Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1 to 25 of 43 results

1. A Distinguished Guest

Mark 13:1-37

Illustration

John A. Stroman

There is a passage in the old Jewish book of Zohar, that goes like this: "Whenever the Jews on earth rejoice in their festivals, they give praise to the Lord. They put on fine clothes and pile their tables with good food. So the angel asks, 'Why do the Jews pamper themselves so much?' And God answers, 'They have a distinguished guest today. I am with them.' "Today is a very special day. We are pr...

2. A Hands-on Religion

Mark 1:40-45

Sermon

John A. Stroman

A leper confronted Jesus and said to him, "If you want to, you can make me clean." I would imagine that the crowd around Jesus fell silent. They all gazed at him and wanted to see what he was going to do. They probably said to themselves, "One thing he would never do is touch him." Then they remembered that in his previous healing incidents he did touch those who were sick. "Would he now risk such...

3. A Moment Of Decision

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

John A. Stroman

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. -- Mark 1:9 Experiences have the effect of changing the direction of our lives. These experiences are so casual they are frightening. They are critical experiences because they are life-changing. Albert Schweitzer casually walked into a library and sat down at a table to study. He picked up a magazine that s...

4. A Voice Crying In The Wilderness

John 1:1-18, John 1:19-28

Sermon

John A. Stroman

The people wondered who John the Baptist was. He appeared as a rather strange person who came from the wilderness, preaching repentance, dressed in camel's hair, surviving on a diet of locust and wild honey. John the Baptist was the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ. Yet his message of good news seemed as strange as his attire. It was good news involving repentance, and repentance inv...

5. By What Authority?

Mark 1:14-20

Sermon

John A. Stroman

And Jesus said to them, "Follow me and I will make you fish for people." And immediately they left their nets and followed him. -- Mark 1:17-18 This text is a statement about a radical discipleship. It needs to be pointed out at the beginning that this reading is the most compact and compressed statement of the gospel expressed anywhere in the New Testament. Leonard Sweet points out, "In these fe...

6. By What Authority?

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

John A. Stroman

Two remarkable things happened. Jesus' words in the synagogue left the people amazed. His confronting of the man with the unclean spirit left them dumbfounded. Jesus' world was a demon-haunted world. Men and women in the ancient world believed in demons. Demons for them were intensely real. The first century world was one of pain and suffering. There was no relief from pain. It was a world ...

7. Confession

Job 42:1-6

Sermon

John A. Stroman

Job got what he wanted. He got a chance to present his case before God and to hear God's response. After hearing God's reply to him, he confesses that he said things that he really did not understand. There were things about God, creation, and human life that were just too wonderful for him, things that he did not know. His accusation before God now seemed to him to be ludicrous and unwarranted. ...

8. Discovering The Unexpected

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

John A. Stroman

Have you ever looked forward to something and when it happened, it was so much more than you anticipated? Maybe this was your experience at the time of your marriage or the birth of your first child. This was somewhat like the experience of David Livingstone, the explorer and missionary to central Africa in the mid-1800s. In his journal he tells about his discovery of the great falls, which he nam...

9. Drop-Everything-Discipleship

Mark 1:14-20

Sermon

John A. Stroman

This text is a statement about a radical discipleship. It needs to be pointed out at the beginning that this reading is the most compact and compressed statement of the gospel expressed anywhere in the New Testament. Leonard Sweet points out, "In these few verses, Jesus' role as an authoritative, compelling, charismatic preacher is defined; the kernel of the gospel message is expressed; and drop-e...

10. Expanding The Boundaries

Ruth 3:1-18

Sermon

John A. Stroman

The Book of Ruth is a family story. It is an old story, possibly over three thousand years old. It is a story about a family in trouble. Let me briefly summarize the story. Elimelech flees with his wife and two sons from the famine in Israel and heads for Moab because they heard that things were better there. In desperation they move to Moab, an out-of-the-way sort of place. You would have to be d...

11. God Is Down To Earth

John 1:1-18

Sermon

John A. Stroman

William Barclay is convinced that John wrote the fourth gospel for the sake of this fourteenth verse. Early in the first chapter John talked about the Word: the creative and dynamic word. The Word was the agent bringing about creation. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him ...

12. God Is Down To Earth

John 1:1-18

Sermon

John A. Stroman

And the Word became flesh and lived among us....-- John 1:14 William Barclay is convinced that John wrote the fourth gospel for the sake of this fourteenth verse. Early in the first chapter John talked about the Word: the creative and dynamic word. The Word was the agent bringing about creation. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginnin...

