Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 4301 to 4325 of 4977 results

4301. The Knot: Frayed (Part 2)

1 Peter 3:1-7

Sermon

James Merritt

... is exactly right. If we will strive to meet these needs of our mates it will go a long way toward keeping the knot tied and help the rope from being frayed. 5 Major Needs Of Women: Affection Conversation Honesty and Openness Financial ... to build our wives up. It is not our job to bring our wives down to our level, but our job to always put them on a pedestal and keep them above our level. Then, do one last thing for your wife. III. Look At Your Wife With Grace “Since they are heirs with you of the grace of ...

4302. She Had Great Faith

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

... maybe you have given into a temptation and the weight of your mistake has caused a wall to be erected in your own mind that makes you feel a stranger to God’s grace. Listen, the Canaanite woman was a part of a despised people, but that did not keep her from having a claim on God’s grace just like every person who has ever walked this earth. Bring your hurt, your need, your urgent plea to Jesus. He always responds to the persistent pleas of persons with faith. He knows your need. Give him the chance to ...

4303. Seventy-Seven

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... focus of faith that sees Christ’s sacrificial gift of love, not some tribal ideal of dignity, as the reason for our actions and attitudes. Jesus’ teaching in this week’s gospel text delivers us from being forever weary and wary. From being forever weary in keeping an eye out for those who seek to “settle some score” with us (whether as individuals or as a nation). And from being wary of every individual or invitation we receive to involve ourselves in direct contact with all others who are God’s ...

4304. Turning Pity-Parties into Praise-Parties

Philippians 3:12-4:1

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... s providence and in the power of God’s promises. His words to those who follow Christ are, “Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me and the God of peace will be with you” (vs.9). In other words, despite ... the dire realities of life, keep an attitude of trust and triumph — trust the victory that Jesus’ death on a cross and resurrection from the dead have made into ...

4305. Leave Your Calculator Home

Matthew 22:15-22

Sermon

King Duncan

... six drops of lemon juice into the glass. As the crowd cheered, the manager paid out the winning prize. Then he asked the skinny guy what he did for a living. “Oh,” the man replied, “I’m the treasurer of the [Baptist] church!” (5) Again, we laugh to keep from crying. According to George Barna, the church statistician, among adults who regularly attend church (that is at least once a month) 37% did not give a dime to a church in the last year. He goes on to say that only 3-5% of the people who do ...

4306. An Announcement in Song

Psalm 98:1-9

Sermon

King Duncan

... spent many years playing in out-of-the-way beer joints before he made it big in the music industry. He reports that many of those bars were dangerous places, with drunk fans starting fights over the smallest matters. But Tritt found a unique way to keep the peace in such situations. Anytime things would get too rowdy, he would begin singing “Silent Night.” Here is how he put it, “‘Silent Night’ proved to be my all-time lifesaver. Just when [bar fights] started getting out of hand, when bikers were ...

4307. Changing Times

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... words do not really help. Instead, he affirms all the difficulties these people face. Then, however, he reminds them that the ultimate source of reality is not these passing circumstances but the eternal plan and love and promises of God. If Peter’s readers keep this in mind, although the current concerns threaten, they will not overwhelm or undermine (see also Isaiah 43:1-7). When we know that our times are in the hands of God we understand that every moment is a moment of opportunity (v. 14). Malcolm ...

4308. We Are Not The Light

Sermon

Craig MacCreary

... don’t have much worthwhile to say if it is not in some sense a prayer. I pray until I find my voice. When the light is flickering, test everything, but do not quench the Spirit. There will be enough light to avoid living in the dark by keeping the energy flowing through rejoicing, praying, giving thanks, and devoting oneself to the words of the prophets. John 1:6-8, 19-28 I believe it was Carlyle Marney who said that since the birth of the Christ child the church has been in postpartum depression. I think ...

