Sermon and Worship Resources

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1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... what we’re thinking and believing about love, that we have little time and energy left to love “in truth and actions.” Paul’s “first impression” is a talk walk, a witness that becomes a withness, a position that became a posture, an attitude that ... . An eight-year old who would have been put into foster care; a mother who would have been put into some kind of nursing home facility for her final months: instead of being apart, both were together, in a loving home, the final months of the mother’ ...

2. I Believe in Easter

Acts 9:1-29

Sermon

James Merritt

... us is one of full lordship on His part, and complete submission on ours.4 God had put Jesus on the throne of the universe. Now Paul had put Him on the throne of his heart. From now on, he was Lord. Lord of every thought and action, Lord to send, and Lord ... the beginning "I don't want anything to do with this Edith Easter in Room 824. She is a religious nut." Well, one morning the two nurses who were to attend to Edith were sick. Edith had the flu and so Phyllis Cross had to go in and give her a flu shot. ...

3. Paul’s Ministry in Thessalonica

1 Thessalonians 2:1-16

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... with being just in his relationships with men and pious in his attitude towards the gods” (Meditations 7.66). The apostles acted in conformity with both divine and human law and fulfilled all their obligations to both (“blameless” [2:10]). Paul’s care for them was like that of a wet nurse with her own children but also like that of a father (2:11). He and his associates acted as an ancient father would by training them in the moral life. Philo said the father should teach the law to his children ...

4. Paul's Ministry in Thessalonica

1 Thessalonians 2:1-16

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... , but for her own. In short, the metaphor is of a nursing mother—as tender an image as one could find to represent the pastor and his/her people (cf. Gal. 4:19; also Num. 11:12; see W. A. Meeks, The Moral World of the First Christians [Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1986], pp. 125–30). The verb, thalpō, means strictly, “to warm,” but carries its secondary sense, “to care for,” “to cherish” (cf. Eph. 5:29). 2:8 We loved you so much, Paul adds, and the verse ends as it begins on this note ...

5. I Say, Rejoice!

Philippians 4:2-9

Sermon

King Duncan

... on her arm, the same as the one on his arm. Nurse Lacey tells Tucker that he lost a lot of blood in the fall, and it was fortunate that she shared his same blood type. She had given him a transfusion of her own blood in order to save his life. And little Tucker thanked God for answering his prayers and giving him a real mother, one who shared his own blood. (4) In the same way that Tucker was grateful for a mother who shared his blood, St. Paul was grateful that we have a “blood brother” in Christ. It ...

6. 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8

1 Thessalonians 2:1-8

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... this image is more personal and more evocative of the nurturing, loving, selfless, even sacrificing attitude Paul is trying to convey to the Thessalonians. The image of a mother tenderly nursing her child also makes Paul's words in verse 8 more familiar and comprehensible. The depth of feeling treasured by Paul for these Thessalonians leads him to want to do anything he can, offer anything he has to them for their well-being. Paul knows that the most wonderful gift he has to offer is, in fact, what God sent ...

7. More Beyond

Acts 16:16-34

Sermon

Charley Reeb

... recovered, he asked the nurse in amazement, “Why? You recognized me. Why did you care for me so faithfully?” She replied, “Because I serve him who said, ‘Love your enemies and do them good.’ That is my faith.” The soldier was silent as he reflected on such foreign words. Then he replied, “Tell me more of your religion. Tell me more of your Lord. I would give anything to have a faith like yours!”[6] Isn’t that what happened in that infamous jail so many years ago? Paul and Silas were faced ...

8. Step Nine - Discipline

Mt 5:21-26 · Eph 4:25-32 · Num 5:5-10

Sermon

John A. Terry

... the anger we brood over and will not allow to die. This is the anger which refuses to be reconciled. This is the anger which insists on revenge. Resentment and grudges have a way of becoming permanent if we let them fester. Do not nurse our anger, just in case it tries to go away. Again, Paul gives very practical advice. The day of your anger should be the day of your reconciliation. To be human is to get angry. To be humans created in the image of God is to have compassion and give the anger to God before ...

