Sermon and Worship Resources

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1 Kings 2:10-12, 3:3-14

Sermon

Stan Purdum

The fact that Solomon was a king makes it difficult for most modern readers of the Bible to identify personally with him. But there is one reason above all that makes it almost impossible for any of us to picture ourselves in his sandals: God came to Solomon and made him an open-ended offer — "Ask what I should give you." I mean, when is the last time God made such an offer to you or me? Solomon...

2. A Man of the Moment

Genesis 25:19-34

Sermon

Stan Purdum

Do you remember the movie 1988 movie, Twins? It was comedy that starred Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito as, of all things, twin brothers. Even if you know nothing about the plot of the movie, the mental picture of those two actors standing side-by-side as twins is itself pretty funny. The setup for the move is that the brothers are the result of an experiment to grow a perfect man, who is ...

3. A Sense of Place

2 Samuel 5:1-5, 6-10

Sermon

Stan Purdum

In one of his books, writer Scott Russell Sanders tells that whenever his father would come to new place, he would bend down, scoop up a pinch of dirt, sniff it, stir it around in his palm, squeeze it, and finally rake it across his tongue. When asked why he did this, he explained, "Just trying to figure out where I am."1 I have never used that particular method to locate myself, but being in min...

4. A Way of Seeing

Genesis 21:8-21

Sermon

Stan Purdum

Remember your childhood suspicion that both your mother and your teacher had eyes in the back of their heads? As you got older, you realized it wasn't literally true, but it was a way of describing their awareness of what you were doing. Well now, we are coming to a place where it could be a much more literal statement. In fact, they could even have eyes in the back of their mouths. There have be...

5. April Love

Sermon

Stan Purdum

It's a bit odd that the lectionary committee placed this reading from the Song of Solomon in late summer, for it seems like a springtime text. Springtime, according to the poet Tennyson, is that time when "a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love,"1 but I guess summer love is pretty exciting, too. Some recent research, however, suggests that what actually may be going on in the ...

6. As Seen from the Solitary Broom Tree

1 Kings 19:1-18

Sermon

Stan Purdum

I'm not sure when the term "burn out" ceased being only a description of what happened to a campfire when you ran out of firewood to a term describing the experience of long-term exhaustion and diminished interest, usually coming immediately after an extended period of overwork, but the expression seems to fit that later situation, doesn't it? Exhaustion, deep weariness, all used up, nothing more ...

7. Being What We Are

1 Samuel 8:4-20

Sermon

Stan Purdum

The fact that you are here in church this morning instead of at home sleeping in or reading the newspaper says something about your religious commitment. But it's also true that you could have chosen to go to church today without coming here specifically. For many of you, this is not the nearest church building to where you live. In fact, several of you drive past one or more other churches on you...

8. Breakdowns and Breakthroughs

Genesis 22:1-14

Sermon

Stan Purdum

There are some recent studies on racism that offer important information about our thinking processes for all of us no matter to what race we belong. These studies challenge the older idea that racial prejudice is something we are born with — something inherent in our makeup. They show that even when we have a negative gut reaction to someone based on race, we can override that reaction with our r...

9. Choosing to Believe

1 Kings 18:20-39

Sermon

Stan Purdum

Perhaps you recall recently when a burial box from the first century A.D. had come to light, on which was inscribed the words "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus." This revelation caused quite a stir in the world of Christian scholarship because, if authentic, it would be the oldest tangible link to the historical Jesus — evidence of his actual existence. While even many non-Christians agree t...

10. Choosing to Love

Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67

Sermon

Stan Purdum

The popular notion in our society is that the best way to choose a marriage partner is to wait until we "fall in love" with someone. By that, we usually mean that we wait for some kind of feeling, some emotional response to a person of the opposite sex that convinces us that we can never be truly happy again unless we can spend the future with that person. And often the feeling we experience is on...

11. Eating in the Echoing Hall

2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33

Sermon

Stan Purdum

Here's a question for you: In considering your life to this point, what things, if anything, do you regret? Regret, of course, is a feeling of disappointment or distress about something you wish could be different, and in reality, not many of us get through life without a few regrets. As Frank Sinatra crooned in his song "My Way": "Regrets? I've had a few, but then again, too few to mention." And...

12. Experiencing God

Acts 2:1-21

Sermon

Stan Purdum

Today is Pentecost, the anniversary of the day nearly 2,000 years ago when the Holy Spirit came powerfully upon the followers of Jesus who were gathered in the upper room in Jerusalem. They were so inspired that they rushed out into the streets and began preaching about Jesus. Some 3,000 converts were made that day alone. Most Bible scholars mark that day as the beginning of the church — the birth...

13. God, What Are You Up To?

Genesis 12:1-9

Sermon

Stan Purdum

One of the better programs on television from 2003 to 2005 was a series on CBS called Joan of Arcadia. Like many thoughtful shows, this one did not score high enough to stay on the air for long, but it did last two seasons. The title alludes to Joan of Arc, the fifteenth-century teenager who believed she heard the voice of God urging her to save France from England during the Hundred Years War. T...

