Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 4551 to 4575 of 5000 results

John 15:1-8

Sermon

James Merritt

... tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them. (Mt. 7:16-20) You see, a fruitless branch is not a failed Christian, he is a false Christian. Mark it down. The reality of faith is determined by the quality of fruit. No fruit, no faith. It is not the label on the outside that counts (whether you are a Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, etc.) but rather the life on the inside that matters. The question is: "Do ...

4552. The Ministry of the Holy Spirit

John 16:7-11

Sermon

James Merritt

... not submitted to the righteousness of God." The world spells righteousness D-O. The Philippian jailer came to Paul and said, "What must I do to be saved?" (Acts 16:30) The rich young ruler came to Jesus and said, "What shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" (Mark 10:7) The world thinks that being good, doing good, living good, acting good, is all that matters. If a man acts good on the outside and does his best, it will all turn out for good in the end. There are two problems with that. First of all ...

4553. A Man on the Run

Jonah 1:1-4

Sermon

James Merritt

... well and became the matriarch of a leading family in the state. Emelyn was so impressed with the change in Rhett's life, she also became a Christian and joined the Methodist church. Eventually, she opened an orphanage for Cherokee children. She died in 1903, and her grave is marked to this day. It just goes to show you that truth is really stranger than fiction. The book of Jonah fits into that category. When a man catches a fish, that's not big news, but when a fish catches a man, that is big news. This is ...

4554. Going For the Gold

Joshua 1:1-9

Sermon

James Merritt

... is not only about what did happen, but what God wants to happen in the life of every Christian. I can tell you in two words what the entire book of Joshua is all about: claiming Canaan. Now there is a misunderstanding about Canaan. Many have marked Canaan as a picture of heaven. Our songs have contributed to this misunderstanding. For example: "I am bound for the promised land" suggests to us that Canaan, the promised land, is a picture of heaven. You remember this stanza: On Jordan's stormy banks I stand ...

4555. Dad: The Head of a Godly Family

Joshua 24:15

Sermon

James Merritt

... of leading his children to be all for God, all for society, all for the church, and all for the kingdom of Christ that they ought to be. III. The Insurance of the Father's Love to the Family Joshua led his family because he loved his family. Dad, the mark of a father's love is a father's leadership. If you don't lead your family you don't really love your family. I want you to see how much Joshua really loved his family. He loved them enough to do two things: a. He Made a Decision for ...

4556. Away In a Manger

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

James Merritt

... truth about Christmas. The headline read "Japan Goes Wild for Ho-Ho Holiday." A nation, made up almost entirely of Shinto and Buddhist believers, has taken to celebrating "Kurisumasu" with the heartiest of Ho-Ho-Hos. The season is marked by extravagant gift-giving, with shoppers lined up for blocks outside of expensive department stores. Red-garbed choirs give enthusiastic if uncertain voice to "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" and other Christmas carols, in downtown Tokyo. In residential sections nearly ...

4557. Nothing Great Happens Without It

Luke 14: 25-35

Sermon

James Merritt

... or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospels, who shall not receive a hundred-fold now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come, eternal life." (Mark 10:29-30) I cannot help but think about a man by the name of David Livingston. David Livingston was a brilliant scholar. He studied Greek, theology, went to Glasgow University and graduated with a degree in Medicine. He could have been anything he wanted ...

4558. A Streetcar Named Desire

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

James Merritt

... who came to the tree where Zacchaeus climbed. It was Jesus who came to the home where Zacchaeus lived. Jesus came, Jesus lived, and Jesus died because He had a passion to seek and to save that which is lost. That was His passion then, that is His passion now. Mark 1:14-15 says that the first act of his public ministry was to preach the gospel of the kingdom. The last act of his public ministry was to seek and to save a dying thief on a cross next to his. I say again, His passion is to be ...

4559. Thou Shalt Not Judge - True or False?

Matthew 7:1-6

Sermon

James Merritt

... . You see, what Jesus was saying was this: We ought to judge ourselves before we can judge others, but we are to judge ourselves so we can judge others. Now we come to the crucial truth of this passage. Jesus is not forbidding all judgment. In fact, one of the marks that you are a spiritual person is that you know how to judge at the right time, at the right place, in the right way. 1 Cor. 2:15 says, "But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one." You see, it ...

