Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 2701 to 2725 of 4490 results

2701. Salvation as Hope

Romans 13:8-14, 1 Thessalonians 4:13--5:11, 1 Corinthians 15:35-58

Sermon Aid

T. A. Kantonen

Salvation is the fundamental concept of Paul’s theology but salvation, even as present experience, can be understood only when it is viewed in an eschotological perspective. Paul’s doctrine of man derives its dimension of depth from his eschatology. To interpret human experience in mere psychological terms is superficial. Man is flesh and spirit but these are cosmic powers. Corresponding to them are the antitheses: grace versus law, spirit versus letter, new covenant versus old covenant, freedom versus ...

2702. Strained Gnats

Matthew 23:1-39

Sermon

Herchel H. Sheets

Family illnesses and other problems caused Margery Wilson, later to become an outstanding actress, author, and lecturer, to have to try to earn money to support her mother and sister while she was still a young girl. She got a job playing a piano two hours per day, during luncheon and dinner breaks for the orchestra, in a theatre in Cincinnati. But about that time, some well-meaning social workers had put through a child-labor law, which was applied to her. Two indignant women came with a police officer ...

2703. Broken Bread, Shared Cup

Sermon

Leonard H. Budd

The word is from the third chapter of Mark’s Gospel, the 16, 17, and 18th verses: "So he appointed the Twelve: to Simon he gave the name Peter; then came the sons of Zebedee, James and his brother John, to whom he gave the name Sons of Thunder; then Andrew and Philip and Bartholomew and Matthew and Thomas and James the son of Alphaeus and Thaddaeus ..." Thaddaeus. That is my name. And I want you to hear me for while my name to you is but an ancient word upon the dusty scrolls of distant time, I would talk ...

2704. The Man Who Asked For Dinner

Luke 24:36-49

Sermon

George Bass

If they had been conducting a seance, they might have been ready for Jesus’ appearance in that secret and secured room. If they had been sitting around a table, hands joined together as one of them (perhaps Peter) mouthed incantations: "Speak to us, Lord! Come to us as you promised that you would," they wouldn’t have been scared out of their wits. But all of a sudden, there he was, standing right among them. No wonder they thought he was a ghost. That was just about the only way that he could come back to ...

2705. How Life’s Pressures Affect Good Judgment

Mark 6:14-29

Sermon

Brett Blair

In the opera Faust, there is a fight to the finish between Satan and the young man Valentine. During the course of the fight, Satan breaks Valentine's sword and he stands poised to slay him. But the young boy takes the two pieces of his sword and fashions them into a cross. Confronted with this symbol of faith, Satan becomes immobilized and Valentine is saved. It is an interesting concept: A dramatic demonstration of faith. Unfortunately such resolution of faith does not always save you. In fact, it might ...

2706. Bringing the Gospel to Marriage

Genesis 1:1-2:3

Sermon

Gregory J. Johanson

MARCUS D. BRYANT is an ordained minister who served in a number of Christian Church congregations and on the faculty of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, before accepting his present position at Texas Christian University. There he is Professor of Pastoral Psychology and Pastoral Care at Brite Divinity School and a supervisor and consultant both at the Pastoral Care Center at Brite and the Azie Pastoral Counseling Center. His sermon published here was delivered at a seminary chapel service. In Bringing ...

2707. The Irresistible Influence Of The Holy Spirit

Acts 2:1-41

Illustration

James W. Moore

The Holy Spirit warms us and melts our cold, cold hearts. The following parable makes the point: Once upon a time there was a piece of iron, which was very strong and very hard. Many attempts had been made to break it, but all had failed. “I’ll master it,” said the axe… and his blows fell heavily upon the piece of iron, but every blow only made the axe’s edge more blunt, until it finally ceased to strike and gave up in frustration. “Leave it to me,” said the saw… and it worked back and forth on the iron’s ...

2708. The Ten Commandments #6: No Murder

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

David E. Leininger

["This is the word of the Lord..."] And the word of the sheriff...and the police chief...and the governor...and the president...and MOTHER. EVERYBODY! "You shall not murder," (and, by the way, "murder" IS a more accurate translation of the commandment from the Hebrew than simply "kill" - the word means "violent, unauthorized" killing). No problem with that. And that is why there is such national revulsion at the horrible death of Matthew Shepherd in Wyoming. No matter what anyone thinks of his sexual ...

