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 44 results

1. Faith and Obedience

Genesis 12:1-8

Sermon

Jon L. Joyce

... Genesis 12:2-3 by making his name great, and making of him a great nation, of blessing him and making him a blessing to all the families of the earth. A blessing to all the families was fulfilled in the life of Jesus our Savior who was in the line of descent. The prophet Isaiah (41:8) quotes God as saying, "Abraham, my friend." But what about us? We are not Abraham, nor can we fill such an important place as he filled in his life and work. True, but we can all do what is within our reach. Jesus said ...

2. The Surrogate

Matthew 1:1-17

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Props: Ring (engagement ring preferably) or letter from a prior wartime soldier (if you can find such) Have you heard the riddle? Question: In a bacon-and-egg breakfast, what's the difference between the Chicken and the Pig? Answer: The Chicken is involved, but the Pig is committed! Commitment is sometimes a “dirty word” in our culture today. People are wary of making commitments that may not last. Our marriage rates are going down. More people are renting homes than buying. Many are buying gold, fearing ...

3. Jesus, Where Are You?

John 12:20-36

Sermon

King Duncan

[While King Duncan is enjoying a well deserved retirement we are going back to his earliest sermons and renewing them. The newly modernized sermon is shown first and below, for reference sake, is the old sermon. We will continue this updating throughout the year bringing fresh takes on King's best sermons.] Original Title: “Jesus, Where Are You?” New Title: Teacher, Doctor, Savior, God? A pastor was showing a painting of Jesus to a group of children. He explained, "Now, young people, you understand this ...

4. Never Too Old for an Adventure

Romans 4:1-25

Sermon

King Duncan

James Michener was over eighty years of age when his epic book, Alaska, was released. He had been thinking about writing such a work for over forty years. Why did he wait so long? The explanation seems ridiculous, but at age 40, he was afraid he might be too old to withstand the rigors of an Alaskan winter, which hovers at 50 degrees below zero along the Yukon River. His rule had always been never to write about a place in which he hadn't lived. Thus he shied away from this challenging undertaking. The ...

5. Looking Back; Moving Forward

Exodus 34:29-35

Sermon

Tony Everett

A young college student was searching for a summer job to help defray the rising cost of his education. He finally found one with the State Transportation Department, where he was given the task of hand-painting the white lines in the middle of the road. The supervisor informed him that she expected him to complete ten miles per week, and took him to the job site. "Place your paint buckets right here," she instructed, "and begin painting white lines from this spot." The first day went very well. The ...

6. Death Of A Dream - Birth Of A Church

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

Genesis 11:1-9 This Old Testament lesson is a story of failure, but there is a great truth for all of us in it. I had a dear friend who used to say, "Every man is my teacher. I either learn what to do from him, or what not to do." It reminds me of a cartoon, which showed a bum sitting on a park bench; his clothes were tattered and torn, his toes were coming out of his shoes - the stereotypical hobo. Beneath the picture was the caption, "No man is completely worthless - he can always serve as a horrible ...

7. Dealing with Our Doubts

Mark 9:14-32

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

David Heller is a young Boston psychologist who, as part of a continuing research interest, collects letters children have written to God. “Dear God: Children’s Letters to God” (New York: Doubleday, 1987) is Heller’s second publication on this subject. In it he reports the following letter: “Dear God, I have doubts about you sometimes. Sometimes I really believe. Like when I was four and I hurt my arm and you healed it up fast. But my question is, if you could do this why don’t you stop all the bad in the ...

8. Nothing but the Blood

1 John 1:7

Sermon

James Merritt

The greatest evangelist of the Twentieth Century, without question, was Billy Graham. The greatest evangelist before him of the Nineteenth Century undoubtedly was Dwight L. Moody. Both shared a common trait. They were criticized because of a particular subject they preached about. When Billy Graham was getting started, a professor from Cornell University wrote him a letter and said, "Mr. Graham, you have great talent, and you have what it takes to be a successful minister. But if you want to continue to be ...

