Sermon and Worship Resources

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Matthew 18:15-20

Sermon

Kristin Borsgard Wee

... hurting ourselves. Barbara Brown Taylor says this resentment is like a boomerang. We use it to protect ourselves — to hurt someone else — but it has a sinister way of circling right back at us so that we become the victim of our own poisonous feelings. Mary Gordon wrote an essay on anger for the New York Times. One hot August afternoon, she was in the kitchen preparing dinner for ten. Although the house was full of people, no one offered to help her with the chopping, mixing, and setting the table. She ...

2. Forever His

Romans 14:1--15:13

Sermon

Raymond Gibson

... . When we are children, it is assumed that we belong to our parents. We say that John is the son of Bill and Mary, that Susie is their daughter, and that they belong to their parents. Children are taught that they are the possessions of their parents. When ... feel we have no one to love us, no one who cares, no one to whom we belong, life becomes drab and meaningless. Mary Gordon, in her novel, Final Payments, introduces a character who represents humanity in microcosm in this need. Mrs Riesart is a patient in ...

3. What Law is Operating Here?

Illustration

John Killinger

Note: We do not advise using this illustration in a sermon. In fact, we strongly advise against it, but we thought it a great meditation for us clergy, considering subjects of Law and Grace. Here it it: In Mary Gordon's novel, Final Payments, a book addressing the repression of many young Catholics of the 50s and 60s, a young woman named Isabel Moore has just buried her father after several years of illness, during which she was confined to his bedside. For several months, she flounders, trying to discover ...

4. Love Transcending Law and Custom

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

... of hatred in my mouth. "But, I tell you this," he said, "A woman, someone I would call a sharp-edged Protestant, came to my door sobbing after Marie died. The woman said the tragedy had 'softened her heart'. Now that has to be good," said the father, pondering the value of Marie's life and death. "That has to be good." In Gordon Wilson, we have a contemporary Joseph. His attitude goes far beyond the attitudes expressed by custom and tradition. Mirroring compassion was far more important to him than speaking ...

5. Loving Deeply (Mother's Day)

1 Peter 1:13-2:3

Sermon

King Duncan

... morning and practically every Sunday thereafter. (1) I’m not suggesting that any of you busy Moms sprinkle powder in your shoes. I’m just reporting on Mary Jane’s experience. What we don’t want to do on this Mother’s Day, 2011 is take our Moms for granted. I’ve cited it before ... never went on the baseball field but that he did not reach down and pick up the glove of his teammate, Joe Gordon, and hand it to him. (3) We see love lived out in many areas of our secular world. A man tells a delightful ...

6. Terms Of Endearment

John 12:1-8

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... a loving father who would take them home. All Is Forgiven This is the story of our gospel reading today. We are Mary, and Mary is us. Something had happened in her life that caused her to lose faith and hope until Jesus came along. Only through ... gives us the courage to express our appreciation, the world changes. Transformational Love Take, for instance, the story of Ernest Gordon’s survival. Ernest Gordon’s book To End All Wars (Zondervan, 2002) is the true tale of what took place in the Japanese prison ...

7. Lift Up Your Heads!

Luke 21:5-38

Sermon

Brett Blair

... save the lost -- paying for them with His own precious blood. "That boy told me the birds were not songsters," said Gordon, "but when I released them and they winged their way heavenward, it seemed to me they were singing, 'Redeemed, redeemed, redeemed!'" ... meaning behind every gift given under the tree: Redeemed! It's the Word the shepherds heard: Redeemed! It's the assurance Mary received: Redeemed! It's the star the Wisemen followed: Redeemed! [Depending on your style you might omit the repetition of " ...

8. Lift Up Your Heads! - Sermon Starter

Luke 21:5-38

Illustration

Brett Blair

9. An Announcement in Song

Psalm 98:1-9

Sermon

King Duncan

... . Music speaks to our hearts as nothing else can. No wonder angels sang in the heavens when Christ was born. No wonder that when Mary discovered she was pregnant with the Messiah she broke out in song. Music can change the world. We sometimes forget the power of music ... began to move toward a more mature faith. They no longer railed against God. They asked God to help them be strong. Gordon said the most spiritual moment of his life was Christmas 1944. They were not given work detail that day and were given a ...

