Sermon and Worship Resources

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John 15:1-17

Sermon

Charles L. Koester

"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you." How many times have we heard in our lifetime our Lord’s Eleventh Commandment repeated? How many sermons have I preached on love, and have you heard? Yet, in spite of words and commandment, everyone has a somebody whom they cannot love. Somebody is not always the same person, at the same time, in the same place. True as well...

2. For of Such is the Kingdom of Heaven

Matthew 19:13-15

Sermon

Charles L. Koester

Death on the School Playground __________ was ten years old when his hfe ended tragically through a childish experiment of holding his breath and attempting to render himself unconscious. I recall the trick was not uncommon when I was a child. Expelling all possible breath a fellow classmate was asked to hold you tightly in a bear hug from the back. On the school playground this was done to _____...

3. Free to Live as Victors

1 John 5:1-12

Sermon

Charles L. Koester

Several years ago, McCalls magazine featured a portrait painted by the famous artist, Norman Rockwell. Perhaps you recall this one. Rockwell here protrayed, in striking terms, a truth about ourselves, a truth about our impersonal society and relationships today. Shown in his painting is the magnificent entrance to an urban cathedral. Vaulted high above its magnificently carved Gothic doors are st...

4. God Isn’t Dead - Death Is Dead

Mark 16:1-20

Sermon

Charles L. Koester

"Do not be amazed ... He has risen, he is not here." So announced the angel to Mary Magdalene and Mary. Because of this, God isn’t dead, death is dead. Jesus Christ conquered it on a morning like today, almost 2,000 years ago. He himself said of this earthshaking event, "Because I live, you shall live also." His joyous and powerful message is the glorious assertion and truth of God’s promise to a ...

5. He Ought to Stick Out!

1 John 4:7-21

Sermon

Charles L. Koester

"By this we know that we abide in him, and he in us, because he has given us of his own spirit." If you’re looking for a creative challenge, attempt explaining where Jesus is now to a group of young children. To explain God as Father and creator can be done through objects in nature. A child will comprehend the Creator through trees and flowers. The life our Lord lived on earth can be explained, ...

6. His Risen Hand Holds Ours

1 John 1:5--2:14

Sermon

Charles L. Koester

The war had ended in Europe. With a little R and R time, I found myself doing a bit of traveling and sightseeing. One evening, several of us took in a movie in Amsterdam, Holland. I remember that night so vividly for two reasons: the first was the movie itself, an old prewar "Abott and Costello" film, imported from America with Dutch subtitles. That in itself was humorous. Our laughter was quite c...

7. John the Baptist

Drama

Charles L. Koester

INTRODUCTION: [This portion is read from the lectern by the introducer or narrator.] Preaching can be dull. When that is true, it is normally the preacher who is dull. Preaching ought to be exciting. The ministry of John the Baptist offers proof that it can be. John the Baptizer burst into human history as God’s unconventional man; wild, rugged, fearless, and austere. Surviving in the wilderness o...

8. Joseph

Drama

Charles L. Koester

INTRODUCTION: [This portion is read from the lecturn by the introducer or narrator.] Of all the persons involved and related to the Advent, the coming, of Christ, there is one who is the "forgotten man" of the Nativity. Even the great artists of the world, many of whom have lavished their imagination upon the scene of the Nativity, have been content to make him part of the dark backgrounds of thei...

9. Mission Accomplished!

Luke 24:50-53

Sermon

Charles L. Koester

"Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them." Possibly the most awesome and fantastic picture I have ever seen is the earth-moon shot taken by the Apollo astronauts. Emerging from behind the moon for the first time after entering lunar orbit, there in the foreground is the moon landscape. In the background, emerging...

10. Redeeming Grief

1 Corinthians 15:35-58

Eulogy

Charles L. Koester

Death in an Auto Accident A young couple, married for about a year, joined our parish. When they purchased a new home some distance away, they faithfully drove the distance to worship each Sunday. One could see a deepening and growing commitment they possessed for the church. On the eve of New Year's they purchased a new car. New Year's day brought the beginnings of a blizzard. About noon they w...

11. Simeon

Drama

Charles L. Koester

INTRODUCTION: [This portion is read from the lecturn by the introducer or narrator.] Though Romans troops and unscrupulous tax collectors caused many peole in Palestine to despair, there were those who waited patiently for the deliverance they were sure God would accomplish. Among their number was an old and saintly man named Simeon. Simeon looked to God’s promise of a Messiah as His source of per...

12. What’s Going On in Your Orchard?

John 15:1-17

Sermon

Charles L. Koester

She had been brutally murdered on a neighborhood bus. A young, teenaged girl. Cut down in the prime of life by a man suddenly gone berserk. The bus driver, struggling with her assailant, was himself injured. The morning after the tragedy, I was in a drugstore when this young lady’s father entered. I did not know him, but was told by the druggist, "That’s the girl’s father." I immediately assumed h...

13. Who Needs a Shepherd These Days?

John 10:1-21

Sermon

Charles L. Koester

Who needs a shepherd these days? That’s a good question. In our gospel text, Jesus asserts, "I am the good shepherd." However, in our modern and urbanized times and culture, how many of us have ever had opportunity to see an honest-to-goodness shepherd tending his sheep? Only once in my life have I seen such a sight, and that as a flock of sheep were crossing a highway in Montana. My first reactio...

14. Zechariah

Drama

Charles L. Koester

INTRODUCTION: [This portion is read from the lectern by the introducer or narrator.] Advent has been called the "Lent" of Christmas; both bring to this world the light of God’s love in the gift of a Son. At the time Jesus was born, darkness covered the earth, and gross darkness the people. Yet there were believers scattered abroad in every part of the land. These faithful kept bright the light of ...

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