4309. The Two Faces of Thanksgiving

Ephesians 1:15-23

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... — one face looking backwards into the past, the other face turned towards the future. Hence the hinge month of “January.” While being “two-faced” has now become an insult, for those early Romans who knew nothing about brain science the ability to simultaneously keep one’s past in clear view while focusing forward to the future was seen as a unique, in fact a divine, ability. For Christians to be “two-faced” was to be a prophet, except a prophet was seen in threefold scenarios, not two. A ...

4310. Why Matter Matters

2 Peter 3:1-18

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... that “with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day” (v.8). Our 24-7 days, no matter how much we try to pack into them, do not coincide with God’s timekeeping. Divine Time does not keep in step with Daylight Savings Time or Standard Time. Then the epistle author continues to challenge our worldly wisdom by reaffirming the unsettling divine promise that all we find familiar and unchanging “will pass away.” This promise is not just to bring about a new order ...

4311. The Three Shower Gifts

John 1:1-18

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... you believe in the name of some politician who promises you a more secure future–and promises to pay off your student loans? Do you believe in the name of your employer who pledges that somehow things are going to be “better” this next quarter and keeps the carrot dangling of a bonus? Do you believe in the celebrity you follow and fan, and favorite their every tweet? Do you believe in powers and principalities of this world? Or do you believe in the “Prince of Peace.” Do you “believe in his name ...

4312. A Call for Repentance - Ash Wednesday

Joel 2:12-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... . My spirit and my body are the record. My good deeds show in me and my wrong deeds can never be hidden. My spirit either grows to fullness or declines to nothing. God has no need of recording devices. We must not think of [God] as a vengeful or shop keeping dictograph. [God] has created a better instrument. [God] has made me. [God] needs only to look at me, and all is recorded.” Do you see what he is saying? Our minds, hearts and even our bodies are affected by the good or the evil we do. We are our own ...

4313. While It Was Still Dark

John 20:1-9

Sermon

King Duncan

... is just a word. It’s a nice day with bunny rabbits and eggs . . . but when someone so precious to you dies, Easter becomes everything . . . an anchor in a fierce storm . . . a rock on which to stand . . . a hope that raises you above despair and keeps you going.” (6) It’s a dark, dark world without Easter. On the other hand, with Easter, we see hope bursting forward with every blossom of springtime. I was amused to read about an elementary school class that was taking a test. One question was, “Upon ...

4314. Je Suis Jesus

1 Corinthians 7:1-40

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... back in time, then forward in time, then back to his present time, then “back to the future,” all in order to keep his life here and now on track. By the time this three-movie series concluded, the “space-time continuum” was a convoluted, snarly ... already been graced by God. The love that brought Jesus into this world at a particular time and place is past. The love that keeps Jesus in this world and lives in our hearts and hands is present every day we confess Christ to the world. The love that ...

4315. When You Drop the Ball, What Next?

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... of failure: when you flub the ball, or someone shuts a door in your face, shake yourself off, shake the dust off your feet, and keep moving on to the next doorway of opportunity. In this week’s gospel text Jesus gets a big “win.” He’s riding high as he ... His birth was announced by angelic hosts, but then his parents had to sneak off to Egypt in the dead of night to keep him safe. They brought him back to Nazareth and raised him there under the radar of the authorities, but this hometown would utterly ...

4316. The Law of Unintended Consequences

Mark 1:40-45

Sermon

King Duncan

... always willing to heal? Jesus always wants the best for people. Have you ever prayed, “O God, if it be your will, then please do such-and-such . . .”? God’s will is always for our best good. There may be circumstances that we are not aware of that keeps God’s will being exercised at the moment we ask, but God never wills anything except our best good. Of course we can’t know what was going through Jesus’ mind. All Mark says is that Jesus was indignant when the man came up and asked to be healed ...

4317. Love Sender

John 3:1-21

Sermon

James Merritt

... have eternal life.”(I John 5:13, ESV) Eternal life does not begin for you when you die. It begins for you when you believe. For all of us in this room who have believed and received, do you understand that just as God did not keep His love to Himself we are not to keep His love to ourselves? Our job is to pass His love on to others who are also willing to believe and receive. The easiest way to share the gift Jesus spoke of in John 3:16 is to invite a friend or family member to church ...

