Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1 to 25 of 51 results

Ezekiel 37:1-14

Sermon

Tony Everett

This story has been shared at many church gatherings recently. Three parish deacons were hiking across an old wooden foot bridge fifty feet above a dry and rocky creek bed. They stopped for a moment to absorb the breath-taking view of distant hillsides, green pastures filled with grazing cattle, and endless rows of tall cornstalks waving in the gentle breeze. “God’s in heaven and all’s right with...

2. A Honeymoon at Church Camp: A Real Homecoming

Jeremiah 31:7-14

Sermon

Tony Everett

Rachael and Wally first saw each other at church camp when they attended a January orientation meeting for new counselors. Just one look into one another's eyes was all it took for these high school seniors to realize that this might be the start of something wonderful. It was. Over the next four summers at camp, Rachael and Wally's infatuation blossomed into romance. They became engaged with plan...

3. Advent Of Angels

Malachi 1:6-14

Sermon

Tony Everett

A seminary professor has said that there have been more books about angels produced during the past five years than in the previous 150. In our sometimes chaotic and impersonal society we have a deep yearning to be protected, loved, and guided. When we experience life's uncertainties and challenges we need a messenger from God; we need an angel to help us overcome adversity, to guide us through tr...

4. An Awesome Homecoming

Sermon

Tony Everett

Many people enjoy jogging early in the morning, when the mist still clings to the trees and tall grass that line the roadside. Cardinals and Carolina wrens have just begun singing their wake-up calls to the sun. A family of deer gathers at the edge of the woods lining the pasture. God is in heaven and all is right with the world. Not today. Two hundred yards ahead, on the only road leading home, l...

5. Anticipation Proclamation

Zephaniah 3:1-20

Sermon

Tony Everett

During the spring of their senior year, seminary students begin the parish interview process in preparation for their first call as pastor. At one seminary, seniors are asked by a professor to respond to two specific questions. The first question is: What expectations do lay persons have for their next pastor? Seniors are overwhelmed by their own responses, which include the following: visionary l...

6. Anything But Trivial

Nehemiah 7:73b--8:18

Sermon

Tony Everett

Have you noticed how the Super Bowl becomes the major focus of attention in America during this time of year? The media is full of elaborate analysis of each football team as the championship game approaches. "Up close and personal" anecdotes of players, owners, and fans become major topics of conversation. Hundreds of millions of advertising dollars are invested in one game. Millions of people ar...

7. Aprons or Bibs

Deuteronomy 30:15-20

Sermon

Tony Everett

Potluck dinners are wonderful! We enjoy marvelous fellowship, contagious laughter, and the comfort of being in a place where everybody knows your name. And, oh yes, the food! Tempting aromas fill us with anticipation of the glorious feast to come. Gazing and grazing at the buffet table is one of the true joys of parish life. The major challenge at a parish potluck is that the vast array of tasty c...

8. Backseat Drivers: Named, Claimed, Commissioned

Isaiah 49:1-7

Sermon

Tony Everett

When his oldest daughter, Nancy, was approaching her sixteenth birthday, Harold decided to teach her how to drive an automobile. After a brief orientation session in the family driveway, Nancy took the wheel and proceeded to drive — very cautiously — to the empty parish parking lot three blocks away. Harold couldn't help himself. He braced his feet firmly on the floor boards, both hands rigidly pl...

9. Burned Beef

Isaiah 42:1-9

Sermon

Tony Everett

Jenny was employed as an emergency room nurse in a busy urban hospital. Often she worked many hours past the end of her shift, providing care to trauma victims and their families. Jenny was also a loving wife and mother, and an excellent cook. On the evening before starting her hectic work week, Jenny would prepare a huge pot of soup, a casserole, or stew; plentiful enough for her family to pop in...

10. Claimed, Framed, Changed

Acts 2:14-41

Sermon

Tony Everett

What do athletic coaches, politicians, and preachers have in common? They are expected to give inspirational pep talks, speeches, or sermons that fire up powerful emotions. They are supposed to motivate their listeners to “give 110%,” overcoming all obstacles to victory no matter what the cost. Coaches know that the best pep talk can only get athletes through the first football collision, the fir...

11. Dabar Adonai

Jeremiah 1:1-19

Sermon

Tony Everett

Twenty-five young teenagers are sitting at their desks in the classroom, minds focused on anything and everything except the complex algebra problem that their teacher is writing on the board. Suddenly, their reverie is broken by the word of the teacher: "I need a volunteer to come to the board and solve this simple binomial equation." Immediately, students become deeply involved with books under ...

12. Forty Days and Forever

Exodus 24:12-18

Sermon

Tony Everett

Here's a story that many church members have been telling for a while. Two seminary professors entered a local fast-food restaurant loudly chanting, "For-ty days! For-ty days!" Then they were joined by three more. Then five more gathered at their table, all chanting, "For-ty days! For-ty days!" Soon, the uproar had disrupted the entire restaurant and the manager came over to ask the professors to...

13. Framed, Changed, Challenged

Acts 2:42-47

Sermon

Tony Everett

The week before classes began, Harold, a high school history teacher, fell off a step ladder and injured his back. For the next three months he was forced to wear a plaster cast around the entire upper part of his body. The cast fit so well underneath his shirt and sport coat that it was not at all noticeable. On the first day of class, with the cast under his shirt, Harold discovered that he had...

