Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 3501 to 3525 of 4946 results

3501. EPISODE 5: THE FIFTH WEEK IN LENT

Drama

Robert Clausen

EPISODE 5: THE FIFTH WEEK IN LENT BISHOP GOVERNOR CAPTAIN JUDAS THOMAS MARY MAGDALENE JESUS JOHN PETER [The BISHOP and the GOVERNOR are together.] BISHOP: I thank you, Governor, for taking time to see me. GOVERNOR: My pleasure, Bishop. What’s on your mind? BISHOP: I bring you some information. GOVERNOR: Indeed. What kind? BISHOP: It pertains to the peace and welfare of the state. I’m sure you will be interested. GOVERNOR: It’s very possible. What’s it all about? BISHOP: It has to do with a religious ...

3502. The Waiting Game

Sermon

James Bjorge

Rembrandt said that a picture is finished when it expresses the artist’s intention. Until that time it is incomplete. Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick once commented, "God is not the God of unfinished business." It is another way of expressing that what God starts, he completes. God doesn’t amuse himself by blowing soap bubbles and then in a mood of great glee watching them burst. Paul has captured this idea in a profound way. He sees the creation in captivity since the fall and it is waiting for release ... for ...

3503. The Garden: All Things New

John 20:1-9

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

I want to tell you the story, on this Easter Sunday, of two gardens. With apologies to Charles Dickens, let me say that the first garden started as the best of gardens and became the worst of gardens. The second was, for a little while, the worst of gardens, but it became the best of gardens. And so it is, to this very day. The first garden is the place known as the Garden of Eden. It was a perfect place. Those who lived there had everything they needed, every beauty, every dream. It was the best of ...

3504. Secondhand Religion

1 Kings 17:7-24

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

The life of Elijah is filled with fascinating experiences that help us to see God more clearly and live on a higher plane. Today’s Scripture reading is a good example of that. In a nation whose laws required its citizens to provide for the prophets, God used saucy, impudent birds noted for their thievery and dirty lifestyle to feed Elijah. “The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening” (1 Kings 17:6). Ravens live off dead carcasses and steal food stored up by ...

3505. It Makes No Difference Where You Belong

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

Religion has always been a rich vein for humorists to mine, particularly the differences between denominations. For example, two men were in an airplane and the plane developed engine trouble. It was clear that they were going to be killed. One said to the other, "Well, this is it. We are going to die. Are you religious?" The other one said, "No, are you?" The first one said, "No. I'm not either. We ought to do something religious, though, because we're going to be dead in a few seconds. Don't you remember ...

3506. Good Intentions

Matthew 21:28-32

Sermon

King Duncan

Here is something you might find interesting. It is from the Guinness Book of Records 1995. The record for an unreturned and overdue library book was set when a book published in 1609 was borrowed from Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, Great Britain by Colonel Robert Walpole in 1667. It was found by Professor Sir John Plumb in a library at Houghton Hall, Norfolk, Great Britain and returned 288 years later. No fine was exacted. The most overdue book in the United States was a book on febrile diseases by Dr ...

3507. This Is Not What You Expected

John 12:20-36

Sermon

King Duncan

Jim French and a friend stopped for dinner at a Chinese restaurant. The meal was delicious, and French asked the waiter if he could have the recipe. The waiter was quick to oblige. A few minutes later, he returned from the kitchen with a piece of paper. All parties were satisfied. Until Jim French unfolded the paper. The recipe was written in Chinese. (1) This is not what Jim expected. That's like a "Peanuts" cartoon from years ago. In the first panel Charlie Brown says, "I learned something in school ...

3508. I THIRST: The Fifth Word

John 19:28-37

Sermon

Eric Ritz

We continue on our journey today as we examine and reflect on--for our spiritual edification--"The Fifth Word" of our Lord Jesus Christ from the cross. So far, we have heard our Lord share these words from the cross: First he said, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." Then he promised the repentant thief, "Today you will be with me in Paradise." He committed the care of His mother, Mary, to his closest friend John. Last week we heard that powerful cry from the cross "My God, My God, why ...

