Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 151 to 173 of 173 results

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

King Duncan

One of the most exciting buzz words in business today is the word "synergy." According to the principle of synergy, when two or more people work together, the total effect of their work is greater than if they had been working independently. For example, one horse can pull 2 tons by itself. That means two horses working separately will be able to pull 4 tons, 2 tons per horse. But when two horses...

152. Ask the Average Person...

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Are you an "average person?" Not in terms of ability or common sense or something that might be quantifiable, but in the sense that your opinions would be more or less typical? What I mean is, if someone began a statement with that phrase, "Ask the average person," would the rest of the sentence sound like something you might say? For example, "Ask the average person, and he would say the sky is b...

153. Free At Last!

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

King Duncan

The plot of a recent Tom Hanks' movie, The Terminal, sounds so outrageous that it is hard to believe that it is based on a true story. In 1986, an Iranian man named Merhan Karimi Nasseri flew to Paris, France, without his immigration card or other proper paperwork. He never should have been allowed to board the plane without the paperwork, but somehow it was overlooked. Without his papers, the Fre...

154. Try This on For Size!

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

One church has an organ that many sweated, sacrificed, and slaved to buy. Its cost was astounding! But when one hears its tone, sits under the influence of its quality, one begins to believe it was worth it all. It is a special musical instrument. It will serve God and man for many decades. But what will happen when something goes wrong with this musical instrument? Who will be called in to repai...

155. Worn Out? Tired? Weary?

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

In both his Letter to the Galatians and his Letter to the Thessalonians, Saint Paul, without equivocation, admonishes us all NOT to be weary. And then, paradoxically almost, in 2 Corinthians, we find that he is after all, human himself, and he admits that he himself has often been weary. Perhaps it’s the most used expression in our conversation: "I’m tired! I’m beat! I’m dead! I’m weary! I’m worn ...

156. Called to Freedom

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

Mark Trotter

The temptation in all times, the temptation in the Middle ages and the temptation of many in our time, is to make religion a matter of rules, and to believe that those who obey the rules are the ones who are good, and saved, and those who do not obey the rules are the ones who are damned. Which is bad enough as religion, but what made it worse is that God is made the enforcer of this system of rew...

157. Who Gives You Your Grade?

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

Mark Trotter

I read a book with pen in hand, my eye peeled for typographical errors. The more expensive the book, the more prestigious the publisher, the greater the joy in finding an error. Most people see me reading with a pen in hand, they think I am underlining important passages. They say, "Look, Mark's a scholar." I read with a pen so I can circle the mistakes other people make. I mark them indelibly in ...

158. The Good Yoke

Matthew 11:25-30, 1 Kings 19:1-8, 1 Kings 19:9-18, 1 Kings 19:19-21

Sermon

Lori Wagner

What kind of yoke are you wearing today? Not this kind you say! Are you sure? Indeed, we may not get up in the morning and fit ourselves into a wooden harness like the one you see here –although sometimes our clothing may feel like that if we’ve gained a few pounds, no? But we all do bear a yoke. We yoke ourselves to ideas, concepts, issues, material things, relationships, belief systems. Our...

159. The Sign of the Servant

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Props: on screen images of the pictographs for shepherd’s staff, ox, and yoke (both together) What do you get when you cross a shepherd’s staff and an ox? A yoke, of course! At least, that’s what you get in Paleo-Hebrew, the pictographic forerunner of the Hebrew language and image-rich metaphorical roots of the Hebrew scriptures. [Put the symbols on screen if you can. Show people the symbols f...

160. There Are No Magic Capes

Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

Illustration

David E. Leininger

There is an old Peanuts cartoon - Snoopy sitting on top of his dog house when Charlie Brown comes with a note. Charlie says, "It's a letter from your brother Spike." He begins to read, " Dear Snoopy, something wonderful happened...a man came by here and offered to sell me a magic cape. He told me that if I wore this magic cape I would be transported to a land of paradise. He said the cape was on s...

161. A Beautiful Doxology

Matthew 11:25-30

Illustration

James W. Moore

Early one morning some years ago, Robert Raines got into his car and started driving through the mountains. There was no one on the road (at that time) as the mountains were quietly beginning a new day. The beautiful colors of autumn were splashed all over the trees. It was a magnificent and glorious sight as the early morning sun glistened upon the wonders of the mountains and the valleys below. ...

162. I Have More Remedies

Matthew 11:25-30

Illustration

James W. Moore

Have you heard about the farmer who went to a government bureaucrat specializing in animal health? The farmer sought help from the "expert" because ten of his chickens had suddenly died. The government expert instructed the farmer to give aspirin to all the surviving chickens. Two days later, however, the farmer returned. Twenty more chickens had died. What should he do now? The expert said quick...

