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Proper 16 -- 2 Kings 8:(1, 6, 10-11) 22-30, 41-43, Ephesians 6:10-20, John 6:56-69 -- John R. Brokhoff -- Proper 16 | Ordinary Time 21 - B -- 1993
At the completion of the building of the temple, Solomon calls
Staking Out Your Donkey On Friday -- Terry Cain -- 1993
Purpose Statement: What day is the Sabbath and what do we do on it?
All Saints' Sunday -- Wisdom of Solomon 3:1-9, Revelation 21:1-6a, John 11:32-44, Isaiah 25:6-9 -- John R. Brokhoff -- All Saints Day - B -- 1993
We have here the eschatological feast of God. It is to be held
How To Create A Frankenstein Monster -- Terry Cain -- 1993
Purpose Statement: How society treats certain persons often determines their personalities and dispo
Proper 23 -- Psalm 90:1-12 -- Hugh H. Drennan -- Proper 23 | Ordinary Time 28 - B -- 1993
Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.
A Bunny Rabbit Church In A Tiger World -- Terry Cain -- 1993
Purpose Statement: The church needs to be more committed and disciplined if it expects to have a sig
Epiphany 3 -- Psalm 62:5-12 -- Hugh H. Drennan -- Epiphany 3 | Ordinary Time 3 - B -- 1993
For God alone my soul waits in silence, for my hope is from him.
Cupid's Arrow -- Terry Cain -- 1993
Purpose Statement: How do we know our love is the real thing?
Better Moonshine! -- Terry Cain -- 1993
Purpose Statement: Since "prohibition didn't work" is often used as an argument for not making other
When Christianity Gets Unreasonable -- Terry Cain -- 1993
Purpose Statement: There are religious concepts that seem impractical or foolish.
The Holy Trinity -- Isaiah 6:1-8, Romans 8:12-17, John 3:1-17 -- John R. Brokhoff -- Trinity Sunday | 1st Sunday after Pentecost - B -- 1993
Isaiah's experience in the temple occurred in 742 B.C., the
Proper 17 -- Song of Solomon 2:8-13, James 1:17-27, Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 -- John R. Brokhoff -- Proper 17 | Ordinary Time 22 - B -- 1993
According to tradition the Song of Solomon was written by
Does The Devil Make You Do It? -- Terry Cain -- 1993
Purpose Statement: Who is responsible for the temptations we face?
Christ The King -- 2 Samuel 23:1-7, Revelation 1:4b-8, John 18:33-37 -- John R. Brokhoff -- Christ The King (Proper 29) - B -- 1993
Scholars are divided on the question whether David actually
No Chance For The Christian -- Terry Cain -- 1993
Purpose Statement: A Christian doesn't gamble.
Proper 24 -- Psalm 35:17-28 -- Hugh H. Drennan -- Proper 24 | Ordinary Time 29 - B -- 1993
How long, O Lord, will you look on?
Pursued By Whales? -- Terry Cain -- 1993
Purpose Statement: Does God have tasks for us that we are running away from?
Epiphany 4 -- Psalm 111 -- Hugh H. Drennan -- Epiphany 4 | Ordinary Time 4 - B -- 1993
Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,
What Does God Promise? -- Terry Cain -- 1993
Purpose Statement: What exactly can we count on from God?
What Are You Doing Out Of Jail? -- Terry Cain -- 1993
Purpose Statement: As Christians we should be social activists using nonviolent protests to bring ju
Baptism: What's In It For You? -- Terry Cain -- 1993
Purpose Statement: Obviously it is important to preach on the meaning of baptism once in a while, an
The Nativity Of Our Lord -- Isaiah 9:2-7, Titus 2:11-14, Luke 2:1-14 (15-20) -- John R. Brokhoff -- The Nativity of our Lord - B -- 1993
A child is born whose name is wonderful and whose government
Proper 18 -- Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23, James 2:1-10 (11-13) 14-17, Mark 7:24-37 -- John R. Brokhoff -- Proper 18 | Ordinary Time 23 - B -- 1993
It is obvious that this pericope was chosen because of its
Guess Who's Coming To Dinner -- Terry Cain -- 1993
Purpose Statement: Just how open is our life to Jesus and are we missing anything?
The Resurrection Of Our Lord (Easter Day) -- Acts 10:34-43 or Isaiah 25: 6-9, John 20:1-18 or Mark 16:1-8 -- John R. Brokhoff -- Easter Day - B -- 1993
This passage looks forward to the day when God will offer a

