Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 3701 to 3725 of 4933 results

3701. The Road To Emmaus

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Thomas A. Pilgrim

A man and his little grandson were out walking down the beach one afternoon. They saw a crowd of people gathered around a man who had been overcome by the heat of the sun and had suffered a sunstroke. The grandfather was trying to explain this to the boy. The little fellow looked up at his grand father and said, "Grandpa, I hope you never suffer from a sunset." We have gathered today to celebrate the good news that even though we face many sunsets there is always a sunrise. There is a simple beauty in this ...

3702. That All-Pervasive Snake

Genesis 2:4-25, Genesis 3:1-24

Sermon

Joann Hary

Do you believe in original sin? If I asked, some of you might answer quite cutely, "Yes, I believe in original sin, in fact I have always thought that if I was going to sin, I might as well be original about it." Then, of course, there are the many stories, such as the one about the church billboard that said, "If you desire to be done with sin, come on in." As the people read more closely, they discovered that someone had written in lipstick, "But if you are not quite sure, call 555-5271." What is ...

3703. Working and Praying Go Together

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

"When Jesus heard the news, he left that place in a boat and went to a lonely place by himself. The people heard about it, left their towns, and followed him by land. Jesus got out of the boat, and when he saw the large crowd his heart was filled with pity for them, and he healed their sick. That evening his disciples came to him and said, 'It is already very late, and this is a lonely place. Send the people away and let them go to the villages and buy food for themselves.' 'They don't have to leave,' ...

3704. Overcoming Life's Obstacles

Matthew 14:22-36

Sermon

"Peter got out of the boat and started walking on the water to Jesus. When he noticed the wind, however, he was afraid, and started to sink down in the water." (St. Matthew 14:29, 30 TEV) There is nothing so frustrating in life as a shattered dream. We all have our dreams. We have plans for our children. In the back of our minds we think about a certain dream house. Every young girl has her dream boat in mind. We have goals in our career or job. We hope to arrive at a particular level of achievement in our ...

3705. Life After Life

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

An author writing in Vogue magazine says that he believes America’s loss of values, and her moral and ethical breakdown, arise from the fact that for the first time in history most of the people of America do not believe in life after death. When we lose our faith we lose our focus on a dependable structure of life. If life has no meaning, if it is going nowhere, then we can summarize history and the future, - "So What?" Eat, drink, and be merry - if you can! If life after death is not, I don’t want to ...

3706. Merry XMas

John 1:1-18

Sermon

David E. Leininger

This is a glorious time of year. I am looking forward to the cantata next week, the candlelight communion service on Christmas Eve, and of course, the Joy Gift Pageant tonight. One never knows what to expect at Christmas pageants. I read recently(1) of a heated discussion between some pleading grown-ups and a particularly adamant five-year-old. She would wear her new dress or she would not appear in the pageant. First, the Director begged her, "Please put on the costume. The people want to see you as MARY ...

3707. Connected

John 15:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

A newspaper reporter went to interview a successful entrepreneur. "How did you do it?" he asked. "How did you make all this money?" "I'm glad you asked," the entrepreneur replied. "Actually, it's a rather wonderful story. You see, when my wife and I married, we started out with a roof over our heads, some food in our pantry, and five cents between us. I took that nickel, went down to the grocery store, bought an apple, and shined it up. Then I sold it for ten cents." "What did you do then?" the reporter ...

3708. Internal Medicine

Matthew 6:16-18

Sermon

King Duncan

Mussa Zoabi of Israel claims to be the oldest person alive. He says he's 160 years old. Unfortunately, Guinness Book of World Records isn't going to print his name simply because his age can't be verified. Mr. Zoabi is older than most recordskeeping systems will go. But here's the interesting thing! However old he really is, Mussa Zoabi knows exactly how he managed to live so long. He'll tell the secret to anybody who wants to know. He says: Every day I drink a cup of melted butter or olive oil! Doesn't ...

