Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 3851 to 3875 of 4943 results

3851. Freed From Fear

Romans 8:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

On May 26, 1986, People Express flight number 14 from San Francisco to Newark was ready to depart. Suddenly a wild-eyed man who "looked Iranian" bolted from his seat and ran out the door. Knocking aside startled security officers, he frantically tried to escape through the locked doors of the terminal before an airport police officer finally tackled and subdued him. Was he a terrorist? No. He was just a very average American who was afraid to fly. Unfortunately, he was so frightened of being locked into ...

3852. The Secret Of A Great New Year

Luke 3:1-20, Matthew 4:12-17

Sermon

King Duncan

It's a classic Peanuts cartoon. Charlie Brown says to Lucy, “Someone has said that we should live each day as if it were the last day of our life." "Aaugh!" cries Lucy. "This is the last day! This is it!" She dashes away screaming, “I only have 24 hours left! Help me! Help me! This is the last day! Aaugh!" “Some philosophies," says Charlie Brown, “aren't for all people." Living each day as if it were the last day of our life is not a bad philosophy. Living each day as if it were the first day of our life ...

3853. Setting An Example

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

Arthur Ashe was a world-class tennis player and a world-class father. He believed in leading by example. “My wife and I talk about this with our six-year-old daughter," Ashe said in an interview just before his death. “Children are much more impressed by what they see you do than by what you say," he said. “Children at that age certainly keep you honest. If you have been preaching one thing all along and all of a sudden you don't do it, they're going to bring it right up in your face. “I tell her it's not ...

3854. Who Should I Invite To My Party?

Luke 14:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

Series: Jesus said . . . What? Outrageous Teachings, No. 1 Michael Yaconelli, in his book, Dangerous Wonder: The Adventure of Childlike Faith, says that the most critical issue facing Christians is not abortion, pornography, the disintegration of the family, moral relativity, MTV, drugs, racism, sexuality, or school prayer. The critical issue today, says Yaconelli, is dullness. We have lost our astonishment. The Good News is no longer good news, it is okay news. Christianity is no longer life changing, it ...

3855. Lord, What A Bountiful God!

John 6:1-15

Sermon

King Duncan

An old prospector came into a saloon in frontier California and ordered a glass of milk with a shot of whiskey in it. While the bartender was fixing his drink, the old prospector wandered over to speak to some of his friends. Before he came back, a man came in wearing a black threadbare coat. He walked up to the bartender and timidly said, "Sir, I'm a poor traveling Methodist circuit rider. I've just made it across the desert. I'm bone dry. Could you let me have that foamy glass of milk I see you've just ...

3856. Making Sense of the Ascension

Luke 24:50-53

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

In a Roman Catholic parochial school, Sister Marie was teaching the Biblical story of the Ascension of Jesus to a class of elementary children. Fascinated by the story, one boy in the class asked Sister Marie, “How fast was Jesus traveling when He ascended into the heavens?” Startled at first, Sister Marie caught her breath and replied, “Well, let’s see. We know that He was not traveling faster than the speed of sound, because the Bible says that He spoke words of blessing to the disciples as he parted ...

3857. Waiting and Witnessing

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

Paul E. Flesner

My message this morning is about two biblical senior citizens and what we can learn from them about the nature of faith. The setting for today's Gospel jumps from the stable in Bethlehem to the temple in Jerusalem where Mary and Joseph had brought Jesus to be "presented to the Lord." It was there that they met Simeon and Anna. Their reactions to Jesus suggest a question that I have for you this morning: "What are you going to do about Jesus now that Christmas is over?" These two biblical members of " ...

3858. The Dark Didn't Catch Me!

John 6:25-59

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

Remember how it was in grade school when your class went out on the playground during recess? Doug and Sam, the two big guys, started choosing up sides to play kickball. And the rest of us just sort of stood around and hoped one of them would pick us for their team. And how affirming, how exciting it was to hear your name called and know that you were wanted. And it's the same in this big lonesome world that doesn't seem to need us very much. It's easy to feel left out, unchosen. But the Good News of the ...

