Sermon and Worship Resources

Synonyms: ruler, sovereign, monarch, supreme ruler, crowned head, majesty, Crown, head of state, royal personage, emperor, prince, potentate, overlord, liege lord, lord, leader, chief, star, leading light, luminary, superstar, mogul, giant, master, kingpin, celebrity, lion

Antonyms: queens, peasant, serf, slave, subject, servant, average joe, common man, rank and file, lower class, common person, workers, commoner, the masses, the poor, plebians, bourgeois, proletariat, laborer, working class, middle class, blue-collar, a nobody, subvassal

Showing 1 to 25 of 1960 results

1. The Star Thrower

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

... with its massive slaughter. Then came the Great Depression, World War II and massive deaths, the Korean conflict, and the Vietnam War. That is why neo-orthodox theologians like Karl Barth, himself in the trenches in World War I, urged us to look again at the Star of Bethlehem, so as not to carry praise too far. If we carry praise too far in political systems and ideologies, we tend also to carry it too far in the realm of science and knowledge. In the Middle Ages it was the Church which carried praise ...

2. Follow That Star

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... followed came to rest over a house, and they knew their journey was complete. I love it when people follow through on a noble task and see it through until it is completed--whether the task is building a business, or a home, or a ministry, or whatever star they may be following. Mary Kay Ash, who built Mary Kay cosmetics into a corporate giant, once said this: “If we ever decide to compare knees, you’re going to find that I have more scars than anyone else in the room. That’s because I’ve fallen ...

3. Follow That Star (New Year's Day)

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... with whatever number, you all end up at the same place: 1089. We all start at different places when we decide to Follow That Star. Some of us start out in mansions; other begin in public housing. Some of us start in the warm arms of a loving ... fine. Tonight, before I go to bed, I'll go outside and raise my eyes to the heavens. I will stand in awe at the beauty of the stars and the moon, and I will praise God for these magnificent treasures. As the day ends and I lay my head down on my pillow, I will thank ...

4. A Star, A Stable, and A Song

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... or see if we can make them come alive as far as meaning is concerned in our life. I. A Star We’re talking about a star, a stable, and a song. There was a star in the Christmas story. You know the scripture by heart. Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, ... a stronger thing to abide and stand, than the square stones of Rome. The stable is quaint, as mysterious, as beckoning as the star. Who would imagine it? The Messiah born in a stable. What an unlikely place to look for the Prince of Peace – in ...

5. Guiding Star

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... us –as light. On a plaster slab in that same Priscilla catacomb, we find another painting, likewise uniting the prophecy of Balaam with the arrival of the “Magi” at Jesus’ birth. In the painting, Mary holds baby Jesus, Balaam stands behind her pointing to the star, and three “magi” hurry with capes waving to offer the child significant gifts to mark his arrival in the world. Like Balak the Moabite, Herod too wanted to “curse” the Christ child. He in fact wanted it so badly that he ended up ...

6. A Star And A Dream

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... be seen in villages at Christmas time, looking for the Christ Child. "Is he here?" she asks the villagers, "Is he here?" (3) Follow the star. That's good advice for this first Sunday of a New Year. Carpe Diem ” seize the day. Get into action. Don't let life pass ... ” but because of God's great love for us. Each of us belongs. This brings us to the last thing to be said. CHASING A STAR WILL OFTEN BRING A CHANGE OF DIRECTION. In the wise men's case, it was necessary to go back home by a different route in ...

7. Only Love Can See the Star

John 1:1-18

Sermon

Allan J. Weenink

... , so that in tune with God’s purpose we can rejoice in his promise of eternal hope through Christ. Only love can see the star. From a world of confusion and concern, from a world of war and of wantoness, from a world of tension and trauma, we come ... humble love we now come to accept the love that from the beginning of creation God had lavished on us. Only love can see the star that leads us forth. Out beyond, there is something better, in the providential plan of God. We are on our way to finding it, only ...

