Login / Signup

CSSPlus

×

Warning message

You are not logged in.
Please log in to view this content.
If you are having problems logging in or think this is an error, please contact us online or call 1-800-537-1030.

Not a subscriber?
Get a FREE 30-Day Subscription
(No credit card necessary)
Get Full Access Now!

Straining the difference

Children's Activity
New Year's Day - A
New Year's Day - B
New Year's Day - C
Matthew 25:31-46
Teachers or Parents: The difference in people is in their deeds. By what we do from love we show the love of Christ within us. Today's Gospel talks about the judgment day and the separation of the "righteous" from the unrighteous. What is important is congruity of faith and life. Over that is the importance of faith alone. We are saved by our faith and not our deeds. The deeds are an indicator of faith.

*New Year's is a time of renewal and recommitment. Encourage the children to set some New Year's resolutions that will help
UPCOMING WEEKS
In addition to the lectionary resources there are thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...
Signup for FREE!
(No credit card needed.)
Easter 6
30 – Sermons
110+ – Illustrations / Stories
26 – Children's Sermons / Resources
20 – Worship Resources
25 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Ascension
25 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
22 – Children's Sermons / Resources
18 – Worship Resources
23 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Easter 7
30 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
27 – Children's Sermons / Resources
25 – Worship Resources
27 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Pentecost
29 – Sermons
140+ – Illustrations / Stories
27 – Children's Sermons / Resources
28 – Worship Resources
32 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Trinity Sunday
27 – Sermons
140+ – Illustrations / Stories
29 – Children's Sermons / Resources
29 – Worship Resources
30 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Plus thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...
Signup for FREE!
(No credit card needed.)

New & Featured This Week

The Immediate Word

Mary Austin
Katy Stenta
Dean Feldmeyer
Thomas Willadsen
Bethany Peerbolte
George Reed
Christopher Keating
God’s people never get good at waiting.

Our Christian calendar has two whole seasons dedicated to preparation, aka waiting, and we never quite mange to do it gracefully. Apparently, our ancestors in faith had the same problem. “Are we there yet?” the early disciples keep asking Jesus, when he promises them the gift of the Holy Spirit. We don’t typically think of the Easter season as a period of waiting, and yet the early disciples spent 50 days waiting for the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Nothing can happen until it arrives.

Emphasis Preaching Journal

Mark Ellingsen
Frank Ramirez
Bonnie Bates
Bill Thomas
Acts 2:1-21
A focus on the Holy Spirit in the lesson is nicely explained in a sermon by Martin Luther. He proclaims that “the Holy Spirit, the real teacher, comes and gives power to the word so that it takes hold” (Weimar Ausgabe, Vol.17 II, p.460 [translation mine]).  Elsewhere he adds:
Wayne Brouwer
Schuyler Rhodes
Note: This installment was originally published in 2009.

An ancient Jewish writing declares, "Pentecost is the day on which Torah was given." According to the teaching, it was on the day that eventually became the feast of Pentecost that God gave birth to the Hebrew nation by speaking the divine covenant to them at Mount Sinai.

As the book of Acts makes clear, Pentecost was also the day on which the New Testament church was born. Just as God spoke through Moses to bring the nation of

StoryShare

John E. Sumwalt
Frank Ramirez
Contents
“The Billy Graham Test” by John Sumwalt
“Correctly Hearing Each Other” by Frank Ramirez


The Billy Graham Test
by John Sumwalt
Romans 8:22-27

And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. (v. 26)

The Village Shepherd

Call to Worship:

On this, the birthday of the Christian Church, let us welcome God's Holy Spirit into our hearts and into the heart of our Church.

Invitation to Confession:

Holy Spirit, sometimes our hearts are cold or luke-warm.
Lord, have mercy.

Holy Spirit, sometimes we fail to believe that you still have power in human lives.
Christ, have mercy.

SermonStudio

Richard A. Jensen
Over at last. That's the only thought she could think about just now. Over at last. The funeral finished. The committal service completed. She was home now and weary; bone weary. Her husband, Carl, was safely tucked into the grave. How had she ever endured the year of his agony?
Schuyler Rhodes
In Christian tradition, we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit as a partner on the journey (John 14:16; 15:26; 16:7), an advocate who will accompany us on our journey toward faithfulness. We hear the Pentecost story and delight in the dancing tongues of fire as they descend and create something new in their wake.
Michael D. Wuchter
Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as they migrated from the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.

William J. Carl, III
What a way to start a church! It's certainly not the typical format for new church development. Where is the planning committee, the fund-raising, the arm twisting, the real estate deal acquiring the land, the faithful few who volunteer from other churches to give the whole thing its initial push? Not everyone has the personality to start a church from scratch, but Paul did. "I planted, Apollos watered," says Paul (1 Corinthians 3:6). Some preachers are just good at planting churches and getting them started.

Special Occasion