Lent/Easter Resources

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Lectionary-based

Ash Wed.
March 5 Lent 1
March 9 Lent 2
March 16 Lent 3
March 23 Lent 4
March 30 Lent 5
April 6 Palm/Passion
April 13 Maundy Thursday
April 17 Good Friday
April 18 Easter!
April 20

Non-Lectionary

Worship

GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD

Hear the Good News

Contemporary Worship Resources For Lent

Worship Innovations

From Life To Life

SYMBOLS OF SACRIFICE

HOLY WEEK CONFESSIONS

Visions Of Lent

Restore Me

Tenebrae For Modern Times

Returning Home

Life On The Edge Of Faith

Lenten Resources For Worship Leaders

And The Sea Lay Down

Bright Intervals

The Word Has Come Down

Living in the Light

Sermon

BIBLICAL PICTURES OF WATER

THE SEVENFOLD PATH TO PEACE

BIBLICAL PICTURES OF BREAD

SOUNDS OF THE PASSION

THE FOLLOW THROUGH ON FOLLOW ME

Paradise Restored

The Glory Of Our Weakness

The Psalms Were Made For Lent

The Victory of the Cross

SIX NAILS OF THE CROSS

An Idle Tale Becomes Good News

The Roads Jesus Traveled

The Vine and the Branches

The Isolated Jesus

Leading To Easter

THE VICTORY OF FAITH

The Victory of Faith

Turning Points

The Seven Last Words Of Jesus Christ

The Gifts Of Lent

Come Dine With Jesus

Behold The Man

At The Cross With Jesus

Affirming The Ash Heap

A Clearer Vision

Wounded For Us

Experiencing Easter

The Challenge of Starting All Over Again

Preaching

If a Sermon Falls in the Forest...

Monologues

The Attributes Of Lent

MY TOMB WAS EMPTY

Lent/Easter

Traveling Calvary’s Road

Traveling Calvary's Road

Easter

The Road to Victory

Drama

PERSPECTIVES ON THE PASSION

DATELINE: Jerusalem

Watch And Pray

The Last Covenant

VOICES

Visualizing The Parables

Why Did Jesus Die?

ThespianTheology

Roll Back The Stone

MEDITATIONS FOR THE SIX DAYS OF HOLY WEEK

Hey Joseph!

From My Point Of View

Conversations With The Savior

From A Soldier Of Rome To A Soldier For Christ

Voices Of Repentance

Who Is This Man -- This Jesus?

Holy Moses

Living in the Light

Children's sermon

The Glory Of Our Weakness

Speaking With Signs

Children's Sermons A To Z

Alleluia!

Bible Study

The Critical Questions... And More

UPCOMING WEEKS
In addition to the lectionary resources there are thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...

Proper 10 | OT 15 | Pentecost 5

30 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
30 – Children's Sermons / Resources
29 – Worship Resources
34 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...

Proper 11 | OT 16 | Pentecost 6

29 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
27 – Children's Sermons / Resources
20 – Worship Resources
29 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...

Proper 12 | OT 17 | Pentecost 7

34 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
32 – Children's Sermons / Resources
26 – Worship Resources
31 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...

Plus thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...

New & Featured This Week

Object: You may present this message as a simple story, or have the children act it out as a role-play. I will show the role-play version, but you can ignore the acting pieces and just tell the story if you prefer.

Note: For the role-play version, you will need to select two girls and one boy to play the roles. You might also have a broom and a dust rag if you want to.

* * *

Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Great! Let’s get started.

The Immediate Word

Buying the Poor for Silver

Mary Austin
Dean Feldmeyer
Christopher Keating
Thomas Willadsen
George Reed
Katy Stenta

For July 20, 2025:

Buying the Poor for Silver by Mary Austin based on Amos 8:1-12.
Second Thoughts: The Business of Business by Dean Feldmeyer based on Amos 8:1-12.
Sermon illustrations by Tom Willadsen, Chris Keating.
Worship resources by George Reed.

Emphasis Preaching Journal

Sermon Illustrations for Proper 11 | OT 16 (2025)

Mark Ellingsen
Bill Thomas
Frank Ramirez
Bonnie Bates

Amos 8:1-12, Psalm 52
Amos proclaims the word from God that punishes the people. The people are to be punished for their lack of faith, for their focus on practicing deceit, betraying honesty to their neighbors, and being impatient for the time after the Sabbath when they can focus on profit and selling their crops and wares. Oh, my! What a terrible message for people. You have been unfaithful so I will punish you. And then in the psalm, God is proclaimed to be the olive tree, that which brings blessing.

What Comes First

David Kalas

I have tried to find different ways of saying it so that my children don’t tire of hearing it. But the basic principle remains the same, and my kids have heard it a ton. “First things first.” They ask if they can do this or they start to do that, and I will endeavor to redirect them, saying, “Why don’t we make sure we’re doing first things first!”

