Sermon and Worship Resources

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Mark 7:24-30

Sermon

James W. Moore

Dr. Tony Campolo is a well-known and highly-respected, inspirational speaker. Over the last several years, Tony Campolo has spent much of his time traveling around the world on speaking tours. Meanwhile, his wife, Peggy, has chosen to stay home and give herself and all that she has to the "Bringing Up" of their two children, Bart and Lisa. On those rare occasions when Peggy does travel with Ton...

2. Advent 1: Let Us Go Over To Bethlehem And Find The Faith of Christmas

Luke 2:15-20

Sermon

James W. Moore

This sermon is based on Luke 2:15-20: You may not remember Tom Southerland but you know his story. Several years ago Shiite Muslims in the Middle East held Tom Sutherland captive for four years… much of his time was spent solitary confinement. In his speech after his captivity he asked an unforgettable question. He asked, “Do you know what it’s like to be in prison? To be held hostage? To be a cap...

3. Advent 1: Won´t You Let Him Into Your Heart?

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

James W. Moore

Anybody here old enough to remember the decade of the 60s? It was the decade of protests and demonstrations. Let me tell you about one very unusual demonstration that took place in the mid-sixties. It happened in December of 1965. It was Christmas Eve in 1965 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The innkeeper at the local Holiday Inn had had a busy day. It was late now… and he was at the main desk alone. A...

4. Advent 2: Let Us Go Over To Bethlehem And Find The Promise of Christmas

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

James W. Moore

This sermon is based on Matthew 1:18-25: Perhaps you have heard the one about the attractive young woman who boarded a plane in Los Angeles heading toward New York. The young woman was tired. She knew it would be a long flight, so immediately she asked the flight attendant for a pillow and a blanket. She hoped to be able to sleep most of the way to New York. Her head had just nestled into the pil...

5. Advent 3: Let Us Go Over To Bethlehem And Find The Peace of Christmas

Luke 2:8-20

Sermon

James W. Moore

This sermon is based on Luke 2:8-14: Let me begin this morning with a beautiful old Christmas legend… the ancient legend tells of how God called the angels of heaven together one day for a special choir rehearsal. He told them that he had a special song that he wanted them to learn… a song that they would sing at a very significant occasion. The angels went to work on it. They rehearsed long and h...

6. Advent 3: Won't You Let Him Into Your Gift-Giving?

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

James W. Moore

This sermon is based on Matthew 2:7-12. Not the Luke text above. Many of you will recognize the name of Robert Fulghum. He is the author of the popular book, “All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten.” In a later book, he told a wonderful story about his daughter Molly. When Molly was seven years old, she liked to help pack lunches each morning for her brothers, her dad, and herself. ...

7. Advent 4: Let Us Go Over To Bethlehem And Find The Christ of Christmas

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

James W. Moore

This sermon is based on Luke 2:1-7: The Taj Mahal is one of the most beautiful and costly tombs in the world. The colorful legends which surround the building of the Taj Mahal are all fascinating. But, there is one that haunts and disturbs. Shah-Jahan, the powerful Mogul emperor, was in grief. His favorite wife had died. He loved her deeply and he was devastated by her loss. He decided to honor h...

8. Advent 4. Won't You Let Him Into Your Christmas?

Luke 2:8-20

Sermon

James W. Moore

This sermon is based on Luke 2:8-14. Not the Luke 1 text above. His name is Matt. He is a grown man now, a six feet, 5 inch tall Texas, but each year his family remembers and celebrates something he did one Christmas when he was just a young boy. It happened in Tyler, Texas in 1966. Matt lived in the best of worlds or the toughest of worlds depending on how you looked at it because, you see, Matt ...

9. All I Want for Christmas is a Savior

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

James W. Moore

Have you heard about the little boy who loved going to church? He enjoyed the music, the scriptures, the creeds, the sermon, and the fellowship. The only part about going to church that the little boy didn’t like, were those long pastoral prayers! He really liked his minister, but his minister prayed long, long pastoral prayers... and sometimes it seemed to the little boy that the prayer would nev...

10. All I Want for Christmas is Hope

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

James W. Moore

A friend of mine who is a psychologist told me once that he has found the perfect formula for getting through Christmas. He says, “You just put your mind in neutral... and go where you are shoved!” Of course, he was just kidding around... but we know full well what he was talking about. The Christmas rush, the hectic pace, the heavy traffic, the long lines, the frayed nerves, the bills, the deadli...

11. All I Want for Christmas is Joy

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

James W. Moore

Her name was Karen. She was the young mother of two pre-school children: Laurel, her daughter, age 5, and Matthew, her son, age 2. Karen wanted the children to learn the real meaning of Christmas so early in December that year she brought home a small manger scene. All the figurines in the manger scene were made of wood, so they were pretty much indestructible.., and also easy for little hands to ...

12. All I Want for Christmas is Peace

Luke 2:8-20

Sermon

James W. Moore

Have you heard about the young woman who lived on a large ranch in West Texas? She had fallen in love with a local cowboy named Tex...and she wanted to get married. But Texas was inexperienced in the world of romance...and to make matters worse, he was extremely shy. She realized that she needed to help him a bit to move this courtship along.., so she took matters into her own hands. “Oh, Tex,” s...

