Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 2276 to 2300 of 4681 results

2276. Reinforced With Joy

John 15:1-17

Sermon

O. Garfield Beckstrand, II

... make us blue today. What we thought would be the ultimate in joy can quickly become a nightmare. But Jesus’ joy is not as the world gives. It is genuine and grows more beautiful with the years. Joy, heavenly joy, makes life worth living and our tasks worth bearing. Listen to this statement: "I have had more fun than any man in the world. I have never met anyone who has had such fun as I have had." What sort of person could possibly have made that extravagant statement about joy? Could it be a libertine ...

2277. Advent 1: Let Us Go Over To Bethlehem And Find The Faith of Christmas

Luke 2:15-20

Sermon

James W. Moore

... gifts available now to you and me. Let’s take a look at these together. I. First of All, There is the Gift of Acceptance. The Shepherds found the gift of acceptance. When Terry Bowden was in his first year as head coach of Auburn (1993) he won the Bear Bryant Coach of the Year Award. What made the story so amusing is his father Bobby Bowden was nominated for the same award. He was at Florida State. There was a lot of good-natured joking and teasing at the banquet about this father and son being considered ...

2278. Surprise, It's Christmas!

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

Brett Blair

... Christmas. God’s great light coming into the world this season banishes the darkness and drives the fear from our heart. II The first surprise of Christmas is fear not, the Lord is with you. Gabriel's second surprise to Mary was, "You will conceive in your womb and bear a son." Can you hear the surprise in that, Mary you will conceive and have a son? What could be more astonishing than God placing his most awesome work in the hands of a 16-year-old peasant girl named Mary? I’m afraid to have a 16 year ...

2279. Candlelight Service

John 1:1-18

Bulletin Aid

Brett Blair

... enjoy God's favor! The Lord is with you." She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, "Mary, do not be afraid, you have won God's favor. Look! You are to conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and his reign will have ...

2280. Confrontation in the Temple

John 2:12-25

Sermon

George Bass

... ) when, according to Saint Luke, he was twelve years old. Neither Matthew, Mark, nor John includes that account in their gospels. But Luke evidently considered the incident to be a true story that was important enough to be included in the gospel that bears his name; he was interested, as his Acts of the Apostles affirms, in telling the whole story. This incident sets the stage for what is bound to happen after Jesus grows up and begins his compassionate yet controversial ministry; a confrontation with the ...

2281. The Terrible Tree

John 18:1-19:42

Sermon

George Bass

... . Would not those nails pierce her heart no less than His feet? Would not those thorns stab her soul no less than His brow? They were like a girdle studded with spikes round her inmost being, and the sword of sorrow was all that she could bring herself to bear.32 Mary’s mind must have been flooded with memories, and no small measure of pain and doubt, as she and the others watched Jesus dying on the cross. Why was she allowed to be there without being harassed or arrested? Some of them must have known she ...

2282. The Shepherd Who Loved His Sheep

John 10:1-21

Sermon

George Bass

... Amy is full."44 But they couldn’t find anyone to help, thus the frustration and desperation. Both of them love Amy very much, have since they first saw her at three years of age and, knowing that she was retarded, adopted her as their own child, and cannot bear the thought of losing her. In a way, too, they have laid down their lives for another, their adopted and retarded daughter Amy. Some of us get to do such acts of love and selflessness. And such works of love and mercy must make glad the heart of ...

2283. Blow The Trumpet In Zion

Joel 2:1-11

Sermon

Larry Powell

... appeal. A concrete sign in the shape of a cross stands alongside a public roadway as a permanent purveyor of the ancient message, condensed simply to one word: "Repent." Billboards, bumper stickers, lapel buttons, placards, and announcements in the print media bear a similar abrupt inscription: "Repent." A bearded man, weathered, unkempt, and rather worn at the heel, hoists a sign above the sidewalk crowds, silently assuming his place on the street corner. The sign reads "Repent." It is not as if the word ...

