Sermon and Worship Resources

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John 20:1-18

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... because today we come to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead. The stone has been rolled away and Jesus is more alive than ever because not even death could hold Him. In the movie Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, the wizard Gandalf fell battling enemies to protect the rest of the group. His loss was devastating and disheartening. In the second movie, The Two Towers, we find the group split. Frodo and Sam have slipped off on their own to destroy the ring of power. Merry and Pippin ...

2. God's 'Yes!' To Every Promise

2 Corinthians 1:18-22

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... hand reaching out of the light to Sam, it represents the Christ figure, the one who brings salvation to the world. Whose self sacrifice ends evil and gives new life. But none of it could have happened without the Promise. Sam made a promise to Gandalf and while at times during the story, it's extremely difficult, Sam keeps that promise. Frodo, too, made a promise. A promise to bear the Ring until it can be destroyed and with the help of others, he too, fulfills that promise. Promises are extremely important ...

3. A Vision of Beauty and Hope

Isaiah 2:1-5

Sermon

King Duncan

... wakes up, thinking everything is lost. Instead he discovers all his friends around him. He sees his friend Gandalf and cries out, “Gandalf! I thought you were dead! But then I thought I was dead! Is everything sad going to come untrue? What’s happened to the ... world?” “‘A great Shadow has departed,’ says Gandalf, and then he [begins to laugh] and the sound [is] like music, or like water in a parched land . . .” (4) ...

4. The Impossible Option

Mark 10:17-31

Sermon

Cathy A. Ammlung

... R. R. Tolkien's wise fantasy, this short, hairy-footed resident of the Shire in Middle-Earth was a well-to-do bachelor and country squire. Comfortable and conventional, but just a touch bored with life, he nevertheless was shocked when the mysterious wizard, Gandalf, knocked on his door one spring morning and requested his services as (of all things) a thief. The clever, nimble-fingered hobbit was just the person to help a struggling band of dwarves reclaim their treasure from a greedy dragon. And of course ...

5. The Revelation Code IV: The Fight at Frodo's Tower

Revelation 19:1-21

Sermon

John E. Harnish

... the sun and all the soldiers of light. Tolkien describes him: His hair was white as snow in the sunshine; and gleaming white was his robe; the eyes under his deep brows were bright, piercing as the rays of the sun; power was in his hand. At last, Aragorn stirred. "Gandalf," he said, "beyond all hope, you have come back to help us in our need." [2] And that is exactly what John sees... Then I saw the heavens opened, and behold a white horse! He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True. His eyes are like a ...

6. Risky Business

Jeremiah 1:4-10

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

... know in their hearts what is right, and want to be obedient. The coming of the promised Messiah will bring about still another sweeping change in the rules. Being chosen by God is an awesome responsibility. In The Lord of the Rings, Frodo asks Gandalf, "Why was I chosen?" Gandalf replies, "Such questions cannot be answered. You may be sure that it was not for any merit that others do not possess. But you have been chosen, and you must therefore use such strength and heart and wits as you have."3 God created ...

7. Jesus Transfigured as a Foreshadowing of Future Glory

Matthew 17:1-13

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... R. R. Tolkien. The theme of hidden glory is one of the themes running through Tolkien’s masterpiece. Consider the various characters. Strider, the Ranger, is in fact the King of Gondor. The elves, usually cloaked in human form, occasionally show their true radiance. And Gandalf the Grey, whom the Hobbits mostly appreciate for his fireworks displays, is much more than they can imagine in his person and power. Film: Star Wars. We also see the theme of hidden glory in the Star Wars series. In the first movie ...

8. The First Disciples

Luke 5:1-11

Teach the Text

R.T. France

... these individuals who gave up their early ambitions were C. T. Studd, John B. Mott, Joseph H. Oldham, and Stanley E. Jones.2 Literature: The Hobbit, by J. R. R. Tolkien. In this fantasy tale, which comes before Tolkien’s epic Lord of the Rings, Gandalf prods Bilbo to leave all he has ever known and loved (safety, quiet, good friends, good food, and a cozy hobbit home) to help Thorin and a band of dwarfs reclaim the Lonely Mountain and its treasures from a dragon named Smaug. This creates a significant ...

9. Finding Your Dream Job

Matthew 4:12-23

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

... Harry Potter movie franchise because he knew the movies would generate a lot of merchandise tie-ins---notebooks and T-shirts and action figures. As he said in an interview, “I wasn't ready to be on a lunchbox.” Actor Sean Connery turned down the role as Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings movies because he didn't understand the story line. In an interview he said, “I never understood it. I read the book. I read the script. I saw the movie. I still don't understand it.” (3) I think the disciples said ...

10. The Power of Good

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... of intervention that tip the world in God’s favor. I want you to imagine this morning your favorite character. Maybe it’s Harry Potter. Maybe his parents. Maybe it’s Peter, Susan, Edmund, or Lucy. Maybe it’s Bilbo Baggins, Frodo Baggins, or even Gandalf. Or maybe your hero is of a superhero sort like Spiderman, Captain America, Iron Man, or Dr. Strange. Whoever your favorite character is, I want you to imagine yourself in their clothes, literally in their shoes. Can you get a picture in your mind ...

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