Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1 to 25 of 76 results

John 3:1-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... they can lose. And what I feel is the joy of life, the gift of life, the freedom of life, the wonderment of life!” (4) Leonard wasn’t exactly experiencing the kingdom of God, but he was awake and aware of how precious life is. In the same way, Jesus wanted ... the voice of God, piercing the cloud, offering him just a glimpse of glory! (1) Just when he needed it most, Rev. Michael Powell received a word from God through a small, mentally challenged child. Have you ever received a word from God about your ...

2. Learning to Listen

John 14:15-31

Sermon

Mike Ripski

... discovered that if I did not press my hand as tightly upon my ears as I was instructed to do, I could pass the test. “Mrs. Leonard gave the test to everyone in the class, and finally it was my turn. I knew from past years that as we stood at the ... too. An article on Levittown, PA, appeared in the New York Times Magazine on April 6. Levittown is the hometown of our son, Michael’s girlfriend. The author of the article had grown up there. He returned to interview persons about the town’s history and to ...

3. Prison Break

Matthew 28:1-10

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... is generally short-lived: over 2/3 of ex-prisoners are re-arrested and re-incarcerated within three years. (Michael Tonrv, Thinking About Crime: Sense and Sensibility in American Penal Culture [New York: Oxford University Press, 2004], 21, 188). ... . He is the patron saint of pregnant women and captives (especially prisoners of war). His feast day is November 6. See “St. Leonard of Noblac,” Butler’s Lives of the Saints, ed. Herbert Thurston and Donald Attwater (New York: P. J. Kennedy’s Sons, 1956 ...

4. The Ultimate Athlete

Ephesians 6:10-20

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... cards) mounts into the billions each year. Salaries for star athletes reflect the celestial standing of players like Michael Jordan, Joe Montana, Bo Jackson, Wayne Gretzky and Steffi Graf. In a former age the individuals who garnered ... to work in harmony with the game's special equipment and with the athlete's greatest tool of all the mind. George Burr Leonard in The Ultimate Athlete: Re-visioning Sports, Physical Education and the Body (New York: Viking Press, 1975) defines the "ultimate athlete" in such ...

5. A Gospel for Losers

Jonah 3:1-10

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... ten times at bat. That would make either one of them big time losers, if anyone cared to think that way. But no one does. Do you remember that Michael Jordan Nike commercial a couple of years ago showing this nine-time All-Star, four-time MVP, two-time Olympic gold medalist, this once-in-a-century icon arriving ... ," The Christian Ministry, September-October, 1997, pp. 26-27 6. Leonard Pitts, Miami Herald, Knight-Ridder/Tribune Information Services, quoted in Clergy Journal, 5/97 7. Quoted by Haddon Robinson

6. A Gospel for Losers

Jonah 3:1-5, 10

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... . His stride is easy, his smile secretive and knowing as he moves down the gauntlet of fans and well-wishers. He walks like a winner. After all, he is Michael Jordan, the man who made the impossible seem routine and the merely difficult look easy. Yet in the voice-over he says: "I have missed more than 9,000 ... . 2. James Merritt, Friends, Foes & Fools (Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman & Holmes, 1997). 3. Leonard Pitts, Miami Herald, Knight-Ridder/Tribune Information Services, quoted in Clergy Journal, 5/97.

7. Everyone Is Looking for You

Mark 1:35-39

Sermon

King Duncan

... no key available for the likes of you and me. There is a key. His name is Jesus. 1. Adapted from Alan Smith, www.cruciformcoc.com. 2. Adapted. Cited by The Rev. Dr. William H. Willimon, http://day1.org/948-go_for_the_gold. 3. Source: Michael Lindvall. Cited by Doug King, http://www.westminster‑ bflo.org/sermonrepository/aug1703.pdf. 4. (New York: First Anchor Books, 2012), pp. 1-2. 5. Dr. Daniel Lioy, Tarbell’s Lesson Commentary, September 2004‑ August 2005 (Colorado Springs: Cook Communications). 6 ...

8. Hiding in Plain Sight

Matthew 2:13-18, Matthew 2:19-23, Exodus 2:1-10, Exodus 2:11-25

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... S. Lewis (“Till We Have Faces”) C.S. Lewis loved secrets, symbols, layers of meaning, and mystery. In 2008, Michael Ward, currently Senior Research Fellow at Blackfriars Hall, University of Oxford, announced his discovery of a possible new connection ... attention to His message. This is your time. *The Blade, “Narnia Secret Unveiled” (June 19, 2008). **The Seraph Seal by Leonard Sweet and Lori Wagner, Thomas Nelson, 2011. Based on the Story Lectionary Major Text Moses’ Mother Hides Him and Moses ...

