Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 3701 to 3725 of 5000 results

3701. The First Murder - 1940

Matthew 7:1-6

Sermon

Kent Moorehead

... is that, as the Bible says, the attitude of the two men was entirely different. Abel came with a sincere recognition of his own sense of sonship and Cain was only doing the conventional, formal thing. It is the unrecognized distinction that always marks the true worshiper from the pseudo-worshiper. How many of us have played both roles? There have been times when religion meant much to us, when we came with great conscience, without considering some social advantage or privilege; but simply because of our ...

3702. Preaching Unpopular Truth - 1943

John 18:38

Sermon

Kent Moorehead

... , I believe it is our duty to be popular. For only as we are liked, admired, held in esteem do we have the positive influence over others that we ought to have. For any one to say he does not care what people think of him is, I think, to mark that person as something of a fool or a liar, or both. But there are two kinds of popularity: the ephemeral and the permanent - and often one must be sacrificed for the other. Lafcadio Hearn tells a story of an Oriental hero who owned and worked a highly valuable rice ...

3703. Your Image of Tomorrow

Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon

Leonard Mann

... are the eyes that see beyond - eyes of understanding, expectation, faith. During World War I, Quentin Roosevelt, an American military pilot in Europe, and son of former President Theodore Roosevelt, was shot down in battle, and killed. His father wrote the inscription to mark his grave, and here is the inscription Theodore Roosevelt wrote: "he has outsoared the shadows of our night." It is, I think, the privilege of each of us to do that. In the ongoing process of our human living, shadows occur in many ...

3704. The Light that Shines Within

John 1:1-18

Sermon

Leonard Mann

... go in response to the invitation of Christ, he went away sorrowfully? Phillips Brooks said of this young man: "His soul was like a tall, strong ship, but tied fast with a long rope. It was able to struggle up channel past headland and light and buoy that marked the way, but always something held it back from laying itself at rest beside the golden shore." Our life urges it upon us, that we live in the light of what we may become. Some things you may become only for a little while; some achievements are so ...

3705. Name Above Every Name

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

Leonard Mann

... doing his evangelistic work wherever he was needed. Returning from one of his trips, Luther Bridgers discovered that the family home had been destroyed by fire. In that fire his wife and four children had died. In a Wilmore cemetery stands the unusual gravestone which marks the common burial place of those five most dear to him. But out of that tragic loss, and as a result of the faith that sustained him through it, Luther Bridgers wrote one of the best of our gospel songs: He Keeps Me Singing. The story ...

3706. God is Laughing at Us

Zechariah 9:9-13

Illustration

Jon L. Joyce

... procession and went into the Temple, and when he was inside, they waited breathlessly for some cataclysmic sign from Heaven. And what happened? Nothing! Absolutely nothing! In fact, even the Gospel writers couldn’t quite get the flat taste of it out of their mouths. Mark ends his account by saying: "He went into the Temple, and when He'd looked around at everything, the hour already being late, He went out again." Period! That’s it! Don’t you see, beloved, God is making fun of us? He’s satirizing ...

3707. To Receive or Worship?

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon

Jon L. Joyce

... II with such crowds present that it took days for workmen to clear the streets of debris in New York and Washington. But while the Palm Sunday procession was equally impressive, it was entirely different. It celebrated a greater and grander triumph. It did not mark the conquest of other nations but of human hearts. It celebrated the Lord of Life, not the slaughter of war. This was the Prince of Peace. Now they publicly recognized him as the Son of God. He is the conqueror of our greatest enemies: sin and ...

3708. Getting Under Your Neighbor's Skin

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... and power. At times this wealth and power have been used in discriminatory ways. Therefore, one can understand why a minority person would be skeptical and suspicious of the majority. We are not many years removed from a time when there was a marked difference between the way black and white citizens experienced law enforcement. There is still a vast difference between the justice received by the rich and the poor. The more money one can spend on lawyers, the gentler will be the justice that one receives ...