8. A Star-Cross Christmas

James 5:7-12

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... text remind us of the promise God has made, of the beauty and wonders that are possible when God fulfills our greatest desires. It is James' text that reminds us that the promise we celebrate as incarnate on Christmas morning is not just the story of the star, but is also the story of the cross. For God's work of redemption for creation - fulfilling the wish-list of the Old Testament - is told in the New Testament, and it culminates in the crucifixion. God's promissory note doesn't have threats, it has ...

9. Star Maker

Matthew 2:1-12, Psalm 19:1-14

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... casts its magnanimous swirling, cosmic light and power even into the dark cell of our struggling soul. Van Gogh’s soul might as well be our own. His story, our story. For just as we feel perhaps that all is dark, we can see God’s beauty in the stars, and his heavenly light expanding the rooms of our hearts. A young musician named Don McLean was so struck by the painting by Van Gogh and even more so by the artist’s life and lament, that he put his famous painting to music in a song called “Vincent ...

10. What a Star Can't Tell You

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

William G. Carter

... you where or how or why. And so, we bring our uninterpreted experiences of the world out there to the Scriptures that are kept in here. Then we listen to how the Scriptures read our experiences. That is what the magi had to do. “We have seen a star out there in creation,” they said, “and we believe a new king has been born somewhere.” They go to the palace, because that is where kings normally come from. However the old king is still sitting on the throne and he isn’t too excited about news of ...

11. Mud Below, Stars Above

Genesis 15:1-18

Sermon

King Duncan

... --and he wondered how he and Sarah could ever have any children. And God told him not to look at the clay but at the stars. We are more than mud. Our lives do significance. In one of his books, Robert Schuller tells about a golden Buddha that was discovered in ... be better men and women if we understand where our true citizenship lies. God told Abram to look up at the sky and count the stars. Jesus told his disciples to seek the narrow door. We can do this. We are much more than clay. We need not allow our ...

12. Look, The Morning Star

2 Peter 1:12-21

Sermon

Richard Hasler

... attentive to this as a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts." Jesus is the "morning star." He is the fulfillment of the Torah: "a star will come out of Jacob" (Numbers 24:17). He is "the bright morning star" (Revelation 22:16). This word, "morning star," literally phosphoros, the bringer of light, is the one to watch and follow because eventually this star leads to the dawn of a new day. The author concludes his exposition by stating that the "prophetic ...

13. When You Follow A Star and Find A Stable

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... thought it would be. The day starts growing longer. The hours become more oppressive. All of us at some time in our life follow a star only to discover a stable. The problem is how to turn that stable into a moment of salvation. What is it that enables wise ... , because it has a way of transforming the coarse and commonplace into something significant and sacred. So, I ask you: have you followed a star only to come in the end to a stable? If you have, then, look for God there. You may be surprised at what you ...

14. A Song, A Star, A Savior

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... see why You had to become man." The world needs that reflection of God’s goodness and love. It needs it before it will be able to sing the song of "Peace on earth and Good Will to all men." It needs it before it will recognize and follow the star of lasting values and high ethical standards. It needs a Savior that it can worship. And that is our greatest need as well: to kneel before the manger of Bethlehem, to pray "Come unto my heart, Lord Jesus." Then within our hearts we will hear the song and behold ...

15. Count the Stars

Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18

Sermon

King Duncan

... to turn them in for cash! They turned an obstacle into an opportunity. That’s a little extreme, but what we don’t want to do when we are confronted with an obstacle is to give up. “Look up at the heavens and count the stars . . .” Count your opportunities, not your obstacles. God is faithful. God is with you. Or God could be saying, “Look for blessings in your burdens.” Sometimes God places blessings in the most unlikely places. Ronald Mandile of Brooklyn, NY tells of taking his family to their ...

16. Star Witness

John 1:35-51

Sermon

James Merritt

... many people as we possibly can for Jesus Christ. Please hear this next statement. You may not totally understand all that we are doing, but I want you to hear why we are doing it—we're going to give our best shot, and do our best to be a star witness to the next generation, which just happens to be your children and your grandchildren. I am excited about what God is going to do, and I thank God for what we are about to do. But I want to remind you of one thing. If this city, this community ...

