Sermon and Worship Resources

1101. Ministry By Faith: Does She or Doesn't She?

I Corinthians 16:14, James 2:14-26

Sermon

John E. Harnish

... stirring vision which Jesus would say sums up all the law and the prophets: "Let everything you do be done in love" (I Cor. 16:14). That's the first distinguishing mark…the color, the shade of Christ's presence in our lives. It's the color of love ... in, to serve on a mission team or a Stephen Ministry team, to teach the children, lead the Boy Scouts, serve the world. John Ortberg, from Willow Creek Church, uses the phrase the "ministry of the mundane" (The Life you Always Wanted, page 129) to describe the ...

1102. Bart and Homer, Father and Sons

1 Samuel 20:24-42

Sermon

John E. Harnish

... we tolerate the violence of King Saul against all of our children? Just this morning in the Free Press, our School Superintendent, John Hoffler, commenting on the death of one of our children, asked the same question: "One of our children has died and ... Abingdon and available through our "virtual bookstore" on the website www.fumcbirmingham.org. 1. Poynter Online-Friday Edition, 6/16/2006 2. McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum, Chicago, March 1, 2006, www.mccormicktribune.org 3. The Simpsons and Philosophy, Page ...

1103. Deep Calling to Deep

Ephesians 1:3-14

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

... though our free will has been suspended and a ring of unpredictability floods our souls. Nevertheless, we must live on and seek to fulfill our destinies. We must also work with the knowledge that there is something very special about us Christians. While John 3:16 has been quoted for centuries as the quintessential statement of understanding God's relationship to us, it both tends to evade and reduce problems in our salvation history. Saint Paul wants more than it offers and yet is not in any sense wanting ...

1104. Engage Mind before Putting Mouth in Gear

James 3:1-12

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... . For those who want to save their life will lose it and those who lose their life for my sake will find it" (Matthew 16:24b-25). James then gets into the heart of his message on the importance of the tongue to the body. Using the power and ... ), and the woman caught in the act of adultery: "Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again" (John 8:11b). Christ also used words when appropriate to challenge. He said to his parents after their three-day search resulted in his discovery in ...

1105. It’s About God

John 3:14-21

Sermon

David T. Ball

... lost in the translation happens with the English translation of today’s scripture passage. When the author of the Gospel of John says, “And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,” ... belief in Jesus Christ. It’s as if we forget about the “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son” part of John 3:16, and we focus in like a laser on the second half, about how “everyone who believes in him” will have eternal life. I believe! I’ll ...

1106. LightWorks

Deuteronomy 6:1-9

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... never saw an ugly thing in my life," John Constable wrote. "For let the form of an object be what it may, - light, shade, and perspective will always make it beautiful" (in C. R. Leslie, Memoirs of the Life of John Constable, ed. Jonathan Mayne [London: Pahidon Press, ... Both contain parchments inscribed with the scriptural passages stipulating the practice of wearing the tefillin (Exodus 13:9 and 13:16, Deuteronomy 6:8 and 11:18). The tefillin are worn every day when the morning service is prayed. Again these ...

1107. Keep the Stars in Your Eyes

Ephesians 1:3-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the industrial world, yet at the same time one of the most secular (Thomas Reeves, "Not So Christian America," First Things, October 1996, 16-21). This double ring can be confusing, as it was in The New Republic (September 12, 1994), where on the same day, and ... angel, Whitney Houston a preacher's wife in the Disney movie The Preacher's Wife; Greg Kinnear is a post office angel in Dear God; John Travolta is an angel who drinks beer in Michael) has at last come to a head in prime time. CBS's Touched by an Angel ...

1108. Holy Hocus-Pocus!

Mark 13:1-31

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the industrial world, yet at the same time one of the most secular (Thomas Reeves, "Not So Christian America," First Things, October 1996, 16-21). This double ring can be confusing, as it was in The New Republic (September 12, 1994), where on the same day, and ... angel, Whitney Houston a preacher's wife in the Disney movie The Preacher's Wife; Greg Kinnear is a post office angel in Dear God; John Travolta is an angel who drinks beer in Michael) has at last come to a head in prime time. CBS's Touched by an Angel ...

