Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 351 to 375 of 517 results

351. David: The Problem of Family

2 Samuel 18:28-33

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... to reach his potential. Max DePree once said “Life is not a matter of reaching our goals. It is a calling to reach our potential. Nothing else is good enough." We struggle with the tendency toward mediocrity. We park our lives in moth balls, smother our impulses with activities and drown our passions with conformity until we gradually retire from life neatly wrapped in plastic and cellophane. That's not the way it was meant to be. If David could go from leading sheep to leading a nation, by the grace of ...

352. When the Winds Are Against Us

Mark 6:45-56

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... coming through the graveyard, and someone whistling. Now whistling in a graveyard at night is not an unusual occurrence you know that, don’t you. The Dean recognized that it was his old friend, Charlie, coming to catch sparrows for his mother. His first impulse was to cry for help, but he decided instead to see what would happen. The footsteps got and closer, and then old Charlie slipped into the grave. deOvies sat quietly in his corner of the grave while Charlie tried desperately to crawl out, frightened ...

353. Center Stage

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

... discovered she was pregnant? We might think she was in anguish, worried sick about how to tell Joseph. Can't we just see her, teary-eyed, shoulders heaving, handkerchief in a bunch, wondering what to do? What was the scene like when she told him? Surely his first impulse was that she had betrayed him. Can't we just see his jaw drop? Only the readers know by verse 18 that the child is of the Holy Spirit. Neither Joseph nor Mary knows of this until Joseph has his dream. Wouldn't Mary be beside herself, not ...

354. God’s Weather Report

Matthew 5:38-48

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

... those we do not at all see as blessed. They are blessed because of the dominion of God. When the dominion of God comes in it fullness, that's when the blessing will be fully realized. We have to wait for it. We have to resist our impulses, our emotions, and our urges for the sake of the dominion of God. The church has two legitimate stances toward war: pacifism and just war theory. We cannot give a full account of both positions today. In the simplest terms, a pacifist believes that no situation justifies ...

355. What the Storms Blow Away

Matthew 7:21-29

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

... on the Mount warn us about our lack of faith, and about the ways we deceive ourselves about our faith. The sermon has been calling us to a deeper faith. It has been calling us to genuine prayer, to sacrificial giving, to radical love, to tamed impulses. It calls us to forgive those we think we could never forgive. It calls us to shun status and prestige. Some Christians have looked at the demands of the sermon and wondered how anyone could ever measure up. Who can triumph over lustful thoughts? Who can ...

356. Sleeping through the Alarm

Joel 2:1-2, 12-17

Sermon

Schuyler Rhodes

... to stop what we're doing. We need to pause and pay attention in a confessional, truth-telling kind of way. Let us, in this season, learn how to rend our hearts and look past the carefully constructed numbness of our lives. Forget, for a moment, any impulses toward defensiveness. Let go of the temptation to retreat into ideology or rigid orthodoxy. Dispel the smog of our own narrowly held points of view and pose the questions that beg the asking. What things are we doing that we need to stop doing? If we ...

357. Whosoever Will

Acts 2:1-21

Sermon

Stan Purdum

... a decision. He wanted people not to leave with just some new ideas or merely having had an interesting evening. He wanted them to "get up out of their seats" and make a decision. Of course, not every decision for Christ is made in a moment or on an impulse. Some occur slowly over time without a conscious milestone that is equivalent to getting out of one's seat. Nonetheless, there needs to be a time when we look at where we are standing and say, I am going to stand with Christ Jesus. Many of you have made ...

358. A Way of Seeing

Genesis 21:8-21

Sermon

Stan Purdum

... The device consists of a video camera worn on a strap on the forehead. That camera converts images to pixels and sends them to a small box called a "Tactile Display Unit," which also is attached to the forehead strap. That unit converts the pixels to electrical impulses that flow down a wire inserted into the mouth, and tingle the tongue. From there, the tongue's natural sensors carry the image to the brain. This device is still in a primitive stage, but in lab tests, blind people using it have been able to ...

