Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1 to 25 of 27 results

Nehemiah 8:1-4a, 5-6, 8-10

Sermon

Richard A. Wing

I bring you good news of deep joy in a shallow world. No matter how many fears and failures you bring to this place; no matter how many times you have to pick yourself up or be picked up after knowing deep pain; no matter how difficult it has been to get through an average day, let alone life itself; no matter what -- God is leading us to deep joy that is eternal in a world that is focused on ente...

2. Echoes

Luke 3:21-38

Sermon

Richard A. Wing

When I stand before this text, I hear an echo. What stands out most is the word from heaven as Jesus comes up from the water: "This is my son, the beloved. Listen to him." At another place in scripture where Jesus goes to the mountain with Peter, James, and John to "reveal" himself more pointedly in what we call the transfiguration, suddenly we hear the words of his baptism echo from heaven again:...

3. Edges

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

Richard A. Wing

"Life is a daring adventure or it is nothing." Helen Keller said that, a lady robbed of her sight, hearing, and ability to speak. She was saying that life is to be lived on the edge, or not at all. There is a difference between living on the edge and being what we call an "edgy" or irritable person. Jesus was on the edge at all times, and only once can I recall when he was edgy. That moment was w...

4. Flatliners

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

Richard A. Wing

What would happen if on this Sunday we were to come to Jesus and ask, "Tell us flat-out what you're about?" Jesus might, on this particular day, say, "I have come to give comfort to the uncomfortable and to make uncomfortable those who have comfort." He has a way of flattening things out. Jesus is a flatliner. What if we were to ask that question of the entire Bible? "Don't give me the six-week c...

5. Forgiveness Heals a Thief

Luke 6:27-36

Illustration

Richard A. Wing

There was a Zen school in Japan. They were training young boys in the discipline of meditation. The boys had been taken into seclusion. Among the boys there was one who kept stealing. So the boys finally put together a petition and brought the thief to the headmaster and stood there and said, "We are threatening right now to leave because we can't stand this kid any longer." With wisdom the Zen ma...

6. Get Found

Luke 3:1-6

Illustration

Richard A. Wing

Hans Sach wrote a book titled Masks of Love and Life. In this novel there are two brothers. The younger one is afraid at night as they go to bed and always wants the bedroom door closed. The older brother doesn't care and is always upset when the younger one whimpers after going to bed that he wants the door closed. One night the older brother bolts out of the bed with rage. "Someday I'm going to ...

7. Getting The Face We Deserve

Luke 9:28-36

Sermon

Richard A. Wing

It has been advised that we always approach God quietly because God speaks in a whisper. While we are busy getting more of what we have enough of, while we are so noisy as a society, we don't hear the voice of God because we've been too loud. We must learn to receive God's whispering voice. The season of silence is the season of Lent which begins this week, but we're not into that season yet. We'r...

8. Good News for Those Growing Up

Matthew 24:36-51

Illustration

Richard A. Wing

I like John Cooper, the Ohio State University football coach, for many reasons, but especially for this one. As he was being interviewed once about a player who was in trouble with the law, a reporter asked if Cooper was going to kick the player off the team. He said, "No, I am not going to kick him off, because if I kick him off I can't help him. We are in the business of helping young people gro...

9. Happiness Is an Inside Job

Matthew 24:36-51

Illustration

Richard A. Wing

I saw a bumper sticker which read, "Happiness is an inside job." I'm here to tell you that Advent is, too. What happens on the exterior is cosmetic and delightful but has limitations. What happens on the interior will occur when we choose to allow God to do something within us. That something has eternal value.

10. Is It Better To Catch Or Be Caught?

Luke 5:1-11

Sermon

Richard A. Wing

As a boy I was never good at catching things, except a cold now and then. I tried to catch a pony to ride and failed. The butterfly trip was a disaster. I tried catching frogs but didn't try too hard because I didn't know what I would do with them once I caught them. Fish weren't my favorite for eating, so catching them was no treat, because I knew it implied that I would eat them with delight rat...

