Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1 to 25 of 26 results

1. A Mother’s Prayers

Luke 11:1-13

Illustration

Carveth Mitchell

A man once said that his life and faith were strengthened mightily when one night he opened his mother's bedroom door and saw her on her knees in prayer. He said, "I heard her mentioning my name to the Lord, asking that he would guide me to be strong against temptation and to lead a life that was pleasing in his sight. I realized, then, that she had been doing this every night of my life. I have n...

2. Complaint from the Kitchen

Luke 10:38-42

Sermon

Carveth Mitchell

A mother once told me that she wanted her daughter to be a complete Christian, so she named her Martha Mary. I have often wordered why she put the Martha first. As we read the Gospel for today I sense an underlying sympathy for Martha in some of the housewives of the congregation. It just doesn’t seem right, somehow, for one sister to be in the kitchen doing all the work of getting the meal while...

3. Conversation of The Hear

Luke 10:38-42

Illustration

Carveth Mitchell

A mother, listening to the bedtime prayers of her small daughter, heard the listing of requests for blessings that children often offer - Mommy and Daddy and Grandma and Grandpa and on and on. She was surprised, however, to hear the child conclude her prayer with these words: "Now, Jesus, what would you like for me to do for you?" The little girl had grasped the relationships of the Christian lif...

4. Dodging the Thrust

Luke 15:8-10, Luke 15:1-7

Sermon

Carveth Mitchell

Jesus was the companion of sinners. Companion? Yes. We get our word "companion" from "com" (with) and "panis" (food). A companion is someone you eat with. Jesus was the companion of sinners. Who were these "sinners"? We’d have a difficult time pinning the label, having, as we do, Paul’s reminder to the Romans, "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) The Pharisees h...

5. Drowsy Living

Luke 16:19-31

Illustration

Carveth Mitchell

There is a sign series on the West Virginia Turnpike that says, "Driving while drowsy can put you to sleep - permanently." Drowsy, uncaring living can put us to sleep - permanently. That kind of person, Jesus says, is separating himself from God until it becomes permanent, by digging a chasm between himself and heaven that even the love of God cannot bridge.

6. Giving Up Our Comfortable Customs

Luke 12:35-48

Illustration

Carveth Mitchell

One of the favorite stories of the great Danish philosopher, Soren Kierkegard, concerns an emperor, touring his domain and receiving the accolades of his people. When the entourage reached the market square of one village, his carriage was surrounded by cheering villagers and peasants. To the amazement of his neighbors, one brash young farmer stepped out of the crowd and approached the emperor's c...

7. God in Our Gratitude

Luke 12:13-21

Illustration

Carveth Mitchell

A teacher was talking to a class of little boys about the presence of God in daily life. He asked them if God is everywhere, and they correctly answered, "Yes." In an effort to get the matter closer to their own personal living, he named actual situations. Is God in the church? Yes. Is God in the home? Yes. On the street? Yes. Is God in the city prison? Silence. That one had them stopped. Finally ...

8. I Voted for God

Luke 14:25-35

Sermon

Carveth Mitchell

The Gospel for today begins with these words of Jesus: Now great multitudes accompanied him; and he turned and said to them, "If any one comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple." Is that what it means to be a Christian? That we should hate the members of our own family? We must make...

9. Inviting Us Out to Worship

Illustration

Carveth Mitchell

There is a chapel somewhere in Wisconsin that has a stained glass window over the entrance, showing the figure of Jesus with open arms. Some, seeing it for the first time, remarked, "How meaningful! He seems to be inviting us in to worship." "That's true," the pastor said. "He is indeed inviting us in to worship." When the service was over and the same person was going out the door, he looked up...

10. Jesus and the Rascal

Luke 16:1-15

Sermon

Carveth Mitchell

Why in the world would Jesus tell this story? On casual reading it seems as though he is making a hero out of a villain. What does it mean? To help us answer that we put the spotlight on three verses; but first, a bit of background. In Palestine there were absentee landlords who employed overseers to manage the property in their absence. The tenants paid their rents "in kind" - that is, with a por...

