Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 3876 to 3900 of 4884 results

Exodus 33:12-23

Sermon

Argile Smith

... centers in Jesus Christ. God’s Son will always demonstrate that he keeps his word and upholds his wonderful name. Likewise, Jesus Christ will forever reflect in a superlative way the Lord’s great mercy and grace to us. Indeed we have seen the most perfect expression of God’s goodness in Christ. Notice something else the Lord did for Moses. It’s something that reflected well on his character (vv. 21-23). Remember that Moses wanted to see the Lord’s glory. Honoring Moses request would have been a ...

3877. Who's the Real Leader?

Joshua 3:1-4:24

Sermon

Argile Smith

... the promotion. In order to celebrate the news with him, they bought him a gift. Well, it was actually more like a gag-gift, the kind that he would place on his shelf and chuckle over every time he saw it. They searched far and wide and finally found the perfect gift for Ben. It was a cap that had two bills sewn onto it instead of one. Both bills faced in opposite directions. A curious caption had been printed around the cap. Bill read it out loud when he took the cap out of the gift bag. He read, “I ...

3878. Work Like the Who?

Luke 16:1-15

Sermon

King Duncan

... ’t spend all his time on his knees praying, “O Lord, please get me out of this.” Jesus was praising this man for getting into immediate action. Jesus had little sympathy for persons who always expected God to do things for them that they were perfectly capable of handling themselves. Jesus said, “For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light.” Those are important words that we ought to study. The people of light are good people, moral ...

3879. Seeing Jesus

John 9:1-12

Sermon

David O. Bales

... . When we look at what Jesus does and listen to what he says, we see God’s intention for the world. Consequently, our painful questions about suffering find some relief when Jesus comes on the scene. We know that, since Jesus is God’s perfect expression on earth, God doesn’t strike humans with suffering; although, life itself usually makes us pay in this world for our mistakes. Look at the man born blind. When his suffering meets Jesus’ compassion it results in God’s glory, which means it boosts ...

3880. Where Is Jesus?

John 11:17-37

Sermon

David O. Bales

... thinking about it, some of these statements carry the message that God has killed the person. Yes, God has taken the person home to heaven but only after death has released him. Paul the apostle came along a few years after Jesus’ resurrection and perfectly expressed Jesus’ life and mission when he advised Christians they should rejoice with those who rejoice but weep with those who weep. For all that we’d like to help others in grief by saying something profound or comforting, usually people in grief ...

3881. A Faith that Works

2 Thessalonians 3:6-15

Sermon

King Duncan

... have all kinds of attitudes about their work. Actor Robert Benchley said, “Anyone can do any amount of work provided it isn’t the work he is supposed to be doing at that moment.” That one may hit close to home. An anonymous muse has said, “A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing and the lawn mower is broken.” Someone else has said, “The worst day of fishing is better than the best day of working.” However, most of us can relate to the ...

3882. Syncing with the Spirit

Matthew 24:36-51

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Advent is the church’s moment to clearly sound the frequency for those searching the way. The resonance that sounds throughout Advent, the frequency that is being emitted to all humanity, is Jesus. Jesus is God’s tuning fork to the eternal. Jesus is God’s perfect pitch. Jesus is God’s Middle C. By sharing the Jesus story, by sharing IN the Jesus story, we bring to Advent a harmonic frequency that can resonate throughout the whole of the year. Jesus is our common frequency. That’s why we sing such ...

3883. Only Time Will Tell

James 5:7-12

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... to Bethlehem, though fraught with danger and risks, can turn your every Sheol into a Shiloh, your every Gehenna into a Garden of Eden. But it may not happen in our lifetime. Advent is our training in trusting a God whose time is not our time, but whose clock keeps perfect time. Only time will tell.

