Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 4551 to 4575 of 4944 results

4551. Compliments Of The House

Psalm 23:6

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

An elderly man in Florida calls his son in New York one November day. The father says to the son, "I hate to tell you, but we've got troubles here at home. Your mother and I can't stand each other anymore, and we're getting a divorce. I've had it! I want to live out the rest of my years in peace. I'm telling you now, so you and your sister won't go into shock later when I move out." He hangs up, and the son immediately calls his sister in the Hamptons and tells her the news. The sister says, "I'll handle ...

4552. A Chance To Drink

John 4:5-29

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

There was a cartoon I saw sometime back which showed a little boy kneeling by his bed saying his bedtime prayers. He prayed: "As you know, God, Monday is the first day of school. I hope you won't lose sight of me in the crowd. Amen." Then he climbs in bed, thinks for a minute, and then crawls out again and adds to his prayer: "Oh, and by the way God, I'll be the one wearing the red shorts and a Dallas Cowboys T-shirt." Like this little boy, the woman in the passage for today, needed someone to see her. She ...

4553. Who Touched The Remote Control?

Jeremiah 17:7-8

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

Maybe you've heard about the family who was asked by their pastor how much time they spent together in meaningful discussion. The father said that they spent about two-and-a-half hours a day in meaning discussion. The pastor was impressed. "That's wonderful! That's more than I spend with my own family, a lot more! What kind of things do you discuss?" Mom rolled her eyes and then volunteered additional information left out by the father. She said, "We only discuss one thing: who gets to hold the remote ...

4554. Follow Me (Series: An Invitation to Christian Discipleship)

Luke 24:1-12

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

“Sing with all the saints in Glory. Sing the resurrection song.” It is Easter. It is the day “yes” got up before the sun. It is the day we know our victory over death was won. Over eighty percent of Americans call themselves Christians. And over 100 million of us will gather in tiny churches or elaborate cathedrals throughout the land to proclaim the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. We will announce that life is stronger than death. “Christ is risen; He is risen indeed!” Countless others around the world will ...

4555. Hope in a Plain Brown Wrapper

Luke 1:47-55

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

When I was a boy, Mom and Dad would come home from the grocery store and unloaded the brown paper sacks of groceries. If we saw anything wrapped in butcher paper, we knew we were in for treat. That meant Dad was either going to barbecue or better yet, they had visited the lunch meat counter and brought home a bunch of fresh sliced lunch meat. But if we pulled out a long brown paper bread sack, we knew immediately that Mom and Dad had gone to one of the Jewish Delicatessens and inside was a fresh loaf of ...

4556. The Third Kind of Love

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

James W. Moore

In the church, we talk a lot about love. We teach it, we preach it, we sing about it, we try to live it… and well we should because love is the message of the church and the dominant theme of the scriptures. Love is the Christian faith summed up in one word. Jesus called it the sign of discipleship. Usually, when we talk about love, we lift up love for God and love for other people… and that is well and good. But, this morning, I want us to turn the coin over and raise what I think is a very important ...

4557. Unexpected Invasions

Isaiah 64:1-9

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

He looked me in the eye with deep intensity, as young adults tend to do, and then he said, “Do you believe in miracles?" “Indeed I do," I said with all the authority of my office and ordination. “Good," he replied. “I need an especially big one this week." With that he disappeared in the crowd and I never saw him again although I continue to pray for him often when his face comes into my mind's eye. Here we are in December. December is not so much another month as it is another state of mind. In December ...

4558. In Prayer’s Way

Luke 10:1-24

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Who is our newest parent here this morning? . . . How old is your baby? May I hold him/her? Let’s bow our heads and offer a prayer of blessing for this child . . . This little baby is embarking on a journey. And it’s an awesome journey to be a part of. All new parents here - is there anything as exciting as watching your baby go from a snuggly little lump you cradle in your arms to a roller, then a crawler, then a “cruiser,” and finally a walker? Babies seem absolutely driven to get on their feet. No ...

