Sermon and Worship Resources

Synonyms: Levi, disciple, evangelist, tax collector, the 12, the twelve, apostle, sermon on the mount, jewish audience, beatitudes, lord's prayer, great commission, parables, olivet discourse, mount of olives, olivet, synoptic

Showing 2851 to 2875 of 4942 results

2851. In The Lion's Den

Daniel 6:1-28

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

Today we are going to conclude the Daniel series for a while. Later in the year we will return to deal with chapters 7 through 12. Those latter chapters deal almost exclusively with prophecy of future events. Today we deal with chapter 6. The first five verses tell us that King Darius divided the kingdom into 120 counties, each with a mayor or satrap. Then three regional administrators or governors supervised the 120 mayors. One of the big three was Daniel. Daniel was so superior to the other two governors ...

2852. "Gone Fishing!"

Luke 5:1-11

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

If fishing is one of your passions, you will love our scripture lesson for today. Though I prefer hunting to fishing, I have a soft spot in my heart for fishing because of a childhood experience. I was about 10 or 11 years old. One Wednesday afternoon Papa took me with him to a nearby pond to do a little fishing. I was just learning to use a rod and reel. Papa caught a little bass weighing about half a pound. Then he had to leave for prayer meeting. He asked me if I wanted to stay a bit longer and make a ...

2853. Celebrating with Jesus

Luke 5:33-39

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

Someone told me recently about a Methodist man who lived in a traditional Catholic neighborhood. Every Friday the Catholics were driven to distraction because, while they were sadly eating fish, the Methodist was outside grilling steaks. That wonderful aroma from the grill was bothersome to the Catholics. They worked on the Methodist, attempting to convert him. Finally they succeeded. They took the Methodist to the priest who sprinkled Holy Water on the man while saying, "Born a Methodist, raised a ...

2854. If You Are A Disciple of Jesus Christ

Luke 6:17-26, Luke 6:12-16

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

We are blessed to have many deeply committed, very capable people on our church staff. One of them is our chief of security, Reggie Johnson. He does so much more than just keep the church campus safe. Reggie learns and remembers the names of our worshippers. In fact, he knows your children and what kind of cars you drive. When a funeral takes place, Reggie grieves with the family. If your left front tire is a bit slack, Reggie will notice and let you know. If a soccer ball is kicked over a fence, Reggie ...

2855. The First Council

Acts 15:1-21

Sermon Aid

CSS

The elation among the Christians at Antioch lasted "no little time." We can only guess how long. But in the early church the storms and sunshine, the happy days and the dark days of controversy, the good times and the bad seemed to alternate in rapid succession. How quickly the ecstasy of the people at Lystra, in their zeal to make Paul and Barnabas into gods, changed into violence and threats! Now the same sudden storm comes to Antioch. Some men came down from Judea - from Jerusalem itself, in all ...

2856. Repent Your Way To A Merry Christmas

Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon

Brett Blair

A number of years ago a couple traveled to the offices of an Adoption Society in England to receive a baby. They had been on the waiting list a long time. They had been interviewed and carefully scrutinized. Now at last their dreams were to be fulfilled. But their day of happiness was another's pain. Arriving at the offices of the Society they were led up a flight of stairs to a waiting room. After a few minutes they heard someone else climbing the stairs. It was the young student mother whose baby was to ...

2857. "A" Lamb to "the" Lamb

Exodus 12:1-30

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, "This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: ‘On the tenth day of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man’s ...

2858. Eternal Echo Of Easter - Part 1

Matthew 28:1-10

Drama

Esther R. Russ

PROGRAM 1. Candlelight Ceremony Choir 2. In the Beginning Narration 3. "I, Mary, Mother of Jesus" Reading 4. Jesus’ Ministry Narration and Drama 5. Choral Arrangement Depicting the Upper Room Choir 6. The Betrayal Narration 7. Choral Arrangement Depicting the Betrayal Choir 8. The Garden of Gethsemane Narration 9. Choral Arrangement Depicting the Garden Choir 10. The Trials Narration and Drama 11. The Soldiers, Part One Dialogue Drama 12. The Processional and Crucifixion Choir, Drama 13. The Soldiers, Part ...

