Sermon and Worship Resources

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Sermon

James Angell

... him. Thus began a cherished friendship. The subsequent visit, about a month later, resulted in this original verse: Meeting With Thomas Merton Two long rows of September trees, like mower teeth Clipped the lawn of sky. We sat Beneath them, on folding chairs (ugly ... a road paved with autobiographies of wonder, experimentation, and advice to those who seek that quality in their lives that Paul Tillich called "depth." He once described it as the "missing dimension" in our complex efforts to theologize our way to ...

2. Dare To DV8

Romans 12:1-8

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... they were still able to give what they had committed to give for the building program. They were being Living Sacrifices. III. One Body A. Finally, Paul says we're called to be Living Sacrifices so we can be One Body. [4-5] "For as in one body we have many members, ... can accomplish great things when we work together to fulfill the mission and vision God has put before us. Conclusion Thomas Merton in The Spring of Contemplation wrote. "People don't want to hear any more words. In our mechanical age, all words ...

3. Table Manners

Luke 14:1-14

Sermon

Alex Gondola

... risen in me ... (God) called out to me from his own immense depths. (The Seven Story Mountain, Image Books, pp. 273-274) Thomas Merton sensed the wonder of God's invitation to communion and received it joyfully. So should we. Gratitude is part of good table manners. ... other guests. As we have been forgiven and welcomed by God, let us forgive and welcome each other. The Apostle Paul advises us to "examine ourselves" before we receive Communion (1 Corinthians 11:28). Have we received God's invitation with joy ...

4. It Makes No Difference Where You Belong

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

... THAN OUR FAITH. THAT IS THE GRACE OF GOD. We discover that in our lesson from the Epistle. St. Paul is trying to deal with the relationship between Jews and Christians and even between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians, ... that I am like other men, that I am only a man among others.'" (3) Only those who have experienced the grace of God can appreciate Merton's words. Indeed, if you ever hear anybody put anyone else down because they embrace a different faith or a conflicting philosophy, you can be ...

5. The Excitement of Meaningful Living

John 10:10 · Matthew 6:33 · Ephesians 3:20

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

... full, joyful, winsome living. The question is, "Do I qualify?" Paul felt this reality, and he expressed it with exuberance, "Now unto him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think." Paul also speaks of "the wealth and the glory of the ... life is full and exciting; but there are so many people in the world whose lives are not full and exciting. Thomas Merton wisely suggests, "The evil that is in the modern world ought to be sufficient indication that we do not know as much ...

6. Loving Like God Loves

Matthew 5:43-48

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

... leg, he was hostile, frightened, helpless. He threw mud and kicked with his one good leg when anyone came near. When Paul joined the circle... a soldier asked, "Sir what do we do? He's losing blood fast and needs attention." Stanley looked ... , Who are my enemies, and who do I feel justified in putting outside my circle of concern? I have found the words of the Thomas Merton most helpful: “Do not be too quick,” he wrote, “to assume that your enemy is a savage just because he is your enemy. Perhaps he ...

7. Abraham Justified by Faith

Romans 4:1-25

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... contrasts faith, grace, and promise. Faith and grace are inseparable for Paul. Grace is God’s sovereign and gratuitous decision to redeem rebellious and estranged creation. Grace is “God’s very presence and action within us.… the sanctifying energy of God acting dynamically in our life” (Thomas Merton, Life and Holiness, p. 30). “Man shall not quite be lost,” said Milton, “but sav’d who will, Yet not of will in him, but grace in me Freely voutsaft” (PL, 3.173–75). The decision to act ...

8. The Joy of Being a Caring Person

Mt 25:31-46 · Lk 16:19-31

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

... to care. Thousands of people have had their eyes opened, by this story, to what following Christ is really all about. Thomas Merton reveals to us a gentle insight. He is writing about the Trappist monks that he knew in a monastery. Listen: "These monks ... leave ninety-nine sheep safe in the barn, and then go out gladly and spend all night long searching in the wilderness for me. Paul Scherer tells of Toscanini in his last performance, when he was 85 years of age. The old man lifted his baton, and "all the ...

9. Winners, Losers and the Gospel

Mt 16:25

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... the Lord your God, obeying his voice, and cleaving to him ..." (Deuteronomy 30:19-20a) The pattern was no different with St. Paul who, on the one hand, was run out of Damascus and yet who, on the other hand, had exceptionally close and happy ... others becomes a stumbling block or an open door for the indwelling in us all of God’s grace and mercy. "The saint," writes Thomas Merton, "seeks not his own glory but the glory of God. And in order that God may be glorified in all things, the saint wishes himself to ...

10. Chosen by God

Ephesians 1:1-14

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... s womb, When I was growing there in secret, You knew that I was there — — You saw me before I was born” Thomas Merton asked, “What am I?” and answered, “I am myself a word spoken by God.” I-low we perceive ourselves, who we think ... our own lives. Or, as Christians, we proclaim Jesus as Lord but refuse to reckon with who he really is, and what he requires of us. Paul said, “You are chose, you are chosen by God, you are chosen for a purpose, you are chosen to be holy and full of love.” To ...

11. Thanksgiving and Thanksliving

1 Corinthians 1:3-9

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

... institutions is always somehow and some way been in a body of people living in Christ. Such people as Thomas Merton are internationally known. However, that does not mean they were formed in a vacuum. They were invariably in contact and ... have to give it away" is a cliché that bears repeating. I believe this is especially true of the faith we proclaim. It sounds like Paul was much in agreement. Even as we acknowledge this, it can be one of the hardest things — in fact — to do. If something is really ...

