Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 4151 to 4175 of 4977 results

4151. The Dream

Galatians 1:1-10

Sermon

John Jamison

... permission to talk about something, and the pastor gave it. I'll try to retell the story exactly as the visitor told it. He began by saying that his name was Fred, and he talked a little more about his family and what they all did. In fact, he talked quite a bit about those things, the whole time sounding like he really wanted to talk about something else. The pastor tried to help him along a bit by asking, "So, what can I do for you this morning?" Fred sighed, and looked at his shoes. "You're going to ...

4152. My Earlier Life

Galatians 1:11-24

Sermon

John Jamison

... ? Over time, Saul became known as Paul. He traveled thousands of miles preaching, teaching, and leaving a trail of churches behind him wherever he went. His story was one that touched lives. If someone like Saul could start over, maybe we can, too. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite that neat and clean. There were many in the church who just didn't trust him. After all, he had often pretended to be a Christian just to finagle his way into the secret meetings, so what made anybody think he wasn't just doing that ...

4153. Claiming Our New Life in Christ

Colossians 2:6-15 (16-19)

Sermon

Clayton A. Lord

... long hours and cramped quarters. He often would be away from home for weeks at a time. He never married and wasn't much for relationships. One Sunday though, something prompted him to attend the local church. All heads turned when he walked in the door. He was quite a sight with his rugged skin and long hair. He had on a plaid shirt, a pair of jeans, and workman's boots. He looked totally out of his element. As the service began, he fumbled with the hymn book and tried to read along with the scripture ...

4154. Unlocking the Power of God

Hebrews 11:29 – 12:2

Sermon

Clayton A. Lord

... they came to his, he got ready to make his last stand. To his amazement, however, after glancing in the direction of his cave, they moved on. Suddenly, he realized that with the spider web over the entrance, his cave looked as if no one had entered for quite a while. "Lord, forgive me," prayed the young man. "I had forgotten that, in you, a spider's web is stronger than a brick wall." Time after time, we have been in similar situations and God has acted to protect, shield, and strengthen us. You do not go ...

4155. Thank God We Can Change

1 Timothy 1:12-17

Sermon

Clayton A. Lord

... past experiences. My friend said he was shocked to hear the man's testimony. It included alcoholism and abusive behavior. It was a story of a family torn apart and marital infidelity. Then one day everything changed. The man met Christ at a revival meeting and he quit drinking, got a handle on his temper and his tongue, and started rebuilding his life. Every day now, the man says, "Thank God I'm not the man I used to be." That man had the same sense of humility and honesty that Paul shares in this letter ...

4156. Weary in Well Doing

2 Thessalonians 3:6-13

Sermon

Donna Schaper

... them away at the same time. The animal part of most humans knows exactly what this means. We are standing at a party with a beverage in our hand — we are smiling, but inside we are wishing we could run away. Human contact can be quite scary! Because it is also so wonderful, none of us, including the writer of the book of Thessalonians, is surprised that there is conflict around contact. The other biological response, being given more evolutionary attention now, is to tend and befriend. Biologists tell us ...

4157. The Hard Sell

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

... questions, we know the truth of this rightful quest. At the same time what would the most purified environment look like without the internal and very personal cleansing of Jesus Christ? It does not seem the proponents of pristine living conditions know quite what to do with that momentous and essential inquiry. Perhaps professing Christians have not spent enough time looking at and praying for our natural surroundings. Granted, but never at Jesus’ expense! Our Lord calls us to a depth the world does not ...

4158. Bystanders or Standbys

Genesis 2:4-25

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Small children love to be lifted up, tossed airborne, not only because it is a thrill to be thrown, but it is also terrific to finally be on top! Children grow up. Parents diminish in stature and influence. But for most of us, we never quite “outgrow” that first vertical nature of our relationship with our parents. We always feel like we need to reach “up.” As men and wo-men of faith, as “ish” and “ishah,” there is another vertical relationship we never outgrow. Both Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 ...

