Sermon and Worship Resources

Synonyms: beginning, start, origination, genesis, birth, dawning, dawn, emergence, inception, launch, creation, birthplace, cradle, early stages, conception, inauguration, foundation, outset, source, derivation, root, roots, provenance, etymology, descent, ancestry, parentage, pedigree, lineage, line, line of descent, heritage, extraction, background, family, stock, blood, bloodline, genealogy, beginnings

Antonyms: end, conclusion, termination

Showing 1 to 25 of 1209 results

1. Emergency!

Genesis 11:1-9

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... , the people of Babel. Cause in any confrontation between alien “gods” of our own making and the One True God of Israel, God always wins! This is the Story of scripture: God is God, and we are not! And when things get to a state of “emergency,” God intervenes and rescues humanity. Over and over again. God’s symbol of intervention ….is the ladder. We call it “Jacob’s ladder” –the sign that tells us “God is in this place.” The ladder is a sign of God’s saving grace, healing salvation ...

2. True Colors

Acts 9:1-19a, Acts 9:19b-31

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... , some kind of spiritual or physical change. Saul’s story is a birthing story. Saul encounters the Creator God/Jesus of John’s gospel. And he is encircled by the shekinah, which plunges him back into a womb-like place, where he is morphed and changed, only to emerge as a new person, in which Christ lives in him. God’s covenant is a covenant of light. In Abram’s story, the one most that I find links with this story, after Abram is put into a deep sleep (remember Adam), God appears as a fiery tannur ...

3. Deep Faith

Genesis 6:1-8:22, Genesis 5:1-32

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... dive into “deep faith,” a vastness of space into which we have no idea where we are going, and what we will become when we emerge. But this much we know --the act of submersion will change us. When we resurface, we will be a new creature, half of the sea, half ... within the watery deep in a life-saving coffin for an undetermined amount of time. It’s the story of rising out of the water, emerging from that cypress box, and into a new kind of life when the time comes to do so. It’s most of all a story ...

4. A Voice in the Wilderness

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... happen, sealed envelopes containing a set of updated authenticator codes were sent on a regular basis to every broadcast facility in the United States. Despite these safeguards, however, the unthinkable happened. At 9:33 AM EST on February 20, 1971 the Emergency Broadcast System was inadvertently activated. The signal for a real attack was mistakenly given. The wire services picked up the bulletin and distributed those chilling words, “This is not a test.” What do you suppose was the response to this ...

5. Identity Crisis

Genesis 32:1-21, Genesis 32:22-32, Genesis 33:1-20

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... tales that follow it, the story of Jacob itself is deep and rich, and so much more than meets the naked eye. It’s a tale of a naked heart, in which God confronts us when we are at last ready to confront ourselves. When Jacob is born, he emerges from the womb gripping the heel of his brother Esau, as though to overtake him. Esau, the elder of the twins, should receive the covenant blessing of his father. But through trickery, in carrying out a plot hatched by his mother, Jacob pulls the wool over the eyes ...

6. WHAT IS MAN?

Sermon

Larry Powell

... in American life, it would seem that the Christian religion in this country would certainly possess enough clout to purge our kind of un-Christian beliefs. However, we are not in control. Just as in medicine (and everything else), mutations and alternatives still emerge. Not long ago, I read that a fellow was sailing down the Miami River and witnessed two white-robed women standing on the bank chanting while a third woman waded into the water, rubbed a chicken over her body, slaughtered it, and threw ...

7. Time to Get Ready

Luke 12:32-40

Sermon

... hours per day, seven days a week ... When there is an intruder or a fire, a highpitched beep will sound in the home and simultaneously alert the cable security personnel. The security monitor will immediately telephone the home to verify the emergency and dispatch the appropriate help. Security subscribers will also have the ability to activate fire, medical and intrusion alerts by pushing a button on the alarm panel. Subscribers to cable home security systems enjoy greater security and quicker response to ...

8. A Tsunami Appeal

Sermon

Eric Hudson

... ’ll all be helping unstintingly in this disaster above all disasters. So here’s a challenge: not one that everyone will be able to undertake, but many of us could, if we had a mind to. Will you think about joining me in giving £100 or more to the Disasters Emergency Committee? Do it not because you can afford it, but perhaps because you can’t. Do it not because it’s money you don’t need, but because of something Mother Teresa said: If you give what you do not need, it isn't giving. Do it, if you ...

