Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 4301 to 4325 of 4986 results

4301. Joy Is for Leaping

Song of Songs 2:8-13

Sermon

Donna Schaper

... waste. That's what we do when we ignore the power of the seasonal cycles. We institutionalize waste. Fortunately, the same people who put cayenne on grapefruit on corners in Mexico today also hid the seed from the Spaniards. They knew how not to waste, how to stay in relationship. They knew how to be sensual about food and spring, flowers and figs. Some people find the Song of Solomon a little much, a little too sexy as a book of scripture. I think just the opposite. I remember when a church I served was ...

4302. From Emptiness to Fullness

Ruth 3:1-5, 4:13-17

Sermon

Robert A. Hausman

... Ruth requires a quick review. Naomi and her two daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah, find themselves widowed and childless. When Naomi hears that the famine in Judah has eased, she decides she will be better off there than in Moab. She encourages her daughters-in-law to stay in their homeland of Moab and start anew. Orpah is finally persuaded, but Ruth is not. Ruth is given those memorable lines, "Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will ...

4303. The Science of Happiness

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... a “happy” existence. Yet Paul was filled with joy. He was overflowing with love for all the churches and all the saints. Paul’s personal experience of genuine happiness came as a byproduct of his unshakeable resolve to “Please God.” As long as Paul stayed true to those two words he was unhesitatingly happy. Will you practice happiness this week? That doesn’t mean you will always feel happiness. But as John Wesley taught us, sometimes you need to act as if you have faith, even when you seem to ...

4304. A New Perspective

Illustration

Staff

... about 100 feet in the air, was caught off guard when the chair soared more than 11,000 feet into the sky smack into the middle of the air traffic pattern at Los Angeles International Airport. Too frightened to shoot any of the balloons, he stayed airborne for more than two hours, forcing the airport to shut down its runways for much of the afternoon, causing long delays in flights from across the country. Soon after he was safely grounded and cited by the police, reporters asked him three questions: "Where ...

4305. The Humble Post Rider

Illustration

... a day's ride, in two hours. There, according to tradition, his horse promptly dropped dead. Pausing only to get another mount, Bissel pressed on and by April 22 was in New Haven but he didn't stop there! He rode on to New York, arriving April 24, and then stayed in the saddle until he reached Philadelphia the next day. Bissel's 126 hour, 345 mile ride signaled American militia units throughout the Northeast to mobilize for war.

4306. The Vasa Syndrome

Illustration

Brett Blair

... been caused by problems with communication, goal setting, and adaptability. The sinking of Vasa has also been used as an example for business managers on how to learn from previous mistakes. With projects large and small there is a need to stay realistic in terms of strategy and project management. Also, organizations need to keep their goals matched to their capabilities. Decision makers need to have access to unbiased (both internal and external) information and there needs to be processes in place that ...

4307. Challenge: Going Down With the Ship

Illustration

Steve Templeton

... about a captain going down with his ship is nonsense. There's a three-man life raft on board and I'm going to be on it. To see who will come with me, I will ask you each one question. The one who can't answer will stay behind. Here's the first question: What unsinkable ship went down when it hit an iceberg?" The first sailor answered, "The Titanic, sir." "On to the next question: How many people perished?" The second sailor said, "One thousand five hundred and seventeen, sir." "Now for the third question ...

4308. Getting Rid of the Bah Humbugs

Illustration

Brett Blair

... . But they did more than annually complain about it as we do. They took action and got rid of Christmas altogether. In Puritan settlements across 17th century America a law was passed outlawing the celebration of Christmas. The market place was ordered to stay open for business as though it was no special occasion and all violators were prosecuted. It was against the law to make plum pudding on December 25th. The celebration was not referred to as Yuletide but as fooltide. So we want to reform Christmas ...

