Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 2326 to 2350 of 3160 results

Romans 12:9-21

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

As new Christian communities were established, the inclusiveness of the invitation meant that all sorts of different people, different backgrounds, regions, religions, found themselves joined together in their new common faith. These differences were genuine and deep-seated, making “community” life in these churches a challenge. Little wonder Paul spent much of his correspondence addressing the riffs among the factions within the faithful. In his ...

2327. Matthew 21:23-32

Matthew 21:23-27

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... are sunlight, moonlight, and tail lights. When Jesus finally arrived in Jerusalem, the center of Jewish religious life and the seat of power and prestige for the temple priests and Sanhedrin leaders, those religious authorities experienced Jesus like that sort of rude, overbearing houseguest. This itinerant preacher, a nobody from a nowhere place called Nazareth, first makes an entrance among hallelujahs and hosannas and gets the common people all riled up. Then this country bumpkin storms into the temple ...

2328. Whose Birthday Is It Anyway?

Matthew 24:36-51

Drama

Arley K. Fadness

... agreed to sell the two together. When the deal was done, the original owner said, “I sure tricked him. That bird couldn’t talk, it was only a ventriloquist mouse.” (Players cry as scene fades.) Narrator: All in all, it was a strange sort of place. Now on Jason’s birthday, as usual, the unusual happened. Jason’s grandparents came from their home across the state to visit and help celebrate. When they arrived in Jason’s neighborhood, they went immediately to the Browns’ house, down the street ...

2329. The Difference Between Getting and Giving

John 1:1-18

Drama

Arley K. Fadness

... completely confused him, and because of this confusion the old man had, on many occasions, been embarrassed about his lack of understanding. As the years passed, he finally stopped giving or receiving anything to avoid being ashamed in public. He had withdrawn into a sort of private loneliness that only a truly confused person can understand. At last, resolving to find out once and for all what giving and getting were all about, the old man set out on a long journey to consult those who had wisdom. (Old ...

2330. The Waiting Man

Mark 1:1-8

Drama

Arley K. Fadness

... , and I think it’s something pretty big. But he won’t tell me what it is. Spouse: Well, why should he tell you? Passerby: That’s what’s so weird. He told me he’s waiting for something really important. He kind of teased me, sort of baited me, and then left me hanging. Spouse: Huh. He is kind of smug looking, isn’t he? Passerby: Very suspicious, if you ask me. Spouse: Like he’s hiding something. (Passerby and Spouse nod. Person 1 and Person 2 approach carrying books.) Person 1: (excitedly ...

2331. Death Meets The Lord

Isaiah 25:6-9

Sermon

Ken Lentz

... of faith and a desire for peace that left the free world behind in the dust. But the wall came down! In the years since the "fall," the two peoples have become one again. The incarceration is a memory that belongs to the past. A rebirth, of sorts, has occurred. In Christ, a rebirth has already begun to turn the world into a future to which Christ calls and pulls us. After the devastating fires of the summer of 1988, many Americans thought that Yellowstone National Park would never be the same again. In ...

2332. Having Trouble Sleeping Through the Night

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

Sermon

William J. Carl, III

... 's movie, The Last Emperor, where the child is taken from his mother's arms to be the new emperor of China, so Hannah in tears gave up her only begotten child to the old priest Eli and his evil sons. Samuel served as a temple gopher, a page of sorts in a time when the word of the Lord was rare in the land. Like another boy child, David, called to take on a different kind of evil in his time, so little Samuel had no idea what he was getting himself into, that is, until he came to this ...

2333. God Never Gives Up on Us

1 Samuel 8:4-11 (12-15) 16-20, (11:14-15)

Sermon

William J. Carl, III

... faithful servant Samuel and saved him a lot of undue stress even though God knows the people could be making a mess of things by insisting on a king. What does God do instead? God simply let things take their own course by letting Samuel and his people sort it all out themselves. Here is another one of those early examples of the doctrine of free will where God gives us human beings room to maneuver. Theologians call it the permissive will of God. We get to choose between right and wrong and then suffer the ...

2334. Finding the Right House for God

2 Samuel 7:1-14a

Sermon

William J. Carl, III

... live uptown in nice digs while God is nearly homeless. It all makes sense. No wonder Nathan said, "Sounds like a great plan!" He said it in part because he knew that God had always been with David and "assumed" that meant that God was giving David all sorts of good ideas. Later in the story, when David comes on to Bathsheba, Nathan will realize that some of David's bright ideas came from his own sinfulness and had nothing to do with the Lord. But, that one was easy. It was outright murder and adultery. This ...

2335. Having a Good Name

Proverbs 1:20-33

Sermon

Donna Schaper

... the globe. Why are these places so far from us? Is our name just American or is it global? How do we protect a good global name? I shiver to think how much my contexts are at war with my creeds — and that I don't take the time to sort them through or to stand in their shade long enough to redecorate my living room — to know what I believe, what I think, who I think it with, and what I am going to do about it. I shudder to think that I am not thinking or seeing or knowing ...

2336. God Begins Anew

Jeremiah 31:31-34

Sermon

Robert A. Hausman

... of the cross in which God is not a spectator above the fray, but incarnate deeply within it. Sin and death are not dealt with by denial, optimism, or positive thinking, but by a life and death struggle that ends on a cross. God did not become some sort of ideal person, but the person we do not want to be: broken, outcast, and accursed. The cross is God in Christ being dehumanized, abandoned, and crucified for us. This is not some denial of the awful reality of our existence, but an embracing of it. The Son ...

