Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 4151 to 4175 of 4939 results

4151. Delivery

Sermon

Michael Rogness

I once visited a church in which the minister delivered what seemed at the time to be an interesting sermon, but I couldn't quite grasp the real thrust of the message, because it was delivered in a monotone, most of it read with little warmth or enthusiasm. [The church secretary] agreed to mail me a copy of the sermon I'd just heard. When the sermon arrived in the mail and I read it, I realized that the structure of the message was coherent and sound and the points well made. I could hardly believe I was ...

4152. Stairways Of Heaven

Genesis 28:10-22

Sermon

Justin Tull

As I studied in depth this passage of scripture, I learned that I have long carried misconceptions about “Jacob’s ladder.” My first surprising discovery was that all the commentaries I read suggested that Jacob’s vision was not of a ladder as we know it today, but more of a “ramp” or “stair-like pavement.”9 This “ramp” was to handle traffic between heaven and earth.10 Heavenly messengers could approach thereby those dwelling below. After reading about Jacob’s ladder being a ramp-like structure, I decided ...

4153. Reality Check

Matthew 17:1-13

Sermon

Johnny Dean

Many of us have had them, those times when we felt like we were on top of the world, really happy, confident that we knew all the answers, could solve any problem that came up. Or we felt that we were really close to God, really in tune with God’s plan for us. In those moments we were excited and alive, and everything seemed new. The moment might have come at some exciting event in your life: graduation, baptism, your first kiss, your first day on your first job, your wedding, the birth of a child, even ...

4154. The Last Days

Luke 21:5-38

Drama

Pamela Urfer

Cast: PREACHER and CONGREGATION, three WOMEN and three MEN Length: 7 minutes Seven stools are arranged in a "V" shape leading away from the audience with the PREACHER's stool at the apex. The PREACHER takes his stool first and settles himself self-importantly. The members of the CONGREGATION file in slowly and take the remaining stools. The CONGREGATION will keep their eyes on the PREA CHER throughout their time on stage but their stools should be arranged so that they will not have to turn their faces too ...

4155. Let Me See Your Hands

John 20:24-31

Sermon

Robert Allen

A little boy, growing up in a community where his father served as a Methodist minister was outside playing. He was doing all of the things that a little boy does. He was climbing trees. He was swinging on the swing set and jumping out. He was rolling and playing with his dog. His mother called him for dinner and all of the family gathered at the table. His mother looked at him and said, "Young man, let me see your hands." There was some rubbing of his hands on his blue jeans before he held his hands up. ...

4156. Annas, Caiaphas, and Judas

Drama

Jon Joyce

Setting The setting is a dual one, the differentiation most easily left to the audience’s imagination, unless you wish to construct a door to admit Judas to the room in the high priest’s palace where the encounter takes place. The outdoor half of the set is at stage right and may be marked with a palm tree or other foliage appropriate for spring in Israel. The indoor set, at stage left, is a beautifully appointed room in Caiaphas’ palace. This set requires three or four chairs, a cocktail or coffee table ...

4157. Simon Peter: Strong Stone or Crumbling Clay?

Luke 22:54-62

Sermon

Carl E. Zahrte

Were you there? Were you singing that song again? Were you wondering, when you heard my name, how I could do what I did on that dreadful night when I denied vehemently that I even knew Jesus? Oh yes, I was there, all right, and it still pains me to think about it. My name is Simon, the son of John. Most of you may know me better by another name - Peter. That’s what Jesus himself called me when my brother Andrew brought me to Jesus for the first time. Do you know that the name Peter means "stone," or "piece ...

4158. A Voice to be Heard

John 1:19-28

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

It had been a long time. History seemed more moribund and leaden than ever. Hope was either frozen or fanatic. Cynicism was the daily fare and optimism the dream of fools. So it was in those days of long ago. But now there was a stirring in history's corridors -- not in the throne rooms of Rome or Alexandria, not in the libraries of Athens or the armies of Caesar -- but in little backwater towns of a troublesome, rebellious, backwater country. The first of the stirrings began in Jerusalem with a tired old ...

4159. Jesus and Bartimaeus

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

James W. Moore

It happened almost twenty years ago. I had been here at St. Luke’s for only a few months. It was a beautiful spring day. The phone rang in our home on a Sunday afternoon. I answered and a young man on the other end of the line said he needed to tell me something and then ask me a question. The words came in a rush of emotion. He told me that a month ago, he was in our church and he felt God touching his heart and urging him to come down front to be baptized and to join the church. “It was so powerful,” he ...