11. Jesus and the Losers

Luke 6:27-36

Illustration

Richard A. Wing

In the Old Testament I like the story of Joseph, particularly its outcome. Joseph is the favored one. The older brothers say, "Dad always liked you best." In this case it was true. The brothers go out and fake Joseph's death. They bring back some bloodied clothes and say to their father, "He is dead." In actuality they have sold him into slavery in Egypt. Time passes. Famine comes to Israel. These...

12. Kneeling And Redirection

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Richard A. Wing

Three wise men come from the east bringing gifts to the infant Jesus, and in the process receive a gift worth the distance and effort they spent. After depositing their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, they in turn receive a gift: They are redirected. That is what we all get after kneeling before Jesus: we are redirected. That different direction after kneeling before Jesus means that you...

13. Living By The Calendar Instead Of The Clock

Illustration

Richard A. Wing

"Leisure," from the Latin, means "to be free." Leisure is anything that restores you to peace while you are doing it. So, gardening, golf, reading, puzzles, and many other things can restore us to peace as we do them. Another cousin of leisure is the word "paragon." This little-used word means "the second thing that we do in life that keeps the first thing in tune." Hence, our work may draw energy...

14. Living By The Calendar Instead Of The Clock (New Year's)

Luke 2:41-52

Sermon

Richard A. Wing

This is the time of year that we look toward 2016 with new resolve, or observe how far we have wandered from last year's resolutions. Have you ever noticed that New Year's resolutions look strangely familiar? As a matter of fact, don't they most often look exactly like last year's resolutions? Too often in this season we look at the resolutions we made for our lives that we never got started. I w...

15. Living for Balance

Illustration

Richard A. Wing

I read the words of Dr. Meyer Friedman, who said that lifestyle and creative use of leisure can be more important than diet and exercise in preventing heart attacks. Obviously a balance among all three is most desirable. I have observed many people who have paid attention to the body and diet and have neglected the spirit and are dying inside. Dr. Friedman gives suggestions for people to live les...

16. Love Your Enemies--It Will Drive Them Crazy

Luke 6:27-36

Sermon

Richard A. Wing

It takes a steady hand to carry a full glass of water. It takes an even steadier heart to carry forgiveness to one who holds you in opposition. In the Old Testament I like the story of Joseph, particularly its outcome. Joseph is the favored one. The older brothers say, "Dad always liked you best." In this case it was true. The brothers go out and fake Joseph's death. They bring back some bloodied ...

17. Made New By 180 Degrees

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

Richard A. Wing

For those of you who have come here a mite tense today, I have good news for you. Without tension you cannot know the ultimate joy of Christmas. Without facing tension, Christmas is almost certainly missed. We have a tension between our texts today. We find tension between what John says and what Paul proclaims in Philippians. Two things emerge from the texts. First, the essential problem with Jo...

18. Made New By Getting Lost

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

Richard A. Wing

For those of you who have come here feeling lost, I have good news for you. For those of you who have come here willing to get lost, I have even better news. The good news is "fear not." The God we worship specializes in finding lost people. The God we worship gives life the moment we lose ours for the sake of heavenly causes. Our text has two words that become backdrops for the entire season of A...

19. Made New By Interior Design

Luke 21:5-38

Sermon

Richard A. Wing

Exterior design is changing everywhere in this season of Advent. The exterior designs are nice, but they will do us no ultimate good because in the end it is interior design that counts. The new interior design will not be the result of something we do, but the result of something we allow to have happen to us. I assure you of this: God desires to do something inside us. God desires for something...

20. Made New By Taking A Different Road Home

Luke 1:39-45, Luke 1:46-56

Sermon

Richard A. Wing

We are made new when we dare to go home by another way. This reality has ancient roots. The stories of the season are about people who were made new by taking a different road home. Mary visited Elizabeth and remained there three months. She went home by another way. After saying earlier, "Do with me as you will," before God, and after singing her song of praise to God, she went home a different ...

21. Significance Of Things Eternal

Luke 2:41-52

Illustration

Richard A. Wing

Parish ministers will tell you that people come to them speaking with regrets like these: When I was young, my mother was going to read me a story, but she had to wax the bathroom floor and there wasn't time. When I was young, my grandparents were going to come for Christmas, but they couldn't get someone to feed the dogs and my grandfather did not like the cold weather and besides they didn't h...