11. Lord of All Pots and Pans

Luke 10:38-42

Illustration

Carveth Mitchell

I have only the initials (M.K.H., quoted in the Salvation Army magazine) of the person who wrote this verse, but I suspect that a lot of other initials could be added to it in spirit: Lord of all pots and pans, since I've no time to be A saint by doing lovely things, or watching late with Thee Or dreaming in dawnlight, or storming heaven's gates Make me a saint by getting meals and washing up the...

12. Nine Years Old!

Luke 15:1-32

Illustration

Carveth Mitchell

While visiting in the hospital I met a little nine-year-old girl who was a patient. I thought I recognized her name, so I asked her if she was the little girl by that name who went to our Sunday church school. She replied, "No, Sir. I don't go anywhere to Sunday church school." I told her who I was and said, "While I'm here perhaps we could have a prayer." She replied, "That would be fine, but I...

13. No Snap Courses

Luke 17:1-10

Sermon

Carveth Mitchell

More than a century ago Sydney Smith wrote in his Lady Holland’s Memoir these disturbing words: "Whoever wishes to imply the absence of everything agreeable and inviting, he calls it a sermon." How shall we escape that indictment today? When we read verses seven through ten in today’s Gospel, it is somewhat shocking to read that Jesus said this in describing our relationship with God. We must rem...

14. Our Splintered World

Luke 12:49-53

Sermon

Carveth Mitchell

We live in a splintered world. Each week Time magazine has a section on "The World" - revealing revolution, apartheid, violence and cruelty, along with occasional good news. There is also a section on "The Nation," frequently revealing these same things closer to home. There is evidence of splintered families all around us and among us. A cartoon strip showed a young woman talking to a minister. ...

15. Splintered Families

Luke 12:49-53

Illustration

Carveth Mitchell

There is evidence of splintered families all around us and among us. A cartoon strip showed a young woman talking to a minister. She said, "John and I are having a terrible time, and we need your advice. We are trying to decide how to divide the furniture, who gets what of the money we've saved and who gets custody of the children." "Oh," the minister asked, "are you contemplating divorce?" "Oh,...

16. The Emperor’s Son-in-law

Luke 12:22-34, Luke 12:35-48

Sermon

Carveth Mitchell

This Gospel hinges on responsibility, and the culmination of it is in verse forty-eight: "Everyone to whom much is given, of him shall much be required." One of the favorite stories of the great Danish philosopher, Soren Kierkegard, concerns an emperor, touring his domain and receiving the accolades of his people. When the entourage reached the market square of one village, his carriage was surrou...

17. The Flood Story

Luke 10:25-37

Illustration

Carveth Mitchell

During a severe flood in a Midwestern community, the water had covered the streets several feet deep. A man was sitting on his porch, where the water was up to that level. Two men came by in a rowboat, pulled over to his porch and said, "Hop in, Brother, we'll take you to safety." He replied, "Not me, thanks, the Lord will help me." The water continued to rise to the level of his porch roof, and ...

18. The Foolish Farmer

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

Carveth Mitchell

Note, first, that God did not say this man was evil. God said he was a fool. Note, secondly, that most of us would not say he was a fool. We’d say he was an obviously successful businessman. We esteem abundance. Jesus said, "A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." We act as though a man’s life does consist in the abundance of his possessions. We have a saying, "If you’...

19. The Gold Pin

Luke 14:1-14

Illustration

Carveth Mitchell

A man had a gold-plated safety pin which he carried in his pocket. Frequently he would be seen fingering it. Someone asked him one day what the significance of the pin was. He told, in answer, how he had run away from a fine home, mixed with the wrong crowd, gone from one trouble to another, finally ending in poverty and degradation. He had sold his overcoat to get money for liquor, and on a cold ...

20. The Man Who Came to Dinner

Luke 14:1-14

Sermon

Carveth Mitchell

To the thoughtful reader of this Gospel two questions jump out at once: Why was Jesus invited to a dinner with the Pharisees on the Sabbath? And why did he accept? In answer to that, there are three key sentences in this Gospel, and all three come across the centuries and speak Jesus’ word to us. I "They were watching him." (verse 1) Lo! Our two questions are answered. He was invited so they cou...

