Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 4151 to 4175 of 4943 results

4151. Was Jesus the First Buster?

Matthew 21:23-32

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

As the first, in-your-face Buster, Jesus said: "Don't listen to people's WORDS; look at their DEEDS." 1996 is a very significant year for baby boomers because it is the year the first wave of boomers hit 50. Boomers like rocker Bruce Springsteen and actor Diane Keaton, director Steven Spielberg, basketball great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and singer Dolly Parton (to name a few) are squinting into the sun of their golden years with a mixture of joy, fear and modulated anticipation. Boosters, the GI generation born ...

4152. Stone Testaments

Deuteronomy 26:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Mark the milestones in your life journey. [Note: This is an interactive, experiential, participatory sermon. You will need to arrange ahead of time for a flower or stone for every person, which is given to them with their bulletins. And you will need a musician, preferably a cellist, who will be a secret partner with you for this experience. The fewer the people who know what you are going to do, the better. The element of surprise is key to the narrative.] Have you ever had this experience? You arrive ...

4153. Framing Values – Part Two

Daniel 1:1-21

Sermon

James Merritt

We are continuing to make progress on our Extreme Home Makeover as you can see and the framing is coming right along. Last week we talked about framing values for your children. Today, I want to talk about framing values for your teenagers. Have you listened to teenagers talk recently? I want to be honest and tell you that I suffer from TLD - Teenage Language Deficiency. If you have listened to your teenager talk lately, you know that their favorite word now is "like". I counted up one time and Joshua, my ...

4154. Parenting 101

Ephesians 6:1-4

Sermon

James Merritt

There was a young couple who had just purchased brand new appliances for their house, and they decided to give their old refrigerator to their parents. Since they lived many miles apart, they just shipped the refrigerator to their parents. A few days later the phone rang, her mother said, "Honey, we want to send you a check for the refrigerator." The daughter said, "No, Mom, it's a gift. We want you to have it." The mother said, "But you could have sold it and made money." The daughter said, "Look, Mom, ...

4155. God's Christmas Gift

Luke 2:10-14

Sermon

James Merritt

There is a word that you have heard more in the last twenty-four hours and you will hear more in the next twenty-four hours than you will probably hear in all the rest of the year combined. The most used word in this time of year we call the Christmas Season is the word "gift." Some of you spent today, frantically searching for gifts, trying to find the right gift for the right person at the right price. So often, I hear the question "What do you get for the person who has everything?" I did some research ...

4156. Like a Venomous Snake

1 Corinthians 10:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

Radio preacher and best-selling author Chuck Swindoll once spoke to a group of pastors. He told about a man who was mountain climbing in the Sierra Mountains of California. In one particularly difficult section of his climb, he pulled himself on to a ledge only to find a six‑foot timber rattlesnake looking at him with his mouth open and tail rattling. The man froze. The rattler struck. The man moved so that the snake’s fangs barely missed grazing his neck. Still, the snake’s fangs got caught in the man’s ...

4157. Spiderman: Saved To Serve

Colossians 3:1-4, 12-17

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

Who do you serve? That's a valid question for everybody, don't you think? Now you probably wouldn't think you would have to ask that question in Church, would you? But the truth is we don't all come with pristine purposes. I'm not trying to make anyone feel guilty but we may not even know that we are at cross purposes with God. That was certainly the case in the life of the Apostle Paul. And that's what the Superhero we're focusing on today had to find out as well. Paul and Spiderman both had to find out ...

4158. Generous Hearts

1 Timothy 6:11-19

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

Have you all heard about the Preacher who stood up one morning and told his congregation. "This morning we'll have an interactive service. I've prepared 3 different sermons for today. First I've prepared a fifty dollar fire and brimstone sermon which is about two hours long." "Second I've prepared a hundred dollar sermon on the evils of sin that should take about an hour to deliver. And finally I have a $500 fifty dollar sermon on love and generosity, it will only take about 10 or fifteen minutes. We'll ...

