Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 3476 to 3500 of 4943 results

3476. Stealth Christians

Mark 7:31-37

Sermon

King Duncan

Since this is the beginning of football season I thought you might enjoy Harry N. Hollis, Jr.'s report on a most unusual game: A funny thing happened at the football stadium. After taking the opening kick- off, the home team went into a huddle as usual to get the formation from the quarterback and to encourage one another. Then came the unusual. The team did not break out of the huddle to move into action! Soon the red flag was dropped, and the referee stepped off a five-yard penalty for delay of game. ...

3477. Driven To Serve

Mark 9:33-37

Sermon

King Duncan

I want to turn to the world of business for some of our inspiration today. Someone has described their company like this: It is a beautiful summer day in corporate America. The sales people aren't back from lunch yet. The programmers are playing computer games. The executives are on the golf links. The secretaries are scheduling their weekends. And the Human Resources people are in another all day meeting, asking each other, "What is our Mission?" (1) Obviously such a description does not apply to most ...

3478. Unwrapping Christmas

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

Modern technology is making it harder and harder to unwrap Christmas. It has given us shrink wrap, which defies all attempts to tear it. We have fiber strapping that some knives won't cut. And we have adhesives that you can't get off with dynamite. I ran across a poem dealing with this subject, by Mary Elizabeth Counselman, that inspired the title for this sermon. "Hats off to you makers of gadgets galore. Hooray for your shipping and stackage. But why do you make it so hard, more and more, To take all ...

3479. Losing Favor Or Losing Flavor?

Mark 9:42-50

Sermon

King Duncan

Jesus said on one occasion, "Blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake." I doubt that many of us are very offensive to other folks because of our religion. Indeed, it is the norm to be a "Christian" in our society today. We have gained the favor of men, but in gaining favor, have we lost our flavor? That is in our text for the day. Jesus said, "Salt is good but if salt has lost its saltness wherewith will ye season it," or if salt ...

3480. When God Speaks

Genesis 12:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

Young Ben's family was quite active in a church that emphasizes a personal commitment to Christ. Even though he was quite young, Ben had heard more than one sermon about the importance of surrendering one's life to Christ. And so, one morning as the family sat around the kitchen table eating Cheerios, little Ben announced that he, too, was ready to give his life to Christ. He then got up from the table and went upstairs. His mother and father looked at each other and then decided to follow Ben. They ...

3481. Wayward Children - Father's Day

Romans 5:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

Sue Monk Kidd was telling the story of Jonah to her six-year-old vacation Bible school class, and the children fell into a discussion about how they would manage to escape if swallowed like Jonah. "I'd start a fire in the whale's stomach, and he'd cough me out!" declared one fellow, no doubt remembering the scene from Pinocchio. "I'd stomp on his tongue till he spit me out," said another. The suggestions grew wilder by the minute. Suddenly, a thoughtful little girl spoke up: "I'd call my daddy and wait ...

3482. The Most Difficult Commandment

Mark 12:28-34

Sermon

King Duncan

Many years ago, firefighters in Canton, Ohio, rushed to the home of Lisa M. Ash, 24, to extinguish a fire. They pulled out of her oven a smoldering voodoo doll made from cloth and twigs that she said she was using to cast a spell against a neighbor, based on advice she said she received from a telephone psychic line. (1) James W. Moore tells about a segment he saw on the television news show "20/20." It was called "Neighbors at War." It showed how next door neighbors do battle with each other fighting, ...

3483. Letters Straight From The Heart

2 Corinthians 2:12--3:6

Sermon

King Duncan

There was an item in the newspapers sometime back about a star-struck teenager in 1943 named Lorraine Wagner who sent a fan letter to an actor named Ronald Reagan. Reagan took the time to sit down and write a short note of thanks in return. For the next fifty years, Lorraine and Ronald were pen pals. He wrote to tell her about his career, his marriages and all the mundane things that friends share with one another. She wrote the same things to him. Even after Reagan was elected President, he and Lorraine ...

3484. Reaching Our Full Potential

Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

King Duncan

A young man was seen pedaling around a college campus with a T-shirt reading "I'm going to be a doctor." A sign on the back of his bicycle proclaimed: "I'm going to be a Mercedes." Roy L. Smith once told the odd case of an Australian youth who suffered a concussion while serving with the armed forces in Korea. At the time of his injury the young man was 5 feet 4 ½ inches tall. The blow started strange reactions within this soldier's body so that he began to grow. Today he stands 6 feet 3 ½ inches high! " ...

3485. Who Counted the Fish?

John 21:1-14, John 21:15-25

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

The 20th chapter of the Fourth Gospel ends with the words, “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:30-31) That sounds like the end of the story, doesn’t it? But then, chapter 21 comes along, and it is almost as if the whole thing starts all over again. Scholars have long been puzzled ...

3486. Dealing with Our Doubts

Mark 9:14-32

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

David Heller is a young Boston psychologist who, as part of a continuing research interest, collects letters children have written to God. “Dear God: Children’s Letters to God” (New York: Doubleday, 1987) is Heller’s second publication on this subject. In it he reports the following letter: “Dear God, I have doubts about you sometimes. Sometimes I really believe. Like when I was four and I hurt my arm and you healed it up fast. But my question is, if you could do this why don’t you stop all the bad in the ...

3487. The Ninth Commandment: Liar, Liar

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Eric Ritz

From the Internet came a very interesting tidbit that is taking place in southern Florida. It seems that on Interstate 95 someone is placing ads about the Ten Commandments right next to or right alongside ads for the state lottery. The billboards have the following in large print: "WHAT PART OF THOU SHALT NOT . . . DON''T YOU UNDERSTAND" and it was signed "GOD." Commuters on a certain part of the roadway face this warning, "KEEP USING MY NAME IN VAIN AND I WILL MAKE THE RUSH HOUR EVEN LONGER, signed GOD." ...