2709. A Theology of Work - Labor Day

Deuteronomy 5:1-33

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Labor Day Weekend. Our unique American end-of-summer holiday that celebrates work by not working. Wonderful! Most of the world observes May 1st as Labor Day, but not us. The September date was chosen way back when because it was halfway between the 4th of July and Thanksgiving. September 5, 1882 saw the first American Labor Day parade. It was held in New York City with 20,000 participants carrying banners calling for 8 hours for work, 8 hours for rest, 8 hours for recreation. Samuel Gompers, the founder ...

2710. The Get-ready Man

Isaiah 40:1-31

Sermon

King Duncan

James Thurber once told of a thin and lanky prophet who went around his boyhood hometown crying, "Get ready! Get ready! The world is coming to an end!" The community called him the Get-Ready Man. That tag could have been applied to John the Baptist. He was a get-ready man if there ever was one: "A voice crying in the wilderness, ˜Prepare the way of the Lord.’" This is the season of getting ready. That is the purpose of Advent. It is a time to get ready for the celebration of the Lord’s birth. Norm Lawson ...

2711. Behold The Lamb

John 1:29-42

Sermon

King Duncan

Last week we dealt with Jesus’ baptism at the hands of by John the Baptist. I read an amusing story concerning John the Baptist recently that is simply too good not to tell. It’s about a Bible scholar from this country who travels to Jerusalem every few years where he enjoys walking the streets of Jerusalem’s Old City. Once he was walking down a quiet alley when he was waved into a small shop. Within a few minutes he found himself with a glass of tea in his hand, sitting in the back room of a rug merchant’ ...

2712. Good Reasons For Not Cheating

Matthew 5:17-20

Sermon

King Duncan

The question on the job application read, "Have you ever been arrested?" The applicant printed the word "No" in the space. The next question was a followup to the first. It asked, "Why?" Not realizing he did not have to answer this part, one honest applicant wrote, "I guess it's because I never got caught." A Jeff Danziger cartoon shows a company president announcing to his staff, "Gentlemen, this year the trick is honesty." From one side of the conference table, a vice president gasps, "Brilliant." Across ...

2713. Battle With The Law

Mark 2:23-3:6

Sermon

King Duncan

How's your blood pressure today? I want to read you some very interesting results from some extraordinary legal cases. In 1964 a California woman was driving a Porsche after having had several drinks. While driving 60 in a 25-mph zone, she had an accident in which her passenger was killed. Porsche was ordered to pay $2.5 million for having designed a car that was too high-performance for the average driver. In 1985 an overweight man with a heart condition bought a lawnmower from Sears. Later he had a heart ...

2714. Where Can I Be Safe?

Psalm 46:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

Where can I be safe? That is a question many people are asking. All of us want to know that our home is safe, our family is safe, that those we love are protected. Some unknown wit has suggested some signs that you can put around your home to keep it safe from burglars. Perhaps you will find these signs helpful: Sign #1. Dear Mr. Butcher, starting tomorrow, please leave eight pounds of meat for Brutus. Six pounds only makes him angry and vicious! Sign #2. Dear Mr. Mailman, Please be sure to keep all parts ...

2715. Labor Day

Mark 9:14-32

Illustration

King Duncan

Eiton Mayo, a professor at Harvard, once did a five-year study at the Western Electric Hawthorne Works in Chicago to find out what effect fatigue and monotony had on productivity. He stumbled onto a motivation principle that revolutionized the theory and practice of management. Mayo took five workers off the assembly line and put them under the watchful eye of a friendly supervisor. Then he started to make frequent changes in their work conditions. But he always discussed the changes in advance. He changed ...

2716. Who Did He Praise?

Luke 16:1-15

Sermon

King Duncan

There was once a young businessman in Germany named Neckerman who had a burning ambition to build his small retail store into a large chain of department stores. His problem was that no one knew his name. He couldn't attract customers. He had only limited capital. This was shortly after World War II. As you might imagine there were shortages in Germany of almost everything. Thus, the existing big department stores saw no reason to cut prices. They sold whatever they could get at healthy margins. Neckerman ...

2717. The Bread Of God

Exodus 16:1-36

Sermon

King Duncan

Unbelief gives us a short memory. The Red Sea is forgotten in a month. The Israelites could sing their lyrics of praise but they could not believe that God would supply their daily needs. Discontent gives us a slippery memory. They murmured among themselves and wished to get back to the fleshpots of Egypt. But when they were in Egypt, they shrieked about oppression and were ready to give up anything for liberty; when they got liberty, they were ready to put their necks in the noose again, if only they ...

