Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1 to 25 of 26 results

1. A Person Jesus Loves

Matthew 25:31-46

Illustration

Steven Molin

As the worshipers arrived on a late November morning at the Lutheran Church in White Lake North Dakota, they were met by a rather disturbing sight. An apparently homeless beggar sat on the front steps of the church, wearing tattered clothing, a wool cap pulled down over his eyes, and clutching a bottle in fingerless gloves. They had never seen anything quite like this in White Lake North Dakota. ...

2. A Reputation Is Hard to Shake

Mark 6:1-13

Illustration

Steven Molin

Do you remember the stupid stuff you did when you were a kid? I'm not talking about wetting the bed or spilling your milk; I mean the things that you did in public, the things that were known in the community and, perhaps, even gave you a reputation. Maybe you were arrested for some prank, or you were kicked off the football team for drinking, or maybe, on a dare, you streaked the high school lunc...

3. A Riddle

Mark 4

Illustration

Steven Molin

About ten years ago, the youth director on our staff told me a riddle, and then he left town on a week-long camping trip without telling me the answer. He told me the riddle, and then he said "Oh yeah, only 17% of Stanford graduates figured out this riddle, but 80% of kindergartners knew the answer." And then he left! I could have strangled him! But here's the riddle: "What is stronger than God, ...

4. Agony and Ecstasy

John 11:17-37

Sermon

Steven Molin

Mary and Martha; remember them? They are the sisters who were hosting Jesus for dinner one evening, except that Martha did all the work, and Mary sat at Jesus' feet for the Bible study. And when Martha complains to Jesus about it, Jesus corrects her! "Martha, Martha, you worry about so many things, but just one thing is necessary ... and Mary chose it." Ouch! Today's gospel lesson offers us anoth...

5. Always Right

John 9: 1-41

Illustration

Steven Molin

Several years ago I was preparing to preach a sermon on the rigidness of the Pharisees, and I had folded into each worship bulletin, adhesive labels which said either "I'M ALWAYS RIGHT!" or "I MIGHT BE WRONG." I asked people to stick their labels on their lapels and wear them during the sharing of the peace, and as we shared the peace, the sanctuary was a-buzz with wonderful conversation and laugh...

6. Blizzard Stories

Matthew 14:22-33

Illustration

Steven Molin

Everybody loves to talk about the weather. Garrison Keillor loves to talk about "the winter of '65." He says that in describing the storms of that year, truth is only the starting point. The snow, the wind, the cold temperatures, yup, it was a miserable year, 1965. Keillor said that one night, it snowed so hard that he had to drive with his car door open so that he could follow the tracks in the s...

7. Calling Out in the Darkness

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

Steven Molin

He was an embarrassment; he had been ever since he went blind. He would sit there on that mat, tin cup in hand, begging for alms. "Gifts for the poor! Gifts for the poor!" he would cry out in his darkness. And people would step around him, though some would dare to place a coin in his coffer. "Thank you, kind sir! May the Lord bless you for your generosity!" And then his litany would resume again:...

8. Celebrate This!

Mark 12:38-44

Sermon

Steven Molin

He was a Lutheran pastor from central Iowa, but with an avocation for carpentry, and that's why he was spending a month's vacation on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. His goal that month was to build a new bathroom for the community there. On the last day of his vacation, a small Indian girl approached him and, in her outstretched hand she held a nickel. "Here," she said, "I want...

9. Easter Fits All

John 20:1-9

Illustration

Steven Molin

In the spring of 1981, the president of national hotel chain was speaking at a conference in Atlanta Georgia, and while he was there, he decided he needed a haircut. While sitting in the chair of a neighborhood barber, he struck up a conversation. "What are you doing for a vacation this summer?" The barber's face brightened, "My wife and I are taking a road trip, and we're driving to Phoenix." "Re...

10. Following

Mark 8:31-38

Illustration

Steven Molin

Author Anthony Campolo says our attitudes start at a very early age. He brought his son to the first day of school and the principal was addressing the parents in this way: "Here at the Ding Dong School, we like to think of each child as a little flower, unique and special, one which blossoms and grows in its own special time." The problem is, the kid grows up thinking she is so special that she's...

