Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 3901 to 3925 of 4943 results

3901. Giving Back to Caesar

Matthew 22:15-22

Sermon

King Duncan

Late one night in Washington, D.C. a mugger wearing a ski mask jumped into the path of a well‑dressed man and stuck a gun in his ribs. “Give me your money!” he demanded. Indignant, the affluent man replied, “You can’t do this to me . . . I’m a US Congressman!” “In that case,” replied the robber, “give me back MY money!” (1) Ah, the “Infernal Revenue Service”--in one form or another, they have always been with us. You know the story. The Pharisees were concerned about Jesus’ growing popularity. They ...

3902. Some Things I've Learned Since I Knew It All

Mark 4:26-34

Sermon

Ron Lavin

Have you ever suffered from "sophomoritis"? It's not a physical disease, like arthritis. It's a spiritual disease many college sophomores get when they get filled up with knowledge, come home on a vacation, and act like they know more than the folks around whom they grew up, especially their parents and younger siblings. That happened to a young man named Adam. He was studying to be an engineer at the University of Illinois in Urbana. On Christmas break, he got quite caught up with himself and started ...

3903. A Man Under Authority / A Centurion's Faith, An Elder's Love

Matthew 8:5-13, Luke 7:1-10

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“Let it be done for you according to your faith.” Props: Centurion helmet or any military helmet and stick Hope pulls you forward. Faith pushes you forward. Love keeps you moving forward. A story recently made the news whereby a visitor from Israel to the US had a serious heart condition, and needed a heart transplant immediately or he would die. He was older than the recommended age for surgery, and had multiple other medical conditions that made any surgery problematic. Only two specialists in the world ...

3904. Emergency!

Genesis 11:1-9

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men who cannot save…” (Psalm 146:3) “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” (Genesis 9:1) Everyone knows the sound of fire trucks. It used to be the fire bell! Now it’s an ear piercing, unaesthetic, blaring horn, followed by sirens, and ear deafening noise, as the trucks emerge from the station and race to their destination. Every kid is fascinated by firetrucks. Some of us still have our first firetruck. That’s why we watch “Chicago Fire!” But it used to ...

3905. Clear to Enter

John 20:1-9, John 20:10-18, John 20:19-23, Matthew 28:1-10, Luke 24:1-12, Hebrews 10:1-18, Hebrews 10:19-39, Genesis 3:1-24

Sermon

Lori Wagner

You’re “clear”! Cleared for entry! Those are the words you hope to hear when passing through the security section of our airports today. Fly recently? If you have flown recently, you went through a security check before being allowed to enter the secured part of the airport where the flight gates are located. Depending upon your “clearance” level, you either waited in a very long line which sometimes can take a very, VERY long time. Or if you didn’t want to stand in the long line, you could qualify to go ...

3906. Plucked from the Blaze

Zechariah 3:1-10

Sermon

Lori Wagner

We are shaped by our experiences. You are who you are because of what has happened to you and your response to those happenings. At least in part. Every one of us has memories of times in our lives that we can identify as crucial milestones –moments that became momentous, moments that changed us in some way, made of who we are, shaped our thoughts, branded our memories, imprinted our feelings. What is your most vivid memory? Often, the experiences we remember the most are those that were most traumatic. ...

3907. We Will Be Changed

Ezekiel 37:1-14, 1 Corinthians 15:1-11, 1 Corinthians 15:12-34, 1 Corinthians 15:35-58

Sermon

Lori Wagner

What is in a name? Nothing defines us in our lives more than what we are named. We are given a name, but through our lives, we also take on other names. We know Jesus by many names: wonderful, counselor, almighty God, everlasting Father, prince of peace, as Handel’s oratorio tells us. But we too have names that define us. In the scriptures, often the name that one is born with is not the name God bestows upon them. Jacob becomes Israel. Sarai becomes Sarah. Abram becomes Abraham. Simon becomes Peter. Adamh ...

3908. The Overtaxed Soul (Even Me)

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Parable: Phyllis worked as a secretary/bookkeeper in a large company. No one noticed her. She didn’t have a flashy job like the group surrounding the CEO. She was just a shy, retiring clerk. But she had a significant responsibility taking care of the books and depositing the money for the thriving business. When trouble hit at home and she found herself in financial straits, she “borrowed” from the corporate kitty. Soon, this became rather a habit. One day, when news spread that the President of the ...

