Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 4076 to 4100 of 5000 results

Ephesians 1:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... your body, no mind to guide you to new pleasures and opportunities, no faith to bear you up when circumstance weighs you down? Are you really without any resources for making 1992 a wonderful year? Count your blessings, says the old hymn. In LEADERSHIP magazine Mark Tidd tells about an old man who came to the back door of a house some college kids were renting. The old man's eyes were glassy and his furrowed face glistened with silver stubble. He clutched a wicker basket holding a few unappealing vegetables ...

4077. Jesus And The Lake Wobegon Effect

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

King Duncan

... in a long while. As she lay on her deathbed, she pointed toward the window through which she could see the flashing lightning and torrential rain and said, "Look, look!" Jesus asked his disciples, "Having eyes, do you not see, and having ears do you not hear?" (Mark 8:18) The rich man did not see Lazarus at his gate. The Pharisees did not see that their attention to keeping the Law was separating them from the rest of God's children. Even Jesus' disciples did not see that the kingdom was not about power ...

4078. Where Is Your Citizenship?

Philippians 3:12-4:1

Sermon

King Duncan

Mark Twain once categorized people into three groups: commonplace, remarkable, and lunatics. I don't know about you, but I can think of people who belong in all three groups. St. Paul, though, says there are only two kinds of people ” citizens of the world and citizens of heaven. And the ...

4079. Father, Into Your Hands I Commit My Spirit

Isaiah 52:13--53:12

Sermon

Philip Ware

... : agonizing death on a crude Cross driven into the ground at the city dump. That was bad enough, but they exceeded their orders by brutally subjecting Jesus to physical and psychological torture before carrying out the cruel political and religious mandate to kill him. Mark puts it plainly: The execution squad called "together the rest of the company. They put a purple robe on Jesus and a crude crown made out of thorns on his head, pushing it down until blood sprinkled from his brow. They beat his head ...

4080. He Is Who He Says He Is

Acts 5:17-42

Sermon

King Duncan

... Such things just don't happen in this world. Thomas, particularly, found it hard to accept. He was not with the other disciples when Jesus made his first appearances. When the other disciples told Thomas, "We have seen the Lord!" he was skeptical. "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands," he said, "and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it." A week later Christ's disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them this time. Though the doors were ...

4081. A Time To Remember - Memorial Day

Revelation 7:9-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... of the soldiers. ALL the soldiers ” Union as well as Confederate. The mothers and daughters and widows had buried their dead. Now they buried their hatred. The time for healing had come. It was the first Memorial Day. Have you ever wondered why Memorial Day is marked in May? Its date doesn't recall some historic battle. Or the start of some war. Or the signing of an armistice. Why, then, May? For a very practical reason. Because it is a time when flowers bloom. Flowers with which to decorate graves. There ...

4082. The Cry Of Freedom

Matthew 22:15-22

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... of Jesus and his love. As we consider our human family, our national family, and our church family, let us remember the inspiring words of Adoniram Judson: "The future is as bright as the promises of God." In Christ, we are truly "free". 1. Mark Trotter, "Grace All the Way Home," THE UPPER ROOM (Nashville, TN: 1982), pg. 135. 2. Maxie Dunnam, THE COMMUNICATOR'S COMMENTARY, Volume 8, Word, Inc. 3. Loren Eiseley, THE IMMENSE JOURNEY (New York: Random House, 1946), pp. 190-192. 4. James Draper, THE CONSCIENCE ...

4083. Why Do We Call Him Good?

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Dr. Ronald Love

... was dead. Possibly they were just in a hurry and did not want to be inconvenienced. Whatever the reason, they both turned their back. The Samaritan was good because he turned his face on the man, not his back, and he showed him simple human kindness. Mark Twain once wrote, "Kindness is a language that the deaf can hear and the blind can read." He was right, of course. Everyone can understand the language of love. It can be spoken in any dialect and still be comprehended by a person of any nationality ...

4084. Lessons From The Locker Room

Hebrews 12:1-13

Sermon

Lowell D. Streiker

... us from attaining the goal we have chosen. St. Paul writes in our text from Hebrews, "...since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Get the picture? We are on the ...

