Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 3976 to 4000 of 4944 results

3976. Generic Christians Or Disciples?

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

As Maxie Dunnam was driving one day on Poplar Avenue, in Memphis, Tennessee, he noticed a bumper sticker on the car in front of him. He inched closer and saw that the bumper sticker read in big letters, "I am a Generic Christian." That got his attention. He tried to get closer. Some smaller letters were written beneath the larger ones. He got dangerously close to the back of the car to read the words, "Ask me what I mean." He was intrigued even more. What was the person with this bumper sticker trying to ...

3977. 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 ...

3978. Resisting The Power Of Temptation

1 Corinthians 10:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

A silly story has been going around about a young man who was hitchhiking through one of our Southern states. A farmer driving an old pickup truck stopped to give him a lift. As they rode along, they got to talking about the local moonshine whiskey. The young man said he didn't drink very much. Moonshine would probably be too strong for his tastes. "Nonsense!" said the farmer. "You gotta try some." He fished around behind him and finally produced a small jug. "Here," he said, handing the jar to the lad. " ...

3979. A New Vantage Point

Colossians 3:1-17

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

Whenever people visit a beautiful, impressive church building, invariably there are two things they want to do: they want to go up to the pulpit and see how things look from this perspective; and then they want to go up in the balcony, if there is one, and look down on everything. And isn't that typical? There's something inside of us that needs to climb to the top and get the view from above. When we were children, we'd climb trees and build secret houses for ourselves up in the branches and spy down on ...

3980. What's Really Important

1 Samuel 16:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

The world's greatest detective, Sherlock Holmes, and his faithful companion, Dr. Watson, were on a camping trip. They were in their sleeping bags looking up at the sky. Holmes said, "Watson, look up. What do you see?" Watson answered, "Well, I see thousands of stars." "And what does that mean to you?" Holmes inquired. "Well," said Watson, "I guess it means we will have another nice day tomorrow." Watson paused for a moment and then asked, "What does it mean to you, Holmes?" "To me," said Holmes somberly, " ...

3981. A Father Pleased With His Son

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

King Duncan

Is there any son or daughter in this world who is not thrilled by this little declaration of praise from a parent, "I'm proud of you?" When baseball great Henry Aaron hit his 715th home run breaking Babe Ruth's remarkable record, that is what he said: "I don't' remember the noise, or the two kids that ran on the field. My teammates at home plate, I remember seeing them. I remember my mother out there and she hugging me. that's what I'll remember more than anything about that home run when I think back on ...

3982. I THIRST: The Fifth Word

John 19:28-37

Sermon

Eric Ritz

We continue on our journey today as we examine and reflect on--for our spiritual edification--"The Fifth Word" of our Lord Jesus Christ from the cross. So far, we have heard our Lord share these words from the cross: First he said, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." Then he promised the repentant thief, "Today you will be with me in Paradise." He committed the care of His mother, Mary, to his closest friend John. Last week we heard that powerful cry from the cross "My God, My God, why ...

3983. A Time of Grief

Luke 7:11-17

Sermon

King Duncan

You may know the story of a young minister who was asked by a funeral director to hold a graveside service for a homeless man who had died while traveling through the area. The service was to be held at a new cemetery way back in the country. This man would be the first person laid to rest there. As he was not familiar with the back woods area, the young minister soon became quite lost and finally arrived over an hour late. He saw the backhoe by the grave and noticed that the crew was eating lunch under a ...

3984. Even God Can Change His Mind

Exodus 32:1-14

Sermon

Mark Trotter

I was stunned by the Old Testament lesson for this morning, where it says the Lord changed his mind about the disaster he planned to bring upon his people. I have read that passage before, and there are many others just like it in the Old Testament. But I guess I never paid much attention to them. I thought that they were simply vestiges of a more primitive stage of religion, and something that we in the modern age need not take seriously. But then I read a book a few weeks ago by Richard Friedman, a ...

3985. Eye Exercises

Matthew 6:25-33

Sermon

Mark Trotter

3986. On the Beach

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

Sermon

Mark Trotter

On this third Sunday in the season of Easter, we look at yet another resurrection appearance, this one from the Gospel of John. The disciples are despondent. The world has collapsed around them. Their Lord has been crucified. I suppose that by the time this story takes place, which is at least a week after the Resurrection, we can assume that they have heard of the Resurrection, if they have not actually experienced the Resurrected Christ. Although we know that some did see him, if you think of the Upper ...

3987. Set Life Free

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

It's one of those June "mornings." It's 3:45 a.m. in the Pacific Northwest. The eastern horizon is pink and puffy with promise. Kids refuse to go to bed at 10:30 p.m. because "it's not dark yet!" In the north country, June is no the season for sleeping. It's the season for growing. Dedicated gardeners have anticipated this insomniac season (the real meaning of "Sleepless in Seattle") since December and January when the seed catalogs started to arrive...along with sky-high winter heating bills. There are ...

3988. WaterFire Disciples

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Does your church have a mission statement? There are very few now that don't. Remind your congregation what it is. Can they recite it by heart? Does your church have an image statement? There are very few now that do. But in an image culture, it's more important to have an image statement than a mission statement. The city of Chicago came up with an image statement for itself in 1999 and it brought into the city hundreds of millions of dollars. The image that best captured their history and heritage was ...

3989. Learning the Three Step Faith Walk

Luke 5:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

The January 2004 edition of Trail magazine has got some 'splaining to do. Trail is a British publication that provides maps and suggests particularly beautiful or challenging hiking trials to the growing number of devoted hill-walkers throughout Great Britain. Unfortunately if anyone had followed the seemingly precise, detailed directions given by the magazine to reach the summit of Britain's largest mountain, Ben Nevis, they would have hiked straight off a sheer cliff and ended up in a broken heap at the ...

