Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 401 to 425 of 2962 results

Matthew 6:1-4

Sermon

James Merritt

... wear platform shoes to make themselves taller. They would do everything they could, in other words, to make themselves to appear to be something that they really were not. For the same reason modern actors do today, they would put on heavy makeup and specially designed costumes to project an image that appeared to be real, but really was false. The word hypocrite soon took on the connotation of someone who treated the world as a stage on which he was just playing a part. A hypocrite is someone who tries ...

402. Why You Should Come Clean With God

Psalm 139:23-24

Sermon

James Merritt

... a flat two dimensional reflection; the same thing you find in a photograph. You see, no camera can capture your soul. No mirror can show you your heart. That is something only God can do. Only God can truly touch the heart. Laws are not designed for the hearts of men, it’s designed for the heads and the hands of men. Dr. Samuel Johnson had a little couplet that went like this: How small of all that human hearts endure, That part which kings or laws can cause or cure. Let’s admit it. Sometimes our hearts ...

403. Pulling Weeds

Matthew 13:24-30

Sermon

King Duncan

... they invite me over for dinner. I don’t iron because . . . I choose to believe them when they say “Permanent Press.” And finally: I don’t pull weeds in the garden because . . . I don’t want to get in God’s way, He is an excellent designer! I doubt than anyone likes pulling weeds, including God. In today’s lesson Jesus tells a parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and ...

404. Finishing Strong

Philippians 3:12-14

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... have you been married?” She smiled and said, “Three times, so far.” There are some folks here today who have already completed their T-3 pledge but will choose to do more. Some folks will select a particular project from the T-3 Campaign and make a designated gift to that project. And there are some new members among us who were not here when the T-3 Campaign began. They will want to join this effort. We are inviting all those groups to respond today to the challenge. You will find a pledge card in ...

405. Living By Faith In A Time of War

Judges 6:1-40

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... So God said, “Tell all of your troops who are afraid to go home.” Gideon did so, and 22,000 of his troops went home. Imagine how Gideon felt when 2/3rds of his army walked away. Then God said, “Gideon, you still have too many troops.” So, God designed a little test. He told Gideon to watch how the men drank water from the little stream nearby. Those that bent over and lapped up the water like a dog were sent home. But those that scooped up the water in their hands and drank that way were kept. Just ...

406. For Better, For Worse

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... these words: “I’m so grateful to God that we met. Oh sure, I wish we could have had twenty years together instead of five; but I wouldn’t trade anything for those five.” As Jean talked, I thought—now, that’s the way marriage was designed to be. And you cannot have that kind of relationship without commitment. Children have interesting insights concerning love and marriage. Emily, an 8-year-old, was asked to define love. She said, “Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of ...

407. I Believe In God The Father Almighty

Genesis 1:1-2:3

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... glaciers. No, you would say, “An artist has been at work here.” (5). Just consider how unique planet earth is in our solar system. No other planet seems to be the least bit hospitable for human life. Is that an accident or has an Intelligent Designer been at work? Though God’s fingerprints are all over our universe, God never wanted the scientists to be able to prove his existence. It is God’s will that he be discerned by faith, and that believers would declare in grateful wonder, “I believe in ...

408. Pray, Baby, Pray

Philippians 2:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... if they’re really here. Okay. We’re all here. On 08 September 2008 the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) was finally turned on, and we weren’t turned off. What is the Large Hadron Collider? It’s the largest machine ever built, a seventeen mile long circular tunnel designed to smash together protons in a re-enactment of the Big Bang. How’d it do? You guessed it. It broke down only after being “on-line” for a few hours. But the cooling unit that failed was soon replaced and within a week the LHC was ...

409. Discipleship: The Beauty and the Cross

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... who washed him mumbled and grumbled at her unpleasant chore. Yet, through it all the bowl was basically happy, as he was able to serve, day after day, year and year. Then one day the bowl's mistress walked in with a shiny new bowl. It had a lovely floral design. She said, "You will serve us well and be pleasant to look at, as well." So the first bowl was packed up, along with a few other discarded items and sent away. It was a long journey and rather boring so the bowl slept through most of the trip. When ...

