Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 4251 to 4275 of 4936 results

4251. Freed From Fear

Romans 8:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

On May 26, 1986, People Express flight number 14 from San Francisco to Newark was ready to depart. Suddenly a wild-eyed man who "looked Iranian" bolted from his seat and ran out the door. Knocking aside startled security officers, he frantically tried to escape through the locked doors of the terminal before an airport police officer finally tackled and subdued him. Was he a terrorist? No. He was just a very average American who was afraid to fly. Unfortunately, he was so frightened of being locked into ...

4252. How Do You Get To Heaven?

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

King Duncan

The school bus was filled with children discussing various topics as children often do. Suddenly waxing serious, A.J. asked the group, "Where is heaven? I don't know." The group gave it some serious thought, but none of them seemed willing to answer. However, as it always works with kids of any age, one young man rose to his feet, turned to A.J. and began to address the group in response to the question of the hour. "That's easy," said Matthew. "The way you get to heaven is to go to the North Pole, put it ...

4253. What Is The Question?

Job 38:1--41:34

Sermon

Charles R. Leary

I have to tell you, I generally ask myself a lot of questions. And when I have the opportunity, I ask questions of others. But today I am asking, "What is the question?" What is your question? If you were offered one wish that would be granted, one question that would be answered, one priority that would be fulfilled, right now, at this time in your life, what would it be? What is the question? The untimely death of Michael Landon recently caused me to ask myself, "What would I do...what would I say...with ...

4254. He Is Who He Says He Is

Acts 5:17-42

Sermon

King Duncan

Hubert Humphrey loved meeting people. That made him a much-loved politician. On a fishing trip in northern Minnesota, Hubert and federal judge Miles Lord were in a sporting-goods store. Lord noticed that a tour bus from California had broken down outside. Lord sneaked out to the bus and introduced himself as the mayor. "Folks, I'm sorry to see you're having trouble," he said. "If there's anything we can do for you, just stop by my office. And by the way, there's something you can do for us. We have a ...

4255. Who Are You Trying To Impress?

Galatians 1:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

Have you ever tried to impress somebody and looked silly doing it? Author Sidney Sheldon tells a memorable story about an embarrassing event that occurred to him years ago. He had acquired a lovely blue Rolls-Royce. A few days later he parked in front of a shop in Beverly Hills. He went inside, did his shopping, returned to his car and got behind the driver's seat of the Rolls. An arm reached through the window and grabbed his shoulder, and a voice said, "What do you think you're doing?" He looked out the ...

4256. Empowered By Angels

1 Kings 19:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

Colonel Jimmy Stewart stood looking out the window of his hut in England. He gazed in the direction of the English Channel and toward the continent beyond. Tomorrow he would command a squadron of B-24 Liberator Bombers on a dangerous mission over Germany. It was understood that some of the planes would not return; that some of the flyers would die or be captured. Jimmy Stewart was afraid. He replaced the blackout curtain, turned and sat on his metal cot. Switching on a small light, he pulled from his ...

4257. What It Takes

Luke 16:1-15

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

An insurance salesman stuck his head into a department store sales manager's office. "You don't want to buy any insurance, do you?" he asked timidly. "Young man, who taught you how to sell?" asked the sales manager. "Don't ever ask that kind of question! Your problem is a lack of confidence. Give me an application blank. I'll buy some insurance from you to give you confidence in yourself." After completing the application, the sales manager gave the young man a lecture: "Now remember, each customer is ...

4258. What's The Matter? Are You Blind?

John 9:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

Back in 1991, there was an article in THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE concerning a group of more than 100 women who reside in Long Beach, California. These women, Cambodian refugees who witnessed the horror of the Pol Pot Regime, are certifiably blind even though doctors say their eyes function perfectly well. These sightless women suffer from psychosomatic or hysterical blindness. They are really blind, but their blindness stems from their minds. Psychosomatic disorders are nothing new. We know that the state ...

