Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 376 to 400 of 972 results

Romans 3:19-28

Sermon

King Duncan

... had a "sin up" sheet? To say that all have sinned and fallen short of God's glory says that we are separated from God on two levels: by our deeds and by our nature. Most of us, when we hear the phrase, "all have sinned" think exclusively of our deeds, usually our misdeedsthe things we have done that were wrong. And sometimes, in a moment of spiritual clarity, we may reflect not only on our misdeeds, but also on our sins of omissionthose good things, necessary things we have not donelike feeding the hungry ...

377. Can A Christian Brag?

Ephesians 2:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... , or astrology, like less enlightened people in our society. We are an affluent people. Look at the growing and prosperous churches that encircle the outskirts of our thriving cities. And we have a rather select membership. Oh, not that we seek to be exclusive, but, REALLY, only the more responsible people in town grace our worship services. Few of us use illicit drugs or visit prostitutes or abuse our spouses or children. We are the nicer people in our community. Most of us tend to be rather conservative ...

378. What Would It Take?

Philippians 3:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... a huge arena called "The Court of Status Symbols." Before this man could get into heaven, he had to go through this arena, past the keeper of the door of the court. Inside this Court of Status Symbols he saw sleek automobiles, membership cards to exclusive clubs, silver-tipped canes, etc. As he went farther back into the room, he saw the crowns of kings and beautiful jewelry from princesses. Then the guide said, "Yes, these were all things that the world uses to impress people, symbols of significance. But ...

379. A Birthday Celebration

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

King Duncan

... BIRTH OF JESUS. For many people, Christmas is simply another holiday. It is a time for parties and extravagant gift-giving and mushy feelings, but it has very little to do with Jesus' birth. Two women, dressed in their finest, were having lunch together in a very exclusive restaurant. A friend saw them and came over to their table to greet them. "What's the special occasion?" she asked. One of the women said, "We're having a birthday party for the baby in our family. He's 2 years old today." "But, where is ...

380. Who Are Your Gentiles?

Acts 10:23b-48

Sermon

Landon Winstead

... languages. Peter now realized what his vision had been about. God shows no favorites. Even the Gentiles could be baptized Christians. And Peter remained with them for some days. This was the beginning of the witnessing about Christ to all people, and not exclusively to the Jews. This was literally a New Era in Christianity. Later, Saul, the persecutor, a Pharisee and a persecutor of Christians, would become Paul the Apostle who took the Gospel to the entire Gentile nations. What a story! Verse 34 of Chapter ...

381. Building a Nation

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

King Duncan

... for the 1988 General Conference of that denomination. This Conference would introduce a new hymnal for United Methodists. The committee was struggling over the words found in "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." They weren't struggling over The Battle Hymn's gender exclusive language, as you might think. They weren't struggling over its militaristic imagery. They weren't even struggling over its Civil War origin. They were struggling over the phrase, "As He died to make men holy, let us DIE to make men free ...

382. Nobody Wants To Make Cold Calls

Luke 10:1-24

Sermon

King Duncan

... us develop a different strategy for the world in which we live, but there are some important truths in today's lesson we still need to see. FIRST OF ALL, JESUS STILL CALLS US TO REACH OUT TO THE WORLD. Jesus never meant for his body to become an exclusive club centered only on its own needs. There was an interesting story in Readers Digest sometime back by Elise Miller Davis titled, "When Someone Is Drowning, It's No Time To Teach Him How to Swim." Ms. Davis tells of sitting near a swimming pool one day and ...

383. Like Everest Without Oxygen And Wimbledon Without A Racquet

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Frank Lyman

Recently I heard about a Scotchman who was admitted to Oxford University. He moved into a dormitory. His clan was excited that one of their own made it into such an exclusive school. His mother worried, though, how he'd do with all those snobbish Brits in a strange land. She gave him a month to settle in, and then called him. "How do you find the English students, Donald?" she asked. "Oh Mother," he said, "they are strange and noisy people. ...

