Sermon and Worship Resources

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Genesis 3:1-24, Genesis 2:4-25, Luke 4:1-13

Sermon

David Belgum

Adam and Jesus were both good and created in the Image of God. It was not inherent evil or original sin that blinded Adam. We read that "God saw everything that he had made, and behold it was very good"; that included fish, birds, cattle, creeping things, and Adam. "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them." Nothing was lacking. Everything was going along just fine. ...

2. Amazing Grace

Mark 5: 21-43

Illustration

David Belgum

Amazing Grace was written by John Newton, who was part of the revival of the Church of England in the late eighteenth century. He was a self-educated man, who had gone to sea and at one time had been the captain of a ship in the African slave trade. After his conversion, he became an ordained minister of the Church of England, finally serving as rector of a church in London. It could well be that ...

3. I Once Was Blind

John 4:39-42, John 4:27-38, John 4:1-26

Illustration

David Belgum

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now I'm found; Was blind, but now I see. This plaintive spiritual song is a favorite among the elderly and nursing home residents at chapel time, those for whom physical eyesight is waning and for whom spiritual sight is increasingly significant. I think many believe it is a Negro spiritual, maybe because of its...

4. Second Sight

Matthew 17:1-13

Sermon

David Belgum

What was the experience high up on Mount Hermon, which we have come to call the Transfiguration of Jesus? When we modern, technologically-oriented westerners read, we expect to receive objective information that will benefit us and answer questions. We become uncomfortable when what we read raises questions or throws us for a loop. All the symbolism of inspiration is packed into this short story....

5. Seeing Light In Darkness

John 11:1-16

Sermon

David Belgum

As death drew near for a seventy-year-old man, a cousin was heard to say to his wife, "Don't worry, Agatha, it seems dark now, but in time you'll see the light at the end of this tunnel." Some use another cliche, "It's always darkest before the dawn." These are not helpful statements. And Agatha, about to become a widow, simply sighs and says to herself, "No one understands." It may have seemed to...

6. Seeing The Unseeing

John 9:35-41, John 9:13-34, John 9:1-12

Sermon

David Belgum

Sing along with me: Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now I'm found; Was blind, but now I see. This plaintive spiritual song is a favorite among the elderly and nursing home residents at chapel time, those for whom physical eyesight is waning and for whom spiritual sight is increasingly significant. I think many believe it is a Negro spiritual, ...

7. Seeing The Whole Person

John 4:1-26

Sermon

David Belgum

Not surprisingly, Jesus was dusty and thirsty under the noonday sun after his walk through the high hills and low mountains about forty miles north of Jerusalem. He had come as far as Sychar in the district of Samaria on his way to Galilee. The well near which he sat to rest has great symbolic significance for the story John is about to relate. It was Jacob's well, which means it went back to anci...

8. Wanting To Be Seen

Matthew 6:5-6

Sermon

David Belgum

Theatron is the word we translate as "to be seen." In the theater, on the stage, that is the whole purpose, to be seen. On the stage is where persons legitimately pretend (hypocrisis) to be someone other than what they are in real life. It is perfectly okay for Billy Smith to pretend to be Robin Hood in the school play. It is even announced in the program that Billy will "play the part" of Robin H...

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