Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 3876 to 3900 of 5000 results

3876. A Chance to Warm Up

Mark 1:1-8

Illustration

Billy D. Strayhorn

In a "Peanuts" cartoon strip, good old Charlie Brown says to Linus, "Life is just too much for me. I've been confused from the day I was born. I think the whole trouble is that we're thrown into life too fast. We're not really prepared." And Linus asks, "What did you want . . . a chance to warm up first?" The Advent season is supposed to be our chance to warm up. It's that time to prepare our hearts and homes for the birth of the Christ child. It's that time when we put all the decorations in their place, ...

3877. Getting Ready

Mark 1:1-8

Illustration

King Duncan

The line at the Post Office was of a December length, too long really to wait for such a simple errand. But there he was. When he got to the window he asked for a sheet of Christmas stamps. The clerk proffered a brightly colored set showing lots of candles and emblazoned with the word "Kwanzaa." "No," he said, "I'd like some Christmas stamps." The clerk did a sort of ‘oh-h-h yeah' thing and rummaged around in the supply and pulled out some jolly snowmen and made ready to ring up the transaction. "No," he ...

3878. A Sense of Urgency

Mk 1:1-8

Illustration

King Duncan

Time is important. And time is in short supply. Dwight L. Moody preached on Zacchaeus with great fire and conviction. The whole story of Zacchaeus just came to life right there on the platform. But he called him, "Zacchus." And on the way home from church his children would chide him. "Pa," they'd say, "it isn't Zacchus. It's Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus." "I don't have time to say Zacchaeus," Moody would bellow, "there's too much work to be done!" And later on in his life, his heart began to play tricks on him ...

3879. The Last Chapter First

Mark 1:1-8

Illustration

King Duncan

The story is told about a fellow who loved to read mystery stories but he didn't like to be kept in suspense. He would read the last chapter first. That way he could read the book in the assurance that in the end good would triumph over evil. To the villain he would silently announce, "Don't get too sure of yourself. I already know the ending of the story. You'll get yours later." The Christmas story allows us to see the last chapter first. The babe in the manger is God's announcement to our universe that ...

3880. In the Wrong Place?

Mark 1:1-8

Illustration

King Duncan

Many years ago a pastor was invited to preach at a nearby country church he had never been to before. As he set out he was uncertain which road to take since most rural roads are not clearly marked and the directions he had been given left something to be desired. He stopped to ask directions along the way. The person he asked tried, but mistakenly steered him down the wrong road. The morning was pleasant and although the road seemed a little longer than the pastor had expected, he cheerfully continued on ...

3881. Breaking into Our Lives

Mark 1:1-8

Illustration

King Duncan

It was Christmas almost forty years ago when Rex Pickett was stationed in Korea as a young Marine lieutenant. His wife and baby daughter, whom he had never seen, were home in the United States. On Christmas morning the thermometer hovered around zero with several inches of snow covering the ground. Outdoor worship services were planned for that morning. Although no one was required to attend services Rex went out of respect and "to set a good example for the even younger Marines." Nearly two hundred ...

3882. Changing the Inner Parts

Mk 1:1-8

Illustration

King Duncan

A man once owned a large and expensive clock crafted in Switzerland. He kept the clock in a window, where it was seen by passersby who set their watches by it. But something was wrong with the clock. Its hands habitually showed the wrong time. So the man spent considerable energy every day, 3 or 4 times a day, turning the clock's hands to the right positions. This went on for several years, which kept the owner weary. He finally had had enough of the continuous corrections and decided to have the clock's ...

3883. A Confusing Scene

Mark 1:1-8

Humor Illustration

King Duncan

In a Family Circus cartoon, the little girl sits her baby brother on her lap and tells him the story of Christmas. According to her version: Jesus was born just in time for Christmas up at the North Pole surrounded by eight tiny reindeer and the Virgin Mary. Then Santa Claus showed up with lots of toys and stuff and some swaddling clothes. The three Wise men and elves all sang carols while the Little Drummer Boy and Scrooge helped Joseph trim the tree. In the meantime, Frosty the Snowman saw this star. We ...

3884. The Importance of Words

Mark 1:1-8

Illustration

In a book on preaching by George Sweazey, the author reminds us that "Christianity is not something you talk about, it is something you do. Sitting through sermons can become the major Christian activity." And, of course, that is not all that we are called to do, is it? "What we want is deeds, not words," we sometimes say. But Dr. Sweazey says that that is a false dichotomy. Indeed, says he, words are deeds! The ancient Greeks had a saying, "By words alone are lives of mortals swayed." Sweazey writes: "the ...

3885. Waiting - Sermon Starter

John 1:1-18

Illustration

Brett Blair

As a child I remember that the most difficult part of Christmas was simply waiting for it to come. From Thanksgiving to December 25 seemed more like an eternity than a month. Days seemed like weeks. Weeks felt like seasons. Time seemed to stand still. Waiting is foreign to our society. It seems unnatural. We hunger for immediate gratification. The idea of delayed satisfaction is a stranger to our thinking. The symbols of our unwillingness to wait are all around us. Fast food chains boom because we don't ...

