Sermon and Worship Resources

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Exodus 12:1-30

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

In our lesson the Lord gives precise instructions to Moses and Aaron on the content and preparation of the Passover meal. The blood of a lamb with no defects on the door frames of their houses would be the sign for God to pass over them and not strike them down with their Egyptian oppressors. The lamb would therefore be a sacrifice for the person who would have perished from the plague of God’s wr...

2. A Double Dose

2 Kings 2:1-18

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

Anyone coming into contact with Elijah could see the full power of God's anointing on his life. Elisha would be next in line to continue Elijah's prophetic ministry and he knew the requirements of this awesome task. Elisha could not do it alone. The full anointing of God's spirit had to be in his life in order for him to succeed in his ministry, so Elisha asked that he receive a double portion of ...

3. A Sense of Urgency

Acts 9:32-43

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

In the world we appear to be in a hurry to go nowhere and be on time. In the church we sometimes appear to be going in myriad directions in slow motion and with no sense of urgency. There are some things in life that require our immediate and exigent attention, and it is important that we are on time in the things of God. God is always on time with us. There is an adage in the African American com...

4. A Tale Of Two Cities

Amos 7:1-9, Amos 7:10-17

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times ... It was an age of belief. It was an age of incredulity." Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, was highly vexed at the pronouncements of Amos, who warned of God's coming judgment on Jeroboam and the people of Israel. Amos was no extraordinary prophet. He lacked the sophistication, flamboyance, and eloquence of some high prophets, but he knew that God...

5. Advent's "Invisible" Man

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

The idea of-the invisibility in our culture is no new thing. The great H.G. Wells wrote a book called The Invisible Man. In it he imaginatively explores the development of a professor's ingenious use of science to effect his own invisibility. Invisibility becomes a metaphor for invincibility. His becoming invisible is by his own choosing. He literally disappears with the ingestion of a certain che...

6. African-American Spirituality: The African's Gift To America

Exodus 3:1-22

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

As we commence celebrations of Black History this month, I want to say what a wonderful thing that we have time for formal observances of the great contributions black people have made to world civilization in general and to America in particular. We are a great people who have literally and spiritually come a long, long way. We have built the pyramids and originated the mathematical, medical, and...

7. Black Preaching: A Four-Cornered Universe

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

The four elements of black preaching might also be called the four corners of the art. As stated earlier, our aim is to shed light on the uniqueness of black preaching as a celebrated art form. While traditional categories are helpful in grasping the structure of black sermons and their functional value, the way sermons move and empower black audiences and reach their desired objectives is more im...

8. Blind Man's Bluff

Acts 9:1-19a

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

Who would believe it? Saul, the primary punk adversary of the followers of the way, blind in Damascus? Saul, the instigator of Stephen’s stoning and death, the one who breathed out murderous threats against the followers of Jesus, now in Damascus in a spiritual safe house? Is this a bluff? Could this be a trick? Could this be a game concocted by the enemies of Jesus to lure us into a trap? How cou...

9. Can You Dig It?

Genesis 26:1-35

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

Our scripture today finds Isaac, the son of Abraham, faced with the formidable task of holding his family together, restoring their spiritual legacy and vouchsafing their future amid death threats and vehement opposition from the Philistines. Isaac must decide whether to dig or not to dig the wells of his father and exalt his people to their rightful place in history or allow his adversaries and e...

10. Deformed, Disfigured, and Despised: A Marred but Magnificent Messiah

Isaiah 52:13--53:12

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

The prophet gives the report, but who will believe it? The servant will act wisely. He will be lifted up and exalted. The problem is the new Messiah does not fit the description of the Holy One of Israel, the gallant one, the defiant and courageous who shall lift God’s people out of the dregs of despair. He shall not come as one standing upright, but one who is disfigured and deformed, despised an...

11. Extreme Measures

1 Kings 21:1-29

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

The tragedy of Naboth is a lesson in the lengths some leaders will go to have their way and maintain power. Theft of property, conspiracy, and assassination are a few of the diabolical machinations employed by some leaders to maintain control over their subjects. In our text today we find that Jezebel has plotted the death of a man named Naboth because he refused to give up his land to King Ahab s...

12. Fatal Subtraction

Acts 5:1-11

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

Today I want to revisit a sermon preached some years ago titled "Fatal Subtractibn." Based on the Acts 4 and 5 scriptures of Ananias and Sapphira, it centers on the story of a husband and wife who took away things from their lives and ended up dead. Theirs was a fatal subtraction because they subtracted where they were supposed to add and added where they were supposed to subtract. It is clear the...

13. Hang Time: A Good Friday Sermon

Matthew 27:45-56

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

Lent is a season for recalling the suffering and triumph of our Lord, Savior and Liberator, Jesus Christ. It is a time where all Christians should take spiritual inventory in their lives; a time of discarding those things which hurt us and holding on to those things which help us. Lent is a time of remembering the passion, suffering, and resurrection of Christ. As heirs of his kingdom, we become c...

