Sermon and Worship Resources

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1 Samuel 12:1-25

Teach the Text

Robert B. Chisholm Jr.

... thread, I shall perish on the shore; But swear by Thyself, that at my death Thy Son Shall shine as he shines now, and heretofore; And having done that, Thou hast done; I fear no more. The Lord is faithful to his people even when they go astray. Literature: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, by C. S. Lewis. One episode in Lewis’s (1898–1963) familiar children’s tale (1950), which is also completely delightful for adults, is memorable as an instance of God’s faithfulness to sinners. Edmund, one of ...

2. The Day Jesus Asked the Question: The Fourth Word

Matthew 27:45-46

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... joy and suffering are integral parts of the Christian journey. You cannot know one without the other. C.S. Lewis discovered, along with Malcolm Muggeridge, that pain and suffering, rather than being something to be avoided, are basic elements ... if I say I haven''t any, He will say, `Was there nothing to fight for?''" This cry from the Cross, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" is positive proof that the soul of every person on the face of the earth was worth fighting for. St. Augustine once wrote, " ...

3. A Sermon for Passion Sunday

Matthew 27:45-56

Sermon

Dean Lueking

... the Cross that is at once the most anguished account and the Gospel which comes to us from it: "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46) This word seems to be that utterance of Christ which we are most ready to understand and identify ... 14-18) One of the most helpful illustrataions on this truth I know is the one offered in the writings of the late C. S. Lewis. He likens our human situation as sinners to a box, filled with precious gems, which lies on the bottom of the sea - quite useless ...

4. A Faith that Will Transform You

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... us by name. “Zacchaeus,” Jesus called to him, “come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” Jesus asked to be received with haste. He was set for Jerusalem and must not delay too long. There was no time to waste. Jesus wanted to spend some time with Zacchaeus; ... lost this day, whatever that may mean to you, won’t you open yourself to his love? 1. C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity 2. Edwin Orr, “Playing the Good News Off‑Key,” Christianity Today, January 1, 1982, 24‑25. Cited in ...

5. The Right Word For Memorial

John 17:20-26

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... promise of life tomorrow. Jesus said, "This is Life Eternal, that they know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent." This is not the only way He stated his promise. "Because I live," He said, "you will live also. And even more ... heaven in a loud rasping whisper, he said, "Tomorrow." I'm looking forward to that -- tomorrow! My brother Lloyd; my preacher grandfather Lewis whom I never knew; my dear friends Buford and John -- tomorrow! You may not live upon this earth a long time, but you ...

6. The Living Hope

1 Peter 1:1-12

Sermon

Edward Inabinet

... , tells of the last day he saw his friend C. S. Lewis. They had lunch together and talked about death or, as he says, "the wakening after death." Vanauken suggested that death would be a sort of coming home, and Lewis agreed. When it came time to part, he insisted that they ... land; In God is love; and those He loves are blessed; Now thou dost understand The least thou hast is better than the best That thou didst hope for; now upon thine eyes The new life opens there; Before thy feet the blessed journey lies Through homelands ...

7. Harder With Time

Illustration

Philip Yancey

... points out, the New Testament gives two strong examples of unanswered prayers: Jesus pled three times for God to "Take this cup from me" and Paul begged God to cure the "thorn in my flesh." Lewis asks, "Does God then forsake just those who serve Him best? Well, He who served Him best of all said, near His tortured death, 'Why hast thou forsaken me?' When God becomes man, that Man, of all others, is least comforted by God, at His greatest need. There is a mystery here which, even if I had the power, I might ...

8. One Commandment, Slightly Used

John 13:31-38

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... had a peculiar penchant for hatred across the centuries and across all religious lines. Some years ago a man named Lewis Browne wrote a book titled, This Believing World. The prologue to his book gives us pause: The Arab in his ... me.” That is the normative Christian experience throughout the ages. Charles Wesley sang of it in his hymns again and again: O Love divine, what thou hast done! Th’incarnate God hath died for me! The Father’s so-eternal Son Bore all my sins upon the tree! The Son of God for ...

