Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 3826 to 3850 of 4977 results

3826. Thanksgiving and Thanksliving

1 Corinthians 1:3-9

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

... "the world," so to speak, in our thankful expressions. If we really ascribe to Paul's approach, which means to live for Christ is also to die for him, even hardened secularists silently applaud our style. It is our spontaneity that sells others. There is nothing quite like a disciple who tells others how grateful he or she is for Christ and his church. "Sinners" may know a great deal more about the quality of our faith than we are willing to admit. A thankful style of living that exudes from our innermost ...

3827. Taking the Long View

2 Peter 3:8-15a

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

... . Give thanks! A real shocker is forthcoming as it dawns upon us the truth of the Creator's omniscience. Our privacy becomes non-existent. All that we do, say, and think is seen by the one who gave us life. For some this comes early in life and for others quite late. Then, I suspect for some it never comes at all. That is of tragic proportions! What do you mean there is some god out there who knows everything about me? That is sheer nonsense! Well, we know in the deepest part of our beings this is not all ...

3828. Secret Revealed

Romans 16:25-27

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

... followers in the millions. This is so like God, isn't it? The way is being prepared and finally is concluded with John the Baptist. The Jews had long been hungry and thirsty for their fulfillment to an already great religion. After all, didn't Jesus say quite directly that he came to "fulfill and not destroy" the Law? It is like a momentous evolutionary force was set in motion after the fall of man and is now completing its mission. Was Jesus a revolutionary? Yes, in a way, but Holy Scripture brings us a ...

3829. Being Single-minded

1 Corinthians 7:29-31

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

... you in no uncertain terms to get with the revealed program. It is difficult to imagine him humorous, except possibly to prove the point he lived and died by. If you want to squander some extra cash with a cult or new age guru, this could be quite an eye-opener and lead to betting everything on Christ. It could also put you on a demonic roller coaster that eventually runs with an outrageous and fatal ending. 3. Our destiny is tied to Christ. We are a peculiar people. One extraordinary man was born into ...

3830. A Man for All Seasons

1 Corinthians 9:16-23

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

... instances — threatened by it. Yet, it was his responsibility to be among them stretching here and there to present the gospel of his blessed Lord. He is even willing to become weak in order that he might win them. Except before the Lord, it must have been quite a task for him to become weak for the purpose of trying to win others. As some of his writings indicate, he was surrounded on every side by those who wanted to compromise or destroy his message. There were some who even sought to obliterate the ...

3831. Plea for Discipline

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

... comes mostly from the evil one who does not want us to succeed and will do what's necessary to see that we don't. The track has numerous land mines and other devices, some very clever, either to make us fall and never get up or to quit the race altogether. Focus: Self-control is imperative for authenticity. Body 1. Freedom and self-discipline are not contradictory. Many of us have a problem in keeping the two in harmony. On the surface, they certainly appear to be in contradiction, but we have as our guide ...

3832. Gift of Positive Thinking

2 Corinthians 1:18-22

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

... for personal celebration with a humble spirit. Focus: Jesus Christ alone conquers negatives. Body 1. There is remarkable — even miraculous — power in our saying, "Yes," to Jesus. Isn't it intriguing how some people seem to miss a victorious life in Christ by an eyelash? They never quite say the "Amen" necessary to close the deal! Yes, we have our part to play and our own free will comes in to play. With the gift being offered we are put to a test. Will we accept it or not? Our blessed Lord's arms are ...

3833. The Acceptable Time

2 Corinthians 6:1-2

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

... they would not heed them. Looking for a flaw in Paul and his style of approach, they neglected the time of their salvation. People haven't changed much. In one church, a lady could never really hear her minister because he didn't dress quite according to her standard. In another church, a woman ignored the minister's essential message because he mispronounced a word. In another church, a man would not really listen to the minister because he had not gone to an acceptable seminary. Of course, ministers ...

