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Online Sermons

What is SermonSuite

SermonSuite, a division of CSS Publishing, is an online collection of professionally published lectionary and non-lectionary sermons, children's sermons, sermon illustrations, exegesis, homiletical resources, and worship resources which have been developed over the years to help pastors deliver relevant, high impact messages and worship resources.

This site's collection of professionally written, edited and published resources can be accessed online 24/7 giving pastors a versatile collection of fresh, innovative preaching and worship material for building dynamic messages that connect with your congregation and keep your pews filled.

Category   Sermons Children's
Material
Illustrations Exegetical
Material
Worship
Material
Subscription
              
         
The Immediate Word Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
SermonStudio Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Emphasis     Yes Yes  
StoryShare Yes   Yes    
The Village Shepherd Yes Yes     Yes
CSSPlus   Yes      
Gospel Grams 1   Yes      
Gospel Grams 2   Yes      

Components

Click on any of the following component names to learn more...

     The Immediate Word

     SermonStudio

     Emphasis Online

     StoryShare

     The Village Shepherd

     CSS Plus

     Gospel Grams 1

     Gospel Grams 2



The Immediate Word

The Immediate Word a theological perspective on today's headlinesThe Immediate Word gives a theological perspective on today's headlines and popular culture for your sermon, children’s message, and worship service. The Immediate Word gives a theological perspective on today's headlines and popular culture.

Cutting Edge: THE IMMEDIATE WORD gives you the tools to be cutting edge ... to put you in touch with today's most critical issues and to aid you in crafting messages and presentations that will truly help your congregants understand the Gospel in the context of what is current and most important to them.

Collaborative: THE IMMEDIATE WORD is a unique collaboration of some of the sharpest, most contemporary clergy of our day in a web based service that gives you weekly information, inspiration, and presentation material.

Enabling: THE IMMEDIATE WORD will enable you to create messages about matters that your parishioners are discussing and concerned about.

Timely: THE IMMEDIATE WORD posts the topic of the week and a brief introduction on Monday and the final product on Tuesday afternoon, giving you time to digest the material and then incorporate them into your preparations for the coming Sunday service.

Satisfaction Guaranteed: THE IMMEDIATE WORD is not only guaranteed to satisfy you, we believe it will actually energize your ministry. We are so confident that you will find THE IMMEDIATE WORD to be such a great value that if you are not completely satisfied with the service we will refund the balance of your subscription payment, no questions asked.

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SermonStudio

SermonStudioSermonStudio, a flagship product of the site, is home to thousands of sermons, children’s messages, outlines, sermon illustrations, worship services, exigetical resources, dramas, prayers, preaching resources, and more.

Within this component, you will find high quality resources for all liturgical seasons from Advent/Christmas all the way through Thanksgiving. You’ll find lectionary and non-lectionary content as well as funeral and wedding homilies, communion and baptism homilies, special occasion messages and others based on Biblical and general themes.

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Emphasis Preaching Journal

Emphasis Preaching Journal Commentary and illustrations based on the LectionaryEmphasis Preaching Journal provides in-depth, scripturally sound, lectionary-based commentary on weekly texts, plus thousands of illustrations to help you create riveting messages.

For each Sunday, Emphasis writers and editors delve into the heart of the four lectionary readings, providing you with several fresh, solid ideas -- based squarely on the lectionary texts -- for creating messages that speak powerfully to your audience. The writers look for overall themes that hold the readings together, then they home in on the themes and the specific scripture links, suggesting multiple homiletical directions. Since a single idea each week may not provide what you are looking for at that particular time, Emphasis suggests several, giving you the opportunity to select the one that matches your specific needs.

Emphasis is like having a dedicated, thoroughly-versed research team right in your own study to help you create messages that are truly yours, and that speak powerfully to your audience.

Archives
Emphasis gives you even greater value by putting back issues of the journal at your fingertips. This access to the Emphasis archives, combined with the ability to find commentaries and illustrations based on lectionary, scripture, or keyword, makes Emphasis an efficient, indespensible, time-saving tool for your ministry.

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StoryShare

StoryShare -- stories of faith for preaching and teachingStoryShare is a treasure trove of good stories that relate authentic, life-changing experiences that demonstrate the Lord's power and presence. All of the content in StoryShare is lectionary based and serves to help you illustrate the weekly readings. The stories can be used as illustrations or, in some cases, as standalone homilies. Along with new stories being added every week, a subscription to StoryShare also gives you access to the archives, so if the new stories don't catch your eye, it's likely something from the archives will work for you.

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The Village Shepherd

The Village Shepherd sermons, children's stories and liturgies, and prayers based on the lectionaryThe Village Shepherd offers sermons, children's stories and liturgies, and prayers based on the lectionary. This content is sure to touch your heart, because they reflect the simple virtues and tranquil serenity that characterize Reverend Janice Scott's English countryside pastorate. The questions "Where is God in this particular situation?" and "Where does the Gospel story cross our own human story?" are always at the heart of these meditations -- but rather than finding overt answers, instead you will be gently led to make your own connections and discover the powerful ways in which God works. Janice Scott has the unique ability to find interesting details in ordinary life that illuminate scripture, while still challenging even the most intellectual reader. And that gift is precisely what also makes her an outstanding communicator with children.