10. Our Helper

Acts 8:26-40

Sermon

Robert Beringer

... is his plan for carrying the message of God's love to all the world. Jesus explains that he has asked Peter, Mary, John and Thomas and some others to carry that message wherever they go. As others hear and respond, they will carry the same ... same gift of amazing grace. One of the most remarkable testimonies to this aspect of the Spirit's work was given by the Rev. Ernest Gordon, former Dean of the Chapel at Princeton University in his memorable book Through The Valley Of The Kwai.3 He tells in a moving way ...

11. Sisters

Luke 10:38-42

Sermon

King Duncan

... called Bethany. There they spent some time in the home of a woman named Martha. Notice I didn’t say “in the home of Mary and Martha.” Luke tells us that this was Martha’s house. Perhaps Martha was a widow. That might explain how she happened to ... way of close relationships with other people and with God. There is a time for work and there is a time for worship. Gordon Dahl in his book Work, Play, and Worship in a Leisure Oriented Society is quoted as saying that “most middle‑class Americans tend ...

12. A Mountain Too High To Climb

Isaiah 2:1-5

Sermon

King Duncan

... wearing old clothes like the rest of us." Then an embarrassed parishioner says: "Father . . . it may be awful to say this, but it sounds as though Mary would look just like me! My feet are dirty, my hat is old, my hands are rough, and my clothes are torn." (5) You don't have ... and Katherine Ketcham, THE SPIRITUALITY OF IMPERFECTION, (New York: Bantam Books, 1992), pp. 126-127. 2. Joe Gordon, SPEAKER'S LIBRARY OF BUSINESS. 3. Jamie Buckingham, LOOK OUT, WORLD, (Altamonte Springs, FL: Strang Communications ...

13. A Man of God

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

King Duncan

... was a man in control of his emotions. That’s important. Some people are ruled all their lives by their emotions. Gordon McDonald tells a story of a Nigerian woman who is a physician at a great teaching hospital in the United States. ... , Joseph—“the one who swept the anger away.” When someone hurts us, it is so tempting to strike back in anger. He thought that Mary was pregnant with the child of another man, but he did not seek revenge. He was hurt by this apparent break in their relationship, but ...

14. Hope from a Stump

Isaiah 11:1-16

Sermon

King Duncan

... of years in advance the coming of Jesus. A Messiah will come and righteousness shall rein triumphant. That wonderful writer Arthur Gordon in his book A Touch of Wonder tells about a man he met who had been a skydiver until, on his nineteenth ... Caesar is still extending the might of the Roman empire, while Mary and Joseph make their slow arduous journey to Bethlehem. Yet Herod and Caesar are now but curiosities in dusty books while the babe that Mary bore reigns in the highest heaven. And one day his kingdom ...

15. Help For Troubled Hearts

John 14:15-31

Sermon

King Duncan

Nissan Motors once used as its motto: WE ARE DRIVEN! According to Gordon MacDonald that phrase describes many of us. We are driven. Driven to acquire-driven to achieve-driven to be. ... that is in you than he that is in the world." Why are you in such turmoil? "Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid." (1) Mary Lou Carney, SPIRITUALHARVEST, (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1987). (2) Norman Vincent Peale, POWER OF THE PLUS FACTOR, (New York:Fawcett Crest, 1987). (3) From a story by Jim Balloch ...

16. Crucified, Dead, and Buried

John 19:17-27, John 19:28-37, John 19:38-42

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... has come. Whether the extravagance is intended as a final testimony to Jesus’ kingship or simply as the expression of a love comparable to Mary’s, its effect is to place Joseph and Nicodemus once and for all in the circle of Jesus’ true disciples. Because of them, Jesus’ ... room to spare. Even the so-called Garden Tomb, venerated by many Protestants, is just a short walk from Gordon’s Calvary, a rocky promontory overlooking the East Jerusalem bus station outside the walls of the present Old City. ...

