Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 3776 to 3800 of 5000 results

3776. Symbols of Religion

Mt 22:1-14

Illustration

King Duncan

A first grade teacher gave her 6-year-olds an assignment. The next day they were to bring in a symbol of their religion. The next morning she called on Isaac, who stood up and said, "I am Jewish and this Star of David is the symbol of my religion." The teacher then called upon Mary, who stood up saying, "I am Catholic and this Rosary is a symbol of my religion." Next came Bobby. "I am [Presbyterian]*," he said, and held up a casserole dish. Have you ever noticed how often food and drink are mentioned in ...

3777. Taking Off the Episcopal Robe

Matthew 22:1-14

Illustration

A number of years ago a Cardinal Lege was the Catholic Archbishop of the diocese of Montreal. He stunned the Roman Catholic Church by announcing he was stepping down from his position, taking off his Episcopal robe, to go serve in a leper colony. How do you explain it? Here was a prince of the church going to do the work of the most humble parish priest. Said Cardinal Lege: Only those who love understand me. We don't need robes of sophistication to be in service. When we wear these robes too long, we lose ...

3778. Forgetting What the Voyage Is All About

Matthew 22:1-14

Illustration

The story is told of the Lee Steamboat Company carrying a cargo of salt pork from New Orleans to Memphis. As they passed Natchez another boat attempted to pass her and the race was on. The Lee steamboat captain ordered full steam but it was insufficient to pass her smaller counterpart. Then the captain got an idea. He ordered that some of the salt pork they were carrying be thrown into the furnace. Instantly thick black smoke came billowing out and the boat increased its power. This worked so well that ...

3779. What Is Caesar’s and What Is God's? - Sermon Starter

Matthew 22:15-22

Illustration

Brett Blair

A young lady was soaking up the sun's rays on a Florida beach when a little boy in his swimming trunks, carrying a towel, came up to her and asked her, "Do you believe in God?" She was surprised by the question but she replied, "Why, yes, I do." Then he asked her: "Do you go to church every Sunday?" Again, her answer was "Yes!" He then asked: "Do you read your Bible and pray everyday?" Again she said, "Yes!" By now her curiosity was very much aroused. The little lad sighed with relief and said, "Will you ...

3780. Only One Top Priority

Matthew 22:15-22

Illustration

Johnny Dean

I have heard it argued from both pulpit and pew that Jesus' words "Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor's" mean that a Christian is duty-bound to love America, right or wrong. I'm sorry, but I cannot agree with that. One Christian writer has said, "The greatest service Christians can render to their country is to become actively concerned about the destiny of the church." I have also heard it argued that "Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are ...

3781. Committing to Christ

Matthew 22:15-22

Illustration

Bill Bouknight

Tony Campolo, the Philadelphia sociologist, found himself seated beside the Pennsylvania governor at a state prayer breakfast. In the course of conversation the governor said that he was sympathetic toward Christianity but not personally committed. Campolo asked, "Why not?" The governor replied, "Well, to tell you the truth, no one ever invited me to commit." Campolo said, "I'm inviting you." within five minutes that governor had committed his life to Christ. We have good news that is essential to every ...

3782. A Lifelong Allegiance to God

Matthew 22:15-22

Illustration

King Duncan

The late Danny Thomas lost his life savings of $600.00 at a time when he was out of work. He and his wife, Rosie, had a baby on the way, and they needed money. Danny worked at part-time jobs so Rosie could buy groceries. He also borrowed money from friends. It was a tough time in his life. A week before the baby was born, Danny had the grand total of seven dollars and eighty-five cents to his name. What would he do? "My despair led me to my first exposure to the powers of faith," Danny would later recall. ...

3783. Disturbed by Our Opinions

Matthew 22:15-22

Illustration

Brett Blair

2000 years ago a philosopher by the name of Epictetus said, "Men are disturbed not by things that happen but by their opinion of the things that happen." This is the problem of the Pharisees. Their understanding of events tell more about who they are than it does about who Jesus is. And this is our problem as well. A person who loves will live in a loving world. But a person who is hostile will live in a world that is hostile. A person who is sincere will see most everyone else's actions as sincere while ...

3784. The Perfect No Win

Matthew 22:15-22

Illustration

Leonard Sweet

At some time every older sibling has pulled this on a little brother or sister who had a nickel they wanted. "Okay," older child offers, "let's flip for it. Heads I win, tails you lose." The little kids agrees: "Sure!" Then when heads appears the older proclaims "Heads, I win!" Of course if tails comes up the declaration is "Tails, you lose." At this point it suddenly dawns on the younger child that this is truly a no-win situation. Whatever way the coin lands it's going to land in their sibling's pocket. ...

3785. Gotcha God

Matthew 22:15-22

Illustration

Little Johnny, sitting at the breakfast table drinking his mug of milk, asks mom, "Is it true God is everywhere?" "Yes, of course, Johnny, God is everywhere." "Is God in this room?" "Yes, he certainly is." A little hesitation, and then, "Is God in my mug?" Mom's getting a little wary at this point, but she continues with it, "Yes. Yes, he is." Johnny thinks for a moment, then suddenly clasps his hand over the top of the mug. "Gotcha," he says.

