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Showing 426 to 450 of 4938 results

426. Life on the Roller Coaster

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon

Johnny Dean

The news media this past week focused a lot of attention on amusement park rides - especially roller coasters. According to their reports, several parks across the country have closed down their roller coasters pending further investigation of serious, sometimes even fatal, injuries sustained by people who were "enjoying" a ride on the roller coaster. Early reports seem to indicate that in some instances mechanical error did indeed account for the accident. But in at least one of these incidents – the one ...

427. What Is Your Life?

James 4:13-17

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

When the historian H. G. Wells died in 1946, many of the newspapers reporting the event quoted the last words he ever spoke. Friends and nurses were fluttering about his bedside trying to be helpful, adjusting pillows, pulling up the covers, administering sedatives, and so on. Wells turned to them and said, "Don't bother me. Can't you see I'm busy dying." It was the last flicker of humor from a gallant spirit. I've been thinking about that lately...about the way people die. It says a lot about how they ...

428. On the Road with the Rich Young Ruler

Luke 18:18-30

Sermon

James W. Moore

Let me begin with three true stories. The thread that runs through them and links them together will be obvious. (1) The first story comes from the Winter Olympics of 2006. It was one of the most memorable moments in Olympic history,… but it was not the memory that Lindsey Jacobellis had dreamed of, hoped for and wanted. She was way ahead in the snow-board cross finals… so far ahead that some say she could have crawled across the finish line and won the Gold Medal. But, she got carried away… caught up in ...

429. Having Trouble Sleeping Through the Night

1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20)

Sermon

William J. Carl, III

Having trouble sleeping through the night? You're not alone. Samuel did, too. Sometimes you hear a haunting phrase that sticks with you years later. I heard one like that from Gardner Taylor, that great African-American preacher who once held forth in the pulpit of Concord Baptist Church in Brooklyn. I don't even remember the sermon, which is all right — we're not supposed to remember sermons anymore than we should remember meals; we're supposed to be fed and challenged by them at the moment. I don't ...

430. Ezekiel's Call

Ezekiel 1:1-28, Ezekiel 2:1-3:15, Ezekiel 3:16-27

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

Ezekiel’s Message of Judgment – Intro to Ezek. 1–33: The first major section of the book of Ezekiel is an unstinting portrayal of God’s judgment, communicating this message in seven parts. First, in chapters 1–3, God calls the prophet and gives him the message he is to bear through a shattering vision of the Lord’s Glory. Second, in chapters 4–7, a series of sign-acts and oracles of judgment convey the inevitability of Jerusalem’s destruction. Third, in Ezekiel’s second vision of the Glory (chs. 8–11), ...

431. “The Lord Looks Down . . . to See If There Are Any Who Understand”

Psalm 14:1-7

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

Big Idea: The world’s God-deniers will find, maybe to their surprise, that the God they deny is found “in the company of the righteous.” Understanding the Text The form of Psalm 14 is sometimes considered to be an individual lament, and in tone, it is, because the psalmist grieves over the vacuum of faith that he perceives in his world. But it does not follow the form of the lament. Others have suggested it is a wisdom psalm, in view of its use of wisdom language. In wisdom terms, the word “fool” stands ...

432. The Kings of the South and the North

Daniel 11:2-35

Teach the Text

Ronald W. Pierce

From Persia to Greece (11:2-20): Big Idea: Often working behind the scenes, God foresees and oversees the struggles of his people with hostile world forces. Understanding the Text See the unit on 10:1–11:1 for a discussion of the larger context, structure, and comparisons of chapters 10–12. Against this backdrop, 11:2–20 (the extended unit’s second section) divides into two parts: a summary of the transition from Persia to Greece (11:2–4) and a description of key events in the Ptolemaic and Seleucid wars ( ...

433. Proper 21

Exodus 17:1-7, Ezekiel 18:1-32, Philippians 2:1-11, Philippians 2:12-18, Matthew 21:23-27, Matthew 21:28-32

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Old Testament: Exodus 17:1-7 Moses brings water out of a rock. In their wilderness wanderings, the Israelites came to Rephidim where there was no water. The people were angry enough to stone Moses to death. He takes the problem to Yahweh who directs him to strike a rock to get water. Old Testament: Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32 God appeals to Israel to repent and live. Epistle: Philippians 2:1-13 Paul, in appealing for unity, presents Jesus as the model of humanity and obedience. Paul pleads for unity ...

