Sermon and Worship Resources

Synonyms: disciple, evangelist, the 12, the twelve, son of Zebedee, fisherman, incarnation, word became flesh, I Am sayings, apostle, sons of thunder, eternal life, darkness and light, eyewitness

Showing 1076 to 1100 of 1347 results

1076. Predictable Surprises

Matthew 24:36-51

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... to Guyana, where he could wait for the end-times by creating a community that would live as if the end-times had already occurred. On November 18, 1978, Jim Jones and 911 of his followers ended their end-times waiting by drinking cyanide-laced Kool-Aid. Other apocalyptic communities, from Mother Ann Lee's Shakers to John Humphrey Noyes' Oneida Community, sublimated their end-times energies into crafting Shaker furniture and Oneida silverware. Jesus' words to his disciples this morning warns us against such ...

1077. Redundant Love

Matthew 22:34-40

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... into the spiritual system. But Jesus goes on to add another layer of redundancy to this Greatest Commandment by citing Leviticus 19:18: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Genuine love itself is a redundant system of feedback loops. Anyone who seeks to ... different, unique accounts of Jesus' birth, life, death, and resurrection? Why do we have multiple epistles--letters from Paul, John, James, Titus, Peter--each one an early disciple with a repeating, unrelenting, redundant message of God's abundant ...

1078. Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord

Ephesians 1:15-23

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Christ. Using a unique phrase the Pauline text implores these Ephesians to know this truth "with the eyes of your heart enlightened" (verse 18). One of the most popular praise songs of recent years has been "Open the Eyes of My Heart Lord" (1997, CCLI Song No. ... look, there are people who are throwing in the towel or at least hitting our hope with wet blankets. Here's John Peterson, of the W. Alton Jones Foundation: "A hundred or more novel chemicals are swilling around in our bloodstream, chemicals which, ...

1079. Move Life from Duty to Destiny

Luke 21:5-38

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... they will lay hands on you and persecute you” (v.12), language that recalls Jesus’ own fate (Luke 9:44; 18:32; Acts 8:3). Likewise, Jesus declares that both the religious and political authorities will participate in these persecutions, for “ ... power of the Holy Spirit in such a way that his speechless opponents were “not able to resist his wisdom.” Likewise, when John and Peter confront the opposition in Acts 4:14, those adversaries found they “had nothing to contradict.” But you can win and ...

1080. The Longest Distance in the Universe

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... planning appears almost embarrassingly transparent to our twenty-first century savvy sensibilities. Quite obviously James and John could never have mastered some of the more Machiavellian machinations that define corporate structures and hierarchies ... illustrating that the hand and the heart must be bound together. It has been said that the greatest distance in the universe is the 18 inches that separate the head and the heart. Let's see if we can travel that distance. [Put your hand on your head, and then ...

1081. A New Vision

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... them, quote them, disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things.” (2) John Lennon of the Beatles was a searcher. He never completely found what he was looking for, and it’s easy to see why. Remember his song ... 1999 MercyMe. 4. Contributed. Source: Time magazine, 1‑24‑2000, p. 18. Cited by Help 4 Sunday/Whirlwind Resources. 5. Cited by Rev. Richard E. Stetler, http://www.stmatthews‑bowie.org/Worship/Sermons/2004/sermon_09_26_04. ...

1082. The Servant Song

Isaiah 50:1-11

Sermon

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... to say. Only false prophets give their own opinions or pontificate on the course of events out of their own minds (cf. Jeremiah 23:18-32; Ezekiel 13:6-7). They are like those preachers who preach out of their own thoughts and not out of the Word of ... the final shape of that role during the week of his passion. Our Lord speaks and does only what he hears from God (cf. John 8:28). He willingly accepts the suffering that comes with that ministry. “Not my will, but thine be done” (Mark 14:36 KJV). He ...