21. The Man Who Didn’t Care

Luke 16:19-31

Sermon

Carveth Mitchell

A woman once said to her pastor, "I enjoy your Bible classes very much. You get so much out of the text that isn’t there." What she meant, of course, was that he saw and explained things that were not evident to her. Let’s take her literally for a moment. As we study the Gospel for today, let’s get out of it some of the things that are not there in order to see clearly the things that are there. ...

22. The Nearest Hand

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Carveth Mitchell

Two women were sitting in church. One woman said to the other, "I’ve always wished that God would touch me, but I suppose that’s too much to ask." The other woman replied, "That sounds like a reasonable desire. Have you prayed about it?""Well, no. Of course not.""Why not? There’s certainly nothing wrong with a prayer like that. You should pray about it.""All right. Maybe I will sometime.""Not some...

23. The Nearest Willing Hand

Luke 10:25-37

Illustration

Carveth Mitchell

Two women were sitting in church. One woman said to the other, "I've always wished that God would touch me, but I suppose that's too much to ask." The other woman replied, "That sounds like a reasonable desire. Have you prayed about it?" "Well, no. Of course not." "Why not? There's certainly nothing wrong with a prayer like that. You should pray about it." "All right. Maybe I will sometime." ...

24. The Sign in the Subway

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

Carveth Mitchell

On a subway platform in one of our Eastern states there was a large printed sign that said "God Answers Prayer." Some experienced person had scrawled across the bottom underneath the printed letters these words: "Sometimes the answer is NO!" This is what we have to deal with in any discussion of prayer. Someone says, "I felt the need of God. I prayed for something to happen, and it didn’t. Prayer...

25. The Turnstile at the Pearly Gate

Luke 13:22-30

Sermon

Carveth Mitchell

Have you ever been among the great crowd moving toward the entrance to a big time football game? At first the entrance seems wide and open to all; but once you begin seriously pushing and struggling to go in you discover that the gate is not wide at all. The broad gate narrows down to a turnstile where you enter one by one, and the keeper says, "Hold your own ticket, please." So Jesus describes t...

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Showing 1 to 25 of 26 results

1. A Mother’s Prayers

Luke 11:1-13

Illustration

Carveth Mitchell

2. Complaint from the Kitchen

Luke 10:38-42

Sermon

Carveth Mitchell

3. Conversation of The Hear

Luke 10:38-42

Illustration

Carveth Mitchell

4. Dodging the Thrust

Luke 15:8-10, Luke 15:1-7

Sermon

Carveth Mitchell

5. Drowsy Living

Luke 16:19-31

Illustration

Carveth Mitchell

6. Giving Up Our Comfortable Customs

Luke 12:35-48

Illustration

Carveth Mitchell

7. God in Our Gratitude

Luke 12:13-21

Illustration

Carveth Mitchell

8. I Voted for God

Luke 14:25-35

Sermon

Carveth Mitchell

9. Inviting Us Out to Worship

Illustration

Carveth Mitchell

10. Jesus and the Rascal

Luke 16:1-15

Sermon

Carveth Mitchell

11. Lord of All Pots and Pans

Luke 10:38-42

Illustration

Carveth Mitchell

12. Nine Years Old!

Luke 15:1-32

Illustration

Carveth Mitchell

13. No Snap Courses

Luke 17:1-10

Sermon

Carveth Mitchell

14. Our Splintered World

Luke 12:49-53

Sermon

Carveth Mitchell

15. Splintered Families

Luke 12:49-53

Illustration

Carveth Mitchell

16. The Emperor’s Son-in-law

Luke 12:22-34, Luke 12:35-48

Sermon

Carveth Mitchell

17. The Flood Story

Luke 10:25-37

Illustration

Carveth Mitchell

18. The Foolish Farmer

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

Carveth Mitchell

19. The Gold Pin

Luke 14:1-14

Illustration

Carveth Mitchell

20. The Man Who Came to Dinner

Luke 14:1-14

Sermon

Carveth Mitchell

21. The Man Who Didn’t Care

Luke 16:19-31

Sermon

Carveth Mitchell

22. The Nearest Hand

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Carveth Mitchell

23. The Nearest Willing Hand

Luke 10:25-37

Illustration

Carveth Mitchell

24. The Sign in the Subway

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

Carveth Mitchell

25. The Turnstile at the Pearly Gate

Luke 13:22-30

Sermon

Carveth Mitchell

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