Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 3676 to 3700 of 4938 results

3676. Knight of the Woeful Countenance

Mark 10:17-31

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

In the musical play: “Man of La Mancha” there is a scene where the addled Don Quixote asks the innkeeper to dub him a knight so that he may ride forth to do battle with the forces of evil. The innkeeper, after trying to persuade the would-be knight of his foolishness, finally agrees to go along with his fantasy. But Don Quixote isn’t content. He says to the innkeeper: “It is customary to grant the new knight an added name. If Your Lordship could devise such a name for me....” The Innkeeper ponders awhile ...

3677. Worry Wart or Winning Warrior

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

Eric Ritz

I like the story about the two mountain boys who spotted a bobcat up a tree and decided to have some fun. One said, "I''ll shinny up that tree and chase him down, and you put him in a cage." The other agreed, and the first fellow climbed up the tree. When he reached the right limb, he started shaking, and the cat came tumbling down. The other fellow grabbed the varmint by the back of the neck and tried to put him into a cage. There was a terrible commotion. Dust and fur and skin were flying in all ...

3678. Branching Out

John 15:1-17

Sermon

Michael Milton

"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15.9-11) Healthy, growing, and branching out. That is what roses are supposed to be doing, but mine, the ones that Mr. Ted Jones [1] planted for me as a gift, were not doing that. Ted asked me a series of diagnostic ...

3679. View from the Mountaintop

Deuteronomy 34:1-12

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

Mountains fascinate us. They tower majestically against the horizon, strong and immovable. Looking up at them from the ground is a magnificent delight, as we try to take in their imposing vastness and mystery. If we accept their defiant invitation to climb them, we are rewarded by a spectacular view. Climbing a mountain makes us feel like giants peering over entire cities lying beneath us. Many of us have our favorite memories of a mountaintop view. One of the joys of visiting Virginia in autumn is the ...

3680. Lifelong Disciples

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

James McCormick

“There is a great deal that we should like to say about this high priesthood, but it is not easy to explain it to you since you seem so slow to grasp spiritual truth. At a time when you should be teaching others, you need teachers yourselves to repeat to you the ABC’s of God’s revelation to His children. You have become people who need a milk diet and cannot face solid food! For anyone who continues to live on ‘milk’ is obviously immature – he simply has not grown up. ‘Solid food’ is only for the adult, ...

3681. The Only One Who Is Number One

Exodus 20:1-3

Sermon

James Merritt

This is the beginning of a series of messages on the Ten Commandments I have entitled, "Playing by the rules: God's game plan for godliness." We live in a universe that is governed by certain rules. In fact, if there were no rules, the cosmos would become chaos. If 2 + 2 did not always = 4, mathematics would be impossible; if E did not = MC2 , physics would go out the window. Without rules, football, basketball, baseball, and every other sport would be a thing of the past. If we did not have rules, ...

3682. How To Get Better When You're Bitter

Exodus 15:22-27

Sermon

James Merritt

Something that has become a Christmas tradition for our family every year is going to see the play, A Christmas Carol, at an Atlanta theatre. It's one of those stories that I never get tired of seeing. As you know, the central figure is a bitter old man by the name of Ebenezer Scrooge. For much of the play Scrooge is a real downer. But at the end, Scrooge discovers the true meaning of Christmas, and with his heart totally changed, a man who once lived in the desert of bitterness, now swims in the river of ...

3683. Thorns of Grace

2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

There is a calendar titled The 365 Stupidest Things Ever Said. Each day features a stupid statement from somebody. A page in the calendar had this amazing quote. Listen closely: “If you bought our course, ‘How To Fly In Six Easy Lessons,’ we apologize for any inconvenience caused by our failure to include the last chapter, ‘How To Land Your Plane Safely.’ Send us your name and address and we will send you the last chapter posthaste. Requests by estates will be honored.” (1) If you are a pilot, I hope you ...

3684. How Not to Become Distracted

Luke 10:38-42

Sermon

David R. Cartwright

We live in what has been called the "Information Age." We have more information at our disposal than any generation before us. We are flooded with bits of information, or should I say "bytes"? I think a much better description of our time would be the "Age of Distraction." Everybody and everything are out to get our attention. And one way to do that is to distract us from whatever we may have been doing or are trying to do. A case in point, I particularly dislike the scroll at the bottom of television ...

