Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1 to 25 of 29 results

1. We Ache to Know God’s Blessings

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

... experience I heard him share in a class several years ago, while I was doing sabbatical study at Harvard Divinity School. Jim Wallis is a leader of the Sojourners community, intentionally located in a poor inner-city neighborhood of Washington, D.C. After living in that neighborhood for more than twenty years, Wallis found himself the victim of a mugging. Preoccupied with an upcoming speaking opportunity, Jim failed to "watch his back" as he turned the corner on a deserted street, and by the time he heard ...

2. Beyond Despair

Psalm 43:1-5, Psalm 42:1-11

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... Many of these prisoners were students too, studying in a unique program of the New York Theological Seminary to obtain their Master of Divinity degree - behind the walls of the prison. They graduated when their sentences were up. Here's what that young man at Sing Sing told Jim Wallis he would do upon his graduation: "When I get out, I'm going to go back and stop that train." Good for him. When the psalmist's question rises within him (and behind bars you KNOW that it does from time to time) - "Why are you ...

3. A Place of Honor

Luke 14:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... , full of holes from all we have cut out.’" We might as well have taken that pair of scissors and just cut out all that we have ignored for such a long time. In America, the Bible that we read is full of holes." (4) Do you think, perhaps, that Jim Wallis got the attention of his listeners? Did he get your attention? Most of us don’t want to be made to feel guilty when we come to church. Neither do I. I don’t like feeling guilty about my affluence in a world in which so many people have so ...

4. Spirit Power

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... is a black man, a South African. His name is Desmond Tutu. Most of you are familiar with Bishop Tutu. He is not powerful because of his position as a bishop. He is powerful because of his faith in God. Well-known religious writer Jim Wallis, the editor of Sojourners magazine, tells of being present in the St. George cathedral in South Africa during the days of apartheid when a sermon by Desmond Tutu was interrupted. South African security police filed into the building with weapons, tape recorders, and ...

5. Rich Man, Poor Man

James 2:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... had not come for the dinner. God replied, “I did come. If you had fed the old man, you would have fed Me.” (2) Scripture is clear, Old Testament and New: our closeness to God is reflected in how we treat those less fortunate than ourselves. Evangelist Jim Wallis has an interesting twist on this idea. He says that he often does a little Bible quiz for audiences he’s speaking to. He asks this question: “What is the most famous biblical text in America about the poor?” He says that every time he asks ...

6. Which King Do We Worship?

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... New Testament, he remained on the wrong side of the political and social and religious power structure his whole life. Why? Because Jesus came to bring us something so much more valuable—love, justice and righteousness for all people. Reverend Jim Wallis tells of participating in a worship service at a South African church during the days of apartheid. In those days the government of South Africa officially sanctioned discrimination against and oppression of Black South African citizens. Nelson Mandela, a ...

7. Headlines and Holiness

Luke 13:1-9

Sermon

Frank G. Honeycutt

... I'm going to do about that or consider how the way I now live may, in fact, be contributing to the problem. Today Jesus will not allow his followers to blame others or God. He turns their philosophical gymnastics squarely back on them. Jim Wallis, one of the founding members of the "Sojourners" community in Washington, D.C., writes these pointed words: Many think conversion is only for nonbelievers, but the Bible sees conversion as also necessary for the erring believer, the lukewarm community of faith, the ...

8. Hello!?

Romans 8:26-39

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... promise of goodness. Alternative Sermon Idea Simply reverse the sermon theme. Are you prepared for the world to say "Hello!?" to you? As a disciple of Jesus, what you do and say will be greeted with a chorus of "Hellos!?" by the world. Brendan Manning and Jim Wallis have warned us of the need to be prepared to be seen as "fools for Christ." "A Christian living in the world but not of the world is a sign of contradiction to the compromises that many within the church have settled for. The disciple of Jesus ...

