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Showing 301 to 325 of 4940 results

301. The Christian and the World

James 4:1-12

Understanding Series

Peter H. Davids

... the term double-, the same term found in 1:8, meaning, not a person consciously hiding his or her real motives but one who has divided motives. On the one hand, they wish to follow Christ and be good Christians; on the other hand, they are not willing to give up the world (cf. Rom. 6:8; 2 Cor. 5:11–17). They excuse their following worldly patterns of influence and money making (cf. 4:13–17). But James has already stated that God will not share them with the world; he wants them all (4:4). Thus they need ...

302. Introduction and “Hello”

1 Corinthians 1:1-9

Teach the Text

Preben Vang

... by God’s will. Throughout Paul’s letters we find a strong emphasis on divine calling. Paul serves not out of personal ambition but out of a necessity generated by God’s will (9:16). The first would have led to defeat and given him an excuse to give up when things did not go his way; the latter called him to stay the course even when it was both unappreciated and dangerous (2 Cor. 6:4–12). Such focus brings about both humility and firmness. Not one without the other! Rather than using his position as ...

303. The Art of Following

Matthew 4:12-17, Matthew 4:18-22

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

... well as our physical ones. It means we’re going to have to start forgiving those who treat us badly and loving our enemies, even those who would undo us. It means that we’re going to have to be forgiving and self sacrificing. We’re going to have to give up what we want, what makes us happy, what makes us comfortable and satisfied, for the sake of others. It means we are going to have to invest ourselves in the cause of the poor and the powerless. If we follow him it means we have to start doing for ...

304. The Ten Commandments #8: No Stealing

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... WALK and our offering today for the victims of Hurricane Mitch help us begin to make things right, but those are ONLY a beginning. Paul had something to say to the early church to which we need to pay attention: Ephesians 4 - "Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy."(11) Some of those new Christians had apparently been highwaymen and burglars before coming to Christ; obviously, not an appropriate lifestyle ...

305. Hang Time: A Good Friday Sermon

Matthew 27:45-56

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

... from the cross to save himself. But he was determined to hang in there for his people. Determined to pay the price for our liberation and redemption. Thank God for the hang time of Jesus. What is your hang time today? Do you feel discouraged? Are you ready to give up hope and trust in God's ability to deliver you from defeat and despair? What is your hang time today? Is it six seconds or six years? How much are you willing to pay to build the kingdom of God? How much are you willing to sacrifice to make ...

306. Bonhoeffer of Berlin

Acts 5:17-42

Drama

Michael L. Sherer

... to live by them as you grow older. It may turn out to be more important doing that than you can imagine. There are some ugly. anti-Christian winds blowing through Germany these days. You will find a lot of people tugging at you to try to get you to give up on Christ and simply do what seems more popular. Remember, if you’re forced to make a choice, it’s more important to obey God than to obey men. I was sorry to hear that your father has decided to divorce your mother and leave you with hardly any money ...

307. A Journey To A New Life

Matthew 3:13-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... them and the decision they had made. To their surprise, the minister told them that such a radical decision was not really necessary. "He told us that it was not necessary for us to give up everything," Millard said. "He just didn't understand that we weren't giving up money and the things that money could buy. We were giving up a whole way of life that was killing us." (5) Millard Fuller and his wife made a real change ” a radical change. Baptism reminds us that such change is possible. Dead to the old ...

308. Doing Right When You Have Been Done Wrong

Ephesians 4:31-32

Sermon

James Merritt

... the offender and the offense away into the hands of God, and let God take care of the matter. Psychologists and ministers alike now agree that there is only one cure for the cancer of bitterness, and that is forgiveness. Dr. Archibald Hart defines forgiveness as "giving up my right to hurt you for hurting me."4 Now we are told plainly we are to forgive others the way God has forgiven us. So that tells me, first of all, forgiveness must be free. Jesus said, "Freely you have received, freely give." (Mt. 10 ...