3909. The Phrase We Never Want to Hear

John 20:19-23, John 20:24-31

Sermon

King Duncan

I have a brain-teaser for you this morning. What is the one phrase that nobody likes to hear, but everybody likes to say? The phrase is, “I told you so.” When someone doesn’t listen to us, they ignore our advice and get themselves in trouble, we are quick to say, “I told you so.” But we absolutely hate it when others are right, and they throw those words at us. I read of two amazing “I told you so” moments recently. In the 1970s, the mayor of Fudai, Japan, pushed through a plan to build a ridiculously ...

3910. How Did That Hole Get There?

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

Bruce Melver tells about a precocious six-year-old in his church who thought and talked like an adult. His name was Blair Miles and he posed some challenging questions for his pastor to answer. Bruce tells about one Sunday after church when Blair came up to him and asked Bruce if he could have a conference with him. “Of course, Blair,” Bruce replied, “I’d be happy to visit with you anytime.” Blair thought for a moment and then said that he had better talk first with his parents to see when they could bring ...

3911. No Promotion Required

Mark 11:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

On March 4th, 1966 pop music icon John Lennon set off a firestorm in this country by declaring that his band, The Beatles, were more popular than Jesus. And with teenage girls that was probably true. Do you know how the Beatles became famous though? According to Internet marketer Caleb O’Dowd it didn’t happen by accident or simple good luck. According to O’Dowd, Brian Epstein the manager of the Beatles, was a marketing genius. “To begin with,” says O’Dowd, “Brian hired hundreds of teenage girls. He then ...

3912. A Costly Cross

Isaiah 52:13--53:12

Sermon

King Duncan

Colorful preacher Clarence Jordan was once taken on a tour of one of the greatest churches in America. As the tour guide brought him to the very front of the church where he could look up at the altar, the guide said: “Do you see that cross? It’s a gold cross. It was donated by one of our wealthiest members in memory of his wife. That cross, Mr. Jordan,” he continued, “which is covered with gold leaf, cost over $750,000.” Jordan responded, “Shucks! Time was you could get one for free!” (1) And that’s true ...

3913. When Storms Hit Home

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon

King Duncan

Good morning, and happy Father’s Day to all our fathers and father figures in the congregation this morning. Thank you for all you do to shape our lives, and for the example you provide us in managing the ups and downs in life. I hope that you feel honored and loved today for all your hard work. Comedian Jim Gaffigan posted on Twitter, “My 4-yr.-old gave me a handmade card for Father’s Day. Maybe for Christmas I’ll draw him a picture of some toys.” A man named Mike Primavera tweeted, “Get your dad what he ...

3914. Not Your Lips, but Your Life

Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

Sermon

King Duncan

I’ve got a pop quiz this morning for all you history buffs. What is something that was declared illegal 100 years ago, but is perfectly legal today? I’ll give you a hint: it inspired the 18th Amendment to the Constitution. In what was termed the Noble Experiment, the United States government made it a crime to manufacture, transport or sell alcoholic beverages. From 1920 to 1933—a period referred to today as the Prohibition Era—all the bars and saloons and liquor stores in the nation shut down. Or did they ...

3915. Through the Heart of Jesus

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

King Duncan

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, just in case any of you men need something to panic about. Just a friendly reminder for any procrastinators who might be in the house. Tomorrow’s big day reminds me of an article that came out last year about candy hearts. You know those candy hearts that are bright pink and orange and yellow, and they have sappy sayings stamped onto them—“Kiss Me,” “Hot Stuff,” “Be Mine,” etc. The original candy hearts with sayings—their official name is “conversation hearts”—were the ...

3916. Get Your Third-Class Tickets Here!

Acts 1:6-14

Sermon

King Duncan

Pastor and writer James W. Moore gives us a wonderful story from the days of the old West when the major means of transportation across the country was the stagecoach. We’ve seen persons riding in stagecoaches in western movies. What we might not know, says James Moore, is that the stagecoach had three different kinds of tickets—first class, second class, and third class. If you had a first-class ticket, that meant you could remain seated during the entire trip no matter what happened. If the stagecoach ...

