Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 4526 to 4550 of 4944 results

4526. What is Eternal life?

John 3:1-21

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

Theme: When Jesus promised us “eternal life” in John 3:16, did he mean something more than a reserved place at a future table? Eternal life is the gift of the NOW now. In the gospel text for this week we read one of the most memorable, most quoted, most painted-on signs held up at football games: John 3:16. 3:16 proclaims the gift of the gospel mission and message: “For God so loved the world that He gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” This ...

4527. A Call to Action

Matthew 9:9-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Congress recently passed a law that seemed to fly under the radar screen. The law entitles any deceased U.S. veteran to have two uniformed military personal present to fold and present a flag, and to have “Taps” played on the bugle at the end of the service. Who could argue with such a simple honor? There is one little problem. There are very few bugle players around these days. This dearth of brass musicians has caused the Congressional mandate to be mitigated: veterans still have the right to “Taps,” but ...

4528. Don't Sweat the Sin Debt

John 19:30

Sermon

James Merritt

It was a crisp May morning in a small pastorium of a small rural community called Buck Grove, Kentucky. I had been living, eating, sleeping, and breathing with a document called a dissertation. I had read from hundreds of books, articles, and journals in English, French, and German. Hardly a day went by for three years that I did not work on this thesis. It was midnight on that May morning, and I wasn't just tired, I was, as they used to say in the country, "all tuckered out." I started to put my pen down ...

4529. How to Connect With God

1 John 5:14-15

Sermon

James Merritt

In a Newsweek cover story entitled, "Talking to God", a Gallup poll reported that 91% of women and 85% of men say they pray regularly. That includes 94% of blacks and 87% of whites; 57% of Americans say they pray at least once every day.1 This survey went on to say that 32% of the people who pray, report that praying gives them a deep sense of peace; 26% said they sense the actual presence of God in their prayers.2 All of that sounded encouraging until I read this final statistic: Only 15% regularly ...

4530. When in Joy, Enjoy (Fruit of the Spirit: Joy)

Galatians 5:22

Sermon

James Merritt

There is something that we all do, whether we are little babies or senior adults, that doctors say is such good medicine that it relieves stress, can cure headaches, fight infections, and even alleviate hypertension. In fact, when we engage in this activity, there are well documented physical affects, many of them akin to modern exercise. Muscles in the abdomen, chest, shoulders, and elsewhere contract; heart rate and blood pressure increase. In one burst of this activity the pulse can double from 60 to ...

4531. How to Live the Good Life (Fruit of the Spirit: Goodness)

Galatians 5:22

Sermon

James Merritt

The French philosopher, Jean Jacques Rousseau, once said, "Happiness is a good bank account, a good cook, and a good digestion." That is what he would call today "the good life." There are many today who would agree with him. There are some who say that the good life is physical. They believe it just doesn't get any better than a hot tub, a back rub, and a drink at the pub. But then there are others who say the good life is material. They think that if you've got the mansion, the Mercedes, and the money, ...

4532. Nobody's Perfect--Except Jesus

Hebrews 4:15-16

Sermon

James Merritt

One of America's favorite pastimes is making excuses. We all love to make them, and some people are especially creative in cooking up excuses when they are in the kitchen of trouble. The following are some true excuses offered to police officers in relation to automobile accidents. I think you will find them interesting: "An invisible car came out of nowhere, struck my car, and then disappeared." "I pulled away from the side of the road, glanced at my mother-in-law, and headed over the embankment." "The ...

4533. The Right Connection

John 15:1-8

Sermon

James Merritt

Larry Walters was a truck driver. But his lifelong dream was to fly. When he graduated from high school, he joined the Air Force hoping to become a pilot, but his poor eyesight disqualified him. When he finally left the service, he had to simply be contented with watching others fly fighter jets over his backyard. One day, sitting in his lawn chair, he dreamed about the magic of flying. Then one day Larry Walters got an idea. He went down to the local Army-Navy Surplus Store, and bought a tank of helium ...

