Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 2251 to 2275 of 4945 results

2251. Worthy Is The Lamb

1 Timothy 2:1-15

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

I am especially excited today! While preaching is almost always a joy, sometimes it is an absolute delight, especially when I am declaring the heart of the Gospel, the good news of the cross. Why, I could hardly sleep last night. I feel like a bird-dog on Thanksgiving morning or a racehorse in the starting blocks at Churchill Downs. I love to talk about the cross! The Gospel is so simple that even a child can grasp it. It's so profound that no Ph.D. can fully plumb its depths. Here is the heart of it: ...

2252. The Burden Bearing Christ

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

Brett Blair

There is a wonderful legend concerning the quiet years of Jesus, the years prior to his visible ministry. The legend claims that Jesus the carpenter was one of the master yoke-makers in the Nazareth area. People came from miles around for a yoke, hand carved and crafted by Jesus son of Joseph. When customers arrived with their team of oxen Jesus would spend considerable time measuring the team, their height, the width, the space between them, and the size of their shoulders. Within a week, the team would ...

2253. Opening Up to Jesus

Mark 2:1-12

Drama

Robert F. Crowley

Theme: Jesus fulfills all our needs. Summary: At the home of Joash a crowd gathers because Jesus is going there to teach. Joash has his house ready -- even a new roof. During the evening friends bring a lame man but can't get to Jesus. What to do? They tear off the roof, of course. Jesus heals the man and the roof gets fixed too. Playing Time: 8 minutes Setting: The home of Joash Props: Wine and cups Litter for lame man Pallet Costumes: Peasants of Jesus' Time Time: The Time of Jesus Cast: Joash -- the ...

2254. Academics, Fanatics, and Other Disciples

Mark 1:14-20

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

I must confess that for years I have tried my hand at fishing, but the Izaak Walton League would be sure to look the other way if I applied for membership. To be sure, growing up in Wisconsin I did try my luck at some of those beautiful trout streams. But you would have been unwise to wait with a hearty appetite while I tried to catch our dinner. And, yes, my friends and I did go fishing on the nearby Mississippi River. And, yes, we did throw in a line from time to time, but at that age -- our teenage ...

2255. Francis of Assisi

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5

Drama

Michael L. Sherer

"The message of Christ’s death on the cross is nonsense ..." 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 Characters: Lector Announcer Antagonist Protagonist (Participants enter and take their places in the chancel. As they come forward, the congregation sings the hymn "Take My Life and Let It Be Consecrated." When the hymn is completed, the drama begins.) LECTOR: The message about Christ’s death on the cross is nonsense to those who are being lost; but for us who are being saved, it is God’s power. For the scripture says, "I ...

2256. Overcoming Loneliness

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

In the overcrowded conditions of our modern world loneliness has possessed us: "He’s a real Nowhere Man, Sitting in his Nowhere Land, Making all his Nowhere Plans for nobody." Such emptiness, such frustration, such loneliness depresses us. What’s to be done about it? This feeling of hopelessness has been around a long time. The ancient writer of Psalm 22 cried out: Dear God, right now I feel like a worm, not a person. I feel so used by other people. And to make it worse, I feel resented by the very same ...

2257. The Kind of People Whom God Chooses

Luke 5:1-11

Sermon

William G. Carter

There are many stories in the New Testament about people who are called to serve God and follow Jesus. Of all those stories, this story makes the most sense. Remember the story about Paul? He was persecuting the church, dragging Christians out of their houses and condemning them to death. One day, he saw the Light, and it knocked him off his horse. It’s hard to relate to such a dramatic conversion, but there it is. Remember the story about Matthew? One day he was sitting at his tax collection table, ...

2258. Struggling with God

Genesis 32:22-32

Sermon

David E. Leininger

In all of scripture, and even in all of literature, you would be hard pressed to find a character more interesting than Jacob. We meet him first before he is even born - his mother Rebekah is in such agony during her pregnancy carrying him and his twin brother that she wants to die. When the babies finally make their appearance, little Esau comes out first, but his brother is holding on to his heel, and, as the legend has it, that is why he was given the name Jacob - it meant "heel" or "trickster" or " ...