4309. Can This Be Christmas?

Illustration

M. R. DeHaan, M.D.

... ? No. He's not here you'll find Him where Some humble soul now kneels in prayer, Who knows the Christ of Christmas. But see the many aimless thousands Who gather on this Christmas Day, Whose hearts have never yet been opened, Or said to Him, "Come in to stay." In countless homes the candles burning, In countless hearts expectant yearning For gifts and presents, food and fun, And laughter till the day is done. But not a tear of grief or sorrow For Him so poor He had to borrow A crib, a colt, a boat, a bed ...

4310. If You Want to Kill the Church

Illustration

Staff

Never go to your church or meetings held there, If you do go, be late, it's no one's affair. If the weather is bad, either too hot or snowing, Just stay home and rest, for there'll be others going. But should you attend, be sure and remember To find fault with the work, each official and member. Be sure to hold back on your offerings and tithes, The bills will be paid by the rest of the guys. And never ...

4311. Member Retention

Illustration

Staff

90% of new members will stay in the church if: They can articulate their faith (implies need for membership and evangelism classes) They belong to subgroups (i.e. choir, Bible Studies, Sunday School classes, etc.) They have 4-8 close friendships within the church.

4312. The People's Religion

Illustration

Staff

... matters (19%) Become more involved in community matters (18%) Focus more efforts on young people (14%) More social activities for church members More personal contacts between clergy and families, including pastoral visits Less emphasis on money Advertise more Strive for unity Stay out of politics This survey is found in the book, The People's Religion: American Faith. It's a Gallup compilation of more than 50 years of public opinion polls. Figures in the book show a consistency over the years: about ...

4313. Church Dropouts

Illustration

Alexander Astin

... by about 20 percent each, while the "no preference" category increased by more than 50 percent. Declines in religious interest occur more often among men than women, and most often among the brighter students. Those who lived on campus showed greater declines than those living at home. And those who stay in college show greater declines than those who drop out.

4314. The Doctor's Brave Volunteer

Illustration

Max Lucado

... to do it with a local only. As Dr. Kane had performed nearly four thousand such operations, he was confident this would be a good type of operation to do with such an approach. But it was tough to find someone who was willing to stay awake through such surgery. Finally, he found a willing candidate, and on February 15 he wheeled in the patient, prepped him, and prepared for the operation. The surgeon deftly cut into the patient, found the troublesome appendix, and took it out without a hitch. The operation ...

4315. The First and the Last

Illustration

... rushed into the blaze to carry out the trapped women. Some rescuers reached the duchess, who had remained calmly seated behind her booth. "Because of my title, I was the first to enter here. I shall be the last to go out," she said, rejecting their offer of help. She stayed and was burned to death along with more than 120 others.

4316. What Will Happen Next?

Illustration

Sign in the window of an English company: We have been established for over one hundred years and have been pleasing our displeasing customers ever since. We have made money and lost money, suffered the effects of coal nationalization, coal rationing, government control, and bad payers. We have been cussed and discussed, messed about, lied to, held up, robbed, and swindled. The only reason we stay in business is to see what happens next.

4317. This Is the Day

Illustration

Dr. F.W. Boreham tells about his stay in a quaint old cottage in England occupied by a minister's widow. She had given him her bedroom and in the morning when he pulled up the blind, he saw that into the glass of the windowpane had been cut the words: "This is the day." He asked the ...

4318. Between Bears

Illustration

Staff

... no apparent reason, the hunter in the cave came rushing out, almost ran into the waiting bear, hesitated, and then dashed back in again. The same thing happened a second time. When he emerged for the third time, his companion in the tree frantically called out, "Woody, are you crazy? Stay in the cave till he leaves!" "Can't," panted Woody, "there's another bear in there."

4319. A Downhill Fight

Illustration

... Cliff Notarius of Catholic University and Howard Markman of the University of Denver studied newlyweds over the first decade of marriage, they found a very subtle but telling difference at the beginning of the relationships. Among couples who would ultimately stay together, 5 out of every 100 comments made about each other were putdowns. Among couples who would later split, 10 of every 100 comments were insults. That gap magnified over the following decade, until couples heading downhill were flinging five ...

