Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1 to 25 of 139 results

1. Divine Liturgy, Divine Play, Divine Comedy

John 13:31-38

Sermon

Carl Jech

... with Sunday morning.) What a wonderful job Dana Carvey did of keeping us church folks from taking ourselves too seriously! Together with cartoonists like Doug Marlette who gave us the comic strip "Kudzu," and Carvey's "Church Lady," satirists from Mark Twain to Mark Russell help us to see ourselves from refreshing and often enlightening new perspectives. Marlette sparked renewed appreciation for familiar biblical texts - and it reminds us that translation is as much an art as it is a science, when he gives ...

2. When All Is Said And Done

Mark 13:1-31

Sermon

William G. Carter

... state of the world? Have we felt abandoned by God? Jack and Rexella would answer, "Of course not! We are preparing for the coming of Christ our Lord." So why don't people like us have a place on the religious airwaves? Iwan Russell-Jones admits, "It's difficult to make a mark in the communications business when you don't have anything much to say." Then he concludes: The time for us sensible, "mainline" folk to make a serious move into the world of television will be when we can pray with Jack and Rexella ...

3. When All Is Said And Done

Matthew 13:24-30

Sermon

William G. Carter

4. Warnings Against Idleness

2 Thessalonians 3:6-15

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... and Christ). 3:13 The admonition of this verse addresses all of the brothers (see disc. on 1 Thess. 1:4). As for you—the emphatic you marking the change of reference from a particular group to the whole church—never tire of doing what is right (cf. Gal. 6:9, and for other ... this discussion. “Because Paul associated the problem of disorderliness with manual workers, it is more likely,” Russell argues, “that the reason and model lies within the situation of the urban poor of the Hellenistic ...

5. A Sign for a Sign

Mark 8:11-13

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... Sea of Galilee in this chapter. So many that I’m having a hard time keeping them straight. It seems that in this chapter Mark wants to stress the contrast between Jesus’ reception among Gentiles and among His own people. When He appeared to the Gentiles, where He was ... God touch us without overwhelming us? British philosopher and mathematician Bertrand Russell was once asked what he would say if after death he found himself confronted by God. Russell replied: “I shall say to Him, ‘Why did you make the ...

6. First Class Freedom

Galatians 5:1-15

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... illustrates the whole idea of Becoming Ensnared. (Watch: Up Clip) If you haven't seen it, The basic story is about the adventures of Carl and Russell. Carl Fredricksen is a 78-year-old man, stuck in the past and stuck in his house which he has been ordered to vacate by ... the sound of a helicopter. He looked up to see an unarmed Huey, but it didn't seem real, because there were no Medi-Vac markings are on it. Inside was Ed Freeman. He wasn't Medi-Vac. It wasn't his job. But he flew Huey down into the machine ...

7. Why Doesn’t God Prove Himself To Doubters?

2 Peter 1:16-21

Sermon

Charley Reeb

... of our doubts and silence skeptics and cynics. When British philosopher Bertrand Russell was asked what he would say if, after death, he found himself confronted by God, Russell replied, “I would say, `Why didn’t you prove yourself to those ... but he still has many doubts and questions. My friend reminds me of the man who came to Jesus with his sick boy in the gospel of Mark. He said to Jesus, “I believe; help my unbelief.” If we are honest, that’s where most of us live. There are days when we feel ...

8. Fake News vs. Fantastic Good News

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

King Duncan

... and not asking for help. When he was in college in Oklahoma, a hurricane swept through his home city of Houston, Texas. Russell felt such fear and helplessness knowing that he was 500 miles away from his family and he couldn’t take care of ... there for good purposes. After a year behind bars, James began praying for early release. As he read his Bible, he came across the story in Mark 5 of the demon-possessed man who was healed by Jesus. The man begs to go with Jesus, but Jesus answers, “Go home to your ...

9. Blessed Are Those Who Believe

John 20:19-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... he found himself confronted by God. Russell replied, “I shall say to Him, ‘Why did you make the evidence of your existence so insufficient?’” There is a part of us that says with Thomas, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger ... side of the believers? Anybody can be a doubting Thomas. It takes no particular strength of character to say, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” It does ...

