Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 2551 to 2575 of 4997 results

John 17:6-19

Sermon

King Duncan

... had Parkinson’s disease and her speech was garbled. For all practical purposes she was also blind; and she was bedfast. “I was not used to being with older people,” said this pastor. “I wanted so badly to minister to her but I felt so awkward. What kind of small talk could we make, even if, with all her handicapping conditions, we could talk? What did we have in common? I was totally incompetent, but I was faithful. I visited her regularly‑‑though each time I felt like a complete fool. I had a ...

2552. The Parable of the Careless Farmer

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

King Duncan

... is a song of hope and promise. As long as there is a seed, no matter how tiny or unpromising, there is hope. Of course, in Jesus’ parable, God is the Sower of the seed. We are the soil. This day Jesus would have us look within and ask what kind of soil is there? Have we become so hardened by self-preoccupation like Bob that the seed cannot penetrate our hard hearts? Are there rocks in the soil that keep the roots shallow so that it will not survive in the time of testing? Are there worldly thorns like ...

2553. Ignite: The Fire Burns Brightly

Acts 2:42-47

Sermon

James Merritt

... , put it all in one basket and then passed the basket and just said, “Take anything that you need.” When you read this in the original Greek language it was not something that they did permanently. This is not a requirement for us, but it does tell us about the kind of spirit that we will have in our soul when the fire of the Holy Spirit is burning in our heart. It is the spirit we find in Romans 15:2. “Each one of us needs to look after the good of the people around us asking ourselves, ‘How can ...

2554. Ignite: Fight Fire with Fire

Acts 4:1-22

Sermon

James Merritt

... ’s be honest. Instead of looking for reason why we ought to talk about Jesus we try to find all the excuses why we can’t. I heard about a little boy that was out playing with a mixed-breed mongrel dog. A man came by and said, “Son, what kind of dog are you playing with?” He said, “It is a police-dog.” The man said, “That ugly, mangy, half-mixed breed mutt? He is a police-dog?” The little boy said, “Yes sir. He is in the Secret-Service!” There are too many of us in the marketplace, in ...

2555. Ignite: Fire Extinguishers

Acts 15:1-21

Sermon

James Merritt

... had to obey in order to have a relationship with God and be right with God. They thought the answer to everything was a law. Many of their laws were so silly that nobody could keep them. Do you know what? Even in society you have legalists today passing all kinds of dumb laws that nobody can keep or would keep. Can I give you some real life examples? It is illegal to tie an alligator to a fire-hydrant in Detroit. In Maui County, Hawaii, children must be 12 years old to play on a busy highway. In Kern County ...

2556. Up Close & Personal: Coming Into Focus

1 John 1:5--2:14

Sermon

James Merritt

... to deal with sin is admit you’ve got sin in the first place. That is very hard for people to do. Think about how seldom people even use this word even more. How many times do you hear a politician, an athlete, a celebrity who gets caught in some kind of terrible, terrible sin say something like this, “I made a mistake.” There is a big difference between a sin and a mistake. If a man accidently walks into a women’s restroom that is a mistake. If a man purposely walks into a woman’s bedroom who is ...

2557. Lost Baggage: The Middle Seat

1 Corinthians 5:1-13

Sermon

James Merritt

... don’t know whether the father had died or he had found out about this incestuous relationship and just left, but a son is now sleeping in his father’s bed with a woman who had been his father’s wife. Not only does the Old Testament clearly condemn this kind of relationship, but Paul said back in the day even pagans wouldn’t do this. What makes it even worse by the way is this step-mother was most likely not a Christian. She wasn’t even a member of the church, because Paul doesn’t even deal with ...

2558. For the Hearing Impaired

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

James Merritt

... what makes the Word of God different from every other book or message that you will ever encounter? You read God’s word with your eyes. You hear God’s word with your ears, but you receive God’s word with your heart. Jesus describes four different kinds of hearts in this parable and they are probably all in this room. The first heart is described in verse 19. It is described as “the path”. In Palestine people would walk through fields and they would basically take the same path to where they were ...

