Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 4551 to 4575 of 4938 results

4551. You Fool!

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

Ron Lavin

The incident stirring up this text is the request of someone in the crowd who asked Jesus to judge between on older brother and himself regarding an inheritance. The real problem isn't the request which Jesus refused, but the greed lying beneath the surface of the request which Jesus addressed with a parable about a rich fool who went to hell. In Jesus' day, the oldest brother got the inheritance when his father died. He was then expected to take care of the rest of the family. This procedure protected the ...

4552. Minding the Store of Our Lives

1 Corinthians 10:1-13

Sermon

Richard Gribble

A man lived in an old stone cottage that was badly in need of repair. He made do, day-by-day, and got on with his life, struggling to wrench a living from the meager land. Eventually the rain that leaked in on him got too heavy and the wind around his ears was too cold. He had to do something about the gap in his wall. Up on the hillside there was an ancient Celtic cross. It had stood there since time immemorial. It was silent and uncomplaining in the Atlantic gales that swept over it, but its very silence ...

4553. It All Begins with Prayer

1 Timothy 2:1-7

Sermon

Clayton A. Lord

Imagine you only have a short time to prepare your successor in ministry. In that time you can only share a few of your insights. What would you tell him or her? There is a story told about a group of seminary students that went to visit an old historic church they had heard a lot about. When they entered the huge building, they were met by a gray-bearded gentleman they thought was the janitor. He offered to lead them on a tour through the facilities and answer any questions they had. They walked through ...

4554. Whose Inheritance Is It?

Ephesians 1:11-23

Sermon

Donna Schaper

The Holy Spirit gives us our inheritance. It does not come from our parents or grandparents, our nation or our race. Our inheritance is a gift from God. We have it as a dominion and domination. Domination — when we get first things absolutely first — is not a bad thing! Once we know the source of our inheritance, no other gods can rule us. Saints are the people who know this. Saints know who gave them what they have — and they don't imagine that they are like the used car dealer who, having inherited the ...

4555. Good News about Thanksgiving

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

King Duncan

A few years ago, an American and a British journalist were discussing Thanksgiving on a British radio program. The American asked if Thanksgiving was celebrated in the United Kingdom. “Yes,” the British journalist replied, “but we celebrate it on the 6th of September.” “Why then?” asked the American. “That’s when you chaps left,” the Brit answered good-naturedly. Well, it is true that Thanksgiving is celebrated as a national holiday primarily in the U.S. and Canada, two former British colonies. ...

4556. Shaped By The Fire

Acts 2:1-21

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

Happy Mother's Day to all of our mothers in congregation. Years ago, I asked my Mom if I was a gifted child, she looked at me sort of funny and said, "Well, I certainly wouldn't have paid for you." Years ago I read story about female physician who was taking her four-year-old daughter to preschool. Mom, the doctor, had left her stethoscope on car seat, & her little girl picked it up, hung around her neck and began playing with it. Mom had this moment of thrill as she thought, "Be still, my heart, my ...

4557. Seeing God In The Ordinary: Work

Matthew 5:13-16

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

I don't think there is anyone alive who likes job performance reviews except maybe the HR people. Even if you are doing a great job, review and evaluation are stressful. A few years ago Preaching Magazine ran a list of some quotes from actual Job Performance Reviews. I thought I'd share a few: "I wouldn't allow this employee to reproduce, he must have gotten into the gene pool when the lifeguard wasn't looking." "This associate is really not so much of a has-been but a won't be." "Works well under constant ...

4558. Are You Plugged In?

Mark 1:29-39

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

Sue Buchanan tells the story about her father, a pastor in a small Southern town. It seems his granddaughter, Dana, for whatever reason, was afraid of the siren. In this small town, a siren went off every day at noon. It was installed generations ago in order to let factory workers know it was time to go home for lunch. Every time little Dana visited Grandpa, the siren scared her silly. So, Grandpa suggested that, since it was a lunchtime siren, whenever Dana heard it, she should stand up and yell, "Go ...