2259. Hungry People

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Every time I hear the story of the feeding of the five thousand, I am reminded of reading of a man packing a shipment of food for the poor people of Appalachia. He was separating beans from powdered milk, and canned vegetables from canned meats. Reaching into a box filled with various cans, he pulled out a little brown paper sack. Apparently one of the pupils had brought something different from the items on the suggested list. Out of the paper bag fell a peanut butter sandwich, an apple, and a cookie. ...

2260. Moving Toward Sainthood

Isaiah 26:1-21

Sermon

King Duncan

Don Elder and his 6-year-old granddaughter Sarah Umhauer, both members of Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church, Buffalo, N.Y., were enjoying cider and doughnuts on Reformation Day. Elder said, "Sarah, I wish you didn't have school tomorrow so you could go to church with me and Grandma." Sarah asked, "Why are you going to church tomorrow, Grandpa?" "Because it's All Saints' Day," he replied. "But Grandpa," she said, "we're not saints, we're Lutherans." (1) I'm not going to speculate on how many Lutherans ...

2261. Three Temptations Of The American People

Mark 6:1-6

Sermon

King Duncan

"A prophet is not without honor," said Jesus "save in his own country." No wonder! Prophets speak to a people on the part of God. What nation on earth has ever lived up to God's standards? Not us. Not Israel. Not any nation that has ever existed on earth. We need to remember that as we prepare to celebrate our grand national holiday. Our nation has been wonderfully blessed. It seems somewhat impertinent for me to say, "I'm proud to be an American." It was an accident of birth. I had nothing to do with it. ...

2262. The Path To Real Success

Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

King Duncan

There is a ridiculous story about a group of animals in the jungle who decided to have a football game. The problem was that no one could tackle the rhinoceros. Once he got a head of steam, he was unstoppable. When he received the opening kickoff, he rambled for a touchdown. The score was seven to nothing immediately. Somehow, they managed to keep the ball away from him the remainder of the first quarter. At the beginning of the second quarter, the other team tied the score 7 to 7. The lion tried to warn ...

2263. Choose Life!

Deuteronomy 30:15-20

Sermon

King Duncan

The ability to make concise and accurate decisions is one of the great secrets of successful living. Those of you who are sports fans will appreciate the story of a college football team whose starting quarterback was injured. The number two quarterback had not even dressed out due to illness. This left only a freshman quarterback who also did their punting but had absolutely no game experience as a college quarterback. The coach had to throw him into the fray, however. It was first down, but the ball was ...

2264. Where Have All The Heroes Gone?

Hebrews 11:1-40

Sermon

King Duncan

A certain Eskimo man was taken on one of the expeditions to the North Pole a number of years ago. Later, as a reward for faithful service, he was brought to New York City for a short visit. He was amazed at what he saw. When he returned to his native village, he told stories of buildings that rose into the very face of the sky; of streetcars, which he described as houses that moved along the trail, with people living in them as they moved; of mammoth bridges, artificial lights, and all the other dazzling ...

2265. Jesus Goes To School

Luke 2:41-52

Sermon

King Duncan

A young woman named Donna who got good grades in high school was in her first year of college. She had done poorly on one of her courses. In an attempt to prepare her parents she wrote her mother, "If you see an unfamiliar letter on my report card, remember it's just my first initial. Signed, Donna." As the time neared for grades to be sent home, Donna began to worry. Her worst fears were confirmed one evening when her mother called her. Donna said, "Hi, Mom." Her mother replied coldly, "Hello, Frank." ...

2266. How Do You Act In The Presence Of The Queen?

Isaiah 6:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

Associated Press, Dateline, Washington, D.C.: A woman in our nation's capitol welcomed Queen Elizabeth II into her home in a warm and beautiful way. She gave her a hug. This simple act made headlines around the world because British protocol forbids commoners from touching a monarch. The queen, accompanied by first lady Barbara Bush and Washington Mayor Sharon Pratt Dixon, visited 67-year-old retiree Alice Frazier's home in an area formerly plagued by drugs and crime but now rehabilitated. It was on this ...

