Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 4526 to 4550 of 5000 results

Exodus 20:12

Sermon

James Merritt

... will honor your father and your mother you will have the blessing of God on your life. [1] John Huffman, Jr., Liberating Limits, p. 70. [2] Carl W. Wilson, Our Dance is Turned to Death, p. 12. [3] Patrick M. Morley, The Man in the Mirror, pp. 95-96. [4] Mark H. Hollender, "The Wish to Be Held", Archives of General Psychiatry, Vol. 22, 1970, p. 445. [5] Ross Campbell, How to Really Love Your Child, (Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books, 1977), p. 73. [6] Michael Horton, The Law of Perfect Freedom, p. 134.

4527. With Jesus No Mission Is Impossible

John 6:1-14

Sermon

James Merritt

... But there are several things about the miracle we are going to study today that makes it unique and especially significant. First, it is the only miracle mentioned in all four gospels. Of all the miracles Jesus performed, this is the only one that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all felt should be included in their particular gospel. Second, it is the only account in which Jesus asked the advice of another person before He proceeded to perform the miracle. Third, it is the only time that Jesus ever performed ...

4528. Don't Sweat the Sin Debt

John 19:30

Sermon

James Merritt

... cross. Now we come to the triumph of the cross. We have heard a sound of desolation ("My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"); we have heard a sigh of lamentation ("I thirst!"); but now we hear a shout of jubilation ("It is finished!"). According to Matthew, Mark, and Luke, He didn't just say this, he shouted it. It was a cry of victory. For six hours Jesus had been the victim of sin, but now He is the victor of salvation. Notice, He did not say, "I am finished!" The devil thought he was finished. For ...

4529. The Door Is Always Open

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

James Merritt

... Self-righteous When the younger son returned home, v.25 tells us that the older son was "in the field." He was working, he was a laborer. There's no doubt about it, the younger brother was a shirker, and the older brother was a worker. That's always the mark of a Pharisee. They work hard, they labor long hours. They punch in at 8:00 AM and punch out at 5:00 PM and only take an hour for lunch. But Pharisees don't understand, you can work your fingers to the bone and do the best you know ...

4530. Getting Rid of Grudges

Luke 23:34

Sermon

James Merritt

... of advice to you: you need to go back to Calvary. The great preacher, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, said: "Let us go to Calvary to learn how we may be forgiven, and then let us linger there to learn how to forgive."[4] One of the marks of being forgiven is that you are forgiving. Because in the final analysis, God only forgives the forgiving. General James Oglethorpe once said to the great Methodist preacher, John Wesley: "I never forgive, and I never forget." To which John Wesley responded: "Then Sir, I hope ...

4531. How to Connect With God

1 John 5:14-15

Sermon

James Merritt

... speak on My own authority." If you are out of the will of God, you will not know the will of God until you are willing to get back in the will of God. If there is any area where you know you are out of the will of God, mark it down, God will not reveal His will for your life in any other area until you get back in His will in that area. Whatever else God is, He is not foolish nor naive. When he sees you are not willing to submit to His will in one area ...

4532. Food For Thought

1 Peter 1:13-21

Sermon

James Merritt

... , it is well known that "absence makes the heart grow fonder." If you are really in love with the Lord Jesus Christ, and although you know Him, love Him, serve Him, and trust Him, deep in your heart you really want to see Him. That is the mark, I believe, of every true Christian. He wants Jesus Christ to return. When you study the lives of great Christians, almost without fail each one of them lived in anticipation of the second coming of Jesus Christ. Dwight L. Moody said, "I never preach a sermon without ...

4533. What to Do When Life Is the Pits

1 Peter 5:5-11

Sermon

James Merritt

... did not suffer. A slave is not above his master. The Lord Jesus was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. If Jesus suffered, we will also suffer. c. The Glory We Will Experience "To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen." (v.11) Mark this down and never forget it. There is grief that is inescapable; but there is also grace that is unavoidable. We have a promise that grief one day will, by grace, be transformed into glory. Have you ever heard of James Cash? You may think you haven't ...