4559. Blessed To Be A Blessing

Matthew 25:31-46

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

Once there was a little boy who wanted to meet God. He knew it would be a long trip to where God lived, so he packed a suitcase full of Twinkies and cans of root beer (his two favorite foods) and set off on his journey. He had only gone a few blocks when he passed an older woman, sitting on a park bench and just staring at some pigeons. She looked sad and lonely, so the boy went over and sat down next to her. He opened his suitcase, took out a package of the Twinkies and offered it to her. She gratefully ...

4560. Getting It Right

Romans 5:1-8

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

Have you ever noticed that, no matter what, that some people just always get it wrong? Paul Harvey, in his book FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH, tells about a county jail in south Florida where jail officials found a plastic trash bag hanging to the bars of a cell. Inside was Jimmy Jones, a prisoner who hoped he'd get taken out with the trash. And he might have, except for one thing, during roll call his reflexes took over. When the name Jimmy Jones was called... From inside the bag came a muffled response: "Here." It ...

4561. Praising God All the Way Home

Psalm 150:1-6

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

Praise God from whom all blessings flow, Praise God all creatures here below. That’s what we are trying to do this Thanksgiving Sunday. Psalm 150 tells us how; it is a rousing invitation to praise God. Praise the Lord. I. Where: Praise God In His Sanctuary, Praise God In His Mighty Firmament. From sanctuary to sky, praise the Lord. Praise God on the highway, in the byway, in waiting rooms and working rooms, through field and forest, in the city and the country-side. When I walk through the valleys of the ...

4562. Christ's Chosen People: Privilege

John 15:1-17

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Back in 1981, the attention of the world was focused on the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana. My wife, an almost hopeless romantic, (I really praise God for that) became tremendously involved in that event. We were traveling when the wedding took place, and I remember she stayed up almost all night in a hotel room where we were, watching the live television presentation. She also read all the newspaper accounts, and she even gave our two daughters beautiful color picture albums that recaptured this ...

4563. The Gospel of Marah

Exodus 15:22-27

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

I delight in hearing a great sermon. I relish reading the creative writing, of other preachers. I have a sort of insatiable appetite for preachers. I heard recently of a man who was telling of his surgery. A lot of people like to tell about their operations, though not many people like to hear about them. This fellow said that when the doctor sewed him up after surgery, he left the sponge inside. His sympathetic listener asked him if he had any pain. “No,” said the fellow, “but I sure do get thirsty.” I ...

4564. Whatever Happened to Respect?

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

During the days of the Gold Rush, a young man and his bride set out across the country to make their fortune. Some where along the way they drank some contaminated water, and the young bride died before they could reach Fort Kearney. Heartbroken the young man took her body to the highest hill and buried it, using the wagon bed to make a coffin. He drove down some wooden stakes to mark the grave, thinking that he would go on west and later come back. But as he thought about it, he said to himself, “I’ll ...

4565. The Darkness Where God Was

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

How often do we talk about the glory of the Lord? We quote with joy – Psalms 19. We even sing it as an anthem in our choir. “The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.” We see the glory of God in sunsets and starry skies in majestic mountains piercing the skies, and rain-forests with rich, greens the like of which artists have never been able to capture on canvas. But, let’s not forget that the glory of God may not just be in sunsets and starry skies. I sensed that ...

4566. The Cookie Thief

Luke 7:36-50

Illustration

Brett Blair

Today's gospel reminds me of the story of the cookie thief. A woman at the airport waiting to catch her flight bought herself a bag of cookies, settled in a chair in the airport lounge and began to read her book. Suddenly she noticed the man beside her helping himself to her cookies. Not wanting to make a scene, she read on, ate cookies, and watched the clock. As the daring "cookie thief" kept on eating the cookies she got more irritated and said to herself, "If I wasn't so nice, I'd blacken his eye!" She ...

