Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 376 to 400 of 2844 results

376. When All You've Ever Wanted Isn't Enough

Ecc 2:1-26

Sermon

David E. Leininger

"If a tree falls in the forest and there is no one around to hear, does it make a sound?" You have heard that one. Or one more serious: if a person lives and dies and no one notices, if the world continues as it was, was that person ever really alive? What brings that question to mind is that sadly cynical passage from Ecclesiastes a moment ago in combination with a motion picture that is currently making the rounds called "About Schmidt."(1) When we were in Florida a couple of weeks ago, one of our ...

377. Time To Walk On The Water

Matthew 14:22-36

Sermon

King Duncan

There is a ridiculous story about a wealthy Texan who died, and his attorney gathered the entire family for the reading of the will. Relatives came from near and far to see if they were included in the bequests. The lawyer somberly opened the will and began to read: "To my cousin Ed, I leave my ranch." "To my brother Jim, I leave my money market accounts." "To my neighbor and good friend, Fred, I leave my stocks." "And finally, to my cousin George, who always sat around and never did anything, but wanted ...

378. God And The Irs

Matthew 22:15-22

Sermon

King Duncan

This morning I want to talk about God and the IRS. I know that it is a long time until April 15 and I don't want to spread a lot of gloom this morning. Someone has noted,however, that besides being income tax day, April 15 is also the day the Titanic sunk and the day that Lincon was shot. Someone else has said, "You may not agree with every department of the government, but you really have to hand it to the IRS." Another cynic has said, "Death and taxes may always be with us, but at least death doesn't get ...

379. A Star And A Dream

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

Charles Kuralt travels across the United States learning about people. Recently he visited the mountains of North Carolina. Kuralt claims that mountain people know a lot of things the rest of us have forgotten. For example, at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve the mountain people he visited open their windows. That's to let bad luck out and good luck in. On New Year's Day they eat black-eyed peas for dinner. That's also for good luck. Don't worry if you forgot. Simply look for a red-haired girl ...

380. Christian Living As It's Meant To Be

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Sermon

King Duncan

When Steven Spielberg signed up for a Boy Scouts merit badge in moviemaking, his father bought him a Super-8 camera. According to his mother, from then on the decor in their house consisted of white walls, blue carpeting, and tripods. Their car back then was a 1950 army-surplus jeep. Steven's family would load it up and drive into the desert. And Steven would have the whole family dressed up in ridiculous costumes. He'd say, "Stand behind that cactus," and they did. And Steven's mother was quite willing to ...

381. Hard Choice

Deuteronomy 30:11-20

Sermon

King Duncan

I guess the greatest temptation any speaker has is to overstate his or her case. I heard recently about a temperance speaker who was lecturing on the evils of liquor. "Who has the most money to spend?" he bellowed. "The saloon keeper! Who has the biggest house? The saloon keeper! Who has the finest furs and the most jewelry? The saloon keeper's wife! And who pays for all this? You do, my friends, you do!" A few days later, a couple who had been in the audience met the eloquent battler of booze in the ...

382. Teamwork

Nehemiah 1:1-11

Sermon

Rev. Dr. Ward Williams

In the fifth century B.C., the Jewish people were captives in Persia. With the enthronement of a new Persian ruler, those who chose to return to Judah were allowed to do so. Many started life anew in the area of Jerusalem. Nehemiah was a Jew who had held a high position at the Persian court. He received permission to return to his native land, where he was authorized to take charge of rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem. Nehemiah was a dynamic leader with a gift for organizing and directing the cooperative ...

383. Living In The Kingdom Of God

Mark 12:28-34

Sermon

King Duncan

Many of us dream of visiting exotic places. Maybe we'd like to see the magnificent castles in Europe, or the unparalleled beauty of Hawaii. Or perhaps the mysterious orient, with its unique culture. When we're there, we might even start dreaming about what it would be like to live there permanently. Would it be as beautiful or as impressive if I saw it every day, or would I begin to take it for granted, just as I do my present surroundings? A scribe came to Jesus and asked him a question: "Which ...

384. Childish or Child-like?

Mark 10:13-16

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

“And he took a child, and put him in the midst of them; and taking him in his arms, he said to them, ‘Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me...’” (Mark 9:36) I feel sorry for the poor kid who happened to be there the day Jesus decided to use him as an “object lesson.” No child likes being used in this way. Some of us can remember being stood up before a group of adults and having our parents ask us to recite something we’d just learned in school. Or being made to sit down at the piano and ...

385. Feasting and Fasting for Lent (Part III)

Luke 13:1-9

Sermon

Eric Ritz

Dr. William H. Willimon, our minister at the historic Duke Chapel at Duke University, shared an insight to the Lenten season while he was a pastor in South Carolina. He was called to the hospital to be with a couple who belonged to the congregation he served. The wife had given birth to a child. Word had drifted out of the delivery room that all was not well. Dr. Willimon then shared how the doctor spared few words. "Your baby is afflicted with Down''s Syndrome, mongolism. I had expected this. But things ...

386. Dealing with the Hard Moments of the Journey

2 Corinthians 4:1-18

Sermon

Eric Ritz

They had every reason to be bitter. The circumstances of life had dealt a tough hand for them to play and handle. On Palm Sunday, 1994, the congregation of the Goshen United Methodist Church was preparing for festive worship services that day. However, seemingly out of nowhere, a tornado came upon the town of Piedmont, Alabama. It is generally known in the insurance industry that a church is the safest place to be. There are fewer fatal accidents per thousand there than in any other location. However, not ...

