Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 2376 to 2400 of 3160 results

John 3:1-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... , in secret, by Nicodemus, a respected and powerful member of the Jewish religious authorities. Nicodemus comes to Jesus, convinced that Jesus is “from God” because of all the wondrous “signs” he has witnessed him doing. Nicodemus believes Jesus is some sort of a prophet, a powerful messenger from God, because of the remarkable and miraculous healings and exorcisms Jesus has produced. John’s presentation of Nicodemus here, and his later appearances in the gospel, all strongly suggest that he was ...

2377. It's A 12 Volt Volt System

John 12:24; Mark 2:22

Illustration

Philip W. McLarty

... , or so – and they had few accessories – a starter (you had to crank the old Model T by hand), windshield wipers, a cigarette lighter and, if you were in tall cotton, an AM radio. As cars got bigger and more powerful and loaded with all sorts of accessories – including an air conditioner – the old six-volt system couldn't handle the load. So, GM, Ford and Chrysler switched over to a twelve-volt system. The others followed suit. Twelve volts gave – well, twice as much power as six volts, and it ...

2378. Singing with Lutherans

Humor Illustration

... , we all had tears in our eyes, partly from the promise that God will not forsake us, partly from the proximity of all those lovely voices. By our joining in harmony, we somehow promise that we will not forsake each other. I do believe this: These Lutherans are the sort of people you could call up when you're in deep distress. If you're dying, they'll comfort you. If you're lonely, they'll talk to you. And if you're hungry, they'll give you tuna salad! The following list was compiled by a 20th century ...

2379. Will You Be an April Fool for Christ?

Mark 11:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... . The disciples surely envisioned that such a significant, majestic entrance into the holy city could not help but lead to great success. Surely Jesus chose to enter the city in such a significant, royal, messianic manner because he was planning some sort of popular uprising, or some extraordinary display of power. This Passover Week was obviously going to be a scene of great success. April Fool. Other Passover pilgrims traveling into Jerusalem got into the spirit of Jesus’ procession. Some of them also ...

2380. Be Hatched or Go Bad

Mark 16:1-8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... such a colorful bunch! Yet eggs sometimes get a bad rap at Easter. Eggs are such a widely used symbolic food. Everyone from dancing druids and pagan fertility gods to — worst of all — bored kids on Halloween, have all claimed eggs as some sort of special specimen for themselves. The Christian use of eggs at Easter probably has roots in a host of different cultures and traditions. But there are two connections that make the “Easter egg” a powerful symbol for this miraculous morning. Jesus’ final ...

2381. Whistling Jesus

John 15:1-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the image of a “family tree” — except this “Tree of Life” was not some mighty cedar or oak. It was instead a “vine” — a sinuous, growing, spreading, entwining organism whose ultimate purpose was to “bear fruit.” Dozens of websites now offer all sorts of online historical help so we can trace our ancestral roots, our “family tree.” But for those of us gathered in the body of Christ, in the nurture and nourishment of “Mother Church,” we need look only one place to find our family ...

2382. Toss Your Cap Over the Wall

Mark 3:20-30

Sermon

King Duncan

... an old Greenwich Village friend named Bob Dylan for advice. Two things that Dylan said stood out in Stookey’s mind: One, go for a long walk in the country, two, and read the Bible. Paul took the advice. He walked in the country, and it helped him sort out his priorities. And he read the Bible. Although his folk group had sung several spirituals and gospel tunes, Stookey had never opened a Bible before. But now he read through the entire New Testament and parts of the Old. He had a hard time with some of ...

2383. Have You Ever Tried to Discredit Someone?

Mark 3:20-5

Illustration

Maxie Dunnam

... you ever felt threatened by a close friend, or even a family member, who moved to a new level of Christian commitment, and began to take his or her Christian discipleship more seriously? Maybe she began to talk more - to witness. You've not heard this sort of language before, not from a person like her, President of the Junior League or the Garden Club. She talks about "being born again" or about prayers being answered in such an explicit manner...and somehow, we feel threatened. Or, he decides he needs to ...