2284. The Technicolor Sign

Genesis 9:1-17

Sermon

Larry Powell

... and restored. See the silver cup; see the granulated silver; see the restoration. Now transpose the articles. See the person we used to be; see the person we have become, diminished from our original potential, precipitating in varying degrees toward the bottom, bearing little resemblance to the flawless spirit with which we were endowed. See now the restoration. Yes! In the hands of the Creator, we too can be restored and sing with the Psalmist; "He leads me beside the still waters; he restores my ...

2285. An Old Plan For New People

Genesis 17:1-27

Sermon

Larry Powell

... already had a thirteen-year-old son, Ishmael, born of Hagar. To be sure, Ishmael was not timber for posterity, but God could surely see to that. "Let us do this thing through Ishmael," Abraham suggested. And God reiterated the lesson: No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an ever-lasting covenant for his descendants after him. (17:19) His eyes murky and grey, the light almost gone from them, I have a notion the old fellow ...

2286. When Ten Equals Two

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Larry Powell

... , the remaining six* (*Lutherans: Seven, the last two of which deal with coveting.) prescribe one’s service toward others: (5) honor your father and mother; (6) do not kill; (7) do not commit adultry; (8) do not steal; (9) do not bear false witness; (10) do not covet. Perhaps the hinge word here is respect. Without respect for parents, human life, neighbor, property, truth, and achievement, the second table is unintelligible. Lack of respect may be the result of, among other things, ignorance, arrogance ...

2287. The Pinwheel Spins

Genesis 2:4-25

Children's Sermon

Shirley Jennings

... can stay inside and make wind with our lungs. Where are our lungs? Inside us where we breathe. God has given us lungs with which to breathe and he’s given animals lungs with which to breathe. What animals do you think have lungs? Dogs, cows, horses, rabbits, bears - all of them do, don’t they. If you couldn’t breathe, what would happen to you? I’d die. Yes, breathing is a very important thing to do. Usually we breathe without even thinking about it, but one time that we think about breathing is when ...

2288. Should Christians Always Oppose War?

Romans 13:1-7

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer." (Verse 4) The Bible recognizes that if there were no enforcers of justice, chaos would prevail. The national ruler is clearly authorized to use force. The Bible says that "he does not bear the sword for nothing." (Verse 4) As an individual Christian, I am supposed to relate to other individuals with kindness rather than force. But if I am in the United States armed forces, acting under the command of the President, I become his means of ...

2289. Why Must We Carry A Cross?

Mark 8:31-38

Sermon

Brett Blair

... that we must suffer for Christ’s sake, that there are others in this world who suffer, and that ultimately we are responsible for the indignity and shame which Christ suffered upon the cross. But you have a choice. You can lay down the cross you have been given to bear and passively live your life with no challenges or you can take it up and be transformed, living for something greater than yourself. The choice is yours. But I adjure you. Take it Up! Take up your cross, come, and follow Him! Amen

2290. Christ is Our Light

John 3:1-21

Bulletin Aid

James Wilson

... in the shadows of our despair. You have opened the door for us to walk once again in Your love and yet we still elect to walk our sinful ways alone. Forgive us, Lord. In Christ we pray. Amen. Hymns "In The Garden" "Crown Him With Many Crowns" "Must Jesus Bear The Cross Alone?"

2291. Heaven on Earth

John 6:25-59

Sermon

Richard Patt

... in complete control of their lives. Lots of people are disabled in one way or another, but I wonder whether they are always "handicapped," as we say. As we typically go on judging books by their covers, we sometimes pigeonhole most disabled people as "bearing a burden" or "being a burden." In this respect we could all do well to hear the words of Father Bruce Biever, the former vice-president for university relations at Marquette University in Milwaukee. Just barely over fifty, Father Biever held a top job ...

2292. This Is Water

John 7:25-44

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... and Holy Communion. We need the preaching of the gospel. We need one another in Christian fellowship. Every congregation and denomination must experience an ongoing reformation of its forms, its ways and its means. We must always ask how our life as an organization is bearing witness to our existence as the living organism which Saint Paul calls the Body of Christ, the Church C-H-U-R-C-H. The only option to the organized church is a disorganized church, and that’s not a very good option. The church ...

