Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 3126 to 3150 of 4946 results

3126. The Church on Main Street

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

James McCormick

During my years of ministry, church buildings have been located in a variety of places. There was Monterey Road, Clinton Boulevard, Culver Avenue, Gibbs Street, Duarte Road, Hardy Street. And in 1982, for the first time I became pastor of a church on Main Street. I’ve always thought that is where the church should be – not off on some side street somewhere - but on Main Street. Of course, you know, when I talk about Main Street, I am not talking primarily about geography. I am talking about ideas and ...

3127. Parable of the Crabby Grass

Matthew 13:24-30

Children's Sermon

Brett Blair

Exegetical Aim: Encouragement to be wheat rather than tares. Props: A tray, a strand or clump of good grass, and a patch of crabgrass (or weed). Try and pull up one whole system of each. Place the grass side by side in the tray so that they initially look like one system of grass. Lesson: I have something in this tray. Can anybody tell me what it is? (grass) Is there anything strange about the grass? (response) Look at it closely; do you notice anything odd? (response) If they do not see the difference ...

3128. Changed Lives - Mary Magdalene

John 20:10-18

Sermon

King Duncan

A pastor went to a nursing home to offer communion to the residents. This was not one of those upscale places called a retirement center. This facility was for the poor and its residents were mostly in various stages of dementia. When the pastor arrived she was told by a volunteer, who was wheeling patients into the room, that since it was late afternoon, everyone’s medication seemed to be wearing off. Some would sleep through the service as usual, but for the most part, her little congregation would be on ...

3129. What's Holding You Together?

Matthew 7:21-23

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

One of the hottest YouTube videos the past couple of weeks is one where evangelist Louie Giglio introduces the molecular cellular structure called “laminin.” Giglio uses laminin to show how we are “fearfully and wonderfully made.” I want to use laminin to challenge you this morning with a fearful and wonderful choice. It’s a choice that determines how you go through life: trying to hold yourself together, or being held in the hands of a loving God. Are you trying to hold the whole word in your hands? Or ...

3130. America in the Mirror

2 Kings 17:5-23

Sermon

James Merritt

Oftentimes the question is asked, "Is America in the Bible?" Well, the answer to that question is both no and yes. No, I do not find America directly in the Bible; I know of no Bible prophecy that can be directly traced to United States. But on the other hand, I do believe we see in the Bible a parallel to America. I see a nation, which in many ways, pictures the past, the path, and the problems of America. Israel was born supernaturally, and almost instantaneously. Like America, Israel was at one time the ...

3131. Sowing the Seed

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

Illustration

David E. Leininger

One of William Barclay's friends tells this story. In the church where he worshiped there was a lonely old man, old Thomas. He had outlived all his friends and hardly anyone knew him. When Thomas died, this friend had the feeling that there would be no one to go to the funeral so he decided to go, so that there might be someone to follow the old man to his last resting-place. There was no one else, and it was a miserable wet day. The funeral reached the cemetery, and at the gate there was a soldier waiting ...

3132. The Attitude of Gratitude

1 Thessalonians 5:18

Sermon

James Merritt

Rudyard Kipling was a best selling English author at the turn of the century. He wrote one of the best books for children of all time, entitled, The Jungle Book as well as the poem "Gunga Den." He made a tremendous amount of money with his writings. A newspaper reporter came up to him one time and said, "Mr. Kipling, I just read that somebody calculated that the money you make from your writings amounts to over $100 a word." Kipling raised his eyebrows and said, "Really, I certainly was not aware of that ...

3133. The Lion King

Revelation 5:1-14

Sermon

James Merritt

There was a Gypsy in England who stopped a preacher one day; not knowing he was a preacher, she said she would tell his future for $500. The preacher said, "You mean you can tell me what I will be doing a year from now if I give you $500?" The fortune-telling Gypsy said, "I can tell you exactly what you will be doing a year from now." The preacher then asked, "You mean you can tell me what I'll be doing this time tomorrow?" The Gypsy said, "Absolutely." The pastor then said, "If you will tell me what I was ...