3834. Are You a Taker or a Giver?

2 Corinthians 8:7-15

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

It was quite a picture — on the front of the New York Times magazine. There were the "Little Big People" as the cover article names them — "little big people" who are precocious, even out of control, with affluent parents who have only themselves to blame. The picture shows a yuppie- dressed eight- or ...

3835. Let God Do the Rest

Ephesians 3:14-21

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... , he stopped in front of the boy and gave him some bread and fish. The boy's heart stopped; never had he been so close to the man. He looked into the man's eyes and then realized that he did not need to give a lot. It really was quite simple. All he had to do was give the little bit he had and the man would do the rest.1 This story, patterned obviously after the synoptic accounts of Jesus' multiplication of the loaves and fish (Mark 8:1-10; Matthew 15:32-39), speaks of the Christian vocation ...

3836. Strength through Diversity

James 2:1-17

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... here. We don't accept money. You have just arrived in heaven and all you can order here is what you sent ahead while on earth. I just checked the records and the only thing we have for you is this dirty eclair." The businessman obviously thought quite highly of himself and the finery that his life and talent had given him, but he could seemingly care less for the needs of others. He learned, "through the back door," that the second half of the Golden Rule, "to love our neighbor as ourself" is a necessity ...

3837. Prayer: A Way of Life

James 5:13-20

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... respected throughout the region, but over the last generation the monks had died one by one and there were no new vocations to replace them. Besides this, the monks did not seem to be as friendly to each other. Something just wasn't right. The Father Abbot was quite concerned about the future of his monastery, now consisting of himself and three brothers and, thus, he sought counsel from the local rabbi who was known to be a great sage. The abbot went to the rabbi and asked him if he had any advice on what ...

3838. The Unshakable Foundation

Hebrews 7:23-28

Sermon

Lee Ann Dunlap

... the perils that threaten at every turn? That is the very question the early Christians faced in the community to which Hebrews is addressed. Like the Hebrew community of earlier times, the faith trek had become rugged, and many were weary and tempted to quit. Harassed and sometimes persecuted they saw the world as "stacked against them." They needed to know with certainty that God's favor was with them. Like so many of us, they wanted relief. They wanted control. Find a way to appease and manipulate those ...

3839. Our Prayers Are Our Thanksgiving

1 Timothy 2:1-7

Sermon

Lee Ann Dunlap

... to take his followers to heaven's realm, the church was forced to grapple with the very real challenges of establishing heaven's dominion in their earthly domain. The role of human leaders in these earthly Christian colonies presented quite a challenge, especially since human leaders were emerging from the woodwork spouting fancy doctrines and mandating religious rituals to anyone who would listen. Like the Mayflower Compact of Plymouth history, the Letter to Timothy was written to clarify the principles ...

3840. Nothing To Do With Me

Mark 1:21-28

Bulletin Aid

Frank Ramirez

... for which we beg. Send redemption to your people. These things we pray in your name of glory. Amen. Prayer Of Confession What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God. Quit drawing me away from my pale passions, and from my meditations on mediocrities. Stop pulling me back from the edge of the cliff. Leave me alone, Lord, before you change me forever! Or else, have thine own way. Amen. Hymns Praise To The Lord, The Almighty Seek Ye ...

3841. It Isn't Fair! - Sermon Starter

Matthew 20:1-16

Illustration

Brett Blair

... follow me. We are told that the young man walked away sorrowfully, for he had great wealth. Concluded the Master: It will be hard for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God. The disciples had been watching the dynamics of this happening and they were quite disturbed. Jewish tradition had always taught that God had especially blessed rich men and that is why he was rich. In their way of thinking, if a wealthy man could not receive salvation, then how could a poor man have any hope? They asked of Jesus: who ...

3842. Christ’s Twin

Philippians 2:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... a fascinating study done years ago by the University of Minnesota. Researchers there studied 402 pairs of twins who were separated at birth and reared apart. The research started in 1919 and continued for decades. The results were startling. Twins, reared in quite different circumstances, were still extraordinarily similar in many ways. The most celebrated example was a set of twins named Jim Lewis and Jim Springer. The two Jims were separated at birth and brought together at age forty. Here is what had ...

