Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 4351 to 4375 of 4914 results

4351. Training the Heart

1 John 1:1-4

Sermon

Paul E. Robinson

Not long ago I heard about one more study done with rats. This particular study seemed to indicate that the amount of stress experienced by baby rats in their first ten days set their bodies for the rest of their lives as to how the rats would react to stressful situations. As I recall, there are at least two factors at work. First of all, in a stressful situation a chemical is produced that triggers the stress response throughout the body. Secondly, there are receptors throughout the body which sense that ...

4352. Humility

John 13:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

“When I try to tell people what Ronald Reagan was like,” says Peggy Noonan, former White House speechwriter, “I tell them the bathroom story.” A few days after President Reagan had been shot, when he was well enough to get out of bed, he wasn’t feeling well, so he went into the bathroom that connected to his room. He slapped some water on his face and some of the water slopped out of the sink. He got some paper towels and got down on the floor to clean it up. An aide went in to check on him, and found the ...

4353. Yes! (Easter Sunday)

John 20:1-9

Sermon

King Duncan

Dr. John Trent tells about a wedding video he once saw. The video was shot from the back of the church looking up the aisle toward the bride and groom. Because of the camera angle, you could see several members of the congregation. Suddenly, during the vows, a man jumped up from his pew and yelled, “Yes, Yes, Yes!” as he pumped his fist. Then he froze and slid down into his seat--and sheepishly took off his headphones. It turned out he had been listening to the Auburn-Alabama football game, and his ...

4354. Excited!

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

It happened back in 1983. Only eight minutes and thirty-four seconds remained in a game between the University of Nevada-Reno Wolf Pack and the Fresno State Bulldogs. Suddenly Wolf Pack running back, Otto Kelly, broke loose on an eighty-nine yard scamper and a touchdown, giving his team a 22-21 lead. During Kelly's run his coach, Chris Ault of the Wolf Pack, got so caught up in the excitement that he began racing down the sideline alongside Kelly. When Ault reached the FresnoState twenty-yard line, he ...

4355. A Christian Style Of Being And Doing

Colossians 3:18-4:1

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

This section of scripture is Paul's instructions about how we are to live together. He first gives us instructions about relationships within the family. Then he talks about the relationship between slave and master and master of slave. Then he moves on to talk about our relationship to what he calls "outsiders". In all of this, Paul is giving us instructions for a Christian way of being and doing -- especially a Christian way of relating to others. Instead of simply "trusting the Lord" -- or using that as ...

4356. If I Have Not Love

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Thomas S. Kepler was a New Testament professor at Oberlein College in Ohio. He was a gifted writer, scholar, and teacher. It was through his book, Journey With The Saints, that I was introduced to the richness of spiritual biography and the resources for spiritual formation in the cloud of witnesses sense of New Testament days -- a cloud of witnesses who have marched the Christian way for us. Through most of his teaching career he was also Pastor of a little rural church in Northern Medina County in Ohio. ...

4357. The Ministry Of Making Many Rich

1 Timothy 6:11-21

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

One of the most effective and colorful congressmen to ever go to Washington was a crusty old gentlemen from Texas named Sam Rayburn. He served Congress for over 50 years — during the last ten of those years, he was Speaker of the House. But the real greatness of Sam Rayburn was not in the public positions he held. It was in his common touch. One day he heard that the teenage daughter of a Washington reporter had died. Early the next morning he went over to the reporter’s house and knocked on the door. “I ...

4358. The Word And Words

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

I wish I had discovered Eugene Patterson long ago. He's a Presbyterian Pastor, and also an outstanding writer. He's the pastor of Christ Our King United Presbyterian Church in Bel Air, Maryland. He has been there for 27 years; (maybe I'll make it that long here). This is one of Patterson's simple, matter-of-fact, powerful expressions of truth: "There is no such thing as successful churches. There are, instead, communities of sinners, gathered week after week by the Holy Spirit, in towns and villages all ...

