Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 3376 to 3400 of 5000 results

3376. A Touch of the Master's Hand

Luke 13:10-17

Illustration

It was not only the physical condition of this woman that was restored on that Sabbath day. Many scholars point to this text as the place where Jesus restored the dignity of all women. Jesus argues that this crippled woman is of more importance to God than livestock because she is a daughter of Abraham. And so, with the touch of his hand he not only restores her health but her place in the community. It reminds me of the song by the Christian artist Wayne Watson "The Touch of the Master's Hand," which ...

3377. 9 Steps to Third World Living

Luke 14:1-14

Illustration

First, take out the furniture: leave a few old blankets, a kitchen table, maybe a wooden chair. You've never had a bed, remember? Second, throw out your clothes. Each person in the family may keep the oldest suit or dress, a shirt or blouse. The head of the family has the only pair of shoes. Third, all kitchen appliances have vanished. Keep a box of matches, a small bag of flour, some sugar and salt, a handful of onions, a dish of dried beans. Rescue the moldy potatoes from the garbage can: those are ...

3378. Life Turned Upside Down

Luke 14:1-14

Illustration

Robert Oppenheimer was the one man responsible for the development for the atomic bomb the United States used against Japan at the close of World War II. He was born in 1904 in New York City, and showed an early interest in science. He entered Harvard at 18 and graduated 3 years later with honors. He continued his studies in theoretical physics at various universities in Europe prior to teaching at the California Institute of Technology. He was considered one of the top ten theoretical physicists in the ...

3379. Chickens For World Leaders

Luke 14:1-14

Illustration

Brett Blair

Organizers for the dinner party that opened the celebration of the 50th birthday of the United Nations faced an almost impossible task: preparing a meal for sixty-five heads of state and their entourages that was fitting for a dignitary, and non-offensive to all cultures represented. This meant no shellfish, no pork, no beef and no sauces that involved alcohol. It also meant no white flowers on the tables, because some Asian cultures associate white flowers with mourning. They could not afford for a ...

3380. Missing the Obvious

Luke 14:25-35

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Brett Blair

Martin Marty, in "Context" (November 1997), spoke of a financial planner who observed after many years of advise giving "When clients talk to me about their estates, they usually say, 'If I die,' not 'when I die.' Even 80-year-olds use the conditional."

3381. Are You God's Wife?

Luke 14:25-35

Illustration

A little boy about 10 years old was standing before a shoe store on the roadway, barefooted, peering through the window, and shivering with cold. A lady approached the boy and said, “My little fellow, why are you looking so earnestly in that window?” “I was asking God to give me a pair of shoes,” was the boys reply. The lady took him by the hand and went into the store and asked the clerk to get half a dozen pairs of socks for the boy. She then asked if he could give her a basin of water and a towel. He ...

3382. The Collateral Damage of Our Attitudes

Luke 16:19-31

Illustration

Brett Blair

In those first few weeks after 9/11, it was difficult to take in all the things happening, much less make some kind of sense of it all. Occasionally you read something in the paper or you heard something on TV which helped you put things in perspective. I remember by Thursday September 13th all of the sporting events that weekend had been cancelled. One of the NFL athletes was asked about playing on Sunday. He said, "Why? Who wants to play? I have a family and my heart just wouldn't be in it." A TV ...

3383. Different Worlds

Luke 16:19-31

Illustration

Brett Blair

Some years ago before the death of Mother Theresa, a television special depicted the grim human conditions that were a part of her daily life. It showed all the horror of the slums of Calcutta and her love for these destitute people. The producer interviewed her as she made her rounds in that dreadful place. Throughout the program commercials interrupted the flow of the discussion. Here is the sequence of the topics and commercials: lepers (bikinis for sale); mass starvation (designer jeans); agonizing ...

3384. Getting Back to Work

Luke 17:1-10

Illustration

Brett Blair

Rabbi Harold Kushner tells a wonderful story about a bright young man, who was a sophomore Stanford pre-med student To reward him for having done so well in school, his parents gave him a trip to the Far East for the summer vacation before the start of his junior year. While there he met a guru who said to him, "Don't you see how you are poisoning your soul with this success oriented way of life? Your idea of happiness is to stay up all night studying for an exam so you can get a better grade than your ...

3385. The Priorities of a Servant

Luke 17:1-10

Illustration

Brett Blair

A young boy by the name of James had a desire to be the most famous manufacturer and salesman of cheese in the world. He planned on becoming rich and famous by making and selling cheese and began with a little buggy pulled by a pony named Paddy. After making his cheese, he would load his wagon and he and Paddy would drive down the streets of Chicago to sell the cheese. As the months passed, the young boy began to despair because he was not making any money, in spite of his long hours and hard work. One day ...

