Sermon and Worship Resources

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Matthew 3:13-17

Sermon

James W. Moore

... about the Olympic Games of 1924. One of the main characters in the movie is a young man from Scotland named Eric Lidell. Eric is doing his college work in Edinburgh preparing himself to be a Christian Missionary in China… He is also preparing to represent ... the circle. God wants us to be inclusive like that. Fred Craddock tells about how some years ago, he used to go home to West Tennessee for Christmas… Each year the routine was pretty much the same. He would go back to the town where he grew up… and ...

2. Better Ignorant Than Uncaring

1 Corinthians 8:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... borders on Texas. Twenty-five percent were unaware that New Jersey is on the East Coast and that Oregon is on the West Coast. Only about 40 percent could name California as the most populous state. Gallup found that these aspiring high school graduates were ... to qualify for the next level of competition, the capacity crowd at the Olympic Aquatic Center stood to their feet and cheered Eric on. After what seemed like an eternity, this young African athlete reached the wall and hung on for dear life. When he ...

3. Eyes Fixed Upon the Goal

Philippians 3:8-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... the course they have taken to this point. They had veered north part of the way, then south, but their main direction has been west. Evidently there has been an argument about which way to go next. But the wagon master has placed one finger on the end of ... away from the spot where the whale is surfacing and he doesn’t even seem to notice. The shot was captured by photographer Eric Smith near Redondo Beach, California. That area is known for whale watching. We don’t know if this man’s purpose was whale- ...

4. Captive To The Word Of God

John 8:31-41

Sermon

Theodore F. Schneider

... Roman legion for more than a year. Jerusalem had already fallen months ago, and the mesa named Masada, along the west coast of the Dead Sea, was the site of the last pocket of Jewish resistance. Come morning, that, too, would ... life.4 1. Daniel Oliver, The Trial of Luther, Translated by Jon Tonkin, (Saint Louis, Concordia Publishing House, 1971), PP. 1-4. 2. Eric W. Gritsch, Martin - God's Court Jester: Luther in Retrospect, (Philadelphia, Fortress Press, 1983), p. 19. 3. Ibid. Dr. Gritsch gives us here ...

5. Learning From A Little Child

Isaiah 35:1-10

Sermon

Eric Ritz

Dr. Bryant Kirkland, former pastor of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City, tells of traveling to preach on the West Coast one winter: "I needed the time on that three hour flight to study and prepare," he said, "so I buckled down ... , pages 71, 206. 3. Earl C. Davis, FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH PULPIT, Dec. 15, 1991, page 6. 4. CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL. *Eric Ritz is the pastor of the First United Methodist Church, Schuykill Haven, PA. He is the author of several SEVEN WORLDS sermon collections.

6. There's an Elephant in the Room and Her Name Is Katrina

Exodus 14:10-15

Sermon

James W. Moore

... .” - Or, how about 38 year-old Eric Potts who navigated the flood waters for several days in his 15 foot bayou flatboat… saving over 100 people… four of whom were nuns from Mt. Carmel Academy who told Eric he didn’t have to ever worry ... yards, he ran up on another skirmish… then he ran to the east and happened upon another part of the battle… then he ran west and encountered more fighting there. Finally, he ran back to the front lines and shouted: “Gimme my gun back Capn’ there ain’t no ...

7. Finding ‘Comfort’ Instead of ‘Little Hope’

Romans 12:12-15

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... :. Crackpot and World's End. Plus there are towns by the name of: Toad Suck, Camel Hump, Embarrass, HooHoo, Lick Skillet, Sweet Lips, Nameless, Nine Times, Due West, Idiotville, Slapout, Bowlegs, Knockemstiff, Tick Bite, Hicksville, Worms, Tightwad, Chunky, Waterproof, Monkey's Eyebrow, Beanblossum and Dunmovin. Those are just a few. Over the next month we ... As We Know It edited by Daniel Kelly (Kansas City: Andrews and McMeel, 1996), p. 97. 2. Adapted from a sermon by Rev. Eric S. Ritz 3. from a sermon by Rev ...

8. How Firm a Foundation

Luke 6:39-49

Sermon

Cynthia Cowen

... stands after fifty years. Is it because of the materials? Is it because of the construction? No, it's because of its foundation. What Eric did was to lay a firm foundation of cement blocks. Next he put a solid floor over it. Then came linking each panel of ... more attractive or because beach houses have higher social status than cliff houses. Just look at the east coast and the west coast. Houses there often don't have good foundations, and when the winds of hurricanes come or slippery mudslides move, houses ...

