Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 4301 to 4325 of 4939 results

4301. Leave Your Stuff Behind

Genesis 45:1-28

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Loren Isley is one of my favorite writers. He is a distinguished anthropologist and essayist. What makes his writing so gripping to me is that he has the eye of an artist and the soul of a poet. He sees beyond the surface and he has that rare double gift which enables him to enter deeply into an experience and then share that experience with us in the kind of way that enables us to vicariously experience what he himself has experienced. In one of his poignant vignettes from boyhood, he shared a moment of ...

4302. God Shaves With A Borrowed Razor

Isaiah 7:1-25

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

For weeks before Columbus discovered the new world, some members of his crew kept telling him, "Turn back before we run out of food and perish! Turn back before we are attacked by sea monsters! Turn back before we sail off the edge of the earth!" There was a name for those people -- we would call them today "Consultants." Now, obviously, I am in for making a little fun as we begin today -- but all for a purpose. I hope you will see it. Recently I came across a report of a Consultant. The title of the ...

4303. God Is Like A Mother

Isaiah 66:1-24

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

People often ask me what my real name is. They can't believe that Maxie could be anyone's real name. They want to think it's a nickname, or short for something like Maxwell or Maximillian. Can you imagine me being named Maxwell? That's far too predictable, far too strong. And Maximillian? That's far too grandiose for me. And folks who don't know me, when they see my name in print, often think I'm a female. I suppose they think Maxie is some sort of abbreviation for Maxine. When I was at The Upper Room, I ...

4304. When Jesus Comes

Luke 8:22-25

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

"Jesus walks in church today, Jesus speaks while people pray Touch and hear one bowed in grief Strengthening a weak belief, Healing habits too long King, Showing judgments reckoning, Granting one a new life's start. His garment's hem just brushed my heart. (Quoted by Leonard H. Budd, Jesus Christ My Healer, Church of the Savior, Cleveland, Ohio). Did that take you by surprise? Plunging right in, quoting a poem, every word of which you need to get to get the picture. You who are regular attenders and hear ...

4305. Homesick For a Future: New Life for the New Millenium

Genesis 12:1-8

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

I don’t know how it is with you, but occasionally I have flashbacks. Sometimes these are connected with a task at hand, or a decision with which I am struggling, or when I am wrestling with what I perceive as a call of God upon my life. Occasionally these flashbacks are connected with my preaching. It happened a couple of months ago. I was struggling with personal direction issues, but had also begun to think of the assignment of preaching on this occasion. The words of a young man named Nicholas in The ...

4306. A Church for the 21st Century: Holy, Charismatic, Apostolic - An Enclave of Resistance

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

In September of 1997 there was a groundbreaking service for a Catholic cathedral that is going to be constructed in Los Angeles. The Diocese of Los Angeles commissioned the famous Spanish architect Jose Rafael Moneo to design the building. Their hope is that the cathedral will be completed by the beginning of the millennium. It’s to be a peculiar witness to the glory of God. There were models of the cathedral at the groundbreaking service and on the basis of the models a Los Angeles Times reporter wrote a ...

4307. To Be a Pilgrim (Thanksgiving)

Hebrews 11:1-40

Sermon

Alex Gondola

What do you think of when you hear the word "Pilgrim"? Most of us — especially around Thanksgiving — hear the word "Pilgrim" and think of the English Separatists who crossed the Atlantic on the Mayflower, landed on Cape Cod, and settled in Plymouth. We hear "Pilgrim" and think "Thanksgiving." But, when you think of that kind of Pilgrim, what do you think? Some consider the Pilgrims stained-glass saints. A church in Utica, New York, was designed as a shrine to the Pilgrims. Three tall stained-glass windows ...

4308. Anyone Feeling Tired?

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

King Duncan

Our lesson for today contains a verse that many of us need to take to heart. Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Jesus is describing many of us. He knows our situation. Tired. Stressed out. Battling fatigue. Our nerves on edge. We’re like an old Peanuts comic strip. It shows Linus holding on to his familiar blanket. The caption reads, “Only one yard of flannel stands between me and a nervous breakdown.” Some of you know what Linus is talking about. A ...