10. Excuse Me!

Exodus 3:1-22

Sermon

Carl Jech

... the Bible confront head-on the shadows that lurk in the hearts of all of us. They picture the many ways in which we miss the mark of being what we were intended to be and they called it Sin. To understand Sin is to realize that our negative self-image is often ... love ourselves, then we are strong enough to love even our enemies. In his film Crimes of Passion, eccentric British director Ken Russell presents us with a caricature of a priest/minister (it's not clear which) one who is riddled with self-hate and ...

11. Jesus and the Baptists

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... .2) We do know that John, like the Essenes, had strange dietary habits, wore strange clothes and reduced life down to its simplest essentials. Mark’s Gospel says that he ate locusts and wild honey...a strange diet. But it may not be so strange when we realize that ... because others may be influenced by our example. We must identify ourselves with some worthy causes in life. As poet James Russell Lowell told us: “Once to every man and nation/Comes the moment to decide/ In the strife of truth with falsehood/ ...

12. Surprise--One Got Out!

Luke 24:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... , we do have to do something about it. We have to decide: is the resurrection the truth or a lie? If it’s the truth, it marks the most important moment in human history. And it calls us to a very special kind of life here and now--a life following Jesus. When Jesus ... Gospel of John (GodSpeed Publishing, Kindle Edition). 3. Azinger, Links Newsletter, vol. 15, no. 1. Cited by Robert Russell, https://www.lifeway.com/en/articles/sermon-easter-resurrection-new-life-1-corinthians-15. 4. Robert Morgan, “Words by ...

13. On Panicking Close to Shore

John 6:16-24

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... . And so Jesus slipped away to the hills to be alone. The disciples then got into their boat and continued their journey on the water. Mark’s Gospel says that Jesus told them to do so. It seems that it was His intention to walk around the north end of the ... foot of the cross. But it is an empty cross, for Jesus is Victor, not Victim....victor even over the cross. As James Russell Lowell said in his famous poem: Truth forever on the scaffold, Wrong forever on the throne, Yet that scaffold sways the future, ...

14. Lord, Is It I?

Mark 14:12-26

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... . The disciples had gone into the town, and they found a little upper room, and they have prepared it for this gathering. Mark is very brief in telling the story. He doesn’t talk about the audacious hypocrisy of Judas. He doesn’t record the ... a slow process as sin progresses in its pervasive presence and control of our lives. In his autobiography, To Catch an Angel, Robert Russell tells the story of his growing blindness: At six, while the shadowy borders crept closer and closer, finally to engulf me, I ...

15. Riddles and Metaphors

Ezekiel 15:1-8, Ezekiel 16:1-63, Ezekiel 17:1-24

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... (Luke 1:46–55). Further, the notion of dramatic and unexpected reversal is a common image in the parables of Jesus (e.g., Matt. 20:1–16; Mark 9:33–37; Luke 13:20–30). Indeed, Jesus plays off verses 22–24 when he describes the kingdom of God as a mustard plant: a common ... Prophets and Pornography: Female Sexual Imagery in Hosea,” in Feminist Interpretation of the Bible [ed. L. M. Russell; Philadelphia: Westminster, 1985], pp. 86–88; see also F. Van Dijk-Hemmes, “The Metaphorization of Woman in ...

16. Advent 4

Mt 1:18-25 · Rom 1:1-7 · Isa 7:10-17 · Ps 80

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... lives to save Jews out of obedience to the Lord of Life or, at least, to a transcendent moral imperative. October 1993 marked the 50th anniversary of the rescue of the Danish Jews during the Nazi occupation. In late September 1943, word leaked out to ... these Jews to safety by the end of October that year. After the massacre/suicide of about 1,000 people in Jonestown, Guyana, Russell Baker, columnist for The New York Times wrote an article in which he compared freaks to zombies. The 1960s was the era of the ...