3386. Moving Mountains

Luke 17:1-10

Illustration

A small congregation in the foothills of the Great Smokies built a new sanctuary on a piece of land willed to them by a church member. Ten days before the new church was to open, the local building inspector informed the pastor that the parking lot was inadequate for the size of the building. Until the church doubled the size of the parking lot, they would not be able to use the new sanctuary. Unfortunately, the church with its undersized lot had used every inch of their land except for the mountain ...

Luke 17:1-10

There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till. The power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

3388. I Started to be Grateful

Luke 17:11-19

Illustration

Brett Blair

Greg Anderson, in Living Life on Purpose, tells a story about a man whose wife had left him. He was completely depressed. He had lost faith in himself, in other people, in God--he found no joy in living. One rainy morning this man went to a small neighborhood restaurant for breakfast. Although several people were at the diner, no one was speaking to anyone else. Our miserable friend hunched over the counter, stirring his coffee with a spoon. In one of the small booths along the window was a young mother ...

3389. An Inventory of Blessings

Luke 17:11-19

Illustration

Perhaps Daniel Defoe gave us some good advice through his fictitious character Robinson Crusoe. The first thing that Crusoe did when he found himself on a deserted island was to make out a list. On one side of the list he wrote down all his problems. On the other side of the list he wrote down all of his blessings. On one side he wrote: I do not have any clothes. On the other side he wrote: But it's warm and I don't really need any. On one side he wrote: All of the provisions were lost. On the other side ...

3390. Not One of Them Ever Thanked Me

Luke 17:11-19

Illustration

Bishop Gerland Kennedy of California tells the true story of a shipwreck off the coast of Evanston, Ill. Many years ago. The students of Northwestern University came to the rescue. One student, Edward Spenser, personally saved the lives of 17 persons that day. Years later a reporter was writing a follow up story on the event, and went to interview the now elderly Spenser. When asked what was the one thing that stood out about the incident in his mind; Spenser replied: "I remember that of the seventeen ...

3391. A Letter of Appreciation

Luke 17:11-19

Illustration

In the book "A Window on the Mountain," Winston Pierce tells of his high school class reunion. A group of the old classmates were reminiscing about things and persons they were grateful for. One man mentioned that he was particularly thankful for Mrs. Wendt, for she more than anyone had introduced him to Tennyson and the beauty of poetry. Acting on a suggestion, the man wrote a letter of appreciation to Mrs. Wendt and addressed it to the high school. The note was forwarded and eventually found the old ...

3392. The Effect of Leprosy

Luke 17:11-19

Illustration

Brett Blair

Leprosy effect upon the body is devastating. Where it attacks it causes a loss of the sense of touch. That doesn't sound too bad but consider the implications. When you reach for the stove to pick up a frying pan that is hot you immediately drop it and put ice on the burn. You watch as your skin turns red and blister. Now, if you had leprosy you would grab the pan and feel nothing. You've lost your sense of touch. You carry the pan unaware of the damage it is doing to your hand. As you set the pan down and ...

3393. The First Billionaire

Luke 17:11-19

Illustration

Brett Blair

The very first person to reach the status of billionaire was a man who knew how to set goals and follow through. At the age of 23, he had become a millionaire, by the age of 50 a billionaire. Every decision, attitude, and relationship was tailored to create his personal power and wealth. But three years later at the age of 53 he became ill. His entire body became racked with pain and he lost all the hair on his head. In complete agony, the world's only billionaire could buy anything he wanted, but he could ...

3394. People Skills

Illustration

Bill Bouknight

Charles Schwab was one of the few men before World War II who was paid a salary of one million dollars per year. Schwab, a steel executive, was once asked what it was that made him worth so much. He replied, ‘It's not that I know more about steel than anybody else. The greatest asset I possess is my ability to arouse enthusiasm among people. I have learned that people respond best to appreciation and encouragement.’ People may respond to threats or bribery, but neither their respect nor affection is won. ...

3395. Orphans Can't Eat Souls

Luke 6:17-36

Illustration

Brett Blair

C. H. Spurgeon preached once a each year for his orphans. At that great meeting many would come to hear the famous preacher, and an offering would be received for the orphanage. After one of these meetings he was leaving the sanctuary when one of those "super spiritual," narrow-minded, nitpicking individuals accosted him with the charge, "Why, Mr. Spurgeon, I thought you preached for souls and not for money!" Spurgeon gravely replied, "Why, Mr. So-and-So. Normally I do preach for souls and not for money. ...

