text from Acts. How else but through a miraculous eschatological moment could the community of believers be described, as they are in verse 32, as being of "one heart and soul." This divinely inspired state of being not only illustrates a harmonized church, it also reflects a harmonized heritage: The Greek ideals of hapata koina and koina ta philon are smoothly integrated by Luke with biblical expressions ("one heart and one soul" cf. Deut. 6:6) and a Jewish concept of attaining equality ...

2234. John 10:11-18

John 10:11-18

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... parables - or as John liked to refer to them, "through figures of speech" (10:6). Jesus also used the parable to skewer his adversaries, often with such subtlety that they failed to recognize their own caricature as it was drawn before them. Another favorite illustrative technique used by Jesus and recorded most prominently in John's gospel is the "I am" format used to introduce one after another new image of Jesus' role and mission. Jesus claims "I am" before such images as "the salt," "the gate," "the ...

2235. Mark 4:35-41

Mark 4:35-41

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... , Jesus now turns to his followers and accuses them of abandoning their faith in him and in their mission. At stake here are the issues of Jesus' identity and the kind of response on our part this identity should evoke. In Mark faith is illustrated by recognizing who Jesus is: the Messiah, the Son of God. When the disciples demonstrate their lack of trust in Jesus they reveal that their faithfulness is uncomprehendingly shallow. Mark's miracle story asks us to consider two questions. First, who is Jesus (v ...

2236. Mark 6:30-44

Mark 6:30-44

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... as a warrior, present in the battlefield, a comrade to his troops. Now, however, we see David the monarch sending out his armies while he stays in Jerusalem to reign. The image of Israel's soldiers ravaging the Ammonites and besieging Rabbah (verse 1) illustrates the active life of danger and hardship the army led for the sake of their country. The image of David languidly rising from his couch following an afternoon nap and idly meandering about the roofscapes to pass the time (verse 2) markedly contrasts ...

2237. James 3:13-18

James 3:13-18

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... politically astute maneuverings, James insists that Christians must strive for impartiality. The reward for such peacemakers is a "harvest of righteousness," which stands in sharp contrast to the turmoil of internal cravings and "wars" James returns to in 4:1 (further illustrating how well this pericope bridges together the discussions of chapters 3 and 4. Relating the Texts The portion from Job for this week (28:20-28) deals directly with the question of what is valuable. Chapter 20 begins with Job musing ...

2238. 1 Corinthians 12:1-11

1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... structurally represents the triune God. The underlying sameness of the Source is verified while the diversity of form is demonstrated. The "same Spirit," the "same Lord," the "same God" are manifested in varieties of "gifts," "services" and "activities." Thus Paul illustrates there is only one Spirit, the Spirit of God, but that its expressions or its "distributions" ("diaireseis") take on as many variations as there are people called by God. Whatever else Paul covers in this extended section on spiritual ...

2239. 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... away our broken fragment of pie-crust and replaces it with an entire pie? The elegant mystical language Paul uses in verses 11 and 12 is some of the best loved and most quoted - by the religious and non-religious alike. As moving as Paul's illustration is, it was hardly original. The contrast between child and adult was a common rhetorical analogy of Paul's day, and the image of the dark, distorted reflection seems to have its basis in another analogical root, Numbers 12:8. When God confronts the grousing ...

2240. Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-19

Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-19

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... of faith sandwiched between 10:36's recognition that we need endurance and 12:1's exhortation that we practice endurance. Chapter 11 serves as the author's prescription for nurturing into full maturity the endurance he expects. Endurance, this chapter illustrates, is built upon a firm foundation of faith - a faith foundation that reaches down through the ages from the faithfulness of the patriarchs, matriarchs and martyrs to us today. The author begins by giving a two-edged definition of faith. As ...

2241. Hebrews 12:1-2, 12-17

Hebrews 12:1-2, 12-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... , in Genesis 27 the story of these brothers continues, with Jacob tricking Isaac into giving him, not Esau, his first blessing. Thus Esau loses both his chances to enjoy what was rightfully his, the status of first-born. The point of the Esau illustration is to dramatically demonstrate the finality of some events. Like Esau, Christians also have a special "re-birthright," salvation through Jesus Christ. But also like Esau, if we should reject or "despise" that gift, it can be gone forever. In the book of ...

2242. Luke 16:1-13

Luke 16:1-13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... without fixating on dollar signs, we see that, like the Prodigal Son, the Good Samaritan and the Great Supper parables, this story is also about the necessity of establishing and maintaining right relationships. In the Near Eastern milieu from which this illustration is taken, the value of honor and respect was as calculable a currency as any coinage. The steward's dishonesty had endangered the social standing of the master by impugning his reputation and smearing his good character. The master had lost ...

2243. Luke 16:19-31

Luke 16:19-31

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... turpitude. But when the only reason is his money, all our pocketbooks suddenly weigh heavy. The parable clearly says that what was wrong between the rich man and Lazarus was the inequality of life existing between them. The gate mentioned in verse 20 illustrates the economic and physical barrier that kept Lazarus away even from table scraps. It divided the two men completely. The heavenly chasm Abraham identifies in verse 26 now does the same thing for all eternity. The impassable inequality of one world is ...

2244. Colossians 1:11-20

Colossians 1:11-20

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... souls' thankfulness - they turned away their hearts from the presence of the Lord. God's ire is rightly raised because of the people's continuing disobedience, not simply because of the atrocities that occurred at Meribah and Massah. This psalm clearly illustrates the two-sided thrust of its message. There is a message of jubilant celebration, marked by praise and thanksgiving, because of the divine salvation that is expected. But, the obverse side of the psalm leaves little doubt about Yahweh's capacity ...

2245. Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... verse 19 and again in verse 23, those who 'understand' refers to those who acknowledge God's rule and power over all. This is a traditional Hebrew concept of 'understanding.' In this case, such understanding is necessary from the beginning of the illustration (to insure initial rootage of the seed) and at the conclusion of the tale (where the degree of 'understanding' apparently determines the abundance of the harvest). In short, while the original parable in verses 1-9 links harvest to the initial sowing ...

2246. Luke 5:1-11

Luke 5:1-11

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

This week's New Testament lesson reveals something interesting about Luke: while he could weave a wonderful story when using his own sources, Luke's ability to work chronological events into his illustrations sometimes suffered from awkwardness. Luke's gospel narrates Jesus' birth and the earliest moments of Jesus' ministry by focusing on the messianic meaning of these events. According to Luke's account, Jesus had already embarked upon a profoundly popular ministry in Galilee, one characterized by ...

2247. John 21:1-19

John 21:1-19

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... except offer an ever-growing number of creative interpretations about the unbroken net and those 153 fishes it held, the fact that it is Peter who accomplishes this task, in response to Jesus' directive, seems to be the main point the author wishes to illustrate. The last time Jesus and his disciples sat together at the Sea of Tiberias, it was the scene of another significant meal the feeding of the five thousand (John 6:1-14). As in that account, this author uses distinctly eucharistic language Jesus "took ...

2248. Mark 1:21-28

Mark 1:21-28

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

2249. 2 Kings 2:1-12a

2 Kings 2:1-12a

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... the densest, most dismally obtuse participants possible in the holy history of Jesus' life and ministry. Whether Mark's intention is to retell the events surrounding Jesus, "warts and all," or whether the gospel writer is using the disciples to illustrate the discrepancy between the life and work of Jesus and the understanding and teaching of that life by the early Christian church, these verses re-telling the so-called "transfiguration" vividly point up human shortcomings. Peter, James, and John represent ...

2250. Mark 8:31-38

Mark 8:31-38

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

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