4085. One Came Back

Luke 17:11-19

Sermon

King Duncan

... she visited. They were Christians who have forgotten the debt they owe. Every one of us ought to spend our lives saying, "Thank you, Lord, thank you, thank you." We recently celebrated the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' discovery of America. 1992 marked the 500th year after the 1492 of Columbus sailing the ocean blue. Some question whether or not Columbus was the first to actually make this discovery. Some, particularly Native Americans, are not too happy with the discovery itself. Yet there is ...

4086. Visioning Or Vanishing?

Proverbs 29:1-27

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... Gospel. Without vision ” we will lose both. A CHURCH THAT HAS A VISION OR SEEKS TO BE CLAIMED BY A VISION, WILL NOT ASK FOR TASKS EQUAL TO ITS POWER, BUT FOR POWER EQUAL TO ITS TASKS. What a difference in attitude and position these two ideas represent! Mark Twain would say that it is "the difference between lighting and a lightening bug." We must not ask for tasks equal to our power but for power EQUAL TO THE TASKS THAT CHRIST ASSIGNS US. John Wesley's fear was not that the people called Methodists would ...

4087. Facing Up To The Giant Task Of Life

1 Samuel 17:1-58

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... The Lord's Prayer and the Prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. There is no question about it. At the center of Jesus' life was a glad and unflinching obedience to the Father's will. This kind of obedience and commitment to God's will is a key mark of discipleship.(2) THE FOURTH INGREDIENT NEEDED TO FACE THE GIANT TASK OF LIFE IS THAT OF PROPERLY PREPARING OURSELVES. Just like a football team, we must move or gather in the huddle to receive our game plan from God and execute the plays from the playbook given ...

4088. A Date With Destiny

Hebrews 10:19-39

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... expect me to do this sort of thing every day, do you?" See, there's the rub. That's the tough part about faithfulness. It's a commitment. It's a promise to someone to be there for him at a later date, at another time. It's an appointment marked on the busy calendars of our lives, an appointment down the road, a commitment in the future. But the thing is, the future is so large, and so uncertain. It could go this way, or it could go that way. A million and one things could happen. Maybe something else ...

4089. Learning From A Little Child

Isaiah 35:1-10

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... to interest her in the newest toy she had brought. Through tears the child cried, "Mommy, I want you!" That is our greatest need, too, isn't it? We want God. We want to know that God lives and that God cares and that God is with us. Immanuel! Mark Connelly in his classic play, GREEN PASTURES, has the angel Gabriel walk on the stage with his horn under his arm, and approach the Lord who is in deep thought. God is troubled about what is happening among his people on earth. God is troubled ” because he has ...

4090. Special Delivery

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... Message!" In the Bible, "Angel" and "Messenger" mean the same thing! But Angels don't show up every day. That is why the visitations by the angel in the Christmas story are so dramatic. Angels only bring big messages. They only come around when the message is marked special delivery. It reminds me of an old saying that the Dutch people have. It goes like this: DE DOMINE HAT VOORBIJ! DE DOMINE HAT VOORBIJ! It means: The minister's just walked by! And people would always say it when there was a big crowd, and ...

4091. The Fourth King In The Christmas Story

Matthew 2:13-18

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... is suffering. As we come to the end of this year and as we prepare ourselves for a new year, we, too, need to look up. Bethlehem's star shines also for us. 1. Julia Boynton Green, CHRISTMAS ALMANAC, (New York: Doubleday Co., Inc., l979), page 284. 2. Thanks to Mark Trotter for this illustration. 3. Doug Peterson, MANY ARE CALLED, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992). 4. Bill Moyers, A WORLD OF IDEAS II. Alan W. Steier, Linton, North Dakota, LEADERSHIP, Summer 1995, p. 39.

4092. Let My Little Light Shine

Matthew 5:13-16

Sermon

King Duncan

... . 1. SALES UPBEAT, May 25, 1995, pp. 13-15. 2. LOUIS BRAILLE: THE BOY WHO INVENTED BOOKS FOR THE BLIND Margaret Davidson, Scholastic, 1971. Cited inBTBC, pp. 250-251. 3. Ernest Boyer, Jr., FINDING GOD AT HOME, (San Francisco: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1988), pp. 73-74. 4. Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, A 2ND HELPING OF CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL, (Deerfield Beach, FL: Health Communications, Inc., 1995), p. 4. 5. Randy Rowland, GET A LIFE! (New York: HarperCollins Publishersm 1992)., p.125.