3990. You Can Take It to the Bank

2 Peter 3:1-10

Sermon

James Merritt

I read a story about an angel of the Lord who telephoned the editors of five major newspapers with this message: "God says the world will end tomorrow." The New York Times carried a front page headline which read: "The World Will End Tomorrow Reliable Source Says" A box read: "Analysis on page 11." The Wall Street Journal's front page headline read: "World Ends Tomorrow; Market Plunges" The headline in USA Today read: "We're Gone!" The Headline in the LA Times read: "World Ends Tomorrow; Bill Clinton says ...

3991. The World's Fittest Human

Mark 12:28-34

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Training in godliness involves the 4-step fitness program outlined in the Shema: Heart, Mind, Soul, Strength. Last spring, there was only one "athlete" on everybody's minds and every sportscaster's lips. In 1997, Tiger Woods became the youngest player ever to win the Master's golf tournament and he did so by setting a record low score. The most prestigious tourney, a record-setting score not a bad start for a 21-year-old's first full year on the pro golf circuit. Golfers on the pro tour are sighing and ...

3992. Member Means Minister

Ephesians 4:11-12

Sermon

James Merritt

I asked my wife, Teresa, one time "How many great preachers in the world do you think there are?" She said, "One less than you think there is!" I want to ask you a question. What is the secret to greatness? If you went to Wall Street and asked the question, "What is the secret to greatness?" Wall Street would say, "Money and lots of it." If you were to go to Washington and ask, "What is the secret to greatness?" Washington would say, "Political clout and a lot of it." If you were to go to Hollywood and ask ...

3993. The “Gratitude Salute”

James 1:19-27

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Why are you here? Why did you come to church this morning? What made you voluntarily choose to spend the last summer Sunday before the too busy, too crowded Labor Day weekend inside a church? Why aren’t you lolling on some beach? (Okay, okay maybe you will be later this afternoon!) Maybe you are here out of habit. Maybe going to church is “what you do” on Sunday morning. Maybe you are here because your parents dragged you into the car, kicking and screaming, and you would rather be anywhere else. Maybe you ...

3994. What Happens When You're Not Prepared for What Happens

Luke 8:26-39

Sermon

David R. Cartwright

How do you handle what happens when you're not prepared for what happens? Well, sometimes not all that well. I would like to call your attention to a movie, Cheaper By The Dozen, starring Steve Martin. There are numerous scenes in this movie that illustrate how one father tries to take care of things while his wife is away. This movie is about a father who has just gotten his dream job of coaching football at his college alma mater. But this job change calls for him, his wife, their twelve children — yes, ...

3995. Bystanders or Standbys

Genesis 2:4-25

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Crime scene investigators (which we now know as “CSI”) acknowledge that if all the witnesses to an event report exactly the same information there is only one conclusion to draw: They are lying. Human individuality, the uniqueness of individual perceptions and eye-witness, the unrepeatability of each person’s own experience, makes it impossible for any group of individuals to see and report an event with the exact same language and coherence. If each rendition becomes a simply repetition — something is ...

3996. It Wasn’t The Hilton, You Know

Luke 2:1-7

Drama

Lois Anne DeLong

Characters (in order of appearance) Child 1 (Lead Shepherd) Child 2 (Mary) Child 3 (Narrator) Child 4 (Joseph) Child 5 (Lead Angel) Child 6 (Angel 2) Director Assistant Director Kristy (Innkeeper's Wife) Shepherd 2 Shepherd 3 Props Dish towels Bathrobes White pillow cases Cardboard box Stuffed animals —a few Piece of white fabric “Scripts” Broom Clipboard Tinsel halos Cardboard star Baby doll Baby blanket Notes This play about doing a play drives home the central message of this volume — that the trappings ...

3997. Walking First Class

2 Corinthians 3:12-18

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

McFaith. You know people like that don't you? They want Gospel Lite as if it were something consumable and not something to consume their souls. They don't want to bear the cross as Jesus said, but they'll gladly wear it as jewelry. They don't seem to get it. They have no idea what their destination or purpose in life is all about. They remind me of a story told about the late Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes. When he was eighty-eight years old he was traveling by train. When the conductor came ...

3998. Batman: Driven By Guilt or Grace?

Romans 5:1-11; 8:1-2

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

Sometimes on our journey of faith, we let other things get between us and God. Sometimes it's not things so much as it is ideas and attitudes. Sometimes its just our emotions. The point is, we let other stuff get between us and God. Usually it's just our own selfish pride. But whatever it is, it blocks us from receiving the full extent of God's Grace. It's like going to a banquet in our honor, being told that all our favorite dishes have been prepared just the way we like them and then choosing to eat ...

3999. A Chance To Help

John 6:1-15

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

Paul Harvey told about a 3-year-old boy who went to the grocery store with his mother. Before they entered she had certain instructions for the little boy: "Now you're not going to get any chocolate chip cookies, today, so don't even ask." She put him in the cart and off they went up and down the aisles. He was doing just fine until they came to the cookie section. Seeing all those chocolate chip cookies was just too much and he said, "Mom, can I have some chocolate chip cookies?" Mom said, "I told you not ...

4000. Being and Doing as the People of God

1 Peter 1:13-2:3

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

One of the most single television presentations during this decade, I believe, was the television series based on Alex Haley’s best-selling book, Roots. Millions of people read the book, and millions more saw the television drama. It was a moving presentation of a two-century epic of Kunta Kinte and the six generations who came after him. You will recall that Kunta Kinte was the great-great-great-great-great grandfather of Alex Haley, the author. If you did not read the book, you may have missed one of the ...

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