3509. Faith Working In Love

James 2:14-26

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

I want to begin the sermon today by reading the first part of an article that appeared in Reader's Digest sometime ago. The title of the article is "Mama Hale and Her Little Angels". This is the bold introduction to the article: "The baby will not stop screaming. On the third floor of a brownstone in New York City's Harlem, a woman holds the two-week-old infant in her arms. The little body trembles and twitches with pain, but Clara Hale has no medicine to offer against that agony, unless you count love. In ...

3510. On Level Ground

Luke 5:1-11

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

A Sunday School teacher was checking with her students one day to see if they knew the people with whom Jesus lived. "How many of you know who Matthew was?", she asked. Not one kid raised a hand. "Well, then," she said, "what about Luke? How many of you know who Luke was?", she asked. And again, the class just sat there and no one said a thing. She tried again. "How about John? Do you know who St. John was?" And still the children just sat there in dead silence. Finally the teacher said, "Well, what about ...

3511. The Proof Is In the Pudding

Luke 7:18-35

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Some of you will know the name Norman Cousins. For many years he was the eminent editor of The Saturday Review. During his last years he served as a faculty member at the UCLA Medical School. He had developed what was considered an incurable disease—and he discovered that laughter was a way that helped. In fact, he convinced some medical folks to include laughter as a part of their treatment programs. As a part of this, there was a particular room in a hospital in Houston, Texas, called the “Living Room.” ...

3512. On Level Ground

Luke 5:1-11

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

3513. Remembering Jesus

2 Peter 1:16-21

Sermon

James L. Killen

Christians share a memory - and a belief - that gives us a place to stand, a way of getting things into perspective, and an ability to cope no matter what is going on in the world around us. We share the memory that once, a long time ago, there was a young teacher who was totally committed to the loving purpose of God for the world. He came healing the sick, feeding the hungry, and making other loving responses to human need. He came announcing a new possibility that God offers to the whole creation and ...

3514. What If He Shows Up?

John 2:13-22

Sermon

Mark Trotter

I know that you remember Murphy's Law, which said, "If anything can go wrong, it will." There are a thousand variations of that law, such as, "Buttered toast, when falling to the floor, will always fall face down." But it seems that one day in this particular house the toast fell to the floor, and to the amazement of the family, it landed buttered side up. Immediately the scientists were called in to analyze this. Did this really refute Murphy's Law, which said that "buttered toast, when it falls to the ...

3515. Better To Be a Loner than a Loser

Daniel 1:1-21

Sermon

James Merritt

Cassie Bernall. With one word this teenage girl became a household name and a part of God's Hall of Fame. On April 20, around 11:30AM, two gun-wielding teenagers at Columbine High School confronted her, and with guns raised, one of them asked her this question: "Do you believe in God?" After a momentary pause, she looked him squarely in the eye and said, "Yes." After he replied simply, "Why?" he shot her and killed her instantly. But at that one moment, with that one word, Cassie Bernall illustrated a ...

3516. The Dark Side Arrives

Sermon

James Merritt

As we left our story last week in galaxies beyond, we found Darth Vader kneeling before the hologrammed image of the Emperor pledging his loyalty to his evil master. In the meantime, the battle between the forces of light and darkness has intensified and the Jedi are gaining ground. The young, but powerful Jedi leader, Luke Skywalker, must be stopped and the Emperor is making a visit to insure his demise. Every day, in every way, when you walk out the door of your home, Satan is going to try to turn you to ...

3517. Wearing the King’s Clothes

Colossians 3:1-11

Sermon

Clayton A. Lord

There is nothing like putting on a new shirt and pair of pants. Just ask any of the children who are getting ready to go back to school. The best part of that first-day experience is showing up in a new set of clothes. Admit it. We all feel better about ourselves when we put on something new. We have more confidence. We have more energy to tackle and complete our assignments. We feel more comfortable and better received among our peers. The saying, "Clothes make the man (woman)" is true. In our text today ...