410. Two Most Important Questions a Christian Can Answer - Sermon Starter

Matthew 22:34-40

Illustration

Brett Blair

... to trap them? We do it to our loved ones all the time. In a moment like this we are not trying to learn; we are trying to injure. The Pharisees come to Jesus once again with a question designed to do damage to the reputation of Jesus. And once again Jesus proves he is equal to the task. Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest? Now, even though this question was used to test Jesus, it is nonetheless an important question. Perhaps in the life of Israel ...

411. John the Stall Cleaner

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... all successes, whether large or small; a spirit that brings others along. 3) Do you need to clean out a legacy of lethargy? There seems to be an increase in the spirit of “I’ll just let stuff happen, because it will.” God does not design doormats. God does want doorkeepers—-those who welcome, embrace, invite, actively engage others. 4) Do you need to clean out a smug, self-centered Little-Jack-Horner-sat-in-the-corner satisfaction? Do you really think you are all you need? Do you really think you ...

412. Body Sculpting and Self Shaping

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... overweight, I'm undertall." "Thin is in, but fat is where it's at." Plagued by self-doubt, we increasingly turn to externals, such as the food-technology alliance, to solve all our problems, to design for ourselves a new self. U.S. News and World Report (15 February 1988) did a special report called "Designer Diets" in which they found a plethora of "diets that promise everything but an afterlife." Reversing the aging process or curing what ails you, even if you have to turn your kitchen into a chemistry ...

413. A Womb With a View

Mark 8:31-38

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... confident to cite Abraham as an example of faithfulness for new Christians. Full-blown, breath-taking faith set Abraham's feet on the road to the Promised Land. Jesus' attempts to induce labor in his disciples failed to push them from their warm, self-designed wombs to confront the approaching tomb. It was not until they had experienced the terror and the confusion of Jesus' death and the wonder and exultation of his resurrection that the disciples were able to smash the windows of their wombs and deliver ...

414. Minding Your Heart

Mark 6:30-44

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... say, "I'd rather restrain a fanatic than try to resurrect a corpse." "Captain Planet" is one of the most popular new shows on Saturday morning. Originated and designed by Ted Turner and produced by Barbara Pyle, this program is far more than just another "cartoon" (a word, by the way, that comes from the Greek kairos). It was designed to entertain children in a non-militaristic genre while educating them in ecological and social concerns by using the examples of cooperation and teamwork. It uses the super ...

415. The First Christmas Card

Philippians 4:4-9

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... not even the church is always clear about the content of God's first Christmas card. What should the Church put on its own Christmas greeting? The first Christmas card, as we know it, was designed in1843 by the artist J.C. Horsley. It measured about the size of a postcard. From this design, one thousand cards were lithographed and hand-colored three years later for Sir Henry Cole, first director of the South Kensington Museum, London. The first Christmas card shows a Victorian family celebrating the gentle ...

416. Help Wanted: Only Shunammites Need Apply

2 Kings 4:8-37

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... . They endured harsh weather, bad roads and poor food as they traveled endlessly about their "circuit." In response to their needs, and out of a sense of commitment to their community's spiritual health, numerous homes along the preacher's way would be designated "Shunammite households." Each of these would maintain a "prophet's chamber" - a room that was always available on a moment's notice to provide hospitality and warmth to those doing the Lord's work. Like the Shunammite woman's rooftop chamber, this ...

417. Had-To

James 1:17-27

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... goodness is treasured. where love is neither a full-body contact sport nor a winner-take-all competition, but is the atmosphere we breathe. where instead of struggling to gouge out a niche for ourselves, we are enfolded by the unity of peace. where the only designer label to be found reads "Graced by God" and it is found on everyone and everything. If the truth be told, won't this place called "heaven" in actuality be utterly foreign to us and our experience? Won't we experience a form of "culture shock ...

