Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1 to 25 of 30 results

1. A Power Higher Than I

Matthew 2:13-23

Illustration

William B. Kincaid, III

After trying everything else, Shelly was present for her first Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. Skeptical and listening half-heartedly at first, the words of Martha caught her attention. Martha told the group, "I just knew that I could handle alcohol and my other problems on my own, but I couldn't. Seven years ago I came to my first A.A. meeting and since that time I have grown as a person beyond any...

2. And Then Came The Angel

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

William B. Kincaid, III

If we cannot relate to Joseph and appreciate his situation, then our lives are simple, easy lives indeed. Now, by relating to Joseph or understanding what he endured, I don't mean to suggest that we all either have been engaged or married to someone impregnated by the Holy Spirit. Even in our frantic search for ways to explain how such a thing might have happened, we probably didn't think of blami...

3. Baptism In Three Movements

Matthew 3:13-17

Sermon

William B. Kincaid, III

There are two very different ways to think about baptism. The first approach recognizes the time of baptism as a saving moment in which the person being baptized accepts the love and forgiveness of God. The person then considers herself "saved." She may grow in the faith through the years, but nothing which she will experience after her baptism will be as important as her baptism. She always will ...

4. Been There, Done That

Matthew 2:13-23

Sermon

William B. Kincaid, III

"Been there, done that" is a popular, and often overused, phrase that excuses us from having to endure anything a second time. It doesn't matter if we have skateboarded up Mt. Everest, or walked from New York to London, or stood on our heads and gargled peanut butter, we are entirely too cool to do any of that stuff again. "Been there, done that" asks other people not to bore us by requesting that...

5. Blessed Are Those Who Mourn

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

William B. Kincaid, III

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." In her novel Come and Go, Molly Snow, Mary Ann Taylor-Hall gives an account of Carrie attempting to come to grips with the loss of her eight-year-old daughter, Molly Snow. Carrie is a fiddler, but in the wake of this tragic loss she says, "The music doesn't rise up in me right now."1 In the months that followed, Carrie listens to homespun...

6. Blessed Are Those Who Mourn

Matthew 5:4

Illustration

William B. Kincaid, III

In her novel Come and Go, Molly Snow, Mary Ann Taylor-Hall gives an account of Carrie attempting to come to grips with the loss of her eight-year-old daughter, Molly Snow. Carrie is a fiddler, but in the wake of this tragic loss she says, "The music doesn't rise up in me right now." In the months that followed, Carrie listens to homespun wisdom and begins the first steps of coming to grips with th...

7. Christ in Our Midst

Luke 2:1-14 (15-20)

Illustration

William B. Kincaid, III

Henri Nouwen told the story of a student who, many years after graduation, returned to sit in his old professor's office where so many questions had been answered and so many problems had been solved. When the student entered he told his professor that he didn't need anything, he came just to visit, to be together. They sat for a while in silence and looked at each other. One broke the silence by ...

8. Climbing the Mountain

Matthew 17:1-9

Illustration

William B. Kincaid, III

When we are out driving and approach a great stretch of mountains, it is breathtaking and terribly humbling. A drive through the mountains gives us a different perspective on things. Some people invest a lot of time and money in mountain-climbing. That's not for the exercise. They could get the exercise doing a hundred other things. Mountain-climbing is about mastering the mystery and standing whe...

9. Essential Personnel!

Matthew 4:18-22

Sermon

William B. Kincaid, III

In some parts of the country it doesn't matter, but in many areas the snow which falls during this time of the year can bring things to a decisive halt. Schools close. Events are canceled. Travel becomes tricky. If the conditions become severe enough, the decision may be made that not everybody should try to get to work. Only those who are absolutely necessary should report. For those occasions we...

10. Essential Personnel

Matthew 4:12-23

Illustration

William B. Kincaid, III

Even if we live where it rarely snows, the phrase is a familiar one. When budget talks collapse and the government shuts down, this is the phrase that is trotted out. When the earth suddenly moves under the people of California, often a certain group of people are called out while the rest are told to stay at home.When tornadoes blow through the Southwest and disrupt everything in their course, on...

