Sermon and Worship Resources

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1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

... master's instructions, and attend to them with the ear of your heart. This is the advice from [one] who loves you; welcome it, and faithfully put it into practice. When you begin a good work ... pray earnestly to bring it to perfection.1 The words of Saint Benedict could well have echoed the words of the priest, Eli, to his young charge, Samuel. Eli is present in the temple at Shiloh when Samuel's mother, Hannah, is praying for her heart's desire, a son. Her inability to have a child is breaking her heart ...

2. House Rules, Forgiveness, and Why Rat Poison Is not Good for You

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon

Roy Howard

... ground for discipline as soon as possible. If you don’t get agreement on that, or you lose it, it’s crazy — just about impossible.” I once spent several weeks at St. Benedict’s Monastery in Snowmass, Colorado. As in all the Benedictine monastic communities, the monks are guided by the Rule of Saint Benedict, a book written in the sixth century to provide structure and discipline to the community. It is drenched in scripture. The beauty of the rule is actually quite similar to the classroom. When ...

3. Staying Alive All Your Ministry Life: Will You Finish Well?

Exodus 32:1-33:6

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... idea where it would lead. An oblation is an abbreviated, yet powerful profession of monastic vows. A person attaches herself to a particular monastery by signing a document on the altar during mass. The promise is that you will follow the rule of Saint Benedict in so far as your situation in life will allow. Norris confessed, The fact that I had been raised a thorough Protestant, with little knowledge of religious orders, and no sense of monasticism as a living tradition, was less an obstacle to my becoming ...

4. Content with the Customs

Illustration

Staff

... a test of our true discipleship. Perhaps no greater witness to our internal faith is the outward practice of hospitality. Now, I'm not talking about running a BnB. I am talking about welcoming and accepting others with grace. Note: The Rule of Saint Benedict is a book of precepts, or instructions, written in 516 dealing with the concerns and needs of monks in a community environment. The book attempts to establish due order, to foster an understanding of the relational nature of human beings, and to provide ...

5. Welcoming Jesus

Matthew 10:40-42

Sermon

William G. Carter

... 46) This is important stuff. It is so important that, very early in Christian history, a group of monks agreed that whenever a guest came to their monastery, they would open the door and say, “Welcome, Christ!” They did not want to miss the opportunity. As Saint Benedict wrote in his rule of faith, “All guests who present themselves are to be welcomed as Christ.”18 One time, I checked into a monastery for a few days of prayer and study. As I signed the visitors register, I heard the guest master say ...

6. Closing

2 Corinthians 13:11-14

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

... localities are called saints. This presupposes that all believers are members of one universal church (cf. 1 Cor. 12:28)—the worldwide family of God (cf. 2 Cor. 6:18). Paul regularly conveys greetings from those who are with him when he writes his letters (cf. Rom. 16:3–23; 1 Cor. 16:19–20; Phil. 4:21; Col. 4:10–15; Phlm. 23). One of his goals in doing so was undoubtedly to promote self-identity, reciprocity, and unity within the church. 13:14 The letter ends with a grace benediction. Usually Paul ...

7. Final Greeting

Philippians 4:21-23

Understanding Series

F. F. Bruce

... what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand!” (Gal. 6:11). 4:21 Paul greets all the saints in Christ Jesus (for the designation cf. 1:1). Indeed, in Christ Jesus might well be construed with “greetings” (“greet them in Christ ... 18.133, 135, etc. Grace-Benediction The grace-benediction is the most regular feature of Paul’s letter closings. There are variations of wording, but the sense is uniformly the same. Outside the Pauline corpus, the NT has grace benedictions in Hebrews 13:25 and ...

8. Concluding Exhortations

Hebrews 13:1-25

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

... few more words for his readers. Again we get a few bits of tantalizing information, which are followed by a word of greeting and a final benediction. 13:22 The author first adds a note to his readers, whom he again (cf. 3:1, 12; 10:19) addresses as brothers, to urge them ... to meet the author. 13:24 The word for leaders (hēgoumenoi) occurs also in vv. 7 and 17. The technical term “saints” (hagioi), describing those who have been set apart by the saving grace of God, is also used by the author in 6: ...

