Sermon and Worship Resources

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1. "Kiss an Artist Today"

Illustration

Maxie Dunnam

Bumper stickers carry a variation on many themes. The most recent one that got my attention was “kiss an artist today.” That’s easy for me. My wife and daughter are both artists. But the thought is expansive and the worth universal. John Powell tells about two men who were brother priests. They had for many years experienced a rich and rewarding friendship. They had struggled together through the wilderness of long seminary training and had worked together in a community ministry. But ...

2. Praying Hands

Luke 2:21-40

Children's Sermon

Edward G. Hunter

... ) made enough for both of them to live. But his older friend had found that his fingers had become too sore (from the hard work he had been doing to make a living). He was unable to paint anymore, so he had to give up his desire to become an artist. One day when Durer returned home he thought he heard the voice of his friend in prayer in another room. He quietly opened the door and saw him praying at a table with his hands folded in prayer, like this (show the picture or the statue again). Durer said he ...

3. Uncovering Jesus

1 Corinthians 1:7

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

... together to wait for Jesus to reveal himself just as we are waiting for the painting to be revealed. Jesus will come, but only when it is the right time. None of us knows when that time is, just as we did not know when the artist would finish his painting. If we had asked the artist to tell us the day he would reveal his painting, he would have told us that he was not certain of the day, but that he was working on it every day until it would be complete. God knows when Jesus will reveal himself but ...

4. Star Maker

Matthew 2:1-12, Psalm 19:1-14

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... for a moment. Can you feel the dark night of the rolling hills, the silent, dark landscape, the dark cypress in the foreground, rustling in the wind? And yet in the center of the painting lies the church, the center of the community and the center of the artist’s soul, its tall thin steeple rising up into the heavens like a hypodermic needle trying to draw light from the heavenly source into its windows, so it can serve as a beacon of hope to the surrounding community. In fact if you look closely it looks ...

5. Love Without Demand

Ruth 1:1-22

Sermon

Sims Robert

... became angry because she could not mold the clay into the shape she wanted. She slammed it to the table and hit it with her fist. The artist smiled and put his hand over hers and said, “You see, Jane, I like you and believe in you so you don’t have to worry ... try to lead her to talk with him so that he would feel important, or respond to him so that he would feel like a great artist. He did not impose on her the need to build his ego. He did not require that she respond to him at all. He simply placed ...

6. Dying To Live

Isaiah 43:16-21

Sermon

Charley Reeb

... just smiled and said nothing. Then suddenly the man saw himself in the portrait — not as he was in his dejected state, but as he could be. Then the beggar asked, “Is that me? Is that really me?” The artist replied, “That’s who I see in you.” Then the beggar said, “If that’s who you see in me, then that’s who I’ll be.”[5] Have you ever wondered who God sees in you? God wants to do something new with you. Do you not perceive it? ...

7. Broken Yet Sincere

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... broken heart even now. Jesus bears that broken heart still today. “Love one another as I have loved you,” he bids us. Jesus bears the wounds of our disobedience, our disbelief, our doubt. As God’s church, may we love with the passion of an artist who picks up the pieces of the broken hearts of this world, and invites Jesus’ golden, shining, enduring love to fill, patch, heal, mend lives into beautiful, sincere images of God’s glory. May your eyes be opened, your doubts swayed, your joy complete in ...

8. The Art of Restoration

John 3:1-17

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... color to our authentic, beautiful humanness. Human beings are God’s most astounding creation. All we need to do is look around to witness the rest of the amazing creation that God has brought forth! How can we not recognize that we are the product of the most amazing artist who ever lived! Be proud of who you are. Do not fall into a muddle over your past, your mistakes, or what you see as your flaws or difficulties. For God does not see that in you! God sees in you the beauty that God created. And God has ...

9. Faith on the Fringe

Mark 5:21-43

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... of our concept of culture in the technological revolution, the “fringe festival” forced us to take a closer look at what it means truly to put one’s finger on the pulse of “culture.” Re-evaluating culture meant re-evaluating art, artists, venues, and audiences. It meant de-constructing former ideas, values, conceptions, and ideas of how art could create a more inclusive understanding of the world and its people. Like any cultural phenomenon, its impact cannot be underestimated, not in the art ...

10. Weaving the Spirit’s Trail

Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... get you a “leg up?” It messes with the notion that good is rewarded and evil is punished. The kingdom of God messes up ALL our expectations! Good thing. For here’s the truth: ALL of us are those “last hour hires.” The fallacy practiced by all artists who feel they need to intentionally introduce a “flaw” into their work in order to honor God is this: NOTHING we can do, or say, or think, or dream, can come even remotely close to the perfection that is God and the perfection that God might well ...

11. Life and Light to All He Brings

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... . It is not skill, or timing, or beauty that makes a great photo. It is all about the light. The right light is every photographer’s “secret weapon.” If you want to be beautiful, you don't need plastic surgery. You don’t need a make-up artist. You don’t need the best clothes. You just need the right light. Everyone is beautiful if the lighting is right. The Light of the World is the greatest beautifying force in the universe. No wonder the Psalmist sang, “In Your light shall we see life” (Ps ...

12. Doing God's Work

John 2:1-11

Children's Sermon

... to come and look at what he had done. The people came and when they saw what he had done, they gasped with great surprise. [Take out the drawing of Jesus without the features.] "Why, you haven't finished the painting! You have only begun." "No," the artist said, "I am finished." There on the wall, high and lifted up, was Jesus. The robes Jesus wore were beautiful, he was tall and strong looking. But something was missing. The people saw a person without hands or feet, eyes or nose, mouth or ears. Again they ...