3884. When We No Longer Recognize Ourselves

Psalm 51:1-19

Sermon

King Duncan

... about prayer. It is founded in God’s unfailing love. Remember, we serve a God who is not just holy, but holy, holy, holy. When the biblical writers wanted to add emphasis, they used repetition. God is not simply holy. God is holy, holy, holy. The perfect divinity. Sin is a big deal when we are dealing with a holy, holy, holy God. There are three Hebrew words for “sin” used in this one Psalm. They refer to failing to live up to God’s standards of holiness, choosing to rebel against those standards ...

3885. A Straying Heart

Psalm 95:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... sin takes us away from home. Read the stories of sin and repentance in the Bible, and you will see one theme repeated again and again: the sinner recognizes his separation from God when he is far from home. Adam and Eve: banished from Eden, their perfect home, and separated from the face of God. (Gen. 3) Jacob: after stealing his brother Esau’s blessing, he leaves home and wanders for many years, living in fear of his brother’s vengeance, until their fateful meeting in the desert of Gilead. (Gen. 31-33 ...

3886. The Foolishness of God

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5

Sermon

King Duncan

... bag, so why open the packet of sugar? The man had good logic, but still he got it wrong. (1) We all have done foolish things at times. I’ve done foolish things; you’ve done foolish things. But we would never attribute foolishness to God. God is perfect. However, St. Paul says that some of God’s actions may look as foolish to those who do not understand as putting unopened packets of sugar into a tea cup. He writes, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us ...

3887. What If You Truly Were Born Again?

John 3:1-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... true, what’s important, what’s good. Well, how do you teach people to be good?” “The answer to that question,” said her professor, “according to the Bible, is not education but conversion. No one can truly learn to be good, for only God is perfectly good. The light of true goodness dawns in the heart only when God shines there.” (2) What kind of lives would we live if God’s light should truly shine in our hearts? From everything we know about Jesus’ teachings, what can we conclude he meant ...

3888. Remember the Rooster

John 18:25-27

Sermon

King Duncan

... here. You don’t know what I have done. God couldn’t love me.” My friend, you need to hear once again Romans 5:8: “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (NIV). Christ didn’t die for perfect people. He didn’t die for respectable people. He died for people with a skeleton in the closet. He died for people who have made mistakes along the way. He died for the girl who got pregnant out of wedlock, for the guy who stole to support his drug ...

3889. Soiled Faith and Watered-Down Churches

1 Corinthians 3:1-23

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... some of those little wild Maine blueberries that have survived the winds and the rains and the bears, and adapted to their surroundings, and your mouth will have one of the treats of its lifetime. Disciples of Jesus are not grown to be "perfect" universal specimens of sameness. Christians are intended to grow like the mustard seed: wild in the fields, "artisan" berries, all a little different and unique, depending on their location, but strong in the vine and hardy against the elements. God is responsible ...

3890. Fear of Missing Out

Matthew 5:38-42

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... . The first few days of the cruise were as wonderful as the man had always dreamed. The sun, the sea, the strolls around the deck, stretching out in a lounge chair disconnected from the rest of the problems of the world. It was perfect. Except. Except that he kept seeing porters busily delivering room-service trays laden with delicious looking gourmet meals. Except that he couldn’t avoid seeing the buffet tables set out and piled high with every imaginable delicacy. Except that he couldn’t help smelling ...

3891. Let It Go

John 3:1-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the great-granddaughter was initiated into the secret recipe, she dared to ask “Why?” Why the necessary amputation of the end of that holiday ham. Neither her mother nor her grandmother had an answer. Thankfully, great-grandma was still around and had a perfectly logical, if unexpected explanation for the recipe detail. “My roasting pan was too short,” great grandma declared, “I had to cut off the last few inches or the ham would not fit in the pan.” Although the conditions had changed for the ...

3892. Jesus and the Man Born Blind

John 9:1-41

Sermon

James W. Moore

... man blind from birth has a dramatic eye-opening experience with Jesus… and talk about new vision, talk about new insight… he is completely and totally healed. He is made whole and he comes back from the pool of Siloam with 20/20 vision,… able to see perfectly for the first time in his life. His transformation is so complete and so dramatic that he even looks a little different. The townspeople see him and say: “Hey, isn’t that the blind beggar? He can see now. Is that him? No, it’s just someone ...

3893. For Troubled Hearts

John 14:1-4

Sermon

King Duncan

... snub. Here he was worried about greens fees. What this poor homeless man would give to worry about such things. Jesus said don’t be like the heathen. They take pride in “all these things” and are deeply concerned about them. But your heavenly Father already knows perfectly well what you truly need, and He will give them to you. (2) You and I need to step back from time to time, take a deep breath, and ask ourselves if the things we are concerned about really deserve so much of our time and energy ...

3894. Ring Those Bells

1 Peter 3:8-22

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... life of hope. In 1 Peter “Hope” is the most basic Christian attitude in life. Christians have hope in God’s mercy (1:2), and hope in God’s promise of salvation (1:4), and hope in a future where a redeemed relationship with God will bring perfect peace and holy harmony. In 1 Peter 3:15-16 the text encourages all followers of Jesus to stand up and fess up to “witness” to any and all who question them about the source of their confidence and strength of their “hope.” The “consciousness” of ...

3895. Where the Church Gets Its Power

John 17:6-19

Sermon

King Duncan

... hesitated a moment and then walked over to the mother and asked her what had happened. With tears streaming down her cheeks, the mother looked up and said, ‘I don’t know about the god in your country, but the god in mine demands the best.’ She had given her perfect baby to the god of the Ganges.” (1) Do you suppose these people needed to be liberated by the good news that God is not a God of darkness but of light, not a God of cruelty but compassion, not a God who demands fear but one who creates ...

3896. A Holy Kiss (Father's Day)

2 Corinthians 13:11-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... story of Christopher Langan. Langan was a genius with a staggering IQ of 195. For some perspective, Einstein’s IQ was 150. During high school, Langan could ace any foreign language test by skimming the textbook 2-3 minutes before the exam. He got a perfect score on his SAT, even though at one point he fell asleep. But Langan failed to use his exceptional gifts and ended up working on a horse farm in rural Missouri. According to Gladwell, the reason that Langan never used the astounding gifts that he ...

3897. The Key to Getting Enough Rest

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

King Duncan

... , as you are reminded of da Vinci buying those caged birds on the streets of Florence and then setting them free, you also give some thought to the one who purchased our freedom by the giving of his life on Calvary’s tree. Our text for the day is a perfect one for a holiday weekend when we get some time off to rest and relax. It reminds me of a woman who opened her refrigerator one day and saw a rabbit sitting on one of the shelves. “What are you doing in there?” she asked. The rabbit replied: “This ...

3898. Breaking News: God and Government

Romans 13:1-7

Sermon

James Merritt

... the people Punish wrongdoers Promote justice Incidentally, our Founding Fathers understood that. Do you remember how the Preamble to the Constitution reads? It reads like this: “We the people of the United States in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the general defense…, promote the general welfare…” Do you notice the three purposes that are listed immediately at the forefront in the beginning? The government is to promote justice, punish ...

3899. Family Re:Union - (PG) Parental Guidance Required

Psalm 127:1-5

Sermon

James Merritt

... a disobedient child is this, “I love you too much to let you behave like that.” Understand that this type of discipline is done primarily when the child is young. Let me tell you why. Have you ever wondered why young children can learn to speak perfect Russian, Chinese, Spanish or any other language to which they are exposed? If you teach a young child more than one language they won’t even have a trace of an accent, but twenty years later most individuals will only be able to approximate the sounds ...

3900. God Is Not Dead

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

James Merritt

... a thousand pieces, and the native rushed forward and gave his heart to Jesus Christ. Would to God, that in these days in which we live, people would trust Christ and let go of their idols, knowing that God is not dead. Lord Jesus, I long to be perfectly whole; I want Thee forever to live in my soul. Break down every idol, cast out every foe; Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. [1] “The Deification of Elvis”, Gayle White, The Atlanta Constitution, November 12, 1989. [2] Ibid. [3] R. Kent Hughes ...

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