Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 4376 to 4400 of 4936 results

4376. The Gift Of Encouragement

Acts 11:19-30

Sermon

Erskine White

And [Barnabas] exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose. (Acts 11:23) How many of you have ever heard of Barnabas? He's not too well known today, but he was very prominent in the early church. He appears twenty-four times in the Book of Acts alone and then is mentioned in three of Paul's letters. Many Christians barely know his name today, but after the gospels, Barnabas ranks as one of the three or four most important people in the whole New Testament. We first meet him in ...

4377. The Clanking of Coins

Matthew 27:1-10

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

Suppose that I tingled a batch of coins in my pocket or dropped some quarters on a marble floor. If you were to close your eyes and listen to the sound that money makes, what would it remind you of? ... A bank teller spilling out a deposit for counting?... A child shaking a piggy bank in hopes that a coin will slip through the slot?... A clerk dropping the money from your purchase into a register?... An expectant gambler at the fair, trying to make a penny land between the lines?... A woman searching ...

4378. Peace as Shalom

Sermon

Alan Bacon Bond

Scripture: Psalm 72:1-71 Peter 3:8-18Isaiah 9:2-7Luke 10:1-12 Text: "Peace be to this house." (Luke 10:5) Our bus pulled off the highway onto an overpass, where it stopped. The road up from Lod airport, near Tel Aviv, had displayed to us the remnants of the wars of Israel. Shelled-out tanks and armored personnel carriers were preserved where they had fallen, as memorials to the men who had fought and died there. Now our eyes were turned eastward, where we could see our first view of Jerusalem. The tour ...

4379. Priceless Gifts - Mother's Day

Proverbs 31:10-31

Children's Sermon

R. E. Lybrand

Object: 3 Index cards with the following words printed on different cards - HONOR, OBEDIENCE, LOVE. Wrap those cards in a box with gift wrap. Good morning. It sure is good to see all of you this morning. Who knows what today is? (Let them answer - Father's Day). Did you give some really nice gifts to your dad? What are some of the gifts you gave? (Let them respond.) I brought a package with me this morning which is filled with Father's Day gifts which you cannot buy in a store. These are things which the ...

4380. CHRISTIAN I.O.U.’s

I Peter 3:8-15a

Children's Sermon

Object: I.O.U.’s written on paper. I have some things with me this morning that are really going to be fun to give to you. As a matter of fact, I’ve been working on them all week and I’ve waited and waited for Sunday to come so that I could give them to you. I want to give them to you because I think that maybe you will understand Christianity a lot better when you see what I have to give you. (You will have to have enough I.O.U.’s for each child and make sure that they are things that you can do when you ...

4381. Prayer: Our Crosses into Victories

Mark 8:31--9:1

Bulletin Aid

At first the words Our Lord speaks to us seem like very hard words: we must pick up our cross for His sake, and follow after Him. If we are at all normal human beings, our first objection would be this: no one wants a cross; none of us wants to suffer; none of us wants to carry burdens; none of us wants to struggle. And yet the strange truth of our lives is this: all of us in this life have a cross. At times in our lives these crosses may vary: for some it may mean living with a drunken spouse; for others ...

4382. Walking the Streets

Matthew 10:1-42, Matthew 9:35-38

Sermon

Richard L. Thulin

Most of us have been victims of some kind of stereotyping. Mine is usually attached to the fact that I am a professor. Every once in awhile someone will accost me with words like, "Well, you wouldn't know about that! You live in an ivory tower." The plain fact is that the speaker doesn't even know me, but then that is what gives birth to stereotypes in the first place. I'm usually able to avoid an immediate defensive reaction. "What do you mean?" I ask. "Oh," he says, "you live behind safety glass. You don ...

4383. Lent 2

Genesis 12:1-8, Psalm 105:1-45, Matthew 17:1-13, John 3:1-21; 4:5-42, Romans 4:1-25

Sermon Aid

George Bass

THEOLOGICAL CLUE Lent is structured so that those who keep it will go through devotional exercises designed to bring about conversion of the penitent to the life in Christ. Lent is really the altar (font) call of the church, at which the believers will find forgiveness of their sins and renewal of the gifts God gives in baptism to those who will have him as their God in Jesus Christ. Sunday is seen in the Roman Church, as always, from a sacramental perspective; some pastors in other churches approach Lent ...

