Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 2376 to 2400 of 4884 results

2376. A Good God and the Problem of Suffering

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

... . And why wouldn’t he? His false comforters had come to see him on the garbage heap. They had said, "It’s simple, Job. You have sinned. Admit it. Repent and this will be lifted from you." Job knew it was not that simple. He knew he was not perfect. But he knew he loved God and tried to serve him. He knew there was a deeper reason. Even though Job was "patient," he got fed-up with his cliche-speaking friends and declared, "I am sure that wisdom will die with you!" Job continued his desperate quest: "O ...

2377. Why Fear Growing Old?

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

... some apples she thought would spoil, Cooked a supper that was delicious, And afterward washed up all the dishes; Fed the cat and sprinkled the clothes, Mended a basketful of hose; Then opened the organ and began to play, When you Come to the End of a Perfect Day. -G. S. Childs Courage and faith and a sense of humor can still sustain us. In addition to this, Grandmother had an indominable faith that supported her day by day: He giveth more grace when the burdens are greater, He sendeth more strength when the ...

2378. Life After Life

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

... lumber, decaying tires, old rusty cars, broken-down farm machinery. Dr. Phillips was struggling desperately to get out of this prison of junk and ruin. As he struggled and strained and made little progress, he glanced across at the opposite hill and saw perfect life and beauty - blue sky, soft clouds, green grass, birds singing, joyful people singing and laughing. He strained all the harder to reach that new land. Finally he reached the little stream that separated the two hills. There was a little bridge ...

2379. And It Came To Pass

Mark 13:1-31

Sermon

Warren Thomas Smith

... they do not pass, grace will be given to cope with them. Paul’s thorn in the flesh was never removed. "Three times I besought the Lord about this, that it should leave me; but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness’ " (2 Corinthians 12:8-9). As Shakespeare has King Lear say: I will die bravely, like a smug bridegroom. What! I will be jovial: come, come; I am a king, My masters, know you that.4 But Lear only learned this truth after he had suffered loss ...

2380. Ode to Wisdom

Job 26:1--31:40

Sermon

Alton F. Wedel

... mother in my parish can recall the day I visited just after her first child was born. "God was surely with me," this young mother said. "I had an easy time delivering, the care was good, a loving husband was at hand, and my little girl is healthy, perfect, and well formed and really pretty." And she recalls how she resented it when I responded, "Susan, God is always with his children. He was with you in this blessing, and he would have been with you if everything had not gone as you wanted it." "At the ...

2381. Man, Where Are You?

Genesis 3:1-24

Sermon

Alton F. Wedel

... that bugs us. Adam’s fall and ours, his event and our events are concentrated here. The event? The imperishable has put on the perishable; the immortal has put on mortality; the holy has clothed himself in unholiness; life has absorbed itself in death. The perfect world of God’s creation has been turned to turmoil, the harmony to enmity. The plan of God is overshadowed by the schemes of people. Where nature was to be a friend to people, it became an enemy. Where people were designed as stewards, they ...

2382. The Friends of Jesus

John 15:1-17

Sermon

Brett Blair

... . The friends of Jesus may not have had much to offer, but they had themselves. When he died, John and Mary, they were there. On the first day of the week they were at the tomb. They had themselves to offer. They had their friendship, not always perfect, but friendship nonetheless. III That brings us to the third question. What did these friends find in Jesus. He did not offer them patronage. James and John tried it but it didn’t work. He did not offer them success. Indeed, when Simple Peter reminds Jesus ...

2383. Son Shine Inn

John 6:25-59

Drama

Robert F. Crowley

... the Adonai special? BILL: I guess so, since it's the only thing on the menu. MARY BETH: What is it? JESUS: Lamb. MARY BETH: And how is it prepared? JESUS: I prepare it exactly to your taste. MARY BETH: I like lamb, if it's good. JESUS: This is perfect. The lamb of God. BILL: This wouldn't be, by any chance ... JESUS: It is. I am the lamb of God. MARY BETH: You are? But I thought you were the bread of life. JESUS: I am -- both. BILL: Look, Jesus, this is getting to be a bit much. JESUS ...