17. No Angels, No Shepherds, No Star

John 1:1-18

Sermon

King Duncan

... of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (NIV) No shepherds, no angels, no star yet here ultimately is the story of Christmas. This story says, first of all, that Christmas is not an act of humanity, but of God. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning ...

18. Rock Stars at the Top

Luke 9:28-36 (37-43a)

Sermon

Derl G. Keefer

... were a Hollywood writer, the Transfiguration story would be a great setting. I could see it ranking right up there with “The Ten Commandments,” “Samson and Delilah,” “The Greatest Story Ever Told,” or any of the others. I would title it, “Rock Stars At The Top.” The stars would include Jesus, Moses, Elijah, Peter, James, John, and the Voice and I’m still contemplating who I would cast in the roles. It would be a great media-hype type movie with spectacular special effects…a hard to climb ...

19. Keep the Stars in Your Eyes

Ephesians 1:3-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... about God. People want to know God. People want to experience "the Beyond" in "the Within." It was this kind of spiritual quest that led the Heaven's Gate cult to combine the technology of the Internet, the science of Hale-Bopp, the science fiction of Star Trek, the theology of New Age and the hope of UFOs to create a new sacred reality for themselves. The strange amalgam the Heaven's Gate cult pieced together points out to this entheogenic culture that the spiritual quest can be dangerous. As one marketing ...

20. Star-spangled Justice

Isaiah 1:1, 10-20

Sermon

Lee Ann Dunlap

... an insult to God, who forged this people out of the suffering of slavery and delivered them from bondage to the very nation they were seeking to court as their protector. This God had created them from nothingness just as God had created the sun and the stars, the earth and the sea. To court this God with offerings while flirting with Baal and others for a better deal amounts to adultery. To offer sacrifices in God's temple and then ignore the demands of the covenant is hypocrisy, and an insult that will ...

21. The Glow of a Star

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... desire that drove the wise men to Bethlehem. Epiphany is the twelfth day after Christmas. According to tradition this is the day we celebrate the arrival of the wise men to worship the one who was born to be King of the Jews. The wise men followed a star until it came to the place where the young child lay. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. It ...

22. Pop Star Madonna and the Cross

Mark 8:31-38

Sermon

King Duncan

During an edition of the ABC network television program, “Good Morning, America,” several years ago when rock star Madonna was really hot, co-host Charles Gibson interviewed a jewelry designer. This woman was marketing a new line of crosses designed by Madonna. The crosses were labeled “The Madonna Cross.” Among the things this designer said in the interview was that “Madonna has brought a new dimension to the ...

23. Stargazers

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... was to send His Light into the world in order to show us the way. And the sign of God’s new dream was a star. A star of wonder and light! Just as God led the Israelites through the wilderness in a pillar of cloud that came and stood over the tent ... true. Go out . . . be the light for the world. Be the “shining ones.” Be the dream God made you to be. One night under a star in a little town called Bethlehem, the One who made all things is “made of a woman;” the One who had no beginning is born; the ...

24. Just Follow The Signs

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Daniel G. Mueller

... Herod’s life calling him to come worship the Savior also. The Wise Men really did not have to ask Herod where Jesus was. The Star had already brought them so close to the Lord that, had they followed it a little farther, it would have led them right to Jesus. ... to repentance?" (Romans 2:4). We need to pray more for them. God’s signs are all around us: in nature, like the Wise Men’s Star; and in people, the way he used the Wise Men as a sign to Herod. There is always the sign of his holy Word, the same ...

25. The Wisdom of the Wise Men

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... those who did not? Maybe those who did not were so bogged down in their shops trying to make ends meet, or so busy with their affairs and engagements that it had not occurred to them to look at the star. We never see the star. We never see the stars when our eyes are focused on our plodding feet – when our heads are bowed and our shoulders are sagging. There’s a story about a preacher who spoke one Sunday morning on the topic of suffering. And when the service was over, one of the parishioners greeted ...

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