Sermon and Worship Resources

Antonyms: loss, disadvantage, debt, lack, need, payment, resource, want

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Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

... agent of God in the healing process. For example, one thing that gets into many people today is depression. Depression can be a killer. People acting out depression engage in all kinds of self-destructive behavior. And most of these people can be helped to one degree or another. For example, did you know that nearly 8% of the population suffers from low thyroid function called hypothyroidism. This low thyroid function can be a significant cause of depression. (5) Now many people who are depressed feel that ...

2. The Heart of the Matter

Psalm 51:1-19

Sermon

King Duncan

... of the Rochester General Hospital. The item gives you a course of action should you find yourself alone and think that you are having a heart attack. Since many of us are vulnerable to just such an attack, I felt it might be helpful to share this advice. I quote: “Without help, the person whose heart stops beating properly and who begins to feel faint, has only about 10 seconds left before losing consciousness. However, these victims can help themselves by coughing repeatedly and very vigorously. A ...

3. When Tragedy Strikes

Psalm 23:1-6

Sermon

James W. Moore

... a mile with Sorrow And ne'er a word said she; But, oh the things I learned from her When Sorrow walked with me." Well, what can we learn from our sorrow? Many things for sure, but let me for now just list three practical lessons that can be helpful to all of us as we walk together through this hard valley… and, interestingly, even though Jerry was only 15 years old, he had already learned all three of these crucial life lessons. I. FIRST OF ALL, IT'S IMPORTANT TO KEEP UP TO DATE ON OUR RELATIONSHIPS. This ...

4. A Faith that Works with a Victorious Attitude

Philippians 2:12-18

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... that you are here today reflects that God has not given up on you, so please don''t give up yourself. Dr. John A Huffman, Jr., of Newport Beach, California, shared an insight that he learned from Dr. Leighton Ford that I believe might be helpful to you in our instantaneous society as you consider your growth in Christ. "What is urgent is measured by the running clock. What is important is measured by the growing spirit. What is urgent clamors loudly for action. What is important knocks quietly for attention ...

5. The Best Way to Help Someone

Colossians 4:7-18

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

Most of us want to be helpful to other people. But that may be as easy as it sounds. Let me illustrate. A man got on a train one Friday in London, bound for the town Rosedale. When the conductor came by and pick up his ticket, said, "Sir, this train doesn't stop in Rosedale on Fridays." ~ ...

6. Invitation To Community

Mark 10:1-12

Sermon

William G. Carter

... a new day, to a church where women were considered full partners in God's household. In other words, Jesus was also saying, "Wives, take your husbands seriously." Is it helpful to tell you that about this text? Maybe, maybe not. Maybe it would be helpful to point out the Bible does not have one overriding prohibition on divorce. This may surprise you, but the Bible speaks with many voices on the matter. The promise of creation says we were made for one another, but says nothing about those occasions when ...

7. Entertaining Angels

Hebrews 13:1-25

Sermon

King Duncan

... ve shown tonight? We're strangers who won't meet again A mere "˜ 'thank you "˜doesn't seem right." He said, “What goes around comes around. This I've learned with time - -What you give, you always get back; What you sow, you reap in kind. Always be helpful to others And give what you can spare; For by being kind to strangers, We help angels unaware. Maybe it won't be the kind of angel Melissa Deal Forth felt she met the night her husband died. Some experiences are beyond our understanding. But there are ...

8. Vanilla, Chocolate, and Strawberry

1 Corinthians 9:1-27

Sermon

James McCormick

... was done exactly as I would like it done, because I would then think about all those other Christians who have other preferences. And by my insisting upon doing it my way, I would be separating myself from those with other preferences, and I would not be helping to create a welcoming atmosphere. I would be in my comfort zone, but not in a place of “holy hospitality.” Will you help me struggle with all of that? Will you help me try to make the Chapel a place where everyone is welcome, and where we ...

