Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 3826 to 3850 of 4999 results

Luke 6:27-36

Sermon

King Duncan

... , even a parent? Or maybe someone with whom you work? Maybe it's someone you're in competition with. In the early days of electric lights in this country, Thomas Edison was promoting DC current, the kind you find in batteries, and George Westinghouse was promoting AC current, the kind that today comes through electrical lines. As homes were being wired for electricity, Westinghouse's AC current was winning out. Edison, hoping to undermine the popularity of Westinghouse's AC current, hit upon a plan. Edison ...

3827. A Fishing Trip To Remember

John 21:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... a group and asked this question, "Is it a sin to own a BMW?" Then he added, "If Jesus had forty thousand dollars, would He buy a BMW or use that to feed or house the needy in the Third World?" Wow, that's a tough one. That's the kind of question we would prefer not to even think about. People get crucified for asking questions like that. It's a challenging question ” even a disturbing one. One woman, however, was so struck by Campolo's talk that she wrote his ministry a check for the same amount that she ...

3828. Finding Glory

Galatians 6:11-18

Sermon

King Duncan

... a cross that stands tall outside the Presbyterian Church of Old Greenwich, Connecticut, clearly visible from the street and from the rail lines. Because of its high visibility, the architect decided to make a statement. The cross is made of steel. It is a kind of raw steel that would stain profusely and reveal its rugged character even from a distance. The architect wanted the cross to take on earthy tones that would change with the weather. He wanted to project a real cross, scarred by time, not something ...

3829. Did You Ask How Much It Was Going To Cost?

Luke 14:25-35

Sermon

King Duncan

... offering the use of our phone to a stranger. Our generosity might cost us dearly. How many of us have been burned sometime in our lives because we didn't ask the cost before we made a commitment? Jesus knew that people make that kind of mistake sometimes. They get caught up in a movement without thinking where their involvement is leading. He knew people sometimes leap before they look. Such people are unlikely to stay with the program very long. Their commitment will always remain superficial. He decided ...

3830. On Fooling a Mafia Don

Luke 16:1-15

Sermon

King Duncan

... . He may have been a scoundrel, but at least he was an industrious scoundrel. Jesus was a man of action and he wanted his followers to be people of action. It saddened Jesus that many of his followers were good people, but it was a negative kind of goodness that did not advance the kingdom. You can almost see the sad expression on Jesus' face as he concludes this parable with this commentary: "The children of this world are wiser than the children of light." There was an interesting legal question posed in ...

3831. Who Is Your Lazarus?

Luke 16:19-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... is happening in the streets of our cities. An old man was trying to lead a contrary donkey down the road. A passer-by stopped him and commented on the way the donkey was behaving. "Oh, I can make him do anything I want him to do with just a kind word," the owner said. "Doesn't look like it to me," the other sneered. "Sure, I can," the owner said. Whereupon he climbed off the donkey, picked up a two-by-four beside the road, and clobbered the animal on the head. He then explained to the onlooker. "I simply ...

3832. Hope For Those Whom Life Has Cheated

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

... all the good of my life, of having a great wife and daughter, and family and friends, and winning Wimbledon and the U.S. Open and playing for and coaching the Davis Cup team, and getting a free scholarship to U.C.L.A. ” all kinds of good things. You could also ask about this, Why me?' Sometimes there are no explanations for things, especially for the bad." (3) What an extraordinary testimony. There are no explanations for many of the bad things that happen ” at least no explanation understandable by our ...

3833. Moving Toward Sainthood

Isaiah 26:1-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... that we live ought to see us become more like the Master. Think what that says about our lives. As we get older our lives can have an even more profound influence on those around us. Talk about role models. Suppose every teenager had the kind of grandma and the kind of grandpa who was so loving, so accepting that they knew that no matter how tense things got at home, there was someone they could talk to. Why? Because they knew that grandma or grandpa was like Jesus. Think what an influence such folks would ...