2559. The Knot: Frayed (Part 2)

1 Peter 3:1-7

Sermon

James Merritt

... the children.” The wife said, “Who wants ‘him’ back?” To all of you husbands out there let me ask you, “If you went missing, would your wife want you back?” If you were her would you want you back? I want to show you how to be the kind of husband that will make your wife sorry when you leave home and happy when you return. 24/7 there are three things you must do. I. Live With Your Wife With Understanding “Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way.” (1 Peter 3:7, ESV ...

2560. Sometimes You Have to Do Something

Matthew 14:22-36

Sermon

King Duncan

... home and put the key in the door,” he said, “say aloud, ‘Jesus, I know you are here!’ and be ready to greet him directly when you open the door. And as you light the fire tell him what has happened during the day; if anybody has been kind, tell him; if anybody has been unkind, tell him, just as you would have told your daughter. At night stretch out your hand in the darkness and say, ‘Jesus, I know you are here!’” Some months later, Meyer was back in that neighborhood and met the woman again ...

2561. What's It Take to Be A Saint? (All Saint's Day)

Revelation 7:9-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... to talk to me in the back room. When they got there, they told me they didn’t want to hear that kind of preachin’ no more.” Clarence asked: “What’d you do?” The old preacher said: “I fired them deacons! If a man’ ... once we turn to Christ, we are to seek to live just as he lived, love as he loved, forgive as he forgave. Many of us have a mushy kind of faith that says, “Everything’s all right. Jesus loves me, this I know. It doesn’t matter what I do with my life. I can go ahead living for ...

2562. Running over the Cat

1 Thessalonians 4:13--5:11

Sermon

King Duncan

... will be gathered up, the defects mended, the tears wiped away.” She says those sophisticated Yale students rose to their feet and applauded Leander Keck . . . tears pricked their eyes . . . and so did the promise in those lines. (7) Do you have that kind of faith, that kind of assurance, that kind of trust in a God who wipes away every tear? Fifty years ago a pastor named Granger Westberg wrote a little book titled Good Grief. That book over the years has helped so many people that this year a fiftieth ...

2563. Those Amazing Two Words (Thanksgiving)

Luke 17:11-19

Sermon

King Duncan

... life.” We need to remind ourselves that God is the source of everything that is. When we say thank you, it is a reminder of the One who is the source of it all. Of course the best way to express our appreciation to God is by an act of kindness to one of God’s children. In his book, Try Giving Yourself Away, David Dunn tells about a woman in the lobby of the Union Depot in Cincinnati who was waiting for a train. She saw a young girl, about 15 years of age, sitting alone in the corner of ...

2564. An Announcement from the Wilderness

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

... first Christmas. He offered Himself as an amazing surprise. He wrapped Himself up in the form of a tiny baby. Everything we know about God, we learn from his son, Jesus Christ. He is the Word made flesh. Origen, in the third century, offered a different kind of analogy. He told of a village with a huge statue. This statue was so immense you couldn’t see exactly what it was supposed to represent. Finally, someone miniaturized the statue so one could see the person it honored. Origen said, “That is what ...

2565. Drowsy Disciples

Mark 13:1-31

Sermon

David J. Kalas

... apostle, who elsewhere said that for him to live was Christ (Philippians 1:21), bears witness to that fact by the way the Lord saturates his thinking and his language even when talking about other people. Paul’s language presents us, meanwhile, with a kind of fill-in-the-blank opportunity. Take his initial sentence — “I give thanks to my God always for you because...” — and consider how that phrase might be followed. If the apostle were writing to your church or mine, how would he complete that ...

2566. Changing Times

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... it, captive to its march of dictation. We can call it “Wilderness Standard” time, the time of struggle, the time of depression, the time of empty hands. Some of us linger in that time zone today. But today’s lectionary passages remind us that there are many kinds of time. “Time marches on,” we say. Sometimes it paces. Sometimes it races. The poet (attributed to Henry Twells) put it like this: When as a child I laughed and wept, Time crept. When as a youth I dreamt and talked, Time walked. What I ...