For every Sunday in all three lectionary cycles you will find:
  • A homiletical message for each Gospel, Second Reading, and First Reading.
  • Children's stories based on the Gospel for the week.
  • Children's liturgy and story based on the Gospel. (The story included with the liturgy is different from the story mentioned above.
  • A group of intercessory prayers for your worship service.
The convenient search engine enables you to quickly find exactly what you need -- all the rich content of The Village Shepherd can be searched by lectionary, scripture, or keyword.

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CSS Plus

CSSPlus - children's sermons and activities based on the LectionaryCSSPlus (Children Sermon Service) offers great children's sermons for lectionary and non-lectionary users. CSSPlus is a subscription service of children's messages that provide one new children's message per week for each Sunday of the year based on the lectionary Gospel. In addition to the children’s homilies, each week includes several different children’s activities which are perfect for use in Sunday school or at home during the week.

Lectionary users will find this component useful because every entry is referenced and searchable by lectionary.

Non-lectionary users will find CSSPlus equally useful because every entry is also referenced and searchable by scripture reference and keyword.

So, whether you are a lectionary user or a non-lectionary user, this component will provide you a vast selection of great children's messages from first-rate communicators with children, and you'll quickly find just what you are looking for.

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Gospel Grams 1

Gospel Grams - children's activities for ages 5-7 based on lectionary textsGospel Grams 1 providers lectionary-based children’s activity bulletin to communicate the Gospel for children ages 4-7. Gospel Grams 1 is an activity bulletin designed to communicate the Gospel to young children at their own level. Instead of kids drawing cars or flowers on scrap paper or the regular worship bulletin, why not give them their very own bulletin that will reinforce the Gospel message for the day in fun and interesting ways.

Geared to children ages 4-7, Gospel Grams 1 uses imaginative Bible word games and puzzles, coloring pictures, and stories to engage kids with the Gospel lesson for the day. And because it is lectionary-based, the children will be on the same "scriptural" page as the adults.

In all, there are 56 Gospel Grams per lectionary cycle. Since they are downloadable pdf files, you can print as few or as many as you need -- therefore keeping waste to a minimum.

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Gospel Grams 2

Gospel Grams 2 provides lectionary-based children’s activity bulletin to communicate the Gospel for children ages 8-10. Gospel Grams 2 is an activity bulletin designed to communicate the Gospel to young children at their own level. Instead of kids drawing cars or flowers on scrap paper or the regular worship bulletin, why not give them their very own bulletin that will reinforce the Gospel message for the day in fun and interesting ways.

Geared to children ages 8-10, Gospel Grams 2 uses imaginative Bible word games and puzzles, coloring pictures, and stories to engage kids with the Gospel lesson for the day. And because it is lectionary-based, the children will be on the same "scriptural" page as the adults.

In all, there are 56 Gospel Grams per lectionary cycle. Since they are downloadable pdf files, you can print as few or as many as you need -- therefore keeping waste to a minimum.

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Online Sermons & Sermon Illustrations

New & Featured This Week

The Immediate Word

Nazish Naseem
Katy Stenta
Dean Feldmeyer
Thomas Willadsen
Christopher Keating
Mary Austin
George Reed
For September 13, 2026:

Emphasis Preaching Journal

David Coffin
As the school year has begun and the autumn has churches back into their routines, these texts raise the question of what God has for practicing Christian faith or discipleship in the year to come. N.T. Wright has been writing volumes to suggest that the end game of the Christian life is not merely obtaining salvation or being made with God, then waiting out our years until we die and go up to heaven. The God who delivers Israel and Christians has much more for Christians to accomplish as stewards and co-creators for God’s eternal purposes.
Anger is like a volcano. Deep in many of us there is a lake of pain, pure molten hurt. From the outside no one sees it, usually. We cover it over so well. But one day the heat rises, and the dam breaks, and the cork blows, and anger erupts like an explosion. And dogs get kicked. And triggers get pulled. And wives get beaten. And missiles get launched.

The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott
"Where's Ruth?" asked Jamie's mother.

Jamie scowled. "I hate Ruth," she muttered angrily.

"You do?" said Jamie's mother, surprised. About an hour ago Jamie and Ruth had been best friends. "What happened?" she added.

StoryShare

John E. Sumwalt
Anne Le Bas
Steve Philip
Steven Fortney
Sue D'alessio
Contents
What's Up This Week: "When the Big One Hits"
A Story to Live By: "What's God Up To?"
Sermon Starters: "In the Wake of the Storm" by John Sumwalt
"The Storm Voice and the Voice of God" by Anne Le Bas
Modern Epistle: "Dispatch from the Front" by Steve Philip
Scrap Pile: "The Tremendum of Whirlwinds" by Steven Fortney
"Response to the Poem from a Friend" by Sue D'Alessio


What's Up This Week

When the Big One Hits
Frank Ramirez
John E. Sumwalt
Contents
What's Up This Week
"The Unsecret Weapon" by Frank Ramirez
"The Unknown Churchgoers" by John Sumwalt


What's Up This Week

SermonStudio

Jerry L. Schmalenberger
Seasonal Theme
The teaching and ministry of Jesus the Christ.

