Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 3651 to 3675 of 5000 results

3651. I Wrote My Books on Tuesdays

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Illustration

King Duncan

There was once a great Quaker leader by the name of Rufus Jones. Jones wrote and published one book a year for over fifty years. He did this while attending countless meetings, making frequent speeches, editing a magazine and taking care of countless other chores that his position required. Someone once asked him how under these circumstances he found the time to write so many books he answered, "I wrote my books on Tuesdays." Throughout his career he set aside Tuesdays as his one "free" day accepting no ...

3652. The Kingdom of Heaven is Like a Programmer

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Illustration

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a programmer who started many processes on her computer. While everyone was sleeping, a hacker broke in and started some counterfeit jobs, which began using some of the CPU time. The programmer's assistants said, "Didn't you start useful jobs on the computer? Where then did these counterfeits come from?" "A hacker did this," she replied. The assistants asked her, "Do you want us to kill the jobs?" "No," she answered," because while you are killing them, some good ...

3653. You Need 100 Points

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Illustration

Bill Bouknight

There is a story about a minister who had a strange dream. He dreamt that he had died and was trying to get into heaven. When he approached the pearly gates, St. Peter told him he needed 100 points to get in. Proudly the minister said, "Well, I was a pastor for 43 years.""Fine," said St. Peter, "That's worth one point." "One point? Is that all?" cried the minister. "Yes, that's it," said St. Peter. "Well," said the pastor, "I visited lots of shut-ins." St.Peter responded, "That's worth one point." "I ...

3654. Clean the Glass Shade Daily

Mt 13:24-30, 36-43

Illustration

King Duncan

Pastor Cecil Williams, who served the Glide Memorial Methodist Church in San Francisco for 35 years, tells of growing up in Texas. They didn't have electric lights in their house. They had two oil lamps with wicks that had to be lit daily. Once they were lit, a glass shade fit over the flame and they glowed. Cecil's mother kept telling her children, "Ya'll clean the shade before you put it over the lamp. If you don't, you won't get as much light." Young Cecil didn't like cleaning the lampshades. It took a ...

3655. He Saved My Life, I Took His Name

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Illustration

James W. Moore

Dr. William B. McClain is the Professor of Preaching and Worship at Wesley Theological Seminary. Dr. McClain once told about meeting a South Korean tailor in Seoul, Korea. Amazingly, this South Korean tailor introduced himself as "Smitty Lee." Dr. McClain was fascinated to discover a Korean named Smitty… and he asked whether the name Smitty was a Korean name. The Korean tailor said "no" and then he told the story of how his life had been saved (some years before during the Korean War.) His life had been ...

3656. Which Weed to Pull Out?

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Illustration

Johnny Dean

She was the church organist, the mother of two beautiful children. Her father called me and gave me the news. "We've had to have her committed to the mental ward at Baptist Hospital. She was okay as long as she was taking her medicine. But she didn't think she needed it anymore, so she stopped taking it last week. Please go up and see her. We told them it was okay to let you in." I was just a seminary student, a minister in training, not a psychiatrist. I didn't want to go. I didn't know what I could say ...

3657. You Can Be What You Make Up Your Mind To Be

Mt 13:24-30

Illustration

King Duncan

Motivational people know the power of visualization. They will tell you about a skinny, scrawny black youngster who one day heard a coach say, "You can be what you make up your mind to be. God will help you." Afterwards this youngster came up to the coach and declared, "I've decided what I want to be - the fastest man in the world." The coach said, "Son, that's a great dream but there is one problem. Dreams have a way of floating high in the sky and drifting around like clouds. A dream never becomes a ...

3658. No Need for Heaven & No Fear of Hell

Illustration

Staff

It is said that in the very earliest days of the settlement of Arizona, the Archbishop of Los Angeles sent a missionary out to Phoenix to try to establish a church there. After two years, the priest returned to tell the archbishop that he could not establish a congregation in Phoenix. "Why not?" asked the Bishop. "Are there no people there?" "Well, yes, there are people there," said the priest. But those who live there during the winter have no need of heaven and those who live in Arizona during the summer ...

3659. Setting the Church Back 50 Years

Illustration

Paul Larsen

During the Brezhnev era at the height of the Cold War, Billy Graham visited Russia and met with government and church leaders. Conservatives back home reproached him for treating the Russians with such courtesy and respect. He should have taken a more prophetic role, they said, by condemning the abuses of human rights and religious liberty. One of his critics accused him of setting the church back fifty years. Graham listened, lowered his head and replied, "I am deeply ashamed. I have been trying very hard ...

3660. Full of Hypocrites

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Illustration

Zig Ziglar said that he invited a friend to go to church with him. The man answered, "Well, I'd like to go. But the church is so full of hypocrites." Ziglar replied, "That's okay. There's always room for one more."