4534. Is Your Conscience Clear?

1 Timothy 1:18-19

Sermon

James Merritt

... our society and families; the loss of conscience. The trend is to no longer be ashamed of our darker side. This shocking trend is ravaging our culture. It is becoming a badge of honor to not only violate social norms, but even to flaunt that behavior….2 Mark it down, both here on earth and in eternity, the only thing you have coming to you from a corrupted conscience is grief. III. The Gift of a Cleansed Conscience If your conscience is not totally clear, and not totally clean, there are two agents that ...

4535. A Deserter in God's Army

1 Timothy 4:9-10

Sermon

James Merritt

... about five or six years before Paul wrote these words, to a different time in the life of Demas. In the book of Philemon it is interesting to see how Paul describes this young man: "Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you, as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow laborers." (vv.23-24) He describes Demas as one of his "fellow laborers." The word literally means "to work with" or "to work beside." There was a time when Paul and Demas were laborers together with God. You see, there was ...

4536. The Fountain of Truth

2 Peter 1:12-21

Sermon

James Merritt

... remember it, I might misinterpret it. If I were to hear a voice I might miss part of what was said. Neither visions nor voices can compare with the value of the word of God. Let me be very plain. Between Moses and Matthew, Malachi and Mark, Lamentations and Luke, Jeremiah and John, Amos and Acts, and Proverbs and Paul, we have God's complete once-for-all revelation. We don't need Joseph Smith, Mary Baker Eddy, Ellen White, Nancy Fowler, golden tablets, dreams and visions, or another testament; all we need ...

4537. The Only Way to Fly

2 Timothy 3:15-17

Sermon

James Merritt

... sweet to a man, but afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel." (Prov. 20:17)—that's IFR. "He who dies with the most toys wins."—that's VFR—But the Bible says, "What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul?" (Mark 8:36)—that's IFR. "All roads lead to God."—that's VFR—But the Bible says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. And no one comes to the Father unless he comes through Me." (John 14:6)—that's IFR. "Good works will take anybody to ...

4538. I Believe in Easter

Acts 9:1-29

Sermon

James Merritt

... imagine the look on their faces when Paul opened his mouth and said, "Jesus Christ is the Son of God, risen from the dead, and He is Lord!" You know how I really know that Paul believed in Easter? Because he wanted other people to believe in Easter. The real mark that you believe in Easter is that you want others to believe in Easter too. I want to tell you a true story, one that I promise you will never forget, and one that will cause you to think of Easter in a totally different light. The lady's name ...

4539. www.Salvation.com

Ephesians 2:8-10

Sermon

James Merritt

... serve a search warrant on a well-known drug dealer in the city of Inglewood. As his partner knocked, Hicks yelled out, "Police!" and started to knock down the door. From inside the shabby apartment four slugs were fired through the door; one found its mark. The impact was almost exactly where the motorcycle officer had been hit only a few weeks before—squarely in the center of the chest. Later his partner recalled that Hicks simply said, "I'm hit, and slowly sank to the floor." The coroner reported that ...

4540. It's Not How You Start But How You Finish That Counts

Ephesians 4:1, 11-16

Sermon

James Merritt

... who is bound." A Christian is someone who is bound to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now Paul wrote this while he was in a Roman prison, but the truth is, as a Christian you are a prisoner of the Lord Jesus Christ whether you are in jail or not. One mark of a prisoner is he has no will of his own. A prisoner goes where he is told to go. A prisoner does what he is told to do. A prisoner eats when he is told to eat; sleeps when he is told to sleep. He lives in a twenty ...

4541. Doing Right When You Have Been Done Wrong

Ephesians 4:31-32

Sermon

James Merritt

... that I am a slave to every man on whom I pour the viles of my wrath.2 Bitterness also saddens the spirit. Bitterness is a depressant. If you will look closely you will find there are no happy bitter people. Criticism, cynicism, negativism, pessimism are the marks of a bitter person. Bitterness will depress you, sadden you, and even get you to the point where you cannot even function in a normal fashion. Bitterness is an emotional quicksand. It will suck you under and strangle the very life out of you. It is ...