9. John the Baptist, Sanctified Indifference, & the King of Pop

Mark 6:14-29

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Who wants your head on a platter? What truth is worth your head? What truth is worth your life? There are two types of people in the world we despise. The first are people who can never be trusted to tell the truth. The second are people who can only be trusted to tell the truth. We all know people who have trouble telling the truth. Is there anyone here who doesn’t know someone for whom a lie is just a more convenient interpretation of reality? The great psychoanalyst Carl Jung once noted that there were ...

10. Mark 6:14-29

Mark 6:14-29

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

People who think they are important, who think that they are important enough to have their names live on, repeat their names again and again. What am I talking about? Take former heavyweight champion and now indoor grill king, George Foreman. Foreman is also the father of five sons. He named all five “George.” Don’t ask, “Who comes when called?” Michael Jackson named both his sons “Prince Michael.” Michael’s older brother Jermaine Jackson named his daughter born in 2000 “Jermajesty.” But these recent ...

11. One For All

Romans 5:12-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

The word “Catholic” comes from the Greek katholike, meaning “for all.” We all remember the great rallying cry of the French guards known as the “Musketeers”: “All for one, and one for all!” That loyalty tied the Musketeers together. The safety, the life, the fate, of each individual guardsman depended upon the actions of his fellow soldiers. “All for one, and one for all” wasn’t just a motto. It was a lifeline. In this week’s Romans text Paul reminds us that there are two sides to an “all for one” ...

12. Like a Waving Flag

Luke 7:36-50

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Those of us who live in the United States have no experience with royalty or with “kingdoms” ruled by kings or queens. We have no royal family, so we have to invent our royalty. We had the “King of Rock’n’Roll,” Elvis Presley. We had the “King of Pop,” Michael Jackson. We had a “King of Soul,” James Brown. We have a Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin. We have a “King of all Media,” Howard Stern. We have a Queen of Clean, Linda Cobb. We even have a King of Greasy Goodness” for the Queen of Clean to clean up: ...

13. Barking Dogs and Daily Bread

John 2:12-25

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Every year thousands of tourists clog the country roads in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, to admire the lush, neat farmlands nurtured by the Amish farmers of that region. The Amish sell their beautiful quilts, home-grown/home-preserved foods, hand made furniture. Driving down the roads in their black horse-drawn rigs, wearing their eighteenth century “plain” clothes, rejecting all modern conveniences, the Amish have become icons of a simple, devout, community-based lifestyle. But Amish country is home to ...

14. We Serve a Risen [and Rising] Savior

Luke 24:1-12

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

This year the International Air Guitar Championships were held in Denmark. Contestants “played” before huge crowds, screaming devoted fans, and enjoyed World Wide Web exposure. The Air Guitar games are dedicated to world peace. According to the ideology of the Air Guitar Championships, wars would end and all bad things in the world would disappear if all the people in the world played air guitar. [At this point, you might consider arranging for one of your kids to come to the front and show the ...

15. Peace and Quiet

1 Timothy 2:1-15

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

When you check into a Sheraton hotel room these days you have a new message you can hang on your doorknob to keep the housekeeper away. Instead of “Do Not Disturb” the message now reads “Peace and Quiet.” The sign at Sheraton’s more upscale sister, The Westin, simply reads “Peace.” People are not just looking to keep disruptions and disturbances at bay. They are looking to find something positive. They are searching in life for some “peace and quiet.” Or if “quiet” is too much to ask, just some “Peace.” ...

16. The Parable of the Soil

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Almost all denominations, or what I call “tribes,” used to be able to boast an extensive farm system for growing the next generation of leaders. The past two decades have seen a gradual dismantling of that farm system. But you can still see features of it. Starting with the cradle roll and ending with the theological seminary, the church built for its future just like sports teams built for their future in a farm system. One of the most important vestiges in the church’s farm system is summer camp. How ...

