Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 3326 to 3350 of 5000 results

John 12:20-36

Eulogy

Daniel M. Shutters

A Sermon Preached at Christmastime ___________ death from melanoma occurred when he was thirty-eight years old. The early December death was marked by periods of hope and despair, but most assuredly by faith. It is a time of joy and sadness. The joy of the approaching Christmas season fades into darkness as we experience death in our midst. The scripture passages we read from the Gospel echo Christ's entry into Jerusalem ...

3327. Into The Whirlwind

2 Kings 2:1-18

Sermon

Robert Allen

Certain events, no matter how long ago they happened, are forever etched in your mind. One such event that I shall always remember happened when I was in the third grade. It was late April, but it was not a beautiful spring day. Instead, it was a day marked by spring rains. It was a day that was dark and dreary. It was a day packed full of tornado warnings. Finally, late in the afternoon, the school bells rang at an unscheduled time. The teachers led all of the children into the hallways and told us to ...

3328. Black Preaching: A Four-Cornered Universe

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

... and forms of African-American culture. Black preaching which is successful in reaching the black masses closely reflects the rhythms and poetic inflections of African-American life. This does not mean that sermonizing in other traditions and cultures does not bear marks of the poetic. It only means that the poetic aspects of black preaching are closely aligned with the poetry of black life in general. Such poetry creates its own metaphors and litanies for human existence and shapes specific idioms and ...

3329. Let It Shine!

John 1:1-18

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

... from darkness. Note now that God did not say the darkness was good, but that the light was good. God called the light day and the darkness night. We also find in Genesis 1:14 that God began further to separate the day and the night and used them to mark the seasons, days, and years, and God put lights in the sky in the form of stars. Genesis 1:16 says that God made two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night. While God had created these two realities ...

3330. The African Foundations Of Christianity

Exodus 4:1-17

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

... us to remember today are that Spirit is breath - Kha Ba - and that Spirit is light. In understanding the Holy Spirit today we must therefore go back to its African foundations. Although current Christian ideas of the Holy Spirit bear marked differences from their Egyptian predecessors, the similarities remain obvious. For the Egyptians, the creative, sustaining spirit of life as congenitally embodied in the creator God's construction of the universe is manifest through the power and workings of nature. An ...

3331. Joy Songs, Trumpet Blasts, And Hallelujah Shouts!

Joshua 5:13--6:27

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

... throttles itself through inadequate spiritual preparation. We have seen time and again the long litany of dismal human failure where individuals who have all the promise and power to do great things sell themselves short or fall shy of their mark because of inadequate preparation. They have low expectations of God and thus have low expectations of themselves, because they have not consecrated themselves spiritually and concentrated themselves in the word of God. The miracle of Jericho's storming just didn ...

3332. Holy Diet

John 6:24-35

Sermon

Donald Macleod

... true life. "He who comes to me shall not hunger," said Jesus. Why? Because Jesus brings us real bread that can make the poorest life among us an awareness of a great satisfaction. To those who come to him, he gives new moral and spiritual standing (Mark Rutherford spelled out another Beatitude: "Blessed are they who give us back our self-respect"); a new start when the old lifestyle led us downward and got us nowhere; a new character that shook off our self-centeredness and showed us how to use life in ...

3333. Are Greatness and Christianity Compatible?

Mark 9:33-37

Sermon

Donald Macleod

... with an embarrassed silence. Apparently Jesus suspected what had been the thrust of their clandestine debate and he broke the silence with this apt comment: "If any one would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all." (v. 35) Then, Mark reports, "He took a child [maybe one of Peter's children], and put him in the midst of them." Amiel, the nineteenth-century Swiss philosopher, once commented: "Blessed be childhood; it brings down something of heaven into the midst of our rough earthliness." The ...

3334. When One Is Better Than Many

2 Kings 13:10-25

Sermon

Keith Hammer

... as he could. Then he opened the window and told the king to shoot the arrow. The arrow went straight to its target. Elisha said something to this effect, “See what just happened. You took your time to line up the arrow and aim it. It went straight to its mark. So it is with you. You are the Lord’s arrow. When you take time to listen to what God expects of you, you will accomplish his purposes and there is nothing that shall stop you. You will have victory over Syria and all your enemies. Now take the ...

3335. The Invitation

Drama

Timothy W. Ayers

Topic: Inviting others, evangelism, encouragement, caring Characters: Three women on the phone Scene: A table will be set up with a phone on it. Characters 2 and 3 will have their backs to the congregation. Each character's original spot will be marked with tape with her number on it. As the characters rotate, they move to the next spot in a counterclockwise circle. #1 will be standing next to the phone as the lights come up. When she finishes her lines the three move in a counterclockwise way until #2 is ...

3336. The Mission

Drama

Timothy W. Ayers

... as part of the army Scene: Anywhere Captain: All right, soldiers. The day has finally come, E Day. We are going to get out there and do evangelism. Caleb Company, you're going to hit (your city name). On the map here you'll see the areas marked with the heaviest concentration of sinners. Adam Company, you'll go into (neighboring town or area) and the surrounding areas under the cover of night. I want us to hit them fast and hard, then get out of there. Are there any questions? Lt. Defazio: Yeah, Captain ...

3337. Endorsing The Future

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... your charter members were to your church. It does not, from this perspective, matter how dedicated your parents were to Christ. Frankly, it may not matter how fervent was your conversion experience. Religion cannot be embalmed, saved up, or pickled. Jesus was right on the mark: "He who seeks to save his life will lose it." We have no Christian alternative but to endorse the world in which we live. The problems of the twenty-first century are our opportunity, however great or small, to hear the voice of God ...

