Sermon and Worship Resources

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Luke 23:33-43

Sermon

Richard Hasler

Robert Raines told the story of the day when a daughter was going through the things left over after her mother’s death, and she found this anonymous poem: I dreamed death came the other night. And heaven’s gates swung wide, With kindly grace, an angel asked me inside And there to my astonishment, Stood folks I’d known on earth — Some I judged and labeled as “Unjust” or “Little Worth.” Indignant...

2. A Trick Resurrection

Luke 20:27-38

Sermon

Richard Hasler

In Louisiana, a woman lies buried beneath a grove of 150-year-old oak trees in the cemetery of an Episcopal Church. Only one word is carved on her tombstone: “Waiting.” This person who died may be waiting for the resurrection of the dead, but the Sadducees who raised this question in the conversation with Jesus certainly did not believe in the resurrection. They were only trying to use a trick qu...

3. A Young Man's Vow

Luke 14:25-33

Sermon

Richard Hasler

A young man awakens in the morning and hears the birds singing. He realizes how fortunate he is. It is summer time and he is back home in his father’s parsonage in Gunsbach, Germany. Recently, he has been reading about Jesus’ call in the gospels: “Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” “From everyone to whom much is given, much will be required.” Whoever would sa...

4. Are We Living In The Last Days?

Luke 21:5-19

Sermon

Richard Hasler

Many people in northeast Ohio have visited the Amish Country at least once, if not numerous times. One stop they are sure to make is at Lehman’s Hardware Store in Kidron, Ohio. What I have learned from my visits there is that at one time only other Amish people purchased items at the store because they were committed to using non-electrical equipment in their farming. More recently, however, a new...

5. Are You Asking The Right Questions?

Zechariah 7:1-14

Sermon

Richard Hasler

An article titled Widespread Spiritual Hunger Should Be Major News Story caught my eye on the editorial page of the Sunday paper. The author, Bill Tammeus, a columnist for the Kansas City Star, speculated about some journalists and some scientists who refused to see truths that are not physical. The case in point was Pope John Paul II’s visit to Mexico. Huge crowds appeared wherever he spoke. In S...

6. Awake, Christ Is Coming

Romans 13:8-14

Sermon

Richard Hasler

Erma Bombeck, in her book titled When You Look Like Your Passport Photo, It's Time To Go Home, observes: "You can always tell when vacationers are going or coming. Travelers who are at the beginning of a trip laugh and tell jokes. Their clothes match ... Those returning are impatient. Every plane they board is like the last one out of Baghdad and they are going to be on it." Erma's scintillating w...

7. Be Charitable In Your Judgment

1 Corinthians 4:1-21

Sermon

Richard Hasler

A few years ago fires ravaged hundreds of homes in the Oakland, California, area. Sometimes a single house would be spared, standing alone amidst the burned wreckage of homes surrounding it. In the front of one such house which had been saved the owners erected a huge sign: "Thank You, Jesus." Upon seeing the sign one child said to his parents, "Jesus must hate us. Our house got burned."1 Of cour...

8. Be Wise In The Spirit

1 Corinthians 2:6-16

Sermon

Richard Hasler

In Michael Lindvall's delightful book, The Good News From North Haven, he tells the story of a young pastor named David accepting a call to a small congregation in rural Minnesota. After four years had passed, the pastor and his family began to feel at home. They had the conviction that God had led them to the right place to serve. Then one day the pastor received a phone call from Minnie MacDowel...

9. Boast In The Lord

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5

Sermon

Richard Hasler

A young man went for a walk to meditate. He soon found himself in a field of ripe pumpkins. Also in the field happened to be a great acorn tree. The young man observed the tiny acorns hanging down from gigantic branches of the tree. Then he glanced at the enormous pumpkins on the tiny vines. He meditated for a while, and then said to himself, "God made a mistake. He should have put the tiny acorns...

10. Discern How Things Grow

1 Corinthians 3:1-23

Sermon

Richard Hasler

Does the nuthatch know what it is doing? Probably not. The nuthatch's tiny brain is not much larger than an average-size kidney bean, but the perky bird has a strong hunger awareness which propels it from one place to another seeking insect food. It finds bark beetles and pulls them from their lairs and eats the eggs of gypsy moths. We might not think that a few nuthatches could control the insec...

11. Do You See Lazarus On Your Doorstep?

Luke 16:19-31

Sermon

Richard Hasler

Whenever I think of a rich man I think of Howard Hughes. He was not only extremely wealthy but also extremely eccentric. Hughes once bought a Las Vegas television station for little less than four million dollars simply because he wanted to watch cowboy movies all night, and this station had cowboy movies but not playing all night. Hughes wanted to watch them up until 6 a.m. That is what you do if...

12. Enlarge Your Horizons

Ephesians 3:1-13

Sermon

Richard Hasler

Theodore Hesburgh who served for 35 years as President of the University of Notre Dame has always lived in a big world. In his fascinating autobiography titled God, Country, Notre Dame he tells of his desire to enlarge his horizons. In all that he does he reflects a broad vision and a compassionate heart that continually reaches out beyond academic considerations and even beyond his own church loy...