9. Wonderful Opportunities for Mission

Matthew 9:35-10:8 (9-23)

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... , Vol. III, ed. G. W. Bromiley and T. F. Torrance (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1976), p. 64. 3. Rick Warren, The Purpose-Driven Life: What On Earth Am I Here For? (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2002), pp. 283-288, 300-302. 4. Ibid, pp. 259-260. 5. Jim Wallis, God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It (San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 2005), p. 212. 6. Augustine, Tractates on the Gospel of St. John (c. 406/421), XL.10, in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol ...

10. Are You the One?

Matthew 11:1-19

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... machina in a Greek play here to magically fix things and make everything all right. POOF. Well, if that is what you are counting on, stop counting. It does not work that way. You are in this too. You have a part to play in making these hopes real. Jim Wallis, the founder of Sojourners and one of the true prophets of hope in today's world, has a wonderful way of illustrating this. Politicians, he says, are all of a kind. A politician holds up his finger in the wind, checks which way the wind is blowing, and ...

11. No Fear

John 15:1-8

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... , and they need an adult who cares for them. For all of these years the Church has been the one enduring institution that has provided that safe environment, that loving environment, and adults to model for young people what the Christian life is all about. Jim Wallis is the founder of the Sojourner's Community in Washington, D. C. He has also, incidentally, consented to be one of the leaders of the event in Philadelphia this week. I don't think there is anyone who is more articulate in proclaiming that ...

12. Now What?

1 John 4:7-21

Sermon

Mark Trotter

13. Don't Make Me Come Down There

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

... , the easy way. We are talking about the narrow way, the way of the cross. We are the answer. Anywhere people are being mistreated, anywhere people have needs that aren’t being met, we are God’s hands reaching out with love. Social activist Jim Wallis tells about one group of Christians who are doing their part. It’s Saturday morning. The food line has formed early outside the Sojourners Neighborhood Center, just one‑and‑a‑half miles from the White House. Three hundred families stand in line to ...

14. Surprised Saints

Matthew 25:31-46

Sermon

King Duncan

... out of fear of divine punishment. Rather it is because the Spirit of Jesus lives in our heart. We see others through his eyes and that makes all the difference. Some of you are familiar with Jim Wallis. Wallis is often featured on TV news talk shows as a spokesman for the Christian community. Wallis tells about the ministry of the Sojourners Neighborhood Center in Washington, D.C., his hometown. This center stands just one‑and‑a‑half miles from the White House. On a given day three hundred families ...

15. The World's Largest Covered Dish Lunch

John 6:1-15

Sermon

... people and their need and he felt compassion toward them. That is why he had so much to say about caring for the poor. Some of you are familiar with the work of evangelical activist Jim Wallis. Wallis once took some scissors to his Bible. This sounds sacrilegious, but that was not his intent. Wallis was a seminary student at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School when he and some classmates decided to eliminate a few verses. They performed surgery on all sixty-six books of the Bible, beginning with Genesis and ...

16. Good Show

Revelation 5:11-14

Sermon

Will Willimon

... it mean? What does a wild vision like that mean for ordinary people like you and me? What difference does it make that the slaughtered lamb sits beside exalted God, the Creator almighty on the golden throne at the center of heaven? A friend of mine, Jim Wallis of the Sojourners Community in Washington, was visiting Coretta Scott King during the celebration of the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. She asked him to go to the Georgia State Penitentiary and visit a young man who has been in jail since he was ...

17. A Moment of Brightness

Matthew 17:1-13

Sermon

Dean Lueking

... , the duty of bearing with boring people, the duty of going through periods of spiritual experience that are not illumined by ever-new revelations but which are sustained by the memory of bright moments of Christ’s presence before. Jim Wallis analyzed American culture in these words: Self-satisfaction and self-fulfillment are the undisputed gods and the unrivaled idols of American culture at the moment. Thus far the present evangelical revival has shown a characteristically evangelical preference for ...