1083. Do You Have It?

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... David A. Davis (Princeton, NJ) didn't have "It" in mind when he wrote this (in A Kingdom We Can Taste: Sermons for the Church Year [Eerdmans, 2007], 18), you can you adapt and adopt this to illustrate the "It" factor: "I see it in the faces of the men and women standing in the cold ... Lord and how he needed to keep it filled, daily, with the things of God." John A. Huffman, Jr., "Essential Qualities for a 21st Century Faith: Nurture," 7 October 2001, St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Newport Beach, California

1084. Life in the Living Stone Age

1 Peter 2:4-12

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... s house there are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?” (John 14:2). Or as my poor Appalachian ancestors used to sing, in a song Loretta Lynn and Elvis Presley made famous: “I've got a mansion ... book . . . . Here are some of the exact statistics: Which of the top 10 most popular books do you like best? The Bible 34% 'Harry Potter' 18% 'To Kill a Mockingbird' 12% 'Lord of the Rings' 8% 'Catcher in the Rye' 7% 'Gone With the Wind' 6% 'The Da Vinci Code' 5 ...

1085. The Play's Playbook for the Game of Life

1 Peter 4:12-19

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... so special about “The Play?” Right: With 53 seconds left in the game, Stanford was down 17-19, stuck in their own backfield. It was fourth down, 17 yards to go. But miraculously the Stanford QB (anyone? . . . John Elway) rallied, got the first down, and Stanford marched down the field. In four plays they got to the 18 yard line. With eight seconds to go, the field goal kick was up . .. And good. Stanford had won the game, 20-19, and the crowds went crazy. Or had they? Only four seconds remained on the ...

1086. The Iron, Silver, Golden, Platinum and Titanium Rules

Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... things, like, well, they will “flog you in their synagogues and you will be dragged before governors” (19:17-18). The potentially fatal enmity between families is introduced in 10:21, but the focus on the family (trouble in ... ” loved us. Love others with a love that enables you to lay down your life for them. How did Jesus put it in his Farewell Discourse (John 13, 14, 15, 16, 17), when he introduced his “Great Commandment:” “Love one another as I have loved you.” And how has Jesus loved us ...

1087. A World Without Easter

1 Corinthians 15:12-20

Sermon

James Merritt

... kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up…' But not only is Jesus a liar, but that means Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, the twelve disciples, and the Apostle Paul were all liars. That is the problem with a dead Christ; we must forfeit our message. II. We ... no ministry to offer either to the living or to the dying. We can offer no hope for the dying. Paul says in verse 18, "Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished." It means death still has its sting. It means the grave still has ...

1088. God Is Pro-Life

Exodus 20:13

Sermon

James Merritt

... the indirect killing of others. Did you know you can kill other people indirectly? For example, we can kill other people with our lips. Pr. 18:21 says, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit." Your tongue has the ... it murder. You may call it anger, God calls it murder. You may call it hatred, but God galls it murder. The sainted apostle John said in I Jn. 3:15, "Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in ...

1089. Don't Sweat the Sin Debt

John 19:30

Sermon

James Merritt

... are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished." (Lk. 18:31) Again, the word accomplished is the same word Jesus used when He said, "It is finished!" But then after the cross He ... the creation of the world. Why did Jesus come into this world? Why was He born a babe in Bethlehem? Why had God become a man? John tells us in I Jn. 3:5, "You know that He was manifested to take away our sins." In the Old Testament tabernacle there was a ...

1090. Going the Second Mile

Matthew 5:38-42

Sermon

James Merritt

... re going to be a real Christian you're going to have to give up some rights. Bill Walton learned that to play basketball for John Wooden you had to give up some rights. Coach Wooden had a rule against facial hair. If you played for him no facial hair was ... to people who try to abuse us or walk all over us. Paul went on to say in that 12th chapter of Romans and verse 18, "If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men." Now sometimes that is not always possible. I heard about ...

1091. Putting Mom in Heartbreak Hotel

1 Kings 2:5-6

Sermon

James Merritt

... my sake with the young man Absalom.' And all the people heard when the king gave all the captains orders concerning Absalom." (II Samuel 18:5) Now to the people Absalom was a traitor. David's own son trying to topple his father from the throne. But to the ... in the family of God that you do not love with all of your heat, then I want to tell you you do not love Jesus. John said, "We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death." ( ...

