Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 4526 to 4550 of 4999 results

John 20:19-31

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

... James, and John? Maybe he was one of those people who wished the resurrection was true but had many misgivings. On the other hand, maybe he was just egotistical. Is it possible, realistically, to place you and me at the scene those twenty centuries ago? To do that kind of thing takes real effort. We would all like to do that, wouldn't we? Our assumption is that if we could really get back to the first century, things would be clarified and we would understand Thomas much better. Don't count on it! It seems ...

4527. A New Continuing

John 14:8-17, 25-27

Sermon

David R. Cartwright

... day. As Jesus' disciples were all gathered in one place, there was first the sound of a mighty wind; then tongues of fire appeared and rested on each one of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in all kinds of languages, yet somehow they were all able to understand one another. More astounding than all this, was that barriers that had long existed between people of different nationalities were broken down that first Pentecost. Think of it, three thousand souls were added to the ...

4528. Guided by the Spirit

John 16:12-15

Sermon

David R. Cartwright

... of Jesus, allowing us to go beyond what he had to say when he was here on earth. In due time, the Spirit will unfold for us what it all means. Equally important, the Spirit will prevent us from going off the deep end, and coming up with all kinds of wild things that might capture our fancy. This is the test. Wherever the Spirit leads, it is always consistent with what Jesus taught about God the Father when he was here on this earth. That's the standard and the measuring stick. "All that the Father has is ...

4529. Compassion Can Do More Than You May Think

Luke 7:11-17

Sermon

David R. Cartwright

... . He will turn to John, the disciple, and make sure that John will look after Mary when he's gone. As the funeral procession passes by, so moved is Jesus that he touches the bier upon which the bearers are carrying the corpse. It was not probably the kind of bier that Luke had in mind. Luke is familiar with funeral customs in Greek and Roman culture. This bier, if you can call it that, was probably more like a stretcher or perhaps even a large woven basket. But that's not the point. Luke may have gotten ...

4530. What Happens When You're Not Prepared for What Happens

Luke 8:26-39

Sermon

David R. Cartwright

... of the pigs. Other people become concerned about the loss of income to the pigs' owners. Still others are concerned about what this action says about Jesus. They don't think it reflects very well on him. But those kinds of questions push the meaning of the story too far. If you have to have an answer to those kinds of questions, I suppose, you might say that Jesus felt that the sanity of one man was worth the loss of all those pigs and whatever income they might have brought for the owner. But, as I say ...

4531. How Not to Become Distracted

Luke 10:38-42

Sermon

David R. Cartwright

... of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken from her" (Luke 10:42). There seems to be a kind of play on the fact that Martha is busy serving up many tasty dishes for Jesus who may have been too tired to eat them ... we insist on doing it in a way that we ourselves would like. As I read the story, I'll bet Martha is busy fixing the kind of dinner that she would like someone to fix for her someday: three meats, four salads, five vegetables, and six cakes and pies. Now that's ...

4532. You Fool!

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... After all, we can't take possessions with us when we die. As a creed, greed is seriously flawed. That's why Jesus said to the young man who wanted him to judge in his favor and fill his heart with possessions, "Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for life does not consist in the abundance of possessions." We can try to fill the void in our lives by seeking success, but, in truth, only God can fill that void. All substitutes fall short and then come crashing down on our heads when we die ...

4533. Only the Lonely

Luke 14:1, 7-14

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... expecting to be repaid for your invitations by invitations in return. When you do good in order to get back in kind, you are on a stairway to nowhere. Henri Nouwen says that genuine hospitality means "paying attention to the guest."1 Social ... in verses 12 through 14. As an extension of the parable about taking high and low seats at a banquet, Jesus focuses on the kinds of people who should be invited to a banquet. These are the lowly, undeserving people Jesus invited to the banquet of the kingdom of ...

4534. Only the Lost and the Least

Luke 15:1-10

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... ' love for the least and lost sinners to a successful and arrogant businessman. The man replied, "If that's what Christianity is all about, I want no part of it. I am a self-made man. When I do something for someone, I expect to be paid back in kind. These people you talk about — the lost and the least — they're just lazy. They can't pay back their debts. They aren't worthy of our attention." "Since God gives them attention, we have no choice but to do the same," the pastor replied. "Since God made it ...