17. Rally or Rail?

John 18:28-40

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

“Who’s on first?” That was the opening line of a classic baseball sketch acted out in 1945 by the vaudeville comedy team of Abbott and Costello. [You can find it on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sShMA85pv8M ]. The big joke was that the ball players’ last name were “Who” (first base), “What” (second base), “I Don’t Know” (third base), “Why” (left field), “Tomorrow” (pitcher) “Today” (catcher), etc. Any conversation about “Who was on first?” was a question that involved both identity and physical ...

18. Finding the Perfect Gift

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

A few years ago, when Etsy and Ebay were first battling it out, an Ebay commercial urged people to buy Christmas gifts on its website. It started off with comedian Jim Gaffigan saying something like "Hand-made gifts for Christmas? Who wants that?" Then he mentioned all the “it” gifts you can buy on Ebay (electronics, sports equipment, etc). The commercial ends with Gaffigan holding a pair of hand-knitted mittens, smelling them, wrinkling up his nose and saying . . . "Smells like church.” The online ...

19. What If Joseph Were the Patron Saint of 2014?

Matthew 2:13-18

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

The sentimental Christmas carol “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” may be the theme song for December 24 and 25. But by the 26th, many of us have changed our tune. It’s now “On The Road Again.” Whether traveling back from a family Christmas gathering, setting off on a snowy or sunny Christmas week vacation, or just returning to the routine of work and daily travel, journeying is a big part of season we call Christmastide, those Twelve Days of Christmas extending from Christmas Eve to Epiphany Eve. In this week’s ...

20. The Life of Your Table?

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

How many of you here this morning remember “Stone Soup”? No, I don’t mean the magazine. No, I don’t mean the recipe. I mean the story. “Stone Soup” is an old folk-tale, told and re-told with slightly different details in dozens of countries and cultures. In case you’ve forgotten it is a fable that focuses on the ingenuity of some weary travelers who arrive at a small village with nothing. No food, no money, nothing. All they have is a large cooking pot. The travelers are met with suspicion and surliness ...

21. Je Suis Jesus

1 Corinthians 7:1-40

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Thirty years ago, the big hit movie, the “it” teen adventure film, was called “Back To The Future” (1985). It starred Michael J. Fox and in that now classic film, time travel was made possible by a machine called the “flux capacitor.” This machine was “hot-wired” to the hottest car of that age, a “DeLorian.” Does anyone remember the year that far-distant, fantastic-future-time-traveling teen hero lands in? 2015. Today. Looking back at the vision which that 1985 movie projected, it is hard not to feel ...

22. Dolphin Drops

Isaiah 56:1-8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Anybody here speak Italian? You all do. You all know more Italian words than you think you do. Rigatoni, marinara, al dente, alfredo, pasta, grande (both Italian and Spanish for large). Anybody here speak Spanish? You all do. You all know more Spanish words than you think you do. Taco, con carne, burrito, grande burrito, quesadilla, margarita. There are certain Greek and Hebrew words every Christian should know. Let's see how good your Greek is. Feta, baklava. Logos (Word), Christos (Christ), Kyrios (Lord ...

23. House of Jesus

John 14:5-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Description: The House of Dior and other well-known "Houses" have defining characteristics that are keys to their longevity. In this session, you'll identify characteristics of the House of Jesus and discover how to implement them into your ministry. As Robert Shaw was not the first to point out, in medieval times the church saved the arts; however, in postmodern times, the arts just might save the church. Introduction: The high fashion industry is organized according to houses. · House of Dior · House of ...

24. Looking for Shoots or Roots?

Matthew 11:1-19

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

The more we move into the Advent season, the more our scripture texts bring the Christ-child’s birth closer and closer to us. Yet here in Matthew 11:2-11 we are back to the relationship between Jesus and John the Baptist. Yet even though this is not part of our text for this week, the mere mention of John’s name should remind us of their cousinly kinship, even of an in utero jump for joy that marked their first meeting--making cousin John the first person to celebrate Advent. As out text opens Jesus has ...

25. The True Olympians

Romans 12:1-8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

What image are you going to take away from the Beijing 2008 Olympics? Is it Michael Phelps with his history-breaking breastplate of gold medals draped across his chest? Is it the first-ever gold/silver finish in women’s gymnastics? Is it the pictures of athletes who, unlike me and you with our bellies and bulges and barnacles, represent the peak of human perfectibility? Is it being part of the largest electronic crowd ever watching a sporting event, the USA vs. China basketball game? Is it the snapshots of ...

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