Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 2451 to 2475 of 4943 results

2451. The Defining Moment (A Sermon for New Year's)

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

King Duncan

We're only a few days away from the New Year, and I can feel the anticipation--or dread, depending on your point of view--growing. I heard one guy say he already dreads the new year. He said, "The holidays aren't quite over and already I'm about 90 days ahead on my calories and 90 days behind on my bills." Some of you can identify with him. Our calendar did not come down from above. It was established by human minds. There is no real reason why one day on the calendar should bear more significance than any ...

2452. Landing Instructions

Isaiah 40:25-31

Sermon

Mark Trotter

We were all attracted to the story of Lance Armstrong winning the Tour de France last weekend, that grueling bicycle race. It is one of the great endurance races in the world today. Lance Armstrong won it in record time, two years after undergoing surgery and then chemotherapy for cancer that spread throughout his body, including to his brain. It is a testimony first of all to the wonderful advances that medicine has made in curing cancers, but everyone recognizes as well that it is a terrific testimony to ...

2453. The Great Depression

Psalm 42:1-11

Sermon

James Merritt

I’m beginning a six-week series of messages that I am entitling “Dealing with Feelings.” I’m going to begin today with the most dominant destructive debilitating feeling of all. Have you ever awakened in the morning and somehow you just knew it was going to be a bad day? Somebody with a great sense of humor described a few clues to let us know that it’s “going to be a bad day” when: You wake up face down on the pavement. You call Suicide Prevention and they put you on hold. Your birthday cake collapses ...

2454. A Chance To Be Made Whole

Matthew 9:18-26

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

A young man and woman had been dating for a long time. One starlit evening, the young man called up his sweetheart to ask her to go on a ride with him. He said he had something very special to share with her. He picked her up in his much loved antique sports car and drove out to the park. There they had a lovely candle and starlight picnic. For some reason, the young man did not talk much. He seemed distracted. The young woman noticed all of this and was too excited to talk much, herself. She'd been ...

2455. Light a Candle

Matthew 5:14

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

It was a large impressive waiting room, furnished with the finest of furniture and stocked with the latest magazines. On this particular day, it was packed full of people waiting to see one of three physicians. In the corner of that packed waiting room there sat an elderly lady crying. At first she wept softly, but as the hopes and fears of all of her years began to burst inside of her she began to weep openly. People sitting in that waiting room did what nice people tend to do. They tried to ignore what ...

2456. How Odd of God

Acts 3:11-26

Sermon

King Duncan

There is a small poem that is often quoted in Christian Bible studies that goes like this: How odd/ Of God/ To choose/ The Jews. Jews often use the word Goyim to refer to non-Jews. And so an unknown Jew with a biting wit responded to “How odd / Of God/ To choose/ The Jews” by writing these words: “Not odd / Of God / Goyim / Annoy 'im.” I cite these little bits of creative poetry strictly in fun. Our Jewish friends are generally delightful people, and they have contributed to the advance of civilization far ...

2457. The Lost Five Commandments

Mark 12:35-40

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

When Moses descended from the heights of Mount Sinai, he juggled in his arms not two but three Tablets of the Covenant, with five commandments inscribed on each. At least that’s how Mel Brooks tells it in his classic comedy “History of the World, Part I.” ‘Hear me, o hear me! All pay heed!’ the movie Moses proclaims. ‘The Lord, the Lord Jehovah, has given unto you these fifteen . . . [One stone tablet drops and shatters. A perplexed Moses looks down and mutters ‘Oy!’] . . . ten, TEN commandments for all to ...

2458. Can Two Become One?

Matthew 19:1-12

Sermon

James Merritt

I recently came across a fascinating article called “The Top 10 Inventions That Changed The World.” Whenever I come across lists like these it is always fun to see how many of these I can guess. I am going to put 10 blanks up on the screen, beginning with number 10. Here are the top inventions in order from 10-to-1: 10. The Plow 9. The Wheel 8. The Printing Press 7. The Refrigerator 6. Communications (Telephone, TV, etc) 5. The Steam Engine 4. The Automobile 3. The Light Bulb 2. The Computer 1. The ...