StoryShare

Rejoice in Your Sufferings

John E. Sumwalt

I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. (v. 24)

The Village Shepherd

Happy Families

Janice B. Scott

One of Martha's earliest memories was of her little sister Mary singing and dancing in the middle of an admiring crowd of friends. Mary had always been a dancer, from the time she could walk. Privately, Martha thought she'd always been something of a show-off and ought to go on the stage, for Mary loved an audience.

SermonStudio

The Presence Of Angels

John E. Sumwalt
Jeanne Jones

Several years ago, before we moved to Wisconsin, I was an honorary nanny for our pastor's son, Jonathan. I took care of him from the time he was able to walk until our pastor moved, when Jonathan was about five. We had wonderful times together. One time, when I was at their house, and we had been doing some spiritual direction together, Pastor Michael asked me if I knew the name of my guardian angel.

Proper 11 / Pentecost 6 / Ordinary Time 16

James Evans

We are not surprised when we learn about crooks and robbers boasting about "mischief done against the godly" or "plotting destruction" all day long. The image we have in our minds about who "bad" people are, and how they conduct themselves, make such accusations completely plausible. We are less inclined to believe such things about leaders, especially respected leaders among us. We have difficulty believing someone with wealth and power would deliberately plot to do someone else harm.

Sister Act(s)

Arley K. Fadness

Today's gospel from Luke 10 follows the parable of the good Samaritan. Luke positions the good Samaritan and the Mary-Martha story back to back for good reason. The parable and the story are examples of the Great Commandment "to love the Lord your God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself." The good Samaritan parable illustrates "love to neighbor," whereas the Mary-Martha story illustrates "love to God."

The Great Motivator

Kirk R. Webster

In the early 1990s, Wesley Nunley of Dallas completed a project he had dreamed of for decades. "I tell you, this could be a big thing," he explained. Wes then walked out to a concrete octagon in the middle of his backyard. With a beaming smile, arms raised up in excitement, the energetic retiree said, "This welcomes the UFO to land, which has never been done before."

God Notices

John W. Wurster

It was the best of times. A time of prosperity and confidence, a time of relative peace, a time when most everything looked pretty good, a time when most everyone felt pretty good. It was a time maybe not unlike our own time.

Psalm 15

H. Burnham Kirkland

Words Of Assurance
Our God is both wise and caring: afflicting the comfortable and comforting the afflicted.

Pastoral Prayer
God, we bow before you this morning, knowing that you hear every prayer. We know that in all of Creation, you are the source of life. You are the one who set the light swirling between the galaxies. The breath of your Spirit pulses through all life. You have even become flesh among us. We praise you, Lord, that in all your wonder, you have not forgotten us.

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Lent/Easter Resources

Lectionary-based

Non-Lectionary

GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD

Hear the Good News

Contemporary Worship Resources For Lent

Worship Innovations

From Life To Life

SYMBOLS OF SACRIFICE

HOLY WEEK CONFESSIONS

Visions Of Lent

Restore Me

Tenebrae For Modern Times

Returning Home

Life On The Edge Of Faith

Lenten Resources For Worship Leaders

And The Sea Lay Down

Bright Intervals

The Word Has Come Down

Living in the Light

BIBLICAL PICTURES OF WATER

THE SEVENFOLD PATH TO PEACE

BIBLICAL PICTURES OF BREAD

SOUNDS OF THE PASSION

THE FOLLOW THROUGH ON FOLLOW ME

Paradise Restored

The Glory Of Our Weakness

The Psalms Were Made For Lent

The Victory of the Cross

SIX NAILS OF THE CROSS

An Idle Tale Becomes Good News

The Roads Jesus Traveled

The Vine and the Branches

The Isolated Jesus

Leading To Easter

THE VICTORY OF FAITH

The Victory of Faith

Turning Points

The Seven Last Words Of Jesus Christ

The Gifts Of Lent

Come Dine With Jesus

Behold The Man

At The Cross With Jesus

Affirming The Ash Heap

A Clearer Vision

Wounded For Us

Experiencing Easter

The Challenge of Starting All Over Again

If a Sermon Falls in the Forest...

The Attributes Of Lent

MY TOMB WAS EMPTY

Traveling Calvary’s Road

Traveling Calvary's Road

The Road to Victory

PERSPECTIVES ON THE PASSION

DATELINE: Jerusalem

Watch And Pray

The Last Covenant

VOICES

Visualizing The Parables

Why Did Jesus Die?

ThespianTheology

Roll Back The Stone

MEDITATIONS FOR THE SIX DAYS OF HOLY WEEK

Hey Joseph!

From My Point Of View

Conversations With The Savior

From A Soldier Of Rome To A Soldier For Christ

Voices Of Repentance

Who Is This Man -- This Jesus?

Holy Moses

Living in the Light

The Glory Of Our Weakness

Speaking With Signs

Children's Sermons A To Z

Alleluia!

The Critical Questions... And More

New & Featured This Week

John Jamison

Mary Austin
Dean Feldmeyer
Christopher Keating
Thomas Willadsen
George Reed
Katy Stenta

Mark Ellingsen
Bill Thomas
Frank Ramirez
Bonnie Bates

John E. Sumwalt
Jeanne Jones