Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 2351 to 2375 of 4884 results

John 10:1-21

Sermon

George Bass

... it is supremely in his death, and his resurrection, that we know him to be our Lord, our deliverer, and our hope, simply because he is the Good Shepherd. He has claimed us for God, and he will never let us go. As Christians, it is (or ought to be) perfectly clear to us that we can, and ought to, do some of the things that he did while he lived physically on the earth. I remember some lines from a poem: And if I said "I love Thee, Lord," He would not heed my spoken word, Because my daily life ...

2352. On His Way

Matthew 21:1-11

Sermon

Larry Powell

... a course from which he will not be moved. There is another possibility. Arrow-points were frequently made of flint, and consequently, an arrow was commonly referred to as a flint. If Isaiah had in mind a servant who would follow a determined course as perfectly as an arrow seeking its mark, he had indeed captured the spirit of Christ. At any rate, the upshot of the phrase bespeaks of resolve and singleness of purpose. Let us say it again: "He could have turned back at Jericho, or Bethpage, or Bethany ...

2353. Man Of Sorrows

Isaiah 52:13--53:12

Sermon

Larry Powell

... drawn, but whatever was to be done must, in the end, be dispatched with some semblance of respectability. Simply put, two things would be required: (1) a go-between, and (2) an execution, carried out under the guise of legality. Judas was the perfect front man. No need to employ an opportunist to fabricate a damaging rumor. No need to resort to character assassination in order to convince the people that hypocrisy was being committed against their own law. An inside job would do nicely. Simply dignify ...

2354. Advent: Lament, Repent

Isaiah 63:7--64:12

Sermon

Richard L. Eslinger

... to the editor. The issues may be abortion, the inclusive lectionary, or homosexuality, But the underlying issue is that each side sees itself as oppressed. They are righteous, and the opposition is the enemy. The writers of those letters express Isaiah’s frustration perfectly. God will come down in judgment on those who mock God, and the sooner the better! In the church, too, there are enemies who deserve the wrath of God. We also have more personal enemies: those who persist in attacking us. Sometimes ...

2355. Good News, Release, and Comfort

Isaiah 61:1-11

Sermon

Richard L. Eslinger

... we can proclaim release? Maybe if we consider the themes of our Christmas celebration, some of those captivities will become clear. Whatever else, Christmas will be a feast day. After the presents, first come the smells and then the big meal. Ham baked to perfection, mounds of whipped potatoes, those special rolls, and the magnificent pies. A symbol of the family holding festival. But for some of us, a sign of captivity; a habit of too much food all the time. A habit may be born of insecurity or deprivation ...

2356. How To Be Used By God

1 Samuel 16:14-23

Sermon

Roger Prescott

... a special study lamp which gave just the right amount of light. After supper he would put on his slippers, adjust the lamp, set up his book rest, place the books in the book rest, and sit down in the big chair. With everything then perfectly adjusted - he would peacefully fall asleep! (From Gerald Kennedy, somewhere.) We need to prepare well, but dare not get too comfortable in the doing of that preparation. It’s interesting that the one skill which brought David to King Saul’s attention was probably a ...

2357. Luther of Wittenberg

Drama

Michael L. Sherer

... a head. You see, Karl, there’s a war raging inside of me. I feel as though God doesn’t like me very much. I don’t blame anyone except myself - I know I’m just a stinking bag of worms where he’s concerned. I’m so far from perfection, it’s a wonder he takes time for me at all. Sometimes I think it’s harder for a German to be a Christian. We’re such a hard-headed, super-stubborn race, it takes us twice the energy and effort to confess our sins. So that’s why I ...

2358. What Would We Do Without Friends?

Mark 2:1-12

Sermon

Brett Blair

... cook called Tony over and said, “Hey, are you some kind of preacher or something.” “Yes, I am,” Tony said. Then the cook, with a sneer in his voice, said, “What kind a church do you belong to?” Tony said he had one of those moments when the perfect word comes to you. He said, “I belong to a church that throws birthday parties for prostitutes in three in morning.” The cook looked at him and said, “No you don’t. No you don’t. Cause if you did I would go to that church.” Wouldn’t we ...

