Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 276 to 300 of 4489 results

276. Lift Up Your Heads!

Luke 21:5-38

Sermon

Brett Blair

A.J. Gordon was the great Baptist pastor of the Clarendon Church in Boston, Massachusetts. One day he met a young boy in front of the sanctuary carrying a rusty cage in which several birds fluttered nervously. Gordon inquired, "Son, where did you get those birds?" The boy replied, "I trapped them out in the field." "What are you going to do with them?" "I'm going to play with them, and then I guess I'll just feed them to an old cat we have at home." When Gordon offered to buy them, the lad exclaimed, " ...

277. Breaking Down The Walls

Ephesians 2:11-22

Sermon

King Duncan

Lucy and Linus have a chicken wishbone. They are going to pull it to make a wish. As Lucy explains to Linus how the wishbone works, Linus asks, "Do I have to say the wish out loud?" Lucy says, "Of course, if you don't say it out loud it won't come true." Then she makes her wish first. She says, "I wish for four new sweaters, a new bike, a new pair of skates, a new dress and one hundred dollars." Linus goes next. "I wish for a long life for all of my friends," he says. "I wish for world peace, I wish for ...

278. What Is True And Who Can You Trust?

John 18:28-40

Sermon

King Duncan

(Christ the King) Leo Rosten tells a story about Yuri Smolenski, a Jewish engineer in the former Soviet Union. Yuri had been ordered to move to a minor position in a faraway, frozen Siberian outpost. His parents, in tears, were watching him pack. "I'll write every day," said Yuri. "But the censorship," wailed his mother. "They'll watch every word." Yuri's father said, "I have an idea. Anything you write in black, we'll know is true. But anything you put in red ink, we'll know is nonsense!" A month passed; ...

279. God Who Is Mighty Has Done Great Things

Luke 1:46-56

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Sometime ago a woman from Houston was out in Los Angeles visiting some relatives. While there, she went to an ice cream shop and ordered an ice cream cone. As she was sitting there at the counter, waiting for her cone, she happened to glance to her right. Who should be there, right next to her, but Paul Newman! She couldn't believe it! He had been her heart throb and dream boat for years. She was crazy about him. And there he was, sitting on the stool right next to her, close enough to touch. But she didn' ...

280. 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 ...

281. The Four Marks of Failure

1 Corinthians 12:12-31

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

When you're a kid there is nothing better than being on the winning team. Of course, when you're a kid there is nothing worse than being on the losing team. Notice that all those great, feel-good Disney-esque movies don't ever end with the hometown team losing the big championship game. No, the whole point of these happily-ever-after stories is that the under-dog, schlubby, gave-it-their-all losers are transformed into top-of-the-heap winners. For adults, except for those few who make their living playing ...

282. Why You Should Study the Bible

Psalm 119:105

Sermon

James Merritt

The Bible is the book that is owned by more people in America than any other single book. But what do Bible owners really know about the Bible? 82% say the idea that “God helps those who help themselves” is taken directly from the pages of the Bible. 66% say there is no absolute truth. 63% cannot name the four gospels. 58% cannot name half or more of the Ten Commandments. 58% do not know Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount. 52% do not know the book of Jonah is in the Bible. 48% do not know the book of ...

283. LOST? Looking For Love

John 3:16-17, 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a, 1 John 4:7-19

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

A young man went to get a picture of his girl friend picture duplicated. It had to be removed from the frame. In doing so, he noticed an inscription on the back of the photo written by his girlfriend: "My dearest Tommy: I love you with all my heart. I love you more and more each day. I will love you forever and ever. I am yours for all eternity." It was signed "Dianne" That describes the kind of relationships that Shannon on Lost, always seemed to have. And then there was a P.S.: "If we should ever break ...

284. On Finding Pentecostal Power

Acts 2:14-41

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

Lord, as of old at Pentecost Thou dist thy power display, With cleansing, purifying flame Descend on us today. Power, Power, the world is full of power - military power, political power, economic power, industrial power. Our children’s Power Rangers protect our planet from evil forces. Power plants dam up our rivers in order to send us electricity. The world is full of power. But do you have the spiritual power to become all that you are created to be, and to do all that God wants you to do? That is what I ...

285. We Hold These Truths To Be Essential

1 Peter 3:8-16

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

Standing on the edge of the future is like standing alone at the edge of the sea. There are voices calling in all directions, but the light on the horizon beckons, and we must go. For the past 54 weeks, I have lived, and moved, and found much of my being in this great community of faith. There is so much to celebrate here, that it would be easy to count our blessings, rejoice in our fellowship and let the world go away. Yet, we are called, as the old saying goes, not to sit on the premises, but to stand on ...

286. Fulfilling the Vision

Acts 2:14-21

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

God said “I will pour out my spirit on all kinds of people and your sons and daughters will prophesy and your young men will see visions and your old men will dream dreams and whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved". A vision. Without it a church flounders and with it a church flourishes. A vision is, in essence, a picture of God's preferred future. And the vision I want to share with you today is as old as the prophet Joel, as powerful as the one on the day of Pentecost and is as current as ...

287. Doing What Disciples Do

John 15:12-17

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

The new pastor of a congregation preached his first sermon from the text, “Love one another.” The people were pleased. The next Sunday the pastor preached the exact same sermon from the exact same text, “Love one another.” The people were surprised. When the pastor preached the same sermon the third week from the same text , the people were angry. The Staff Parish Relations chairperson confronted the new pastor with the obvious question, “Why do you preach the same sermon every week?” The pastor replied, “ ...

