Sermon and Worship Resources

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1. A Simple, Forthright Invitation

John 1:43-51

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

Come and see. No arm twisting. No gimmicks. No Bible thumping. No apparent pressure. Just a simple, forthright invitation — come and spend time with Jesus and with those he is calling to join with him in living and proclaiming a new way of living. Come and see — see with eyes of faith, allowing oneself to be transformed by Christ's Spirit. Is this not what Marcus Borg had in mind when asserting in...

2. A Weapon of Love

John 1:43-51

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

Martin Luther King, Jr., whose birthday we celebrate this week, spoke with some frequency during his years of ministry of putting on the "weapon of love." Responding to those who resisted the emerging civil rights movement, King asserted, "We will counter your force with soul force, we will match your ability to hate with our ability to love." And King reminded us that at the heart of Jesus' life ...

3. An Eyes Wide Open Dream

Isaiah 11:6-9

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

Prophets dream an eyes-wide-open dream of that day when God's realm, God's kingdom shall completely unfold among us, and indeed, among all creation. Such dreams, thank God, are not easily put aside; they are not easily shaken. In the aftermath of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s leadership of that 1963 March on Washington, Time magazine chose him as its Man of the Year. Asked later whether he was satisf...

4. As A Little Child

Luke 1:39-56

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

William Willimon, dean of the chapel at Duke University, questions: Don't you find it interesting that when the great Lord, the Creator of the universe, the One who hung the stars in the heavens and set the planets spinning in their courses, when this great God chose to come among us he chose to come to us as a baby? And when that baby grew up, he told those who would be his disciples, "You cannot...

5. Can You See God?

Rom. 1:19-20; John 17:20-26

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

A young boy approached his slightly older sister with a question about God. "Susie, can anybody ever really see God?" "Of course not, silly," came the response. "God is so far up in heaven that no one can see God." Some time later the boy approached his mother with the same nagging question, "Mom, can anybody really see God?" More gently his mother answered, "No, not really. God is a spirit and dw...

6. Embracing the Gracious Gift

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

Writing in a book entitled With Open Hands, Henri Nouwen asserts that "The challenge of the gospel lies precisely in the invitation to accept a gift for which we can give nothing in return. For the gift is the very life breath of God, the Spirit who is poured out on us through Jesus Christ. This life breath frees us from fear and gives us new room to live." Nouwen's words remind us that the Chris...

7. In the Hands of God

Mark 13:24-37

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

Raymond Fung, who some years ago served as secretary of evangelism for the World Council of Churches, asserts that "waiting is an attitude, an inclination to act. Our waiting communicates that life is not all it should be. We wait because there is something worth having. We wait because the resources we need to survive and to grow are not in our own hands, but in the hands of God."

8. Is There Anyone Else Up There?

Matthew 14:22-33

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

You may know the old story of a hiker who comes too close to the edge of the Grand Canyon, losing his footing and plunging over the side. Yet, amazingly, the hiker is able to grab hold of a small bush. Filled with fear, the hiker calls out, "Is anyone up there? Can anyone help me?" A reassuring voice promptly answers, "I'm here; I'm the Lord your God." Overjoyed, the hiker responds, "I'm so glad...

9. Jesus Startles Us

Matthew 18:21-35

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

As in so many of Jesus' parables and teachings, we find the message of this parable shocking. As Donald Kraybill writes in The Upside Down Kingdom: Again and again in parables, sermons, and acts Jesus startles us. Things are not like they are supposed to be. The stories don't end as we expected. The Good Guys turn out to be the Bad Guys. The ones we expected to receive a reward get chastised . . ...

10. Letting God Bless You

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

In his book Letting God Bless You John Killinger concludes with the challenge: Permit God to bless you. Don't look around you and think how hard life is. Look around and see how filled with mystery and goodness it is. See how wonderful the world looks when you know God is at work redeeming it and setting up the anti-structures, so that humility and purity and compassion and longing for justice an...

11. Listen for the Questions

Mark 4:35-41

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

The Scriptures include a significant number of life-and-death questions about meaning, purpose and value in life. Consider some of the questions posed by Scripture: What will it profit us if we gain the whole world but forfeit our life? (Matthew 16:26) Who do you say that I am? (Matthew 16:15) What are you looking for? (John 1:38) Who is my neighbor? (Like 10:29) What must I do to inherit eternal...

12. Living the Faith – Star of Peace

Mark 1:1-8

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

Pastor Joel D. Kline writes: "Some years ago I read a novel by Jan de Hartog entitled Star of Peace. It's the story of a ship's captain transporting 250 Jews from Nazi Germany to Montevideo, Uruguay, the last port in the world willing to receive Jewish refugees. When the ship arrives there, however, it is soon discovered that all of the passengers' visas are forgeries, and authorities tell the ca...

13. Pastoral Prayer for First Sunday of Lent

Mark 1:9-15

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

Gracious God, how blessed we are to live and serve as a community of Your people. Gifted with the beauty of creation surrounding us, lead us into significant relationships that nurture and challenge us, as we experience the promise of life, and are grateful. Lead us now, O God, as we seek, in this season of Lent, to journey with our eyes fixed on Jesus. Lead us in righteousness, that our journey...

14. Possibilities of Grace

Matthew 3:1-12

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

The story is told of a youngster learning to play the piano whose mother, to encourage a love for music in him, took him to a Paderewski concert. Soon after the mother and son were seated, the mother spotted a friend a little distance away and walked down the aisle to greet her. The time got a little too long for the youngster, and he wandered off, exploring the wonders of the concert hall, eventu...

