Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 51 to 72 of 72 results

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Mark Radecke

Dear Robert, It was good to spend some time with you over Christmas break. I really enjoyed hearing about your semester in India, and am so glad you had that opportunity. We sometimes tend to pull our worlds in around us like a down comforter on a cold night. There is nothing like living in another country, immersing yourself in another culture, to expand your horizons. I have begun to work on a...

52. The Lion, The Lamb And Herod’s Rage

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Erskine White

A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children.(Matthew 2:18) The text I read to you from Matthew’s gospel is surely the least known part of the Christmas story. It’s the part most people forget about or would rather overlook. In fact, in all my years of growing up in the church, I never heard anyone preach an Advent sermon on this "Slaughter of the Inno...

53. A Song, A Star, A Savior

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

In the Family Circus cartoon, the little girl sits her baby brother on her lap and tells him the story of Christmas. It goes something like this: "Jesus was born just in time for Christmas up at the North Pole surrounded by 8 tiny reindeer and the Virgin Mary . . . Then Santa Claus showed up with lots of toys and stuff and some swaddling clothes . . . The 3 wise men and elves all sang carols while...

54. When You Follow A Star and Find A Stable

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

Think of the disappointment these men must have experienced who through the night had traveled many miles by camel to discover that the star had come to rest over a stable. They had followed a star and found a stable. Surely they were expecting a palace. Or perhaps a stately mansion. Think how they must have felt. Their vast disappointment as they look down from some nearby Judean hill and came to...

55. Christmas Brings Us A New Heart

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

John Pugh

Christmas is a hectic time. One writer on the financial page, commented that our society has been racing through its prosperity so fast we have lost sight of any destination. But Christmas is also a special time defined by gift giving. A kindly 90-year-old grandmother found buying presents for family and friends a bit much one Christmas, so she wrote out checks for all of them to put in their Ch...

56. Nightline

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Eric Ritz

The famous United Methodist Bishop of California named Gerald Kennedy once sent a pastoral letter to all the churches and pastors under his care. He told the story of seeing a very poorly dressed woman and her young daughter looking into one of the beautiful department store windows in the downtown area of a large city. In it was the manger scene, but here Mary was dressed as the Queen of Heaven w...

57. The Other Side of Christmas

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Eric Ritz

I would fully understand if you told me that the scripture lesson read today is not found in your top ten list of favorite Bible passages. This reading from the word of God doesn't allow us to be "cozy and comfortable" about the reaction of King Herod to the birth of Christ in the drama of world history. We often place all our attention on the three kings who traveled from afar to the birthplace o...

58. 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...

59. Sealed and Sanctified

Matthew 2:1-12, Genesis 14:1-24

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” (Ephesians 4:30) “When you believed in Christ, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit.” (Ephesians 1:13) You’ve heard it said: “the eyes are the windows to the soul.” You’ve also probably heard it said “the ears are the portals to the soul.” Or maybe “if the eyes are the windows to t...

60. You Are Gifted

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Prop: ribbons or if possible small gift boxes tied with ribbons (you can also tie ribbons to a manger….or to the altar or another item, such as a cross) All of us know the talk in our culture today about giftedness. If you go into any bookstore, you’ll find titles such as “The Drama of the Gifted Child,” “Gifted Grownups,” “Teaching Gifted Kids in Today’s Classroom,” “The Gifted Adult,” and there...

61. Follow the Light

Genesis 1:1-2:3, Matthew 2:1-12, Revelation 22:1-6

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes in the morning.” --Psalm 30:5 This morning, we are celebrating the birth of the Light that came into the world. Jesus, the Light of God, the Light of Love, the Light of Peace, the Light of Hope. There are high and holy words. But what do they mean for us today? What does it mean for Jesus to be the Light in our world? In your life? In my life? ...

