Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 4426 to 4450 of 5000 results

4426. How Can God Know All About Us?

Luke 13:1-9

Illustration

Unknown

A man named Gerhard Dirks, the "father of the modern computer," was one who had to face up to life's most important question. During the years of the Second World War he made many inventions that led to the development of the first computers. He and his family escaped from Hitler's Germany and later Russian occupation to the west. He was a brilliant man, reported to have an IQ of 208. He had over 140 patents with IBM and even attempted theoretically to reconstruct the human brain. But he became completely ...

4427. Bad Luck

Luke 13:1-9

Illustration

Medieval theologians argued that since a ladder leaning against a wall forms a triangle and a triangle is a symbolic reminder of the Holy Trinity, anyone who carelessly blunders through this mystical space is risking divine wrath! Even when that argument lost itself in history's muddle, condemned Englishmen about to be hanged at Tyburn or some other notable place of execution were required to walk under the ladder that stood against the gallows for convenience of the executioner. In those circumstances, ...

4428. ‘Goodness Sakers’

Luke 13:1-9

Illustration

Maxie Dunnam

H.G. Wells once wrote an essay on a tribe of people he called the "Goodness Sakers". These were the folks who when they saw something that needed to be done, or when they saw a social evil, or detected some moral shortcoming, would stand around and wring their hands and say, "For goodness sakes, why doesn't someone do something about this?" I know a lot of "goodness-sakers". They're always saying "for goodness sake, something ought to be done." But they never get around to sharing in the doing of it. So ...

4429. Dealing With the Pain of Rejection - Sermon Opener

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Illustration

James W. Moore

There is no pain in the world quite like it: the awful pain of feeling rejected. It hurts! It crushes the spirit and breaks the heart. Let me show you what I mean with a true story. Pastor James Moore tells a story about a girl named Jessica. She was a tall, slender, sixteen-year-old blonde girl, who looked like she might grow up to be a model or president of the P.T.A., or a corporate executive. She was attractive, outgoing, personable, radiant, and happy. She was an only child and her parents were ...

4430. Familiarity Breeds Contempt

Luke 15:11-32

Illustration

In 1986 Henri Nouwen, a Dutch theologian and writer, toured St. Petersburg, Russia, the former Leningrad. While there he visited the famous Hermitage where he saw, among other things, Rembrandt's painting of the Prodigal Son. The painting was in a hallway and received the natural light of a nearby window. Newman stood for two hours, mesmerized by this remarkable painting. As he stood there the sun changed, and at every change of the light's angle he saw a different aspect of the painting revealed. He would ...

4431. God Loves the Elder Brother Too

Luke 15:11-32

Illustration

God loves the older brother just as much as he does the younger brother, and I think that its time that the older brother hear about it. There have been a lot of elder brothers in the history of the church. There was St. Teresa, who lived in the 16th century. She never left the Father's home. She went into a convent at an early age and developed a life of self-discipline that would fill anyone with awe. She spent hours a day in prayer. One day, when she was in her mid 40's, she was entering the chapel to ...

4432. Who Resented The Prodigal’s Return?

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Illustration

The Religious Ed teacher was reading this story of the Prodigal Son to his class, clearly emphasizing the resentment the older brother expressed at the return of his brother. When he was finished telling the story, he asked the class, "Now who was really sad that the prodigal son had come home?" After a few minutes of silence, one little boy raised his hand and confidently stated, "The fatted calf."

4433. What the World Expects of the Church

Luke 15:1-7

Illustration

Brett Blair

On a cold, dreary December evening, several hundred people gathered at a large downtown church in Winston-Salem to celebrate the Christmas season. Bishop Ernest Fitzgerald, present that evening, had gone down a long hallway to help a small boy who was pushing against massive oak doors trying to get outside. The boy was about 2 years old and as he pushed he was crying as if his heart would break. The Bishop picked him up, thinking he belonged to someone at one of the Christmas parties but as he opened the ...

4434. Bed But Not Sleep

Illustration

Brett Blair

Someone said that... Money will buy: A bed, but not sleep. Books, but not brains. Food, but not appetite. A house, but not a home. Medicine, but not health. Amusement, but not happiness. Finery, but not beauty. A crucifix, but not a Savior. What kind of wealth do you want? We celebrate the wealth of God's love in Jesus Christ. The wealth of God's love brings us what the wealth of the world cannot touch: Peace, understanding, fulfillment, life. These things are eternal.

4435. How Much Are You Worth?

Luke 15:11-32

Illustration

How much is one human being worth? In terms of his financial profile, the prodigal was now worth zero. How much are you worth? I am not sure how to answer that question. If we could somehow break down the chemical composition of your body I could tell you your worth. You have within your body enough iron for a nail; enough sugar to fill a sugar bowl; enough fat for seven bars of soap (that may vary from person to person); enough lime to whitewash a chicken coop, enough phosphorous for 2,200 match heads, ...