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The Shepherds -- Luke 2:8-20 -- Alex A. Gondola, Jr. -- 2001
This is the third in our "Witnesses To Christmas" series.
A Meeting Of The Minds -- Philippians 2:5-11 -- Harry N. Huxhold -- Passion Sunday - A -- 2001
ABC produced a television program titled Strange World.
Pastor, It's Cornelius On The Line ... -- Acts 10:34-43 -- Robert J. Elder -- Easter Day - A -- 2001
There stood Peter, in the very position in which lots of believers have found themselves.
It's The Mystery That Keeps Me Going, God -- Ephesians 3:1-12 -- Dallas A. Brauninger -- Epiphany of the Lord - A -- 2001
E-mail From: KDM To: God Subject: Divine Mystery
'I Am With You Always' -- Matthew 28:16-20 -- Schuyler Rhodes -- Trinity Sunday | 1st Sunday after Pentecost - A -- 2001
Have you ever been hard at work on something?
Meeting God At The Corners Of Life -- Richard E. Boye -- 2001
Today, the Second Sunday after Christmas, is also by popular reckoning the first Sunday in the third
The Angels -- Luke 2:8-14 -- Alex A. Gondola, Jr. -- 2001
A little girl, previously an only child, was blessed with a baby brother.
Jesus' Inaugural Address -- Matthew 5:1-12 -- Mary Sue Dehmlow Dreier -- All Saints Day - A -- 2001
Commotion At The Communion RailTommy didn't budge.
Peter's Story: Our Story -- Acts 2:14a, 22-32 -- Robert J. Elder -- Second Sunday of Easter - A -- 2001
Frederick Buechner described Peter's vigil outside the high priest's place on the night of Jesus' ar
Are You Sure, God, That You Show No Partiality? -- Acts 10:34-43 -- Dallas A. Brauninger -- The Baptism of our Lord | Epiphany 1 | Ordinary Time 1 - A -- 2001
E-mail From: KDM To: God Subject: Being Inclusive
Praise My Soul, The King Of Heaven -- Richard E. Boye -- 2001
Good morning! I want you to know that I am very pleased to be with you here today in St.
The Animals -- Isaiah 11:6-9, Mark 13:32-37 -- Alex A. Gondola, Jr. -- 2001
Recently I ran across a lovely old English Christmas ballad titled "The Storke." This ballad was fou
Facing Christ -- Matthew 25:31-46 -- Mary Sue Dehmlow Dreier -- Christ The King (Proper 29) - A -- 2001
Pilgrimage To A Bedside
To Be Lord, To Be Messiah, To Be Crucified -- Acts 2:14a, 36-41 -- Robert J. Elder -- Third Sunday of Easter - A -- 2001
Think of all the ways in which we hold ourselves at a distance from people and things that come near
All About Eve -- Genesis 2:21-25 -- 2001
Imagine a minister who is close to retirement age. He has
I Could Never Be A Saint, God -- 1 Corinthians 1:1-9 -- Dallas A. Brauninger -- Epiphany 2 | Ordinary Time 2 - A -- 2001
E-mail From: KDM To: God Subject: Enriched
Postscript -- Richard E. Boye -- 2001
From a post--retirement sermon on Christian Ethics:
The Wise Men -- Matthew 2:1-12 -- Alex A. Gondola, Jr. -- 2001
"'Tis the week after Christmas; 'Tis the week after Christmas, and all through the house, not a pack
In The Meantime ... -- Matthew 24:1-14 -- Mary Sue Dehmlow Dreier -- Proper 25 | Ordinary Time 30 - A -- 2001
The End Of The World?
All Things In Common Are Not All Common Things -- Acts 2:42-47 -- Robert J. Elder -- Fourth Sunday of Easter - A -- 2001
Now here is what I often think of as a passage of scripture with high potential for use as a brick--
A Biblical Soap Opera -- Genesis 15:1-5 -- 2001
A cartoon in a newspaper shows two women sitting at their
What On Earth Will Bring Us Together, God? -- 1 Corinthians 1:10-18 -- Dallas A. Brauninger -- Epiphany 3 | Ordinary Time 3 - A -- 2001
E-mail From: KDM To: God Subject: In Christ's Name
Don't Forget The Child! -- Micah 5:2-5a, Luke 1:46b-55 -- Alex A. Gondola, Jr. -- 2001
Most of us are familiar with the blockbuster movies, Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost In
The Bus Driver -- Matthew 22:1-14 -- Mary Sue Dehmlow Dreier -- Proper 23 | Ordinary Time 28 - A -- 2001
The Call Is Out!
Covering Our Ears And Shouting -- Acts 7:54-60 -- Robert J. Elder -- Fifth Sunday of Easter - A -- 2001
In the earliest experience of the church, the apostles soon discovered that their teaching and preac