2384. Stand by Me

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... with short sleeves. Crazy?! These seemingly illogical suggestion are actually good ideas. Why? Because our culture is addicted to “climate control.” Air conditioning and central heating make it possible for us to create any kind of climate, any sort of indoor “weather,” we want. Since we still cannot control what kind of weather we encounter outside, in the real world, we over-compensate in our encapsulated climates — our homes, shopping malls, restaurants, office buildings, airplanes. The hotter ...

2385. Mark 5:21-43

Mark 5:21-43

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... of years of doctors and piles of money, so Jesus encourages Jairus to “believe” in the possibility of his daughter being delivered from death, despite all the “wisdom” of those who tell him otherwise. The healing of Jairus’ daughter becomes a semi-private, sort of messianic secret affair — though obviously not a very well kept one. The professional mourners, the witnesses to death, are all banished. Only those with hope and faith are on the forefront of this miracle. It is with both a word and a ...

2386. Be Healed, Be Held

Mark 5:21-43

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

2387. Zombie Zone or Beulah Land?

Ephesians 2:11-22

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... you are to understand our text for this morning, a text about “aliens and strangers.” In case you didn’t know, zombies are re-animated dead people. When I was a kid the first zombies came about through voodoo spells. But now it’s usually some sort of mutant virus or alien invasion that spawns great crops of these crusty creatures. Oddly, while the fact that they are now walking-around in dead bodies doesn’t seem to concern zombies all that much, the fact that they are quite literally “brain dead ...

2388. What Would You Like Written?

John 6:24-35

Illustration

David E. Leininger

... it, he realized that there would not be very much to say beyond place of birth, job, family, and so on. So he began to compose the kind of obituary for himself that he would LIKE to have written. In it he included all sorts of church activities and community service, involvement with young people, his community, support for the various educational institutions, help with the United Way - one worthwhile activity after another. When the obituary was finished, he was most impressed, but at the same time, most ...

2389. Tradition Can Be Changed

Luke 2:41-52

Sermon

Cynthia Cowen

... his wife. Too bad their young son had to come with them. The budget had no money for a sitter, and after this shopping spree it'd be tuna casserole and scalloped potatoes with Spam for some time. Confining their toddler in his stroller, the couple began to sort through a wide selection of suits, pants, and sport coats. As her husband paraded out of the dressing room, Marissa would nod her "Yes" or shake her "No." After deciding on the navy blue sport coat with beige pants and a black suit, they turned their ...

2390. Love Walked Across the Field

Luke 4:14-21

Sermon

Cynthia Cowen

... he learned all about Jimmy. "That very afternoon the pastor walked across the field - our home is on the other side of a field behind the church. After visiting for some time with my parents, he invited them to come to worship on Sunday. " 'Well, it's sort of hard, pastor, with Jimmy. It's just a difficult situation,' my mother replied. The pastor would accept no excuse. 'God loves you and your son. I've walked across the field to make sure you understand that and to ask you to come to church this Sunday ...

2391. How Firm a Foundation

Luke 6:39-49

Sermon

Cynthia Cowen

Every night after work and on weekends, Eric worked on building his cabin. It was not on his lot in Waterford Township, but in his own backyard. It was sort of prefab — constructed with cedar, a section at a time. On Sunday afternoons, accompanied by his family, he loaded up his trailer with completed sections and hauled them up to his property. The camp became known as Shaky Cedars. As each wall was placed side by side, the sections ...

2392. There’s Still Time

Mt 6:1-2, 5-6

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... find, but any coin with 1954 is my birth year. I enjoy laying out the change in my pocket and just glancing at the dates. It's nice to carry these little reminders of important events, good and bad. But they're just one kind of reminder. We carry all sorts of reminders around. One of the most obvious is our date book, which we use to remind us of important events that are not in the past but in the future. We especially need a reminder for Ash Wednesday. It comes in the middle of nowhere. It's not like ...

