Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 401 to 425 of 4934 results

401. The Author Who Wipes Away Sins

Acts 3:12-19

Sermon

Ron Lavin

The pastor was very frustrated. It was almost time for the worship service to begin and he couldn't get the microphone to work. He paced back and forth by the baptismal font and stewed and brewed. He tried everything he could think of. Finally, he said, "This blankety, blank microphone doesn't work." At that precise moment, the head usher, who had gone to the master control box for the sound system, turned the switch to "on." The pastor's words were broadcast to the people. The shocked congregation ...

402. Drink Deep

Mark 1:4-11

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

I just read about a certain preacher, a recent seminary graduate, who was appointed to his very first congregation. He and his wife went to visit his family one Saturday afternoon for lunch. This preacher's mother sensed that her daughter-in-law was all that happy, but not wanting to be one of those nosey, meddlesome mothers-in-law, she pretended not to notice. She figured it was just a lover's spat. But as her son and daughter-in-law left, everything was cleared up because she overheard her daughter-in- ...

403. He Shepherds Us!

John 10:1-21

Sermon

Harry N. Huxhold

Andrew Young, former delegate to the United Nations and former mayor of Atlanta, finally published the book he claims he should have written ten years ago. The book, The Way Out of No Way, contains Young's observations about how real change occurs. He notes that changes for the better do not happen simply because we teach people how to work better or harder. Reforms take place when people exert their spirituality to achieve change. In his aristoc_esermonsratic and very intelligent manner, Mr. Young uses ...

404. The TV Audience

Sermon

Michael Rogness

Our sermon consumers are used to VCRs and Super Nintendo Ÿ strong visual images Ÿ they watch and then rewind. For our preaching, that certainly means it is a different generation of people out there listening. It has definite implications for what we say and how we say it.11 -- Jerry L. Schmalenberger I talk with many laypeople about sermons, and the comment I hear most often is: "Sermons are bo-o-o-oring!" This comment is of course not new in church history. Perhaps Eutychus thought the same thing about ...

405. Does Love Make You Sorry?

Luke 7:36-50

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

Are you one of those who thinks that a true Christian is always happy? A drummer in a Salvation Army band hit his bass drum with all his might - BOOM, BOOM! The band leader suggested that it might be better if he did not hit the drum so hard. "Bless ya, sir!" explained the drummer. "Ever since I was converted, I am so happy that I could just bust this bloomin' drum!" The truth is that a Christian has times when tears are in order. In Ecciesiastes, we are told that there is "a time to weep and a time to ...

406. To Thank Is To ...

Deuteronomy 26:1-15

Sermon

This ritual of Thanksgiving is a ritual of identification. A traditional American parade ritualizes the sacredness and centeredness of money in American life. This Deuteronomic ritual identifies God as the center of thanksgiving and is our way of saying so. One does not thank anybody if self is the center. Thanks, then, may be little more than the oil of social facilitation. The thanksgiving of this text expresses a relationship of debt. It calls forth one’s history - not of one’s lifetime alone, but that ...

407. The Greatest Story Ever Told

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

When a child is very young, mirrors don' t mean anything to him or her. But one day, sometime between six months and one year old, the child suddenly catches on. She recognizes that the creature holding her is the same one she has been trying to train for months, the very same one who will grin from ear to ear each time she says "Da Da", the same guy who will come quickly if she screams. She also notices that if she raises an arm, the good- looking baby in the mirror will do likewise. Suddenly, with a ...

408. Victory at Sea

Exodus 13:17--14:31

Sermon

Mark Trotter

The lesson for this morning is from the Book of Exodus, perhaps one of the best known incidents in that book, the crossing of the Red Sea. Even if you haven't been to Sunday School, or read the Bible, if you have been to Universal Studios in Hollywood, then you have seen this miracle reenacted every day, several times a day. Probably more people know about the crossing of the Red Sea from Universal Studios than the Bible. It is particularly appropriate that this be the lesson on a baptism Sunday, because ...