3661. Gentle Jesus’ Terrible Words

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Illustration

Bill Bouknight

That great preacher at City Temple in London, Leslie Weatherhead, made this profound observation: "Jesus Christ, the person with the gentlest lips in history, said the most terrible words about sin ever spoken. It was gentle Jesus who referred to people as 'lost.' He described hell as the everlasting fire, the shut door, and the outer darkness where there are endless tears and gnashing of teeth." Jesus did not slant judgment and hell toward those who were broken and imperfect, but toward those who proudly ...

3662. A Few Clowns Short of a Circus

Humor Illustration

King Duncan

Here's a list of Politically Correct Ways of Indicating Stupidity" He's a few clowns short of a circus . . . A few fries short of a Happy Meal . . . A few peas short of a casserole . . . He doesn't have all his corn flakes in one box . . . The wheel's spinning, but the hamster's dead . . . His antenna doesn't pick up all the channels . . . His belt doesn't go through all the loops . . . The elevator doesn't go all the way to the top floor . . . He is several cards short of a full deck . . . If he had ...

3663. Fueling a Habit

Mt 13:24-30

Illustration

King Duncan

Fans of country music revere the name of the late George Jones. Jones had enough hit songs on his hundred or so albums to make the careers of ten singers. But along with George Jones' talent and genius comes a dark side. Jones has a reputation for wild living and self-destructive behavior. In the past he struggled with a serious addiction to alcohol and drugs. His addictions were so severe that Jones would literally do anything to fuel his habit. At one time, George was almost outwitted by his then-wife, ...

3664. Testing a Dog’s Disposition

Humor Illustration

King Duncan

An instructor in a dog-training workshop in Salt Lake City noted that the owner could test a dog's disposition. If the owner will fall down and pretend to be hurt, a dog with a bad temper will tend to bite him. But a good dog will show concern and may lick the fallen owner's face. Susan Matice attended the class and then decided to test her two dogs. While eating pizza in her living room, she stood up, clutched her heart, screamed and fell to the floor. Her two dogs looked at her, looked at each other, ...

3665. We Can Take Control

Jn 21:1-25

Illustration

King Duncan

One stressful day, Eric Fellman and his sons set out late in the afternoon to do a little fishing. As he backed the boat into the water, Fellman realized that he had forgotten to unhook part of the trailer from the boat. The boat tipped over and began to fill with water. As Fellman jumped out of the car to survey the situation, he accidentally hit the electric lock, locking his keys inside the still-running car. Everything was a mess! Most of the live bait had escaped into the lake, the boat was almost ...

3666. This Is Your Real Life

Mt 13:24-30, 36-43

Illustration

King Duncan

In a PEANUTS strip Lucy is parked in her psychiatric booth, and Charlie Brown is sharing his problems with her. "Sometimes I ask myself questions," he begins. "Sometimes I ask myself, 'Is this your real life, or is this just a pilot film? Is my life a thirty-nine-week series or is it a special?'" In no time at all Lucy analyzes his problem and gives an instant answer: "Whatever it is," she says, "your ratings are down. Five cents, please!" "Without Lucy's special permission, I want to answer every Charlie ...

3667. Neglect

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Illustration

King Duncan

In Saint Louis in 1984, an unemployed cleaning woman noticed a few bees buzzing around the attic of her home. Since there were only a few, she made no effort to deal with them. Over the summer the bees continued to fly in and out the attic vent while the woman remained unconcerned, unaware of the growing city of bees that was taking up residence just above her ceiling. The whole attic became a hive, and the ceiling of the second-floor bedroom finally caved in under the weight of hundreds of pounds of honey ...

3668. The Broken Window Theory

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Illustration

King Duncan

Malcolm Gladwell in his book, The Tipping Point, tells about "the Broken Window" theory of crime. Many years ago, criminologists James Q. Wilson and George Kelling formulated this theory about how a neighborhood or community slowly gives into increasing crime rates. They called it the Broken Window theory. Wilson and Kelling said that crimes are more likely to be committed in areas where it appears that the residents have lowered their standards and no longer care about their community. If a window is ...

3669. What Is Heaven Like? - Sermon Starter

Mt 13:31-43

Illustration

Brett Blair

I believe we human beings have a perception problem. We often think we have the proper perspective on an issue when in fact we are way off. There's a charming story that Thomas Wheeler, CEO of the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, tells on himself: He and his wife were driving along an interstate highway when he noticed that their car was low on gas. Wheeler got off the highway at the next exit and soon found a rundown gas station with just one gas pump. He asked the lone attendant to fill the ...

