Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 4601 to 4625 of 5000 results

4601. Sabbath Rest

Luke 13:10-17

Illustration

Laurence Veinott

There is a story told of a wagon train on its way from St. Louis to Oregon. Its members were devout Christians, so the whole group observed the habit of stopping for the Sabbath day. Winter was approaching quickly, however, and some among the group began to panic in fear that they wouldn't reach their destination before the heavy snows. Consequently, several members proposed to the rest of the group that they should quit their practice of stopping for the Sabbath and continue driving onward seven days a ...

4602. How to Stay Humble in a Haughty World - Sermon Starter

Luke 14:1-14

Illustration

Brett Blair

Coach Shug Jordan at Auburn University asked his former Linebacker Mike Kollin, who was then playing for the Miami Dolphins, if he would help his alma mater do some recruiting. Mike said, "Sure, coach. What kind of player are you looking for?" The coach said, "Well Mike, you know there's that fellow, you knock him down, he just stays down?" Mike said, "We don't want him, do we, coach?" "No, that's right. Then there's that fellow, you knock him down and he gets up, you knock him down again and he stays down ...

4603. The Longest Line

Lk 14:1-14

Illustration

King Duncan

Chuck Swindoll tells about a study of teenagers and peer pressure. The design of the study was simple. They brought groups of ten adolescents into a room for a test. Each group was instructed to raise their hands when the teacher pointed to the longest line on three separate charts. What one person in the groups of ten did not know was that the other nine had been instructed ahead of time to vote not for the longest line, but for the second-longest line. Do you get the picture? Regardless of the ...

4604. A Surprise Party

Luke 14:15-24

Illustration

Eric Ritz

It's like the story of a small lad whose mother, unknown to him, planned a surprise birthday party. After he got home, he went upstairs to his room. Then all his classmates and teachers gathered in the living room. When his mother went to his room to get him, he was gone. He had climbed down a tree outside his window and was hiding in a nearby park. The rest of the children went on to enjoy a good time, but Johnny never turned up. When he came in for supper his mother asked where he had been; he had missed ...

4605. Soup Like Bread and Wine

Luke 14:1,7-14

Sermon

William A Ritter

I love Fred Craddock stories and I haven't told you one in a long time. So here goes. A few years back, Fred was invited to lead some kind of preaching mission in Winnipeg (Friday night ... Saturday morning ... Saturday evening ... twice on Sunday ... you know the drill). When he finished Friday night, he noticed that it was spitting snow. His host told him not to worry, given that it was only mid-October. "Good," said Fred, "because all I brought from Atlanta was this little, thin jacket." Fred went to ...

4606. A Careful Separation

Luke 14:1-14; Phil 2:5-7

Illustration

Julie Riley

Many years ago, a little girl named Sarah lived in a home for unwed mothers. She was not one of the clients; her mother was the cook there. Sarah had grown up in the home, and was the special pet of all the girls who came there. One day, a new girl, young and pregnant had come to the home. As she sat on the bench, waiting for her intake interview with the director, she wept. Sarah, now about twelve or thirteen years old, had seen many girls come and go by then, and she knew most all of them had the same ...

4607. The Tradition of the Put Down

Luke 14:1, 7-14

Illustration

Mark Trotter

Someone gave me a book once entitled, The Second Book of Insults. Evidently the first book was so successful the publisher thought it deserved a sequel. I will confess that I enjoyed reading the book. It is in the grand tradition of a certain kind of comedy called the "put-down." We love to see the pretentious slip on a banana peel. It is that kind of humor. There is a similar tradition in sports. We love to see the underdog beat the top dog. Which is why we look forward to the Padres meeting the Yankees ...

4608. He Who Exalts Himself Will Be Humbled

Luke 14:1-24

Illustration

Mark Trotter

Robert Coles, the psychiatrist, writes a lot of books, teaches at Harvard. He wrote a book about Dorothy Day. In the book there is this anecdote. Dorothy Day, as you know, is that famous Catholic social worker, the founder of the Catholic Worker. When Coles was a medical student at Harvard, he volunteered to work at the Catholic Worker. He was a Harvard graduate. He was in medical school. He was going to be a psychiatrist. In this society, that is about as high a status as you can get. He knew that. He was ...

4609. Making God Proud

Luke 14:1-14

Illustration

King Duncan

A school bus was making its final round of the day. A young boy jumped off just as a man jogged by. "Hey, mister," the boy shouted, "can I jog with you?" The jogger wasn't in a hurry so he nodded and the boy joined in jogging. Within five minutes the boy gave the jogger pretty much his whole life story. His name was Matthew, he was ten years old, precocious and full of life. Abruptly, however, Matthew stopped. "Look at this," he ordered as he showed the jogger an 81/2 by 11 inch piece of paper that had ...

4610. The Cost of Discipleship - Sermon Starter

Luke 14:25-35

Illustration

Brett Blair

The mark of a great leader is the demands he makes upon his followers. The Italian freedom fighter Garibaldi offered his men only hunger and death to free Italy. Winston Churchill told the English people that he had nothing to offer them but "blood, sweat, toil, and tears" in their fight against the enemies of England. Jesus demanded that his followers carry a cross. A sign of death. Andrew died on a cross Simon was crucified Bartholomew was flayed alive James (son of Zebedee) was beheaded The other James ...

