Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 2851 to 2875 of 4508 results

2851. Wonder: It Is So Exciting

Illustration

Brett Younger

In the comic strip Peanuts, Snoopy's brother Spike, the one who lives in the desert, is sitting with his back against a cactus, writing a letter that says, "At night the sun goes down, and the stars come out; and then in the morning the sun comes up again. It's so exciting to live in the desert." We've gotten used to sunrises and sunsets, mornings and evenings, the moon and the stars. We've gotten...

2852. Children’s Stories and Transformations

Illustration

B. Wiley Stephens

Children's stories are full of characters who move back and forth between different realms of reality. Take Cinderella, for example. You know the story of four mice pulling a pumpkin, whisking Cinderella away from poverty into an exalted moment of acceptance and glory. In one transforming moment, the servant is transformed into the queen of the ball. Suddenly, everyone can see Cinderella's beauty ...

If we have full employment and greater economic growth, if we have cities of gold and alabaster but our children have not learned how to walk in goodness, justice, and mercy, then the American experiment, no matter how gilded, will have failed.

William Bennett

2854. Glimpses of God

Illustration

John Bedingfield

When I first heard Chet Atkins play guitar, it made me want to be a better guitar player. The intricate way that he played made me want to learn his style and to try to make a guitar sound that way myself. But the first time I heard B.B. King play guitar, one simple note at a time, hung out in the air, sighing breathlessly or screaming in pain, it made my heart hurt – and it made me want to ease t...

2855. Successful Judas

Illustration

Tim Kimmel

Among the apostles, the one absolutely stunning success was Judas, and the one thoroughly groveling failure was Peter. Judas was a success in the ways that most impress us: he was successful both financially and politically. He cleverly arranged to control the money of the apostolic band; he skillfully manipulated the political forces of the day to accomplish his goal. And Peter was a failure in w...

2856. An Impossible Sermon

Illustration

Fred Craddock

That outstanding teacher of preachers, Dr. Fred Craddock, suggests that it is better to "hold this text before the listeners in (its) full extraordinariness rather than reduce (it) to fit the contour of our experiences. It is better to be led to the foot of the Mount of Transfiguration, to be helped to sense its significance on Jesus and three apostles, and to be left there for a while in awe of i...

2857. Up and Down the Mountain

Illustration

Robert Beringer

When Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross was doing research for her famous book on death and dying, she met a woman who was a member of the cleaning staff in a large hospital. This woman spent her days cleaning floors, emptying waste baskets and tidying up patients' rooms. The hospital staff, however, began to notice that each time this woman finished cleaning the room of a dying patient, that person was in...

2858. The Preview

Illustration

Randy Hyde

The story of the transfiguration of Christ is the biblical equivalent of Friday night at your local Theater. It is a preview of what it would be for Christ in the resurrection. Jesus' face shines like the sun, Matthew tells us, and his clothes become dazzling white. Jesus is glorified right before the very eyes of Peter, James, and John as he communes with Moses and Elijah. Previews, unfortunatel...

2859. Places I Wish I Could Have Stayed

Illustration

John Jamison

I have visited some places I really wish I could have stayed. If it were my choice I would still be there right now. As much as Ilike it here, I would rather be there. There is a tent, set on a hill at the top of a 1,500-foot cliff overlooking the Jordan Valley in southern Israel. When the sun comes up in the morning it breaks over the mountains a few miles to the east and literally shatters the ...

2860. Transfigurations Are the Rule

Illustration

Robert Johnson

Transfigurations are big business because we are very aware of the face we present to the world. And we will alter our face to our advantage if we can. Sometimes the change is not just in looks but in our whole image -- including our name. Larushka Shikne did not like the image he thought his name projected, so he changed his name to Laurence Harvey. Issur Danielovitch Densky did the same thing ...

2861. A Vision of True Love

Illustration

Edward F. Markquart

Visions have great clarity. One of the oldest members of his church, Al was at the retirement center, the Good Samaritan, with his wife Cora, demented through Alzheimer's. Old Man Lunde, as he was affectionately called, would go to the retirement center every day with a bowl of ice cream to give to his wife of many decades. By the time that Al drove from his home over to the retirement center, the...

2862. Describe That Person Theologically

Illustration

Thomas Long

In order to become a minister in most denominations, a ministerial candidate must be examined and tested theologically. The church has a right and an obligation to know if a person is theologically sound before authorizing ordination, so theological questions are asked. I heard recently about a veteran minister who always asks the same theological question of every potential minister; indeed, he h...

2863. A Jesus for the Ages

Illustration

Harry N. Huxhold

Dr. Jaroslav Pelikan of Yale University wrote a remarkable study of the significance of the person and work of Jesus Christ, Jesus Through the Centuries. Dr. Pelikan demonstrates how Jesus has been the dominant figure in the history of Western culture. Each age has made Jesus relevant to its own needs. Jesus has furnished each new age with answers to fundamental questions as every generation has h...

2864. This Thing Is Not a Watch

Illustration

James L. Collier

Several decades back an inventor had a daring vision for a better kind of watch. After working on his idea for some time and building a prototype, he decided to go to Switzerland, the world capital of watch making, to seek backing for the manufacture of his new design. When the renowned Swiss watchmakers examined his invention, they said, "This is not a watch. It doesn't have hands to tell time. I...

2865. A Mountain of Meaning - Sermon Starter

Illustration

Brett Blair

A brilliant magician was performing on an ocean liner. But every time he did a trick, the Captain's parrot would yell, "It's a trick. He's a phony. That's not magic." Then one evening during a storm, the ship sank while the magician was performing. The parrot and the magician ended up in the same lifeboat. For several days they just glared at each other, neither saying a word to the other. Finally...