3670. Sermon Opener - Deal with It, Get over It, Get Help

Romans 8:28-39

Illustration

Leonard Sweet

In 1973 a gang of bank robbers held up the Kreditbanken (Credit Bank) in Stockholm, Sweden. The police interrupted their heist, but the bank robbers proceeded to hold a number of bank employees hostage for six long days. When at last they were rescued these kidnap victims, who had been terrorized and abused by their captors, stunned the authorities by demonstrating considerable emotional attachment to their victimizers. Some of the victims even publically defended the very ones who had held them at gun ...

3671. Sowing Tiny Seeds

Matthew 13:31-35

Illustration

King Duncan

Nancy Cornice remembers as a child hearing the tip-tap of a cane on the sidewalk. It was an old man "bent from the years" his rough, knotted hand purposefully clutching a cane." But this old man had a peculiar custom as he roamed the streets of this small town. When this gentleman saw a child he would stop, reach into his pocket and give the child a picture of Christ. "He would thrust it into the child's hand and continue on his way, never speaking a word." What this gentleman did certainly doesn't seem ...

3672. My Dog Saw The Rabbit

Matthew 13:44-46

Illustration

Brett Blair

There is a story from the Desert Fathers about a young monk who asked one of the old men of the desert why it is that so many people came out to the desert to seek God and yet most of them gave up after a short time and returned to their lives in the city. The old monk told him, "Last evening my dog saw a rabbit running for cover among the bushes of the desert and he began to chase the rabbit, barking loudly. Soon other dogs joined in the chase, barking and running. They ran a great distance and alerted ...

3673. A Precious Gift

Matthew 13:44-46

Illustration

Brett Blair

There is an ancient legend about the monk who found a precious stone, a precious jewel. A short time later, the monk met a traveler, who said he was hungry and asked the monk if he would share some of his provisions. When the monk opened his bag, the traveler saw the precious stone and, on an impulse, asked the monk if he could have it. Amazingly, the monk gave the traveler the stone. The traveler departed quickly overjoyed with his new possession. However, a few days later, he came back, searching for the ...

3674. The Tiny O-Ring

Matthew 13:31-35

Illustration

The Shuttle program was once grounded for several weeks due to cracks in the fuel line. We are reminded about the tiny rubber o-ring about three-tenths of an inch wide. To look at a tiny o-ring that small would not impress anyone. And yet decades ago two of those rings were placed in the aft field joint of the Solid Rocket Booster to stop gases from escaping. Whether it was the unusually cold weather, a contaminate introduced into the zinc putty used on them, any number of potential compression problems, ...

3675. The Desire to Win

Matthew 13:31-35

Illustration

Staff

Legend has it that Vince Lambardi, one time coach of the Green Bay Packers said, "Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing." While it is true that Lombardi hated to lose, he never said that. Red Sanders the coach of UCLA said it. What Lombardi actually said was, "Winning isn't everything but wanting to win is."

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Antonyms: deficient, imperfect

Showing 3651 to 3675 of 5000 results

3651. I Wrote My Books on Tuesdays

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Illustration

King Duncan

3652. The Kingdom of Heaven is Like a Programmer

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Illustration

3653. You Need 100 Points

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Illustration

Bill Bouknight

3654. Clean the Glass Shade Daily

Mt 13:24-30, 36-43

Illustration

King Duncan

3655. He Saved My Life, I Took His Name

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Illustration

James W. Moore

3656. Which Weed to Pull Out?

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Illustration

Johnny Dean

3657. You Can Be What You Make Up Your Mind To Be

Mt 13:24-30

Illustration

King Duncan

3658. No Need for Heaven & No Fear of Hell

Illustration

Staff

3659. Setting the Church Back 50 Years

Illustration

Paul Larsen

3660. Full of Hypocrites

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Illustration

3661. Gentle Jesus’ Terrible Words

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Illustration

Bill Bouknight

3662. A Few Clowns Short of a Circus

Humor Illustration

King Duncan

3663. Fueling a Habit

Mt 13:24-30

Illustration

King Duncan

3664. Testing a Dog’s Disposition

Humor Illustration

King Duncan

3665. We Can Take Control

Jn 21:1-25

Illustration

King Duncan

3666. This Is Your Real Life

Mt 13:24-30, 36-43

Illustration

King Duncan

3667. Neglect

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Illustration

King Duncan

3668. The Broken Window Theory

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Illustration

King Duncan

3669. What Is Heaven Like? - Sermon Starter

Mt 13:31-43

Illustration

Brett Blair

3670. Sermon Opener - Deal with It, Get over It, Get Help

Romans 8:28-39

Illustration

Leonard Sweet

3671. Sowing Tiny Seeds

Matthew 13:31-35

Illustration

King Duncan

3672. My Dog Saw The Rabbit

Matthew 13:44-46

Illustration

Brett Blair

3673. A Precious Gift

Matthew 13:44-46

Illustration

Brett Blair

3674. The Tiny O-Ring

Matthew 13:31-35

Illustration

3675. The Desire to Win

Matthew 13:31-35

Illustration

Staff

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