409. The Fundamentals of Family Ties

1 Corinthians 13:1

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

At the tender age of 18, I preached my first sermon on marriage and family. It was entitled “When Home is Heaven.” A few months later I got married and reality struck. After a few courses in psychology and shortly before our first son was born, I preached a sermon on the “Twelve Essential Elements of Effective Parenting.” Our children were normal preacher’s kids so I stopped giving advice on raising children. Now that my sons are grown and my wife is out of town, I thought I would end this series of ...

410. A Love Feast

John 13:1-17, 1 Corinthians 11:17-34

Bulletin Aid

Frank Ramirez

A: The Examination Service Call To Worship O praise the Lord, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people. For his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the Lord endureth for ever. Praise ye the Lord. (Psalm 117 KJV) Unison Prayer Lord God, this day we are gathered to share fellowship, service, and suffering. Let us be true to you, kneeling as Jesus knelt, girding ourselves with a towel, washing each other's feet, and coming to your table. We thank you for this invitation, and pray that we ...

411. Holing Out

2 Timothy 4:9-18

Sermon

Robert R. Kopp

The time of my departure has come. -- 2 Timothy 4:6b My dad holed the second ace of his half-century golf career on November 10, 1998. He became a low single digit handicapper not too long after picking up the game as an Army drill sergeant at New Jersey's Fort Dix just after World War II. Knowing perfectionist Ben Hogan had only one ace in his entire competitive career, a hole-in-one requires good providence -- luck in the secular mind. But as my dad always counseled me about every sport, "The harder you ...

412. The Temptation Of His Life

Matthew 4:1-11

Sermon

Thomas A. Pilgrim

Robert Penn Warren wrote a novel called All The King's Men. It was the story of a governor of Louisiana and his rise to power. His name was Willie Stark. At the end of his story he is shot down dead.1 Here was a man who gained a kingdom and lost all he ever had. Two thousand years earlier a man from Galilee said, "What would it profit a man if he gained the whole world and lost his soul?" Perhaps when He made that statement He was not only addressing it to those who heard Him, but also was looking back to ...

413. Proper 15

Mt 15:21-28 · Ex 16:2-15 · Rom 11:13-16, 29-32 · Ps 78

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

The Miracle Of A Woman's Faith In the miracle of Jesus' healing a Canaanite mother's demon-possessed daughter, we confront a different kind of Jesus. Is he the same Jesus whom we often describe as "meek and mild?" Can this be the same man who blesses little children, gives sight to a blind beggar, forgives an adulterous woman, heals a lady by her touch of his garment, and tells the story of a Good Samaritan? Here we experience a Jesus who does not seem to fit into this portrait. He ignores a woman's cry ...

414. We Don't Know How To Pray

Romans 8:18-27

Sermon

Johnny Dean

The name of the game is control. Control is a big issue for us. We seem to feel that we have to be in possession of something, in charge of something, ANYTHING, or we are just worthless. Perhaps it’s the pioneering spirit that gave birth to this nation that drives us to believe so strongly that our worth is determined ultimately by our possessions, the things over which we appear to have control. Therefore, one of the most difficult things we are called upon to do is to admit that there are some things in ...

415. The Mystery of God's Mercy

Acts 13:13-52

Sermon

Carl Hoefler

Have you ever hurt someone, or have you ever insulted someone without knowing it? Have you ever offended a friend, or slighted a spouse? Of course you have. All of us have. And, when we find out what hurt or harm our actions have caused, we say, "I didn't understand. I didn't know." We are sorry. We regret it; but, it is too late. A revealing scar is left. It is like driving a nail into a piece of lumber. You make a mistake. That is not exactly where you wanted it. So, you take the claw-end of a hammer, ...

416. How Was Jesus' Death Different?

John 19:28-37, John 19:17-27

Sermon

So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called the place of a skull, which is called in Hebrew Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. (John 19:17-18) Death is a common experience of life. All who lived in the past died. Every one of us now living will die sooner or later. Approximately five thousand Americans die every twenty-four hours. Almost two million deaths occur in our country every year. There are ...

417. Cross Purposes

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

"In the cross of Christ I glory towering o'er ..." Is the cross today towering over the world? Atlanta is presently boasting of its newest hotel, seventy stories high, the highest hotel in the entire world. Just a couple of blocks from this hotel are a Methodist church and a Catholic church, each with a tower and a cross on top. There was a time when the highest point in a town was the church spire with a cross on its pinnacle. Now city skyscrapers dwarf the church with its cross. The cross is over-towered ...

