Login / Signup

Proper 13 | Ordinary Time 18 - C

Hold down Ctrl (Windows) / Command (Mac) for multiple selections (scroll list to see all options)

Children's Activity

Commentary

Children's bulletin

Children's Liturgy and Story

Children's sermon

Children's Story

Devotional

Drama

Illustration

Emphasis Preaching Journal

Mary had stopped subscribing to... -- Ecclesiastes 1:12-14 -- Proper 13 | Ordinary Time 18 - C -- 1995
Mary had stopped subscribing to her local newspaper.
The writer of Ecclesiastes says... -- Ecclesiastes 1:12-14 -- Proper 13 | Ordinary Time 18 - C -- 1995
The writer of Ecclesiastes says the activity of man is "vanity" and as useless as "striving after wi
Driving to work one morning... -- Ecclesiastes 1:12-14 -- Proper 13 | Ordinary Time 18 - C -- 1995
Driving to work one morning, it suddenly occurred to Jane that she had everything and she had nothin
Bela came to this country... -- Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-19 -- Proper 13 | Ordinary Time 18 - C
Bela came to this country from Eastern Europe in the harsh days following the Second World War, when
A writer has said that... -- Ecclesiastes 1:12-14; 2:(1-7, 11) 18-23 -- Proper 13 | Ordinary Time 18 - C
A writer has said that one of the purposes of a novelist is to make ordinary life seem legitimate.
Rabbi Harold Kushner wrote a... -- Ecclesiastes 1:12-14; 2:(1-7, 11) 18-23 -- Proper 13 | Ordinary Time 18 - C
Rabbi Harold Kushner wrote a book about Ecclesiastes, a short writing in the Hebrew Bible.
How easily or unrealistic expectations... -- Ecclesiastes 1:12-14; 2:(1-7, 11) 18-23 -- Proper 13 | Ordinary Time 18 - C
How easily or unrealistic expectations can lead us into dissatisfaction with daily living.
Does our life reflect that... -- Colossians 3:1-11 -- Proper 13 | Ordinary Time 18 - C
Does our life reflect that we "have been raised with Christ" and that we "have put on the new nature
No doubt one of the... -- Colossians 3:1-11 -- Proper 13 | Ordinary Time 18 - C
No doubt one of the best things that readers learned from Peck's book, The Road Less Traveled
There is a tremendous power... -- Hosea 11:1-11 -- Proper 13 | Ordinary Time 18 - C
There is a tremendous power in seeing a complete reversal of an earlier decision.
Dorothy was told hen leg... -- Colossians 3:1-11 -- Proper 13 | Ordinary Time 18 - C
Dorothy was told hen leg would have to be removed.
Country singer Jeff Bates tells... -- Hosea 11:1-11 -- Proper 13 | Ordinary Time 18 - C
Country singer Jeff Bates tells in a Reader's Digest article how his adoptive mother's love r
I remember when I was... -- Luke 12:13-21 -- Proper 13 | Ordinary Time 18 - C
"I remember when I was a boy," the old man mused, "I was riding on the seat of the wagon with my dad
The preacher's son was in... -- Hosea 11:1-11 -- Proper 13 | Ordinary Time 18 - C
The preacher's son was in trouble at school.
What is of most importance... -- Luke 12:13-21 -- Proper 13 | Ordinary Time 18 - C
What is of most importance in life?
Scott Adams, creator of the... -- Colossians 3:1-11 -- Proper 13 | Ordinary Time 18 - C
Scott Adams, creator of the Dilbert comic strip, was conducting his "Second Annual Highly Uns
Perhaps we have become so... -- Luke 12:13-21 -- Proper 13 | Ordinary Time 18 - C
Perhaps we have become so familiar with this passage that we forget its radical truth.
A young man, not much... -- Colossians 3:1-11 -- Proper 13 | Ordinary Time 18 - C
A young man, not much more than a boy, once approached the composer, W. A. Mozart.
A recent hit song contrasts... -- Luke 12:13-21 -- Proper 13 | Ordinary Time 18 - C
A recent hit song contrasts the lifestyles of two men.
Todd White gathered up the... -- Colossians 3:1-11 -- Proper 13 | Ordinary Time 18 - C
Todd White gathered up the five sixth-grade campers in his cabin and they set off into the woods of
For a small city plot... -- 2 Kings 13:14-20a -- Proper 13 | Ordinary Time 18 - C
For a small city plot, the Greenwood Cemetery in Bloomington, Illinois, holds the graves of an unusu
Paul encourages us to put... -- Colossians 3:1-11 -- Proper 13 | Ordinary Time 18 - C
Paul encourages us to put to death the old so that the new might emerge.
Those of us who are... -- 2 Kings 13:14-20a -- Proper 13 | Ordinary Time 18 - C
Those of us who are Detroit Lions fans have become so used to losing throughout the years that we, l
I watched the ducks swim... -- Luke 12:13-21 -- Proper 13 | Ordinary Time 18 - C
I watched the ducks swim in the pond. The mother was first and the chicks followed in her wake.