384. Clean Hands and Dirty Hearts

Matthew 15:1-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... students. Her experiment was a great success, and its influence stayed with these students long after they graduated from college. (3) Rather than being a unifying force in society, the Pharisees had become a divisive force. Rather than being inclusive, they had become exclusive. Rather than raising the self-esteem of the people around them, they made others feel unworthy, unclean. It was not so much that their hearts were dirty, but that they were cold and unfeeling. III. What they did not see was that God ...

385. Dreaming Of Florida--awaking In Alaska

Revelation 7:9-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... car resounded with laughter, and when they reached the top and got off, everybody wanted to meet “this little man who's going to heaven." It reminds me of a story Ted Menten tells. Ted is a very special kind of counselor; he works almost exclusively with terminally ill children. Death is never an easy thing, but the death of a child is an especially painful and confusing event. Both the dying child and the family need help dealing with the situation. Children have a unique perspective on death and the ...

386. It's Not About Us

Revelation 22:1-6

Sermon

King Duncan

... is fond of referring to himself in the third person. He seems obsessed with acquiring things--airlines, casinos, and high-rise buildings---and putting his name on them. His voracious appetite for power prompted a friend to make the observation that, "He's so exclusively involved with himself, with his need to announce and re-announce himself, that there's no room for another person." (2) I wonder if anyone has ever clued Trump in to the reality that the world doesn't really revolve around him. Rick Warren ...

387. Twelve Inches From God

Mark 7:1-23

Sermon

King Duncan

... they crucified God's only son. That is what happens when people simply go through the motions-when they're living a second-hand faith. Dr. Ed Bauman in his book Beyond Belief tells a story about Groucho Marx and the Friars Club, which was an exclusive organization for actors and people in show business. Groucho was a member and was attending the annual banquet to hear a famous speaker deliver an address on the subject of "The Show Must Go On!" This old cliche was repeated until Groucho could no longer stand ...

388. Three Promises

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

Several men were dressing in the locker room of an exclusive health club. A cell phone sitting on one of the benches began to ring. A man picked it up and the following conversation ensued: "Hello?" "Honey, it's me." "Sugar!" "Are you at the club?" "Yes." "Great! I am at the mall two blocks from where you are. I saw ...

389. When The Economy Goes South

1 Kings 17:1-6

Sermon

King Duncan

... eyes, but not in the eyes of the stranger. For the stranger was the prophet Elijah. He knew that God is a bountiful, giving God. Elijah would have appreciated a story about George Mueller--that saint of a man who supported his orphanage exclusively on prayer. Mueller never directly asked anyone for a contribution. He simply prayed to God about his circumstances. Someone observed, "It looks like a hand-to-mouth proposition." "Yes, it is," Mueller responded, "But it is God's hand and my mouth." Elijah said ...

390. Receiving Christ

Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

King Duncan

... .” (5) Receiving Jesus begins with the mind. Now many of you are thinking that next I will say receiving Jesus is a matter of the heart. I’m going to surprise you. Receiving Jesus is a matter of the heart, but faith that is primarily or exclusively emotion will never completely satisfy you. III. Receiving Jesus Is a Matter of Morals. So let me surprise you by saying that receiving Jesus is, first of all, a matter of the mind, but it is also a matter of morals. Receiving Jesus is about being committed ...

391. Rebellion in the Vineyard

Matthew 21:33-46

Sermon

King Duncan

... obtain American clothing, learn the language, and in general make themselves as ordinary as possible. During their first day on Earth nobody notices a thing unusual about them. At the end of the day they celebrate their successful foray at an exclusive restaurant. As they are paying their check, they are astonished to hear the waiter say, “You guys must be from Mars!” “What?” asked the dumbfounded Martians. “How can you tell?” “Well,” replied the waiter, “you’re the first customers to ...

392. Who Is Jesus Christ?

John 14:5-14

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... His empire upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for him.” “No one comes to the Father but by me,” Jesus said. (John 14:6) Those words have given problems to Christians over the centuries. At first glance, they seem so terribly exclusive. They seem to imply that unless a person believes in Jesus Christ that person has no place in God’s presence. I would suggest, however, that by placing the emphasis on the word Father, we can find a new meaning. I believe that what Jesus is saying ...

