Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 2326 to 2350 of 4884 results

John 11:17-37

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... first place, that God’s apparent silence is not to be construed as indifference. God’s greatest manifestations of power are always silent. The forces which hold the world and the planets in their orbits are the most powerful conceivable; and yet, these forces are perfectly silent. Consider the force of gravity that pulls all objects to the center of the earth. If an object has sufficient density to weigh a ton, there is a 2,000 pound pull on that object. Yet it operates in absolute silence. No one has ...

2327. The Forgotten Virtue

Philippians 2:1-11

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... not quote at least one or two of the proverbs from Poor Richard’s Almanac. But Ben Franklin once made a rather sad kind of mistake. It was a mistake that is common to many of us. He decided to adopt a system whereby he would achieve moral perfection. He listed twelve virtues on twelve pages of a book, with each page divided into seven columns. His system was to concentrate on a virtue for a week’s time and list, in each of the seven columns, the violations of that virtue that he had suffered during ...

2328.

Drama

David E. Ullery

... concerned with what you believe. You must know that Caiaphas will leave me little choice. Mary M.: But you must not forget that it is the custom to release a prisoner on the day of the Passover. I beg of you - release Jesus! Claudia: That is the perfect way, Pilate! Even the Sanhedrin would be powerless against the tradition. Mary M.: Then Jesus would be free to teach us of God. Pilate: Perhaps it would work. But I still think that I will be able to beat Caiaphas this time without using the custom. I admit ...

2329. THE MARRIAGE GAP

Genesis 2:4-25

Sermon

William McKee Aber

... , when I taught a marriage class, about what people would think of a book titled The Sexual Life of a Nun. I got all kinds of snappy answers such as "shortest book on record" and such. The fact of the matter is, however, that such a book would be perfectly legitimate - for a nun, and any other woman, who does have a sexual life in that her thinking, her emotions, her style of living, is that of a woman. There is a difference between the sexes, of which the physical difference is only a part, and with these ...

2330. God Isn’t Dead - Death Is Dead

Mark 16:1-20

Sermon

Charles L. Koester

... faster car, electric toothbrush and carving knife, and automatic washer freed us from a meaningless existence? I’ll never forget the former parishioner who came to my study on Christmas Eve in tears. All his life he had worked and striven to gain things, but now his perfect, personal world had gone to pot. A millionaire who said, "I’d give it all away to find meaning and purpose for life." There is another fellow of my acquaintance who came to church once a year. He would place a five dollar bill in the ...

2331. His Risen Hand Holds Ours

1 John 1:5--2:14

Sermon

Charles L. Koester

... bathroom. Yes, it’s hard to walk in the light if you’ve been kept up half the night caring for coughs. Sure, we question, doubt, and wonder about God’s marvelous light in Christ as we ponder man’s filthy mess made of God’s perfect world. Even we children of God’s light have life’s moments of tears and agony when we utter that cry of despondency and dereliction, "Why, God? Why?" Our physical life has no permanent and constant mountain tops. Highs, lows, and valleys are all there. We experience ...

2332. Everyone Has a Somebody

John 15:1-17

Sermon

Charles L. Koester

... love, home is just another name for hell. God’s love gave us life. He made us to enjoy his creation with him. If you built the most beautiful mansion in the world, what enjoyment would there be to walk through it alone, no one to share its beauty and perfection and thrill with you? God created us to share his glorious creation with him. But you know the rest as well as I. Created with a free will to return and respond to God’s love, we said, "No thank you, God. I’ll enjoy it all without you." Our ...

2333. John the Baptist

Drama

Charles L. Koester

... great. But as a lad in the Temple I could not help but wonder ... I heard the sounds, the piteous sounds of the sacrifice, the cry of the beasts and the fowl. Why? Why did God want all this? Why should the Creator of life want His most perfect creatures slain? It was wild and strange for me to see the sacrifice. The hot blood spurting, the sticky feathers, the tough hide scraped, the hacking, the plucking, the carving of the red meat. Often as I grew toward manhood, I wondered why my fathers were so large ...

2334. The Overlooked

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

Theodore L. Yewey

... her. Yet, even so, Mary remains one who trusts the wisdom of God. She trusted to such a degree that all who were immediately concerned in the situation also gave their trust to God. Moreover, Mary became, for all ages of women who would look to her, the perfect woman. The picture that we have of her is one of the ultimate personification of womanhood. We see her as daughter of the Almighty as a young woman - as a mother and a wife. And we see glimpses of her as a mature woman. One just cannot imagine ...

