Sermon and Worship Resources

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Ephesians 3:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... child a secret, and what's the first thing they do? They rush to the nearest relative and tell everything about the big secret they hold. The first thing the apostle Paul does is preach throughout the Gentile world the secret of God's mysterious plan for redemption. This big mystery, God's eternally established secret plan for reconciling Jew and Gentile, for redeeming all of heaven and earth, is the person of Christ Jesus our Lord (verse 11). With Paul's big-mouth proclamation, the church becomes the least ...

2. Experience the Mystery

Colossians 1:15-23

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... God abides in you and you abide in God? The Bible says that we died with Christ, and we rose with Christ. In emptying himself on a cross, Paul states, Jesus was raised to glory and God raised us with him (Phil. 2:6). Have you experienced this mystery? This mystery that Jesus is living his resurrected life in you and through you (Gal. 2:20). The kingdom of God is . . . where? Within you! (Luke 17:21) Your body is . . . what? Paul said your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. You cannot NOT take Jesus with ...

3. Make Room for Mystery

Isaiah 55:1-13

Sermon

James McCormick

... I need! Down deep, don’t we all sense the truth of that? In the depths of our lives, don’t we all long for some experience of that which is beyond our comprehension? Don’t we all long for an experience of the transcendent God, who “moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform”? III. Wouldn’t it be great if we could recover our lost sense of wonder? Wouldn’t it be great if we could look at life with the eyes of the spirit and see the hand of God at work everywhere? If we could experience ...

4. There's Something About A Mystery

Ephesians 3:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... mouse looked up and said, "I wanted to see if you were wearing my bathing suit." And the theological punch line is this: It is easier for us to understand how an elephant could wear the mouse's bathing suit than it is for us to understand the awesome mystery of the incarnation--God's Word became flesh. (1) The God of all creation became a tiny babe in a manger. Today we celebrate the Epiphany. It's twelve days after Christmas. The wise men followed a star they had seen in the east until it stopped over a ...

5. The Mystery of God's Mercy

Acts 13:13-52

Sermon

Carl Hoefler

... dead and at peace. The universal and enduring popularity of this classic story, The Monkey's Paw, is that it speaks to a deep desire within all of us for the possession of magical wishes to get anything that we desire. Most of us really prefer magic rather than mystery. We want our prayers to work magic for us. We want God to be like a super slot-machine that, if we pull the right handle of faith, we will hit the giant jackpot, win the lottery of life, magically have all of our dreams come true immediately ...

6. God Is a Mystery

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

... and its effect upon us. It is good to try to hear them. Will Barrett is the main character of Walker Percy’s novel, The Second Coming, and throughout the book Will struggles to "nail down" God. He finds it impossible to live with a God who is a mystery, a God who may speak or remain silent, a God who may appear obvious on one occasion and completely hidden on another. This kind of God, who is beyond his control and slightly out of his reach, is not acceptable to him. This God is too unpredictable. Will ...

7. Ah, the Sweet Mystery of Life

Romans 16:1-27

Sermon

Fredrick R. Harm

... none hear you idly saying There is nothing I can do While the multitudes are dying And the Master calls for you. Take the task he gives you gladly; Let his work your pleasure be. Answer quickly while he calls you, Here am I. Send me, send me! Ah, sweet mystery of life at last we've found you. At last we've found the secret of it all! And that secret is found in Christ, alone. May we trust him and share his gracious message of salvation -- always! 1. I believe this is from the pen of John Oxenham but ...

8. Bowing Before The Mystery

John 1:1-18

Sermon

Charles H. Bayer

... hear an angel's song. And if that angel tells you to go to some Bethlehem to see the great thing which the Lord has accomplished, leave whatever you have to leave, and go. And when you arrive at that stable, bow low, see what God has done, feel the mystery of the universe laid out before you, and know that the most important things in life cannot be measured, catalogued or carbon dated. I know not how that Bethlehem's babe could in the Godhead be; I only know the manger child has brought God's life to me. I ...