4611. The Word Hate

Luke 14:25-35

Illustration

Brett Blair

"If anyone comes after me and does not hate... "Hate" is not primarily a feeling word in the Aramaic language, the language Jesus spoke. It is primarily a priority word. It means to abandon, to leave aside, to reject, or to love less than the other (comparative). A good example is that Jacob was loved and Esau was rejected, or "hated." Another good example is the story of Jacob: "and he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years. And when ...

4612. Knowing Our Business

Luke 14:25-35

Illustration

David E. Leininger

Fred Craddock tells the story from the early years of his ministry in Custer City, Oklahoma, a town of about 450 souls. There were four churches there, a Methodist church, a Baptist church, a Nazarene church, and a Christian church (where Fred served). Each had its share of the population on Wednesday night, Sunday morning, and Sunday evening. Each had a small collection of young people, and the attendance rose and fell according to the weather and whether it was time to harvest the wheat. But the most ...

4613. Absolute Devotion

Luke 14:25-35

Illustration

James Merritt

I was reading one time about Alexander the Great, who was carrying his triumphant military campaign into a certain city. It was a strongly fortified walled city. Alexander approached the city and demanded to see the king and set out his terms of surrender. The king laughed at him and said, "Why should I surrender to you? You can't do us any harm! We can endure any siege." Alexander said to the king, "I want you to watch this." Nearby within sight of the city walls was a sheer cliff. He ordered his men to ...

4614. Sometimes Love Does Not Count The Cost of Its Commitment

SOS 8; Luke 14:25-35

Illustration

William Gladstone, in announcing the death of Princess Alice to the House of Commons, told a touching story. The little daughter of the Princess was seriously ill with diphtheria. The doctors told the princess not to kiss her little daughter and endanger her life by breathing the child's breath. Once when the child was struggling to breathe, the mother, forgetting herself entirely, took the little one into her arms to keep her from choking to death. Rasping and struggling for her life, the child said, " ...

4615. Making Sacrifices

Luke 14:25-35

Illustration

King Duncan

Chiune Sugihara was born on a day of new beginnings January 1, 1900. As a boy, he cherished the dream of becoming the Japanese ambassador to Russia. By the 1930s, he was the ambassador to Lithuania, just a step away from Russia. One morning, a huge throng of people gathered outside his home. They were Jews who had made their way across treacherous terrain from Poland, desperately seeking his help. They wanted Japanese visas, which would enable them to flee Eastern Europe and the Gestapo. Three times ...

4616. Are You Available?

Luke 14:25-35

Illustration

King Duncan

Writer Frederick Buechner tells about his wife's greatgrandfather, a man named George Shinn. Shinn was a pastor back in 1880. He was summoned one midnight to the bedside of an old woman who lived by herself. She had little money and few friends, and she was dying. She told Shinn that she wanted another woman to come stay with her for such time as she might have left, so Shinn and the old woman's doctor struck out in the darkness to try to dig one up for her. It sounds like a parable the way it is told. ...

4617. Someone with Skin On

Luke 15:1-7

Illustration

Staff

A little boy who cried out in the night. "Daddy, I'm scared!" Half awake Daddy said, "Don't be afraid, Daddy's right across the hall." There was a brief pause and the little boy called out, "I'm still scared." So Daddy pulled out the big guns, "You don't have to be afraid God is with you. God loves you." The pause was longer but the little boy called out again, "I don't care about God, Daddy; I want someone with skin on!" God knew we needed that assurance of someone with skin on. So God wrapped all the ...

4618. Unconditional Love

Luke 15:1-10; 1 John 4:10

Illustration

King Duncan

What is your view of God? The scowling judge waiting to convict you? The disapproving parent whose love you have to earn? Your view of God affects every decision and relationship in your life. Kathleen Chesto wrote to Catholic Digest to tell them about an incident that occurred in her family. Her five-year-old child approached her one day in the kitchen and asked, "Mom, is God a grown-up or a parent?" Mom was a little puzzled by the question. "I'm not sure what you mean," she said. "Is there a difference ...

4619. The Church Is No Place for Joy

Luke 15:1-7

Illustration

Erma Bombeck

In church the other Sunday I was intent on a small child who was turning around smiling at everyone. He wasn't gurgling, spitting, humming, kicking, tearing the hymnals, or rummaging through his mother's handbag. He was just smiling. Finally, his mother jerked him about and in a stage whisper that could be heard in a little theater off Broadway said, "Stop grinning! You're in a church!" With that, she gave him a belt on his hind side and as the tears rolled down his cheeks added, "that's better," and ...

4620. Create Him Not

Luke 15:1-32

Illustration

Brett Blair

The love of God is indescribable but a old Jewish legend does a pretty good job. It describes what happened when God created man. The legend says God took into counsel the Angels that stood about his throne. The Angel of Justice said; 'Create him not … for if you do he will commit all kinds of wickedness against his fellow man; he will be hard and cruel and dishonest and unrighteous.' The Angel of Truth said, 'Create him not … for he will be false and deceitful to his brother and even to Thee.' The Angel ...