2335. Clean Light

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Sermon

William F. Dunkle

... join regularly in the ancient corporate confession, asking humbly to be forgiven for having "left undone those things which we ought to have done" and for having "done those things which we ought not to have done." Holiness of life is not restricted to perfect goodness, else none of us would have any hope of any sanctity. Nevertheless, it is always possible for Christians so to grow in their love for God that they simply lose interest in trivial sin, and surely in its grosser forms. Clearly this is ...

2336. Extended Light

1 Corinthians 7:29-31

Sermon

William F. Dunkle

... of time, measuring our days and being measured by them. We are still part of our God’s ongoing purposes and still expect their fulfillment. We lengthen and extend the Epiphany beam until all is light, looking with all the anticipations of our faith for the dawning of God’s perfect will in all things. To him be all our praise and glory!

2337. Unwavering Light

1 Corinthians 7:1-40

Sermon

William F. Dunkle

... of eschatology. While the second coming of Christ Jesus was awaited with eager gladness, it must also have produced much perplexity and, to be honest, a lot of fear. Ordinary people could not possibly handle a tremendous thing like that with perfectly easy, untroubled minds. You couldn’t. I couldn’t. So, like a good pastor, Saint Paul is addressing himself to his beloved congregation in Corinth about their real and actual concerns. He is writing, not about abstractions, but about the "nitty ...

2338. Identifying Light

1 Corinthians 9:1-27

Sermon

William F. Dunkle

... , John Wesley, could profoundly care about weavers and miners and potters, could go regularly into prisons and workhouses, could stand in drenching rain or shiver in biting cold to preach a saving gospel, only and because his identity with his Master was perfect and complete. Can ours be less? Not if we black out the Epiphany Star. The New York Times reported that when traffic lights were short-circuited in Times Square and somebody phoned the police, Headquarters referred the call to the Traffic Division ...

2339. Christmas: A Family Service

Drama

Ruthanne Cochran

... . Young Son: Bless all mothers and fathers and families all over the world. Young Daughter: Help us all to be kind and good. Older Son: Make us aware of others and the world around us. May the Star which led the wisemen guide all of us to the perfect light, so that someday there will be peace over all the earth. Father: When this joyous season is past, help our family to keep the spirit of Christmas. Fill our hearts at all times with love for each other, and with peace for our friends and strangers. Hear ...

2340. THE RECONCILED LIFE

Hebrews 9:11-28

Sermon Aid

John W. Rilling

... with you." All this was but a shadow of good things to come. For on Good Friday our Lord entered, once for all, into the Holy Place, taking not the imperfect, unwillingly surrendered blood of an animal substitute, but his own precious blood. That perfect, willing sacrifice avails for the purging of the conscience from dead works to serve the living God. There is a fountain filled with blood Drawn from IMMANUEL’S VEINS: And sinners, plunged beneath that flood, Lost all their guilty stains. 3. HAVE YOU ...

2341. Commanded By Example

John 13:31-38

Sermon

O. Garfield Beckstrand, II

... message was that faith in God, love, freedom, and brotherhood among people would revolutionize the world. How strange that 1,800 years later Karl Marx proclaimed that strife, rigid control over human lives, and a godless philosophy would give the world the perfect society. During these Lenten Sunday mornings we want to think together about some of those things Jesus told his disciples in that "Upper Room" on the last night of his earthly life. His instructions were so important that all four Gospels report ...

2342. Advent 3: Let Us Go Over To Bethlehem And Find The Peace of Christmas

Luke 2:8-20

Sermon

James W. Moore

... above them, they took it as a sign from God that they should drop their weapons and be reconciled. They would drop their animosities and embrace one another under the mistletoe. When the missionaries moved into northern Europe they saw this mistletoe custom as a perfect symbol for what happened to the world at Christmas. At Christmas a new age dawned, it was a time of peace, a time of healing, a time of reconciliation, a time for embracing one another. If you want to have a “peace-full” Christmas, go ...

