Showing 1 to 25 of 46 results
Sermon
Jerry L. Schmalemberger
Did you ever hear such a story? The Gospel for the day tells it: a man gave a marriage feast and no one showed. He sent his servants out and found everyone too busy. Some even treated his servants badly when they were invited. So he went out into the streets and dragged in anyone who would come, and finally the wedding reception was full. To those who heard the story from Jesus’ own mouth, there w...
Children's Sermon
Jerry L. Schmalemberger
Object: large lump of modeling clay Good morning, boys and girls. Today I brought this lump of clay to this church service. It comes from the toy box at our house. I’ll bet many of you use clay at your house or at school. What I like to do best with this clay is make something nice like a house, a car, a castle, or some letters. Then I like to take what I made and mash it together, like I’m doin...
Sermon
Jerry L. Schmalemberger
There is a way of looking at the personal stories of certain women and men to learn of the richness and the potential of human life lived by the grace of God. We are going to do that over the next weeks in this series of sermons we have chosen to name "Saints Who Shaped the Church." The people we will consider convey something of the breadth of Christian history. They are a rich assortment of youn...
4. Being Set Free
John 8:31-41
Sermon
Jerry L. Schmalemberger
Today’s Gospel promises us freedom, if we will truly be disciples of Christ. In fact, Jesus promises that if we will learn, know, and follow the truth, we will be set free. Remember, however, first we must become disciples. Jesus tells us that to be a real disciple is to accept what he says about how great God is and how terrible sin is, and what the real meaning of life is. When we do this, we ar...
Sermon
Jerry L. Schmalemberger
It was Easter Sunday. One thousand, seven hundred fifty showed up for worship that day. Boy, was this place full! And it really felt good. We sang some of the same hymns as today. I gave the kids red Easter eggs and my sermon title was: “Don’t Be Alarmed.” The main idea was that Christ is alive and with us, so there need not be any event or situation in our lives here that should scare us. In addi...
Sermon
Jerry L. Schmalemberger
Jesus had just told the disciples that “he is the vine and they are the branches.” To disciples Jesus is speaking. The very people he chose to be with him those three years of his ministry are the ones who hear these words. While they are wondering how they got into this mess, our Lord assures them they didn’t choose him, he chose them! “I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in yo...
7. Christ the King
Matthew 25:31-46
Sermon
Jerry L. Schmalemberger
The king of an African tribe, after many years, faced the fact that his throne was wearing out. It was repaired a couple of times, but eventually collapsed and was replaced with a new one. The king, for sentimental reasons, hated to part with his old throne. So it was hoisted on ropes to the ceiling of his grass hut and stored there. Then one night during a storm, the throne fell down and hit the ...
8. Cross-Bearing
Matthew 16:21-28
Sermon
Jerry L. Schmalemberger
The time was close to the time when Jesus was crucified. The Scripture tells us that Jesus had just told the disciples that he was going to have to suffer and be put to death. Peter couldn’t stand that idea and told him, "This shall never happen to you" (Matthew 16:22b). Jesus told Peter that he was thinking the way people thought rather than the way God thought. Then Jesus told his disciples what...
Sermon
Jerry L. Schmalemberger
In the Des Moines Register was a story titled, “Man, Believed Killed by Log, Sits on It.” “It happened in Hamburg, Wisconsin. William Bartelt, 71, of Hamburg, was recovering in a Wausau hospital Saturday after friends gave him up for dead after a log struck him on the head. Bartelt was hit by a limb cut down by his hired hand at his central Wisconsin farm, officials said. The limb knocked him out ...
10. Double Citizenship
Matthew 22:15-22
Sermon
Jerry L. Schmalemberger
Jesus had attacked the orthodox Jewish leaders by telling the story of the two sons (Matthew 21:28-32). The Jewish leaders are the son who did not do the father’s will. Then he told the story of the wicked husbandmen (Matthew 21:33-46). Again, the religious leaders are the bad guys! In the story of the King’s feast (Matthew 22:1-14), they are the condemned guests who turn down the invitation. In t...
Sermon
Jerry L. Schmalemberger
Matthew 23:1-12 is a good checklist for our practice of religion. So many sermons are appropriate for all those Christians who are not there in church to hear them. This Gospel story and these comments are written especially for those who come to church - those of us who consider ourselves the faithful. Jesus spoke these words to his disciples. They are about the pillars of the church in his day -...
Sermon
Jerry L. Schmalemberger
"Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, ‘Lord, how many times can my brother sin against me and I have to forgive him? Seven times?’ "" ‘No, not seven times,’ answered Jesus, ‘but seventy times seven’ " (Matthew 13:21-22). Big blundering Peter was always blurting out something! Every time he opens his mouth, according to the New Testament, he puts his foot in it. Yet, we can be thankful that Peter wa...
