Sermon and Worship Resources

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Isaiah 63:7--64:12

Sermon

Richard L. Eslinger

Israel had much to lament. It was a season for lamentation. The results of God’s anger were everywhere. The destruction is easy to catalog: Holy cities, become a wasteland. Zion, become a wilderness. Jerusalem, a desolation. That "holy and beautiful house," The Temple, burned by fire. "And all our pleasant places have become ruins." Living in the midst of this wasteland called for an incredible ...

2. Behold! Chariots of Fire!

2 Kings 2:1-18

Sermon

Richard L. Eslinger

Elisha had been with Elijah for what seenied like a long time. It began in the most dramatic way: Elijah lamenting that the people of Israel had all forsaken the covenant, everyone in Israel bowing the knee to false gods; Elijah complaining, "And I, even I only, am left." But the Lord God refused to let the prophet just hide out there in the wilderness. So Elijah was sent back to do battle against...

3. Come Celebrate! Send in the Light!

Isaiah 9:1-7

Sermon

Richard L. Eslinger

It was a time of growing darkness for the covenant people. There was not much light in sight. Israel, the northern kingdom, had fallen to the Assyrians and now they threatened Jerusalem itself. Isaiah had pointed to these disasters as sign of judgment from Yahweh, the Covenant God. But the people learned nothing from all the disasters. With nothing but tiny Judah and David’s city left unconquered,...

4. Come Home!

Isaiah 60:1-22

Sermon

Richard L. Eslinger

The twelve days of Christmas are now at an end. The signs are all about us. The scales tell us the weight we’ve gained. Trash bags have bulged this week too, overfilled with boxes and paper, waiting to be taken away. Christmas trees are lying down, out in the yard, still streaked with some tinsel. The Advent wreathes are packed away with the tree lights, and the remaining Christmas displays seem o...

5. Good News, Release, and Comfort

Isaiah 61:1-11

Sermon

Richard L. Eslinger

Advent rushes to a finish. You know how hectic this next week will be. "Only (you fill in the blank) more days until Christmas," and there is an awful lot to be done. There is the last-minute shopping, rubbing shoulders with all the other last-minute people. Then, toward the end of the week, the planning and procuring for the big Christmas dinner begins. But we’ll probably forget something essenti...

6. House-Building Time

2 Samuel 7:1-17

Sermon

Richard L. Eslinger

The angel was quite clear to Mary. There was no mistaking the meaning of Gabriel’s words. Mary had found favor with God and would conceive a child. She was to have a son and call his name Jesus. But this thing which would come to pass became incredibly significant when the angel announced that this child would be given the throne of David. "He will be called the Son of the Most High," and would re...

7. "Job" Is Our Name Too

Job 6:1-7:21

Sermon

Richard L. Eslinger

"Have you considered my servant Job?" God asked Satan in the heavenly court. This "blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?" Well, Satan considered Job all right. But he only considered him a God-fearing man because he was being blessed. Remove all that blessing, Satan argued, and Job’s piety will crumble and he will curse you. So the agreement is made between God and Sat...

8. Marduk? or Yahweh?

Isaiah 40:1-31

Sermon

Richard L. Eslinger

The prophets had been right. All along, they had proclaimed that it would end up this way. If Israel would not turn to the Lord, would not repent and live justly, an awful judgment would come. The smashing fist would be Nebuchadnezzar, King of the conquering Babylonians. But within the blow of this withering attack was the wrath of Israel’s own God. And now the prophesied judgment was upon them. R...

9. Mary Ann Was Born Again

Genesis 1:1-2:3

Sermon

Richard L. Eslinger

In the early church, three Sundays were reserved for the baptism of new Christians. Except in an emergency, these candidates for initiation into the church were baptized on one of these three days. The Easter vigil was the primary occasion, with its drama of darkness and new light, death, and new life. As our Lord made his Passover from death to new life, so the candidates were baptized into Chris...

10. We May Have to Change Our Name

Isaiah 61:1-11

Sermon

Richard L. Eslinger

You can find them in almost every big, old downtown church: the pictures of the pastors of that congregation. They are lined up in a rogues’ gallery of clerics. And they look down at us over their names and dates. As you walk down the hall and move back through the decades, some things are easy to notice. The collars get out of date, and then simply strange-looking. Sideburns march up and down as ...

11. When God Almighty Speaks ... Listen!

1 Samuel 3:1--4:1

Sermon

Richard L. Eslinger

Hannah was among the barren women of Israel. She had no children. But Hannah was also among the faithful women of Israel. So one year, at the time of sacrifice, she made a vow to the Lord. In the midst of her distress, she uttered a tearful prayer: O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt look on the affliction of thy maidservant ... but wilt give to thy maidservant a son, then I will give him to the Lord al...

12. Whom Do You Sit East Of?

Jonah 3:1-10

Sermon

Richard L. Eslinger

Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness has come up before me." Finally the evil of the Ninevites had provoked the Lord God to action. Yahweh had had enough. A prophet was needed who would proclaim the word of judgment to the enemy. Jonah, son of Amittai, was chosen for this mission - to cry...

13. Will the Real Prophets Please Speak Up?

Deuteronomy 18:14-22

Sermon

Richard L. Eslinger

There was a time in Israel when no prophets spoke for God. During those long years after the Exile, prophecy seemed dead. There were no prophets and none were expected. All the people could do was to look back for comfort to the times when God had sent an Amos, an Hosea, an Ezekiel. Those were the good old days, when the word of the Lord was heard in the land. But now they were gone ... and the lo...

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