Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 3476 to 3500 of 4884 results

3476. Jesus Saves, We're Called To Invest

Matthew 25:14-20

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... tired of the Great Depression, rising taxes, and increasing crime and in 1940 he sold his home and business and moved to an island in the South Pacific to get away from it all. Balmy and ringed with beautiful beaches, it was a paradise. Sounds like the perfect setting doesn't it. You know the name of the island? Iwo Jima. For those too young to recall, Iwo Jima, was an island where the fiercest fighting between American forces and the Japanese took place in the Second World War. You have to use it or lose ...

3477. God's Whatever

Philippians 4:2-9

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... of macramé items or CB radios or the70's perm hairstyle. I had one. Or leisure suits. How about Beanie Babies. The dancing hamsters. Remember the Macarena? It's now been reduced to a Peptobismalad. Pop culture and the image of what is IN and cool and perfect changes nearly as fast as computer technology. That's why Paul says: "Rejoice in the Lord, always. And again, I say Rejoice." It's that discipline of "Always" that sort of alludes us at times. And yet, I've come to believe that the “Always" attitude ...

3478. Where do You Live?

Romans 14:1-12

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... know he's proud of the boys. And you know they finally get what being a team is all about. That scene teaches us a couple of things. One, like Timo Cruz, the task of standing accountable and blameless before God is impossible. There is no way we can be perfect and not sin in a fallen world. We can give it our best shot, but we will always come up short and alone. But the Good News is that we don't have to do it alone. Christ Jesus stepped into the scene and said, "I'll take his burden ...

3479. Why Not Meet in the Middle? (Series: Real Faith for Real People)

1 Peter 3:8-22

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... my weaknesses. I thought it was the thing to do, and strengths do have their rewards. It feels good to win. Success is satisfying. Ladder climbing can be fun. Although, in more recent years, I have come to understand the notion that power is made perfect in weakness. As Paul said, “I delight in weakness, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties, for when I am weak then I am strong.” (II Corinthians 12:10) Weakness has its rewards. There are lessons to be learned in defeat that will ...

3480. Could We Start Again, Please? (Series: Real Faith for Real People)

John 3:1-21

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... birth means new life in community. I know there are times when you would rather do it yourself, but you are not wired that way. We are made to belong, to be a part of the family of God, to become the body of Christ. Certainly the Church is not perfect. How could it be? It’s made up of people like you and me. The Church is God’s best hope for humanity. Friday night on 20/20, John Stossel explored the habits of generous and not so generous people in America. After he interviewed the Ted Turners of the ...

3481. Radical Love is Risky (Series: Radical Love in a Risky World)

Luke 6:27-36

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... what are you going to do with those who hate you? How are you going to deal with the people who hate you? Are you going to join the crowd and demonize them too? “Let me tell you what that so and so said about me... I may not be perfect, but I’m not as bad as they ...” I don’t have to finish that sentence. You’ve said it a hundred times haven’t you? Is that what we are going to do? Clarence Darrow once said, “Everyone is a potential murderer. I have not killed anyone but I ...

3482. Why Should I Read The Bible? (Series: Real Faith for Real People)

2 Timothy 3:10--4:8

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... . Scripture, said Paul, is presently profitable for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. When I was just a kid I memorized 2 Corinthians 12:9. In that verse, the Lord says to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” What I did not know then, but have experienced now, is the powerful truth of that statement. II. The Word of God for the People of God. Thanks Be To God. The word of God is useful for instruction. “Continue in what you ...

3483. We Believe in the Trinity

John 16:5-16

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... Trinity Sunday. Sunday after Sunday we sing about the Trinity, pray to the Trinity, and hear great thanksgivings expressed to the Trinity, but who of us understands this uniquely Christian expression of faith? I’m sure in the next few minutes I can make all that perfectly clear. I. We Believe In One God Our Jewish friends rise in the morning and say “Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one.” We Christians say “Amen.” Our Muslim friends face Mecca five times a day and say “God is one ...