4320. A Lesson Not Learned

Illustration

Judith Swanson

On the first day of ninth-grade health class, one blackboard was covered with the names and locations of the major bones and muscles of the human body. The diagram stayed on the board throughout the term, although the teacher never referred to it. The day of the final exam, students came to class to find the board wiped clean. The sole test question was: "Name and locate every major bone and muscle in the human body." The class protested in ...

4321. Encouragement: Out of Many Failures

Illustration

... --a portrait of his sister at the piano. Edward's father thought that was a poor showing. But his mother insisted that the photograph of his sister was so beautiful that it more than compensated for 49 failures. Her encouragement convinced the youngster to stick with his new hobby. He stayed with it for the rest of his life, but it had been a close call. What tipped the scales? The vision to spot excellence in the midst of a lot of failure.

4322. The Diet Push

Illustration

Irene Sax

... went to the New York City Department of Health, where she was given a diet devised by Dr. Norman Jolliffe. Two months later, discouraged about the 50 plus pounds still to go, she invited six overweight friends home to share the diet and talk about how to stay on it. Today, 28 years later, one million members attend 250,000 Weight Watchers meetings in 24 countries every week. Why was Nidetch able to help people take control of their lives? To answer that, she tells a story. When she was a teen-ager, she used ...

4323. No Exceptions

Illustration

Paul Borthwick

Bill Hybels related a story of integrity in Leadership Magazine. It illustrates proper humility in a leader: "One evening I stopped by the church just to encourage those who were there rehearsing for the spring musical. I didn't intend to stay long, so I parked my car next to the entrance. After a few minutes, I ran back to my car and drove home. The next morning I found a note in my office mailbox. It read: A small thing, but Tuesday night when you came to rehearsal, you parked in ...

4324. Just the Basics

Illustration

In his book In Search of Excellence, Tom Peters outlines eight principles of operation that are practiced by the most excellent, innovative corporations. They are: Act quickly. Serve the customer. Encourage creativity and innovations. Know the value of your employees Stay close to your business. Do what you do best. Don't get fat at the top. Adhere to established values while allowing employee independence. Peters points out that some of these characteristics are so basic that they are like "motherhood" ...

4325. First Christian Church of Botswana

Illustration

... board began to question the wisdom of continuing the work. The thought of leaving their post, however, brought great grief to this devoted couple, for they felt sure that God was in their labors, and that they would see people turn to Christ in due season. They stayed; and for a year or two longer, darkness reigned. Then one day a friend in England sent word to the Moffats that she wanted to mail them a gift and asked what they would like. Trusting that in time the Lord would bless their work, Mrs. Moffat ...

Showing results

Showing 4301 to 4325 of 4986 results

4301. Joy Is for Leaping

Song of Songs 2:8-13

Sermon

Donna Schaper

4302. From Emptiness to Fullness

Ruth 3:1-5, 4:13-17

Sermon

Robert A. Hausman

4303. The Science of Happiness

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

4304. A New Perspective

Illustration

Staff

4305. The Humble Post Rider

Illustration

4306. The Vasa Syndrome

Illustration

Brett Blair

4307. Challenge: Going Down With the Ship

Illustration

Steve Templeton

4308. Getting Rid of the Bah Humbugs

Illustration

Brett Blair

4309. Can This Be Christmas?

Illustration

M. R. DeHaan, M.D.

4310. If You Want to Kill the Church

Illustration

Staff

4311. Member Retention

Illustration

Staff

4312. The People's Religion

Illustration

Staff

4313. Church Dropouts

Illustration

Alexander Astin

4314. The Doctor's Brave Volunteer

Illustration

Max Lucado

4315. The First and the Last

Illustration

4316. What Will Happen Next?

Illustration

4317. This Is the Day

Illustration

4318. Between Bears

Illustration

Staff

4319. A Downhill Fight

Illustration

4320. A Lesson Not Learned

Illustration

Judith Swanson

4321. Encouragement: Out of Many Failures

Illustration

4322. The Diet Push

Illustration

Irene Sax

4323. No Exceptions

Illustration

Paul Borthwick

4324. Just the Basics

Illustration

4325. First Christian Church of Botswana

Illustration

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