4534. Jesus: The Hope of a Godly Family

Psalm 127:1-2

Sermon

James Merritt

In 1947, fifty years ago, the imminent Harvard sociologist and historian, Karle Zimmerman, wrote a book entitled, Family and Civilization, in which he compared the disintegration of various cultures as the family life declined in those cultures. He discovered eight specific patterns of domestic behavior that signaled the downward spiral of each culture. Marriage loses its sacredness...is frequently broken by divorce. Traditional meaning of the marriage ceremony is lost. Feminist movements abound. Increased ...

4535. The Lost And Found Collection

Luke 15:1-7

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

Every place where the public gathers has to have a lost and found collection. The church is no exception. Worshippers are always leaving things. We have volunteers at Christ Church who tidy up the worship areas after each service. They bring me interesting things they find. Often they find notes written on bulletins. Surely these were not written during sermon times. A typical message will say something like, “Don’t you think Beth is cute?” or “Go Vols!” Occasionally we find a bulletin with a beautifully ...

4536. In the Upper Room

John 17

Sermon

John E. Harnish

What does it feel like to have someone praying for you? By name, in person, one-on-one? John Indermark remembers a childhood experience of being in the hospital for surgery when he was ten years old. He says he remembers a priest praying for him: "I seem to recall that as he came and stood at the foot of my bed, I felt a mix of wonder and fear. I did not know him, but he prayed. For me. He took time to bring my name and need before God. That I knew. That I still know. That I carry with me in ministry." [1 ...

4537. Take an Ember Day

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

How can we regroup, catch our breath, decompress, get some rest and regain our strength? There's an answer in Church tradition. Canadian postmodern theorist and culture critic Arthur Kroker, professor of Political Theory at Concordia University in Montreal, calls this time we live in "the recline of Western Civilization." Not "decline," but "recline." Some symptoms of "recline"? You're sitting in your family room, parked in a La-Z-Boy, a proverbial couch potato. The perpetual motion of your remote control ...

4538. The Monster Under Megan's Bed

John 6:1-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

A child saved the day for Jesus. Could it be that our children save the day for us? Is it time for us to sit at the feet of our children? Meet a 5-year-old girl named Megan. Like many kids her age for generations before her, Megan was terrified of a monster that lived under her bed. What to do? But unlike any previous generation before her, Megan did something about the monster under her bed. She sat down at her computer and used a software package for children to tell her story about how scary the monster ...

4539. Exodus 24:12-18

Exodus 24:12-18

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Among all the deliverance miracles within the Exodus story of Israel, perhaps none is more astonishing than the fact that the Hebrews never developed a Moses-centered religion. As the one who repeatedly confronted and bested Pharaoh, the one who led the procession out of Egypt, the one who found his people dry pathways, drinking water, a constant food source, the one who generally seemed to be in direct contact with God every step of the way - how is it that Moses himself escaped virtual deification? While ...

4540. God's Workmanship

Ephesians 2:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

Not too long ago a listener called a disc jockey while he was on the air at a local radio station to ask about an upcoming lunar eclipse. “The eclipse can be seen at 1:30 in the morning,” the DJ told the caller. “That late?” the caller snapped. “Why can’t they schedule these things earlier so kids can enjoy them too?” (1) I wonder who at the station she thought was in charge of scheduling lunar eclipses? A mother tells about her precocious six-year-old in his first day of parochial school. His teacher made ...

4541. Don’t Tempt Me—But If You Do I’m Ready

1 Corinthians 10:13

Sermon

James Merritt

Question: Do you ever feel as if the whole world is against you? Well, I've got news for you. If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, it is! If you are a friend of God you are an enemy of the world. God expects you, from the moment you get up in the morning until you go to bed at night, to "go out and whip the world." For the next four weeks I want to share with you exactly how to do that in a practical personal way. I want to deal with a problem that we all face every day. It doesn't matter whether you're ...

4542. No One Left Behind

2 Kings 7:3-20

Sermon

James Merritt

"No One Left Behind" - that is a universal creed that is shared by every firefighter, soldier and law enforcement person in America. Whenever they go out on a mission to fight fire, to fight crime or to fire an enemy of our nation, they are determined that when it comes to their own there will be "No One Left Behind." I don't know where this motto originated, but it could have come from the story we will study today. The Kingdom of David, which then was passed on to his son, Solomon, was known as the ...