3134. Why Not Now?

Acts 8:26-40

Sermon

John E. Harnish

So Philip went down the road from Jerusalem to Gaza. Wow, if that doesn't carry powerful imagery. I don't know what all it could have meant for Luke or Philip, but I know what it means for us. The road from Jerusalem to Gaza is probably the most critical road in the world—the road which symbolizes all the tensions and conflict of our world; the road most needed and hardest to travel; the road on which the future of the world seems to hang; the road which symbolizes the difficult path to peace in our world ...

3135. Unacceptable

Mark 8:31-38

Sermon

David T. Ball

Going off to college can be an unsettling experience for Christian students. Somewhere, sometime, college students are going to encounter, and many for the first time, the notion that there is no such thing as absolute truth. Truth with a capital “T.” We may wish that the situation could be otherwise. Parents may especially wish, after all they’ve invested in trying to instill positive values in their children, that the college experience would reinforce rather than undermine whatever they’ve been able to ...

3136. Final Instructions

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

Ron Lavin

(Note: Suggestion for reading the lessons on Ascension Sunday: In order to get the proper historical flow you may want to read Acts 1:1-11 after reading the Gospel, Luke 24:44-53.) When you love someone, you try to fulfill their final deathbed directions. If your loved one has a last will and testament, you try to carry out the final instructions contained therein. In Acts 1:1-11 we have Jesus' last will and testament, his final teaching about the kingdom of God and his final instructions to the apostles ...

3137. Healing in His Wings

Acts 14:8-18

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Jesus spent his entire ministry doing three things: preaching, teaching and healing. This sermon explores the three steps to a healing ministry and healing church. The reign of modernism in our culture has been shored up by a very powerful myth we long to believe: that we can be in control through technological manipulation and mastery. The quest to control nature has led to an explosion in scientific knowledge - allowing us to splice genes, wipe out pathogens and multiply our food supply. Likewise our ...

3138. Help Wanted: Only Shunammites Need Apply

2 Kings 4:8-37

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

It is time to bring back the early Christian tradition of hospitality as expressed in the "Shunammite household." While the story of the Shunammite woman might be an unfamiliar one today, she served as an important symbol among evangelical Christians in the 19th century. In American religious history, there was a tradition known as "Shunammite households" which played a crucial role in the development of frontier faith communities. In the days when itinerancy meant moving on every few hours, not every few ...

3139. What Are You Looking For?

John 1:35-42

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

In a world where spirituality has become a consumer item, we must confess Jesus as Lord. Why are you sitting here in church this morning? What possibly possessed you to climb out of your warm bed on a dim, cold and quiet Sunday morning and come to church ... again?! Christmas is over, remember? The tree is down, the ornaments put away, even the pine needles have pretty much worked themselves out of the carpet by now. There is no big liturgical holiday scheduled for this Sunday. And yet there you sit. I see ...

3140. Acts 9:1-20

Acts 9:1-20

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

Acts 9:1-20 recounts one of the church's all-time favorite stories: how Saul of Tarsus, perhaps the most vehement persecutor of Jesus' followers, was transformed into Paul the apostle, the Lord's own voice to the Gentiles. The famous Damascus Road theophany has been held up to all generations of the church as one of the most stirring and miraculous transformations ever recorded. Luke's sense of drama and gift for storytelling skillfully places this first of three accounts of Saul's conversion as a ...

3141. Acts 9:1-20

Acts 9:1-20

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

3142. Facing the Wild Beasts Within

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

Mike Ripski

I. What Lent is for At his baptism, Jesus heard heaven’s Voice say, “You are my Son, my Beloved; I am very pleased with you.” The Holy Spirit descends upon him to empower Jesus to be who the Voice said he is. But what does it mean to be the Beloved Child of God? Answering that question and living the answer is why the Spirit has driven him into the desert. What does it mean for us to be beloved children of God? And how well are we being who we are? Isn’t this what Lent is for? Will we allow the same Spirit ...