2384. Crossing Over

Mark 4:35-41

Illustration

... ." In life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us. That is our great salvation hope. I want you to know that God cares if you are immobilized by some fear in your life. He cares because that fear is intruding upon His destiny for you. It is perfect love that casts out fear. At the foot of the cross you can lean back into the arms of an ever loving and gracious God and echo the words of the old hymn: "God will take care of you, He will take care of you."

2385. On A Picnic

Mark 7:1-23

Drama

Robert F. Crowley

... . MANDI AND TODD SPEAK TO EACH OTHER IN LOVEY-DOVEY TONES THROUGHOUT) Mandi, my love potion, this is a secluded portion of God's own paradise. A little retreat from the humdrum of everyday life. Our love will last forever, my darling, and this is the perfect spot for our love tryst. MANDI: (ENTERS STRUGGLING WITH A PICNIC BASKET AND OTHER THINGS AND CROSSES TO TODD) Oh, Toddy, my darling, love, why ever did you choose this place for our picnic? (DROPPING SOME OF THE MANY THINGS SHE IS CARRYING) Toddy, love ...

2386. Lust

Mark 8:31--9:1, Mark 8:27-30

Drama

James F. Crowley

... 'm not kidding. I've just begun to realize that the reason you don't pay any attention to me any more is because of those magazines. SAM: What? RENA: It's true, isn't it? SAM: No, it is not true. RENA: You are in love with those airbrushed perfect bodies and you don't have Time for me any more. SAM: That's nonsense. RENA: Then why haven't you touched me in the past six months? SAM: You know the long hours I work. RENA: I know I found this in your pants pocket. (PRODUCING A BUSINESS CARD ...

2387. Spring Fever

Song of Songs 2:1-17

Bulletin Aid

Dallas A. Brauninger

Call to Worship Leader: When we are in love with life, the whole world has beauty. People: When morning has broken and the sun renews the day, the bird song in our hearts sings. Leader: When we chance to see wildlife or examine the perfection of an opening summer flower, how can we think of other than the benevolence of a loving God? All: Let us sing songs of praise and thanksgiving to God. Collect We make time to love life, O God, because your love of life is a constant presence that surrounds us. ...

2388. Epiphany 6

Drama

C. David Godshall

... freedom of choice you give us, Lord. People: With your help, may we choose to trust you, to believe in you, and to find our blessing from you. Pastor: And bring us at last to stand face to face with you, that we may be completely your people, and you perfectly our God. All: Amen (Our Father ...)

2389. Counting the Cost

Luke 14:25-35

Sermon

T. A. Kantonen

... be restored? There are those who answer: we must try harder to obey Christ’s teaching. But how are we to overcome our own desires and ambitions when they are in conflict with Christ’s teaching? There are others who say that the church should hold before us the perfect life of Christ and say: here is your example, here is the true life, live like that. But is it possible for us to live like Christ? It is as though a young lad who plays third base on a Little League team were to watch Brooks Robinson play ...

2390. The Word of the Cross

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5

Sermon

T. A. Kantonen

... sacred truth, one who had radiated divine love. By his words and his life he had exposed the shortcomings of men, for he had held up God’s standard of what life ought to be. He tore away the mask of sham and hypocrisy. In the mirror of his perfect life men saw themselves as they really were. They didn’t like what they saw and decided to destroy the mirror. We are no different. Much of our life is still an unredeemed jungle. Scratch modern man, it has been said, and underneath you will find a savage. But ...

2391. Easter People

Colossians 3:1-17

Sermon

T. A. Kantonen

... only empty air." We must all at some time or another feel the anguished yearning for "the touch of a vanished hand and the sound of a voice that is still." We stretch out our arms groping for the fuller life, the higher reality, the perfect fellowship which death cannot destroy. If Christ had not conquered death, we would only grope in the dark and embrace empty air. As Paul states it, "then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished" (1 Corinthians 15:18). The word apoolonto, "have perished ...

2392. The Heart of the Reformation

Romans 3:21-31

Sermon

T. A. Kantonen

... . How does God put men right with himself? Is it by giving us his law so that by obeying his commandments we have a right relation to God? "No," says the apostle, getting right with God "has nothing to do with law." God’s law demands perfection and none of us can come up to that standard. How, then, does this rightwising take place? The answer is: "God puts men right with himself through their faith in Jesus Christ." See how strongly the apostle drives this point through with repeated hammer blows: "Men ...