9. Faces of Failure: The Disciples

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon

Don Tuttle

... is not all sunshine and rainbows but wind and waves, as we see in today’s reading. Jesus had been teaching people on the west shore of the Sea of Galilee when the crowd grew so large he commandeered a fish boat—a vessel about 26 feet long and ... doesn’t. Often when we get into the boat with Jesus we sail into trouble. Don’t think so? When you get home Google Eric Liddell, who refused to run on a Sunday in the 1924 Olympics because of his faith. Or Dietrich Bonhoeffer, whose allegiance to Jesus would ...

10. Love

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Will Willimon

... begins to tread on your toes? We live, not just at a school, but in a sacred precinct, an acropolis called West Campus where Athena has her temples. At about ten tomorrow, reverent devotees enter the sancto sanctorum of Biology, or Engineering, or tread ... in adolescence, but Christian love is not for the young. Eric Fromm notes how we speak of "falling in love," as if love is stumbled into or we talk of "being in love" as if love is a permanent condition (Eric Fromm, The Art of Loving, pp. 4-5). Both phrases ...

11. Advent 2

Malachi 3:1-4, Luke 3:1-20, Philippians 1:1-11

Sermon Aid

George Bass

... a prophet. Time spent in the desert would not necessarily prepare him for his ministry as a prophet. The lay-philosopher, Eric Hoffer, wrote about his "wilderness-back to nature" of experiences: "All through adult life I had a feeling of revulsion ... asked, "But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?" Baruch 5:1-9 (RC, E) - "Salvation - East To West." 1. Salvation, for a nation or for all people, always comes from the east - that is, from God.2. It is God's intention to show ...

12. The God Of Peace

Philippians 4:2-9

Sermon

King Duncan

The NEW YORK TIMES one Christmas carried a picture of a priest walking through a metal detector manned by Israeli troops on the occupied West Bank. As soldiers looked on, the elderly priest, cane in hand, walked solemnly through the security device. As paradoxical as this picture is, one is ... for our world is this: May the God of peace be with you. 1. Dr. John Bardsley 2. SUNDAY SERMONS 3. Ernest J. Lewis 4. Eric Ritz 5 J. Robert Raines, CREATIVE BROODING, (New York: Macmillan Company, 1977), pp. 345-346.

13. Bracing For The Rough Times

Luke 21:5-38

Sermon

King Duncan

... day that would plunge a large portion of our population, mostly male into outrage. The New York Jets were playing the Oakland Raiders on the West Coast. It had been a long drawn-out game. The Jets were ahead by 10 points. Just as the game was moving into its critical moments ... Preachers, Teachers, & Writers (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1996), 171. 2. Eric Fellman, The Power Behind Positive Thinking (San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1996), 105-106. 3. Greg Asimakoupoulos, Naperville, Illinois.

14. Straight Backs And Rekindled Dreams

Luke 13:10-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... POWER TO LIFT BURDENS FROM OUR BACK. Jesus can set us free. Author Max Lucado tells about his boyhood days of playing football out in the West Texas fields. The fields where Max and his friends played were full of grass burrs that stuck in their skin. Sometimes, after a big tackle, a ... p. 19. 6. William Willimon, “Remember Who You Are," Upper Room, 1980, page 7. From a sermon by Eric Ritz. 8. Lorne A. Adrain, The Most Important Thing I Know About Love (New York: William Morrow, 2000), pp. xiii-xiv ...

15. Do You See What I See?

Exodus 14:19-31

Sermon

David J. Kalas

... own course, their logical choice would have been to travel the shortest distance between the two points of their origin and their destination. Leaving Egypt in the west, they would have traveled due east across the northern edge of the Sinai Peninsula, and straight into the land of Canaan, which God had promised to their ancestors ... he is at work. Amen. 1. Jonathan Swift, Swift's Polite Conversation, with introduction, notes, and extensive commentary by Eric Partridge (London: Andre Deutch, 1963), p. 61.

16. Three Wise Women

Luke 1:39-45, Luke 1:46-56

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... Allow people to answer.] If you look online, you may find some weirder ones –themed parties with babies emerging from airplanes, or babies riding horses in the wild west, or my personal weirdo favorite, the “alien invasion.” The baby shower has become a fun, celebratory tradition. Women get together (sometimes men now too!) and prepare for their ... Sister: A Theology of Mary in the Communion of Saints. Elizabeth A. Johnson and Routledge Encyclopedia of the Ancient Mediterranean Religions. Ed. Eric Orlin.

