Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 251 to 275 of 656 results

John 1:1-18

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... precious night, it was occurring in countries all around Israel. Little babies born less than perfect are no longer routinely drowned or left to starve, but they were in that day. No one would deny that we still live in a terribly imperfect world. We continue to be plagued with horrible examples of what people do to each other - the holocaust of the Nazis, the ethnic cleansing in Bosnia-Herzagovina, terrorist attacks on innocent civilians. In the third world today we see governments more concerned about ...

252. Been There, Done That, No Thanks!

Philippians 3:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... day. Being good simply because it is required has no saving power. That was a discovery that St. Paul also made, keeping the Law by itself would never fill his deepest need. Of course, Paul did keep the law. He knew that though the Law was imperfect, it still was necessary. Newell Dwight Hillis once pointed out an interesting thing. He noted that freedom increases in proportion to the number of laws one obeys. A stone, obeying only the law of gravity, sits motionless on the ground. On the other hand, a worm ...

253. The Ultimate Evidence of God

2 Peter 1:16-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... not understand but cherished in their hearts. Christian faith is not reason, but revelation. God revealed Himself through encounters with ordinary people like Moses, David, Ruth, Daniel, the Virgin Mary, John the Baptist, St. Paul and many other saints. They were imperfect vessels of God’s truth. Like unseeing people describing an elephant, their testimonies differed. How does one describe the indescribable? If God could be expressed in a formula, a test tube or a trite expression, He could not be God ...

254. A Service the Church Will Never Forget

Acts 2:42-47

Sermon

King Duncan

... teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer . . .” That is why you came to this place today. Henry Ward Beecher once said, “The church is not a gallery for the exhibition of eminent Christians but a school for the education of imperfect ones.” So we keep coming back [to Sunday school]. And we keep coming back to worship. Actually our standards for study and worship are minimal at best. I was reading about our Moslem friends. One of the largest universities in the world is the Al ...

255. How Have We Made It This Far?

Acts 1:6-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... you. Dr. Donald Strobe tells about a man who woke up with a hangover. “Your eyes look terrible!” a friend said. The suffering fellow said, “Oh, my! You should be looking out from this side!” Strobe adds, “To those who would point out the Church’s imperfections, I can only say: ‘You should try looking out from this side.’” It reminds me of a silly story about a pastor who was a good man, but a terrible driver. He was a little vain. His eyes were going bad, but he wouldn’t wear glasses ...

256. The Pearl Of Great Price

Matthew 13:44-46

Sermon

King Duncan

... of heaven. If they are not, it may be that we are still some distance from the kingdom. THIS BRINGS US TO THE FINAL THING TO BE SAID: THE KINGDOM IS A PRESENT REALITY. THE KINGDOM IS A PRECIOUS RELATIONSHIP. FINALLY, THE KINGDOM, AS WE KNOW IT, IS AN IMPERFECT REPRESENTATION. The kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God that we experience in this world is just a foretaste of the kingdom that is to come. There is a city whose builder and maker is God. The kingdom of heaven is not only present but it is also ...

257. It Makes No Difference Where You Belong

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

... 't a son, but I can free one of you." The prisoners got together and chose a captain. He put the clothes on and walked arm in arm with his "mother," saying, as he went past the guards, "Come, we've got some plowing to do." That is a very imperfect analogy to what God has done in our behalf. He has adopted us as His own children and walked us to freedom. We did not deserve it. We cannot even live up to it though we try all our lives long. In the vernacular of the business world, it is ...

258. In Praise Of Doers

Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

King Duncan

... as a Christmas gift, but had forgotten to give it to her. Sheepishly he took the package home and presented it to his spouse. When she saw it, she burst into tears of joy. It was their wedding anniversary and she was afraid he had forgotten. We are imperfect givers. But God is a perfect giver and life itself is a gift beyond measure. That is the first thing we need to see. THE SECOND IS THAT GOD HAS PLACED US IN A WORLD OF UNIMAGINABLE OPPORTUNITY. As we approach the celebration of Thanksgiving, we are most ...

