Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 3126 to 3150 of 4944 results

3126. This Kiss

1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Not another way to divulge how old you are . . . Ever find yourself describing some task as "child's play?" Ever hear yourself mouth the words, "this is so simple a child could understand it . .?" Guess what? You've instantly dated yourself. You're ancient. You're a quaint antique. In today's digitized, down-loaded, DVD world, there is nothing more challenging, more frustrating, more mind-boggling than child's play. Have you even mastered, much less vaguely grasped, the VCR? Say nothing of the DVD, PC, WWW ...

3127. Under New Leadership

John 1:29-34

Sermon

King Duncan

Writer Robert Fulghum in his humorous book, Uh-Oh, tells about a neighbor of his who drives a brand-new Range Rover, a vehicle that Fulghum says “can outrun a lion and take a rhino charge head-on.” One Tuesday morning Fulghum left his house about the same time as his neighbor. The neighbor was carrying a golf bag, a gym bag, a raincoat, an umbrella, a coffee cup, a sack of garbage for the dumpster, and his briefcase. He was in a hurry. Two little pieces of toilet paper stuck to his chin from a hasty ...

3128. An Emmaus Experience

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Mark R. Smith

There's a story about a young boy named Walter Elias. He was born in the city, but his parents moved out to the country to become farmers. Walter had a vivid imagination and the farm was the perfect place for a young boy and a wondering mind. One day in the apple orchard he was amazed when he saw sitting on a branch of one of the apple trees an owl. He just stood there and stared at the owl. He thought about what his father had told him about owls: owls always rested during the day because they hunted ...

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. The Truth about Trouble

2 Timothy 4:16-18

Sermon

James Merritt

I want to confess that I am a Tarzan movie buff. I love all of the old Tarzan movies, especially the ones with Johnny Weismuller. Even though I have seen every alligator he has ever killed, every elephant he has ever called, and every vine he has ever swung from, I never get tired of watching his movies. I guess that's why this story is both so funny and so meaningful to me. It seems as if Tarzan was not himself, and Jane was very worried. It was apparent that Tarzan was developing a problem, a very ...

3131. Why Were the Wise Men Wise?

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

James Merritt

Go back in time 2,000 years, and imagine that you are one of the most respected scholars in the city of Babylon, perhaps even a professor in the university. You are getting your camel ready for a trip; one of your students comes by and says, "Teacher, where are you headed?" You reply, "I'm going to Palestine." He says, "Why, that is several months journey from here. Why are you going to Palestine?" You say, "Oh, I'm going to search for a king." He says, "Well, who is this king?" You reply, "I don't know. I ...

3132. Why?

Job 3:11-12, 16, 20, 23

Sermon

James Merritt

Every generation for the last sixty years has had an event occur that they will never forget. It is a bookmark on the hard drive of their memory. The World War II generation, still living, remembers exactly where they were December 7, 1941, when they heard about Pearl Harbor. For my generation, the boomer generation, the singular event we remember occurred on November 22, 1963, when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. I still remember walking back from the library to my sixth grade class, where ...

3133. Why You Should Spend Time with God

Psalm 37:4-7

Sermon

James Merritt

A man came home from a long day of work; he was totally exhausted. He entered into his son’s bedroom to tell him goodnight, and he was greatly irritated when his little boy began to badger him about money. The little boy said, “Daddy, how much money do you make?” The father grunted, “Enough!” Well, the boy pressed further and said, “I mean how much do you make an hour?” The man was not in the mood for any games, so he gave the boy a quick lecture and said, “They pay me $25 per hour.” The boy then said, “ ...

3134. The Near Edge of God

Jn 1:1-3, 14

Sermon

When I was three years old, I used to think that the true measure of things was how big they were in comparison to how big I was. There were Billy-sized things. And there were bigger things. But when I was three, almost everything fell into the category of "bigger things." Most everything was huge when I was small, but seems to have shrunk, now that I have become huge. Whenever I go back to the house in which I previously lived ... the school in which I previously studied ... the fields in which I ...

3135. From Worry To Trust

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

Perhaps the finest golf coach America ever produced was the late Harvey Penick of Texas. He wrote the Little Red Book which is sort of the “golfer’s Bible.” Mr. Penick said that most golfers do not think on the golf course; they just worry. “Worrying is a misuse of your mind on the golf course,” said Mr. Penick. “Whatever your obstacle, worry will only make it more difficult. Worry causes your muscles to tense up, and it is impossible to make a good golf swing when your muscles are too tense.” “Rather than ...

3136. Never Say What You Won't Do!

Genesis 2:4-25

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

The well-known pastor, teacher, and writer, Chuck Swindoll, has observed that dating couples are often less than honest with each other. This is even true when they are engaged. For example, a man may tell his wife-to-be how much he loves the symphony. He eagerly escorts her to these performances, grinning like a mule eating briars, trying to impress his fiancée with how much he loves the arts. She is thinking, oh boy, I finally found a really cultured man! However, when they return from the honeymoon, he ...

3137. Barnabas Found the Way

Acts 4:35-5:16

Sermon

John E. Harnish

Ah, nicknames. Sometimes they can be funny…like Pookey, Peanut or Pee-diddle. Sometimes they can be a problem. I am forever explaining why people call me Jack when my real name is John, while relatives who still can't tell me apart from my twin keep calling me "Twin" or Jim. And, of course, his name is really James. Sometimes nicknames can be very special. In our family, we still call our son David "DD" because that's what he first called himself. And one of my cherished memories is of my grandfather, the ...