418. The World's Fittest Human

Mark 12:28-34

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... for the human body, a "body canon" if you will (see George L. Hersey's The Evolution of Allure: Sexual Selection From the Medici Venus to the Incredible Hulk [Cambridge: MIT Press, 1997]), the Ironman is it. Mark Allen has devised a 16-week program designed to get us into "ultimate fitness" (This is most fully described in Outside magazine, XXII, February 1997, 40-54). But Allen also claims that if you follow his complete training regime for as little as five hours a week, you can transform yourself from a ...

419. The Ride of Your Life

1 Peter 1:17-23

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... find the boat. Remember you can float, too and let the water carry you to the surface. Once you are up and breathing again, then you can worry about finding something else to hang on to. 5. You're here because of the thrill. So enjoy it! Life isn't designed to be a predictable, safe course. If it were, none of us would want to go on it. When you are out of control, the ride can become terrifying. But when you let Jesus be in control, not even the wildest stretch of white water should be feared. Only enjoyed ...

420. Rules for the Road

Joshua 3:7-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... of the moment when they crossed over the threshold from their past into their future. It is now a new era with new rules and new challenges. General Motors is hawking its latest innovations and designs by claiming they have developed "rules for driving into the 21st century." Do the engineers and design consultants at GM really think that sitting in traffic jams, negotiating potholes and avoiding that idiot who just pulled out in front of you are going to be genuinely different in the year 2000? Not ...

421. The Secret of Living Is Giving

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... out and on to the next message. All public speakers are prisoners of our need for quick, in-your-face kinds of communication. Speeches and sermons are no longer composed to inform and inspire so much as they are sliced and diced into "sound bites" media-designed snack food that too often only sounds good and stays fresh for the three seconds of on-air time their life span is allowed. Postmodern culture does not make it easy to philosophize or theologize about life. What comes easy is a handy slogan we can ...

422. A Match Made in Heaven

Isaiah 61:1—62:12

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... on the drawing board that promise either (1) to shove an offending asteroid off its earth-targeted course or (2) to blow it up into small, relatively harmless-sized pieces. Although these designs look pretty impressive on paper, they all share two common weaknesses. First, developing the technology and the hardware to actually build these systems would cost about a zillion dollars. Second, by the time we can locate a potentially hazardous heavenly body crashing toward us, we would need to have launched ...

423. Fingerprints of the Soul

Romans 5:1-5

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... of our moral character and virtue. Do you know who your patron saint is? Maybe you didn't even know that you were born on the "feast day" of Saint Somebody-or-other. "Feast Day" refers to the death date, not the birth date, of a designated saint. Death dates, rather than birthdays, were celebrated as "feast days" because it was assumed that the saint's birthday into eternity was on this date. Since an excess of 2,000 saints have made it into the official canonical calendar at one time or another, there ...

424. Ephesians 1:3-14

Ephesians 1:1-14

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... fourteen verses of this letter. This is the utterly unique, new, and ultimate activity of God taken on our behalf — the all-in-all person and mission of Jesus Christ. Only because of what has taken place through Christ, according to God’s design, do men and women of faith now stand before God as “children,” as ones who may participate in the divine “inheritance” (v.11) that has been set aside humanity. Also a uniquely Christian emphasis within this “blessing” is the presence and working of ...

425. Exodus 24:12-18

Exodus 24:12-18

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... God's words to the people, the kabod of God is gradually contained more and more fully by the constricts of a tabernacle-enclosed religion. The kabod which settles for a time on Mt.Sinai in 24:18 eventually takes up residence within the carefully designed structure of the tabernacle, as described in the final verses of the Exodus book - 40:34-35. What had been an individual call from God to Moses is now a fully developed and institutionalized faith. Because this resident kabod becomes a formally and fully ...

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