Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 4001 to 4025 of 5000 results

John 1:19-28

Sermon

King Duncan

... sins treated more gently. Preferably we would like them mentioned not at all. Two things may surprise us. One is how popular John the Baptist was in his own time. The other is his prominence in the drama of the first Christmas. As to his popularity, Mark tells us, "all the people of the Judaean countryside and everyone in Jerusalem went out to him in the desert and received his baptism in the river Jordan, publicly confessing their sins." (1) That was some revival! Can you imagine every single person in a ...

4002. The God Of Peace

Philippians 4:2-9

Sermon

King Duncan

... as this picture is, one is inclined to say that some things never change. The imagination would say that this is perhaps something like it was on the first Christmas morn. The caption for the TIMES picture read like this: "In Bethlehem, Christmas is marked by tension . . . ." (1) In Paul's letter to the Philippians, we find one of the most popular benedictions in the church. Verse 7 of chapter 4 reads: "And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ ...

4003. Love

Isaiah 7:1-25

Sermon

King Duncan

... at Christmas, Love so lovely, so divine. Love came down at Christmas, Star and angel gave the sign." LOVE CAME DOWN AT CHRISTMAS. That is the message for the morning. Love was born in the manger in Bethlehem. What kind of love? All kinds. LOVE FOR ONE ANOTHER MARKS CHRISTMAS. That is why many of us are weary from shopping this time of year. We are trying to find just the right gift to say, "I love you." A cartoon pictured three little boys coming to the manger scene bearing gifts. The first two boys brought ...

4004. Are You Going Down?

Luke 2:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... a bird's nest in the olive tree that stood to shade his mother's kitchen door. Yes, and two white stones, found on a muddy river bank, where he and his friends had played like small brown beavers, and at the bottom of the box, a limp, tooth-marked leather strap, once worn by a mongrel dog, who had died as he lived, in absolute love and infinite devotion." Remember how the littlest angel at the last moment sought to hide his humble gift and tried to run from the royal assembly but stumbled and rolled in a ...

4005. Some Things To Get Choked Up About

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

King Duncan

... was not to be eaten at all. There the chocolate Santa stood. Worshiped. Admired. Longed for. But not eaten. There was one exception. If you looked closely at Santa's fat tummy, you would see one small blemish. You would find some tiny teeth marks. One little tyke had wheeled his or her chair over and taken a bite. (7) There is a significant truth there. Millions of people across the earth are celebrating Christmas this day. They are exchanging presents. They are extending greetings. They are singing carols ...

4006. Flight To Egypt

Matthew 2:13-18

Sermon

King Duncan

... Congo and a bank robbery in Chicago. The editors explained that they were arranging the news in this fashion out of deference to "the spirit of the season." (4) It was a noble sentiment. Nevertheless, the way our Bibles describe the first Christmas stands in marked contrast. The Gospel writers do not tell about the birth of Christ with `two front pages.' When you turn to the New Testament there is no separation of the good news and the bad news. In fact the two are inseparably intertwined. In Luke's Gospel ...

4007. Congratulations, Joseph, It's A God!

John 1:1-18

Sermon

King Duncan

... exercise that will leave you perpetually dissatisfied spiritually. Knowing Christ, however, opens up a new dimension to life. Then the creeds and the liturgies that seemed so lifeless before become means of Grace. Hymns that once filled only the function of marking time before the sermon become sweeter as their message comes alive in our hearts. A transformation takes place-a transformation that occurs under no other circumstances. How does it happen? How does one come to know Jesus as more than a great ...

4008. Excited By Our Faith

John 1:35-42

Sermon

King Duncan

... fire department had doused the flames, workmen started to clean up and remove any surviving valuables. Then they were going to wreck what was left of the building for safety's sake. One of the workmen in the basement found the statue of Christ with hardly a mark on it, hardly a chip broken off. Gently they got a cable around it, lifted it out with a crane and set it on the sidewalk. Two businessmen were passing by. They looked at the ruins of the church and at the statue of Christ. One said sarcastically ...

