Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 2401 to 2425 of 4935 results

2401. The Great Divide

Luke 16:19-31

Sermon

Jill J. Duffield

Recently, I attended two birthday parties just several days apart. One was simple. There was a cake, two small gifts: a frisbee and a set of sheets, to be exact. It was a party for a boy turning ten. The boy was serenaded by his family and a group of relative strangers, some of whom, including me, had just learned his name. The party took place in the fellowship hall of a church, the boy’s home on this particular week. The next party was perhaps a little over the top. There were eleven small children ...

2402. The Crux Of Being A Christian

Luke 14:25-35

Sermon

Richard Patt

For a moment, call to mind Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd. Green pastures. Still waters. A cup overflowing. Oh, yes! There is a serene side of being a Christian. But this Gospel reading in Luke crashes in on our spiritual serenity. The spell of a peaceful religion is shattered. We become startled as we hear Jesus speak these uprooting words. Some believers have admitted to being shocked and puzzled by what Jesus says here. How about you? How do these words strike you? If anyone comes to me and does not ...

2403. God's Passionate Concern

Luke 14:25-35

Sermon

Richard Patt

2404. A Most Amazing Night

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

"But Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart. (Luke 2:19) The shadows are getting long in late afternoon as Joseph comes running into the house bursting with news: Caesar Augustus has ordered a census for the whole Roman Empire. Everyone will have to go to their family’s hometown to be counted and to pay a tax. For Joseph and Mary, this means travelling to Bethlehem. Mary wants to know more, but Joseph can’t answer her questions. The Romans are not in the habit of explaining themselves to ...

2405. GUTS TO BE CHICKEN

Illustration

John H. Krahn

Anyone who thinks Christianity is for sissies doesn’t know very much about it. The teachings of Jesus Christ are most challenging. Once he said, "If you are slapped on one cheek, turn the other." On the surface it seems as though our Lord expects us to be cowardly. Can you imagine how his words sounded to the disciples? They were rugged men of the sea, not panty-waists. Looking deeper at his teaching, we see that Jesus Christ was calling forth from us a greater strength than hitting back. He suggests we ...

2406. Who Knows?

Jonah 3:1-10

Sermon

Thomas D. Peterson

Who knows what lies ahead? A widely used saying has it that if we all put our troubles on a pile and then picked out the ones we choose, we would pick out our own. Why? Because we can deal with them. If we actually had an opportunity to do something new, what would we do? Who knows? Most people, most of the time take their troubles with them or else find them waiting when they arrive. We tend to plug away at the same old things. Jonah was fleeing from God. He had every confidence he could escape and be ...

2407. A Voice to be Heard

John 1:19-28

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

It had been a long time. History seemed more moribund and leaden than ever. Hope was either frozen or fanatic. Cynicism was the daily fare and optimism the dream of fools. So it was in those days of long ago. But now there was a stirring in history's corridors -- not in the throne rooms of Rome or Alexandria, not in the libraries of Athens or the armies of Caesar -- but in little backwater towns of a troublesome, rebellious, backwater country. The first of the stirrings began in Jerusalem with a tired old ...

2408. Proper 22

Exodus 20:1-21, Matthew 21:33-46, Philippians 3:1-11, Psalm 19:1-14

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

OLD TESTAMENT TEXTS Exodus 20:1-20 is the account of the revelation of divine law to Israel that occurred at Mount Sinai. Psalm 19 is a hymn in praise of law. Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20 - "The Gift of Law" Setting. The most prominent event in Israel's wilderness journey is the revelation of law at Mount Sinai. After Israel is led out of Egypt in Exodus 15 their initial wilderness journey is described for 3 chapters ( Exodus 16 -18). In Exodus 19:1 the journey stops and the reader is informed that Israel ...

2409. Jailhouse Rock

Acts 16:16-34

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

Do you remember the old folk tune that went something like this? (sing or recite) The bear went over the mountain. The bear went over the mountain. The bear went over the mountain — To see what he could see. And all that he could see, and all that he could see, Was the other side of the mountain, the other side of the mountain The other side of the mountain was all that he could see! Maybe the only thing you can see from a high place is the other side of that high place, but still, the view can be worth it ...

