Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 3751 to 3775 of 5000 results

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... the stomach. Each of you could come up with your own list of fears experienced. None of us is immune from the experience. It comes with the territory. The magnificent miracle story that is our text for the morning is God's gift to us fearful people. Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell the story of Jesus calming the storm on the Sea of Galilee. When one considers all the detail of the story, one suspects that Simon Peter was the source. Even today if you take a boat-ride on the beautiful Sea of Galilee, surrounded ...

3752. The Snake: A Slick Salesman

Genesis 3:1-24

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... me, and your bit is deadly.' 'No so,' said the snake. 'I will treat you differently. If you do this for me, you will be special. I will not harm you.' "The youth resisted for a while, but this was a very persuasive snake with beautiful diamond-shaped markings. At last the youth tucked it under his shirt and carried it down to the valley. There he laid it gently on the grass. But just then the snake coiled and struck, biting him on the leg. 'But you promised,' cried the youth. The snake answered coldly, 'You ...

3753. Igniting the Church

Mark 9:14-32

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... But if we want to make disciples, mature disciples, and mobilize disciples, if we want to be the church, it will require the power of God. It is through prayer alone that such power is ignited. Now, look with me at our scripture for the day, Mark 9:20-29. Jesus took three of his disciples--Peter, James and John--up on a Mountain. There Jesus became radiant with spiritual power; his garments glowed with the whiteness of a thousand bleaches. There with him were Moses and Elijah, two of the foremost spiritual ...

3754. The Mission of Christ Church

Nehemiah 6:1-14

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... our extended family." Do you have a class or small group to help you become more you learning more about prayer, the Bible, and how to reflect Jesus Christ? Do you use our library? Are you maturing? OUR THIRD MISSION IS TO MOBILIZE DISCIPLES FOR JESUS CHRIST In Mark 6:7 we read, "Calling the disciples to Him, Jesus sent them and gave them authority over evil spirits." In Matthew 6:10, Jesus taught us to pray. .."Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Well, we certainly can't offer ...

3755. Lessons from a Shrewd Crook

Luke 16:1-15

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... when we prepared to catch the plane back to the good old USA, the last thing I wanted in my pocket was a lira. 10,000 liras won't even shine your shoes in Memphis. About the only thing you can do with an Italian coin in Memphis is to mark your ball on the green of a golf course. Our U.S. dollars will be about as useful in heaven as liras are in Memphis. My money will do me no eternal good unless I change it into kingdom currency. What is kingdom currency? Any money that I invest in ...

3756. The Healing Power of Touch

Matthew 9:18-26

Sermon

Brett Blair

... who was there for quite a different reason. We are told that for twelve years she had been suffering from a bleeding hemorrhage. Some modern scholars have theorized that this was a bleeding cancer. If this were the case she was, of course, beyond all medical help. Mark tell us that she had already been to all of the doctors and she had only gotten worse, and beside that they had taken all her money. Interestingly, Luke, who was a physician, tells this story as well, but he could not bring himself to tell ...

3757. Legends Of Christmas

Drama

Georgianna Summers

... , but I found something just as good as yours. Mine’s about St. Nicholas. What’s yours about, Robbie? Robbie: Well, uh, mine’s about - it’s - oh, have I got a headache! Marcia: We’d better get to class before Miss Hardgrader marks us tardy. [They start into classroom. Derek comes running in wearing a crown and carrying a sword.] Becky: Good heavens. Who’s he supposed to be? Danny: King Arthur. Who else? [Sits down on front row in classroom area. Miss Hardgrader enters.] Hardgrader: [Noticing ...

3758. Suffering

John 19:28-37

Sermon

Burton F. Blair

... 29 Late Thursday evening, after sharing the Passover meal together, Jesus took several of the disciples with him to the Mount of Olives, commonly called "Gethsemane." Jesus said to the disciples with him, "I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here and keep awake" (Mark 14:34). Alone and separated from those with him in Gethsemane, Jesus pleaded with God: "Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet not what I want, but what you want" (v. 36). Jesus ends this prayer with ...