9. A Colt Is Not A Horse

Mark 11:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... of victory ends not with a bang but with a shrug . . . and that's the clue for us. Palm Sunday's meaning can only emerge as we observe what happens to Jesus during the rest of the week. Palm Passion Sunday, sorry, Palm “SLASH” Passion Sunday, may be a ... day of victory ends not with a bang but with a shrug . . . and that's the clue for us. Palm Sunday's meaning can only emerge as we observe what happens to Jesus during the rest of the week Palm/Passion Sunday may be a historical and theological mess, but it ...

10. No Other Name

Acts 4:1-22

Sermon

King Duncan

... 20 percent, as fans stayed glued to their TV sets. "It's as if when they look at the TV and see what's happening, they say, ‘My infected lung, it's not so bad,'‘' reported one emergency room physician. Researchers say that people apparently have a flexible idea of what constitutes an "emergency," especially if they're caught up in the excitement of a big game. "The heart attacks, the strokes, they will come in no matter what's going on," says this same physician. "The patient with pneumonia, the patient ...

11. Trapped in Paradise

Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... round of terrorized tourists stories are those being told by visitors to Mexico's famous Cancun resort area. When Hurricane Wilma finally made landfall, vacationers who had planned to stay in beautiful, luxurious resort hotels suddenly found themselves jammed into makeshift emergency shelters. Some had no food, no water, and no means of communication with the outside world. Travelers told horror stories of trading in their wedding rings for a bottle of water and a candy bar, or being stuck in holding pens ...

12. The 4 Words that Tell What It Means to Be a Christian

Luke 24:50-53

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Emmaus were also joined by the risen Christ, instructed in the scriptures and Jesus’ presence in them, and finally graced with the revelation of Jesus himself at their table. All these first witnesses returned to the rest of the sequestered disciples bringing “emergency band” news. What astonishingly “good news” it was. They had seen Jesus. Jesus had risen from the tomb. Jesus had walked and talked and broken bread with them. When Jesus finally appeared to the rest of his disciples, to those upper ...

13. The Power of the Wilderness

Luke 4:1-13

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... like new. A little oil in the lamp keeps it burning. [“Give me oil, in my lamp, keep me burning burning, burning.’] And when you are engaged in conflict, when you are “in the wild,” God comes too with that oil of anointing and allows you to emerge from your conflict and soul-searching and move ahead. “Your word is an [oil]lamp unto my feet….” (Psalm 119) The words of the Lord are like the sweet oil of anointing. In Jesus’ time with God in the wilderness, the words of scripture are his oil ...

14. Even in Our Hiding

Matthew 2:19-23, Matthew 2:13-18

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... times of contemplation, or as with Jacob, a wrestling with God. Sometimes we hide in fear. Sometimes we hide simply because we don’t have the energy to fight another day in the light. But when your hiding place becomes your sacred space with God, you will surely emerge stronger, more courageous, and more filled with love than ever before. God fills us and lifts us out of the darkest places and gives us the strength to face down the sins of the world that pursue us and threaten us. We may hide for a while ...

15. Are You Still Frightened of the Dark?

Genesis 1:1-5 · John 1:4-5 · Psalm 139:11-12

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... . Utilizing these twin themes, John in his Prologue declares of Jesus: In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:4-5) From the darkness have we emerged. Light sponsors life. And third, Christian illumination does not shut out the darkness; it incorporates it. This Christian incorporation of darkness helps us in three ways. It is an acknowledgement of reality. It is a statement of clinical fact that we all have a dark ...

16. Dying to Become

2 Corinthians 5:17

Sermon

Gregory J. Johanson

... new life. It involves a new level of consciousness that points up a new way of looking at life. In this level of consciousness, persons no longer need to "kill to survive." Resurrection means that out of disintegration and death, something of eternal significance may emerge. Resurrection is both a choice and a gift. It involves persons making choices about "letting go" of a preoccupation with survival. It also includes the gift of a new way of looking at things that enables us to let go of the past in order ...