3917. The Big Move!

Matthew 4:12-23

Sermon

John Jamison

Just so you know, we are going to use our imaginations today. We’re not going to just kind of play around and make things up, but we are going to use our imaginations to see if we find some new meaning in a passage we have probably read or heard many times before. We’re going to try and remember what was going on back in the first century when this story actually took place and see if that might give us any new thoughts about why John wrote this down. John was writing about what happened when John the ...

3918. Weeds

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Sermon

William G. Carter

One summer day, it was my turn to mow the yard. The dew had burned off, the grass was dry. I fired up the Briggs and Stratton, lowered the blade, and took it for a spin. The job took about 45 minutes and it was done. Yet as I circled the front yard for the first time, I realized my lawn is full of weeds. Now I knew there were a few. A weed-and-feed expedition earlier in the spring eliminated most of the dandelions. It seems other undesirables have invaded our plot of land. That is a big deal in the town ...

3919. Last But Yet First

Mark 9:33-37

Sermon

George W. Hoyer

In order to be last, you must give others a place in front of you. This is important to realize if you are interested in reaching first place. For Jesus here says, "Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all." Realize also that, given the kind of world we are part of, the people whom you must permit to go before you will be a mixed bag, indeed. You can't pick and choose, because that would mean the discards would be behind you. They would become last. They would really be taking the ...

3920. No Box Seats In The Kingdom

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

William G. Carter

Historically speaking, the church has usually painted a pretty picture of the twelve original disciples of Jesus. All except Judas have been considered saints. Pious people have named churches after them, often referring to the first disciples as the rocks upon which Christ has built his church. Yet anybody who hears the Gospel of Mark's stories about the disciples gets a different picture of who they were and what they wanted. Sure, the disciples walked the road with Jesus. They listened as he taught. ...

3921. How To Find Water When Your Well Runs Dry!

Jeremiah 2:1-3:5

Sermon

James McLemore

First, we must establish and explain to you that most of the water you drink comes from a well. Your fathers and mothers and grandparents were well acquainted with this fact, because most of them were born on a farm. On a farm, you had to find a source of water before you built a house, because land had no value if it did not have a well. Well water was always located below the surface. The farmer had to select a good site, dig a deep cistern (a man-made hole), and tap the well springs of underground water ...

3922. Ashamed To Beg

Luke 16:1-15

Illustration

John G. Lynn

In a large attractive office in a major city, a man worked for several months next to a small attractive woman. He had been there only a few days when he thought he'd ask her to lunch, which he did. The following day he asked her for dinner and they began a long dating relationship. They went to craft fairs together, since he liked to do that. They went to the ocean, which he also liked to do. They used to take long walks along the river. He liked this relationship. He had lived for many years with his ...

3923. Miracle Six: Stilling A Storm

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon Aid

Harold H. Lentz

BACKGROUND MATERIAL Jesus sometimes got into a boat and headed for the farther shore in order to be free of the demands of the crowd who now followed him in great numbers. On this day he was weary from his work and from arguing with the scribes who constantly took issue with his pronouncements. He was on the Sea of Galilee, also known as Lake Gennesaret. The lake was about eight miles wide and twelve miles long, so it would take at least an hour to make the crossing. Because of his weariness Jesus lay down ...

3924. Forever Plaid

Isaiah 42:18-25

Sermon

William L. Self

A few years ago there was a popular off-Broadway musical which gave a good insight into how life was in the 1950s. The name of the show was Forever Plaid, which was the name of a singing group of four good guys (Sparky, Smudge, Jinx, and Frankie). They wore dinner jackets and bow ties and each vocal arrangement soared to stratospheric heights of harmony. They were the most sought after entertainment for weddings, conventions, proms, and country club socials, but they had bigger plans that included a zoom ...

3925. A New Name

Genesis 17:1-27

Sermon

Paul W. Kummer

What names did people call you as you were growing up? What nicknames did your parents or grandparents saddle you with? I hope most of the names were endearing. But were others nasty or hurtful? Were you given a nickname because of how you looked or how you talked? Because of where you lived or what you wore? Did anyone ever give you a name because they felt they knew what your future would hold? If so, did that spur you on in your destiny or did it hold you back and discourage you? Did they nickname you ...

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