4560. How to Lower Your Temper (-ature)

Proverbs 16:32

Sermon

James Merritt

... the Son also knows what it is to be angry. On one occasion a man with a withered hand came to Jesus to be healed on the Sabbath Day. The hypocritical Pharisees were watching to see if he would perform what they thought was an ungodly act. We read in Mark 3:5, "He looked around at them with anger." I think you will also agree that when Jesus took a whip and ran the money-changers out of the temple, he was more than a little bit upset! But even God the Holy Spirit can be angry. I Samuel 11 ...

4561. Friends

Proverbs 27:6, 9, 17

Sermon

James Merritt

... to you through thick and thin, than your skin will stick to your own bone. One thing you will never have to question about a friend is his loyalty. A true friend will always be your defense attorney before he will become your judge. You see, one of the marks of a friend is that though he may point out your faults from time to time, he will overlook them and never let them come between you. Henry Ward Beecher once said, "You ought to keep a big cemetery in your backyard where you can bury the faults of ...

4562. Fiscal Fitness

Proverbs 3:9-10

Sermon

James Merritt

... been the ruin of more people, marriages, and friendships, than the failure to handle money properly. Dad, next to teaching your child how to walk with God, you will never teach him a more important life lesson than how to handle money. I am well within the mark when I say that well over ninety percent of Americans do not have a clue on how to manage money. Like nitroglycerin, handling money can cause an explosion that can blow apart a marriage, a home, a business, and even a life. So, pay attention! I. The ...

4563. Mom: The Heart of a Godly Family

Proverbs 31:10-31

Sermon

James Merritt

... a woman of strong faith, and to it I attribute any success I have attained.5 Mom, you truly are the heart of the home. The heart of the home should have a heart for the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Pulpit Helps, May, 1988. 2 Mark McCutcheon, The Compass in Your Nose and Other Astonishing Facts About Humans, (Los Angeles: Jeremy P. Tarcher, Inc., 1989), p. 35. 3 David Jeremiah, Exposing the Myth of Parenthood, (Dallas, Word Publishing, 1988), p. 64. 3 Rusty Wright, Secrets of Successful Humor, (San Bernardino: Here ...

4564. America: You Are Too Young to Die

Psalm 80:1-19

Sermon

James Merritt

... right now because America’s only hope for survival is the Lord Jesus Christ. 1. Webster's New World Dictionary, p. 991. 2. The Battle for Religious Liberty, Lynn R. Buzzard& Samuel Ericson, David C. Cook, 1982, p.31. 3. Steven McDowell and Mark Beliles, America's Providential History (Charlottesville, Virginia: Providence Press, 1989), p. 141. 4 Charles Barton, The Myth of Separation(Aledo, Texas: Wall Builder Press, 1991), p. 25. 5 Cited by D. James Kennedy, The Gates of Hell Shall Not Prevail, p.133. 6 ...

4565. Jesus: The Hope of a Godly Family

Psalm 127:1-2

Sermon

James Merritt

... , and rebellion. Refusal of people with traditional marriages to accept family responsibilities. Growing desire for, and acceptance of, adultery. Increasing interest in, and spread of, sexual perversions and sex related crimes. 1 Zimmerman said that those are the family marks of a culture in inevitable decline. Couple that with what Zimmerman was quoted as saying twenty years later, just thirty years ago. "The Western family is rapidly approaching its third violent crisis. This crisis will be the third ...

4566. Just Know Him In His Visible Return

Revelation 1:7-8

Sermon

James Merritt

... of Jesus Christ, I want to give you two cautions: first of all, the second coming of Jesus is not to be a subject of speculation. Jesus said, "But of that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the son, but only the father." (Mark 13: 32) It is both futile and foolish to speculate about the precise date of the second coming of Jesus Christ. We're not to speculate on dates or days. The hallway of church history is littered with corpses of false prophets who claimed to have figured out ...

