Sermon and Worship Resources

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1. “The Words of the Lord Are Flawless, Like Silver Purified in a Crucible”

Psalm 12:1-8

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

... psalmist hopes, in the third person, that the Lord will cut off all those who flatter and deceive (12:3–4). Then comes the Lord’s answer in 12:5, which is the theological center of the psalm, followed by a momentary reflection on the Lord’s “flawless” words (12:6). Another prayer in 12:7 pleads divine protection for David and his community (“keep” and “protect us”) and is followed by what seems to be another moment of reflection on the problem (12:8). So the pattern is 1. Prayer (12:1–2 ...

2. “In the Lord I Take Refuge”

Psalm 11:1-7

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

3. Even Marriages Made In Heaven Require Earthly Care

Mark 10:1-12

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... overshadowed my commitment to Jeri as a person. My fear during those early years of our marriage was that we might drop a clue that ours wasn’t a flawless marriage, and what would people think of their preacher? That placed added strain on the relationship. First, we had to try to make our marriage flawless. Then that failing, we had to pretend that it was flawless. And this was a terrible price to pay. Through a process and some experiences that I don’t have time to share, I became fully aware of my ...

4. I'm a Chunk of Coal, but I'm Gonna Be a Diamond

Jeremiah 1:1-19

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... agonizing cut. Utilizing all the information at his fingertips, Tolkowsky was able to cut off precisely the minimal amounts of stone necessary to maximize the brilliance and flawlessness of the Centenary Stone. Today it stands as the world's largest and most modern-cut flawless diamond. But the Centenary stands alone – literally. It is a beautifully cut, flawless stone. But it is not a jewel. It sits on its velvet cushion, a gleaming, glistening, fire-flashing...paperweight. It's shape is a kind of chunky ...

5. Zophar

Job 11:1-20

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... deepest sincerity (and agony): the desire to be heard by God! 11:6 If God were to confront Job as Zophar wishes, he would reveal to Job secrets of wisdom that he could not otherwise know. This is, of course, a way of denigrating the “flawless beliefs” Job is relying so heavily upon. Since true wisdom has two sides—perhaps meaning there is one side available to human observation and experience as well as another side known only to God—Zophar asserts that Job has some surprises coming when God reveals ...

6. Loving Like God Loves

Matthew 5:43-48

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

... and ideal. A new BMW may be the perfect car in one sense, but a broken down 75 Nova may be a perfect fishing car. To the Hebrew mind that which was perfect was not flawless but that which fulfilled its purpose and was rightly related to God. So when Jesus said, “You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect,” he was aiming at the notion of completeness and maturity, not pristine perfection. We will always be tempted, always on the verge of ...

7. On the Road with Zacchaeus

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

James W. Moore

When our granddaughter Sarah was 12 years old, she tried out for cheerleader at her Middle School. After her try-out we asked her how she did. She said – “in a word ‘flawless’ and she said ‘the judges really liked me.’” Evidently she was right because she did make the cheerleader squad. Well, Zacchaeus was not flawless… and he was not liked by anybody until Jesus came into Jericho that day. When Jesus came over to him and reached out to him with love and acceptance, Zacchaeus was bowled ...

8. Carbon Pure and Perfect

1 Corinthians 1:10-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... when synthetic diamond technology is blurring the line between natural and fake diamonds, it is now the presence of inclusions or blemishes that prove its natural state. Nobody gets it all right. No one is without blemish or inclusion — except one, the Flawless Diamond “without blemish or spot” (1 Peter 1:19). Not one of us can claim 20-20 perception, or immaculate perceptions. Paul reminded the Corinthians that acknowledging the power of God in the cross put them on the path to “being saved” (v ...

9. The Place beyond Revenge

Esther 7:1-6, 9-10, 9:20-22

Sermon

Donna Schaper

... and the illusion of pre-eminence in the world. The most visible symbols ... were struck, not just on the surface but at that deeper root level. We were dealing ... with masters of metaphor and metaphysics. The perpetrators of 9/11 had executed a flawless, surgical and liturgical blow at the central nervous system of our nation.My ministry is an editor of a liturgical resource (Celebration) published by the National Catholic Reporter. As the impact of 9/11 sank in, I found myself processing the event through ...