4259. The Most Difficult Commandment

Mark 12:28-34

Sermon

King Duncan

Many years ago, firefighters in Canton, Ohio, rushed to the home of Lisa M. Ash, 24, to extinguish a fire. They pulled out of her oven a smoldering voodoo doll made from cloth and twigs that she said she was using to cast a spell against a neighbor, based on advice she said she received from a telephone psychic line. (1) James W. Moore tells about a segment he saw on the television news show "20/20." It was called "Neighbors at War." It showed how next door neighbors do battle with each other fighting, ...

4260. Annie's Gift

Mark 12:41-44

Sermon

King Duncan

Annie tried to keep her feelings of distress from showing. Why was it so hard? For seventythree years she had been struggling to keep her feelings to herself. That was how she was brought up. "Don't make a scene, Annie," her father would say to her. "Show them you've got some backbone." And she had listened. No matter how much she hurt inside, she was usually able to keep her emotions bottled up. Only once had she failed. It was when Frank died. Frank had been her life. Forty years they had been husband ...

4261. Man, Give Me Some Bread: I Want To See God

John 6:25-59

Sermon

King Duncan

Many years ago, a Mrs. Maria Rubio of Lake Arthur, New Mexico, was rolling out tortillas for lunch when she saw something that took her breath away. Looking back at her from a flat tortilla was the face of Jesus! The skillet had burned a perfect representation of a slender, bearded face onto the surface of the bread. Now I am not certain how Mrs. Rubio knew that this was Jesus, but she convinced a reluctant priest to bless the piece of bread, then she built a shrine around it. Mrs. Rubio quit her job so ...

4262. I Didn't Expect This In Church!

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

First of all, a word for the ladies. If you think the man in your life is a world-class, gold-medal sports freak, Linda Geyer has a sporting wager for you. Any horror story you have, she can top. Your husband can't bear to watch anything but the sports channels? Linda's husband Mitch has four TV sets placed throughout their home in suburban California, a fifth in the garage, a sixth on the patio and a portable TV in the car. Your husband watched sports on your honeymoon? At the wedding altar itself, their ...

4263. Reaching Our Full Potential

Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

King Duncan

A young man was seen pedaling around a college campus with a T-shirt reading "I'm going to be a doctor." A sign on the back of his bicycle proclaimed: "I'm going to be a Mercedes." Roy L. Smith once told the odd case of an Australian youth who suffered a concussion while serving with the armed forces in Korea. At the time of his injury the young man was 5 feet 4 ½ inches tall. The blow started strange reactions within this soldier's body so that he began to grow. Today he stands 6 feet 3 ½ inches high! " ...

4264. An Unforgettable Day

Luke 2:41-52

Sermon

King Duncan

The September 2002 issue of More magazine carried an article titled, "The Day I'll Never Forget." It was an interview with prominent people about where they were and what they remember from the most momentous events in American history. Janice Aldrin recalled the giant, rocket-shaped cake her family and friends ate to celebrate the day when her dad, astronaut Buzz Aldrin, first set foot on the moon. Former Olympic track star Madeline Manning Mims remembered the terror she and her teammates felt at the 1972 ...

4265. Drowning In A Sea Of Stuff

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

King Duncan

A 6th grade teacher posed the following problem to her arithmetic classes: "A wealthy man dies and leaves ten million dollars. One-fifth is to go to his wife, one-fifth is to go to his son, one-sixth to his butler, and the rest to charity. Now, what does each get?" After a very long silence in the classroom, little Joey raised his hand. The teacher called on Joey for his answer. With complete sincerity in his voice, Joey answered, "A lawyer!" He's probably right. Where there is a will, there is often a ...

4266. Transforming Tragedy into Triumph

2 Corinthians 5:1-10

Sermon

Edward Inabinet

In a certain city in Romania is a burying ground called the "Mary Cemetery." The crosses that serve as tombstones are ornamented with carvings, paintings in bright colors and even amusing epitaphs. They express, of course, the Christian''s belief in the resurrected life. The Communist government, which wrote the travel folders describing this cemetery and its unique tombstones, until recently described the Christian hope expressed on the tombstones as merely "the expression of a certain philosophy ...