13. Going Home for Christmas?

John 1:1-18

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... . Finally, years had passed. In a last desperate effort to complete his masterpiece, Leonardo de Vinci went to a jailer. It was according to the law in those days in Italy that you could purchase a person''s freedom. He went to the jailer and told him he was an artist and that he was painting a picture which was complete except for the face of one man. He said, "I would like to go through your dungeon and see if I can find a face etched with the horrors of life enough to model for that man. It is a ...

14. Cabinet Masterpiece

Illustration

... confronted with the dog. The surgeon, with masterful self-control, said not a word but proceeded to treat the dog with the same skill he would have used on a human being. Then he picked up his instruments and left. Weeks passed, the dog got well, yet the artist never received a bill from the surgeon. The longer he waited the more guilty he felt. Surely he had lost the surgeon's friendship forever. A few days later, therefore, he made his way to the surgeon's office, intending to pay all that was asked. The ...

15. The Great Sacrifice of Love

Luke 9:18-27, 1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... he would support the education of the other, either by sale of his art works or by going to the mines himself. Thus, one brother went off to the dangerous mines while the other went to the art academy. After four years, the young artist returned triumphantly to a homecoming dinner. The artist rose from the table to drink a toast to his beloved brother for his years of sacrifice. He said, "Now Albert, it is your turn to go to the academy and pursue your dream; I will support you." Albert sat at the table and ...

16. The Art of Fruit

Luke 3:7-18

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... that person’s heart is still disconnected from God, Jesus will be able to tell. If one claims to love God and worship Jesus but keeps his or her life closed off from others, Jesus will be able to tell. In a sense, the threshing floor is Jesus’ artistic canvas. You may enter in disguise, but you will exit with the face that reveals the inner workings of your heart. What kind of face reveals your heart? Today, our faces may not look like tomatoes or kiwi. But they may look like bags of money, clothes and ...

17. Encounters With Christ II: Jesus and Mary and Martha

Luke 10:38-42

Sermon

James W. Moore

... One thing is needful. Mary has chosen the good portion which shall not be taken from her.” End of story. Now, look at these personality styles. Have you figured them out? What about Mary? Do you have her pegged? Well, of course, she is the artistic poetic philosopher, who is thrilled to just bask in the warmth of that moment. She is stirred, thrilled, touched and inspired by the presence of Jesus. How about Martha? Well, obviously, she is the detailed planner. She has planned this event to the nth degree ...

18. Having a Life in His Name

John 20:19-23

Illustration

Ed Jansen

... decided to call upon Michelangelo at his studio and ask, "What is this one thing my work lacks? Please, tell me, I must know!" Michelangelo responded, "It is perfect in every detail. Your work is magnificent. It only lacks one thing, life itself!" Now the master could not pay any artist a finer compliment, but the young man knew that without life, the best he could achieve was to convert an ugly mass of stone into a beautiful mass of stone. Life was the essential ingredient that his creation lacked.

19. What Jesus Saw In Martha

Luke 10:38-42

Sermon

James W. Moore

20. The Big Difference

Mark 7:31-37

Children's Sermon

... and girls. How many of you like to color or draw? Almost all of you. Well, I do, too, and I thought this morning I would like to draw something for you. How about a horse or a tree? Why not both? Well, let's see. [If you use an artist, here is the place to introduce him and announce that both of you will be drawing the same pictures.] While I'm doing this, let me talk to you a little bit about Jesus. Did you know that one day when he was out with his friends, the disciples, they ...

21. Do You Have the Great Pearl?

Matthew 13:47-52, Matthew 13:44-46

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

... with a beautiful painting. But instead of the Christian being grateful, he criticized the picture. He said, "I think you should add a tree here and another bush there. Put some more rocks in the foreground and an old stump in the center." Somewhat angered, the artist replied, "If I do that, it would spoil the picture. Anything added to that picture will not improve it but ruin it. Why don’t you accept the picture just as it is?" Then the Christian seized his opportunity. He replied, "Just so it is with ...

22. Blessed among Women

Luke 1:39-45, 1 Samuel 2:1-11

Sermon

Erskine White

... from South America, the Far East and nearly every other part of the world as well. In a sense, she has become the universal woman, adapted in every generation to every race and culture. One thing, however, artists everywhere have agreed upon: they have all depicted her as pious, thoughtful and serene. "She," of course, is Mary, the mother of Jesus. When Elizabeth, pregnant with John the Baptist, first saw her, she exclaimed, "Blessed are you among women," and so it has been ever since. After Jesus Himself ...

23. Be Real

Colossians 1:3-8

Sermon

John Jamison

... not remove the drapery. The drapery covering the second painting was, in actual fact, the painting itself. As the judges and the audience began to realize what was happening, they grew silent. Then a cheer erupted that echoed through the courtyard. The best artist was selected. One painting looked real enough to fool birds, while the second was so real it had fooled everyone. Sometimes, we all have trouble picking out the real from the unreal. The true from the untrue, or only partially true. There are ...

24. John 5:1-9

John 5:1-15

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... focus reflects a different vision of what is going on around us. It might not be a “pretty” picture. It might not be something we want to visually record at all. But the artist’s eye is an eye that catches truths in an original prism and reveals territories that a less-honed eye might miss. An “artist” has his or her “eye peeled” towards a different perspective. When Jesus walked along the Sea of Galilee, or strolled within the courtyard of the Temple, or wandered into a small town — his ...

25. Mirror, Mirror ON The Wall . . .!

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... his works of art! And he is working within us by the power of the Holy Spirit to reproduce Christ's character, to make us like Jesus. God does this for a purpose. It is advertisement. When we develop Christ's character, people will look at us and praise the artist who made us thus. Check this out with Matthew 5:16. Jesus said, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works" (not your good looks) "and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."\n Esther was God's embodiment of truth ...

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