163. Be Careful Which Ruts You Get Into

Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

Illustration

James W. Moore

Recently, I was driving on an old dirt road way out in the country when I came to a sign which said: "Be real careful which ruts you get into. You'll be in them for the next 20 miles!" Some people get in the rut of seeing life as nothing more than just coping, just enduring, just surviving, just sticking it out. In a recent Peanuts cartoon, Charlie Brown expressed it like this: "I have a new phi...

164. Worship: Time to Cool Down

Matthew 11:25-30

Illustration

Richard J. Fairchild

In the early days of automobiles, it was common for eating and drinking places to be built on the tops of long hills. I know that near where I grew up on the old Island Highway, there is a restaurant called the Malahat Chalet - still located at the top of the longest grade between Nanaimo and Victoria. It was not located there for the view, nor were most of the others you can still find around No...

165. All Our Strength

Matthew 11:25-30

Illustration

Donald M. Tuttle

The story is told of a little boy and his father. They were walking along a road when they came across a large stone. The boy looked at the stone and thought about it a little. Then he asked his father, "Do you think if I use all my strength, I can move that rock?" The father thought for a moment and said, "I think that if you use all your strength, you can do it." That was all the little boy ne...

166. Resting in Christ

Matt 11:28

Illustration

Larry Chell

In the Philippines, the driver of a carabao wagon was on his way to market when he overtook an old man carrying a heavy load. Taking compassion on him, the driver invited the old man to ride in the wagon. Gratefully the old man accepted. After a few minutes, the driver turned to see how the man was doing. To his surprise, he found him still straining under the heavy weight, for he had not taken t...

167. God Is Like a Tiger

Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

Illustration

John Catoir

A priest friend of mine went to the missions in Africa. It took him three years to learn Swahili. He was working in a small village when he could finally communicate to his community. They understood him, but one of the men came up to him afterwards and said, "Father, we thank you for all the sacrifices you've made to preach to us in Swahili, but you don't understand God the way we do. You speak o...

168. Learning To Walk In The Fields

Mt 11:29-30

Illustration

Michael P. Green

The “yoke” Jesus refers to in Matthew 11 is well illustrated by the process of training a young bullock to plow. In some parts of the world, the farmer will have the young bullock harnessed to the same yoke as a mature ox. The bullock, dwarfed by the other animal, will not even be pulling any of the weight. It is merely learning to walk in a field under control and with a yoke around its neck; the...

169. Lo, I Am With You Always

Matthew 11:29; 28:20

Children's Sermon

Kenneth Mortonson

Purpose: To help understand how Jesus influences our lives. Materials: A ping pong ball or any type of small light plastic ball. A vacuum cleaner with a hose attachment and the ability to reverse the air flow so that the air is blown out rather than sucked in. Special Preparation: Practice this procedure before you attempt to do it before other people. Be sure the air is flowing out of the tube....

170. Elephants in the Room: Abuse – I Have a Secret

Matthew 11:28

Sermon

Charley Reeb

True Stories #1: He was one of my best friends in elementary school. We did just about everything together – rode bikes, played cops and robbers, had slumber parties, went to the movies. You name it, we did it. He had a younger brother and an older sister. They were all adopted and came from different biological families. They seemed to be happy with their adoptive parents. They lived in a ...

171. Jesus' Vacation

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

Will Willimon

I know that many of you are here on vacation. I admire you for your faithfulness. Even though you are on vacation, you have come to church. Vacations are wonderful opportunities to, as we say, "get away from it all." A period of time, set aside from life's daily difficulties, when we unburden. Where there are usually alarm clocks, there is sleeping in until ten. Where there were bran flakes at bre...

172. Rest

Matthew 11:25-30

Children's Sermon

Brett Blair

Exegetical Aim: In Christ there is rest from weariness. Props: A wrist watch. Lesson: How is everyone? (response) We are going to pretend like we are all sleeping. Everyone lay your head down. Let them rest for a few seconds. Ring, ring, ring. Look at your watch. Well, good morning it’s 7:00 and time to get up. Ok, everyone get up. Imitate the motions for them. Let’s Stretch. Everybody stretch....

173. Come and Rest

Matthew 5:3-10 · Matthew 11:28-30

Eulogy

George Reed

[Read Matthew 5:3-10 and Matthew 11:28-30] We all have had times when we were just exhausted. Maybe it was a day of really hard, physical labor or a night of restless anxiety. Whether physical or mental we understand what it is to be weary, worn out, done in. It seems like we have carried a heavy burden that only grows heavier the farther we tote it. It drains our energy, our spirit, and our joy....

Showing 151 to 173 of 173 results