9. When a Member of the Family Dies

John 11:17-37

Sermon

R. E. Lybrand

... . The pieces of our lives will fall back together, and a better day will come. Conclusion Certainly we can never be fully prepared for that awful day when death snatches away someone we love, for death always catches us off guard and unprepared. But perhaps it will be helpful to remember what you should do when a loved one dies. First, you cry and cry some more. Second, you remember that the Lord is with you to give you strength and comfort. And third, you can be assured that because the Lord is with you, a ...

10. So, You Want to Get Well?

Mark 5:21-43

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... old. They connect with your life and mine. They invite us to step into the middle of the drama and draw from them what God wants to say to us today. Do these ancient healing tales make a difference to you and me? Yes, I believe they do. It may be helpful to keep the words of an old hymn before our mind's eyes as we think about how we are participants in these biblical dramas. The hymn "Just As I Am" is a reminder of how we come before God when we want to be healed. In addition to these two ...

11. "Oh Yeah, Thanks a Lot" -The Grateful Leper

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... are outwardly clean, but inwardly sick. They have not learned to praise God in times of adversity. They have not learned that praise is the spiritual life blood of the soul. These are things that I have learned about prayer and praise. I hope that they will be helpful to you in your day and your town. For your own spiritual health, you must learn how to persevere in prayer and praise God at all times. Many people do not know about any of these things. Many do not know this Master who heals us inside and ...

12. Lord, Teach Us How to Pray

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

James McCormick

... involve at least four parts, beginning with the letters in Acts: A-C-T-S. First, there is Adoration, a time when we are still and allow God to be God. During this part of our prayer time we are to center our thoughts completely upon God. It might be helpful to visualize God as we have come to know Him in Jesus. But our attention must be upon God and not upon ourselves. I once heard a great man of prayer say, “Prayer is not primarily a hall of mirrors where we look at ourselves, but an Upper Room where ...

13. L. T.: The Lonely Terrestrial

Drama

Edward Long

... by God in the same way, since you seem to be very advanced over us on earth ... VISITOR: I am under the strictest orders not to reveal such ultimate secrets during any encounters with you beings on earth; the judgment is that such knowledge is not to be helpful to your natural unfolding of earth's destiny. (Winks eye.) However, I can give you some hints ... if you are brave enough to come with me in the space scooter and glance into the immediate future here and the past there ... LEE: To be sure ... let's ...

14. Lent 5

John 11:1-45 · Romans 8:6-11 · Ezekiel 37:1-14 · Psalm 130

Sermon Aid

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

... land to journey with Israel, the people once again acquire direction and hope, because God is now able to lead them back to the promised land of rest. For the prophet Ezekiel this is no less than a resurrection story. In preaching this text it may be helpful to explore situations or persons in your community where there is consensus that all hope is gone. The power of this text is that it is a bold statement that God is able to reverse such situations—to play them backwards—and to breathe new life into ...

15. Getting It Together

Luke 6:37-42

Sermon

William G. Carter

... yourself before turning the spotlight on anybody else. You have to face what you spend your whole life avoiding about yourself. Only then, says Long, can you move from self-righteousness to compassion. The good news is that those who deal with their own blindspots can be helpful to others.4 But it means taking a good, long, honest look at yourself. A number of years ago, novelist Frederick Buechner dared to tell the story of a day in his own life. He began the book by saying: I am a part-time novelist who ...

16. Advent 3

Psalm 146:1-10, Isaiah 35:1-10, James 5:7-12, Matthew 11:1-19

Sermon Aid

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

... task, among others, is to make clear that "the simple gospel isn't as simple as some simple people think." Creative preachers will think analogously between Hebrew and Christian scriptures in order to proclaim the God who is the source of both. It may be helpful to refer to the comments on this issue made under this section for the Second Sunday of Advent. The Third Sunday of Advent has historically been called Gaudete Sunday, from the first word in the Latin introit for the day, "Rejoice in the Lord always ...

17. “I Love You, Lord, My Strength”

Psalm 18:1-50

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

... opportunity to share stories of God’s activity in the lives of people today. The God of the Psalms is the same God we worship today. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. In order to communicate this reality it will be helpful to share personal stories from your life or the lives of people in your congregation who have experienced the God who is powerful in deliverance. Look for people who have stories to tell about how God delivered them from spiritual bondage, bitterness, brokenness, emotional ...