4436. The Other Prodigal Son

Luke 15:11-32

Illustration

Brett Blair

Sir Noel Patton was a renowned artist. He was known for his exquisite and beautiful paintings of birds and flowers and children at play. But in each of his paintings he would always put in the very corner some grotesque object, such as a serpent, or an eel. This is what Christ the master painter has done with this portrait. We see this loving scene of the father and the prodigal in one another's embrace. But in the very corner of the painting we see the grotesque face of the elder brother as he is watching ...

4437. The Cost of Resentment

Luke 15:1-7

Illustration

Jesus is telling this parable to a group of people who are self-righteous "elder brothers," people who were angry with him for celebrating life with the down-and-out poor. Remember the old Amos and Andy radio program? In one episode, Kingfish, instead of shaking hands to greet Andy, affectionately slapped him on the chest. But this infuriated Andy, and as the show went on, Andy became more and more resentful. At the end of the program, Andy came in with a big smile on his face and said to Amos, "I'm ready ...

4438. God Does Not Compare His Children

Luke 15:11-32

Illustration

Brett Blair

That God does not compare or rank his children seems to be a point almost impossible for us to grasp, because we live in a world which ranks and compares people. People are seen as more intelligent, or less intelligent, more beautiful or less beautiful, more successful or less successful, and we have convinced ourselves that love must do the same. When he hear someone else being praised, it is difficult not to think of ourselves as less praiseworthy. We see people getting awards, and trophies, and prizes, ...

4439. The Worst Crime

Matthew 5:21-26

Illustration

Brett Blair

The famous British professor from a century ago Alfred Momerie says that it has often been concluded that murder is the worst crime. "But this will not do. He (the murderer) is generally executed for his crime and that is the end of him. But the sins of the temper and of speech and of thought, the sins of unkindness, or unneighborliness, are sins that we can go on committing without fear of punishment, every day, every hour, every moment. The amount of suffering, therefore, which can be inflicted by them ...

4440. There Always Comes an End

Luke 15:8-10

Illustration

Brett Blair

Brady Whitehead, chaplain of Lambuth College in Tennessee, tells the true story of a student whose parents were tragically killed in an accident. This student suddenly became the beneficiary of the estate. According to Brady, he started squandering the money on lavish trips. He would even invite other students to go along at his expense. He was spending the money so fast that Brady called him into his office one day and had a talk with him. He said that as Chaplin of the school he felt it was his ...

4441. What Would You Have Given the Prodigal Son?

Luke 15:11-32

Illustration

Fred Craddock preached one Sunday in a neighboring town when the regular minister happened to be away. Fred preached on this text ... not by choice, so much as by assignment. Leading a fellow to say after the service: "I really didn't care much for that, frankly." Fred continues: I said, "Why?" He said, "Well, I guess it's not your sermon. I just don't like that story." I said, "What is it you don't like about it?" He said, "It's not morally responsible." I said, "What do you mean by that? "Forgiving that ...

4442. Every Shot Makes Somebody Happy

Luke 15:11-32

Illustration

David E. Leininger

There is an old expression in the game of golf that says, "Every shot makes somebody happy," which means if you hit a good one, you are happy. If you hit a lousy one, your opponent is happy. Whoever came up with that line was not quite as charitable to the gentle folk who play the game as he or she might have been, but the point is well taken: good fortune for one does not necessarily mean good fortune for someone else.

4443. The Greatest Sentence Ever Written

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Illustration

Mark Trotter

A teacher, every year in her fifth grade class, had what she called the Scholastic Olympics. What happened was that she would ask each child to pick a sentence from literature, name the author and source from which it came, and then explain why this sentence could be called the most important sentence ever written. You can probably guess what some of the entries were, like "Fourscore and seven years ago," and "All people are created equal." A lot of political phrases like that. There were also a lot of ...

4444. I Have Been Found

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Illustration

Mark Trotter

In every other religion we have to go to God. In every other religion God's holiness meant that we couldn't get close to God until we, ourselves, became holy. So in every other religion, God is way, way up there, and we are down here, and some of us are way, way down here. The job of the priests in all those religions is to mediate, to appease God through offering sacrifices so that God will like us, and we will be acceptable to God. But in Christianity the proclamation is just the opposite. It says we don ...

4445. It’s Ok to Be Extravagant – Sermon Opener

John 12:1-11

Illustration

James W. Moore

A few years ago there was a true story about a man in New York City who was kidnapped. His kidnappers called his wife and asked for $100,000 ransom. She talked them down to $30,000. The story had a happy ending: the man returned home unharmed, the money was recovered, and the kidnappers were caught and sent to jail. But, don't you wonder what happened when the man got home and found that his wife got him back for a discount? Calvin Trillin was the writer of this story. He imagined out loud what the ...