4535. Father, Forgive Them!

Luke 23:33-43

Sermon

John Wayne Clarke

... get from them and out of them, but you didn't pray for them. Who thought up the cross? Who thought about a person having nails driven into his hands and feet, watching him die a slow death that drags out over hours and sometimes days? What kind of twisted mind thought up something like that? Crucifixion was accomplished by nailing or tying the arms and legs of the victim to the cross. The agony was planned, you were supposed to suffer and become an example to anyone who harbored the thought they might just ...

4536. All Is New in Christ

John 11:4-6, Philippians 3:4-11

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... over Androclus like a friendly dog. The crowd in the arena was hushed to silence; the Emperor was stunned. He called Androclus to him. He told the Emperor the whole story. "Androclus and the lion are hereby freed," said the Emperor. "Such amazing kindness, gratitude, and the ability to throw away the past must be rewarded." The captivating story of Androclus and the lion presents many themes to ponder, but it clearly demonstrates the need to forget the past, be converted, and begin anew. Androclus, the lion ...

4537. The Dream

Galatians 1:1-10

Sermon

John Jamison

... reviews were going down at the coffee shop. He would give them another hour, and then stop in for his coffee and wheat toast. He would get the summary of the reviews from Maryanne, the waitress. The door was open, so there was no knock. The man just kind of appeared, leaning against the sill and looking pretty uncomfortable. The pastor recognized the guy as being from town, knew a little bit about his family and where they lived, but didn't actually know his name. He did know that the guy had never been in ...

4538. The Difference between Knowing and Doing

Galatians 2:15-21

Sermon

John Jamison

... that Peter, who was one of the Jerusalem boys, had had a dream about the laws regarding cleanliness. In Acts 10, we read that Peter had a dream about a big white sheet being lowered from heaven, and in the sheet were animals and foods of all kinds. It might help this make sense if we understood that when the ships docked at the port and unloaded their animals and cargo, everything was just loaded into the big white sails and hoisted over the side of the ship. Peter had seen that happen at Caesarea, and ...

4539. Wearing the King’s Clothes

Colossians 3:1-11

Sermon

Clayton A. Lord

... make them look acceptable, but Paul reminds us that they are to be dealt with by the wrath of God. You see, we can make all kinds of excuses for what we do. We lie to each other and pretend that God doesn't care. Paul tells us otherwise. God cares. I heard ... 50,000 a year for the next twenty years of his life. His life had been changed in an instant. Can you imagine having that kind of life-changing experience? That is exactly what will happen to us when we accept Christ into our hearts. We may look the same, ...

4540. Boasting and Praying for You

2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12

Sermon

Donna Schaper

... well. We will all suffer, but very few of us will suffer well. Jesus loved well. He forgave his enemies. There is a kind of jujitsu to Jesus. He throws the negative forces back at these enemies. Theology is the turn toward God-living that reverses the ... Jesus, and God did, all the money would have been given away, just as all of Jesus' power was given away to the world. This is the kind of God about whom we may dare boast. In fact, how dare we not boast? Now no one really likes a boaster or even a booster. We ...

4541. Weary in Well Doing

2 Thessalonians 3:6-13

Sermon

Donna Schaper

... member of our team or family is detail crazed and fussy, and another is so large pictured that she never met a detail she understood, that is a good team. We just have to render their strengths effective and their weaknesses irrelevant. We can inoculate each other with this kind of thinking as easily as we can inoculate with the old ways. We must be perfect or we have to be gotten off of the team or out of the family. We must be fixed and improved. Yech! Who wants to be fixed or improved? Indeed who can be ...

4542. Falling Short

Romans 3:19-28

Sermon

Donna Schaper

... seems to be telling the disciples that they don't need a lot of faith so much as they need a little faith. Let the congregation say, "Phew!" I think that is spelled P-H-E-W. Phew. Instead of faith being the same kind of matter that most things are — heroic action, gobs of courage, trusting the untrustworthy, long meetings, thousands of phone calls, renegotiated positions on top of renegotiated positions, locating the lost emails that renegotiated the renegotiated positions ... instead of faith being that ...