2410. The Natural Look

Luke 9:28-36 (37-43)

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

It was a special day, a spiritual day, the passage from childhood into young adulthood. I was just shy of my thirteenth birthday and I was excited. For six months we had sat through boring classes memorizing the catechism, taking notes, trying to be good at God. After all, the closest thing I knew to God was my teacher, who happened to be my daddy. And I didn’t want to disappoint either God or Daddy! Yes, back then confirmation was a big deal. Nobody ever dreamed of missing a class. We memorized all 196 ...

2411. Easter Power

Acts 14:8-18

Sermon

Will Willimon

We're now four Sundays beyond Easter. The Sunday crowd is smaller. We have no trumpets today and the music is not as stupendous as that we sang on Easter. Yet, if you put your ear to the ground, you can still hear it rumbling, even as the earth heaved on that first Easter mom. Beneath the somewhat sedate rhythms of today's service, you can still sense the throb of the Easter tempo when the stone was rolled away and the angels began to shout, when the power of God was unleashed, dead Jesus was unchained, ...

2412. God Is Light

1 John 1:1-2:2

Children's Sermon

Various Authors

Object: nightlight at the beginning of this sermon Good morning, boys and girls. Are any of you afraid of the dark? (Let them answer.) I think just about everyone in this church was afraid of the dark at one time. How many of you have a night light to help you sleep at night? (Let them answer and show the night light.) I want to tell you about a little girl, about your age who was afraid of the dark. When she went to bed at night she would cry, “Please turn on the light, I’m afraid.” Then someone would ...

2413. Don't Jump?

Luke 16:19-31

Drama

Note: Again, this is a play that is difficult to produce without a good stage setup. A platform, table, or chair may be used to represent the ledge. Lighting must be used carefully at the end. The audience should not know for sure if #2 actually jumps. Scene: The ledge of an observation tower with a railing around the outside. 1: [Enters, climbs onto the railing, looks around, very relaxed] 2: [Enters, notices 1, walks by and sees what is going on, starts to leave quickly, but turns back. Can’t decide ...

2414. Wearing the Ashes

Jonah 3:1-10

Sermon

Michael J. Anton

If we had saved our palm leaves from last Palm Sunday, we could follow an ancient Lenten tradition this evening. We could burn the palm leaves and then apply the palm ashes to our foreheads in the sign of a cross. The ashen cross upon our forehead would be a sign and symbol of where we stand under the mighty hand of God’s judgment. Lent itself is a time for facing up to God’s judgment. A time for recognizing God’s attitude towards our selfishness and gluttony and hypocrisy and every other black cloud of ...

2415. The Promise that Won’t Be Broken

2 Timothy 1:1-14

Sermon

Clayton A. Lord

Paul was sitting in prison with every reason to be discouraged. He was just days away from his execution at the hands of Emperor Nero. He was isolated and treated like a man to be scorned, unlike his earlier stints in jail. The Emperor Nero had blamed the Christians for the great fire that destroyed the city of Rome. For the first time they were subjected to terrible persecution and citizens from every corner of the empire turned against them. Christians were burned as living torches to light the emperor's ...

2416. Listen to the Angels

Revelation 5:11-14

Sermon

King Duncan

A layperson wrote on the Internet that he attends a small village church in rural Pennsylvania. On any given Sunday, he says, they may have six or seven faithful children who come with their parents. The pastor has a white bag which is passed from child to child, making sure they get equal turns to put something in for him to talk about. Each Sunday, the pastor calls all the children up and he opens the bag to find a “surprise” on which he bases his children’s sermon. Easter week, the bag went home with a ...

2417. From Singleness To Solidarity

Ruth 1:1-22

Sermon

Zan W. Holmes

The book of Ruth is one of the world's most beautiful stories of human solidarity in the face of trouble. Apart from the book of Esther it is the only other book in the Bible to be named after a woman. Therefore it should not be a surprise that the major characters of the book are two women, Naomi and Ruth. A major theme of the book is their common struggle to survive in the midst of a hostile and troubled environment. The stage was set for their common struggle when a food famine occurred in the city of ...

