Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 2951 to 2975 of 4933 results

2951. On Being a Tenant

Matthew 21:33-46

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

All the details of the story that Jesus tells about being a tenant and owning a vineyard would have been familiar facts to the people who heard him tell it. I have on several occasions seen the vineyards of Israel, which are surrounded by a stone wall. On top of the wall is placed brambles that keep the wild animals from coming into the vineyard. They also protect the vineyard from thieves climbing over the stone wall. Many of the vineyards that I saw had a wine-press located right on the spot. A tower was ...

2952. Why Fear Growing Old?

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

It is said that by the year 2000 one-half the population of our nation will be over 50 and one-third over 65 years of age. Those of us who are growing older will have plenty of company. We have a science, gerontology, dedicated to our well-being. We do not even have to surrender to senility: doctors tell us that it is not a normal state of old age; only 8 percent of older people need to fear such a breakdown. It is possible to remain alert and creative right down to the conclusion of our lives. Marie ...

2953. Is Conscience the Best Guide?

John 16:5-16

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

Some time ago I read in the paper that the United States Treasury has a "conscience fund," which was created for those who have lied, cheated or stolen, and who now wish to salve their consciences by returning to someone the money which they had gotten dishonestly. The "Conscience Fund" was established by Congress in 1811 when an anonymous donor who claimed to have defrauded the government sent five dollars to the Treasury Department. He said that he could not live with his conscience until he had paid the ...

2954. Afraid of Sanity

Mark 5:1-20

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

In J. D. Salinger’s famous novel, The Catcher in the Rye, 15-year old Holden Caulfield says: “I can’t always pray when I feel like it. In the first place, I’m sort of an atheist.” (That would put a damper on prayer, wouldn’t it?) He goes on: “I like Jesus and all, but I don’t care too much for most of the other stuff in the Bible. Take the Disciples, for instance....They were all right after Jesus was dead and all, but while He was alive, they were about as much use to Him as a hole in the head. All they ...

2955. Preaching to a Stone

Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

I'm going to confess a trade secret. We preachers often wonder just how much good our preaching does. We all appreciate the compliments at the end of the service, especially when someone says that he or she really needed a particular sermon we have preached. At those moments, we begin to believe that our work and struggle have paid off. We wonder, though, about the compliments we receive at the end of the service. A friend of mine noted wryly that he has had parishioners compliment his sermons even on ...

2956. Two Worlds

Matthew 5:13-16

Sermon

James McCormick

I was a young pastor attending a seminar. The featured speaker opened his mouth to speak, and these were his first words: “You and I are living today in a world God did not make. He allowed it, but He did not make it.” That took place many years ago, but I still remember those words vividly. And, I remember the surprise I felt upon hearing them. It had never occurred to me that there was anything God had not made. I now see very clearly that he was right: “You and I are living today in a world that God did ...

2957. Envision: The Great Commitment

Matthew 20:20-28

Sermon

James Merritt

Envision: such a powerful word. In 1969 America did something that had only been dreamed of and fantasized about in books and novels—she put a man on the moon. How did this happen? Because John F. Kennedy on May 25, 1961 envisioned putting a man on the moon by the end of the decade. Nearly a half-century ago, 22,000 acres just south of Orlando, Florida was a swamp where alligators outnumbered people. Porous limestone underlay the vegetal muck. It was land no one wanted until November 22, 1963 when a ...

2958. Cain and Abel

Genesis 4:1-26

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

Cain Slays Abel and Lamech Boasts: The first siblings are unable to live in harmony. Hatred propels Cain to murder his own brother. The tragic, brute power of sin also finds expression in Lamech’s boasting song, in which he brazenly gloats over a wanton killing while pronouncing threats against others. These incidents illustrate how Adam and Eve’s disobedience unleashed sin as a destructive power in society and brought death into the world. This chapter has four parts: the births of Cain and Abel (vv. 1–2a ...

