keyword
Search by topic, scripture, category etc..
100 Results in 1012ms
Display
Sorted By
-
illustration
Beethoven is Everything
The renowned conductor Arturo Toscanini once led a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in London. His mastery and the orchestra’s precision resulted in thunderous applause from the audience. At ... -
scripture guide
Scripture Guide, Luke 14:25-33
Introduction Hard Sayings These hard sayings of Jesus come at the end of a section spanning two chapters (Luke 13:10-14:35). In it, Jesus’s actions and teachings are set in parallel structure: hea... -
illustration
In the early fifth century, even as Rome
In the early fifth century, even as Rome had officially embraced Christianity, the brutal spectacle of gladiatorial combat continued in the Colosseum, drawing massive crowds. One day, a Christian herm... -
scripture guide
Scripture Guide John 4:7-26
New Testament Mountains Like the Old Testament, the New Testament has plenty of references to mountains. There’s the Sermon on the Mount, obviously. Jesus often went onto hills or mountains to pray... -
series
Mountains: 2, John 4:7-26
New Testament Mountains Like the Old Testament, the New Testament has plenty of references to mountains. There’s the Sermon on the Mount, obviously. Jesus often went onto hills or mountains to pray... -
blog
Give Life to your Sermons by Intentional Living
Your life is in the pulpit with you Fred Craddock said, “Not everything that’s in the Bible is in the Bible .” That’s why we have, among other things, commentaries . The most helpful ones throw o... -
Quote
Pride juggles with her toppling towers, They strike the sun and cease, But the firm feet of humility They grip the ground like trees. -
liturgy
Gracious God, we come before you today scared
Gracious God, We come before you today scared. Scared for our health, scared for our jobs, scared for our loved ones. Help us Lord, not to dwell in our fears, but rather to turn to you, trusting that... -
illustration
The Nobodies of Nazareth
The world has always despised people from the wrong places and with the wrong credentials. We are always trying to justify ourselves. We need desperately to feel superior to others. And everything abo... -
liturgy
Voice 1: Words! Voice 2: By them the
Voice 1: Words! Voice 2: By them the universe was created: planets and moons, stars and sky, all living things, day and night. People: We come today to worship and adore the Creator of this world and... -
liturgy
Celebrate Palm Sunday with Joyful Hearts
Pastor: Rejoice greatly, O people of Zion! People: Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem! Pastor: See, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and having salvation, People: ... -
illustration
Scene Stealing through Pride
One of the cardinal rules of improvisational theater is that actors must never steal scenes. In her book Improvisation for the Theater , Viola Spolin bluntly puts it this way: “Any player who ‘st... -
lectionary
12th Sunday after Pentecost
Guests? Or Hosts? After picking up the first verse of the chapter in order to provide a setting for Jesus’ words, this week’s gospel reading contains two teachings. The first (v. 7-11) is addressed t... -
scripture guide
Scripture Guide, Luke 14:1, 7-14
Guests? Or Hosts? After picking up the first verse of the chapter in order to provide a setting for Jesus’ words, this week’s gospel reading contains two teachings. The first (v. 7-11) is addressed t... -
liturgy
Rejoice greatly, O people of Zion
Pastor: Rejoice greatly, O people of Zion! People: Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem! Pastor: See, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and having salvation, People:... -
liturgy
Taking up the Cross
Merciful Jesus Grant us courage to deny privilege to lay down favor and safety and take up the cross of opportunity and justice Merciful Jesus Grant us courage to deny consumerism to lay down conve... -
illustration
Taking (A Huge) One for the Team
On a beautiful April afternoon in 2008, two college softball teams faced off in a decisive playoff game beneath the Cascade Mountains. The Western Oregon Wolves battled Central Washington University, ... -
Quote
It's in our biology to trust what we see with our eyes. This makes living in a carefully edited, overproduced and photoshopped world very dangerous. -
liturgy
Reign and Rain Down
Reign and Rain down, Glorious One Salvation flows from your side Living water to our desert to our frail clay to our dust Creation flows from you New life springing up Hope and wholeness Budding and ... -
Quote
The greatest temptation of our time is impatience, in its full original meaning: refusal to wait, undergo, suffer. We seem unwilling to pay the price of living with our fellows in creative and profoun... -
liturgy
Lord, like the women at the tomb on the
Lord, like the women at the tomb on the first Easter, we come out of our darkness and into your light We come out of emptiness to enter your fullness We come out of our hopelessness to find your joy... -
liturgy
Go now in confidence and joy, offering
Pastor: Go now in confidence and joy, offering yourselves as living sacrifices of worship and praise. People: Direct our days and our deeds as we live out our calling to look, live, and lo... -
liturgy
Adapted from Micah 6:6-8 (Hardwick 2)
Leader: “With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high?" People: "Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil?" Le... -
illustration
Sacrificial Courage
A truly remarkable example of sacrificial courage took place in Folsom, New Mexico, in 1908. When a flood was racing toward the valley, a resident from the hills warned a local woman, S. J. Brooks, th... -
illustration
To Be One of the Great Ones Is Not What It Seems
For those of us who live in the shadow of self-doubt, who may wonder what meaning a life of relative anonymity may have in a society filled with the cult of celebrity in which likes, reposts, and digi... -
scripture guide
Scripture Guide, Jeremiah 2:4-13
Ancient Lens What can we learn from the historical context? Passage Context - Divided Kingdom, Common Struggles The prophet, Jeremiah, conducted the bulk of his ministry in the latter half of the... -
liturgy
God who is near at hand
God who is near at hand, Draw us humbly into your present with the expectation you will listen and we will be heard. By the power of your Holy Spirit, soften our hearts, reminding us that we are your... -
liturgy
We’ve come to worship God who makes streams flow
Leader: We’ve come to worship God who makes streams flow from rock, who turns the parched earth into springs of water, who sends the rain from heaven, who makes streams flow from rock, who turns ... -
Quote
“My sister having so much to do, was going to church vicariously, that is to say, Joe and I were going.” -
liturgy
Calm us now, O Lord, into a quietness
Calm us now, O Lord, into a quietness that heals and listens. Open wounded hearts to the balm of your Word. Speak to us in clear tones so that we might feel our spirits leap for joy and skip with hope...
Page 1 of 4
Keywords by Topic
E
L
M
Keywords by Reference