4446. Statue to a Critic

John 12:1-11

Illustration

Haddon Robinson

A young musician's concert was poorly received by the critics. The famous Finnish composer Jean Sibelius consoled him by patting him on the shoulder and saying, 'Remember, son, there is no city in the world where they have a statue to a critic.'

4447. Aroma: Bringing Back an Emotion

John 12:1-11

Illustration

Leonard Sweet

Taste is 95 percent smell. What happens when you get a cold? Can't taste anything? In talking with others about their smells, what I have discovered is that there are regional differences to our favorite smells that often depend either on our food habits or on our outdoor customs. East Coast people prefer floral scents and Northerners the smell of the seasons. Southerners seem to prefer hearty snorts of pine. Midwesterners like the whiff of hay and farm animals. Westerners like the aroma of barbecuing meat ...

4448. What Close-minded People Don’t Do

John 12:1-11

Illustration

James W. Moore

Remember the Peanuts cartoon where Lucy is chasing Charlie Brown. She is shaking her fist at him and screaming: "I'll get you, Charlie Brown. I'll get you. And when I get you, I'm going to knock your block off!" Suddenly, Charlie Brown screeches to a halt. He turns and in a very mature way says: "Wait a minute, Lucy. You and I are relatively small children with relatively small problems and if we can't sit down and talk through our problems with love, respect and understanding, how can we expect the great ...

4449. Graciousness of Spirit: Everyone Is a Winner

John 12:1-11

Illustration

On March 16, 2007, for the first time in its 23 year history, there was a three way tie on the game show, Jeopardy. Mathematicians calculate the odds of this occurrence to be one in 25 million. What a mathematical calculation can not take into account is the graciousness and generosity of someone like Scott Weiss. In the ‘Final Jeopardy' round, the second place player and the third place player both had $8,000. Scott had a little over $12,000 going into this last question. The players made their bids ...

4450. There Is a Time

Mark 15:1-15, Matthew 27:11-26, John 18:28-40

Illustration

Mark Trotter

A pair of stories from Greece. Which, if not exactly around the corner from the Holy Land, is at least in the neighborhood. Actually, the first story takes place in Chania, at an airport on the west end of the island of Crete. On the particular day in question, an Olympia Airlines 727 is deplaning a group of 100 angry passengers into a crowded terminal. Pandemonium follows. Voices are raised, followed by fists. Women and children are wailing. Someone threatens to leap over the counter to punch the agent. ...

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Antonyms: deficient, imperfect

Showing 4426 to 4450 of 5000 results

4426. How Can God Know All About Us?

Luke 13:1-9

Illustration

Unknown

4427. Bad Luck

Luke 13:1-9

Illustration

4428. ‘Goodness Sakers’

Luke 13:1-9

Illustration

Maxie Dunnam

4429. Dealing With the Pain of Rejection - Sermon Opener

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Illustration

James W. Moore

4430. Familiarity Breeds Contempt

Luke 15:11-32

Illustration

4431. God Loves the Elder Brother Too

Luke 15:11-32

Illustration

4432. Who Resented The Prodigal’s Return?

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Illustration

4433. What the World Expects of the Church

Luke 15:1-7

Illustration

Brett Blair

4434. Bed But Not Sleep

Illustration

Brett Blair

4435. How Much Are You Worth?

Luke 15:11-32

Illustration

4436. The Other Prodigal Son

Luke 15:11-32

Illustration

Brett Blair

4437. The Cost of Resentment

Luke 15:1-7

Illustration

4438. God Does Not Compare His Children

Luke 15:11-32

Illustration

Brett Blair

4439. The Worst Crime

Matthew 5:21-26

Illustration

Brett Blair

4440. There Always Comes an End

Luke 15:8-10

Illustration

Brett Blair

4441. What Would You Have Given the Prodigal Son?

Luke 15:11-32

Illustration

4442. Every Shot Makes Somebody Happy

Luke 15:11-32

Illustration

David E. Leininger

4443. The Greatest Sentence Ever Written

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Illustration

Mark Trotter

4444. I Have Been Found

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Illustration

Mark Trotter

4445. It’s Ok to Be Extravagant – Sermon Opener

John 12:1-11

Illustration

James W. Moore

4446. Statue to a Critic

John 12:1-11

Illustration

Haddon Robinson

4447. Aroma: Bringing Back an Emotion

John 12:1-11

Illustration

Leonard Sweet

4448. What Close-minded People Don’t Do

John 12:1-11

Illustration

James W. Moore

4449. Graciousness of Spirit: Everyone Is a Winner

John 12:1-11

Illustration

4450. There Is a Time

Mark 15:1-15, Matthew 27:11-26, John 18:28-40

Illustration

Mark Trotter

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