Sermon and Worship Resources

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Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... and Rebecca’s betrothal. Abraham (the Father of Judaism) sends his servant Eliezer to find a bride for Isaac (Rebecca) and to arrange for the betrothal. In the case of Mary, God sends Gabriel as his servant messenger to arrange for the betrothal between Mary and the Holy Spirit. Meanwhile God visits with Joseph to make sure he is okay with the union! The Angel of the Lord (God) will also call out to Isaac later before he kills his one and only Son, a foreshadowing of what will be to come in the life of ...

2. An Announcement to a Virgin

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

King Duncan

... announcement by an angel. Luke tells us that Mary was thoroughly shaken by this announcement. But she does not bolt. She does not run. And Gabriel continues: “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to ... him as he wished to be understood, as a lover rather than a king? Finally, the way became clear. If their union could not be effected through the maiden’s elevation to the king, it must be attempted through the king’s descent to ...

3. How a Baby Changed the World

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

... laws of nature in such a way that they had made it possible to create a new human being without needing the traditional union of a male and a female, we would hardly blink an eye. Think about it. I mean, thanks to the magic of 3D ... ordinary people like you and me, respecting our freedom, giving us the right to say no, just as Mary had the freedom to say no when the angel Gabriel came to her and told her that she would bear a son. Her response was to say, “I am the Lord’s servant. May your word to me be ...

4. Joseph’s Dream

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

... . But it is ... (and) it is your child."13 That kind of child would just not do. God had to produce, through this mystical union of Mary and the Holy Spirit, a child who would be normal and healthy, a baby who was just like every other normal child, as ... Child" for all time and all people. "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us" - that’s incarnation. Joseph affirmed Mary’s experience with Gabriel in an kind of "So be it. Let God do his miracle. We will abide by it." They were probably more aware than we ...

5. The Rise of Media, Persia, and Greece

Daniel 8:15-27

Teach the Text

Ronald W. Pierce

... the little horn and God’s people (8:23–26); and Daniel’s reaction to the vision (8:27). Historical and Cultural Background Gabriel’s interpretation of the vision’s imagery aligns with Alexander’s conquest of Persia in 334–330 BC. Shortly after Alexander’s ... 1941–42, from Morocco to Norway and from the Atlantic to the border of what was then the Soviet Union. This occurred mostly through military occupations and allegiances with sympathetic countries, but it also was tolerated by those states ...

6. The Hope Of A Girl-- And The Hope Of The World

Isaiah 7:1-25

Sermon

Thomas A. Pilgrim

... people. Centuries pass by and finally the hope of the world comes through the hope of a girl. Saint Luke tells us about it. The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a little out-of-the-way town up in the Galilee district. He spoke a simple message to a simple ... came to power in Russia he destroyed the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. In its place he was having built the monument to the Soviet Union, with a great statue of himself on top. But as it was being built it began sinking into the ground. The weight of it ...

7. That We May All Be One!

John 17:20-26

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... the body. But we recognize that prayer, as much as our heroes, did the trick. And if we pray to God for unity, we must take our union on God's terms. We cannot outline what we expect God to do. We must wait for wonder. Prayer changes the world. Prayer changes life. Now ... is just details. There's a story that a man died and went to heaven and was given a tour by the Angel Gabriel. Everywhere songs were raised in praise and suddenly the harmony that had been hidden in life made sense. The four-part songs and ...

8. Success: Ultimate and Unlimited

Revelation 7:9-17

Sermon

... the beginning. Protestant hymnody is filled with the expectation of heaven. The ecstasy produced by it is a history all by itself. Charles H. Gabriel gives an example: When all my labors and trials are o'er And I am safe on that beautiful shore, Just to be near ... the essence of sainthood and the participation of the whole church in a total way. Heaven and earth are brought into union with the mystical Body of Christ, taking on meaning which other liturgies and worship services never quite seem to bring about ...

9. Overcoming Loneliness

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

... have been written by King David, today it could fit a frustrated homemaker, a retired person, an unemployed person, a beleaguered executive, a worried union leader, a minister or a doctor. All of us, at times, feel that the world has left us, and we are left alone to ... he may give himself to thee! In the play, Green Pastures, De Lawd said to Gabriel: "Don’t forget about dat star." "Yes, Sir, I’ll take care of it." "And Gabriel, remember bout dat little sparrow with the broken wing." "Not even a bird falls ...

10. The Missing Figure in the Nativity Scene

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

... Luke’s account, before the angel Gabriel was dispatched to the Virgin Mary, he first appeared to an elderly priest named Zachariah. At the time, Zachariah was in the temple performing his priestly functions. Gabriel told Zachariah that he and his ... communist government. Nixon’s visit had considerable political peril for the United States, since it risked straining relations with the Soviet Union, Japan, and Taiwan which thought of itself as the real government of China. Someone had to go before Nixon to ...

11. Feast Days During Lent

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... Reading, "a virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel." Mary was totally surprised at Gabriel's greeting. As familiar as she may have been with the Scriptures, the reality of the angel's greeting could have ... lives. Probably she expected to live a quiet life in Nazareth with Joseph as her husband and any children that might be born to their union. In a flash Mary made the decision of a lifetime, a decision which changed her whole future, all of her dreams; she never looked back ...

12. The Unfairness of God

Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon

William J. Carl

... line, open your pay envelope and find only $40, tell me how you are going to feel. Maybe not in the south, but in big union towns like Pittsburgh or Detroit, a deal like that wouldn’t last five minutes. The word would be out on that employer, just like ... in the Old Testament dumped in the pit and sold into slavery by his brothers and Mary in the New Testament eyeball to eyeball with Gabriel or was it the Holy Spirit demanding to know what kind of mess God had gotten her into. The Bible is full of folks who ...

13. What Can Christians Learn from Muslims?

Genesis 21:1-20

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

Asadullah Nawabi was six-years-old when the Soviet Union invaded his home country of Afghanistan. Asad and his family escaped to the mountains in fear. They wandered there until ... that: 1. God is one, not many. 2. There is a moral consequence to licentious living. 3. The Lord regards all people equal. In subsequent visits to that cave, the angel Gabriel pressed the word of the Lord into Mohammed's chest and the Quran, the holy scripture of Islam, came into being. This is remarkable in light of the fact that ...

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