4309. Till Death Do Us Part

Matthew 19:1-9

Sermon

James Merritt

I am going to deal with one of the most delicate, difficult, and debated topics in all the Bible divorce. There was a time in America when divorce was "safe, legal, and rare." Today, it's anything but rare. The exception has become the rule. It was recently said: "Couples are married today for better or for worse, but not for long." Almost three decades ago in 1970, Alvin Toffler, in his best-selling, Future Shock, made this prediction: Instead of wedding "until death do us part," couples will enter ...

4310. The Song of an Awe-Filled Life

Psalm 138:1-8

Sermon

John E. Harnish

Free Press writer Julie Hinds coined a phrase in trying to answer the question: "Why is reality TV so popular?" Why do civilized human beings enjoy watching other supposedly-civilized human beings: eat worms writhe in a bed of dead fish swap moms throw themselves at a self-centered bachelor or bachelorette and in a hundred and one ways, make fools of themselves? Hinds says the answer lies in what she calls the "ick factor…the strange yet effective tool that lures audiences to the maggot-eating competitions ...

4311. Romans 12:9-21

Romans 12:9-21

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

Paul's discussion of spiritual gifts in Romans 12:3-8 is immediately followed by the apostle's litany of true agape-inspired Christian characteristics. For Paul, Christ is fullness (pleroma). Agape love is the necessary component if the fullness of spiritual gifts is to be activated and exercised within the Christian community. Romans 12:9-21 makes up a unit of Christian "sententiae," similar to ones found in Hebrew wisdom literature. Some scholars have suggested that Paul even had at his disposal a kind ...

4312. Epiphany 5

Isaiah 40:1-31, 1 Corinthians 9:1-27, Mark 1:29-34, Mark 1:35-39

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Old Testament: Isaiah 40:21-31 Chapter 40 is the opening chapter of Deutero-Isaiah written in 540 B.C. at a time of the Babylonian captivity. God's people are slaves in a foreign land. They are weak and helpless. They need a message from Yahweh. He is a God of power and glory. The people are saying that their God does not know of their situation. Yahweh reminds them that he is creator of the world, an everlasting God who gives strength to the powerless. They that wait on the Lord shall have his ...

4313. Every Member Matters

Hebrews 10:24-25

Sermon

James Merritt

Thinking about a body, and the various parts and organs of a body, helps us to answer two very vital questions about the church: What does it mean to be a member of a church? and Why is being a member of a church different from being a member of any other institution or organization in the world? Well you will understand why membership matters and every member matters if you will begin to see the church as a body, and the members as the vital organs. In fact, that is what we are told in Rom. 12:5,"In ...

4314. Use It or Lose It

Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

James Merritt

(Following video clip of Brewster's millions) That indeed is a great and unique story—having to spend $30 million in 30 days in order to get $300 million. Now can you imagine having to spend $30 million in 30 days? I know most men are sitting there thinking to themselves: For my wife that would be no problem. At first you may think that this is just pure Hollywood. But, quite frankly, that clip is closer to reality than you think. We all have gifts from God that are far more valuable than $30 million or $ ...

4315. People Skills

Proverbs 12:26

Sermon

James Merritt

He was the first billionaire in the history of the world. At one time, the company he started, Standard Oil Company, controlled and marketed ninety-percent of the oil produced in America. We have today, Exxon, Mobil, Amoco and Chevron, because of this man's vision and ingenuity. For the vast majority of his life, he was by far and away, the richest man in the world. Even today, the name Rockefeller is associated with wealth. John D. Rockefeller, who probably never really knew exactly how much he was worth ...

4316. The Bible: Head and Heart

Luke 4:21-30

Sermon

Gary L. Carver

"With Jesus in your heart, you just can't hate anybody." That is our destination, but sometimes the journey is just as important as the destination. I want to take you on a journey through the text for today. As we continue to preach on the life of our Lord Jesus, we will basically arrive at the same destination: "With Jesus in your heart, you just can't hate anybody." This is a wonderful text, a dense text that is chock full. It's almost like a good hamburger with all that good stuff hanging over the ...