259. A Time For Silence

Luke 9:28-36

Sermon

King Duncan

... not only of Jesus but also Elijah and Moses, and then on top of all that, to hear the voice of God as well? No wonder they were silent. Here was dust encountering divinity, the temporal in the presence of the eternal, the imperfect face to face with Holiness itself. How we need such experiences today. Such experiences demand silence. In that silence, however, there is power. Historians have written that, on the night before a great battle, Napoleon’s commanders all went to their commander’s tent ...

260. Never Too Old for an Adventure

Romans 4:1-25

Sermon

King Duncan

... not disappointed. But There Is A Second Element to Faith, and That is Acceptance of God's Grace. Abraham was not the great father of faith because he kept the letter of the law, but rather because he lived his life in faith. Abraham was a very imperfect man, as the Genesis writer makes abundantly clear. If he depended on his righteousness to save him, he was doomed as all of us are doomed. His faith, Paul tells us, "was reckoned to him as righteousness." One night after supper Stan Gaede asked his sixteen ...

261. Where Is Your Citizenship?

Philippians 3:12-4:1

Sermon

King Duncan

... s happening in California, will it soon be happening in Kalamazoo? Such silliness will go on wherever there are people who are only citizens of the world. Citizens of heaven are much more fortunate, says St. Paul. They can look forward to the day when their imperfect bodies will be transformed by Christ into glorious new bodies. Wow! Muscle Beach, eat your heart out! There is an alternative lifestyle. That's what we need to see. It is a life of discipline and devotion. It is a life of faith and faithfulness ...

262. On Knowing What's Best For Your Kids

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... is about believing that there is never a storm so tumultuous that He cannot bring us safely through. That there is no night so dark that His light cannot penetrate it. That nothing is going to happen to us that by His grace we cannot handle. If you then, imperfect as you are as a parent, know how do give good things to your children, can't you trust God to provide you this day with the things you need? 1. Sunshine Magazine. 2. Marlys Huffman, Quote, 1-92, p. 28. 3. USA Today 4. Winston K. Pendleton, FUNNY ...

263. A Mountain Too High To Climb

Isaiah 2:1-5

Sermon

King Duncan

... , he could sit on the end of it and lift the world. God has loved us enough that God has lifted the world; but instead of a lever, He sent a Lover! (7) 1. Ernest Kurtz and Katherine Ketcham, THE SPIRITUALITY OF IMPERFECTION, (New York: Bantam Books, 1992), pp. 126-127. 2. Joe Gordon, SPEAKER'S LIBRARY OF BUSINESS. 3. Jamie Buckingham, LOOK OUT, WORLD, (Altamonte Springs, FL: Strang Communications Company, 1993). 4. Larry Dinkins, HELP!, (Singapore: Overseas Missionary Fellowship, 1990), p. 136. 5. John ...

264. A Perfect World

Isaiah 11:1-16

Sermon

King Duncan

... years on the force. The police investigated and later that day, Greene, 33, and her boyfriend, Christoper Scott Davis, 21, were arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit first degree murder. (3) A perfect world? No, not yet. We live in a very imperfect world. A world of intrigue and violence and betrayal. And in some ways it seems to be getting worse. For example, according to published reports more children are becoming killers. Homicides by juveniles in the United States may triple or even quadruple ...

265. Who Is God Anyway?

2 Corinthians 13:11-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... large for them, my actions too incomprehensible. My acts of mercy they see as cruelty; my attempts at healing they view as destruction." He concludes that this fish-bowl view of the world is often our view of God too. (8) The Trinity, though it is an imperfect, inadequate formula, is an attempt for us to better understand the nature of the Keeper of our aquarium. True, there are issues in this world too big for us to understand. True, no matter what you say about God, you can always say more. But at least ...

266. Focusing On The Possibilities

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... . You can't get that job. You can't make that marriage work. You can't really change." And because we listen to people who say it can't be done, we give up before victory is ours. There is an autobiography titled In Praise of Imperfection: My Life and Work. It is written by a woman named Rita Levi Montacini, an Italian scientist. By looking back over her life as a scientist, she is convinced that in research, neither intelligence nor efficiency are what really count. What counts, she says, is a tendency ...

267. A Colt Is Not A Horse

Mark 11:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... the flawed. Persistence in the face of resistance. Michelangelo’s life epitomized the enigma of existence. Ecstasy and agony danced together, inseparable. The same hands that painted angels also wielded hammers. The same eyes that beheld heavenly visions also scrutinized imperfections. His faith in the unseen—the potential within the marble, the divine spark in his art—kept him going. He knew that life’s highest peaks were often carved from the deepest valleys. (3) Palm/Passion Sunday is ecstasy and ...

