Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 3151 to 3175 of 4972 results

3151. EPISODE 5: THE FIFTH WEEK IN LENT

Drama

Robert Clausen

... sentiments he may pretend, he has a hold upon the people. GOVERNOR: So do we, and we are not alarmed. BISHOP: An outbreak ... a disturbance ... may undermine your own position. GOVERNOR: I refuse to be drawn into it. BISHOP: If this man is not stopped, Governor, you will be drawn into it whether you like it or not. [A shouting is heard in the distance.] GOVERNOR: What is that noise outside? Captain! CAPTAIN: [Entering] Yes, Governor? GOVERNOR: What is that uproar in the streets? CAPTAIN: It’s some sort ...

3152. The Art of Living Until

Matthew 24:36-51

Sermon

Leonard Mann

... make this the most important thing in your life all along the way. Now, my friend, all of this may come through to you as a gloomy and uninspiring prospect, the prospect of diminishing alternatives as the roads of life converge upon the narrow place. But we are not stopping here. This is only the first of the things we need to understand about the art of living until. We go on now to look beyond the narrow place. And, even over there, we can hear the word of Jesus, "The end is not yet." What is life? Well ...

3153. The Time of Our Visitation

Sermon

Leonard Mann

... sins are forgiven you" (Luke 7:48). He lived about 33 years, and some may say that that was that. But not quite - not in the case of Jesus. He didn’t quit when he was 33. There was something about him that Pontius Pilate could not stop, something that neither the Jerusalem hierarchy nor the Roman Empire could bring to an end. And this brings us to the second act in the drama: his death. Most people, born into the world, manage to get themselves identified somewhat with the humanity which inhabits this ...

3154. The Light that Shines Within

John 1:1-18

Sermon

Leonard Mann

... to do alone. If you are going the right places, he’ll be in every step you take, and although you may falter, he will not. When you fall, he will be there to pick you up again. When you are weary, he will be strong. And when you must stop for sleeping, you can trust him to stay awake and to be there to take your hand again when the morning light calls you to go on. Let me tell you now about a third aspect of our living in the light. We may - and should - live in the light ...

3155. Name Above Every Name

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

Leonard Mann

... ... I am the bread of heaven ... I am the water of life ..." But there was one time when, I believe, Jesus identified himself in a very special way. It was when he, the risen Christ, victorious, glorified, met Saul of Tarsus on that Damascus Road and stopped him there. Out of the brilliance of the light that shone that noonday, he said, "Saul, Saul." Saul answered, "Who are you, Lord?" And very simply the Lord replied, "I AM JESUS" (Acts 9:4-5). He gave no identification other than that name. He offered no ...

3156. Become an Ant

Isaiah 43:14-28

Sermon

Jon L. Joyce

... his shadow was not over the anthill, the ants resumed their activities. Intrigued by the ants’ reaction to shadow and light, he proceeded to conduct a little experiment. He repeated his movements and noticed that each time his shadow crossed the anthill, all activity stopped. Evidently they were afraid of the sudden darkness, he concluded. He wondered how he could prove to the ants that he meant them no harm. He concluded, finally, that the only way he could do this successfully would be to become an ant ...

3157. God is Laughing at Us

Zechariah 9:9-13

Illustration

Jon L. Joyce

... story build up to a bigger letdown. The palm wavers obviously thought that Christ was riding in to take over the government of the Jews. The Kingdom had come at last! And here they were right in the front pew! They watched him as he stopped the procession and went into the Temple, and when he was inside, they waited breathlessly for some cataclysmic sign from Heaven. And what happened? Nothing! Absolutely nothing! In fact, even the Gospel writers couldn’t quite get the flat taste of it out of their mouths ...

3158. The Old and the New

1 Corinthians 5:1-13

Sermon

Jon L. Joyce

... were all conservative, we would dry up. It has never been better said than by Winston Churchill: "If we open a quarrel between the past and the present, we shall find that we have lost the future." The New Testament is not a conservative book. We cannot stop with the old. That is what makes revolutions. Custom! How many rivers grow stagnant in that swamp? How many garments have been torn on that old nail? Custom! The way we have always done it, the things we keep on doing, the words we keep on saying after ...