9. Down the Up Staircase

Genesis 11:1-9

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Whose life will be a staircase for God''s descent to earth? The tower of Babel would seem like pretty short stuff compared to today's architectural wonders. Buildings are now built so tall that engineers design flexibility into their frames, allowing them to sway in the swirling winds without damaging the integrity of the structure. Our cities are so filled with sky-scraping boxes that we have created whole new weather and wind patterns within these steel and concrete canyons. A few creatures have even ...

10. Why Pass By?

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29) Why didn’t they stop? Why did they pass by? One was a priest and one was a Levite, a member of the priestly class. Their high status was that of the holiest, most revered men in their community. It wasn’t that they didn’t see him there, bleeding, perhaps moaning, dying by the side of the road. That is made clear in the story. They saw him and, intentionally passed by on the other side. Why? Why did they pass by? Maybe ...

11. The Days Are Coming

Jeremiah 33:14-16

Sermon

King Duncan

Every actor deals with the fear that something will go horribly wrong when they step out onto the stage. Forgetting a line. Tripping over your own feet. A wardrobe malfunction. Fortunately, actors are taught to think on their feet and improvise if something were to go wrong in a scene. Actress Jennifer Laura Thompson recalls how her cast mates in a stage play of “The Wizard of Oz” tried to improvise when the set machinery didn’t work. Thompson was playing the role of Glinda, the Good Witch, who is supposed ...

12. A Soap Opera For Saints

2 Samuel 11:1-27

Sermon

King Duncan

Guin Ream Tuckett was asked to teach a junior high Sunday School class. All went well until she reached the lessons on sex. This is not a subject that is easy for adults working with this particular age group to broach. Although Guin worked out a well-balanced, Biblically-based lesson, her kids seemed pretty uninterested. That is, until one kid asked if there were sex stories in the Bible. Guin assured them that there were both good and bad examples of sex represented in the Good Book. Now she had their ...

13. The Baby Leaped

Luke 1:39-45

Sermon

King Duncan

Dr. Jerry Schmallengberger, former president of Pacific Lutheran Seminary in Berkeley, CA, tells a hilarious story about a Christmas program that went awry. The story concerned a Pastor Paul Dahlrimple who had a great scheme to illustrate baby Jesus coming down from heaven. Pastor Dahlrimple asked Elder Fred to help. In preparation, he carefully rigged a baby doll to an invisible fishing line, stringing it through hooks in the ceiling and across to Elder Fred’s fishing pole in the wings. This baby doll was ...

14. A New Attitude

Matthew 17:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

A hotel in Budapest was having problems with its elevator. Since most of the guests spoke at least some English, the owner put up a sign. However, either he had a sense of humor or he was not very adept at English. The sign read like this: “The lift is being fixed for the next day. During that time we regret that you will be unbearable.” I’ve known some unbearable people, haven’t you? Lloyd John Ogilvie wrote a book some years ago titled, Falling into Greatness. In it he tells about an old friend who ...

15. The Thrill of Victory

2 Corinthians 2:14-15

Sermon

James Merritt

The three astronauts, Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise, were having a wonderful time watching planet earth become a sun-drenched white dot against the canopy of outer space, while the bright white moon was larger than they had ever seen it. Then, without warning, it happened. Lovell heard a small, but distinct, bang. Swigert felt an almost imperceptible shudder; then the master alarm began sounding in their ear phones. The pulse rate of all three astronauts shot up from 70 to 130. What they did not ...

16. The Light That Dwells Among Us

Matthew 16:13-20, Matthew 16:21-28, Matthew 17:1-13

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Animation: a Light Sunburn. We’ve all had it. We know that if we stay out in the bright light of the sun too long, our skin becomes red, and it burns. But did you know ….that internally, your cells are also changing? Light is a powerful force. You can’t touch it. You can’t catch it. You can’t control it. Light is one of those things in life that we either try to harness to our own devices, or simply avoid if there is too much of it. Without light, we would have no fire, no heat, no cooked food, no way to ...