4359. Blessed Are Those Who Are Awake

Luke 12:32-40

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Mark Twain once said that he heard a preacher who was powerfully good. He decided to give him every cent he had with him. But the preacher kept at it too long. Ten minutes later, Twain decided to keep the bills and only give the change. Another ten minutes more Twain said, “I was darned if I’d give him anything at all. Then, when he finally stopped and the plate came around, I was so exhausted, I decided to steal $2 just for spite.” Now I know you sympathize with Mark Twain. I don’t hear as many preachers ...

4360. A Rod For The Back Of Fools

Proverbs 25:1-28

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

The book of Proverbs is a book of wisdom, a collection of pithy expressions of practical advise. As I am contending in the theme for this sermon series, it is a compendium of guidance for daily living. Because it is a book of wisdom, it shouldn't surprise us that a lot is said about fools and foolishness. The word fool as singular or plural appears at least fifty five times in the book, and foolish or foolishness at least twenty one times. In this 26th chapter from which we have read our text, fool and ...

4361. In the Wilderness With Moses

1 Corinthians 10:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

There is a hilarious story about a man who is walking along a lonely beach when he suddenly hears a deep voice that says to him: DIG! He looks around: nobody’s there. “I am having hallucinations,” he thinks. Then he hears the voice again: I SAID, DIG! So he starts to dig in the sand with his bare hands, and after some inches, he finds a small chest with a rusty lock. The deep voice says: OPEN! OK, the man thinks, let’s open the thing. He finds a rock with which to destroy the lock, and when the chest is ...

4362. The Resurrection

John 20:1-9

Bulletin Aid

H. Burnham Kirkland

Call To Worship Leader: Listen to the glad shouts of victory in the dwellings of God's people. People: The Lord's mighty power has done it! His power has brought us victory! Leader: I will not die, instead I will live in the house of the Lord forever. People: Alleluia, Christ is risen! Collect God of our salvation, hear our shouts of glad adoration as we gather to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Through his death upon the cross he has promised us forgiveness of our sins, and through ...

4363. Called To Be Free

Galatians 5:1-15

Bulletin Aid

H. Burnham Kirkland

Call To Worship Leader: You are called to be free; but do not let this freedom become an excuse for letting your physical desires control you. People: We come seeking the power of the Holy Spirit to direct our lives. Leader: God has called us all to service. People: We pray for the Spirit to produce in us kindness and goodness, that we may be free to serve the needs of others. Collect Almighty God, through your Son, Jesus Christ, you have set us free. Give us this day a clear understanding that we were not ...

4364. When Jesus Comes to Church

Mark 11:27-33

Sermon

Michael Milton

1 Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, 3 ‘Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles.’ 4 The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. 5 He rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, 6 ‘I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain.’ 7 I will proclaim the Lord’s decree: He said to me, ‘You are my son; today I have ...

4365. All Keyed Up

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

Mark Trotter

There is an old story about a man who went to a doctor for a physical examination. The examination was concluded, and the doctor said, "Sit down. I have good news for you. You are in perfect health. In fact, you have the health of a man half your age." The man thanked the doctor, got up and headed for the door. When he got near the door, he collapsed, and died on the spot. The doctor said to the nurse, "Let's turn him around so it looks like he was coming in." Dr. Karl Wenninger used to ask his medical ...

4366. Thank God, We're Already Dead

Romans 6:1b-11

Sermon

William G. Carter

If you ever find yourself on the corner of 56th Street and Lexington Avenue in New York City, stop in to see the baptismal font at St. Peter's Lutheran Church. Not long ago, a small group of tourists went for a visit. We were astonished by what we saw. The font is off to the left, by the main entrance into the sanctuary. That in itself is appropriate, for baptism is the entry into the Christian life. We are brought into the church when we are baptized, so the people in St. Peter's put the font right by the ...

4367. What's The Use?

John 20:19-31

Sermon

Mark Trotter

We get a lot of visitors Sunday morning, especially on Easter Sunday, and they are always welcome. Most of them, however, don't make their presence known to us. Which I understand and sympathize with. When I visit another church I try to stay invisible, too. Which works, until we are asked to stand for the first hymn. In some churches they make the visitors stand and introduce themselves. Which I believe must have been a practice started in Puritan New England as an act of public humiliation. So I refuse ...