4318. The Good Life

John 10:11-18

Sermon

James Merritt

... in our lives. There simply is no defense against that drunk driver, that deranged killer, that demonic terrorist, or that deserting spouse. Just like sheep we all need a shepherd that can get us where we need to be. Now keep something in mind about shepherds and sheep. Shepherds cannot keep sheep from difficulty. There are wolves and bears that want to devour the sheep, there’s bad weather, there’s ticks, fleas, insects that want to sicken the sheep and weaken the sheep. The shepherd does not guard the ...

4319. The Desperate

John 9:1-12

Sermon

James Merritt

... God – not because there is no God to show you, but because you have no eyes to see Him.” As we read this story, keep in mind we are not just dealing with physical blindness, but we are dealing with spiritual blindness. This man had a deeper problem, because ... the ball is going and how to swing the bat. It takes 2/10 of a second for the batter to swing and hit the ball. Keep in mind, that a 90mph fastball actually passes the plate in less than 500ths of a second. To put it another way, it takes a batter ...

4320. Everything Counts

Luke 16:1-15

Sermon

James Merritt

... even the Romans. Furthermore these people would never do business with him again. The owner did the only thing he could do – he keeps his mouth shut and accepts all the slaps on the back though they were very expensive slaps. The owner did not commend the steward ... you have millions of dollars it is just a little thing. Do you know why? 1) You don’t own it; 2) You can’t keep it. God is watching you right now. He is examining the books right now. He is seeing if how you manage your earthly stuff proves ...

4321. Can Two Stay One?

John 13:31-38

Sermon

James Merritt

... their neighbors is to stay married, to work through the problem, to hang in the battle, to refuse to surrender and to keep loving one another. Otherwise, you give an unbelieving world a reason to say “Your marriage is no different from ours. What difference ... to share with other couples who need to know they can make it. [Hold up card] I want you for the next 30 days to keep this card, memorize this verse, and answer these three questions on a daily basis and then just see what God will do in your marriage ...

4322. Paradise Lost

Genesis 3:1-24

Sermon

James Merritt

... ? I just found out there is a new app you can get on your phone called “Cloak.” It was created by a young man in New York who kept running into his ex-girlfriend. He thought there ought to be some kind of a mobile tool where you could always keep track of someone’s location that you wanted to avoid. He and a friend of his created, “Cloak”, a free iPhone app that uses social media accounts to give you the location of people you don’t want to meet. It maps out their position so you can give them ...

4323. Planting Your Feet

Psalm 32:1-11

Sermon

James Merritt

... then you go to others that you have hurt and done wrong and you ask their forgiveness. What if they refuse to forgive you? What if they want to hold on to their grudge and bitterness? At that point, their problem is no longer your problem and never let anyone keep you on the freeway of guilt when God has put you on the exit ramp of grace. Perhaps you are one of these people and even though you have confessed and confessed and confessed and even though you know in your head God has forgiven you, you still in ...

4324. A Few Remaining Tremors

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon

James Merritt

... going to make money while he is in jail? What is he going to do? Sell magazines to the inmates? Now, you are getting the answer to the big question you are asking which is, “Why should I forgive ______ for what _____ has done to me? Why should I keep forgiving?” The short answer is this - Because God has forgiven me and God continues to forgive me. Do you know why it is so much easier for us to ask forgiveness from God than it is to give forgiveness to others? Is it because we’ve failed to see what ...

4325. It's Not Rocket Science

John 8:31-41

Sermon

James Merritt

... morality you might believe it, but when it gets into scientific or historical areas it may or may not get it right and you shouldn’t expect it to. Many people want to put science in the living room and the Bible in the attic. They want to keep one away from the other. That really doesn’t solve what people see to be the problem for this reason. Science, history, and theology are not three distinct branches of knowledge. They are simply three different ways in which we view the world around us. Many times ...

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