309. What Excites God

Mark 2:1-12

Sermon

James Merritt

... paralytic was lying." (v.4) By the time these friends had arrived the house was full. People jammed the doorways, kids were sitting in the windows, outsiders were peeking over shoulders, and, quite frankly, they had a choice to make. Do we go in or give up? But they didn't give up for this reason; they had faith. Amazingly, they climb up to the top of the house, cut through the roof, and lower the friend down by a blanket. Now think about it. It was risky to do that; they could have fallen. It was dangerous ...

310. No Fear

Psalm 23:4

Sermon

James Merritt

... but I got thrown off. Just when things couldn’t possibly get worse, my foot got caught in the stirrup. When that happened, I fell headfirst to the ground and my head was bouncing harder and harder as the horse kept going faster and faster. Just as I was giving up hope, and losing consciousness, thank God the Wal-Mart manager came over and unplugged it. Now what I want to teach us today is this: We all have to face death, but some don’t have to fear death. Notice I said, “some.” Without God, you had ...

311. Prayers That Work

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... discovered hundreds of existing congregations. Today, that "secret bishop" is secret no longer. Bishop Harold Kalnins ministers to tens of thousands of Lutherans who never gave up, who prayed when it seemed useless, who persisted in the face of terror. One who did give up, who caved in to Soviet demands and Communism's coercion was the son of a martyred Lutheran pastor. He was separated from his Christian mother as a youth, sent to Siberia, and brutally treated. "When I could not stand any more, I renounced ...

312. A Christian Style Of Being And Doing

Colossians 3:18-4:1

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... happening. On my desk was a note which said: "Maxie, I can't even tell you what I'm feeling. I don't know myself. I know that what I'm feeling is deeply wrong and what you were saying today was eternally right. I trust you, Preacher. Don't give up despite what we are saying and thinking and doing to you. You may save us yet!" That word kept me going -- for a long time. I can never think of my five years in that church in Mississippi without a picture of that man coming into my mind, and the ...

313. The Greatest Place in the World

Romans 12:1-2

Sermon

James Merritt

... an oxymoron. Normally, if you sacrifice something it's dead. If it's not dead you haven't sacrificed it. To understand it, substitute the words "sacrificial living." That is, give your bodies to God in sacrificial living. You see, when you sacrifice something, you give up all possession and ownership. In the Old Testament there was no such thing as a partial sacrifice. Whenever you came to make a sacrifice in the Old Testament, it was always a total offering with no strings attached. It's like the story of ...

314. When You Are Weary

Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

... for “When I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Cor. 12: 9-10, NIV). We rarely appreciate the incredible gift Jesus is offering us until our own strength is depleted and we are ready to give up. Pastor Adam Hamilton tells about a time in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s life when he was on the brink of giving up. It was 1956. He had received a telephone call threatening his life. He had received such calls before, but the accumulation of threats on his life plus the knowledge that his wife and children were at ...

315. A Penny For God

Mark 12:41-44

Sermon

King Duncan

... This might set you thinking about what you would do for a million dollars. Eleven percent of these respondents would be willing to go on a restrictive diet for a year for a million dollars. Well, okay. That wouldn't hurt most of us. And 13% of people would give up all television for a year. You'd have to pry the remote out of the fingers of some of the men, but that seems like a reasonable bargain. Surprisingly, only 34% of respondents would be willing to swallow a worm for $1 million, and a shocking 41% of ...

316. On Golf, Swimming, Gardening and Lent?

Luke 13:1-9

Sermon

Glenn E. Ludwig

... never do." "No, Lord," he said when Jesus said they would all run away, "I'll never deny you." "No way," he said when the woman outside Caiaphas' house identified him as the follower of the Nazarene, "I never knew him." One bad shot after another! But Peter didn't give up. He didn't give in to despair. Oh, he felt badly about what he had done. Scripture testifies that he went out and cried bitterly over it, but he didn't turn in his disciple's badge over it. He kept going on. He went back to the upper room ...

317. Proper 8

Mark 5:21-43

Drama

Dallas A. Brauninger

... well and back down into a pit. What I found strange in all this is the sustenance of hope. The hope for a cure from one physician brings impetus to try again. Each time an anticipated cure hasn't worked, I have felt totally exhausted and wanted to give up. Always, in the back of my mind, I hoped that someday someone would know what to do. Asker: You said if you could but touch Jesus' clothes, you would be made well. Where does your faith come from? Woman: Prolonged illness has made me selfish.1 My illness ...