3759. God’s Chosen Country

Isaiah 40:1-31

Sermon

Susan Hedahl

... on the Expected One. The urgent speech of the prophets, the mystical songs of the poets of God, the everyday prayers of a yearning people formed the daily vocabulary of those waiting for a revelation. Messiah, Anointed One, Emmanuel, Son of man, were phrases which marked Hebrew life in worship and discussion. Surely no child had so many names chosen for him. As with most babies, there were gifts to accompany the arrival of Jesus. But the notable thing about these gifts is that they were not only those of ...

3760. Advent IV - Children’s Sermon

Matthew 2:19-23

Children's Sermon

Susan Hedahl

The Lighting Of The Fourth Candle: The Home Candle We all have special feelings about the town where we live and especially our house. It might be marked in a special way by numbers or your family’s name or a sign nearby. Home can mean a lot of things. It can mean the house you live in and it can also mean the town you live in. "Chicago is my home," we say. Or, "My parents came ...

3761. Rediscovering Our Spiritual Dimension

Genesis 17:1-27

Sermon

Donald Macleod

... be possible. 3. To rediscover life’s spiritual dimension we need the constraint of greater expectations. Why is life so dull, humdrum and flat for so many of us these days? For so many institutions and organizations - even churches? Chiefly because our outlook upon life is marked by the absence of great expectations. True it is to say that a life-vision is necessary, and the faith to undergird it, but what gives all of it zest or a sense of excited waiting or an end to be hoped for? This was the challenge ...

3762. Returning to Genuine Religion

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

Donald Macleod

... don’t watch out!" Henceforth, with the words of the Psalmist, people would say, "I delight to do thy will, O my God" (Psalm 40:8 RSV). And we who live on this side of the New Testament know how this religion in and of the heart marked the ministry and witness of Jesus. Of him and his company, Arthur J. Gossip wrote: Always they stood upon the threshold of happy hours, always a door was opening upon such glorious things, and every day that dawned let in new crowding opportunities of ever gladder service ...

3763. Servant Worship

Psalm 116:1-19

Sermon

Donald Macleod

... " (v. 1). Then follows a list of what John Newton, the hymnwriter, called the "many dangers, toils and snares" that the Psalmist had coped with and the spiritual depths from which he had been drawn. His journey, like ours, had been within a real world, marked by affliction, fear, and even a brush with death, yet by God’s amazing grace he came through, and the experience taught him the deeper meaning of a strong personal relationship with God and how it emerged finally in a life of endless gratitude and ...

3764. The Vicarious Servant

Isaiah 52:13--53:12

Sermon

Donald Macleod

... way. He was ever passing by, but how keen were his eyes for those in need. And every need that met his eyes touches his heart. "For the Son of man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many," (Mark 10:45 RSV) he said to his disciples. His was sympathy with, and only as we catch his spirit will our indifference be put down. A Roman Catholic cleric agreed to leave an affluent assignment in the South to assume leadership in a popular diocese in the North where social ...

3765. Passing the Easter Miracle On

Acts 3:11-26

Sermon

Donald Macleod

Three short illustrations fit aptly into the pattern of our thinking today: 1. Mark Antony, in his eulogy at the funeral of Julius Caesar, had just whipped up the emotions of the crowd to fever pitch, and as they broke out into a vengeful mob seeking Brutus and the other traitors, Antony stood by and remarked: "There let it work!" 2. A visitor to ...

3766. Creatures of Worth

Genesis 1:1-2:3

Illustration

Larry Powell

... to make a candle weighing fifteen pounds; enough carbon to make 9,360 lead pencils; fifty-four ounces of phosphorus to make 800,000 matches; enough sugar to make six little sugar cubes; enough iron to make a ten-penny nail; enough lime to mark off the batter’s box on a baseball diamond; twenty spoonfulls of salt; and various other chemicals and water which collectively totaled $8.50. In consideration of current inflationary costs, this means that a 150 pound person is presently valued at almost fifteen ...

3767. In the Eleventh Hour

Mark 14:32-42

Illustration

Larry Powell

... essential things were laid down before his departure. When the time is short, only essentials matter. Jesus was to have only a few short hours with his disciples. He knew it. The shadow of the cross was lengthing, and in three particular portions of Mark chapter 14, we observe three familiar incidents which will forever remain in our memories as pertaining to our Lord’s last meeting with the twelve. Strangely enough, each of them touches upon loyalty. 1. 14:22-25. There was the Passover meal which Jesus ...