18. Jesus Is God’s Faithful Son in Gethsemane and at His Arrest and Trial

Matthew 26:31-35, Matthew 26:36-46, Matthew 26:47-56, Matthew 26:57-68, Matthew 26:69-75

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... you remember a moment when God was quite evidently at work. Matthew portrays the commitment to “being with” Jesus as fundamental to discipleship. Quote: To live in relationship with the living God in a way that focuses on being prior to doing, it can be helpful to return to the truth that being with Jesus begins and ends with his initiating presence with us. We depend on his presence (not vice versa). Dependence assumes that God is already at work, so a centering question that emerges is: Where is God ...

19. Peacemaking - Active, Not Passive

Sermon

Alan Bacon Bond

... be bad and good at the same time?" The name for that possibility is "paradox." A paradox is a seemingly contradictory statement which may, nonetheless, be true. In order to understand the role of paradox in the process of peace-making, it would be helpful to review the first two steps we have taken on "The Sevenfold Path to Peace," which we are pursuing during this period of Lent. First, with the question, "Is peace Attainable?" we wrestled with the fact that what happens inside of us ultimately affects ...

20. Sons of God

Galatians 3:26--4:7

Sermon

King Duncan

... flight for freedom. If they were captured, well, their fate could be severe punishment or worse. If they could make it to northern Kentucky, however, across the river from Cincinnati, they were on the edge of freedom. Once they were in the North, they would be helped to safety, maybe in Canada, or by those who ran safe houses on what became known as the Underground Railroad. Hutchcraft says that once he heard the history, he saw something very different as he looked out his window at the Ohio River. He was ...

21. Keeping Sunday

Mark 2:23-3:6

Sermon

David G. Rogne

... day after day, from one activity to another without pause? A few years ago The New York Times carried an article about a chess Olympiad which was being held in Germany. It mentioned a certain change in the schedule of play which would be helpful to two players, Fischer and Reshevsky, because neither would play on Friday night or Saturday. Fischer was a member of a strict Christian sect and Reshevsky was an orthodox Jew. Both observed the Sabbath. Here were two people involved in an international competition ...

22. "I Don’t Hate Any More!"

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

... on the commands of God. "To forgive is always there and always necessary - especially when it seems so unfair to have to," Max Sullins reminds us. "Forgive seventy times seven"; live in a constant spirit of forgiveness. It is the healing spirit. One fact might be helpful to remember: The hurter is in greater need than the one who is hurt. If you are being gossiped about or slandered, the evil is external. But the one who is harming another is an agent of evil and is possessed by evil. The hurter is ...

23. Stay in the Boat!

Matthew 14:22-36

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... divorce you ever saw. That's my day.' "What could I say? "'Which,' he continued, 'helps explain why I'm in your church on a Sunday morning.' "'I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed,' I said, 'thinking what on earth I have to say in a sermon which might be helpful to you on a Sunday.' "'It's not the sermon that I come for, preacher,' he said, fixing his gaze upon me. 'It's the music. I go a whole week sometimes with nothing beautiful, little good, until Sunday. Sometimes, when that choir sings, it is for me the ...

24. Sermonon the Mount: The Beatitudes

Matthew 5:1-12, Matthew 5:13-16

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... many will not immediately connect salt to the idea of covenant and its permanence (see comments on 5:13–16), so you would need to make this connection explicit by drawing on relevant Old Testament texts (e.g., 2 Chron. 13:5). It might be helpful to brainstorm with your audience about the purposes of salt and light, tying some of these to the importance of mission for God’s covenant people. It would also help people understand the text to note that when salt and light are “working,” they naturally ...

25. Jesus, Not Jewish Leaders, Interprets the Torah Rightly

Matthew 15:1-20

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... misguided in their understanding and practice of the Torah. Applying the Text: As you think about recontextualizing this passage, the following questions might provide analogous points of reflection for contemporary congregations. In this process it would be helpful to realize that discerning the lines between tradition and Scripture is often more difficult than we imagine (as the Pharisees illustrate in this passage), since traditions are often closely tied to Scripture as extensions of our understanding ...

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