3834. Thankful Day By Day

Philippians 4:2-9

Sermon

King Duncan

... which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." That is a magnificent promise, isn't it? "The peace of God which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." What many of us would give for that kind of peace. And all we have to do is offer thankful prayers. The novelist A. J. Cronin tells of a physician friend of his who often prescribed a "Thank You" cure for depressed and frustrated folks. He would insist that for six weeks the patient say ...

3835. A Lesson From Two Golfers And A Saint

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... THAT WE HAVE A PLACE IN THE FAMILY OF GOD. Nobody can tell us that our lives don't matter. Nobody can tell us that we are unloved. We are part of the family of God. In a Peanuts cartoon, Charlie Brown and Linus are talking. Linus says, "I feel kind of depressed today. Do you ever have the feeling that life has passed you by, Charlie Brown?" Charlie Brown answers, "Worse than that. Sometimes I think life and I are going in opposite directions!" We all feel like that at times. It is at such times that we need ...

3836. Running From God

Jonah 3:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... problem is surrendering ourselves to what God wants us to do. Jonah knew what God wanted him to do. God wanted Jonah to conduct revival services over in Ninevah. He wanted Jonah to tell the people of Ninevah to shape up or ship out. It's the kind of message I need to preach to you sometimes. It's true. There are messages I probably ought to preach ” messages about how we are treating the poor, messages on spouse abuse, messages on the dangers of materialism. These are just a few of the sermons I probably ...

3837. More Than A Mannequin; Not Quite A Masterpiece

Acts 4:32-37

Sermon

King Duncan

... what you really thought, he might as well admit that what he feared most was "not being loved." (5) That is the great fear that haunts all human kind, isn't it? We want to be loved. We want to be recognized. We want others to think well of us. We have a need to belong. What ... first-hand. We are now two thousand years removed from that experience. How can we possibly have that same kind of intensity about our fellowship? I suppose there are many answers to that question. Some followers of Christ experience ...

3838. With A Name Like That . . .

Acts 4:1-22

Sermon

King Duncan

... count on it. I will never have to worry about Ed stabbing me in the back. I would trust him with the keys to my house or my car. I would trust him with my wife. He's that kind of guy. If all Christians were like Ed, I would be tempted to become one myself." My friends, that is the only kind of evangelism that will work in today's world. It is when people go out in the name and the spirit of Christ and live the Christ life in the real world. Everyone in this world needs to know ...

3839. The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread

John 6:25-59

Sermon

King Duncan

... one metaphor, bread, for a few moments to discover the unique message it has to convey. NOTE, FIRST OF ALL, THAT THE BREAD OF CHRIST IS UNIVERSAL. No one is excluded. Jesus said, "If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever." There is no restriction on the kind of person Christ invites to his table. It makes no difference who you are or what you've done. It makes no different where you're from or how you got here. There is no official language at Christ's table except the language of the heart. A ...

3840. In Search Of A Reason For Being

Hebrews 4:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... LACKED A PERSON WHO WOULD INSPIRE HIM. Let's consider, first of all, the purpose that would challenge him. This young man was sincere, he was moral, he was a nice person, but there was no fire in his heart and without a fire of some kind in your heart life is sterile and unfulfilling. He needed something bigger than himself to capture his imagination and his pocket book. His bank account was full but his heart was empty. Father John Haughey, S.J., professor of religious ethics at Loyola University conducts ...

3841. The Leadership Principles Of Jesus

Hebrews 5:11-6:12

Sermon

King Duncan

... of leaders who move the rest of us to higher ground people who walk the talk people who have the opportunity to say no, but who say yes people who spend their lives serving rather than being served. Florence Nightingale had that kind of choice to make. Florence could have lived a pampered, shallow lifestyle. Her mother was a socialite who delighted in fine clothing, extravagant entertaining, and lavish material possessions. Her father, on the other hand, was a banker who took a serious interest in Florence ...

3842. A Time For Hope

Isaiah 2:1-5

Sermon

King Duncan

... faith and hope and patience returned with the idea of a personal and ever-living God." Our friends in many parts of the world still need to hear that question, "Is God dead?" In the Balkans, in Beijing, and even in Washington, D.C. politicians and leaders of every kind need to know that God will not forever abide wrong doing. And yet there are those times when it seems that evil is in control. This brings us to the final thing that needs to be said. At such times as these, when we are forced to deal with ...