2866. Our Everyday Life Isn’t Everyday

Illustration

Brett Younger & Brett Blair

When middle C is struck on the piano the piston of bones in your inner ear vibrates exactly 264 times a second. Each day you think about 50,000 different thoughts. When you flex your hand you are using seventy different muscles. There are 6000 biological differences between men and women. On the surface of your body there are as many bacteria as there are people on the surface of the earth. (I sho...

2867. The Presence of a Hero

Illustration

King Duncan

In the summer of 1941, Sergeant James Allen Ward was awarded the Victoria Cross for climbing out onto the wing of his Wellington bomber at 13,000 feet above ground to extinguish a fire in the starboard engine. Secured only by a rope around his waist, he managed to smother the fire and return along the wing to the aircraft's cabin. Winston Churchill, an admirer as well as a performer of swashbuckli...

2868. An Hour of Glory on a Windswept Hill

Illustration

King Duncan

Dr. William Stidger once told of a lovely little 90-year-old lady named Mrs. Sampson. Mrs. Sampson was frail, feeble, even sickly. But Dr. Stidger said that when he was discouraged he always went to visit Mrs. Sampson. She had a radiant spirit that was contagious. One day he asked this 90-year-young woman, "What is the secret of your power? What keeps you happy, contented and cheerful through you...

2869. I’ve Become a Cynic

Illustration

King Duncan

Lloyd John Ogilvie wrote a book some years ago titled, Falling into Greatness. In it he tells about an old friend who called him one day. "I can't talk about it over the phone," he said, "but I need to see you. I've fallen into a terrible thing which I can't seem to shake." They set a time to go to lunch. Ogilvie wondered what terrible thing his friend could possibly have fallen into. The man had ...

2870. Transfiguration

Bulletin Aid

Theme: God's incarnate Light Exegetical note: Since the Second Coming of Jesus is a central concern of this very late pseudonymous epistle, that is almost certainly the meaning of the coming (parousia) of Jesus mentioned in v. 16. The account of the transfiguration of Jesus here is intended to affirm the historicity of the gospel as well as to confirm the authority of the writer, as a witness to ...

2871. What Goes Up Must Come Down

Illustration

John Thomas Randolph

A little boy was out in his backyard, throwing a ball up in the air. An elderly passerby, not accustomed to such youthful delights, asked the boy what he was doing. He replied, “I am playing a game of catch with God. I throw the ball up in the air and he throws it back.” I am in no position to comment on God’s ability to play ball, but I do know that whatever goes up must come down. There may be ...

2872. Transfiguration

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. 29 And as he was praying, the appearance of his countenance was altered, and his raiment became dazzling white. 30 And behold, two men talked with him, Moses and Elijah, 31 who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was to accomplish at Jerusalem. 32 Now Peter an...

2873. Transfiguration

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

OLD TESTAMENT TEXTS This Sunday is a celebration of the Transfiguration. The Old Testament texts provide two perspectives on the presence of God in our midst. Exodus 24:12-18 describes the descent of God in the form of fire to the top of Mount Sinai in order to be with the people of God in worship, while Psalm 2:6-11 celebrates the messianic rule of God throughout this world. Taken together these...

2874. Time to Listen

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

Have you ever had someone tell you the ending to a story or movie when you really wanted to experience it for yourself? How did that make you feel? It’s frustrating, isn’t it, when someone ruins the end of the story for you. And there’s nothing you can do about it. No wonder it’s called a “spoiler alert.” Then again, I read a story about a funny way to take revenge on a friend who ruins the endin...

2875. On the Move

Children's Sermon

King Duncan

Object: A house key Good morning, boys and girls. What do I have in my hand? That’s right--a key. But this is a specific kind of key. It’s a house key. In fact, it’s the key to my house. Most of the adults in this room have a house key in their pocket or purse. That means we have a home. But some day we may move out of that house. Moving is not always fun to do, is it? It's hard to leave behin...

Showing 2851 to 2875 of 4508 results

2851. Wonder: It Is So Exciting

Illustration

Brett Younger

2852. Children’s Stories and Transformations

Illustration

B. Wiley Stephens

William Bennett

2854. Glimpses of God

Illustration

John Bedingfield

2855. Successful Judas

Illustration

Tim Kimmel

2856. An Impossible Sermon

Illustration

Fred Craddock

2857. Up and Down the Mountain

Illustration

Robert Beringer

2858. The Preview

Illustration

Randy Hyde

2859. Places I Wish I Could Have Stayed

Illustration

John Jamison

2860. Transfigurations Are the Rule

Illustration

Robert Johnson

2861. A Vision of True Love

Illustration

Edward F. Markquart

2862. Describe That Person Theologically

Illustration

Thomas Long

2863. A Jesus for the Ages

Illustration

Harry N. Huxhold

2864. This Thing Is Not a Watch

Illustration

James L. Collier

2865. A Mountain of Meaning - Sermon Starter

Illustration

Brett Blair

2866. Our Everyday Life Isn’t Everyday

Illustration

Brett Younger & Brett Blair

2867. The Presence of a Hero

Illustration

King Duncan

2868. An Hour of Glory on a Windswept Hill

Illustration

King Duncan

2869. I’ve Become a Cynic

Illustration

King Duncan

2870. Transfiguration

Bulletin Aid

2871. What Goes Up Must Come Down

Illustration

John Thomas Randolph

2872. Transfiguration

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

2873. Transfiguration

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

2874. Time to Listen

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

2875. On the Move

Children's Sermon

King Duncan

Showing 2851 to 2875 of 4508 results