4159. Spiderman: Saved To Serve

Colossians 3:1-4, 12-17

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

When I was a teenager two events happened, not too far apart either, which were catastrophic to everything I held near and dear. My allowance at the time was $3.00 a week. Not a whole lot, I know, but the median income in 1965 was only $6,800. Now, I supplemented my allowance by mowing two yards in the neighborhood for $5.00 each. I was saving as much of the money as possible to buy a 5 speed English racer that I had fallen in love with at the local bicycle shop. I had allotted $1.00 of my weekly allowance ...

4160. Christ Arose

John 20:1-9

Sermon

King Duncan

Pastor Billy Strayhorn tells a wonderful true story about a pastor who was asked to conduct a graveside burial service for a member of his church. The only problem was, the cemetery was more than an hour and a half away from the church. The pastor wasn’t feeling well so he decided to ride with the Funeral Director in the hearse. By the time they arrived at the cemetery, the pastor was truly sick with flu-like symptoms. Feverish and sick, he made it through the service, but he was deathly pale and obviously ...

4161. Jesus Saves, We're Called To Invest

Matthew 25:14-20

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

A few years ago I read that EmoryUniversity had posted the new tuition rates on a bulletin board in the administration building. Every department and every school had a significant increase, except for one. Because Candler School of Theology was so heavily endowed, their tuition stayed the same. Someone noticed the significant difference between the school of theology and the rest of the departments and in red ink above the school of theology's tuition rates they wrote: Jesus talked a lot about the use of ...

4162. Hearing the Questions of Children

Genesis 22:1-14

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

David Harju, a senior at Centennial High School, took the SAT test and scored a perfect 1600 on it this Spring. How did David feel about it? “Ecstatic,” said Tennessean staff writer, Barbara Moore.[1] The Old Testament story we step into today is the life and death test of one man’s faith and obedience. Father Abraham feels directed by God to sacrifice his only son as an act of worship on Mt. Moriah. Suddenly, this boy who has brought laughter to a couple in their elder years, is surrounded by a trail of ...

4163. Why Do People Suffer?

John 9:1-7

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

There is an old story about a construction worker who attempted to lower a barrel of brick by means of a rope and pulley. The bricks however, were heavier than the worker. The man went up as the brick came down. The two collided in mid-air, injuring the worker's shoulder. Upon impact, the bottom of the barrel ripped open. The brick spilled out. Now, the worker was heavier than the brick. As the man came down at high speed, he collided with the barrel coming up, causing injury to his shins. This time the ...

4164. The Down Side of Christmas

Matthew 2:13-18

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

‘Twas the day after Christmas When all through the place There were arguments and depression— Even mom had a long face. The stockings hung empty; And the house was a mess. The clothes didn't fit; Dad was under stress. The family was irritable; The children were not pleased. The instructions for the swing set Were written in Chinese. The bells no longer jingled; And no carolers came around. The sink was stacked with dishes; And the tree was turning brown. The stores were full of people Returning things that ...

4165. Conversion or Credentialing?

Acts 9:1-5, 10-12, 17-19

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

It's been an eventful week in the Olds' household. Sandy and I flew in from vacation last Tuesday and immediately drove to Lexington, Kentucky to participate in the service of ordination of our son, Wes, who is now a full elder in our denomination. As I recessed from that service a long-time friend of mine asked, “Howard, which was the best, your ordination or the ordination of your son?" Without hesitating, I replied “Need you even ask?" It is a moving and humbling experience to see your son or daughter ...

4166. Fanning the Flames of Family

Ephesians 5:8-10

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

“It only takes a spark to get the fires going and soon all those around can warm up to it glowing." Could the lyrics of that old camp song be true for the American family? What happens in your house may be more important than what happens in the White House! The greatest threat to America may not be terrorists abroad, or storms above; our greatest threat may be the disintegration of family to whom we normally turn in times of crisis. So today, let's think for a few moments about fanning the flames of ...

4167. Strong in God’s Name

Matthew 4:1-11

Sermon

Lee Griess

A young man was sent to Spain by his company to work in a new office they were opening there. He accepted the assignment because it would enable him to earn enough money to marry his long-time girlfriend. The plan was to pool their money and, when he returned, put a down payment on a house, and get married. As he bid his sweetheart farewell at the airport, he promised to write her every day and keep in touch. However, as the lonely weeks slowly slipped by, his letters came less and less often and his ...