9. Abraham Believed God

Genesis 15:1-18

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... more importantly, a future with hope. Is this what we show to our seniors? Think of the people we know in nursing homes. These are caring places with dedicated workers. Nevertheless, many who live in these places are confined to wheelchairs or have ... how exactly the thing works. Is Abraham's belief a reflection of his faith or a reflection of his works? You see, both the Apostle Paul and James, the brother of Jesus, quote this verse, yet they seem to quote it in quite different contexts. In Galatians 3:5-7 we ...

10. Jesus' Tears

John 11:32-44

Sermon

King Duncan

... , we, too, shall live with the company of all those who are part of the family of Christ. We remember the words of St. Paul when he instructed the church at Thessalonica with these words, “Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who ... care about. It hurts when we stand by the grave of someone we love. Dr. Robert M. Bowman tells a story that comes from a nurse in a cancer ward. Her name is Nan Pinkston. Nan’s story is about a young woman named Rebekah who was admitted to her ...

11. Holiness of Heart and Life

Romans 2:21-23

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... world. Jesus said, it means that we are to love God with all our hearts, mind, soul, and strength, and our neighbors as ourselves. And Paul said it means that faith without works is dead, and the works of faith is love. I like that description someone made of Mother ... positive - that simple admonition: “Love one another.” Here it is in a story told by a reporter of a nurse in the Veteran’s Hospital in Coatsville, Pennsylvania. “It was lunch time on the Psychiatric Wards of the Veterans Administration ...

12. Blank Walls or Filled Lives (Part V)

Philippians 1:1-11

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... no words, no fuss. As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone. Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up ... I was. The only way I will not be forgotten is if I can do something to help and to aid my people." (3) The Apostle Paul knew that only what he did for Christ would have any eternal value for the Kingdom of God. This was the principle and the platform ...

13. I Am Christ's

2 Corinthians 5:17

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... and placed it on her brother's heart, listened intently -- as good nurses do. Suddenly she announced, "I hear somebody walking around in there." The adults smiled at this, but Ryan, matter-of-factly answered, "Why, that must be Jesus." That's the amazing promise, and one of the central claims of the Christian Gospel -- that Christ may live in us. Indeed that is Paul's definition of a Christian -- a person in Christ. In our scripture lesson today, Paul said, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the ...

14. Grace in the Midst of Hopelessness

Romans 8:18-27

Sermon

Glenn McDonald

... we may or may not appear to accomplish in this world, but in God's promise of wholeness in the next world. As Paul puts it in verse 23, "We ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption ... Judy's personal agony -- until she mentioned the name of Jesus. Discovering then that both she and Judy were Christians, the nurse came alongside her and provided the one medication that quieted her fears. From memory she recited these verses from Isaiah 43: ...

15. Hard to Believe

Luke 24:1-12

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... , these questions are not at all new. Even in the life of the first century church the questions were raised. The Apostle Paul was concerned enough about the skepticism that he addressed the issue at length in a letter to the church at Corinth. He ... his whole attitude has changed and he is fighting back, and responding to treatment. It's as though he decided to live!" When the nurse later questioned him about it, the boy said, "I figured I was doomed...that I was gonna die...until I saw that teacher." And ...

16. Love: The Happiness of a Godly Family

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Sermon

James Merritt

... went up on the horizon. He looked at that tremendous cloud and said, "I wish I had said that." I wish I had said what Paul said here in I Cor. 13, and my greater wish is that every marriage, every family, and every home have this kind of love. Because ... , "Body English," Psychology Today, December 1968, p. 44. 7. Delores Krieger, "Therapeutic Touch: the Imprimatur of Nursing," American Journal of Nursing, May 1975, p. 784. 8. Gary Smalley and John Trent, The Blessing, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, ...

17. 1 Thessalonians 1:1-8

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Thessalonian readers that he and his companions did just the opposite. Far from being grasping and greedy or puffily self-important, Paul recalls, “we were gentle among you, like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children.” There is a huge amount of debate among scholars on both the image and the grammar in this metaphor. While most translations render Paul’s image as “gentle” (“epioi”) there is equally good evidence to read the text’s image as “infants” (“nepioi”). If translated ...

