Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 3401 to 3425 of 4977 results

3401. Maximum Marriage

Mark 10:1-12

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... are led about by our passions. But God's Word is very clear: one man for one woman for life! Here a word needs to be said about another force that threatens the "leaving" dimension of marriage, and that is the former family. When two marry it is quite natural for the parents to try to interfere. "Does she feed him well?" "Is he buying her enough clothes?" The Bible says, "A man shall leave his father and his mother!" A young couple had a quarrel and the bride of three months called her parents long distance ...

3402. Bedlam or Bethleham?

Titus 2:1-15

Sermon

Fredrick R. Harm

... be helpful to view the word "godly" as meaning "Godliness" or "Christ-likeness." Here we can see the Christ of Christmas giving himself to us in such a way as to produce a measure of his likeness in our lives which so often exhibit quite different qualities, qualities for which we plead forgiveness every day. Christ-likeness -- can you think of a greater pursuit for this Christmas season or any season, for that matter? Recall Nathaniel Hawthorne's wonderful short story, "The Great Stone Face." In it the ...

3403. A New Look for a New Year

Ephesians 1:1-14

Sermon

Fredrick R. Harm

... , yet all inclusive word, forgiven. Embrace that forgiveness as your own and be certain that Christ purchased it for you personally, with no strings attached! One of the happy results that emerge from the assurance of forgiveness is the fact that now it becomes quite natural for us to express this forgiveness to others as well. It is a concomitant of our newness. Later in this epistle, Saint Paul reminds us that we most resemble the God we worship when we extend forgiveness to those who have wronged us ...

3404. Who Can Ask for Anything More?

1 Corinthians 8:1-13

Sermon

Fredrick R. Harm

... of the unfailing presence of our Divine Friend. It comes to us from Pastor John Short of Toronto. A young man was observed to enter a Roman Catholic church at lunch time and to kneel before the altar for a few moments and then to depart. That went on for quite some time. The priest's curiosity was stirred. One day he stopped the young man and asked him why he did it and why his devotions were so brief. The lad explained that he had to come during his lunch hour, and that he only had time for a very ...

3405. So Great a Love

Ephesians 2:1-10

Sermon

Paul E. Robinson

... imagine what it would be like to have hope, to be loved, to be shown mercy, to know a God who has so great a love, that even their hell is not the last word. How to communicate such a God, such a love, without first having experienced it is quite a challenge. But Saint Paul would say it is worth the effort, for the God he had come to know in Jesus was worth getting to know. In his letter to the church at Ephesus, in the second chapter, he scrawled these words with quill pen on parchment: "But God ...

3406. The Source

Hebrews 4:14-5:10

Sermon

Paul E. Robinson

... Not everyone sings the song with feeling, "Nobody knows the trouble I've seen, nobody knows but Jesus. Nobody knows the trouble I've seen, glory hallelujah." The scripture reading this morning sounds heady -- theological -- removed from your life and mine. But, in fact, it's close. Quite close, indeed. Not a lot of folks pick up and read the book of Hebrews. It's close to the end of the New Testament, hidden nicely between Philemon and James. If you're going to hide, that's the place to hide! We don't know ...

3407. Grace in the Midst of Hopelessness

Romans 8:18-27

Sermon

Glenn McDonald

... will of God." Christian history is replete with stories of God's people who have been suddenly awakened in the middle of the night or startled by strong impressions in the middle of day that someone is in need of their prayers. The Holy Spirit quite literally recruits us to intercede for each other. Disciples of Jesus are called to experience and to share God's grace, even in circumstances that seem to scream out a reality of hopelessness. Author and church leader Lee Strobel, in his book God's Outrageous ...

3408. Grace in the Midst of Weakness

2 Corinthians 4:1-18

Sermon

Glenn McDonald

... of Gethsemane when they should have been praying; they had run for cover when Jesus was arrested and crucified; one of them had shouted out loud that he had never even met Jesus; and when they first heard that the tomb just might be empty, quite frankly they didn't believe it. Therefore when Jesus stood before them, incredibly real and alive, they knew what was coming. "You've come for our resignations," they were thinking. "Well, here they are. We resign." How might Jesus have answered? "You've got be ...

