Sermon and Worship Resources

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John 4:1-26

Sermon

Robert Bachelder

Hans-Ruedi Weber relates a story which is often told in East Africa. A simple woman always walked around with her bulky Bible. She never was parted from it. So the villagers began to tease her: "Why always the Bible?" they asked. "There are so many other books you could read." Yet the woman kept on living with her Bible, neither disturbed nor angered by all the teasing. But finally one day, she kn...

2. Claim Your Ministry

Matthew 20:20-28

Sermon

Robert Bachelder

"but whoever would be great among you must be your servant." - Matthew 20:26b Augustine wrote: "So deep has human pride sunk us that only divine humility can raise us." This point was not lost on St. Martin, the famous soldier-saint of France. The story goes that one day he was praying and there appeared to him a figure robed like a king with a jeweled crown and gold-embroidered shoes. The voice ...

3. Free and Faithful

Matthew 4:1-11

Sermon

Robert Bachelder

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted ... - Matthew 4:1 In Huxley’s Brave New World, Savage is contending with Mustapha Mond, the world controller. Savage’s sensibility has been shaped by the Bible and Shakespeare, readings no longer allowed to the public. He complains to Mond about the antiseptic quality of life in the new society. The controller says to him: "We ...

4. It Is Your Choice

Matthew 4:1-11

Illustration

Robert Bachelder

In Huxley's Brave New World, Savage is contending with Mustapha Mond, the world controller. Savage's sensibility has been shaped by the Bible and Shakespeare, readings no longer allowed to be read. He complains to Mond about the antiseptic quality of life in the new society. The controller says to him: "We prefer to do things comfortably." Savage rejoins: "But I don't want comfort. I want God, I w...

5. Loving Unconditionally

John 13:31-38

Sermon

Robert Bachelder

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another ..." The love which Christians show for one another has always been a compelling, even unanswerable argument for the truth of our faith. Jesus said: "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." So well did the early Christians follow Jesus’ prescription that it was said of them: "See how they l...

6. Out of the Barnyard

John 11:38-44

Sermon

Robert Bachelder

When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out." - John 11:43 Would it make any difference to the world if the churches were to shut their doors and never open them again? Many voices within and without the Church say no, it would make no difference. Soren Kierkegaard bemoaned the Church’s indifference to its mission. Frustrated, he wrote a little parable which tells of a f...

7. Out of the Darkness

John 9:1-12

Sermon

Robert Bachelder

"... I am the light of the world." - John 9:5 St. Augustine wrote of our lesson: "This blind man stands for the human race ... if the blindness is infidelity, then the illumination is faith." Surely we need the illumination of Christian faith today. Ours is one of those epochs of which it may be said, as Shakespeare said of Romeo, "affliction is enamoured of thy parts ... and thou art wedded to c...

8. That First Longing

John 4:5-42

Illustration

Robert Bachelder

Carl Jung, the great psychoanalyst, tried to explain why so many people were fascinated by UFO phenomena. He wrote: "We are all born to believe. The eyes may be wrong, but the psyche is right. We are all looking for a perfect model of ourselves." C. S. Lewis made the same point when he observed: "Most people, if they had really learned to look into their own hearts, would know that they do want, ...

9. That First Longing

John 4:5-42

Illustration

Robert Bachelder

Carl Jung, the great psychoanalyst, tried to explain why so many people were fascinated by UFO phenomena. He wrote: "We are all born to believe. The eyes may be wrong, but the psyche is right. We are all looking for a perfect model of ourselves." C. S. Lewis made the same point when he observed: “Most people, if they had really learned to look into their own hearts, would know that they do want, ...

10. The Grace of Disillusionment

Matthew 26:69-75

Sermon

Robert Bachelder

And he went out and wept bitterly.- Matthew 26:75b In his famous autobiography, Henry Adams wrote of his chronic irritability. He thought it was the result of knowing too much about his neighbors and thinking too much of himself. We have in Luke’s parable of the Pharisee and the publican a man who, like the early Henry Adams, combines a low opinion of his neighbors with a high estimate of his own...

11. Victim or Visionary

John 19:28-37

Sermon

Robert Bachelder

And again another scripture says, "They shall look upon him whom they have pierced." - John 19:37 On the cross, our Lord must have looked at the faces of his executioners and experienced the sharp frustration which comes from being subject to principalities and powers beyond one’s capacity to shape or control. For a time, he must have felt like a helpless victim of cruel, cosmic circumstance. You...

12. Why Always the Bible?

John 4:5-42

Illustration

Robert Bachelder

The author Hans-Ruedi Weber relates a story which is often told in East Africa. A simple woman always walked around with her bulky Bible. She never was parted from it. So the villagers began to tease her: "Why always the Bible?" they asked. "There are so many other books you could read." Yet the woman kept on living with her Bible, neither disturbed nor angered by all the teasing. But finally one ...

13. Why Do You Go On?

Matthew 4:1-11

Illustration

Robert Bachelder

Temptation is no less terrible for Christians today than it was for those of Peter's time. We live in a pagan culture. There is a constant temptation for us to fall away from our faith toward the prevailing hedonism. There is a steady temptation to go after the great gods of pleasure and materialism. We have our choices to make! But do you know something? This fact should not discourage us. Instea...

14. Your Money and Your Life

Matthew 6:19-24

Sermon

Robert Bachelder

In his classic treatise on politics, The Republic, Plato observed that the greatest enemy of justice is the family. Yes, the family! I daresay his claim will strike you as being rather silly. After all, most everyone agrees the family is a good and necessary institution. Sociologists continue to say the family is the vital unit or cell of society. We are all disturbed by the disintegration of the ...

Showing 1 to 14 of 14all results

Showing all results

1. A Book Which Reads Us

John 4:1-26

Sermon

Robert Bachelder

2. Claim Your Ministry

Matthew 20:20-28

Sermon

Robert Bachelder

3. Free and Faithful

Matthew 4:1-11

Sermon

Robert Bachelder

4. It Is Your Choice

Matthew 4:1-11

Illustration

Robert Bachelder

5. Loving Unconditionally

John 13:31-38

Sermon

Robert Bachelder

6. Out of the Barnyard

John 11:38-44

Sermon

Robert Bachelder

7. Out of the Darkness

John 9:1-12

Sermon

Robert Bachelder

8. That First Longing

John 4:5-42

Illustration

Robert Bachelder

9. That First Longing

John 4:5-42

Illustration

Robert Bachelder

Carl Jung, the great psychoanalyst, tried to explain why so many people were fascinated by UFO phenomena. He wrote: "We are all born to believe. The eyes may be wrong, but the psyche is right. We are all looking for a perfect model of ourselves." C. S. Lewis made the same point when he observed: “Most people, if they had really learned to look into their own hearts, would know that they do want, ...

10. The Grace of Disillusionment

Matthew 26:69-75

Sermon

Robert Bachelder

11. Victim or Visionary

John 19:28-37

Sermon

Robert Bachelder

12. Why Always the Bible?

John 4:5-42

Illustration

Robert Bachelder

13. Why Do You Go On?

Matthew 4:1-11

Illustration

Robert Bachelder

14. Your Money and Your Life

Matthew 6:19-24

Sermon

Robert Bachelder

Showing 1 to 14 of 14all results