Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 351 to 375 of 438 results

351. God's GPS

Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

When was the last time you got lost? Was this the result of human error or technological error? Or both? Last year, a news station in Indonesia broadcast a story about an Indonesian groom who went to the wrong wedding and almost married the wrong woman because of an error by Google Maps. It appears that this was an arranged marriage, so the prospective bride and groom did not realize the mistake. Family members from the two families discovered the mistake as they chatted before the wedding. Fortunately, ...

352. Till Death Do Us -- Unite

Acts 10:34-43

Sermon

Paul W. Kummer

Praise be to the Death Conqueror! God had done miraculous things for the widow and her family through the Prophet Elijah. Enough flour and oil to live on through a drought. Then this widow's son became sick. He eventually died. "Why, O prophet, have you let this happen?" she asked. But God wasn't done bestowing miracles on this family. Elijah, harboring the same question for God, stretched himself on the boy three times -- and he became a fence-climbing, dog-chasing son again! A second widow had heard ...

353. Who Is Your King?

Mark 11:1-11

Sermon

Erskine White

A little boy was sick on Palm Sunday and stayed home from church with his mother. His father returned from church holding a palm branch. The little boy was curious and asked, "Why do you have that palm branch, dad?" "You see, when Jesus came into town, everyone waved Palm Branches to honor him, so we got Palm Branches today." The little boy replied, " Aw Shucks! The one Sunday I miss is the Sunday that Jesus shows up!" We begin Holy Week celebrating Christ’s presence in Jerusalem. We have been prepared by ...

354. The Illusion Of Neutrality

Deuteronomy 30:11-20

Sermon

Robert Beringer

Charlie Moran, the old National League baseball umpire, always regarded himself and his decisions highly. He liked to make it clear to the ballplayers who was boss behind the plate. One day, in a very close play at home, the runner and the catcher eagerly awaited Charlie's decision. The umpire hesitated, and the catcher shouted, "Well, is he safe or is he out?" Moran pulled himself up to his full height, cleared his throat, and said to the catcher, "Mister, until I calls it, it ain't nothin' at all!" Of ...

355. If Your Eye Offends You

Mark 9:42-50

Sermon

King Duncan

When I read these words of Jesus, that "if thy hand offend thee, cut it off," or "when thy eye offend thee, pluck it out," I am reminded of the story of a rich man who was trying to hire a chauffeur and he interviewed three men for the job. He pointed to a high cliff near his home and he said to the three men, "Suppose you were driving me on the edge of that cliff--how close to the side could you safely come?" One man said, "I could easily drive the car within 6 inches of that cliff, and not think anything ...

356. The Compleat Christian

Romans 5:1-5

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

The profile of a mature Christian is marked by suffering, endurance, character and hope. Paul boldly asserts that we are justified by faith through grace - denying that we can in any manner earn our way toward salvation. He then just as boldly declares that there is a definitive set of virtues, a Christian Complex if you will, that a true disciple should purposefully cultivate and visibly demonstrate. The tension between these two demands has always kept the church a bit off-balance, a trifle uncertain of ...

357. This Is Where We Come In

John 2:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Not every movie is bathed in theological symbolism or significance. The Denzel Washington movie, The Book of Eli, the story of the man with the last Bible on planet Earth, is one that is rife with spiritual underpinnings. But perhaps the most lasting mark Eli will make on my life is that I’ll never see that word “believe” again without thinking of “Eli” and his story. There is another movie that will change forever an everyday activity. Once you see this movie, there is no way you can perform this daily ...

358. Offerings for Priests and Levites

Deuteronomy 18:1-8

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

Leadership in Israel: Priests and Prophets: After the two sections on “secular” leadership (the judge and the king 16:18–17:20), we now have two sections on the “spiritual” leadership provided by the priest and the prophet. Priests and Levites The responsibilities of the tribe of Levi were broadly twofold: the service of the sanctuary, especially the role of the priests at the altar; and the preservation and teaching of the law (cf. Lev. 10:11; Deut. 10:8; 33:10; 2 Chron. 15:3; 17:8f.; 35:3; Neh. 8:7–9). ...