2859. The Agony and Ecstasy of Sight

John 9:1-12

Sermon

Richard Hoefler

The miracle story of Jesus healing the man born blind is placed against the background of a puzzle that has plagued humankind ever since the first person stubbed his toe on a stone and cried out in pain. It is the question of why there is suffering in the world. Despite the many attempted solutions and suggested answers, people are still not satisfied - only more confused. The stubbed toe still hurts. Is the stone we stumble over placed there by chance or circumstance? Are we somehow engaged in a dangerous ...

2860. The Gospel According to Christ’s Enemies

John 11:1-16

Sermon

Richard Hoefler

John begins his story, "A man named Lazarus, who lived in Bethany." "Lazarus" means "God helps," and "Bethany," some scholars suggest, is a figurative play on the word that means "House of Affliction."1 Thus the plot of the story is prepared for us. God helps a man in a house of affliction. All of us dwell in that same house, and our affliction is that, like Lazarus, one day we will die. We will be struck down, carried out, and placed in a tomb. It will be sealed with a stone of sorrow. And the haunting ...

2861. A Daughter of Jacob

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

Richard Hoefler

This miracle is not simply the story of a mother and her demon-possessed child; it is really an international incident which was to affect the future shape of Christendom. What happened to the Canaanite woman that day affects us today in a most direct and vital way. Like most international incidents it happened at the border between two adversaries. Jesus had traveled to the extreme north end of the Jordan Valley. He was standing at the border line between Syria and Galilee. The inhabitants of Syria were ...

2862. A Liturgical Drama For Advent

Drama

Tom Eberle

Advent The seasons of the church calendar are like the headings for each act of a theater production. They provide the particular setting in which one element of the divine drama of God’s revelation in Christ is presented to us. The liturgical seasons are sometimes thought of as optional observances, like a fancily-iced cake. They make worship more attractive, but are not part of the basic recipe. This collection of liturgical dramas for worship is written, not as frosting, but with the intention that the ...

2863. Holy Handicap?

2 Cor 12:9

Sermon

Robert Noblett

Reserved parking in shopping malls, newly constructed ramps into public buildings, motorized wheelchairs, special hardware in restroom facilities, experts seen translating the spoken word into sign language for those in the television audience with hearing deficiencies, even monkeys trained to meet the everyday needs of paraplegics and quadriplegics - all are signs that we are, as a nation, becoming more sensitive to the special needs of the handicapped. Everywhere we go we are faced with reminders of ...

2864. Are You Still Frightened of the Dark?

Genesis 1:1-5 · John 1:4-5 · Psalm 139:11-12

Sermon

Robert Noblett

Children go through a period when they are frightened of the dark. They are convinced that there is a robber inside their clothes closet. They are sure there is some kind of ethereal character lurking about in the basement. Beyond a doubt, they are of the conviction that there is a ghost-like essence biding time beneath their bed. Children usually outgrow that stage, but occasionally you find those who don’t, and they carry this fear of the darkness into their adult lives. In one of my former congregations ...

2865. Phoebe

Joel 2:28-32

Sermon

Warren Thomas Smith

"Sir, a woman’s preaching is like a dog’s walking on his hind legs," scoffed Samuel Johnson. "It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all."1 Had the celebrated man of letters known Phoebe, he would never have made that unfortunate statement; he also would have escaped the wrath of thousands of effective, dedicated preachers. Who is Phoebe? Only a single sentence in the New Testament reveals any information. Her appearance on life’s stage is all too brief, but appear she does - a woman ...

2866. Not For Sale at Any Price

Matthew 13:44-46

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it." [Matthew 13:45-46] Before you answer this question, think deeply for a minute. What is your most valuable possession? What is so valuable to you that if someone would want to buy it, you would say, "It’s not for sale at any price"? The person who answers like that is saying to the prospective buyer that the article is considered so valuable that ...

