Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 226 to 250 of 517 results

226. When Christ Shall Come

Matthew 25:31-46

Sermon

King Duncan

... He picked cherries in the orchard next to their home that day and slept under the trees that gave him his livelihood. Early the next morning Floyd returned to the couple who had shown him kindness. While he finished one last project in the orchard, Nancy, on an impulse, wrote him a letter telling of God's love. Then she tucked it with a little cash into a New Testament. She found his backpack in the yard, and stuck the packet inside. She imagined him traveling that day looking for work and at the end of the ...

227. Trying To Get The Pageant Right!

John 1:19-28

Sermon

King Duncan

... were locked. Around the front of the church was a life-size plastic nativity scene. James Campbell trudged through the snow until pausing right in front of the plastic Christ child. The divine child had his hands extended into the December chill. On sudden impulse, James placed the mitten on an outstretched plastic hand of the Christ child. (6) It was absurd, of course, to put a single mitten on a plastic doll, but there was something very right about this act as well. Christmas is about adoring Jesus ...

228. Walking Into The Heart Of God

1 John 2:28--3:10

Sermon

King Duncan

... it impossible to forgive his brother. He did not see him again for two years. One day on a busy street Daniel encountered his brother. "I saw him," Daniel said, "but he didn't see me." Daniel clenched his fists, he felt his face get hot. His initial impulse was to grab his brother around the throat and choke the life out of him. As he looked into his brother's face, though, his anger began to melt. For suddenly he noticed how much his brother resembled their father. He saw their father's expression. He ...

229. Sleeping Through A Tornado

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... . (2) That family's entire outlook on life changed. They went from a meaningless life to one of rich meaning. And the gift of the Holy Spirit is what made it possible. Simon Peter's experience was much the same. He went from being an impulsive fisherman into a fearless evangelist. The Spirit came upon him and he was transformed. Notice something else, though. SIMON PETER WAS TRANSFORMED TO SERVE. Some people who have an experience of the Spirit in their lives focus on the experience, and not on the call ...

230. A Family Celebration

Hebrews 1:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... money together, and one of the counselors would go to town and purchase snack food for them. Bob immediately realized that the money that had been given to him was the money that the campers had intended for soft-drinks and snacks for their party. So his first impulse was to take some of the money and buy some Cokes and cookies. But then he heard a little voice say, "Don't rob them of the joy of giving." A farewell party was held on Friday night as planned. Instead of soft drinks, they drank water served ...

231. The Repentant Heart

2 Samuel 12:1-31

Sermon

Timothy Smith

Mighty King David acted on his impulses when he saw Bathsheba bathing in the afternoon sun. David committed a sin. David had not given any thought to the consequences of his sin. He thought he could get away with anything. After all, he was the king. David knew right from wrong ” that was why he went to ...

232. Responding Instead Of Reacting

Jeremiah 28:1-17

Sermon

Dr. B. Bruce Humphrey

... go home and think about it for a while, but when he was finally ready with a response, it was a message from the Lord. Let's think for a few moments this morning about the difference between reacting and responding ” between taking impulsive actions and thinking things through. FIRST OF ALL, WHEN WE RESPOND ” WHEN WE GIVE SITUATIONS ADEQUATE THOUGHT ” WE GUARD AGAINST BEING GULLIBLE. The false prophet Hananiah used all the right phrases. He said, "Thus says the Lord," the official phrase of a prophet ...

233. Visioning Or Vanishing?

Proverbs 29:1-27

Sermon

Eric Ritz

Off the coast of Maine lies an island so small that the surrounding ocean can be seen from any point on the island. A visitor had the impulse to start a Sunday school class on the island, so he gathered the children around him for their first lesson. "How many of you," he asked, "have ever seen the Atlantic Ocean?" To his surprise, not a single hand went up. There is such a thing as being so much ...