11. God Loves You

John 20:1-18

Illustration

Steven Molin

A young college co-ed walked in to her counselor's office and confessed that she didn't believe in God anymore. Her dad was a Lutheran pastor and she had been spoon-fed the gospel all her life. But now, in college, she was smarter than all that; now she trusted science, now she believed in bright professors and thick textbooks and knowledge and reason; faith seemed to insult her intellect. When sh...

12. Humor: The One Minute Story

John 9: 1-41

Illustration

Steven Molin

These Sundays leading up to Holy Week provide for us some of the longest scripture readings of the entire year. In considering how I might shorten these gospel texts, I was reminded of an internet site called "Book a Minute." Their motto tells you all you need to know, for it says: "When even Cliff Notes are too long." So I looked up a few of the edited books on their website, and this is what I f...

13. Ollie, Ollie, All In Free!

John 8:31-36

Sermon

Steven Molin

It is probably not theologically advisable to begin a sermon with a complaint, but I am going to defy that advice. I have a complaint, and it is this: Nobody plays the good, old, childhood games anymore! When leaves turn color, and temperatures turn cool, my thoughts turn to outdoor games we played as children. Remember those days? All the children in the neighborhood would gather in an empty fiel...

14. One Beggar Telling Another Where to Find Food

Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

Illustration

Steven Molin

Paul Tillich was one of the greatest theologians of the 20th century, the "father of existential theology" was he. And yet, when he was asked to define what a Christian is, he said "Oh, that's easy; a Christian is simply one beggar telling another beggar where to find food." The Christian Church in the 21st century does not see itself as beggars telling other beggars where to find food. Rather, I...

15. Reconciliation: Refusing to Retaliate

Matthew 5:38-42

Illustration

Steven Molin

It's a story that is repeated on every elementary school playground, nearly every day in our country. Two fourth-graders get into it during recess; something about "he did this, so I did that" and it kind of goes south from there. When they get back to class, Billy trips Joey. After lunch, Joey breaks Billy's pencil on purpose. When nobody is looking, Billy writes on Joey's desk, and later, Joey s...

16. The Final Exam

Mark 10:17-31

Sermon

Steven Molin

In 1993, former president Jimmy Carter presented the commencement address to the graduating class at Rice University in Houston, Texas. He shared the story of a young college freshman who overslept for the final exam in geometry and pleaded for mercy from his professor. The professor granted it — sort of. "If you provide an accurate answer for one question, I will submit a passing grade for you." ...

17. The Gospel Has Been Proclaimed

John 20:1-18

Illustration

Steven Molin

A first year student in a Catholic seminary was told by the dean that he should plan to preach the sermon in chapel the following day. He had never preached a sermon before, he was nervous and afraid, and he stayed up all night, but in the morning, he didn't have a sermon. He stood in the pulpit, looked out at his classmates and said "Do you know what I am going to say?" All of them shook their he...

18. The Thing about Laws

Mark 12:28-34

Sermon

Steven Molin

Our nation has a lot of stupid laws! For example, in North Dakota, "Beer and pretzels cannot be served at the same time in any bar or restaurant." In Alaska, "It is illegal to push a live moose out of a moving airplane." In Florida, "If an elephant is left tied to a parking meter, the parking fee has to be paid just as it would if it was a vehicle." And if not the most bizarre, then certainly the ...

19. Truth Tellers

Matthew 5:21-26

Illustration

Steven Molin

For generations, the Quakers refused to follow the legal system’s requirement that witnesses in court must place their hand upon a bible and “swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” They were criticized, and ridiculed and in some cases, incarcerated for their refusal to take an oath. But because they gained the reputation of being honest people, they are, in some cour...

20. Truths for Dads

Illustration

Steven Molin

Especially for Father's Day, here is a short list of things that I believe to be true for dads: That the best way to love our children is to love and respect their mother, That the best gift we can give our children is a sense of safety and security as they grow up. I believe that it's more important to give them our time, not our money, it's more important to be respected by them than to be li...