13. Bearing the Marks of Christ

Galatians 6:11-18

Sermon

James W. Moore

When I was a young boy, our family made a vacation trip to East Texas one summer to visit relatives there. One of the vivid memories of that trip was a tour of a Texas ranch… where we watched some cowboys hard at work… branding their steers. A mark was made on each steer to dramatically and clearly signify who his owner was. Something like that was done to human beings in Biblical times. In New T...

14. Believe in Jesus

Acts 16:25-34

Sermon

James W. Moore

Some years ago on a ranch in South Texas, an elderly woman was critically ill. She was in her 90’s and was at the point of death. All of the family, the ranch hands and the neighbors had gathered around her bed. Quietly, respectfully, they waited and watched and prayed. The doctors had told them that the end was near and there was nothing else that could be done medically… and that it wouldn’t be ...

15. Breathe on Me, Breath of God

Acts 2:1-4

Sermon

James W. Moore

Let me begin with three quick stories. See if you can find the common thread that runs through them. The First Story is about a woman who lives in Texas. She is a motivational speaker who is often asked to give the key-note address at conventions and convocations. Recently she returned home after speaking five nights in a row. Her husband said: “Honey, I know you must be really tired. Why don’t ...

16. Can You Tell Time?

Philippians 3:7-11

Sermon

James W. Moore

We have a young couple in our church family who are outstanding in every way. Both the husband and the wife are highly successful business executives. They are devoted to each other, devoted to the church, and devoted to their two beautiful daughters. Their daily schedule is hectic to say the least… and Saturday morning is the only time they have to sleep in. So they have a house rule that the ch...

17. Choose Life

Deuteronomy 30:15-20

Sermon

James W. Moore

Dr. Rachel Remen is a remarkable person with a remarkable story. Her grandfather was a wise and devoted elderly Rabbi… and he taught her (from her earliest days) to search for the meaning of life by… - Studying the Scriptures, - Asking questions, - And, listening to powerful stories. On the other hand, everybody else in her family was either a doctor or nurse (9 doctors and 3 nurses in the famil...

18. Choosing the Way to the Cross

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon

James W. Moore

Recently I ran across a story that absolutely amazed me… and yet it’s a story that may well represent the “cater-culture-give-‘em-what-they-want world” in which we now live. A church wanted to improve attendance at their major worship services, so they hired a powerful advertising agency to come in, study their situation, and make recommendations. The ad agency did their research… and then sugges...

19. Christmas Gifts That Always Fit

Luke 2:8-20

Sermon

James W. Moore

Have you ever had a “Reality Check?” I had one last Sunday morning. Right after the 8:30 service in our Sanctuary, I rushed up to the second floor to get something I needed for the 9:45 service. I went up the stairs in the Commons to the long corridor that leads down to the Youth Chapel. About 50 yards up ahead of me our young people were gathered together out in the hallway (as they do every Sun...

20. Dealing with Stress Creatively

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

James W. Moore

One Sunday morning, a mother said to her ten-year-old son: “Billy, I’m not feeling well enough to go to church today, but I do want you to go on as usual… and then you can tell me all about it.” Obediently, Billy carried out his mom’s wish. When he returned home, his mother asked: “Well, Billy, how was church?” “Fine,” Billy responded. “Where did you sit?” Mom asked. “O, I think I sat in about th...

21. Dealing With The Dividing Walls

Ephesians 2:11-22

Sermon

James W. Moore

Have you heard about the young man who was an All-American football player in college? He went on to play professional football for a few years and then came back to his alma mater as an assistant coach. One of his main responsibilities in his new job would be to go out and scout and recruit players for his college team. Before he made his first recruiting trip, he went in to visit with the head c...

22. Dealing With The Pain of Rejection

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

James W. Moore

There is no pain in the world quite like it: the awful pain of feeling rejected. It hurts! It crushes the spirit and breaks the heart. Let me show you what I mean with a true story. Pastor James Moore tells a story about a girl named Jessica. She was a tall, slender, sixteen-year-old blonde girl, who looked like she might grow up to be a model or president of the P.T.A., or a corporate executive. ...

23. Don't Look Back, Remember Lot's Wife

Genesis 19:24-26

Sermon

James W. Moore

When I was in the tenth grade in high school, I was a sprinter on the Memphis Tech High School track team. Back then, tenth grade was the first year of high school, so I was a real rookie on the track team. I had been running: - The one hundred yard dash. - I was also running on the sprint relay teams. - In addition, I was doing the long jump and the high jump. One day in a practice track meet, ...

24. Earthquakes, Tsunamis, and Disaster: Why do the Innocent Suffer?

Psalm 69:1-36

Sermon

James W. Moore

On a Christmas card we received this year, we discovered these powerful words: When the song of the angels is stilled, When the star in the sky is gone, When the Kings and Princes are back home, When the Shepherds have returned to new flocks, The work of Christmas begins: - To find the lost, - To heal the broken - To feed the hungry, - To release the prisoners, - To rebuild the nations, - To brin...

25. Encounters With Christ I: Jesus & the Man Born Blind

John 9:1-12

Sermon

James W. Moore

Recently, I ran across a “fascinating list” that carried this intriguing title: “Great Truths About Life That Little Children Have Learned.” Let me share a few of these “great truths” with you. (1) “ No matter how hard you try you cannot baptize a cat.” (2) “When your mom is mad at your dad, don’t let her brush your hair.” (3) “Never ask your 3-year-old brother to hold a tomato… or an egg.” (4) “...

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