Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1 to 25 of 31 results

1. A Sense of Awe

John 2:1-11

Illustration

J. Ellsworth Kalas

I consider it divine good fortune that we have a scripture lesson so early in the year which encourages us to ponder a miracle. You and I need to become more sensitive to the possibility of miracles. Such a sensitivity will help us recognize present miracles, which we either do not see or which we take for granted; and it will prepare us to receive still more miracles. Walt Whitman felt that "eac...

2. All the Way to Hell

Luke 17:1-10

Illustration

J. Ellsworth Kalas

Without forgiveness, we will be destroyed ourselves--we have a basic duty to forgive. Whatever you do, don't let those who have wronged you remake you in their image. When three young men were brought to trial in a West Memphis, Arkansas, court for killing three eight-year-olds, the father of one of the victims suddenly rushed at the young man screaming, "I'll chase you all the way to hell!" We c...

3. Awake to Glory

Luke 9:28-36

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

Today we celebrate one of the most neglected passages in the Bible. It's possible that more sermons have been preached from some of the obscure places in First and Second Chronicles than from this tremendously significant scripture which describes the transfiguration of our Lord. At the time of the transfiguration, Peter finally broke the awed silence, but the Gospel writer says that he knew not w...

4. Bethlehem: Capitol of the Universe

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

What better way to take a Lenten Pilgrimage than in the footsteps of Jesus? And where better to begin such a pilgrimage than in Bethlehem, the city where our Lord was born. Even people who are not particularly religious cherish the idea of sometime walking the streets of that little city, and of standing at some point where they can look in silence out over the hillsides to a place where shepherds...

5. Blocking and Tackling

Illustration

J. Ellsworth Kalas

If you and I want the coming year to be marked by a real newness within, we would do well to review some of the ancient practices which good people have found helpful over the centuries. Vince Lombardi was coached the Packers to football immortality. Mr. Lombardi was often asked about trick plays and the secrets of coaching; he always answered that it was simply a matter of blocking and tackling. ...

6. Christmas and the New Family

John 1:1-18

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

When Wilbur and Orville Wright completed their historic flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on December 17, 1903, they sent home a succinct telegram. In minimum words it reported that their venture had succeeded, and concluded, "Home for Christmas." Whether they knew it or not, their achievement had ushered in a new age. Along with that, their "coming home" announcement might seem very mundane. ...

7. Christmas in the Midst of Songs

Luke 1:39-45

Illustration

J. Ellsworth Kalas

No season of the year sings as well as Christmas. This seems to be true whether one is a saint or a sinner. The world about us has occasional song fests for patriotic days or school homecoming celebrations, but those songs are sung by selected groups in isolated places. Only at the Christmas season does the majority of the population choose to sing or to listen to the singing of others. Some of th...

8. Egypt: Unlikely Refuge

Matthew 2:13-18

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

If you plan a pilgrimage in the footsteps of Jesus, you probably will not include Egypt in your itinerary. What does Egypt have to do with Bethlehem, Nazareth, the Jordan River, and the Sea of Galilee? Egypt is exciting as the land of the pyramids and the Sphinx, but we don’t instinctively think of it as part of our Master’s story. But it belongs to his story, in a strange and wonderful way. You’...

9. Epiphany: A Faith to Work Miracles

John 2:1-11

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

10. Epiphany: The Tragedy of Rejection

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

In the church, most of us think of Epiphany simply as a season on the church calendar, and sometimes as a season we don't understand too well. We may recall that we are celebrating particularly the revealing of Christ to the Gentile world, via the Wise Men, but not much more. The dictionary, however, adds further dimension to the word, listen: "a sudden, intuitive perception ... into the reality ...

11. Epiphany:The Joy of Fulfillment

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

I've read some books where it seemed the author had no purpose in writing. When that's the case, I'm glad if I can discover it early, so I don't invest too much time in a meaningless search. In some instances, however, I've been slow to recognize the problem, perhaps because I've been looking so earnestly for the author's point that I didn't realize he was without one. No such charge can be made ...