418. The Master Has Come - And Is Moved With Compassion

Matthew 8:1-4, Mark 1:40-45

Sermon

There lived in India a well-known poet named Tagore. One morning his servant was late coming to work. Tagore became more angry by the minute as he waited for him to arrive. Finally, the servant came in and began his duties. Tagore had already decided to fire him. He said, "Stop what you are doing and get out. You are fired." The man kept sweeping and said, "My little girl died last night." This incident points up one of the great needs in the world today - the need for compassion. Compassion has been ...

419. Count Me In!

Isaiah 56:1-8

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

"My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples." He drew a circle that shut me out - Heretic, Rebel, a thing to flout! But love and I had the wit to win: We drew a circle that took him in! The world is forever drawing circles that shut people out. In a polite way we say, "By invitation only" or "Reserved." Books are copyrighted so that no one, except by permission, may duplicate any portion of them. Trade names, such as "Coca-Cola" and "Orkin," are registered to prevent others from copying ...

420. Make It Right!

Matthew 5:21-26

Sermon

David E. Leininger

There is a church in Columbia, SC near the seminary I attended which has one of those bulletin boards out front to list service times, special events, sermon subjects, and so on. For several years there was one other thing on that bulletin board, one of those little "sentence sermons" that we see so often. It said, "The same Bible that says BELIEVE also says BEHAVE." I do not know if there were any significance to the fact that it was located so near to all us seminary students; perhaps someone figured we ...

421. A New You in a New Year (Part X)

Philippians 3:1-11

Sermon

Eric Ritz

I think ministers must be on the mailing list of every conceivable organization and charity in the United States of America. Much of the mail I receive at the church office (about 50%) is what is commonly called "junk mail." Dr. Lyle Schaller, a church consultant, urges ministers to review their mail over an open garbage can. Check the upper left hand corner or backside of the mail and look to see where it came from. About 35% of the mail never gets opened. This week as I was thumbing through the "bulk ...

422. The Near Edge of God

Jn 1:1-3, 14

Sermon

When I was three years old, I used to think that the true measure of things was how big they were in comparison to how big I was. There were Billy-sized things. And there were bigger things. But when I was three, almost everything fell into the category of "bigger things." Most everything was huge when I was small, but seems to have shrunk, now that I have become huge. Whenever I go back to the house in which I previously lived ... the school in which I previously studied ... the fields in which I ...

423. What Happens When You're Not Prepared for What Happens

Luke 8:26-39

Sermon

David R. Cartwright

How do you handle what happens when you're not prepared for what happens? Well, sometimes not all that well. I would like to call your attention to a movie, Cheaper By The Dozen, starring Steve Martin. There are numerous scenes in this movie that illustrate how one father tries to take care of things while his wife is away. This movie is about a father who has just gotten his dream job of coaching football at his college alma mater. But this job change calls for him, his wife, their twelve children — yes, ...

424. Ministering When You Are Not Welcome

Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

Sermon

David R. Cartwright

Jesus knew what to do all the time, and he knew how to go about it. He knew how to serve God in good times and in bad. In these scriptures from Luke, we continue to follow Jesus on the way to Jerusalem. But for now, the apparent destination of the trip has receded to the background. Something else has caught our attention. For one thing, Jesus' message of announcing the coming of the kingdom of God is being met with increasing curiosity. There is, at the same time, growing hostility to what Jesus has to ...

425. Being A View Master

Romans 2:9-21

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

There's an old Peanuts comic, Charlie Brown is busy with a woodworking project one day when Lucy comes by and asks: "How's the birdhouse coming along, Charlie Brown?" He replies, "Well, I'm a lousy carpenter. I can't nail straight. I can't saw straight and I always split the wood. I'm nervous, I lack confidence, I'm stupid, I have poor taste and absolutely no sense of design." And then in the last frame he concludes, "So, all things considered, it's coming along OKAY!" (1) Nobody would ever claim that ...

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