22. The Best For Last

John 2:1-11

Sermon

Richard A. Wing

Come with me to a party. The party is a wedding celebration. Hard as it is for you to believe, these celebrations lasted four days with some heavy drinking involved. At the party I want you to overhear a conversation that is going on. The conversation is between Jesus and his mother. Mary points to the fact that there is no wine. In many marriages I know, the husband is supposed to know what to do...

23. The Monk and the Pearl

Matthew 13:44-46

Illustration

Richard A. Wing

I remember the story of Theophane the Monk. He was traveling along a path one day and ran into a young man. He asked the young man where he was going. The young man replied, "I am looking for the pearl of great price." Theophane said calmly, "Well, look no more. I have it." Theophane produced the pearl of great price. The young man was in pure delight to see and find what he was looking for. Then ...

24. Why Have You Forsaken Me?

Matthew 24:36-51

Illustration

Richard A. Wing

I read about a depressed songwriter who battled the successes of the past and a fear of the future. He was bankrupt. He had a cerebral hemorrhage that left him partially paralyzed. He worried that the creative spark that had made him rich was gone. He was depressed. The scriptural texts that were his friends and that his soul could hear were texts such as "Why have you forsaken me?" In the midst ...

25. You Can Only Take 200 Pounds

Luke 3:1-6

Illustration

Richard A. Wing

Glenn Adsett was a minister in China. He was under house arrest in the late 1940s, waiting to receive word concerning what the communists were going to do with him, his wife, and two children. They said, "You can only take 200 pounds with you." The family went home and began arguing about what to take. The conversation got heated around typewriters, vases, and toys. Finally they worked it all out ...

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Showing 1 to 25 of 27 results

1. Deep Joy For A Shallow World

Nehemiah 8:1-4a, 5-6, 8-10

Sermon

Richard A. Wing

2. Echoes

Luke 3:21-38

Sermon

Richard A. Wing

3. Edges

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

Richard A. Wing

4. Flatliners

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

Richard A. Wing

5. Forgiveness Heals a Thief

Luke 6:27-36

Illustration

Richard A. Wing

6. Get Found

Luke 3:1-6

Illustration

Richard A. Wing

7. Getting The Face We Deserve

Luke 9:28-36

Sermon

Richard A. Wing

8. Good News for Those Growing Up

Matthew 24:36-51

Illustration

Richard A. Wing

9. Happiness Is an Inside Job

Matthew 24:36-51

Illustration

Richard A. Wing

10. Is It Better To Catch Or Be Caught?

Luke 5:1-11

Sermon

Richard A. Wing

11. Jesus and the Losers

Luke 6:27-36

Illustration

Richard A. Wing

12. Kneeling And Redirection

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Richard A. Wing

13. Living By The Calendar Instead Of The Clock

Illustration

Richard A. Wing

14. Living By The Calendar Instead Of The Clock (New Year's)

Luke 2:41-52

Sermon

Richard A. Wing

15. Living for Balance

Illustration

Richard A. Wing

16. Love Your Enemies--It Will Drive Them Crazy

Luke 6:27-36

Sermon

Richard A. Wing

17. Made New By 180 Degrees

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

Richard A. Wing

18. Made New By Getting Lost

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

Richard A. Wing

19. Made New By Interior Design

Luke 21:5-38

Sermon

Richard A. Wing

20. Made New By Taking A Different Road Home

Luke 1:39-45, Luke 1:46-56

Sermon

Richard A. Wing

21. Significance Of Things Eternal

Luke 2:41-52

Illustration

Richard A. Wing

22. The Best For Last

John 2:1-11

Sermon

Richard A. Wing

23. The Monk and the Pearl

Matthew 13:44-46

Illustration

Richard A. Wing

24. Why Have You Forsaken Me?

Matthew 24:36-51

Illustration

Richard A. Wing

25. You Can Only Take 200 Pounds

Luke 3:1-6

Illustration

Richard A. Wing

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