21. We Know Where We Are Going

John 20:19-23

Illustration

Steven Molin

The story is told about Albert Einstein, the brilliant physicist of Princeton University in the early 20th century. Einstein was traveling from Princeton on a train, and when the conductor came down the aisle to punch the passengers’ tickets, Einstein couldn’t find his. He looked in his vest pocket, he looked in his pants pocket, he looked in his briefcase, but there was no ticket. The conductor w...

22. When God Says, “No”

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

Steven Molin

There is a candy shop in the city of Keystone, South Dakota, just a few hundred yards down the mountain from that infamous Mount Rushmore monument. I can't tell you the name of that candy store, but I can certainly recall the sign on the counter that stands at just about eyeball-level for the average seven-year-old. The sign says this: "If Mom says, ‘No,' ask Grandma!" Within the obvious humor of...

23. When Payday Comes

Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon

Steven Molin

Dear friends in Christ, grace to you, and peace, from God our Father, and his Son, our Lord Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. He walked into my office with all the confidence of corporate CEO, this fifteen-year old confirmation student. Without much fanfare, he announced, “I don’t think Mike Stevens should be confirmed.” I didn’t know Randy well; I had only been the pastor of that church for about four...

24. When the Spectacular Becomes Familiar

Illustration

Steven Molin

In his book Finding God in Unexpected Places, author Philip Yancey describes the time he and his wife visited Old Faithful Geyser in Yellowstone Park. They were having lunch in the lodge, watching the digital clock ticking down the minutes until the next big splash. When the clock reached 30 seconds, diners left their tables and rushed over to the windows overlooking the geyser. When Old Faithf...

25. Who Knocked Down the Walls of Jericho?

Mark 7:24-37

Illustration

Steven Molin

The pastor was walking through the Sunday School wing one week and stopped in to the 4th grade class. While he was there, he decided to see what the kids were grasping. "Joey" he said, "who knocked down the walls of Jericho?" Joey said "Don't look at me, pastor, I didn't do it!" The pastor looked at the teacher for an explanation. "Well pastor, if Joey said he didn't do it, he didn't do it." The ...

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Showing 1 to 25 of 26 results

1. A Person Jesus Loves

Matthew 25:31-46

Illustration

Steven Molin

2. A Reputation Is Hard to Shake

Mark 6:1-13

Illustration

Steven Molin

3. A Riddle

Mark 4

Illustration

Steven Molin

4. Agony and Ecstasy

John 11:17-37

Sermon

Steven Molin

5. Always Right

John 9: 1-41

Illustration

Steven Molin

6. Blizzard Stories

Matthew 14:22-33

Illustration

Steven Molin

7. Calling Out in the Darkness

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

Steven Molin

8. Celebrate This!

Mark 12:38-44

Sermon

Steven Molin

9. Easter Fits All

John 20:1-9

Illustration

Steven Molin

10. Following

Mark 8:31-38

Illustration

Steven Molin

11. God Loves You

John 20:1-18

Illustration

Steven Molin

12. Humor: The One Minute Story

John 9: 1-41

Illustration

Steven Molin

13. Ollie, Ollie, All In Free!

John 8:31-36

Sermon

Steven Molin

14. One Beggar Telling Another Where to Find Food

Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

Illustration

Steven Molin

15. Reconciliation: Refusing to Retaliate

Matthew 5:38-42

Illustration

Steven Molin

16. The Final Exam

Mark 10:17-31

Sermon

Steven Molin

17. The Gospel Has Been Proclaimed

John 20:1-18

Illustration

Steven Molin

18. The Thing about Laws

Mark 12:28-34

Sermon

Steven Molin

19. Truth Tellers

Matthew 5:21-26

Illustration

Steven Molin

20. Truths for Dads

Illustration

Steven Molin

21. We Know Where We Are Going

John 20:19-23

Illustration

Steven Molin

22. When God Says, “No”

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

Steven Molin

23. When Payday Comes

Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon

Steven Molin

24. When the Spectacular Becomes Familiar

Illustration

Steven Molin

25. Who Knocked Down the Walls of Jericho?

Mark 7:24-37

Illustration

Steven Molin

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