Sermon and Worship Resources

Synonyms: Levi, disciple, evangelist, tax collector, the 12, the twelve, apostle, sermon on the mount, jewish audience, beatitudes, lord's prayer, great commission, parables, olivet discourse, mount of olives, olivet, synoptic

Showing 2326 to 2350 of 3314 results

2326. The 6 Words that Can Save Your Life

Philippians 4:2-9

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Can they? In this week’s epistle reading, Paul offers to the congregation at Philippi a road map to a new kind of existence—-an existence free from anxiety, a life free from worry and gnawing doubt, a life filled and fulfilled by what the apostle called “the peace of God which passes all understanding.” How do we reach that divine destination? How do we get such a “garth?” It only takes six words—-three couplets give precise directions to this place of peace. Are you ready? Here they are. Here ...

2327. Discipleship: The Beauty and the Cross

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... discipleship, as evidenced by the simplicity of Simeon, Anna, Joseph, and Mary, must be our model. Following Jesus is not an easy road; it is the road less traveled, but then the Lord never promised his followers a garden path. On the contrary, he told his apostles (Matthew 10:22) that they would be hated for their belief in him, but those who persevered would find everlasting life. As the beauty of the Christmas season continues to unfold, and we marvel at the gift of Jesus, let us reconsider our role as ...

2328. A Clock or a Compass?

Mark 1:9-15

Sermon

David T. Ball

... to get excited about the idea that a new heaven and a new earth are taking the place of the old ones. Since the new ones didn’t replace the old ones during Jesus’ lifetime, which it appears he sincerely and eagerly anticipated, as did the Apostle Paul, nor during the subsequent 2,000 years of human history, we have a hard time “keeping faith” in this aspect of the gospel message, that the kingdom of God is at hand. Time to reach for our compasses. Consider the possibility that this passage has ...

2329. Ashes for Remembering

Joel 2:1-2, 12-17

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... in the New Testament to the kingdom of God (or the kingdom of heaven) are about the day of the Lord. Remember, Jesus started most of his parables with, "The kingdom of God is like...." Acts 1:3 says that Jesus' last forty days on earth were spent teaching his apostles about the kingdom of God. The one to whom we belong is the Lord of all. That makes all the difference in the world — both in this world and the next. We live in but we are not of this world. We Christians are supposed to be a colony of ...

2330. The Author Who Wipes Away Sins

Acts 3:12-19

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... We are called, not only to receive these gifts of grace from the author of life, but to witness to others about their availability. Peter puts it this way, "God raised him [Jesus] from the dead. To this we are witnesses" (Acts 3:15). Peter and all the apostles were eyewitnesses to the resurrection. Today, we are not eyewitnesses in the same sense as Peter and the others were, but we are called to witness to the ultimate truth that Jesus is Lord, that people may know the author of life and find wholeness and ...

2331. From Silence to Sight

Job 42:1-6, Job 42:7-17

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

... s experiences showed him that bad things do happen to good people, our own experiences tell us that real life tragedies rarely turn out the way Job's did. Very seldom are we left better off than before the calamities struck. Life is not always fair. That's why the Apostle Paul says in effect, "I've learned to accept the fact that life isn't fair, and that's okay. I'm serving God, not my circumstances. I've learned how to play the cards that life has dealt me." When playing card games, each person is dealt a ...

2332. Write to the Heart

Jeremiah 31:31-34

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

... . Radical changes of heart have brought about reformations throughout the history of the church. Two millennia after Jeremiah, Martin Luther became an unyielding prophet in his own time, having his heart changed as he experienced God in a personal way. The Apostle Paul's life-changing experience had occurred on the road to Damascus, and Luther's first life-changing encounter came during a violent thunderstorm while on the road to Erfurt. A lightning bolt struck much too close for comfort, knocking Luther ...

2333. An Exquisite Attitude of Gratitude

Ephesians 1:15-23

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... and life. Each one of us is designed to be a Stradivarius, “vibrating strings of energy,” as super-string physicists would have it, a stringed instrument on which Jesus plays symphonies of love and passionate operas of truth. And the Nessun Dorma of Paul the Apostle, unlike the Nessun Dorma of Puccini via Paul Potts, goes like this: “I am persuaded that neither death nor life . . . nor rulers . . .nor powers . . . nor any thing else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in ...

2334. The Outstretched Arms

John 19:28-37, John 19:17-27

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... , and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He defeats his enemies without raising a hand against them, and he saves them from their sin by turning the other cheek and by accepting, on their behalf, whatever wounds they might choose to inflict upon him ... In Christ, the Apostle Paul proclaims, God reconciles the world to himself. In Christ, God exposes his tender and vulnerable heart to us. Not only is the cross God's answer to evil; it reveals the very heart of God. It is God's own way of turning the other ...

2335. The First Christmas Card

Philippians 4:4-9

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... to one another about their impressions? This same spirit of joy should dominate our returns from visiting the Christ child and should permeate all Christmas greetings. Romans 5:11 reads,"We also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ." The last night Christ spent with his apostles he said: "I shall see you again, and your hearts will be full of joy, and that joy no one shall take from you."Or, as Paul wrote to the church at Colossae, "Nor let any one cheat you of your joy in Christ" (Phillips). Taking ...

