Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1 to 25 of 27 results

Acts 19:1-7

Sermon

Scott Suskovic

It's texts like this one from Acts 19 that create so many misunderstandings and downright disagreements about baptism for all ages. There was a story about a mom who glanced out through her kitchen window at her children playing across the yard. It was one of those games children play that looks complicated to the outside eye but for them it makes perfect sense. They had brought out a shovel and ...

2. A New Resolve

Philippians 4:1, 4-9

Sermon

Scott Suskovic

Last summer, my children rode a flight simulator. Basically, they strap you into a box in front of a screen and shake it upside down. It is supposed to feel more like flying an airplane than a Disney ride. They also had a camera on the people inside the simulator so that those waiting outside can see what was going on inside the cockpit. When my daughter had the controls, the plane was level, miss...

3. Busy with a Purpose

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Sermon

Scott Suskovic

We are too busy. A recent CNN Poll found out that 59% of the people felt overcommitted, overbusy, overstressed. In the past ten years, we have somehow lost eight-and-a-half hours a week of free time. I know that's true for me. I know I like a full plate. I like a busy schedule. Therefore, it is difficult for me to talk about slowing down. I needed help putting this message together. So I called se...

4. But Is It True?

Luke 2:8-20, Romans 16:25-27

Sermon

Scott Suskovic

Authors such as Lee Strobel, Nicky Gumbel, and Josh McDowell have spoken around the world about these 300 prophecies of the Old Testament and how they all point to Jesus. This cannot be mere coincidence. It cannot be like playing the lottery. The evidence is so overwhelming and the prophecies so compelling that one would think that the only logical conclusion would be to say that it is true. Unle...

5. Endurance

2 Corinthians 11:24-27, 2 Timothy 4:6-8

Sermon

Scott Suskovic

When my daughter, Hannah, was five years old we lived in Minnesota. Before she entered kindergarten, she had to take an entrance exam. Being the non-competitive but responsible parent that I am, I decided to help Hannah prepare for this test. I taught her how to count to ten — in four languages. I taught her the colors by buying a box of crayons — 64 count, including turquoise, magenta, and chartr...

6. Epiphany: All about You!

Colossians 3:1-17

Sermon

Scott Suskovic

Is it just my imagination or have we really become more self-absorbed over the past decades? Look at the progression for magazines. In the 1950s, we had Life magazine, which pretty much covered everything around us. In the 1960s, we narrowed that scope down to People. We weren't too concerned about other forms of life, just our own. In the 1970s we had US Magazine. Not them. It's all about us. In ...

7. Faith vs. Good Works

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Sermon

Scott Suskovic

In 1 Corinthians 6, Paul touches on a topic that has captivated Christians and fragmented churches for centuries. What is the relationship between our faith and good works? If I am saved by faith alone, then what are my limits? Paul puts it this way [note the quotes]: "Everything is permissible for me"--but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"--but I will not be mastere...

8. Integrity: Words with Meaning

2 Corinthians 1:18-22

Sermon

Scott Suskovic

Integrity means that your words have meaning. Paul writes, "... am I like people of the world who say yes when they really mean no? As surely as God is true, I am not that sort of person. My yes means yes" (2 Corinthians 1:17-18b NLT). That is extremely important today because more and more we are surrounded by meaningless words. You can't turn on the radio without an announcer yelling at you tha...

9. It’s God’s Will?

Ephesians 1:3-14

Sermon

Scott Suskovic

Harold is 81 years old and one day after worship he came up to me and said, "There is something I want you to preach on before too long. When I was eleven years old, my mother died. The good people at the church kept on telling me it was God's will for her to die. Do you think that it was God's will to take the life of a young boy's mom? Now that I'm getting older, I plan on seeing her again, soon...

10. Living in Chains

2 Timothy 2:8-13

Sermon

Scott Suskovic

That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day. (2 Timothy 1:12). It was in 1965 that the Rolling Stones recorded the song, "I Can't Get No Satisfaction." Even today, over fifty years later, we are still saying the same words and feeling the same emptiness of trying ...

11. Maybe Today

1 Corinthians 7:29-31

Sermon

Scott Suskovic

Amelia Bedelia is a favorite literary children's character. This poor, dim-witted maid is a literalist. You tell her to dust the tables, and she sprinkles talc everywhere. You tell her to dress the turkey, and she gets out a little lime green pantsuit. You tell her to draw the curtains and she gets out her sketch pad. In reading about Amelia Bedelia, you realize that we have many phrases that are...

12. No Work, No Food!

2 Thessalonians 3:6-13

Sermon

Scott Suskovic

Wow! Kind of takes your breath away, doesn't it? Not a lot of ambiguity in that rule. "You don't work, you don't eat." For a religion based on grace, it seems a bit unyielding. You would expect that rule in our ever-productive society. After all, it seems that our worth is determined by how much we can produce. Therefore, we judge others on how much (or how little) they are contributing. But is t...