359. A Man of the Moment

Genesis 25:19-34

Sermon

Stan Purdum

... , but he did it. Jacob was the brother through whom the people of Israel descended, and in part, he was able to fit into God's plan because he was willing to take the long view. • It is good to remember that about Jacob when we are inclined to be impulsive with our spending or to take our present good health for granted. Recall the proverbial old person in poor health who said, "If I had known I was going to live this long, I'd have taken better care of myself." • It's good to remember that about Jacob ...

360. Will It Last?

1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23

Sermon

John N. Brittain

... dream-like, always over the rainbow rather than concrete attainable realities. In words that strike me as prescient, Finney said, "A revival breaks the power of the world and of sin over Christians. It brings them to such vantage ground that they get a fresh impulse towards heaven...." I know this language strikes some modern folks as quaint, and yet the "power of the world" in terms of media, advertising, and overt attempts to shape our values is anything but quaint. In many ways, this is the theme of the ...

361. LENT: The Passion of Christ: "Denied!"

John 13:36-38; 18:12-27

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... on the farm. Unfortunately, he still lost fights to much weaker birds. The trouble was that just as he was winning a fight, he would stop to crow." (1) Maybe that's what happened to Peter. Peter struggled, not with his faith, but with his faithfulness. He was impulsive and sometimes his feet turned to clay. During the storm on the Sea of Galilee, he was filled with fear just like the others but when he realized it was Jesus walking on the water, he jumped out of the boat and started walking on the water ...

362. Totally Immobilized

Luke 19:1-10

Illustration

King Duncan

... more hopelessly it became entangled in its cellophane prison until now it was totally captive. That poor snake reminds me of many people I have known. Somewhere along the way they have made a serious mistake. Then, rather than calmly analyzing their situation and correcting their course, they have reacted impulsively. Soon their lives are like that snake's. The more they struggle, the more entangled they have become until eventually they are totally immobilized psychologically, emotionally and spiritually.

363. Passive Dependency vs. Responsible Involvement

Luke 21:5-38

Illustration

Gary L. Carver

... himself is capable of undoing what has been done. The role of passive dependency is always easier than a stance of responsible involvement. Who has not, like a little child, wanted to gather up all the broken things and take them to Daddy to fix? The impulse to let someone else come in and solve all our difficulties is very strong; in fact, it is the classic infantile reaction to any problem, and who can deny that speculating abstractly about a problem or about the future is less demanding than working at ...

364. Christmas Eve & Day

Psalm 96:1-13, Isaiah 9:2-7, Luke 2:1-7, Titus 2:11-14

Bulletin Aid

Amy C. Schifrin

... giving thanks, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin. Do this for the remembrance of me.” O Holy Spirit, breathe your life into us now, that our beating hearts might forever move to the impulse of your love. O Holy Spirit, breathe your life into us now, that through these gifts we may live in ways that declare your grace. O Holy Spirit, breathe your life into us now, that we may sing with joy at the birth of God’s Son. The Great ...

365. Time to Unpack

Matthew 11:1-19

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... we can do is to “make the way straight” for the journey God is taking to us. How do we make a straight “landing pad” for God’s arrival? How do we prepare for the Christ-child who comes every year anew, into our lives, into the world? Our first impulse is to do something. We tend to want to pack bags to get ready for a journey. We want to pack Jesus’ bags for him but Advent is a time of unpacking and getting rid of things. Advent is not a season of doing but a season of being. Anyone ...

366. A New Year’s Resolution

Ephesians 4:25 -5:2

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... and mops and tulip bulbs might descend on a run-down house and clean it from top to bottom while the frail elderly owners look on, dazed and smiling. In a middle-class neighborhood, a teenage boy may be shoveling off the driveway when the impulse strikes. What the heck, nobody's looking, he thinks, and shovels the neighbor's driveway, too. Wow! Senseless acts of beauty spread: A man plants daffodils along the roadway, his shirt billowing in the breeze from passing cars. In Seattle, a man appoints himself a ...