4543. Genesis 2:18-24

Genesis 2:4-25

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... and the “ezer” that is God’s gift. When the term “ezer” is used in the Old Testament it describes God’s relationship to Israel — God is an “ezer,” a helper, a source of salvation and rescue for the people Israel. That is the kind of “helper” God envisions for “adam” — a relationship that will “rescue” the man from his isolation and loneliness. This is also why all the animals that initially audition for that role fail to qualify. The fact that they are, like the man, created ...

4544. A Luxury that Destroys

Mk 10:17-31

Illustration

Michael P. Green

... named "Maculinea Arion" is most instructive. The creature lays its eggs on a plant, and after feeding on the plant for several weeks the young caterpillar makes its way to the ground. In order to complete its development, it must meet a certain kind of ant. When such an ant meets the caterpillar, the ant strokes it with its antennae, and the caterpillar exudes a sweet fluid from a special gland on its tenth segment. Apparently the ant likes this substance, because it then carries the caterpillar home ...

4545. Operation Omega

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... last to allow hunger to gnaw at the bellies of our neighbors. We should be the last to shrug our shoulders at ongoing environment degradation. We should be the last to let despair grind down the powerless. We should be the last to condone cruelty of any kind, to any living thing. We should be the last to let human hatred triumph over divine love. What if we were to implement an Operation Omega — where holding last place, last ditch, last stand options isn’t a last gasp, but is evidence of the first new ...

4546. Good News about Ambition

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

King Duncan

... .” They don’t tell you up front what it is. They expect, because you are their Mom or Dad, you will automatically grant whatever they request. James and John feel they have that kind of relationship with Jesus. At least they feel they’ve somehow earned special consideration. Sometimes you and I go to God with that same kind of attitude, don’t we? We’re Christians. We’re Sunday School teachers. We give generously to the church’s work. We deserve for God to listen to our requests and to grant ...

4547. When Desire Goes Bad

1 Kings 21:1-21a

Sermon

Stan Purdum

... murder-for-hire plot, ended up sentenced to ten years in prison. Following the sentencing, Verna Heath, the intended victim, said, "I've always wanted to see Wanda Holloway show some remorse. I think her only regret is getting caught."2 Clearly, the tenth commandment prohibits that kind of predatory thinking. But the problem for us with reading either King Ahab's story or Wanda Holloway's is that most of us who are Christians don't connect with them. We may want more than what we have, but we don't want it ...

4548. Song of the Vineyard

Isaiah 5:1-7

Sermon

Lee Ann Dunlap

... his life's blood. He has taken the "stinking grapes" of our sin and "trampled out the vintage" of forgiveness and new life. "This is my blood, shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. And as often as you drink it — remember me." What kind of song is best sung to a cheating lover? Many a wounded heart might respond with the title made famous by Travis Tritt, "Here's A Quarter, Call Someone Who Cares." But through Jesus, God has taken away our "beatin' and cheatin'" lyrics and has sung to us ...

4549. Asking for Help

Mark 10:46-52

Illustration

Richard J. Fairchild

... so when he mustered out of the army, he had no idea how he'd ever finish school, if indeed he'd ever finish it all. One day he happened to pick up a copy of a magazine in a barber shop. One of the articles talked about the kindness and compassion of Eleanor Roosevelt, whose husband, President Franklin Roosevelt had died just a few months before. That article planted a seed in Fred's mind. He went to the local library and with the help of the librarian found Mrs. Roosevelt's home address. Then he sat down ...

4550. Small Towns

Luke 2:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... . The angel takes him back through his life to show how our ordinary everyday efforts are really big achievements. Clarence reveals how George Bailey’s loyalty to his job at the building-and-loan office has saved families and homes, how his little kindnesses have changed the lives of others, and how the ripples of his love will spread through the world, helping make it a better place . . . Today, after some 50 years, I’ve heard the film called ‘an American cultural phenomenon.’ Well, maybe so, but ...

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