13. Saint and Sinner

Romans 3:21-31

Sermon

Scott Suskovic

"Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). In the mid-1920s there was a successful, young, stockbroker who made it big on Wall Street. Really big! He had it all, materially speaking; money, country club membership, wealthy friends. He also drank. A lot! When the crash hit in 1929 and lasted for several years, he lost everything ... except his bottle of gin. His wife...

14. Sarah

2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17

Sermon

Scott Suskovic

Max Lucado, in his book, In the Eye of the Storm, writes about a woman named Sarah who was rich.1 Really rich! She inherited twenty million dollars plus had an additional income of $1,000 a day. That's a lot of money today. But in the late 1800s when Sarah lived, it was downright staggering. You can imagine that she was well-known, having come from the elite, upper crust of the New England coast....

15. Spiritual Gifts: God’s Gift of Fulfillment

1 Corinthians 1:3-9

Sermon

Scott Suskovic

One day all the animals in the forest got together and decided life was not fair. Some animals were better at flying than others. Some animals were better at climbing than others. Some animals were better at swimming than others. To even out the scales, they decided to open a school where the animals could improve in the areas of their weaknesses. After a month in the program, both tempers and fr...

16. The Eyes of Faith

2 Corinthians 4:3-6

Sermon

Scott Suskovic

When you come face to face with some huge obstacle, some daunting problem, something frightening in which the odds are stacked against you, what is your first step? Do you go around it? We learned that as a kid walking home, didn't we? If there were a big, mean dog on the route, we would walk blocks around it to get home safely. How about now? Do you still walk around those big, mean dogs? Some p...

17. The Final Word

John 11:25-26; Ephesians 1:12, 18-19

Sermon

Scott Suskovic

Several years ago, I was asked to perform a funeral for a brother of a member of our church. I'll call him Jason. When I don't know the person, I usually gather the family together and ask them about their most vivid memories of the person. Most of the time, the next hour is filled with laughter and tears and fond memories. When I asked Jason's family about their memories, there was this awkward ...

18. The Fred Factor

1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

Sermon

Scott Suskovic

A couple of months ago, I read the book Good to Great, in which Gillette was named as a great company. But I was having a hard time getting my mind around what made it so great. Did those executives, engineers, and assembly workers really wake up each morning thinking, "Today is the day that we are going to create an even better razor that will produce smoother legs and faces around the world"? Do...

19. The Fullness of Time

Galatians 4:4-7

Sermon

Scott Suskovic

Throughout the New Testament, there are numerous verses that say something about fulfillment. Jesus said, "These are my words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled" (Luke 24:44). On the cross, Jesus said, "I am thirsty" (John 19:28). He said this in order to fulfill the scrip...

20. The Missing Piece

Titus 2:11-14

Sermon

Scott Suskovic

During this Christmas season, we usually get together with some other families and spend a couple of days together. Someone always brings out a jigsaw puzzle. We set up the card table and scatter the pieces. It's not like we spend all day huddled around the puzzle. We walk by, we eat, we grab a piece, connect it, eat, and finally, after much fanfare, celebration, and food, the puzzle is completed ...

21. The Struggle for Freedom

1 Corinthians 8:1-13

Sermon

Scott Suskovic

There is a scene in Tom Hanks' movie, Forrest Gump, that came to mind when I read this text in 1 Corinthians. As a young boy, Forrest has to wear these clumsy, heavy leg braces. For the most part, he doesn't care. In fact, the braces become so much a part of his life that he doesn't even realize much how they have trapped and confined him. And then one day, some bullies chase Forrest and he has t...

22. The Word Alone

2 Timothy 3:14-4:5

Sermon

Scott Suskovic

"All scripture is inspired by God" (2 Timothy 3:16). There was a woman who called her pastor late one night in a panic and said, "Pastor, quickly, tell me what I believe." Another believer from a different church who challenged her about her beliefs had cornered her. She quickly found that she could not articulate the basic teachings of her church. "Pastor, quickly, tell me what I believe." Ther...

23. They Call It Grace

2 Peter 3:8-15

Sermon

Scott Suskovic

What do you hear in Paul's words? Grace or judgment? Law or gospel? Hope or despair? Advent is a time of waiting. Often we wonder, "How long? How long can I wait for his coming? How long can I look off to the horizon? How long can I proclaim his return?" When we see Paul's words through the filter of grace, we realize the answer is just a little bit longer. During a British conference on comparat...

24. This Is a King?

Matthew 5:40, 43-44, Colossians 1:15, 16-19, Matthew 5:3, 6, 11

Sermon

Scott Suskovic

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created ... in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell... — Colossians 1:15-16, 19 I grew up during all those Godfather movies, and I never saw a single one. I don't know why. I was busy. It was a three-hour movie. I had to study. So when I heard jokes about a horse's he...

25. Who Will Vouch for Me?

2 Corinthians 3:1-6

Sermon

Scott Suskovic

William Barkley points out in his commentary on this passage that there was a common practice in the ancient world of sending letters of commendations with a person when he traveled into strange and foreign communities. To insure his reputation or even safety, these letters written by a trusted friend would testify to his character. It was sometimes difficult, however, to determine whether a recom...

Showing results