4160. Jesus and Bartimaeus

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

James W. Moore

4161. What's This World Coming To Anyway?

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

Randolph W. Barr

When Pastor Smith walked into the kitchen at church to get another bowl of soup at the mid-week Lenten soup supper he saw Hank on his knees pushing at the dishwashing machine and Wayne with a rag mop ready to swab the deck of the good ship St. John's Church. Both men were still dressed from the day's work, at the office for Hank and on the road, selling, for Wayne. Suit coats were off. Shirt sleeves were rolled up. Ties were now loose around their necks. Pastor Smith thought that he had walked into the ...

4162. 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. " ...

4163. 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 ...

4164. Tripping the Tempter

James 1:1-18

Sermon

Eric Ritz

Today, we continue our study of the book of James. Last week we examined James 1:1-4 and verse 12, and discovered some ways we can "TACKLE TROUBLES TRIUMPHANTLY." Today, we''re going to look at another word beginning with the letter "T"--Temptation. Once again, James does not say, "If tempted," but in verse 13, "When tempted, no man should say, God is tempting me.''" Yes, not one of us escapes temptation, and behind this ugly "t" word lies the source of many of our personal problems and corporate ills. We ...

4165. 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 ...

4166. The Man in the Tree

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

There is something odd about the sight of a grown man up in a tree. The Reuters news service carried a story sometime back about a Polish man who climbed a tree to avoid a taxi fare which totaled just a few dollars. Pursued by the irate taxi driver, the passenger climbed a tall tree, jumped from branch to branch and hurled bananas from a shopping bag at a crowd which soon gathered at the scene. More than a dozen firefighters were called in and spread out an air-bag under the tree as a police psychologist ...

4167. 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 ...

4168. The Passion of the Christ – The Rest of the Story

Matthew 27:45-56

Sermon

James Merritt

The number one question asked in this country for the last six weeks is - "Have you seen ‘The Passion'?" If the answer is "No" the next question is "Are you going to see it?" If the answer is "Yes" the next question is - "What did you think about it?" There is no question that Mel Gibson's movie, The Passion of the Christ, is as the Spanish put it, en fuego – it is on fire! In Hollywood parlance it is a blockbuster. Geologists would give it a "10" on the Richter scale. Motown would say, "It is off the ...

4169. 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 ...

4170. Gideon: One Giant Leap

Judges 6:11-16

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

I love to fly but I wonder, how many of you get nervous when flying? If you do you'd probably agree with George S. Kaufman who once said, "I like terra firma - the more firma, the less terra." One of the premier science-fiction writers Ray Bradbury of Los Angeles won a top award in 1968 from the Aviation-Space Writers Association for a Life magazine article he wrote in praise of space exploration. But Bradbury didn't attend the association's awards meeting in Florida. You know why? He won't fly. (1) I ...

4171. 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 ...

4172. Dying to Live

John 12:20-36

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Two men went up in a hot-air balloon one May morning. Suddenly they were enveloped by clouds and lost track of where they were. They drifted for what seemed like hours. Finally the cloud parted, and they spotted a man below them on the ground. “Where are we?” one of the passengers hollered down. The man on the ground looked around, looked up at the balloon, looked around some more and then yelled back, “You’re in a balloon.” The two balloonists looked at one another and then one of them yelled down again ...

4173. Sleeping through the Alarm

Joel 2:1-2, 12-17

Sermon

Schuyler Rhodes

I might as well get this off my chest. I have an abiding dislike for alarm clocks. Truth be told, more than a few of them have met an untimely demise as they have flown across the room after daring to interrupt my sleep. It's true. There is nothing quite so grating, so unpleasant as the electronic wheezing that emerges from the clock by my bedside every morning at 6 a.m. It doesn't matter if I'm dreaming or not. I could even be laying there half awake and thinking about getting up a little early. Sometimes ...

4174. Just a Crazy Story

Philippians 2:1-11

Sermon

Larry Lange

Zack had seen the movie. You know, the one with Jim Carrey and Jennifer Aniston — Bruce Almighty. Zack thought it was a pretty cheesy movie ... so predictable ... God helps the guy get the girl. But Zack was thinking, who wants a girl who wants commitment and kids? And who really wants a job? Zack didn't want a job; all he wanted was money. Even oil company executives probably had to do something to make money other than raising prices every time some Middle Eastern king had a toothache. Zack didn't want ...

4175. Fast Forward Faith

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

In the traffic court of a large Midwestern City a young lady was brought before the judge to answer for a ticket given to her for running a red light. She explained to the judge that she was a school teacher and requested an immediate disposal of her case so she could get to school on time. All of a sudden the judge began grinning from ear to ear. The judge said: "So, you're a schoolteacher, huh? Well, Ma'am, I finally get to realize one of my lifelong dreams. I've waited years for the opportunity to have ...

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