Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 301 to 325 of 2962 results

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... a big decorated box had been placed at the front of the room by the teacher. It had a slit in the top. Each student had been invited to bring valentines addressed to friends and to drop them into the box. Then on Valentine's Day, one student was designated by the teacher as the postman to distribute the cards. Earlier that week Drew's mother had bought a package of 35 valentine cards. Drew asked her, "Why did you buy so many?" She replied, "So you can give one to each person in your class." "No ma'am ...

302. The Burden Bearing Christ

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

Brett Blair

... Jesus invites us to take, the yoke that brings rest to weary souls, is one that is made exactly to our lives and hearts. The yoke he invites us to wear fits us well, does not rub us nor cause us to develop sore spirits and is designed for two. His yokes were always designed for two. And our yoke-partner is none other than Christ himself. Running throughout all scripture from the beginning to the end is the theme that ours is a burden bearing Christ. He is not just a Lord whom we burden, and we do, but a ...

303. The Force

Acts 7:1-53

Illustration

Larry Powell

... air before they would finally come down fitted together to form the perfect picture? The chances of that ever happening are about as likely as the universe having "just accumulated" out of cosmic stuff, without design, without a creator. All evidence, no matter how paltry, points to the same conclusion: the universe is designed! On the lowly end of the spectrum, the earthworms in an acre of soil can bring to the surface more than eighteen tons of earth. In twenty years, a new layer of topsoil three inches ...

304. See the Resemblance

John 1:1-18

Illustration

Larry Powell

... the movements in nature and referred to them in order to illustrate his message; birds gathering into trees, foxes going into dens, figs withering, storm clouds boiling. Jesus affirmed life in such a positive manner, experiencing and relating to God’s great intention and design for all he had made, that we may understand life is not to be either seized nor rejected, but "lived" in an attitude of "Praise God!" In the harmony of Christ’s life with creation, we see something of God’s great intention and ...

305. Stewards and Our Bodies

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

... ." The Gift of Sexuality Human sexuality is a gift from the Creator to understand and to enjoy. The early creation story in Genesis states: "So God created human beings, making them to be like himself. He created them male and female." Human sexuality is a part of our Creator’s design to make us in his image. To be male and female is one of God’s many gifts, and we must never use sex as a basis for discrimination of any kind. One is not better than the other, and we must see ourselves as being a part of ...

306. Stewards and Our Gifts

1 Corinthians 12:12-31, 1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

... Airlines has only one or two flights a day, they don’t invest in a tractor. They just put out large metal flippers in back of the jets which reverse the flow of the air and actually push the plane backwards with the same energy that had been designed to pull it forward. That can be true in the Christian church as well. The same energy and abilities that God gives members to use for upbuilding the church and supporting each other can be used to cause dissension and disunity in the same Body of Christ. No ...

307. Total Commitment

Mark 9:42-50

Sermon

Richard Patt

... what were probably dead batteries. The batteries wouldn’t come out, but finally, after some effort, he shook them loose. What a mess he found! Corroded batteries with liquid acid seeping all over the mechanism - all because he hadn’t used the flashlight regularly! Batteries are designed to be turned on, to be used, not neglected or ignored. What you and I refuse to use we will surely lose. We’re meant to he turned on, too. Our gifts are to be used! Our lives are not meant to he "waited out" but ...

308. Man, Where Are You?

Genesis 3:1-24

Sermon

Alton F. Wedel

... itself in death. The perfect world of God’s creation has been turned to turmoil, the harmony to enmity. The plan of God is overshadowed by the schemes of people. Where nature was to be a friend to people, it became an enemy. Where people were designed as stewards, they became exploiters. Where they were meant to live in love and peace and fellowship with one another, they began to fight each other, looking out for number one. Perhaps we need to be reminded here that this name "Adam" is the Hebrew word ...