1092. Is Your Conscience Clear?

1 Timothy 1:18-19

Sermon

James Merritt

... concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck." (vv.18-19) Paul reminds Timothy that he is in a war, and we are in that same war today. That war will never be over until our Commander in ... Citizens to Send Gifts to U.S. Government," Atlanta Journal, April 16, 1989 2. John MacArthur, Jr., The Vanishing Conscience., p. 56. 3. Tim and Beverly LaHaye, A Nation Without a Conscience, p. 9

1093. The Ministry of the Holy Spirit

John 16:7-11

Sermon

James Merritt

... funeral director. Somebody asked him, "Why did you do that?" He said, "Well, I spent about twelve years trying to straighten out John. He never did get straightened out. I spent fourteen months trying to straighten out the marriage of the Smiths, and it never ... the one sin that kills eternally is the sin of refusing to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus himself said in Jn. 3:17-18, "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who ...

1094. Like a Good Neighbor, Jesus Is There

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

James Merritt

... a small black calfskin box called a phylactery. In that phylactery would have been copies of Deuteronomy 6:4-5, and Leviticus 19:18, which are the very verses this lawyer had quoted. For a moment, I am sure there was smug satisfaction on this man's face ... insults you could give to a person that day would be to call him a Samaritan. That's why the Pharisees said to Jesus in John 8:48, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?" Every morning, in his daily prayer, a Pharisee would ...

1095. O Little Town of Bethlehem

Micah 5:2

Sermon

James Merritt

... become the "Bright and Morning Star." The one who created man was going to become a man. We know this is exactly what the Scriptures teach. John said: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (Jn. 1:1) "And the Word became ... in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men!'" (2:13-14) Then there was the adoration of the shepherds: (2:15-18) "So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us now go ...

1096. Seeing the End from the Beginning

Numbers 13:1-2, 17-33

Sermon

James Merritt

... thirty-one times in the Old Testament. It denotes God's communication with man through inspired revelation. One version of Proverbs 29:18 says, "Where there is no vision, the people perish." The reason for that is, God wants his people to accomplish not their ... can come true. 1. George Barna, The Power of Vision, p.28. 2. Pat Williams, Oh for the Magic, p. 110. 3. Gleaned from John Maxwell, Developing the Leader Within You, pp. 108-109. 4 Peter Marshall, The Light of His Glory, p. 17. 5 Charles Swindoll, The ...

1097. Team Work is Dream Work

Psalm 133:1-3

Sermon

James Merritt

... the umbrella of His authority. Perhaps the most beautiful prayer ever prayed in history, Jesus prayed for the church in the seventeenth chapter of John and this is what He prayed: "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through ... every vision into reality. But you know how they were able to accomplish that mighty feat for God? Listen to Joshua 1:16-18: "And they answered Joshua, saying, ‘All that you command us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. Just as ...

1098. Nothing but the Blood

1 John 1:7

Sermon

James Merritt

... his epistle, "You were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold…but with the precious blood of Christ." (1 Pet. 1:18-19) The word precious literally means "valuable." Now the value of something is determined by several things. I was taught when I took ... blood on the cross, He paid off the entire mortgage! Just before Jesus breathed his last on the cross, He said in John 19:30, "It is finished." Those three words in the English language are one word in the Greek language that literally means ...

1099. How to Handle the Mess of Stress

Exodus 18:23-27

Sermon

James Merritt

... . Both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out. For this thing is too much for you; you are not able to perform it by yourself.'" (vv.13-18) Moses was having to learn that even as great a man as he was, he could not do everything. Dirty Harry was right when he said, "A wise man knows his limitations." There ... Toll," Pastor's Weekly Briefing, Feb. 12, 1999 (Vol. 7, No. 7) pp. 1-2. 5 John Maxwell, Developing the Leader Within You, p. 31. 6 Vance Havner, Just a Preacher, p. 102.

1100. Fatal Attraction

Matthew 5:27-30

Sermon

James Merritt

... he could not change his orders. The song of adultery can be overcome, but it never stops playing. Remember, sexual sin of any sort is a fatal attraction, but it can be overcome through Jesus Christ and His Word. 1 The Atlanta Journal, 9-10-95. 2 John Armstrong, Can Fallen Pastors Be Restored?, pp. 29-30. 3 "A Bad Start?", Newsweek, January, 1999. 4 William J. Bennett, The Broken Heart, p. 77. 5 "Divorce: Can We Do Better?", Denyse O'Leary, Faith Today, November-December, 1998, (Vol. 16) No. 6, pp. 20-27. 6 ...

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