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 3326 to 3350 of 4942 results

3326. Lean on the Cloud

Hebrews 11:1-40

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Apple had to issue a warning recently. Customers who were using a GPS national park hiking trails “app” on their iPhones were warned about some serious “glitches.” In several national parks the identified trailhead, the mileages, and the directional guides . . . all were completely off. Several hikers got seriously lost because they trusted downloaded trail information that was fatally flawed. Those hikers had faith in the electronic guidance their hiking “app” had given them. But that faith was rewarded ...

3327. The Lamb

Revelation 7:9-17

Sermon

Argile Smith

Have you ever heard of a man named Polycarp? Don’t feel badly if you haven’t. Polycarp’s not exactly a household name, at least in most houses. Yes, it’s an odd name, to our ears anyway. The name conjures up for most people today a product that’s manufactured from something made of plastic that tastes like freshwater fish. In the history of the church, the name lived through one century after another, and the person who bore it gave good reason for people to keep on mentioning the name. Because of the ...

3328. When We No Longer Recognize Ourselves

Psalm 51:1-19

Sermon

King Duncan

Andras Tamas is the name officials gave a certain man decades ago in a Russian psychiatric hospital. He’d been drafted into the army, but the authorities had mistaken his native Hungarian language for the gibberish of a lunatic and had him committed. Then they forgot about him. For 53 years. A few years ago a psychiatrist at the hospital began to realize what had happened and helped Tamas recover the memories of who he was and where he came from. He recently returned home to Budapest as a war hero, “the ...

3329. "Before" and "After"

Psalm 31:1-24

Sermon

King Duncan

Don’t you love “Before” and “After” pictures? Most “Before” and “After” pictures focus on the thrill of improvement. Your home before our design team got their hands on it: It looks like a nice suburban rancher. Your home after our design team worked on it! It looks like the Biltmore mansion! You, before you bought the Muscle Miracle Machine and you, after you bought the Muscle Miracle Machine. All the women swoon! You can almost hear the excitement in the television announcer’s voice, can’t you? The “ ...

3330. Lesson from a Chipmunk

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

Tony Everett

In today’s first lesson the apostles are gathered with their families in an upstairs room somewhere in Jerusalem. So much had happened during the past few months that it was hard to put it all together. They had accompanied Jesus into the city, receiving a royal welcome fit for a king. Then there was their last supper together, followed by Judas’ betrayal and the arrest in Gethsemane, their own narrow escape from the soldiers, and that most horrible crucifixion. They had just about given up all hope when ...

3331. You Are the Light of the World

Matthew 5:13-16

Sermon

King Duncan

Joe and Moe were carpenters. Joe was always finding ways to tease Moe, who was not too bright. One night Joe shined his flashlight up to the 2nd story of a house and said, “Moe, would you mind climbing up this light beam and get my hammer for me?’ Moe said, “Ha! How dumb do think I am?’ “I’m sorry,” Joe replied. “You’d better be,” said Moe. “I know you too well . . . you’d let me get halfway up and then turn the light off!’ Well, Moe wasn’t too bright. But it reminds me of a story that’s told on one of the ...

3332. Appetites and Desires

Romans 7:7-25

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

A mother was preparing breakfast for her two-year-old daughter. She asked the toddler, “What would you like for breakfast a bagel or a bowl of cereal?” The little girl answered, “Chocolate.” “No,” her mother replied, “You can’t have chocolate for breakfast. Do you want a bagel or cereal?” Again the little girl said, “Chocolate.” Slightly exasperated, the mother said, “No, honey. You can’t have my chocolate until after lunch. Now what do you want . . .a bagel or cereal?” The little girl said with a grin, “ ...

3333. Family Re:Union - (PG) Parental Guidance Required

Psalm 127:1-5

Sermon

James Merritt

The headline in the BBC News said it all. When I read it, I thought to myself, “They said more than they intended to say and they were exactly right.” Here was the headline – US Homebuilding At All-Time Low.”[1] What they were referring to was the fact that the rate of construction of new homes in the United States fell by 15.5% in December of 2010. It hit an all-time low. In fact, the rate of new construction from December 2007 to December 2010 was down 45%. In reality, they weren’t really referring to ...