1109. Hear the Vision?

1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20)

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the industrial world, yet at the same time one of the most secular (Thomas Reeves, "Not So Christian America," First Things, October 1996, 16-21). This double ring can be confusing, as it was in The New Republic (September 12, 1994), where on the same day, and ... angel, Whitney Houston a preacher's wife in the Disney movie The Preacher's Wife; Greg Kinnear is a post office angel in Dear God; John Travolta is an angel who drinks beer in Michael) has at last come to a head in prime time. CBS's Touched by an Angel ...

1110. The One and Only Original Sin

1 Peter 3:18-22

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the industrial world, yet at the same time one of the most secular (Thomas Reeves, "Not So Christian America," First Things, October 1996, 16-21). This double ring can be confusing, as it was in The New Republic (September 12, 1994), where on the same day, and ... angel, Whitney Houston a preacher's wife in the Disney movie The Preacher's Wife; Greg Kinnear is a post office angel in Dear God; John Travolta is an angel who drinks beer in Michael) has at last come to a head in prime time. CBS's Touched by an Angel ...

1111. The Trace of Grace

Ephesians 2:1-10

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the industrial world, yet at the same time one of the most secular (Thomas Reeves, "Not So Christian America," First Things, October 1996, 16-21). This double ring can be confusing, as it was in The New Republic (September 12, 1994), where on the same day, and ... angel, Whitney Houston a preacher's wife in the Disney movie The Preacher's Wife; Greg Kinnear is a post office angel in Dear God; John Travolta is an angel who drinks beer in Michael) has at last come to a head in prime time. CBS's Touched by an Angel ...

1112. Count Your Wows!

Luke 21:5-38

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the industrial world, yet at the same time one of the most secular (Thomas Reeves, "Not So Christian America," First Things, October 1996, 16-21). This double ring can be confusing, as it was in The New Republic (September 12, 1994), where on the same day, and ... angel, Whitney Houston a preacher's wife in the Disney movie The Preacher's Wife; Greg Kinnear is a post office angel in Dear God; John Travolta is an angel who drinks beer in Michael) has at last come to a head in prime time. CBS's Touched by an Angel ...

1113. Waging Wisdom

James 3:13—4:8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the industrial world, yet at the same time one of the most secular (Thomas Reeves, "Not So Christian America," First Things, October 1996, 16-21). This double ring can be confusing, as it was in The New Republic (September 12, 1994), where on the same day, and ... angel, Whitney Houston a preacher's wife in the Disney movie The Preacher's Wife; Greg Kinnear is a post office angel in Dear God; John Travolta is an angel who drinks beer in Michael) has at last come to a head in prime time. CBS's Touched by an Angel ...

1114. The Great Postmodern Soul Train

Mark 13:1-8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the industrial world, yet at the same time one of the most secular (Thomas Reeves, "Not So Christian America," First Things, October 1996, 16-21). This double ring can be confusing, as it was in The New Republic (September 12, 1994), where on the same day, and ... angel, Whitney Houston a preacher's wife in the Disney movie The Preacher's Wife; Greg Kinnear is a post office angel in Dear God; John Travolta is an angel who drinks beer in Michael) has at last come to a head in prime time. CBS's Touched by an Angel ...

1115. An Advent Attitude

1 Thessalonians 3:9-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the industrial world, yet at the same time one of the most secular (Thomas Reeves, "Not So Christian America," First Things, October 1996, 16-21). This double ring can be confusing, as it was in The New Republic (September 12, 1994), where on the same day, and ... angel, Whitney Houston a preacher's wife in the Disney movie The Preacher's Wife; Greg Kinnear is a post office angel in Dear God; John Travolta is an angel who drinks beer in Michael) has at last come to a head in prime time. CBS's Touched by an Angel ...

1116. Stable-Time

Luke 21:5-38

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the industrial world, yet at the same time one of the most secular (Thomas Reeves, "Not So Christian America," First Things, October 1996, 16-21). This double ring can be confusing, as it was in The New Republic (September 12, 1994), where on the same day, and ... angel, Whitney Houston a preacher's wife in the Disney movie The Preacher's Wife; Greg Kinnear is a post office angel in Dear God; John Travolta is an angel who drinks beer in Michael) has at last come to a head in prime time. CBS's Touched by an Angel ...

