Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 4326 to 4350 of 4936 results

4326. In Quest of a Treasure

James 1:1-18

Sermon

Larry Powell

The Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon's obsession with discovering the fountain of eternal youth led him eventually to the land of flowers, or as we know it, Florida. Even now, there are those who claim that the bold adventurer did, in fact, discover such a fountain and that its perpetual waters contain the treasure of agelessness, or the much pursued "ever young" potion. Several years ago, somewhere in Florida, I took a drink from a fountain which was allegedly the genuine source designated by Ponce de Leon ...

4327. Jesus Makes House Calls

Matthew 14:22-36

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

Pentecost XII Then he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat by this time was many furlongs distant from the land, beaten by the waves; for the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were ...

4328. The Flight From Light

Isaiah 60:1-22, Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Erskine White

"And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way." (Matthew 2:12) The other day I called someone to compliment her on a job she had done exceedingly well. We had worked on a project together which became a great success, in no small part because of the leadership she provided. As I spoke with her, I went on and on about how much her work had been appreciated. "Everyone who was there really loved you," I told her; "in fact, they’re raving about you!" ...

4329. Comfort

Isaiah 40:1-31

Sermon

Frederick C. Edwards

"Comfort! Comfort my people, says your God." How wonderful those words sound to us. How many times we feel the need for comfort. How often we need an assuring and tender word to ease the hurt we feel. Every year about this time we hear those wonderful prophetic words sung in Handel’s Messiah, or read in our churches from the portion of scripture that biblical scholars call "Second Isaiah," to distinguish it from the writings of the eighth-century prophet. They were written for a people for whom things had ...

4330. The Flow of Life

Ecclesiastes 3:1-22

Sermon

Gregory J. Johanson

DICK FRAZIER is presently associate director of the Presbyterian Family Life Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, a multi-service pastoral counseling facility. Before that he was a local pastor and then a Clinical Pastoral Education Supervisor and Chaplain Therapist at a psychiatric center working with institutionalized patients. He also preaches in the context of invitations from local churches that value his input and perspective. The Flow of Life underscores the normality of the ebb and flow of feelings ...

4331. The Ten Commandments #2: No Idols!

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Back to Basics. Commandment # 2 - No Idols. Listen to what Isaiah has to say on the subject: All who make idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit; their witnesses neither see nor know. And so they will be put to shame. Who would fashion a god or cast an image that can do no good? Look, all its devotees shall be put to shame; the artisans too are merely human. Let them all assemble, let them stand up; they shall be terrified, they shall all be put to shame. The ironsmith fashions it ...

4332. Faith-based Living

John 6:1-15

Sermon

King Duncan

One of these days, at the end of a message, I am going to give you a pop quiz--just to see how many of you were really listening. That would be cruel, wouldn't it? Don't worry. I'm afraid of the results myself. Few people enjoy taking pop quizzes--or any kind of test for that matter. Some of our young people would give an "Amen" to that. Tests elevate our anxiety level, so people will do some crazy things to prepare themselves for tests. For the benefit of our high school and college students, I want to ...

4333. Winners And Losers

Luke 13:22-30

Sermon

King Duncan

Back in 1994, 128 runners lined up to compete in the NCAA cross-country championships in Riverside, California. Unfortunately, one of the turns on the 10,000-meter course was not well marked; only five of the 128 runners stayed on the correct path. Mike Delcavo was the first runner to notice the problem. He began waving at the other runners to follow him, but most refused. Can you blame them? One-hundred-and-twenty-three runners took the wrong path, only five took the right one. What did the 123 think of ...

4334. In A Time Of War

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

King Duncan

In 1930 a movie was made about World War I called "All Quiet on the Western Front." In one scene some American "doughboys" were talking. A comic character asked, "Where do wars come from anyway?" Another replied, "Well, one country gets mad at another country, and they start fighting." The first soldier asked, "Do you mean that one piece of land gets mad at another piece of land?" "No," the other replied. "The PEOPLE of one country get mad at the PEOPLE of the other." The first soldier picked up his rifle ...

