Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 2276 to 2300 of 2844 results

2276. A Time for Us

Ephesians 1:3-14

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

In the musical, West Side Story, Leonard Bernstein's modern paraphrase of Romeo and Juliet, Tony and Maria, the two lovers, confidently sing that there will be "a time for us," a time when their day for true love will arrive, a time when all the pieces will fit together, a time when the fulfillment they dream of will be realized, a time when human life will make sense, a time when the mysteries and questions will be resolved, a time when they will have the confidence they have not lived and loved in vain. ...

2277. Let God Do the Rest

Ephesians 3:14-21

Sermon

Richard Gribble

Once there was a boy who loved to look at the birds of the air, the flowers of the field, and the clear blue sky. These delighted him and he spent the majority of his time outside wandering about the countryside. One day he saw a crowd of people gathered and as he drew closer he saw that they were listening to a man. He was not sure what it was, but there was something magnetic about this man that drew the boy closer. He sat down on the grass and listened to what the man said. Never in his life had he ...

2278. Jesus Is the Recipe for Eternal Life

Ephesians 4:25-5:2

Sermon

Richard Gribble

Scientists tell us that if you take six molecules of carbon dioxide and combine it with twelve molecules of water, then add light, the result will be one molecule of glucose sugar, six molecules of oxygen, and six molecules of water. This process, known as photosynthesis, makes the world as we know it possible. Carbon dioxide, which is exhaled by all mammals, is converted into oxygen which allows us to breathe. Plants, which use this photosynthesis process, make our world possible. But, photosynthesis ...

2279. This Little Light of Mine

John 1:1-18

Sermon

King Duncan

We’re getting closer to Christmas. Our boys and girls are excited about the presents they will be receiving. Maybe some of us adults are excited, too. I don’t know if you heard about a mother and daughter who were shopping at the mall. The mother spied an expensive fur coat. “This year,” she said, “I think that I will buy my own present instead of making you and dad shop for me.” Her daughter nodded in agreement. “And I think this fur coat would be perfect,” the mother concluded. The daughter began to ...

2280. Discipleship: The Beauty and the Cross

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

Richard Gribble

Once upon a time a bowl was born. It was not much of a birth — no long months of planning and no great anticipation, no patient shaping under loving hands. Scarcely a thought went into the creation of this little bowl. The quick impersonal movement of a few machines and a trip through a hot oven was all it took for him to be created. There was really nothing to look at, no warmth and no beauty. He was shipped off to a store to be sold. One day this bowl was purchased, not because he was beautiful, but ...

2281. Where Are You From?

John 18:1-19:42

Sermon

David T. Ball

Whenever we travel, we come into contact with new people. Often these interactions remain basic and simple, with us exchanging just the bare minimum of information necessary to complete our interaction, like when checking in for a flight. "Good morning, traveling to San Francisco today?" "Yes." "May I see your photo ID?" "Sure." "Any baggage to check?" "Yes, two pieces." "Two pieces." "Yes." "Okay, you're all set. Departure is from gate sixteen, and boarding begins in fifteen minutes." "Thank you." This ...

2282. False Prophets

Deuteronomy 18:14-22

Sermon

Schuyler Rhodes

What is a prophet, anyway? The Oxford English Dictionary says that a prophet is "one who speaks for God." Actually the definitions and their roots go on for most of a whole page, but the "one who speaks for God" sums it up as far as we are concerned. Now let me ask you if you have ever known anyone who speaks for God? It seems a pretty tall order, doesn't it? Indeed, we often will look at someone askance who merely speaks for other people, let alone God. You've likely heard it before. "So and so said ..." ...

2283. Doing a New Thing

Isaiah 43:18-25

Sermon

Schuyler Rhodes

Robert liked new things. He was one of those personalities who sought out new experiences and new approaches to life. He thrived on things different and new. He really couldn't help it. It was just the way he was. He was amazing. He would buy tickets to concerts by musicians he had never heard of, just so he could hear something new. If there was a new restaurant in town, particularly of an ethnic slant he hadn't experienced, he'd go there opening day for lunch. Robert was forever rearranging his apartment ...

