Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 3601 to 3625 of 5000 results

Ruth 2:1-23

Sermon

... . Our ministries lose the healing rays of the Holy Spirit as we compare membership figures for no other reason than, again, to see who or what is the biggest. Satan tempts us, like the sons of Zebedee and their mother in Matthew 20:20-24 and Mark 10:35-41, we succumb, and perpetuate an unholy syndrome which continually saps our spiritual strength. Work is done, ideally, because it is worth doing. To work for Christian unity is worth doing! I sometimes think of this task in the context of a marriage ritual ...

3602. In The Lion's Den

Daniel 6:1-28

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... that you wouldn’t be bothered if God looked over your shoulder. He is looking over your shoulder. Here is the second lesson: In Private, Prayer Should Be Our Source of Strength. It was obvious to Jesus’ disciples that prayer was a major source of his power. Mark 1:35 describes how our Lord started the day: "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed." This past year has been transformational in the life of Christ ...

3603. The Touch of the Master's Hand

Luke 5:12-16

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... the touch of Christ. OF COURSE, THERE WAS A SECOND CATEGORY OF PERSONS WHOM JESUS TOUCHED—THE SICK. All kinds of sick people. One woman was healed of internal bleeding when she acted on this thought, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed." (Mark 5:28) Have you ever felt the power in the fingertips of a caring physician or nurse? That same power of touch is extended by lay pastors and Stephen’s Ministers of our church who visit regularly with homebound persons. When they hold someone’s hand ...

3604. Leading a Friend to Jesus

Luke 5:27-32, Luke 5:17-26

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... room, sat on his bed, and said, "Jim, I want to tell you that your sins are forgiven." The patient asked, "What did you say?" Dr. Wilson said, "I have the authority to tell you that through Jesus Christ your sins are forgiven." That exchange marked the beginning of a healing. (1) The greatest healing miracle is not by-pass surgery or angioplasty or antibiotics. The greatest healing miracle is forgiveness of sin and new life in Christ. Only Christ can deliver on that miracle. Don’t expect just one miracle ...

3605. Celebrating with Jesus

Luke 5:33-39

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... second life-lesson: our worship should be a celebration, but always decent and orderly. Some Christians debate whether or not applause is appropriate in worship. I notice that the Psalmist said, "Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy." Mark one up for you clappers. But St. Paul balanced that with this word to the Corinthians: "But everything should be done in a decent and orderly way." (I Cor. 14:40) I’m one of those strange characters who loves both traditional and contemporary ...

3606. Don't Let the Parade Pass You By

Luke 19:28-44

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... items this man had considered too precious to leave behind. "I don’t believe it!" said St. Peter. "You brought pavement??" When Jesus said, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God," (Mark 10:25), he was not revealing that he was a closet socialist or even a Democrat. He was simply observing that affluence can make us dependent on ease and comfort. As such it is highly seductive. A person who grows accustomed to a life of ease will not be ...

3607. If You Are A Disciple of Jesus Christ

Luke 6:17-26, Luke 6:12-16

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... saints who have touched our lives on behalf of Christ, declared, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." (Heb. 12:01) Here is a third implication of Christian discipleship: You Are Called To Be Christ-Extenders. St. Paul expressed it this way: "All this is from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of ...

3608. Hypocrisy

Luke 20:27-38; Romans 7

Illustration

In a speech to the Society of American Authors on November 15, 1900, Mark Twain, with tongue in cheek, spoke of the two-faced life we all live: "I am constructed like everybody else and enjoy a compliment as well as any other fool, but I do like to have the other side presented. And there is another side. I have a wicked side. ...

3609. Train Whistle In The Night

Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon

... in the parable of ten young women. They, too, were expecting a special event. And the schedule details weren’t clearly worked out, so they knew only to be prepared. All of them had sufficient oil; and the event occurred at midnight - an hour marked by extreme darkness and forsakenness. The five who were prepared could awaken, trim their lamps, and escort the bridegroom to the festive occasion. The five who were caught short of oil were unable to borrow and missed both the occasion and the joy experienced ...

