Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 2701 to 2725 of 2962 results

Matthew 23:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... . Back in the 1980s, when Italy first began to make the use of seatbelts mandatory in automobiles, a psychiatrist in Naples invented what he called a “security shirt.” It consisted of a white T-shirt with a diagonal black stripe painted on it designed to deceive the police into believing the motorist was buckled up. (2) Some of you can remember how much resistance there was among some people in this country to wearing seatbelts when they were first introduced. Those T-shirts with the diagonal black ...

2702. Ready for the Big Date?

Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... to avoid the impending collision. Unable to turn quickly enough, however, the ship suffered a glancing blow from the iceberg that buckled the ship’s starboard side and opened five of her sixteen compartments to the sea. The Titanic had been designed to stay afloat with four of her forward compartments flooded but no more, and the crew soon realized that the ship would sink. Officer Murdoch immediately informed Captain Smith, who, remarkably continued to dine with distinguished passengers and finish a ...

2703. Spiritually Prepared

Mark 1:4-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... because of his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” John’s ministry was designed to help people prepare spiritually for the coming of Christ. If you think about it for a while, this is the purpose for which baptism is still administered today. [When parents present their children for baptism at the altar of the church, they are preparing them ...

2704. The Ultimate Mountaintop Experience

Mark 9:2-9

Sermon

King Duncan

... was changing a flat tire and there was thick black dirt all over her hands and clothes and face. “Then one day you see her on television. Instead of grease she has make-up on her face. Instead of winter work clothes she has an expensive designer dress. Instead of living in the apartment down the hall she is the CEO and majority shareholder of the holding company which owns the apartment building and a thousand others like it. She is on television because she is announcing her acceptance of the President ...

2705. You Are God's Handiwork

Ephesians 2:10

Sermon

King Duncan

Is there anyone here who doesn’t appreciate a nice compliment from time to time? A compliment truly is oxygen for the soul. Let me tell you about a service on the web that is designed to lift you up when you are down. It is called “Emergency compliment.com.” You can go there and see brief messages to feed your ego and boost your mood. Who wouldn’t like to be told things like “Your prom date still thinks about you all the time”? Or “ ...

2706. Where It Ends

John 13:1-17, 31b-35

Sermon

John Jamison

... all of that away for a few seconds. Before they were disciples, they had all been part of good Jewish families and had all grown up with years of memories around the Passover seder meal. The meal was built entirely around a very serious ritual, designed to ensure that the stories of Moses and the Exodus from Egypt were remembered from generation to generation. As serious as the intent, the evening itself was filled with good fun and family fellowship and was an exciting time for everyone of every age. Some ...

2707. Making Sense

John 17:6-19

Sermon

John Jamison

... . There is usually one of three reasons they actually stop. Either they aren’t capable of understanding the great mysteries of the word of God, the Bible is just too old to make any real sense today, or the Bible is just kind of thrown together with no real design and no real way to sort through it all to make any sense. If we can help make some sense of this strange little passage, perhaps it will help someone keep reading when they run into it, and others like it, in the future. Because the passage does ...

2708. Treasure Hidden In a Clay Jar

2 Corinthians 4:5-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... the first place, we need to note that the treasure about which Paul speaks does not lie somewhere “out there.” Many of us are obsessed with finding meaning and purpose outside of ourselves. A better job, a nicer neighborhood, a trimmer body, travel abroad, designer clothes, a prestigious automobile, a beach front condo. The list goes on and on. We buy self-help books, get in on the latest fad, take a peek at our horoscope, wait to meet Mr. Right, believing all the time that somewhere, sometime, somehow ...

2709. When I AM Speaks, You'd Better Listen

John 6:24-35

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... to love our neighbors is a corollary to loving God first. From the perspective of the gospel of John, there are two options in life: either I am in charge, or I AM is in charge. When I am is in charge, life doesn't work the way it was designed. When I AM is in charge, life works the way it is supposed to work according to God's plans and purpose. When I am in charge, I consistently mess things up, make excuses for the mess I make, and refuse to take responsibility for what goes wrong. In other ...

2710. Jesus' No-Nonsense Guide to Discipleship

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

April Yamasaki

... red and white striped shirt and a matching cap. On each set of facing pages, Waldo appears in different colorful situations, and each time, children are asked to find him. Sometimes there are other characters wearing caps, or other objects that might be striped red and white designed to fool young readers, but that's all part of the fun of finding Waldo. In this part of Mark's gospel, if we were to ask ‘where's the good disciple?’ we would still be looking. The rich young man may have kept all of the ...

2711. When I Am Weak, I Am Strong

2 Corinthians 12:7-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... man was confronted with two big challenges. First, he suffered a speech impediment--a lisp caused by a dental condition. But this did not stop him from becoming a celebrated public speaker. We’re told that he often wore an artificial tooth, designed to ease this impediment. He also avoided words in his speeches that he had difficulty pronouncing. Yet his speeches were both inspiring and motivating. The second obstacle Churchill had to overcome was a mental health challenge. He called it the “Black Dog ...

2712. Do You Believe in Miracles?

Mark 7:31-37

Sermon

King Duncan

... liver failure in the near future, you won’t go on an organ donor list to wait on a new liver. It may be possible that a new replacement liver will be printed on a 3-D printer in a medical laboratory right there in your town--a liver designed especially for you. That day is getting very close according to people in the field. How about a replacement heart or lungs? We’re not there yet. But hang in there. The time’s getting very close according to the experts. People in Jesus’ time could only pray for ...

