Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 3026 to 3050 of 4977 results

3026. When What's Lost Is Found

Luke 15:8-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... , Emory Potter was assigned a client who had been accused of criminal trespass. Mr. Potter probed his client with some general questions of background. He asked if he had any previous arrests or convictions. The man ashamedly said, "Yes, sir. I've got quite a few." The thorough attorney then asked, "Any felonies?" The man indignantly replied, "No sir! I specialize in misdemeanors!" (4) That sounds like many of us. We know in our minds that we are sinners, but we specialize in misdemeanors not in felonies ...

3027. Are We On Speaking Terms With The Almighty?

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... , Dr. Davies asked his friend how he was doing in his spiritual life. His friend answered with a rather shocking statement. "To tell you the truth," he said, "the ALMIGHTY and I have not been on speaking terms for many years." As the large congregation became quite still and silent, Dr. Elam Davies declared, "While we may not be on speaking terms with our Father and God ” God is never, I repeat, never ” not on speaking terms with us." Two men went to the synagogue to pray. NOTICE, FIRST OF ALL, THAT THE ...

3028. God Believes In Us, Too

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

Dr. Chane M. Hutton

... of her conceit, her disregard of authority, and her blindness to her own limitations. Defeated, discouraged, and cynical, she says to the dean, "I'm not even sure that I believe in God." "That's not important just now," the dean replies. "I mean, it isn't quite so urgent, at present, whether you believe in God as whether He can believe in you. If you will conduct yourself in a manner that might encourage Him to believe in you, the time may come when you can feel that you should return the compliment." (6 ...

3029. Overcoming "Work-avoidance Syndrome"

2 Thessalonians 3:1-5

Sermon

King Duncan

... years later, he found himself going in circles, caught in a depressing holding pattern. No one seemed to appreciate his enthusiasm, his suggestions or his aggressive talents. Not one of the promotions ever promised panned out. He was bitter and disillusioned. One afternoon, he decided to quit. He was ready to pull up stakes, and head for California. But on that very day, while walking home, he spied a green object in the gutter. He picked it up, and to his complete shock, he saw that it was a $1,000 bill ...

3030. Thankful Day By Day

Philippians 4:2-9

Sermon

King Duncan

... s permit. That night, the king disguised himself and visited the cobbler again. Again he found the cheerful cobbler praising God. Since he could no longer repair shoes, the cobbler was earning money by drawing and delivering water to his neighbors. The king was quite impressed when the cobbler said once again, "Blessed be God, day by day." The next day the king decreed that no one could draw water. Then, he returned that night ” still in disguise ” to visit the cobbler. Once more the cobbler greeted him ...

3031. Living With The Aches And Alleluias

Mark 13:32-37

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... , there came power and there came light into our world. There came life and there came a future. No matter how hard circumstances seem to be, there is never a time in the life of a child of God when he or she ought to conclude, "That's it! I quit! I throw in the towel! I give up!" If God can reach down and touch the earth in all its darkness and sin and win the victory, God can bring victory into our situation whatever that situation may be. If freedom is the ability to fulfill the purpose for which ...

3032. Be Joyful

1 Thessalonians 5:12-28

Sermon

King Duncan

... the trains on Sunday. Thus, after he finished up his business late Saturday night, he had to stay over in St. Louis until the following Monday morning. On Sunday morning, he left the hotel looking for a place to worship. The streets were quite deserted, but finally he saw a policeman and asked him for directions to the nearest Protestant church. The stranger thanked the policeman for the information and was about to walk off when he turned and asked the policeman: "Why have you recommended that particular ...

3033. A Time For Miracles

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

King Duncan

... organized crime. According to this report, FBI agents conducted a raid of a psychiatric hospital in San Diego that was under investigation for medical insurance fraud. After hours of reviewing thousands of medical records, the dozens of agents had worked up quite an appetite. The agent in charge of the investigation called a nearby pizza parlor with delivery service to order a quick dinner for his colleagues. The following telephone conversation took place and was recorded by the FBI because they were ...

