Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 4276 to 4300 of 4977 results

4276. Easter Heart Burn

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... , he found a poor man who was looking for a priest to tell his troubles to. The priest was so caught up in his meditations that he told the man he was too busy right then. Instead of inviting him in, the priest gave the man some money, it was quite a bit more than he normally gave, because he felt guilty, but then went back to his Bible study. He said, it wasn't long afterwards, that he priest realized that he had been just like the disciples the Road to Emmaus. He said, "Christ knocked at my door. I ...

4277. Touch and Feel, Taste and See

John 20:19-31

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... supper which confused him, "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father." Whatever the case, Jesus didn't condemn Thomas for his doubt. And he used that moment of doubt as a teaching moment about faith. Doubt isn't bad or wrong or a sin. Doubt is actually quite useful in the faith. Otherwise we might fall for the Gospel of every Tom, Dick and Harry or believe works of fiction like the Da Vinci Code are fact. Doubt can act as a filter. Robert Strand writes: "Faith lives in the same apartment building as Doubt ...

4278. Future Perfect

John 20:1-18

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... her name and she is now with Him. And I believe Jesus is standing outside the Tomb of grief and denial in which her parents have barricaded themselves and is calling their names. And even further, I believe Jesus is calling our names and calling us to quit jumping on every bandwagon we see and using people and their grief or their situation in life for political fodder and gain or for media ratings. The Risen Christ is with us, even in controversy. F. 33-year-old Ashley Smith knows, the Risen Christ is with ...

4279. Come and See

John 1:29-42

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... Spider-Man about Mary Jane. She wants to know what Peter told him about her. Peter searches for the right words; "I said, um, 'Spider-Man,' I said, 'the great thing about M.J. is when you look in her eyes, and she looks back in yours, everything feels not quite normal, because you feel strong, and weak at the same time. You feel excited, and at the same time terrified. The truth is you don't know the way you feel, except you know the kind of man you want to be. It's as if you've reached the ...

4280. Hope In The Midst of Uncertainty

Matthew 24:36-44

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... says the signs are there. The signs have always been there. We just have to look. We have to get ready and stay ready so we'll know them when we see them. So, where do we look? How do we see the signs. I personally think it's really quite simple. And the hardest part of all is doing the simple things. For some strange reason, we think there has to be or we want there to be some long drawn out ritual, some rite of passage that makes everything OK. It's that whole works righteousness problem. We have ...

4281. Let's Make A Deal

Luke 16:1-13

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... our gifts, our talents, our place in life with those around us. Envy takes over. And because we don't Treasure that which God has asked us to be Stewards and Managers of, we have a tendency to squander it, to fool it away. The challenge is to quit hitting the snooze button and answer the wake up call. Jesus basically says:, "You have intelligence, use it. Use it to fulfill the mission you assumed when I called you to be my disciples. Be as shrewd about the affairs of the Kingdom of God as this manager ...

4282. Where Love Comes From

John 13:31-38

Sermon

King Duncan

... when a friend is late. My mother kept me waiting under that tree at the orphanage all afternoon. And she never, ever returned. I just can’t stand for someone I love to be late.” “He was now all grown up,” says Willimon, “on his own, functioning quite well, yes. But he still had scars.” (3) There are some people who don’t know how to love because they have never been loved. Ted Engstrom tells about a man whose life seemed doomed from the start. He had been born to a dominating, unloving mother ...

4283. Love and Obey (Mother's Day)

John 14:15-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... man had a serious character flaw that would eventually disqualify him. He knew that his college coaches would see it right away, and that would be the end of his career. Well, the coach was right. The young man ended up attending four different colleges ‑ he quit two and was kicked out of two. He finished without a degree. As the coach predicted, he never made it as a college player. What was the character flaw that the coach saw? “He cannot submit to authority,” the coach said. “He cannot submit to ...