12. Fisher's Of Men

Mark 1:14-20

Illustration

J. Ellsworth Kalas

Most of our witnessing is likely to happen in passing moments of conversation--those occasions when we show, in relatively minor ways, who we are and to whom we belong. I think of a suburban woman who was playing tennis with her good but quite secular friends. In a conversation break between sets she began referring to something she had read that morning. It would have been easy to say, "I read so...

13. For What Are We Fishing?

Luke 5:1-11

Illustration

J. Ellsworth Kalas

The Synoptic accounts of this story include the miraculous catch. Kalas treats the Lukan passage in the following way: If this is where the story ended [i.e. with the miraculous catch], it would be an interesting but rather inconsequential little miracle. It might feed our desire for a gospel of success in business and good grades in school,but it would hardly be worthy of our Lord Jesus Christ. ...

14. From Empty Nets to Full Lives

Luke 5:1-11

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

It's funny what experiences and phrases will stay with you from childhood. I still remember a line from a song which apparently was popular, for at least a short period of time, in my early childhood. It was a half-funny, half-pathetic little lament from someone who felt rejected and unsuccessful. As I recall, each verse ended with the phrase, "I guess I'll go eat worms." Most of us can understan...

15. Fulfilling Others?

Luke 4:14-30

Illustration

J. Ellsworth Kalas

And the marvel is this: Jesus somehow fits the void in all the far flung instances of human longing. When medieval European artists painted the Holy Family, they usually painted them with typical German, Italian, or Flemish features. It was not imagination or prejudice which made them do so, but the instinctive feeling that Jesus belonged to them; he was one of their people. In our time, Christian...

16. Fully Awake

Luke 9:28-36

Illustration

J. Ellsworth Kalas

The glory of God comes to us when we are most "fully awake." A list of the half-dozen or more true geniuses of human history would surely include the name of Blaise Pascal the seventeenth-century French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist. In his brief 39 years, he made scientific discoveries which are basic to a great amount of our most significant contemporary knowledge. But with all his ...

17. In Success is the Seed of Failure

Matt 4:1-11; Mark 1:9-13; Luke 4:1-13

Illustration

J. Ellsworth Kalas

Success ought to breed success, but it doesn't always work that way. In fact, success has no greater danger than itself. When Roy Tarpley entered the National Basketball Association, it was assumed that Dallas could build a team around him. Experts say he would have made the American "dream team" for the Barcelona Olympics if he had fulfilled his obvious talent. Instead, when he should have been a...

18. Jesus, Out of Doors

Matthew 6:25-34

Illustration

J. Ellsworth Kalas

Jesus lived with nature, and he taught from it. If I want an object lesson, I have to carry it into the pulpit or trust that you and I can blend our imaginations to envision a scene. Jesus had his illustrations at first hand; the people could often reach out and touch them. "Consider the lilies of the field," Jesus said, and the people looked at a hillside just to their right. "A certain man went ...

19. Let God Do the Worrying

Illustration

J. Ellsworth Kalas

I've always enjoyed this charming little story about Martin Luther. He dearly loved his wife Katie and was devoted to her, but it seems he had to struggle all the time with her dreadful habit of worry. Once when he was traveling, he wrote her this letter, "To the saintly, worrying Lady Katherine Luther, doctor at Zulsdorf and Wittenberg, my gracious, dear wife. We thank you heartily for being so w...

20. Missing the Meaning of Success

John 6:1-15

Illustration

J. Ellsworth Kalas

We don't necessarily recognize success when we see it. When HamiltonCollege celebrated its centennial, one of its most famous alumni, Alexander Woolcott, was asked to give a major address. Woolcott opened his speech this way: "I send my greetings today to all my fellow alumni of Hamilton College, scattered all over the world. Some of you are successes, and some of you are failures only God knows w...

21. Nazareth: The Hidden Years

Luke 2:41-52

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

Although I have been privileged to travel in the Holy Land three times, I have been to Nazareth only once, and that was a hurried visit. Now and then I tell myself that I want to go to Israel again some day, and that when I do, I will decide (not the travel agent) how long I will stay in each place. If that ever happens, I will spend more time in Nazareth. If you go to Nazareth today, you will fi...