10. Shall We Waddle or Fly?

1 Corinthians 12:12-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... ’t really be a surprise when a shuttle explodes during a launch or implodes on re?entry; rather it’s absolutely miraculous when all of the parts work together for a safe, uneventful and successful mission! All that you and I see is a flawless, seemingly easy launch and landing?-no big deal. Wrong! It’s complex, with many different special people and diverse mechanical parts coming together to make it look easy. (6) A church is like that. We have people serving in diverse roles--[Sunday school teachers ...

11. I Have Come Into My Garden

Song of Songs 5:1-16

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Huwiler

... is couched in very indirect language. 5:2 I slept but my heart was awake: The heart is the equivalent of the mind. This line suggests dreaming more than anything in 3:1–4 but stops short of labeling the experience a dream. My sister, my darling, / my dove, my flawless one: The verse combines four epithets from various parts of the book: “my sister” occurs in 4:9, 10, 12, and 5:1; “my darling” (or “friend”) is the man’s usual address to her; “my dove” is used in 2:14 (see also 1:15; 4:1 ...

12. Point Of Origin

Genesis 1:1-2:3

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... an instant. That's why they are called professionals. But something happened that day when Toscanini began to direct. Everyone could sense it. By the end of the first movement no one was daydreaming. Each person was intent on the music. They played it flawlessly. At the end of the final movement the maestro put down his baton. The members of the orchestra rose to their feet in applause. Toscanini stood there until they ceased. Then he said, "That was not Toscanini. That was Beethoven. You just never heard ...

13. Job Placement

John 1:29-34

Drama

Robert F. Crowley

... spoke whenever I could and I distributed flyers and shook hands and promised a lot of things to the students. JESUS: A lot of hard work, right? LYLE: Right. I built up a fine organization in two years. The second campaign was easy. Our organization worked flawlessly. JESUS: And what did you do as president? LYLE: Do? I was the president -- the leader of the student body. I campaigned for lower prices in the bookstore. It was because of my efforts that we got a new food service in the student union building ...

14. Advent 2

Luke 3:1-20, Luke 1:67-80

Bulletin Aid

B. David Hostetter

... the good work in you will bring it to completion by the Day of Christ Jesus. Friends, believe the Good News. In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven. Exhortation Grow richer in love, in knowledge and insight of every kind, then on the Day of Christ, you will be flawless and without blame, reaping the full harvest of goodness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory of God. Prayer of the Day In this year of our Lord, in this day of our times, Speaker-Out-of-Eternity, let your word be heard again, that every ...

15. Epiphany 7

Mt 5:38-48 · 1 Cor 3:10-11, 16-23 · Lev 19:1-2, 9-18 · Ps 119:33-40 · Ps 71 · Ps 62

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... 48). The Lord teaches that we must be perfect, like God. Such an expectation seems light years beyond our spiritual capabilities. We have already discussed the meaning of the Greek word telios translated as perfect. It does not indicate a state of flawlessness but of maturity or completion. We know that such maturity will never be completely attained this side of eternity. So, are Jesus' teachings above the higher righteousness meant to drive us to despair concerning our spiritual condition so that we might ...

16. Maundy Thursday

Lk 22:14-30 · Jn 13:1-17, 31b-35 · 1 Cor 11:17-32 · Ex 12:1-14 · Ps 116

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

COMMENTARY Old Testament: Exodus 12:1-14 The passover marked the beginning of a new era for the Israelites. "This month shall be for you the beginning of months" (v. 2). The people are ordered to set aside a flawless lamb to be slaughtered, roasted and eaten on the 14th day of the month. Everyone was to be part of the feast. The meal was to be eaten in haste because God was on the move. The people are to be ready to leave as soon as the Lord breaks ...

17. I Am The Alpha And The Omega

Sermon

Ronald Lavin

... intentional foul. There was a boy who finished the race, and then kept running around and around the track because it felt so good. Eunice Kennedy Shriver spoke to the crowd that day. She said this: The athletes that we remember are not the flawless, but the great human beings who have reached beyond themselves to achieve a glorious goal. Truly great human beings reach beyond themselves. That's what Pantokrator means. God, the Almighty One, causes us to reach beyond ourselves. God, the Omega, pushes us from ...