3484. Winning the War Over Fear (Series: Winning the Wars of Daily Life)

Luke 12:1-12

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... people give for disassociating themselves from a church is that they don’t want to be around a crowd of hypocrites. My rebuttal is always the same. “Come to church anyway; another hypocrite can’t hurt us that much.” While no one of us is perfect, it behooves us by the grace given to us to live real, authentic, genuine, honest, lives. Christianity is not for talented actors or great pretenders. It is for repentant sinners of whom Paul said, “I am chief.” Jesus had few kind words for hypocrites ...

3485. The Real GPS: Gospel Positioning System

John 21:15-25

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam. When Otto Frank asked Miep and her husband Jan to help hide his family in a small annex above his company’s warehouse, the young women and her husband immediately agreed. “Of course,” she said. Years later Miep declared, “It seemed perfectly natural to me. I could help these people. They were powerless, they didn’t know where to turn.” In other words, for Miep Gies hiding the Frank family from the Nazis was no big deal. It was the human, the humane thing to do. For ...

3486. The Surprise Twist

Illustration

Carl Jech

... a disturbing sight. Attached to his friend's leg by a large chain was the most hideous blob of sticky protoplasm he had ever seen. "What is that?" he asked St. Peter, scarcely able to control his horror. "Oh," said St. Peter. "Well, you see your friend was far from perfect in his life on earth and this is his punishment." A little further on the man saw another friend with an even more hideous blob attached to his leg. "I guess Leo did quite a few bad things in his life too, eh?" "I'm afraid so," St. Peter ...

3487. Will 2012 Be the End of the World?

Revelation 7:9-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... have not changed, “this earth drifts towards unparalleled catastrophe.” Who would argue with Albert Einstein? And now we have the horror of international terrorism. Technology is wonderful in many ways, but in the hands of terrorists, we have good reason for fear. The perfection of a suitcase sized nuclear device is still a legitimate concern. We live in a world in which a small group of crazed and determined individuals can wreak havoc on society. It may be only a matter of time until we have another ...

3488. What We Know in Part

John 10:22-30; 1 Cor. 13:9-10

Illustration

Mickey Anders

... through the broken plaster (Best Sermons, Vol. 2, p. 42). Isn't that the way we really see Jesus? Isn't that the way we see the truth? The Apostle Paul said it this way: "For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away… For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abides faith… hope… love… "

3489. Don't Settle for Half A Glass

Matthew 4:1-11

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... to be like Him, humble, loving and a servant. In Romans 12:2 the Apostle Paul says: "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." Saying "Yes" to the world, is settling for half a glass. Jesus calls us to say, "No" to the world. Don't settle for half a glass. III. Bow Down A. And then there is the third temptation. The devil promised to give Jesus the world if he'd just ...

3490. The Short List

Micah 6:1-8

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... to everyone in this courtroom, and I am fining everyone in this courtroom fifty cents for living in a city where a man has to steal in order to have bread to eat." The money was collected and given to the defendant. I love that story, because it's a perfect example of justice being meted out in full and paid in full, while at the very same time, mercy and grace were also enacted in full. (7) You and I are called to act in the same manner as that Judge. We're called to not just do mercy and ...

3491. If, Because, Regardless

2 Thessalonians 3:6-13

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... , Because, Regardless." I. If A. An "if" giver only gives if he or she is going to receive a blessing and reward in return. This person waits to see what God's going to do first, then decides whether or not to respond by giving. There's a perfect example of this in the movie Groundhog Day. B. Phil Connors is a self-centered weather reporter who falls under an enchantment. He has to relive Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania over and over again. Each day is exactly the same in the way it unfolds for ...

3492. Time to Get Wet

Revelation 22:1-6

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... . Just because you watered your garden last year doesn’t mean you don’t have to water it this year. Living water is not a flood that wipes out everything else in life. True living water is always supplied in just the right amounts. When the perfect level of living water is flowing through our lives there is no limit to what we can grow, to what we can accomplish. When the living water flows, "all things are possible." Two hours outside of the tiny community of La Macarena, Columbia, there is a remote ...

