Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 3576 to 3600 of 4938 results

3576. The Key to Getting Enough Rest

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

King Duncan

Business writer Dan Miller in his book Wisdom Meets Passion reveals some fascinating information about the brilliant artist, sculptor and inventor Leonardo da Vinci. Da Vinci, the ultimate “Renaissance Man,” was interested in about anything of consequence. He had an intense curiosity about birds and how they flew. He studied their wings and modeled helicopters, parachutes, and flying machines based on their anatomy. The freedom and movement of birds served as a metaphor for da Vinci’s life. He observed ...

3577. The Knot: Frayed (Part 1)

1 Peter 3:1-7

Sermon

James Merritt

Most every couple that gets married discovers there is good news and there is bad news about getting married. The good news is after the wedding there is the honeymoon. The bad news is after the honeymoon there is the marriage. If your marriage is anything like mine, then you cannot only remember the first fight you ever had with your spouse, but you probably remember it happened a lot quicker than you thought it would. It was like cold water being thrown in your face, because you realize that hardly ...

3578. We Are Not The Light

Sermon

Craig MacCreary

By now, most congregations are in the home stretch of their pre-Christmas preparations. There is much at stake for the life of any church. Try and imagine what a bad or indifferent Christmas would do to the morale of your church. We want if not a “Currier and Ives” Christmas for our families at least enough joy and good cheer to override any past enmity. Hopefully tinsel, garlands, and ornaments will chase away any seasonal affective disorder we may be suffering. Most of us are determined that the ...

3579. The Door Is Open

John 10:1-21

Sermon

James Merritt

I remember it like it happened yesterday and it was almost 37 years ago. I put my hand on a door handle that would lead into a worship center. In that worship center, a crowd had gathered to see me tie the knot with a young lady, named Teresa, which I had only known for 6 months. I knew if I walked through that door I was walking into a life-long commitment of who I was going to spend the rest of my life with - for better or for worse, in sickness or in health, for richer or poorer. Not long after that I ...

3580. About Getting Drunk

Ephesians 5:15-20

Sermon

King Duncan

A juggler, driving to his next performance, is stopped by a traffic cop. “What are these matches and lighter fluid doing in your car?” asks the officer. Was he a potential arsonist, thought the officer or, even worse, a terrorist? “I’m a juggler,” the driver answered, “and I juggle flaming torches in my act.” “Oh yeah?” says the doubtful cop. “Let’s see you do it.” The juggler gets out and starts juggling the blazing torches masterfully. A couple driving by slow down to watch. “Wow,” says the driver to his ...

3581. Michael Corleone and the Widow

Mark 12:38-44

Sermon

King Duncan

Many of you have seen the award-winning motion picture from the 1970s, The Godfather. A chilling film, it is about an aging patriarch of an organized crime family who transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son, Michael. We see as the film goes along what this responsibility and the power that goes with it does to Michael’s soul. The closing scene of The Godfather is particularly memorable. No, it is not the horse’s head discovered by a Hollywood producer in his bed. What an awful ...

3582. Paul’s Farewell to the Ephesian Elders

Acts 20:13-38

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

In this section is found the only example in Acts of an address given by Paul to Christians (cf. 14:22; 18:23). In it we see him as the pastor and friend of the Ephesians, and no other passage in this book shows greater feeling than this. There is a remarkable vividness about the speech, the reason for which is obvious: it is the only speech in Acts about which we can be reasonably sure that the author himself heard what was said. Even so, he has imposed his own style upon it. But in this speech more than ...

3583. Walking in the Light

1 John 1:5--2:14, 1 John 2:15-17

Understanding Series

Thomas F. Johnson

Walking in the Light and the Problem of Sin The next two sections of 1 John are on the theme of walking in the light. The first section, 1 John 1:5–2:2, addresses the theme in relation to the issue of sin, while the second section, 1 John 2:3–11, focuses on walking in the light in relation to obedience, especially to the love command. The terms walk, light, and darkness occur throughout the section (1:5–7; 2:6, 8–11) and unify it. The Elder’s opponents are always present in the background. They have made ...