18. God’s Flowing and Our Ebbing

Isaiah 6:1-13

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... ! Brought into the blazing and incomprehensible presence of God, painfully aware of his finitude and transitoriness in the presence of the Eternal, forgiven and now commissioned invited to flow. God, Isaiah’s commissioning reminds us, is not looking for superstars and flawless people (even if they were available!). God is perfectly able to take our brokenness, our faith and lack of faith, our energy and lack of energy, and use us for kingdom purposes. Nothing new, this. It is nothing short of the bedrock ...

19. So Close ... But Yet So Far

Luke 9:10-17

Sermon

Larry Powell

... upon a table in the emergency room and surrounded by doctors. The doctors, speaking in Latin, conferred with one another. Finally, one of them said, "What shall we do with this worthless wretch?" Much to their surprise, the man on the table weakly replied in flawless Latin: "Gentlemen, do not call him worthless for whom Christ has died." He, too, had been a doctor and, as they so rudely discovered, there was more to his story than they had judged. Such is usually the case, isn't it? I remember reading ...

20. Wedding: They Became One Flesh

Genesis 3:1-24

Sermon Aid

O. Garfield Beckstrand, II

... one of the partners fails to allow for mistakes in his or her spouse. But God who “remembers that we are dust” (Psalm 103:14) does not expect us to build our marriage on human attempts to appear perfect, or on expectations that our spouse is flawless. The second principal then follows the first. 2. Realize that forgiveness is a way of life. Forgiveness is God’s way of life for his children who realize they are sinners, admit their need, and receive pardon of sins through Jesus Christ, who paid the ...

21. And Who is my Neighbor?

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Johnny Dean

... of studies at Fisk, Harvard and the University of Berlin, was convinced that change in the condition of the American black could be effected by careful scientific investigations into the truth about the black in America. So he proceeded. His research was flawless and his graphs and charts impeccable. After waiting several years and hearing not the slightest stir of reform, Dr. DuBois had to accept the truth about Truth: its being available does not mean it will be appropriated. Overhearing the Gospel That ...

22. Mom Taught Me to Share

Acts 17:16-34

Sermon

Johnny Dean

... have to be sure you have all the bases covered! Having gotten the attention of his audience with his left-handed compliment about their extreme religiosity, Paul starts to set the record straight about this "unknown god" of theirs. Paul’s style is flawless. Knowing that many of listeners are educated, scientifically-minded men, and knowing of their interest in where the human race came from, Paul tells them that the God of whom he speaks created heaven and earth and everything in it, including people. In ...

23. What Children Owe Their Parents

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

R. E. Lybrand

... in the great concert hail, was angry. They came to hear the famous singer. But, instead, an understudy would be singing the leading role. When the curtain rose, the understudy began his performance - and sang beautifully. As the opera ended, even though he had sung flawlessly, there was no applause. The audience was still bitter because of the absence of their hero. All of a sudden, from one of the small box seats off to the right, there came the sound of one pair of hands clapping. All eyes turns to ...

24. Some Women's Stories

John 7:45--8:11

Sermon

Carl Jech

... and we can resist and restrain harmful actions, but it is never our prerogative to condemn, to expel a person from the human race, to label anyone as beyond God's love. We have to realize that our ethical principles and evaluations are not flawless. The church is right to stand up for the traditional ethic of marital fidelity. But conservers of tradition also have to deal with the fact that circumstances alter cases. Strict ethical standards must stand in tension with the old Native American saying that one ...

25. Let the Journey Begin

Matthew 6:1-4

Sermon

Dean Lueking

... people who seemed miffed because they were not assigned the more prominent seats and knew no one around their table who was somebody. This constant temptation to pettiness is what Jesus knows all too well. Thus he does not praise us to the skies for our flawless piety. He warns us against the pitfalls that bring sickness to the soul. The Christ and His Cross Come First Attending to our spiritual problems, however, is not where the primary focus for Lent is. It is Christ himself to whom we look, and upon him ...

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