4384. Food for Faith

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

Pentecost XI Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a lonely place apart. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. As he went ashore he saw a great throng; and he had compassion on them, and healed their sick. When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a lonely place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves." Jesus said, "They need not go away; you give them something to ...

4385. Laying Hold On God's Willingness

Matthew 7:7-12

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

We who experienced the nearness of a recent tornado can appreciate the experience of a certain Kansas farmer. He heard that a tornado was coming so he went down into his cellar. It was an awful storm. Windows were knocked out of his house and roofing was snatched away. His barn was blown away and his car flipped over. After the terrible storm finally passed, a neighbor came to the cellar and called down to him: "Is anybody down there?" The farmer replied, "Nobody is down here but me and God, and we are ...

4386. How Shall We Prepare Ourselves For Christmas

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

King Duncan

One Sunday morning, a neatly dressed man disrupted a worship service in a suburban church. Right in the middle of the service, the man stood up in the balcony and shouted in a clear voice, "I have a word from the Lord!" Immediately alert and ready, ushers sprang like gazelles up the balcony stairs and escorted the man out the front doors of the church and into the street. Thomas Long of Princeton Seminary, commenting on this event, says, "There's a kind of irony here. Week after week, those of us who ...

4387. Responding Instead Of Reacting

Jeremiah 28:1-17

Sermon

Dr. B. Bruce Humphrey

Will Rodgers had a reputation that he could make anyone laugh. President Calvin Coolidge had a reputation that he never laughed at anything. Finally, Will Rodgers was invited to the White House. People wondered what would happen. Both men's reputations were at stake. It is said that Will Rodgers came through the reception line and was introduced to the President. "President Coolidge, this is Will Rodgers. Mr. Rodgers, this is President Calvin Coolidge." Will Rodgers leaned forward and said, "I'm sorry, I ...

4388. Pray Constantly

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

Two women met unexpectedly one day in the parking lot of a local bookstore. One had a great bundle of books in her arms. "What in the world are you doing," her friend asked, "opening your own bookstore?" "No," said the woman, "these are all books about prayer. All my life I have been hearing about the importance of prayer, so I finally decided to learn how to pray. I have bought fourteen books on the subject. And not only that, I have signed up for two courses in prayer, one at my church and one at a ...

4389. The Shy Member of the Trinity

John 14:15-31

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

The disciples were distressed. They had good reason to be. Jesus had just told them that He was about to leave them. The One whom they had loved most in all the world was going to go away. Soon they would be on their own. How would they carry on without Him? How could they face the world without the encouragement and support of His presence beside them? It seemed to be the end of everything. Then it was that Jesus said some very strange things to them. He told them that it would actually be to their ...

4390. The Tender Touch (Part 1)

James 5:13-20

Sermon

Eric Ritz

It is no surprise to me that James closes this writing with an admonition on prayer to God for wisdom and knowledge for all areas of our life. By praying, we experience the understanding that God''s grace is sufficient for all our needs and that He is sovereign over all of them. I read recently of a family on vacation who wanted to enjoy some time of recreation in a nearby playground. The little girl wanted to get in but the gate was locked. Her father explained that she couldn''t play there because of the ...

4391. Handling the Harshness of Life

2 Corinthians 4:1-18

Sermon

Eric Ritz

She had every reason to be bitter. The circumstances of life had dealt a ton of harshness for her to handle. Though talented, she went unrecognized for years. Prestigious opera circles closed their ranks when she tried to enter. American critics ignored her compelling voice. She was repeatedly rejected for parts for which she easily qualified. It was only after she went to Europe and won the hearts of tough-to-please European audiences that stateside opinion leaders acknowledged her talent. Not only was ...

4392. Thanksgiving: Where Are You Looking for It?

Psalm 103:2, 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18

Sermon

Eric Ritz

"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits." Psalm 103:2 Yes, it is that special time of year when the day of Thanksgiving is observed. Can''t you feel the great anticipation building here in the United States of America as we prepare for this day? NOT HARDLY! Well, most likely we think just what do I have to be thankful for? Granted, the Pilgrims had reasons to offer thanks to God, but not in this dog-eat-dog, selfish world. Thanksgiving? No, Preacher, please get real. As David Feddes ...