4559. By Humbly Doing Good

1 Peter 5:6-11

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

The pastor of a congregation preached an unusually short sermon one Sunday. As he came to the conclusion, he offered this explanation for the brevity of it all. “We have a new dog at our house," explained the pastor. “The dog is prone to get into things and chew them up. Last night the dog got hold of my sermon and chewed up the last several pages." The congregation seemed to understand the plight of the pastor. In fact, one visitor to the church shook the preacher's hand after service and said, “If that ...

4560. LENT: The Passion of Christ: "Betrayed"

John 13:21-30; Matthew 26:14-16; 45-50

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

A Vacation Bible School teacher, one summer, taught class on Judas' betrayal of Jesus. After the lesson, she went over the review questions and asked, "Who betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver?" Without hesitating, her 7-year-old son replied, "I know! It was 'Judas the Scariest!' " (1) For me Judas was the Scariest disciple of all. He's the most frightening character of the entire Passion story. He's more frightening than Pilate or Herod or Caiaphas and the other accusers. To me, Judas is even more ...

4561. Wedding Bell Blues

John 2:1-11

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

I think marriage is one of the most beautiful gifts God ever gave humanity. I don't say that simply because I'm married to the most beautiful and loving woman in the world. I say that as a pastor who has had the privilege of joining together countless couples. And watching their relationship blossom and grow into a thing of beauty. Now true there are rough moments in marriage. Every day is breakfast in bed or a honeymoon. Take for example the story I just heard about the woman at the airport check-in ...

4562. Act Quickly - Catch It Early

Matthew 5:21-26

Sermon

King Duncan

Some of you may be familiar with the Darwin Awards. People are nominated for the Darwin Awards when they do something really stupid that costs them their lives. The reason that they are called the Darwin Awards is that by offing themselves in such an absurd way, it is suggested that these misguided folks have inadvertently improved the gene pool for rest of humanity. It’s a cynical view of life, but it has led to a collection of stories that are both true and bizarre. For example, there is the story of a ...

4563. Family Resemblance

John 14:5-14

Sermon

King Duncan

There was a story on the Internet recently that proves rednecks aren’t confined to the southern part of the United States. According to this story a man in Australia was fined after police discovered that he had used a seat belt to buckle in a case of beer while his five-year-old son was consigned to playing in the car’s floor totally unprotected. Constable Wayne Burnett said he was “shocked and appalled” when he pulled over the car one Friday in the Australian town of Alice Springs. A 30-can beer case was ...

4564. A Community of Practice, Not a Community of Perfection

Romans 7:7-25

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

When your child is playing a musical instrument that is “rented” from the school, instead “owned” by you, there is a big decision to make at the end of the school year. Do you pay rental fees for the summer break? Or do you turn the instrument in? Paying rental fees for the summer means that the instrument will be practiced on hot summer days and during beautiful sunsets. Turning the instrument in means that summer is for swimming, sleep-away camps, family vacations, flexible schedules and peace and quiet ...

4565. The Earth Is the Lord’s ... And Don’t You Forget It!

Psalm 24:1

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Of course, we do forget it ... regularly. In 1962, Rachel Carson's book, Silent Spring,[1] caught the nation's attention as it pointed out what was happening to the environment by our continued use of DDT and other pesticides. The following year, President Kennedy and Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson led a cross-country tour to further highlight the environmental crisis. Speech after speech warned that air and water pollution, species extinction, and pesticide poisoning were threats to our nation's future ...

4566. Transitions

2 Kings 2:1-12

Sermon

David E. Leininger

This is one of those passages that has its roots deep in the mythology of ancient Israel. It is at least a little bit familiar to us because this is where the film Chariots of Fire gets its name, and this is where we find the origin of the expression, "passing on the mantle of leadership." The story also gives us one of the earliest uses of the term "Father" as a title for a religious leader (if you have ever wondered where that designation in some churches came from). The story is one of transition. ...

4567. The Little Golf Club

Sermon

John Smylie

Our Lord's new commandment, to love one another as he has loved us, is easier said than done. Love is such an overused word in our society, and even in sermons, that it's sometimes difficult to get a grip on what it is that love really means. Perhaps our Lord's love is particularly difficult to get a handle on because of the preconceived notions we may have about him. Sunday school images of the mild and gentle Jesus may come to mind: Never a harsh word spoken, a smile on his face, a sweetness in his ...