11. Going Ahead Anyway

Matthew 2:1-12, Matthew 2:13-18

Sermon

William B. Kincaid, III

Did you notice that bad things did not stop happening through the holidays? And is any warning necessary that bad things will happen in every season of this year? Surely there is better news than that, but we ought to be honest about the bad news. Not even the holidays generate enough good will to stop people from blowing up airplanes and destroying people's reputations and abusing children and se...

12. He treated me with dignity

Matthew 11:1-19

Illustration

William B. Kincaid, III

Eugene Peterson, a Presbyterian minister who teaches at Regent College in Vancouver, tells the story of wanting to discuss some feelings and energies he was having that he believed had to do with God. It was the summer after Peterson's second year of college. His first two attempts at finding someone who would listen to him didn't work out very well. Peterson tried talking to his pastor, but after...

13. How Long Should We Stay?

Matthew 17:1-9

Sermon

William B. Kincaid, III

Mountains were very important to Matthew. When Jesus was tempted to worship the devil in exchange for all the kingdoms of the world, it happened on a mountain. It was good enough for Luke to have Jesus preaching on a nice level place, but when Jesus preaches essentially the same sermon in Matthew he does so on a mountain. That's why we call it the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus went to the mountain to...

14. How Much Sin Is Too Much?

Matthew 5:13-16, Matthew 5:17-20

Sermon

William B. Kincaid, III

Of all the pressing questions of the day, a sign on one person's desk asks, "How much can I sin and still go to heaven?" The question seems amusing until we stop to think about it. Inherent in this question is a bold-faced confession that there is no interest at all in pursuing a life shaped wholly by the spirit of God, but at the same time we do not want to be so recklessly sacrilegious that we f...

15. How Unexpected Can Christmas Be?

Matthew 24:36-51

Sermon

William B. Kincaid, III

The temptation is to dismiss these words from Matthew. After all, how do they pertain to us? Written at a time when the early church had bet its life on Jesus' return, these seem odd words to hear on the first Sunday of Advent. We are busy preparing the creche for a baby, but Matthew appears to be announcing Jesus' second coming. And it isn't just an odd lesson, but a frightening one. In a season ...

16. I’m with Him

Matthew 3:1-12

Illustration

William B. Kincaid, III

A friend tells of the Saturday she spent going to football games with his father. The boy and his dad sat in sunshine and rain, wind and snow, and cheered for their favorite team. There was nothing like it. On the way home from the ball games, prior to the era of drive-through windows, they often stopped to get a bite to eat. The boy would stand at the counter and listen to his father give the ord...

17. In The Flesh

John 1:1-18

Sermon

William B. Kincaid, III

"And the Word became flesh." We hear those words so easily that they are lost on us. We quickly associate them with the baby in Bethlehem's manger, and rightly so, but then we dismiss them without being startled or shocked or even mildly surprised. "The Word became flesh," the gospel writer says, and we yawn in agreement. Some of the Greeks didn't yawn. They were appalled at such a thought and q...

18. Just Proud To Belong

Matthew 3:13-17

Illustration

William B. Kincaid, III

You may remember the episode of The Andy Griffith Show in which the Women's Historical Society had discovered that a living descendant of a Revolutionary War hero was living right there in Mayberry. The news generated excitement and curiosity throughout the town as people made plans for recognizing the hero's relative. Barney Fife, of course, twisted his own family tree to the point that he put hi...

19. Living in the Past

Matthew 3:1-12

Illustration

William B. Kincaid, III

On the television show M*A*S*H, Dr. Charles Emerson Winchester III made it clear what separated him from everybody else. "I'm a Winchester," he was heard to say more than once. For him, it was his family name that made him superior to everyone else. Other people carry other burdens. One woman received her education at Harvard and found a way to work Harvard into every conversation. Congregations f...

20. Presents And The Gift Of Presence

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

William B. Kincaid, III

Some of you may have opened gifts before you came here tonight, others may do so later tonight or tomorrow morning. Most of us are to the point that, when you consider gifts from people at school and work and church and clubs, most of December is spent giving to one another. We all agree it is still more blessed to give than to receive, and that would never be in question if the selection of prese...

21. Room For Questions

Matthew 11:2-11

Sermon

William B. Kincaid, III

It's interesting how we fix in our minds certain images of people and block other images of the same people. We do that to biblical characters. We remember Peter's denial of Jesus, but forget his powerful preaching recorded in the book of Acts. Or, we remember how women came to Jesus for help from time to time, but forget how Jesus depended on the women for financial support and to announce the ne...