4567. Miracles in Contrast

John 1:1-18

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Text: “In him appeared life and this life was the light of mankind. The light still shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never put it out” (John 1:5-6 Phillips). A Burden and an Ache. That’s the title of a beautiful, heart stirring book written by Clarence McConkey. It’s a series of word portraits of persons in the inner city, living around the church McConkey served as pastor – persons whose lives are as down-beaten and ravaged as the buildings around them, as torn apart as the shattered economic ...

4568. About Whose Business Was He?

Luke 2:41-52

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

The thing I like most about working in a church is the opportunity to connect with people of all ages and stages of life. We baptize babies and conduct funerals. We celebrate weddings and visit hospitals. Confirmation begins in a few weeks for our 6th graders and the PEP Club meets monthly for our seniors. Faith is important at every phase of life. So it is that Luke's gospel includes a few childhood stories of Jesus ignored by Matthew, Mark and John. On the 8th day after his birth, Jesus is circumcised ...

4569. Diving Deeper

Luke 5:1-11

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

Did you hear the story about the toddler who fell out of bed one night? Hearing the fall, the father rushed to the room, picked up the kid, dried his tears, and put him back to bed. When things calmed down a bit, the Dad asked his son, “What happened, what caused you to fall out of bed?” Still sobbing, the toddler said, “I don’t know, I guess I went to sleep too close to where I got in.” Living on the edge is a problem, not just for toddlers, but Christians, as well. Some of us have stepped into the kiddie ...

4570. Finding Our Reason For Being

Luke 4:14-21

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

One of the most helpful organizations I belonged to as a teenager was the Future Farmers of America. What little I know about public speaking, organizational leadership and parliamentary procedure I learned from this association. The FFA opened its meetings with a distinctive ritual. The president called the meeting to order and immediately asked “Future Farmers of America, why are we here?” Jesus wanted people to know why he was here, so he went back to his hometown synagogue, read from the prophet Isaiah ...

4571. Making the Most of Small Beginnings

Matthew 13:31-35

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

How does one explain the unexplainable, describe the indescribable, or comprehend the incomprehensible? Such was the challenge facing Jesus as he attempted to paint a picture of the Kingdom of Heaven to us mere mortals. So Jesus resorted to telling parables, earthly stories with heavenly meanings. Instead of trying to tell it like it is, Jesus told it like it might be: the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, a little bit of leaven, a treasure hidden in the field, a pearl of great price, a dragnet of ...

4572. Living on the Easter Side of Life

Colossians 3:1-4

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

What does Easter mean to you? I posed that question to a preschooler and he said, “Easter Bunny with lots of candy." I asked a teenager what Easter meant to her, “Fun in the sun; it's Spring Break!" I asked my hairdresser this week what Easter meant to her and she replied, “I'm going to church Sunday for the first time in five years." I asked a person facing death what Easter meant to him; with a tear in his eye he said, “I can live forever." What does Easter mean to you? Does it mean a new bonnet with a ...

4573. Becoming Good Trees

Matthew 5:17-30

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

Most pastors have seen the damage caused when a purple-faced preacher has sought to scare a person into faith. Pastors counsel with people even into their eighties and nineties who still have trouble feeling love from God because when they were children, someone had frightened them with images of an angry God, ready to smack them down if they didn't behave and believe. Parents will tell us of children coming home in tears from other churches. An adult had gotten in the face of a child demanding an answer ...

4574. Kingdoms in Conflict

Matthew 21:33-46

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

When Vince Lombardi was hired as head coach of the Green Bay Packers in 1958, the team was in dismal shape. A single win in season play the year before had socked the club solidly into the basement of the NFL, and sportscasters everywhere used it as the butt of loser jokes. But Lombardi picked and pulled and prodded and trained and discipled the players into become a winning team. They were NFL champions in three consecutive seasons, and took the game honors for the first two Super Bowls. Lombardi was a ...

4575. Dressed for the Banquet

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon

Chris Ewing

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