4568. Time for the Offering

2 Corinthians 8:7-15

Sermon

Gibson “Nibs” Stroupe

We have been blessed at our church to have had student interns in ministry for many years from Columbia Theological Seminary, Johnson C. Smith Seminary, and Candler School of Theology. They have been all varieties of cultures, genders, ages, outlooks, and approaches. As a multicultural church, we like to think that we have broadened their view of themselves and of ministry. I know that they have greatly enriched our lives. We ask our interns to lead all parts of worship over the course of their time with ...

4569. Words That Wound, Words That Heal

Ephesians 4:25-5:2

Sermon

Thomas Lentz

Often we fail to recognize the power of our speech, our language, the words we use. A public speaker once began his address by commanding his audience to "stand up." Then he said, "Turn and face the back of the church ... now turn and face me." Finally he commanded them to "sit down." "The point I am making," he explained, "is that words have power. They can make things happen. They can be bullets which penetrate the heart, wounding the one for whom they are intended. Or they can bring joy, celebration, ...

4570. A Cantankerous Prophet

Jonah 3:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

There are some jokes that are so bad they bear retelling. [So, if any of you remember me telling this story, keep that in mind.] (1) It seems there was once a fisherman . . . you already know it’s going to be bad, don’t you? This fisherman and his wife were blessed with twin sons. They loved the children very much, but couldn’t think of what to name them. Finally, after several days, the fisherman said, “Let’s not decide on names right now. If we wait a little while, the names will simply occur to us.” ...

4571. Seeking Christ

Mark 1:29-34

Sermon

King Duncan

Sometime back Dr. Phil Berry took a picture outside a roadside convenience store. The store was on the Texas border on the highway leading to Colorado. It was one of those portable advertising signs with flashing lights along the top meant to lure in passersby. At the top of the sign it read, “Last chance Lotto Texas, clean restrooms, snacks.” Then, at the bottom of the sign, almost like an afterthought, it read, “Jesus is Lord.” “It’s like, on the way out of Texas, whatever you need, they have it,” says ...

4572. Finish What You Start

Luke 14:25-33

Sermon

I remember as I was growing up, before gas became more precious than gold, that our family would go on buggy rides, as we called them, on Sunday afternoons after church and dinner. It was a great time for the entire family to be together, to wander back roads aimlessly, and to talk about just about anything you could imagine. Most of the time my dad would surprise us but sometimes he would ask us where we wanted to go. One place I always asked my dad to drive to was the park in town. One reason was that I ...

4573. How Do You Know the Good Guys from the Bad Guys?

Luke 16:1-13

Sermon

I'm going to dispense with the niceties and cut to the chase. Everywhere I turned this week commentators on this gospel told me that it is the most difficult of all the parables of Jesus. They told me how it has caused incredible problems for the church for 2,000 years now. Some said that the problems were caused because folks didn't understand what he was trying to say. I read so many of these that I got a class-A case of writer's block. I became stuck worrying that I'd come in here this morning with a ...

4574. Dinner With Jesus

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

David E. Leininger

I used to wish I were tall. All the other children were bigger. They were stronger ... faster. I was a shrimp ... and it used to bother me. I used to lie in my bed at night wishing that I was the biggest kid in town. Then nobody would push me around. None of the other children could beat me up. None of them could ever call Zacchaeus names (at least not if they wanted to keep their teeth in). None of them would ever give me any trouble again. Yeah, I wanted to be tall, but.... As time went along, of course ...

4575. You're a Treasure!

Mark 7:24-30

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

“I want to be alone.” That was the famous declaration made by the early Swedish film star and glamour girl Greta Garbo (1905-1990). But it was that declaration that jinxed her search for solitude. A vast cast of has-been, over-the-hill actors and actresses struggled to stay in focus but swiftly faded out of the limelight and into obscurity. But Garbo, by her very insistence on alone-time, was hounded by media hangers-on until her death in 1990. To get a picture of Greta Garbo remained a paparazzi “holy ...

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