268. Day Of Decision

Mark 14:10-26, 43-52

Sermon

King Duncan

... at the cross if he had turned with a repentant heart toward home. 1. Sent by a friend from the Internet. Source and author unknown. 2. Paul L. Maier, First Easter (New York: Harper & Row, 1973), p. 29. 3. The Fine Art of Being Imperfect And Other Broadcast Talks (Nashville: Abingdon Press), 1998. 4. Sue Monk Kidd, When the Heart Waits (New York: Harper & Row, 1990), p. 33. 5. Something to Smile About (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1997), pp. 105-106. 6. Daryl G. Mitton & Betty Lilligren-Mitton, Clout ...

269. Man, Give Me Some Bread: I Want To See God

John 6:25-59

Sermon

King Duncan

... by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen (E-zine: CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL http://www.soupserver.com/ ). 6. J. Warren Kniskern, COURTING DISASTER ( Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), p 170. 7. Steve Winger, "Jesus Stands in for Us," LEADERSHIP, Vol. 15, No. 3. 8. THE FINE ART OF BEING IMPERFECT AND OTHER BROADCAST TALKS (Nashville: Abingdon Press), 1998.

270. Through The Storm, Through The Night

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

Frank Lyman

... not to be used. God is the ultimate end and not a means to some other end. The second thing that prayer is not is reward for being particularly good or spiritual. God does not grant the prayers of "spiritual folks" while ignoring the prayers of "regular folks." In an imperfect world it's often the good folks who pay the price for being good. I like the story told of the man who was stopped by St. Peter at the Pearly Gates. St. Peter told him, "Not so fast. We've got a new policy now. You have to tell ...

271. Standing Tall

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

King Duncan

... many of us approach God. I can tell you, friend, you don't have to apologize for asking God's help for your problem--whatever that problem may be. It is not God's will that any of God's children should suffer. We share in the pain of an imperfect, fallen world, but God does not will that any of God's own should suffer. We don't know why there is such suffering in the world, but we know God is a God of love and grace. God's will is that we all should walk tall. Jesus said ...

272. When Your Lips Are One Place But Your Heart . . .

Mark 7:1-23

Sermon

King Duncan

... were known, most of us are hypocrites to one degree or another. All of us believe in a higher ethic than we actually live out. That is part and parcel of the human condition. We know that we should love more, serve more, believe more. But we are imperfect vessels. To a certain extent we are like Ollie Trolinger. Ollie was a lady in distress. She was going through the motions at church. Her husband's health was failing. Money was tight. Ollie felt herself giving up hope. But she forgot her self-pity when she ...

273. Hungry For Bread

Matthew 25:31-46

Sermon

King Duncan

... your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich." The Lord's perfection includes perfect love, perfect mercy, perfect justice, and perfect peace. That is the plan for the kingdom of God. And those people who try, however imperfectly, to create those conditions here on earth are doing kingdom work. They will be blessed. An army chaplain was visiting wounded soldiers in the hospital. The chaplain offered to read some Bible passages to one young soldier. But the soldier said, "I'm ...

274. Why He Came

Mark 1:29-34

Sermon

King Duncan

... building each week, to witness to the truth of God in our lives. I am so glad that Jesus believed in prayer, because I need prayer. I'm so glad that Jesus cared about people, because I'm a person and you are a person, and even though we are imperfect people, it is life-changing to know that the Son of God gave his life for us. But I'm also glad that Jesus held to his primary purpose of preaching the good news of the Kingdom of God. For 2,000 years this Gospel has been proclaimed--and because ...

275. Who Are Those Strangers In White Robes?

Revelation 7:9-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... they had followed religiously when they were here. Where do we touch God? We touch God in the life of Jesus of Nazareth. We touch God when we are going through a great ordeal and have nowhere else to turn. We touch God when we realize our imperfection, and we humble ourselves to confess our sins and ask for God's gracious mercy. We touch God in authentic worship, where with other believers we lift our hymns and prayers of praise. [As we sing our final hymn this day with our friends and fellow saints ...

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