3709. Do Not Disturb

Isaiah 11:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

A Swiss man, Jean Francois Vernetti, is listed in Guinness World Records 2004. What did Mr. Vernetti do that was so extraordinary? He made the Guiness book because of his enormous collection of "Do Not Disturb" signs. In his travels to 131 countries, Vernetti has amassed a collection of 2,915 "Do Not Disturb" signs in a variety of languages. He dreams of collecting such signs from all 191 countries of the world. (1) Who would have thought that this would be a universal sign? "Do Not Disturb." On second ...

3710. What Happens When I Die?

John 14:1-4

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

My children and grandchildren introduced me to that delightful little comic strip Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson. In one strip, Calvin is lying on a hillside, next to his stuffed tiger Hobbes, pondering the meaning of life. He asks: I wonder where we go when we die. They lie there for a few moments, and then Hobbes replies, Pittsburgh? In the last panel, Calvin asks, You mean if were good or if were bad? A day or two before he died, William Saroyan said to his friends, “Everybody has got to die; but I ...

3711. Son of Thunder, Son of God

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

I just love the story of Jordan Gollub. It came out of Religious News Service in June of 1989. It seems that Jordan Gollub was leader of the Mississippi Christian Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. (Now there’s a contradiction in terms for you!) At least he was until they discovered that he was born of Jewish parents. Then they kicked him out. Thus, this bigot found himself ousted by his own bigoted group! The article says that he now plans to start his own organization, so he can kick everybody else out, I ...

3712. What Do You Want Me to Do for You?

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

I find it strange that, in a time when we are becoming more and more sensitive toward persons with handicapping conditions, our nation’s State Department would adopt a policy which effectively eliminates blind persons from foreign service positions. As the editorial in the Ann Arbor News put it, “It’s probably a good thing Helen Keller isn’t alive today to apply for a job with the U.S. foreign services, They’d turn her down, flat.” (Thursday, December 1, 1988) I can understand that blindness would ...

3713. I Am Christ's

2 Corinthians 5:17

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Two Sundays ago, we began our series of sermons on The Christian Walk. We closed that first sermon with the story of three-year-old Ryan. He and his five-year-old sister, Lisa, were playing on the floor following a family dinner while the adults tried to have a conversation. Lisa opened her new toy nurse's kit and convinced Ryan to be her patient. She took the little stethoscope and placed it on her brother's heart, listened intently -- as good nurses do. Suddenly she announced, "I hear somebody walking ...

3714. No Shame

Romans 1:16-17; 3:22b-28 (29-31)

Sermon

William G. Carter

I am very taken by what Paul says. He claims, "I am not ashamed...." Most of us have known people, maybe a lot, maybe a few, and they are ashamed of something. I struck up a conversation with a woman I had known for a couple of years. I thought I knew her fairly well. One day she blurted out that she had been married four times. I said, "You never mentioned it." She said, "I guess I'm ashamed." A man lost his job. That was hard enough. What made it more difficult is that he lost the job because he was ...

3715. Irrevocable Gifts

Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32

Sermon

Jeff Wedge

People have had a wide variety of reactions to the idea of politically-correct language. One of the more interesting is a series of books by James Finn Garner. A look at the contents of the volumes gives an insight into the way things are handled. The stories include such titles as the politically-correct bedtime story of "The Three Codependent Goats Gruff," and the holiday story of "Rudolph, the Nasally-Empowered Reindeer." Under the humorous approach there lurks a problem that can cause us real ...

3716. Is There Anything I Can Do?

Luke 3:1-6

Sermon

Mark Trotter

You hear it from well-mannered guests, "Is there anything I can do?" It is the polite question to ask the hostess. She gets up to make the final preparations for the meal, leaves the living room. You say, "Is there anything I can do?" Usually the answer is, "No. Just sit there, be comfortable, everything is taken care of." That question is asked more rarely after the meal. It's 11:00 p.m., people still sitting there in the living room, talking. It is not often then that a guest will ask, "Is there anything ...

3717. Changed Lives - Nicodemus

John 3:1-21

Sermon

King Duncan

[While King Duncan is enjoying a well deserved retirement we are going back to his earliest sermons and renewing them. The newly modernized sermon is shown first and below, for reference sake, is the old sermon. We will continue this updating throughout the year bringing fresh takes on King's best sermons.] Original Title: Changed Lives – Nicodemus New Title: What Does “Born Again” Mean? If you have ever been around a child who is mentally challenged and has difficulty with speech, you may appreciate a ...