2284. Chocolate Cake, Flooded Waters, and Baptism

Genesis 9:8-17

Sermon

Ron Lavin

There was a man, let's call him Rod, who was a fine woodworker. He made cabinets, tables, and mantels for family, friends, and fellow church members. One day his pastor asked him to come to his house and reconstruct a cabinet over his new refrigerator. The new refrigerator was taller than the old one. Rod agreed. When he came to do the work his pastor and his pastor's wife were not at home. They had given him a key to get in. Why not? Rod was the former president of the congregation, a man to be trusted, a ...

2285. Dusting Off Our Gratitude

Joel 2:21-27

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

In the Deep South there is a most unusual monument paying homage to, of all things, the boll weevil. Enterprise, Alabama, is known as "Weevil City" for this unusual tribute to a devastating pest. In its spoof news commentary, Comedy Central has featured this thirteen-foot statue of a woman holding a huge black weevil over her head. Once when vandals removed the weevil from the statue's arms, Comedy Central captioned the news segment reporting this event as "See No Weevil."1 Carl Sandburg and Brook Benton ...

2286. Power Failures and Power Surges

Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Is this a great parable, or what? All of Jesus’ parables are like depth-charges, but this one seems to give off a dazzling display of fireworks when it explodes. The power of Jesus’ parables is that even though they were all set in the first century world, they have perfect twenty-first century pitch, both in terms of resonance and relevance. Granted, today’s parable talks about strange wedding traditions, midnight processions, a late bridegroom, and nearly a dozen dozing bridesmaids, but the whole ...

2287. In the Wrong Place?

Mark 1:1-8

Illustration

King Duncan

Many years ago a pastor was invited to preach at a nearby country church he had never been to before. As he set out he was uncertain which road to take since most rural roads are not clearly marked and the directions he had been given left something to be desired. He stopped to ask directions along the way. The person he asked tried, but mistakenly steered him down the wrong road. The morning was pleasant and although the road seemed a little longer than the pastor had expected, he cheerfully continued on ...

2288. A Womb With a View

Mark 8:31-38

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Lent often employs a "journey" motif, sending Jesus'' disciples towards Jerusalem and Golgotha. This week's theme reminds us that if we faithfully intend to follow Christ, we must be willing to step outside the door. We must be willing to leave our safe sanctuaries, our "wombs with a view" and risk entering the world naked and vulnerable, clad only in our faith. Mark portrays Jesus spending a good deal of his time and energy on the trip to Jerusalem preparing his disciples for what lay ahead. But each of ...

2289. A Postmodern Coat of Crayola Colors

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Does our faith enable us to face forward in life - or do our doubts and fears keep us looking backwards over our shoulders, expecting the worst to befall us? This week we consider what message we send to the world when our faith is so fragile that we cannot even trust God to be with us. Like the disciples, sadly we, too, lack a daily trust in God's continued presence in our lives. Despite the fact that we are supposedly a Pentecost people, living with the knowledge of the resurrected and risen Christ's ...

2290. The Christian's Walking-Stick

Mark 6:7-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

If "words are the bugles of social change" it is time for the church to trumpet a different tune than "planning" and "programming." Today's church is called to rediscover the spirited discipline (i.e., "walking stick") of preparedness. In 1989 President Bush challenged the community of public educators to join with him in rescuing our failing system of teaching our children. By 1991 neither the national governing bodies, nor the local educators had yet agreed on what kinds of measurements (tests, programs ...

2291. When You Think You're Finished, That's When God Starts

Jeremiah 31:7-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

"What hands are too strong for you?" In this past/coming year, what hands have been/will be too strong for you? Are you in God's hands? If so, no hands are stronger than God's hands. The texts this week talk about God's enduring strength and give us reasons for believing in God's absolute ability to take care of us - come what may. If the exponential explosion of self-help groups is any indication, it appears that we have become fascinated by and fixated on defining and exposing the weakened, painful, ...