4335. Teammates in the Cause of the Lord

Acts 4:32-37

Sermon

Richard Gribble

"Outlined against a blue-gray October sky, the Four Horsemen rode again. In dramatic lore they are known as Famine, Pestilence, Destruction, and Death. These are only aliases. Their real names are Stuldreher, Miller, Crowley, and Layden. They formed the crest of the South Bend cyclone before which another fighting Army football team was swept over the precipice at the Polo Grounds yesterday afternoon as 55,000 spectators peered down on the bewildering panorama spread on the green plain below." Grantland ...

4336. Adoration And Confession

Psalm 103:1-22

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

We thank you our heavenly father for the joy of being alive in you. We pray that you’ll come as the Holy Spirit, to cleanse our hearts and minds, to fill us with a power of discernment but also with the willingness to respond to that which you are calling us to. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. A little boy was asked by his pastor if he said his prayers every night. “No sir,” the fellow answered honestly. “Not every night. Some nights I don’t want anything.” That makes the point doesn’t it? Many of us do not ...

4337. Confession And Supplication

Philippians 1:1-11

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

The text for our message this morning comes from the 4th chapter of Paul’s letter to the Church at Philippi, the 4th chapter, the 4th through the 7th verses. Hear the word of the Lord. Rejoice in the Lord always. "Again I say, rejoice. Let all men know your forbearance, the Lord is at hand. Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God. And the piece of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and your ...

4338. In the Wrong Place At the Right Time

Mark 15:21-32

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Back in early December, Jerry and I were in Jerusalem for a meeting of the presidents of the World Methodist Council. We deliberately chose to meet in Jerusalem because we wanted to identify the world Wesleyan family with that small, often- persecuted and almost always forgotten Christian community in that land our Lord made holy. It disturbs me greatly that of all the millions of Christians who visit that land, very few seek out the Christians there and hear their story. A Christian should not go to ...

4339. Poor Mary

Luke 1:39-45

Sermon

Mark Trotter

The scene in the Gospel lesson this morning is called, "The Visitation." It's about two women, cousins. They have something in common. They are both going to have babies, and both, miraculously. Elizabeth is too old, and Mary is so young, she is a virgin, betrothed, but not married. What does this mean? Mary comes to Elizabeth's house in the Judean hills. It sounds upscale, doesn't it, the "Judean Hills." Elizabeth is the city cousin. She is sophisticated, from a patrician family. Her folk are the Aarons. ...

4340. Try to Be Nice

Philippians 4:2-9

Sermon

Mark Trotter

I remember a cartoon; it showed a middle-aged man, pot-belly, frown on his face, wearing a T-shirt. Across the T-shirt was the message, "Please don't ask me to have a nice day." I first saw that cartoon on our refrigerator door, placed there when our children were still living at home. They thought it captured their father. It probably did. I can identify with W. C. Fields, who said, "I start off each day with a smile, and get it over with." I confess I don't like clichés, especially clichés like "Have a ...

4341. The Choice for God or the World

John 10:1-10

Sermon

Richard Gribble

Once upon a time, a great and loving king ruled over a vast territory. There was something very strange about this kingdom, however. Everything was the same. The people ate the same food, drank the same drink, wore the same clothes, and lived in the same type of homes. The people even did all the same work. There was another oddity about this place. Everything was gray - the food, the drink, the clothes, the houses; there were no other colors. One day, a majestic and very beautiful bird flew from the west ...

4342. Learning the Three Step Faith Walk

Luke 5:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

The January 2004 edition of Trail magazine has got some 'splaining to do. Trail is a British publication that provides maps and suggests particularly beautiful or challenging hiking trials to the growing number of devoted hill-walkers throughout Great Britain. Unfortunately if anyone had followed the seemingly precise, detailed directions given by the magazine to reach the summit of Britain's largest mountain, Ben Nevis, they would have hiked straight off a sheer cliff and ended up in a broken heap at the ...