2336. Has He Appeared to You?

1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... dimensions of our being. Working from a fixed center always lends strength and flexibility to the rest of any structure. Jesus' appearance began with a central core, his twelve disciples. It slowly branched out - to the 500, to the new apostles, and finally to the irascible Paul himself. This process continues today as Christ appears to each of us in our own experiences with the risen Lord. His presence may then be reproduced through the physical, psychological, interpersonal, institutional and ecological ...

2337. When a Church Should Go to Hell

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Sunday of mumbled, meaningless "Peace be with you's" in their book, Christ's Suburban Body (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1970).But Bailey and McElvaney are not just prescribing shock therapy. Their recommendation is carefully considered and theologically based. Where does the Apostle's Creed tell us Christ went those three days before the resurrection? To hell. As the continuing presence of Christ's body on earth, where should the church go in order to find the neediest souls, those farthest from God and ...

2338. Christ the Snake

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... vaccine is formed (l5). Paul has already received this inoculation. Without the pall of death hanging over him, Paul could joyously engage in his "ministry of reconciliation." Paul continues God's process of like curing like when this obstinate, obstreperous, sometimes downright obnoxious apostle seeks to bring the news of God's reconciling love to a church community that can match Paul's personality quirk by quirk. All of 2 Corinthians is thus a paradox in itself. It shows this very one who has caused so ...

2339. What's Your Drink?

Isaiah 43:16-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... in charge of distributing this libation of "living water." So generous a host is the Holy Spirit, however, that Christians are sometimes mistaken for drunkards. That was the conclusion of those who observed the first Pentecost. So filled were the apostles with this living water, they were thought to be drunk. The celebrated British evangelical preacher Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, in one of his less celebrated sermons, noted how understandable this confusion was. People under the influence of alcohol exhibit in ...

2340. Terminator 3

Acts 9:1-20

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... form. Christ's transforming love empowers us in the same way. We become vehicles for that love, and like Saul, we too are charged with "carrying" Christ-the-Good-News out into the world. Under the power of Christ's love, Saul becomes the apostle Paul, perhaps the single most influential figure in the history of the church. Simon Peter became a vehicle to move the church itself into the future, safeguarding its integrity and welfare. Are there "terminators" in your church? Individuals who live to disrupt any ...

2341. Unum Humanum

John 17:20-26

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... image of what might be if the church can witness through its own oneness to the rest of the world: So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.

2342. Are You on the Gospel Side?

Colossians 3:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... together and running over." Shelby uses the theme "Gospel Measure With Leftovers" to illustrate how "Gospel measure is about extravagance, prodigality and profusion. Gospel measure is the Psalmist singing, 'Thou anointest my head with oil/My cup runneth over.' It is the apostle Paul proclaiming, 'O, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God....For from him, and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.' Gospel measure is the hillsides burnished with a golden carpet ...

2343. Doorkeepers, Lampkeepers and Wisdomkeepers

Luke 13:22-30

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... God has sent many lampkeepers to us, individuals whose words and wisdom will enable us to illuminate the other doors and side passages that ultimately lead to the Christ. The church calls these beacons the fathers and mothers, saints, apostles and martyrs of the faith. Native Americans use a broader, richer description for all these faithful lampholders. They are the "wisdomkeepers." Throughout the many different Native American tribal traditions, there runs the common concept of the "medicine man" - or ...

2344. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

1 Thessalonians 5:12-28

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... the Thessalonians is both a general address to disciples about proper Christian attitudes and actions as well as a pointed message for a particular Christian community. Strong echoes of both Philippians and Romans are heard in Paul’s general words. But as the apostle trims and tailors his reasoning to fit the needs of these particular disciples, Paul cautions the Thessalonian church to remain open to the words and work of the Spirit. This week’s text opens with three emphatic directives. But it is the ...

2345. The Truly Human Christ

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Illustration

Donald B. Strobe

... gave rise to the heresy of "Docetism," from the Greek dokeo which means "to seem." This heresy taught that Jesus never had any real human body, but just sort of flitted over the earth like a ghost. It is interesting to note that in the familiar "Apostles' Creed" the phrase "born of the Virgin Mary" was inserted in the first place not to emphasize the word "virgin," but rather to emphasize the word "born." Lest you think that this theological debate is long, long ago and far away, may I hasten to suggest ...

2346. Keep the Stars in Your Eyes

Ephesians 1:3-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... unexamined, headlong spiritual search, unencumbered and thus unguided by any institutional boundaries, is bound to result in some spectacular hoaxes. The world is awash in a host of counterfeit spiritualities. A culture on a soul train is bound to get derailed. The apostle Paul also found himself living in frenetically "spiritual" times. Recall that he began his sermon on Mars Hill with these words: "Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious...." But the Athenians were caught up in idol ...

2347. Holy Hocus-Pocus!

Mark 13:1-31

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

2348. Hear the Vision?

1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20)

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

2349. The One and Only Original Sin

1 Peter 3:18-22

Sermon

Leonard Sweet