3396. The More I Give The More I Have

Luke 6:17-36

Illustration

Brett Blair

Professor John Killinger in his book "Letting God Bless You" relates the story of a beautiful woman who is ninety years old and has always been extremely generous with everything she has. He says, "She helps foreign students who want to come to this country to study. She sends flowers and food to people who have had a distressing time of any kind. She gives frequent dinners and parties in order to be able to introduce people to one another. Often she sends theater and concert tickets to people she knows ...

3397. Like All the Others

Luke 20:27-38

Illustration

Brett Blair

Many of you know Charles de Gaulle as the famous French WWII soldier, statesman, author. What you probably did not know was that Charles and Evonne deGaulle were the parents of a very mentally disabled child. She was a treasure and a great concern to them both. No matter how bad things were in France, Charles would always make time for he and his wife to have time with their daughter. Almost every night after they had put her to bed, Evonne would ask, "Charles, why couldn't she have been like the others?" ...

3398. Philosophers and Pessimists

Luke 20:27-38

Illustration

Brett Blair

When it comes to talking about the hereafter, I like the words of St Paul: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived, What God has prepared for those who love him." Resurrection is not some natural right that we are given. It is a remarkable gift from the grace of God. Gratis! Some Greek philosophers believed that we are, by nature, immortal spirits. The human body and life on earth are but crude prisons that we endure like caged eagles. For them immortality is our right, which is restored ...

3399. Hypocrisy

Luke 20:27-38; Romans 7

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In a speech to the Society of American Authors on November 15, 1900, Mark Twain, with tongue in cheek, spoke of the two-faced life we all live: "I am constructed like everybody else and enjoy a compliment as well as any other fool, but I do like to have the other side presented. And there is another side. I have a wicked side. Estimable friends who know all about it would tell you and take a certain delight in telling you things that I have done and things further that I have not repented. The real life ...

3400. Misleading Questions

Luke 20:27-38

Illustration

Brett Blair

Misleading Questions: Luke 20:1-2 Chief Priest and Elders question Jesus about his Authority Luke 20:20 Spies are sent to catch him in a slip of the tongue Luke 20:27-33 Sadducees All are insincere tricks but Jesus proves to be more than a match for his adversaries. With the third misleading question, the Sadducees try to expose the resurrection as a ridiculous theological concept by posing an impossible scenario and thereby trap Jesus in his thoughts: A woman is married seven times to a series of brothers ...

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Antonyms: deficient, imperfect

Showing 3376 to 3400 of 5000 results

3376. A Touch of the Master's Hand

Luke 13:10-17

Illustration

3377. 9 Steps to Third World Living

Luke 14:1-14

Illustration

3378. Life Turned Upside Down

Luke 14:1-14

Illustration

3379. Chickens For World Leaders

Luke 14:1-14

Illustration

Brett Blair

3380. Missing the Obvious

Luke 14:25-35

Illustration

Brett Blair

3381. Are You God's Wife?

Luke 14:25-35

Illustration

3382. The Collateral Damage of Our Attitudes

Luke 16:19-31

Illustration

Brett Blair

3383. Different Worlds

Luke 16:19-31

Illustration

Brett Blair

3384. Getting Back to Work

Luke 17:1-10

Illustration

Brett Blair

3385. The Priorities of a Servant

Luke 17:1-10

Illustration

Brett Blair

3386. Moving Mountains

Luke 17:1-10

Illustration

Luke 17:1-10

Ralph Waldo Emerson

3388. I Started to be Grateful

Luke 17:11-19

Illustration

Brett Blair

3389. An Inventory of Blessings

Luke 17:11-19

Illustration

3390. Not One of Them Ever Thanked Me

Luke 17:11-19

Illustration

3391. A Letter of Appreciation

Luke 17:11-19

Illustration

3392. The Effect of Leprosy

Luke 17:11-19

Illustration

Brett Blair

3393. The First Billionaire

Luke 17:11-19

Illustration

Brett Blair

3394. People Skills

Illustration

Bill Bouknight

3395. Orphans Can't Eat Souls

Luke 6:17-36

Illustration

Brett Blair

3396. The More I Give The More I Have

Luke 6:17-36

Illustration

Brett Blair

3397. Like All the Others

Luke 20:27-38

Illustration

Brett Blair

3398. Philosophers and Pessimists

Luke 20:27-38

Illustration

Brett Blair

3399. Hypocrisy

Luke 20:27-38; Romans 7

Illustration

3400. Misleading Questions

Luke 20:27-38

Illustration

Brett Blair

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