3493. Condition Yellow Christians

John 5:1-15

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... lot. *Don’t walk alone after dark, anywhere! *Wear the strap of your computer case or purse across your chest, not over your shoulder. But there is more to a Condition Yellow life than just preparedness and precaution. As Christians we have the perfect model for showing us what a life lived at Condition Yellow should look like. Jesus lived at Condition Yellow his entire life. Condition Yellow alertness led Jesus to the man at the pool of Bethseda who had languished there for thirty-eight years. Although ...

3494. To Live Is to Choose

Matthew 7:13-14

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... , to be a medical missionary, a preacher, a Christian educator, a youth minister, a church musician. Only you vote in these decisions. It began in Eden when Adam and Eve made that decision that was the downfall of the human race I reaches its pinnacle, its height of perfection in the decision that Jesus made in Gethsemane and Golgotha, a decision that meant the salvation of the human race. So, nail this down. A person never in a situation where he or she has no alternatives. Now get that. A p is never in a ...

3495. Three Great Resolutions for the New Year

Psalm 118:1-29

Sermon

James W. Moore

When our children and grandchildren were here for Christmas, it gave me the perfect opportunity to do something I have wanted to do for some time… make a picture of all four grandchildren together. Sarah (age 12), Paul (age 9) and Dawson (age 6) all were cooperating beautifully, and then there was Daniel!... who was not interested in my picture-taking project at all. ...

3496. The Third Kind of Love

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

James W. Moore

... immediately saw a suit hanging on his closet door… and he thought, “Great, my wife has exchanged the other suit for this one.” He tried it on: “Now, this is more like it. This suit looks good. It feels good and it fits great. It’s perfect,” he said to his wife. To which she responded. “Ernest, that just happens to be the same suit you tried on yesterday!!” Isn’t that the way it works? - When we are unhappy with ourselves we project that aggravation toward other people. - On the other hand ...

3497. When You Have To Face Your Own Personal Goliath

1 Samuel 17:1-58

Sermon

James W. Moore

... the world. In 1941, Billy Conn almost became the heavy-weight champion of the world in boxing. Through 12 rounds he beat Joe Louis. Through 12 rounds Billy Conn followed his plan and strategy to use his quickness and speed to build up points. It worked to perfection. He was way ahead in the fight. He was beating Joe Louis, the Champ. All Billy Conn needed to do was continue this for three more rounds and he would be the heavy-weight champion of the world. But suddenly, he abandoned his plan… and decided ...

3498. Being and Doing as the People of God

1 Peter 1:13-2:3

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... the two is like severing a plant from its root. Various interpretations of the Sermon on the Mount illustrate this. In the early church, the requirements of the Sermon on the Mount came to be viewed as a ‘council of perfection. It soon followed that these requirements were reserved for Monastic Orders – those who had made a deliberate decision to completely separate themselves from the world. Following Luther and the Reformation which ejected the double standard, Orthodox Protestants contended that no ...

3499. The Ministry of Unbinding

John 11:38-44

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... whose suffering for lack of self-esteem expresses itself in anger and rebellion against the entire family. The mother was very sensitive in thinking that she might have brought some of that upon the child by laying upon that child all the calls to perfection. I counseled and prayed with a father recently whose son, a student in a prestigious Ivy League school, had reverted back to a failure syndrome developed in early adolescence. This failure cycle was rooted in a pronounced lack of self-esteem. But it is ...

3500. That The World May Believe

John 17:20-26

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... be the guarantee that the world may believe?” Our clue is there in verses 22 and 23: “The glory which thou hast given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them, and thou in me that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them even as thou hast loved me.” Now if these words sound a bit clumsy, the truth stated is this: Christ has given himself to us that we may, give our selves to each other ...

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