387. 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 ...

388. What Really Matters The Price Of The High Calling

Philippians 3:12-4:1

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

The price of a vital faith, and there is a price, the price of a vital faith is continuous struggle. The quest is perennial. We were created God to grow. We were recreated by Christ to grow spiritually. So Paul sets out in this word about pressing toward the goal for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. The pattern is clear. So let me lay it out in the fashion of that old black preacher who said of his preaching, first, I tell them what I’m going to tell them. Then I tell them. And then I ...

389. 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 ...

390. When You Pray

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

“Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Name.” It is the prayer of the Christian Church, prayed more often in public worship than any other prayer, and known personally by heart by more individuals than perhaps any other passage of Scripture. So, what will I do with a sermon on such a familiar text? I could take the easy way out and do as a young man who had come to a monastery and asked for admission to the order. “He told the abbot that he would accept any task, no matter how menial, if only he ...

391. O Come, O Come Emmanuel

Isaiah 1:1-31

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Back in the early 1980's, there was a best- selling book entitled Blue Highways. The novel chronicles one man's adventures along the back roads and secondary highways of America. His journeys took him into crossroad villages and almost forgotten towns where he met all kinds of interesting people, including a few hitchhikers whom he befriended. Among the hitchhikers was a Bible-toting self styled evangelist, who passed out religious tracts and confronted everyone he met with questions about their salvation ...

392. The Need To Pay Attention

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

One of the tough problems in preaching from the book of Proverbs is settling on a focus. You can put your dipper down into this flowing stream at any point and come up with a refreshing drink of bracing inspiration, searching wisdom, probing questions, or challenging direction. Where would you have stopped to spend some time in reflection as you read this 20th chapter of Proverbs? How long would it take you to get through it if you stopped at every point that begged your attention? I invite you to spend ...

393. The Heart -- Our Mirror

Proverbs 25:1-28

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Peter Ustinov is one of the great actors of our day. I don't know much about him, but I was impressed by an interview of some years ago during the filming of the movie, "Death on the Nile". He was talking about the images actors have to live with. An image is an awful thing, he said. An actor says, "I'm going to do this or that." And someone will say, "What about your image?" Ustinov said, "I don't know what my image is, I don't want to know." And then he continued, "It is a sad state when the man looking ...

394. On the Road Again

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Blue eyes crying in the rain! Who knows where that sentence comes from? It’s from Psalm 14 verse…no, you know better. It’s from a haunting country ballad and no one sings it better than Willie Nelson. I’m not a country music buff but I like some of it – especially Willie. Recently I had to spend about three hours driving, and I tuned in to a good country music station. I recommend that experience, even though you may not like country music. It will contribute to your theological education. Now some of the ...

395. Power For Christian Living: Am I On My Own?

Romans 3:3-5

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

The glorious good news of the gospel is not only are we pardoned by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to live as “new creatures” – “everything old has passed away…everything has become new” (II Cor. 5:17). We are not on our own. After expressing the truth that we are justified by faith and have peace with God through Jesus Christ, (Romans 12:1). Then states a heartening aspect of the gospel: “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that ...

396. The Work of An Evangelist

Colossians 1:1-14

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Do we need to remind ourselves of what the work of an evangelist is? An evangelist is one who shares in word, deed and sign the good news of Jesus Christ – the good news that redeems us from sin, makes us whole, and transforms us into participants in God’s Kingdom enterprise. I like the way Paul expresses the work of God in our lives – Col. 1:13-14: “God has rescued us from the power of darkness, and transferred us into the Kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the ...

397. How to Look Foolish

1 Corinthians 1:18-25

Sermon

Mark Trotter

None of us like to look foolish, but I confess that I continue to find ingenious ways to do that, usually by insisting that I am right about something, and it turns out that I am wrong. I feel there are certain areas where my experiences lend me some authority, so I speak out, giving my credentials, and then somebody comes along with the facts. Like the other day, two of our grandsons were visiting us with their mother. Their father was away at a meeting, and they came down and spent a couple of days with ...

398. Seeing Just Enough of God

Exodus 33:12-23

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

Life never stands still. It can crawl along too slowly, zip past us before we know it, torture us with opportunities we can never get again, or bewilder us with which path to take. But it never stands still. A woman who learned about life's twists and turns shared her story with a pastor friend of mine. Shortly after her marriage, in full flush of love, she went out for a jog. Bursting with a feeling of how delicious her life was, she offered up a prayer of gratitude to God for her marriage, her health, ...

399. Living Hope

1 Peter 1:3-9

Sermon

Richard W. Ferris

A middle-aged man was on a Caribbean cruise enjoying his first real vacation in years. On the first day out to sea he noticed an attractive woman about his age who smiled at him in a friendly way as he passed her on the deck. This pleased the man greatly. That night he managed to get seated at the same table with her for dinner. As the conversation developed, he commented that he had seen her on the deck that day and he had appreciated her friendly smile. When she heard this, she smiled and commented, " ...

400. Because

1 Peter 1:1—2:3

Sermon

Richard W. Ferris

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