4009. See My Hands and Feet

Luke 24:36-49

Sermon

King Duncan

... A dedication to Christ and determination to give his life in service to others. That is the difference the thought of eternity made in Paul Tournier's life. The same kind of thing happened in the lives of those first disciples. From frightened and uncertain men marked by doubt and envy, they became apostles of great courage and self-giving. How about you? What difference has been made in your life by seeing the hands and feet of the risen Christ? Has it caused you to take more seriously your walk with the ...

4010. A House Divided

Mark 3:20-30

Sermon

King Duncan

... . Their truth is selfevident. A house divided against itself cannot stand. THAT DIVIDED HOUSE MAY BE A HOME IN WHICH PEOPLE LIVE AS A FAMILY. There came a time in the Old West when cattlemen began fencing off their ranches. Barbed wire was used to mark the boundaries. The wire let everyone know whose land was whose, and which cattle belonged to which ranch. The barbed wire kept cattle in, and it also kept the stranger and the rustler out. One author has suggested that every family goes through a process ...

4011. God Of Compassion

Mark 6:30-44

Sermon

King Duncan

... a pliable, insecure smiley-faced waiter eager to please. God is God. But more than that God is the God revealed in Jesus Christ. And the overwhelming image that Jesus gives us of God is that of compassion. That is the word we encounter in the sixth chapter of Mark. Jesus has been teaching and healing and now he is tired. He suggests to the disciples that they come apart for some rest. Jesus knew that this is a need in everyone's life. Either we come apart from time to time or sooner or later we will come ...

4012. A Great High Priest

Hebrews 4:12-16

Sermon

King Duncan

... War. Pierson was in charge of a reconnaissance team that was sent out to survey enemy lines. On one particular mission they had to cross an American mine field before they could get over into German territory. Fortunately the mines were well marked for the American soldiers. So very carefully they made their way through the boobytrapped terrain. Just as they were safely across the field and nearly to the German lines a machinegunner pinned them down with fire. There they were whole platoon of reconnaissance ...

4013. Polished Up For Christmas

Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... via Oracle Service Humor Mailing List. 4. Moody's Anecdotes, Page 125-126. 5. Pearl S. Buck, "Christmas Day in the Morning," Stories for the Heart compiled by Alice Gray (Sisters, Oregon: Multnomah Books, 1996), 175-178. 6. Jeannie S. Williams, Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Patty Aubrey, Nancy Mitchell (Deerfield Beach, Fla.: Health Communications, Inc., 1997), 1114.

4014. Leadership Styles For A New Millennium

Matthew 2:13-18

Sermon

King Duncan

... alongside their people. Businessman Harvey Mackay, author of the book Swim with the Sharks, tells about such a servant leaderPhilip Pillsbury of the Pillsbury milling family. Mackay notes that the tips of three of Philip Pillsbury's fingers are missing. That's the mark of a journeyman grain miller, notes Mackay. "(Philip) Pillsbury had an international reputation as a connoisseur of fine foods and wines," Mackay says, "but to the troops, his reputation as a man willing to do a hard, dirty job was the one ...

4015. Behold The Lamb

John 1:29-42

Sermon

King Duncan

... . See him in his ministry to the world, a ministry he calls you and me to complete. May his example inspire us and his presence empower us until all the world knows that the victory has been won. 1. Contributed. Source unknown. 2. Rodney L. Cooper, Holman New Testament Commentary - Mark: 2 (Kindle Edition).

4016. We Haven't Seen Anything Yet!

1 Corinthians 2:9

Sermon

King Duncan

... frankly,” said his friend, “do you dread crossing the river of death?” The old bishop smiled weakly and said with conviction, “My father owns the land on both sides of the river. Why should I be afraid?” I cannot think about Heaven without thinking of Mark Twain’s classic remark. Twain said that the only reason he wanted to go to Heaven was because of the climate. Most of his friends, he said, would be in the other place. Twain was somewhat of a cynic. I much prefer a beautiful and heartwarming ...

4017. Choose Life!

Deuteronomy 30:15-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... ever choose death over life? Yet people make that choice all the time. It was 50 years ago when the following notice first appeared on cigarette pack—Warning: The Surgeon General Has Determined That Cigarette Smoking Is Dangerous To Your Health. It marked a turning point in our society. Suddenly we had to face the fact that the link between tobacco and lung cancer as well as heart disease, high blood pressure and a host of other diseases was scientifically established. Did people quit smoking tobacco ...

