Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 4201 to 4225 of 4986 results

4201. Tomb It May Concern

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

... , and the strength of our encouragement. The big event is coming. God speaks to us through these passages of scripture and says, "I have come. I am now in your midst, and I am coming again to bring you to a celebration to end all celebrations! Be ready! Stay awake!" Come, Lord Jesus, come. Amen. 1. In the North Carolina mountains, Decoration Day is similar to homecoming, but the focus is on those in the cemetery. Families spend weeks cleaning tombstones with chlorine bleach in preparation for the day.

4202. Soup Like Bread and Wine

Luke 14:1,7-14

Sermon

William A Ritter

... to leave. Whereupon a funny thing happens. One by one, everybody at her table gets up to leave, too. Followed by others ... at other tables. Even Fred (who still hasn't touched his soup) gets up to leave. "All right ... all right," says the soup master. "She can stay." And he brings her a bowl of soup. With order restored, Fred turns to his table mate and says: "Who is she? She must be somebody important." To which the guy says: "Never saw her before in my life. But I kinda figure if she's not welcome ...

4203. Are You Available?

Luke 14:25-35

Illustration

King Duncan

... greatgrandfather, a man named George Shinn. Shinn was a pastor back in 1880. He was summoned one midnight to the bedside of an old woman who lived by herself. She had little money and few friends, and she was dying. She told Shinn that she wanted another woman to come stay with her for such time as she might have left, so Shinn and the old woman's doctor struck out in the darkness to try to dig one up for her. It sounds like a parable the way it is told. They knocked at doors and threw pebbles at second ...

4204. David And The Giant

1 Samuel 17:1-58

Children's Sermon

Marti Kramer Suddarth

... was making fun of the Israelites. He dared them to send out their best soldier to fight him, promising that whoever won that fight would win the whole war for his country, but none of the Israelite soldiers were brave enough to try. You might think that David would stay as far away from the giant as he could, but when he saw that none of the soldiers from Israel was volunteering to fight, he decided that he would. Do you know how big Goliath was? The Bible says that he was over nine feet tall. Have you ever ...

4205. Having Or Doing?

Matthew 6:19-24

Children's Sermon

Marti Kramer Suddarth

... When you have something, you might share it with other people, but that sharing means you’re doing something, doesn’t it? If you just have something, you might do something with it or you might just sit and look at it alone. Things just don’t stay in our memories or create pleasant memories as well as actions and relationships do. The Bible tells us about this in Matthew 6:19-21. (Show the card stock with the printed scripture reference and verses and read the verses.) It says, “Do not store up for ...

4206. What We Do, We Do to Others, Too

Matthew 18:1-9

Children's Sermon

Marti Kramer Suddarth

... who might get hurt, then why can’t I do whatever I want?” The biggest reason, of course, is that God doesn’t want us to! Any time we sin, we put something between us and God, and that is something we don’t want to happen. We want to stay close to God. But there’s another reason, too. Sin is a little like this fan. Even though I thought no one else could feel the breeze the fan made, someone else could, and sin is like that, too. Imagine that someone you love is bank robber. That person might ...

4207. Is Your Church a Museum or Mission?

Luke 15:1-32

Illustration

Wallace H. Kirby

... building in a teeming inner-city neighborhood. The pastor who was with this congregation through all this upheaval said, "We had to decide whether we wanted to be in a museum or in mission." They couldn't have it both ways. It meant either staying on their site, glorying in their past history and serving a few people, or giving up their past and gearing themselves to a significant ministry among the city's people. They opted for mission status over museum status. Something of this same struggle is indicated ...

4208. Step Into The Vision

Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-15

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... , so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible. [8] By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going. [9] By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. [10] For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. [11 ...