4621. Lost and Found

Luke 15:1-32

Illustration

Everyone has lost something at one time or another. There is even a website now at www.lostandfound.com that acts as a global ‘lost and found' box. Users can report items missing and users can report items found. It is a good example of how technology can help people connect in a useful way. This is a gateway site for all of the physical things that can be retrieved and returned to their rightful owners. According to their statistics, about twice as many objects have been reported lost as have been ...

4622. God Loves Me

Luke 15:1-32

Illustration

Mark Trotter

There is a wonderful story about Maya Angelou. She was an active member of Glide Memorial United Methodist Church in San Francisco before her death. She wrote that when she first came to San Francisco as a young woman she became sophisticated. She said that was what you were supposed to do when you go to San Francisco, you become sophisticated. And for that reason she said she became agnostic. She thought the two went together. She said that it wasn't that she stopped believing in God, just that God no ...

4623. When I Say I Am a Christian

Luke 15:1-32

Illustration

James W. Moore

In 1988, the poet Carol Wimmer, became concerned about the self-righteous, judgmental spirit she was seeing in some people because she felt strongly that being judgmental is a perversion of the Christian faith. So, she wrote a poem about this. It's called "When I say I am a Christian" and it reads like this: "When I say, ‘I am a Christian,' I'm not shouting, ‘I've been saved!' I'm whispering, ‘I get lost!' That's why I chose this way. When I say ‘I am a Christian,' I don't speak with human pride. I'm ...

4624. Criticism Brings Out the Best

Luke 15:1-32

Illustration

Ralph F. Wilson

You can never escape criticism. Anyone who stands up and does something will be criticized. You'll be criticized fairly and unfairly. And if you retreat in weariness, then you'll be criticized for doing nothing. You can't escape criticism. But criticism has a way of bringing out the best or the worst in a person. When Jesus was criticized, he responded with the most wonderful trio of parables in the Bible the lost coin, the lost sheep, and the lost son. And in them we catch a remarkable insight into the ...

4625. Rejoicing for the Found

Luke 15:1-32

Illustration

Brian Stoffregen

In Dr. R. Alan Culpepper's commentary on Luke, he ends the first two parables in Luke 15 with the following observation: In both parables, rejoicing calls for celebration, and the note of celebration may be exaggerated to emphasize the point. Neither sheep nor coins can repent, but the parable aims not at calling the "sinners" to repentance but at calling the "righteous" to join the celebration. Whether one will join the celebration is all-important because it reveals whether one's relationships are based ...

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Antonyms: deficient, imperfect

Showing 4601 to 4625 of 5000 results

4601. Sabbath Rest

Luke 13:10-17

Illustration

Laurence Veinott

4602. How to Stay Humble in a Haughty World - Sermon Starter

Luke 14:1-14

Illustration

Brett Blair

4603. The Longest Line

Lk 14:1-14

Illustration

King Duncan

4604. A Surprise Party

Luke 14:15-24

Illustration

Eric Ritz

4605. Soup Like Bread and Wine

Luke 14:1,7-14

Sermon

William A Ritter

4606. A Careful Separation

Luke 14:1-14; Phil 2:5-7

Illustration

Julie Riley

4607. The Tradition of the Put Down

Luke 14:1, 7-14

Illustration

Mark Trotter

4608. He Who Exalts Himself Will Be Humbled

Luke 14:1-24

Illustration

Mark Trotter

4609. Making God Proud

Luke 14:1-14

Illustration

King Duncan

4610. The Cost of Discipleship - Sermon Starter

Luke 14:25-35

Illustration

Brett Blair

4611. The Word Hate

Luke 14:25-35

Illustration

Brett Blair

4612. Knowing Our Business

Luke 14:25-35

Illustration

David E. Leininger

4613. Absolute Devotion

Luke 14:25-35

Illustration

James Merritt

4614. Sometimes Love Does Not Count The Cost of Its Commitment

SOS 8; Luke 14:25-35

Illustration

4615. Making Sacrifices

Luke 14:25-35

Illustration

King Duncan

4616. Are You Available?

Luke 14:25-35

Illustration

King Duncan

4617. Someone with Skin On

Luke 15:1-7

Illustration

Staff

4618. Unconditional Love

Luke 15:1-10; 1 John 4:10

Illustration

King Duncan

4619. The Church Is No Place for Joy

Luke 15:1-7

Illustration

Erma Bombeck

4620. Create Him Not

Luke 15:1-32

Illustration

Brett Blair

4621. Lost and Found

Luke 15:1-32

Illustration

4622. God Loves Me

Luke 15:1-32

Illustration

Mark Trotter

4623. When I Say I Am a Christian

Luke 15:1-32

Illustration

James W. Moore

4624. Criticism Brings Out the Best

Luke 15:1-32

Illustration

Ralph F. Wilson

4625. Rejoicing for the Found

Luke 15:1-32

Illustration

Brian Stoffregen

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