Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 2751 to 2775 of 4963 results

2751. The Gift Has Arrived

Isaiah 61:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... No one would contend that Mr. Reagan was more intelligent or better intentioned than Mr. Carter. Yet, regardless of your politics, you are forced to admit that Mr. Reagan inspired confidence in the American people. He walked and talked like a president and he remains amazingly popular in spite of a mixed record of achievement. Jesus could never have made it as president of the United States or even as mayor of Nazareth. And that is disconcerting to a world that respects power. There was an article in Reader ...

2752. Mary's Song

Luke 1:46-56

Sermon

King Duncan

... 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 easy, we do not learn to cope. Consider the story of one young man. Sick and puny as a baby, he remained frail and delicate all his days. Later, as a pastor, his maladies were so severe that he could not serve his growing congregation. Instead he wrote them letters filled with hope and good cheer. Even though his body was frail his spirit soared. He complained once ...

2753. A Society Out Of Control

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me... You shall not make for yourself a graven image... You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain... Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." The remaining six commandments deal with our relationship with others. "Honor your father and mother... You shall not kill... You shall not commit adultery... You shall not steal... You shall not bear false witness... You shall not covet..." The Ten Commandments. Ten rules of human conduct ...

2754. Three Temptations Of The American People

Mark 6:1-6

Sermon

King Duncan

... many years ago that tells it all. It seems that in Vienna, Austria American, French, British and Russian soldiers share jeeps for military police duty. One group of them used to kill time by telling jokes. That is, the western ones did, for the Russians remained silent and sullen. The American asked, "What's the matter with you, Ivan? Doesn't anything funny ever happen in Russia?" "Have you heard of the great canals in Russia?' Ivan asked. "Yes," the American replied. "It must have been a hard job building ...

2755. Walk Together

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Sermon

King Duncan

... horseback. His marriage did not meet his needs but God used his dissatisfaction in a marvelous way. St. Paul was single and expressed the opinion that celibacy was really the best style of life. Most of us would disagree, but people who choose to remain single certainly need not apologize on Scriptural grounds. Most of us yearn for a happy marriage, though. That is the wonderful way in which God has created usmale and femaleone complementing the other. Because this is such an important part of our life, let ...

2756. Why Jesus Was Baptized

Matthew 3:13-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... selfconscious? There is a famous story about a woman who goes into an ice cream store. Suddenly she recognizes that Robert Redford is also buying ice cream in that store. The woman is on the verge of swooning with ecstasy, but she is determined to remain calm. She does not want to disgrace herself or invade her favorite movie star's privacy. So she buys a cone and departs without saying anything. Gaining her composure outside the store she realizes that, while she has her change, she's missing her icecream ...

2757. What In The World Are We Doing Here?

Micah 6:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

... the whole city wept in sorrow at his departure. They built a statue to serve as a memorial to this humble pastor. Tony Bland writes, “When the statue of Vulcan has tumbled to dust, and Red Mountain is worn flat, the witness and work of Pastor Bryan will remain.” Brother Bryan was a humble man, but he moved an entire city through his devotion to serving God and others. That is the kind of humility or meekness that God seeks in us. So, what in the world are you doing here? Whatever else you are involved ...

2758. How God Gets His Kicks

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5

Sermon

King Duncan

... she had her class crouch down on the floor as they sang it. At the appropriate point in the song, all the children would "pop up." The teacher had them "popping" all over the classroom. One day, during the popcorn song, the teacher noticed that one little boy remained crouched down when all the other children popped up. "What's wrong?" the teacher asked. "Why can't you `pop' like the other children?" The little boy replied, "I'm burning on the bottom of the pan." (1) Some of us are like that little boy. We ...

2759. The Ultimate Evidence of God

2 Peter 1:16-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... going to live!’ “But my heart was too full of the vision for me to make any reply. “What could I say to someone who had not seen what I had seen? “It is nearly forty years since the night of that dream, but I can only say that it remains as true and as clear to me today as it was then. “Words are almost useless as a means to describe what I saw and felt, even though I have attempted to use them. “I can only record my conviction that I saw reality that night, the bright sparkling fringe ...

2760. In The Valley Of Dry Bones

Ezekiel 37:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... combined force of his speed and the size and angle of the wave sent the boat spinning crazily into the air. He was thrown from his seat and propelled deeply into the water--so deep, in fact, that he had no idea which direction the surface was. He had to remain calm and wait for the buoyancy of his life vest to begin pulling him up. Once he discovered which way was up, he could swim for the surface. Worship is that time in the week when we wait calmly so that we can rediscover which way is up. Particularly ...

2761. He Is Risen!

Colossians 3:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... forty years and loved each other deeply. They did everything together. They were inseparable in practically every area of their lifeexcept one. When George drove Rosie to church, she went in. He did not. He refused to go inside the church with her. He remained in the car, reading his newspaper. After a time Rosie died, and for many Sundays thereafter, church members looked wistfully at the parking lot because George's car was no longer seen there. Several months later on Easter Sunday, however, George's car ...

2762. A Most Successful Sermon

Acts 2:14a, 36-41

Sermon

King Duncan

... the changes necessary for us to be all God created us to be. Tom Harris, the famous psychiatrist, who wrote that enormously successful book, I’m O.K., You’re O.K. says that there are three reasons why people change. First, people change when it is more painful to remain as they are than to change. Perhaps you are in a job that is very painful to you. You cannot imagine being in that job for the rest of your life. So, you make a change. Why? Because it is more painful to stay where you are than to change ...

2763. How Have We Made It This Far?

Acts 1:6-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... many good things, but these two are where the church gets its vitality and staying power. These activities combine the vertical and horizontal dimensions in life. We could strip away everything else that characterizes the church, but as long as these two remain, the church will be a force to be reckoned with. Let’s begin with fellowship. The writer of Acts says, “They all joined together . . .” A Sunday school teacher asked the boys in his class to define fellowship. One bright youngster blurted out ...

