Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 4501 to 4525 of 5000 results

Matthew 28:1-10

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... is gone. He is no longer in the tomb. The greatest miracle that has ever happened is unrecorded in scripture. Instead, all four gospels focus on the wondrous result of Jesus’ resurrection. He is risen! Matthew describes the empty tomb in considerably more detail than Mark, yet with a telling of the morning tale that still focuses on the essential core of the miracle. As in the other gospels, Matthew begins with a daybreak visit to the tomb by the women who witnessed both Jesus’ death on the cross and ...

4502. The Lost and Found Coin

Luke 15:8-10

Sermon

James W. Moore

... . For one thing, the single coin does not sound like much money to us, but it was more than a day's wage back then and most of the people were quite poor. But, then, also Barclay points out that: "There may have been a much more romantic reason. The mark of a married woman was a head-dress made of ten silver coins linked together by a silver chain. For years maybe a girl would scrape and save to amass her ten coins, for the head-dress was almost the equivalent of her wedding ring. It may well be that ...

4503. The Lost and Found Elder Brother

Luke 15:25-32

Sermon

James W. Moore

... , forgiving spirit of the Father, then life is a great celebration, a feast, a party… But, when we (like the Elder Brother) turn away from that loving spirit,… then we become likely prospects for a life of bitterness, misery and loneliness. Some years ago, Mark Trotter, told a beautiful story about a boy whose parents were missionaries to India. When the boy was twelve years old, his parents left him and his younger brother to go to India and take up their tour of duty there. Their intention was that ...

4504. Breathe on Me, Breath of God

Acts 2:1-4

Sermon

James W. Moore

... to laugh with children at the cute and funny things they sometimes say. It’s fun to laugh at the comical antics of circus clowns or the hilarious wit of good comedians… But, the best humor of all is when we laugh at ourselves. It’s a real mark of emotional maturity. It eases our self-pity; it diminishes our pride and saves us from taking ourselves too seriously. Ethel Barrymore said it well. She said: “You grow up when you get your first good laugh at yourself.” To have a good sense of humor…to ...

4505. Love One Another

Luke 7:36-50

Sermon

James W. Moore

... that God is not deeper still!” That’s why the outcasts were drawn to Jesus… because He brought them good news – the good news of salvation and love and acceptance. II. SECOND, THE OUTCASTS WERE DRAWN TO JESUS BECAUSE HE PRACTICED WHAT HE PREACHED. In Mark 12, Jesus talks about hypocrisy, exposing it for what it is: “Beware of the scribes, who like to go about in long robes… and to have salutations in the market places and the best seats in the synagogue and the places of honor at feasts, but ...

4506. When We Are Caught in a Storm

Matthew 14:22-33

Sermon

James W. Moore

... : The storm becomes a calm; The tumult becomes a peace; What cannot be done is done; The unbearable becomes bearable; And, people pass the breaking point and do not break. To walk with Christ will be for us also the conquest of the storm.” (Barclay Commentary on Mark, P.161) Now, with all this as a backdrop for our thinking, let me underscore three important lessons for us that flow out of this dramatic story in Matthew 14. Here’s number one… I. FIRST OF ALL, WE ALL GET CAUGHT IN THE STORMS OF LIFE ...

4507. God Speaks and the Church Is Our Hearing Aid

Mark 4:1-9

Sermon

James W. Moore

... this morning which I think is so true… can be expressed like this: God is speaking to us… but we need a hearing aid to help us hear His voice… and this is the role of the church. God speaks… and the church is our hearing aid. In Mark 4, Jesus says: “Those who have ears to hear let them hear!” However, sometimes our natural ears are not enough. We have to have help. We need a Hearing Aid and this is where the church comes in. In his last book, A Spiritual Autobiography, William Barclay writes ...

4508. Changed Lives - Thomas

John 20:24-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... ; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.” A week later the disciples were gathered in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus again came and ...