9. This Is Eternal Life (Easter Message)

John 17:1-5

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... has sent." And verse 26: "I have made known to them thy name, and I will make it known, that the love with which thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them." The right word for Easter is Jesus Christ -- Alive -- Alive -- Alive Forevermore, and hopefully ... in a loud rasping whisper, he said, "Tomorrow." I'm looking forward to that -- tomorrow! My brother Lloyd; my preacher grandfather Lewis whom I never knew; my dear friends Buford and John -- tomorrow! You may not live upon this earth a long time, but ...

10. The Cross: God's Answer To Our Deepest Needs

Colossians 2:8-15

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... the tree!The Son of God for me hath died:My Lord, my Love, is crucified.(page 420, The Methodist Hymnal,"O Love Divine, What Hast Thou Done") Here in the Cross, our need to love is met in the deepest and purest response possible. Contemplate it – for you, for me... ... come", we are taking on an apparently impossible task. "Dr. Chad Walsh pointed out, in a preface to a book by C. S. Lewis, that "the forces of evil are locked in combat with the servants of God. However humble our status in this world, we are ...

11. Show Us The Father, and We Shall Be Satisfied

John 14:5-14

Sermon

Larry Powell

... frightening shrill, loud alarm. The Luftwaffe was approaching. The father and son hurried to a bomb shelter. In haste and confusion, the mother and daughter ran in another direction. The bombing was intense, savagely blasting away buildings ... ago one of the Russian cosmonauts left his capsule and floated in space, remarking to the mission control that he did not "see" God anywhere. C. S. Lewis has said, "If a man never sees God on the earth, he will never see him in space; but if a man sees God here in the ...

12. Hope For Those Whom Life Has Cheated

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

... , "Very upset, I think that's the word I would use." (2) Do you get the feeling sometimes that life is not fair? C. S. Lewis felt that the feeling of unfairness within each of us is a signpost pointing to God. For example, when we see a movie, we want ... a focal point of my life," Ashe said. "And I was reminded of something Jesus said on the cross: My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?' Remember, Jesus was poor, humble, and of a despised minority. I wasn't poor in that my father was a policeman, but ...

13. God's Righteous Judgment

Romans 2:1-16

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done’ ” (C. S. Lewis, Great Divorce, p. 72). The seeking of self or the seeking of God can, of course, describe a religious person as well as a pagan. That is ... law to himself” (Nicomachean Ethics 4. 8. 10). A few hours browsing through a reference work on ethics (e.g., Hasting’s Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics) will relieve the skeptical reader of any doubt as to the general agreement of ...

14. Beasts, Saints and Chaos

Daniel 7:15-28, Daniel 7:1-14

Sermon

Paul W. F. Harms

... no hero." All Saints is for the encouragement of the entire church, heroic and non-heroic members of it alike. C. S. Lewis in his book, The Great Divorce, illuminates how holiness and sainthood have to do with the common and ordinary and everyday Christian ... land, a land flowing with milk and honey. And behold, now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground, which thou, O Lord, hast given me.' And you shall set it down before the Lord your God, and worship before the Lord your God; and you shall rejoice in ...

15. On Being Lifted Beyond Ourselves

Romans 8:18-27

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

... to me in ways I could never do alone. Jesus knew the meaning of this when on the cross he cried out, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Then he heard the Father in him cry out to the Father in heaven, "Into thy hands I commend my spirit." And there was ... own people in God’s own way." You can’t miss! Take courage! We close with a heart-tugging revelation in C. S. Lewis’ Narnia Chronicles. God speaks through the image of the lion, "Now, child, I will wait here. Go and wake the others and tell ...

