Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 2701 to 2725 of 4935 results

2701. Hurting People Hurt People

Luke 6:27-36

Sermon

King Duncan

"Hurting people hurt people," says John Maxwell, and it's true! A father and son walking together in the woods came upon an animal that had been caught in a hunter's trap. The animal was in obvious distress. The son rushed forward to free the animal, but his father stopped him. "Son," he said, "Be careful. A hurt animal will bite those close around--even someone who is trying to help him." What's true of animals is true of people. Hurting people hurt people. We've all seen parents under too much stress ...

2702. Faith-based Living

John 6:1-15

Sermon

King Duncan

One of these days, at the end of a message, I am going to give you a pop quiz--just to see how many of you were really listening. That would be cruel, wouldn't it? Don't worry. I'm afraid of the results myself. Few people enjoy taking pop quizzes--or any kind of test for that matter. Some of our young people would give an "Amen" to that. Tests elevate our anxiety level, so people will do some crazy things to prepare themselves for tests. For the benefit of our high school and college students, I want to ...

2703. Maturity In Christ

Colossians 1:27-28

Sermon

King Duncan

What would you say are the top three tourist spots in the world? Time's up. The three most-traveled-to places in the world are: Rome (the seat of Catholicism and Vatican City), Mecca (the holiest site in the Islamic world), and Orlando, Florida (the home of Disney World). (1) More people visit those three places than any other on earth. I'm not exactly sure what that says about us, but it's an interesting fact. I guess it means that the three most influential figures in the world are the Pope, Mohammad, ...

2704. The Longest Night

Psalm 143:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

"The air was so still that not a single leaf trembled. Dark gray clouds hovered overhead. Animals ducked for doorways as if by some mysterious instinct they knew that this would be a long dreadful night." That was how one man described the longest night of his life--a night when several tornados struck his small community leaving a path of unbelievable destruction. Wartime London must have been something like that. People huddling in fall-out shelters--never knowing when German bombers would strike-- ...

2705. Why Shepherds?

Luke 2:8-20

Sermon

King Duncan

Welcome to this celebration of Christmas Day. I want to begin with a story. It’s not a Christmas story. But it involves an incident that occurred on the day after Christmas 2004. One day last December, seventeen-year-old Max Loeb was home from school. He had been suspended that day for some reason, nothing serious. His family, though, is grateful that this one time Max got in trouble. Why? Because that particular day his father also happened to be home, and his father, Hamilton Loeb, suffered a massive ...

2706. Feasting and Fasting for Lent (Part II)

Luke 13:22-30

Sermon

Eric Ritz

Last Sunday I opened our Lenten season by sharing with you that we do not normally associate FEASTING with the idea of Lent. Most of us most likely have heard of the word FASTING. The whole idea behind the concept of fasting as to discipline our lives in such a way that the personhood of Jesus Christ would become a deeper reality in our spiritual journey. Since there is now a void left by our fasting, we can then fill it to the brim (feasting) with the attitude and lifestyle that develops commitment to the ...

2707. The Story behind the Glory

Galatians 3:26--4:7

Sermon

Fredrick R. Harm

Welcome to the Sunday after Christmas! Tell me, has the glory begun to fade? A pastor recently described his shopping experience at one of the busy malls. He watched a small boy put his hand hopefully on an inexpensive Christ-child on a counter. "What is this?" he asked his mother, who had him by the hand. "C'mon," the hurried woman answered, "you don't want that." She dragged him grimly away, her mind dark with gift thoughts, following a star of her own devising. Strange, isn't it, the way the story ...

2708. The Achilles' Heel of the Church

James 5:13-20

Sermon

Harold Warlick

Have you ever noticed how prevalent is the number 3 in religious history? The children of Israel wander without water for three days under their leader Moses upon their freedom from bondage to the Egyptians. The nation later interprets the event to mean one should go no more than three days without reading the Torah. One Gospel writer depicts a rooster crowing three times, once for every denial of Christ by Peter. And we all know the Christian assertion that Christ rose on the third day. Symbols of three ...