17. Are There Two Baptisms?

Acts 2:14-41

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." Misinformation is often passed around as Gospel truth. It is like the two little boys who were talking between themselves. One of them couldn’t understand why they had holes in their tummies - where did their belly-buttons come from? But his little five-year-old friend had a ready answer. "Oh, that’s easy," he said. "You see, God makes ...

18. A Pentecostal Church

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

In the days of the great California gold rush some prospectors discovered a very rich mine. "We've got it made," they said, "As long as we don't tell anybody else before we stake our claims." And they made a vow of secrecy. But they had to go into town for provisions and tools. When they left the town, a great host of people followed them. Why? Their "secret" was written all over their faces. It was impossible for them to hide what they had found. A gifted speaker was asked what was his most difficult ...

19. The Most Difficult Commandment

Mark 12:28-34

Sermon

King Duncan

Many years ago, firefighters in Canton, Ohio, rushed to the home of Lisa M. Ash, 24, to extinguish a fire. They pulled out of her oven a smoldering voodoo doll made from cloth and twigs that she said she was using to cast a spell against a neighbor, based on advice she said she received from a telephone psychic line. (1) James W. Moore tells about a segment he saw on the television news show "20/20." It was called "Neighbors at War." It showed how next door neighbors do battle with each other fighting, ...

20. And God Breathed Into Man

Genesis 2:4-25

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Forty years ago, in 1948, two of our nation's outstanding educators entered into a debate which was printed. These outstanding educators were Robert Hutchins, then Chancellor of the University of Chicago, and James B. Connant, then President of Harvard. The discussion dealt with the structure of a university curriculum. The basis for the debate was the recognition that persons in leadership must determine what ideals they would like for their country to adhere to. Human values must be ordered so that some ...

21. And God Breathed Into Man

Genesis 2:4-25

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

22. Love Each Other (Mother's Day)

John 15:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

A little boy watched, fascinated, as his mother gently rubbed cold cream on her face. “Why are you rubbing cold cream on your face, mommy?” he asked. “To make myself beautiful,” said his mother. A few minutes later, she began removing the cream with a tissue. “What’s the matter?” he asked. “Are you giving up?” Welcome on this Mother’s Day. It’s not easy being a Mom. Those of you who have children know it’s not easy, regardless of their age. One Mom says that she’s going to try something different next ...

23. The Greatest Gift

Luke 2:1-20

Sermon

King Duncan

It was in the middle of the busy Christmas shopping season. A man was in court charged with parking in a restricted area. The judge asked him if he had anything to say in his defense. “They shouldn’t put up such misleading notices,” said the man. “There was a sign. It said ‘FINE FOR PARKING HERE.’” Well, I can see how he might be misled. I doubt that few of us would make that mistake. But misunderstandings do take place. For example, there is much about the Christian faith that people misunderstand. And ...

24. Last Things First

Matthew 24:36-44

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

I was given my first library card for the grown-up section of the Azusa (California) Public Library when I was in the fourth grade. It was a special moment. I felt like I’d read everything in the kids half of the library and I chafed to read new books. Holding my card out like a passport, I walked tentatively into the grownup section fearful I would be challenged, but I had my card in hand, just in case. But the doors opened. I entered. A new world beckoned. The first book I checked out that day was the ...

25. How Long Should We Stay?

Matthew 17:1-9

Sermon

William B. Kincaid, III

Mountains were very important to Matthew. When Jesus was tempted to worship the devil in exchange for all the kingdoms of the world, it happened on a mountain. It was good enough for Luke to have Jesus preaching on a nice level place, but when Jesus preaches essentially the same sermon in Matthew he does so on a mountain. That's why we call it the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus went to the mountain to pray. And today we have this story of the transfiguration, which happened on a mountain. What is it about ...

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