9. God Moves In Mysterious Ways

1 Kings 17:7-24

Sermon

Robert Allen

... be the toughest thing God ever tried to do. But, after thinking about it some more, I decided that the toughest thing God ever had to do is to get us to understand who he is and that he loves us.” And so it is! God is moving in mysterious ways. God is moving through events. He is moving through history. He is moving through people. He is moving through a variety of ways to make himself known to you. Have you experienced God moving in your life through Jesus Christ? Prayer: O God, we give thanks for the ...

10. The Mystery of His Presence

John 6:25-59

Sermon

Richard Patt

... a way I can understand. But who of us forthrightly steps up to "partake" of the Word - to eat it, to ingest it, to allow it to digest within ourselves so that we grow and mature and change as daring people of God? Our pious questioning to maintain the mystery when we ask, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" is often little more than a camouflage of our gut question, "Who wants to eat this man’s flesh?" We are clever at keeping Christ his proper distance, so that he never really overtakes us. Our ...

11. The Mystery of Christ's Life

1 Corinthians 10:14-22

Sermon

... grace He gives to our souls in Communion. "The Body of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and His Precious Blood, strengthen and preserve you unto Eternal Life." Not cheated. Not left out. In Worship, in the Eucharist, in Holy Communion, we participate and share in the mystery, the grace, the joy, the eternity of Christ's Life now. in His Incarnation, in His Last Supper, in His Crucifixion, in His Resurrection, in His Ascension. "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Sabbaoth, Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory." Amen. THE ...

12. Making the Mystery Work for You

John 3:1-21

Sermon

Charles R. Leary

... are you doing, my son?” The youngster replied, “I am going to pour the sea into that hole.” Then Augustine said to himself, “That is what I have been trying to do. Standing at the ocean of infinity, I have attempted to grasp it with my finite mind.” Mystery! Mystery is at the heart of the universe. Why am I here? Why are you here. Why have I spent over thirty years in the Christian ministry? Why am I a husband, parent, grandfather of eight? Why are you who you are? Why have you spent your life, or ...

13. Kingdom Mystery

Mark 4:26-34

Sermon

David Coffin

... ; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade” Mark 4:31-32 (RSV). The good news of the kingdom of God arrives in a mysterious way despite our efforts. This is both God’s grace and the nature of how seeds die and new life grows in their place. Historically, I would commend to you the book titled, “The Patient Ferment of the Early Church: The Improbable Rise of Christianity in the Roman ...

14. The Ultimate Mystery

John 18:28-40

Sermon

Lee Griess

... of it! The cross, an instrument of torture so cruel that Rome forbad its use on a Roman citizen. A mob of people condemning the innocent, choosing instead to release a common criminal. And the Son of God in the hands of sinful men! No, the cross is a mystery and, try as we may, we cannot impose reason upon it. That the Creator would allow himself to die for God's sinful creation! That the Son of God should suffer so! Centuries ago, the famous church leader Saint Anselm wrote a young man who had his doubts ...

15. A Mystery

John 16:12-15

Sermon

Robert C. Cochran

... the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, but there is only one God. Winston Churchill once famously said that Russia is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. Maybe we should revise the Trinitarian formula and baptize in the name of the riddle, the mystery, and the enigma. Let’s agree, then, that the Trinity is a mystery. We are called to engage the mystery, but we will never fully unravel it. A created being could never fully understand its creator. We don’t fully understand our own minds, our own ...

16. Our Magnificent, Mysterious, Mischievous God

2 Kings 5:1-27

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... king, hoping to expedite the quest of his highly-valued military commander, takes it upon himself to validate this unlikely mission with an official royal letter. No longer is Naaman's search for health at the mercy of a slave girl's knowledge or a mysterious prophet's whim - this is now an officially sanctioned matter of state significance. "When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you my servant Naaman, that you may cure him of his leprosy." The reaction of the Israelite king is panic. AHHH ...