18. Celebrate Your Critical Mass

Matthew 18:15-20

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... two or three can work the most astounding miracles this world has ever seen. You can incarnate the presence of Christ in this world. If you join together, you create the critical mass necessary for Christ's love to become a vital force on Earth. When Jim Wallis was traveling in South Africa in the late '80s, he reported: In South Africa in 1987, Nelson Mandela was still in prison, and the world thought for good. School children were being killed daily by government police, and the struggle seemed to be at a ...

19. The Richest Family in Church

Luke 4:14-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... . He loved them so much He chose to walk in their shoes. And he calls his followers to do the same. Jim Wallis is the founder of the Sojourners community and the magazine of the same name. The Sojourners community advocates for peace and social justice ... based on the teachings of Jesus. Their ministries focus on meeting the needs of the poor. When Wallis was in seminary, he and some classmates were deeply impressed by all the verses in the Bible emphasizing God’s concern for ...

20. Leadership Styles For A New Millennium

Matthew 2:13-18

Sermon

King Duncan

... as a man willing to do a hard, dirty job was the one that mattered . . . and you can be sure everyone was aware of it." (4) Philip Pillsbury is a different kind of leader. I understand that Jim Wallis, editor of Sojourner magazine is that kind of servant leader. We are told that Jim actually takes home a smaller paycheck than the shipping clerk, because the shipping clerk has more mouths to feed. The decision to develop a salary schedule based on need rather than position was based on the "Leadership in ...

21. When Is Justification By Faith A Heresy?

John 8:31-41

Sermon

George Johnson

... of us so that the center of our attention is not our sins, or our getting to heaven, but the kingdom of God, justice and righteousness. We are weak in evangelism and the call to conversion because of our distorted use of justification by faith. Jim Wallis in his book, Call to Conversion, reminds us that understanding conversion, and the need for it, is really the central issue for today's churches. 6. A distorted use of justification by faith leads to an absence of speech on the teaching of judgment found ...

22. After Katrina

Song of Songs 8:1-14

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... . Song of Solomon 8:7 - "Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it." In the wake of the horror in New Orleans, you and I and the whole world can show that by our response. Do what you need to do. Amen. 1. Jim Wallis, Sojourners, sojomail, 8/31/05, www.sojo.net 2. David McCullough, The Johnstown Flood, (New York : Simon & Schuster, 1987, ©1968), pp. 252-253 3. Joel Bourne, "Gone with the Water," National Geographic Magazine, October, 2004 4. Maureen Dowd, "United States of Shame," New York ...

23. Chosen

John 15:1-17

Sermon

David G. Rogne

... thumbs down. "How then, Rabbi, would you tell?" they asked. He replied simply: "Day has begun when you look in the face of a stranger and there see a brother or a sister. But if you cannot do this, it still remains night." In his book, Who Speaks For God? Jim Wallis tells about a reporter who was covering the conflict in Sarajevo. He saw a little girl shot by a sniper. He rushed to a man who was holding the child and helped them both into his car. As the reporter raced to the hospital, the man in the back ...

24. Now Stand Up Straight!

Luke 13:10-17

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... in the slums of Washington, D. C. The Sojourners Community is a group of people who intentionally live a Christian life in the midst of poor neighborhoods. They do that as Christians to identify with the poor, following our Lord's example. Jim Wallis, the founder of Sojourners Community and magazine, preached from this pulpit earlier this year in February. Some of you will remember that. Hollyday talks about some of the poor families that she worked with as a member of the Sojourners Community. One ...

25. Plain Talk

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... to make sure that the poor are not forgotten. They see to it that the poor who are motivated to improve their lives, who want to be independent, not dependent, who want to become a part of the community, and not ostracized from it, can do so. As Jim Wallis said from this pulpit last week, the most onerous thing about being poor is the ostracism; being branded as a failure, as worthless, and treated that way. This church has been engaged in a ministry to the poor over a long period of time. We have done it ...

Showing results