318. Pie in The Sky

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

Erskine White

... life to lead here on earth, so get busy with it!" The problem with walking through life looking up at the heavens is that you can fall into a ditch and never see it coming. But I don't mean by this that we should never be looking above. To give up a "pie in the sky" religion does not mean taking on a religion without a sky. We all need to see the sky from time to time. We all need to know it's there. That's where our hope resides, that's where eternity lies. Religion is more than ...

319. The Road To Jericho

Luke 18:35-43

Sermon

Thomas A. Pilgrim

... see the world and say, "Look what the world is coming to." Others see Christ and say, "Look what has come to the world." Some see things as they are and ask why. Others see things as Christ can make them and ask why not. Some see only problems and give up. Others see Christ is the solution and give him their lives. Some see nothing but shadows and spend their days living in the dark. Others see Christ the Light and live by the new vision he has given them. Over a period of several months a man had cataracts ...

320. The Cost of Being Christian

Acts 7:54--8:1a

Sermon

... he was going. The paradox is that when Jesus expects something of us, wants us to turn loose of something, it is only because he wants us to have so much more. When he asks us to give up the ways that lead to death, it is because he wants to give us life. When he asks us to give up our feelings of alienation, it is because he wants us to experience love. Long before modern psychology knew that depression, low self-esteem, and lack of personal fulfillment had their roots in half-heartedness, ambivalence and ...

321. Proper 8 & Pentecost 6

2 Kings 4:8-37, Genesis 32:22-32, Psalm 89:1-52, Psalm 17:1-15, Isaiah 2:6-22, Jeremiah 28:1-17, Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon Aid

... all night wrestling match at "the ford of the Jabbok." The "stranger" who wrestled with him had to strike him in the hip, dislocating it, in the hope of overcoming Jacob, but Jacob hung on to the "man" and, disabled though he was, he would not give up his hold. The "one" who had been wrestling with Jacob had to plead, "Let me go, for the day is breaking," and had to "bless" Jacob, changing his name to Israel, one who "would prevail against men." The "night angel" refused to tell Jacob his name, nevertheless ...

322. The Deal Of A Lifetime

Mark 10:17-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... and followed you." And they had. It was at this point that Jesus made his hundredfold promise. The deal of a lifetime. But the rich young ruler turned it down. Why do you suppose he did that? PERHAPS THE RICH YOUNG RULER COULD ONLY SEE WHAT HE WAS GIVING UP, NOT WHAT HE WOULD BE GAINING. He was used to fine clothes. His cupboard was stocked with fine wines. His home was richly appointed. He was accustomed to the best of everything. In short, he was a first century Yuppie. He would feel right at home among ...

323. In the Cross of Christ We Glory

Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

Michael Milton

... a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? (Mark 8:35-36). When a person comes to Christ as well as when a believer is following Christ, there is a surrender of everything to Jesus Christ. The disciples listening to Christ would be forced to give up their lives for Christ and the gospel as they would become martyrs for Him. But most often the call is to surrender to the death of the controlling self will in our lives. This week, as I mentioned, the Lord called two of our elders home to be with ...

324. Lost Baggage: Empty Your Suitcase

Matthew 18:10-14

Sermon

James Merritt

... of that lost child in Wal-Mart. If at first you look for that child and could not find that child what would you do? You would get others to help you! Why would you do that? Because, you wouldn’t give up until you found that child. Just as God doesn’t give up on us, we should not give up on others. In this case, you should take along two or three others. What is the purpose of doing this? There are two reasons. First, when you take other people along with you, you are showing this person that this is ...

325. Wicked

Luke 20:9-19, Matthew 21:33-46

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... him away. I try again. I send one of my managers to sit down with you and talk about the issue. Maybe I send my lawyer to try to negotiate and force you to live up to your agreement. But you’ve hidden the profits. You don’t want to give up the business you feel you’ve grown and prospered. It’s yours now. Right? Possession is nine-tenths of the law. I try my best one last time: I send my son as a representative to put his foot down and force your hand. You kick him out of the ...

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