234. Entitlements

Luke 16:19-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... . We are entitled to begin again. Would you want to reap every thing you sow? Do you remember the old adage about the person who sows wild oats then prays for a crop failure? We don't want to reap everything we sow. We sometimes do stupid things. We act impulsively. We leap before we look, talk before we think, give in to the worst that's in us rather than the best that's in us, blow it big time. At such times we would like to suspend the law of sowing and reaping. That's what grace is all ...

235. Don't Look Down

Matthew 14:22-36

Sermon

King Duncan

... on the shore. The wind and the waves were beating against the boat. Jesus went out to them, walking on the water. The disciples were terrified. But Jesus said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." Simon Peter wasn't afraid. As usual, he acts on impulse. "Lord, if it's you, tell me to come to you on the water." I would love to have seen the expression on Jesus' face at that particular moment. Surely he worked hard to suppress a smile at Peter's audaciousness. That's one of the things he loved ...

236. Faith In Conflict

Mark 6:14-29

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... shelter for women, called Women of Hope. Other things followed. Along the way she met Joan Dawson-McConnon, at that time a graduate student with a degree in accounting and soon to have a master's in taxation. Joan had the same Christian impulses as Sister Mary and soon they were working together. Today the two--Sister Mary Scullion and Joan Dawson-McConnon--oversee a program with a six million dollar budget that provides shelter, education and rehabilitation of both people and neighborhoods that has become ...

237. Building A Faith

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... s apartment, opened the door and walked in. His mother came in behind him, spoke his name and gave him a hug. She had spotted him three blocks away. It must have hurt her mother's heart to see her child in distress, but instead of following her impulse to rescue him, she patiently watched while he found his own way home. (6) How God must agonize as we stumble our way through life. But God knows our needs. God knows our spiritual resources. God knows circumstances of which we are not even aware. Faith is not ...

238. Being A Sheep Is Not So Bad (compared With Being A Goat)

Ezekiel 34:1-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... more of us need to be called goats. But most of us would not take to it too kindly. Goats are willful, ornery, unpredictable. Did you know that the word "capricious" came to us by way of the goat. We call a person who frequently indulges in impulsive changes of mind, capricious. Generally we use this in a negative manner of speaking. This kind of person is given to wild mood swings. One minute they are lovable. The next minute you would like to give them a good boot. Farmers tell us that no other domestic ...

239. Schadenfreude

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

Rev. Dr. S. Ronald Parks

... story of the Prodigal Son. He had an idea of justice and, as far as he is concerned, all is well. The daily tour of his family's estate is conducted with an air of pride and a smirk planted firmly on his face. Gone is the younger brother, that impulsive and disrespectful idiot. "If there was any justice in God's good creation, he is either begging for food, toiling in anonymity, or wasting away in jail. In any event, he is, as far as the family is concerned, dead. What a loser." "But wait, who's that coming ...

240. Worried About Her Child

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

... teacher, principal, counselor, et al. repeatedly suggested that the young man had attention deficit disorder (ADD). They reassured the parents that ADD is genetic--therefore, his behavior wasn't their fault. They said he needed medication to help him control his impulses. The parents resisted this well-intentioned recommendation for months. "Finally," says the mother, "we reached the limit of our tolerance for his shenanigans. He came home from school one day to discover a padlock on the door to his bedroom ...

241. Why Did I Do That?

Romans 7:7-25

Sermon

King Duncan

... master, Weeden Scott, scolded him and then took him into the chicken yard. There he placed White Fang right in the middle of the chickens. This was a supreme test. When White Fang saw his favorite food walking around right in front of him he obeyed his natural impulse and lunged for a chicken. He was immediately checked by his master's voice. They stayed in the chicken yard for quite a while, and every time White Fang made a move toward a chicken, his master's voice would stop him. In this way he learned ...

242. An Invitation To Know God

1 Samuel 3:1--4:1

Sermon

King Duncan

... . But only a few of us will really hear. We need a believing heart, and listening ears. AND FINALLY, WE NEED OBEDIENT HANDS. "Speak, Lord, for thy servant hears." Please note those two words, "thy servant." I suppose that the reason many of us refuse to give in to the impulse of faith, the reason many of us fail to tune in to God's voice, is that such steps as those might lead to one more step--a commitment of our lives to God's service. And that's true. But what else in life is as meaningful or rewarding ...