14. From “Uh-oh” To “Ah-hah!” — An Axe, A Stump, And A Shoot

Isaiah 11:1-10

Sermon

Tony Everett

One hot summer day, a young pastor decided to change the oil in his automobile for the very first time in his life. He had purchased five quarts of oil, a filter wrench, and a bucket in which to drain the used oil. He carefully and gently drove the car onto the shiny, yellow ramps and eased his way underneath his vehicle. Unfortunately, lying there on his back, all he could see when he looked up ...

15. Gifts: Rejected And Exchanged, Accepted And Shared

1 Samuel 2:12-26

Sermon

Tony Everett

So, what have you been doing since Christmas Day? If you are like most people in the community, you have been spending countless hours in shopping malls, looking for bargains and exchanging gifts. Retailers tell us that their busiest times are the days immediately after Thanksgiving and the days directly following Christmas. After Thanksgiving we begin gift buying in earnest. After Christmas, we b...

16. Hey, What’s that Sound?

1 Samuel 16:1-13

Sermon

Tony Everett

Here’s a familiar story. Two large oak trees had fallen across Bob’s front lawn during a huge thunderstorm the previous evening. Deciding to cut them up for firewood, Bob went to the local hardware store to purchase a chain saw. “I need the best chain saw you have,” Bob told the store manager. “Yes sir,” said the manager. “This one here will cut up to ten cords of wood in an eight-hour work day....

17. I Don't Do Windows

Deuteronomy 11:18-21, 26-28

Sermon

Tony Everett

For months, members of the parish property team had been having difficulty finding volunteers to clean the many windows of the new education building. No one signed up to do this when the annual "time and talent" sheets were distributed the previous fall. No one responded to the requests for volunteers placed in bulletins and newsletters. No one answered their "fuss and beg" pleas for help during ...

18. Is It Time Yet?

Isaiah 2:1-5

Sermon

Tony Everett

A popular skit at church camps involves about a dozen folks lined up side-by-side, looking anxious and frustrated facing the audience. Each person rests a left elbow on the right shoulder of their neighbor. Then, from left to right, each member asks, "Is it time yet?" When the question arrives at the end of the line, the last person looks at his/her wristwatch and responds, "No." This reply is pas...

19. Is the Lord Among Us or Not?

Exodus 17:1-7

Sermon

Tony Everett

When most folks first come to seminary they enter with very high expectations of participating in a grand and glorious spiritual high. No doubts. No despair. Just higher and higher peaks of power and wonder. No valleys. No problems. Life together should be like belonging to a fabulous family filled with good feelings. No murmuring. No quarreling. Just happiness. Most students and their accompanyin...

20. Lesson from a Chipmunk

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

Tony Everett

In today’s first lesson the apostles are gathered with their families in an upstairs room somewhere in Jerusalem. So much had happened during the past few months that it was hard to put it all together. They had accompanied Jesus into the city, receiving a royal welcome fit for a king. Then there was their last supper together, followed by Judas’ betrayal and the arrest in Gethsemane, their own na...

21. Locusts Happen

Joel 2:1-11

Sermon

Tony Everett

It was never this bad; not in their lifetime, not in anybody’s lifetime. It was so terrible that children would tell their children who would then tell their children about this time of thick clouds, darkness, and destruction. All the fields were devastated and the grain was ruined. Herds of cattle and sheep were dying of starvation. Fruit-bearing trees were splintered and drying up, withering awa...

22. Looking Back; Moving Forward

Exodus 34:29-35

Sermon

Tony Everett

A young college student was searching for a summer job to help defray the rising cost of his education. He finally found one with the State Transportation Department, where he was given the task of hand-painting the white lines in the middle of the road. The supervisor informed him that she expected him to complete ten miles per week, and took him to the job site. "Place your paint buckets right...

23. Looking for Ducklings: Kissing the Sidewalk

Acts 7:54--8:1a

Sermon

Tony Everett

Poor Daryl. One moment he was enjoying a beautiful springtime walk looking for ducklings along a lakeside nature trail. The next moment he was lying face down on the sidewalk, wondering where all the blood came from. As he was struggling to his feet a park ranger rushed over with a towel and first aid kit. After cleaning blood from Daryl’s face and making sure that Daryl was not seriously injured,...

24. Losers, Weepers

Isaiah 49:8-16a

Sermon

Tony Everett

All of us have experienced the pain of loss in many different forms. We have lost wallets or purses; keys or address books; tools or toys. Some of us have even lost our automobiles in crowded parking lots. Have you ever watched young children participating in their first organized athletic competition? Winning brings loud cheers and high fives. Losing brings jeers and tears. Losing hurts. It can...

25. Named And Claimed

Isaiah 43:1-13

Sermon

Tony Everett

Have you ever watched children choosing up sides for a game? It seems as if certain children always get chosen first: the taller, stronger, more athletic, more intelligent, more popular. As more names are called and teams are formed, inevitably there is a small huddle of children standing off to the side trying to pretend that it doesn't matter. But it does. It matters and it hurts. These children...

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