309. Plumb Line Prophecy

Amos 7:1-9, Amos 7:10-17

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

... our commitment to God is often casual and half-hearted. How is it they describe us overseas? “In America, Christianity is 3,000 miles wide and a half-inch deep!” We are not at all what we like to think we are. We are out of plumb with God’s design for us. The words of another ancient prophet need to be sounded again in America: When the Lord your God has brought you into the land that he swore to your ancestors ... a land with fine, large cities that you did not build, houses filled with all sorts of ...

310. The Promising Child

1 Samuel 2:12-26

Sermon

Harry N. Huxhold

... brought him a linen ephod which she lovingly and carefully fashioned for him each year. The ephod was a liturgical garment. It was a light garment that covered only the front of the body. As an apron-type garment it was meant for service in the temple and designated the wearer of it as a servant for the worship ceremonies. No doubt, she took pride in her handiwork but was all the more proud of her son Samuel as he performed his duties and functions in the house of the Lord. By the same token, Samuel must ...

311. The Promise of Baptism

Isaiah 43:1-13

Sermon

Harry N. Huxhold

... in the same way. We can appeal to it always as a reminder that God gave baptism as the sign, and we can trust it, because God stands behind it. Baptism Is For The Future The crowning feature of the baptism God has created for us is that it is designed for the future. The purpose of Isaiah’s word for his people was to assure them that God would deliver them from the exile, but in so doing God was preparing and creating them for the future. They were to share in God’s glory. They are the people, God ...

312. Light to Serve

Isaiah 6:1-13

Sermon

Harry N. Huxhold

... filled with smoke, one more sign of the presence of the Holy One. The experience was overwhelming for the priest Isaiah. The design of the liturgical worship and the worship place for the Hebrews was that the priest would enter the holy of holies to ... to see the results of their work among people in the same way. We can take heart the same way. What the Season of Epiphany is designed to do is to make us alert to the light God has shined into our lives through the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. The ...

313. Sight to the Blind

Luke 4:14-30

Illustration

Brett Blair

... was sitting in his father's workshop watching his dad work on a harness. "Someday Father," said Louis, "I want to be a harness-maker, just like you." "Why not start now?" said the father. He took a piece of leather and drew a design on it. "Now" he said, "take the hole-punch and hammer out this design, but be careful that you don't hit your hand." Excited, the boy began to work, but when he hit the hole-punch, it flew out of his hand and pierced his eye! He lost his sight in that eye. Later, as fate ...

314. The World Is Crowded With Gethsemanes

Luke 22:39-46

Sermon

Brett Blair

... first century and worked with a gethsemane your day would be spent gathering olives, placing them in a woven fishnet like bag, and putting them on top of a stone table. This specially designed table is round with beveled edges that curve down to a trough. The trough is angled and funnels into a pot which holds the oil. The top is designed to receive the gethsemane. The tall square stone is lifted up and set on top of the basket and for several hours its tremendous weight is left there to crush the liquid ...

315. What Can We Count On From God?

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

James W. Moore

... your best and trust God for the rest. The poet put it like this: It is only a tiny rosebud, A flower of God’s design; But I cannot unfold the petal With these clumsy hands of mine. The secret of unfolding flowers Is not known to such as I. GOD opens this flower ... so easily, But in my hands they die. If I cannot unfold a rosebud, This flower of God’s design, Then how can I have the wisdom To unfold this life of mine? So I’ll trust in God for leading Each moment of my day. I ...

316. The Apostles' Creed: Maker of Heaven and Earth

Genesis 1:1-2:3

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth." This earth and our life on it is truly fascinating. For example, you science majors know that the earth's relationship to the sun is not perpendicular - it is tilted at a 23-degree angle.(1) An accident? Or by design? While tilted at this 23-degree angle, our world is rotating on its axis at about 1000 miles per hour. Scientists say if the rotation were only 100 miles per hour, our days and nights would be ten times as long, and whatever survived the incredibly ...

317. The Ten Commandments #9: No False Witness

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... witness was first and foremost forensic in nature. Its prime focus was testimony before a court. The reason it did not flatly prohibit lying of any sort is that these Ten Commandments are not to be understood as a code of personal conduct, but rather God's design for a just and decent society. The concern here is justice, for a society that would protect the weak from the strong, the poor from the rich, the simple from the crafty. The opposite side of that coin called for an active defense of those who had ...