2718. Praise the King with a Song of Joy

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

King Duncan

A mom wrote in to the CleanLaugh web site with this story: her kids had spent many summer days watching their new Cinderella video until they knew all the songs by heart. To combat the heat, they had also left most of the windows open in the house. Little did they know that others had been enjoying the video right along with them. A few days later, this mother was out in her yard when she heard the burly workmen restoring her neighbors’ roof break into song. One man was up on the roof singing in a gravelly ...

2719. What the Heck Is Sin?

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

In a church-related college, a philosophy professor was giving a lecture on some of the traditional Christian doctrines. After he had concluded, he asked if there were any questions. One student lifted her hand and said, “I have a question. You have talked a lot about sin in your lecture. What I would like to know is: what the heck is sin?” I. SIN IS NOT A VERY POPULAR WORD THESE DAYS. Awhile back psychiatrist Karl Menninger wrote a book titled Whatever Became of Sin? bemoaning the fact that people don’t ...

2720. A Sovereign God With A Shepherd's Heart

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

In many Moravian churches, the fourth Sunday in Advent is known as "Morning Star Sunday." The large multi-pointed paper star hangs from the ceiling of the Sanctuary, filling the darkness with light. The congregation sings, "Morning Star, O cheering sight; ere thou camest how dark earth's night! Jesus, mine, in me shine; fill my heart with light divine." For us who stand at the threshold of Christmas, the morning star points to both an end and a beginning. The morning star appears on a clear night in the ...

2721. East Of Eden

Genesis 3:1-24

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Last Sunday we talked about The Fall in Eden in terms of Paul Harvey's phrase: "The Rest of the Story". The story is simply told -- "Evil entered paradise. Satan tempted Eve and Adam by appealing to their pride and vanity to "be like God." After their sin and expulsion from the garden, death made its first relentless assault on the race. There was "brother trouble" when Cain killed his brother Abel. In Genesis 4: 7, we have this stark warning: "Sin is crouching at the door; its desire is for you, but you ...

2722. Proper 10

Genesis 25:19-34, Isaiah 55:1-13, Romans 8:1-17, Romans 8:18-27, Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Lesson 1: Genesis 25:19-34 (C) Rebecca gave birth to twins, Esau and Jacob. Because of Isaac's prayers for his barren wife, Rebecca made up for lost time in having twins who fought each other before birth. Esau's great mistake was trading his first-son birthright for one of Jacob's meals. Lesson 1: Isaiah 55:10-11 (RC); Isaiah 55:1-5, 10-13 (E) God's Word shall accomplish his purpose. Lesson 2: Romans 8:1-11 (C); Romans 8:18-23 (RC) Both creation and creatures groan for redemption. Lesson 2: ...

2723. Soren's Heart

2 Timothy 3:10--4:8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

How many of you are wearing or have in your pocket or purse some sort of talisman - a small something that reminds you of something much bigger? We often call these things we carry around with us keepsakes or mementos or jewelry. But they're really talismans. According to the dictionary, a talisman is a trinket or piece of jewelry thought to afford some protection against danger and evil. Maybe you wear a locket that holds inside it photos of loves ones. Maybe you keep a worry stone (or a rosary?) in your ...

2724. Make Room for Mystery

Isaiah 55:1-13

Sermon

James McCormick

There is a poem which begins: “God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform”. There was a time in history when people were quite comfortable with that idea. After all, for pre-scientific people, the mysterious, the unexplainable was a part of everyday life. There was so much that they could not understand that they put it all in the general category of “mystery”, and they accounted for that by pointing to God. If they couldn’t understand it, they simply said, “God did it!” They couldn’t begin to ...

2725. Ash Wednesday

Mt 6:1-6, 16-21 · 2 Cor 5:20b--6:10 · Ps 51:1-17 · Jl 2:1-2, 12-17

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

OLD TESTAMENT TEXTS The Old Testament texts explore the themes of sin and death that are central to Ash Wednesday. Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 proclaims the judgment of God on sin through the terrible Day of the Lord, while Psalm 51:1-12 is a penitentiary prayer in which the guilt of the psalmist is confessed as a basis for petitioning God for deliverance. Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 - "The Terrible Day of God's Judgment" Setting. The reference to the Day of the Lord in Joel 2:1 provides important background for interpreting ...

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