Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 2226 to 2250 of 4935 results

2226. Speak For Yourself!

Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon

William B. Kincaid, III

What do Richard Nixon and Shirley Temple have in common? While they may have shared many common interests and traits, isn't it true that neither one ever outlived their pasts? When Richard Nixon was buried behind the house that his father built, he went to his grave as the president that was forced to resign in the face of humiliation and scandal. Even amid his remarkable rehabilitation which included significant contributions to the world's conversation about public policy, Nixon may as well have had " ...

2227. Charlie Used To Do That

John 6:25-59

Sermon

Robert Salzgeber

The people said, "Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, just as the scripture says, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.' " Jesus answered, "What Moses gave you was not the bread from heaven; it is my Father who gives you the real bread from heaven." Jesus is referring to the fact that even when God gave the whole Israelite community manna the people still complained; they were not satisfied. God then gave the Hebrews quail and they continued to be dissatisfied. Later on the whole Israelite community ...

2228. The Kingdom of God Is Like… a Joke!

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Steven Burt

The story of the good Samaritan is perhaps the most misunderstood of all Jesus’ parables. We’ve lost sight, over the nineteen centuries since Jesus told it, of its real impact. Since we’re not familiar with the original context in which its hearers heard it, we’ve seen it reduced to a good neighbor story, a Boy Scout doing a good deed a day, a driver stopping to help a little old lady change a flat tire. The emphasis is on the good Samaritan, the one who stops to help. Although that’s a wonderful value to ...

2229. Saved By Grace

Exodus 32:1-33:6

Sermon

Walter Kimbrough

This subject causes one to focus on two significant theological expressions having a direct bearing on the quality of human life: salvation and grace. The apostle Paul adds a third expression that he calls faith; “For it is by grace that you have been saved through faith -- and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God -- not by works, so that no one can boast… (Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV).” So then, Paul contends that salvation is realized when grace is activated and faith comes alive. All three are ...

2230. Forgiving the Bully

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

Sermon

John Jamison

I like the first part of this story about Jesus. All those blessings, and that neat parable about the salt of the earth, and the light of the world. It makes me feel good inside. But now it gets difficult. Let me put this in terms that I can understand. The first time I ever remember hating anyone was in the third grade. The kid's name was Les. Les moved into town part way through the year and from the beginning we had trouble. On the first day, I received a note during spelling. The note read, "After ...

2231. To Be Sure

Luke 17:11-19

Sermon

Theodore F. Schneider

I am always impressed with the litany-like phrases Martin Luther uses in The Small Catechism as petition by petition he explains the Lord's Prayer: To be sure, God's name is holy itself ...To be sure, the kingdom of God comes of itself, without our prayers ...To be sure, the good and gracious will of God is done without our prayer ...To be sure, God provides daily bread, even to the wicked, without our prayer ...1 To be sure, to be sure, to be sure! God's gifts come to us despite our unfaithfulness and ...

2232. Charlie Used To Do That

John 6:25-59

Sermon

Robert Salzgeber

2233. The Dripping of Water

John 13:1-17

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

John 13:4-5; Matthew 27:15-26 I grew up with Marion Long. We started first grade together and, after eleven years, we graduated from high school together. We went to different colleges, and that severed our relationship. The last time I saw Marion was some years ago at a high school reunion. She now lives in South Carolina. I only know that because her mother recently died and I read the obituary. I mention Marion because I think we all have a tendency to connect particular incidents with people we've ...

2234. T.G.I.F

John 1:43-51

Sermon

William Luoma

[A Message for Good Friday. Bulletin outline found below.] Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see. Early in his Galilean ministry, Jesus invited Philip to follow him. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth." Nathanael responded somewhat sarcastically, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip's simple answer was the challenge that is still given to ...

2235. The Other Prodigal Son

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

Brett Blair

In 1986 Henri Nouwen, a Dutch theologian and writer, toured St. Petersburg, Russia, the former Leningrad. While there he visited the famous Hermitage where he saw, among other things, Rembrandt’s painting of the Prodigal Son. The painting was in a hallway and received the natural light of a nearby window. Nouwen stood for two hours, mesmerized by this remarkable painting. As he stood there the sun changed, and at every change of the light’s angle he saw a different aspect of the painting revealed. He would ...