Sermon
Jerry L. Schmalemberger
A Prayer attributed to St. Francis Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to...
Sermon
Jerry L. Schmalemberger
Here is the crazy story that Jesus told: A man owned a vineyard and needed to get the grapes harvested before the rains came. He hired some men at the early morning hour and agreed to pay them a silver coin for the day’s work. At nine and noon, and then at five p.m., he hired more men to help with the harvest. When evening came, the owner called all the workers together. They were all paid the sam...
15. God’s Patience
Matthew 21:33-46
Illustration
Jerry L. Schmalemberger
Robert Ingersoll, that great agnostic of a day gone by, once said to a contemporary, "I will give God five minutes to strike me dead for the things I have said." After five minutes and nothing had happened, Ingersoll's friend remarked, "Did you think you could exhaust God's patience in just five minutes?"
16. Invitations
Matthew 22:1-14
Illustration
Jerry L. Schmalemberger
The invitation that we receive from God to the feast is a happy one and one we should not overlook. A woman arrived late for a wedding. As she came rushing up to the door, an usher asked her for her invitation. "I have none," she snapped. "Are you a friend of the groom?" he asked. "Certainly not!" the woman replied, "I'm the bride's mother." You and I are invited to a wedding feast of joy, and we...
Children's Sermon
Jerry L. Schmalemberger
Objects: a will, a linchpin, and a gift-wrapped box Good morning, boys and girls. I brought three things I’d like to share with you today. They tell us about a saint who shaped the church many years ago. (Hold up the will, the linchpin, and the gift box.) Do you know what each of these is? This is a will. It’s something we write to tell other people what to do with our money and possessions when...
Sermon
Jerry L. Schmalemberger
Picture a police officer, like Dan Dusenbery* of our congregation, arriving on the porch of Dr. Ralph Dorner* one evening, putting him under arrest, and taking him to the new Polk County jail. Can you imagine his then being taken to the courthouse by prosecutor Dan Johnston* and tried before our church council for heresy because he did not believe as we did? Can you further envision his being foun...
Children's Sermon
Jerry L. Schmalemberger
Objects: a big red paper heart and a list of six rules Good morning, boys and girls. I have two things I’d like to show you today: this big red paper heart and this list of six rules. Both tell about John Wesley who was a saint who lived a long time ago. They tell how he shaped the church. He taught Christians about having a heart in their religion. This heart reminds us that we must not only un...
Sermon
Jerry L. Schmalemberger
His mother was the daughter of an Anglican priest, and his father was an unsuccessful pastor in the Church of England. He had been raised in the parsonage - one of nineteen children. He, too, became a priest, but he sensed something missing. Religion to this "preacher’s kid" seemed cold, cruel, and intellectual. Then came May 24, 1738. Early in the morning he read in his Bible: "In this way he has...
Sermon
Jerry L. Schmalemberger
The religious people of Jesus’ day got together to try to trap Jesus with their questions. They asked him about paying taxes. They asked him about rising from death. We read today that they asked him what was the greatest commandment. The Jewish rabbis liked to distill the meaning of religion into little phrases like the ones we put on our Burma Shave signs. They had 632 laws and rules for the pra...
Children's Sermon
Jerry L. Schmalemberger
Objects: a law book and a Bible with a chain around it Good morning, boys and girls. Today we will talk about another saint who shaped the church. His name was Martin Luther. He lived in Germany almost 500 years ago. He was the greatest reformer of all time. On hallowed eve, which we now call Halloween, he nailed a notice on the doors of a village church and began the Reformation. I brought two ...
Sermon
Jerry L. Schmalemberger
Martin Luther died in the upstairs bedroom of a little house in the town of Eisleben, Germany. He had been taken there from St. Andrew’s church across the street where he preached his last sermon. On February 18, 1546, he died. From the window of that little East German bedroom you can see St. Anne’s church, where he was baptized at the age of one day, and the house where he was born. Hans and Mar...
Children's Sermon
Jerry L. Schmalemberger
Object: a picture of Mother Teresa Today, boys and girls, we will talk about the life of a very special living saint who is still shaping the church. Her name is Mother Teresa. I brought a picture of her today so you could see what she looks like. Mother Teresa is now over 75 years old. She was named after Saint Teresa of Avilia who lived about 500 years ago. Saint Teresa of Avilia taught many f...
Sermon
Jerry L. Schmalemberger
Jesus took his closest followers up on the side of a mountain for a spiritual retreat. There he tried to teach them about Christianity. One of the great promises he gave them was, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy" (Matthew 5:7). Seventy-six-year-old Mother Teresa of India knows what Jesus meant. She knows it like few people have understood since he first said it. Not long ago...
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