3518. Count the Stars

Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18

Sermon

King Duncan

Three-year-old Ian Hough of Auburn, Washington, loves the story in the Bible of the time God spoke to the boy Samuel. One night after his mother read Ian this story she asked him if God had ever spoken to him. To her surprise, he answered, “Yes.” “What did God say to you?” his mother asked. Ian thought and then said in his deepest voice, “Ian! Go to bed!” (1) Does God speak to people? What do you think? David Holwick tells a story that appeared in the Los Angeles Times. It was about a man named Bob Haifley ...

3519. Followed By Mercy

Psalm 23:6

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

A couple of months ago, Leadership Magazine had a story about a Christian Grammar School in Wheaton, Illinois. The third and fourth-graders were asked to complete the following sentence: "By faith, I know that God is ..." Amanda answered: "forgiving, because he forgave in the Bible, and he forgave me when I went in the road on my bike without one of my parents" Brandon answered: "providingful, because he dropped manna for Moses and the people, and he gave my dad a job." Paul said: "caring, because he made ...

3520. Where Do We Grow from Here?

Ephesians 4:1-16

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

There are some writers and some speakers who pack every sentence to the brim. If you miss a sentence you miss something significant. Others of us would like to think that true, but it really isn’t. You can miss a sentence here and there, unfortunately, maybe a number of sentences - and still not be poor for what you didn’t get. Samuel Miller is one of those people who packs every sentence to the brim, and you need to get every word. Listen to him. “A man’s birth is not ended with the first gasp of his ...

3521. On the Road with Zacchaeus

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

James W. Moore

When our granddaughter Sarah was 12 years old, she tried out for cheerleader at her Middle School. After her try-out we asked her how she did. She said – “in a word ‘flawless’ and she said ‘the judges really liked me.’” Evidently she was right because she did make the cheerleader squad. Well, Zacchaeus was not flawless… and he was not liked by anybody until Jesus came into Jericho that day. When Jesus came over to him and reached out to him with love and acceptance, Zacchaeus was bowled over… and he came ...

3522. He Presented Himself Alive

Matthew 28:1-10

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Robert Lewis Stephenson, on one of his voyages to the South Seas, told about a terrific storm that frightened all the passengers. One man finally went out on deck and watched the captain pace the bridge, calm and undisturbed. He came back to the cabin where the passengers were huddled together and said to them: “I have seen the captain’s face, and all is well.” It was that kind of word that Mary Magdalene and the other Mary carried back to the disciples on that first Easter morning. How remarkable that, in ...

3523. The High Price of Short Cuts

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

In Tennessee Williams’ play, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Big Daddy and his son, Brick, are in the basement sorting through stuff while the other children are upstairs arguing about the family inheritance. Big Daddy says to Brick, “You know what I’m going to do before I die? I’m going to open all these boxes.” Then, realizing he doesn’t have enough time left for that task Big Daddy says, “There’s one thing you can’t buy in a fire sale or any other market on earth. That’s your life. You can’t buy back your life ...

3524. See What Love . . .

1 John 3:1-7

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

Hearken back to a time in life less stressful. To childhood. A simpler time. Not necessarily a better time, but a simpler time when we weren't in charge and the biggest worry we had was whether or not we were going to get a shot when we went to the doctor's office or whether the teacher was going to give a pop quiz. Think back to that uncluttered time in your life, when 25 cents, 50 cents, a dollar or even five dollars seemed like a great allowance and gave you more money than you could spend in a week. It ...

3525. Kissing Cousins (Father's Day)

2 Corinthians 13:11-14

Sermon

King Duncan

If you happened to look at a church calendar for today, the first Sunday after Pentecost, you may have seen that today is called Trinity Sunday. That might have given you cause for alarm. You may have thought to yourself, “Oh, no, a deep, dull sermon is coming on the mystery of the Trinity.” That would be a perfectly natural reaction. So, to keep you awake, I’m going to address an entirely different subject that of kissing. And I’m going to begin with the worst joke about kissing that I know. It seems a ...

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