17. Yes, No, Someone Else

2 Samuel 7:1-17

Sermon

Curtis Lewis

... , "God with us." God reveals himself and his existence in Jesus. Advent informs us each year that God is not hidden from us. When the emperor moth struggles to get out of the cocoon through the narrow opening, there is the hope that a thing of beauty and majesty will emerge. Advent is like the emperor moth. When allowed to fulfill its function in the church, it becomes a season of beauty and grandeur in which the promise of God for a Savior is fulfilled. This is always a thing of beauty and also of glory.

18. The Subject Is Salvation

Genesis 6:9-22; 7:24; 8:14-19

Sermon

James L. Killen

... at the first opportunity. God has to keep on working to hold chaos at bay so that all things can continue to exist. Every mother with a house full of children knows that if she doesn't keep on working 24 hours a day to maintain order, chaos will re-emerge. That is why one of our creeds says that God "... has created and is creating." Then why did the flood happen? God has chosen to give us freedom and responsibility like his so that we can participate with God in God's creative work. That is part of God's ...

19. The Year of the Woman

Genesis 2:18-24

Sermon

King Duncan

... was quite revealing. As he buried his head in his lap and pulled up his knees, he said, “Oh, God, thank You. Thank You for the incredible privilege of knowing You. Life has been wonderful.” Could you pray a prayer like that in such an emergency? As the plane approached the ground, Petersen’s last cry was, “Oh, God, my wife! My children!” Petersen survived. As he wandered about the airport in a daze after he disembarked from the damaged aircraft, aching all over, he found he couldn’t speak, but ...

20. Liminal Space

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... to read stories –reading can be a kind of Alice in Wonderland experience that takes you into a land of liminal space, in which you meet people not from your time or place, interact with them, journey with them, take them into your heart and mind, and then emerge from the process having found that you yourself have traveled somewhere new, whether in mind or heart. It’s the same with movies. How many of you love to go to the movies? And what happens? For a little bit of time, usually an hour and a half ...

21. Knitted Together from the Womb

Exodus 2:1-10

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... moment of madness, that wild fear that hits you like a ton of bricks when you realize that an entire child is about to emerge out of your body and through what seems like a tiny place between your legs, and it’s too late to take it back! ... what it’s like to come out of the water and into new life. Like the phenomena of his 3 month old sending into the water, he emerges with a new identity, one fashioned in the image of God. Later, he will again bring an entire people into and out of the water….and into ...

22. Sweet Vine

John 15:1-17

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... Isaiah 5) Jesus’ Parable of the Wicked Tenants (Luke 20:9-19; Matthew 21:33-46; Mark 12:1-12) The Fruit of the Spirit Described by Paul (Galatians 5) Image Exegesis: Fruit Sometimes you can’t know what kind of vine you’ve got until the fruit emerges. And although you can do everything imaginable to sweeten the grapes, a bad DNA will yield a bad crop every time. This is the message of Isaiah, and God’s frustration with a people who do everything to turn away from God instead of allowing God to shape ...

23. Seeing with Eyes Closed

Exodus 34:1-28, Exodus 34:29-35, John 1:1-18, Acts 9:1-19a

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... form and voice of Jesus, choose him, and afflicts him even as he cleanses him. For the Light is also the refiner’s fire. And like a lightning bolt, everything about Paul is moved and changed. Altered permanently. He is thrust into a 3-day darkness and emerges baptized by fire! All of Jesus’ teachings about the baptism of the Holy Spirit is seen in Paul’s “stroke of faith in Jesus.” And his propulsion into God’s mission in Jesus’ Name. It’s as though something in him as “shifted.” And it ...

24. The Lame Truth

John 5:1-15

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... . He goes with him and makes sure he gets off the sidelines and into the deep. Once the paralyzed man jumps in and immerses himself in that turbulent place where he confronts his doubt, upsets his stasis and stirs up his dormant faith, he emerges a new man. He emerges walking with God again with all of the challenges and risks and responsibilities that all of that entails. So let’s think about this for a moment. First of all, who is “troubling” or “stirring up” the waters? The Jews believe it’s ...

25. Untamed

Mark 1:9-15

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... of faith. Jesus’ experience in the wilderness tempted him to live as the world lives. But Jesus denied the ways of the world instead opting to trust in God’s provision, God’s leadership, God’s strength, and God’s plan. When Jesus emerged from his wilderness experience, his message to all was this: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent and believe in the good news!” At this initial moment in Jesus’ ministry, this inaugural experience, the kingdom of God ...

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