3786. A God Smothered in Tradition

Matthew 22:15-22

Illustration

Brett Blair

We try to make God like us and thus limit him. We smother him in tradition. We think: God can be present only in the mass. The Word of God can be found only in the King James version of the Bible. Church music can be played only on an organ. When traditions become dogma they lose their power and their meaning. A young girl watching her mother getting ready to bake a ham, noticed that she cut off both ends. "Why do you cut off both ends of the ham," she asked. "Well, I don't know. My mother always did it. ...

3787. Two in a Grave

Matthew 22:15-22

Illustration

Two older women who were walking around a somewhat overcrowded English country church yard, and came upon a tombstone on which was the inscription: "Here lies John Smith, a politician and an honest man." "Good heavens!" one exclaimed, "isn't it awful that they had to put two people in the same grave."

3788. The Political Versus the Spiritual

Matthew 22:15-22

Illustration

Greg Rickel

The Church should not be doing the business of the Government, and the Government should not be doing the business of the Church. But, those are institutions, needed, necessary. They are not living, human beings. It is like a story I read recently that had the Dean of a Seminary saying to the newest students there, "I want to tell you two things. First, you are probably asking yourself right now how in the world did you get here. Well, give yourself a week and you will be looking at those around you and ...

3789. April 15, Not a Good Day

Matthew 22:15-22

Illustration

King Duncan

Besides being income tax day, April 15 is also the day the Titanic sunk and the day that Lincoln was shot. Someone else has said, "You may not agree with every department of the government, but you really have to hand it to the IRS." Another cynic has said, "Death and taxes may always be with us, but at least death doesn't get any worse." Arthur Godfrey once said, "I feel honored to pay taxes in America. The thing is, I could probably feel just as honored for about half the price." One last observer noted ...

3790. I Did Not Know the Cattle Belong to Christ

Matthew 22:15-22

Illustration

King Duncan

Years ago, Dr. George Truett was preaching in a camp meeting in West Texas. At the morning service he preached on the text: "You are not your own. You have been bought with a price." He was met after the service by a cattleman who had not long been a Christian. The man said, "Let's go for a walk. I have something to show you." They went up the canyon more than a mile away. All along the pathway the cattleman did not say a word. His great chest rose and fell, as if some seething furnace were beneath it, as ...

3791. The Putt’s Good

Matthew 22:15-22

Illustration

King Duncan

A prominent citizen of Washington, D. C. once invited President John F. Kennedy to play golf. On the first hole Kennedy floated a nice shot about three feet from the pin. He walked up to the ball and glanced over at the man who had invited him. Kennedy was looking for the man to concede him the putt. The man ignored him, and stared up at the sky. "You're certainly going to give me this putt, aren't you?" Kennedy asked. "Make a pass at it," the man replied. "I want to see your stroke. A putt like that ...

3792. Take My Heart, Lord (blow)

Matthew 22:15-22

Illustration

King Duncan

There is a silly story going around that makes a powerful point about where many of us are right now. According to the story, Pope John Paul II needed a heart transplant. There was much concern throughout the Roman Catholic world. Everyone gathered outside of the Vatican screaming and waving their hands. "Take my heart, Pope, take my heart!" Well, the Pope didn't know what to do, so an idea popped into his head. He asked everyone to please be quiet for a few minutes and he told all of them that he was ...

3793. Two Most Important Questions a Christian Can Answer - Sermon Starter

Matthew 22:34-40

Illustration

Brett Blair

Isidor Isaac Rabi, a Nobel Prize winner in Physics, and one of the developers of the atomic bomb, was once asked how he became a scientist. Rabi replied that every day after school his mother would talk to him about his school day. She wasn't so much interested in what he had learned that day, but how he conducted himself in his studies. She always inquired, "Did you ask a good question today?" "Asking good questions," Rabi said, "made me become a scientist." In order to ask a good question I think you ...

3794. Defining Love

Matthew 22:34-46

Illustration

Frank G. Adams

What does the word Love mean today? How do we define it? In answer to my question, Sherry, my son's wife, sent me the results of a question-and-answer session held by a group of professional people with a bunch of 4 to 8-year olds, where they asked them, "What does love mean?" Some of the answers I selected will both amuse and startle you. Karl, age 5, says: "Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving lotion and they go out and smell each other." Elaine, age 5, says: "Love is when Mommy ...

3795. Just a Person across the Way

Mt 22:34-46; Mk 12:28-34; Lk 10:25-37; Jn 13:31-38

Illustration

Brett Blair

Edgar Guest, a renowned American poet at the turn of the century, tells of a neighbor by the name of Jim Potter. Mr. Potter ran the drug store in the small town where Edgar Guest lived. Guest recalled that daily he would pass his neighbor and how they would smile and exchange greetings. But it was a mere casual relationship. Then came that tragic night in the life of Edgar Guest when his first born child died. He felt lonely and defeated. These were grim days for him and he was overcome with grief. Several ...

