Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 3026 to 3050 of 4933 results

3026. Willing And Able

Mark 1:40-45

Sermon

King Duncan

Did you know that a few years ago a former Mouseketeer, Billie Jean Matay, 52, sued Disneyland? It's a fascinating story. It seems that Mrs. Matay sued her former employers in the Disney organization after being robbed in the parking lot of Disney's Anaheim amusement park. She says that she and her three grandchildren were held for hours by security officers. And she was asking damages because her three grandchildren saw some famous Disney characters getting out of their costumes. The children were ...

3027. Grace in the Midst of Judgment

2 Corinthians 5:11--6:2, 2 Corinthians 5:1-10

Sermon

Glenn McDonald

In his book Making Life Work, Chicago area pastor Bill Hybels cites a study that was published under an intriguing title: 178 Seconds to Live. The study concerned twenty pilots, all seasoned veterans in the cockpits of their small planes, but none of whom had ever taken instrument training. One by one they were placed in a flight simulator and told to do whatever they could to keep their planes level and under control. The simulator generated the conditions of a storm, including impenetrable, dark clouds. ...

3028. Let Your Soul Catch Up

Luke 10:38-42

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

A religious poll asked people this question: “Do you believe in the Second Coming of Christ?” If the respondent said yes, a subsequent question was put to them: “What would you do if you knew Jesus was coming back today?” One young man replied, “Look busy, Man! Look busy!” Isn’t that the mindset of our age? It seems as though most of us build our lives on the premise that personal worth and significance, as well as meaning in life, is dependent upon being busy. Too often we are identified by what we ...

3029. The Thrill of Victory Beats the Agony of Defeat

Judges 7:1-17

Sermon

James Merritt

The United States is known around the world as a "Christian nation." There are several reasons why one might think that is true. In America there are: 1,485 Christian radio stations 300 Christian television programs 96% of all Americans are "believers in God" 70 million born-again believers 148 million professing Christians 62% of all Americans say they have "made a commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in their life today." Now if America is indeed a Christian nation, you would think that God ...

3030. Put Me In Coach!

1 Peter 4:10

Sermon

James Merritt

[Song: "Center Field"] I love that song. Not so much because of the tune, but because of the spirit of the lyrics. It is all about somebody that wants to get into the game. He wants to play. He doesn't want to sit on the bench. He wants to be on the field making a contribution to the team. He has a "put me in coach" attitude that is the subject of the message today. We are continuing in our series of 40 Days of Purpose and today we are going to look at God's fourth purpose for your life which is this - You ...

3031. What a Difference a Day Makes

Exodus 20:8-11

Sermon

James Merritt

I want you to think about something I just recently read. It will make you tired just listening to it, but think about it. There are 365 days in the year, but you take weekends off, so you have to subtract 104 days. That leaves you with 261 working days, but you only work 8 hours a day; the other 16 you are either sleeping or tending to your own business, so you have to subtract 174 days. That leaves 87, but wait, we are not through subtracting yet. You eat lunch every day and although lunch hours vary, it ...

3032. A New Beginning for Everyone

Exodus 35:4-29

Sermon

James Merritt

I want to take you back 3,500 years to the very first capital campaign found in the Bible. The Lord does not even wait to get the children of Israel to the promise land until He asks them to do two things: (1) Take an offering; (2) Build a building. Now there are two parts to this campaign that are extremely important. Notice who they were to give their offering to: "Take from among you an offering to the Lord. Whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it as an offering to the Lord: gold, silver, and ...

3033. The Driver’s Seat

Proverbs 16:4

Sermon

James Merritt

I want to read one-half of one verse in the Bible from which we are going to base two months worth of messages. It is a verse that is packed with unbelievable implications for you, your life, your family, your future and particularly our church. "The Lord has made everything for His own purposes." (Proverbs 16:4, NLT) I believe everything means everything and I believe purpose means purpose. Behind everything and everyone that has been created on this earth there is a purpose - specifically God's purpose. ...

3034. Never Too Old For God: Abraham And Sarah

Genesis 18:1-15

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

A husband and wife were on long trip when they got into a large-sized argument over a small-sized issue. We've all done that haven't we? Well, the air was so icy between them, they probably could have turned off the air conditioner. And for a number of miles they refused to even speak to each other. The strained silence continued until they drove past a couple of mules grazing in a pasture. The husband finally broke the silence: "Are those some of your relatives?" And his wife answered, "Yes, they're ...