2359. Why Must We Carry A Cross?

Mark 8:31-38

Sermon

Brett Blair

... are some who never see that. They identify with the Christ on the cross, rather than the Rembrandt in the crowd. That haunting old Negro spiritual gives the refrain “Were you there when they crucified my Lord.” The emphasis is on the you. If we were to be perfectly honest, we would have to answer yes, I was there. Yes, I had a role in this. It is only as we come to that understanding that we can then sing the last part of the hymn: Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Some would respond ...

2360. What’s Happened To My Dear Old Church?

Mark 7:1-23

Sermon

Richard Patt

... is maintaining that religion in worship must finally be completed in our lives. The ritual and liturgy we practice are, after all, the symbols and energizing force for what needs to happen in the Christian’s daily life. The crosses on our altars are a perfect example. Before we started using golden crosses, don’t forget, there was first a wooden cross - an authentic beam literally staked down-to-earth, into the ground. On that cross the Man of Nazareth hung his own body. In his body he truly suffered as ...

2361. Return to Glory

Mark 7:31-37

Sermon

Richard Patt

... person you can take away from the crowd and touch. One friend, one relative, one person of another race, one Christian outside your own denomination; and with that person you can he together, and speak, and hear each other, and heal one another, and have a perfectly marvelous return to glory! The word "Communion" is very similar to the word "communication." Right now we are about to come to the Holy Communion. As we eat and drink, we will take up our mission to communicate - to share, to touch, to be at one ...

2362. Religion in Focus

Mark 8:27-30

Sermon

Richard Patt

... presses us with these questions, as he did his own disciples in the Bible reading. II Well, thank God, the whole purpose of the Bible is to bring Jesus Christ into focus so that we know exactly who he is. In the reading here, Peter gave the perfectly-focused answer when he said of Christ, "You are the Messiah" (verse 29b). That was the answer, and it was a good one. But obviously, in its brevity - one word, really - it needs to be explained. Messiah! Throughout the ages mankind has needed and has longed for ...

2363. Do Children Like You?

Mark 10:13-16

Sermon

Richard Patt

... . The goal of learning from someone else, of true dialogue, of gaining, perhaps, a new friend and colleague - that is all outside their purpose. Jesus, on the other hand, is not interested in "making points." He is not aroused by their false dream of achieving religious perfection. He will not tolerate fulfilling a religious duty while passing by the need to help and love and care for the people around us. This is what Jesus sees not always adding up in your life and mine either. We will take time to attend ...

2364. This Is Water

John 7:25-44

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... sinful people. There are many distortions in the church as it is seen by the world. After all, every congregation of every denomination is made up of sinful people. The Holy Spirit clothes us with righteousness, but we are far from perfect. Sometimes that imperfection becomes the area of temptation for "the principalities and powers" as Saint Paul calls them - those satanic tendencies toward legalism, institutionalism, and insensitivity which chase so many people out of the church. After a recent funeral, I ...

2365. Then He Went Home

Mark 3:20-30

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... God! "If you return, I will restore you," says the Lord. Repentance unites us. "Who is family to me?" Jesus asked. "Those who do the will of my Father. Those who return to my Father. Those who repent. Those who renounce their evil ways." "My family is not perfect. Every member of my family is a sinner, but a sinner who repents of his sins and keeps coming back to my Father," Jesus teaches. "If you return, I will restore you," says the Lord. Jesus went home one day. There he talked about repentance. That’s ...

2366. Let Us Cross To The Other Side

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... problems and they will get you. Give your attention to God and he will get you. That is the other side. The same thing happened to the apostles in the boat when they woke Jesus from his sleep with their question, "Don’t you care?" It was a perfectly natural question. Against an illusion of such magnitude, the Lord raised to his full height, turned to the storm and commanded the wind and the waves to be still. As the very elements obeyed Jesus, seeing in him the very fury of God, Jesus then turned toward ...

2367. That Carpenter Is God

Mark 6:1-6

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... the inside. That is Paul’s point, too, when he speaks about his "thorn in the flesh" (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). "I besought the Lord about it three times," Paul says, "but he said to me: ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness’." God uses the weak, the humble, the seeming failures in life, the apparent nobodies, to build his Kingdom. That is what real humility is - living by grace, living by the power of God in the weakness of our own bodies with all their limits. God ...