3859. Going, Going, Gone

2 Kings 2:1-18

Sermon

Curtis Lewis

Recently, a friend of mine went to Wrigley Field in Chicago to watch an afternoon baseball game. For my friend, an afternoon at Wrigley Field is the ultimate in baseball. Those who attend an afternoon game at Wrigley Field still sing enthusiastically during the seventh inning stretch, "Take Me Out To The Ball Game." When a player drives a ball deep into left field towards the bleachers, and it looks as if the ball will make it into the bleachers, you will hear a familiar cry from the faithful at Wrigley, " ...

3860. The Fourth Day Comes

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

The Emmaus walk is one of the most significant, spiritual renewal experiences in which I have ever participated. You may have heard something about this experience, perhaps you read about it in The Courier a few weeks ago. Almost 100 membership of Christ Church have shared in it, and at the end of April, members of our church and other churches in Memphis will lead the first Memphis Emmaus for men. And then toward the end of May, we will have an Emmaus experience for women. The pivotal event in this ...

3861. Noah: The Bearer Of An Alternative Possibility

Genesis 6:1-8:22

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

I read recently of a young man, recently married, who chanced to meet an old friend. The friend had already notched several anniversaries on his belt. After a bit of small talk, the veteran said to the rookie: "How's married life treating you?" "To tell the truth," said the young fellow, "things don't seem to be going all that well. My wife is always telling me what to do...bossing me around...acting as if I can't think for myself." "Had that trouble myself," said the man with many years of marriage behind ...

3862. My Stress Is Killing Me! -- Is It?

Isaiah 40:1-31

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

If you have memorized much scripture, our text is probably in your repertoire: "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." This is one of those favorite texts that I've quoted a lot, referred to often, but never preached a sermon on it. So, as I close this series of sermons on the random texts that I have been tucking aside, I come to this favorite one. Newell Dwight Hillis, one of the ...

3863. Message from a Cloud

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

Many of you probably went to a university where one of the hot issues among students was, if the professor’s late, how long do we have to wait? At one university custom dictated that if a professor was ten minutes late, class was canceled. Well, a professor arrived early one morning for a 9:00 a.m. lecture. He placed his hat on his desk, and went to the faculty room. Before he knew it, it was 9:10. By the time he got back to his classroom, it was empty. The next day, he let his students have it. “When my ...

3864. Good Neighbors

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

King Duncan

John was showing off his new apartment to his friends. “Say, what’s that gong for?” asked Ed. “That’s not a gong,” John replied. “That’s a talking clock.” “A talking clock?” Ed asked in disbelief. “How’s it work?” “Watch,” said John. He picked up a sledgehammer and took a swing at the gong. A voice from the other side of the wall screamed, “Knock it off, you idiot! It’s 2:00 A. M.!” A talking clock, to be sure. Also, a good test of your neighbors. A certain woman owned a dog named Tatters. Tatters was ...

3865. The Reward

1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23

Sermon

James L. Killen

The Rock opera, Jesus Christ, Superstar, pictures Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, asking God if it is really necessary for him to die on the cross. In deep anguish he prays, among other things, "I'd have to know, I'd have to know, my Lord, if I die, what will be my reward?" We don't think or talk much about the reward of the Christian life. I suppose we feel reluctant to ask because we think that, if we are being Christian just for what we get out of it, we are probably doing it for the wrong reason. ...

3866. The Burglar's Christmas

Luke 15:22-24

Drama

Matthew Powell

Cast Narrator 1 Narrator 2 Young Man Will Mother Father (Narrators are seated on stools or chairs at stage right and stage left. Mother and Father are sitting on a bench or chairs up stage facing away from the audience. There is an unoccupied chair or stool in center stage. Will and Young Man are standing at center stage slightly down from the unoccupied chair) Narrator 1: Two very shabby-looking young men stood at the corner, looking despondently at the carriages that whirled by. Narrator 2: It was ...

3867. Can You Smell the Perfume?

John 12:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

A group of men celebrated on and on in a sports bar. "Here's to 94," one of them toasted. "Hip-94-Hooray," another of them cheered. "Ninety-four, Ninety-four," "Ninety-four," they chanted in unison. The waitress could take the mystery no longer. When one of them left for the men's room, she intercepted him and asked, "Why the big deal about 94?" "It only took us 94 days to finish this puzzle we've been working on." "What's so special about that?" He replied, "Hey, the box reads 5-7 years." Puzzles are not ...