367. Sex, Sex, and More Sex

Song of Songs 2:8-13

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... reminds me of the time when, as a teenager, I discovered ardent letters written by my grandparents when they were in the throes of young love. The discovery completed my picture of them. They were real people after all, animated by the kind of impulses and yearnings I knew quite well. These dignified and upright people - who, before my discovery, I could only imagine going to bed fully clothed - also had a love for one another that was as hungry and tumultuous as the sea. And as their lives demonstrated ...

368. The Miegakure Messiah

Matthew 16:13-20

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... thousands with bites and bits. He has walked on water. He has taught them the secrets of the kingdom and given them the power to cast out unclean spirits. So now Jesus asks his disciples “Who do you say that I am?” It is impulsive, impetuous Peter who bursts out the ultimate “reveal” — “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Yet while Peter’s assertion gains him a blessing from Jesus, this “big reveal” doesn’t really change anything. In fact Jesus immediately shushes all his ...

369. Flesh and Spirit

Romans 8:12-17

Sermon

Gibson “Nibs” Stroupe

... me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. (Romans 7:15-20) In a world dominated by addictions and compulsive and impulsive behavior, in a world always being stimulated by coffee or television or cell phones or other drugs, in a world driven by money and its definitions, these words from Paul resonate deeply within us. As he moves into chapter 8 of Romans, Paul begins a study of the contrast between ...

370. Prepare: An Advent Play

Matthew 24:36-51

Drama

Arley K. Fadness

... s Word that makes the difference. Your gifts are fine, Santa, but the important gift is God’s Son born in a manger and who eventually died on the cross for your sins and mine. I know a Christmas song that can tame the most extravagant impulses. (sings a verse of “O Little Town Of Bethlehem”) Santa: (quiet and thoughtful) Oh? Mmm. (pauses, strokes beard, then slowly takes off hat in reverence) John B., I believe I’m beginning to catch on. There’s more to this celebration than what we’re getting ...

371. The Will to Move Forward

Illustration

Jim Peterson

... meets a young woman. They are immediately attracted to one another. They both say to themselves, "Now there is someone I'd like to marry." At that point, if the emotions had their way, there would be a wedding. But the intellect intervenes, questioning the impulsive emotional response. Would we be compatible? What is she really like? Can I afford to support her? Both conclude it would be better to take some more time and answer a few questions before they proceed. So the two begin spending more time with ...

372. Remember the Duck

Illustration

Steven Cole

... illustration of how sin enslaves and forgiveness frees. A little boy visiting his grandparents was given his first slingshot. He practiced in the woods, but he could never hit his target. As he came back to Grandma's back yard, he spied her pet duck. On an impulse he took aim and let fly. The stone hit, and the duck fell dead. The boy panicked. Desperately he hid the dead duck in the woodpile, only to look up and see his sister watching. Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing. After lunch that day ...

373. The Crayon Delivery

Humor Illustration

The bellicose grandfather was known for his orneriness. One day he came home and told the family that he had just delivered a crushing blow to one of his worst enemies. The family gasped. "Did you attack that man with your fists, William?" grandmother asked. "Should we expect a lawsuit?" "Oh, no," said grandfather. "This is much too subtle for any court to understand. On a sudden impulse this afternoon I mailed each of his four children a package of 100 crayons."

374. Blind Kick

Illustration

Staff

... completion. Kaiser was totally honest with his coach; he said that he had forgotten his contact lenses and was unable to see the goal posts. That was why he hadn't been looking at the ball when it went through. On hearing this, Daugherty's first impulse was to get angry with Kaiser. Going through the whole game without being able to see clearly was risky at best. But Daugherty was not given to snap judgments. After thinking it over, Daugherty decided that there was nothing wrong in Kaiser's actions. Kaiser ...

375. Rule the World with Laughter

Illustration

Staff

... fishing pole?" asked the local. "Oh, I just like to drown worms." I've drown a few worms in my time. Sometimes, life does not give us what we want. We face situations in which our expectations are unmet. When things don't work out exactly right, our first impulse usually is to gnash our teeth or ask to see the manager. If we can stop for a moment, step back, and take a creative look at the situation, we might be able to find something funny in even the most frustrating situation. As Mahatma Gandhi once said ...

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