Sermon and Worship Resources

Synonyms: Levi, disciple, evangelist, tax collector, the 12, the twelve, apostle, sermon on the mount, jewish audience, beatitudes, lord's prayer, great commission, parables, olivet discourse, mount of olives, olivet, synoptic

Showing 3276 to 3300 of 3314 results

3276. God's Ridiculous Commitment

Acts 2:14a, 36-41

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

... this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” Not a blasphemer. Not a madman. Not even a prophet. Jesus is both Lord and Messiah. Verse 37 reads, “When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and ...

3277. Sharing God's Vision

Acts 2:1-21

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

... as the Spirit enabled them.” What does it mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit? And what does the Holy Spirit enable us to do? The first great gift we receive from Pentecost is that the Holy Spirit fills us with the mind of God. The apostle Peter explains the significance of this moment by quoting the prophet Joel who preached to the people of Judah more than 800 years earlier. Through Joel, God said, “I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will ...

3278. Seeing is Believing…or Is It?

John 20:19-31

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... is assured. Doubt is not a lack of faith but a confirmation of what the mind already longs to believe. If Thomas had not had faith, could he even had listened that day a week later? Would he have witnessed what he did? Could he have been the apostle he later would become? Or did his mind, even a mind that focused on the practical and empirical, do a “double take” when he felt with his own hands the nail marks and wounds of Jesus? That was enough to not only confirm perhaps what he believed or hoped ...

3279. Broken

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... faith: that Jesus’ sacrifice (his woundedness, brokenness, and death) and subsequent resurrection fulfills God’s ultimate saving initiative to free the faithful from sin and the limits of mortality and grant them everlasting life. This is the core message of the apostles. It's no mistake then that Thomas explores the actual wounds of Christ in order to confirm both his faith and a brand new uniquely “Christian” theology: that of a bodily and authentic resurrection.These aren’t mere wounds. These ...

3280. The Flow

John 7:37-39 · 1 Corinthians 12:3-13 · Acts 2:1-21

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... lost track of time, of place, of anything but that experience. And everyone in the entire area saw it. They saw the strange lights. They heard the murmuring of voices. They saw the phenomena. They were amazed. This was an “optimal human experience”! One that the apostles and all who saw it would never forget. Many who study the state of “flow” tell us that we have ways of reaching this kind of state in which we are open to this kind of experience. While sometimes we are taken by surprise and simply ...

3281. The Power of Good

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... t know. It may mean that you help children understand that they are not alone. It may mean that you enlighten others in the ways that Jesus has helped you in your life. Whatever ways you choose, you are one of Jesus’ prime teachers. You are one of his apostles. You are one of God’s chosen. You are the community of the committed. As you go today, help others learn about Jesus. Teach about God’s goodness. Make people aware of the power of the Holy Spirit among them. And may the peace of God be with you ...

3282. When You Are Weary

Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

... burdens. The second thing we discover when we are yoked to Jesus is that he offers us his strength to carry our burdens. This is more proof of his steadfast love for us. We are not alone, and we are not dependent on our own strength. The Apostle Paul demonstrates the joy and relief that come from relying on Jesus’ strength in Second Corinthians 12. Paul has been struggling with some kind of burden that is so overwhelming he begs Jesus to take it away. But Jesus answers him, “My grace is sufficient for ...

3283. More Fully Understanding Christ

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

... of a plant break through the seed’s outer coat and invade the earth, our inward spiritual growth will affect the people around us. This is what is referred to by the “fruits of the Spirit” in Galatians, chapter 5. The Apostle Paul writes, “. . . the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Gal. 5: 22-23, NLT) Such virtues occur unconsciously in those who saturate themselves with Christ’s ...

3284. Welcoming Jesus

Matthew 10:40-42

Sermon

William G. Carter

... this holy hospitality, we will be cracked open, released from our self-defined isolation, and brought into the presence of others who could benefit from the same truth and grace that God has offered to us. This lies at the very heart of the gospel. The apostle Paul said as much to a Christian congregation in Rome, a church full of people that he had never met. “Welcome one another,” he said, “just as Christ as welcomed you, for the glory of God.”(Romans 15:7) It’s not merely good advice for ...

3285. Say Yes by Saying No

Ephesians 5:18

Illustration

Maxie Dunnam

Have you ever realized that the best way to say yes to something is to say no to its counterpart? There is an interesting expression of it in the New Testament. The Apostle Paul said, “Do not get drunk with wine, which will only ruin you; instead be filled with the Spirit. (Ephesians 5:18, TEV) It works! You can eliminate the negative by accentuating the positive. The best way to get rid of a bad habit is to replace it with a ...

3286. Love And Boundaries

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

William G. Carter

... in the New Testament was over the question of whether the church would admit Gentiles into the membership. The struggle was real, the change came slowly. Whether it was an Italian soldier knocking at Simon Peter’s door, the Macedonians welcoming the apostle Paul, or the first council at Jerusalem, the earliest followers of Jesus wrestled with the extent to which the gospel could be preached and outsiders could be welcomed. It was resolved only when the Christians perceived that God pushes the church ...

3287. I Have Been Gifted!

1 Corinthians 1:3-9

Sermon

Ronald Love

... to move forward. These spiritual gifts will empower a Christian to live a life of the spirit, and not one of the flesh. Later in this letter, in the twelfth chapter, Paul listed the spiritual gifts as: administration, apostle, discernment, faith, healing, knowledge, miracles, prophecy, teaching, speaking in tongues, interpretation of tongues and wisdom. But what is important for us, sitting in twenty-first- century pews, is Paul introduced this list with this observation, “There are different ...

