Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 2401 to 2425 of 4884 results

2401. Conflict and Hope: One in the Spirit

Philippians 1:12-30

Sermon

Gregory J. Johanson

... it is a conflict which is free from fear. This must have been as difficult a word for the Philippians to hear as it is for us. Each of us can attest to the hesitancy which so often shackles our efforts in the work of the Lord. We know that "perfect love casts out fear," but it is one thing to know it and another thing really to act on it. Paul says to the Philippians and us that we are not to be "frightened in anything by our opponents." And finally, perhaps most important, is that the conflict is marked ...

2402. Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

John 6:1-15

Sermon

Brett Blair

... his materials floating away. Count on it. TAKE CHEMISTRY. Mixing certain elements in precise proportions yields the same result. Always. So a doctor can prescribe a medication with predictable confidence. TAKE ASTRONOMY. The sun, the moon, those stars work in perfect harmony. Always. Even the mysterious eclipse comes as no surprise. TAKE ANATOMY. Whether it's the pupil of the eye expanding and contracting in response to light or our skin regulating our body temperature or our built-in defense mechanism ...

2403. Creeds or Deeds

Mark 7:1-23

Sermon

Brett Blair

... word the creeds but they won’t make you clean before God. Religion, if it is good religion, is from the heart. Frederick Buechner imagined a youngster learning to play the piano. "The child holds her hands just as she's been told...she has memorized the piece perfectly. She has hit all the proper notes with deadly accuracy. But her heart's not in it, only her fingers. What she's playing is a sort of music, but nothing that will start voices singing or feet tapping." When it comes to faith and life, let me ...

2404. The Man Who Couldn't Hear

Mark 7:31-37

Sermon

Brett Blair

... saying. It was this process of spiritual hearing that Jesus was referring to when he told the disciples: I tell you these things so that hearing them you might hear. II To be sure the loss of our hearing would be a tragic event but no more tragic than having perfect hearing and refusing to listen to those who seek to help us and love us. What we read this morning is the story of a man who couldn’t hear. But let us secondly consider the life of a man who will not hear. I cannot think of a spiritual ...

2405. Christ, Our Eternal High Priest

Hebrews 7:11-28

Bulletin Aid

James Wilson

... their lives to Christ enter now for worship! People: Christ is our high priest who stands for us before the throne of God. Leader: And, unlike all other high priests, Christ is without sin and is eternal. People: And the gift of God's love for us is also perfect and eternal. Leader: Then let our faith remain pure and strong as we come to praise God. All: Blessed be the name of the Lord! Collect O God, in the gift of Christ and the resurrection You have given us a message of eternity, and You have called us ...

2406. Lord, I Want To See

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

Brett Blair

... it. And what possible, possible excuse do we have. We can't seem to get it thorough our heads and our hearts that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior. It is he that is in control. He is the Lord of history. He came to make us whole and to perfect his good work within us and he is sufficient for our every need. He expects from us total love and total commitment. Why can't we see that? But for those of us who are blind there is hope. For Jesus came to heal the blind. It happened to Bartimaeus ...

2407. Ready or Not - Here I Come

Mark 13:32-37

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... employment, taking care of the world as his trustees. Some years ago a tourist visited the Castle Villa Asconti along the shores of Lake Como in northern Italy. Only the old gardener opened the gates and the visitor stepped into the garden, which was perfectly kept. The visitor asked when the owner was last there. He was told, "Twelve years ago." Did he ever write? No. Where did he get instructions? From his agent in Milan. Does the master ever come? No. "But, you keep the grounds as though your ...

2408. You Don't Need Jesus

John 1:19-28

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... is against God and only God can take it away by forgiveness. And God did this by coming in Jesus of Nazareth at Christmas. God identified with humans, becoming sin, and bearing the sins of humankind for all time. His death on the cross was the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world. This is what Christmas is really all about. He was the fulfillment of God's promise to send a Messiah to deliver the world. His name indicated his mission, for "Jesus" means "He shall save." The angels told the shepherds ...