4018. Waiting For The Angels

Matthew 4:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... .'" Now, notice how the story ends, "Then the devil left him, and behold the angels came and ministered to him." (RSV) Waiting for the angels. That is our theme for the morning. LIFE IS DIFFICULT. It is filled with tests, trials, temptations. Last year marked the 75th anniversary of the Morton Salt girl with her umbrella and the slogan, "When it rains it pours." How many of you have ever quoted that little advertising slogan in a time of crisis? "When it rains, it pours." Sometimes it seems that waythat ...

4019. How Have We Made It This Far?

Acts 1:6-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... are supposed to taste. At one level they were enormously successful--no more bruises. But also no more taste. (6) Did you know that a church can be highly successful, and still miss the point of being a church? Fellowship and prayer--these are the marks of an authentic church. Such a church is a church of joy and power. 1. Contributed by Keith Brown. MONDAY FODDER, http://family-safe-mail.com/. 2. Harvey MacKay, Swim with the Sharks (New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc.). 3. Chuck Swindoll, Dropping ...

4020. Freedom!

Romans 6:3-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... created us to be and the fearful, uncertain persons that we are, and that is by faith in Jesus Christ. What we need is not a new set of resolutions but a new hearta heart at one with God. Then we will know what it is to be truly free. Mark Twain told of the night the Mississippi River cut through a narrow neck of land and changed courses. It was before the Civil War. A black man went to sleep as a slave in Missouri. He awoke to discover that because of the river's change, the land he was ...

4021. Who Is He?

Matthew 16:13-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... Post has a room filled with file folders. These folders contain information on famous people who are no longer alive. Each of these famous people is identified with a single vocational notation ("home run king," "motion picture star," etc.). One of these is marked "Jesus Christ." The notation is simply "martyr." Coming to grips with who Jesus is and what He means to us is the most important task we have. It has often been noted that Jesus' favorite teaching method was the asking of questions. There ...

4022. When Someone Else Gets The Honor

Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon

King Duncan

... the public relations." One of my favorites comes out of Hollywood: "How many actors does it take to change a light bulb? The answer: "One hundred. One to change the bulb and ninety-nine to say, "I could have done that." As someone has said, "After a person makes his mark in the world, a lot of people begin showing up with erasers." One of the most basic elements in the make-up of human beings is envy. We see it on the first pages of our Bibles. Abel was a keeper of sheep and Cain, a tiller of the ground ...

4023. Time For Action

Matthew 21:28-32

Sermon

King Duncan

... darkness fell, this 10 year old boy crawled out of his grave. With blood and dirt caked to his little body, he made his way to the nearest home and begged for help. A woman answered the door and immediately recognized him as one of the Jewish boys marked for death by the Nazis. So she screamed at him to go away and slammed the door. Dirty, bloddy, and shivering, this little boy limped from one house to the next begging for help. But he always got the same response. People were afraid to help. Fianlly in ...

4024. Blessing, Testing, Response

Matthew 25:31-46

Sermon

King Duncan

... very night his life was required of him! The false attitude is that God alone will feed the hungry. Therefore, we don't have to. All we need do is pray for them asking God to provide their food. That was the attitude which the disciples had in Mark 6:30 after Jesus had taught the 5,000 in the wilderness. It was getting late, the people were hungry. The apostles wanted to send them away so they could find food for themselves. But Jesus instructed them, "You give them something to eat." The disciples went to ...

4025. You're A Good Kid!

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... of every young person is the need to have a father or a mother say, "Well done. I'm proud of you. You're a good kid!" THE DEEPEST NEED EVERY YOUNG PERSON HAS IS THE NEED TO FEEL ACCEPTED, LOVED, WANTED, APPRECIATED. In our lesson for today Mark tells us that at Jesus' baptism he heard the voice of God saying to him, "You are my beloved son with whom I am well pleased!" What a marvelous affirmation! Do you remember Luke's comments about Jesus' younger years, "...he grew in wisdom and stature and in favor ...

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