4284. The Peace of Christ in a World of Chaos - Sermon Starter

John 14:23-29

Illustration

Brett Blair

... does, by golly, I'm going to be ready for it!" Calvin's mom looks out at the reading audience and she says, "I need a suit like that!" That's the way many of us feel as we see the news and deal with life. Sometimes this world seems quite violent and people seem to be at each other's throats. A suit like that would help, so we can say with Calvin, "Whatever may come my way, I'm going to be ready for it! Bring it on!" Well, I don't have a suit like Calvin's to ...

4285. Selfish and Altruistic at the Same Time

John 14:23-29

Illustration

Mary Hinkle Shore

... says, "When human beings love they try to get something. They also try to give something, and this double aim makes love more complicated than food or sleep. It is selfish and altruistic at the same time, and no amount of specialization in one direction quite atrophies the other" (Aspects of the Novel [Orlando: Harcourt, 1927] 50). On the verge of his departure from them, Jesus says to his loved ones, "If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than ...

4286. But Not Yet

John 14:23-29

Illustration

David Zersen

... to search my mind most carefully as to whether children were accustomed to chant these words in any kind of game, and I could not remember that I had ever heard such a thing. Damming back the flood of my tears, I arose, interpreting the incident as quite certainly a divine command to open my book of Scripture, and read the passage at which I should open." Augustine took up the Bible and opened it to Romans 13:13 "Let us conduct ourselves becomingly as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in ...

4287. The Real Thirst Quencher

Revelation 22:1-6

Sermon

King Duncan

... and his flocks and herds?” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” Quite a story. “The water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” Now we come today to our text from Revelation 22 and we encounter this promise again: “Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let ...

4288. He Has Given Us the Glory

John 17:20-26

Illustration

Scott Hoezee

... gathers in the name of the risen Christ, in every soaring cathedral where hundreds gather, in every megachurch that packs in people by the thousands, and in every house church in nations where official church gatherings are banned—in and through and across it all something quite amazing is happening: the revelation of a mystery of divine love that dates back to well before the creation of the world and that will continue on and on into a future in which at some point this same God is going to say "Behold ...

4289. To Live Is to Choose

Matthew 7:13-14

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... ocean, came upon his face as he answered positively, telling me that he had been sharing with the service station attendant all the joys of being a Christian. Then followed a very animated and exciting conversation as this fellow reminisced about his life. He had had quite a checkered career, had been in and out of scrapes with the law and at one time had been a prisoner in the State Penitentiary. He then told me of a chaplain, a now retired Methodist minister that served at the state penitentiary where he ...

4290. The Broken English of Pentecost

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... you might master in your lifetime there will always be one that is your “mother tongue.” Your “mother tongue” is the language that first expressed your feelings and fears, your desires and dreams. When traveling in distant lands, nothing perks up your ears quite so much as hearing a sudden snatch of conversation in your mother tongue. When you’re away from home, hearing the language of home inspires you to strike up a conversation with someone you would never sit and talk to if you were home ...

4291. A Priesthood of Believers

Galatians 6:1-10

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... those fears and doubts and longings that were behind his words Those feelings of inadequacy emptiness frustration despair I was with Ben when his wife died I preached her funeral spent hours with Ben in the lonely aftermath Ben couldn’t take my preaching He didn’t quite have it in him to stand up for me when the church officials became angry at my witness- in regards to race But that’s okay. I have Ben’s letter and the space between the lines and the efforts behind the words are enough Ben thanked ...

4292. Freedom to Set Free

Galatians 4:21-31

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... .” In throwing off the bonds of legalism and rigid moralism, we are sometimes tempted to accept our human imperfection as an excuse for irresponsible behavior. “I am only human,” we mutter. It’s one thing to acknowledge that we are weak sinners; it’s quite another to do so with a shrug of the shoulders and a nonchalant attitude that makes us content with lesser values and a below par performance. Paul talked about it in these terms, “. . .it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in ...