2709. When the Doctors Can't Help You

Mark 5:21-43

Sermon

King Duncan

A father was talking with his rather rebellious son one day and said, "Every person who lives in the United States is a privileged person." The boy answered, "I disagree." And the father replied, "That’s the privilege." Tuesday we celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence. It is a day we celebrate our freedom. But there is a different kind of freedom that we need to talk about today. Freedom that only Christ can bring. Jesus had attained celebrity status. People were coming from all around ...

2710. When Saying No Means Yes

Luke 4:1-13

Sermon

Mark Trotter

Traditionally the lesson that is to be read on this Sunday, the first Sunday in the season of Lent, is the story of Jesus' Temptation. There is a reason. Lent begins forty days before Easter, excluding the Sundays. Forty days were chosen as the length of the season because Jesus was in the wilderness during his temptation for forty days. The number has an even more ancient significance. Israel spent forty years in the wilderness, in what is called the Exodus. The Exodus and the Temptation are tied together ...

2711. Advent 2

Isaiah 11:1-16, Matthew 3:1-12, Romans 14:1--15:13

Bulletin Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Old Testament: Isaiah 11:1-10 Isaiah describes the character and work of the promised Messiah, the son of David. Here Judah is given the promise of a Davidic king-messiah who is the basis for hope for the future. The king-messiah possesses the sevenfold gifts of the Spirit. Accordingly, he has a government characterized by justice and righteousness. His only weapon is word of mouth. As a result of his righteous reign, all of nature is at peace. Verse 10, a later addition, applies the foregoing ...

2712. Advent 3

Romans 14:1--15:13, Matthew 11:1-19, James 5:7-12, Isaiah 11:1-16

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

2713. The Holidaze Craze

1 Corinthians 1:1-9

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

The holiday harangues are here. The Holidaze Craze has begun. Catalogs filled with more stuff than sense have been overloading the postal service for months already. At your house I suspect it would be a full time job simply to look through all the slick advertisements that arrive on a daily basis. Retailers put out their Christmas decorations the day after Halloween. The frantic Friday-after-Thanksgiving sale day has become a late shoppers event. Midnight madness now refers, not to burning the midnight ...

2714. A Personal Testimony

Luke 2:1-7

Drama

Russell N. Gallimore

[Written by Rev. Russell N. Gallimore, from the Viewpoint of the Innkeeper. To be given from memory. Possible props: a stool; a manger before which to kneel at end of story] Would you allow me to be personal? I have an unusual story to tell, and I delight in telling it. My work brings me into contact with many people. In fact, I deal with all kinds of people from the humblest country folk to the highest officials. But the event I most vividly recall happened at one of the year's peak seasons. Our country's ...

2715. Lifelong Disciples

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

James McCormick

“There is a great deal that we should like to say about this high priesthood, but it is not easy to explain it to you since you seem so slow to grasp spiritual truth. At a time when you should be teaching others, you need teachers yourselves to repeat to you the ABC’s of God’s revelation to His children. You have become people who need a milk diet and cannot face solid food! For anyone who continues to live on ‘milk’ is obviously immature – he simply has not grown up. ‘Solid food’ is only for the adult, ...

2716. A Purse and Two Swords

Luke 22:35-38

Sermon

Let me begin with a couple who both appreciated the finer things in life and were comfortably able to afford them. When it came to travel, they went by the best means to the best places. That is, until their plane went down….suddenly….dramatically…..into the choppy waters of the sea. But the emergency exits opened (as engineered) and the inflatable slides were positioned (as instructed), meaning that virtually all were evacuated (as scripted). There they were, crammed into lifeboats, with barely room to ...

2717. Paying Dues to God

Matthew 22:15-22

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Our dues to God are paid when we return to God with interest what God has entrusted to us. Our 5-year-old, Thane, recently decided (somewhat out of the blue) that he was going to memorize the "Pledge of Allegiance" and recite it by heart. We dutifully repeated it over and over until he slowly memorized the words. Surprisingly, Thane didn't get stuck on some of the trickier words like "allegiance" or "republic" or even the often- mangled "indivisible." It was the final ending that kept stumping him. Again ...

