Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 4601 to 4625 of 4977 results

4601. The Ultimate Mountaintop Experience

Mark 9:2-9

Sermon

King Duncan

... . Simon Peter especially was annoyed with Christ’s announcement, and never having cultivated the good sense of knowing when to keep his mouth shut, he let Christ know about his disgust with this announcement. So when Jesus called his inner circle, ... in 25 years.” The newcomer asked, “Then why have you stayed?” “Oh, I would never leave this church,” he said. “What keeps you here?” the newcomer asked. The man then explained that every Monday night he and others from the church took the church ...

4602. Faces of Failure: Pontius Pilate

Matthew 27:1-2, 11-26

Sermon

Don Tuttle

... anyway. Why? The answer is expediency. That is Pilate’s failure. Faced with the possibility that Jesus might be a threat to his rule and the near riotous behavior of the religious leaders and crowd, Pilate takes the easy way out. He decides the best way to keep his job, maintain the peace, and appease the religious leaders is to do what they want rather than what is right, to execute an innocent man rather than stand up for him. He chooses to sacrifice Jesus rather than save him. And while none of us have ...

4603. Uncertain Certainties

John 20:19-31

Sermon

John Jamison

... that wild story. And being really honest, I sometimes wonder why old Thomas was able to get the proof he asked for, while some of us keep asking and asking for any kind of proof, and we still haven’t seen anything yet. That’s the key issue in this story, isn’t ... that Sunday evening in Jerusalem. Could it be that the reason God does not just give us that clear and unquestionable proof we keep asking for is that it might actually create more harm for us than help? As crazy as it sounds, is it actually ...

4604. Making Sense

John 17:6-19

Sermon

John Jamison

... to make any real sense today, or the Bible is just kind of thrown together with no real design and no real way to sort through it all to make any sense. If we can help make some sense of this strange little passage, perhaps it will help someone keep reading when they run into it, and others like it, in the future. Because the passage does make sense. What we want to remember is that each of the gospel writers was writing at a specific time, to a specific audience. John wrote his book later than the other ...

4605. Have You Been Pruned?

John 15:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

... on this experience, this woman realized that her experience with the guava tree paralleled her walk with God. If she allowed damage to take place to a few surface roots in her connection to God, then she would not receive the nutrients she needed to keep God fresh and alive in her heart. Then she would not be able to produce the fruits of the spirit which Paul lists in Galatians 5:22-23: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. That’s an important rule ...

4606. His Name Is John

Luke 1:57-66, 80

Sermon

King Duncan

... Everyone who heard this,” says Luke, “wondered about it, asking, ‘What then is this child going to be? For the Lord’s hand was with him.’” At this point in the story old Zechariah began to sing. It’s hard for a preacher to go nine months and keep silence. Here is part of what he sang: “And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins ...

4607. Some Things I've Learned Since I Knew It All

Mark 4:26-34

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... drug terms, and government people use confusing tax jargon? No, it isn't. As we listen to Jesus speak of the kingdom of God, keep in mind that he is telling us what God is like, what we are like, and what our neighbors are like. As Jesus used ... might spoil the funeral for those who had come to honor and remember his dad. But since he was the son, there was no way to keep him from fulfilling his request. When his turn came, Adam walked to the podium and tried to smile through his tears. Dad always told me to ...

4608. Who Does Jesus Belong to Anyway?

Mark 7:24-37

Sermon

Rick McCracken-Bennett

... man was healed. The gospel reports that he "spoke plainly." I suspect more accurately that the man shouted, "Yahoo!" Jesus tried to keep everyone quiet about this healing. Again, we don't know why but we can make a couple of educated guesses. Maybe he ... God knows, but I still want the prayer to be personal. Start a prayer journal even it it's on the back of an envelope you keep on your person. If you have a smart phone or tablet there are free prayer apps that can help us remember to pray and remember what ...