4368. Where Do You Abide?

John 15:1-8

Sermon

Mark Trotter

Both our scriptures this morning come from the same hand. Or perhaps we could say, they come from the same community of faith, those who followed the Apostle John in his interpretation of Jesus, and what Jesus means for us. One clue to that common authorship is the word "abide." You find it in both passages read to us this morning, in the Gospel of John and in the First Letter of John. In the Gospel of John, Jesus says, "Abide in me, as I abide in you." In the First Letter of John it says, "By this we know ...

4369. The Problem Is Not Faith

Luke 17:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

Christians are funny people. In one of his books, Chuck Swindoll tells about a lady who wanted desperately to go on a tour to Israel. But she wanted a sign to confirm that it was God’s will. The morning after she began planning the trip, she woke up at 7:47 a. m. The tour group to Israel was planning on flying over on a 747 jet. That was her “sign” that confirmed God was going to bless this trip. Another young man needed to buy a car. But he wanted to know that whatever car he bought was in God’s will for ...

4370. Demonstrating the Divine

John 1:10-18

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

For almost fifty years I have lived comfortably within the church. And for almost fifty years I have loved the church. I still remember sitting in the pew, a small child of three or four - dwarfed by big shoulders embracing me on every side. I loved the music - the grand soaring chords of the organ. I loved the windows and the colors, the flowers and soft cushions. I loved the warm, full voice of the preacher and I loved the hushed silence - a silence that made me feel like I was part of something special ...

4371. Yes!

Jeremiah 1:1-19

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

A few years ago there was a hot slogan aimed at kids who found themselves facing the temptations of drugs, alcohol, sex, peer pressure of all kinds. "Just Say No!" Easier said than done . . . as anyone who has longed to fit in, be popular, or just avoid making a scene can tell you. Sometimes to just say no is the hardest thing there is to say. It's so much easier to go along to get along, to blend in with the crowd, to avoid that super-sensitive social radar that picks-up and picks-on anyone who is ...

4372. Poison Control

Romans 7:7-25

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

It's every parent's nightmare. You walk into the room only to see your toddler happily playing with open bottles of pills. The contents of several bottles spilled across the floor. This was the sight we took in one suspiciously quiet morning when our daughter was about eighteen months old. Somehow she had created a climbing wall for herself that had enabled her to reach a high-shelf basket containing a cornucopia of "cure-it-yourself" vitamin pills. Also nestled somewhere in the bottom of the basket was ...

4373. Building Bridges While Getting Shot at from Both Shores

Revelation 22:1-6

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

[This sermon seeks to address what's going on in the world right now both with priestly sensitivity and with prophetic strength. If you want to make it more pointed, more linear, you might want to build it around the major themes that are subtly introduced in the narrative: 1. The world is a violent place, and getting more violent; 2. Christians shouldn't be surprised, since we have a doctrine of sin that warns us that our estrangement from God will have ghastly consequences; 3. Christians have always been ...

4374. Palm/Passion Sunday

Mt 26:14-27:66 · Php 2:5-11 · Isa 50:4-9a · Ps 31

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

OLD TESTAMENT TEXTS The Old Testament texts are very appropriate for Passion Sunday. Isaiah 50:4-9a explores the call of the suffering servant, while Psalm 31:9-16 is a lament from the perspective of one who is suffering. As we will see, both of these texts share a similar three-part structure and probe the meaning of suffering from different perspectives. Isaiah 50:4-9a: "A Call to Discipleship" Setting. Isaiah 50:4-9a is the third of the suffering servant songs Isaiah 42:1-4[5-9]; 49:1-6; 50:4-9a; 52:13- ...

4375. That's What Jesus Does for Me

Psalm 139:7-12

Sermon

James W. Moore

Her name is Pascale. She is five years old. She is a very important part of our church family. She is here in the 8:30 service most every Sunday morning. One evening recently, Pascale was watching television with her mom and dad. Suddenly, a news flash showed President Bush walking to a meeting. The President was surrounded by a group of men in dark suits. Pascale asked her parents: “Who are those men with the President? Why are they with him?” Her parents answered: “They are members of the secret service ...

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