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1. Easter Dreams
Luke 24:1-12
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
In a world of Good Friday nightmares, it is time for Easter Dreams. After the completion of Disney World, someone remarked, "Isn't it too bad that Walt Disney didn't live to see this!" Mike Vance, creative director of Disney Studios replied, "He did see it that's why it's here." (Ministry Advantage, July/August 1994, 3). Everything in life that we use or hold, eat or watch, wear, sit in ...
Sermon
Billy D. Strayhorn
There's an old Peanuts cartoon in which Charlie Brown tells Lucy they have to stop fighting and finder a kinder way to resolve their conflicts. He tells her that the planet is filled with people hurting each other, that it's possible that they, as children, can make a new world order. Lucy listens for a minute and the POW! She slams him to the ground and walks away saying, "I had to hit him q...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
Happy Easter, church. Christ Is Risen. He Is Risen Indeed. The resurrection of Jesus is God's final word spoken in the face of sin, suffering, evil and death. Thanks Be to God. Easter egg hunts have been in the news all week, both because of the controversy in the White House over the invitations that went out warning that the one on the White House lawn might need to be cancelled, as well as ...
Sermon
Glenn E. Ludwig
Did you hear that? Did you hear what was just read -- the account of Jesus' resurrection? Did you hear the reaction of those closest to Jesus? Luke 24:11 -- Listen again: "But these words seemed to them (the apostles) an idle tale, and they did not believe them." Isn't that a fascinating verse to include in the account of the resurrection? Here we are, come to celebrate the greatest event in the ...
Sermon
He was eight years old, and mentally retarded. His name was Stephen. I do not know much about him. I only read his story in another church’s bulletin. But, I was touched by it. There were seven other children in his Sunday church school class. In the spring as Easter approached the children were asked to bring to Sunday church school those L’eggs panty hose containers, with some object inside whic...
Sermon
King Duncan
In his book, THERE I GO AGAIN, Steven Moseley tells about Anna Pavlova, a Russian ballet superstar of the early 1900s. Ms. Pavlova has been acclaimed as the greatest ballerina of all time. Her most memorable performance, however, took place after her death. Anna was to play the role she made famous, the Dying Swan, at the Apollo Theatre in London. Tragically, she succumbed to pneumonia and died t...
Sermon
King Duncan
Over a thousand years ago, a Spanish kingdom was under attack by foreign invaders. For many years, one small fort withstood all assaults, thanks to a remarkable leader called El Cid. When their great leader died, his followers had an idea. They dressed his body in his armor, tied a sword in his hand, and placed his corpse on his horse. With El Cid's body in the lead, the Spanish forces charged. Bu...
Sermon
King Duncan
I was reading this week about a pastor named Wayne Major. When Wayne was in high school, he and a friend would pull a great prank. One of them owned a car in which you could pull back the upper part of the back seat and slide into the trunk. That gave them the idea for this prank. One of them would hide in the trunk while the other would drive the car and pick up one of their other friends. The tw...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
This year the International Air Guitar Championships were held in Denmark. Contestants “played” before huge crowds, screaming devoted fans, and enjoyed World Wide Web exposure. The Air Guitar games are dedicated to world peace. According to the ideology of the Air Guitar Championships, wars would end and all bad things in the world would disappear if all the people in the world played air guitar. ...
Sermon
Bill Bouknight
I greet you this morning as “Easter people” because that is who you are. In Korea, Christians are called “resurrected people.” For an Easter person, Easter is not only the most important day of the year; the first Easter was the most important date in history. Resurrection is the capstone and cornerstone of our faith. Billy Graham declared, “If I were an enemy of Christianity, I would aim right a...
Sermon
J. Howard Olds
“Sing with all the saints in Glory. Sing the resurrection song.” It is Easter. It is the day “yes” got up before the sun. It is the day we know our victory over death was won. Over eighty percent of Americans call themselves Christians. And over 100 million of us will gather in tiny churches or elaborate cathedrals throughout the land to proclaim the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. We will announce ...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
How many of you have already found Easter eggs this morning? Did you bring any to church with you? Can I see them? (It would be ideal if you could have some kind of Easter egg – paper-egg tattoos? eggs made by the kids? – to pass out to everyone this morning. If you do this, don't go any further until everyone has an Easter Egg.) How many of you still have purple and green and pink streaks and ...
Sermon
Bill Bouknight
What a thrill it is to be a preacher on Easter morning! It’s better than being Irish on St. Patrick’s Day or a child on Christmas morning or Tiger Woods at the Master’s or a Duke basketball fan on April 2nd of this year. (You knew I would mention that sooner or later, didn’t you?!) The great New Testament scholar C.H. Dodd said, "The resurrection is the epicenter of belief. It is not a belief tha...