2393. As We Remember - Memorial Day

1 Chronicles 11:10-25

Sermon

T. A. Kantonen

... life" (John 11:25, New English Bible). The life to which he comes is to be with Christ and to be "changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another" (2 Corinthians 3:18). But heaven in its eternal fullness, the God-relationship in its perfection, awaits the final triumph of Christ and the resurrection of all the dead. Then God’s purpose for his whole creation will be completely fulfilled. As we remember our country’s heroes and our own loved ones, like David of old we offer our thanks to God ...

2394. Christian Thanksgiving

Philippians 1:1-7

Sermon

T. A. Kantonen

... foundation of our nation was laid by Christian men and women, Thanksgiving Day has been from the beginning an important national as well as religious holiday. All citizens, Christians and nonChristians alike, are asked to remember the giver of every good and perfect gift. Surely we have reason to be grateful for our precious national heritage, for the privileges we enjoy as Americans, our freedom, our high standard of living, our opportunity to make the most of our capacities. In the 1962 Thanksgiving Day ...

2395. Paul's Thorn In The Flesh

2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... thorn was epilepsy or migraine headaches or a malarial fever common in the eastern Mediterranean area. Notice that Paul refers to the thorn as a "messenger of Satan." The Bible teaches that all diseases and death came into the world because of sin. God's perfect original creation did not include disease or death. People do not get sick and die because God wills it. People get sick and die because our world is flawed by sin. In this flawed universe, thorns are distributed indiscriminately as one would deal a ...

2396. The Gifts of the Left Hand

Luke 7:36-50

Sermon

Gregory J. Johanson

... week, and we say he was more gifted that most of us could ever be. But what was his gift? Being so in tune with the human longing for dignity and justice that he could speak for it and act for it. Like Paul’s, his was a power made perfect in weakness. Dr. King knew that reconciliation often begins with the offer of our weaker, more vulnerable hand. The Gift That Completes Us If the left-handed gifts are the gifts of our weaker side, they are also the gifts that we need to complete us. Even those of you ...

2397. Smart, Wise, and Foolish

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5

Sermon

Gregory J. Johanson

... of us who would be more in touch with ourselves precisely because it reminds us that we do not need to earn God’s love. We call it grace! We are loved because we are his creation, and the foolishness of it all is that sometimes God’s perfect love for us must be communicated to us through the imperfect love of an imperfect mate or parent or teacher or boss or therapist or child. What an inefficient system! I think God occasionally must also let us know he loves us through a faithful Bassett Hound or ...

2398. A Lack of Feeding in the American Dream

Romans 6:1-14

Sermon

Gregory J. Johanson

... hospitals are under age 21. He says the "fairy tale" has five themes: that more possessions mean more happiness, that a person who does or produces more is more important, that everyone must belong and identify with some larger group, that perfect mental health means no problems, and that a person is abnormal unless constantly happy. "For some, the American Fairy Tale ends in suicide or psychiatric hospitals, but for countless others, it never ends at all," Treffert said during an interview Tuesday ...

2399. The Courage to Be Me

Sermon

Gregory J. Johanson

... great internal upheaval - with a diverse array of physical ailments to prove it. The courage to disclose myself to another is derived from my awareness that all persons have weakness and strength. That is why the church is a community of faith, not a collection of perfect individuals! It is as if we were mountain climbers, sharing a common rope to reach a pinnacle together. Each needs the other, and each is bound to the other, even though it does not always appear to be so. Finally, let us consider the fear ...

2400. No Fifth Wheels in God’s Economy

1 Corinthians 7:1-40

Sermon

Gregory J. Johanson

... is not marriage, but love. Marriage is not an end in itself. The end is love. Marriage or any relationship is the servant of love - or ought to be. If you are pursuing marriage as a single, you are pursuing the wrong thing. If you are pursuing the "perfect marriage" as a couple already married, you are pursuing the wrong thing. Then love starts to become subservient to marriage. We start making up our own ideas of what love is and don’t allow God to show and teach us what love actually is through the ...

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