17. Happiness Full Stop

John 15:9-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... for mother” Maggie Kent, Action News/WPVI July 19, 2019. https://6abc.com/man-scales-down-19-story-high-rise-during-west-philly-fire-/5404974/. 6. “He Carved 6,000 Steps” by Alison Caporimo, Reader’s Digest (Reader’s Digest USA). 7. ... : Your Financial Freedom Playbook (p. 185). Simon & Schuster. Kindle Edition. 8. Dorotheos of Gaza: Discourses and Sayings, trans. Eric P. Wheeler (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1977), pp. 138-39 (paraphrase). Cited in Roberta C. Bondi, Memories of God (Nashville ...

18. Lesson from a Prosthetic Toe

Luke 17:5-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... one of you into giving away your life in the toughest job you will ever have. I am looking for people to go into the hollows of West Virginia, into the ghettos of South Los Angeles and teach in some of the most difficult schools in the world. Last year, two of our teachers ... .html. 3. “Luke 17:1-10” by Jason Buckwalter, September 30, 2019. http://www.aplainaccount.org/luke-171-10/. 4. Eric Snyder, for Paul S. Williams in Greg Allen, Rick Rusaw, Dan Stuecher, Paul S. Williams, Editor, When I’m Seeking ...

19. A Soul Restored

Psalm 23:1-6

Sermon

Eric Ritz

Today, we are continuing in our study of the 23rd Psalm, as we claim new insights from this trusted old friend of ours. Now, if you were with us these last two Sundays, you know that we have looked at the first two verses of this marvelous writing. I am going to give a quick review of what has been taught these past two weeks for those of you who have been absent or not listening very well. It is very important you get the foundation we have built so far. After the review, I am going to finish the last one ...

20. The Other Side of Christmas

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Eric Ritz

I would fully understand if you told me that the scripture lesson read today is not found in your top ten list of favorite Bible passages. This reading from the word of God doesn't allow us to be "cozy and comfortable" about the reaction of King Herod to the birth of Christ in the drama of world history. We often place all our attention on the three kings who traveled from afar to the birthplace of Christ--we fail to devote any significant time to the one king who doesn't present himself to worship the ...

21. Maundy Thursday: Two Memorials

Luke 22:7-38

Sermon

Eric Ritz

Recently, my distinguished colleague, Dr. Rodney E. Wilmoth of Omaha, Nebraska, shared in a printed sermon some information about what I believe to be a sad legacy and memorial left by a man, John Jacob Astor. When he died in the 1800s, he was considered to be the richest man in America. However, the memory that many people had of him was anything but rich and honoring. He was born in the village of Waldorf in West Germany. He left home at age sixteen and eventually found his way to America by ship. The ...

22. Mother's Day

Proverbs 1:1-7

Sermon

Eric Ritz

I think everyone knows today--that this Sunday is the day we celebrate and honor motherhood. It is the day we descend on Mom to show her our love. It is always inspiring as we leaf through the pages of history to see the great influence that mothers have had on their sons and daughters. Our own founder and spiritual mentor, John Wesley, was deeply influenced by the godly character of his mother, Suzanna. There is much debate and controversy today among Christian leaders and pastors over the Biblical role ...

23. The Cry Of Freedom

Matthew 22:15-22

Sermon

Eric Ritz

This past week we celebrated Independence Day. This day is a special time, set aside to celebrate many gifts and opportunities that "Freedom" brings to the American citizen. It celebrates our independence from England and our dependence on God. I remember watching President Carter receive the distinguished Medal of Freedom in Philadelphia. It was an inspiring moment for me to see Jimmy Carter get the respect he deserves since his defeat in 1980. The Fourth of July always sets me to thinking about the ...

24. Facing Up To The Giant Task Of Life

1 Samuel 17:1-58

Sermon

Eric Ritz

From our scripture lesson this morning, we find that facing a Giant task is not a new experience in human history, nor in the life of the people of God. In our passage from I Samuel, we see an incident that would put a challenge into any person. Here are two armies in their camps, each occupying a side of the mountain, with a valley in between them. Out of the camp of the Philistines comes the giant, Goliath, the champion of the group, with an interesting proposal to save bloodshed. It would be well for ...

25. Thanksgiving: Where Are You Looking For It?

Deuteronomy 8:1-20

Sermon

Eric Ritz

A little girl whose father was a disc jockey, a radio announcer, was invited to a friend's house for dinner. When she arrived, the mother asked the little girl if she would honor them by saying the blessing. It delighted the little girl. She cleared her throat, looked at her wristwatch, and said, "This food, friends, is coming to you through the courtesy of almighty God." Well, she was right, all food that we eat comes through the courtesy of almighty God. (1) Thanksgiving is a special time of year. Can't ...

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