2343. Advent 4: Let Us Go Over To Bethlehem And Find The Christ of Christmas

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

James W. Moore

... ... the hall was rented... the decorations were in place and they were terrific... the food was prepared... and it looked sumptuous. The entertainment was rehearsed and ready. The friends were all gathered and excited. The lights and sound were set to perfection. Then suddenly, they realized something. Everything had been taken care of in splendid fashion... except one thing. They had quite simply forgotten the single most important thing... they had forgotten to invite the guest of honor... so they had the ...

2344. Advent 1: Let Us Go Over To Bethlehem And Find The Faith of Christmas

Luke 2:15-20

Sermon

James W. Moore

... da Vinci received their inspiration from Him. Jesus wrote no poetry, but Dante, Milton, and scores of the world’s greatest poets were inspired by Him. Jesus composed no music; still Haydn, Handel, Beethoven, Bach, and Mendelssohn reached their highest perfection of melody in the hymns, symphonies, and oratorios they composed in his praise. Every sphere of human greatness has been enriched by this humble carpenter of Nazareth. Precisely! The gift of Christ… no question about it… that is the best ...

2345. Prepare The Way

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

Brett Blair

... .. His godly life was a legend. It was he whom Wesley had designated as the successor to lead the Methodist people in the event of his death. But it Fletcher who died first and John Wesley preached his funeral. He referred to Fletcher as the perfect man. Historians comment on the amazing impact of his goodness. There is no answer to that kind of life. Some years ago a communist newspaper reporter was conducting an in depth study of a Roman Catholic order of Nuns working in Paris. The hard bitten reporter ...

2346. Commitment Before the Lord

Mark 1:1-8

Bulletin Aid

James Wilson

... : For the voice of God fills our ears with its beauty and strength. Leader: Let us lift our voices in praise for God's kindness and mercy! All: Blessed be the name of the Lord! Collect Almighty and merciful God, in Jesus we saw a life of perfect commitment. Even when faced with danger, from His baptism to the cross, Jesus never strayed from Your will. Help us to be faithful, Lord. In Christ we pray. Amen. Prayer Of Confession Lord, when we first placed ourselves into Your loving care we knew Your Spirit's ...

2347. Back To Basics: The Three R's of Baptism

Mark 1:1-8, Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

Brett Blair

... All over the world Baptism unites us. It also brings us back to the basics. Perhaps in our lifetime the most public statement of repentance was that of President Bill Clinton's. The one he made before a Prayer Breakfast on September 10, 1998. He summed up the task perfectly when he said, "I don't think there is a fancy way to say that I have sinned." Then he quoted from a book given him by a Jewish friend in Florida. The book is called "Gates of Repentance." Clinton read this passage from the book: "Now is ...

2348. Making A Christian

Mark 1:9-13, Mark 1:1-8

Drama

Robert F. Crowley

... . BILL: (EVERYTHING WITH A LOW TONE) Am I ready yet? SAM: Pretty much. One thing though. BILL: What one thing? SAM: You've got to be more spiritual. Here, fold your hands like this. (AN EXAGGERATED PRAYER POSTURE) BILL: (FOLLOWING TEACHER) I've got it. SAM: Good. Perfect. Now you're ready. BILL: I am? SAM: Yes, of course. BILL: Well, I do feel different. SAM: Believe me, you look different too. BILL: Now what do I do? SAM: Go harvest a crop. BILL: Harvest? SAM: Why, yes, of course. You're ready. Go witness ...

2349. Demon Drop

Mark 1:21-28

Drama

Robert F. Crowley

... trained to do. NIGITH: I know. I know. But listen to this plan. DARK LORD: Very well, but it better be worthwhile. NIGITH: Oh, it is a worthwhile plan, my Prince. I am going to wait for a short season, then I am going back to my human. He is perfect for my purposes. He studies the holy scrolls every day. Then when I take possession of my human again I will take along some of my strongest friends. I will be their leader. Some friends like Oonat, who promotes pride so well, and Atak, who specializes in self ...

2350. Astonishing!

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

Brett Blair

... top and pushed off a ten-pound and a one-pound weight. Both landed at the same instant. The power of belief was so strong, however, that the professors denied their eyesight. They continued to say Aristotle was right. I believe that this illustrates perfectly what is going on in the world today. You could show the terrible ravaging effects of AIDS and people will have promiscuous sex anyway. You can show someone a diseased liver and cancerous lungs and people are going to abuse alcohol and smoke regardless ...

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