Sermon and Worship Resources

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Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

If someone were to suggest the term most descriptive of life today, a very possible reply might be that of "darkness." Such a response would fit not only our physical and environmental condition following the initial energy crisis announced in the early 1970s, but also our present economic situation, our international tensions, and our domestic relationships. However, most noticeably it characteri...

2. Do You Have the Great Pearl?

Matthew 13:47-52, Matthew 13:44-46

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

Jesus said: "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it. "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net which was thrown...

3. Echoes of Eternity

Matthew 10:24-32

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

"A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master; it is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household. "So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the...

4. From 12 to 1 Billion

Matthew 9:35-38

Illustration

Dennis Kastens

From the twelve, the group grew to 120 by Ascension Day. A little over a week later, on Pentecost, it increased to over 3,000. By the time the last of the twelve died, there were an estimated half-million followers of Jesus Christ. That was the end of the first century. By the end of the second century, this number had increased to almost ten million. By the end of the third century, all heathen t...

5. From Outward to Inward Sins

Matthew 13:24-30

Illustration

Dennis Kastens

The English author, C. S. Lewis, in one of his books, points out that when people become Christians, if they are not careful, their sinning often shifts from the overt, outward, visible sins of lying, cheating, stealing, cursing and swearing, to the more inward, hidden, non-apparent invisible ones ... and among them he lists "a critical spirit" ... a spirit of judgmentalism, a censorious attitude....

6. He Bore Our Sins

2 Corinthians 5:11--6:2

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

Every year during Lent, the role of Christ bearing his cross to Calvary is re-enacted in the village of Sartene, Corsica. This has been going on ever since the Middle Ages, and it always draws a big crowd of villagers and thousands of tourists who come for the occasion. Time magazine, when reporting on one of the more recent episodes, called it "one of the world’s most brutally powerful Holy Week ...

7. Immune to Religion

Matthew 7:1-6

Illustration

Dennis Kastens

Sir Alexander Fleming, upon introducing his newly discovered drug, penicillin, warned against taking too little of it. An underdose, he said would permit germs to remain in the system thereby allowing one to build up an immunity to the drug. These immune germs could be "passed on to other individuals so that the thoughtless person playing with penicillin treatments may be responsible for the death...

8. Laborers Needed for the Harvest

Matthew 9:35-38, Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every infirmity. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; pray therefore the Lord o...

9. Listening or Hearing?

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat there; and the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: "A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they had not...

10. Mr. Eternity

Matthew 10:1-42

Illustration

Dennis Kastens

Perhaps you have heard of the man known as Mr. Eternity who lived in Australia a few years ago. Early in life he was an alcoholic derelict who before reaching middle age was converted through a rescue mission and later himself became a street-corner evangelist, Shortly after his conversion, he heard a sermon entitled "Echoes of Eternity." He was so captivated by the importance of the word "eternit...

11. No Condemnation!

Romans 8:1-17

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

The prophet Micah, who lived 700 years B.C., was surrounded by people who worshiped many false gods and idols. One scholar has established that the Greeks alone worshiped thirty thousand; and we know the Hindus claim thirty-three million gods. In Mesopotamia every household had its own god. Micah beheld the Canaanites who worshiped Baal and Astarte, the Moabites who worshiped Chemosh, the Philisti...

12. Not Through Us, but Through God

Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52; Ephesians 2:8-9

Illustration

Dennis Kastens

Shakespeare, in King John, correctly said, "to guild refined gold, to paint the lily, to throw a perfume on the violet, to smooth the ice, or add another hue onto the rainbow ... is wasteful and ridiculous excess." So it is today, if we wish to improve upon God's plan of salvation by our own good deeds, our own righteousness, our own goodness. Then we are trying to add purity to the pearl, luster ...

13. Overcoming Self

Philippians 1:1-11

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

Some children were choosing up sides for a game of cowboys and Indians. The first boy who was chosen by the captain of the Indian side came up and whispered to him, "Choose Cory next - he’s so great at dying!" So Cory was chosen. As the game progressed you could see what the boy meant, for when the cowboys threw a bead on Cory and shot him, he let out a moan - no blood-curdling scream, no over-ac...

14. Pardon for Sin

Romans 5:12-21

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

Human nature will go to great lengths to cover up wrong doings and to excuse its mistakes. In Newark, New Jersey, a lady lost a purse containing twenty-five dollars. A week later it came back in the mail with only fifteen dollars, plus a note from the anonymous finder explaining she had once lost a purse with ten dollars in it. The fact that she once was robbed gave justification to rob a portion ...

15. Power to Forgive

John 20:19-23

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them "Peace be with you." When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you...

16. Power to the Faint

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

At that time Jesus declared, "I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes; yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will. All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to revea...

17. Religion at a Minimum

Matthew 7:15-23, Matthew 7:24-29

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

Jesus taught them, saying: "Not every one who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers.'...

18. Salvation Through His Suffering

Hebrews 4:14-5:10

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

The people of his ignoble day harassed him, hunted him, and lied about him until they got him where they wanted him - on a T-shaped scaffold intended for the worst of criminals! But though it is true that Jesus thus suffered, nevertheless when we look at Calvary, we are not witnessing a murder. We are not witnessing the death of a martyr. We are not witnessing the execution of a political revolut...

19. Sinners Anonymous

Matthew 9:9-13

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax office; and he said to him, "Follow me." And he rose and followed him. And as he sat at the table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" ...

20. Sowing to the Flesh

Romans 8:1-17

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

Some years ago a well-to-do man, caught in a scandal, was serving a prison term when a friend paid him a visit. The well-to-do man was sitting cross-legged, and with an enormous needle and a ball of twine was sewing burlap bags. "Hello," said the friend, "Sewing, eh?" "No," replied the prisoner with a sober-looking smile, "I’m reaping." With the arrival of spring upon us, and soon to be followed ...

21. Suffering for Christ

Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

Jesus said: "Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man's foes will be those of his own household. He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more...

22. The Lacking Christian?

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a lonely place apart. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. As he went ashore he saw a great throng; and he had compassion on them, and healed their sick. When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a lonely place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villa...

23. The New Covenant

1 Corinthians 11:17-34

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

The meal which we celebrate here tonight has not simply been celebrated annually on this Maundy Thursday for the past twenty or fifty years, like many church customs. In fact, unlike even the more stable of church traditions, it has not simply been observed since the beginning of the Christian Era - but it has been celebrated far back into the distant reaches of history, back even further than Mos...

24. The Sin of Judging

Matthew 13:36-43, Matthew 13:24-30

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

Another parable he (Jesus) put before them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the householder came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your fie...

25. The Stiller of Storms

Matthew 14:22-36

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

Then he (Jesus) made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat by this time was many furlongs distant from the land, beaten by the waves; for the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch of the night...

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