Sermon and Worship Resources

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Mark 5:21-43

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... came. And then I could finally sit here and say to myself – “Oh sure, that’s it!” (William Goldman, Berkley Bocks, New York) For William Goldman, as for many, to think of baseball is to think of Willie Mays: “He was what it was all about.” Goldman’s word about Willie Mays is a slight hint of how suffering, lonely, estranged, desperate people greeted the presence of Jesus. No Gospel writer captures it better than Mark. With story after story, Mark enables us to follow Jesus breathlessly as he ...

2. The Call To Ministry

1 Kings 19:9-18

Sermon

Robert Allen

... crimes, and anything else that children of the ghetto could get involved in. Like many young black boys in the San Francisco area, Orenthal had a hero. His hero was Willie Mays, the star center fielder of the San Francisco Giants. Orenthal became interested in sports. He imitated the way Mays caught the ball. He even knocked his hat off when he ran the way Willie Mays did when he ran. But it looked like life in the ghetto had too strong a hold on this young boy. One evening when he came home, the police ...

3. Is Free Just Loose?

Galatians 5:1-15

Children's Sermon

... they now free? Is that what we mean by being free? To be free is more than being loose. Let me show you a little experiment. Here is my good old faithful friend, Willie Watch. Now, Willie may not feel free because I keep him tied to my wrist. That's right, Willie goes no farther than around my wrist and I keep him right there most of the time. Now, Willie is a good watch and he keeps excellent time, but he keeps telling me that he is a slave and that I never let him be free. He doesn't mind his job ...

4. Is Free Just Loose?

Galatians 4:21-31

Children's Sermon

5. Feasting and Fasting for Lent (Part II)

Luke 13:22-30

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... sin and FEAST on obedience to God''s word and will in that area in our life. 2. FAST from words that pollute--Feast on words that purify. I urged us to be Balcony People. 3. FAST from self-concern--FEAST on compassion.\ Someone once asked the famous Willie Mays the secret of his success as a baseball player. He replied: "When they throw it, I hit it. When they hit it, I catch it." I urged you on Ash Wednesday during this Lenten season to build the house that the creative spirit of God could come and fill ...

6. Exercise Your Spiritual Gifts

1 Corinthians 1:1-9

Sermon

Richard Hasler

... year. Once when he was playing in New York, a reporter interviewed him and began comparing him with Willie Mays, a recognized superstar. Any rookie would have been flattered with such a comparison and undoubtedly this young Pirate ... have had such spin-offs as Superwoman, Superboy, Supergirl, even Superdog, and now the romantic Lois And Clark: The New Adventures Of Superman. How we may wish that we had a superperson here in this congregation to lead the way and to solve our knotty problems. Let us not yearn, ...

7. Why the Greatest?

Mark 12:28-34

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... In Ken Burns’ ten-part documentary on baseball there is a great scene where the comic Billy Crystal simultaneously plays three kids from three different parts of New York, arguing about whose team has the best centerfielder. Is it the Giants with Willie Mays? The Dodgers with Duke Snyder? Or the Yankees’ own Mickey Mantle? Each kid made a good argument but you sense that in Crystal’s boyhood experience, this controversy could never be settled. In today’s gospel passage a scribe hears Jesus disputing ...

8. East Of Eden

Genesis 3:1-24

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... Had he been a baseball fan, he would have known better. "Pete Rose was not created equal. Neither was Ted Williams nor Willie Mays nor anyone else who could hit 95 mile per hour fast balls, let alone fork balls low and away. "Such men ... which means Eternal Life. In the Galleria Borghese in Rome, there is a painting by the artist, Caravaggio. It's not the most pleasant thing, and you may have to look at it for a while to get the meaning of it. It's called "The Madonna of the Serpent", and it shows the Child ...

9. Real Strength

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... Olympic Games in Los Angeles. He saw Carl Lewis, the wrestlers, the weightlifters, all of them. As commissioner of baseball, he worked with all three major television networks. He has seen Jose Canseco, Roger Clemens, Dwight Gooden, Mark McGuire, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Dave Winfield, Hank Aaron - all of them. He ought to know real strength if anyone does. Peter Ueberroth stood in Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and gave his answer to thousands of people. The finest and strongest athlete ...