288. The Miracle of Peace

Psalm 85:1-13

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

A popular prayer on the e-mail circuit goes something like this: So far today God, I've done alright. I haven't gossiped, haven't lost my temper, haven't been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish, overindulgent, or told anyone to mind their own business and to stay out of mine. I'm really glad about that. But in a few minutes God, I'm going to get out of bed, and from then on, I'm going to need a whole lot of help. In Jesus Name, Amen. Here we are just 17 days away from Christmas 2002. If you find yourself ...

289. Does Prayer Make Any Difference

Matthew 26:36-46

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

According to a most recent Gallop Poll, three out of four Americans pray regularly. At special times, the numbers rise to nine out of ten. Fifty percent of patients want their doctors to pray, not just for them, but with them. Interest in prayer is back, if in fact it ever went away. To pray or not to pray is not the question. The question you asked me to answer at the crossroads of faith is “Does Prayer Make Any Difference?” Is prayer power or placebo? Is prayer wishful thinking or divine intervention? ...

290. Engaging the Master Designer

Psalm 139: 1-18

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

In the academic mecca of Athens, the Apostle Paul sat down one day to discuss with pagan philosophers the nature of the Unknown God to whom the town had built a monument. This is what he said: “The God who made the world and everything in it, this Master of sky and land, doesn’t live in custom-made shrines or need the human race to run errands for him. He makes the creatures, the creatures don’t make him. Starting from scratch, he made the entire human race and he made the earth hospitable with plenty of ...

291. What Would Jesus Say About the Marginalized?

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

When the immensely popular author Stephen Covey wowed the world with his Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, he encouraged every person to sit down and write a personal mission statement. “Once you have that sense of mission," said Cover, “you have the essence of your own proactivity. You have the vision and values which will direct your life." Jesus of Nazareth never read Covey's books. But fresh from the wilderness of temptation, Jesus enters the Nazareth Synagogue to announce his reason for being. ...

292. The Calling of Our Baptism

Luke 3:21-22; Matthew 28:18-20

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

Water—cool, clear, water. Seventy percent of the earth is covered with it. Two-thirds of the body is filled with it. In the beginning of time the Spirit of God hovered over the water and brought life out of chaos. What can be more refreshing on a hot summer day than a dip in the pool? What can be more comforting on a cold winter night than a long hot bath. My doctors have been encouraging me to drink 8 to 10 glasses of water a day. It’s the fastest way to health they say. The Church uses water. We use it ...

293. The Family As Church

2 Timothy 1:3-8

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

In the big game of life, what really matters? I find myself asking that question more and more these days. The blessing and curse of surviving a life-threatening disease is that it causes you to lift up the floorboards of your soul and examine the priorities of your life. What really matters in the light of eternity? Lost golf balls don’t matter to me any more — Lost people do. Church conferences don’t matter much to me anymore. Local churches where God and people make a connection do matter. Family status ...

294. The Power to Be Saved

Acts 4:5-12

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

In the church of my childhood, the opportunity to get saved came once a year at the annual Revival Meeting. Skilled evangelists came to the protracted meetings loaded with all kinds of bait to reel in the least and the lost. Being a sensitive teenager, I was always fair game, so I usually got saved about once a year. Over the years I've expressed my share of cynicism about such manipulative evangelism. But I have not come to criticize but to connect. It would be easy to strike up a strong debate right here ...

295. Keeping Company with the Weary

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

Invitations: They grab our attention every day. Somebody is getting married, a friend is having a party, a business is hosting a luncheon and we are invited. What would our lives be like without invitations? The greatest invitation ever offered came from the heart of Jesus Christ addressed to pilgrims like you and me. It is printed in your bulletin. Will you read it with me because it is Jesus' invitation to you? “Come to me all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. ...

296. The Fred Factor

1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

Sermon

Scott Suskovic

A couple of months ago, I read the book Good to Great, in which Gillette was named as a great company. But I was having a hard time getting my mind around what made it so great. Did those executives, engineers, and assembly workers really wake up each morning thinking, "Today is the day that we are going to create an even better razor that will produce smoother legs and faces around the world"? Do people really get charged about that? Am I missing something? Then a friend gave me a small book called The ...

297. Serendipity

Matthew 13:44-46

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

My wife is a clown! Wait now—let me explain that. I mean that literally, not figuratively. I don’t mean she’s a clown in terms of being a cutup, an always-clowning-around type of person. I mean she is literally a clown, and she has been involved for about ten years in a clown ministry. Her name is “Serendipity,” given to her by a longtime preacher friend. One thing that name means is “unexpected” and “unsuspected.” The fellow suggested the name because God’s grace comes at unexpected times from unexpected ...

298. No Longer Orphans

John 14:15-21

Sermon

King Duncan

The Rev. Dr. Stephen Hayner was the president of Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, GA. Dr. Hayner told a beautiful story about a young teacher he met several years ago in Uganda by the name of Christine Nakalema. Christine grew up in a rural village in Bokeka. When she was five years old and her sister Harriet was seven and her little brother was four, their parents both died within three months of each other of AIDS. The three siblings lived for nearly two years on their own. They had no parents, ...

299. Hold the Candy

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Mary Austin

As we continue in the season of Epiphany, we hear more of Paul’s letter to the Corinthian church. This reading is often read at weddings, and it’s fun to consider it as a letter to a whole community, rather than to an individual, or two people. If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love ...

300. The Fearful Meeting

Genesis 32:1-20; 33:1-4, 12-14

Sermon

Will Willimon

There has been "The Donna Reed Show," "Ozzie and Harriet," "Father Knows Best," "Leave It to Beaver," "The Brady Bunch," "The Cosby Show," and more recently, the wildly popular "The Simpsons." School principals in Ohio and California condemn Bart Simpson as "a poor role model" -- bristle-headed little charmer that he is. Then there's prissy Lisa, blob of a baby Maggie, and poor old Homer and Marge. Here is the family Americana, warts and all. In one episode Marge drags everyone to Sunday School hoping to " ...

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