3718. Once Save - Always Saved

John 10:27-29

Sermon

James Merritt

There was a man who lived in a small southern town, and after twenty years of shaving himself every morning, he decided he had had enough. He told his wife he wanted to go down to the local barber, just for once, and get shaved himself. When he put on his hat and coat, went to the barbershop, which was owned by the pastor of the Baptist church, the barber's wife, whose name was Grace, was working, so she is the one that shaved him. After she shaved him she said, "That will be $20." Well, he thought the ...

3719. The Prosecutor Perry Mason Can't Beat

John 16:7-11

Sermon

James Merritt

Perry Mason. A name that can strike the fear of God into the heart of any prosecutor. For any defendant accused of murder, he was the supreme "ace in the hole." From September of 1957 to October of 1966, Perry Mason tried 270 murder cases on television. How many cases did he lose? Believe it or not, he appears to have lost two. In "the case of the Terrified Typist" a jury returns a guilty verdict against Perry's client, and the prosecutor, Hamilton Burger, gets goose bumps thinking he had finally beaten ...

3720. Anywhere But Home

Mark 6:1-13

Sermon

George Reed

The Gospel of Mark is filled with action. From the beginning Jesus is teaching, healing, and casting out demons. By the time we get to chapter 6, we have witnessed many miracles which Jesus has done. Then he comes home to Nazareth. Nazareth, that little backwater town that is despised and looked down on by the rest of Israel. Here is their big chance to show that something good can come out of Nazareth. We would expect that the Nazareth Gazette would run the headline, "Local Boy Makes Good" or that there ...

3721. What Is 40 Days Of Purpose?

2 Timothy 4:9-18

Sermon

James Merritt

We are about to begin a journey, a forty-day journey that I believe will change your life more than any other forty days that you have ever lived. In that forty days we are going to ask and answer the single most important and fundamental question anyone can ever ask in this life which is, "What On Earth Am I Here For? What Is My Purpose? Why Am I Alive?" The Bible says God never created anything without a purpose or a reason. Whether it is animal, vegetable, or mineral, everything that God created has a ...

3722. Live and Let Die

Galatians 2:20

Sermon

James Merritt

How do you live the Christian life? Well, believe it or not, the answer is You don't! Over one billion people have become Christians in the last 2,000 years. But only one person has ever lived the Christian life, and that is Jesus Christ. I am going to make an amazing statement, but I believe it is true. The average Christian knows far more about how to become one than how to be one. The average Christian will say, "I'm trying to live the Christian life the best way I know how." When a Christian makes that ...

3723. Jesus Rewards the Just

Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21

Sermon

Richard Gribble

Imagine picking up the Sunday paper, opening it and reading in giant letters, Jesus Christ Will Return In Two Weeks. What would we do? How would we react to this astonishing information? I think there would be two basic reactions. Some of us, out of fear, would change our lives immediately. The Lord is coming and we are not ready. We might start going to church more often, probably every day. Prayer would become a much higher priority in life. We would pray not only in the morning and evening, but many ...

3724. Altar Your Presence

John 15:1-17

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

One of the words we use a lot in the United Methodist church is the word Connection. Generally, when we use the word Connection we are talking about the connection between the local church to the District, the Annual Conference, the Jurisdictional Conference, the General Conference all United Methodist Churches around the world. Our founder John Wesley realized there was power in this idea of connection. John Wesley understood the communal nature of the church and of faith. He planned and designed ways for ...

3725. A Chance To Drink

John 4:5-29

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

There was a cartoon I saw sometime back which showed a little boy kneeling by his bed saying his bedtime prayers. He prayed: "As you know, God, Monday is the first day of school. I hope you won't lose sight of me in the crowd. Amen." Then he climbs in bed, thinks for a minute, and then crawls out again and adds to his prayer: "Oh, and by the way God, I'll be the one wearing the red shorts and a Dallas Cowboys T-shirt." Like this little boy, the woman in the passage for today, needed someone to see her. She ...

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