Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1 to 25 of 39 results

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Sermon

King Duncan

When Steven Spielberg signed up for a Boy Scouts merit badge in moviemaking, his father bought him a Super-8 camera. According to his mother, from then on the decor in their house consisted of white walls, blue carpeting, and tripods. Their car back then was a 1950 army-surplus jeep. Steven's family would load it up and drive into the desert. And Steven would have the whole family dressed up in ridiculous costumes. He'd say, "Stand behind that cactus," and they did. And Steven's mother was quite willing to ...

2. How Connected Are You?

John 15:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... some friends . . . and somehow he was able to get his book to the attention of a director named Steven Spielberg. You’ve probably heard that name before. Spielberg was fresh from making the blockbuster film, Jurassic Park. “Stop playing around with dinosaurs,” Page told Spielberg when they first met. “I promise you, you’ll get an Oscar for [telling] Oskar’s story.” And he did. Spielberg turned Schindler’s List into a major motion picture. The book‑‑and the movie, which won seven Oscars ...

3. The Commitment of a Friend

Illustration

King Duncan

... shopkeeper had some friends who had some friends . . . and somehow he was able to get his book to the attention of Steven Spielberg. Spielberg was fresh from making the blockbuster film, Jurassic Park. "Stop playing around with dinosaurs," Page told Spielberg when they first met. "I promise you, you'll get an Oscar for [telling] Oskar's story." And he did. Spielberg turned Schindler's List into a major motion picture. The book ‑ and the movie, which won seven Oscars, including Best Picture - more ...

4. Saving Private Ryan

Acts 1:8

Sermon

James Merritt

Steven Spielberg recently directed a powerful movie entitled, "Saving Private Ryan," which was a box office hit. Though I have not seen the movie, ... war. Their job was to rescue this one soldier and get him back home to his family. But you may not know that there was a real-life "Private Ryan." Mary and Steven Campagnone had four sons. Albert, twenty-one, died in Germany around Christmas 1944. Carmen, eighteen, was blown apart by a minefield in the Rhinelands in March of 1945. The following month, Bernard ...

5. Joy to the World

Mark 16:1-8

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... a resurrection, but a transport to another dimension on another planet, accompanied by extra-terrestrial beings who arrived in this solar system in conjunction with the arrival of that comet. When I realized this, I was impressed with the similarity to Steven Spielberg's famous movie, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, which I personally found to be extraordinarily charming and moving. I saw it twice, I remember. I rarely see any movie twice. I was so fascinated with its lovely images. I am intrigued ...

6. Are You Able?

Matthew 20:20-28

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... was being treated for cancer, a nurse ad-dressed me in the waiting room as Mr. Olds. When I stepped behind the office door she said immediately, “I would have called you Rev. Olds but ministers are not supposed to get sick." Since when? One of Steven Spielberg's best movies is Saving Private Ryan. Like the passion of Christ, the horrors of war some of you fought, is more pain than my mind can comprehend or my emotions can bear. A private bounces off the boat for the invasion of Normandy kissing his cross ...

7. The Horror before the Blessing

Matthew 2:13-23

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

... black church in Birmingham, Alabama. Four little girls on their way to Sunday school died in that blast. How would we portray the grief of the women who watch the soldiers murder their children? Steven Spielberg portrays the grief of a woman who has lost her sons in World War II. In the movie, Saving Private Ryan, Spielberg directs a scene in which Ryan's mother watches the car carrying military officials to her house. Before the men even come in, she knows what they have come to say. She collapses in grief ...

8. “O Absalom, My Son, My Son!”

2 Sam 18:1–19:8

Teach the Text

Robert B. Chisholm Jr.

... Lord has protected him in answer to his prayer, but he still needs to face the inevitable and painful consequences of his past deeds. Illustrating the Text Divine discipline is inescapable. Film: Duel, directed by Steven Spielberg. Based on a short story by Richard Matheson (b. 1926), this film (1971) is Spielberg’s (b. 1946) feature film debut. In it a terrified motorist, played by Dennis Weaver, is driving his Valiant auto on a remote and lonely road in the mountains when he realizes he is being chased ...