3334. The Insanity of Profanity

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

James Merritt

A few years ago Time magazine reported an incident that took place in the State of Maryland. A truck driver had been arrested for drunk driving and disorderly conduct. When the police officers arrived on the scene to arrest the man, he became abusive. He began to use filthy and profane language, and repeatedly took God’s name in vain. When the man was brought before the magistrate, he was still using profane language. The maximum penalty the magistrate could impose for drunk and disorderly conduct was $100 ...

3335. Ignite: Set On Fire!

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

James Merritt

Without question, perhaps the most famous well-known name outside of politics and entertainment would be Billy Graham. Of all the stories I’ve ever heard about Dr. Graham, probably my favorite is the time when he was going to a certain city to do one of his crusades. There were some critics who didn’t particularly care for either his style or his methods. They didn’t want him to come. They called a press conference and said, “If we let that man come to our city and preach his message he will set the church ...

3336. Ignite: Man on Fire

Acts 9:1-19a

Sermon

James Merritt

You hear a lot of people say a lot of times, “Nothing surprises me anymore!” Just about the time I believe nothing surprises me anymore, something surprises me. In fact, it didn’t just surprise me, but frankly shocked, amazed, and astounded me. There is a website called, “Top-10-list.org” I went to it to see what they said would be the top ten most important events in history. As I put these up on the screen you might want to in your mind jot down as many as you can think of. I want you listen to not only ...

3337. All In: Calling Your Bluff

Romans 12:1-8

Sermon

James Merritt

Financial advisors will tell you that the wisest way to invest money is to be diversified. As the old saying goes, “don’t put all of your eggs in one basket.” Yet when it comes to the most important investment you will ever make which is your life—God’s strategy is just the opposite. The strategy is not diversification but concentration—taking all of your life and giving it completely to Jesus Christ. We are in a series called “All In.” Our theme verse is Luke 9:23, “And he said to all, ‘If anyone would ...

3338. When “Vocation” and “Vacation” Are One

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

If you want to guarantee you will never win public office or be appointed to public service, just say these words: “America is no longer the greatest nation in the world.” It used to be the US led the world in almost any category you could think of. But in the past 50 years we’ve fallen to 7th in literacy, 27th in math, 22nd in science, 49th in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, 3rd in median household income, number four in labor force, number four in exports. I’ll stop there. You’ve got the ...

3339. An Announcement to a Virgin

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

King Duncan

Pastor Ben Patterson tells about his 5-year-old niece, Olivia, and her best friend, Claire, who were participating in a nativity play at school. Claire was playing Mary, and Olivia played an angel. Before the show, a young boy was going around the dressing room proclaiming to all who could hear him, “I’m a sheep.” Then asking, “What are you?” Each child responded politely, including Olivia, who proudly declared she was an angel. The boy then turned to Claire, who was still struggling into her costume with ...

3340. An Announcement in Song

Psalm 98:1-9

Sermon

King Duncan

In preparation for this message, I reflected on things I would miss as the Christmas season nears its close. One thing I will not miss, of course, is the crass materialism the desperate urge to buy just the right gift. It’s hard on both the soul and the wallet. I heard about a man who received his Visa bill from last Christmas. There was a note attached: “This bill is now 1 year old!” He sent it back with a note: “Happy Birthday, Bill!” Some families will spend the greater part of this year paying off last ...

3341. Humvee Holiness and Humble Holiness

Matthew 23:1-39

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Halloween is the ultimate holiday of “pretending.” On Halloween we dress up and “pretend” to be someone or something other than ourselves. On Halloween we “pretend” to believe that the people jumping out at us and scaring us in the “haunted houses” we paid $25 to get into are monsters and zombies. On Halloween we happily “pretend” that the scariest stuff in life are those things that “go bump in the night.” On Halloween we revel in “pretend” bumps instead of bumping into the terrifying realities of evil ...