16. I THIRST: The Fifth Word

John 19:28-37

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... of His mother, Mary, to his closest friend John. Last week we heard that powerful cry from the cross "My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken Me?" Now we hear the words, "I thirst." Dr. Harold Brack of Drew Seminary was a gentleman and a true Saint of ... awards that our world has to give? Mother Teresa reminds us to ask ourselves what we are hungering and thirsting for. In C.S. Lewis'' great work, the Chronicles of Narnia, in Book Four, titled The Silver Chair, he tells the story of a young lass named Jill who ...

17. Christianity and Conflict: Dual Citizenship (Part VII)

Philippians 1:1-11

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... said it best of all when he wrote in the CONFESSION, Book One, Chapter One, "Awaken us to delight in praising thee; for thou hast made us for thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in thee." Yes, the noise of the Battle began in ... your life. However, the Good News is that in doing so, you so transfer your citizenship from this world to the next. As C. S.Lewis says, "If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made ...

18. What We Want for Our Children

John 14:15-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... your household understand. It’s not easy being a parent. Sometimes we can be overwhelmed with demands on our time and energy. Lewis Grant adds another term to our modern vocabulary. He suggests we are afflicted with what he calls “sunset fatigue.” When we come ... Digest. Cited in The Timothy Report, Swan Lake Communications, www.timothyreport.com. 2. The Rev. Nancy Hastings Sehested, PrescottMemorialBaptistChurch in Memphis, Tennessee. http://www.csec.org/csec/sermon/sehested_3831.htm. 3. John Ortberg, ...

19. O Little Town of Bethlehem

Micah 5:2

Sermon

James Merritt

... now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.' And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was ... sing in their Sunday School Christmas program. He gave a copy of his text to his organist and Sunday School Superintendent, Lewis Redner, and asked him to compose a simple melody that children could easily sing. Redner struggled with this for several days ...

20. The Knot: Tied

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

James Merritt

... person. Let me make this real simple. Love doesn’t hold a grudge. Love is both quick to forgive and quick to forget. That is not always easy. C.S. Lewis once said, “Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea until they have something to forgive.” How does your love measure up and how is it working out for you? Finally ... . [1] James MacDonald, Lord Change My Attitude, p. 160. [2] Debra Hastings, “Firefighters’ Reward: Carrying Son’s Body,” San Antonio Express News, 14, December 2001, section 17A.

21. “The King Rejoices in Your Strength, Lord”

Psalm 21:1-13

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

... question why God commands us to praise him. Does he “need” our praises, or is he so egotistical that he “wants” our praises? Lewis says that pleasure in being praised is not pride.[15] If we know ourselves and our work to be worthy of praise, ... our sake in God’s name: “Not my will, but thine be done.” For our sake he cried on the cross: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Now we know that there is no longer any suffering on earth in which Christ will not be with us, suffering with ...

22. Managing Disappointment

Romans 5:1-11

Bulletin Aid

Clement E. Lewis

Instrumental Meditation Words Of Preparation Using words which Jesus quoted while on the cross, from Psalm 22:1-5 (NRSV) My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer; and by night, but find no rest. Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In you they trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried, and were saved; in you they trusted, and were not put to shame. Hymn "What A Friend ...

23. First Light

Isaiah 9:1-7

Sermon

Curtis Lewis

Have you ever seen the aurora borealis? That may not be a familiar term to you, and you may be asking yourself, "Is that a country?" "Is it some kind of strange animal that is nearly extinct that I have somehow missed?" Some of you already know what the aurora borealis is; for those who don't, they are called the northern lights. The northern lights occur in the far northern regions. Recently, while driving in an isolated northern area of the United States, I saw a brilliant display of colored lights that ...

24. Lord of All

Isaiah 40:1-31

Sermon

Curtis Lewis

A question that is often asked by parents of small children is: "How big are you?" Children are so cute, and generally they give the same answer as they stand on tiptoe and spread their little arms to illustrate how big they are. With arms outstretched and spread wide, they inform their inquiring parent that they are "soooo big!" What children are saying is: "I'm huge. Can't you see how large I am?" When parents ask their children this question, they do so because they want them to realize they are growing ...

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