4343. Catch the Fever

Mark 1:29-34

Sermon

James Caldwell III

This is the season of at least two kinds of fever going around. The first is an elevated body temperature. The kind that accompanies an illness. After all, this is the flu season. And with the flu comes fever. But a fever is a symptom of many diseases. All of us have had it at one time or another. Frequently, fevers are caused by bacterial infections, sometimes causing a fever to be extremely high. Several times when one of our children has been sick, my wife would say "He's on fire!" Unless it's a family ...

4344. Vanilla, Chocolate, and Strawberry

1 Corinthians 9:1-27

Sermon

James McCormick

From the time Patricia and I first came to Big Canoe, almost four years ago, every day I have thought to myself, “What a rare privilege it is to live in this place, and especially to be a part of the faith community that is Big Canoe Chapel. So many people - so many rich histories - so many varied faith traditions! What a privilege to be here!” At the same time, every day I have thought to myself, “It is difficult to live graciously in the midst of so much diversity. We have to work at that every day!” ...

4345. When Extravagance Is Beautiful, and When It Is Not

John 12:1-8

Sermon

James W. Moore

You probably heard about this – it was in all the papers; it was in radio and television news reports; it was a “hot topic” on the call-in-talk shows. A minister in North Carolina had members of his church voted out of the church because they had voted for a Presidential Candidate different from the one he voted for and supported. In October last year (2004) he preached a sermon in which he told the congregation who he was supporting for President of the United States… and he said that if any of them were ...

4346. Dirty Dreams and Slick Schemers

Jude 1:8-11

Sermon

James Merritt

I'm sure all of us have had dreams that are extremely strange. I have found that dreams basically fall into three categories. Some dreams can be very delightful. The next time you ladies look at your sewing machine you might remember that it was the result of a dream. As Elias Howe was working on the development of the first sewing machine, he had one problem. He could not see in his mind where to locate the eye of the needle. He was running out of money and about to shut down his invention, when one night ...

4347. Did You Know...That You Can Know God?

1 John 2:3-5

Sermon

James Merritt

Why were you put on this earth? What should be your greatest goal in life? What is the single greatest achievement you could obtain on this earth? What is the secret to eternal life? The answer to all of these questions is the same. It is found in two words - Knowing God. That is what God wants from you and for you more than anything else in your life. God said in Hosea 6:6, "I'd rather for you to be faithful and to know Me than to offer sacrifices." (Hosea 6:6, CEV) More than your time, more than your ...

4348. The Dark Side Confronted

Hebrews 12:5-11

Sermon

James Merritt

As we left our story last week, the Emperor and Darth Vader had devised a plan to turn the young Jedi, Luke Skywalker, to the Dark Side. While we were gone, Darth Vader revealed his true identity as Luke's father, Anakin Skywalker. Luke has now been captured and is ready to face Darth Vader, not just as his enemy, but also as his Father. We have been in a series of messages called "The Dark Side". I remind you again that what Star Wars calls "The Dark Side" the Bible calls "sin". There really is a dark ...

4349. Fish and Sheep

John 21:15-25, John 21:1-14

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

Don't you find this passage filled to overflowing with delightful descriptions? Only in the Gospel of Saint John do we discover such an appealing and even worshipful relationship between Simon Peter and his Savior and Lord. A feast is set before us and its attraction will last a lifetime for all those who profess the Christ. As usual, the Master relates his will and ways through common and ordinary means. Who didn't know what a fish was? Yes, and who didn't know a sheep when he/she saw one? Additionally, ...

4350. Where There’s Hope, There’s Life

Isaiah 2:1-5

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

The poet Emily Dickinson wrote: Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without the words, And never stops at all. Here we are in December. December is not so much another month as it is another mood. We start talking about faith, hope and love just because it’s December. We send greeting cards to people we have seldom seen all year. We decorate our houses with greenery hoping this symbol of life will become real. We string lights around our homes, hoping against hope ...

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