3768. The Last Meal

Luke 22:1-6

Illustration

Larry Powell

... of me.’ Likewise also the cup after supper saying, ‘This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.’ " Jesus had dramatically transformed the Passover supper into the Lord’s Supper on the evening of his "last supper" with them (see also Mark 14:22-24 and Matthew 26:26-29). The Lord’s Supper: 1. Is a sacrament, meaning that it was instituted by Christ and commanded to be continued "till he come." In Paul’s familiar passage, used in the sacrament ritual, he adds, "For as often as ...

3769. And Their Eyes Were Opened

Luke 24:13-35

Illustration

Larry Powell

... breaking of bread in the upper room. Then, at Emmaus, he was again "made known" in the breaking of bread. There are other references to post-Resurrection appearances of Jesus at which his presence was made known around a meal (see Mark 16:14; John 21:9-14). Little wonder that early Christians quickly associated a mystical significance with the meal, more specifically, the Eucharist. Consequently, the church observed communion several times daily with the prayer, "Maranatha" (Come Lord!). The expected return ...

3770. Song of a Poet Laureate

Psalm 2:1-12

Sermon

Gordon Pratt Baker

... are always poised for the chance to overrun their bounds and prove themselves; and while Israel’s incoming sovereign is in the process of assuming his reign, the nations of the Gentile world are eager to take advantage of the fluid situation marking the changeover. Threatening as these conspiracies against Israel may be, however, they are fatally flawed. For in plotting the nation’s overthrow at her coronation of the Lord’s vice-regent her foes are designing fruitless assaults on heaven itself. Indeed ...

3771. In The Beginning

Genesis 1:1-2:3

Sermon

Robert Allen

... the gulf beyond and cried out, "Where art Thou?" And no answer came. We are utterly alone. And others have asked the question and come back with an awesome vision of power, but a power so remote and so uninterested in his creation that he has forgotten us. Mark Twain, the great American writer, used to say: Special Providence! Why the phrase nauseates me. God doesn’t know where we are and wouldn’t care if He did. There are times in our lives when we wonder the same things. In spite of the hymns of faith ...

3772. Decisive Battles With Temptation

Matthew 4:1-11

Sermon

Robert Allen

... making the wrong choices for our lives that we find ourselves on the path to moral bankruptcy. III. Decisive battles with temptation are not fought alone. This is the message which the Bible affirms over and over again. When the writer of the Gospel of Mark told the story of Jesus’ battle with temptation in the wilderness, he wrote: "... the angels were helping Him ..." Jesus was not left to fight his battle with temptation alone and neither are we. We have One with us who never leaves us alone. There is ...

3773. The Gospel In Miniature

John 3:1-21

Sermon

Robert Allen

... , I saw that the print was so small that it could not be read without a magnifying glass. This lady must have been a Girl Scout, because she was prepared. She handed me a magnifying glass and I was able to make out the words in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke which were printed on those small pages. I had to agree with that woman, it was the smallest Bible I had ever seen. It was indeed, a miniature Bible. However, if you want to condense the Bible, it could probably be distilled to that one verse in ...

3774. The More Excellent Way

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Robert Allen

The 1988 Winter Olympics were marked by controversy for the U.S. team. The controversy centered around the fact that we had not won as many medals as expected. In fact, the last time we had done so poorly was in 1936. We won a few medals, and those winners have become household names. Debi Thomas ...

3775. The Ultimate Christmas Gift

Psalm 85:1-13, Ephesians 2:11-22

Sermon

Erskine White

... , the force used must be proportionate to the need, and so on. The hope was that restraint in war would cause less hardship and breed less resentment, thereby making peace more likely once the war was over. Most historians agree that the American Civil War marked the end of the limited or just war era. As our Civil War began, civilian families streamed out of Washington, D.C. to enjoy picnics on the surrounding hillsides while watching the Battle of Bull Run. By the time the Civil War ended, General Sherman ...

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