3610. Return to Jerusalem

Acts 20:7-12

Sermon Aid

CSS

... . We might like to know more. Why were they mentioned at all? However, another "prophet" comes into the picture to confront Paul with more warnings about his perils in Jerusalem. This was Agabus, whose two appearances on the scene (see 11:28) are marked by interesting similarities. Earlier Agabus had come to Antioch with dire reports of a coming famine, which led Paul and Barnabas to collect gifts for the Jerusalem church. This time Paul was again bringing gifts from Christian communities in Asia and Greece ...

3611. "I appeal to Caesar!"

Acts 24:1-27, Acts 25:1-12

Sermon Aid

CSS

... Tiberias on the west shore of the Sea of Galilee. The plaque also bears the name of Pilate, indicating that the theater was erected during his term as governor. The vanity of office is nothing new! Many bridges and public buildings today are marked by plaques that bear the names of political officials who were in office during their construction. At Caesarea, Paul was lodged and guarded in "Herod’s praetorium." This government building was a former palace for King Herod and was used by Governor Felix ...

3612. Shipwrecked on Malta

Acts 27:1-12, Acts 27:13-26, Acts 27:27-44

Sermon Aid

CSS

... about travel conditions. As it happened, it was good advice. To what degree should we listen to (or offer) advice? An old saying goes, "Any fool can give advice but only a wise man knows when to accept it." 3. Turning disaster into victory is the mark of genius. Think about Paul’s continued optimism during the weeks when the ship was buffeted by storms and his seizure of the opportunity to witness to the people on Malta. Does this tell us something of "victorious living" by Christians? Can we apply it to ...

3613. Rome at Last

Acts 28:11-16

Sermon Aid

CSS

... soldiers, who were a sort of captive audience for his lecturing. Among his converts during this period were some members of "Caesar’s household," he wrote to the Philippians. By letters, he kept in touch with his longtime friends and associates, urging Mark and Timothy to come to visit him. While authorities have a hard time agreeing on the date or authorship of the New Testament letters, at least some fragments of them must come from this period. Luke’s account ends with uncharacteristic abruptness ...

3614. Cancelled Cross

Illustration

At the height of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia a priest was forced to take down the cross in the church and paint a big X as a mark of cancellation across it. Later the Bolsheviks took over this church with the cancelled cross. I always think of the Crucifixion with great joy because the Resurrection can’t be far behind.

3615. Lord, Lead Me On

Illustration

Ruth Margaret Gibbs

... that kept my feet from stumbling. Then I grew very tired. "I can go no farther, Lord." I said. He answered, "Night is gone. Look up, my child." I looked, and it was dawn. Green valleys stretched below. "I can go on alone now," I said. Then I saw the marks: "Lord, thou art wounded. Thy hands are bleeding, thy feet bruised. Was it for me?" He whispered, "I did it gladly." Then I fell at his feet. "Lord, lead me on," I cried. "No road too long, no valley too steep, if thou art with me." We walk together now ...

3616. The Deeper Magic

Luke 23:26-43

Sermon

Brett Blair

... to die. Some shouted “Crucify him,” some kept silent, while still others denied him. The tricky thing about Christian theology is its proposition that even the best of us are sinners. We are worthless no good scoundrels. We are deceitfully bitter people. Ruin and misery is the mark we make upon this world. That is how the Apostle Paul describes all of us in Romans chapter three. The good and bad, he says, are all ugly! So how do we, the good and the bad, find salvation? How do we find our way back home ...

3617. Christ the King Sunday

Luke 23:26-43

Illustration

Theodore F. Schneider

... have one last sermon to preach in your ministry. It's your last best shot. Choose your text and theme, explain why you have chosen them, and give a full, detailed outline for the development of that sermon." That morning and that question have left lasting marks upon this preacher's life and his ministry! Today brings us that one last shot in this church year. Today the church brings to conclusion all that has been revealed and celebrated in the gospel story of God's work for our salvation since that story ...