3685. The Gift Unwrapped

Luke 2:1-20

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

There was a Dad who decided that Christmas was going to be different this year. Dad called a family conference and challenged his family to get more into the true meaning of Christmas and not buy into the commercialism. He asked them be more mindful of their time together and to limit their spending on gifts for each other and friends. He talked about getting along and establishing a loving atmosphere in their home. Like a High School Coach just before the big game, Dad brought the speech to a crescendo ...

3686. Why Join a Church?

Acts 2:42-47

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

At the tender age of 18, I accepted my first appointment as pastor of a local church. Almost every Sunday for the past 38 years, I have stepped into some pulpit to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. For a lifetime, the local Church has captured my heart, my mind, my strength, and my deepest devotion. Today, I believe in her mission more than ever before. The local Church, in my opinion, is still God’s best hope for humanity. What makes a church great is not its building and not its steeple. What makes a ...

3687. Watch!

Matthew 24:36-44

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

A ninety-six year old man won fifty million dollars in the lottery. When his family was notified, they called their pastor for help since they were afraid the news might cause the old fellow to have a heart attack. The pastor agreed to help. He went over to visit the elderly man. They talked about the weather and life in general. Finally the minister asked the old man, “Suppose you won fifty million dollars, how would that change your life?” “It wouldn’t,” said the man, “I would still have arthritis. I ...

3688. LENT: The Passion of Christ: "Betrayed"

John 13:21-30; Matthew 26:14-16; 45-50

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

A Vacation Bible School teacher, one summer, taught class on Judas' betrayal of Jesus. After the lesson, she went over the review questions and asked, "Who betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver?" Without hesitating, her 7-year-old son replied, "I know! It was 'Judas the Scariest!' " (1) For me Judas was the Scariest disciple of all. He's the most frightening character of the entire Passion story. He's more frightening than Pilate or Herod or Caiaphas and the other accusers. To me, Judas is even more ...

3689. Act Quickly - Catch It Early

Matthew 5:21-26

Sermon

King Duncan

Some of you may be familiar with the Darwin Awards. People are nominated for the Darwin Awards when they do something really stupid that costs them their lives. The reason that they are called the Darwin Awards is that by offing themselves in such an absurd way, it is suggested that these misguided folks have inadvertently improved the gene pool for rest of humanity. It’s a cynical view of life, but it has led to a collection of stories that are both true and bizarre. For example, there is the story of a ...

3690. Time for the Offering

2 Corinthians 8:7-15

Sermon

Gibson “Nibs” Stroupe

We have been blessed at our church to have had student interns in ministry for many years from Columbia Theological Seminary, Johnson C. Smith Seminary, and Candler School of Theology. They have been all varieties of cultures, genders, ages, outlooks, and approaches. As a multicultural church, we like to think that we have broadened their view of themselves and of ministry. I know that they have greatly enriched our lives. We ask our interns to lead all parts of worship over the course of their time with ...

3691. Lost Baggage: Flying Standby

Matthew 7:1-6

Sermon

James Merritt

Two young men walk into church. They both are the same age -22, same height, same weight, and same build. The first young man walks in with a crisply starched long-sleeved Polo shirt, freshly ironed slacks, clean-cut, fresh-shaven, and wearing shoes in the latest style. The second male walks in wearing a t-shirt, blue-jeans with more holes than pockets, flip-flops, tattoos on both arms, a nose-ring and orange hair. Immediately, if we are honest, most of us would look at the first male and think, “He needs ...

3692. An Announcement about Our Future

Mark 13:32-37

Sermon

King Duncan

The Reverend Richard L. Pearson at one time served the Crescent Park United Methodist Church in Sioux City, Iowa. For several years that church had a living nativity scene. On one particular night it was Pastor Dick’s job, along with a man who had a pick‑up truck, to get a pregnant ewe, which was bedded down in the parsonage garage, to the church. They went to get her about a half hour before performance time. Due to her delicate condition they carefully lifted her into the bed of the truck, and Dick rode ...