3409. Grace in the Midst of the Crush of Time

2 Corinthians 6:3-13

Sermon

Glenn McDonald

... at a time -- and no faster. Psalm 90 informs us that God is uniquely able to experience a "telescoping" of time -- that for God a thousand years are like a day, but even more intriguing, that a day is as rich and meaningful as a thousand years. Quite literally every moment matters eternally -- which means that this present moment counts forever. One of the great human obsessions of the modern age is to make time jump through more hoops -- to force time to be more productive. That's why so many of us are ...

3410. Gifted People

Ephesians 4:1-16

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... for the necessities of life. Division and selfish immaturity often impede the work of "gifted" people and make relationships tenuous at best. Aristotle was one of the first to maintain that truth telling is the product of a mature relationship. Certainly one must be quite mature to speak the right truth to the right person at the right time in the right way for the right reasons. Ellen Goodman, a syndicated columnist, wrote an article about a friend of hers who was always "keeping his options open." It ...

3411. The Achilles' Heel of the Church

James 5:13-20

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... second ingredient of the big three, praying, is also rather easily understood by contemporary Christians. We, like the text, recognize that praying and singing go together. Sometimes the circumstances are desperate and at other times the circumstances for prayer may be quite normal, if not buoyant. There really is no great tension between James' teaching and our own faith in modern medicine and psychiatry. The psychological effects of sin are well known. It has been clearly established that a sense of being ...

3412. Needy People Please Apply

Acts 4:32-37

Sermon

King Duncan

... at the tender age of eighteen was to sell himself into slavery so he could reach these people who had so little. His friends, even his Christian friends, couldn’t believe it. They sought to dissuade him and they criticized him soundly. But he believed quite sincerely that if he traveled to the Virgin Islands as an ambassador of state, he would have been treated so differently by the residents there that his message would be compromised. He wanted to serve Christ, and he was willing to do whatever it took ...

3413. Good News!

Isaiah 61:1-11

Sermon

Curtis Lewis

For a period of time there was an emphasis on good news/bad news stories. In good news/bad news stories, details keep turning from triumph to tragedy and back again. One such story which was related quite frequently was about two friends who were avid baseball fans. These two friends made a pact that whoever died first would come back and let the other know if there was baseball in heaven. The first one died and came back and contacted his friend and said, "Hey, man, I ...

3414. Joy to the World

Isaiah 61:1-11

Sermon

Curtis Lewis

... not the real cause. What the real cause is we do not know. Something like it is expressed in much of that detestable art which the humans call music, and something like it occurs in Heaven -- a meaningless acceleration in the rhythm of celestial experience, quite opaque to us. Laughter of this kind does us no good and should always be discouraged. Besides, the phenomenon is of itself disgusting and a direct insult to the realism, dignity, and austerity of Hell.1 God speaks to his joyless people and reminds ...

3415. I'll Be Somewhere Listening

1 Samuel 3:1--4:1

Sermon

Curtis Lewis

Children are very perceptive. When our friend's daughter was small, if she was talking to her father or her mother and she felt that they were not quite tuned in to what she was saying, she would adamantly inform them that they were not listening to her. Sometimes she would take a different approach, especially if they were seated in a chair or on the couch. She would be talking away and realize that they were not giving ...

3416. The Challenge of God Brings Hope

Genesis 9:1-17

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... In a totally paradoxical way, the cross of Christ became the only hope of salvation for those who believe. Let us during this Lenten season do our best to meet squarely the challenges and tests of faith that come to us. Our encounters might not be easy; many may be quite difficult. But if we negotiate the hurdles, we will be better prepared for our return home, not only at Easter, but more importantly at the eternal banquet, when we will share the joy of all the saints in beholding the face of God forever.