9. A Remedy for Rejection

Luke 4:22-30

Sermon

King Duncan

... fail. Stephen King’s first novel, Carrie, was rejected 30 times before it was published. Carrie, as you may recall, went on to spawn four movies and a Broadway musical. Director Steven Spielberg was rejected three times for admission to the University of Southern California School of Theater, Film and Television. I guess they figured that Spielberg who directed such films as Jaws, E.T., Raiders of the Lost Ark, Saving Private Ryan and many, many more just couldn’t cut it in the film business. (1) Many ...

10. On God's Side Or In God's Way?

Acts 11:1-18

Sermon

King Duncan

... how these people treated us; it will matter a great deal how we dealt with the work of God.” Some of you saw Steven Spielberg’s movie on the life of Abraham Lincoln. There is a story told on Lincoln that reminds me of General Booth’s words. In ... hand. And so, you and I have a decision to make are we on God’s side or are we in God’s way? Dr. R. Steven Hudder tells about a legislator in Georgia, Donald Ponder, who decided he wanted to be on God’s side. A representative to the state legislature he ...

11. The Nativity Of Our Lord

Luke 2:1-20 · Titus 2:11-14 · Isaiah 9:2-7 · Ps 96

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... Encounters Sermon Angle: The confirmation class was challenged to find the extraterrestrials in Luke's nativity account. They couldn't believe it, so they searched. One student hesitatingly responded, "Angels?" "Right on," I replied. The sermon title derives from Steven Spielberg's movie, Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, which features an encounter between humans and an extraterrestrial being. The first encounter was between a wrinkled little alien and a child. The response on both sides is not fear but ...

12. Color It Purple

2 Samuel 5:1-5

Sermon

... prince of the first rank. An athlete knowing full well what "Wide World of Sports" likes to call "the thrill of victory; the agony of defeat." David: poet, prince, and praise-singer. David: sinner and saint. David. Here was a man. The Color Purple is Steven Spielberg’s film based on Alice Walker’s novel about a homely and downtrodden Georgia black woman. In the movie, "purple is a life-giving color symbolic of love and hope." Marc Chagall in his 1956 lithograph of David, painted the great hero’s beard ...

13. Advent 1: Let Us Go Over To Bethlehem And Find The Faith of Christmas

Luke 2:15-20

Sermon

James W. Moore

... you are included, you are wanted and needed. You are precious to me.” However you want to say it… express that… and you will give them a Christmas present… the gift of acceptance. II. Second, There is the Gift of Forgiveness. Steven Spielberg’s movie, “Schindler’s List,” is a graphic, shocking, unflinching depiction of the 20th century’s most staggering horror – the methodical, brutal extermination of millions of human beings in those Nazi death camps of World War II. Oskar Schindler was ...

14. Can A Christian Brag?

Ephesians 2:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... all are saved by grace. This is not to deny the importance of good works in the Christian life. It is to say that our good works flow from our acknowledgment that Christ died for us and by faith in him and faith alone, we are redeemed. In Steven Spielberg's movie Saving Private Ryan, a squadron of young soldiers is sent on a mission to find one soldier behind enemy lines and bring him home. Most of the young men in the squadron, including the Captain, die in the rescue attempt. As he lay dying, the captain ...

15. Time For A New Vision

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

Angela Akers

... employees. After the war, Page spent years searching for a writer who would tell the story of Schindler and his noble act. Finally, author Thomas Keneally took on the task of writing the book "Schindler's List," which was turned into the awardwinning movie by Steven Spielberg. Before Page's death, he remarked, "I did not know how I would do this, but I promised Oskar Schindler I would make him a household name." (8) Leopold Page dedicated his life to spreading the story of Oskar Schindler, the man who had ...

16. The “Sad-You-See” Syndrome

Mark 12:18-27

Sermon

Michael Milton

... that such men and women lack the wonder of life that comes from hope in eternity. If this life is all we have, we are most sad, most pitiable. Some of you will remember the movie Schindler’s List. Based on the novel by Thomas Keneally, Steven Spielberg’s movie tells the compelling true story of the German businessman Oskar Schindler who comes to Nazi-occupied Poland looking for economic prosperity and leaves as a savior of more than 1,100 Jews. The entire film is in black and white except for a little ...