4209. Swept Clean

Luke 10:38-42

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... preparing food for them. She was being the perfect hostess. Not only were these folks guests, this was Jesus and his disciples, the one she thought was the Messiah. Of course, she was up and about trying to do everything possible to please him and make his stay comfortable. It was Mary who wasn't pulling her share. She just sat there. But I think Mary sensed something that Martha didn't, not that Martha was wrong, just that Martha was too busy preparing stuff FOR the guest to pay attention TO the guest ...

4210. Broken Lives and Broken Chains

Luke 8:26-39

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... week. You see, you could go in about 10:00 am and meet some of the local business people on coffee break or eating brunch. You could go in at noon and meet some of the farmers, their families and their hands who had come to town for supplies and stayed for lunch. At night you could meet whole families in town to unwind or for some event at the school. Along about 2:00 pm you could meet the real, old time cowboys. And Blackie was undoubtedly the leader of this posse of old cowboys. Most of them still worked ...

4211. Moving Day

John 14:23-29

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... who are always welcome to leave. I think she fell into that category. We really do know how to make people feel welcome. And it's not just what you do, it's the attitude of the whole house. For example, if you knew you were going to have someone stay with you for a few days, you'd very conscientiously make a place for their clothes and belongings in the spare bedroom, wouldn't you. If you knew they were going to be there for a month, you'd make more room. But still, they are really only a guest ...

4212. Unlocking the Access

Ephesians 3:1-12

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... to accomplish a great task, but because of the locked door, there was no opportunity to accomplish that task. We could have all the motivation in the world. We could even be looking in all the right places but if we don't have the right ACCESS, everything stays HIDDEN. That's what was going on before the coming of Christ. THE MYSTERY WAS HIDDEN: THERE WAS NO ACCESS. II. Bidden: Open Access But because of Christ, because of the birth of Jesus, WE ARE BIDDEN, WE HAVE OPEN ACCESS TO GOD. Paul writes: "we have ...

4213. Boy Scouts Who Forgot Gratitude

Luke 17:11-19

Illustration

Bruce Goettsche

... parents were there feeling embarrassed and ashamed too.) I have never forgotten that powerful object lesson. It is very possible that this speaker got his idea from the story of the ten lepers. This text is a powerful object lesson. If you pay attention, it is a lesson that will stay with you the rest of your life.

4214. Helping Others, Showing Gratitude

Lk 17:11-19

Illustration

King Duncan

... , after all the radiation and chemotherapy. John kept his promise. John was a builder by trade. In 1974, the year his daughter became ill, he reached into his own pocket to renovate and furnish a rundown Philadelphia home that became the first Ronald McDonald House, a place where families could stay while their youngsters were being treated at Children's Hospital. His daughter did die finally in 2005 at age 40.

4215. Acquired Taste

2 Timothy 1:1-2:13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the duration in a secure place, like Dietrich Bonhoeffer safely ensconced in the states she immediately traveled back to Hungary—-a dangerous journey with an ominous destination. In 1944 when the Nazis invaded Hungary the Scottish missionaries were ordered home. Jane chose to stay with her children. “If these children need me in the days of sunshine,” she said, “how much more do they need me in the days of darkness?” The love and faith Jane Haining tasted by working with her Jewish children washed ...

4216. Eyes To See, Ears To Hear

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

James McCormick

... a sermon, a scripture reading, or an anthem, so we fail to listen anywhere else. We confine God to those “stained glass” parts of life. But, of course, God is bigger than that. While in college, I heard Dr. Carl Michalson say something that has stayed with me. He said, “Jesus of Nazareth came into the world to do away with religion.” “What?” I thought. “I always thought Jesus came to start a new religion, Christianity.” I thought long and hard about what he said. I wrestled with it. I lost ...

4217. Totally Poured Out

2 Timothy 4:9-18

Sermon

King Duncan

... for any one person to do was to get out of town as quickly as possible, in case they had not been infected. But the people knew how quickly the plague would spread if they went to other towns. So people of Eyam made an amazing sacrifice. They stayed put, thereby almost guaranteeing that each of them would die, but the plague might not infect neighboring villages. By the time the plague was over in November of 1666, 260 of the 300 people of the little village had died the highest percentage of the population ...