4267. What Happens When I Die?

John 14:1-4

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

My children and grandchildren introduced me to that delightful little comic strip Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson. In one strip, Calvin is lying on a hillside, next to his stuffed tiger Hobbes, pondering the meaning of life. He asks: I wonder where we go when we die. They lie there for a few moments, and then Hobbes replies, Pittsburgh? In the last panel, Calvin asks, You mean if were good or if were bad? A day or two before he died, William Saroyan said to his friends, “Everybody has got to die; but I ...

4268. Opposite the Treasury

Mark 12:41-44

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

In the first parish I served there lived an elderly widow. She lived alone, except for about a hundred parakeets. She supplemented her meager income from her late husband’s Social Security by raising and selling those popular birds. Her health was none too good, and during the cold winter months she was rarely able to make it out to church on Sunday mornings, so I tried to visit her as often as possible. I recall making one visit on a cold wintry day. We talked about many things, read the Bible together, ...

4269. Thanksgiving - The Biblical Version

1 Chronicles 16:7-43

Sermon

Eric Ritz

For most of us, Thanksgiving Day will be a short-lived experience. It will almost be an interruption in the fast paced preparation being made for the Great Christmas Rush of 1992. The Wednesday before Thanksgiving is the busiest travel day for trains, planes, and our nation''s roadways. Housewives will be busy preparing for a great feast. Football games will fill the airwaves and generate much excitement in local communities such as ours. In the midst of this busyness, preparation, travel, action, will ...

4270. Listen to Him

Mark 9:2-13

Sermon

King Duncan

There aren’t very many heroes nowadays, are there? Even in sports. Steroids. Drugs. Violence. Many of today’s best-known athletes reflect some of the worst values in our culture. There was a time, however, when sports stars were a steady source of positive inspiration. Take Lou Gehrig, for example. Even today, the name stirs positive emotions among baseball fans in spite of the fact that it has been 68 years since Gehrig last played the game, long before many of us were born. For those who don’t know his ...

4271. The Dangers of Being Religious

Mark 7:1-23

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

Jeff Foxworthy has made a career of telling "redneck" jokes. For instance, "You might be a redneck if someone asks you for some identification and you show them your belt buckle." The South doesn't have a lock on rednecks. The North has them also. For instance, "You might be a northern redneck if you've ever burned a tire on the hood of your car in winter to help get it started." Here in the church I'd like to poke fun at some of the straight-laced, self-righteousness that passes for Christianity. So, ...

4272. Height Advantage

Ephesians 1:15-23

Sermon

Paul E. Robinson

One of the key inventions of the modern world is the geostationary or geosynchronous satellite, many of which are now orbiting the earth today. The fancy term "geostationary" means that the satellite's orbital velocity exactly matches the rotation of the Earth under it. Therefore it remains stationary in the sky, typically orbiting about 22,000 miles above the earth. The first operational geosynchronous satellite (Syncom 2) was launched back in 1963, the year I graduated from high school. Many of you can ...

4273. Breaking The Negative Cycle

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

One of the most destructive foibles of human nature is the tendency to lock ourselves into rigid patterns of thinking, ruts of responding, and unalterable avenues of acting. It was this way of thinking that caused Jesus to condemn the Pharisees, admonishing them about straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel. The most common pattern into which we humans tend to move is what I call a negative cycle. I doubt if there’s anything more devastating to daily living, to our effective functioning, to creative and ...

4274. Loving The Jesus Way

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

A tramp, one day, knocked at the door of a Catholic Rectory. "Father," he said to the priest, "I've been floating around for a long time, and I was wondering if I could join your church and settle down?" "Why, yes," said the priest, "I'd be happy for you to do that, but first let's find out what you know about faith." With Christmas coming, he decided to ask the tramp a simple and seasonal question. "Where was Jesus born?", asked the priest. Without even hesitating, the tramp said, "In Pittsburg." "No," ...

4275. Speak And It Will Be

Luke 7:1-10

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Somewhere along the way I saw a cartoon which showed a man kneeling beside his bed saying his prayers. "God," he says, "is there any way you can help me and make it look like I did it myself?" We chuckle at that. Maybe the reason we don't laugh out loud is that it strikes close home. We are always playing tug of war with ourselves, our identity and worthiness. Assessing who we are and what is important to us is an operational need of all of us. Our scripture lesson tells the story of how people understand ...

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