243. Beautiful Words Of Life

John 6:60-71

Sermon

King Duncan

... four times as likely to stop and help the woman pick up her books than were the people who found no money in the coin return. They concluded," writes Matt Weinstein, "that when we feel good, we tend to do good, which also means that the helping impulse is transferable. In other words, if you do something good for another person, he or she is much more likely to do something nice for someone else, causing one small gesture to result in a giant ripple effect." (4) Notice those words: "when we feel good, we ...

244. Eavesdropping On Eternity

Luke 9:28-36

Sermon

King Duncan

... had prevented Nancie from spending time with God. Her inner turmoil reflected her lack of connection to Him. God was reminding her that as she spent time in quiet prayer, her inner life would reflect God's peace and grace too. (4) We understand Peter's impulse to stay on the mountain. We need this time apart with the Master. But Peter was missing the point. Peter didn't yet understand Christ's vision for the future. He didn't understand that just as Moses ushered in a system of sacrifices that would ...

245. Invited To The Table

Luke 17:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... owned slaves [were slaves] less than 150 years ago. Progress is slow, slow, slow. Jesus wants us to be offended by such language today. You and I would echo the words of Abraham Lincoln who said, "Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally." We are offended by the idea of slavery, as well we should be. Second, we are offended by how elitist the story sounds. "Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending ...

246. A Father Pleased With His Son

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... each one was telling what he wanted to be when grown up, and Lowell said when his turn came, 'I want to grow up and be a man like my daddy.' Few things in my life have ever touched me as those words did, or have given me a greater impulse to dedication. What kind of a man was I going to be, if I was to be the pattern for my boy?" (2) Rufus Jones became a great man partially because his son was proud of him. What a powerful bond there is between parent and child. How we love ...

247. A Man Of Character And Generosity

Genesis 45:1-28

Sermon

King Duncan

... of my experiences in her mother's house." Just for a moment, Fisher considered publicly accusing her. How good it would feel to point at Mercy and announced to the crowd, "There she is! Her family is the one mentioned in the book." He wanted revenge. But the impulse passed quickly. He had moved far beyond the pain of his childhood. He had no desire to hurt anyone else. Mercy's face softened when Fisher handed her the signed book. She thanked him and left. (2) Joseph did more than give his brothers grain--he ...

248. I Will Not Leave You Comfortless

John 14:15-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... . To think otherwise would deny the facts of life as we experience them. Could such an extraordinary world have happened without a divine hand directing it? Could blind protoplasm work its way up into intelligent, dreaming, loving human creatures without any creative impulse from a divine mind? Absurd. Believers cannot deny their faith simply because others are blind or deaf or insensitive to what seems to be plainly evident to us. As far as we are concerned the burden of proof is on the non-believer ...

249. The Eureka Experience

Genesis 12:1-8

Sermon

Edward Inabinet

... give you joy and peace and purpose such as you've never known before. I assure you that on the authority of the Word of God. Novelist Frederick Buechner was twenty-seven years old and living alone in New York City, trying to write a book. On impulse one Sunday morning he, a non-churchgoer, decided to go to church. The preacher spoke on the topic of crowning Christ in your heart. Jesus refused the crown of Satan in the wilderness, the preacher said, but accepts the crown of his people when we confess him ...

250. Forgiveness: Human and Divine

Matthew 6:12-15

Sermon

Edward Inabinet

... to step across the barrier that separates good from evil. It''s simply dishonesty in any form. A third word for sin means to slide across, or to slide off a slippery road. This is a description of our yielding to temptations, our giving in to the impulses of mind and body, of the flesh, as the Bible calls it, and sinning against God. The fourth word is just plain lawlessness. It is that hard-hearted, self-centered, deliberate and steady desire and effort to do wrong. It is that high-handed sin the Bible ...

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