2293. The Kingdom And The Seed

Mark 4:4-20; 30-32

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... that there are elements of all four kinds of soil in each of us. Thus, we should be more understanding and Christ-like in our treatment of people who are hard, shallow, or worldly. Those who are like good soil "hear the Word, accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and a hundredfold" (4:20). This faithful reception and production is at the very heart of the Kingdom of God. It means cooperation with our maker and cooperation with the productive elements of life all around us. It is God’s intention ...

2294. Divine Alka-Seltzer

Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

... the face of suffering, the only factor that keeps me from running and hiding again, are the baptisms that we have. At times the tales of woe which people share can almost make you laugh, for it is so hard to realize that one family or one individual can bear so much; but then you realize that their suffering is true, and you cry. People of faith seem to respond in one of two ways to the suffering of the world. The first way can be symbolized by a well-known commercial. [Drop two Alka-Seltzer tablets into a ...

2295. The Miracle of Re-Birth

John 3:1-21

Sermon

... of pure, unadulterated grace on God’s part. This rebirthing was completely his gift. God makes no bargain but offers the bronze serpent. Anyone who looks at it will live. The precise point of the gospel is that the continuing experiences of rebirth that God brings to bear in our lives are unearned gifts that cannot be repaid. It’s what makes the gospel so difficult for us to hear! - not even our acts of repentance not because of all our prayers not by going through a ritual of guilt not because of our ...

2296. My Soul Is Glad - Because of God

Luke 1:46-56

Sermon

... . At other times she became a symbol of self-conscious womanhood serving God’s purposes without dependence upon the reflected importance of a male figure. She symbolized a forerunner of liberation, of individual worth and importance. But the scriptural picture of Mary will not bear the load of either of these uses. She fills a more common but equally important role in all figures in scripture, as they celebrate and rejoice in God’s activity. She is one among many, in and through whom God’s purpose is ...

2297. Cultural Revolution or Spiritual Problem?

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

Daniel G. Mueller

... us (Psalm 56:2). John’s God-given purpose in life was to prepare the way of the Lord. He did that by preaching sin. John preached sin with enthusiastic abandon. He called the people who came out to him "vipers" and condemned their insincere religion. "Bear fruits that befit repentance!" he shouted. Don’t just say you are sorry for your sins. Show it! John’s goal in preaching sin so harshly was not to humiliate people, but rather to shake them out of the idolatry of believing in themselves and their ...

2298. Jesus Knows Everything! Jesus Is God!

John 1:43-51

Sermon

Daniel G. Mueller

... knew him, he confessed, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" Our Gospel lesson manifests Jesus Christ to us as true God because Jesus knows all things also, just as God does. In Hebrews we read that Jesus "reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of his nature" (Hebrews 1:3). Just as it is part of God’s nature to know everything, so it is also part of our Lord’s nature. Jesus knows everything. Jesus is God. Nathanael is not the only one who was ever impressed by the ...

2299. Who Does He Think He Is?

Mark 2:1-12

Sermon

Daniel G. Mueller

... of Jesus. Sydney, the psychiatrist, couldn’t do anything to change his mind about it. The soldier was so convinced in his delusion that Radar began to believe it too, and received a blessing for himself and for his teddy bear. The emperors of Rome delighted in calling themselves "god." Domitian, especially, was consumed with his divinity. An ancient historian recorded that it was dangerous to talk about the weather with Domitian. As "god" he considered himself personally responsible for the weather ...

2300. Service

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

Warren Thomas Smith

... who dream of high offices in the church, hear the words which Shakespeare gives to the dying Cardinal Wolsey: Farewell! a long farewell, to all my greatness! This is the state of man: to-day he puts forth The tender leaves of hopes; to-morrow blossoms And bears his blushing honours thick upon him; The third day comes afrost, a killing frost; And, when he thinks, good easy man, full surely His greatness is a-ripening, nips his root, And then he falls, as I do. I have ventured, Like little wanton boys that ...

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