10. See What Love . . .

1 John 3:1-7

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... . Or it could be the staff of a shepherd or even of Moses as he lead the children of Israel through the wilderness and helped part the waters so they could flee from the armies of Egypt. With that stick you could be Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Stan "the man" Musial all rolled into one. It would be the ninth inning, of the 7th game of the World series. Your team was down by three. The bases were loaded. You were facing the best pitcher the other team had. You were standing there with a ...

11. A Reminder to God...and to Us

Genesis 9:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... s mother was right when Willie was returned to her unharmed. God keeps His promises. And He doesn’t need a rainbow to remind Him of His promise: “I will never forget you nor forsake you. I am Abba, Daddy, and I love you more than any earthly parent ever could.” That is what the cross is all about. The rainbow may be a reminder to God, but the cross is the reminder to us that God so loved the world that He gave His son for us. Prolific author Lewis Smedes once wrote something that ought to be engraved ...

12. Waltzing With Coyotes

Luke 6:27-36

Drama

Robert F. Crowley

... a dawg. You could knock me down with it. BART: I didn't know ya got up from the last time I knocked you down. WILLIE: Thet's cuz yere blind in both eyes from my a hitten' on ya. CHIEF: Gentlemen, please, may I interject something? BART: I reckon. WILLIE: Go ahead. CHIEF: Gentlemen, why don't you go to the dance? WILLIE: Why not? BART: I'll tell ya why not -- I hate dancin'. I hate church. And I hate him. (POINTING TO WILLIE) WILLIE: Ma feelin's the same as his'n. BART: She's ahankerin' fer me. I knowed it ...

13. Demonized

Matthew 15:21-28

Drama

Robert F. Crowley

... you feel? DEBBIE: I feel just fine. Great, in fact. I've been set free, Doctor. I'm me again. DR. WILLIS: Set free? Free from what? DEBBIE: All the lies I believed -- and hurting myself. I'm free. DR. WILLIS: Yes, uh, thank you, Debbie. May I talk to your mother alone? DEBBIE: Sure, doctor. Good-bye. (SHE EXITS) MRS. KING: Well, Doctor, what do you think? You can see she is well now. DR. WILLIS: Hmmm. This certainly is an unusual development. I'd like to continue my treatment to make sure she's stabilized ...

14. On The Road Again (emmaus)

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... image to describe the experience of Cleopas and his companion, about whom we read in our Scripture lesson this morning, than Willie's refrain, "On the Road Again. Rehearse the story. Cleophas and his companion were two followers of Jesus. They had counted on ... place, to get away when life deals harshly with us. But when we are "on the road again, there is the Friend who joins us. Jesus may come incognito. But He comes and it's up to us to recognize Him. When He comes, He helps us make sense out of life. And ...

15. Eating Cold Grits

John 14:5-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... not accomplish, your life is an unqualified success. Sacrifice...example ” these are the stuff of love. These are the stuff that lead us to God. 1. "Beisbol, Mama, and Me." Tony Pena. Guideposts. July 1992, pp. 10-13. 2. The Upper Room. Willis H. Moore. May/June 1990, p. 25. 3. Yes Lord, I Have Sinned, But I Have Several Excellent Excuses. James W. Moore. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1991, pp 101-103. 4. How to Stay Alive As Long As You Live. Robert H. Spain. Nashville: Dimensions for Living, 1992, p. 85 ...

16. By D Grace of God

Luke 6:27-38

Sermon

King Duncan

... about a potential Internet scammer. A few years ago, a man from Utah named Ben Taylor got a Facebook message from a man named Joel Willie. Joel Willie was from Liberia, and he was trying to run a type of scam called an “advance-fee scam.” He was trying to convince Ben ... change your life story? The first thing we learn from this passage is that Jesus calls us to a courageous love. In May 2021, a sixth-grade girl walked into her middle school in Rigby, Idaho, pulled a handgun out of her backpack and began ...

17. Are You Successful Or Do You Just Have Money?

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... suddenly Brown found himself thinking: "If only my life could be that beautiful! If only I were worthy to be called HIS twin." (5) We know nothing about Willie's accomplishments in the workplace or how large his bank account was, but I believe we would have to rate Willie's life a stunning success. He was leaving behind a legacy of love. You may remember that one of Stephen Covey's Seven Habits of Highly Successful People is, "Begin with the end in mind." Visualize yourself, Covey says, at your own funeral ...