2567. Come Home

Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... him what they had done in his absence. The actions of the third servant, the one entrusted with a single talent, do not tell the same story. Burying treasure in a secret hideaway was an accepted way of safe-guarding riches during times of trouble, a kind of first century safety deposit box. But this action was usually taken when trouble loomed, when enemies approached, when fleeing in the night might be one’s only option. The act of burying the one talent meant that this third servant did not look forward ...

2568. The Three Shower Gifts

John 1:1-18

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... to find whatever awaited them at the end of their star quest, or to put it in terms Judy Garland made famous, at the end of their starbow. They were not sure what they would find, but they followed the star well stocked. These astrologers went to a kind of theological “Cabela’s” to be prepared for all possibilities of what lay at the end of the star. One brought a gift for a “king”—nothing less than pure gold. Gold is never a bad choice. Gold testified to the true royalty of this sign-rich king ...

2569. A Reminder to God...and to Us

Genesis 9:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... destroy all life.” This is not a comfortable story, but it contains a wonderful promise: God says, “Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.” What exactly is a covenant? A covenant is an agreement, a contract, a pledge or a promise. When some of us think of a covenant today we might think of marriage. Marriage is one ...

2570. Everything Must Go: The Treasure Principle

Matthew 6:19-24

Sermon

James Merritt

... off for a good while, for a number of reasons, the least of which I just didn’t want to deal with it. Last year, Teresa and I finally took the plunge and we did it. I thought it would be morbid – it wasn’t. I thought it would be kind of miserable – it wasn’t. I realized after it was over it really was a ministry. It took a few weeks for the results of our efforts to be completed, but then the day came that it came in the mail. I opened up the package, looked at the very ...

2571. The Messed Up

John 4:1-26

Sermon

James Merritt

... as a mistress on the side.” Now she is thinking to herself, “Well, now here it comes – the taunts, the putdowns, the “what-kind-of-mess-have-you-made-of-your-life lecture? She had heard it many times before and she braces herself. Instead, what ensues ... secure all because she was finally willing to admit she had been thirsty all of her life, because she had been drinking the wrong kind of water. One thing that you will always need to clean up a mess is water. That is why Jesus said, “Jesus said to ...

2572. What Do You See?

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

James Merritt

... over him. He looked up to see a man in traditional Muslim dress standing next to his wife in a full burka. There was a kindness in the man’s eyes when he said, “Sir, Are you all right?” The American, looking at this man and how he was dressed hesitated ... this hungry, barefoot, boy standing outside in the snow. Out of the blue, a little lady walks by. She bends down, speaks some kind words to the child, brings him into the shoe store, and buys him some brand new shoes and socks. She then takes him ...

2573. Paradise Lost

Genesis 3:1-24

Sermon

James Merritt

... off can you imagine trying to hide from God? I just found out there is a new app you can get on your phone called “Cloak.” It was created by a young man in New York who kept running into his ex-girlfriend. He thought there ought to be some kind of a mobile tool where you could always keep track of someone’s location that you wanted to avoid. He and a friend of his created, “Cloak”, a free iPhone app that uses social media accounts to give you the location of people you don’t want to meet. It ...

2574. A Few Remaining Tremors

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon

James Merritt

... was just forgive as he had been forgiven, but instead he winds up in the very prison where this story all started. I realize what we are talking about is difficult for many of you. I realize that I have probably not experienced to anywhere near the same degree the kind of hurt that perhaps you have, but you have never been hurt by others the way you have hurt God. Forgiving others is to quit focusing on what they have done to you and start focusing on what you have done to God and what God has done for you ...

2575. Digging Deeper

Luke 1:1-4

Sermon

James Merritt

... happened was verbal and they used the childhood game of “telephone” as an example of how things can get garbled up as they pass from one person to the next. It is a poor analogy for several reasons. First, people today don’t have the kind of well-trained memories that was possessed by people who lived mainly in oral cultures. Furthermore, these stories were not whispered. They were spoken out loud in front of many others who were also familiar with the tradition and could corroborate the accuracy of ...

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