Sermon and Worship Resources

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Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... the words of Isaiah the prophet: ‘A voice of one calling in the wilderness: Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. And all people will see God’s salvation.’” Central to John’s life was this one mission: to prepare the world for the coming of Christ. That is also our task--to prepare the world for Christ. It is easy for us to forget that sometimes. A ...

2. The Privilege and the Price

Matthew 5:13-16

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

... in, I am grateful. Here is why: I want to keep the gap as narrow as possible between my theology and my ethics, between what I preach and how I actually live. It might not make John Wesley happy and even stretch my ordination promises to the limit, but I aim a little short of perfection; I aim at credibility, which in our day of low standards is often more than enough. I don’t want my life to be an impediment to others but an invitation, not a stumbling stone to stop at but a stepping stone in the right ...

3. Comfortable Christianity Is a Big, Fat Lie

Matthew 7:15-23

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

... it’s not a battle, it’s not the real thing. If it’s not hard, then it’s hollow. Easy, wide, comfortable, attractive, smooth, low demand and popular are the wrong set of adjectives if you are looking for the way to the life Jesus offers. That is precisely the ... am no prophet, just a pastor, and I think that comfortable Christianity is a big, fat lie. What think ye? 1. John Grisham, A Painted House (New York: Doubleday, 2001), 85-86. 2. The United Methodist Hymnal, 34. 3. Citation found at www. ...

4. Endorsing The Future

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... , the teller saw that he had written diagonally across the face of the check, "I heartily endorse the sentiments herein expressed. John R. Peterson."48 To endorse something is to attach your name publicly to a product, to throw your sentiments to an ... us. We can languish in the tears of depression: "I knew it would be this way." We can stay in that desolate place and wallow down low, crying painful tears in the valley of our problems. We can literally cry over what we do not have. We can feel as if we are ...

5. John 20:19-31

John 20:19-23

Sweet

... just how “low” Jesus’ disciples were on Easter Sunday itself. Despite Mary Magdalene’s astonishing report to the apostles “I have seen the Lord,” they show little evidence of having been given any “good news.” We find them still hunkered down in the residence where they had celebrated Passover. They have literally locked themselves in that Upper Room: locked up their hopes, locked down their exposure, and locked away their dreams. By specifically noting this locked-down status, John is able ...

6. Friends In Low Places

Matthew 9:9-13

Sermon

Marc Kolden

... . As Jesus said in another place, "You did not choose me; I chose you" (John 15:6). Several years ago the country-western singer Garth Brooks had a hit song titled "I've Got Friends In Low Places." It's the story of a young man whose girlfriend has dumped him ... credentials; he doesn't make bargains; he doesn't offer a deal; he simply calls people to himself. "Follow me." He's got friends in low places. That's why we can be sure that we're welcome. As it is written, "I have come to call not the righteous but ...

7. Trials and Temptations

James 1:1-18, James 1:19-27

Understanding Series

Peter H. Davids

... community, following Jewish usage for the remnant of Israel (e.g., Psalms of Solomon). The idea that the rich will be brought low and the poor exalted is a familiar reversal-of-fortunes theme. One encounters it in the Old Testament (1 Sam. 2:7) ... and (2) James needed an action parallel to desire in 1:15. Regeneration language (which is very close to the Johannine tradition, e.g., John 3–13, 1 John 3:9–10) and new creation language (which is closer to Paul, e.g., 2 Cor. 5:17, Rom. 8:18–25) come together ...

8. Listening and Doing

James 1:19-27, James 1:1-18

Understanding Series

Peter H. Davids

9. John 20:19-31

John 20:19-23

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... or suggest Jesus gave some watered down spit-spray of the Spirit at this moment in time, it seems more honest to read John’s text as his presentation of the post-resurrection gift of the Spirit to the disciples. Jesus’ presence in the midst of his ... his disciples, Thomas is present a week later, that is, the Sunday after Easter. The Sunday after Easter is commonly known as “Low Sunday.” Exhausted by all the events of Holy Week the emotional roller-coaster ride of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, No-Name ...

10. So Send I You

John 20:19-23

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... -guard and on-point, even when we are off-site. We are desperately trying to contain the chaos of the cosmos. In John’s gospel, Jesus’ first appearance to his disciples is when he comes to them behind closed, locked doors. Despite the vision of the ... his disciples, Thomas is present a week later, that is, the Sunday after Easter. The Sunday after Easter is commonly known as “Low Sunday.” Exhausted by all the events of Holy Week the emotional roller-coaster ride of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, No-Name ...

11. Two Women

Luke 1:39-45

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... is the fruit of thy womb!" Elizabeth will give birth to John the Baptist. Mary will give birth to Jesus. So even in the womb, John gives deference to Jesus. John will become the one who "prepares the way of the Lord." But ... is why she sings: He scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts, he has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those of low degree; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away. What she is saying is, the world is different now ...

12. Leveling the Landscape

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

Charles H. Bayer

... very much. But the flinty Baptist cannot be avoided that easily. How will it be different when the Prince of Peace arrives? Here's how he put it: Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill be brought low. The crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places smooth. John quotes Isaiah, who 600 years before had spoken not to the powerful but to the powerless. Jerusalem and its temple had been destroyed, and the people hauled off to Babylon, where they wept when they remembered Zion. Isaiah's ...