2409. Hated, Excluded, Reviled, Defamed — And Leaping For Joy

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

William G. Carter

... way we found it. God makes decisions and choices. God establishes a set of values. When you hear it, you have to decide, “Is God on my side, or is God on somebody else’s side?” That’s troubling. Taken as they are, the blessings and the woes are perfectly matched — poor or rich, hungry or full, weeping or laughing, defamed or honored. For every blessing, there is an equal and opposite woe. Most of us would like to choose whether we will be blessed or cursed, but it’s not our choice. It is God’s ...

2410. Getting It Together

Luke 6:37-42

Sermon

William G. Carter

... with your own blind spots.” It reminds me of the day when Snoopy was sitting on the roof of his doghouse. Charlie Brown came up and said, “I hear you’re writing a book on theology. I hope you have a good title.” Snoopy replied, “I have the perfect title.” Then he leaned over his typewriter and typed, “Has It Ever Occurred to You That You Might Be Wrong?”3 That’s the question for every one of us to ask ourselves if we are ever going to get rid of the lumberyard in our own eyelashes. Jesus ...

2411. The Future Shapes the Present

1 Thessalonians 3:6-13

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... of Peace. Apparently this messiah was not just about love and light and peace. Jesus the Christ was not just about singing songs and having a warm feeling in your heart. Jesus Christ was not just about going to heaven when you die and living in a perfect world on earth until that time. Jesus Christ was about sin, judgment, and forgiveness. The very fact that Jesus was born as the Son of God was witness to the reality of human sin. Sometimes the complexities of a tough world blind us to our sources for ...

2412. Divide and Destroy

Philippians 1:1-11

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... a chance for us to affirm our partnership in the gospel. For the next two weeks we will sing the carols of joy. We will light the candles on the Advent wreath. We will remember those who have labored with us on life’s journey. All will not be perfect. The suffering and loneliness of this world will be very much with us. But, we hope, our partnership in that which began before our birth and continues beyond our death will remind us that Christmas is, indeed, a joy to be embraced instead of a problem to be ...

2413. The Next Step

Colossians 3:1-17

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... death, but it is also public. It would also serve as a deterrent to others. For the Jews the cross was an especially shameful thing. The Romans learned that in Jewish law a man being hanged from a tree was a curse by God. They seized on the perfect means to squelch trouble-makers in Israel. Hang them on a cross out there on the highway where everyone passing by would see them. If you had a problem with a group, the cross would make them scatter. Strike the shepherd and the sheep will run off. It would ...

2414. Respect

1 Corinthians 12:12-31

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... our body parts until they are sick or missing. Who focuses on his or her inner ear until it gets messed up and causes dizziness? No one thanks God for a healthy gall bladder until it gets diseased. In our ignorance about our body, we are perfectly happy until one of its parts begins to hurt. Then it dawns on us how important that part is, both physically and psychologically, to our well-being. Regardless of the infinite variety of parts that compose our bodies, whatever is hurting at the moment becomes the ...

2415. Living Free

Haggai 2:1-9

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... century Dr. King’s insights were more or less endorsed by his namesake, Martin Luther. Of course Luther emphasized our freedom. The Christian, he claimed, is “lord of all, subject to none.” But he also asserted that “a Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.”5 Living free (in Christ) involves service to God and our neighbors. Maybe the problem with American society today is that Christians have not been exercising their freedom in service, not really living free. How ...

2416. God Knows

Isaiah 5:1-7

Sermon

John W. Wurster

... plant. No shortcuts, no skimping on costs. Nothing but the best. In addition to the excellence of soil and plants, the owner has spared no effort in constructing some nice features: a watchtower is built, a wine vat is made. Everything about the vineyard is perfect, it would seem: good land, good soil, good vines, good accessories. In a real sense, the vineyard had become an object of devotion and affection for the owner. It is the love of his life, the passion of his soul. Having invested much of himself ...

2417. At The Potter's House

Jeremiah 18:1--19:15

Sermon

John W. Wurster

... may not be completely loyal to God. We may not truly love God with all our hearts and soul and strength as we say we do in worship (Deuteronomy 6:5); but, on the whole, I would actually think God would be pretty happy with us. We may not be perfect, but we’re not all bad. So I wish Jeremiah would shut up. And I wish he’d stay away from the potter’s house. You should see him down there. He is telling anyone who will listen that God is just like the potter, that God is in control ...

