Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 3301 to 3325 of 4943 results

3301. A Dirt Story

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

King Duncan

A Sunday school teacher had been teaching about how God created Adam from the dust of the earth. A little boy in the class—who happened to be the pastor’s son—said with alarm, “You mean I’m made out of dirt?” His teacher responded, “Well, in a sense, yes.” He thought for a moment, processing this information through his four-year-old brain, then stated wide-eyed, “My Mom is NOT going to be happy about that!” (1) Today I am telling a “Dirt Story” [as opposed to a dirty story which would not, of course, be ...

3302. The Eye of the Storm

Mark 11:1-11

Sermon

Lori Wagner

If you live in a coastal area of the country, you know that you have not four seasons in your year, but five: fall, winter, spring, summer, and hurricane season! For many, the period of June through November marks the time when hurricanes and tropical storms begin brewing and spewing over the Atlantic Ocean and heading lustily toward the shores. These whirlwinds of rain, ice, and wind, named each year perhaps for their personal vendettas, wreak havoc upon homes and businesses, people and pets. They tend to ...

3303. Call It Like You See It

Mark 7:24-37

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

In Tobit, one of the books of the Apocrypha, the hero Tobias sets out on a journey to call in a loan owed to his father, who has gone blind. He will return with a bride and a cure for his father’s blindness. But he sets out on the journey with a young man — who he does not recognize as an angel — and a faithful dog. Well, sort of. There are several versions of this apocryphal book. In the version that was current among Greek-speaking Jews, there is a dog. In the versions that circulated among Jews closer ...

3304. Spirit Powered Anointing

Luke 4:14-21 · Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Anointing. This is a term that means that the Holy Spirit is with you, that the Holy Spirit has come upon you. When you are “anointed,” you are not only empowered but commissioned into action. The word comes from the Greek word echrisen, to anoint from the root chrio, also related to christos, anointed one, the word we call “messiah.” Jesus has been “contracted” by God with the power of the divine Holy Spirit to impart “good news” of God’s favor and grace. And what good news it was! This inauguration of ...

3305. Graciousness and Grumbling

Matthew 20:1-15

Sermon

Will Willimon

Well, religion has suddenly become the burning concern of politicians. I can't remember when religion has been so important in a presidential campaign. It wasn't long ago that John Kennedy had to explain why, although he was a Catholic, his religion would not hinder him from being a good president. And a very short time ago, Jimmy Carter stood before the voters and admitted that, although he was a faithful Baptist, he would perform his presidential duties as if he were nothing at all -- or something like ...

3306. God Is Like...a Comforter

2 Corinthians 1:3-7

Sermon

Kenneth L. Gibble

If you were asked to name the invention that has had the greatest impact on daily life in the past century, what would you say? The electric light bulb, the automobile? You could make a strong case for either of them. I’d add another to the list: central heating. Some of you, like me, grew up in homes that had no central heating. You may remember gathering around the kitchen stove to change clothes in the morning and going up the stairs at night to a frigid bedroom. You’d crawl between icy sheets and then ...

3307. Calculated Christianity

Luke 14:25-35

Sermon

Jill J. Duffield

Grit is trending these days. Have you heard of it? There was a viral TED talk by Angela Duckworth in 2013 and then she published a book of the same title in 2018 ― Grit: The Power Of Passion And Perseverance. In a nutshell, “grit” is mental toughness, the ability to persevere and keep at it in order to achieve a long- term goal. Like calculating what it is going to take to build that big tower and then keeping after it, no matter that a storm knocked it down or that the permit got delayed or that thieves ...

3308. Who's The Neighbor

Luke 10:25-37

Drama

Robert F. Crowley

Theme: Being of service to others no matter who they are. Summary: A modern retelling of the Good Samaritan parable in the form of a game show. Playing Time: 10 minutes Setting: A TV studio Props: Scripts Signs -- "Cheer" ;"Hello Milton" ; "The End"; "Applause", Road map Masks Raiment First aid kit Bandage Costumes: Costume pieces to be added to street clothes Time: Prime time Cast: Announcer Milton Whitestein (HOST) Rupert Willies George Scrimshaw William Brandioggan Certain Man Wife -- of Certain Man ...