3143. No More Static Cling!

John 20:10-18

Sermon

Mike Ripski

Had you entered the sanctuary this morning and seen red poinsettias and heard the greeting, “Merry Christmas,” you might have thought, “Someone has taken my Easter, and I don’t know where they’ve put it.” You would be transported back in time to the experience of those who went to the tomb that first Easter morning. What they found wasn’t what they expected. Now you’re ready to hear the Easter story from the Fourth Gospel. (The Gospel is read dramatically.) A. Predictability, familiarity, and …. Easter has ...

3144. Hurts Can Heal

2 Corinthians 4:1-18

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Have any of you ever looked through “night vision goggles.” [Or, if you can get a pair to show to the congregation . . . . ] Do any of you know what these are? Night vision goggles. Used by the military, and in all good spy novels, the special light source used in “night vision” technology allows you to see someone as much as 200 yards away on a moonless night. Night vision goggles project out either a near infra-red light source, or ultraviolet radiation, to detect the presence of individual photons. The ...

3145. It's Not a Snuggie Love

Mark 15:1-15, Mark 11:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Now that “March Madness” is over it is time to reclaim our particularities. Part of the “madness” the basketball championships generate is our love for, our longing to be, part of a crowd. In a crowd we can become a totally different person. *Shy, reserved people scream until hoarse. *Non-violent, peace-activists holler for their team to “kill’em!” *Guys who don’t like to take their shirts off at the beach, paint their bellies blue or green or orange, and hope to get their hairy paunch on national ...

3146. Easter 7

Acts 1:12-26, 1 John 5:1-12, John 17:6-19

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Epistle: Acts 1:15-17, 21-26 The church is living between Jesus' departure and the coming of the Spirit. The time has come to fill the vacancy caused by Judas' suicide. The one to be chosen as a replacement is to be one who shared the experience with Jesus from the time of his baptism to his ascension and one who can witness to the resurrection. Two men met the qualifications: Joseph and Matthias. God and not the church elected Matthias. The church merely asked the ascended Lord which of the two ...

3147. Lent 3

Exodus 20:1-21, 1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5, John 2:12-25

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Old Testament: Exodus 20:1-21 The 10 commandments are unconditional demands of God. They are absolute laws that express the will of God for his people. Israel is his people, for a covenant was established at Mount Sinai. The commandments follow the covenant relationship as the people's response to God's grace in making the covenant. They are not conditions to be met before God is their God, but rather because he is their God. They will live as his children according to these absolute laws. The ...

3148. The Lord’s Supper

1 Corinthians 11:23-34

Sermon

James Merritt

What we are about to do today is observe an event that is 2000 years old, but that event is based upon another event that is 1000 years older than that. I take you back 3000 years to the land of Egypt to an event known to the Jewish nation as "Passover". The God appointed leader of the nation of Israel was a man named, Moses. God had instructed Moses to go to Pharaoh, who was the leader of the Egyptian nation and command him to allow the Hebrews (that is the Jewish people) to leave Egypt so they could ...

3149. Did You Know...That You Can Be Perfect?

1 John 3:1-3

Sermon

James Merritt

Have you ever met a perfect person? I came across this story that I want to read to you about perfection. Once upon a time, a perfect man and a perfect woman met. After a perfect courtship, they had a perfect wedding. Their life together was absolutely perfect. One snowy, stormy Christmas Eve this perfect couple was driving their perfect car along a winding road when they noticed someone at the side of the road in distress. Being the perfect couple, they stopped to help. There stood Santa Claus with a huge ...

3150. Gratitude: A State of Mind

Luke 17:11-19

Sermon

John Wayne Clarke

Today's Gospel Reading reminds us once again that Jesus' journey has a destination. He is moving, slowly but surely, toward the holy city. Today we watch and listen as Jesus comes into Bethany, and his journey toward Jerusalem comes ever closer. Geographically, Jesus is probably somewhere between Samaria and Galilee. The miracle that happens here is not in keeping with his other miracles. The miracle has an unusual skew to it. We have learned to expect Jesus to heal someone and for that healing to happen ...

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