4093. Hard Choice

Deuteronomy 30:11-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... WITH THE CHOICES WE MAKE. That was why Moses' task was so critical. Much was at stake. Israel would have to live with the consequences of their decision. Make the right choice and they would prosper. Make the wrong choice and they would perish. One of the marks of maturity is the discovery that the choices we make have consequences. If we choose rightly, we reap rewards. If we choose wrongly, we sometimes pay a steep price. I had a good laugh at a story in the newspapers sometime back about a teacher who ...

4094. With Your Head In The Clouds

Exodus 24:1-18

Sermon

King Duncan

... displayed in some Christians' obsessions with numbers. Chuck Swindoll tells about a lady in Kansas City who went to court to get her license plate changed because it ended with 666. She stated that her fellow church members were shunning her. As you may know, the mark of the beast in the book of the Revelation is 666. Swindoll goes on to note that the 666 scare stuff is getting downright ridiculous. The fact is that those three digits can be uncovered in almost anybody's name, if you're willing to work ...

4095. Thankless Jobs

John 10:1-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... surprise at his familiarity with each animal. "See that sheep over there?" he asked. "Notice how it toes in a little. The one behind it has a squint; the next one has a patch of wool off its back; ahead is one with a distinguishing black mark, while the one closest to us has a small piece torn out of its ear." Observing all of them, the believer thought about Christ, the Chief Shepherd, who also knows the individual weaknesses and failings of His flock and watches over the members with discerning love ...

4096. I Can Have Anything?

John 14:5-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... became more and more apparent that the rabbi was a lonely voice in the wilderness. The president of the synagogue said, "Come, Rabbi, enough of this. Let us vote and allow the majority to rule." He passed out the slips of paper and each man made his mark. The slips were collected and the president said, "You may examine them, Rabbi. It is eleven to one against you. We have the majority." Whereupon the rabbi rose to his feet in offended majesty. "So," he said, "you now think because of the vote that you are ...

4097. The Mother Side Of God

John 14:15-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... . 2. "USA Snapshots," August 3, 1987, 1A. Cited in Denis Rainey, THE TIBUTE (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishes, 1994), p. 103. 3. Gene Dobbins; Johnny Wilson; Wayne Sharp, "Roses for Mama" copyright 1977 Chappell & Co. Cited in IBID., p.106-107. 4. THE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE, 1995. 5. Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, (New York: Berkley Books, 1995), pp. 182-183. 6. Keith A. White.

4098. Who Is God Anyway?

2 Corinthians 13:11-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... . Psychologists Peter Benson and Bernard Spilka studied descriptions and definitions of God as given by Catholics and related it to their self-esteem. Even though the 128 people studied had identical religious education, their concepts of God differed markedly. The researchers found that people with high self-esteem ” those who liked and trusted themselves ” had loving, accepting images of God. Those with low self-esteem ” guilty, pessimistic people ” had punitive, rejecting images of God. (5) The ...

4099. The Testimony of a Tax Collector

Matthew 9:9-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... just lacked compassion. Like so many religious people. They're more apt to avoid you rather than reach out a helping hand to you. Oscar Wilde once wrote a scathing little poem about such people: The Chaplain would not kneel to pray By his dishonoured grave; Nor mark it with that blessed Cross That Christ for sinners gave, Because the man was one of those Whom Christ came down to save. (THE BALLADE OF READING GAOL) Oh, I don't mean to criticize. Some of my best friends are religious people. It's just that ...

4100. Focusing On The Possibilities

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... President Gerald Ford . George Dantzig passed away at his Stanford home at age 90 on 13 May 2005. THE INFORMATION IN QUOTES IS DANTZING'S ACCOUNT. THE REST IS FROM WWW.SNOPES.COM. 2. CONTEXT, 21:3, February 1, 1989, p. 1. Cited in Mark Trotter, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? (Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press, 1992), p. 93. 3. George Shinn, THE MIRACLE OF MOTIVATION (Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1981), p. 224. 4. "God Came Back," PULPIT RESOURCE, April/May/June 1996, p. 5. 5. CAMPUS LIFE ...

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