4293. Take Off Your Shoes...You Are Standing on Holy Ground

Acts 7:1-53

Sermon

James W. Moore

... a hospital chaplain.” Or, “God is calling me to be a teacher on the college level.” Or, “God is calling me to be a counselor.” Or, “God is calling me to be a pastor.” But, then, she came to one young woman who seemed a bit shy at first (not quite as bold as the others) and Bishop Huie said to her: “Tell me about your calling. What do you think God is calling you to do?” And the young woman said: “I don’t know exactly yet where God will lead me. I just know one thing. God is calling ...

4294. Is It Okay To Laugh In Church?

Philippians 4:2-9

Sermon

James W. Moore

... story about the little boy who went to the church one Sunday morning with his grandmother. Grandmother’s approach to religion was stern and puritanical. The little boy saw a friend and smiled at him. The grandmother slapped his hand and said in a stage whisper: “Quit that grinning! Don’t you smile like that in church!!” How said it is… indeed, how tragic… that some people see faith as a source of goodness, but not as a source of gladness. How sad that some people see religion as a sensitizer of ...

4295. Bearing the Marks of Christ

Galatians 6:11-18

Sermon

James W. Moore

... where we watched some cowboys hard at work… branding their steers. A mark was made on each steer to dramatically and clearly signify who his owner was. Something like that was done to human beings in Biblical times. In New Testament times, slavery was quite common. Slaves were regarded as pieces of property… and they were marked with visible signs which indicated To whom they belonged, Who their owner was, Who their master was. Historians tell us that Some slaves were marked by a brand on the forehead ...

4296. On the Road with the Little Children

Luke 18:15-17

Sermon

James W. Moore

... from the world. This is your niche. Stay in it.” In Mark 10, when Jesus said: “Whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it”… this surely was part of what he had in mind. * Don’t give up on life! * Don’t quit on life! * Don’t sour on life! * Don’t stonewall your way through life! * Don’t lose the child-like ability to celebrate life! He gives us new life, new spirit, new heart, new birth. It’s so sad to see people become so beaten down by life that they ...

4297. On the Emmaus Road with Cleopas and His Friend

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

James W. Moore

... the thrill of victory! Later that day, the Easter Surprise dawned again on the Emmaus Road. Remember the story with me. It is Easter afternoon. Cleopas and his friend have been followers of Jesus,… but now they have thrown in the towel. They have quit… and they are limping down the Emmaus Road like broken and defeated warriors. They know about the crucifixion. They saw it with their own eyes. But, they do not yet know about the resurrection. They have not yet experienced the Risen Christ. Disappointed ...

4298. Being and Doing as the People of God

1 Peter 1:13-2:3

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... that evening, a well-trained psychologist with a keen mind and a precise tongue; a cynical, self-styled Atheist who had been ordained an Episcopal clergyman but had given up his ordination, and three ministers. The death of God theologians had been causing quite a stir. Theology was making the headlines, and theological speculation had left the dusty, mossy class rooms of university halls, and was being battered about with the man on the street. These five men had come together to talk about this new ...

4299. The Church: The Dwelling Place of Wonder

Ephesians 1:15-23

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... spirit ye are of: who call your men of a catholic spirit, only because you are of a muddy understanding; because your mind is all in a mist; because you have no settled, consistent principles; but are for jumbling all opinions together. Be convinced, that you have quite missed your way; you know not where you are. You think you are got into the very spirit of Christ; when, in truth, you are nearer the spirit of Anti—Christ. Go, first, and learn the first elements of the gospel of Christ, and then shall ...

4300. Who Will Cast the First Stone?

John 7:45--8:11

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... Jesus were in a life and death dilemma. According Jewish law, adultery was among the most serious crimes. The Rabbi said, “Every Jew must die before he will commit idolatry, murder or adultery.” So, adultery was one of the three gravest sins. The law was quite clear on the matter. Though there were certain differences in the way the death penalty was to be carried out, yet there was no question — death was the penalty for adultery. The woman knew this. Can you get even a faint hint of the despair, the ...

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