2337. Making Beautiful Music

Illustration

Brett Blair

... , but whenever he tried to sing the music that was in his heart, it came out so badly that all his friends laughed at him. Next to singing, the boy loved to hear the violin. He had a pocketknife he always carried with him and he would whittle all sorts of things with it. One day Antonio learned that the greatest violin maker in all Italy, the great Nicolo Amati, lived in his village. Antonio began to whittle a violin and worked for many hours on it. When finished, the boy walked to the house of Amati, who ...

2338. Ignorance of the Bible

Illustration

Edward Farley

... content and structure of the great doctines, to two thousand years of classic works on the Christian life, to basic disciplines of theology, biblical languages and ethics? Why do bankers, lawyers, farmers, physicians, homemakers, scientists, salespeople, managers of all sorts, people who carry out all kinds of complicated tasks in their work and home, remain in a literalist, elementary school level in their religious understanding? How is it that high school age church members move easily and quickly into ...

2339. The Precious Cleanser

Luke 10:25-37

Illustration

Staff

... , however, found his victim to have only a little money and some Christian literature. As the bandit was leaving, Wesley called out, "Stop! I have something more to give you." The surprised robber paused. "My friend," said Wesley, "you may live to regret this sort of life. If you ever do, here's something to remember: 'The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin!'" The thief hurried away, and Wesley prayed that his words might bear fruit. Years later, Wesley was greeting people after a Sunday service ...

The moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meeting and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now.

Goethe

2341. Live and Love

Illustration

Staff

... pleasure they could because they believed that life was short and they would never have to pay any penalty. In one of the world's most famous poems, a poet of that time Catullus wrote, My sweetest Lesbia, let us live and love; And though the sager sort our deeds reprove, Let us not weigh them. Heaven's great lamps do dive Into their west, and straight again revive, But soon as once is set our little light, Then must we sleep one ever-during night. The poem encourages lovers to scorn the snide comments ...

2342. Where Do I Start?

Illustration

Staff

... him about three days to complete. But the hired man was finished in one day. The farmer set him to cutting wood, telling him it would require about 4 days. The hired man finished in a day and a half, to the farmer's amazement. The next task was to sort out a large pile of potatoes. He was to arrange them into three piles: seed potatoes, food for the hogs, and potatoes that were good enough to sell. The farmer said it was a small job and shouldn't take long at all. At the end of the day the ...

2343. Cancel Your Plans

Illustration

James Packer

... of the parallel of human friendship. When friends need to be together, they will cancel all other activities in order to make that possible. There's nothing magical about fasting. It's just one way of telling God that your priority at that moment is to be alone with him, sorting out whatever is necessary, and you have cancelled the meal, party, concert, or whatever else you had planned to do in order to fulfill that priority.

2344. Know What To Do by Habit

Illustration

Brett Blair & Will Willimon

In the little village of Le Chambon in France, the people, unlike others in France, hid their Jews from the Nazis. What sort of courageous, ethical heroes could risk all to do such extraordinary good? If we were to travel back in time and visit the people in the village, we would be overwhelmed by the ordinariness. They weren't heroes or exceptionally smart, discerning people. So why? Why were they so...compassionate? ...

2345. Pucker Up in the Morning

Illustration

Staff

... to 30 percent more monthly and they live about five years more than those who don't even give each other a peck on the cheek. The reason for this, says Dr. Sazbo, is that the kissers begin the day with a positive attitude. A kiss signifies a sort of seal of approval, offer Sazbo and his colleagues, and they believe, those who don't experience it, for whatever reason, go out the door feeling not quite right about themselves. Whether you give this study any credence or not, an au revoir kiss every morning can ...

2346. Monster Rehab

Matthew 23:1-39

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... and the laws of Moses. They labored to inject spiritual meaning into all everyday actions. The Pharisees insisted that the Sabbath be as separated as possible from the rest of the “work week.” They carefully calculated and itemized tithes for all sorts of holy and helpful reasons. Yet Jesus singled out their fastidious faithfulness as an example of “bad faith.” By taking the best intentions, the best qualities of piety and purity, and lashing them to nitpicking legalism, the Pharisaic mission became ...

2347. Character and Competence

Illustration

General H. Norman Schwarzkopt

... people, but they lacked character. I've also met a lot of leaders who had superb character but who lacked competence. They weren't willing to pay the price of leadership, to go the extra mile because that's what it took to be a great leader. And that's sort of what it's all about. To lead in the 21st century to take soldiers, sailors, airmen into battle you will be required to have both character and competence.

2348. Our Future Inheritance

Illustration

George Muller

The sort of clothes we wear, the kind of house we live in, or the quality of our furniture should not be the result of other people doing so or because it is customary among those with whom we associate. But whatever is done in these things in the way of self- ...

2349. All That God Intends

Illustration

James Packer

... that are confessed in faith and in keeping all the other promises God has made. Moral instability, vacillation, and unreliability are marks of weakness, not of strength: but God's omnipotence is supreme strength, making is impossible that he should lapse into imperfection of this sort. The positive way to say it is this: though there are things which a holy, rational God is incapable of intending, all that he intends to do he does. "Whatever the Lord pleases he does" (Ps. 135:6). As when he planned to make ...

2350. The Story of Sarah's Sorrow

2 Corinthians 7:10

Illustration

Max Lucado

... had six kitchens, thirteen bathrooms, forty stairways, forty-seven fireplaces, fifty-two skylights, four hundred sixty-seven doors, ten thousand windows, one hundred sixty rooms, and a bell tower. Why did Sarah want such a castle? Didn't she live alone? "Well, sort of," those acquainted with her story might answer. "There were the visitors..." And the visitors came each night. Legend has it that every evening at midnight, a servant would pass through the secret labyrinth that led to the bell tower. He would ...

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