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EPIPHANY OF THE LORD -- Isaiah 60:1-6, Ephesians 3:1-12, Matthew 2:1-12, Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14 -- B. David Hostetter -- Epiphany of the Lord - B -- 1993
* CALL TO WORSHIPGive homage to the Christ. Bring him your treasures and offer
A Call To Praise God -- Psalm 148 -- Dallas A. Brauninger -- First Sunday after Christmas Day - B -- 1993
Suggestions:Use as an anthem
Number 76 -- George A. Nye -- 1993
Presidents' Day
Future Hope -- Romans 8:22-27 -- Dallas A. Brauninger -- Day of Pentecost - B -- 1993
Suggestions:Use in ordinary sequence with the scripture reading.
Number 86 -- George A. Nye -- 1993
Memorial Sunday
Number 35 -- George A. Nye -- 1993
Pastor: The gift of a day! Like none ever before; like none shall ever be again.
Number 68 -- George A. Nye -- 1993
Pastor: As the acorns fall from the trees, some will be lost to the streets and the predators.
Final Instructions -- 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 -- Dallas A. Brauninger -- Third Sunday of Advent - B -- 1993
Suggestions:Use as a benediction charge.
MONEY -- John 2:13-15 -- Richard J. Hull Ii -- 1993
Preparation: Each week during the Lenten season we are asking
Number 38 -- George A. Nye -- 1993
Pastor: "In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and
Dag Hammarskjold Peacemaker -- A Liturgy -- Thomas A. Renquist -- 1993
The Entrance RiteThe Prelude
Number 101 -- George A. Nye -- 1993
Lighting All The Advent Candles, Including Center Candle
FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY -- Genesis l:1-5, Acts 19:1-7, Mark 1:4-11, Psalm 29 -- B. David Hostetter -- The Baptism of our Lord | Epiphany 1 | Ordinary Time 1 - B -- 1993
* CALL TO WORSHIPAscribe to the Anointed the glory due to Christ's name; bow down
Israel's Return Home -- Jeremiah 31:7-14 -- Dallas A. Brauninger -- Second Sunday after Christmas - B -- 1993
Suggestions:Use in ordinary sequence with scripture reading.
Number 77 -- George A. Nye -- 1993
Palm SundayPastor: This is the week!People: The week of all weeks!
The Earth Is The Lord's -- Psalm 24:1-10 -- Dallas A. Brauninger -- Proper 10 | Ordinary Time 15 - B -- 1993
Suggestions:Use as an anthem.3 readers -- older man, 2 younger women
Number 88 -- George A. Nye -- 1993
Father's DayPastor: Imagine it!
Number 36 -- George A. Nye -- 1993
Pastor: Power and majesty, friendship and intimacy. They don't seem to go together.
Number 69 -- George A. Nye -- 1993
Pastor: Are you pleased with the way your life has gone, so far?
The Birth Of Jesus Announced -- Luke 1:26-38 -- Dallas A. Brauninger -- Fourth Sunday of Advent - B -- 1993
Suggestions:Use in ordinary sequence with the scripture reading.
A WHITE ROBE -- Mark 16:5-6 -- Richard J. Hull Ii -- 1993
Preparation: Each week during the Lenten season we are asking
Number 39 -- George A. Nye -- 1993
Pastor: We are called.People: We are called to be the Body.
Saint Ignatius Eager Martyr -- Thomas A. Renquist -- 1993
Reader 1: In the early years of the second century -- sometime around 110 A.D.
Number 102 -- George A. Nye -- 1993
Year's End
SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY -- 1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20), 1 Corinthians 6:12-20, John 1:43-51, Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18 -- B. David Hostetter -- Epiphany 2 | Ordinary Time 2 - B -- 1993
* CALL TO WORSHIP (responsively)God's face shines upon us in Christ.

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UPCOMING WEEKS
In addition to the lectionary resources there are thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...
Proper 23 | OT 28 | Pentecost 18
30 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
30 – Children's Sermons / Resources
29 – Worship Resources
34 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Proper 24 | OT 29 | Pentecost 19
29 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
27 – Children's Sermons / Resources
20 – Worship Resources
29 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Proper 25 | OT 30 | Pentecost 20
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

The Immediate Word

Thomas Willadsen
Nazish Naseem
Dean Feldmeyer
Mary Austin
Katy Stenta
George Reed
For November 2, 2025:
Thomas Willadsen
Nazish Naseem
Dean Feldmeyer
Mary Austin
Katy Stenta
George Reed
For November 2, 2025:

CSSPlus

John Jamison
Object: This message involves roleplay. You will need a chair for Zach to stand on, unless it is ok for him to stand on a front pew. For the best fun, you will also want to have an adult volunteer play the role of Jesus and walk in when it is time. Whether he is in costume is up to you.