14. God's Laughter

Genesis 18:1-15, 21:1-7

Sermon

Stan Purdum

Okay, who knows how Joan of Arc died? Right. She was burned at the stake. Keep that in mind; it will come up again in a few minutes. Today's text is about Sarah laughing, and it strikes me that it would be better if the lectionary had scheduled this reading for sometime in April instead of during the summer. That's because April is National Humor Month. This observance was started in 1976 by humo...

15. Leaping from Recognition Point

2 Samuel 11:26—12:13a

Sermon

Stan Purdum

There is a small community in north-central Ohio named Clyde. Back in 1919, a man named Sherwood Anderson, who had grown up in Clyde, published a book of short stories called Winesburg, Ohio. But rather than being proud that one of their hometown boys had made good, a lot of the residents resented Anderson. It didn't take them long to figure out that the fictional Winesburg that served as the sett...

16. Misled By Beauty

1 Samuel 15:34-35, 16:1-13

Sermon

Stan Purdum

It seems to me that the so-called "reality" television shows that have proliferated on the airwaves recently have introduced some new lows in the quality of broadcasting, and one of the more unwholesome — and dare I say even ungodly — notions they have reinforced is that what you look like is a measure of your value as a person. Two shows in particular promote this view: Extreme Makeover and Aver...

17. Mourning Our Fallen Tormentors

2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27

Sermon

Stan Purdum

Michael Dirda is the senior editor of The Washington Post Book World, as well as a recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for literary criticism. In 2003, he published an autobiographical account of his early years, telling about growing up in Lorain, Ohio. While there is much that he appreciated about his home, he also tells that his years there were colored somewhat darkly by his father, who was a cran...

18. Mrs. Proverbs

Proverbs 31:10-31

Sermon

Stan Purdum

It's a question you've probably not thought much about, but were any parts of the Bible written by women? We count about forty different writers in scripture, and according to the usual assumption, all of them were men. Among the reasons for that conclusion is the fact that the dominant culture of the ancient Middle East was patriarchal. Men were in charge, and women had few rights of their own, n...

19. Nice Guys Finish First

Proverbs 1:20-33

Sermon

Stan Purdum

One day, a Sunday school teacher asked her class of children about their favorite Bible verses. One boy volunteered that his favorite was John 11:35, "Jesus wept," because it was short and easy to remember. A girl said her favorite was John 3:16, because she'd been told it was a summary of the gospel message and had memorized it for Bible school the previous summer. One boy said he liked the ...

20. Stewards of Power

Esther 7:1-6, 9-10, 9:20-22

Sermon

Stan Purdum

Most days, the news carries stories that, in some way or other, involve the abuse of power. In recent years it has included financial abuses committed by top executives of major companies and abuse of Iraq detainees by U.S. prison guards, but there's almost always some sort of power abuse in the news. So here's a question for each of you: Do you think of yourself as a powerful person? Before you...

21. The God of War and Peace

1 Samuel 17:(1a, 4-11, 19-23) 32-49

Sermon

Stan Purdum

The United Methodists came out with their most recent hymnbook in 1989. Three years before that, while the hymnal committee was deciding which hymns from the previous book would be included in the new one and which would be deleted, they concluded that "Onward Christian Soldiers" should be omitted. The committee voted to delete it, feeling that the hymn was overly militaristic and thus was inconsi...

22. The Kindness of Strangers

1 Kings 17:8-24

Sermon

Stan Purdum

In 1994, a 37-year-old man by the name of Mike McIntyre decided to confront his fears and the shaky path his life was taking. Living in San Francisco at the time, he left his job, his girlfriend, his apartment — all the trappings of his life, and decided to hitchhike across America, heading for Cape Fear, North Carolina, a location he selected for its name, which symbolized his fear of many things...

23. The Ladder from Our House

Genesis 28:10-19a

Sermon

Stan Purdum

There is a wonderful story about a city mayor. It happened that during one particular year, the mayor made trips to both Washington DC and to Israel. According to the story, while in Washington, the mayor visited the president in the oval office. During the visit, the mayor noticed three telephones on the president's desk and inquired about them. "Well," said the president, "The black one is a re...

24. The Maybe Moment

2 Samuel 11:1-15

Sermon

Stan Purdum

Earlier this year, Debra Bezzina was piloting her Nissan Altima down Interstate 96 in Michigan. Reaching for a pack of gum in her pocket, she took her eyes from the road for a couple of seconds. All of a sudden, a voice, speaking with urgency, said, "Not, Not, Not." Yanking her attention back to the road, Bezzina realized that her car had started to drift across the solid white line to the right. ...

25. The Sign of God

Amos 7:7-17

Sermon

Stan Purdum

Most of us have wrestled with questions like these at one time or another: What career should I pursue? Whom should I marry? Where should I attend college? What church should I attend? Should we have another child? Should I accept a job offer that moves my family far away from our hometown? What community responsibilities should I accept? And so on … You recognize, of course, that questions of thi...

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