Sermon and Worship Resources

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376. Possession is Nine Tenths of the Fall

Matthew 21:33-46

Sermon

D. Wayne Burkette

... everything that touches them. It seems so often that nothing pleases some people more than the feeling that life is like putty in their hands, ready for whatever molding and shaping they desire at the moment. Unfortunately, as the Parable of the Wicked Tenants illustrates, the inevitable end to this deadly desire is some kind of self-destruction. Imagine it in the way Jesus told it in his parable. The tenants of the vineyard have it all. Everything they need is provided - hedge, wine press, watch tower. It ...

377. What kind of Cup Do You Bring?

1 Corinthians 10:14-22

Sermon

Various Authors

... of futility. You cannot add anything to something already full. What kind of cup do you bring? Is it already full? What kind of cup do you bring? II. Some people bring a partially filled cup The imagery of the partially filled cup is a bit more subtle. Let me illustrate it this way. If you come to my home for a drink of iced tea and you bring your own cup already filled with a mixture of salt and alum dissolved in water, what will be the result? The iced tea will be contaminated by what is already in your ...

378. Jesus’ Hospital

Matthew 9:9-13

Sermon

... that "no man ever had such faith in the possibilities of human nature as Jesus had." He saw something in the face of this one called "God’s Gift" that the others could not see. Jesus saw one who would get up and follow him. Nelson's illustrated Bible Dictionary makes a good point when it states: By His attitude toward the tax collectors, Jesus showed that God’s covenant of grace extends to all people - not simply the righteous who observed the law of the Old Testament. In fact, His message was that God ...

379. Advent 3

Isaiah 35:1-10, Psalm 146:1-10, James 5:7-12, Matthew 11:1-19

Sermon Aid

... with the biblical story, as in the first part of the sermon. This technique is more one of integration of biblical and contemporary story than it is a matter of illustrating the truth of the gospel. By themselves, the contemporary stories a pastor interweaves with the story may be in the form that could be called illustrations, but the Steimle technique as demonstrated in "The Stranger," in God, the Stranger, turns the entire sermon into a complete story.) Isaiah 35:1-10 - "God's Day for Rejoicing ...

380. Proper 10

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon Aid

... : Enlarge us to see the world, its pain and joy. Pastor: I invite us to give thanks and live with courage and commitment to a new humanity. Ministers: Let it be so! So be it! Message with the Children of All Ages Consider this: Simply illustrate the parable, by bringing some seeds, and showing what happens to them. Show how people in their daily lives resemble the seeds. Proclamation of the Word Suggestion: Because I come from a farm where my parents raised chickens, I made the comparison between seeds and ...

381. The Dogmatics of Aluminum Foil

Luke 20:27-38

Illustration

Brett Blair

... is so obvious in this scene is that it's a set up. They don't even believe in heaven, the afterlife and resurrection. They're just asking these question to trip Jesus up and Jesus sees their trivial behavior so plainly. Let me give you a little illustration from the realm of cooking. This story comes from a Houston Chronicle Editorial column: Ask any great cook about aluminum foil and you're bound to get an opinion on which side is "best." Some swear the shiny side must always be on the outside of a baked ...

382. For Christ’s Sake, What’s Going On?

Matthew 18:15-20

Sermon

Michael L. Sherer

... effective carriers of healing to the world outside our doors. The Sacrament we share around the Table of the Lord is powerfully illustrative of what we are to be about. We come to share this meal because we, despite our brokenness, have the Lord and ... it is significant to God that when we pray we come to him. We indicate, by prayer, that we are in common cause with him. We illustrate an openness, a trust, a need to hear from him, a recognition of who is in charge, and a dependency that is important for our ...

383. Who Has Everything?

Matthew 5:5

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

... church, makes us wonder what in the world Jesus had in mind when he said: "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." What did he mean? Who, in his estimation, was a meek person? What is a meek person like? Perhaps I can best illustrate this with examples. Let’s look at some Old Testament characters. ABRAHAM was perhaps the greatest gentleman of the Old Testament. We salute him for his faith, but as we look at him we see a wonderful portrait of meekness. Remember how he acted when his young ...