4168. A Change of Mind

Exodus 32:1-14

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

While it has been suggested that idle hands are the playthings of the devil — the same may be true of our minds. Without a clear sense of who we are and whose we are, we have the tendency to wander into some barren wilderness. Sometimes our slip is gradual, we do one small thing that is questionable and before we realize it we are in deep trouble. There are other times when it is obvious that we have strayed in a big way, and whether we like it or not, there are consequences to our actions. Without a clear ...

4169. The Burning Question

Acts 2:1-21

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

"Have you ever been a little confused? Ever wondered what was going on around you? I will never forget January 24th of 1967, I was a sophomore in High School. Mom and Dad had gone to the Grocery store. I was left home to take of my two younger brothers. It was about 6:00 pm or so and it looked like it could rain. We'd been watching TV when all of a sudden the lights went out. I turned on my old transistor radio (remember when they were called that?). They interrupted the broadcast to announce a major ...

4170. Loving Deeply (Mother's Day)

1 Peter 1:13-2:3

Sermon

King Duncan

Since today is Mother’s Day, I thought I would begin with a list someone has made which they have called “Murphy’s Laws of Parenting.” See if you can identify with any of these: The later you stay up, the earlier your child will wake up the next morning. The gooier the food, the more likely it is to end up on the carpet. The longer it takes you to make a meal, the less your child will like it. A sure way to get something done is to tell a child not to do it. For a child to become clean, something else must ...

4171. Waiting for a Savior

Mark 13:32-37

Sermon

King Duncan

Margaret was all ready for her date. She was wearing her best outfit, her hair was fixed, her makeup was perfect. Imagine her disappointment when her date didn’t show up! After an hour of waiting, Margaret decided that he wasn’t going to come. She changed into her pajamas, washed off her makeup, gathered up a bunch of junk food, and parked herself in front of the television for the evening. As soon as she got involved in her favorite show, there was a knock on the door. She opened it to find her handsome ...

4172. When We No Longer Recognize Ourselves

Psalm 51:1-19

Sermon

King Duncan

Andras Tamas is the name officials gave a certain man decades ago in a Russian psychiatric hospital. He’d been drafted into the army, but the authorities had mistaken his native Hungarian language for the gibberish of a lunatic and had him committed. Then they forgot about him. For 53 years. A few years ago a psychiatrist at the hospital began to realize what had happened and helped Tamas recover the memories of who he was and where he came from. He recently returned home to Budapest as a war hero, “the ...

4173. A Holy Kiss (Father's Day)

2 Corinthians 13:11-14

Sermon

King Duncan

I heard recently about a young couple at a very conservative Bible college who were very attracted to each other but they had been brought up to believe they needed some scripture verse to justify all their actions. One day the young man said to his girl, “Boy, do I want to kiss you, but I just can’t find the right Bible verse.” He said he tried the verse from Corinthians that said, “Greet each other with a holy kiss,” but he knew that applied to greeting each other at church. He was stymied. Finally, ...

4174. Breaking News: A World Gone Wild

Romans 8:18-27

Sermon

James Merritt

The media called 2010 “The Year The Earth Struck Back.” Take your pick–tsunamis, typhoons, and tornados. What is called “Natural Disasters” killed a quarter of a million people in that 12 month period. More people were killed world-wide by natural disasters in 2010 than were killed in terrorism attacks in the past 40 years combined.[1] When it comes to Breaking News you can always count every year on some natural disaster interrupting your regularly scheduled programming. Let’s just take four of them and ...

4175. An Announcement from Our Lord

Isaiah 61:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

It is always interesting to read what children write. Sometimes they are completely candid. This candor shows in a list someone has made of children’s letters to Santa: “Dear Santa, “Could you come early this year? I’ve been really super good, but I don’t know if I can last much longer. Please hurry. Love, Jordan.” Now there’s an honest young man. “Dear Santa, “Mommy says that you only bring presents for good little boys. That isn’t fair. (Signed) Brian.” Sounds like Brian has already failed the test for ...

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