2418. The ABC Gospel

2 Kings 5:1-27

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

... on his life. Everybody knew that God had used Naaman to bring victory in battle. When we have said all these things about Naaman, however, we have also left something very important unsaid. Naaman’s life, blessed as it was, was not perfect. “The man ... suffered from leprosy.” Beneath the splendor of his erect posture, this highly-decorated man carried a story of tragedy and great sorrow. Underneath the magnificence was a disease which, unless there were a miracle, would most likely finally bring ...

2419. While He May Be Found

Isaiah 55:1-13

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

... the path when life and circumstances try to throw us off that path. It means getting up after being knocked down to the ground, and giving him praise and glory for the trials we’ve overcome and the victories we have won. The prophet has a perfect formula for spiritual renewal and restoration. If we come, listen, seek, and call on him, he will answer our prayers and grant us the desires of our hearts and restore our faith and confidence as his people. We can defeat the spiritual famine which threatens the ...

2420. A Blood That Passes Over

Exodus 12:1-30

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

... lamb, our lamb of God, our unblemished savior who sacrificed his life for the salvation of souls and the remission of sins. Christ’s blood is offered for the sins of all people. His blood passes over all of our past wrongs, infirmities, and imperfections. The perfect lamb is offered as a sacrifice for God’s people, and it is his blood that serves as a source of redemption, power, hope, liberation, and love for the faith community. The holy lamb of God is offered as a sacrifice for the sins of the ...

2421. The Promise of Sight

Isaiah 60:1-22

Sermon

Harry N. Huxhold

... robbed it of its evangelical character. Pietism in the seventeenth century made its efforts to strengthen the faith of the Church by emphasizing its feelings. Rationalism in the eighteenth century was a movement to make the faith of the Church perfectly reasonable. Similarly, orthodoxy in the nineteenth the century was the attempt to guarantee the absolute rightness of the faith. Signs of all these movements are ever present temptations of the Church to improve the nature of believing. The difficulty is ...

2422. The Lightest Touch

Jeremiah 1:1-19

Sermon

Harry N. Huxhold

... again for us. All that we are ever asked to proclaim in speaking on behalf of God is just what that has meant to us and means to us. We know what forgiveness means. We know what it means to be loved by God. And we know that God is perfectly willing to share eternity with us. Those are the words God has put in your heart, and God will also put them on your lips. A Superior Calling Jeremiah’s timidity about speaking on behalf of God faded with God’s assurance that God would equip him with the message ...

2423. The Fruit of the Word

Isaiah 55:1-13

Sermon

Harry N. Huxhold

... of their indifference to God’s word and warnings through the prophets. Now that the captives had served their time in captivity, it was time to awaken to the promises God had made them. Now they could recognize that the First Isaiah had been perfectly honest with them as he had delivered to their fathers the warnings of the inevitability of the exile. They could learn not simply from their history but from the word that interpreted their history. Now the exiles could listen to the Second Isaiah, who ...

2424. The Favor

John 20:1-9

Drama

Dave Marsh

... the big 3 holidays that she seems to go all out and really do stuff. (starts counting on his fingers) On Thanksgiving she invites 30 of our “closest” (does the quotes thing) family and friends and spends 5 days in the kitchen making the perfect meal. On Christmas, she personally does all the shopping, puts up every light and lawn ornament known to man, and wraps every gift. Then, there’s Easter. Egg hunts, egg coloring, baskets everywhere, (points to costume) - you get the idea. Jerry: (sits down) The ...

2425. The Final Answer

Drama

Dave Marsh

... but they didn’t talk about this. And now I go every once in a while. Hmmm. (thinks more) Okay, I’ll phone a friend. Regis: Okay, who are we calling? Jim: Well, I thought I’d call my pastor. His name is Ray Stark. Regis: Well, that would be perfect now wouldn’t it. If anyone knows the answer it’s him. Okay, our friends at AT&T are going to give him a call. Ray: Hello? Regis: Hello Ray? Regis Philbin here from ABC’s Who Wants to be a Millionaire. Ray: Hey Reg! Regis: Hello. We’ve got ...

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