3342. Drowsy Disciples

Mark 13:1-31

Sermon

David J. Kalas

I watched with amusement, recently, as a gentleman across the table from me at a church committee meeting struggled to stay awake. Our meeting came at the end of what had apparently been a tiring day for him, and now the meeting itself was running long. No one there would question this member’s devotion to the church or his commitment to its work. But he simply could not keep himself awake. His eyes would blur and begin to flicker, his head would start to bob, and finally his chin would sink into his chest ...

3343. Changing Times

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

Advent reminds us of the flow of time. We are all bound by time. Time is our teacher, our boss, our constant companion. Time locks us into the march of life and forces us to wake up each morning in a place we’ve never been before, in a place we can never return to again. All our lives we struggle with time. When will we ever have enough time? When will I be old enough? When will time stop long enough for me to love you? One woman went through a great period of depression when her husband died. The grief ...

3344. An Announcement for a New Year

Galatians 3:26--4:7

Sermon

King Duncan

This is the last Sunday of 2014. Next Sunday is the year of our Lord 2015. My guess is that for some of us that hardly seems possible. Wasn’t it just yesterday when we were in a tizzy over Y2K and the beginning of a new millennium? On the other hand, it seems like a life-time ago. Besides, according to the ballyhooed Mayan calendar, the world should have ended December 21, 2012. [And according to Hal Lindsay and The Late, Great Planet Earth and numerous Left Behind books by Tim LaHaye, we should all have ...

3345. Dust in the Wind

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Sermon

Timothy Cargal

Sometimes a song gets so deep inside your head that it can never be uprooted. Maybe it is the melody or the mood evoked by its musical qualities. Maybe it is the themes and ideas that find expression in its lyrics. If it happens to be both the music and the lyrics perfectly matched to each other, then the effect is particularly strong. Such songs have the ability to become a recurring soundtrack to our lives. One such song for me is Kerry Livgren’s “Dust In The Wind.” Since I first heard this song more ...

3346. A Personal History

John 18:1—19:42

Sermon

David J. Kalas

A junior high school student sits down with his world history textbook, and he wonders what all this stuff has to do with him. Clearly, people like Alexander, Hannibal, Caesar, Charlemagne, and Napoleon had a great impact on the world in which they lived, but what do the Rubicon and Waterloo have to do with that thirteen-year-old American boy? When he gets to senior high school, that same student may find a greater sense of relevance in his American history textbook. It is easier for him to see the ...

3347. Personal History

John 18:1-11

Sermon

David J. Kalas

3348. Welcome Home

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

James Merritt

A picture is worth a thousand words. Sometimes they should be because certain pictures can leave you speechless. I have often thought that if my house were burning down and I could only grab a few things as I ran out the door, I would bypass the jewelry, the clothes, and any furniture. I would take some pictures because pictures matter to me. And they matter to us all. We’ve now entered what might be called “The age of the snapshot.” 82% of Americans say they take pictures with their cell phones, up from a ...

3349. Everything Counts

Luke 16:1-15

Sermon

James Merritt

When the man heard the phone ring, his stomach began to turn. Something told him this was the call he had been dreading, “Sir, I’m calling from the bank to let you know we are foreclosing on your home. You are going to be evicted in one week.” The man began to beg, “You can’t do this. I haven’t been able to find work since I was laid off and I have nowhere to take my wife and children.” But the banker replied, “Sir, I am sorry there is nothing I can do.” For a moment the man sat there stunned, but he then ...

3350. Just Grace

Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon

James Merritt

The woman’s accounting firm is having its best year since she founded it ten years ago. Taxes are due the next day and she wonders if maybe they have taken on too many projects. I majored in accounting and I know missing the tax deadline is a quick way to lose creditability with customers. She decides to bring on some extra help. A friend had mentioned a temp agency in town that was pretty reliable. She Googled the name, locates the number, and makes the call. The nervous woman breathes a sigh of relief ...

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