Sermon and Worship Resources

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Job 2:1-10, Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

Every thinking person knows that he or she lives every minute on the brink of disaster. Life is transitory, perilous, potentially horrible. Every observant person realizes that all too often someone in his or her circle of acquaintances goes through a season of great, sometimes completely overwhelming, distress. There is hardly any one of us who has not had a family member or a friend suffer the ...

2. An Everyday Theology

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

There are two major ways of talking about the Christian gospel. One of them is a learned style, with terms and concepts forged by the scholar and the classroom. The second way of speaking theologically is to use the situations and relationships of everyday life. Every Christian works out his or her understanding of the gospel, using something of both of these approaches. Even the ordinary, uneduca...

3. Anti-intellectual Christianity

Luke 11:1-13

Illustration

Wallace H. Kirby

The historian Will Durant made the plea that when he went to church he dud not want to be asked to leave his critical intelligence in the narthex along with his hat. We are in serious danger of failing to heed Durant. With our attention on those multitude who are flocking to the proclaimers of the gospel (whose presentation is untarnished by a serious grappling with the wisdoms of science, biblica...

4. Barefoot in the Palace

Luke 13:22-30

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

The late J. Wallace Hamilton preached a sermon titled, "Bare Feet in the Palace." Borrowing an image from the author, Agnes Newton Keith, he suggested that this illustrates our times. The palace has undergone a radical change. The privileged who used to live there are gone: in their place have come the have-nots of the earth. They are now "barefoot in the palace." They have taken over the privileg...

5. Breaking Up the Routine

Illustration

Wallace H. Kirby

A woman called a packing house and ordered the complete carcass of a horse. She met the delivery men and asked them to put the horse in the bathtub. As they left, the men could not resist asking the woman about this curious project. She told them that she and her husband had been married for over thirty years. Things were going well, but the routine was taking its toll. So she had decided to break...

6. Careful in Our Confidence

Luke 14:1-14

Illustration

Wallace H. Kirby

The Pharisees and other leaders closely watched Jesus but they could not see his meaning. They could not see the issues as Jesus saw them, so they set themselves against him rather than making an alliance with him. They were so hung up on rules, laws and ceremonies, that they missed the heart of faith: God's forgiving love that frees one to live as son or daughter of God. It's similar to the musi...

7. Do I Dare Be Different?

Matthew 5:10; 10:1-42

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

William Inge was one of England’s most outstanding preachers. At the beginning of this century, because of his insight and forthrightness, he was either greatly admired or bitterly disliked. After the First World War he was speaking at a public gathering, and in his speech, he urged that realism instead of revenge be his country’s guide in its treatment of a defeated Germany. Three days later, Dr....

8. Do We Want to See?

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

Of our five physical senses - sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch - which do you think is predominant? Some years ago a test was given in an English school to determine this for a class of boys. They were sent into a special room for two minutes. When they came out they were told to make a list of everything they had noticed there. Some listed as many as forty objects, some could list only te...

9. Full Barns and Empty Hearts

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

When I went away to college I took along my recording of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto in C Minor. The quiet second movement provided a helpful background by which to study. It had a sense of peace that stilled the confusions and stresses of university life. Two melodic themes from this concerto became popular ballads. One of them was, "Full Moon and Empty Arms," and in it the crooner bewailed his...

10. Hailing The King Of Chaos

Job 12:13-22· Matthew 27:32-44

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

It was one of those gorgeous spring days. There were daffodils blooming, tulip trees bursting out in color, a warm sun, and a clear blue sky. One felt like singing that descriptive song from the musical Oklahoma, "Oh, what a beautiful morning! Oh, what a beautiful day." Then I picked up the morning newspaper and the first sentence in the article cautioned me not to read it unless I had a strong s...

11. How’s Your Appetite?

Matthew 5:6 · Luke 14:1-14

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

In any home where there are small children with parents who do not sanction a complete submission to television, the most familiar request is: "Tell us a story." And those stories are remembered for the rest of their lives. There is not a single adult or child, I dare say, who could not tell the story of Little Red Riding Hood, of Goldilocks and her bears, of the three little pigs, the big, bad w...

12. I Saw The Risen Christ Last Week -- And It Wasn't Even Easter

John 20:10-31

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

A small boy went to his father one day and asked, "Daddy, who's the smartest, an engineer or a preacher?" The father, unsure of an answer, asked his son, "Well, who do you think is the smartest?" "I think an engineer is because he can build bridges and planes, and go into space to find planets. And a preacher talks about such an impossible thing as someone rising from the dead." He was a smart li...