9. 2 Corinthians 1: 11-13

2 Corinthians 1:1-11

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... .” Every church Paul has visited, every community he has witnessed to or written to, constitute the gathering of the “saints.” The Corinthians need to forget their individual trials and troubles and remember that they are part of a larger body of Christ that is now extending across Asia minor. As befitting this Trinity Sunday, Paul’s final benediction invokes the power of three. Here Paul joins three attributes, grace love, and fellowship, with the triune nature of the divine, the “Lord Jesus ...

10. 2 Corinthians 13:11-13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

11. Personal Greetings

Romans 16:1-27

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... to receive her, as was the custom throughout early Christianity (e.g., 15:7; Matt. 25:31–46), in a way worthy of the saints. 16:3–4 Phoebe’s name is followed by the names of two fellow workers (v. 3) who had risked their lives for Paul ... period that the Messiah would endue his followers with power over evil forces (e.g., T. Levi 18.12). 16:21–24 The brief benediction in verse 20b (which can also be found in some manuscripts as verse 24) would be a fitting conclusion to Romans. But Paul gives ...

12. Understanding The Holy Trinity

John 16:5-16

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... presence, and the Spirit's descent in the form of a dove (Matthew 3:13-17). Paul uses the Trinity in the form of a benediction: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all" (2 ... while you believe in three Gods, we believe in one." Apparently, the Jewish layman did not understand that Christians also believe in one God. Saint Paul wrote to the Corinthian church: "There is no God but one. Yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom ...

13. 2 Corinthians 13:11-13

2 Corinthians 13:11-13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... "greeting" references, designated in the NRSV as verse 12, are in other translations, divided into two verses, 12 and 13, making the closing benediction verse 14. The severity of some of Paul's earlier words to the Corinthians is mediated somewhat by his closing words to them ... were, nonetheless, the family of God. This same "family" focus is evident in Paul's closing salutation, "All the saints greet you." Instead of sending greetings from any specific Christians who are with him, Paul closes his address to ...

14. The Trifocal Festival

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

... lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living." (Romans 14:8-9) I. With gratitude for the lives of the saints in light and the grace of their God and ours, let us give thanks for those members of our congregation who died this last year. II. Each ... young, like the Holy Innocents of Bethlehem; II: Some activists like Bonhoeffer; I: And some contemplatives, like Benedict; II: Some learned, like Augustine & Aquinas; I. And some quite simple, like Francis of Assisi; II: Asians, ...

15. Called to Be Saints

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

Warren Thomas Smith

... ? Where are those who are committed to Jesus Christ? We need saints. We need them as examples and for inspiration. We need Mary the mother of Jesus; Simon Peter and John Mark; Aquila and Priscilla; Phoebe and Lydia; Barnabas and Timothy. We could not get along without them. We must also have Thecla and Perpetua; Athanasius and Ambrose; Benedict and Thomas Aquinas; Theresa of Avila and Katherine Zell; Ulrich Zwingli and John Calvin; Ann Hutchinson and Madam Guyon. Harry Hosier’s Story One of the remarkable ...

16. A LITURGICAL DRAMA FOR ALL SAINTS’

Drama

Tom Eberle

... SAINTS ... be All Saints’ Sunday/Day. ... are one with all the saints. Box: And that’s ... with all those vapory saints - nonsense! We will each ... Saints’ Day to portray the parade of Saints ... of saints is ... saints - people made holy and whole by God. "To the church of God which is at Corinth/your city/town, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints ... Saints ... lives of those saints we honor today ... saintly ... with all the saints to do such ... All the Saints Parish Concerns Sacrament ... communion of saints, drawn from ...

17. The Only Fact That Really Matters

1 Corinthians 15:12-34

Sermon

Raymond Gibson

... the risen Jesus - and then they became the nucleus of the mightiest force for good the world has ever seen. I say "the communion of the saints," and I think of Polycarp and Athanasius and Augustine and Benedict. I say "the communion of the saints," and I think of Martin Luther and John Calvin and John Wesley and William Booth. I say "the communion of the saints," and I think of Dwight Moody and Tom Dooley and John XXIII and Gipsy Smith and countless millions of plain Christian people, whose memory is known ...

