Sermon and Worship Resources

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1. A Community of Love

John 14:15-31

Illustration

Carl Jech

In a sermon titled "A New Vision," Dr. E. Howard Satterwhite of Trinity United Methodist Church in Alexandria, Virginia, compared the ideal of a Christian community of love, with a marriage in which the romance has faded, the honeymoon is over, and the relationship has become a labor of love requiring simple tenacity, "hanging in there." Describing his vision of Christian love at close quarters he...

2. Becoming What You Are

John 14:15-31

Sermon

Carl Jech

But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. (John 14:26) If you have visited the Kremlin in Moscow, one of the things that probably sticks in your memory is the tomb of Lenin. I have heard visitors comment that the emphasis on tombs and monuments in the Soviet Union almost makes i...

3. Colorizing Jesus

John 20:24-31

Sermon

Carl Jech

The doors were shut, but Jesus came and stood among them, and said ... "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe." (John 20:26b, 29b) Most of us are familiar with the controversy that has been going on over the issue of "colorizing" old black-and-white movies. Do Humphrey Bogart and the Maltese Falcon or Jimmy Stewart and his Wonderful Life look better in the original black-and-white p...

4. Comfort the Disturbed/ Disturb the Comfortable

Luke 22:66--23:25

Sermon

Carl Jech

He stirs up the people teaching ... (Luke 23:5) Years ago many of us celebrated this day as Palm Sunday. It was almost like a mini-Easter - a prelude to the ultimate celebration of the Resurrection. But in recent years we have been reminding ourselves that the more historical name for this day is Passion Sunday. Palm Sunday tended to be a day of waving palm branches, of joy, of singing "Hosannas....

5. Divine Liturgy, Divine Play, Divine Comedy

John 13:31-38

Sermon

Carl Jech

My dear children, I am only to be with you a little longer. You will seek me; (but) "Where I am going you cannot come." A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you. (John 13:33-34) Has it occurred to you that in those parts of the United States where it comes on at 11:30 p.m., "Saturday Night Live" is also Sunday Morning Live? It might be good if we could ...

6. Empty Prisons Without Walls

Acts 5:17-42

Sermon

Carl Jech

Introduction I shouldn't have much trouble keeping you awake today! Since the word prison brings to mind such topics as crime, victims' rights, vigilantee justice, and jailed demonstrators, I have little doubt that most of us have strong feelings and opinions on these and related issues.The most famous line in our text for today brings into particular focus the issue of civil disobedience for the ...

7. Excuse Me!

Exodus 3:1-22

Sermon

Carl Jech

The Shadows: Low Self-Esteem Introduction One of the most popular programs in the history of old time radio was The Shadow. "The Shadow" was the alias used by fictional crime-fighter Lamont Cranston. A creaking door introduced each show, followed by the sinister and now-famous words: "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!" then came a sinister laugh. (The preacher mig...

8. Giving Away the Store

Luke 22:7-38, John 13:1-17

Sermon

Carl Jech

He will show you a large upper room furnished. (Luke 22:12) If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. (John 13:14) A friend of mine once had a job briefly at a car rental agency. The job didn't last for long because the owner of the agency complained that my friend was too nice, too diplomatic with the customers. He felt that if my friend...

9. Hold Me When I'm Angry

Joshua 5:1-12

Sermon

Carl Jech

The Shadow: Anger Introduction Why was All In the Family such a popular television program? I suspect it was because the "love-hate" relationships between Archie, Mike, Gloria and Edith helped us better to understand the ways in which our love is mixed with anger, our joys are mixed with pain, and our laughter is tinged with sadness and pathos. Even longsuffering Edith with her good-natured naiv...

10. Jesus, Mary, Gustav Mahler, Brother Martin, and the Magi

Luke 20:9-19

Sermon

Carl Jech

The scribes and the chief priests ... perceived that he had told this parable against them. (Luke 20:19) No doubt you are wondering what Jesus, his mother, Mary, the composer, Gustav Mahler, Martin Luther and the three Wise Men (the Magi) have in common. The list sounds like it comes from one of Johnny Carson's "Carnak" bits, doesn't it? The simple answer is that all of these people were willing t...

11. Jesus Meets Buddha and Confucius

Luke 24:36-49

Sermon

Carl Jech

It is written that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations ... (Luke 24:46-47) Are you familiar with the book called "The Lost Years of Jesus"? The popularity of this book - which has also inspired a movie - indicates that many people have become fascinated with the idea that Jesus w...

12. Laughing in Church

Acts 9:1-19a

Sermon

Carl Jech

Introduction Long before the Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts came on the scene, I had been seeing preachers "roasted" at church banquets. The idea of honoring someone by kidding or insulting the person is nothing new. At a recent convention a United Methodist bishop (I'll call him Bishop Anderson) was roasted with this story: A recent Methodist arrival in heaven was being shown around by St. Peter. A...