2718. A Burden or a Song

Matthew 5:43-48

Sermon

James McCormick

Is your religion a load or a lift? That was a popular sermon topic during my growing up years. Preachers were fascinated with alliteration: load/lift, and they thought the idea was a catchy one, so I heard more sermons on the subject than I wanted to hear. Frankly, I never cared much for them. Do you have ideas, like that, that turn you off sometimes? I thought it was a pointless question. I thought the preachers were just setting up straw men only to knock them down again. After all, the answer to the ...

2719. Will the Real Christian Please Stand Up?

Acts 11:26

Sermon

James Merritt

I’m reminded of the story of a local businessman who was a fourth grade Sunday School teacher. He was really trying to impress the class because his son was a member of the class. So he asked the class this question, “Why do you suppose that people call me a Christian?” Well, there was dead silence. Nobody spoke up. He asked the question again: “Now kids, why do you suppose that people call me a Christian?” Still no response. Finally, the man with an exasperated look said, “Now come on, think about it, ...

2720. Am I a Real Christian?

Acts 11:26

Sermon

James Merritt

How would you answer this question? "Do You Consider Yourself a Christian?" That question was asked recently in a nationwide survey and 77% of men and 86% of women in America answered “Yes.” [[1]] The question remains however, what did these people understand the term “Christian” to mean? The term “Christian” is used more today than any other term to describe a believer, a follower of Jesus Christ. People talk about the Christian church and the Christian faith. There is a debate always raging as to whether ...

2721. Am I a Real Christian?

Acts 11:26

Sermon

James Merritt

I'm reminded of the story of a local businessman who was a fourth grade Sunday School teacher. He was really trying to impress the class because his son was a member of the class. So he asked the class this question, "Why do you suppose that people call me a Christian?" Well, there was dead silence. Nobody spoke up. He asked the question again: "Now kids, why do you suppose that people call me a Christian?" Still no response. Finally, the man with an exasperated look said, "Now come on, think about it, ...

2722. Faithquakes

Luke 17:5-10

Sermon

Ron Lavin

A woman who went through her first earthquake in California said, as it was happening, "I think a train just hit our apartment building. I think our foundation is gone. We better pray." A faithquake is something like an earthquake. Something comes along and shakes us up. Something shakes our very foundations. Through the foundation-shaking event, we want to know more about God and faith. Something like that is going on in our gospel. The apostles cried out, "Increase our faith" (Luke 17:5). In the front ...

2723. Bystanders or Standbys

Genesis 2:4-25

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Crime scene investigators (which we now know as “CSI”) acknowledge that if all the witnesses to an event report exactly the same information there is only one conclusion to draw: They are lying. Human individuality, the uniqueness of individual perceptions and eye-witness, the unrepeatability of each person’s own experience, makes it impossible for any group of individuals to see and report an event with the exact same language and coherence. If each rendition becomes a simply repetition — something is ...

2724. Joshua People Obey and Serve

Joshua 1:6-8, 24:14-15

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

Last week we began a series titled The Joshua Principles. And the first Principle was Joshua People Always Look Forward With Hope. We talked about how Hope is based on Trust and Trust is based on Faith and the implications that has in our daily lives and in the life and future of the Church. Today the Joshua Principle I want to look at is "Joshua People Obey and Serve." I think this falls right in step with where we left off last week. You see Faith in God builds Trust which builds Hope. When we Trust God ...

2725. Your Face Gives You Away

Luke 9:28-36

Sermon

King Duncan

Welcome to worship on this Valentine’s Day, 2010. That’s a reminder to the husbands in the congregation, just in case you forgot. According to one source, it is easy TO TELL YOU FORGOT VALENTINE’S DAY. Here are some dead giveaways: The kids tell you that Mom “went to bed early” and “locked the door” . . . while you were taking out the trash. Hallmark calls, offering discounts on apology cards. You wake up with a florist’s ad stapled to your forehead. (1) Just a friendly warning. And I also need to say ...

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