3584. Isaac and Rebekah

Genesis 24:1-67

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

Finding a Wife for Isaac: Abraham’s last major responsibility in light of God’s promises is to find a wife for Isaac. Otherwise the promise of numerous offspring will perish for lack of an heir. The text does not address why Abraham waited so long to fulfill this responsibility. Abraham commissions his most trusted senior servant to travel to Haran to find a wife for his son. In order to preserve the integrity of his offspring, this wife must come from the line of Terah. The servant is confident that he ...

3585. Miscellaneous Laws

Deut 23:15–25:19

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

Community Laws: Defining and Protecting the Community · These last chapters (23-25) of the central law code have a “flavor” of concern for a compassionate and caring community that takes seriously the claims of kinship and the needs of the weak and vulnerable. That community itself, however, needs clear definition and measures to protect its religious distinctiveness and purity. This need explains the presence, alongside laws that immediately appeal to us by their charitable nature, of other laws that ...

3586. Personal Accountability

Ezekiel 18:1-32, Ezekiel 19:1-14

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

The introductory formula The word of the LORD came to me in 18:1, and the concluding formula declares the Sovereign LORD in 18:32, clearly demarcate the first unit of this section. Unconventional, but equally clear, markers set off the second unit, 19:1–14. In 19:1 the Lord commands the prophet: “Take up a lament concerning the princes of Israel.” The final verse of the chapter repeats this identification: “This is a lament and is to be used as a lament.” The common theme connecting the sermon in chapter ...

3587. A Blind Beggar and a Rich Scoundrel

Luke 19:1-10, Luke 18:35-43

Teach the Text

R.T. France

Big Idea: Two incidents at Jericho demonstrate Jesus’s mission to save the lost, whatever their place in society, whether oppressed or oppressor. Understanding the Text The journey that began in 9:51 is near its end, as Jesus and his disciples cross the Jordan and enter Jericho before the final climb up to Jerusalem. Two events in Jericho illustrate again the deep social divisions that came to our attention in 18:14–30, and the issue of the salvation of the rich (18:18–27) is explored further in the story ...

3588. The Spirit and the Glory of the Age to Come and the New Covenant

Romans 8:28-39, Romans 8:18-27

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

Big Idea: Paul showcases another blessing from the Spirit of the new covenant: glory. More particularly, the Spirit is a sign of the glory of the age to come and the new covenant. And yet, that glory occurs in the midst of this age and suffering. Understanding the Text 1. Suffering/glory (8:18) 2. Three groanings (8:19–27) a. Creation groans (hope for the revelation of the children of God) (8:19–22) b. Believers groan (firstfruits of the Spirit / by hope we were saved) (8:23–25) c. The Spirit groans (the ...

3589. The Life You've Always Wanted

Acts 5:27-32

Sermon

Charley Reeb

The other day I came across some interesting epitaphs. There is one in Nevada which reads: “Here lays Butch, we planted him raw. He was quick on the trigger, but slow on the draw.” This one is in Georgia: “I told you I was sick!” What about the one in Mary- land: “Here lies an atheist, all dressed up and no place to go.” There are two worth noting in South Carolina: “He fought a good fight, but his knife was dull”; “Where she is, is better than where she was.” But there is one in England that hits too ...

3590. Walking in the Light and the Problem of Sin

1 John 2:15-17, 1 John 1:5--2:14

Understanding Series

Thomas F. Johnson

3591. The Sound of Joy

Genesis 17:1-27, Genesis 18:1-15, Genesis 18:16-33, Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“Rejoice in the Lord always….again I say rejoice!” (Phil 4:4) “I grieve if my brother dies because I no longer have personal communion with him. But I can have a deep, abiding joy, for I know that death does not have the final word. It has been conquered in Christ’s death and resurrection.” (2 Tim. 1:10) We are a people born of laughter! Literally, we are all as Christians part of God’s holy people, in a covenant begun with Abraham and Sarah many years ago, when this elderly couple was granted an ...