62. Star Maker

Matthew 2:1-12, Psalm 19:1-14

Sermon

Lori Wagner

In 1889, the artist Vincent Van Gogh, while enduring one of the saddest and loneliest times of his career, looked out of his iron-barred sanatorium window and painted the masterpiece we know today as “Starry, Starry Night.” Today, that painting is named his “magnum opus.” He wrote in a letter prior in 1888 that the “great starlit vault of heavens is what we commonly call God.” I can’t help but be...

63. Bittersweet

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Animation: Gold, Frankincense, Myrrh / Anointing Oil – Frankincense and Myrrh Animation: youtube of the Seinfeld clip on re-gifting The term “re-gifting” was coined by Jerry Seinfeld in an episode of the comedy show Seinfeld in 1995 called “The Label Maker.” Elaine is horrified to discover that Jerry has received a gift (a label maker) from someone. But it’s the same “label maker” that she origi...

64. The Order of the Magi

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Lori Wagner

I hope you’ve all had a happy New Year! Now is the time when you can pick up those issues of Time or Newsweek or some special edition of Discovery magazine that reads: the top 100 technological insights of 2016, or the most surprising discoveries of 2016. Anyone here love to read those? Do you save them? I do, and I always find something science or technology is up to that I had no idea about. So...

65. The Flight From Light

Isaiah 60:1-22, Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Erskine White

"And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way." (Matthew 2:12) The other day I called someone to compliment her on a job she had done exceedingly well. We had worked on a project together which became a great success, in no small part because of the leadership she provided. As I spoke with her, I went on and on about how much her work had b...

66. About Those Magi

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

Jean Rodenbough tells about a friend of hers whose brother and his family drove to Thomasville, North Carolina just before Christmas. They made this long trip because their cousins and aunts and uncles lived there. Their family was getting together for a Christmas season celebration. As they passed by the Episcopal Church where a manger scene was in the yard, her friend’s 5-year-old nephew asked ...

67. Where Is He?

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Most parents are at some point familiar with children who hide when they’ve done something that they know they weren’t supposed to do. In fact, as a parent, you know something is up when your usual inquisitive, under-foot child has gone entirely missing in the house, nowhere to be found. At that point, it’s best to check the cookie jar, take note of windows and vases, make sure the cat is still sa...

68. Which King Do We Worship?

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

Think about the last trip you took to a new place. Maybe you went on vacation or maybe you just went across town. Did you notice that it seemed to take more time to reach your destination than it did to return home? This sensation of seeming to take longer to make a trip than it is to return home is universal and even has an official scientific name. It is referred to as the “return trip effect” b...

69. The Wisdom of the Magi

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Wisdom is an interesting word. Wisdom is a kind of combinatory faculty of the human mind which uses knowledge, experience, comprehension, common sense, insight, intuition, the senses, perception, compassion, and understanding of signs and oracles, mysteries and miracles to discern what is true about something or a situation. For the wise, knowledge is not limited to facts and figures but can comp...

70. A Sign in the Heavens

Isaiah 60:1-6 · Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

Perhaps you’ve heard of the passenger sitting relaxed on an airplane. A man appeared with a parachute. The man asked the passenger, “Would you like to join me?” “No, thank you,” said the passenger, “I’m very happy where I am.” The reply came back from the man with the parachute, “Do as you like, but I should tell you, I’m the pilot.” I don’t know about you, but if I saw a man on a plane carryin...

71. Guiding Star

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not near: A star shall appear from Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel. . .” Numbers 24:17. “I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.” Isaiah 49:6 [1] In the Catacombs of Priscilla you will find one of the oldest paintings of the early church –a depiction of Mother Mary...

72. The Greatest Gift

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Lori Wagner

By the time we get to Epiphany Sunday, for most people, the season of “gift giving” is over. The sea of presents from Christmas has been mostly put away, the decorative trees and lights are coming down, and, having celebrated New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, people are moving on to resume their lives, hoping for a positive year. Stores, no longer selling Christmas, are already focused on St. Val...

Showing 51 to 72 of 72 results