2764. Why Won't They Listen?

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

King Duncan

... aging mother begins shutting herself off from her family and friends. She refuses to care for herself or to get out for social occasions. She becomes obsessed with her physical aches and pains, consigning herself to a rocker which she rarely leaves. Many of her friends remain vigorous and vivacious. Yet she seems committed to a downward cycle that will lead not only to loneliness and depression but also probably to an early grave. You try to tell her that life is not over for her. Why won't she listen? Why ...

2765. The Lure Of The Easy Way

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

... 'll fight; while little children go hungry as they do now, I'll fight; while men go to prison, in and out, in and out, as they do now, I'll fight; while there is a drunkard left, while there is a poor lost girl upon the streets, while there remains one dark soul without the light of God, I'll fight - fight to the very end." Can you imagine General Booth writing a book entitled Looking Out For Number One? What has happened to us? "If any man or worman would be my disciple," Jesus says to us, "Let him ...

2766. There's A Better Way Than Shooting Somebody

Matthew 18:15-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... he was released by his kidnappers in Lebanon last April, said that he maintained his sanity by striving to maintain his anger at these terrorists who had abducted him. Polhill knew that he needed the emotional and mental energy from that anger if he were to remain sharp under such trying conditions. His anger was most appropriate and he used it in a positive way. Of course, now that he is home, he will want to let go of his anger, or it will be destructive rather than constructive. Still there is nothing ...

2767. Jesus And The Ayatollah

Matthew 22:34-40

Sermon

King Duncan

... we are beyond such problems in this land! We all would probably be surprised and even shocked if we were to discover the number of country clubs in our enlightened land who still do not allow Jews as members. They may not say so publicly, but the unwritten law remains. There is an old joke about a black man who had tried for years, in vain, to become a member of an exclusive club. He died and went to heaven. He had no difficulty gaining entrance there. One day he and St. Peter were talking when for some ...

2768. Possibly Our Best Year! (A Sermon for New Year's)

Isaiah 60:1-22

Sermon

King Duncan

... little boy's life, a rite designed to help the boy learn the courage of manhood. When he was very little, he was taken out into the forest to spend the night alone. Left with nothing but a knife for protection, he was required to remain silent as he awaited whatever horrors the night might bring. The next morning, however, he was greeted with a delightful surprise. He found that his father had been standing and watching all through the night, with bow and arrow ready lest something hurtful should happen ...

2769. The Day God Repented

Jonah 3:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... up there near the spire? That's where it goes. I'm shaping it down here so it will fit up there." Suddenly God was speaking to him through these words: "Shaping it down here so it will fit up there." He discovered what he must do with his remaining daysshape his life to fit up there. Many of us need to make that same discovery. We need to change directions. Even God repented once. He was going to destroy a city because of its wickedness. They repented. He changed his plan. Are you open to a change of ...

2770. True Love

John 3:1-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... this morning. GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD...Can you think of anything this world is hungrier for than love? A lonely man once programmed his computer to write him love letters daily. He built a voice system that would speak lovingly to him, but he remained lonely. Manufactured, controlled love isn't love at all. Yet that's the only love that many people ever experience. And how we long for something more. Anthony Campolo tells about a mountaineer from West Virginia who fell in love with the beautiful daughter of ...

2771. One For All

John 10:1-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... retaliation is still not fully evolved. Consider, for example, a fascinating occasion in American History when we as a nation nearly acted out of revenge rather than out of justice. When the Revolutionary War ended, a number of colonists loyal to England remained on in America in small clusters. The hostility between these Loyalists and the other colonists was great. A group of Loyalists from Manhattan raided Toms River, N.J., and burned the town. Shortly after that, Philip White, a loyalist, slipped back ...

2772. How Do We Choose?

Acts 1:12-26

Sermon

King Duncan

... must be elected by the public to their 6year terms. Second, the candidates for chief justice must be individuals who have already served four of their six years on that court. Then, at that point, the constitution prescribes a coin toss to decide which of the remaining two justices gets to lead the court. That sounds very close to the method used by the eleven disciples. Is there method to such madness? Can God say something to us out of such an unusual text? The answer is yes. There is a message here ...

2773. What Are You Working For?

John 6:25-59

Sermon

King Duncan

... A good page-turner should help make the performer successful. The page-turner doesn't share the bows; nor is he listed in the program. He has done his job if he has enabled the performer to perform uninterrupted and if he himself has remained unnoticed. Elmer Booze is content to make his anonymous contribution to something bigger than himself. Again, that is the motivation that drives many people in our church. Think how many tasks, from teaching Sunday School to preparing the flowers on the altar, are done ...

2774. Read My Heart As Well As My Lips

Mark 7:1-23

Sermon

King Duncan

... through the use of tradition. We can keep other people at a distance as well. And when that happens, when we get comfortable with our rituals and procedures and schemes of doing things, were no longer open to Gods moving and liberating spirit. God then remains on our lips, but not in our hearts. The traditionalists. There is a group kin to the traditionalists that we might call Christian Secularists. This group is made up of that host of nominally committed people who fill the rolls of most churches. They ...

2775. The Deal Of A Lifetime

Mark 10:17-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... but scholars. To make a long story short, THE RISE AND FALL OF THE THIRD REICH by William Shirer made publishing history. It sold out of its first printing on the first day. Critics praised the writing. Foreign sales were strong. A quarter of a century later, it remains the all-time biggest seller in the history of the Book-of-the-Month club. (3) William Shirer was rewarded many times over for his faith in what he was doing and his devotion to it. Christ has promised each of us that we will be rewarded a ...

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