13. Look At Your Fixations!

Deuteronomy 26:1-15

Sermon

Carl Jech

The Shadow: Fixation Introduction In one of his classic comedy routines Victor Borge sits down at the piano and says to the audience: "Pardon my back. Pardon my front ... But that's the way I'm built!" Every coin has two sides. Our body has a front and a back. And every body casts a shadow. These facts are neither good nor bad in themselves. They are just facts of life. To say, with psychologis...

14. Love Is Down to Earth

John 12:1-11

Sermon

Carl Jech

The poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me. (John 12:8) Like me, I suppose, you have probably wondered about the popularity of such TV shows as "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous," "Dallas," and "Dynasty." It would seem that our value systems have become much too materialistic. One wonders if any really serious attempts are being made to close the gap between the rich and the...

15. Love Over Logic

Luke 13:1-9

Sermon

Carl Jech

Those eighteen upon whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think they were worse offenders than all the others who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, No. (Luke 13:4-5a) Reward and punishment! A basic fact of life! In San Francisco there is a chain of pastry stores called "Just Desserts" - a clever name with more than one level of meaning. "You've been good. Treat yourself! You deserve ...

16. More Real Than Food

John 6:25-59

Sermon

Carl Jech

The Jews ... disputed among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you." (vv. 52-53) There are many who frown upon the celebration of Christmas because of its historical association with the pagan festival of Saternalia. It is true that ...

17. Professor Boltloose

John 20:19-23

Illustration

Carl Jech

What follows is a factual story. There once was a seminary student who was having a hard time accepting this idea that the writers of the New Testament Gospels took poetic license with their accounts of the life of Jesus. He was particularly bothered by the extreme view of some scholars that Jesus might not have been an actual historical person at all! One day as a fellow student was playing aroun...

18. Quantum Leap

Acts 13:13-52

Sermon

Carl Jech

Introduction The evidence is everywhere: we have made a quantum leap into "the age of the computer." In schools, hospitals, businesses, publishers, even local and national church offices, everything is "computerized," digitalized, programmed. You may be fascinated by computer technology or you may hate this computer craze. But none of us can escape a concern with the impact this "revolution" is h...

19. Save Us From the World-Savers

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

Carl Jech

Now his elder son ... was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father. "Lo, these many years I have served you ..." (Luke 15:25a, 28-29a) Garrison Keillor likes to describe his fictional town of Lake Wobegon, Minnesota, as having been founded by "Unitarian missionaries who came to convert the Indians through the use of interpretive dance." To appr...

20. Some Illusions (Symbols) Are Better Than Others

Acts 14:8-20

Sermon

Carl Jech

Introduction Sigmund Freud said that God is an illusion. We take the idea of a loving father, he said, project it upon the universe, and call it God. Today's text from Acts bears witness to this process of creating gods by means of personification and projection. (A humorous way of criticizing our tendency to create God or gods in our image goes like this: "God created mankind in his image, and ma...

21. Some Women's Stories

John 7:45--8:11

Sermon

Carl Jech

Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her. (John 8:7) This story of the woman caught in adultery might be described as a "second-class story" - because it seems to have been added to John's Gospel as an afterthought. It does not appear in any of the older and more original versions of John, and some experts on the New Testament even think it may belong in Luke. The ...

22. Stability Zones

John 10:22-30

Illustration

Carl Jech

In his book, Future Shock, Alvin Toffler explains how, in this modern world of rapid change, confusion and over-choice, we all need some kind of "stability zones" - regular habits, rituals, beliefs - whatever it is that gives us a stable point of reference. It would be difficult to deny the wisdom of Toffler's observation, or to miss its application to the role of religious faith in our lives. The...

23. The Ambiguity of Life, Deciding for Christ

John 10:22-42

Sermon

Carl Jech

I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. (John 10:28) I've seen it from both sides - from the side of the family with a difficult child and from the side of the mother who complained that one "rotten apple" in her son's third grade class was disrupting the learning environment for the whole group. Both sets of parents would no doubt prefe...

24. The Butterfly Rock

Acts 10:23b-48

Sermon

Carl Jech

Introduction Do you know what your name means? Many names do have a definite historical or linguistic meaning. Jeffrey, for example, means "peaceful." Helga means "holy." Vivian means "full of life." Carl means "strong" or "manly." Michael means "one who is like God." You would be surprised at how many names have religious or biblical background. All the various forms of the name John go back to t...

25. The Church Associated With Life

John 14:15-31

Illustration

Carl Jech

If you have noticed that pastors often seem to dislike funeral chapels, you should know that the cause of the apparent animosity is not professional jealousy. The mortuary funeral chapel is used for only one purpose and is associated with nothing but death. The church building, on the other hand, is associated with all aspects of life. All kinds of things go on at churches - baptisms, weddings, po...

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