14. He Commanded Us to Preach

Acts 10:23b-48

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

Opposition to preaching the risen Christ and reaching the Gentiles emerged early in the ministry of the apostles. Peter and the others quickly found themselves on the front lines of defense against attacks regarding the cogency and credibility of the message they were preaching. Emboldened by the presence and power of the Holy Ghost, many of the apostles gained renewed fortitude in proclaiming the...

15. Hostage Crisis

1 Kings 19:1-8

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

Sweat swarmed and beaded the palms of his hands as his heart thumped and pulse escalated. Bulging eyes blinked rapidly as his face twitched. His brown, swollen hands rumbled nervously through the inside pocket of his urine-stained tweed overcoat. "I got to find a match," he said to himself. "I got to find a match." Again he jerked through every pocket of his pants, jacket, and shirt. Still no matc...

16. How Long Will You Limp? (Because God Is Tired Of The Bull)

1 Kings 18:16-46

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

Elijah's magnificent display of strength and courage in facing and challenging the prophets of Baal is instructive for us. He has staked his ground on the summit of Carmel, located in Western Israel at the entrance of the Jezreel Valley. He has braced himself for the fallout. He has taken a firm stand without compunctions or remorse. He knows the wrath of Ahab and Jezebel shall soon be upon him. H...

17. In Times Of Need

1 Kings 17:7-24

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

She was worn and thin, a lonely woman solemnly gathering sticks in a lonely place. The yellow sun scorched the brown earth. It was a dry and desolate place. She had no fortune. She had no prospects for the future. As a widow she had no means of income save the occasional dole of the monarchy and her religious community. After gathering the sticks, she would then go home, kindle a small fire and co...

18. Joy Songs, Trumpet Blasts, And Hallelujah Shouts!

Joshua 5:13--6:27

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

The Israelites have come to the end of a long, long journey. They had wandered in the wilderness for forty years and now have come to the valley of their dreams. Finally, after years of false starts, dark detours, and dashed hopes, they have come to the land which God had promised. They could have toiled out of the wilderness in forty days, but took forty years because of discontent, disbelief, an...

19. Let It Shine!

John 1:1-18

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

The Gospel of John makes one of the most powerful observations in all scripture: "In the beginning was The Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life and that life was the light of men. And the light shineth in the darkness and the darkness comprehen...

20. Living Beyond Unhappily Ever After

Genesis 21:8-21

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

The story escalated towards its climax as viewers sat breathlessly riveted to their seats. The beautiful young woman stands in the doorway, tears cascading down her cheeks as she pans the green rolling hills of her 100-acre estate, looking for Joel. The camera follows her eyes, peering towards the large iron gate fronting her palatial abode. Then suddenly appearing is the faint figure of a dashing...

21. Living With the Pain

Matthew 10:1-42

Illustration

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

Suffering and pain are integral to life's experience but they need not humiliate, defeat, and destroy us! A Detroit News article some years ago carried the story of Kirk Gibson during his glory days with the Tigers. Few really knew the price of pain and agony paid by Gibson for that glory. According to the article, Kirk Gibson is a baseball player who knows how to live with pain. In 1980, he tore...

22. Not Your Leftovers But Your First Fruits

Deuteronomy 26:1-15

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

In the text, Moses exhorts the people to offer unto God their first fruits in remembrance and thanksgiving for their inheritance of the new land. They have toiled and struggled in the wilderness for many years and have come at long last to the place of divine promise. God has been good to them. God has kept his promises and has brought them to a place of great wealth and prosperity. The soil is ri...

23. Nowhere To Run, Nowhere To Hide

1 Kings 9:1-9

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

After predicting a drought, raising the widow's son at Zarephath, challenging and slaying the prophets of Baal, Elijah the prophet is now on the run for his life from Queen Jezebel and King Ahab. Buoyant, strong, and confident, he has stood toe to toe with the powers that be, denouncing every evil. He has bravely articulated divine intentions, but now we find him fleeing for his life to Mount Hore...

24. Obeying God Rather Than Men

Acts 5:17-42

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

How many times have we borne witness to this scene? Men and women of the Gospel attacked by their enemies for preaching the resurrected Christ? How many times have we seen this inevitable and inimitable skirmish between the horizontal and the vertical, the spiritual and the carnal, the things of man and the things of God? How many times have we seen this scene within and without the church, where ...

25. Out of the Box

Acts 11:1-18

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

Why do some people always want to put Christians into a tight little box? Why should we limit the gospel to people who have heard it all before? Why shouldn’t we take the gospel beyond the four walls of the church to people who don’t look like us, walk like us, talk like us, or share our views? Why must we always talk to the people who think like we think and do as we do? Why doesn’t our conversat...

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