4542. The Danger of American Express

Exodus 20:17

Sermon

James Merritt

... . Because covetousness and stealing go together. The covetous man is simply a thief in the shell, while the thief is a covetous man out of the shell. There are people who will not come to church because they are afraid the church will ask for some of their money. You mark something down. You show me a person who complains that all the church ever does is ask for money, and I'll show you a person who is covetous. The same man that would pay $500 for a ticket to go to the Super Bowl, will complain about a ...

4543. If You're Not Loving You're Not Living (Fruit of the Spirit: Love)

Galatians 5:22

Sermon

James Merritt

... boy and he was able to breathe until nightfall. Then he clawed his way out of that tomb. In the darkness, that naked boy made his way to the nearest house, that of a Gentile woman, and begged for help. But the woman recognized him as one of the Jews marked for death by those Nazis, and she screamed at him and ordered him to go away, slamming the door in his face. He went to the next house and got the same response, and the next one, and the next one, and the next one, and doors kept closing in ...

4544. When in Joy, Enjoy (Fruit of the Spirit: Joy)

Galatians 5:22

Sermon

James Merritt

... his sin with Bathsheba and asked God for forgiveness, he said in Ps. 51:12: "Restore to me the joy of Your salvation." You see, sorrow follows sin just as surely as night follows day. If you are bound to sin, you are bound to suffer. You can mark this down. The very first thing that goes out the window of your heart the moment you close the curtains on obeying God, is the joy of your salvation. III. There Is Joy in Service Salvation and sanctification automatically leads to service. Peter says we are not ...

4545. How to Live the Good Life (Fruit of the Spirit: Goodness)

Galatians 5:22

Sermon

James Merritt

... something very revealing on one occasion, both about good and God. The rich young ruler came up to Him, and said, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God." (Mark 10:17-18) Now get that down in your heart. Only God is good. We do know that God is good. Ps. 34:8 says, "Taste and see that the Lord is good." We know God's work is good. "God works all things out together for good to those ...

4546. A Trip to God's Woodshed

Hebrews 12: 5-11

Sermon

James Merritt

... his children? a. It Confirms Our Identity "For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?" (vv.6-7) One of the marks that you are a child of God, is the discipline of God on your life when you sin. Now God whips his children, but God whips only his children. If your kids are playing in the yard with the neighbors' kids, and they begin to misbehave and get into ...

4547. The Surety of Security

Jude 1:1-2

Sermon

James Merritt

... I came across a clear example of someone who I consider to be an apostate. He is the President of a Baptist university. Recently he wrote a book detailing his understanding of Jesus, the Bible, and the truth of Christianity. I found in that book three key marks of every apostate: An apostate pretends to speak for Jesus, but denies His unique deity. This man claims to know Jesus and to love Jesus. But then he says this about Jesus: "Like Israel, our first temptation is to make Jesus into an icon of devotion ...

4548. It Is Right To Fight When You Fight For Right

Jude 1:3-4

Sermon

James Merritt

... diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. (vv.3-4) Along with Jude, listen to a statement made over 450 years ago by Martin Luther: Christendom must ...

4549. Dirty Dreams and Slick Schemers

Jude 1:8-11

Sermon

James Merritt

... making is, an angel has more respect for the devil than a lot of preachers, professors, and theologians have for God. Incidentally, if you go back to the prior examples that Jude had given in vv.5-7 you will find these same three marks of the apostate. Sodom and Gomorrah defiled sexual purity, the angels defied supernatural authority, and Israel defamed spiritual dignity. II. They Are Spiritually Ignorant Jude refers to these dirty dreamers as "brute beasts." (v.10) The Greek word for brute is alogos, logos ...

4550. Courage Under Fire

Jude 1:22-23

Sermon

James Merritt

... . We need "courage under fire", a holy boldness not only to condemn the apostate, but to confront those who are vulnerable to the apostate's teaching with the gospel of Jesus Christ. But our courage is not to be a reckless courage. Three words should mark our courage: they are the words care, share, and beware. I. Care for Confused Sinners "And on some have compassion, making a distinction." (v.22) A better translation of that verse is: "Have compassion on those who are doubting." Jude is talking here about ...

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