2459. Oh Say, Can You See by the Dawn’s Early Light?

John 20:1-18

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

Across the street from the walls that surround the city of David there is a tomb. It looks like any other ancient tomb in that area. Step inside and you will quickly realize that this tomb is different. Someone of status and wealth once owned this tomb. You can tell that it belonged to a person of means because this is a double tomb with two side-by-side burial spaces. What is more, this tomb once contained a body but now it lies empty. The evidence of its having been used is seen in the way that the sides ...

2460. The Time Is Now!

Luke 24:50-53

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

Unlike John or Peter, the gospel writer Luke was a cool-headed intellect. Luke was a physician. As a physician, he was trained to keep his emotional distance from the events he saw. Nobody wants a physician who lets emotion run ahead of intellect. We want our medical doctors to be able to confront the most remarkable experiences and stay calm; to analyze, decide the best course of action, and prescribe whatever it takes to get the patient well again. Above all else, "Keep calm and carry on." That is, do ...

2461. Pulling Our Punches

Mark 10:17-31

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

Nobel Prize Laureate for Literature Robert Allan Zimmerman — more popularly known as Bob Dylan — has written many memorable lyrics. He has a good ear for the rhythms of speech, poetry, and the Bible. In his song “The Times They Are A-Changin’” Dylan listed a number of factors that should prove to those who stand in the way of truth that “Your order is rapidly fadin’.” He concluded with words that echo Jesus — “For the first one now will later be last, for the times, they are a-changin’.” In the gospels it ...

2462. The Compassionate Healings

Mark 5:21-43

Sermon

Ron Lavin

We have before us two stories, the story of a sick woman with a twelve-year-old hemorrhage and the story of a twelve-year-old girl who has died. The stories are integrated by one theme -- the compassionate healing of Jesus. The Sick Woman Our stories start out with Jairus, a synagogue leader, approaching Jesus with a request to come and heal his sick daughter. On his way to the home of Jairus, Jesus was met by a woman who had been sick with bleeding for twelve years. In terms of modern medicine, she ...

2463. Jacob And The Night Wrestler

Genesis 32:22-32

Drama

Jerry Eckert

Comment: A good story can be done a number of ways. A story about Jacob lent itself as a short story when I did it. Since then, I have come to see it as a radio drama, not unlike those frequently heard in the '40s and '50s in which the hero narrates and has some dialogue with a limited number of other characters. Sound effects would be nice and could be handled by a creative team working on this story. Those who study the biblical story closely will realize I have taken some liberties, as most storytellers ...

2464. God, The Holy Spirit

Acts 2:1-13

Drama

Jerry Eckert

Comment: In Volume 2 of this set, there were two sermons on the Trinity: "God the Father," which was a telling of a meeting of two old friends; and "God, the Son," which was an interview with John the Baptist. These were done at Faith United Methodist Church in Milwaukee. The third in the series on the Trinity is this use of the "You Are There" format. After feeling successful using it two years earlier for the Tower of Babel story, the story that is the Old Testament antecedent to the story of Pentecost ...

2465. Twelfth Night

Luke 2:1-7, Luke 2:8-20

Drama

Jerry Eckert

Comment: For Christmas Eve, 1993, we went to a simple format. The liturgist and I alternated as we did prayers, carols, and scripture texts about Mary, Joseph, and Jesus, and concluded with a candlelight ceremony. Planning for 1994 again made us search our imaginations. Maybe these moods go in cycles. We felt we wanted something more for this new year. I suggested the "You Are There" format (from CBS's radio and television programs of that name) and that got several excited. It involved people from the ...

2466. The Housing Problem

Luke 11:14-28

Sermon

Harold Warlick

One of the most nerve-wracking experiences in life is finding a place to live. It's as true for college students as it is for older adults. Everyone at some time or another has to house hunt, roommate hunt, room hunt or apartment hunt. In fact, one of the biggest changes in life occurs at the end of the freshman year in college when you can actually have a choice as to where you will live and with whom you will live. The freshman experience is an unknown experience. The school assigns you a roommate and a ...