3288. Living In The “In Between” Time

Titus 2:11-14

Sermon

Ronald Love

... is a great and general fasting, which is perfect fasting, to abstain from the inequities and illicit pleasures of the world: “that, by denying ungodliness and worldly desires, we may live soberly and justly and godly in this world.” What reward does the apostle add to this fasting? He continues and says, “Looking for that blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of the blessed God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” We are to say “no” to the illicit pleasures of worldly living. We may not want ...

3289. Seize the Now

Philippians 2:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

... America. From a dark prison cell in Beirut, he pictured the worldwide Church united in Christ in this holy sacrament. (2) And when we take the bread and the cup, we anticipate Jesus’ coming again someday as Lord of all creation. This is the hopeful vision the apostle Paul referred to when he wrote that someday all of creation would see the crucified Christ as he really is: “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee ...

3290. Will God Be With Us?

Exodus 33:12-23

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

... even though we don’t deserve it any more than they do. God’s character never changes. That is why more than 1,400 years after God led the Israelites into the Promised Land, God’s glory would be revealed again in the person of Jesus Christ. As the apostle John would write about Jesus’ coming into the world, “And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). God never gives up ...

3291. The Way of a Saint

Revelation 7:9-17 · Luke 6:20-31

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

... prophets . . .” That is how the prophets were treated and that is how many of those who were committed to Christ in the early days of the church were treated. All of the earliest leaders of the early church were martyred except for the Apostle John. Some died in the cruelest ways that human evil could devise. Some were beheaded, some were flayed alive, some crucified. So has it ever been. Through the ages saints of Christ have experienced ridicule, persecution, all kinds of rejection. And, of course, on ...

3292. When God Leads

Joshua 3:7-17

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

... , “I am with you.” I did not form you in My image and breathe the breath of life into you and declare you alone in all My creation as “very good,” just to leave you alone in this world. In Acts 17: 27-28, Paul and some of the other apostles visit the city of Athens. Among the many idols Paul sees in the city, one stands out to him: an altar bearing the inscription, “To an unknown god.” Paul preaches to the Athenians that there is only one true God, the Creator of all substance and life. And this ...

3293. The Great Debates

Matthew 22:34-46

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... our advocate, to guide us, to teach us, to empower us, to infuse us with the saving and healing energy of God, so that we may heal and bless others with his power and love. Psalm 110 was quoted often in the New Testament scriptures. The Apostles and those of the early church believed it confirmed the full and descriptive identity of Jesus. The question is, do you? Jesus spent his entire ministry––and by means of his healing, teaching, and proclaiming work—pointing to the glory of God, to his identity ...

3294. Your Body Is a Temple

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Sermon

Ronald Love

... 1:11 which says, “My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you.” What we know from this verse is that Chloe was a Christian woman living in Corinth and that she was an acquaintance of the apostle Paul. Because Paul refers to her by her first name, Chloe, it is likely she was well known to the believers of that area, possibly a householder who held worship services in her home. The reports by Chloe were not idle gossip, but they were an ...

3295. Faith and Grace

Romans 4:13-25

Children's Sermon

Various Authors

... can trust God; we can have FAITH in God because of God’s GRACE. When we use these words, faith and grace, perhaps you will know more about what they mean. Who knows the story about Abraham and Sarah? (Let them answer.) In this lesson we have today, the apostle Paul tells about how Abraham and Sarah had faith in God’s grace. Even though Abraham and Sarah were very old, God had promised them a son, and God showed God’s grace by giving them a son. They had faith in trusting God. Dearest God: Give us more ...

3296. They Saw the Resurrected Jesus

1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Children's Sermon

Various Authors

... . (take out the big number 525) Can anyone here tell me what this number is? (Let them answer.) Do you know what that number means? (Let them answer.) It means that about 525 people saw Jesus after he died, was buried and rose again from the tomb. The apostle Paul says that it could have been more, but he knows that Cephas (we call him Peter) saw Jesus, and then the twelve disciples saw Jesus, and then at least 500 people saw Jesus, then James and then the disciples again, and finally Paul saw him also. Add ...

3297. Marketplace Christianity

John 2:13-22

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Do you employ a “market mentality” or a “relational mentality”? What does this mean? Put simply, a market mentality sees things in terms of transactions and commodities, resources, and dispensability. A relational mentality however sees things in terms of developing partnerships, relationships, long-term collaborations that benefit both parties and share a vision. The former can easily fluctuate. The latter, however, requires time and effort to develop and cultivates trust, loyalty, and commitment over ...

3298. The Great Reveal

John 12:20-33

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... . If he has any hope that he can save the world, Jesus knows, this is the only way he can do it. Through believing in him and following him, we receive an invitation to resurrection. Through Jesus’ death, we have a shot at life. Hear the Apostles’ Creed, as we acknowledge exactly Jesus’ explanation that he gave both Jew and Greek that day before the Passover Feast. Repeat after me: I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord ...

3299. Dancing in the Wind

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... heart, body, and soul. Storms are frightening. But our peace does not come from an absence of storms. It comes from the presence of Jesus within us and around us as we sail on through. Discipleship is a risky business. When we sail the open seas as a disciple and apostle of Jesus, we will encounter storms. No one lives a stormless life. But Jesus is our calm in the midst of the storm and our joy in the midst of the wind. Sometimes, in our lives, we can fear that Jesus does not hear us, that somehow, he is ...

3300. Shake It Off

Mark 6:1-13

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... fear that paralyzes you, shake off the hesitance that inhibits you. And just keep dancing. Do the “wet dog shake” and move forward with a smile on your face and a lilt in your step. Why? Because that’s what disciples do. More than that, that’s what apostles do! We don’t let our voices be stifled by mud throwing. We don’t let our feet be mired in muck. Whatever is keeping you back from expressing your true self, your joy of the gospel, your love of people, your zest to build relationships with ...

Showing results