4567. The World's Greatest Body Builder

1 Corinthians 12:13

Sermon

James Merritt

... individuals from different races, regions, social classes, both genders and made them part of one body and he did it by the baptism with the Holy Spirit. Now the scripture mentions baptism with the Holy Spirit seven times. Four times, in all four gospels, in Matthew 3:11; Mark 1: 8; Luke 3:16; and John 1:33; the baptism with the Holy Spirit is predicted. Then in Acts 1: 5, the baptism with the Holy Spirit is promised by the Lord Jesus Christ. Then at Pentecost, it comes. Then here in I Corinthians 12:13 the ...

4568. Love: The Happiness of a Godly Family

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Sermon

James Merritt

... does kindness relate to love? Well, someone has defined kindness as the ability to love people more than they deserve.14 In other words, be gracious to one another in the way you talk to one another. Be kind in the way you treat one another. Mark Twain said, "Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear, and the blind can see." I don't know of any quality that would more quickly change a home, and especially relationships between brothers and sisters, than the quality of kindness. Love is selfless "Love ...

4569. Fill'er up Lord

Ephesians 5:18-21

Sermon

James Merritt

... be as fresh as ocean's breeze. Paul tells us here that there will be a gladness about him; "speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord." (v.19) Does it surprise you that the first mark of the Spirit-filled life is not mountain-moving faith, speaking in tongues, or even dynamic speaking ability, but rather it is a heart that sings? In other words, when you are filled with the Spirit there will be a song in your soul. Let me ask you a ...

4570. Let's Get Ready to Rumble

Ephesians 6:10-20

Sermon

James Merritt

... understand this devil is interested in darkness and wickedness. We're so fond of saying that "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life." Well, I think we ought to add to that this reminder: "Satan hates you and has a wicked plan for your life." You mark this down. The devil is doing everything he can right now to either take you to hell or, if you're going to heaven, to make your trip miserable. God wants you to be happy and holy. Satan wants you to be depressed and dirty. If you're not saved ...

4571. What to Wear to the War

Ephesians 6:13-17

Sermon

James Merritt

... Ironsides," we walked the campus of Harvard University. But then we went on an historical walk through the city and came to the old North Church. It was there my imagination took me back to the year 1775, when a man by the name of Paul Revere made an eternal mark in history by a single horse ride. He knew that war was on the horizon, and he did not want his nation to be caught unaware. He knew the enemy was coming, he just didn't know whether it would be by land or by sea. But very late on ...

4572. How to Handle the Mess of Stress

Exodus 18:23-27

Sermon

James Merritt

... He submitted a bill in Parliament insisting that a line be drawn around the outside of the hull on all British ships. When the ships were loaded with freight and reached the level where the line hit the water, the ships were not allowed to load anymore freight. That marking on a ship's hull became known as the Plimsoll Line. Now the truth is, we all have Plimsoll lines. We all have limits. Have you ever noticed when you get behind a huge tractor trailer that is carrying a lot of cargo or freight, there is a ...

4573. Put Your Best Foot Forward

Isaiah 52:7

Sermon

James Merritt

... various Greek words referring to either "all the nations" or "every nation" is used throughout the New Testament. Matt. 24:14 – "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come." Mark 11:17 – "Then He taught, saying to them, ‘Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you have made it a ‘den of thieves.'" Luke 24:47 – "and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached ...

4574. Lengthen the Cords and Strengthen the Stakes

Isaiah 54:2-3

Sermon

James Merritt

... ; and make the desolate cities inhabited." God said to the nation of Israel you are in a tent. It is my tent that holds my people. You should be constantly lengthening the tent and strengthening the tent. Southern Baptists have become known as the denomination marked by two things: cooperation and conviction. It is these two tools that God has blessed and God has used to both lengthen our tent and strengthen our tent. So I want to propose two principles for us to consider tonight. I. We Lengthen the Cords ...

4575. The Pride Is Right

Jeremiah 9:23-24

Sermon

James Merritt

... better you'll get to know God, and the more you'll be like God. 1 John 2:4 says, "He who says, ‘I know Him,' and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." Finally, by loving God – That is the real mark of knowing God, because to know God is to love God, and to love God is to want to listen to God and live for God. Someone once said there are two great moments in a person's life. The first is when you are born, the second is when ...

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