18. How Beautiful the Feet

Romans 10:5-15

Sermon

Larry Lange

... So the council with the help of the synod, found a part-time pastor who lived thirty miles away to take the call. But when the nursing home called Judy at work to let her know that her father's breathing was increasingly labored; that he was about to die, she just knew ... of the world, and they often viewed anyone who did not observe such laws as barbaric at best. Not long after the apostle Paul's letter to the Romans was written, this point of view had hardened so much among some of the people of Israel that ...

19. Reconciliation: Our Gift And Our Ministry

2 Corinthians 5:14-21

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... I remembered another story. It was 1921 in the south of Poland, following the devastation of another war, a Quaker woman nurse had given herself in selfless service to that war torn land. She had spent herself in tireless love and devotion, and ... systems to say that we are one in Christ, and that when one person suffers, we all suffer. That we are brothers and sisters, to say with Paul that God has made of one blood, all nations to dwell upon the face of the earth. To say with him that there’s no longer any ...

20. A Life Hidden With Christ

Colossians 2:6-23

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... of Christ Himself. If this were his only reference to it we might question it, but this is no sideline thought. In 2 Cor. 4:10, Paul speaks of "the life of Jesus" being "made manifest in our body". In Romans 8:2, he says "the law of the Spirit" which overcomes the ... , who has just won a battle over cancer. One, who has just gone through the anguish of placing her mother in a nursing home due to advanced arteriosclerosis. One whose husband had an affair -- now both ladies are in a prayer group, praying hand in ...

21. Passing the Test

1 Corinthians 10:1-13

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

... about grace and the gospel? We thought we didn't have to do anything to be saved. Is grace conditional after all? It appears that what Paul gives us with one hand, he takes away with the other. "So, if you are standing, watch out that you do not fall!" In other words ... slowly consumed by cancer. Doc had to leave the hospital. He had to decide where he wanted to die: at home or in a nursing home. His pastor, Reverend Braun, came to help him decide. His pastor wouldn't tell him what to do but helped him to ...

22. For Example

Romans 4:1-5, 13-17

Sermon

David O. Bales

... playwrights are around, but he'll give you a good start. If you're considering nursing, you could read up on Florence Nightingale. The work of other early nurses would benefit you, but she's a helpful start. If you want to be a ... -human do you think God is? Trying to be right with God on the basis of law is as doomed as basing a marriage on obedience. Paul writes, "the law brings wrath." You can't argue, scare, or threaten someone into a loving relationship. "The law brings wrath." If you want a relationship ...

23. What Form of Church Does God Want for the Furture?

Romans 12:1-8, Romans 12:9-21

Sermon

Raymond Gibson

... thinking about God’s love. One day he asked a nurse to assure him that God loved him. Thinking the chaplain could do a better job, she asked him to speak to the boy. The next day the youth told the nurse, "Don’t ever send that man to see me again ... ’t worry," the mother said. "There’s not enough zeal in that church to hurt a fly!" "Do not be conformed to this world," St. Paul says; and J. B. Phillips translates his words to say, "Don’t let the world squeeze you into its own mold." If the church of ...

24. A Love For All Seasons (i)

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... quite enough. It is explained by the lives of people who love. We see it and then we try to describe or explain it. Paul did better than anyone in the 13th Chapter of I Corinthians. He gives a kind of summary statement in verse 7: Love bears all ... will never love as we are called to. Within ourselves we don't have that kind of strength. I've told you the story of the nurse who was tending the wounds of a soldier. He was left out on the field of battle for 3 days without medical attention. His wounds were ...

25. Faith To The Finish

2 Timothy 3:10--4:8, Isaiah 14:24-27

Sermon

Erskine White

... t eat and reading to the ones who couldn't see. He did everything I imagine Jesus Christ would do if Christ were in a nursing home today. Now, both had been men of the church and men of faith all their lives. But one man fought the good fight all ... bumps and bruises we've picked up along the way and measure our triumphs and joys against all our disappointments, yet still say with Paul: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith, all the way to the end." Amen Pastoral Prayer ...

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