13. If Only We could Be Loyal ...

Hosea 4:1-19, Hosea 6:1--7:16

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

Jackie had been at our worship service on only two occasions, and when she came to me for counseling, I began by saying, "Tell me who you are." We spent over an hour talking about her, for my sole contact with her had been from the pulpit to the pew, an introduction, and a handshake. Jackie felt that her whole life was deteriorating. It began when her father abandoned his family and she watched he...

14. If Only We Could Remember ...

Genesis 32:22-32

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

On the back page of our capitol city’s daily newspaper there are two columns headed "Divorces Filed" and "Divorces Granted." Sometimes when I glance at that back page and see the lists, I read through the names, and I wonder what kind of stories lie behind them. What happened to John and Cathy, to Bill and Sue, to Joe and Betty? I can almost picture the high moments in their lives as they made pla...

15. If Only We Would Accept Responsibility ...

Ezekiel 33:1-20

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

"Are you the minister?" he asked as I came through the courtyard toward the entrance of the church. I wanted to say no, because there were dozens of things that needed my attention that Monday morning when I got to work. With a bit of dumb resentment at the interruption of my planned agenda, I acknowledged that I was one of the pastors of that downtown church. He followed me into the office comple...

16. If Only We Would Be Disciplined ...

2 Kings 13:10-25

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

"That’s what we need for the kitchen," Mary whispered to her husband, Carl. The table, among other pieces of furniture, was to be auctioned off to the highest bidders. No one thought that anything coming out of the old farm house had much value. Like Mary, the other bidders were there to supplement the furnishings of their summer cottages in the mountains of western North Carolina. "I’ll start t...

17. If Only We Would Be Open To The Spirit ...

Joel 2:18-27

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

Let’s take some imaginary trips. I’d like us to picture ourselves going to a variety of places. As we go, I want us to listen carefully to what we hear. First, we go to Reynolds Coliseum on the campus of North Carolina State University in Raleigh. We watch a basketball game. One of the Wolfpack players effectively manages to block a shot. We hear a fan call out, "That’s the spirit!" Now we’re of...

18. If Only We Would Confess ...

Ezekiel 18:1-32

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

Someone had slipped a church bulletin under the study door. When I spotted it after the morning worship service and saw some notations on it, I assumed that the writer had jotted down an announcement or a date to be included in the newsletter that was to go to press Monday morning. Reading the note scrawled across the ritual, I knew it was meant, not for the newsletter, but for me. "Garbage!" the ...

19. If Only We Would Do The Obvious ...

2 Kings 5:1-27

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

Ann, a new member of our church, gave the outward appearance of having her life all together. Tall and good-looking, she dressed well, was extremely neat, and seemed secure in pursuing an advanced degree after some years of teaching. She immediately became active in the life of the church and was especially gifted in creating excitement in some of the programs. The staff was concerned about overlo...

20. If Only We Would Hold On ...

Jeremiah 20:7-18

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

"Staying in school is too much for me right now," Evelyn began. As her supervising pastor, I could understand the pressures she was under. She and her husband were both in their first year of seminary, and, on top of classes, he had just been appointed to serve a two-point charge. Bill and Evelyn were conscientious young people and wanted to give their best to their studies and to their church mem...

21. If Only We Would Let God Mold Us ...

Jeremiah 18:1--19:15

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

"John’s pulling his ear again," my wife would say wearily when I came home for lunch. "I guess I’d better take him back to Dr. Byrd’s this afternoon before things get worse." "That probably means another round of penicillin shots for John and some more sleepless nights for us," was my usual response. That dialogue was repeated over and over in our household. It seemed as though we would never ge...

22. Is Your Church a Museum or Mission?

Luke 15:1-32

Illustration

Wallace H. Kirby

An inner city church, located in an area of the downtown where there were few residents, was forced to a decision. A large corporation was offering them a great deal of money for their site, on which the corporation wanted to put a parking lot. The money would enable the church to move to another part of the inner city where they would find many more people to serve. Even though this was exciting ...

23. Jesus Loves Me

Luke 11:1-13

Illustration

Wallace H. Kirby

When Karl Barth, retired and in his later years, visited an American theological school, one of the students asked him, "How would you characterize your theology, Dr. Barth?" Barth thought for a moment and said that his answer was a song he learned at his mother's knee: "Jesus loves me, this I know ..." Isn't that great! A renowned theologian, no stranger to using all his mind as he deals with the...

24. Mission to Unbelievers

Luke 16:19-31

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

Dives, if we can take tradition’s name for him, first wanted personal relief from his eternal torments. But when Father Abraham, God’s stand-in, refused, Dives asked for a weekend pass to return and warn his brothers. Request denied! Abraham simply said that Moses and the prophets were sufficient. And even if Abraham should go himself, it would not lead Dives’ brothers to repentance. They would on...

25. Museum or Mission?

Luke 15:1-7, Luke 15:8-10

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

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