2236. Proper 20 & Pentecost 18

Matthew 20:1-16, Philippians 1:12-30, Philippians 1:1-11, Exodus 32:1-33:6, Jonah 4:1-11, Isaiah 55:1-13, Psalm 27:1-14, Psalm 145:1-21, Psalm 106:1-48

Sermon Aid

THEOLOGICAL CLUE Although the church year eschatological framework remains in place on this Sunday, it would continue to be almost imperceptible without the influence of the readings for the day. In particular, it is the Gospel for the Day, the parable of the "householder," who goes out to the market place again and again to hire day-laborers to work in his vineyard, that casts the eschatological note of the gospel, as well as the church year, in sharp focus over against the unmerited grace of God, who ...

2237. Proper 21 & Pentecost 19

Ezekiel 18:1-32, Psalm 25:1-22, Psalm 99:1-9, Exodus 32:1-33:6, Philippians 2:1-11, Philippians 2:12-18, Matthew 21:28-32

Sermon Aid

THEOLOGICAL CLUE As the church enters the last week of Sundays in the church year, the theological framework - eschatology - is renewed by the readings, particularly by the Gospel for the Day with its emphasis upon divine authority and repentance. The Gospel-context for this week's worship and preaching is the events that occurred after Jesus entered the Holy City to the day now called the Sunday of the Passion, or Palm Sunday. But the theme of today's worship takes the church all the way back to the ...

2238. A Gospel that Fills the Glove

Sermon

James Bjorge

I was sitting in my office staring blankly into space. Then my leather gloves which had been thrown on my desk caught my glance. They were limp and lifeless. I reached over and picked one of them up and slipped my right hand into it. The gloved filled out. I flexed my hand - the glove moved. It was filled with life. My mind began to dance with the thought of God coming to earth to slip into the gloves of human lives. He came to fill them out so they would pulsate with life ... so they could be and do ...

2239. SALLY JANE

Drama

Jerome W. Nilssen

Dusk; JAREL is sitting on the front steps of an old farmhouse, a building once almost elegant, now genteelly collapsing, its midwestern rococo gingerbread hanging in many places by a single, disinterested, rusty nail. The porch behind JAREL is small; its only piece of furniture is an ancient, unravelling wicker table, also seedy, with several wine bottles on it. JAREL is wearing funeral black - but she has not at all muted her makeup, and she wears plenteous beads and bracelets. JAREL (Calling into the ...

2240. SURVIVAL IN THE RAT RACE

Psalm 46:1-11

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

Dear friends, I know what I am supposed to do up here in this pulpit. I’m supposed to startle you with some stabbing statement of Scripture. I’m supposed to challenge you with some call of Christ. I’m supposed to impress you with some imperative of the Gospel. But, do you know something? I don’t want to do any of those things today. I just want to tell you to relax, to rest, unwind, sit loose, take it easy, let your mind wander, if you will. In fact, you don’t have to listen to what I’m saying, if there’s ...

2241. God of Wrath and Grace

Genesis 6:1-8:22

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

There is a certain character on a British TV situation comedy who is always saying to someone else, “I have good news and bad news for you. Which do you want first?” Somehow the bad news always turns out to be worse than the good news is good. One day a hospital surgeon told his patient, “ I have some good news and some bad news. Which do you want to hear first?” The patient said, “Give me the bad news.” The doctor said, “We are going to have to amputate both of your feet.” The patient said, “Oh, that’s ...

2242. How to Fix the Past

1 John 1:5--2:14

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

They were sitting in my office recently, a couple preparing to be married. This will be the second marriage for both of them. I asked, “When did your relationship with God become very personal and real?” The bride’s answer so touched me that I asked for permission to share it, and she graciously agreed. She said, “It was following my divorce, during a low period in my life. I was running with the wrong crowd. One morning at 3 am I found myself in the parking lot of a place I did not want to be. I said, “ ...

2243. The Scandal Of Redeeming Love

Hosea 2:2-23

Sermon

Frederick C. Edwards

It seems that we have developed a tabloid mentality. That is to say, we seem to have developed an overzealous fascination for information about the private lives of public people. The real or supposed exploits of actors and actresses, politicians, entertainers, athletes or business moguls appear in lurid headlines on papers and magazines that are more interested in sensation than news. Photographers stalk the rich or famous to catch an image of an unguarded moment. Fact blended with fiction becomes the ...

2244. A Man Who Laughed at God

Genesis 17:1-27

Sermon

R. Blaine Detrick

The Bible begins, as we all know, with the beginning - the story of creation, of God’s making his universe. But following the impressive story of the creation of the world, and then the majestic story of the creation of man (God "breathed into his nostrils, and man became a living soul"), sin was introduced into God’s beautiful world. The man, whom he had created, disobeyed and fell into sin; the image of God was tarnished; and fellowship with the Creator was interrupted. Eden became a "Paradise Lost." In ...