318. God and Hurricanes

Matthew 5:43-48

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... asked for yesterday, I ask also that you pray for people to survive the evacuation. This is nuts. It wasn't until after dark that the governor allowed the east-bound lanes of the interstate to be reversed so people could get out more easily. Who designed this infrastructure anyway? You might need to pray harder for our sense of humor to stay intact.(2) Probably so. Fortunately, the catastrophe that could easily have occurred did not. Floyd weakened as it moved north, so by the time it made landfall at Cape ...

319. On Fooling a Mafia Don

Luke 16:1-15

Sermon

King Duncan

... . When the astonished mafioso tried on his new suit, the tailor explained that wing-tipped knees were the latest fashion in the great capitals of the world. As proof, he pointed to his assistants: each of his assistants now wore trousers with the identical sewn design. The don left, happily in style. (1) Now let me ask you a question. Did the tailor do wrong in misleading the Mafia boss? Most of us admire the tailor's ingenuity, but technically he did lie. His lie probably did no harm and probably kept ...

320. The Love of a Father (Father's Day)

Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

King Duncan

... never grow into responsible, competent, mature adults. Overcoming obstacles produces character and competence. God has placed us in a world that is designed to bring out the best within us if we deal with life in an attitude of faith and love. That does not mean ... that he has forsaken us or forgotten us. It simply means that this world is a training school designed to produce souls fit to share eternity with Him. There is a second truth related to this one. II. Life's Problems Are ...

321. Winning When It Really Counts

Philippians 3:12-4:1

Sermon

King Duncan

... to existence. They feel no high calling. They are content simply to live from one day to the next with their eyes fixed on this world. There is another kind of people, though. These people do sense a grand design to life. They feel that they are part of something purposeful and powerful. As participants in God’s plan for creation, they do seek to discipline and guide their lives following the best they know. Why? Because they are shaping themselves not only for this world, but also for the ...

322. Are You the One Who Is to Come?

Matthew 11:1-19

Sermon

King Duncan

... auction block for public auction. Prospective buyers and on-lookers chuckled as item after item was put up for bid; such as a "bed-bug buster" or an "illuminated cat" that was designed to scare away mice. Then there was a device to prevent snoring. It consisted of a trumpet that reached from the mouth to the ear; and was designed to awaken the snorer and not the neighbors. And then there was the adjustable pulpit that could be raised or lowered according to the height of the preacher. Needless to say, this ...

323. Never Too Old for an Adventure

Romans 4:1-25

Sermon

King Duncan

... years ago. The purse is worn out and long gone as are at least half a dozen others. The gift of the purse gave her mother a new sense of hope. Jane's mother just celebrated her eighty-third birthday. Jane bought her, you guessed it, the most expensive designer purse she could find. "She'll use it well," Jane says. (2) There is power in trust. That's where faith begins. Abraham trusted God's promises and he was not disappointed. But There Is A Second Element to Faith, and That is Acceptance of God's Grace ...

324. Battle With The Law

Mark 2:23-3:6

Sermon

King Duncan

... . The dryer exploded, injuring them slightly, and they ended up winning almost $900,000 in damages. In California, a man was injured when a drunk driver rammed into the phone booth in which he was making a call. The state's chief justice ruled that the company that designed the phone booth was liable for the man's injuries. (1) Some of these would be funny if they weren't so pathetic. No wonder justice wears a blindfold. No wonder lawyers are the targets of so many jokes. Now you and I both know that there ...

325. The Secrets Of His Success

Genesis 45:1-28

Sermon

King Duncan

... OF CHARACTER. He had been his father's favorite. That will sometimes make a child hard to live with. One could tell by his new coat, a designer jacket of many colors, that he was his father's pet. No wonder his brothers resented him. The writer of Genesis tells us they "could not ... decided to sell him into slavery to some Midianite traders who were passing by. Then they took Joseph's colorful designer jacket, slaughtered a goat and dipped the jacket in the blood. They took the jacket back to their father and ...

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