17. On Being a Beautiful Christian

Mark 14:1-11

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

... bell has been struck, and so on. This lingering hum has to be tuned, and that was the reason for all the noise. Dr. Albert Russell, Dean of the Divinity School, using the bells, spoke to us young ministers about overtones. He said that he assumed we had our Ten Commandments ... secret of the winsomeness of Christ, which would draw others to him through us. A beautiful incident in the Gospel of Mark reveals the winsome insights of Jesus. A poor woman, probably one who had been saved from a life in the streets to ...

18. Counting The Cost?

Mark 12:41-44

Sermon

Warren Thomas Smith

... to buy a new hat. You helped me realize I was selfish. I want to give my ‘hat money’." A retired missionary. James Russell Lowell reminds us: He gives only the worthless gold Who gives from a sense of duty; And then: For the gift without the giver ... is bare; Who gives himself with his alms feeds three, Himself, his hungering neighbor, and me.2 Selfishness A mark of self-centered people is that they judge others. A member of my church, was very critical of a certain former governor ...

19. Blessed Are The Believers

John 20:24-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... who was once asked what he would say if after death he found himself confronted by God. Russell replied, "I shall say to Him, `Why did you make the evidence of your existence so insufficient?'" There is a part of us that says with Thomas, "Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe." We all long for certainty. But that is one gift that God has not granted us. UNDOUBTEDLY, HE HAS HIS REASONS. If His aim ...

20. Believing Thomas

John 20:24-31

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... who was once asked what he would say if after death he found himself confronted by God. Russell replied, “I shall say to Him, ‘Why did you make the evidence of your existence so insufficient?’” There is a part of us that says with Thomas, “Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe.” We all long for certainty. A giant comet streaking through a dark winter night with its tail sky-writing in ...

21. What the Lord Does Best

Exodus 1:1-22

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... by one, and eventually they were all dead, as forthright as it could be stated. I’ve just started reading this past week, Russell Baker’s Pulitzer Prize winning story of his growing up in the United States, and I recommend it to you. While we in ... seven days? Now you think about those questions. To be preoccupied with death is morbid, but to take death seriously is a mark of wisdom. Then Joseph died. Death is inevitable. And that leads to the next point – life and choice. Since death is inevitable, ...

22. The Law of Unintended Consequences

Mark 1:40-45

Sermon

King Duncan

... moment we ask, but God never wills anything except our best good. Of course we can’t know what was going through Jesus’ mind. All Mark says is that Jesus was indignant when the man came up and asked to be healed. And yet, Jesus reaches out his hand and touches ... can be a healing force in our community. We can do it through the power of love in Jesus’ name. 1. Edward Russell-Walling, 50 Management Ideas You Really Need to Know (London: Quercus, 2007), p. 172. 2. Faith Popcorn and Adam Hanft, Dictionary ...

23. Spiritually Prepared

Mark 1:4-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... , these Gentile converts had to do 3 things: First, if the convert was a male, he had to be circumcised. This was the defining mark of a Jew. Second, a sacrifice had to be offered as a payment for his sins. Third, the convert had to be baptized. This was ... with all that? Why not repent of our waywardness before it is too late? In 1991, a judge fined brothers Geno and Russell Capozziello, owners of a Bridgeport, Connecticut, wrecking company, nearly $900,000 for operating an illegal dump. In 1986, on the empty ...

24. Enduring

Mark 13:1-31

Sermon

Warren Thomas Smith

... unsettling. It may have been written as a warning of the impending fall of Jerusalem, which indeed took place in A.D. 70. Why would this passage be incorporated in Mark? Why not omit such jarring predictions? In truth, most of us do not care to be troubled about catastrophes over which we have little power. I was speaking at a ... the world would end tomorrow, Martin Luther replied, "I would still plant my apple tree." 1. James Russell Lowell, "The Present Crisis" in Masterpieces of Religious Verse, p. 524.

25. Faith In Conflict

Mark 6:14-29

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... today he is a leading spokesperson for evangelical Christianity. He has first-hand experience of kingdoms in conflict. Our story from Mark's Gospel concerns a man caught in a conflict. His name is Herod. Thinking about Herod reminds me of a census ... man whom he admired--to be put to death simply because he did not want to be embarrassed in front of his friends. James Russell Lowell wrote these haunting words: "Once to every man and nation /Comes the moment to decide In the strife of truth with falsehood /For ...

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