2418. Can You See Where We're Going

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

William G. Carter

A cigar-chomping realtor was driving around a young couple to search for their first dream house. After listening to their concerns about mortgage points, maintenance costs, and school systems, he decided to give them a bit of advice. "I've been selling homes for 23 years," he said, "and I've discovered only three things matter when you're buying a home: location, location, location." To prove his point, he drove the couple to see two homes. The paint was peeling on the first house, and the driveway was ...

2419. Open Grave, Open Hearts

Acts 4:32-37

Sermon

Paul W. Kummer

As the Cadillac owner walked to his car, he saw a boy about ten years old staring intently through the windows. Wondering what he was up to, the man put his hands on the youngster's shoulders, pulled gently and asked him what he was doing. The boy said he was interested in cars and had read a lot about different models. The owner talked with the boy for a while explaining to him details about this particular model and style. After a little while, the boy asked, "Mister, how much did you pay for this car?" ...

2420. Since He's In Charge, We're In Luck

Psalm 33:4-5, 8-9, 13-22

Sermon

Robert G. McCreight

Introduction At the turn of the century the storm clouds that had long been gathering in South Africa suddenly broke loose. Britain and the English-speaking South Africans went to war with the Dutch-descended Boers. The British newspaper, The Morning Post, offered a young reporter by the name of Winston Churchill the job of chief war correspondent to cover the story. He jumped at the chance. Soon after he arrived in South Africa he was traveling on a troop train when it was captured and he was taken ...

2421. Take Some Lessons

2 Timothy 3:10--4:8

Sermon

Robert R. Kopp

All scripture is inspired by God and is useful....-- 2 Timothy 3:16 My handicap was heading to single digits and those absurd late fortyish daydreams about the senior tour were making denomi-national meetings more tolerable when disaster struck. Playing with my dad in one of those little friendly-while-you're-winning matches, I was even through fifteen holes. I had been slow, steady, and solid throughout the round. So I strutted to the sixteenth tee, undoubtedly more personally impressed than impressive. ...

2422. Proper 14

Luke 12:35-48, Isaiah 1:1-31, Hebrews 11:1-40

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Old Testament: Isaiah 1:1, 10-20 Through Isaiah God condemns the religious practices of his day and promises forgiveness if the people will repent. The prophet Isaiah served under four kings of Judah from 792 to 686 B.C. He finds the country in a horrible moral condition equal to Sodom and Gomorrah, sin cities that God destroyed by fire and brimstone. The people are religious but immoral. Yahweh hates their condition. Through Isaiah he calls upon the people to repent. If they turn to God, they ...

2423. Shouting At A Storm

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon

William G. Carter

The story of Jesus calming the storm has always been a favorite story of the church. It has prompted the writing of many hymns, such as "Jesus, Saviour, Pilot Me" and "Give to the Winds Thy Fears," to say nothing of the Navy Hymn and others. The story has also provided the church with a graphic symbol of who we are. When the World Council of Churches was formed, leaders sought a logo to identify the whole family of Christ. They drew a fishing boat with the cross as its mast. It was a good symbol. ...

2424. The Day Of Thanksgiving

Mt 6:25-33 · 1 Tim 2:1-7 · Joel 2:21-27 · Ps 126

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

COMMENTARY Lesson 1: Joel 2:21-27 The first part of this chapter (vv. 1-17) is the traditional text for Ash Wednesday. These verses call the people to a solemn assembly so that they might repent of their sins and plead for Yahweh's mercy. This action is ordered because of a devastating invasion of locusts. Our lection for Thanksgiving follows the call to repentance with a message of hope and restoration. God will restore the land to fertility; the earth will yield its increase and the people of God will ...

2425. A Big Fisherman · Peter

Mt 16:13-20 · Jn 1:35-42

Sermon

Gordon Pratt Baker

He came from the sea, a brawny, boisterous man, who loved nothing better than the spray in his face as he pitted his little craft against a gale, his calloused hands locked on the tiller, a defiant cry on his lips. And when the wild trick was over how he must have boasted of his feat to friends sharing his hearth! He was an impulsive man, quick to make decisions and equally quick to make mistakes. Yet he never let either stop him. Instead, he plunged straight on, rushing from one concern to another, always ...

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