13. Everything Except God

Amos 5:1-17

Sermon

Richard Hasler

Robert Coles, a child psychiatrist who taught at Harvard University, decided to travel to the South in the early days of the civil rights struggle to see for himself what effect the tension was having upon little children. He soon developed a special interest in Ruby Bridges, a six-year-old black girl in New Orleans. She walked bravely to class each morning accompanied by federal marshals who prot...

14. Exercise Your Spiritual Gifts

1 Corinthians 1:1-9

Sermon

Richard Hasler

One of the periodicals that I subscribe to is a denominational church magazine. It keeps me up-to-date on late-breaking news within the church and also has provocative articles on current theological thinking. In the back of the magazine is a section of church ads for employment opportunities. If a person is seeking to relocate that is one place to look. A typical issue will have numerous churches...

15. Focus On The Son

Romans 1:1-17

Sermon

Richard Hasler

One year during spring training the Texas A & M Aggies' football coaching staff tried an experiment. They attached a small video camera to the helmet of the quarterback. Then they placed a special set of goggles on his face mask with an infrared light that monitored the focus of his eyeballs. In other words, the camera videotaped just where the quarterback concentrated. Consequently, the coaches w...

16. Follow The Man With The Plan

Sermon

Richard Hasler

In the July 25, 1993, issue of the Cleveland Plain Dealer a fascinating article appeared about secret agent Varian Fry. He was an eccentric, bookish and shy man, one who hardly fits the picture of a secret agent. Nonetheless, this Harvard-educated writer left New York City in 1940 to begin a life of intrigue in France worthy of a Le Carre novel. His mission was to rescue artists, writers and music...

17. How To Hear A Sermon

Micah 1:1-7

Sermon

Richard Hasler

Walter Cronkite, the former highly-regarded CBS Evening News anchor, is an avid lover of boats. Some years ago, he steered his boat into Central Harbor, Maine. As he approached land he was amazed at the greeting he received. People lined the shore waving their hands at him. He could barely make out what they were saying but their shouts sounded like: “Hello Walter, Hello Walter.” The boat sailed c...

18. It Was a Dark and Stormy Night

Matthew 3:1-12

Illustration

Richard Hasler

Snoopy of Charlie Brown comic strip fame is typing a novel. He begins his story, "It was a dark and stormy night ..." Snoopy always starts his stories in this manner. Lucy looks at what Snoopy has written. She goes into a tirade, putting down Snoopy for such a silly beginning. Doesn't Snoopy know that any good story starts with the words, "Once upon a time ..." The last frame of the comic strip h...

19. Leaping For Joy

Malachi 4:1-6

Sermon

Richard Hasler

The scene was the Connecticut House of Representatives in Hartford. The date was May 19, 1780. About noon the skies began to darken and by midafternoon the sky was pitch black. Many people were struck with fear believing Judgment Day had come. Some of the representatives fell to their knees begging God to avert this catastrophe; others called for an immediate adjournment. Colonel Davenport, the Sp...

20. Learn To Wait Creatively

James 5:7-12

Sermon

Richard Hasler

The man did not look like a salesman. He was short, pudgy, a rather sleepy-looking individual. He did not sound like a salesman. He had a lisp, talked almost in a whisper, often he said nothing. He did not act like a salesman; he was not flamboyant, not the life of the party; in fact, he was so shy that once he insisted on staying behind a screen in making a presentation to other salespersons. Non...

21. Live Together In Harmony

1 Corinthians 1:10-17

Sermon

Richard Hasler

In Mark Twain's delightful story, The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn, the following incident occurs. Huck and his friend are talking. His friend, Buck, wants to kill someone. Huck wonders what this person had ever done to get his friend so agitated. Finally, the reason comes out. "Why, nothing -- only it's on account of the feud." Huck is still puzzled, "What's a feud?" His friend cannot believe t...

22. Look, The Morning Star

2 Peter 1:12-21

Sermon

Richard Hasler

In the early morning hour Owen Rodericks prepares to take his first ride as a coal miner deep into the dark ground beneath him. The cage suddenly shoots to the surface with a jerk. The gate opens and in seconds he is jammed in with ten other men. A bell rings, and the cage plunges over 300 feet into the mine. Gasping for breath, Owen leaves the cage and staggers along through the darkness. His min...

23. Make Scriptural Hope Your Own

Romans 14:1--15:13

Sermon

Richard Hasler

24. No One Enters The Kingdom… Save With Empty Hands

2 Samuel 5:1-5

Sermon

Richard Hasler

The black man standing in the arena was an affront to Der Fuehrer’s authority. The scene was the 1936 Olympic Games held in Berlin, Germany. The black man was Jesse Owens of The Ohio State University representing the U.S.A. He was aptly called “the fastest human alive.” Der Fuehrer was Chancellor Adolph Hitler who had recently risen to power championing an arrogant theory that his “Aryan race” of ...

Human forgiveness finds its motivation in the incomparable divine forgiveness.

Richard Hasler

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