4159. Don’t Hope…Decide

Mk 10:1-12

Illustration

King Duncan

... son (maybe six years old) as he laid down his bags. They hugged and Hargrove heard the father say, "It's so good to see you, son. I missed you so much!" "Me, too, Dad!" said the son. The oldest son (maybe nine or ten) was next. "You're already quite the young man. I love you very much, Zach!" Then he turned to their little girl (perhaps one or one-and-a-half). He kissed her and held her close. He handed his daughter to his oldest son and declared, "I've saved the best for last!" and preceded to ...

4160. You’re Different

Mark 10:1-12

Illustration

Brett Blair

... day, when suddenly she looked with amazement at his skin. She glanced at her hand, and then she glanced at his and she said: "You're different." She didn't say: "You're white." The young student said of that little girl, "I am not sure that she quite understood how I was different. The interesting thing was that she was just then noticing the difference." Children are so innocent and beautiful in that respect, and I think that Jesus must have had that in mind when he said: unless you become as a child, you ...

4161. Life's Little Instructions

Mark 10:17-31

Illustration

Billy D. Strayhorn

... not OK to give up. It does not matter how much money a family has. If there is a lot of love in a home, that family is richer than any millionaire could be. That last one is something that the rich young ruler in today's passage didn't quite get, isn't it.

4162. Mark 10: 35-45

Mark 10:35-45

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... when they desire something from Jesus. And that is exactly James and John’s motivation. Not only do James and John confront Jesus with a request; they want Jesus to promise he will grant, “whatever we ask of you” (v.35). That’s quite a presumption. Think about it. “Whatever we ask of you.” Despite the rarified rudeness of this demand Jesus responds graciously, not promising to grant their request but simply asking them to “Say more.” What James and John want from Jesus is an escahtological ...

4163. Preparing the Way

Malachi 3:1-4

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

... that was inhabited by millions of residents. The SeineRiver flows through the middle of Paris, so the subway lines also had to be routed under the river. Removal of the riverbed mud became one of their greatest problems. The solution they arrived at was quite clever, though. The workers froze the mud solid, then cut it into manageable chunks with picks and axes, and hauled it away before it thawed.1 The project lasted forty years, and that persistent engineer in charge stayed on the job until the subway ...

4164. What's in a Name?

Isaiah 43:1-7

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

... flood or tsunami. The psalmist reminds us that, "The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord sits enthroned as king forever" (Psalm 29:10). God is in control, and carries us across the floods of this world. On the other hand, water seems to be quite gentle and purposeful. It meanders downhill, finding its own way, respecting obstacles in its path until it finds a way around or through them. With one little drop at a time, over millions of years, water can form a huge canyon. Covering most of the earth ...

4165. Called by a New Name

Isaiah 62:1-5

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

... that they identify who we are. People have been known to change their names precisely because they want the new beginning they hope a new name will bring. To change your own name is one thing; but having your name changed by God is quite remarkable. God initiated name changes for several of the important forebears of our faith. Abram and Sarai become Abraham and Sarah. Then Jacob becomes Israel. Saul takes the name Paul, and Simon becomes Peter. God promises that Abraham and Sarah will become the parents ...

4166. Like a Tree Planted

Jeremiah 17:5-10

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

... of the nation with a long march toward enslavement in Babylon (Jeremiah 27:12-15). Today's scripture lesson comes from Jeremiah's "Book of Consolation," where he is giving hope and encouragement to the people. Jeremiah's message for us today is quite simple and clear: Trust in God rather than in humans. Those who place their trust in humanity will exist merely as shrubs in the desert, a less than desirable environment undeniably. Jeremiah compares a withered shrub with a watered tree to explain the ...