3417. Obedience to God's Plan

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

Richard Gribble

In a vast field that stretched as far as the eye could see, a great multitude of people milled about waiting for something to happen. Quite unexpectedly a messenger came into the midst of the people and announced, "You are to walk around this field 25 times carrying a baton." The people were a bit mystified by these words and asked, "What will happen when we finish?" "You will learn the answer when you are done," ...

3418. The Good Shepherd

John 10:1-21

Sermon

Brett Blair

... what the Good Shepherd meant when he said: I know my sheep and my sheep know me. Bishop Edward Tullis used to tell the story of a particular census taker who went to a family to gather information. This was in the mountains and the family was quite poor. He asked the mother how many dependents she had. She began, well there is Rosalie, and Billy, and Lewella, our dog Willie. The census taker interrupted her and said: No ma’am that is not necessary. I just need humans. Oh, she said. Well, there is Rosalie ...

3419. Waiting for God

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... particularly difficult time, you are probably not too concerned when Christ will come. That sounds like heresy, but it is probably true. Perhaps someone in this service is in terrible pain and is praying, Maranatha, “Come quickly Lord.” But most of us are living quite nicely and we would not be concerned if Christ should tarry. This is not to say that we are patient people. We are not. The average person today becomes agitated after waiting forty seconds for an elevator. And most of us are like that. It ...

3420. And God Breathed Into Man

Genesis 2:4-25

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... , just as are the birds and the beasts of the field. Often our dreams, which we cannot control by our will, are an appalling reminder that we have our roots in the animal kingdom. "Isn't it really a comfort that the Bible sees us quite realistically as being higher animals? (higher -- yes -- but animals, nonetheless) That God by no means thinks of us only as dwellers in the top story of creation, as occupants of the penthouse reserved for the possessors of conscience and reason. But that he also knows ...

3421. A Guiding Presence

Romans 8:1-17

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... I experience seem ponderous and hard gained, and I discovered that no matter how noble my purposes, I am often without power or my power is soon depleted. I have discovered the indwelling Christ is a guiding presence, because Christ in me means something quite different from the weight of an impossible ideal. Christ in me means something far more glorious than the oppressive struggle of seeking to imitate Christ or to follow in his steps, which you have been admonished to do all your lives. Christ in me ...

3422. Playing A Role Or Being A Truth

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... be victimized by that. We’re driven by the fear of being found out when we participate in that sort of thing, and our energy is used in efforts to convince everyone that the front is what we really are. So we’re like shaven French poodles, never quite sure that people are seeing us for what we really are. I like what Shirley Lynn said about Dr. Beatty in her Sunday School class the first Sunday following his death. She said, Dr. Beatty was always what he appeared to be. He had resisted the temptation to ...

3423. What If God Is Dependent Upon Our Praying?

2 Chronicles 7:1-10

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... girl named Kay who played with imaginary characters down by the creek behind our house. One of the most precious things she’s ever done. Jeri never heard from Kay. She even tried to get in touch with her by phone, but was unable to do so. I’m quite certain that little Kay died. But I’m more than certain that her last days and weeks were made more bearable because of those weekly visits from someone who first began to pray. I can’t even begin to imagine what would happen to our congregation, I can ...

3424. Christmas Is On Top Of A Steep Hill

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... of the longing, groaning hopes of Israel, he incarnates our modern longing and need. Get the original setting in mind. There was not a Jew alive when Jesus was born who did not regard his own nation as the chosen people. Yet the Jews saw quite clearly that by human means, their nation would never attain to the supreme world greatness, which they believed their destiny to be. By far, the greater number of them believed that because the Jews were the chosen people of God, some day they were bound ...

3425. A Star, A Stable, and A Song

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... feelings which defy our power of speech and language, is the meaning of Christmas. We do our best as freshly and as meaningfully as possible to capture the meaning of it all. Try as we will though, we always feel limited and always feel that we’ve not quite made it. So we need more than words, don’t we. We need some means of communication more expressive than language. It’s true with other experiences as well. And to some degree we have found answers. When we can’t pass on our feelings of patriotism ...

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