3035. Hope on The Day of Judgment

Hebrews 9:24-28

Sermon

Patrick J. Rooney

Standing in the parlor at church that day was not unlike the many other occasions when I had attended a family upon the death of one they had loved. Moving from person to person, group to group, I greeted each with words of comfort, consolation, and hope. I was a pastor going about my normal pastoral work, preparing to begin the funeral rite for yet another saint of the church. Amid the whispers, the tears, the hugs, and even the laughter at memories shared, a pastor also hears many other things spoken in ...

3036. Reconciliation Day

Matthew 18:15-20

Sermon

King Duncan

Some of you may be fans of “Click and Clack, the Tappet brothers,” the mechanics on NPR’s Car Talk. Click and Clack are the radio names for the hosts of Car Talk, Tom and Ray Magliozzi. Someone wrote Tom and Ray a letter sometime back. Dear Tom and Ray: Today I was involved in an accident. I was happily cruising along at the speed limit . . . in the right lane, when someone came up behind me. He was clearly very upset that I was doing just the speed limit, and he could not stand being unable to get around ...

3037. Can Two Become One?

Matthew 19:1-12

Sermon

James Merritt

I recently came across a fascinating article called “The Top 10 Inventions That Changed The World.” Whenever I come across lists like these it is always fun to see how many of these I can guess. I am going to put 10 blanks up on the screen, beginning with number 10. Here are the top inventions in order from 10-to-1: 10. The Plow 9. The Wheel 8. The Printing Press 7. The Refrigerator 6. Communications (Telephone, TV, etc) 5. The Steam Engine 4. The Automobile 3. The Light Bulb 2. The Computer 1. The ...

3038. Robbing God

Malachi 3:6-18

Understanding Series

Pamela J. Scalise

Return to Me (3:6-12): The fifth speech returns to the present with an appeal for repentance demonstrated in a concrete act of obedience, tithing. This obligation contributes to proper worship at the temple and to feeding even the poorest of the people. The Lord, who loves Israel, offers them reconciliation and promises blessing. 3:6–7a The opening statement of this address is a stunning non sequitur, “I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.” The Lord has remained the ...

3039. The Beginning

Genesis 1:1-2:3

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

The Creation of the Earth: Genesis opens with the account of creation, which is as profound as it is simple. It focuses on the way God ordered the earth. The text addresses the heavens only as they have an impact on life on earth. The purpose of this account is threefold. First, it teaches essential facts about the way God ordered the world so that humans might understand their place and role in creation. Second, it leads us to praise God as the wise, all-powerful Creator. Third, it preempts the ...

3040. Job Feels Both Confidence and Terror

Job 23:1--24:25

Teach the Text

Daniel J. Estes

Big Idea: God’s justice draws Job toward confidence, but God’s sovereignty intimidates him. Understanding the Text In Job 23, Job rejects what Eliphaz has just said in the previous chapter, when he counseled Job to “submit to God and be at peace with him” (22:21). This is yet another indicator that the communication between Job and his friends is breaking down. Instead of speaking directly either to his friends or to God, Job speaks in a soliloquy, as he did in chapter 3. His internal conversation reflects ...

3041. God's Righteous Judgment

Romans 2:1-16

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

The discussion of the guilt of humanity in 1:18ff. presupposes the Gentile world, that is, humanity without special revelation from God. The prominence given to homosexuality in 1:26–27 and the list of vices in 1:29–31 typify Jewish prejudice against “Gentile sinners,” as Paul once referred to them (Gal. 2:15). We noted how clearly 1:18–32 echoes the Jewish indictment of Gentiles from the Wisdom of Solomon (chs. 11–15). Gentiles could have known God from creation. “They live among his works,” says Wisdom ...

3042. Recognizing Who God Is

Job 42:7-17

Sermon

King Duncan

Series on the Book of Job, #4 Suggested video clip: "Rudy" This is the last sermon in our series on Job. Maybe you are relieved, as I am relieved. This is heavy stuff. We ended last week's service by pondering the question: What has Job learned from his encounter with the Almighty God? For an answer, I want to turn to the movie Rudy. Rudy is based on the true story of a young man named Rudy Ruettiger whose only goal in life was to play football for Notre Dame. Rudy is small and he lacks athletic ability. ...