1117. The Perfect Time to Lose Your Luggage

Colossians 3:12-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the industrial world, yet at the same time one of the most secular (Thomas Reeves, "Not So Christian America," First Things, October 1996, 16-21). This double ring can be confusing, as it was in The New Republic (September 12, 1994), where on the same day, and ... angel, Whitney Houston a preacher's wife in the Disney movie The Preacher's Wife; Greg Kinnear is a post office angel in Dear God; John Travolta is an angel who drinks beer in Michael) has at last come to a head in prime time. CBS's Touched by an Angel ...

1118. Strength's Weakness

John 20:19-31

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... in every athlete's life when no longer does "practice make perfect." Instead, practice only makes pain. Among Jesus' 12 disciples, Thomas was not singled out as an example of "doubt" because he possessed a watered-down commitment or a frail faith. In John 11:16, it is Thomas who loyally if bluntly declares his willingness to follow Jesus back to Bethany and Lazarus' tomb, even though people in that very place had nearly stoned Jesus only a short time before. When the other disciples made prudent cautions ...

1119. Ten Commandments of Trust

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... to Jeremiah 17:7 "Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord." - Turn to the "Trust Psalms," (e.g. 11, 16, 23, 62, 121), or to general Psalms like 56:3 "When I am afraid, I put my trust in you." - Turn to the psalmist's ... though God slay me, Job said, yet I will trust him. 7. Thou shalt declare before God every day, "I am no longer my own, but yours." John Wesley began each new year by offering up this prayer at his New Year's Eve Watch Night service: I am no longer my own, but yours. ...

1120. An Action-Packed Faith

John 13:31-35

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Love is less what you feel than what you do. A recent USA Today (September 16, 1994) article prescribed an interesting course of treatment for medical professionals. In order to make patients ... and died as a Sister of Loretto, worked in Guarjila, El Salvador, with the poor and needy. She died of cancer in 1993. She was only in her mid-40s. John F. Kavanaugh, who was with Sister Ann when she died, tells this story from her life. Once, while working in a neonatal intensive care unit, she struggled hard to save ...

1121. God Be With You All

2 Corinthians 13:11-13

Sermon

Mike Ripski

... A. The Self-sacrificing Love of the Father What is more precious to a parent than a child? The child’s life is more valuable to the parent than the parent’s own life. The Father loved the world so much, he gave his only Son (John 3:16). B. The Self-Sacrificing Love of the Son The Son, not viewing equality with the Father as something to be exploited for his own advantage, emptied himself, becoming a human, a servant, suffering what humans suffer, including death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2). C ...

1122. Ordinary or Extraordinary?

1 Chronicles 4:9-10

Sermon

James Merritt

... had a choice would you want to live an ordinary life or an extraordinary life? Which do you think God wants for you? I can tell you what Jesus said. He said in John 10:10, "My purpose is to give life in all its fullness." (John 10:10, NLT) God wants to make a difference in your life, so that you can make a difference in the lives of others. God wants to work in you, with you, ... in the long run, nor in eternity, if you don't do it for God and with God. [1] Ted Engstrom, The Pursuit of Excellence, pp. 15-16

1123. Can't Get No Satisfaction

Exodus 20:17

Sermon

James Merritt

... will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is vanity." (Ecclesiastes 5:10) John D. Rockefeller in his day was literally head and shoulders above everyone else - the single richest man in the entire universe. Nobody ... pistol made by the Ross Rifle Company in Quebec, Canada in 1918. That gun, an antique, was worth at the time $100,000, over 16 times more than what Simpson stole when he used it. Think about it. If this man has just paid attention to what he already ...

1124. It’s All About Him

John 4:19-24

Sermon

James Merritt

... command ever given in the Bible are two words found in Rev. 22:9: "Worship God." In this passage we are going to study this morning, John 4, we find the only time in the Bible where we are told that God seeks anything from His children. Amazingly we are told that the ... temple. 1 Cor. 6:19 says, "Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you?" 2 Cor. 6:16 says, "You are the temple of the Living God." So often we talk about the church as being the house of God. In one sense the ...

1125. Milli Vanilli Religion

Matthew 7:15-23

Sermon

James Merritt

... love to come in under radar. Don't get the idea that there are just a few false prophets out there. The Apostle John said in 1 John 4:1, "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have ... bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." (vv.16-19) Now a wolf can wear sheep's clothing, but it cannot grow a sheep's coat. You can put grapes on thorns, and you can ...