2467. A Kudzu-Kind of Kingdom

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

I want you to use your imagination this morning. Let me take you back in history 2000 years, to the country of Palestine, present-day Israel. You are sitting around a campfire near the Sea of Galilee with Jesus and his disciples. They have lived together, traveled together, preached and healed together for over two years. On this particular evening they have had a simple meal of perch and bread. There is a lull in the conversation and then I can imagine the disciple Thomas speaking: "Master, you and the ...

2468. 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 ...

2469. Everyone Is Searching For You

Mark 1:35-39

Sermon

Brett Blair

The great architect Frank Lloyd Wright was fond of an incident that may have seemed insignificant at the time, but had a profound influence on the rest of his life. The winter he was 9, he went walking across a snow-covered field with his reserved, no- nonsense uncle. As the two of them reached the far end of the field, his uncle stopped him. He pointed out his own tracks in the snow, straight and true as an arrow's flight, and then young Frank's tracks meandering all over the field. "Notice how your ...

2470. A Good God and the Problem of Suffering

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

"I don’t know what to do about them, they won’t get out of the way." "Who?" said Stef. "There’s disaster rolling down the hill and they won’t move." "Who won’t? Whom are you talking about?" "I can’t make them pay attention, they just stand there ..." Steinbeck sounded as if he might break into tears. "They won’t heed me ..." Stef was growing irritable. "Who?" he repeated. "What are you lamenting? Who won’t move?" "My characters!" Steinbeck exploded. He was writing Of Mice and Men.1 This could be God ...

2471. When You Are Anxious About Many Things

Luke 10:38-42

Sermon

King Duncan

Have you ever noticed how people differ? Some people can focus on only one thing at a time. Others are not happy unless they have several projects going at the same time. Then there are some people who are so focused it's scary. I chuckled when I read Lawrence A. Keating's description of something that happened during the 1946 Oklahoma-Army football game. Oklahoma coach Jim Tatum paced the sidelines frantically as the Army team took a 21-7 lead over his Sooners. Nearby sat punter Charlie Sarratt, his ...

2472. Convinced Beyond A Doubt

John 20:24-31

Sermon

King Duncan

Years ago, Monroe Parker was traveling through South Alabama on one of those hot, sultry Alabama days. He stopped at a watermelon stand, picked out a watermelon, and asked the proprietor how much it cost. "It's $1.10," he replied. Parker dug into his pocket, found only a bill and said, "All I have is a dollar." "That's ok," the proprietor said, "I'll trust you for it." "Well, that's mighty nice of you," Parker responded, and picking up the watermelon, started to leave. "Hey, where are you going?" the man ...

2473. Full Barns--empty Souls

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

King Duncan

Motivational speaker Danny Cox tells an interesting story in his book, Seize the Day. Danny and his wife took a hot air balloon trip early one morning in Africa. As the balloon rose gracefully, they saw a herd of wildebeest running frantically across the vast expanse below. The herd stopped suddenly and began looking around as if they were confused. Danny asked their pilot why the herd had stopped so suddenly and what they were looking for. He told them that the wildebeest, which migrate by the millions ...

2474. Who Is Jesus Christ?

John 14:5-14

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

There is a familiar greeting which I try to use at the beginning of each and every worship service. It comes from Paul’s Second Letter to the Church at Corinth: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” (II Cor. 13:14) Now, that may sound simple and even trite, but I would suggest that that sentence contains the essence of the Christian Faith. It is through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ that we come to know the love of God, in the ...

2475. You Will Never Walk Alone

Luke 24:13-20, 25-26, 28-35

Sermon

Mark Trotter

Summer is not far away now. It is a time when many people travel. If you are going abroad, I am sure you have already made plans to do so. If you have told anybody about your plans, I am sure you have gotten a lot of advice on where to stay, where to eat, and what to see. Through the generosity of many of you in this church, Jean and I were able to take a trip to Germany last summer. We had a wonderful time, made so in large part because of the advice that some of you gave us who had been there. The best ...

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