3886. Advent: Time to Listen

Jn 1:6-8, 19-28

Illustration

The famous poet W. H. Auden, once, in his older years, read some of his poetry at Princeton. The hall was packed with hundreds of students and faculty. They had come to hear "the great one." But when Auden (then an old man) began to read, his voice was so soft that even the microphone couldn't pick him up. So people began whispering to their neighbor: "What did he say?" And those who thought they had heard a part of what he'd said, whispered back the part they'd heard - or what they remembered from a prior ...

3887. The Harvest of Love

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Illustration

Helen Keller

That blessed saint, Helen Keller once wrote: "Christmas is the harvest time of love. Souls are drawn to other souls. All that we have read and thought and hoped comes to fruition at this happy time. Our spirits are astir. We feel within us a strong desire to serve. A strange, subtle force, a new kindness animates man and child. A new spirit is growing in us. No longer are we content to relieve pain, to sweeten sorrow, to give the crust of charity. We dare to give friendship, service, the equal loaf of ...

3888. The Truly Human Christ

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Illustration

Donald B. Strobe

In the early years of the Church Gnosticism gave rise to the heresy of "Docetism," from the Greek dokeo which means "to seem." This heresy taught that Jesus never had any real human body, but just sort of flitted over the earth like a ghost. It is interesting to note that in the familiar "Apostles' Creed" the phrase "born of the Virgin Mary" was inserted in the first place not to emphasize the word "virgin," but rather to emphasize the word "born." Lest you think that this theological debate is long, long ...

3889. The 10th Lamp

John 1:6-8

Illustration

King Duncan

On July 23, 2002, nine miners in Western Pennsylvania became trapped in a flooded mine. The injured and desperate men tied themselves together so that the stronger ones could sustain the weaker ones as they waited to be rescued. Journalists from across the nation reported the rescue effort, which took five long days. No one could believe it when all nine miners emerged safely from the mine. On July 30, the people of the small mining community gathered for a worship service to thank God for saving the ...

3890. Body Language

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Illustration

Donald B. Strobe

Presbyterian preacher Thomas Hilton tells of watching Billy Graham on television a few years back, when his small daughter Karin came into the living room and looked at the television set and exclaimed, "Dad, what is he so mad about?" To a small child the body language of a person is often more important than the verbal language. She saw the raised arm, heard the loud voice, saw the intense face, and assumed anger. I have an idea that was not the message that Billy was trying to get across, but children ...

3891. The Inside Results

John 1:1-28

Illustration

King Duncan

Dr. Maxwell Maltz has gained quite notable fame through his popular self-help book entitled "Psycho-Cybernetics." The theory of psycho-cybernetics is based on Dr. Maltz's work as a plastic surgeon. Listen as he describes how he became interested in the human personality: "One day many years ago a woman in her mid-twenties came to my offices. She had a deep indented scar on her left cheek, a constant reminder of an automobile accident she'd been in. She looked unhappy, with herself and her life." "'Who ...

3892. Divine Humility

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Illustration

King Duncan

Two hundred years ago there was another man named John, a preacher of extraordinary power and influence in England and America. We know John Wesley as the founder of the Methodists. Surprisingly, however, Wesley was not the most popular preacher of his day. A man named George Whitefield preached to far more people than Wesley, baptized many more into the Kingdom of God and was a favorite of such prominent Americans as Benjamin Franklin. Whitefield and Wesley were the best of friends until they had a severe ...

3893. Sacrifice for Discipleship

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Illustration

King Duncan

Millions of Christians have been inspired by the life and death of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German pastor and theologian who was killed during World War II. Bonhoeffer was as outspoken concerning the sins of Adolf Hitler as John the Baptist was about the sins of Herod. Friends in the United States and England, knowing the probable consequences of opposing Hitler, arranged for Bonhoeffer to leave Germany. After a few months, however, Bonhoeffer knew he must return to his homeland. There he preached ever more ...

3894. The Adoration of the Shepherds

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Illustration

King Duncan

Pastor Earl Palmer of the First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley tells about Rembrandt’s painting called The Adoration of the Shepherds: “This is Rembrandt’s interpretation of the visit of the shepherds to the babe in Bethlehem. It is a simple scene in a stable. In the foreground are the mother and child, with Joseph in the shadows in the background. Peering into the manger where the babe is lying are the shepherds, with their sheep scattered around them. They could not leave the sheep in the field, they ...

