Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1 to 25 of 25 results

Colossians 1:15-20

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Life was difficult. It always was for prisoners. There were meager rations and hard labor. Sometimes restrained and tortured by the stocks or collar. Left with festering wounds in damp, abandoned cisterns converted to maximum security dungeons. Why was he here? His only crime was criticizing the king for stealing his own brother's wife, Herodias. Herodias wanted John killed, but Herod Antipas was ...

2. This Is a King?

Matthew 5:40, 43-44, Colossians 1:15, 16-19, Matthew 5:3, 6, 11

Sermon

Scott Suskovic

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created ... in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell... — Colossians 1:15-16, 19 I grew up during all those Godfather movies, and I never saw a single one. I don't know why. I was busy. It was a three-hour movie. I had to study. So when I heard jokes about a horse's he...

3. Who Is This Jesus?

Colossians 1:15-23

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

There used to be a great teacher of the Old Testament at Duke Divinity School by the name of Elbert Russell. Dr. and Mrs. Russell usually spent Christmas holidays in Greensboro, North Carolina with their daughter and her family. On one Christmas morning they opened presents at sunrise as usual. They sat down to a sumptuous breakfast. Dr. Russell's grandson Rusty was 8 then, and he had learned lots...

4. Sing Praise

Colossians 1:15-23

Sermon

April Yamasaki

Theologian Karl Barth was once asked to sum up his life's work. Instead of quoting from one of his many books, sermons, or university lectures, he responded with the words of a children's song: "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so." Whether we sing a children's song like "Jesus Loves Me," or a great hymn of the church like "How Firm A Foundation," the songs we sing can express w...

5. Putting A Face On Jesus

Colossians 1:15-23, Colossians 1:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

There is a new book out called THE WORLD ACCORDING TO ELVIS. I understand this book is full of little known facts about the superstar. For example, did you know Elvis was disappointed when he received a guitar on his eleventh birthday? He would have preferred a bicycle. You couldn't have learned that if you had stayed in bed this morning. Did you know that all three of Elvis' Grammy Awards were fo...

6. When Christ Is King

Colossians 1:11-20

Sermon

Donna Schaper

Many people don't like the theological language of Christ as king. They say it is too old-fashioned: democracies don't have kings. They say it is too masculine: we all believe in gender equality. What they don't say is what it means. When we declare that Christ is king, we mean that Christ is the most important matter, the one with the most power for us, personally. On Christ the King Sunday this ...

7. Pit and Rock

Colossians 1:11-20

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

The Bible teaches us to praise God for everything. For everything? Really everything? Yes, everything! We are to praise and thank God constantly, "in all circumstances" (1 Thessalonians 5:18), "at all times and for everything" (Ephesians 5:20), "always asking God with a thankful heart (Philippians 4:6,TEV). During the height of one of Cyprus' political crises, Sir Hugh Foot became governor of the...

8. Rescued and Transferred

Colossians 1:11-14

Sermon

Shirley Gupton Lynn

God has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son…(1:13 NRSV) A beautiful bride stood trembling at the head of a long church aisle. The wedding march was about to begin, but she was paralyzed with fear and announced she could not possibly walk down the aisle. The minister was summoned. "I just can't do it," she wailed, "I'm too nervous." "Now...

9. The Christ Connection

Colossians 1:9-20

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

It has been there for my entire lifetime—a neon sign on a narrow country road piercing the darkness with these simple words—CHRIST IS THE ANSWER. As a child, I used to wonder what kind of magic pen God used to write it on the side of the barn. As a teenager, I drove so fast I did not have time to see it at all. But, as an adult, sometimes I take the long way home so I can make sure it is still the...

10. All Your Facilities Intact

Acts 17:16-34, Colossians 1:15-20

Sermon

Mark Trotter

The text for this sermon is from the lectionary, but the inspiration comes from Peru. As many of you know, Jean and I have returned from a visit to the ancient civilization of the Incas, which continues to haunt us with wonderful memories. We visited Machu Picchu, high up in the Andes, as well as other Inca ruins. But Machu Picchu is unique. The other ruins in Peru have been vandalized. The preci...

11. The Inheritance

Colossians 1:11-20

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

What are some of the things that get your heart racing and your blood pumping? What are some of the things that reach down into the very viscera of your being and touch your soul and stir your gut? What is it that gives wings to hope and excites your spirit? Is it edge of your seat action/adventure movies like National Treasure, Spiderman or The Day After Tomorrow? Is it fantasy books like Harry...

12. Let the River Flow

Colossians 1:15-23

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Although the moment the Thanksgiving turkey cools down much of Western culture plunges into the Christmas frenzy, in the church calendar there is one more Sunday before Advent officially gets underway. This is the last Sunday of Pentecost, Christ the King Sunday. It seems pleasantly paradoxical that the church devotes a Sunday to celebrate Christ's exaltedness, his lordship, his omnipotence, just...

13. I Believe In Jesus Christ

Colossians 1:15-23

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

Recently at the grocery store I noticed that even at this time of year you can buy half of lots of fruits, like watermelon and cantaloupe. This helps you judge something about the ripeness of the fruit, if not the taste. That reminds me of a woman who went to a grocery store and asked to buy half a great fruit. The clerk asked her to wait while he checked on that possibility. He went to the back ...