18. Thanksgiving and Prayer

Philippians 1:1-11

Understanding Series

F. F. Bruce

... carried his Master’s authority, and in his bondservice to that Master he realized perfect freedom. The recipients of the letter are called saints or “holy people” (those whom God has set apart for himself)—a very common designation for Christians in Paul’s letters (cf. Rom. ... but he regularly amplifies this to “grace and peace.” This may have been a form of words current in benedictions in synagogue or church. In a Jewish apocalyptic work from later in the first century, a letter purporting to ...

19. Christmas Eve Candlelight Service

Bulletin Aid

Robert G. McCreight

... a guide to light the path of our daily living. We who believe in him and follow his ways of peace and love join with the saints through the ages whom God has made to be his family in faith. Ephesians 5:8-11 For once you were darkness, but now in the ... of light; let us live honorably as in the day. Congregational Hymn: "Break Forth, O Living Light Of God" (verses 1, 4 and 5) Benediction (Colossians 1:11-14) May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared ...

20. Concluding Exhortations

Hebrews 13:1-25

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... and word of Jesus Christ stand firm (13:8; see also 1:12; 7:24–25; 10:23). He who sustained the faith of the saints of old (11:26) and of their former leaders just mentioned will not forsake them. In verse 9 the author returns one last time to the ... separated from them for some time, and has been prevented for some reason from returning to them. Benediction and Greetings: The beautiful benediction in verses 20–21 forms an exquisite conclusion to the entire work, especially in its concentration on ...

21. The Hiding Angel

1 John 2:28--3:10

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... said, "It looks like a ball to me." "No," she said, "It's a hiding angel." The Bible declares that there is an angel or a saint inside each one of us just yearning to find expression. After all, we were created in God's image. He longs to adopt us as his ... , or even on one's mother's side is an introduction to any state in the union, a passport to any foreign country, and a benediction from the Almighty God." That's almost a Texas kind of pride, isn't it? But I know a much nobler status than that of South ...

22. Don't Forget What You Look Like

James 1:19-27

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... if not enlightened, when the service is about to conclude and the choir launches into its threefold Amen after the benediction. In fact, professors of preaching tell us that the opening of a service as well as a sermon should ... the house. The only books available there were a four-volume Life of Jesus Christ (Vita Jesu Christi) and a kind of dictionary of saints. To combat his boredom he read those books. He possessed no thoughts then of either piety or religion. In his later autobiography Ignatius wrote ...

23. All Saints

Psalm 149:1-9, Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18, Luke 6:27-36, Ephesians 1:11-23

Bulletin Aid

Julia Ross Strope

... through the years. Thank you for their liveliness, for their patience, and for all their gifts of Spirit. May our memories of them continue to encourage us and to honor them. Empower us to mentor and bless those around us so we, too, may be saints for this time and place. Amen. Benediction It’s a good day (or night) to praise God! A good day (or night) to be aware of our blessings! A good day to recall how others have guided you and me toward the Mystery of God. A good day to bless others on their way ...

24. The Season Of The Holy Spirit

Mark 8:27-30

Bulletin Aid

Wayne H. Keller

... the week, share your self and your witness with others, select friends, new visitors? (One minute of silence.) Meditation "Let the Beauty of Jesus" Before the Benediction What do you usually think and feel by the time of the benediction? Glad worship's over; joyfully expectant? Ready to move out as Christ's disciple and apostle, as Christ's minister, priest, saint? Meditation "Today's obedience to God offered tomorrow may well be too late" (Joost de Blank). "The Christ we will not share, we will not keep ...

25. Trinity Sunday

Genesis 1:1-2:3, Matthew 28:16-20, 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, Psalm 8:1-9

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

... we can know about the holy kiss is that it is holy because it was passed among the holy ones or saints who have been made holy by the reconciling work of God in Christ. Not the act, but the God-created context of the Church makes this enigmatic ... reasoning in the larger passage in which the verses of our lesson occur and, then, worship could conclude with the pronouncement of this benediction. Or, should one concentrate on the Trinity in the sermon, verse 13 [14] could be a point of departure for a didactic sermon ...

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