3693. Jesus Casts Out Impure Spirits

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

Today we’re going to talk about casting out demons or, as Mark calls them in today’s lesson, impure spirits. It’s not a subject that we talk about very much in church anymore, even though it figures prominently in the New Testament. Maybe at the end of today’s service I will perform an exorcism and cast out a demon . . . or not. Perhaps you have someone in mind that you think could profit from such an exorcism. But enough about members of Congress . . . Some of you will remember a movie that caused quite a ...

3694. The Desperate

John 9:1-12

Sermon

James Merritt

I have a friend in Chicago, Illinois, that pastors one of the largest churches in America. His name is James MacDonald. He is a great preacher and has built an incredible church. I had the privilege of hosting him a couple of years ago in my home and took him to play some golf (which we both love). We were talking about church as pastors always do and I asked him to tell me some things he had learned that had helped him build the church he started at a very small size into the gigantic work for God it is ...

3695. The Year of the Lord’s Favor

Isaiah 61:1-11

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

Five Responses to Yahweh’s Promises: Chapters 61 and 62 recapitulate much of chapter 60, but they do so in a new framework. They offer five responses to those promises. Whereas the prophet’s word was a brisk preliminary to Yahweh’s word in 59:21–60:22, in chapters 61–62 the prophet speaks a number of times in a way that has significance in its own right but also introduces recapitulations of the promises. Accounts of a prophet’s own experience or actions appear in the OT because the testimony is in some ...

3696. “Do Not Drag Me Away with the Wicked”

Psalm 28:1-9

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

Big Idea: The menaces of leadership are myriad, sometimes posed by cordial faces with malicious intentions, and we pray that God will be the real Shepherd. Understanding the Text Gunkel lists Psalm 28 among the individual complaint songs, the genre that, in his view, forms the basic material of the Psalter.[1] Gerstenberger, based on the elements of petition, thanksgiving, and intercession, agrees and considers this psalm a model representative of the individual complaint psalm,[2] commonly referred to as ...

3697. “For Your Sake We Face Death . . . as Sheep to Be Slaughtered”

Psalm 44:1-26

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

Big Idea: Sometimes when we have been faithful to God and bad things still happen to us, the best and only explanation is that it is for God’s sake. Understanding the Text Psalm 44 is a community lament that follows some national defeat of Israel’s army (44:9), even though the psalmist, speaking on behalf of the king, cannot understand why this has happened, since Israel has not forgotten God or “been false” to his covenant (44:17). Psalms 42–43 celebrate the psalmist’s hope that he, isolated and dejected ...

3698. How Do You Get Rid of Evil without Destroying Good?

Matthew 13:24-30

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

How do we deal with evil? More precisely, how do we get rid of evil without destroying good? Today’s parable addresses this question. Like all parables of our Lord, this one comes straight from the life of his own day and people. We find it a bit hard to understand because this incident could not have occurred in the wheat-growing sections of America. We know about farms stretching over hundreds and hundreds of acres. The sowing and the reaping is done by sophisticated farm machinery. Land is sprayed ...

3699. God Has No Grandchildren

John 3:1-21

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

On a children’s TV program, the announcer asked a little boy what he wanted to do when he grew up. “I want to be an animal trainer,” said the child, loudly and clearly into the mike. “And I’ll have lots of wild lions and tigers and leopards,” he continued boldly. “And then I’ll walk into the cage…” Here he hesitated for a second, and then added softly, “but, of course, I’ll have my granddaddy with me.” Granddaddies and Grandmothers are special. Ask any boy or girl. Grandsons and granddaughters are special ...

3700. Gifts of Prophecy and Tongues

1 Corinthians 14:1-25

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

The Practice of Prophecy The discussion returns to the direct consideration of spiritual gifts that was the explicit focus of Paul’s remarks up to 12:31a. One should notice at the outset that Paul’s general concern is with orderly worship, but there are bends and turns to the argumentation that are hard to follow and highly debated. Moreover, as later readers turn to this passage they sometimes forget the concrete historical circumstances that lie behind Paul’s remarks, but to do so is a disaster. Paul ...

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