2368. Scandal!

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5

Sermon

... sake is a life worth living. To bring his point home, God shows us a man who gave his life away to the extent of dying a national disgrace without a penny in the bank or a friend to his name. In terms of men’s wisdom, he was a Perfect Fool, and anybody who thinks he can follow him without making something like the same kind of a fool of himself is laboring under not a cross but a delusion. Make no mistake about it. If you want to be safe and respectable in life, you’re in the wrong ...

2369. When A Grain Of Wheat Falls

John 12:20-36

Sermon

Brett Blair

Years ago, when the Betty Crocker Company first began selling their cake mixes, they offered a product which only needed water. All you had to do was add water to the mix which came in the box, and you would get a perfect, delicious cake every time. It bombed. No one bought it and the company couldn’t understand why, so they commissioned a study which brought back a surprising answer. It seemed that people weren’t buying the cake mix because it was too easy. They didn’t want to be totally ...

2370. Ready or Not, Here I Come!

Mark 13:32-37

Sermon

Daniel G. Mueller

... and pray always that you will have strength to go safely through all these things that will happen and to stand before the Son of Man" (Luke 21:34). Don’t get so wrapped up in the things of this world, Jesus admonished. The Savior gave us a perfect illustration. "Remember the days of Noah," he said. "Back in those days before the Flood, everybody was eating and drinking and marrying and giving in marriage." Noah was doing those things too, but at the same time he was also building an ark, he was doing God ...

2371. Lessons From A Girl In Trouble

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

Daniel G. Mueller

... abode with him" (John 14:23). Jesus nowhere promises obedience will be easy; But he does promise that the Father will love us for it. Jesus obeyed God. "I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love," he said (John 15:10). Jesus was perfectly obedient in our place, for us, to earn forgiveness for us because of our disobedience. Now Jesus, the Obedient One, lives in us to make us obedient like him. He was "obedient unto death, even death on a cross" for our sakes (Philippians 2:8). He prayed ...

2372. Memories

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

Daniel G. Mueller

... ultimate purpose for coming: his death on the cross in payment for the sins of the world. "A sword will pierce through your own soul also," he told her. Those words themselves must have caused Mary’s heart to skip a beat the moment she heard them. Her baby, this perfect little boy whom she had borne, was going to be a cause of grief for her. She couldn’t see how it was possible, but the words surely came back to her the day she stood at the foot of her son’s cross and watched him die; the day ...

2373. Jesus Knows Everything! Jesus Is God!

John 1:43-51

Sermon

Daniel G. Mueller

... read that "no creature is hidden to him but all are open and laid bare to his eyes" (Hebrews 4:13). Job confessed that "God’s eyes are upon the ways of a man and he sees all his steps" (Job 31:21). God’s knowledge of us is so perfect, Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, that he knows all our needs even before we ask him (Matthew 6:8). King David was very much aware of how personally and completely God knew him. He confessed, "O Lord, you have examined me and you know me. You know ...

2374. Even The Demons Believe!

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

Daniel G. Mueller

... Plano. We would never be as senseless as they are. Or would we? God forbid we should only condemn; God help us to learn from what happened there. Perhaps the second cruelest demon is the unforgiving spirit that sometimes consumes us. It makes us demand absolute perfection from everyone and everything at all times. It makes us want never to be disappointed, never to be hurt, never to be let-down, never to be failed. Doctors had better never make mistakes. The driver in front of us in traffic had better get ...

2375. Where’s the Power?

Mark 1:40-45

Sermon

Daniel G. Mueller

... a great difference between what we want and what God wants. Three times Paul pleaded with God about the same thing, asking to be healed of his "thorn in the flesh." Three times he was turned down. Still, the apostle confessed, "The will of God is good and perfect and acceptable" (Romans 12:2). Things happen and God appears to do nothing about it because he doesn’t do what we want him to do. God does do something; he does what he wants, what he knows will make his greatest wish for us happen: our salvation ...

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