384. Will My Ship Sink or Float?

Romans 8:28-39

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

... I found them Meg," the doctor said. "They found Peter on their own. They came back to me today to see if I could find another handicapped child for them. That’s one of the happiest families I have ever known." Such a strange story. But it illustrates the perennial truth of today’s Scripture: "All things (even difficult things) work together for good to those that love God." The parts of a battleship might not float, but the great ship built into one integrated unit will ride out the worst of storms. Do ...

385. The Agony and Ecstasy of Sight

John 9:1-12

Sermon

Richard Hoefler

... stubborn refusal will not accept the gift of sight. The key that unlocks the various aspects of this story is John’s view that Jesus is the light of the world come into the world to destroy the darkness. Laidlaw writes: The whole work illustrates not merely in general the success of Christ - the light of the world - in dispelling the darkness of human ills, but more specially the analogy between the cure of physical blindness and the enlightenment of the mind in the knowledge of Christ. The narrative ...

386. What It Takes to Stay Christian

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

Sermon

Raymond Gibson

... of love which is perfectly and succinctly described in John 3:16 when "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." That most familiar of all Bible verses not only illustrates agape-love but also describes its labor. The key word is believe, insofar as the labor of love is concerned Christians receive God’s love when they believe; and the love they receive enables them to stay Christian when they believe enough to put that love ...

387. Nature of Faith

Eph 5:31-32

Illustration

Brett Blair

In 1520 Martin Luther explained the nature of faith using marriage as an illustration: "The third incomparable benefit of faith is that it unites the soul with Christ as a bride united with her bridegroom. By this mystery, as the apostle teaches, Christ and the soul become one flesh. And if they are one flesh and there is between them a true marriage ... it ...

388. In Which Direction Do You Travel?

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... the traffic barriers in life. Correspondingly, we wind up somewhere in the middle, with our wheels spinning. Would that evil were merely a force that we could pull out of people and by doing so make certain they never head in the wrong direction again. In the illustration of the driver in the ditch, would that the problem could be solved by merely pulling the car out. But you and I know that the problem was not with the car, but with the driver. Somehow the driver’s whole approach to driving has to be ...

389. Paul: The Man and His Message

Romans 9:1-29

Sermon Aid

T. A. Kantonen

... sinners" (Matthew 9:13). Paul’s own disciple, Luke, transmits the astounding story about a lost son, comparing God to a father who lavishes his affection upon a moral derelict whose only claim to consideration is his utter helplessness (Luke 15). In another illustration, Jesus draws a sharp contrast between a Pharisee, a devout keeper of the law, and a tax-gatherer, self-condemned before the law and appealing only to God’s mercy. Jesus concludes, "This man (the latter) went down to his house justified ...

390. Hindering Riches

Matthew 19:16-30

Sermon

Herchel H. Sheets

... think differently, too. So he purposely exaggerated to try to get his message across to them. He said, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." This is another illustration of the humor of Christ. Can you imagine a huge camel, the largest animal known to Jesus’ listeners, trying to put himself through the eye of a needle? It is preposterous! Various attempts have been made to cut down on the preposterousness of the picture. For instance ...

391. What On Earth Is God Doing? - 1940

Psalm 76:1-12

Sermon

Kent Moorehead

... Galatians 6:7). And now, again, our sins have found us out - despite the fact that in many instances they have not been found out. The stars in their courses fight against all of us. The Ten Commandments, we discover, are never broken - they are only illustrated. We are getting what we prepared for. We filled the conditions of disaster, and the results are unfailing. God is here, certainly enough, and in a more awful sense than we ever suspected, we may sing: Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of ...

392. The Art of Living Until

Matthew 24:36-51

Sermon

Leonard Mann

... . And so it is until at last you turn into home stretch road, and round a curve, and the gates open, and you are there. And this is good. More than anything else, it is the character of the destination which gives quality to the journey. Let us illustrate it this way: Highway 296 is a three-hundred-mile length of typical mid-western road. It is springtime, and driving along its distance, a forty-year-old man is going west. His destination is a hospital morgue where he will identify and claim the body of his ...