4609. And They Lived Happily Ever After... or Did They?

Mark 10:2-16

Sermon

Rick McCracken-Bennett

... he leaned against the stone. He pushed and pulled but the stone would not move. Again he grunted and groaned but no, the stone would not budge. It became clear to him that this was not the woman that God intended for him. That did not, however, keep him from taking one more look at this exotic and beautiful woman! Again the search resumed. It was a few weeks later when the best friend announced the she had been found and secretly brought to the bridal chambers, the door again secured with the stone. Wedding ...

4610. Called to Love, Not Like

John 15:9-17

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... boy once asked for the autograph of a young lady. She obliged and wrote the following: "Yours till the ocean wears rubber pants to keep its bottom dry." The love of God is love of that duration and it is not our task to understand or to comprehend that love ... we are is poured Onto an altar we did not design and yet which holds us in his perfect will And in both flames and darkness keeps us still and is the strength, the pillar, and the sign Of all that never fails, though we are weak, of he who calls, and ...

4611. A Difficult but Joyous Journey

Luke 1:39-55

Sermon

King Duncan

... yet, with a deep awareness of our gratitude, we teach our children to bow their heads and pray, “God is great, God is good.” God is good. Not only because He chose the lowly maiden of Nazareth, not only because He is aware of our needs, but because He keeps His promises. That is a major part of this great miracle in Mary’s eyes. The coming of the Messiah was the fulfillment of a long awaited promise. There might be one more thing the blessed Virgin pondered as she made her way to seek counsel from her ...

4612. A Word to Busy Parents

Luke 2:41-52

Sermon

King Duncan

... remarries. The stepmother finds a diary that Suzanne kept for her son, Nicholas. In the diary she finds these words of wisdom: “Imagine life is a game in which you are juggling five balls. The balls are called work, family, health, friends, and integrity. And you’re keeping all of them in the air. But one day you finally come to understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. The other four balls--family, health, friends, and integrity--are made of glass. If you drop one of ...

4613. Trusting the Other Side

Luke 5:1-11

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

... relationships and of taking off our masks. This is the connection of trusting that our brothers and sisters in Christ want to really know us and that we can trust both our joys and our sorrow, our successes and our failures into each other’s keeping. In addition, a truly connected church is one who is not just bound together with those inside these walls but also bound together with the people outside these walls — our neighbors, those who are different, and those who are in need. One of the enduring ...

4614. The Reception was Excellent

John 2:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... , but the machine wouldn’t accept the dimes. He finally told the operator that the dimes kept falling back out. She said that she didn’t know what else to do, but she’d talk to her supervisor. When she returned she said that the boys would have to keep the money, because the company wasn’t going to send a man all the way out to the school just to collect a few dollars. The businessman looked over at Patricia Laye and chuckled, but there was emotion in his voice. He said they laughed all the way back ...

4615. Speaking from the Heart

Luke 6:43-45

Sermon

King Duncan

... hands, how many of you have a junk drawer at home--a place that has become a repository for things you can’t find somewhere else to keep? What’s in your junk drawer? When you open it up, are you surprised by what ends up in there? The average American home has too much stuff ... them in his letter to settle their differences peacefully, he gave some advice to the whole church on how to keep peace and unity. He wrote in Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, ...

4616. Are You in the Right Place?

Matthew 6:1-6

Sermon

King Duncan

... in the long run. Most people come off as ridiculous when they try to puff themselves up and pretend they are something they are not. There was a British sitcom a few years back that I know some of you are familiar with. It was called, “Keeping Up Appearances.” The series ran on the BBC from 1990 to 1995. It is still being shown in reruns on Netflix and Britbox and PBS. The central character is an eccentric and snobbish middle class social climber named Hyacinth Bucket. Though her last name is spelled ...

4617. In the Wilderness with the Devil

Luke 4:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... meant by that? Surely God would not lead us into temptation! Here’s what I believe Jesus was saying. It is one thing to pray for forgiveness. It is quite another to be so earnest in our commitment to Christ that we pray passionately, “Please, Lord, keep me from even being tempted.” That’s a hard prayer for some people to pray. