Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 3876 to 3900 of 4936 results

3876. 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 ...

3877. All My Children

John 1:1-18

Sermon

Frank Lyman

On September 16, 1998, a funeral service was held at the First United Methodist Church of Montgomery, Alabama. It was the funeral service for George Wallace, the former governor of Alabama. In the 1960s Mr. Wallace was the symbol for racism and bigotry in our country. In his 1963 inaugural speech he proclaimed, "Segregation Now, Segregation Tomorrow, Segregation Forever!" When African-American students attempted to enroll at the University of Alabama, he attempted to prevent their entry, and when Dr. ...

3878. Sons And Daughters Of God

Romans 8:18-27, Romans 8:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

Have you ever done anything really foolish? I mean, something so stupid that years later you still cringe when you think about it. Dr. James Dobson tells of a friend of his during their days in medical school. One day this man was walking across campus laden with books and briefcase. He passed by a fast food stand, and ordered something to eat and a milkshake to wash it down. He balanced it all on top of his briefcase and began looking for an empty table at which to sit. While looking, the milkshake got ...

3879. Caught Between God And Caesar

Matthew 22:15-22

Sermon

King Duncan

Tony Campolo may be the closest thing we have to a prophet in the church today. Many of you are familiar with him. Tony is a well-known Baptist preacher. And he is a professor of Sociology at Eastern College in St. David's, Pa. Like the prophets of the Old Testament, Tony takes unpopular stands. Anyone else taking the same stands would get run out of the country. But Tony is so fundamentally sound in his theology and such an entertaining speaker, we have to pay attention to what he says! For example, Tony ...

3880. Leaving The City of Regret

Mark 2:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

It's one of those stories you see circulating on the Internet. The author is unknown, but the sentiments are universal. It's titled THE CITY OF REGRET: "I had not really planned to take a trip this year, yet I found myself packing anyway. And off I went, dreading it. I was on another guilt trip. I booked my reservation on "Wish I Had" airlines. I didn't check my bags--everyone carries their baggage on this airline. I had to drag [my bags] for what seemed like miles in the Regret City airport. And I could ...

3881. Aging Is Mandatory; Maturity Is Optional

Mark 9:33-37

Sermon

King Duncan

Have you ever noticed that grown men can act like little children at times? Every woman in the house is nodding her head. Notice our lesson from the Gospel for today. It begins with some words with which we have become familiar: "They went on from there and passed through Galilee. [Jesus] did not want anyone to know it . . ." There it is again. The stealth Messiah, quietly going about his business, trying to stay out of the public eye. This time Mark provides us with an explanation: ". . . for he was ...

3882. Preparing the Way

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

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 ...

3883. Jesus Came Preaching

Mark 1:14-15

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

“Jesus came preaching,” says St. Mark. Now, that may not seem like anything earth-shaking to you, but I suggest this morning that it is nothing less than astounding! Of all the methods that God might have chosen to change the world-the frailty of human words is just about the most surprising! I find it incredible that God should launch God’s movement to save the world in so frail a vessel as preaching. St. Paul found it surprising, too. Our Epistle Lesson was from II Corinthians. But in I Corinthians Paul ...

3884. What Kind of Vote Would Jesus Get?

Mark 15:1-15

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

All four Gospels make reference to Barabbas, the man who got more votes than Jesus did on that fateful Good Friday so long ago. In his book PERSONALITIES OF THE PASSION, Leslie Weatherhead says: “Matthew and Mark tell us that the priests incited the multitude to choose Barabbas as the one who should be released by the act of clemency with which the government marked the day of Jewish festival. It seems a strange choice.” (New York and Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1953, p. 87) I. NOT TO ME IT DOESN’T. It ...

3885. God Is Now Here

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

Paul E. Flesner

Theologian Reinhold Niebuhr once observed that the Christmas event can only be spoken about in poetry. He went on to comment that over the centuries preachers have analyzed it in their sermons and have turned Christmas into dogma. "Dogma," he said, "is rationally petrified poetry." I think I understand what he means. He means that Christmas speaks to the heart. As I reread the Christmas story, images of Bethlehem and the shepherd's field flooded my mind. I kept "seeing" the darkened sky and the village not ...

3886. Lift High the Tree

John 12:20-36

Sermon

George Bass

Suddenly, we are a week ahead of our Lenten schedule. This story belongs to the Week of the Passion of our Lord, because it occurs sometime between the days we call Palm Sunday and Maundy Thursday. It was during that interval that a group of Gentiles, who were simply called Greeks, approached Philip with the request to see Jesus. Jesus must have been in some sort of seclusion pondering, no doubt, what was about to happen to him. His retort to Philip and Andrew, when he heard the request, certainly suggests ...

3887. When the Storms Come

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon

King Duncan

In 1969, in Pass Christian, Mississippi, a group of people was preparing to have a "hurricane party" in the face of a storm named Camille. Police chief Jerry Peralta pulled up sometime after dark at the posh Richelieu Apartments. Facing the beach less than 250 feet from the surf, the apartments were directly in the line of danger. A man with a drink in his hand came out to the second-floor balcony and waved at the police chief. Peralta yelled up, "You all need to clear out of here as quickly as you can. ...

3888. A Healing Presence

1 Thessalonians 5:12-28

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

I want to call you to prayer in a focused sort of way this morning. And we need to remember as we pray, because of who we are as Christians, that word of the prophet Micah, listen to him - he shall judge between many peoples. And how shall decide for strong nations far off, and they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. That’s a dream of the kingdom, a kingdom that the Lord promises ...

3889. What If God Is Dependent Upon Our Praying?

2 Chronicles 7:1-10

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

It is from the Old Testament. It is that classic passage from II Chronicles, the 7th chapter. I’m going to read the first four verses and then the 8th through the 14th verses of that particular passage. “When Solomon had ended his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering of sacrifice, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. And the priest could not enter the house of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord’s house. When all the children of Israel saw the fire ...

3890. Proclaimers Of The Gospel

Philippians 1:12-30

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Let me introduce you to the story of a great man. These are his words, “My first night on the campus,” he said, “a student came to see me. The student said, ‘I’ve come to welcome you here and to tell you that if there’s anything I can do for you to make your stay here more pleasant, I want to do it.’ Then he asked me where I went to church, and I told him I was a Catholic. He said, ‘Well, I can tell you where the Catholic Church is, but it’s not easy to find. It’s quite a distance away, let me draw you a ...

3891. A Sovereign God With A Shepherd's Heart

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

In many Moravian churches, the fourth Sunday in Advent is known as "Morning Star Sunday." The large multi-pointed paper star hangs from the ceiling of the Sanctuary, filling the darkness with light. The congregation sings, "Morning Star, O cheering sight; ere thou camest how dark earth's night! Jesus, mine, in me shine; fill my heart with light divine." For us who stand at the threshold of Christmas, the morning star points to both an end and a beginning. The morning star appears on a clear night in the ...

3892. Count It All Joy

James 1:1-18

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Today we begin a new series of sermons on the Epistle of James. If I were to give a subtitle to this epistle, I would call it "A Manual of Practical Christianity." All of us should be able to identify with the thought. We are always asking that everything be made practical. Speakers are admonished to use the "kiss principle": "Keep it simple, stupid." There is a sense in which the Epistle of James is a "how to" book, and any bookstore has a large section of such books, from How To Build a Patio to How to ...

3893. Repentance: The No That Is A Yes

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Elie Wiesel is one of the great story-tellers of our time. He is a Jew who has a passionate memory of the Holocaust. He tells stories with a clarity and a passion that sets your soul on fire. In fact, a collection of his Hasidic stories is entitled "Souls on Fire". Let me read you the introduction to that book: "My father, an enlightened spirit, believed in man, My grandfather, a fervent Hasid, believed in God. The one taught me to speak, the other to sing. Both loved stories. And when I tell mine, I hear ...

3894. On The Road Again (emmaus)

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Willie Nelson sings it. I'm sure some others sing it, too, but not like Willie! Now I want you to know that I don't live in the world of country music -- nor do I live in the world of opera. What some people who live in the world of opera and look down their noses at country music don't know, or haven't admitted, is that the story-line of opera and country music is often the same. It's the story of love and loss, of pain and suffering, of shattered dreams and courageous perseverance. Consider this line ...

3895. When Jesus Comes

Luke 8:22-25

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

"Jesus walks in church today, Jesus speaks while people pray Touch and hear one bowed in grief Strengthening a weak belief, Healing habits too long King, Showing judgments reckoning, Granting one a new life's start. His garment's hem just brushed my heart. (Quoted by Leonard H. Budd, Jesus Christ My Healer, Church of the Savior, Cleveland, Ohio). Did that take you by surprise? Plunging right in, quoting a poem, every word of which you need to get to get the picture. You who are regular attenders and hear ...

3896. How To Fail Successfully

Mark 6:7-13

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

It's amazing what we do with funny stories. We apply them to whomever we wish. For instance, you might hear one funny story with the legendary coach Bear Bryant as the primary actor. When you hear it again, the primary actor may be Johnny Majors. I heard a marvelous story sometime ago about Thomas Wheeler, Chief Executive Officer for the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company -- in fact, he told the story on himself. Lately I've been hearing it about President Clinton. So the story goes with the new ...

3897. A Church Shaped By The Great Commission

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Last words are important. Let that truth sink in. Last words are important. East Side Baptist Church is a little country church down in Perry County, Mississippi. It is the church in which I was converted under the preaching of Brother Wiley Grissom, a fifth-grade educated pastor who preached the Gospel with power. The church is about 200 yards up the hill from our old home place. Behind it is a cemetery where I’ll be buried someday. Mom and Dad—whom in my adult life I affectionately called, “Mutt” and “Co ...

3898. Resurrection

Acts 10:34-43

Sermon

King Duncan

A priest found a branch of a thorn tree twisted around so that it resembled a crown of thorns. Thinking it a symbol of the crucifixion, he placed it on the altar in his chapel on Good Friday. Early on Easter morning he remembered what he had done. Feeling it was not appropriate for Easter Sunday, he hurried into the church to clear it away before the congregation came. But when he went into the church, he found the thorn branches blossoming with beautiful roses. Welcome to this celebration of Easter Day. ...

3899. 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 ...

3900. The Problem with Promises

Genesis 18:1-15, 21:1-7

Sermon

James L. Killen

The problem with promises is that you have to trust them. You have to believe that they will be fulfilled, and live as if you believe that they will be fulfilled, before they can do you any good. We don't like to do that. We are cautious people. We want something to be thoroughly proven before we will believe that it is true. We want to investigate an enterprise thoroughly before we will invest in it. But that doesn't really work with believing in God. There is a limit to what we can know about God without ...

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