14. Christ Signs The Letter Of The Church

Colossians 1:15-23

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Donald English is one of the most outstanding Christian communicators I know today. He was in our church a couple of years ago, and many of you have heard him. He is providing dynamic leadership for the renewal of the church in Britain, and plays a dynamic role in the World Methodist Council. Donald tells a quaint English story that will speak to us this morning. "In Birmingham, England, there is...

15. Christ The King

Colossians 1:15-23

Sermon

King Duncan

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. I heard about one 4-year-old boy who was asked to return thanks before dinner. The family members bowed their heads in expectation and waited ” and waited. After a long silence, the young fellow looked up at his mother and asked, "But if I thank God for the broccoli, won't he know that I'm lying?" Most of us weren't lying when we gave thanks this past Thursday....

16. Experience the Mystery

Colossians 1:15-23

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

A few weeks ago the Sweet family finally bid good-bye and good riddance to the family Chevy van. It was way past time for it to go. The dog had eaten the back seat (literally) in a fit of car-sitting boredom. Although the engine was doing okay, the electrical system had repeatedly thwarted all attempts at repair, rendering the car interior as dark as a black hole after sundown. Taking kids to even...

17. What More Can He Give?

Colossians 1:15-23

Sermon

James McCormick

For 2000 years, the vitality of the Christian Church has been determined by what we have done with Jesus. When Jesus has been the center of our attention and we have sought to follow him as faithful disciples, then the Church has been strong. But when we have misplaced him amidst the clutter of our bureaucracy, or relegated him to a marginal place in our theology, then we have been weak and impote...

18. The Invisible God?

Colossians 1:15-23, Colossians 1:1-14

Sermon

Johnny Dean

In pastoral counseling courses at seminary my fellow students and I learned that people only make big moves or major changes in their lives at times when they feel they are in a secure, stable environment. Someone who feels threatened, or is holding on for dear life, is not likely to risk very much. (What a revelation that was!) So, in pastoral counseling, the counselor tries to create a secure, a...

19. Thanks For All You've Done

Colossians 1:15-23, Colossians 1:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

The story is told of a professor of philosophy at a major university in this country who was a deeply committed atheist. His primary goal for one required class was to spend the entire semester attempting to prove that God couldn't exist. His students were always afraid to argue with him because of his impeccable logic. For twenty years, he had taught this class and no one had ever had the courage...

20. Called To Finish What Is Finished

Colossians 1:24--2:5, Colossians 1:15-23

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Someone has said, and I agree, that the idea of Redemption in a world of sin and tragedy constitutes the noblest concept ever to enter the mind of God or the awareness of a human being. Paul would also agree. The theme of Redemption is woven into the fabric of everything he wrote. He repeats that theme over and over again in Colossians, affirming that God's implementation of his idea of redemption...

21. About Christ

Colossians 1:13-20

Sermon

King Duncan

Many years ago, author Bruce Larson found this poem in an Atlanta, Georgia, church bulletin: Oh, God -- The bumper sticker says "Smile if you love Jesus" So I smiled all day long . . . And people thought I worked for the president. The bumper sticker said honk if you love Jesus; So I honked . . . and a policeman arrested me for disturbing the peace in a hospital zone. The bumper sticker said wa...

22. Thankful For The Right Things

Colossians 1:11-20

Sermon

King Duncan

(A Dynamic Preaching Classic Sermon) If each of us were to make a list of all the things for which we are thankful, each list would be unique—and many would be quite extensive. However, most of us are mature enough in our faith to recognize that Thanksgiving can be a most dangerous holiday. No, I’m not referring to the calories we will consume or the risks we will take being on the highway travel...

23. Maturity In Christ

Colossians 1:27-28

Sermon

King Duncan

What would you say are the top three tourist spots in the world? Time's up. The three most-traveled-to places in the world are: Rome (the seat of Catholicism and Vatican City), Mecca (the holiest site in the Islamic world), and Orlando, Florida (the home of Disney World). (1) More people visit those three places than any other on earth. I'm not exactly sure what that says about us, but it's an in...

24. The Secret: Christ In You

Colossians 1:24--2:5

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

It's an awesome responsibility to preach. One of my heroes, Bishop Gerald Kennedy, was fond of telling of the Church of England Bishop who remarked that a sermon is something a clergy person will cross a continent to deliver, but will not walk across the street to hear. There may be more truth in that than most of us will admit. Yet, when we get beyond our egoes and our yet unredeemed arrogance, w...

25. A Time for Penance and a Time for Partridge

Ps 100, Col 2:1-7

Sermon

Coming home from the Royal Oak's Farmers' Market along about 9:30 yesterday morning, the lovely lady I live with was overheard to say: "Let's see, we've got brussels sprouts, new potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans for the casserole, shrimp for the appetizer….Becky said she would bring the dessert….I've got everything but the turkey. Unless, that is, you want me to get a ham." Which I don't. Alt...

Showing 1 to 25 of 25 results