3843. When Are You Coming?

Isaiah 63:1-6

Sermon

King Duncan

... in Des Moines, Iowa. He packed his bags, placed the children under the care of a neighbor, and took a bus to Des Moines. He found the hotel and made his way to her room. When he knocked on the door, his hand trembled because he didn't know the kind of reception he would receive. His wife opened the door, stood for a moment looking at him in shocked silence, and then fell apart in his arms. "Later, at home, when the children were in bed, he asked her a question that had long troubled him: `Why wouldn't you ...

3844. Good News For You

Isaiah 7:1-25

Sermon

King Duncan

... him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end" (Luke 1: 32-33). Promises of such magnitude are beyond the understanding of humankind. Israel was not prepared for the kind of Messiah they received in Jesus, and the biblical evidence is that Mary did not fully understand her son. Joseph, particularly, had his faith both in God and in Mary tested in a dramatic way as he struggled to cope with the reality of her awkward pregnancy ...

3845. Transformed By A Babe

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

King Duncan

... let Him. If we will let Him he can move us from fear to faith, from jealousy to generosity, from terrible resentment to tenderhearted kindness. Or as the Bible puts it: "He can save us from our sin." Consider what He can do for the feelings of despair that ... tiny babe to transform us. He alone can give us what the whole world has come to know as the Christmas spirit ”a spirit of kindness and generosity and love. By making His dwelling in our hearts, He can light up our lives. As Roy L. Smith once put it, "He ...

3846. The Things In Mary's Heart

Isaiah 9:1-7

Sermon

King Duncan

... a great love for her son Jesus and for his brothers and sisters yet to be born, but her love for Joseph was a special kind of love. It was a love born out of mutual respect and shared value. The Christian community has focused its attention on the holy ... of God was that of a loving Father who would not hold back any good thing from his children, may we not infer that Joseph was that kind of Father? No wonder Mary loved him so much. A heart as pure as hers “a heart so pure that God could have chosen her to ...

3847. Mary's Song

Luke 1:46-56

Sermon

King Duncan

... chosen her for this high honor. In her words, "He hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden . . . " In Mary's mind only a kind and good God would bypass the wealthy and powerful of this world to have a peasant girl bear His Messiah. There is an ancient story ... neatly, of course. But love works. Life works. Herod and Pilate are in their graves but Mary's Son lives! I don't know what kind of holiday season this has been for you thus far. I hope it has been the best one ever. Perhaps, however, it has been a ...

3848. Excited By Our Faith

John 1:35-42

Sermon

King Duncan

... advice his father ever gave him concerning religion was, "Don't be a fanatic." It is amazing how uncomfortable we feel in the presence of someone who is really charged up about his or her faith. Yet there is something about a fresh experience of Christ that has that kind of effect on us. The story is told about a missionary in Kenya who was given a car a few years ago, to help him in his missionary rounds, going from village to village to preach, teach the Bible, etc. After he had the car a few months, it ...

3849. God Sometimes Changes His Mind

Jonah 3:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... humiliated. Besides, he didn't like the people all that much anyway. Angrily he says to God, "I knew it! I knew that you were that kind of God." Jonah is so upset that he goes out and sits on a hillside overlooking Nineveh to mope. He is angry enough to sit ... . Besides, he didn't like the people all that much anyway. Angrily he says to God, "I knew it! I knew that you were that kind of God." Jonah is so upset that he goes out and sits on a hillside overlooking Nineveh to mope. He is angry enough to sit ...

3850. Casting Out An Evil Spirit

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

... factor in the effect of treatment on an emotionally disturbed patient is the therapist's expectation. According to this study the therapist can literally communicate a winning or losing feeling with the patient almost unobtrusively. For example the therapist might say: "You're the kind of person who can pull yourself out of depression. You can get yourself out of the house, join a social organization, get out to meet people, I believe in you." Compare that to this: "You're now too fragile to go out on your ...

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