22. Saved Twelve Times

Matthew 3:13-17

Illustration

William B. Kincaid, III

Garrison Keillor tells the story of Larry the Sad Boy. Larry the Sad Boy was saved twelve times, which is an all-time record in the Lutheran Church. In the Lutheran Church there is no altar call, no organist playing "Just As I Am," and no minister with shiny hair manipulating the congregation. These are Lutherans, and they repent the same way that they sin discreetly and tastefully. Keillor writes...

23. Speak For Yourself!

Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon

William B. Kincaid, III

What do Richard Nixon and Shirley Temple have in common? While they may have shared many common interests and traits, isn't it true that neither one ever outlived their pasts? When Richard Nixon was buried behind the house that his father built, he went to his grave as the president that was forced to resign in the face of humiliation and scandal. Even amid his remarkable rehabilitation which incl...

24. Swimming in Tiny Circles

Matthew 11:2-12

Illustration

William B. Kincaid, III

Grady Nutt used to tell the story of taking a goldfish out of a bowl and placing it in a large body of water. He said that for several hours the goldfish would continue to swim in little, tiny circles because it had not yet learned of the vastness of the pool." Are you the one?" John the Baptist asked. Evidence came back to John that suggested Jesus was the one, the messiah, but it was still impo...

25. The Church Is There, The Word Becomes Flesh

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Illustration

William B. Kincaid, III

Jerry had lived down the street from the church for nine years, but no one in the church or the neighborhood knew him very well. He didn't participate in the church or community. One afternoon his wife suffered a major stroke, and all there was to do was wait. Jerry and his three children waited 39 days in the hospital, but they didn't wait alone. Every single day of that 39-day stretch somebody f...

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Showing 1 to 25 of 30 results

1. A Power Higher Than I

Matthew 2:13-23

Illustration

William B. Kincaid, III

2. And Then Came The Angel

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

William B. Kincaid, III

3. Baptism In Three Movements

Matthew 3:13-17

Sermon

William B. Kincaid, III

4. Been There, Done That

Matthew 2:13-23

Sermon

William B. Kincaid, III

5. Blessed Are Those Who Mourn

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

William B. Kincaid, III

6. Blessed Are Those Who Mourn

Matthew 5:4

Illustration

William B. Kincaid, III

7. Christ in Our Midst

Luke 2:1-14 (15-20)

Illustration

William B. Kincaid, III

8. Climbing the Mountain

Matthew 17:1-9

Illustration

William B. Kincaid, III

9. Essential Personnel!

Matthew 4:18-22

Sermon

William B. Kincaid, III

10. Essential Personnel

Matthew 4:12-23

Illustration

William B. Kincaid, III

11. Going Ahead Anyway

Matthew 2:1-12, Matthew 2:13-18

Sermon

William B. Kincaid, III

12. He treated me with dignity

Matthew 11:1-19

Illustration

William B. Kincaid, III

13. How Long Should We Stay?

Matthew 17:1-9

Sermon

William B. Kincaid, III

14. How Much Sin Is Too Much?

Matthew 5:13-16, Matthew 5:17-20

Sermon

William B. Kincaid, III

15. How Unexpected Can Christmas Be?

Matthew 24:36-51

Sermon

William B. Kincaid, III

16. I’m with Him

Matthew 3:1-12

Illustration

William B. Kincaid, III

17. In The Flesh

John 1:1-18

Sermon

William B. Kincaid, III

18. Just Proud To Belong

Matthew 3:13-17

Illustration

William B. Kincaid, III

19. Living in the Past

Matthew 3:1-12

Illustration

William B. Kincaid, III

20. Presents And The Gift Of Presence

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

William B. Kincaid, III

21. Room For Questions

Matthew 11:2-11

Sermon

William B. Kincaid, III

22. Saved Twelve Times

Matthew 3:13-17

Illustration

William B. Kincaid, III

23. Speak For Yourself!

Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon

William B. Kincaid, III

24. Swimming in Tiny Circles

Matthew 11:2-12

Illustration

William B. Kincaid, III

25. The Church Is There, The Word Becomes Flesh

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Illustration

William B. Kincaid, III

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