3709. The Perfect Gift

Galatians 3:26--4:7

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... to wonder where we will spend eternity. Our heavenly reservations were made that first moment when we repented of our sins and genuinely believed in Jesus as Lord. When we die and reach heaven's gates, no one will pull our records for judgment. The mark of Christ will be visible upon us. His righteousness will cover us and therefore the gates of heaven will be wide open for us. A third gift Christ offers is a heart transplant. Not the surgical variety. I refer to the change of values, attitudes, desires ...

3710. The Waters of Your Baptism

Colossians 2:6-23

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... ...and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." A third reason for baptism is that it is the doorway into the church which is, despite all its imperfections, the Body of Christ. We were meant to live in Christian community. Baptism is that invisible mark upon each of us that signifies that we are part of the community of faith. The fourth and most important reason for baptism is this: Each time the sacrament is celebrated, the Gospel story is retold or acted out. The old sinful person dies with Christ ...

3711. Our Inclusive Christ

Colossians 3:1-17

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... of barriers that Christ overcomes. Let's look briefly at each one. First, Paul wrote, In Your New Life In Christ, There Can Be Neither Circumcised Nor Uncircumcised. Of course, circumcision was the religious ceremony through which Jewish male babies were marked as Jews. Paul declared that to be unimportant. Circumcision represents all religious barriers which so often separate the people of Christ. Why is it that we Christians of various denominations often don't treat each other as brothers and sisters? A ...

3712. When God Is Your Guide

Acts 20:13-38

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... where to play. Later, Green Bay Coach Mike Holmgren confessed that he had left a message on White's answering machine that said, "Reggie, this is God. Go to Green Bay." God doesn't leave messages on answering machines. But God is able to transform a question mark offered in prayer to an overnight inspiration about direction. When God is consulted, He can put all manner of obstacles in the way of a bad plan. On the other hand, He is able to smooth and confirm the way we should take. When God is your guide ...

3713. Our Exclusive God (The First Commandment)

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... name the first and greatest commandment, he replied in the words of scripture: "Hear, a Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God will all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength." (Mark 12:29-30) The message in our own day is as clear as it was then. If we are to have inner peace and community, we must begin with single- hearted allegiance to the God who fashioned us in his image and redeemed us through the cross. Earlier I ...

3714. A Courtroom Confrontation

Matthew 27:11-26

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... bureaucracy. As governor of the Judean province he has a difficult task. The Jews are notoriously hard to control. Already he has had run-ins with them, occasions of public disorder. Word has gotten back to Rome that Pilate tends toward brutality. One more bad mark on his record might doom his next promotion. Above all, Rome wants its governors to preserve order and keep those tax dollars flowing in. Let's take a closer look at Jesus. He stands before Pilate with face swollen and bleeding, with hands bound ...

3715. Blessed Are The Focused - Father's Day

Proverbs 4:1-27

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... , on the other hand, focuses that power in a specific direction and delivers an enormous punch. You can be a firecracker Christian or a rifle shot Christian. It's a matter of focus. St. Paul was a highly focused, rifle shot Christian. He declared, "I press toward the mark for the high call of God in Christ Jesus." You can be a firecracker parent or a rifle-shot parent. One makes a lot of noise. The other gets results. It's a matter of focus. On this Father's Day weekend, let me suggest three truths that ...

3716. Derailed Dreams

Genesis 37:12-36, 50:15-21

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... the right mate has not appeared? And the dreams you have cherished since you were a little child playing house seem ever more elusive. Have you ever been told that you or a member of your family has a life-threatening illness that raises a huge question mark over all your dreams? Because all of us have had at least one derailed dream, we can understand the silent tears that must have rolled down the face of that teenager Joseph, whose dreams faded as each lumbering camel's stride took him farther from home ...