* * *
John Jamison
Object: You will need one or more pictures of people recognized as saints. You may find some pictures by Googling “public domain pictures of saints” and printing images from the results.

* * *

Emphasis Preaching Journal

Mark Ellingsen
Bill Thomas
Frank Ramirez
Habakkuk 1:1-4, 2:1-4 and Psalm 119:137-144
Walter Elwell in the Shaw Pocket Bible Handbook notes of righteousness that it is, “Right standing, specifically before God. Among the Greeks, righteousness was an ethical virtue. Among the Hebrews it was a legal concept; the righteous man was the one who got the verdict of acceptability when tried at the bar of God’s justice.” God is a righteous God, even when is people are not righteous.
Frank Ramirez
One of the features of Synagogue worship is the Shema. The Hebrew word is “Hear!” and is the opening for Deuteronomy 6:4-5, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” God’s people are commanded to “hear” these words. They come from the Lord. And these three scriptures invite us to hear God and each other, something that is lacking in our society today.
Wayne Brouwer
Fred Craddock tells of a vacation encounter in the Smokey Mountains of eastern Tennessee years ago that moved him deeply. He and his wife took supper one evening in a place called the Black Bear Inn. One side of the building was all glass, open to a magnificent mountain view. Glad to be alone, the Craddocks were a bit annoyed when an elderly man ambled over and struck up a nosey conversation: “Are you on vacation?” “Where are you from?” “What do you do?”
Mark Ellingsen
Bill Thomas
Frank Ramirez
Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18 and Psalm 149

StoryShare

John E. Sumwalt
Trouble and anguish have overtaken me, but your commandments are my delight. Your statutes are always righteous; give me understanding that I may live. (vv. 143-144)

When I was an associate pastor in Janesville, Wisconsin one of my responsibilities was to give a lecture on spirituality once a month at a drug treatment facility. The students who attended were persons who had been convicted of drunk driving and were required to attend the class as a condition of their sentence. Attendance was always good.
Frank Ramirez
Call them the good old days. Call it the Golden Age. It’s not unusual for people to look back in their youth, or to the youth of their country, as somehow more perfect, honorable, or simpler. C.S. Lewis was always skeptical about claims that chocolate was better in one’s youth. It wasn’t better. Our taste buds were stronger and more receptive.

The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott
The Roman Catholic Church's canonisation of Edith Stein some years ago, fuelled considerable controversy. Edith Stein was born and bred into a Jewish family, becoming a Roman Catholic Christian at the age of 31. She was also a leading German intellectual in the early thirties, during the run-up to World War 2, although she gave up that career in order to become a Carmelite nun. But she didn't deny her Jewish roots, for in 1933 she petitioned the Pope, Pious XI to write an encyclical in defence of the Jews.
Janice B. Scott
Call to Worship:

Jesus didn't reject anyone, even those who were liars and cheats. By a simple act of friendship Jesus turned Zaccheus' life around. In our worship today let us consider friendship and all that it means.


Invitation to Confession:

Jesus, there are some people I don't like.
Lord, have mercy.
Jesus, there are some people I reject.
Christ, have mercy.
Jesus, there are some people I keep out of my circle of friends.
Lord, have mercy.


Reading:

SermonStudio

Carlos Wilton
Theme For The Day
The world offers many blessings, but none of these things will save us: only the blessing of God in Jesus Christ can do that.

Old Testament Lesson
Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18
Daniel's Apocalyptic Dream
Perry H. Biddle, Jr.
Comments on the Lessons
John W. Clarke
This chapter of Luke brings us ever closer to the end of Jesus' public ministry. Jesus enters Jericho, just fifteen miles or so from the holy city of Jerusalem. It is here that Jesus transforms the life of Zacchaeus, the tax collector. This is one of the few stories that is peculiar to Luke and is a wonderful human-interest story. The fact that Zacchaeus is willing to climb a tree to see Jesus is a clear indication that he really wanted to see and meet the carpenter from Nazareth. His eagerness to see Jesus is rewarded in a very special way.
Scott A. Bryte
Then he looked up at his disciples and said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now for you will laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.
Mark Ellingson
This is a story written for people who had been or were about to be persecuted, if not enslaved. (The book of Daniel was probably written in the mid-second century B.C. during a period of Seleucid [Syrian] domination in Palestine.) It tells them and us how their ancestors had once faced a similar slavery under the oppression of the Babylonians centuries earlier. The implication was that if these ancestors could endure and overcome such bondage, so could they and so can we.
Gary L. Carver
Ulysses S. Grant fought many significant battles as commander of the Union forces in the War Between the States. He also served as President of the United States where he probably engaged in as many battles as he did while he was a general. Toward the end of his life he fought his toughest battle -- with cancer and death.

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