2867. Paul: The Man and His Message

Romans 9:1-29

Sermon Aid

T. A. Kantonen

Hans Lietzmann, noted New Testament scholar, once remarked that no one has correctly understood Jesus except Paul and no one has correctly understood Paul. The attempts to understand Paul are legion. The literature on him is immense and the interpretations of his thought are varied. To Bultmann he is "the founder of Christian theology," while to Morton Enslin he is not a theologian at all but simply a "practical and forthright man" who taught new life in Christ but had little regard for logical consistency ...

2868. 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 ...

2869. Numbered Hairs

Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

Herchel H. Sheets

The Plague is personalized in Albert Camus’ play State of Siege. It comes into a town in the form of a man who is accompanied by his secretary. The Secretary carries a notebook in which she often makes entries. She is always smiling, but at a stroke of her pencil, a person can be struck with plague and die. Few have the courage to challenge this threatening team. But a young medical student by the name of Diego does. At one point in the play, he says to The Secretary, "But of course only masses count with ...

2870. Voluntary Blindness

Matthew 6:1-15

Sermon

Herchel H. Sheets

"Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing." That sounds impossible, doesn’t it? Wholeness was a major emphasis of Jesus’ message, was it not? Is he here asking us to become split personalities? No, with purposeful exaggeration he is simply emphasizing that "theatrical virtue does not count in the Kingdom of God,"1 and that we, therefore, should pay little attention to our good deeds. Some of the people among whom he lived were doing just the opposite of that. They were "religious" ...

2871. Blinding Specks

Matthew 7:1-6

Sermon

Herchel H. Sheets

It is not uncommon for someone to be temporarily blinded or at least to have his or her vision impaired by the presence of a small foreign object in an eye. A large object is not required to cause this problem; a mere speck will do it. One’s eye becomes irritated; it hurts; tears begin to form, and one’s vision becomes clouded, all because of that speck. We can all empathize with one having this experience, for we have had it, too. We know what it is to be blinded by a speck in our eye. Jesus had something ...

2872. Pilgrim Living in a Vagabond World

Matthew 7:13-14

Sermon

Leonard Mann

I am thrilled to see a powerful airplane cut a straight path across the sky, above the mountains and the rivers, homing in on some distant destination. I am much moved when I watch a huge ocean liner disengage from the dock, slowly make its way out to the harbor’s edge, and then swing about, point its stately prow toward an oceanside city 3,000 miles away, and open all engines to full power. And I am inspired when I see a man who moves through life as though he is going somewhere and knows where he is ...

2873. Our Exclusive God (The First Commandment)

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

Two men in a truck, neither one very bright, were passing through a small town. They came to an overpass with a sign which read: "Clearance. 11'3". They got out and measured their rig. It was 12'4" tall. As they climbed back into the cab, one of them asked, "What do you think we should do?" The driver looked around, then shifted into gear, saying, "Not a cop in sight. Let's take a chance." Some people have the same attitude toward God and his Ten Commandments. They visualize God as the great cop in the sky ...

2874. Much Obliged

Hebrews 12:14-29, Psalm 116:1-19

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

There is a quaint expression that you often hear in the rural sections of our country. Instead of saying "thank you," folks say, "Much obliged." It's really a beautiful expression. "Much obliged" means that I am much obligated to you for what you have done for me. I want to declare that we are a "much obliged" people this morning. I call us to do exactly what that old beloved hymn from the brown Cokesbury hymnal advised, "Count your blessings, name them one by one, count your many blessings, see what God ...

2875. Glorious Surprises

1 Corinthians 2:6-16

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

Did you notice an article in the Commercial Appeal last week about a young man from Costa Rica? Roger Madrigal longed to represent his country in the Olympic white-water competition. But due to lack of funds, it seemed to be an impossible dream. Roger happened to meet a Memphis couple, George and Ginny Steffens, who are members of Christ Church. The Steffens were touched by his situation. Along with some of their friends, they raised enough money to bring him to the Olympic qualifying event last month in ...

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