3034. Destined To Have A Great Year

Ephesians 1:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... work out. When Wayne Kraiss, president of Southern California College, was a rookie pastor in Wheaton, Illinois, he called upon a dear elderly woman who had immigrated to this country from Europe. He found her bedridden and very ill. Following his prayer, he was quite disappointed there was no apparent change in her condition. Reading the consternation on his face, she said, "Well pastor, this must be one of the all things.'" He asked what she meant. "When I was a little girl in Germany," she replied, "one ...

3035. A Lesson From Two Golfers And A Saint

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... he discovered in that tiny lake thousands of golf balls. Telling the course manager about his discovery he was offered ten cents a ball for all the balls he could retrieve. Reid made almost as much in one day as he did all week as a surveyor. Soon he quit his job with Walt Disney and submerged himself in his new business of golf ball diving. He became known as the Used Golf Ball King of Florida. He called his business "Second Chance," and in 1994 it was doing so well that he sold it for $5.1 million ...

3036. Running From God

Jonah 3:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... kind of man was to thrive as a powerful elite, a master race living "beyond good and evil." In his more exalted moments Nietzsche predicted that, in the future, history would be divided into "Before Nietzsche" and "After Nietzsche." Things didn't quite work out that way. The philosopher's mind began to break down. His health deteriorated; he began losing his sight. Paranoiac delusions of grandeur and persecution haunted him. Finally friends had to commit Nietzsche to an insane asylum. At this darkest hour ...

3037. Be Careful Which Entree You Choose

1 Corinthians 8:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... not live in a land such as ours where most of their neighbors were at least nominally Christian. The pagan faith of the Roman Empire contained so many corrupting practices that it was important for Christians to set themselves clearly apart. So they asked quite sincerely, should they accept the hospitality of their pagan neighbors by eating meat which had been offered to idols? Clearly Paul considered the question, on the surface, to be a non-issue. After all, idols have no real existence, so offering them ...

3038. When The Waters Begin To Rise

Genesis 9:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... . Often, as children will do when they are learning, his young pupils would leave inkblots on their pages. While most teachers would chastise the students, circling the inkblots in graphic red and taking away points for sloppy penmanship, Joseph Craik would do something quite different and delightful. Taking his talented pen in hand, and beginning with the blots made by the children, he would add a line here and another one there, and out of the inkblots would come pictures of angels! So when the students ...

3039. The Problem With The Big Ten

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... out that this was the first game of the 1965 World Series. Couldn't he pitch just a little? "No," Koufax said. Later in the series, however, Koufax pitched shutouts in games five and seven, and the Dodgers won the series, 4-3. Koufax's example was quite admirable, but a young man named Eli Herring, a 340-pound offensive tackle for Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah went one step farther. In his senior year Herring sported a 3.5 grade-point average and was judged a top senior offensive tackle in the pro ...

3040. Friends

John 15:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... Johnny ” but Marty was cut. Johnny, however, wouldn't sign without Marty, so the club gave in and awarded both of them a contract. Motivated by his friend's actions, Marty slowly began to improve. During their third year in the minor leagues Johnny washed out and quit. But Marty hung in there and became a rising star. Eventually he was called up to the majors for the St. Louis Cardinals as a shortstop. He played in four World Series and seven All-Star games, and in 1944 was named Most Valuable Player in ...

3041. Long Range Planning

Ephesians 1:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... be an atheist. We look at this beautiful and complex world and we ask ourselves, Could something this wonderful have happened by accident? Surely not. Put a thousand monkeys in a room with a thousand typewriters and in a billion or so years they might quite by accident produce Webster's dictionary, but would a billion mindless microbes in all eternity produce this magnificent universe? I think not. It would take an enormous leap of faith to believe they would. You have to work at it to doubt the existence ...

3042. All Dressed Up

Ephesians 6:10-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... and dry and protect us from hurting ourselves. They also make a statement about who we are and how we feel about ourselves. All of this and more is what the Apostle Paul has in mind when he tells us to put on the armor of God. The imagery is quite vivid. Christians are those who are going out into the world to do battle against evil. Thus we must dress as soldiers. The soldier Paul has in mind was a first-century soldier. Their uniforms were more critical than today's soldier's. They didn't have tanks and ...