4317. If This Is Your Faith, Tell Me Your Stories

1 Thessalonians 3:6-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

We are used to dividing time into two different eons: “B.C.” and “A.D.” or as the secular world now calls them, “BCE” and “CE.” To say we live in 2009 A.D. or C.E. gives us a sense of the passage of time, a feeling of where we stand in the flow of events. But such designations don’t distinguish much else about the changes the centuries have brought. After a fearsome November storm season across North America it seems one designation that might help describe the changes time has brought is to divide life “B ...

4318. A Chance To Sing

Matthew 9:32-34

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

In the middle of the soloist's anthem at church one Sunday, a young boy turned to his grandmother and whispered, "She can't sing very well, can she?" Grandma knew the woman had had a deep love for God so she said, "Well, she sings from her heart. That's what makes it good." He nodded thoughtfully. Several days later they were riding together and singing along with the radio when the grandson turned to his grandmother and said, "Gramma, you sing from your heart, don't you?" (1) I remember the choir in one ...

4319. A Priesthood of Believers

Galatians 6:1-10

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

If I asked you this morning to name the most significant doctrines of Protestant Christianity, the two that would come to your mind immediately and would probably be named most frequently are: Justification by Grace through Faith, and the Priesthood of All Believers. This year we are celebrating the 500th birthday of Martin Luther, the fellow started the conflagration of religious revival and reformation that swept throughout the world and there has hardly been a time since that reformation started when ...

4320. The Exalted Christ

Mark 9: 2-10

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

Robert Louis Stevenson tells the story about a ship that was in serious trouble in a storm. A passenger on that ship, defying orders, made his way to the pilot, who seeing the fear on the passenger's face gave him a smile of assurance. Relieved, the traveler returned to his cabin and said, “I have seen the face of the pilot. He smiled and all is well." There are times in life when we need to see our pilot face-to-face. That's what happened in this mystical story that the Church calls the Transfiguration of ...

4321. From Envy to Gratitude

Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

The sun is shining and the sky is clear. As landowner Joe consumes his breakfast he knows he must, likewise, seize the day. My daddy called it “Making hay while the sun shines." Joe might refer to it as “Making wine before the grapes rot." Whatever the phrase, the focus is the same. Harvest won't wait. Joes finishes breakfast, climbs into his pickup truck and drives down Nolensville Road where day laborers assemble looking for work. Well, the time and place may be different, but the story is the same. And ...

4322. Choosing a Master

Matthew 6:16-24

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

It was supposed to have been fun. No one was supposed to have gotten hurt. Little children haven't become greedy yet have they? A minor league baseball team in Michigan held a promotion after a game, dropping $1,000 in cash from a helicopter over the outfield. Then they let the children run after it. The air should have been filled with giggles as the children plucked dollar bills from the air and scooped them off the ground. No one expected cries of pain. No one expected the older, bigger children to ...

4323. Hunger and Politics

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

Yogi Berra, the great baseball player of an earlier age, was known for his unusual and creative use of the English language. In giving directions to his home, for example, he often told people, "When you come to the fork in the road, take it." His formula for success, as some heard it, was this: "Ninety percent perspiration, and the rest mostly just plain hard work." Then there was the time he went to a restaurant by himself and ordered a large pizza. The waitress asked if he would like it cut into four or ...

4324. It's Not Booby Trapped, But . . .

Ephesians 5:15-20

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

The Road Runner cartoons, Wile E. Coyote and all the Acme products he bought may be the reason we have so many warning labels on products toady. Warning labels points to dangers in life. Most warning labels make sense but some of them are just downright ridiculous and makes you wonder WHY a company had to put that warning label on their product. I found a couple of websites devoted to nothing but inane warning labels. Let me share a few. "Do not put in mouth." On a box of bottle rockets. "Not dishwasher ...

4325. When the Caterers Weren’t Available

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

King Duncan

Today’s lesson is on one of Jesus’ best known miracles, the feeding of the 5,000. Of course, as someone has noted, if Jesus were alive today, he wouldn’t be allowed to get away with half the miracles he performed. It’s not just that we live in such a skeptical, rationalist age. It’s all the red tape as well. Here are a few examples. Turning water into wine. This would provoke immediate protests from the alcoholic beverage industry, who would argue that it was unfair competition, amounting to a monopoly. It ...

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