3843. Integrity Deficit Disorder

Matthew 21:23-32

Illustration

Otis Young

... who is afflicted with this disorder knows what's right but doesn't follow through and do what's right. He or she makes a promise or commitment, then fails to keep it. Thus when you meet a person with integrity deficit disorder you're never quite sure if you can trust that person or not. A second symptom is also one of the causes: people who have integrity deficit disorder live from the outside in rather than from the inside out. They let their feelings and emotional responses of the moment govern their ...

3844. Keeping Promises

Matthew 21:23-32

Illustration

... it really typifies the current American attitude, and even to some degree, the current Christian attitude about promises that we make. There was a fairly rich young man who had been taken to the hospital, critically ill. His condition worsened, and he was confined there for quite a few weeks. His doctor even had told him that he wasn't sure if he'd recover, but that they would continue to do all they could. The man was obviously scared to death, and said to the doctor, "please, doctor, do everything you can ...

3845. Unacceptable

Mark 8:31-38

Sermon

David T. Ball

... save it, and vice-versa; or that the first will be last, and the last will be first. Can we really accept that? If we do, this might mean that some of the things that we have come to conclude in this culture are most important may be quite otherwise. For example, what are the things that we do to try to save our lives, to protect them against threats? We do seemingly good things, like education and training ourselves so that we can get good jobs. Like providing for our families (food, clothing, and shelter ...

3846. Seeing and Not Being Seen

John 12:20-33

Sermon

David T. Ball

... , we’d heard them so often. I guess the campaign managers knew what they were doing, in pushing these sound bite talking points, but it made for a funny story when you paid attention to the questions they were asked, on the one hand, and the answers, quite on the other. Come to think of it, I can recall noticing this in prior campaigns, and it’s not just politicians who have mastered the art of changing the subject. It’s a skill that just about anyone who has to handle questions from the public ...

3847. Where Is Your Trust?

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon

George Reed

... of silence? In other words, is our trust in God based on hearsay or on our own in-depth, ongoing relationship with the God of all creation? It is one thing to have a vague trust in the police department to keep our neighborhoods safe but it is quite another thing to know the officer who patrols our neighborhood and to know that person understands our concerns about the safety of our community. It is one thing to hope that medical science can take care of our ills and a very different thing to lie down on ...

3848. Anywhere But Home

Mark 6:1-13

Sermon

George Reed

... for a week. We found ourselves in a new environment where doing our daily devotions was not only acceptable but it was expected and was part of the daily schedule. Then we come home and try to continue that practice and find that the daily schedule is not quite so conducive to taking the time for Bible reading and prayer. "Don't just sit there reading. It's your turn in the bathroom. The bus will be here any minute now." The kind support of camp counselors is exchanged for the less than helpful teasing of a ...

3849. The Cost of Being a Prophet

Mark 6:14-29

Sermon

George Reed

... is the one who baptizes Jesus and it is after the death of John that Jesus begins to enter into his public ministry in earnest. Yet, few people wear WWJBD (What would John the Baptist do?) bracelets. We aren't too sure that we would want to be quite so odd as John with his strange diet and his strange clothing. Going out into the wilderness to preach does not excite too many clergy who would rather find themselves in a growing, prosperous congregation, but we really don't want to follow the example of John ...

3850. Claiming a Do-Over Faith

Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11

Sermon

Schuyler Rhodes

... me, the first thing that comes to mind is sales. There's the big sales jubilee at the Chevy dealer, or the jubilee marathon sale of freezers and refrigerators at the local Sears. Those are just the things that come to my mind, but there are quite a few things that bear the jubilee label. Let me just list a few that came from recent search on the Internet. There is the annual Calaveras County Jumping Frog Jubilee in Angels Camp, California. There's a Jazz Jubilee in Sacramento. In Alberta, Canada, we have ...

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