359. The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

Luke 18:9-14

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

18:9–14 With the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, Luke’s Central Section draws to a close (with v. 15 Luke resumes following his Marcan source [at Mark 10:13]). This parable “makes a fitting finale for the Lucan Travel Account” (Fitzmyer, p. 1183), for it illustrates with graphic clarity what Luke sees as the correct attitude one should have before God. The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector is similar to the preceding parable in that its main point is seen in the individual ...

360. Detestable Practices

Deuteronomy 18:9-13

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

Leadership in Israel: Priests and Prophets: After the two sections on “secular” leadership (the judge and the king 16:18–17:20), we now have in Chapter 18 two sections on the “spiritual” leadership provided by the priest and the prophet. The Prophet: The prophet comes last in the listing of Israel’s different leadership roles. Almost certainly this is deliberate and significant, like the putting of the judge before the king. Maintaining justice was a higher priority than having a dynastic monarchy. Judge ...

361. The Prophet

Deuteronomy 18:14-22

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

The Prophet: The prophet comes last in the listing of Israel’s different leadership roles. Almost certainly this is deliberate and significant, like the putting of the judge before the king. Maintaining justice was a higher priority than having a dynastic monarchy. Judge and king must both submit to the law of God, just as the priest must faithfully teach it. But what if those entrusted with such forms of leadership were themselves to go astray? Then the last word was God’s. And God would put that word in ...

362. Dangerous

John 12:12-19, Zechariah 9:9-13, Zechariah 9:14-17

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Are you dangerous? Are you sure? Today, I want to ask you, what does it mean to be a “dangerous” follower of Jesus? What does it mean to live “dangerously” in this world as a follower of Jesus? Would Jesus want us to live dangerously, or to be dangerous? Let’s put it another way…. How many of you feel that your faith is a dangerous force that can disrupt the powers and principalities of this world? How many of you believe that Jesus is a dangerous force? That the Holy Spirit is a dangerous force that can ...

363. You Can Talk the Game, but Can You Play the Game?

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Sermon

Will Willimon

That's the rather impudent query that sprouted on tee-shirts after Duke's back-to back basketball national championships. Talk is cheap, but can you do what it takes to get in the game? Richard Hays, in his commentary on Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians, says that sums up today's epistle, First Corinthians 9:24-27. One of you once congratulated me, during one of Duke's winning seasons for “never once mentioning basketball in a sermon. “I can see your point. At this time of year, around here, the ...

364. Proper 6

Lk 7:36 - 8:3 · Gal 2:15-21 · 1 Ki 21:1--21 · Ps 5

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Lesson 1: 1 Kings 21:1-10 (11-14), 15-21a For refusing to sell his lot to King Ahab, Naboth is falsely accused and murdered so Ahab can take possession of the land. Here we have only the beginning and ending of a dramatic story involving a king, a subject, and a prophet. To understand it, one must know and tell what happens between the first and last verses of the pericope. King Ahab offers to buy or trade the lot of Naboth whose land is next to the palace for his vegetable garden. Because he ...

365. Becoming What You Are

John 14:15-31

Sermon

Carl Jech

But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. (John 14:26) If you have visited the Kremlin in Moscow, one of the things that probably sticks in your memory is the tomb of Lenin. I have heard visitors comment that the emphasis on tombs and monuments in the Soviet Union almost makes it seem as if the Soviet people worship cemeteries. In contrast to being entombed and put on display like a ...

366. A Fool’s Tools

Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

It was a ghastly scene. All the faces looked the same, all the bodies had the same blob-like shapelessness, there was no color (only a kind of gray), and whenever there was movement it was uniform ... very uniform ... reminiscent of what we know today as the prisoner’s shuffle. There was no variation ... no difference ... no anything. Just a huge, uniform nothingness. The air was hot, stale, and motionless. And as you watched this display of almost-life, you had the impression that somewhere in the past it ...