434. Don't Forget to Forgive

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon

James Merritt

I heard about a man that went to see his doctor because he was feeling absolutely terrible. The doctor gave him a careful examination, left the room to look at some tests, came back in with a very somber expression on his face, and said: "Sir, I don't know how to break the news to you, but you have rabies and you're going to die very soon." The man very calmly got out a piece of paper and began furiously writing. The doctor said: "What are you doing, making out your will?" He said: "Oh no, I'm writing out ...

435. Back To Basics: The Three R's of Baptism

Mark 1:1-8, Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

Brett Blair

Baptism is a powerful force in the life of a Christian for two reasons. It is something we share in common. Christians all over the world can say that they were baptized in Christ. You met a Catholic in Ireland. He was baptized. You met a Pentecostal in Nigeria. She was baptized. The second reason Baptism is a powerful force is that baptism takes us back to the basics. Now let me set these two ideas up for you with a couple of stories. You perhaps at one time or another have seen on TV the old black and ...

436. Palm Sunday

Bulletin Aid

Jack Brownlee

ORDER OF SERVICE Opening Words L: Let us worship God, our creator and redeemer, the God of Love. P: God continually preserves and sustains us. L: We have been forgiven with a powerful and engaging love. P: Christ has entered into our hearts and lives, waiting for us to recognize his Lordship over us. Hymn "All Glory Laud And Honor" Prayer Of Confession (Unison) Our hearts break, O Lord, as we watch the poverty and loneliness that confront us on the street and in the news: we feel powerless to respond. We ...

437. The Spin Zone

2 Samuel 11:1-27

Sermon

James Merritt

Question - What do King David, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton have in common? They all at one time entered "THE SPIN ZONE." What is "The Spin Zone"? The "Spin Zone" is when you enter into God's "No Sin Zone" out of a lust for power, sex, influence or money which causes you to sin which you then try to cover up. In the Garden of Eden God warned Adam and Eve about His "No Sin Zone" and they refused to listen, they entered into "The Spin Zone" and you know the rest of the story. Nixon had his Watergate, ...

438. Weakness into Strength

2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Sermon

James McCormick

Occasionally I stumble across wisdom in an unlikely place. Some time ago, when we were living in Arizona, I was driving from one appointment to another. My mind was wandering in a dozen different directions, as usual. The radio was playing, but I was not paying much attention to it – that is, until the commercial came on. It was a catchy little advertisement for a Savings and Loan Association. A man, obviously unschooled in the complexities of finance, was being interviewed. He was asked a lot of questions ...

439. Cross Eyed: Anger

John 2:13-22

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

Pet Peeves, we all have them don't we? Those things that just set us off. Some of my pet peeves are: People who don't use their turn signals or turn them on when they're turning. Road maps that aren't folded back up correctly. I don't know why, it just bugs me. I guess it's like the next one, tangled and wadded up extension cords. Fast food lines that aren't fast. All the prescription drug ads on TV with their long disclaimers of possible side effects. (They make me want to run and hide, not ask my doctor ...

440. On the Threshold: From Law to Gospel

Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon

David Busic

Plato tells the story of a shepherd named Gyges, who was in the service of the king. One day there was a great storm and an earthquake where he was pasturing his flock. A great chasm opened in the earth and Gyges descended into the chasm. There he saw many astonishing things, including what looked like a human corpse. Although there were many amazing treasures in the chasm, he took nothing except a gold ring the corpse had on his finger. He then made his way out. He attended the usual meeting of shepherds ...

441. The Deal Of A Lifetime

Mark 10:17-31

Sermon

King Duncan

Many of you pride yourself on being good business people. Suppose someone reputable made you the following offer: You go into business with me. It will be expensive, but I guarantee it will be worth it. You dig up whatever cash you can find. Take out an equity loan on your house, cash in the value of your life insurance policy, pay the penalty, and take the money out of your IRA accounthowever you can come up with cash, do it. Then, if you work hard, and follow the company manual, sacrifice and give your ...

442. O Come, O Come Emmanuel

Isaiah 1:1-31

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Back in the early 1980's, there was a best- selling book entitled Blue Highways. The novel chronicles one man's adventures along the back roads and secondary highways of America. His journeys took him into crossroad villages and almost forgotten towns where he met all kinds of interesting people, including a few hitchhikers whom he befriended. Among the hitchhikers was a Bible-toting self styled evangelist, who passed out religious tracts and confronted everyone he met with questions about their salvation ...