4509. When Mountains Are Not Moved

Mark 11:20-25 (26)

Sermon

James McCormick

... an illness and they died. It’s true. Some prayers are not answered, at least not in the way we hoped. And that harsh reality gives more problems to more people than almost anything I know. Especially when we read the words of Jesus recorded in the gospel of Mark. Jesus says, “Have faith in God. I tell you this: if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted from your place and hurled into the sea’ and has no inward doubts but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. I tell ...

4510. Is It Well with Your Family? - Sermon Starter

Rom 16

Illustration

Brett Blair

... Paul meet Rufus' mother? Did she nurse him through some serious illness? Did she receive him into her home for an extended stay during his missionary journeys? How did this woman and Paul form such a close bond that he refers to her fondly as being like his mother? Mark tells us that Simon of Cyrene, the man who carried Jesus cross, had two sons: Alexander and Rufus. Was this the same Rufus to whom Paul was speaking? If that is true, his mother would be Simon of Syrene's wife. No one knows for sure who this ...

4511. The Play's Playbook for the Game of Life

1 Peter 4:12-19

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... are players. “Discipline yourselves, keep alert” (v.8), 1Peter urges, for that is the only way to be beat back the moves and maneuvers of the Adversary. For twenty-first century Christians to be “in the game” means to be “disciplined” and “alert.” Mark Batterson, lead pastor of National Community Church in Washington, D. C., says that “irrelevance is irreverence.” We are to be actively IN the world but not “OF” the world—--but not OUT-OF-IT either. If Jesus could rise from the dead ...

4512. Why the Word "Doubt"?

Matthew 28:16-20

Illustration

Brian Stoffregen

... and they doubted." Those who worship are also those who doubt -- like being simultaneously saint and sinner, or the divine and human natures in Jesus, or the body/bread, blood/wine of communion. We frequently talk about two things existing at the same time. Mark Allan Powell writes about this verse in his book, Loving Jesus: I want to note that the word some is not actually found in the Greek Bible. Why is it in the English version? Well, Matthew uses a particular construction here that allows translators ...

4513. Memorial Day in May

Illustration

King Duncan

... graves of the soldiers. All the soldiers Union as well as Confederate. The mothers and daughters and widows had buried their dead. Now they buried their hatred. The time for healing had come. It was the first Memorial Day. Have you ever wondered why Memorial Day is marked in May? Its date doesn't recall some historic battle. Or the start of some war. Or the signing of an armistice. Why, then, May? For a very practical reason. Because it is a time when flowers bloom. Flowers with which to decorate graves.

4514. For A D-day Memorial - Sermon Starter

Illustration

Brett Blair

... of time was so important: World wide 50,000,000 people died as a result of the war. The central focus of the memorial is the gold star war, thousands and thousands of gold stars for those who gave their lives. The marker in front says simply: "Here we mark the price of freedom." And now on this D-Day as 1,056 of these veterans die each day let us remember their sacrifice with a moment of silence. Let us remember this the greatest of our generations. ONE MINUTE PAUSE Today on the beaches of Normandy the ...

4515. Matthew 7: 21-29

Matthew 7:24-29

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... final day. Although Jesus’ remarks in the Sermon on the Mount were ostensibly directed toward his innermost disciples (see 5:1), the text in 7:28 reveals that a gathered crowd heard and reacted to his words as well. As Jesus’ concludes his teachings Matthew marks the spot with a first use of a soon-to-be familiar formula: “kai egeneto”--“and it happened” or “and then.” Matthew will use this phrase again and again to denote the close of a discourse or teaching section and his return to the ...

4516. Building According to Code - Sermon Starter

Matthew 7:21-29

Illustration

Brett Blair

... the contrary, Jesus was talking about a situation that was very real in the life of the people. What are some points that we may conclude from this story? First, it suggests that we are all involved in building, and that the house that we build bears our own distinctive mark. Secondly, everyone must occupy the house they build. Third, the real test in life comes when the storms are upon us.

