Sermon and Worship Resources

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Judges 4:1-24

Sermon

Robert S. Crilley

... a matter of fact, Deborah's voice is filled with such startling confidence that he begins to wonder whether she's residing under this tree because she has fallen out of it! After all, in the past Jabin's army had proven to be a rather intractable enemy -- possessing 900 iron chariots, not to mention having already oppressed Israel some 20 years now. For a while, Barak just stands there with a puzzled squint, staring at Deborah as if studying a museum painting. And when he finally does manage to stammer out ...

2. Tough Faith In Tough Times

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

Larry R. Kalajainen

... solutions. Get tough on drug dealers. Mandatory prison sentences, more police, cut off aid to Colombia. Yet our solutions don't seem to solve the problem. They have the virtue of speed and efficiency, but the problems themselves prove more recalcitrant and intractable than we imagined. Because we lack patience and the persistence to search for solutions that may not be speedy and efficient, but which, in the long term, would be more effective, we become frustrated and lose interest. Long-term issues don't ...

3. Trial-and-Error or Grace

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

Thomas Peterson

... they have the right (“I own it”) to plunder and exploit it. Having used it up, there is nothing left for an inheritance. I find cosmic irony in the Iran-Iraq war. Blessed with bounteous natural resources, both nations, because of proud, intractable self-will, waste their inheritance on war and destruction. Certainly there is a divine judgment in this fact, bearing witness to the truth of the Beatitude. The meek, the gentle, and thoughtful are those who become good stewards. They inherit the earth and ...

4. Believing Is Seeing

John 20:24-31

Sermon

Dean Lueking

... have been with me for an evening with several hundred of Chicago’s lay Christian leaders. Senator Mark Hatfield was speaking. He portrayed much of what he sees as a "late afternoon" mood among our people - tired out and worn down by seemingly intractable problems of economy, moral compromise, and the threat of nuclear holocaust. Then he began to really take hold of the problems as one who believes in Christ’s resurrection and therefore sees what divine providence tells us to hope for and to do. Citing ...

5. What Ever Happened to Norman Rockwell?

Colossians 3:1-17

Sermon

John E. Harnish

... like God partway through creation. Before me stretches a chaos only half turned into a world. Self, wife, sons, daughters, dishes, silver, food. Where is the HolyCity in all of this? Why is it so long in forming among us? My carving tools rest on an intractable leg of lamb. Unfortunately, others are already talking. Creating is hurling back a flood of caveats and non placets at its creator. My first-born must have no gravy. The third-born begs off mushrooms. "This piece is all fat." "I can't eat that many ...

6. Hard Words to Hear at Christmas

Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

... the questions John's sermon raises is why the evil of the world is still as strong as it is if the Messiah has already come. If we are honest with ourselves we know that we are not what we ought to be. Maybe the persistence and intractability of sin is a good background for reading John's words here. John gives us powerful, almost frightening images: trees chopped down and chaff thrown into unquenchable fire. What exactly does he mean? He doesn't specify who the trees and chaff are. We often think he means ...

7. Light and Hope for the New Year

John 1:10-18

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

... is stronger than the darkness, smarter than the darkness. If we are not realistic about the darkness, we cannot see how powerful John's affirmation is. If we are naïve about the darkness, we don't see the audacity of John's claim. However intractable, however persistent, however treacherous the darkness seems to be, it cannot win. God's light continues to shine. That statement is not just wishful thinking, not just looking on the bright side. That statement is faith. It is a faith that refuses to give up ...

8. Pilate's Dilemma

John 18:28-40

Sermon

King Duncan

... sacrifices to their pagan gods. It was a despicable act. Pilate’s brutality probably grew out of his fear of being deposed. He was caught between a Roman government which had little respect for him and a civilian population that was known for its intractability. And then he had to deal with Jesus. It was the religious leaders who brought Jesus to Pilate’s palace. It’s interesting. They brought him to Pilate, but they refused to enter Pilate’s palace. Why? Because this would make them ceremonially ...

9. Overwhelmed

Revelation 1:4b-8

Sermon

Will Willimon

... . Sweeping claims are being made here. What happens in Jesus, is not something that is personal, or private, as we sometimes pervert the Christian faith. It is all very public. Political even. Cosmic. Matters of vast importance are being addressed. Seemingly intractable problems are being defeated. There is no comer of creation that is immune from this sweeping influx of grace. British theologian David Ford finds an analogy here to the Wesleyan revival in England during the Eighteenth Century. In the mid ...

10. His Own Knew Him Not

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

Will Willimon

... passages in scripture, it's good to have one with which we are familiar. Put it to them Jesus, we know who you really are, Son of God, Lord of Lords--pity about those in Nazareth who didn't know. We wonder how they could have been so intractably ignorant.”He is in the very bosom of Judaism, in Nazareth where he was brought up--there he had been circumcised, dedicated. He is in the synagogue, “as his custom was,” says Luke. His chosen text--words from the prophet Isaiah--was as familiar to them as Luke ...

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