4543. Can't Get No Satisfaction

Exodus 20:17

Sermon

James Merritt

It came to guitarist, Keith Richards, literally in the middle of the night. He woke up, recorded the lyrics on a cassette tape player and went back to sleep. Three weeks later, the Rolling Stones recorded that song and it became their first number one hit, both in the United Kingdom and in the United States and it became their launching pad to fame. Mick Jagger, who wrote the lyrics to the song, said at the time it simply expressed his frustration with the consumerism and commercialism he found in the ...

4544. Live and Let Die

Galatians 2:20

Sermon

James Merritt

How do you live the Christian life? Well, believe it or not, the answer is You don't! Over one billion people have become Christians in the last 2,000 years. But only one person has ever lived the Christian life, and that is Jesus Christ. I am going to make an amazing statement, but I believe it is true. The average Christian knows far more about how to become one than how to be one. The average Christian will say, "I'm trying to live the Christian life the best way I know how." When a Christian makes that ...

4545. The Climb

Joshua 14:6-15

Sermon

James Merritt

A Ph.D. - a Doctor of Philosophy degree is the highest degree awarded in academics. Three to four years of seminars, literacy required in three to five different languages, and three years of continuous research on a dissertation that must be totally original in its subject, meaning that no one has ever written on it before. This dissertation must then be presented in written form and passed by three professors with three different fields of expertise all of which you must study and include in your ...

4546. The World’s Favorite Scripture

Matthew 7:1-6

Sermon

James Merritt

Everybody knows about the famous comedian, David Letterman, and his "top ten list." As you know, God also has a "top ten list" and it goes like this: 1. You shall have no other gods before Me. 2. You shall not make for yourself a carved image. 3. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. 4. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. 5. Honor your father and your mother. 6. You shall not murder. 7. You shall not commit adultery. 8. You shall not steal. 9. You shall not bear false witness ...

4547. In God We Trust

Proverbs 3:5-6

Sermon

James Merritt

At first glance, I thought it was a great victory. The past week a Federal Appeals Court ruled that the phrase "In God We Trust" on a government building, does not violate the separation of church and state. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Richmond, Virginia, ruled on May 13th that the national motto may remain on the facade of a county government building in Lexington, North Carolina. Then listen to what the court has to say and I am quoting Judge Robert King. "The Fourth Circuit has ' ...

4548. Our Task: Acceptance and Challenge

Luke 2:41-52

Sermon

Gary L. Carver

What do our children need of us really, as adults, as parents, and as the community of faith called the church? I found myself asking that question when the newborn infants of this congregation were brought before us and both the parents and our Sunday school teachers were gathered here at the front. The children looked so tiny — none of them able to walk or feed themselves or do hardly anything. If they are to become fully functioning human beings, obviously many things are going to have to be done for ...

4549. Fruit with Feet

Acts 9:1-20

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

There has rarely been a transformation from sinner to saint as dramatic as that of Paul, former persecutor of Christians, who became the apostle to the Gentiles. However, the story of Cain Lackey from PatrickCounty, Virginia, comes close. Cain Lackey was known as the Meanest Man in PatrickCounty. He was rough and tough. The year was 1892 and PatrickCounty, Virginia, was a place of dirt fields and mud roads. There wasn't always enough food. People died because there were no doctors. Some places were almost ...

4550. Better Than a Spanking

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

King Duncan

Bob Beasley belongs to a Baptist Church in Canada, a church that follows the Baptist tradition of baptizing by immersion. Returning home from church one Sunday, his little girl asked, “Daddy, why did the pastor push that guy under the water? Why, daddy?” Bob’s wife tried to answer her question, but the little girl, named Rena, just wouldn’t be satisfied. Later that night Bob and his wife tried to provide an answer from a Baptist perspective that a child’s mind could comprehend. They talked about sin and ...

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