3043. Good Taste Or Good Religion?

Mark 7:1-23

Sermon

King Duncan

... Potomac, Md., was robbed after letting his dogs outside at about 5:30 a.m. and leaving a sliding glass door unlocked. Instead of the dogs coming back in, the homeowner was confronted by one of the robbers, who pointed a gun at his head. The gunman "was quite polite throughout the whole episode," the homeowner, who asked not to be identified, told THE WASHINGTON POST. "We got into a conversation as if he was a buddy," the homeowner said. "By the time he left, I put my arm on his shoulder and said, 'I'm sorry ...

3044. Cut Your Losses!

Mark 9:42-50

Sermon

King Duncan

... had left out a comma from Mariner's computer program. Look to the little things. The little foxes eat the vines. Are there little foxes that are gnawing at the vine of your life? Let me give you an example. A motivational speaker once said that he had quit reading newspapers and watching the news on television. He said that once upon a time he had been a news junkie. He would read the newspaper through every morning. In the evening he would sit in front of the television for one hour to get the local and ...

3045. After The Beep

Isaiah 66:1-24

Sermon

King Duncan

... that, you'd like to leave a message, do so after the beep." (4) Can we not respond to God's call in much the same way? "No, I do not wish to consider changing my life. I do not wish to be more faithful to church. I am already quite happy with the extent to which I devote my talents and resources to the church. No, I do not wish to sing in the choir. No, I do not wish to come to the Bible Study. No, I will not serve on any committee of the church. If, after all ...

3046. In Search Of A Reason For Being

Hebrews 4:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... time"; and "I feel like I can relate to her." All of the comments were positive and reflected the deep love and admiration the students had for their leader. Fanny turned out to be an 83-year-old woman who walks with a cane and speaks quite slowly. During the interview with her, she inadvertently revealed one of the reasons why she is so successful with teenagers. She said, "Teenagers today are different from the teenagers of my generation . . ." Uh- oh. We've heard that before, haven't we? She's 83-years ...

3047. A Time For Hope

Isaiah 2:1-5

Sermon

King Duncan

... when we first believed." Dr. Leslie Weatherhead, that great British preacher and writer, tells in his book, THE TRANSFORMING FELLOWSHIP, about how he came to cope with his most vexing problems. One evening he came home from a difficult meeting, exhausted and quite depressed. Actually he was angry at someone at that meeting. He wanted in some way to express his anger. He thought of writing a bitter, cruel letter to crush his opponent. He constructed horribly mean phrases in his mind. He took great delight ...

3048. Centering On God

Luke 21:5-38

Sermon

... joy gone in our lives? And more importantly how can we recapture that joy? Those are the questions before us this Advent season. The first time we hear Jesus' words recorded in our Gospel lesson they seem to be anything but joyful. In fact they seem to have quite the opposite effect. Jesus speaks of the end of the world and his final coming in glory. But a careful reading shows an inner joy because Christians need not worry about when the end will come. We are in good hands. We need not live our lives in ...

3049. Getting Ready

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

... Claus with their lists of the toys they want for that great day. No doubt someone will ask you in the coming days, "Are you ready for Christmas?" We smile at the person who asks us this question and answer with, "Almost" or "Not quite yet," and we continue our busy preparations. Everyone has different things they do to get ready for Christmas. Some have worked out a systematic way of doing their Christmas shopping so that they are completely finished well before Christmas Day. Others prepare for Christmas ...

3050. The God Of Peace

Philippians 4:2-9

Sermon

King Duncan

... and gifts. The caption is a lament. Dennis says, "Is this all? Is this all I got this year?" (4) Christmas is a most dangerous time. Contrast Dennis' experience with that of the great writer Moss Hart. Hart once recalled a childhood Christmas. His family was quite poor, but his father took him shopping along the busy streets of New York City. They were looking for young Moss a Christmas present. The merchandise was displayed on push carts lined up beside the street. The young boy's eyes were fixed on such ...

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