12. Life - The Womb of the Eternal

Romans 8:18-27

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

... human relationships, we develop eternal dimensions and are ready to be received into heaven, or we reject grace and miss heaven. Paul, in Romans 12, puts it another way. "Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your ... open door to new life, to a new world. This is expressed in a radical Christianity through which God creates all things new. Thomas Merton reminds us that, "God did not invite the children of Israel to leave the slavery of Egypt; he commanded them to do so." Is ...

13. The Vocation of Leadership: A Prophet Among Them

Ephesians 4:1-16

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... his sermons; but the stronghold of his power is his heart. His scepter is love. The throne of his power is his heart.” Blessings, Paul Let me share a story that brings this dual function of the prophet/priest together, speaking to the people for God and speaking to God ... it is only as we pay attention an ongoing way that we touch with our identity and calling. That’s what Thomas Merton was doing when he asked himself the probing question, “Who am I?” and gave that poignant answer, “I am myself, a ...

14. How To Triumph Over Terrorism

Ephesians 6:10-18

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... . Faith, hope and love are some pretty good things, and the greatest of these is love. Since Alan’s list is shorter than Paul’s, let’s use his. II. PUT ON FAITH. According to George Barna, the faith of Americans has not changed much in the ... the moments of pain but to the Lord? Pray on all occasions, says Paul. Pray. Pray on full alert, he says. Listen. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Thomas Merton said, “Our real hope is not in something we think we can do, ...

15. Jesus, The Servant

John 13:1-17

Sermon

Elaine M. Ward

... , this talker who cannot sleep, has shattered mine. I rise to leave but he stops me with his musing. "Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things." Paul's words on the lips of the insomniac soothed my spirit. I feel in safe territory and sit again to listen to his final soliloquy: Stranded in an empty airport in ... , the Servant of God, in the name of the Parent, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. 1. Thomas Merton, The Wisdom of the Desert (New York: New Directions, 1960).

16. In Search of a Leader

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... (1 Samuel 16:6 TEV) But all the protestations never took root within me. Harry, as I experienced him, fulfilled Thomas Merton’s description of what he called “the plaster saint”: The stereotyped image is easy to sketch out here. it is essentially ... is not looking for blow-dried, glib-tongued, unctuous sons and daughters; God is calling authentic sons and daughters who see in themselves what Paul saw in himself: “So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close to hand.” (Romans ...

17. You Are My Witnesses

Luke 24:36-49

Sermon

Harry N. Huxhold

... forgiveness spell freedom for us. The offer of this freedom is held out to "all nations beginning in Jerusalem," said Jesus. It was Thomas Merton who recalled for us John Donne's maxim, "No man is an island." He notes that what really binds all people together is our ... carried this message to every public forum they could. Beginning at Jerusalem where there was considerable resistance at the outset Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, preached the same message in the public arenas of the major cities of the ...

18. Precious and Privileged Children

Galatians 4:4-7

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

... ! They had snuggled up so close, they felt encompassed and God-intoxicated. To be drunk with the Spirit of which Saint Paul is speaking is one of ecstasy, elation, and elevation. We learn in a sublime way that our spiritual success is, indeed, brought ... couldn't stop weeping with joy. He said quickly that he had gotten too close to God and was now receiving the aftermath. Thomas Merton knew about this as he penned his many books. For some saints, every day is Pentecost. We have all heard at sometime or another ...

19. Peacemaker

Luke 2:8-20

Sermon

James Merritt

... on this earth has is sin and the reason why sin is the greatest enemy is because sin is what makes us enemies with God. Paul even said in Romans 5, “While we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His son.” (Romans 5:10, ESV) ... 5:1, ESV) What this world doesn’t understand is this is where all peace starts, all peace ends, and all peace comes from. Thomas Merton summed it all up in this one brilliant statement, “Man is not at peace with his fellow man, because he is not at peace with ...

20. Preaching Because We Have Something To Say

Sermon

James Angell

... - at least that's the way it seems now. Over weeks of preparation for a new fall I once became excited by discovering Paul's exhortation to "be holy in every department of your lives." Now here was something to run with, to race with, to tantalize ... the eyes and experience of three other Christians who had given shape to my own trust in God - G. A. Studdert-Kennedy, Thomas Merton, and Henri J. M. Nouwen. While the effort was noble, I remember talking later with two listeners who had personal agendas of ...

21. Radical Love in the Neighborhood (Series: Radical Love in a Risky World)

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... that cares. Compassion is not a political announcement; it’s a personal concern. Compassion is not a public debate; it’s a soul that feels. Thomas Merton said, “Compassion is the keen awareness of the interdependence of all things.” When Jesus saw the multitudes he had compassion on them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd. Paul says, “Clothe yourselves with compassion” (Colossians 3:12). Desmund Tutu says, “If you are going to be compassionate, be ready for action.” III. Love is ...

22. Hope That God Is Nearby

Isaiah 7:1-25

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... you forever. That Counselor is the Paraclete, the one called alongside another to fortify us in the battles of life. F. God Is Inside Us Paul said, “Christ in you is your hope of glory.” God is big enough to rule this mighty universe, but small enough to live within ... Christ fails to take place in me, what avails it? Everything lies in this, that it should take place in me.” Thomas Merton said, “The fact is that if you descend into the depths of your own spirit and arrive somewhere near the center of ...

23. Show Me Your Baptismal Certificate

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... that is a function, not an identity. And even when we are “up front,” we are still behind Jesus. How did Paul put it? “Follow me as I follow Christ.” Everyone here in some time or other has attended a “leadership conference.” How ... to be committed “followers” of Christ wherever that takes us. “Where He Leads Me I Will Follow.” In the words of Thomas Merton: “Every baptism implies a distinct individual vocation…We are not called merely to vegetate in the Mystical Body, but to act and ...

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