3796. Love Is More than We Can See

Mt 22:34-46; Mk 12:28-34

Illustration

Brett Blair

A man once observed a young boy out in a field flying a kite. He noticed that there was something odd about the way the boy was standing and holding on to the string. He walked up to the boy and then learned that the boy was blind. He said, "Do you like flying kites?" The boy said, "I sure do." This piqued the man's curiosity and he asked, "How is that when you cannot see it?" The boy answered, "I may not be able to see it but I can feel it tugging'!" We may not always be able to identify the love of God ...

3797. Taking Christ’s Love into the World

Matthew 22:34-40

Illustration

King Duncan

Many years ago two young men with long records of crime and delinquency robbed the YMCA on the lower east side of New York City. On their way out of the door they noticed a man at the telephone switchboard. Fearing that he would call the police, the young men grabbed him and beat him savagely with brass knuckles and a black jack. Thinking that he was dead, they then stuffed him behind a radiator near the swimming pool and left. Later that evening Gertrude Ederle, the famous swimmer, was walking near the ...

3798. I’m Standing on His Shoulders

Illustration

Brett Blair

By the main warehouses that are right down on the river there is a daily operation that occurs. To keep all the barges able to come in you have to constantly dredge the channel. And when the sand comes up out of the bottom of the river and is dumped on the side it makes wonderful places to play because it creates these huge sand hills and kids love to play on them. There's really nothing more fun than playing on those huge sand hills and there's nothing more dangerous. Because when the sand comes out of ...

3799. The Complexity of the Situation

Matthew 22:34-46

Illustration

The Constitution of the United States started off with only 7 articles and 21 sections that took up only four handwritten pages including signatures! 4 pages! But to that we added 27 amendments. Today, the United States Code, which is all of the laws in this country, fills up around 80 volumes of books, nearly 800,000 pages, and this doesn't even include the Federal Regulations. In 1942, the Virginia Code was a single book that had 2800 pages. Today, the Virginia Code is a 25-volume set of books with 15, ...

3800. Dignity and Respect

Matthew 22:34-40

Illustration

King Duncan

Arthur F. Sueltz told about a man he knew who bought a lovely house in the suburbs. On the day he moved in, the man's new neighbor came running across the yard in an obviously belligerent state. "Did you buy this house?" asked the neighbor. "Yes I did," was the reply. The neighbor continued, "Well, I want to tell you something. You bought a lawsuit. You see that fence of yours? It's at least seven feet over on my side of the line, and if it takes every dollar I've got, I intend to sue you and get that ...

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Antonyms: deficient, imperfect

Showing 3776 to 3800 of 5000 results

3776. Symbols of Religion

Mt 22:1-14

Illustration

King Duncan

3777. Taking Off the Episcopal Robe

Matthew 22:1-14

Illustration

3778. Forgetting What the Voyage Is All About

Matthew 22:1-14

Illustration

3779. What Is Caesar’s and What Is God's? - Sermon Starter

Matthew 22:15-22

Illustration

Brett Blair

3780. Only One Top Priority

Matthew 22:15-22

Illustration

Johnny Dean

3781. Committing to Christ

Matthew 22:15-22

Illustration

Bill Bouknight

3782. A Lifelong Allegiance to God

Matthew 22:15-22

Illustration

King Duncan

3783. Disturbed by Our Opinions

Matthew 22:15-22

Illustration

Brett Blair

3784. The Perfect No Win

Matthew 22:15-22

Illustration

Leonard Sweet

3785. Gotcha God

Matthew 22:15-22

Illustration

3786. A God Smothered in Tradition

Matthew 22:15-22

Illustration

Brett Blair

3787. Two in a Grave

Matthew 22:15-22

Illustration

3788. The Political Versus the Spiritual

Matthew 22:15-22

Illustration

Greg Rickel

3789. April 15, Not a Good Day

Matthew 22:15-22

Illustration

King Duncan

3790. I Did Not Know the Cattle Belong to Christ

Matthew 22:15-22

Illustration

King Duncan

3791. The Putt’s Good

Matthew 22:15-22

Illustration

King Duncan

3792. Take My Heart, Lord (blow)

Matthew 22:15-22

Illustration

King Duncan

3793. Two Most Important Questions a Christian Can Answer - Sermon Starter

Matthew 22:34-40

Illustration

Brett Blair

3794. Defining Love

Matthew 22:34-46

Illustration

Frank G. Adams

3795. Just a Person across the Way

Mt 22:34-46; Mk 12:28-34; Lk 10:25-37; Jn 13:31-38

Illustration

Brett Blair

3796. Love Is More than We Can See

Mt 22:34-46; Mk 12:28-34

Illustration

Brett Blair

3797. Taking Christ’s Love into the World

Matthew 22:34-40

Illustration

King Duncan

3798. I’m Standing on His Shoulders

Illustration

Brett Blair

3799. The Complexity of the Situation

Matthew 22:34-46

Illustration

3800. Dignity and Respect

Matthew 22:34-40

Illustration

King Duncan

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