4393. Getting Our Lives Out Of Hock

Psalm 105:1-45

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Many of you know my struggle between like-dislike, appreciation-confusion, with Gary Larson's "Far Side" cartoons. I vacillate between like-dislike, appreciation-confusion. I keep on reading them, and I'm not quite sure why. Maybe it's because he gives me something now and then to flavor a sermon. Such is the case with this one. It depicts a bug resting on a leaf which gently sways over a lovely pond. The bug is on his back in the crook of the leaf, his ankles are crossed, and two of his six arms are ...

4394. Always?

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

Sermon

Rick Brand

Now there is a greeting that will knock you back a moment. "We always give thanks to God for all of you." Other translations put it: "We give thanks to God always for all of you." And maybe Paul was pouring it on a little thick, but it is a greeting that will put one on the defensive, because if we are honest, we cannot reply that we have always been praying for Paul. If we are honest, we cannot say that we are always faithful in our prayers at all. Paul tells the church at Thessalonica that he is always ...

4395. Taking the First Step

Luke 6:27-38

Sermon

Gary L. Carver

Create in your minds, if you will, a scene where the people are gathering at a small church for worship. They are drifting in one by one. One man storms in, unaware that his entry is causing a disturbance. He's angry! He's mad! He's fuming! As he sits down, his mind begins to recall the events of the day. Someone he thought was his best friend took an idea of his, lied to him, lied about him, and gave the idea to the boss. Now, this so-called friend will probably get the advancement that should have been ...

4396. Every Kiss Begins with K

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

We’re still in Advent, but who can resist singing Christmas carols? They are either fun, boisterous and bouncy. Or they are sentimental and sweet. “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” “Deck The Halls” fit the fun, boisterous and bouncy theme. “Away in a Manger” and “Silent Night” fit into the sentimental and sweet category. Although I do admit that as much as I love Christmas music, by about now in the Advent season I start identifying with the 17th century English poet John Donne ...

4397. The Kingdom for Which We Long

Matthew 13:31-35, Matthew 13:44-46, Matthew 13:47-52

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

We’ve a story to tell to the nations, That shall set their hearts to the right. A story of truth and mercy, A story of peace and light. For the darkness shall turn to dawning, And dawning to noonday bright. And Christ’s great kingdom shall come on earth, A kingdom of love and light. Do you believe that? We come to the second petition in the Lord’s Prayer this morning and it may take the greatest faith and the greatest imagination of all that we are taught to pray. So we pray “Thy kingdom come, thy will be ...

4398. An Invitation to Tired Souls

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

King Duncan

Welcome, on this July 4 weekend. Tomorrow we will be celebrating one of the remarkable documents ever created, the Declaration of Independence. We give God thanks for our freedom. And we pray that in our own small way we will contribute to the coming of the day when all the world’s people will be free. There is a delightful story about an elderly lady who had always wanted to travel abroad. She’d never even been out of the country, so she started the process by getting her passport. She went to the ...

4399. The Legacy of Jesus

John 14:8-17 (25-27)

Sermon

David E. Leininger

A certain widow expected to inherit all her late husband's wealth. Instead, she learned from the lawyer that her husband had left her $5. Everything else went to his secretary. Naturally the widow was furious. She drove to the tombstone establishment and ordered that the inscription on her husband's monument be changed. "I'm sorry," said the man doing the chiseling, "you told me to inscribe ‘Rest in Peace' on the stone and that is done; I can't change it now. You'll have to buy a new stone." The widow ...

4400. Won't You Be My Neighbor?

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

“Mister Rogers,” anyone? With his zippered cardigans, canvas sneakers, and handmade puppets (before there were cool “Muppets”), “Mister Rogers” was a pioneer in the early days of educational television for young children. Fred Rogers, a Presbyterian minister from Pittsburgh, started developing the characters and themes of his program in the mid-1950’s. But it wasn’t until 1967 that “Mister Roger’s Neighborhood” took its final form and appeared on PBS stations across the country. This sweet, sappy, smart ...

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