2959. Dealing with Difficult People

1 Peter 3:8-18

Sermon

Charley Reeb

Today I want to talk about something all of us can relate to – dealing with difficult people. By difficult people I mean all categories – the gossips, the bullies, the manipulators, the intimidators, the blamers, the criticizers, the complainers, the whiners, etc. Just fill in the blank. Today we are going to discover the biblical way to handling difficult people. By a show of hands how many of you know a difficult person? How many of have worked or work with a difficult person? How many of you live with a ...

2960. Good to Great

Ezekiel 45:3-5

Sermon

Charley Reeb

Many of you have heard me mention Bill Self several times. He preached here at Pasadena a few years go. He was one of my heroes in ministry – an incredible man and preacher. He died last year and I had the honor of speaking at his funeral. I remember a story Bill would often tell about going fishing in Florida. Bill really was not much of a fisherman, but a member of his church invited him to go tarpon fishing. His friend said they would take his private jet. Bill had never been in a private jet before so ...

2961. How Did That Hole Get There?

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

Bruce Melver tells about a precocious six-year-old in his church who thought and talked like an adult. His name was Blair Miles and he posed some challenging questions for his pastor to answer. Bruce tells about one Sunday after church when Blair came up to him and asked Bruce if he could have a conference with him. “Of course, Blair,” Bruce replied, “I’d be happy to visit with you anytime.” Blair thought for a moment and then said that he had better talk first with his parents to see when they could bring ...

2962. A Good Name

Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9

Sermon

Will Willimon

“A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold." Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9 Do you believe that? It's from the book of Proverbs. You get this sort of moral platitude there. "A good name is better than silver or gold." Sounds a little quaint, this talk of "a good name." But this is typical of Proverbs. Here is ethics done the old-fashioned (600 B.C.) way -- an older person telling a younger person how to live in order to have a good life. The book of Proverbs is, ...

2963. Life's Third Dimension

Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon

"... Whatever is right I will give ..." - Matthew 20:4 Sometimes some of the parables of Jesus appear, at first glance, to make no sense. Such a parable may be read in Matthew 20:1-16. This is the story of a "householder," a land-owner, a farmer, who needed harvesters to work in his vineyard. Early one morning this man went out and hired some laborers to work for him that day, promising to pay each man one denarius for his day's work. Later, about nine o'clock, he went out and hired others, saying, " ...

2964. Hope For Those Whom Life Has Cheated

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

According to Victor Borge, the composer Bizet was the original hard-luck man. He stayed up nights to finish an opera by the deadline, only to find out afterwards that the production had been postponed for a year. He wrote a symphony and misplaced the manuscript before anybody could play it. He entered a composing contest with only one other entrant, and ended up with second prize. Once he went to visit his girl friend and tapped on her window at the precise moment her mother was emptying a chamberpot from ...

2965. God's Say-So

Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

I don’t know how many times I have used Oswald Chambers’ devotional classic, My Utmost for His Highest. At least every three or four years I go back to it for resourcing my daily spiritual reading and always -- without fail -- I am ministered to, receiving challenge and insight not received before. I remember the experience I had the last time I used it. The meditation began with this sentence from Hebrews 13, verses 5-6: “He hath said . . . so that we may boldly say.” Then came these two sentences: “My ...

2966. The Reward

1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23

Sermon

James L. Killen

The Rock opera, Jesus Christ, Superstar, pictures Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, asking God if it is really necessary for him to die on the cross. In deep anguish he prays, among other things, "I'd have to know, I'd have to know, my Lord, if I die, what will be my reward?" We don't think or talk much about the reward of the Christian life. I suppose we feel reluctant to ask because we think that, if we are being Christian just for what we get out of it, we are probably doing it for the wrong reason. ...

2967. Mind Games

2 Corinthians 10:3-5

Sermon

James Merritt

(After a video of Hershel Walker) Oh, those were the glory days! Now there is something most of you probably missed in seeing that video. You thought the focus was on Hershel Walker, but the key to what you just saw was the offensive line. Not even Hershel Walker, the greatest college running back who ever lived, who happened to play for the greatest college football team, at the greatest university in history, cannot run one yard unless he has an offensive line opening the holes. There is an old football ...