2713. Called to Love, Not Like

John 15:9-17

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... Love and the Voice of this Calling": Not only what we thought we could afford, Not only what we have the strength to give is asked of us; the grace that makes us live calls for a death, and all we are is poured Onto an altar we did not design and yet which holds us in his perfect will And in both flames and darkness keeps us still and is the strength, the pillar, and the sign Of all that never fails, though we are weak, of he who calls, and asks us to embrace our weakness, and our cross ...

2714. A Difficult but Joyous Journey

Luke 1:39-55

Sermon

King Duncan

... , who realize that life is a training school, that happiness is not a permanent state but an elusive quality best achieved in search of something higher. Life has some strange twists and turns. I have no doubt that some of our difficult times are designed to strengthen us spiritually. Consider the rash of suicides and drug-related deaths among the children of some of America’s best known celebrities. “But we gave him everything,” distraught parents moan. That is it. When life is too easy, we do not ...

2715. The Future Present

Luke 1:46-56

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

... speaking, part of the 2% of richest folk in the world, it is our responsibility and our privilege to share that wealth extravagantly and sacrificially with those who have little. And the generosity of many congregations — especially for designated opportunities, disaster relief, special Christmas offerings — shows that we understand that giving generously not only helps the world, but makes us feel better. The good news is that the great economic reversal described in Mary’s revolutionary song ...

2716. The Natural Look

Luke 9:28-36 (37-43)

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

... . He has been changed from who the world says he should be — into who God has uniquely created him to be. And this completely authentic and utterly unique Moses literally shines. Early in my career I attended a weeklong young pastor’s seminar, designed to keep restless pastors from bolting from the ministry. Those who created the event knew that after five or six years of stumbling through parish ministry most of us would have had our eyes opened. Far from the ethereal vision of pious pastoring ...

2717. In Awe of Christ

Luke 9:28-36

Sermon

King Duncan

... ,000 x 100,000,000,000 stars!” (1) That is an amazing number. We stand in awe of the wonders of creation. There is a story of a man who wanted to build a scale model of the universe. He began with a ball one inch in diameter, which he designated as earth. To his amazement he discovered that in order to be true to scale to the size of the universe, he would have to place a ball representing the nearest star, Alpha Centaury, 51,000 miles away. He concluded it would take a pretty big family room to hold ...

2718. The Ascension Day Experience

Luke 24:50-53

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

The official ecclesiastical designation for this day is “The Feast of the Ascension.” In keeping with its name, it commemorates the day the risen Christ ascended into heaven. Saint Augustine contended this holy day was first observed in the apostolic era. That would make it one of the earliest Christian holidays. By tradition, the ...

2719. Babblejargon

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

The following notice was sent home with some high school students: "Our school's cross-graded, multi-ethnic, individualized learning program is designed to enhance the concept of an open-ended learning program on the continuum of multi-ethnic, academically enriched learning, using the identified intellectually-gifted child as the agent of his own learning." One parent sent back a note which read, "I have a college degree, speak two foreign languages and ...

2720. The Struggle Within

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

... or died. He declared rather, "I will not hate. I refuse to be destroyed by hate!" A year later the son was killed. Soon life insurance money arrived. The father did not really need the ten thousand dollars so he sent it to the Southern Baptist Foreign Mission Board and designated it for missions to the Japanese. How could the father do that? Only by the miracle of Calvary. Only God can change bitterness and hate into love.

2721. The Power of Hypocrisy

Illustration

R. C. Sproul

... plagued him throughout his life. He left Germany and went to England to study. He sat daily at the British Museum formulating his ideas and composing a book. In that book he introduced a whole life and worldview and conceived of a movement that was designed to change the world. In the book he described religion as an "opiate for the masses" that could be explained totally in terms of economics. Today there are billions of people in the world who live under the system invented by this embittered man. His ...

2722. People of the Lie

Illustration

M. Scott Peck

... the morality of the evil. While they seem to lack any motivation to be good, they intensely desire to appear good. Their "goodness" is all on a level of pretense. It is, in effect, a lie. That is why they are the "people of the lie." Actually, the lie is designed not so much to deceive others as to deceive themselves. They cannot or will not tolerate the pain of self-reproach.

2723. Clocks In Heaven

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

... of these clocks were ticking away but at different rates. The man then noticed that under each clock was a name plate with a name engraved on it. Naturally, he wanted to know the significance of all this. Peter informed him that each clock was designed to keep track of an individual still on earth. Each time the person, represented by the clock, committed a sin, the hands on the clock made a complete revolution. Upon closer examination the man began to recognize a few names. After searching for (insert the ...

2724. Listen to the Angels

Revelation 5:11-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... for a burnt offering?” Can you not imagine that Abraham’s old heart was breaking as he answers, “God will provide Himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son”? So they continued the journey until they came to the place which God had designated. Abraham’s hand was shaking mightily as he made those final preparations. “Please, God,” he was surely praying within his own heart, “Please don’t make me go through with this.” Abraham built the altar and laid the wood just so. Then the Genesis ...

2725. Setting His Face Toward Jerusalem

Luke 9:51-62

Sermon

King Duncan

... to go into a skid is focus on what they fear--the wall. Instead, you must focus on where you want to go . . . The reality is that whatever you focus on you move toward.” The instructor even had a “skid car,” a training car that was specially designed to go into a skid at the push of a button. He used it to give his clients real-world experience in the split-second decision necessary to save themselves from a skid. Tony was driving at high speed around the track when his instructor pushed the button ...

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