3159. Signs Of A Vital Church

2 Corinthians 2:12--3:6, 2 Corinthians 4:1-18

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... ...It Needs You!" When the third week rolled around, the youth got their chance to produce the message. Their advertisement became very quickly the talk of the town. It said: "Best Little Church House in Texas!" Needless to say, the Administrative Board put a stop to further creativity regarding the sign. A sign out front does not tell much about a church. Rather, the signs within the church tell the true story. St. Paul pointed to some of these signs in our scripture lesson for today. As I identify ...

3160. Moving Fences

2 Corinthians 5:16-19

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... prejudice? In the award-winning novel, "Gandhi," a Hindu leader co the bedside of the great Indian leader, who is now near death. The Hindu pleads with him to end his long fast. Gandhi reaffirms that he will end his fast only when the Hindus and Muslims stop fighting. The Hindu, with hatred for the Muslims burning in his eyes, says he will continue fighting. To justify his resolve he tells how Muslims took his little boy and killed him by crushing his skull. He in turn captured a Muslim boy and killed him ...

3161. Thorns and Roses

2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... long eyelashes over deep blue eyes and purred, "Clarence, you forgot the chocolate syrup." Love will make a person do strange things. Clarence got back into that boat and returned to the store for syrup. As he rowed back toward the island, suddenly he stopped. He sat there in the boat the rest of the afternoon, fascinated by an idea. By the end of that afternoon, Clarence Evinrude had invented the outboard motor. And by the way, Clarence later married the girl who waited so long on the island. Clarence ...

3162. Please Pass The Salt

Matthew 5:13-16

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... guest on the show a star of NYPD Blue, ABC's crime drama. At the beginning of the show Kathie Lee was advertising the guest who would appear, noting that NYPD Blue was the first network TV show to feature profanity and partial nudity. Suddenly Kathie Lee stopped reading the script and said, "I certainly don't think we ought to be proud of a show with profanity and partial nudity." The guest star was so offended that he walked off the set. But Kathie Lee got thousands of affirming letters because she had the ...

3163. Saints With Crooked Haloes

2 Samuel 12:1-31

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... who are made not out of plaster and platitude and moral perfection but out of human flesh. I mean saints who have their rough edges and their blind spots like everyone else, but whose lives are transparent to something so extraordinary that every so often it stops us dead in our tracks." I know that God must have a good sense of humor. If twenty-five years ago you had listed the most unlikely persons to serve Jesus Christ, you would probably have included a lawyer and ex-Marine serving in President Richard ...

3164. A Teddy Bear and Christmas

John 3:1-21

Illustration

Bill Bouknight

... understand?" Then Tony did something totally unexpected. He said to his surgeon friend, "I want you to have this," and handed him his teddy bear. The surgeon’s first impulse was to say, "Oh no, I can’t separate you two good friends." But something stopped him. With a flash of sensitive genius, the surgeon understood what Tony was trying to do. He wanted to give his dear surgeon-friend the most precious gift at his disposal, so full was his heart with love. The wise surgeon accepted the teddy bear with ...

3165. The Stepfather of God

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... circumstances were exactly the same for him as for the other dog, his reaction was totally different. He was utterly content. Why? Because his master was beside him. Occasionally this little dog would look up at his master as if to say, "This is one crazy world. I have stopped trying to figure it out. But you are in it with me and I trust you to make things work out." That is the kind of faith we need this Christmas. The kind that one often sees in a child. This is a Joseph kind of faith. That faith ...

3166. Do Wrinkles Hurt?

Psalm 92:1-15

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... Holmes when Holmes was in his late nineties. He found the retired justice reading Plato's "Republic." Truman said, "Justice Holmes, why at this point in life would you be reading something as deep as that?" Holmes replied, "I may be old, but I haven't stopped growing." My favorite story about Justice Holmes relates to a time when he was 91 years old but still an active Supreme Court justice. He and Justice Brandeis (who was 85) were walking down the sidewalk one day. A young lady passed them from the ...