393. Who Counted the Fish?

John 21:1-14, John 21:15-25

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... but they are together and the net does not break! What a ringing affirmation of the fact that in the Church of Jesus Christ there is room for all sorts of people, people of every race and clime and tongue. The Church is supposed to be inclusive, and not exclusive. Perhaps this is the reason why the 21st chapter of John is tacked onto the rest of the story. But there may well be another reason. Perhaps the story is put here to remind the Church that the disciple Peter who had denied his Lord was forgiven and ...

394. Wining and Dining with Jesus

Mark 2:18-22

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... Co., 1981., p. 80) Strong words, but they are echoed by our Lord Himself. “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” Jesus tended to be inclusive, rather than exclusive. That is what got Him into trouble. Some churches practice “closed communion.” That is, only those who are bona fide members of that particular church may partake. That has always appeared to me as sort of a spiritual snobbery. I am glad that for Father ...

395. A Sign for a Sign

Mark 8:11-13

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... were to act as “deacons” (Acts 6:1-6) Only Jesus presides as host giving thanks (the Greek word here is the same one from which our word “Eucharist” comes). Nothing whatever is said of the disciples own hunger, or of their eating. Their work is exclusively as servants of the sheep. Is this parallel to Matthew 16 where Jesus tells the disciples that their task is to take the Good News into all the world? I have a hunch that it is so. The “seven baskets full” indicates abundance. The number seven ...

396. On the Singing of Hymns

Mark 14:12-26

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... dwelt secure” in the hymn “Our God, our help in ages past,” thinking that was too Calvinistic, and so he re-wrote the line to read: “Still may we dwell secure.” And he resented the phrase “Our God.” Who are we to claim God as our own exclusive property? So he changed it to “O God, our help in ages past.” And now that’s the way millions of Methodists today believe that Moses handed it down from Mount Sinai! And then there is that grand old hymn “Faith of our Fathers”---I wonder what ...

397. The Tenth Commandment: How Zacchaeus Got His Groove Back

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... back by restoring four-fold everything his covetous ways had gotten him, and living an honest and ethical life from that point on as evidence of the new creation that was in him. However, let me tell you that the sin of covetousness does not belong exclusively to the rich, but to everyone--which is why it is in the Ten Commandments. Fyodor Dostoevsky in his classic novel, The Brothers Karamazov, writes the famous Parable of the Onion: Once upon a time, there was a peasant woman and a very wicked woman she ...

398. Placard Faith, Complex World

John 3:1-21

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... Let the redeemed of the Lord say so," admonishes the psalmist (Psalm 107:2), and that includes us also. Three, we can be reminded that biblical truth is not to be found in just one location. If there are places that seem to lift up exclusiveness, there are other places where we find inconclusiveness. When Saint Paul says that nothing "can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord," presumably nothing means just that -- nothing, including the inability to accept reducing Jesus to the creedal ...

399. Extravagant Guestures in a Cost-Effective World

Mark 14:1-11

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... in that beauty, even if at times the cost seems extravagant. How much is beauty worth? The late Henri Nouwen put it well, The dominant question in work has become: "How practical is it and what does it cost?" Whole cities have been built so exclusively useful that their sheer ugliness did visible harm to the physical and mental health of those who live there. The irony of usefulness is, that, when beauty is no longer part of it, it quickly becomes useless. In the days when houses, churches, and cities ...

400. No Other Name

Acts 4:1-22

Sermon

King Duncan

... given to men by which we must be saved.” Here is where the story has been leading--this decisive declaration: "there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." Here is that statement that many today reject as being too exclusive: "There is no other name by which we must be saved." Here is the line drawn in the sand. "There is no other name . . ." Here is where we separate ourselves from all other religions. "There is no other name . . ." This is not a sign of disrespect for ...

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