2968. Compassion Can Do More Than You May Think

Luke 7:11-17

Sermon

David R. Cartwright

A teacher was fond of asking students in his counseling classes this question: "What can you know about a perfect stranger the moment you meet?" After the students had a go at the question, the professor shared his own answer, "You can bet that the stranger has just lost something." That person has just lost a job, a promotion, a loved one, a home, a car, a girlfriend, a boyfriend, their health, their zest for living, or God forbid, the very desire to live. Whatever it is, you can bet your life on it. The ...

2969. Opening and Closing Doors

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Many years ago, Dr. James Fisher, a practicing psychiatrist, wrote a very entertaining little book entitled A FEW BUTTONS MISSING . It was a light treatment of some of his experiences in psychiatric practice. However, near the end of the book, Dr. Fisher became very serious. This is what he said. “What was needed, I felt sure, was some new and enlightened recipe for living a sane and satisfying life — a recipe compounded from all the accumulated scientific knowledge acquired through study and research. I ...

2970. Thanksgiving for the Thessalonians' Faith

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

Address and Greeting 1:1 Paul frequently associates himself with others in the prescripts of his letters (cf. 1 Cor. 1:1; 2 Cor. 1:1; Gal. 1:1f.; Phil. 1:1; Col. 1:1; 2 Thess. 1:1; Philem. 1). In most cases it must be doubted that the others made any material contribution to the letters, being named simply out of courtesy, and so in this case. The letter bears all the hallmarks of a Pauline epistle (see Introduction on The Authenticity of 1 Thessalonians and disc. on 3:1), such that it is difficult to ...

2971. Nathan Rebukes David

2 Samuel 12:1-31

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

The Lord Is Not Pleased: In Chapter 11, David's actions toward Bathsheba and her husband displeased the Lord 12:1–6 The Lord therefore takes action. It was important that David and the readers of this account should realize the significance and unacceptability of what he had done. Hence, the LORD sent Nathan. What happens may be a working out of the “discipline” for David’s dynasty that had been described in 2 Samuel 7. Monarchy was new to Israel, and it was vital that standard relating to God’s ...

2972. Seven Habits Of Highly Effective Christians

2 Kings 5:1-27

Sermon

William L. Self

Naaman was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. What a shock it must have been to this great man, the leader of the Syrian army, when the unaccountable lethargy and the terrible pain in the joints attacked his body. Then he discovered, especially on his back, the discolored patches and on them the little nodules which were pink at first and then turned brown. He knew that he had it, the dreaded leprosy. It was the scourge of the ancient world -- the AIDS of his day. In crystal clear and cryptic ...

2973. Feast Days During Lent

Sermon

Richard Gribble

Reflections:Feast Days During Lent February 22 Ä Chair Of Peter1 Peter 5:1-4Matthew 16:13-19 The Example Of Love Human beings have the ability to learn in many ways. Through the educational system we spend a great deal of time learning through books and other written sources. Knowledge that others have gained is shared with us through the media of the written word. Knowledge is also gained through listening. We are a highly oral society these days. We listen to the radio, to tapes and to television. Much ...

2974. Words, Words, Words

John 4:1-26

Sermon

Thomas Long

One doesn't have to search very far in our culture to realize that we live in an age that doesn't trust words very much. We use words by the bushel, in fact we are the age that does "word processing." Even so, we don't trust words; we build scaffolding out of them, but we don't put our weight on it. We know that words can be slippery, weasel things, used to conceal, to deceive, to distort. Words are cheap; people can hide behind words. When a politician gives a speech, what do we say? Promises, promises. ...

2975. Are You Convinced?

John 16:5-16

Sermon

Larry Powell

Someone has astutely observed that our culture does not handle "endings" very well. "Beginnings," on the other hand, seem to come off quite nicely. Weddings, beautiful and memorable in themselves, are also occasions for parties, bridal showers, gift bearing, and other happy kinds of experiences which we usually associate with the celebration of two persons in love beginning a new home. When a home is blessed with a newborn, balloons, flowers, photographs, gifts, a host of well-wishes, and perhaps even a ...

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