367. Terminally Distracted Or Decisively Prepared

Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon

Joseph M. Freeman

Case one: One can be diligent about meeting tasks in an orderly, thoughtful manner and yet be unthoughtful and a procrastinator in matters spiritual. Case two: One can be a bit too laid-back regarding tasks and professional development, yet be truly thoughtful and an initiative-taker regarding the spiritual side of his/her life. In case one, such a person will excel professionally, but will more than likely have significant interpersonal issues at home and with his/her Lord. In case two, though the person ...

368. Get a Life!

2 Timothy 1:1-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

When we "Get a Life" in Christ, we get the right kind of a life, and the best kind of life we can get. Anyone have a teenage son or daughter who has recently encouraged you to "get a life"? Those without offspring currently in the "age of cynicism" should be aware that such "loving" advice is usually given along with an incredulous gesture of falling eyes and a shaking head. Most often "get a life" comes as a direct response to such ridiculous parental suggestions as, "Wouldn't it be nice to spend the ...

369. Headed in the Right Direction

Romans 15:4-13

Sermon

John N. Brittain

If you don't know that Christmas is a couple of weeks away, you must be living underground. And you must have no contact with any children. And you cannot have been to a mall, Wal-Mart, Walgreen's, or any other chain store since three weeks before Halloween. Christmas, probably more than any other day in the contemporary American calendar, is one of those days where impact really stretches the envelope of time not just — like some great tragedy — after the fact, but also in anticipation. If we aren't good ...

370. The Kindness and Sternness of God

Romans 11:11-24

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

Big Idea: Israel’s rejection of Jesus as Messiah is the occasion for God to show mercy to the Gentiles. Their conversion, Paul hopes, will stir Jews to jealousy and thus to accept their Messiah. God is showing kindness to Gentiles but sternness to Jews who have not accepted the Messiah. In the future, however, God will show kindness to Israel but sternness to Gentiles who fall into unbelief. Understanding the Text Romans 11:11 picks up the theme of 11:1. Has God finished with Israel? Verses 1–10 provided ...

371. Orderly Worship

1 Corinthians 14:26-40

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

Protocol for Practicing Spiritual Gifts Paul steps back from a strict focus on prophecy and tongues in verses 26–33a as he considers more generally the practice of Christian worship. Essentially, Paul delineates regulations for orderly assembly and worship. Behind all the particular instructions about worship practices, however, is the basic theme Paul sets out at the end of verse 26, “All of these things must be done for the strengthening of the church.” 14:26 The modern reader of Paul’s letter gains a ...

372. Celebrating the Virtue of Humanity

Ephesians 2:1-10

Sermon

Richard Gribble

Many years ago on one very bitterly cold evening in Northern Virginia, an older man waited for a ride across the Potomac River. The wait seemed endless; his body became numb and stiff from the frigid north wind. As he waited, he heard the faint steady rhythm of approaching horses. Anxiously he watched as several horsemen rounded the bend. He let the first one pass without an effort to get his attention. Then another passed by and still another. Finally, the last rider neared the spot where the old man sat ...

373. I Found It!

Luke 15:1-7, Luke 15:8-10

Sermon

Carl B. Rife

"Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.' Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." Luke 15:8-10 For those of you who may have not been here during this series on bumper sticker religion and for others who ...

374. Epiphany 2

John 2:1-11, Isaiah 62:1-12, 1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

Wine Miracle On the third day there was a marriage at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; 2 Jesus also was invited to the marriage, with his disciples. 3 When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine." 4And Jesus said to her, "O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come." 5 His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you. 6 Now six stone jars were standing there, for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty ...

375. Why Are We So Split Apart?

Matthew 5:9

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

What does the word "peace" mean to you? When Jesus said: "Blessed are the peacemakers," what did he have in mind? It was top news when the President decided to stop production on the supersonic bomber, the B-1. He gave budgetary, as well as strategic, reasons for his decision: the B-52 can infiltrate Soviet air defense if it is fitted with more efficient engines and other equipment; the B-52 can carry twenty of the new cruise missles, guided by computers; these can follow the lay of the land just above ...

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