17. The Death of Jesus

John 19:28-37, John 19:17-27, John 19:38-42

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

18. The Burial of Jesus

John 19:38-42, John 19:17-27, John 19:28-37

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

19. We Can't Afford It! Oh, Really?

John 6:1-15

Sermon

King Duncan

... church that has inspired many people through the years is The Church of the Savior in Washington, D.C. under the leadership of Gordon Cosby. This is a group of people who know about acting on faith. For example, many years ago, when they were first getting ... . We have the resources. Do we have the faith? 1. Paul Decker in “Do We Have Enough for Dinner?” 2. From “Mary’s Teaching,” Ministry of Money Newsletter (Washington, D.C., October 1993). Cited in Homiletics. 3. Adapted from USA Today, April 22 ...

20. Hey, Foolish Thing!

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5

Sermon

King Duncan

... been God. I wouldn’t have started at the bottom of society and worked my way up. I wouldn’t have had my Son be born to Mary and Joseph in the stable of Bethlehem. I would have had him born in Caesar’s household. Then one day he could stroll out on his balcony ... there is something for each of us to do. Arthur Gordon once told about a man named Charlie who joined a prayer group to which Gordon belonged. Charlie wasn’t a joiner. So the next time Gordon saw Charlie he asked him why he had joined this ...

21. Putting the World Back Together

John 20:1-9

Sermon

David O. Bales

... many to trust Christ. Little can bring us to faith until we realize that Jesus, through all such things, is speaking to us, as he did to Mary that dark morning in the garden. We might not at first recognize the risen Jesus or perceive that he’s speaking our name. We might mistake him ... Watson, DeShazer (Coquitlam, B.C., Canada: Galaxy Communications, reprinted 1991). Gordon W. Prange, Donald M. Goldstein, and Katherine V. Dillon, God’s Samurai: Lead Pilot at Pearl Harbor (Washington: Brassey’s, 1990).

22. Making Christmas Last

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

Brett Blair

... , "The Shadow of the Cross." One by Holeman Hunt depicts the interior of a carpenter's shop, with Joseph and the Boy Jesus at work. Mary is also present. The Boy Jesus pauses in his work, and as he stretches his arms the shadow of the cross is formed on the ... - 10.46 - 470307 Albert Einstein - 9.85 - 443079 Martin Luther King - 8.48 - 381284 Pope John Paul II - 8.27 - 371899 Gordon B. Hinckley - 5.66 - 254665 Mohandas Gandhi - 3.63 - 163555 Ronald Reagan - 1.79 - 80890 *John Lennon - 1.42 - 64043 Henry ...

23. The Order of the Magi

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And ... the Magi” article by Chuck Missler; the Catholic Encyclopedia; “Did Wise Men Know Jewish Prophecy? By Gordon Robertson (CBN News); the Encyclopedia Iranica; Herodotus “Histories”; “the Jewish Messianic Expectation in the Time of ...

24. Just Speak The Word

Luke 7:1-10

Sermon

Larry Powell

... inform the neighborhood of my predicament when a voice said, "Something about to get you, boy?" It was my father's voice. Doxology and Hail Mary! He was coming up the street to meet me. My father's voice. Only words. But, my friends, I submit to you from personal experience ... at Wheaton College, she had occasion to speak with one of her instructors and told him about her faith struggle. Dr. Gordon Clark was known to be a scholarly man, given to hard logic and unemotional brilliance. She fully expected him to ...

25. Responding to What We Hear and See

Matthew 11:1-19

Sermon

Joe Pennel

... ?" Like others in the New Testament, John the Baptizer was not positive. Oh, to be sure, there were fleeting moments of recognition. Mary thought Jesus was a gardener. Those on the road to Emmaus never did recognize him. Even his closest disciples were not certain ... and in her words, I saw the face and heard the words of the One who is to come. Because of people like Dot, Elizabeth, and Gordon, this woman has been given the power to do what she has to do. In the life of that weak woman who has been made ...

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