3309. Through The Back Door

Drama

Karren Boehr

Theme: The Power Of Prayer When Christians pray, the forces of evil tremble. This simple production brings forth this very powerful concept in a very unique manner. Setting: Inside of a church Characters:DEVIL: Mature man; he should be forceful and devious, yet smooth in his presentation. He is educated, "one of the guys," someone totally trustworthy, who is able to switch from soft spoken words to anger in the same sentence WOMAN: Mature woman (can also be a man if desired). Non-speaking part. A bright ...

3310. The Road To Samaria

John 4:5-42

Sermon

Thomas A. Pilgrim

When I was growing up we had a joke in our family about my father's shortcuts. Whenever we were off on a trip somewhere he always knew a quicker way to get there, or back home. I remember one time when I was about 10 years old we were on the way home one night. My father decided to take one of his shortcuts. He made a turn to the left, went around a curve, took the first right, then back to the left, and we wound up in the middle of a cornfield. At one point in his ministry Jesus was in the area of Judea. ...

3311. A Glory Revealed in Grace and Love

John 13:1-17

Sermon

Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. And during supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper, laid aside his garments, and girded himself with a towel. Then he ...

3312. Surprise! Surprise!

Matthew 25:31-46

Sermon

Michael L. Sherer

A wealthy architect, whose self-designed rambling lake home was the envy of the entire city, was given to hosting lavish dinner parties. They were always the event of the social season, and the folks who were invited always knew they were on a special list. One year the architect changed tactics. Instead of mailing special invitations, he simply ran an advertisement in the personals column of the Sunday classifieds in the metropolitan newspaper. "Masquerade Party!" the heading read, in type no larger - and ...

3313. Face To Face With The Tempter

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

King Duncan

This morning we want to deal with a theme that applies to all of us. Temptation. None of us is too old or too young, too sophisticated or too naive, to escape the tempter. Temptation can lead us into all kinds of problems. For example, the newspapers recently carried a story about an Alabama man who planned to profit from a simple burglary. He entered a house and began clearing out the valuables. He came across a .44 Magnum and accidentally shot himself in the calf with it. However, despite the fact that a ...

3314. Want To Sit At The Head Table?

Luke 14:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

Isn't it refreshing when people in the spotlight don't take themselves too seriously? One Democratic Senator told colleagues he took a "polygraph" test to find out what the lie-detector fuss is all about. But this silver-haired and flamboyant orator reported he flunked the test when he started a sentence with: "In my humble opinion...." Shortly after Senator Bob Kerrey of Nebraska announced his availability for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1991, he made an appearance at the National Press Club ...

3315. Come To The Party!

Luke 14:15-24

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

I read a story recently about a man who went into a bus station in Athens, Georgia to buy a ticket to Greenville, South Carolina. As he paid for his ticket, the clerk said, "The bus is a bit behind schedule. Have a seat, and it will be along shortly." As the man sat down, he noticed one of those novelty machines that purports to tell you everything about yourself. He thought it might be interesting, so he pumped in a quarter. The machine whirred and buzzed a bit, and out came a slip of paper: "Your name is ...

3316. A Fool and His Money

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

Mark Trotter

It is a familiar scene in courtrooms, families arguing over an estate. It is an especially ugly scene when dividing the inheritance divides the family. That is the scene that opens our text for this morning, the gospel lesson from Luke. A man came up to Jesus, and said, "Make my brother divide the inheritance with me." The request was crass and boorish, but probably not uncommon, for Jesus was known as a Rabbi. In fact, in this passage, he is addressed as Rabbi: "Teacher, make my brother divide the ...

3317. Dolphin Drops

Isaiah 56:1-8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Anybody here speak Italian? You all do. You all know more Italian words than you think you do. Rigatoni, marinara, al dente, alfredo, pasta, grande (both Italian and Spanish for large). Anybody here speak Spanish? You all do. You all know more Spanish words than you think you do. Taco, con carne, burrito, grande burrito, quesadilla, margarita. There are certain Greek and Hebrew words every Christian should know. Let's see how good your Greek is. Feta, baklava. Logos (Word), Christos (Christ), Kyrios (Lord ...