4517. Matthew 9: 9-13, 18-26

Matthew 9:9-13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... leader of any notable body. What is definitive is this man’s respect for Jesus’ authority: he assumes the proper prostrate posture of respect by kneeling. Even more impressive is this man’s astonishing faith in Jesus’ healing powers. Unlike Luke and Mark, the Matthean gospel makes it clear from the beginning of this exchange that the girl “has just died.” Nevertheless her father seeks Jesus out, kneels before him, and implores Jesus’ intervention. He knows that if Jesus will but lay his hands ...

4518. The Healing Power of Touch - Sermon Starter

Mark 5:21-43; Matt 9:1-8

Illustration

Brett Blair

... who was there for quite a different reason. We are told that for twelve years she had been suffering from a bleeding hemorrhage. Some modern scholars have theorized that this was a bleeding cancer. If this were the case she was, of course, beyond all medical help. Mark tell us that she had already been to all of the doctors and she had only gotten worse, and beside that they had taken all her money. Interestingly, Luke, who was a physician, tells this story as well, but he could not bring himself to tell ...

4519. Effective Teaching

Matthew 10:24-39

Illustration

Gary W. Houston

Robert Frost's first assignment for a class of teachers was to read "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County." This was Mark Twain's famous story about a frog that lost a jumping contest because he had been pumped full of quail shot. When the class next assembled they were mystified because they did not understand what this story had to do with a course in education. Frost patiently explained to them ...

4520. Romans 7: 15-25a

Romans 7:7-25

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... because of sin fractured the possibility of a whole and healthy relationship with God. Having experienced the wholeness of Christ, Paul can now see how all his efforts, all Israel’s endeavors, to do the “good,” always fell short of the mark. Paul’s insight is not unique in ancient literature. As exemplified in Epictetus’ “Discourses” (2.26.4), and most famously in Ovid’s “Metamorphoses” (7.21), Greek writers made a similarly ironic observation: “I see and approve the better course, but ...

4521. A World Without Easter

1 Corinthians 15:12-20

Sermon

James Merritt

... while they were staying in Galilee, Jesus said to them, ‘The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up…' But not only is Jesus a liar, but that means Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, the twelve disciples, and the Apostle Paul were all liars. That is the problem with a dead Christ; we must forfeit our message. II. We Must Forget Our Mission Now our mission is Mt. 28:19-20, which you all know as the Great Commission: "Go therefore ...

4522. America in the Mirror

2 Kings 17:5-23

Sermon

James Merritt

... have turned his face toward me. You see, if God had not turned his back on that sinful nation of Israel, he would have ceased to be the thrice holy God of this universe. That is why I am so fearful of the judgment of God on America. You can mark this down: If God judged Israel, He will certainly judge America. I hear preachers say so often that God is our only hope. I believe that, but I want to tell you God is also our greatest threat. America does not need to fear any country who can simply kill ...

4523. Just Know Him in His Victorious Resurrection

Acts 13:29-39

Sermon

James Merritt

... the testimony and the truth of all that Jesus spoke and said, was verified and authenticated by His resurrection. You see, in the three year period that Jesus spent with his disciples, he taught them over and over that He was going to rise from the dead. He said in Mark 8:31, "And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again." He said to them again in Mt. 17:9, "Tell the vision ...

4524. Sleep With the Lions Without Being Eaten

Daniel 6:1-28

Sermon

James Merritt

... found that Daniel was faultless in his actions. "Nor was there any error or fault found in him." (v.4b) Now it was not that Daniel was perfect, but he was blameless. His heart was coated with integrity, his lips flowed with honesty, his life was marked by fidelity. To put it simply, "he practiced what he preached." These men went sniffing for the stench of scandal, but Daniel came out smelling like a rose. You see, Daniel was one politician who believed your private life does matter. Because what a man is ...

4525. First-Class Christianity

Ephesians 5:18-21

Sermon

James Merritt

... signs that a person is filled with the Holy Spirit. a. A Glorious Spirit "Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord." (v.19) It both blesses me and surprises me that the first mark of the Spirit-filled life, according to Paul, is not mountain-moving faith, speaking in tongues, or even dynamic speaking ability; it is simply a heart that sings. In other words, when a person is filled with the Holy Spirit there will be a song in their ...

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