3618. Repent Your Way To A Merry Christmas

Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon

Brett Blair

... Just listen to what I am saying. Repent! I would like to suggest this morning that Repent was the first component of John’s message. There are two others. Let’s take a look at the first. I John's message called people to repentance. One of the towering marks of this age is the absence of guilt. Not many people would deny that fact. Some are pleased that guilt has been dethroned; others see it as a bad sign. The absence of guilt in today's society makes it very difficult to talk about repentance. For if ...

3619. Returning: Real or Ruse?

Hosea 5:1-15

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... my face, and in their distress they see me, saying, ‘Come, let us return to the Lord; for he has torn, that he may heal us; he has stricken, and he will bind us up.’ " A woman was filling out an employment application. When she came to the line marked "age," she hesitated a long time. Finally, the personnel manager leaned across his desk and whispered to her, "The longer you wait, the worse it gets!" That’s true of repentance and returning to God, too. The longer you put it off, the harder it is to do ...

3620. What Do You See?

Isaiah 52:13--53:12

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... Servant Above and beyond everything, in the suffering servant, we see LOVE! Unfathomable, indescribable, unbelievable, unending, undying love illuminates the Savior. This love is represented by the horizontal cross-arm of the cross on which he died. Love that reaches how far? Mark Spitz, the Olympic swimmer who won seven gold medals for the United States, says that in training for the games he swam the distance of twice around the world’s equator, about 50,000 miles! Incredible, isn’t it? But God’s ...

3621. No Longer Spectators - But Participants!

Acts 2:14-41

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... aim, let the stone fly, and wait for it to hit the target. But he never hit a thing. Then, on his way home for dinner, he cut through the backyard and saw Grandmother’s pet duck. He took aim and let the stone fly. It went straight to the mark and the duck fell dead. The little boy panicked. In frightened desperation, he took the dead duck and hid it in the woodpile. Then he saw his sister, Sally, standing over by the corner of the house. She had seen the whole thing. They went in to dinner. Sally said ...

3622. Are There Two Baptisms?

Acts 2:14-41

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... separate stages in the Christian’s development. They are interrelated. Except for John’s Gospel, more emphasis is placed on the Spirit in Luke than in the other Gospels. There are seventeen references to the Spirit in Luke (compared to twelve in Matthew and six in Mark), and now here, in the Book of Acts, and in our text, Luke gives us great detail as to how the Spirit works. In Acts 19:2, the question was asked, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" Those people betrayed their ignorance ...

3623. Christians Die Well

Acts 7:54--8:1a

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... of this Christian is peace. He simply went to sleep. This comforting terminology should help to assuage our fears as we contemplate our own death. Jesus said of the twelve-year-old girl whom he restored to life, "The child is not dead, but sleeping." (Mark 5:39) Paul said to the Corinthian Christians, "We shall not all sleep (die), but we shall all be changed ..." (1 Corinthians 15:51) Now that’s not scary, is it? The Christian can face death with confidence, trust, fearlessness, calm, and perfect peace ...

3624. Laborers Needed for the Harvest

Matthew 9:35-38, Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

... with some villages totally Christianized. Jesus said, "... I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (Matthew 16:18) His final commission to his disciples was, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature." (Mark 16:15) The men to whom he spoke had virtually no wealth, no social position, no prestige, no extraordinary talent; nevertheless they took our Lord at his word. When he said, "Go," they went! Tradition tells us that Peter died in Rome, John in ...

3625. Suffering for Christ

Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

... before us is to be totally committed and dedicated, to be commissioned and consecrated to him and the high purposes involved in extending his kingdom through our witnessing and service. He has said, "Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." (Mark 8:34 KJV) Amen.

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