The Immediate Word

It's Not The Economy, Stupid -- Luke 12:13-21, Hosea 11:1-11, Colossians 3:1-11, Psalm 107:1-9, 43 -- Roger Lovette -- Proper 13 | Ordinary Time 18 - C
Introducing the Texts

Intercession

Prayer

Preaching

Sermon

Stories

Worship

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 4
28 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
33 – Children's Sermons / Resources
23 – Worship Resources
34 – Commentary / Exegesis
5 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Easter 5
33 – Sermons
140+ – Illustrations / Stories
34 – Children's Sermons / Resources
30 – Worship Resources
35 – Commentary / Exegesis
5 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Easter 6
30 – Sermons
180+ – Illustrations / Stories
32 – Children's Sermons / Resources
23 – Worship Resources
31 – Commentary / Exegesis
5 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Plus thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...
Signup for FREE!
(No credit card needed.)

New & Featured This Week

Emphasis Preaching Journal

David Kalas
In the sometimes-tiresome debate over science and scripture with respect to creation, it’s easy to become distracted. While the argument typically requires a focus on the how, we may lose sight of the what. And so, for just a moment, let me invite us to think for a moment about what God created.
Mark Ellingsen
Frank Ramirez
Bonnie Bates
Bill Thomas
Acts 8:26-40
As a local church pastor, I was often asked if I would baptize a child whose family were not members of the church. Some churches rebelled against this, but I remember this scripture — the hunger for understanding and inclusion of the Eunuch and Philp’s response — to teach and share and baptize in the name of our God. How could we turn anyone away from the rite of baptism?

StoryShare

Peter Andrew Smith
“Dad, I think you worked a miracle.” Rolf slowly walked around the tree. “After that windstorm, I assumed this tree was as good as gone.”

“We just needed to give the branches time to heal and come back,” Michael replied.

 “I know, but so many of them were battered and broken I figured that it couldn’t recover. Now though it looks just like it did before the storm.” Rolf paused. “Do you think it will bear any fruit this summer?”

CSSPlus

John Jamison
Object: A live plant that produces fruit, and a broken branch from that plant. I used a tomato plant from a local greenhouse. Ideally, find a plant with blossoms or small fruit already growing. If you use a different kind of fruit-producing plant, just change the script to fit.

* * *

Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Excellent!

The Immediate Word

Christopher Keating
Katy Stenta
Thomas Willadsen
Mary Austin
Elena Delhagen
Dean Feldmeyer
Quantisha Mason-Doll
For April 28, 2024:
  • On The Way To Gaza by Chris Keating based on Acts 8:26-40. On the way to Gaza, Philip discovers the startling ways the Spirit of God moves across borders, boundaries, customs, and traditions.
  • Second Thoughts: Abiding by Katy Stenta based on John 15:1-8.
  • Sermon illustrations by Mary Austin, Tom Willadsen, Elena Delhagen, Dean Feldmeyer.

The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott
Call to Worship:

Jesus is the vine, we are the branches. In our service today, let us absorb from the vine all the nourishment we need.

Invitation to Confession:

Jesus, sometimes our branches become cut off from the vine.
Lord, have mercy.

Jesus, sometimes our branches are withered.
Christ, have mercy.

Jesus, sometimes we fail to produce good fruit.
Lord, have mercy.

SermonStudio

Stan Purdum
We will meet Psalm 22 in its entirety on Good Friday, but here the lectionary designates just verses 23-31. The lectionary psalms generally illuminate the week's First Lesson, which in this case is about the covenant initiated by God with Abraham and Sarah in Genesis 17. The nine verses from this psalm, while not inappropriate, nonetheless leave us looking for an obvious connection with the First Lesson.

John S. Smylie
I think some people are natural-born gardeners. Our Lord grew up in a society that was familiar with agriculture. The images that he used to explain the ways of his Father in heaven are familiar to his audience. Growing up, my closest experience to agriculture was living in, "the Garden State." Most people, when they pass through New Jersey, are surprised to see that expression on the license plates of vehicles registered in New Jersey. Most folks traveling through New Jersey experience the megalopolis, the corridor between New York City and Washington DC.
Ron Lavin
A pastor in Indiana went to visit an 87-year-old man named Ermil, who was a hospital patient. A member of his church told the pastor about this old man who was an acquaintance. "He's not a believer, but he is really in need," the church member said. "I met him at the county home for the elderly. He's a lonely old man with no family and no money."

Paul E. Robinson
"Love is a many splendored thing...." Or so we heard Don Cornwall and the Four Aces sing time and again. Of course you or I might have other words to describe love, depending on our situation.

Love. "I love you." "I love to play golf." "I just love pistachio lush!" "It's tough to love some people." "Jesus loves me, this I know."

Love.

Special Occasion

Wildcard SSL