17. Our Magnificent, Mysterious, Mischievous God

2 Kings 5:1-14

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... Aramean king, hoping to expedite the quest of his highly valued military commander, takes it upon himself to validate this unlikely mission with an official royal letter. No longer is Naaman's search for health at the mercy of a slave girl's knowledge or a mysterious prophet's whim - this is now an officially sanctioned matter of state significance. "With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy" (v. 6). The reaction of the Israelite king is panic. Ahhh! He ...

18. The Joyful Mystery of the Trinity

Romans 5:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... play each day. The same man can be at the same time a father, a son, a brother, an uncle, a pastor, etc. The same man but playing different roles. These are but two simple explanations of the complex doctrine of the Trinity. How can the human brain comprehend divine mystery? We cannot. We do not have the answers, but we can sing the songand this day we have gathered to sing our song of praise to Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Consider for a moment God's role or persona as Father. He is the source of all that ...

19. Mystery of the Unlikely

Luke 1:39-55

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... s work done. And the main reason is simple. So, we, the unlikely recipients, can experience the fullness of God’s Grace, Mercy and Love. And give thanks to God, and not ourselves. Thank God, Bethlehem was such an Unlikely Place II. Unlikely Parents A. Second, this Mystery of Christmas is wrapped up in a setoff Unlikely Parents, as well. We can't forget that both Mary and Joseph were each direct descendants of King David. But even so, they were a long way from royalty. So, why were they chosen? What was it ...

20. The Secret: Christ In You

Colossians 1:24--2:5

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... something of the untold pains which Christ suffers on behalf of his body, the Church. For I am a minister of the Church by divine commission, a commission granted to me for your benefit and for a special purpose: that I might fully declare God's Word -- that sacred mystery which up till now has been hidden in every age and every generation, but which is now as clear as daylight to those who love God. They are those to whom God has planned to give a vision of the full wonder and splendor of his secret plan ...

21. God Does The Unexpected

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... what we do and what we decide. Our decisions are made in the presence of One whose name is above every name -- the One whom the angels named Jesus, because He would save us from our sins, and called Him Emmanuel, because He would be God with us. Mystery -- yes -- but mystery that saves. This Jesus, born of a virgin, is God come to us in the flesh -- come as the saving one who went to the limits of dying on our behalf. The One who comes as the triumphant one, because He is raised by God after that awful ...

22. Soul Drain

Psalm 63:1-11

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... just one eye this morning, I want us to look with both eyes. I want us to look with both eyes at a prescription for this plaguing problem of soul drain. The first movement in the answer is that we have to recover a sense of mystery. We have to recover a sense of mystery – that mystery that has been swept away from our lives. We’ve been living in the kind of age and we’re the victims of the kind of forces that have destroyed our sense of the transcendent, because we are a do-it-yourself people. We are ...

23. Stick to the Knitting

John 1:43-51

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... you. That was the first mission statement for the Church. The second statement, I suggest, is the one proposed by Paul to the Corinthians in the passage that was read to us this morning. This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Paul is saying to the Corinthians, this is what I think the Church ought to look like. It is about as tidy and succinct a mission statement as you can ever find. It "sticks to the knitting." It gets right down to the core. This is ...

24. Traveling Tables

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... part of it, almost without realizing it. As you become more and more ensconced in the story, you may become one of the characters and suddenly discover that you are a major part of the Story, even that you ARE the character in question. At a mystery dinner clues are announced at the table: “somewhere among you is a stranger” or “someone at the table here today is not one of you” or “there is an alien in your midst” or “the murderer is sitting here somewhere in this room.” Suddenly, you look ...

25. Homesick For a Future: New Life for the New Millenium

Genesis 12:1-8

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... needed. I needed a new land, a new race, a new language; and although I couldn’t have put it into words then, I needed a new mystery.” I Do you feel it? “I didn’t know where I was going…” I am with you, Nicholas, and aren’t we all? And in ... ’s incantation. What is faith? A blind leap into the hands of God. An inspired act of will which is our only answer to the terrible mystery of where we came from and where we are going. What is hope? A child’s trust in the hand that will lead it out of ...

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