18. But…!

1 Corinthians 15:19-26

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

... is not to be found among the dead artifacts and dusty memories of history. He is alive! He is here now ready to greet you in the waters of the font and the bread and wine of the table in people like Reverend Willis and his wife ... and in the people gathered with you this morning. You may have difficulty believing ... not just the resurrection of our Lord but how God can continue to love you in the midst of the mess that is your life. But you came here this morning because you knew that here you would once ...

19. Love That Surpasses Knowledge

Ephesians 3:14-21

Sermon

Thomas Lentz

... understanding. Although we are called to follow in his steps, it is only through faith that we are able to do so. Although we may not be humanly capable of performing it, we can become transformed by it. In the book, God's Word in Man's Language, author ... into the Sears Roebuck catalog for their first luxury, a small mirror. When it arrived, each family member looked at it. When it got to Willie he gasped in horror. His face was full of scars. As an infant he had been bitten by a dog. As a toddler he had ...

20. On the Road Again

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... comes from? It’s from Psalm 14 verse…no, you know better. It’s from a haunting country ballad and no one sings it better than Willie Nelson. I’m not a country music buff but I like some of it – especially Willie. Recently I had to spend about three hours driving, and I tuned in to a good country music station. I recommend that experience, even though you may not like country music. It will contribute to your theological education. Now some of the words are corny. I heard one, the chorus of which ...

21. Sacred Pleasures

Romans 14:1--15:13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

There is an old Hasidic tradition. You may have heard of it before. A large drop of honey is placed on the first page of the Torah the first time a ... their feet and belts out the lyrics, beer glasses in hand. All 15,000 to 20,000 of them. How can you explain this? What is going on here? People all singing a hymn at a Willie Nelson concert? It’s all in the name of Jesus and the power of that name. The reminder of a circle unbroken taps deep into the soul. Down where it echoes eternity, people know that God ...

22. The Answer Waiting for a Question

2 Corinthians 1:12--2:4

Sermon

Fredrick R. Harm

... is. In Arthur Miller's excellent play, The Death of a Salesman, the leading character is Willie Lohman, a philandering salesman. Willie has two sons. Biff, one of the sons, speaks up in a dramatic scene, saying, "All that I want is out there waiting for ... and I am his child. I belong to him because he made me, and also because he bought me back at the cost of his own life." You may recall the story I told several weeks ago about the boy and his boat -- he made it, then lost it, then bought it back again. In a ...

23. The Racial Gap

Psalm 53:1-6

Sermon

William McKee Aber

... do in the white one. Yet, if we are truly the children of God we must believe that He has a word for the gaps. We may well be confused and uncertain, but we are not alone, and there is a word. I What is it? Perhaps some of the things that Paul ... surely one of the most poignant realizations is the fact that Willie couldn’t communicate with his sons because he wasn’t sure of his own identity. Willie was white, but "not knowing who he was" may be the epitaph of the black community. Black literature has made ...

24. Who's The Neighbor

Luke 10:25-37

Drama

Robert F. Crowley

... HE PICKS IT UP AND EXITS) ANNOUNCER: And by chance, a priest came down the road ... PRIEST: (ACTUALLY THIS IS THE FIRST CONTESTANT, RUPERT WILLIES. HE IS READING THE SCRIPT AND NOT AT ALL SURE OF HIS LINES. HE DELIVERS HIS LINES MECHANICALLY AND WOODENLY) Oh, my. Oh, my. ... a temple worker. LEVITE: Well, I just wanted to know. It will help me to interpret the character. MILTON: Yes, yes. May we continue now? LEVITE: By all means. (HE LOOKS AT CERTAIN MAN WITH MAGNIFYING GLASS) Hmm, yes, I see. Interesting. ...

25. Your Face Gives You Away

Luke 9:28-36

Sermon

King Duncan

... face. Nothing in the world is more normal or natural than that. But here is something we need to see: no matter how beautiful you may be, your face reveals what is in your heart. This is true for most of us. I know some people have what’s known as ... . Set in Civil War days, there is a character named Willie Burke. Burke is a white Southerner who is deeply opposed to the institution of slavery. There is a scene early in the book in which Willie Burke brings a book to Flower, an African‑American slave ...

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