3868. Are You Living the Three Advents?

Romans 13:11-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Theme: The Christian tradition invites us to celebrate 3 advents the 4 weeks of advent. It would help your sermon if you wore some kind of “garment” that signified your ordination or calling. The Word-Made-Flesh . . . Exegesis of Romans 13:11-14 It seems strange that as the church’s calendar enters into its most hopeful, anticipatory season, the first of our four Advent readings turns once again towards that final Day of Judgment and end-time scenarios. Yet the eschatological words from Paul to the Roman ...

3869. Parable of the Crabby Grass

Matthew 13:24-30

Children's Sermon

Brett Blair

Exegetical Aim: Encouragement to be wheat rather than tares. Props: A tray, a strand or clump of good grass, and a patch of crabgrass (or weed). Try and pull up one whole system of each. Place the grass side by side in the tray so that they initially look like one system of grass. Lesson: I have something in this tray. Can anybody tell me what it is? (grass) Is there anything strange about the grass? (response) Look at it closely; do you notice anything odd? (response) If they do not see the difference ...

3870. Don't Sweat the Sin Debt

John 19:30

Sermon

James Merritt

It was a crisp May morning in a small pastorium of a small rural community called Buck Grove, Kentucky. I had been living, eating, sleeping, and breathing with a document called a dissertation. I had read from hundreds of books, articles, and journals in English, French, and German. Hardly a day went by for three years that I did not work on this thesis. It was midnight on that May morning, and I wasn't just tired, I was, as they used to say in the country, "all tuckered out." I started to put my pen down ...

3871. The Attitude of Gratitude

1 Thessalonians 5:18

Sermon

James Merritt

Rudyard Kipling was a best selling English author at the turn of the century. He wrote one of the best books for children of all time, entitled, The Jungle Book as well as the poem "Gunga Den." He made a tremendous amount of money with his writings. A newspaper reporter came up to him one time and said, "Mr. Kipling, I just read that somebody calculated that the money you make from your writings amounts to over $100 a word." Kipling raised his eyebrows and said, "Really, I certainly was not aware of that ...

3872. It Is Right To Fight When You Fight For Right

Jude 1:3-4

Sermon

James Merritt

What do Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Dartmouth, William and Mary, Brown, and Princeton have in common? They were all founded by Christians for the primary purpose of propagating Christianity and training gospel ministers.1 Of the first one hundred colleges and universities built in the United States, eighty-eight were founded for the purpose of furthering the gospel of Jesus Christ. On the cornerstone of Harvard University (which incidentally was named after the Reverend John Harvard) etched in bronze you will ...

3873. God, Elvis, and O.J. Simpson

Psalm 139

Sermon

James Merritt

Without question, two of the most fascinating and famous (and at least in one case, infamous) figures of the 20th Century are Elvis Presley and O. J. Simpson. Until a couple of years ago no one would have said that O. J. Simpson had, or ever would achieve, the stature of Elvis Presley. But all of that was changed Friday, June 17, 1994, when an entire nation was transfixed by a television scene that was more real than any fantasy. Two men were in a white bronco, traveling, it seemed, in slow motion down a ...

3874. Joshua: Why These Stones?

Sermon

John E. Harnish

It was bound to happen. God knew it. Joshua knew it. Someday, a child would ask the question. · Someday, when the people were comfortably settled in the Promised Land and the tales of Abraham and Sarah living in tents had given way to high rise lofts and seaside condos; · Someday, when the stories of Moses and the manna had blended into a mosaic of ancient myth and the traveling tabernacle had been replaced by a permanent temple; · Someday, long after the bones of Joseph had found their final resting place ...

3875. When Religion Becomes a Laughing Matter

Genesis 18:1-15

Sermon

John E. Harnish

This is not how we usually think of worship (image of newspaper ad): "The splitting of the gut, the slapping of the thigh, and the peeing of the pants." But if the topic is Sarah and Abraham, it makes perfect sense. I can't do better than to share Frederick Buechner's description of the scene: The place to start is with a woman laughing. She is an old woman, and after a lifetime in the desert, her face is cracked and rutted like a six-month drought. She hunches her shoulders around her ears and starts to ...

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