4167. Abraham Believed God

Genesis 15:1-18

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... as righteousness" and not worry about how exactly the thing works. Is Abraham's belief a reflection of his faith or a reflection of his works? You see, both the Apostle Paul and James, the brother of Jesus, quote this verse, yet they seem to quote it in quite different contexts. In Galatians 3:5-7 we read: "Well then, does God supply you with the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard? Just as Abraham 'believed God, and it was reckoned to ...

4168. He Will Abundantly Pardon

Isaiah 55:1-13

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... to our God, for he will abundantly pardon" (vv. 6-7). In a way this makes no sense. We're used to insurance firms restricting coverage, companies reducing their liability, fine print on all those marvelous medical ads on television making it clear the offer is not quite as breathtaking as we thought. This is more than manna, which sustains us for our day's work, even in the desert, and which is generous enough. This is food for eternity. We may not fully realize its value, any more than did the people who ...

4169. Essentials

Isaiah 50:4-9a

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... someone to show them the heart of the faith. They need a teacher to make suffering real to them, so they will put aside all distractions and focus on what is needed now. This passage is known as the third of the great servant songs in scripture. The speaker is quite aware there is suffering. Using the title and name of God, he says, "The Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word ..." (Isaiah 50:4). This commission comes from God. It is God's work ...

4170. The Easter Era

Acts 10:34-43

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... small measure for the Word to get out there. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is not exactly ancient history in today's passage from the book of Acts, but it is common knowledge — to those who know about it. Still, God's people are quite comfortable within their own ethnic boundaries and only reluctantly push the envelope to include others from the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire stretched in those days from the western edge of Asia to the British Isles, from Northern Africa to Northern Europe. It included ...

4171. Who?

Acts 5:27-32

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... examples of those who suffered dishonor for the name of Jesus and yet were vindicated in the end. The two stood up for the victims of Japanese American internment during World War II, receiving death threats because they spoke out against the internment, quit their jobs in the public school systems so they could teach in the internment camps, and later helped relocate many of those interned to other parts of the country. Later, they worked with such major Christian civil rights leaders as Martin Luther King ...

4172. What Are You Looking At?

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... risen Jesus is Lord of the church. How can there be a church without a visible Jesus? So where is Jesus? Where did he go? These are the essential questions that Luke has for new converts, and especially for someone named Theophilus. While no one is quite sure if Theophilus was a single person, or was a fictional person designed to represent all Christians, Luke opens the Acts of the Apostles with what sounds like the standard dedication of his time. Remember that one did not publish a book the same way then ...

4173. The Undoing of Babel

Acts 2:1-21

Sermon

Stan Purdum

... boy some distance out in the water, and they seemed to be trying to push a raft of some sort toward the beach. They appeared to be having some difficulty, so I waded out, grabbed hold of the raft, and helped them maneuver it to shore. They were quite appreciative and the man began speaking rapidly in Spanish, pointing to the rocks placed on the raft. Adhering to the rocks were oyster-like shells, and as the man continued to speak, he pried open a shell and pulled out the material inside. I guessed that this ...

4174. The Kindness of Strangers

1 Kings 17:8-24

Sermon

Stan Purdum

... . So good, in fact, that my father's congregation invited us to bring our choir to their church to perform in a weekend of special services. Bring the kids, my mother said, and she would arrange for them to be housed with church members. Our youth were quite excited about this invitation, and they all planned to go. Then, a couple of days before we were to make the trip, our choir leader called me, upset. She had just learned that Althea, our best soprano, was not going to be allowed to go. Althea wanted ...

4175. When Desire Goes Bad

1 Kings 21:1-21a

Sermon

Stan Purdum

... to go around, so we just want to be included in the bounty. Where we do connect with covetousness is when we feel shortchanged. Do you envy someone else their good looks, or their good grades, or their good income, or their good fortune? Those feelings are quite normal and certainly not wrong, but they can make us miserable. What this commandment asks us to see is that honoring God and treating our neighbor right, has its root not in how we act, but in what we let our minds dwell upon. Proverbs puts it ...

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