2267. It's A Question Of Priorities

Mark 9:33-37

Sermon

King Duncan

A group of friends went deer hunting. They separated into pairs. That night, one hunter returned alone, staggering under an eight-point buck. The other hunters asked, "Where's Harry?" The lone hunter replied, "Harry fainted a couple miles up the trail." The others couldn't believe it. "You mean you left him lying there and carried the deer back instead?" The man answered, "It was a tough call, but I figured no one was going to steal Harry." To this deer hunter it was simply a matter of priorities. And one ...

2268. If Your Life Were A Movie

Mark 9:42-50

Sermon

King Duncan

It is said that film maker Walt Disney was a ruthless film editor. He would cut any scene from a movie that interfered in any way with the flow of the story. No matter how beautiful, or funny, or brilliant a scene was, if it didn't fit, it was discarded. Ward Kimball, one of the animators for Snow White, worked nearly eight months on a 4-1/2 minute sequence in which the dwarves made soup for Snow White. It was a humorous scene in which the dwarves wreaked havoc in the kitchen as they tried to make soup. ...

2269. Lazarus Laughed

John 11:17-37

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

I have always felt sorry for Lazarus. I mean, dying once is bad enough; but this poor fellow had to go through the whole ordeal a second time! And for what? At first glance, it seems as though he was recalled to this earth for the mere purpose of fortifying his sister’s faith. Then he would have to go through the process of dying once again. We are all familiar with the story. Jesus receives the news while He is in Perea that His friend Lazarus is ill. He says, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I ...

2270. If You Are Willing

Mark 1:40-45

Sermon

King Duncan

You can never tell what people are going to do. I was reading recently about some of the wacky moments on the popular TV game show “The Price Is Right.” The wackiest moments were not scripted. They came as a total surprise. One time, a model was sitting at the wheel of a car being offered as a prize. Since the car was inside, on the production set, crew members were to manually push it to where it would be displayed for the winner. Unfortunately, as the crew pushed it from behind, the car smashed through ...

2271. Grace in the Midst of Limited Resources

2 Corinthians 8:1-15

Sermon

Glenn McDonald

Year after year Stumpy and Martha attended the fair in their home state, and every summer it was the same story: Stumpy was tantalized by the old-fashioned bi-plane in which anybody could take a ride for ten dollars, and Martha was disgusted by such an obvious waste of money. "Ten dollars is ten dollars," she would always say. And Stumpy would go home without his airplane ride. One year Stumpy said, "Martha, there's that bi-plane again. I am 81 years old and this year I want to go for a ride." Martha ...

2272. Curiosity Or Consecration

Romans 12:1-8

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Our reading this morning is the first eight verses of the 12th chapter of Romans. This is that marvelous beginning section of Romans, when Paul, having made his theological statement, having spelled out in a very clear and beautiful way his whole understanding of justification by faith, comes now to offer those practical instructions that we are to receive if we’re going to live the Christian life. This is the word of the Lord. “I appeal to you therefore brothers and sisters by the mercies of God, that you ...

2273. Constantly Abiding

Philippians 2:1-11

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

As I grow older, and hopefully wiser, I’m more convinced that despite the limitations of my early life, the soil in which my roots originally grew was rich and fertile. The richness of love in our home was more powerful than material poverty. The warm concern, the gentle care, the self-sacrificing for their five children gave us a heritage dollars can’t buy. Though glaringly limited, the faith we shared in the little country church had an expansive simplicity to which I return often. On a visit to that ...

2274. God Who Is Mighty Has Done Great Things

Luke 1:46-56

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Sometime ago a woman from Houston was out in Los Angeles visiting some relatives. While there, she went to an ice cream shop and ordered an ice cream cone. As she was sitting there at the counter, waiting for her cone, she happened to glance to her right. Who should be there, right next to her, but Paul Newman! She couldn't believe it! He had been her heart throb and dream boat for years. She was crazy about him. And there he was, sitting on the stool right next to her, close enough to touch. But she didn' ...

2275. Growing In Self-esteem

Psalm 81:1-16

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Listen! Don't miss even the first sentence of this sermon, because it sets the stage for everything I'll be saying today. One of the greatest tragedies is to die without knowing who you are. Or, you can put it this way: One of the greatest tragedies is to live denying who you are. Let me say that again. One of the greatest tragedies is to die without knowing who you are. Or, you can put it this way: One of the greatest tragedies is to live denying who you are. This is our third sermon in the series ...

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