22. Out of Doors: Nature and Supernatural

Matthew 14:22-36

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

Some 75 years ago the great poet-preacher, Henry Van Dyke, traveled to the Holy Land. He returned from his journey with many memories and insights, but high among them was a "new conviction": "Christianity," he said, "is an out-of-doors religion." From Jesus’ birth in a cave to his crucifixion on a hill outside Jerusalem, all of its important events - with perhaps two or three exceptions - took pl...

23. Regret & Comfort

John 14:1-14; 1 Cor 15:8-9

Illustration

J. Ellsworth Kalas

Regret. It has powerful strength to trouble our hearts. Some of our most painful regrets are for opportunities lost. As John Greenleaf Whittier said: Of all sad words of tongue or pen. The saddest are these: It might have been! How many people go under a dark cloud by thinking, even momentarily, of the person they almost married, the investment they almost made, the position they nearly won. But...

24. Songs of the Season

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

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

No season of the year sings as well as Christmas. This seems to be true whether one is a saint or a sinner. The world about us has occasional songfests for patriotic days or school homecoming celebrations, but those songs are sung by selected groups in isolated places. Only at the Christmas season does the majority of the population choose to sing or to listen to the singing of others. Some of the...

25. The Divine Opportunity

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

Opportunity comes with so many different faces that we often don't recognize it. That's probably why we sometimes miss its call. A previous generation said that opportunity comes dressed in overalls. And they were largely right, for nothing succeeds like hard work. Our generation thinks that opportunity comes with a college diploma. It may, but there's no guarantee. The divine opportunity comes i...

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Showing 1 to 25 of 31 results

1. A Sense of Awe

John 2:1-11

Illustration

J. Ellsworth Kalas

2. All the Way to Hell

Luke 17:1-10

Illustration

J. Ellsworth Kalas

3. Awake to Glory

Luke 9:28-36

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

4. Bethlehem: Capitol of the Universe

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

5. Blocking and Tackling

Illustration

J. Ellsworth Kalas

6. Christmas and the New Family

John 1:1-18

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

7. Christmas in the Midst of Songs

Luke 1:39-45

Illustration

J. Ellsworth Kalas

8. Egypt: Unlikely Refuge

Matthew 2:13-18

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

9. Epiphany: A Faith to Work Miracles

John 2:1-11

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

10. Epiphany: The Tragedy of Rejection

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

11. Epiphany:The Joy of Fulfillment

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

12. Fisher's Of Men

Mark 1:14-20

Illustration

J. Ellsworth Kalas

13. For What Are We Fishing?

Luke 5:1-11

Illustration

J. Ellsworth Kalas

14. From Empty Nets to Full Lives

Luke 5:1-11

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

15. Fulfilling Others?

Luke 4:14-30

Illustration

J. Ellsworth Kalas

16. Fully Awake

Luke 9:28-36

Illustration

J. Ellsworth Kalas

17. In Success is the Seed of Failure

Matt 4:1-11; Mark 1:9-13; Luke 4:1-13

Illustration

J. Ellsworth Kalas

18. Jesus, Out of Doors

Matthew 6:25-34

Illustration

J. Ellsworth Kalas

19. Let God Do the Worrying

Illustration

J. Ellsworth Kalas

20. Missing the Meaning of Success

John 6:1-15

Illustration

J. Ellsworth Kalas

21. Nazareth: The Hidden Years

Luke 2:41-52

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

22. Out of Doors: Nature and Supernatural

Matthew 14:22-36

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

23. Regret & Comfort

John 14:1-14; 1 Cor 15:8-9

Illustration

J. Ellsworth Kalas

24. Songs of the Season

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

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

No season of the year sings as well as Christmas. This seems to be true whether one is a saint or a sinner. The world about us has occasional songfests for patriotic days or school homecoming celebrations, but those songs are sung by selected groups in isolated places. Only at the Christmas season does the majority of the population choose to sing or to listen to the singing of others. Some of the...

25. The Divine Opportunity

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

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