Theme For The Day
Making right decisions for Christian behavior.

Old Testament Lesson
Exodus 14:19-31
Parting Of The Sea
Carlos Wilton
This alternate psalm follows immediately after this morning's Old Testament Lesson, the story of the parting of the Red Sea. It contains two ancient hymns -- known, respectively, as the Song of Moses and the Song of Miriam.

Of the two, the Song of Miriam is unquestionably the oldest. It is composed of just two lines -- lines which have been incorporated into the opening of the longer Song of Moses: "Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; horse and rider he has thrown into the sea" (v. 21).
Stan Purdum
This psalm falls into four cantos. Verses 1-2 refer to Israel's foundation story and most importantly, to how God selected that nation as a dwelling place. Verses 3-4 explain that God's presence with Israel had an effect on the actual workings of nature. Verses 5-6 revel in the wonder of how the earth responded obediently to God's presence in Israel. Verses 7-8 are a summons for the rest of creation and the other nations to feel the power of God's presence as well.
Russell F. Anderson
BRIEF COMMENTARY ON THE LESSONS

Lesson 1: Exodus 14:19--31 (C)
The presence of the Lord in the pillar of fire, that normally went ahead of the people to lead them, moved to the rear of the community as an obscuring cloud, a kind of buffer between them and the army of the Pharaoh. The Lord caused a strong wind to dry up a pathway through the sea so that the Hebrews passed to the other side. The pursuing Egyptians became mired in the mud and the waters closed in upon them. Thus, the Lord delivered his people from their enemies.
Larry Lange
Once upon a time, in a garage in the ancient city of Rome, a man developed a computer operating system that became the digital lingua franca for the ancient world. How his operating system defeated its competitor is one of the great mysteries of all time. There must have been something about its ugly, utilitarian appearance and its proclivity toward redundancy that appealed to the brutal bureaucrats who established the Roman Empire.
Tempe Fussell
Curtis Fussell
I suppose when we hear this passage about the parting of the Reed Sea, many of us cannot help but recall that scene in the movie The Ten Commandments. There is Moses, played by Charlton Heston, in a flowing black robe, long hair blowing in the wind, and his arms lifted up with one hand holding the staff that God had given him. The sea suddenly heaves and parts, creating a path with rolling walls of water on either side. Then, Israel marches through on dry land, barely ahead of the pursuing Egyptian army.
William J. Carl, III
What we have in our passage is the contrast between a theology of grace and a theology of keeping score. The first is the one Jesus espouses in this text. The second is the one Peter is pushing and, by the way, the one our world has bought into for centuries.
John R. Brokhoff
In 1988 former Texas governor, John Connally, auctioned off his personal belongings ranging from saddles to paintings for $2.75 million. This was only a fraction of the almost 50 million he owed because of failure in real estate and oil holdings.
Tom M. Garrison
While I was still in seminary, I thought it would be good to go back to my roots and try to understand a little more about my past and myself. There were things that I faintly remembered from my childhood. There were, however, large chunks of the past that completely escaped my awareness. So I took a trip to Samantha, Alabama, to see my great aunt Sally Boone who was already in her seventies. I vividly remember the visit. The day as I remember it was hot; she had opened all the doors and windows to let in a little breeze.
Stan Purdum
French author Victor Hugo has a short story titled, "93." In the midst of this tale a ship at sea is caught in a terrific storm. Buffeted by the waves, the boat rocks to and fro, when suddenly the crew hears an awesome crashing sound below deck. They know what it is. A cannon they are carrying has broken loose and is smashing into the ship's sides with every list of the ship. Two brave sailors, at the risk of their lives, manage to go below and fasten it again, for they know that the heavy cannon on the inside of their ship is more dangerous to them than the storm on the outside.

CSSPlus

Good morning! Did anyone feel this week like someone else was present even though you couldn't see or hear him? If you did, it was me. I thought and prayed about all of you this week, and I tried to tell each one of you how much I love you. When praying, I tried to picture you in my mind. I pictured Sally with her long hair and Mike with his big muscles. (give more examples) You seemed so real when I was praying that I thought maybe you knew I was right there with you.
Good morning, boys and girls. Here we are to celebrate another great Sunday. I am so happy you are here that I asked the organist to play something special just for you. (have the organist play a short fanfare) Wow! Now do you believe how happy I am to see you? Sunday is a very special day for all of us.
UPCOMING WEEKS
In addition to the lectionary resources there are thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...
Proper 19 (OT 24, Pent 16)
29 – Sermons
120+ – Illustrations / Stories
30+ – Children's Sermons / Resources
20+ – Worship Resources
24 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Proper 20 (OT 25, Pent 17)
30 – Sermons
120+ – Illustrations / Stories
20 – Children's Sermons / Resources
20+ – Worship Resources
25 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Proper 21 (OT 26, Pent 18)
27 – Sermons
130+ – Illustrations / Stories
24 – Children's Sermons / Resources
19 – Worship Resources
23 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Plus thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...
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