17. Love Came Down at Christmas

Luke 2:15-20

Sermon

James W. Moore

... you are included, you are wanted and needed. You are precious to me.” However you want to say it… express that… and you will give them a Christmas present… the gift of acceptance. II. SECOND, THERE IS THE GIFT OF FORGIVENESS. Steven Spielberg’s movie, “Schindler’s List,” is a graphic, shocking, unflinching depiction of the 20th century’s most staggering horror – the methodical, brutal extermination of millions of human beings in those Nazi death camps of World War II. Oskar Schindler was ...

18. Risking Relationships That Redeem

Ruth 3:1-5, 4:13-17

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

... you? Is it to be a present-day redeemer for another? It will not be necessary for you to give your life, or even to relocate to another country. Much simpler acts of reaching out to help others in need is what the world needs now. In Steven Spielberg's powerful film version of Alice Walker's novel, The Color Purple, a brutalized black woman, stumbles into the general store to buy groceries for her white mistress. She is so bruised around her eyes from the cruel treatment she received on the street that she ...

19. Keep the Stars in Your Eyes

Ephesians 1:3-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Angel has become one of the most popular prime-time shows and the first explicitly religious drama to break into the Nielsen Top 10 in the ratings service's 46-year history. The first big movie of DreamWorks SKG, the powerhouse studio run by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen, is a biblical, animated telling of the story of Moses called The Prince of Egypt. And since our cultural and spiritual pivot is increasingly in the East, there is Kundun, a Martin Scorsese film about the Dalai Lama ...

20. Holy Hocus-Pocus!

Mark 13:1-31

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

21. Hear the Vision?

1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20)

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

22. The One and Only Original Sin

1 Peter 3:18-22

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

23. The Trace of Grace

Ephesians 2:1-10

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

24. Count Your Wows!

Luke 21:5-38

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

25. Waging Wisdom

James 3:13—4:8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Showing results

Showing 1 to 25 of 39 results

1. Christian Living As It's Meant To Be

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Sermon

King Duncan

2. How Connected Are You?

John 15:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

3. The Commitment of a Friend

Illustration

King Duncan

4. Saving Private Ryan

Acts 1:8

Sermon

James Merritt

5. Joy to the World

Mark 16:1-8

Sermon

Mark Trotter

6. Are You Able?

Matthew 20:20-28

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

7. The Horror before the Blessing

Matthew 2:13-23

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

8. “O Absalom, My Son, My Son!”

2 Sam 18:1–19:8

Teach the Text

Robert B. Chisholm Jr.

9. A Remedy for Rejection

Luke 4:22-30

Sermon

King Duncan

10. On God's Side Or In God's Way?

Acts 11:1-18

Sermon

King Duncan

11. The Nativity Of Our Lord

Luke 2:1-20 · Titus 2:11-14 · Isaiah 9:2-7 · Ps 96

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

12. Color It Purple

2 Samuel 5:1-5

Sermon

13. Advent 1: Let Us Go Over To Bethlehem And Find The Faith of Christmas

Luke 2:15-20

Sermon

James W. Moore

14. Can A Christian Brag?

Ephesians 2:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

15. Time For A New Vision

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

Angela Akers

16. The “Sad-You-See” Syndrome

Mark 12:18-27

Sermon

Michael Milton

17. Love Came Down at Christmas

Luke 2:15-20

Sermon

James W. Moore

... you are included, you are wanted and needed. You are precious to me.” However you want to say it… express that… and you will give them a Christmas present… the gift of acceptance. II. SECOND, THERE IS THE GIFT OF FORGIVENESS. Steven Spielberg’s movie, “Schindler’s List,” is a graphic, shocking, unflinching depiction of the 20th century’s most staggering horror – the methodical, brutal extermination of millions of human beings in those Nazi death camps of World War II. Oskar Schindler was ...

18. Risking Relationships That Redeem

Ruth 3:1-5, 4:13-17

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

19. Keep the Stars in Your Eyes

Ephesians 1:3-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

20. Holy Hocus-Pocus!

Mark 13:1-31

Sermon

Leonard Sweet