3895. Extending Christ’s Love

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Illustration

King Duncan

Some of you may be familiar with a story Fred Craddock once told about Dr. Oswald Golter. Dr. Golter was a missionary to China more than 60 years ago. After World War II he was asked to leave that country. So his missionary society wired him a ticket and Dr. Golter made his way to India to catch a ship home to America. While he was there he noticed that there were many Jews living in the area--in attics and sheds and barns. They were there because India was one of the few countries in the world that ...

3896. Too Big to Be Understood

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Illustration

Bill Bouknight

I often stop at a certain restaurant in town which has a first-class aquarium. It contains a glorious assortment of tropical fish with colors so extraordinary that only God's personal coloring set could have decorated them. It takes a lot of work to run an aquarium. The owner monitors the oxygen and nitrate levels and the ammonia content. The water is filtered. Vitamins, antibiotics and sulfa drugs must be pumped in. The fish have to be fed regularly. Now with all that care and attention, you would think ...

3897. Trying to Recognize God

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Illustration

Johnny Dean

In Auden's Christmas oratorio, "For the Time Being," it is King Herod, a thoroughly reasonable and ultimately practical person, who prays for a God he can recognize on sight, one who is not the least bit extraordinary, someone like himself. Is that what we want, too? This is precisely the One whom John the Baptist will not produce. John stands there for eternity, interrupting our carefully planned Christmases with his thought-provoking announcement: "Among you stands one whom you do not know." You see, we ...

3898. Surprise, It's Christmas! - Sermon Starter

Luke 1:26-38

Illustration

Brett Blair

The greatest thing about Christmas morning is the surprises. When else in life do you get to pile 10, 20, 30, 40 sometimes 50 surprises all together and sit for an hour enjoying each of them? One after another, surprise after surprise. Christmas Morning is wonderful in that way. I can remember still today the way I felt as a child, the amazement, the astonishment of Christmas morning. Chuck Swindoll writes, "surprises come in many forms and guises: some good, some borderline amazing, some awful, some ...

3899. Out of the Box Gifts

Luke 1:26-38

Illustration

Leonard Sweet

Three days before the first big winter storm hit, the phone rang. It was "Odie," the local plumber, volunteering to come over and do some work. He offered to drain out the hot water tanks and outside pipes ahead of the blast of arctic air headed our way. "Odie" wasn't trying to drum up any business for himself. In fact, if all our pipes burst he would make a lot of money repairing the damages. He was simply thinking of others and offering the gift of his unique talents to help out a family with a man with ...

3900. Mary vs. Eve

Luke 1:26-38

Illustration

One week a Sunday school teacher had just finished telling her class the Christmas story, how Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem and how Jesus was born in a stable and laid in a manger. After telling the story the teacher asked, "Who do you think the most important woman in the Bible is?" Of course, the teacher was expecting one of the kids to say, "Mary." But instead, a little boy raised his hand and said, "Eve." So the teacher asked him why he thought Eve was the most important woman in the Bible. And the ...

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Antonyms: deficient, imperfect

Showing 3876 to 3900 of 5000 results

3876. A Chance to Warm Up

Mark 1:1-8

Illustration

Billy D. Strayhorn

3877. Getting Ready

Mark 1:1-8

Illustration

King Duncan

3878. A Sense of Urgency

Mk 1:1-8

Illustration

King Duncan

3879. The Last Chapter First

Mark 1:1-8

Illustration

King Duncan

3880. In the Wrong Place?

Mark 1:1-8

Illustration

King Duncan

3881. Breaking into Our Lives

Mark 1:1-8

Illustration

King Duncan

3882. Changing the Inner Parts

Mk 1:1-8

Illustration

King Duncan

3883. A Confusing Scene

Mark 1:1-8

Humor Illustration

King Duncan

3884. The Importance of Words

Mark 1:1-8

Illustration

3885. Waiting - Sermon Starter

John 1:1-18

Illustration

Brett Blair

3886. Advent: Time to Listen

Jn 1:6-8, 19-28

Illustration

3887. The Harvest of Love

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Illustration

Helen Keller

3888. The Truly Human Christ

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Illustration

Donald B. Strobe

3889. The 10th Lamp

John 1:6-8

Illustration

King Duncan

3890. Body Language

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Illustration

Donald B. Strobe

3891. The Inside Results

John 1:1-28

Illustration

King Duncan

3892. Divine Humility

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Illustration

King Duncan

3893. Sacrifice for Discipleship

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Illustration

King Duncan

3894. The Adoration of the Shepherds

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Illustration

King Duncan

3895. Extending Christ’s Love

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Illustration

King Duncan

3896. Too Big to Be Understood

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Illustration

Bill Bouknight

3897. Trying to Recognize God

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Illustration

Johnny Dean

3898. Surprise, It's Christmas! - Sermon Starter

Luke 1:26-38

Illustration

Brett Blair

3899. Out of the Box Gifts

Luke 1:26-38

Illustration

Leonard Sweet

3900. Mary vs. Eve

Luke 1:26-38

Illustration

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