13. God Remembers

1 Samuel 1:1-20

Sermon

John A. Stroman

On these opening pages of 1 Samuel we are introduced to a family drama. Here is the story of Elkanah and his two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. Immediately, we encounter the tension in this family which is a result of Hannah's barrenness. Hannah's husband loves her and treats her with kindness. When they traveled to Shiloh on the day of sacrifice, Elkanah would give portions to his wife Peninnah and ...

14. God's Treasure

Luke 1:26-38

Illustration

John A. Stroman

Tom Long asks the question in his book Shepherds and Bathrobes: "Have you ever noticed where God placed his treasure on this earth?" The treasure is not gold, but gospel. Not silver, but good news. Not hard, cold cash, but grace, love, and peace. He points out that God could have left it with the politicians, those who are responsible for collecting taxes, building schools, and passing laws, but G...

15. Have You Heard The Good News?

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

John A. Stroman

Have you heard the good news? Mark starts off his gospel with the announcement of the coming of the good news. He reveals to us the content and the nature of that good news. It is "the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." That is what the Advent is all about -- the preparation for the coming of Jesus Christ. This good news is centered in Jesus Christ. This is the mood and feeling that is ca...

16. How Odd Of God

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

John A. Stroman

In every generation if we are to apprehend the abiding forces that will dominate and direct the future, then we must believe in the minute, the diminutive, and the inconspicuous, as is seen in such New Testament words as "mustard seed" and "leaven." The most remembered events turn out to be not the vociferous and noisy affairs that split the eardrums of their contemporaries, but rather the embryo...

17. Keeping Alert

Luke 9:28-36

Illustration

John A. Stroman

In Luke's account, Jesus prayed but the disciples slept. They had fallen asleep. With their heads in the clouds, they drifted off into an unconscious state. Remember the story of Rip Van Winkle? He fell asleep one day in a quiet spot on the banks of the Hudson River and he didn't wake up for twenty years. When he went to sleep, the sign above his favorite tavern read: "King George III, King of Eng...

18. Making Our Feelings Known

Job 23:1--24:25

Sermon

John A. Stroman

In our text Job makes his lament to God loud and clear, "Today also my complaint is bitter." The word bitter seems to carry the feeling of defiance in the wake of grievance and complaint. Job earlier has spoken of the bitterness of his soul:Therefore I will not restrain my mouth;I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. (7:11)I loathe my life; I will gi...

19. My Servant Martin

Luke 2:1-14 (15-20); Matthew 25:40

Illustration

John A. Stroman

Martin of Tours was a Roman soldier and a deeply committed Christian who lived in France in the fourth century. The story has it that early one winter morning he was met by a beggar who was shivering and blue from the cold. Without hesitation Martin took off his army cloak and wrapped it around the beggar's shoulders. That night he had a dream. In it he saw a vast multitude gathered in heaven and ...

20. Never as Stereotypes

Mark 1:40-45

Illustration

John A. Stroman

Jesus always met men and women on the level of their need, regardless of who they were or what they had done. He met everyone as human beings, never as stereotypes. Stereotypes were as powerful then as they are now. Once a label is placed on a person the human being vanishes. Many labels were given to people in the New Testament such labels as tax collector, Samaritan, Roman soldier, prostitute, ...

21. Out Of The Whirlwind

Job 38:1--41:34

Sermon

John A. Stroman

God answers Job out of the whirlwind. There is no better word to explain what has taken place in Job's life than a whirlwind. Look at the events that have transpired in his life: all his children are dead; his home and business are lost; he lost his health, and his body is disfigured with open sores. It all happened in rapid-fire succession -- just like a whirlwind. Out of the whirlwind Job asks G...

22. Pass It On

John 1:43-51

Sermon

John A. Stroman

Here we see the dynamic of witness. Look at what took place. Jesus met Philip and he called him, and Philip followed Jesus. Philip was much like Andrew; he could not keep a secret. When Andrew discovered Jesus, he ran to find his brother and said to him, "Come, Peter. I have found the Messiah." So with the same manner of enthusiasm, Philip went and found his friend Nathanael. He told Nathanael tha...

23. Pentecost -- A Wild, Weird, Wonderful Day

Sermon

John A. Stroman

The happenings on the day of Pentecost seemed so bizarre with the sound of a rushing mighty wind, tongues of fire resting on the participants, and the speaking in other languages, that it caused the onlookers to conclude, "They are filled with new wine." In other words, "They are drunk!" Peter observed that they were confusing inspiration with inebriation so he declared, "Men of Judea and all who ...

24. Ready Or Not -- He Comes

Mark 13:32-37, Mark 13:1-31

Sermon

John A. Stroman

25. So Much More than Anticipated

Luke 2:22-40

Illustration

John A. Stroman

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