2292. Rags and Robes

Micah 1:1-7; 2:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Disciples of Jesus Christ are in the business of making rags into robes. We need to clothe people with integrity (a robe) even when they are dressed in rags. In the "affluent '80s" the rich got richer at a rapacious rate, while our increasingly stratified society saw the poor get much poorer at an equally alarming speed. Slowly, we became aware that our economic system was producing a growing underclass that had nowhere to go, nowhere to live except the streets. Even the most career-obsessed, social- ...

2293. Give Us a Break

2 Thessalonians 2:1-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

When was the last time you took a "breather" from all those distractions that claim to be the most important concerns in life? Take a break from the din and listen instead to the voices of biblical and church tradition - our true "sponsor" whose words we should heed, despite the cacophony of advertising that tries to dissuade us from the tradition. Remember when television shows were regularly interrupted by a velvet-voice announcing, "And now a word from our sponsors"? From there the programming moved ...

2294. Chutes or Ladders

Mark 9:2-9

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Jesus offers not the "Ladder of Success" but the "Chute of Service." Remember when you were little? When you were too small and young to do certain jobs or chores around the house? How exotic, exciting and enticing those tasks appeared. If only you were big enough to run the vacuum cleaner! To push the lawn mower! To wash the really high windows! Two-year-olds love to get pint-sized brooms and mops and sweepers acting out all the work that goes along with them. But somehow the allure fades fast. Then, as ...

2295. Mission Impossible

Mark 11:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Impossible missions cannot be accomplished alone: God needs us, and we need God. Ever broken an arm or a hand, a leg or a finger? Then you know how hard it suddenly becomes to do even the simplest tasks. Ever try to tie your shoe with one hand? Or open a jar with one hand? Or fold a shirt with one hand? Things we are used to performing with utter ease using two hands become agonizingly slow and take all our concentration when only one is available. Even then, the results are sloppy and embarrassing. Some ...

2296. A Go-Ahead God

Mark 16:1-8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

God goes ahead of us even to the point of death to roll away those stones that are blocking us from life. As kids we quickly learned that there were two basic types of situations we might find ourselves in at any time. There were the "me-first!" situations. If we had lots of brothers and sisters to contend with, of course, sibling rank usually determined which "me" actually got to be "first." "Me first" was a screech we learned to utter when ice cream was brought out, the pony rides came into view, someone ...

2297. The Ultimate Soul Food

John 6:24-35

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Jesus has two major metaphors for himself-Bread and Water: "Bread of Life" and "Living Water." For the Christian, the #1 soul food is bread and water. What makes bread come alive, what turns juice into wine, is YEAST. There is a Kudzu cartoon that shows the preacher reading from the pulpit the Lord's Prayer: "Give us this day our daily....low-fat, low-cholesterol, salt-free bread ..." The last frame has him saying to himself, "I hate these modern translations." Despite such modern translations, despite new ...

2298. When Too Much Can Be Too Little

Mark 10:17-31

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Our parents complained that "the world is going to hell in a hand basket." It's closer to the truth to say that "the world is going to hell in a shopping cart." Your soul not to mention your budget is in mortal danger as you approach the grocery store checkout lane. You say, "How?" You've carefully filled your cart with the needed items outlined on your list. You patiently wait in line, always seeming to pick the one that's slowest. Yet somehow, by the time the checker begins tallying up the items in your ...

2299. The Widow's Might

Mark 12:38-44

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

How do you measure life? In worldly weights and measures like dollars and cents, or using spiritual scales of love, service and friendship? In our local supermarket, there are several different candy counters. A big display of all the old favorites greets you just as you turn your cart into the first aisle. At the opposite end of the store is half a wall of bulk candy big packages for big families or big sweet tooths. There are racks of typical "movie candies" at the video rental desk. Finally, there is ...

2300. The Ride of Your Life

1 Peter 1:17-23

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

With Jesus in charge, you get a white-water-rafting kind of experience throughout life not a dull float downstream, but a hang-onto-your-hat exhilarating, get-wet ride. Jesus offers us a life-substance, not a lifestyle. How much do you have invested in your "lifestyle"? This "investment" counts not only the money, time, energy and enthusiasm spent, but also the satisfaction gained. Think you aren't "rich and famous" enough to have a "lifestyle"? (Ever watch "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous"?) Think again ...

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