4218. Three Secrets of a Life Well Lived - Sermon Starter

2 Tim 3:10 - 4:8

Illustration

Brett Blair

... never served in any place more than three years, and the churches where I have preached have generally been pretty small, even though they were located in rather large cities. Some places I had to leave because my ministry caused riots and disturbances. When I stayed, I did not get along too well with other religious leaders in town which may influence the kind of references these places will send you. I have also been threatened several times and been physically attacked. Three or four times I have gone to ...

4219. The Race We Are In

2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18

Illustration

... belonged. But the 26-mile group, where she didn't. It wasn't until the four-mile mark that she realized her mistake. So, she just kept going, finishing the race in four hours and four minutes. But it's what she said later (by way of explanation) that has stayed with me since. Said Georgene: "This isn't the race I trained for. This isn't the race I entered. But, for better or worse, this is the race I'm in." Which is true more often than you might think. Relatively few of us are exactly where we figured ...

4220. WWE Raw, Jesus Style

Luke 6:17-26, Luke 6:27-36

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... few relatives would simply draw up lists of historical figures they liked and hoped to chalk up heavenly credit to liberate them. This kind of incentive for church attendance is questionable, though it did work. But the eagerness of living generations to stay connected to past generations, both in prayers and in practices, is admirable. For medieval Christians, the dead were still an active part of the living, and past generations still had something to offer the present generations. It is hard for some of ...

4221. A Small Man Who Was Given a Big Heart

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... Jericho surrounded by a fence and reputed to be the very tree from which Jesus called Zacchaeus. Tour buses stop there for people to be photographed beneath it. When Jesus reached the sycamore tree, he looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” Zacchaeus came down at once and welcomed Jesus into his home gladly. The people in the crowd saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a ‘sinner.’” They were right. Zacchaeus was a sinner ...

4222. We’re Not Paradise People

Luke 20:27-38

Illustration

King Duncan

... sure that perfection is all it's cracked up to be. My people will arrive in heaven and stand just inside the gate, shuffling around. `It's a lot bigger than I thought it was going to be,' we'll think. We'll say, `No, thank you, we can't stay for eternity, we'll just sit and have a few minutes of bliss with you and then we have to get back.' "We were brought up to work, not complain, accept that life is hard, and make the best of what little we have, so when we come to the ...

4223. Good News about Hair

Luke 21:5-38

Sermon

King Duncan

... (HarperCollins). 2. Teddi’s Humor, teddi@alohabroadband.com. 3. Dr. Ralph F. Wilson, http://www.jesuswalk.com/lessons/21_5-19.htm. 4. Ibid. 5. The Best Christian Writing 2001 (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 2001), pp. 326-327. 6. http://www.rockies.net/~spirit/sermons/b-or12smsu.php. 7. Stay Alive All Your Life. Cited by Steve Lambert, http://www.damascusumc.org/Sermons/2006_06_25_SLambert.htm.

4224. Reacting to Critics

Matthew 11:2-12; 15:1-2

Illustration

Bill Bouknight

... who went to his barber for a haircut. He told the barber about his upcoming trip to Rome. The barber was a rather acidic fellow. He had only negative comments to make about the airline the salesman had chosen, the hotel where he was going to stay, about Rome in general, and even about his hope of having an audience with the Pope. A month later the salesman returned to his barber, who asked him about the trip. "It was wonderful," he said. "The flight was perfect and the hotel service was excellent. And ...

4225. Have a Jolly Imperfect Christmas This Year!

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Some Christmas’s stay forever in our hearts and minds because they were so beautiful, so magical, so perfect. You got your Red Ryder BB gun or Malibu Barbie. The time the Christmas pageant went off without a hitch. The year when everyone got to come home. A blanket of snow on Christmas Eve ...

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