3338. Dim Visions And Blind Guides

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... -sliding king. But why couldn't religious people decide without the aid of signs whether Jesus' teaching was true or not? So Jesus responded, "Why does this evil generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation (Mark 8:12).19 It remains a pivotal issue for our generation. Why do Christians need signs? Isn't Jesus' life and death enough sign for us? Can the proclamation of the kingdom and the cross stand as enough evidence? In essence, Jesus maintained that if believers ...

3339. Trial-and-Error or Grace

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

Thomas Peterson

... there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy. I have learned that we do not sow love, pardon, faith, hope, light or joy in a vacuum, as a head-trip or heart-trip. We sow them in everyday relationships marked by fairness and justice. Only then can the happiness take its place dependably in our daily lives. 6. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and ...

3340. Nothing Is Impossible

Exodus 13:17--14:31

Sermon

Walter Kimbrough

... way God is. When our lives are grounded in faith, God keeps pulling on the other end. In an excathedral way, God declares, “I Am that I Am.” Jesus declared, “Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours...(Mark 11:24).” Now that’s faith, believing that your request is already done. It’s good to hear people say, “I claim it in Jesus’ name.” Moses stretched out his hand over the sea and the waters came rushing in on the Egyptian army and they all ...

3341. The Priesthood Of All Believers

Exodus 19:1-25

Sermon

Walter Kimbrough

... the miracles of healing time and time again. There were numerous occurrences from turning the water to wine to the calling of Lazarus from death to life. Jesus declared, “Whatever you ask for, believe that you have received it and it will be yours… (Mark 11:24).” The contention is, then, that faith is the necessary ingredient that makes prayer work. Prayer without faith is just an arrangement of words without power. The apostle Paul talks about a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal (1 Corinthians 13:1 ...

3342. God’s Ultimate Concern

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Walter Kimbrough

... , the woman convinced the jeweler that she would pay every dime that she owed. Faith became two-dimensional -- the woman had faith in her ability to pay and the jeweler had faith that she would keep her word. Faith was at work. The gospel writer Mark records the event where there was a woman who was poor and widowed. This woman was at worship and at the time of the offering, the wealthy people came forward with large sums of money. They received great recognition for their contributions. The old woman put ...

3343. A Very Special Name

Luke 2:21

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

... service in which a week-old baby was brought to the temple and was given his name. It was special also, because there was a small operation done by the priest at the temple on all boy babies that made them children of the Jewish nation. The boy babies were marked in a very special way so that they would always know that they were Israelites. It is still done today. Mary and Joseph brought their boy baby to the temple when he was eight days old for that service. He was given the name that the angel had told ...

3344. God Can Change The Past

Eulogy

Joe Barone

... always amazes me to think that God can change the past. I know, of course, God can change the future, but the past? “My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?” the psalmist shouts, the very words Jesus cries from the cross in the gospel according to Mark. And in crying them, Jesus changes forever, and in fact adds to, our understanding of the psalm. Think about it. “O my God, I cry by day, but thou dost not answer,” the psalmist says. And those who surround him and mock him wag their heads and say ...

3345. Signs Of Glory

Eulogy

Joe Barone

Exodus 4:13-14John 6:22-40 and John 11:20-27 Sometimes it seems that even Jesus is not enough. I know that’s a startling statement, but it’s a way of stating just how terrible death is. In Mark’s gospel even Jesus cries, “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” And it’s okay if we sometimes have to cry those same words, too. But Jesus is enough. That’s the message that I have to bring today. Jesus is enough, not because he is some ...

3346. Transformed For The Great Awakening

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... face as he talked with the people. He had fasted for 40 days and nights while on the mountain with God. Now as he re-entered ordinary life, Moses shone with God's glory. This shining was even more apparent in Jesus' transfiguration as recorded in Matthew 17:1-8, Mark 9:2-13 and Luke 9:28-36. And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain apart. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his garments became white as ...

3347. Preparing The Way

Malachi 2:17--3:5

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... of our special guest? God is coming! 1. Stephen V. Daughty Emphasis magazine, C.S.S. Publishers, Lima, Ohio, December 1988, page 6. 2. Malachi means messenger. We do not know whether this was a man named Malachi or an unknown person who was God's messenger. 3. Also see Mark 9:12-13 and Luke 1:17.

3348. Mourning Turned To Joy

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... people, the remnant of Israel (Jeremiah 31:7)." "... I will turn their mourning into joy, I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow (Jeremiah 31:13)." Gladness Instead Of Sadness Listen, you nations of the world. Israel's return to Jerusalem was marked by the redeeming work of God: "For the Lord has ransomed Jacob (another name for Israel) and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him (Jeremiah 31:11)." The return to Jerusalem is a product of God's forgiving redemption and restoration of ...

3349. How To Hear A Sermon

Micah 1:1-7

Sermon

Richard Hasler

... be thinking and feeling along with the speaker about the truth being expounded. There will be a meeting of minds and of hearts. Questions will be stimulated. Personal application will follow. All will be active participants -- speakers and hearers alike. The speaker was not too far off the mark when he began the message with these remarks: “Both of us have a task to perform: I am to speak, and you are to listen. I hope you will not get finished before I do.” We are all in it to the end. In our own young ...

3350. The Best Offense Is A Good Defense

Zephaniah 3:1-20

Sermon

Richard Hasler

... , our lives without structure become swampy and ineffective. Richard Foster helps us to visualize what positive discipline is by drawing a picture of a narrow ledge with a sheer drop-off on either side. The chasm on the right side is a way of life marked by human striving after righteousness, the teaching of moralism. The chasm on the left side is a way characterized by the absence of human striving, the teaching of antinomianism, that is there is no law. On the ledge itself is the path of discipline that ...

Showing results