2245. A Dead Man in a Witch’s Cave

1 Samuel 28:1-25

Sermon

R. Blaine Detrick

You will remember that, in God’s dealings with mankind, he chose one particular man, Abraham. Through that man, God intended to raise a special nation, through which he could bring his message of redemption to the whole world. God directed that nation down into the land of Egypt to preserve it during a time of world-wide famine and need. Joseph was our outstanding leader at that point. In the last chapter, God brought his chosen people back across the wilderness to the very edge of the land of promise, and ...

2246. A Dreadful Declaration

Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

George Bass

When a person makes a radical statement about his or her purpose in life, most people react with equally radical answers and actions. They may express incredulity, even shock, by vocal opposition or, perhaps, even by laughter. Years ago a college friend, after two years of "just getting by in a business course," announced that he was changing to a pre-medical course of study. When he said, "I’m going to be a doctor," his friends almost laughed in his face. He had never been a good student; in high school, ...

2247. Advent: Lament, Repent

Isaiah 63:7--64:12

Sermon

Richard L. Eslinger

Israel had much to lament. It was a season for lamentation. The results of God’s anger were everywhere. The destruction is easy to catalog: Holy cities, become a wasteland. Zion, become a wilderness. Jerusalem, a desolation. That "holy and beautiful house," The Temple, burned by fire. "And all our pleasant places have become ruins." Living in the midst of this wasteland called for an incredible patience before the Lord - waiting for deliverance, waiting for return, waiting for restoration. This patience ...

2248. Divine Alka-Seltzer

Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

This sermon’s subject is one of the tough ones; in fact, the toughest: human suffering. What persuades here more than any individual characteristic is that which pervades all - compassion. After first tracing some of his own evasive, hidden, superficial, though genuine response, the preacher then moves to instances of his own and his parishioners’ sufferings which will not budge, unless. Concreteness of language and example - the specifics will not let the listener escape. Suffering can shrink a vision and ...

2249. Life After Life

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

An author writing in Vogue magazine says that he believes America’s loss of values, and her moral and ethical breakdown, arise from the fact that for the first time in history most of the people of America do not believe in life after death. When we lose our faith we lose our focus on a dependable structure of life. If life has no meaning, if it is going nowhere, then we can summarize history and the future, - "So What?" Eat, drink, and be merry - if you can! If life after death is not, I don’t want to ...

2250. Sometimes You've Got to Shout!

John 12:12-19

Sermon

David E. Leininger

This week will be my daughter's 18th birthday. Who woulda thunk it? Years ago, when I told my mother that I was getting married, her reply was, "Well, that's fine, David, but you ought not to have any children. You are old and set in your ways, and you wouldn't have enough patience to deal with them." (I was 33 at the time.) She continued, "God was very smart in letting us have children when we are young, because that's the only time in our lives when we have enough energy to handle them." HA! Well, we DID ...

Showing results

Showing 2226 to 2250 of 4935 results

2226. Speak For Yourself!

Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon

William B. Kincaid, III

2227. Charlie Used To Do That

John 6:25-59

Sermon

Robert Salzgeber

2228. The Kingdom of God Is Like… a Joke!

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Steven Burt

2229. Saved By Grace

Exodus 32:1-33:6

Sermon

Walter Kimbrough

2230. Forgiving the Bully

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

Sermon

John Jamison

2231. To Be Sure

Luke 17:11-19

Sermon

Theodore F. Schneider

2232. Charlie Used To Do That

John 6:25-59

Sermon

Robert Salzgeber

2233. The Dripping of Water

John 13:1-17

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

2234. T.G.I.F

John 1:43-51

Sermon

William Luoma

2235. The Other Prodigal Son

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

Brett Blair

2236. Proper 20 & Pentecost 18

Matthew 20:1-16, Philippians 1:12-30, Philippians 1:1-11, Exodus 32:1-33:6, Jonah 4:1-11, Isaiah 55:1-13, Psalm 27:1-14, Psalm 145:1-21, Psalm 106:1-48

Sermon Aid

2237. Proper 21 & Pentecost 19

Ezekiel 18:1-32, Psalm 25:1-22, Psalm 99:1-9, Exodus 32:1-33:6, Philippians 2:1-11, Philippians 2:12-18, Matthew 21:28-32

Sermon Aid

2238. A Gospel that Fills the Glove

Sermon

James Bjorge

2239. SALLY JANE

Drama

Jerome W. Nilssen

2240. SURVIVAL IN THE RAT RACE

Psalm 46:1-11