443. Miracle Three: Healing A Leper

Mark 1:40-45

Sermon Aid

Harold H. Lentz

BACKGROUND MATERIAL There is considerable variety to the miracles performed by Christ. One was performed in a synagogue (curing the demoniac), another in a home (healing Peter's mother-in-law), and this one he performed on a public thoroughfare. While Jesus and his disciples were walking, a man afflicted with the terrible disease of leprosy approached them. Fear of leprosy was so great that strict laws had been passed concerning the actions of one so afflicted. The law demanded that lepers should isolate ...

444. Behold The Man Who Tried To Be King

Matthew 21:1-10

Sermon

Thomas A. Pilgrim

Some time ago there was a stage play called Construction. It was the story of some people who wanted to build a wall. But there was a young man there who urged them instead to build a bridge. The people turned on him and killed him because of what he wanted them to do. After they killed him one of the characters said, "We can't go on crucifying the truth forever."1 When Jesus went to Jerusalem he found a wall. He had come to build a bridge. But he knew all along that on the other side of the wall his ...

445. A Topsy-Turvy Gospel

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

“Mushers” and people who travel by dog sled over snowy, frozen terrain. “Mushers” have a saying: “If you’re not the lead dog, the scenery never changes.” That “Mushers” saying has become a centerpiece doctrine of the leadership literature that has been inundating the corporate and church worlds of the last thirty years. If you are not the “top dog,” in other words, no matter how far you travel your journey is just going to be a “tale of tails.” Striving to be “top dog” is the goal we are encouraged to ...

446. Stephen’s Speech to the Sanhedrin

Acts 7:1-53

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

More than most, this speech of Stephen has been subject to that skepticism that is inclined to regard all the speeches of Acts as Luke’s own composition. There is no denying that Luke’s hand may be seen in them all in their literary style and vocabulary. But there is about each of them a distinctiveness that not only fits each to its context, but in some cases, at least, to the speaker’s own writings elsewhere (see, e.g., disc. on 5:30, 13:39; 15:13ff.; 20:17–38). To attribute this entirely to Luke’s art ...

447. Doing What is Good

Titus 3:1-11

Understanding Series

Gordon D. Fee

Instructions for Living in State and Society: After a brief exhortation to Titus (2:15) to “teach these things” (at least 2:1–14), Paul returns in this section to the major concern of the letter—“good works” (i.e., genuinely Christian behavior) for the sake of the outsider (3:1–8) and in contrast to the false teachers (3:9–11). This section, however, makes a decided turn in the argument. In 2:1–14 the concern for “good works” had to do largely with relationships between believers, which when seen by ...

448. Yes, It Becomes Unclean

Haggai 2:11-17

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

Thus says the LORD of hosts: Ask the priests for a ruling: If one carries consecrated meat in the fold of one's garment, and with the fold touches bread, or stew, or wine, or oil, or any kind of food, does it become holy? The priests answered, "No." Then Haggai said, "If one who is unclean by contact with a dead body touches any of these, does it become unclean?" The priests answered, "Yes, it becomes unclean." Haggai then said, So is it with this people, and with this nation before me, says the LORD; and ...

449. Thanksgiving for the Thessalonians' Faith

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

Address and Greeting 1:1 Paul frequently associates himself with others in the prescripts of his letters (cf. 1 Cor. 1:1; 2 Cor. 1:1; Gal. 1:1f.; Phil. 1:1; Col. 1:1; 2 Thess. 1:1; Philem. 1). In most cases it must be doubted that the others made any material contribution to the letters, being named simply out of courtesy, and so in this case. The letter bears all the hallmarks of a Pauline epistle (see Introduction on The Authenticity of 1 Thessalonians and disc. on 3:1), such that it is difficult to ...

450. “God Looks Down from Heaven . . . to See If There Are Any Who Understand”

Psalm 53:1-6

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

Big Idea: History repeats itself in periodic unbelief, and God’s judgment falls upon humankind, as it did in the generation of the flood. Understanding the Text Psalm 53, an adaptive version of Psalm 14, is considered by some to be an individual lament, even though it is one of those genre-defying psalms that enjoy a noble company in the Psalter. Psalm 52:1 addresses the “mighty hero,” who, in his arrogant boasts, is much like the “fool” of Psalm 53. Descriptively they look very much alike, for the mighty ...

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