3043. Pilate's Ruse

Matthew 27:1-26 · Luke 22:66--23:25 · John 18:28-40; 19:1-16 · Mark 15:1-15

Sermon

Lori Wagner

[Optional beginning: Search Mateo Cupcakes on Youtube. Three-year old Mateo has just tied an end around his “No Cupcakes” with his Gramma, and is making his case as to why he should have his cupcakes. Normally, he calls his mother “Momma.” But when he’s arguing, his mother is “Linda, honey.” Wonder where he got that from? This video got so many hits in such a short time that Ellen DeGeneres brought Linda and Mateo to her show and sat down with them. Am I the only one who sees him or herself in little Mateo ...

3044. Let's Go Fishing

Mark 1:14-20

Sermon

David E. Leininger

An old-timer sat on the river bank, obviously awaiting a nibble, though the fishing season had not officially opened. A uniformed officer stood behind him quietly for several minutes. “You the game warden?” the old-timer inquired. “Yup.” Unruffled, the old man began to move the fishing pole from side to side. Finally, he lifted the line out of the water. Pointing to a minnow wriggling on the end of the line, he said, “Just teaching him how to swim.”[1] Mark Twain once spent a pleasant three weeks in the ...

3045. Stop Being Afraid

Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

Marc Kolden

Jesus' instructions to his disciples prior to their first mission continue in today's gospel reading. He has been telling them about all the dangers and hardships they may have to put up with and ends by saying (in effect), "What do you expect? A disciple is not greater than his teacher. If the world gives me a bad time, it will give you one too" (Matthew 10:24-25). So what does Jesus do? Sell them life insurance? Give them bullet-proof vests? Teach them how to diffuse conflict? Hardly. Instead he says, " ...

3046. An Altered State of Consciousness

Romans 5:1-11

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

Now we move to the fourth Sunday after Pentecost, and from the reading we select the text: "For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life." We shall come into new life by his life. That means a different life, a new way of seeing things, "an altered state of consciousness." Let me give it to you in the terms of one man’s experience. He was an exceptionally fine plumber - so good that he was employed in a nuclear ...

3047. The Importance of Unity

1 Corinthians 1:10-17

Sermon

Hubert Beck

Sometimes want to cry when hear non-Christians say that they have rejected the church because of its divisions. They may mean denominational divisions on occasion, and that is bad enough. But more frequently they mean the internal strife that characterizes all too many congregations. For it is, after all, on the local level that most people encounter the church, and when they see discord and argumentation marking a congregation, they want nothing to do with that. I want to cry because the very body of ...

3048. What Is Your Holy Week Address?

Matthew 27:45-56

Sermon

Robert Noblett

One of the earliest accomplishments of a child that brings plaudits from Mom and Dad is the ability to recite one’s address and telephone number. Should the child become lost, there is at least a small measure of comfort in the prospect that the child just might spew forth what has been committed to memory. This address is a geographical one. Later on, another address becomes evident, an address that reveals the location of one’s presence spiritually. Often we assign people such spiritual locations and do ...

3049. Adultery, Cure and Prevention

Proverbs 7:1-27, John 8:1-11

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

Sometime ago a lady wrote to the famous advice columnist Ann Landers and asked this question, "Do all men cheat on their wives? I have been suspicious of my husband for some time. I even hired a private detective to trail him, but he couldn't come up with a thing. I went to a lawyer. He told me to grow up and accept the fact that all husbands fool around. Do they?" Ann Landers very wisely replied, "No. There are plenty of married men who never cheat, and your husband could be one of them. The only thing ...

3050. I Affirm

Acts 27:13-26

Sermon

TEXT: "Wherefore, sirs, be of good courage, for I believe in God." Acts 27:25 There are two ways to interpret the extraordinary story of adventure at sea which is described in chapter 27 of Acts. We can look at the courage and the faith of Paul. He had been arrested after preaching for several years as a Christian evangel. When he was threatened with death he appealed as a Roman citizen for his trial to be held in the city of Rome which was his right as a citizen. Escorted by heavy guard, he was taken from ...

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