3138. Breakfast on the Beach

John 21:1-14

Sermon

John E. Harnish

Another week passes after the events of Easter day. Simon Peter says, "I'm goin' fishin'." And the other disciples join in, "We will, too." Well, what else were they supposed to do?? Jesus had risen, and he had appeared to them twice by now, but they had no idea what was going to happen. Jesus just seemed to show up every now and then, usually unannounced. They had no clear direction from him yet as to what they should do next. "Let's just wait and see if he is going to drop in today..." This was not ...

3139. Get Real

1 Samuel 16:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

To "Get Real" ultimately means to "Get Spiritual." Any parent here not yet heard these words: "Get Real"? So how, after all, does one "Get Real"? What is the really real reality? When Samuel sat reviewing that parade of Jesse's sons, he was tempted to use all the old "Get Real" standards in order to pick a new king. But God reminded Samuel that the divine perception of reality differs significantly from our limited human view. When Samuel stopped using just his eyes and relied instead on the spirit of God ...

3140. What Gift Do You Have For Us?

Romans 12:1-8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

God's gifts are not unchanging "possessions" that are ours forever. They are constantly being renewed and transformed. All parents whose work takes them out on the road inevitably fall victim to the dreaded, genetically linked "traveling parent disease." This rarely discussed disease kicks in just as you finally enter the airport to begin your flight back home. Suddenly, visions of your small offspring, sadly moping around the house, rise to your consciousness, and you are obsessed with the unshakable need ...

3141. Just Say Know

Philippians 3:4b-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

We are living in a world of informational overload and relational anorexia. The call of the church must be to "know Christ" and to "make Christ known." Thus, "Just Say Know" may be a better addiction strategy than "Just Say No." Is there anyone here immune to the "Great American Dream"? The American "pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps" Dream lures us into believing that if we somehow just knew more, we could get ahead and get the jump on the next guy. You say you are immune to the Dream's magic spell? ...

3142. A-wake or A-live

Galatians 2:15-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

We are called, less to follow in the wake of Christ than to make new waves for Christ, or more precisely, to allow Christ to make new waves through us. Toward the end of the 19th century, Charles Sheldon, pastor of an average church in an average community in Topeka, Kansas, decided he needed to do something to perk up his Sunday evening services. Sheldon began preaching a kind of serial sermon, in which he told stories about average men and women and the kinds of situations and challenges they might find ...

3143. Do You Know Your Name?

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Passwords. Passwords. And more Passwords. Anyone here tired of passwords? Anyone here have a good way of remembering your passwords? Passwords are the open sesames to protected systems on the Internet. Want to pay for on eBay with PayPal? Password. Want to sign in to AOL, or Yahoo? Password. Want to micro-blog on Twitter? Password. Want to see your kids while you talk to them on Tokbox or Skype? Password. In fact, I can’t even get anything to come up on my computer unless I first give it a password. Every ...

3144. 2 Corinthians 5:16-21

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

What we call Paul's second letter to the Corinthian church is possibly the most personal and pugnacious of the apostle's surviving writings. Unlike 1 Corinthians, where there are theological interpretations to argue, here Paul is battling for the validity of his own apostleship and ministry. Consequently, an aura of self-defense runs throughout 2 Corinthians. Apparently Paul had revisited Corinth after writing the letter we call 1 Corinthians (which itself appears to incorporate parts of an earlier letter ...

3145. Hebrews 12:1-2, 12-17

Hebrews 12:1-2, 12-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

The homily to the Hebrews is full of dire warnings and extravagant promises. Both of these extremes are punctuated by the writer's almost frenetic pleas for the people to press on in faithfulness so that they may bring the promises to fruition in their own lives. The first two verses of chapter 12 establish a motif that the author continues through verse 13. Using familiar physicality, he creates an image that translates into the 20th century pulpit with as much power as it had in the first century. By ...

3146. 1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11

1 Peter 4:12-14, 5:6-11

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

This week's epistle reading may give us two different sets of texts, yet they share similar themes. As the author begins to wind up his first letter to the feeble Gentile Christians of Asia Minor, he continues to offer them encouragement in the midst of confusing and challenging days. There is a distinctly eschatological note sounded by the writer in his continuing advice and comfort. In 4:7, he declares outright that "the end of all things is near," and the images he invokes in the first half of today's ...

3147. 2 Corinthians 5:16-21

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

3148. Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

The parable of the prodigal son is perhaps the best-known and best-loved of all Jesus' parables. It is also best at generating seemingly infinite numbers of interpretations, understandings and themes. Start with the way we usually refer to the Luke 15:11-32 text: "The Prodigal Son." True, the behavior of the younger son plays a central role in this parable. But others have noted that an equally precise title for this tale might be "The Waiting Father," or "Joy and Repentance," or even "The Parable of the ...

3149. Easter Day

Isaiah 25:1-12, Mark 16:1-20, 1 Corinthians 15:12-34, 1 Corinthians 15:1-11, John 20:1-9

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Old Testament: Isaiah 25:6-9 This passage looks forward to the day when God will offer a feast for all nations. A banquet is the Old Testament symbol of the consummation of God's saving purpose in history. The feast will be a celebration of God's victory over death. God will swallow death up forever and thus death will no longer plague mankind. This is the work of God, and people have reason to celebrate his salvation with joy. Epistle: 1 Corinthians 15:1-11; 19-28 According to New Testament ...

3150. Epiphany 5

Isaiah 40:1-31, 1 Corinthians 9:1-27, Mark 1:29-34, Mark 1:35-39

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Old Testament: Isaiah 40:21-31 Chapter 40 is the opening chapter of Deutero-Isaiah written in 540 B.C. at a time of the Babylonian captivity. God's people are slaves in a foreign land. They are weak and helpless. They need a message from Yahweh. He is a God of power and glory. The people are saying that their God does not know of their situation. Yahweh reminds them that he is creator of the world, an everlasting God who gives strength to the powerless. They that wait on the Lord shall have his ...

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