3488. Peace or Pieces

Philippians 4:2-9

Sermon

Eric Ritz

I love the picture which shows two ladies in Las Vegas, running for their lives down a quiet street, being chased by a six foot, 200-pound ostrich, their leisurely morning walk turned now into a desperate chase. The incident is a great picture of how our normal lives can quickly change into one of desperation. The power of "fear" or "faith" is a constant choice we make every day of our lives. Let''s face it, living in an urban area like the Greater Easton area can be frustrating. You fight traffic every ...

3489. Building a House (Mother's Day)

Luke 6:46-49

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

As most of you know, I don't always preach a thematic sermon for special secular holidays such as the Fourth of July Sunday, Memorial Day, Mother's or Father's Day. It's also rare that I preach a sermon on a single theme, such as racism, war, abortion, pornography, poverty. But, hopefully, my sermons address all these pressing issues in the context of Scripture, as that scripture presents itself in the order of my preaching. For you who wonder about that approach to preaching and the fact that we don't ...

3490. Dynamics Of Prayer

Isaiah 43:1-13

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Our scripture lesson this morning comes from the 43rd chapter of Isaiah, the first three verses. “But now thus says the Lord who created you, oh Jacob. He who formed you, oh Israel. Fear not for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name. You are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you. When you walk through fire, you shall not be burned, and the flames shall not consume you, for I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, ...

3491. Such As I Have

Acts 3:1-10

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Will you hear the word of the Lord as found in the third chapter of the Book of Acts, the first ten verses? “Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer. The 9th hour, and a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple, which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of those who entered the temple. Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked for alms, and Peter directed his gaze at him with John and said, ‘look at us,’ and he fixed ...

3492. Building A House

Luke 6:46-49

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

3493. The Need To Pay Attention

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

One of the tough problems in preaching from the book of Proverbs is settling on a focus. You can put your dipper down into this flowing stream at any point and come up with a refreshing drink of bracing inspiration, searching wisdom, probing questions, or challenging direction. Where would you have stopped to spend some time in reflection as you read this 20th chapter of Proverbs? How long would it take you to get through it if you stopped at every point that begged your attention? I invite you to spend ...

3494. The Perfect Man

Hebrews 10:1-18

Sermon

King Duncan

You’ve probably heard the story. A perfect man meets the perfect woman. After a perfect courtship, they have a perfect wedding. Their life together is, of course, perfect. One year, just before Easter, they see a beautiful rabbit hopping along the highway. It is the Easter bunny bringing colored eggs to all the boys and girls. While they are thinking to themselves that it is such a perfect event, to encounter the Easter bunny on such a perfect day, a terrible tornado comes and smashes into this perfect ...

3495. Imitators of God

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

There are some experiences or encounters that are so solidly lodged in our memory that they continue to invade our consciousness – to haunt us – to help or to hinder our Christian walk, to call and challenge us to be more than we are. John Birkbeck is a person around whom for me a whole cluster of memories are gathered – memories that invade my immediate awareness now and then. John was a Scot Presbyterian preacher. During a part of my tenure as the World Editor of The Upper Room, he was the editor of the ...

3496. Divine Dinner Party Decorum

Luke 14:1-14

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

Luke opens the fourteenth chapter by telling us that Jesus "was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the sabbath," and that "they were watching him closely." Notice four important details in this one verse. First, notice that Jesus is a guest at a dinner party. Important things happen when people gather for dinner. Table talk provides a forum for friends and families to catch up on the events in the lives of one another. At the dinner table, we teach our children manners. At the ...

3497. Family Matters

1 Corinthians 1:10-17

Sermon

Mark Trotter

First of all, I want to thank all of you who made out your estimate of giving cards for this year. Going into this day, we've heard from approximately a third of those that we expect to hear from, and those families have pledged well over half a million dollars already to the operating and benevolence outreach of this church. This is wonderful--but we have a way to go. The leadership of this church also has a lot of work to do, because budget requests are way over what the finance people estimate our ...

3498. The Cathedral Within

II Corinthians 9:6-15

Sermon

Mark Trotter

It has sneaked up on us so that perhaps you didn't notice. But we live in one of the most prosperous times in this generation, perhaps in this century. Unemployment is at a record low. Inflation is minuscule. The stock market seems to defy everybody's prediction, and keeps on going up and up. We used to talk about the richest people being millionaires. Now we talk about them being billionaires. I read this week that three of Microsoft's original founders have more wealth combined than something like two ...

3499. The Day Life Increased

Matthew 28:1-10

Sermon

Mark Trotter

The Antiques Roadshow has become one of my favorite television shows. If you haven't seen it, you should know that it is simply a group of appraisers who travel around the country, rent out convention centers and civic auditoriums, and people by the thousands bring in some object they have found in their house, or at a swap meet, for appraisal. Someone will bring in an old clock, a watch, a vase, or a painting, almost anything. The conversation between the appraiser and the owner of the object is recorded ...

3500. The Four Marks of Failure

1 Corinthians 12:12-31

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

When you're a kid there is nothing better than being on the winning team. Of course, when you're a kid there is nothing worse than being on the losing team. Notice that all those great, feel-good Disney-esque movies don't ever end with the hometown team losing the big championship game. No, the whole point of these happily-ever-after stories is that the under-dog, schlubby, gave-it-their-all losers are transformed into top-of-the-heap winners. For adults, except for those few who make their living playing ...

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