15. Repent and Keep the Dream Alive!

Matthew 3:1-12

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

African American poet Langston Hughes questions in one of his poems, "What happens to a dream deferred?…Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?…Or does it explode?" Dreams long squelched by injustice may well explode in anger and rage, but I suspect that, for most of us, the far greater danger is of our dreams drying up like raisins in the sun. Is there any greater tragedy than those whose lives ...

16. The Arrival of Hope

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

Alan Paton's novel, Cry, the Beloved Country, is the story of a black South African pastor, Stephen Kumalo, who travels from his small village of Ntodsheni to the city of Johannesburg, to find his son Jonathan. Jonathan had gone to the city to find employment, but while there had gotten involved with the wrong crowd, and when Pastor Kumalo finds his son, Jonathan is in jail for killing a white law...

17. The Direction We Walk

Mark 13:24-37

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

Brethren historian Don Durnbaugh tells the story of Rufus Bucher, a noted Church of the Brethren minister and evangelist in the early 1900s. Bucher was called to the ministry in 1901, and in the course of that ministry was one of the most effective leaders of revival or evangelistic meetings that were common in those days. Indeed, Rufus Bucher led more than 200 series of such meetings in thirteen ...

18. The Great Spiritual Task

Matthew 14:22-33

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

Henri Nouwen speaks of the challenges and rewards of placing our trust in God. Says Nouwen, "The great spiritual task facing me is to so trust that I belong to God that I can be free in the world – free to speak even when my words are not received; free to act even when my actions are criticized, ridiculed, or considered useless; free also to receive love from people and to be grateful for all the...

19. The Necessity of Conflict

John 2:13-22

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

I read the story of a simple couple named John and Sandy, who were talking about their relationship. John said to Sandy, "You know, we've never had an argument. Maybe we ought to argue like other people." Sandy responded by asking, "But how do we start an argument?" "It's very simple," answered John. "I take a brick and say, ‘It is mine,' and then you say, ‘No, it's mine,' and then we have an argu...

20. The Word Became Flesh

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

In The Message, Eugene Peterson paraphrases the familiar words of the Word becoming flesh this way: "The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into our neighborhood." This is the remarkable truth we celebrate during the Christmas season, a truth we would do well to carry into the new year—that ours is a creating God who continues to act in human life, bringing light into our darkness, hope into o...

21. Waiting for More

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

Some Christians make their faith sound so simple. Find Jesus, they assert, be saved, and that will take care of everything. All will be finished, done, complete, settled. But to embrace the light and love of Christ is just the beginning. It is a significant step, but only a beginning. We must then struggle with the presence of darkness, even as we affirm God's gift of light. We must then grapple w...

22. We Ache to Know God’s Blessings

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

In his book, Faith Works, Jim Wallis writes of a personal 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 victi...

23. What Is The Question?

Mark 4:35-41

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

Frederick Buechner, the famous Presbyterian preacher, writes of Gertrude Stein asking on her deathbed, "What is the answer?" Then, after a long silence, she asks yet another question. This time she asks, "What is the question?" Buechner concludes: "Don't start looking in the Bible for the answers it gives. Start by listening for the questions it asks. We are much involved, all of us, with questio...

24. When Our Only Measure Is Fairness

Matthew 20:1-16

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

Some years ago The Christian Century included some reflections on this parable by a Congregational Church pastor named Anthony Robinson. Robinson writes of working hard in his garden throughout the spring and summer, only to discover that the most productive part of the garden was a surprise patch of pumpkins and zucchini he never knowingly planted, apparently the result of some seeds included in ...

25. You Are a Son of God

Matthew 10:40-42

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

Do you remember the movie Dead Man Walking? It's the story of one seemingly at the opposite end of the spectrum, a convicted killer on death row, and his relationship with a Catholic sister who serves as his spiritual director. In a scene near the end of the movie, it is the final evening before the scheduled execution, and all appeals have been denied. The man and the spiritual director talk hon...

Showing 1 to 25 of 25all results

Showing all results

1. A Simple, Forthright Invitation

John 1:43-51

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

2. A Weapon of Love

John 1:43-51

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

3. An Eyes Wide Open Dream

Isaiah 11:6-9

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

4. As A Little Child

Luke 1:39-56

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

5. Can You See God?

Rom. 1:19-20; John 17:20-26

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

6. Embracing the Gracious Gift

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

7. In the Hands of God

Mark 13:24-37

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

8. Is There Anyone Else Up There?

Matthew 14:22-33

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

9. Jesus Startles Us

Matthew 18:21-35

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

10. Letting God Bless You

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

11. Listen for the Questions

Mark 4:35-41

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

12. Living the Faith – Star of Peace

Mark 1:1-8

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

13. Pastoral Prayer for First Sunday of Lent

Mark 1:9-15

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

14. Possibilities of Grace

Matthew 3:1-12

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

15. Repent and Keep the Dream Alive!

Matthew 3:1-12

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

16. The Arrival of Hope

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

17. The Direction We Walk

Mark 13:24-37

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

18. The Great Spiritual Task

Matthew 14:22-33

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

19. The Necessity of Conflict

John 2:13-22

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

20. The Word Became Flesh

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

21. Waiting for More

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

22. We Ache to Know God’s Blessings

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

23. What Is The Question?

Mark 4:35-41

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

24. When Our Only Measure Is Fairness

Matthew 20:1-16

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

25. You Are a Son of God

Matthew 10:40-42

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

Showing 1 to 25 of 25all results