3717. A Shepherd To Lead Us

John 10:1-21

Sermon

Brett Blair

... swimming with the tide leaves you nowhere. 3. Foresight - The ability to look ahead and see what's coming. 4. Steadiness – Having patience and persistence despite failures and obstacles. 5. Righteousness - The willingness to do the right thing and speak the truth. These are all marks of a true leader but none seemed willing to go as far as Jesus did. He always had a way of summing up the meaning of a thing. He took the Ten Commandments and said, “Love God and love your neighbor” and you will fulfill ...

3718. The Master at Prayer

Luke 22:39-46

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... after they offered it. By that time they had already forgotten about it. God's timing is always perfect. If we pray persistently, we are alert to God's good answers whenever they come. I use a prayer list each morning. When God's answers come, I mark through that request and write “thanks" in the margin. I have several pages of fulfilled requests, and that gives me great confidence that God answers prayer. God's wisdom and timing are perfect. The ladies at the Women's Prison taught me a song which has the ...

3719. Who Are the Christians?

Judges 1:1-36

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... about the Simpson trial, he asked me, "Are you praying for O.J.?" To be honest, I found that hard to do. God had to help me with that. Now I am doing it regularly. I then asked my African American brother, "Are you praying for Mark Fuhrman?" He admitted that that was difficult. But he is working on it. Almost every week some racially divisive issue is raised in the press. The front page of the Commercial Appeal could be entitled, "Race-capades." Lately it has been the Disparity Study and the challenge ...

3720. Failures Need Not Be Fatal!

Mark 14:66-72

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

Along the Main street sidewalk in Longmont, Colorado, there is a plaque marking the spot where a butcher opened a store and went bankrupt. But wait a minute. They don't usually honor business failures with plaques. There must be more to the story. There lS. That butcher then moved north to Wyoming where he opened a dry goods store. It did rather ...

3721. Crossing Over

Joshua 3:1-4:24

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... God. God is calling us to bring to this venture praying hands, willing spirits, and sacrificial financial commitments. If there is anything timid or conservative or half-hearted about the financial commitments you have already written on your "Up with Christ" card, mark through them right now and write down a figure that reflects some holy boldness. Near Charlotte, North Carolina, a young man named William Franklin Graham, son of a dairy farmer, spent a sleepless night on the empty fairway of a golf course ...

3722. Put the Cross on Top

1 John 4:7-21

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... is that God is love, and that love drove him to send his beloved Son to die on a cross as the remedy for our sins. John uses his special word for love, "agape," 28 times in chapter four. Verses 7 and 8 tell us that love is the distinguishing mark of a Christian. Jesus said, "This is how you will know that they are my disciples; they have love one for another." This is a peculiar kind of love. It is not romantic love or the love of a mother for a child or the love shared between friends. This ...

3723. A Time of Testing

1 Peter 4:12-19

Bulletin Aid

James Wilson

Call To Worship Leader: Come, sing and give praise for God's mercy and grace in Christ! People: But our lives have been marked by trials and hard times. Leader: Give praise, for the Lord can turn even the hardest times into glory. People: And what should we do as we face the problems cast before us? Leader: Praise God, and know that in all things Christ will be victorious! All: Blessed be the ...

3724. Unwrapping Presents ... and People

Sermon

James Bjorge

... call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). We can never discard the words like "sin" and "guilt." If we do we shall only have to manufacture new ones for them. Sin is pictured in the Old Testament as "missing the mark." God’s moral order has been violated. Man has fallen short of what he was made to be. And guilt always follows sin for they are brothers. And whether a man always feels guilt or not is beside the point. Man may violate God’s laws and might smother ...

3725. Samson, the Bully

Judges 16:1-22

Sermon

Don Yocom

... . We Christians should be the happiest people in the world; but, how often have we exchanged the most priceless treasures of life - moral virtues and inner control - for some cheap thing? "What does a man gain by winning the whole world at the cost of his true self?" (Mark 8:37, NEB). It’s all a question of values. In every community there are people like Samson. You know, the STRONG people. "I’m able to get along all right," they say. "Why do I need God?" is what they really mean. There are still some ...

Showing results