3318. The Law of the Harvest

Psalm 126:5-6

Sermon

James Merritt

Recently while being on a mission trip in Romania, I had the privilege of staying overnight in London, England. While touring that beautiful city, I was standing in front of Westminster Abbey, the beautiful church where all of the monarchs of England are crowned, and the site of the funeral of Princess Diana. I thought about an elderly lady who was in a group of tourists visiting London, and the guide was explaining the history behind Westminster Abbey. She interrupted him and said, "Young man! young man! ...

3319. Worship Like A Wesley

Philippians 4:4-9

Sermon

John E. Harnish

Charles Wesley had returned from the Georgia Colony in complete despair, just like his brother, John—struggling, doubting, longing for a new relationship with God. Then on May 21, 1738, the day he would call his "conversion day," he discovered the amazing gift of God's love in Christ made known for him. He opened his scriptures to Psalm 43 and read: "God hath put a new song in my mouth." He picked up a pen and never put it down. By the time of his death, he had written no fewer than 8,989 poems, including ...

3320. Explore the Evidence

Acts 1:1-3

Sermon

James Merritt

I heard a story the other day about a man that went on vacation to the Holy Land with his wife and mother-in-law. Half way through their trip, the mother-in-law dies, so this guy goes to an undertaker who explains that they can ship the body home, but it will cost $5,000 or they can bury her in the Holy Land for $150. The son-in-law says, "Let's just go ahead and ship her home." The undertaker said, "Are you sure? That is an awfully big expense and I can assure you we do a very nice burial here." The son- ...

3321. The View from Michal’s Window

2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19

Sermon

Stan Purdum

When I was teenager, I worked one summer at a church camp washing dishes. One day, after cleaning up from supper, the cook, his assistant, the groundskeeper, and I ended up out behind the dining hall where there was an old tree stump on which someone had painted a target. The cook, who was always up to trying something new, had brought with him the kitchen's meat cleaver, a hatchet-like utensil, and he suggested a contest to see which of us could throw the cleaver most squarely into the center of the ...

3322. Batman: Driven By Guilt or Grace?

Romans 5:1-11; 8:1-2; Luke 18:9-16

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

Romans 5:1-11 (NRSV) [1] Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, [2] through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. [3] And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, [4] and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, [5] and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts ...

3323. Favoritism Forbidden

James 2:1-13, James 2:14-26

Understanding Series

Peter H. Davids

Prejudice and the Poor In chapter 2 James expands upon the theme of worldliness and the care of widows. Worldliness shows up not only as personal ambition but also in a church’s paying regard to someone’s worldly power and position rather than dealing only on the basis of that person’s spiritual position in Christ. This issue, in turn, leads to the statement of the need for generosity and to a warning against a complacent orthodoxy that stops short of gospel obedience (2:14–26). 2:1 My brothers recognizes ...

3324. The Story of Israel Now and Later

Romans 2:1-16

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

Big Idea: Paul makes explicit the story of Israel. Obedience to God’s law was required for Israel to remain in covenantal relationship with God. But Israel repeatedly broke the law, and consequently divine judgment fell on Jews. Moreover, God’s judgment will fall on individual Jews on the final day of reckoning if they do not repent by accepting Jesus as the Messiah. Understanding the Text In placing Romans 2:1–11 in its literary context, we focus in from the big picture of 1:18–3:20, which condemns all of ...

3325. The Wind

Mark 1:4-11

Sermon

Charley Reeb

John the Baptist says something interesting in Mark, “He (Jesus) will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” Those were prophetic words. John was pointing to a time when those who followed Jesus would be infused with the power of the Holy Spirit. Later this prophetic word would be underscored by Jesus’ baptism when the Spirit of God descended upon him like a dove. Just a few years later John’s words would be confirmed on the day of Pentecost when the church was born by the power of the Holy Spirit. On this ...

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