393. Thorns and Roses

2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... gives you a thorn that you and God can't remove, make it produce a rose. The minister Bruce Larson states this principle as follows: "In every disaster, God has a gift for you. Claim it." In chapter twelve of Paul's second letter to the Corinthians, he illustrates this truth in his own life. In verse 7 he tells us: "A Thorn Was Given Me..." What was this thorn? We don't know. It was some very painful, chronic affliction. Sometimes Paul was totally disabled by it. Some cynic has suggested that Paul's thorn ...

394. A Reason For All To Be Thankful

Romans 8:28-39

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... with a Thanksgiving sermon. In the first place, not everyone feels thankful; and those who do are not thankful for the same things. In fact, one person's cause for thanksgiving could be another person's cause for gloom. I could illustrate that in the political realm, but I better not. I could illustrate that from the world of sports, but I don't think I need to. Some people are thankful for their jobs, while others despise their jobs but don't know where to find other employment. Some people are grateful to ...

395. Remember Lot’s Wife

Luke 17:20-37

Sermon

Don Yocom

... for good with those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28). Over a period of time as we press forward, things clarify. God measures time from the standpoint of quality. We tend to measure time from the standpoint of quantity. Let us illustrate: When water has stood still for a long time, it becomes stagnant and murky. Let it run awhile and it will clear itself as it passes over obstacles and riffles, has a chance to be aerated, and the sun can shine on it. So with our lives. If ...

396. Three-Dimensional Christianity

James 1:19-27

Sermon

Michael J. Anton

... hinders God’s cause and my compassion for my human brothers and sisters. There is one other dimension that is hidden in James’ words. The dimension of power, where I receive the power to execute the other two dimensions. The source of that power is briefly illustrated in the story of a very ordinary man named Aeschines who came to learn from the great Socrates. "I am a poor man," said Aeschines, "I have nothing else to give you but myself." "Do you not see," said Socrates, "that you are giving me the ...

397. The Marvelous Style Of Jesus: Truth And Love

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon

Joseph M. Freeman

... to the wedding guest not wearing the proper attire is the old rabbinic way of reminding us of "the duty of preparedness for the summons of God, and the garments stand for the preparation that must be made."2 "Jesus told them several other stories to illustrate the kingdom" (v. 1). In the midst of an infant baptism, I encourage the parents and sponsors to make as much of this spiritual inauguration of their child's life as they do the baby's natural birth date. I invite them to consider an annual celebration ...

398. Out of Doors: Nature and Supernatural

Matthew 14:22-36

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

... mottled and pungent air of the Old City. Jesus lived with nature, and he taught from it. If I want an object lesson, I have to carry it into the pulpit or trust that you and I can blend our imaginations to envision a scene. Jesus had his illustrations at first hand; the people could often reach out and touch them. "Consider the lilies of the field," Jesus said, and the people looked at a hillside just to their right. "A certain man went out to sow seed," Jesus said, and every person in the crowd knew what ...

399. Resurrection: From Slave to Child

Galatians 3:26--4:7

Sermon

Leonard H. Budd

... ancient roads. Those letters were held as spiritual treasures by those who received them, and eventually they were bound into the New Testament that is our own scriptures. There are other - more modern - roads upon which God’s adoption of us through Christ Jesus has been illustrated. One was a Montgomery, Alabama road. On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a public bus so that a white man might be seated. Mrs. Parks is black. She told the white bus driver that she was tired and ...

400. Movin’ Around Room

Isaiah 43:14-28

Sermon

Thomas D. Peterson

... options and courageous enough to take on possibilities which may turn out to be new things for them. Jesus gives us a beautiful illustration of this. He confronts the crippled man at the Pool of Bethzatha (John 5:2-9). This cripple had been locked in for ... from there on the man is on his own, equipped with room in which to live and to be. I can go on to numerous illustrations. We human beings become locked in to anything, and we will always be needing to do a new thing. No matter the place and circumstance ...

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