3592. Prophets and the Powerful

1 Kings 21:1-3, 17-21

Sermon

Will Willimon

“Ahab said to Elijah, 'Have you found me, o my enemy?' He answered, 'I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the LORD.”' (1 Kings 21:1-3, 17-21) A few years ago, Dr. Billy Graham was asked about his friendship with then recently deposed Richard Nixon. Graham had been something of a court chaplain during the Nixon years -- a frequent guest at the White House, deliverer of state prayers, conductor of private services on Sundays in the East Room for the President, ...

3593. DodgeGod

Amos 8:1-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

In 1965 Leonora and Arthur Hornblow wrote a children's book that has become a classic: Birds Do the Strangest Things. It's where I learned that a hawk is no match for a hummingbird. It's also where I learned about the bowerbird. Can you believe that a bird can build a house? Well, there's one that does. When explorers in New Guinea first saw these houses, they thought children had built them. But bowerbirds had built them. What wonderful bowers they are! Many have roofs. Some even have rooms. There are ...

3594. The Raising of Paul

Acts 14:8-20

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Prop: you may want to bring a prop of a human brain or have people put their hands on their heads as you explain the parts of the brain Did you ever hear people speak about the wonders of the human mind? We don’t use even a fraction of what our brains are capable of. When you think of it this way, we house in our own persons a valuable untapped resource of brain power, enough capable of solving all of the problems in the world, if only we knew how to tap into it. So say some theorists. But we also know ...

3595. In Pursuit Of The Promise

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

Douglas J. Deuel

A circus came to town offering a prize of $100 to anyone who could stay in the lion's cage for a minimum of five minutes. A man of faith who had been down on his luck was in the audience that day. He was familiar with the biblical story of Daniel's deliverance from the lion's den. He also desperately needed the money. So he agreed to the challenge. Once he got inside the cage, he began to have doubts about the decision he had made. The lion quickly approached him, backing him into the corner. Frightened ...

3596. Anybody Listening?

Mark 6:1-6

Sermon

William G. Carter

His name was George, and he sat in the back row of the sanctuary on the preacher's right. A permanent scowl was chiseled on his face. His posture announced to all that he was a man not easily pleased. Ushers tip-toed around him. Whenever his name came up in conversation around church hallways, someone would always ask, "Why does a grouch like that keep coming to worship?" No one ever came up with an answer. One thing was certain -- George was particularly hard on preachers. "I have heard hundreds of ...

3597. Friendship? Yes, Please!

2 Samuel 11:1-27

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

According to a recent poll only about ten percent of American males say they have a good friend. And while women fare somewhat better, neither do they set a record. Why is this? I believe it is because we place such an emphasis on doing, producing, and having that we have very little time and energy left for developing relationships. In short, we'd rather have things than people. Actually, the Bible predicts this is how it will be in the end of times. Revelation 18:11-13 describes the economy of Babylon, ...

3598. Promises Kept In Unusual Way

Jeremiah 23:1-8

Sermon

Robert P. Hines

General Douglas MacArthur was one of the great heroes of World War II. He was greatly admired by many people, and well loved by the people of the Philippines. One reason for the admiration and love was that he kept an important promise. When the Japanese invasion forced MacArthur to retreat from the Philippines, he promised he would return. Standing in the water in March 1942, before he embarked on a voyage to the safety of Australia, the general promised, "I shall return." And he did. In October 1944, ...

3599. Behold The Man Who Tried To Be King

Matthew 21:1-10

Sermon

Thomas A. Pilgrim

Some time ago there was a stage play called Construction. It was the story of some people who wanted to build a wall. But there was a young man there who urged them instead to build a bridge. The people turned on him and killed him because of what he wanted them to do. After they killed him one of the characters said, "We can't go on crucifying the truth forever."1 When Jesus went to Jerusalem he found a wall. He had come to build a bridge. But he knew all along that on the other side of the wall his ...

3600. The Ugly Duckling

Drama

Karren Boehr

Theme: Sharing Christ With Others This play may be presented as a unit, or divided up into Scene 1 and Scene 2 on consecutive Sundays. Small to moderate space is needed, and the setting may be as elaborate or as simple as one wishes to make it. No special lighting or sound effects are needed. Scene I Setting: Fitness center. Present; after Christmas (any holiday may be used). There is a bench front left, exercise bike sits to right of bench Characters:LINDA: Young Christian woman, pleasant, serious about ...

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