2393. Holy Ground

John 13:1-17, 31b-35

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... Feast can seem just as exotic and strange to modern Christians as it did then. But there was one essential point that is easy to overlook. Easter may be a movable feast, but communion is planted firmly on holy ground. Take your shoes off. But what sort of holy ground? How different from what the world calls holy ground. In this era of religious separatism, of fundamentalist fanatics willing to take someone's life to protect their turf, the breaking of the bread, the sharing of the cup, however you choose ...

2394. Believing Thomas

John 20:19-31

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... and to us as well — Jesus says, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe" (v. 29). There's your new name — blessed. If you want it. And why wouldn't you? The world hurls all sorts of names at us for the things we do and things we have never done. Epithets are flung here and there, medical diagnoses, pop psychology, clichés. But Jesus calls us blessed because we have not seen, yet we believe. We get it. We get it that Jesus is the ...

2395. Low-Carb Christians

John 21:1-19

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... first and the first shall be last, Jesus proclaims. The low-carb Christian wants to eliminate a good deal of the goodness of life — eating, drinking, friendship, love, sex, reading, running, simply breathing the air. The unbalanced life breeds fanatics, the sort who think the death or destruction of enemies advances God's cause. They strap on blinders and see one thing and one thing only. They are malnourished, without perspective, unable to appreciate the blankets of winter, the renewal of spring ...

2396. That We May All Be One!

John 17:20-26

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... about prayer is — it works. But the other thing is, God answers prayers the way he chooses. Many who worked for Christian unity in the twentieth century argued about what form it would take. Who would write the prayers, what would the people say, what sort of worship would they all share, what would be the organizing principles, what songs would they sing, who would be in charge, where would the offerings be sent, and what name would they go under? It was assumed that churches would lose their identity ...

2397. The Forgiven Love A Lot!

Luke 7:36—8:3

Sermon

Arley K. Fadness

... it so well. It is certainly astonishing. Put it in the context of a dinner party at your own home or even a supper in the church's fellowship hall. By this time in Jesus' ministry, he had garnered quite a bit of public notice. All sorts of people had been attracted to him — rich, poor, educated, illiterate, from the highly respectable to the lowly riffraff. To have this famous rabbi come to dinner was very special and everyone would have been excited and perhaps a bit nervous at the same time — after ...

2398. What If the Disciples Had Email and One of the Disciples Was a Woman?

Luke 13:10-17

Sermon

... mention it in anything you write back to us. I just read an account in the Jerusalem Sun-Times of the scene Jesus made at the synagogue. I know you know this, but I want to remind you that there are many magicians out there who can do the same sorts of so-called miracles that this Jesus claims to do. We've had to put up with these so-called Messiahs for quite some time now. Our ancestors even warned us in the story about Moses and Pharaoh, how the court magicians could do almost everything that Moses could ...

2399. But I Really Like the Best Seat in the House!

Luke 14:1, 7-14

Sermon

... this humbling stuff you'll be humbled right out of a job. But don't be so sure. Some of the most influential executives are ones who are clearly servants. It's how they choose to lead. Still not convinced? Then perhaps you might use Jesus' statement as a sort of mantra in your prayers this week and see what happens. "For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted" (v. 11). Chew on these words for a few days or weeks and then let them bother you for a while ...

2400. Humility

Ephesians 6:10-20

Illustration

Billy D. Strayhorn

... get. As they ended their trek through the neighborhood, they came upon a large Texas style ranch house. It was gorgeous, but wasn't huge. It had everything you could imagine, but it was nowhere near what he was expecting. So he asked why? St. Peter sort of grinned and said: "Oh, we appreciate everything you did. You're a great preacher, and thousands upon thousands came to Christ because of you. But truthfully, you were just the distraction. The real work, the tough work, was done on the knees of every one ...

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