3167. When God Is Your Guide

Acts 20:13-38

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... 's chosen way for him, and that made it good. Let me set the scene for you. St. Paul has sent word ahead to the elders of the Ephesian Church that he wants to meet them. He is in a big hurry, on his way to Jerusalem. His ship will stop at Miletus very briefly. So he sends word to the elders to meet him there. They gather, perhaps on the beach. These men love Paul. He is their father in the faith. They have prayed, witnessed, and suffered together. He introduced most of them to Jesus. Paul tells them that ...

3168. The Level Ground Beneath The Cross

Romans 3:21-31, Romans 3:9-20

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... has been transformed into a place of mercy. An elderly lady walked slowly into a life insurance office in Minneapolis during the worst part of the Great Depression. No one had ever explained to her how life insurance works. She wanted to know if she could stop paying the premiums on her husband's life insurance policy. "He's been dead sometime now," she said, "and I don't believe I can afford to make the payments any more." The agent looked up her husband's policy and discovered it was worth several ...

3169. A Courtroom Confrontation

Matthew 27:11-26

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... --heretic, rebel, a thing to flout; but love and I had the wit to win; we drew a circle that took him in." You see, we must replace resentment with forgiveness, not just because Jesus said so, but also because it is the only way to stop poisoning ourselves. Is there some kind of invisible rope that is binding you today? Could it be an addiction or racism or excessive political partisanship? Could it be an illicit relationship or pride or jealousy? What if anything is handicapping your ability to reflect the ...

3170. Decaffeinated Christianity

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... You fair-weather friends, you yellow cowards will run for cover the first time you smell real danger." Instead he said, "It is not my prerogative to give places of honor in the Kingdom; that is the task of God the Father." Then he said something like this: "stop thinking about what's in it for you. We don't operate like other organizations in this world where rank has its privileges. In our operation the greatest people are the ones who serve the most. Remember, I didn't come to this earth to be served but ...

3171. Christ Shall Return

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... reason I began to notice how many homes were equipped with security bars on doors and windows to repel burglars. For over a mile, passing hundreds of houses, every single one featured bars. Every single household believed such an expense was necessary in order to stop thieves. What a commentary on the morality of our culture! Jesus urged us to read the signs of the times and be watchful. The third and most important preparation we can make for Christ's return is to repent, believe the gospel, and share the ...

3172. "Hands Off!"

Exodus 20:1-21, Luke 19:11-27

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... on charging our bills to our grandchildren. It is called deficit spending. We are using our grandchildren's credit cards without their permission, and that is stealing. The politicians are so addicted to this shameful practice that they will never stop unless we express monumental outrage. And, we must be willing to see our government benefits reduced. That takes character. We must change the mentality that is illustrated by the following story. Three friends met for dinner, a purely social occasion. The ...

3173. Where Are You?

Genesis 3:1-24

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... . Two electrical engineers were on duty that night. Whether they were sober or not is unclear, but they were playing around with the machines. These engineers had to override manually six separate computer-driven alarm systems. One by one the computers said, "Stop! Dangerous! Go no further!" But one by one these computers were shut off by the engineers and they proceeded with their experiment. We will never know the full extent of the tragedy of Chernobyl. The nuclear fallout from it was recorded allover ...

3174. The Cross In My Pocket

Isaiah 52:13--53:12, Luke 9:18-27

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... required a cross. Some years ago in England there was a shortage in the emergency blood supply. A rather unique method was devised to overcome it. When they gave traffic tickets in London, the fine could be paid with money or with a pint of blood. One man was stopped and told his options. He went to the blood bank and gave his pint of blood and was given a receipt. He took it to city hall. There the magistrate stamped the receipt, "Paid in blood." Our salvation has been paid for in blood. The Bible tells us ...

3175. Controlling Our Cravings

Luke 12:13-21, Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... WRONG TO DESIRE THINGS THAT BELONG TO OTHER PEOPLE< THINGS TO WHICH WE HAVE NO RIGHT. Remember, this was King David's grievous failing. One night his eyes fell upon a beautiful woman and he wanted her. Bathsheba was another man's wife but that did not stop David. He committed murder and adultery in order to satisfy his lust and covetousness. One day a man asked a favor of Jesus: "Tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me." But Jesus did not do as the man asked. Instead, he gave him a warning ...

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