Sermon
David E. Leininger
Every Saturday in my e-mail appears a fascinating column called "This is True." This is what came last week: "According to the officers on the scene, she told them she was attempting to reenact a scene from the movie," said New Britain, Conn. police spokesman Sgt. Darren Pearson. The movie: "The Passion of the Christ." The unnamed woman, married and in her 40's, purposefully drove her Chevrolet L...
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
"One day a teacher was asking the kids in her fourth grade class to name the person whom they considered the greatest human being alive in the world today -- and the responses were quick in forthcoming and also quite varied too.A little boy spoke up and said, "I think it's Joe Montana. He led the 49ers to another Super Bowl win this year." A little girl said, "I think it's Mother Teresa because sh...
16. Clear to Enter
John 20:1-9, John 20:10-18, John 20:19-23, Matthew 28:1-10, Luke 24:1-12, Hebrews 10:1-18, Hebrews 10:19-39, Genesis 3:1-24
Sermon
Lori Wagner
You’re “clear”! Cleared for entry! Those are the words you hope to hear when passing through the security section of our airports today. Fly recently? If you have flown recently, you went through a security check before being allowed to enter the secured part of the airport where the flight gates are located. Depending upon your “clearance” level, you either waited in a very long line which so...
17. You Are What You Wear
Luke 24:1-12, Luke 24:36-49
Sermon
Lori Wagner
“You remove my sackcloth and clothe me with joy.” (Psalm 30) “The Lord is clothed with splendor.” (Psalm 104) “I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” (Luke 24:49) The fashion industry is one of the largest money makers in the world. From jeans to Cartier pearls, your fashion is your statement. Your dress is ...
18. I Shall Rise Again!
I Corinthians 15:19-26 · Luke 24:1-12
Sermon
King Duncan
For more than 1,400 years, a Cathedral dedicated to St Paul has stood at the highest point in the City of London. The cathedral is one of the most famous and most recognizable sights of this great city with so many historic sites. St. Paul’s was designed by the famous architect Sir Christopher Wren after the Great Fire of London destroyed an earlier cathedral that stood on the same site. Before ...
19. Resurrecticity
John 20:1-18 · Luke 24:1-12
Sermon
Schuyler Rhodes
I want to tell you a story this morning about this woman who went out and bought herself a parrot. This woman’s name was Erma, and Erma wanted in the worst way to have a bird that talked. She went to the pet store and selected what was a pretty costly bird. She took the bird home and waited for it to speak. Nothing happened. So she went to the pet shop and told the storekeeper that the bird didn’t...
Sermon
Lori Wagner
He is risen! [He is risen indeed!] [Hold up a large stone.] Is this stone alive? I think most of you would say, “no.” [Hold up a plastic lobster or insect or another object.] Is this lobster alive? [Trust me. It’s not alive, or I wouldn’t be holding it! It’s plastic. It’s not alive. It looks like it could be alive. It looks exactly like a lobster. But it’s an inanimate object.] If you reme...
21. The Last Laugh
Luke 24:1-35
Sermon
Will Willimon
Early in his ministry, critics came to Jesus saying, "The disciples of John fast often, but yours eat and drink." Jesus replied, "can the wedding guest fast when the bridegroom arrives?" Do you find it interesting that one of the earliest charges against Jesus' people is that they had too much fun? "Why don't your disciples go around fasting, wearing sad faces and mournful looks -- like the disc...
Sermon
John M. Braaten
If wild applause was ever in order in the church, Easter is the time. It is a day for Christians to cheerfully celebrate Christ's victory over death. Clearly the dominant mood in our worship this morning is joy. It is a day for breaking out the band, clapping hands and singing, "Hallelujah!"But if you ever read the gospel accounts of the resurrection, you discover an unusual thing; the first react...
Sermon
Kendall McCabe
Today is a time of special joy for us because some of our congregation have participated in Christ's resurrection through the sacrament of Holy Baptism, and the rest of us have (or will) renew our baptismal promises as we remember we have died and been raised with Christ. We will find a new pleasure in sharing the Eucharistic banquet with one another and our risen Lord. The alleluias will bubble o...
Sermon
Louis H. Valbracht
The phrase "while it was still dark," is greatly suggestive. The darkness was not only a description of the earliness of the morning, but it was a description of all people without firm belief in the Resurrection of Christ. Without that knowledge, as St. Paul has said, "we are a bunch of miserable human beings," because we have no understanding of the eternal and sacred character of human life, an...
Sermon
Richard A. Jensen
It was before sunrise on the day we call the first Easter. The garden was quiet. Jesus’ tomb was silent. The world stood still. Through that early morning hush there walked a solitary figure. Mary Magdalene was her name. She had come to visit Jesus’ tomb. Surprise shattered the early morning stillness. The stone had been rolled away from his tomb! She was startled by her discovery. She ran to tell...
Showing 1 to 25 of 109 results