13. The Gardener

John 20:10-18

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... , I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” (Revelation 2:7) “Now in the place where he was crucified, there was a garden.” (John 10:41) Prop: seeds This is the first Sunday after Easter. It is sometimes called “Low Sunday,” partly because of the low number of people historically attending church this day. It is sometimes celebrated as it was in the past as “Holy Humor Sunday” or “Bright Sunday,” a time to celebrate the great joke God played on ...

14. Easter 2

Acts 2:14-41, 1 Peter 1:1-12, John 20:19-23, John 20:24-31

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... salvation when Christ returns. Until he comes, their faith will be tested by persecution. Though they have not seen Jesus, they love, believe in, and rejoice in him. Their faith brings salvation to them. Gospel: John 20:19-31 The appearance of the risen Christ turns Thomas' doubt to faith. On this "Low Sunday" we face the question, "How can one believe in the resurrection without a personal appearance of the risen Christ?" Mary Magdalene had her personal experience with the risen Lord, but Thomas, who was ...

15. Easter 3

John 20:19-23, Acts 2:14-41, 1 Peter 1:1-12, John 20:24-31

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

16. Songs of the Season

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

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

... fulfillment. Then, quite out of the blue, God promised that they would have a son, that his name would be called John, and that he would minister "with the spirit and power of Elijah" (Luke 1:17a). Nearly six months later, Mary was ... heart of some person in our own circle of association. Even people living in physical comfort are sometimes, deep inside, convinced that they are of low degree. It is a season for singing and for giving a song to others. Elizabeth sang, and set loose Mary's song. Mary sang ...

17. Coping When It Seems Impossible

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

... this with precise clarity: "I have learned to find resources in myself whatever my circumstances. I know what it is to be brought low, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have very thoroughly been initiated into the human lot with all its ups and ... guidance, his strength, his mission, his joy and his peace, and ultimately his destiny. He had glimpsed the Eternal. The old hymn by John Neale throws out the challenge to all of us who struggle with the limitations of our human-ness. Art thou weary, Art thou ...

18. What To Do While Waiting for the Judgment?

Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... Feel So Good Myself. Another is If Love Were Oil, I’d Be a Quart Low. Isn’t that suggestive? Even judging? If love were oil, I’d be a quart low. Some of us are a quart low when it comes to having oil in our spiritual lamps. We’re dependent upon ... all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.” In other words, while waiting for the judgment we keep oil in our lamps. Dr. John Claypool told of going to the barber shop with his father. There was an old man in the shop who had shined shoes for ...

19. The Prophet of Locusts and Honey

Luke 3:1-20, Luke 3:21-38

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... words of Isaiah the prophet: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. And all people will see God’s salvation.’” John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say ...

20. If You Really Want To Be Helpful

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... GOD OFTEN ANSWERS OUR PRAYER IN WAYS WE NEVER REALIZE. God is always at work even when we are not aware of it. Dr. John Whitherspoon, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and President of what is now Princeton University, used to ride a horse and buggy a ... wasn't a frog but I felt like a frog. Frogs feel slow, low, ugly, puffy, drooped, and stooped. I know how a frog feels. Sometimes, even now, when I know I am not a frog, I feel slow, low, ugly, puffy, drooped, and stooped. You see, even when I know I ...

21. The Road Less Traveled

Matthew 7:13-14

Sermon

James Merritt

... or the other. There are the many and there are the few; there is the majority and there is the minority. Jesus said the majority take the road to destruction, while the minority takes the road to life. In his poem entitled, The Ways, the British poet, John Oxenham, wrote: To every man there openeth a Way, and Ways and a Way, and the High Soul climbs the High Way and the Low Soul gropes the Low, and in between, on the misty flats, the rest drift to-and-fro. But to every man there openeth a High Way and a ...

22. Mary's Song

Luke 1:46-56

Sermon

King Duncan

... Wish You could have been there. I think it was that same little fellow who turned to a classmate and asked, "Who was Round John Virgin?" She answered, "I think he was one of the 12 opossums." The Christmas story is such a magnificent one ”so full of ... occurred in Mary's situation. Still, her humility was real. In her words, "He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree." You and I do not fall into God's plan in quite the same way that Mary did, and yet each of us knows what ...

23. Love

Romans 12:9-21

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... we approximate the “likeness of [God’s] Son” (8:29). Live in harmony.… do not be proud … associate with people of low position.… do not be conceited (v. 16). Although it is not apparent in the NIV, Paul stresses again (see verse 3 ... everything Paul has said of agapē. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Agapē corresponds to God’s nature (1 John 4:16) and his way of acting toward enemies (5:10). Since Christians are being transformed by God’s will (12:2), love must ...

24. A Voice in the Wilderness

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... calling in the desert, Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. And all mankind will see God’s salvation.’” John’s message was a word of warning, but ultimately it was a word of hope. Repent . . . our salvation is at hand. John’s task was to prepare the world for the coming of the Christ. Today we read his words with joy as we prepare our hearts for ...

25. Rebirth

John 3:14-21

Sermon

John Jamison

... Remember that our story today is being told by John, and at least part of the message the storyteller wants us to hear is that there is a battle taking place, for our very lives. Let’s hear the story again. The city of Jerusalem was packed with strangers during the Passover feast, so you could walk a long distance and never see anyone you recognized. Jesus’ mysterious visitor was counting on that, as he quickly moved along the streets with this head held low and his face covered. He moved from alleyway ...

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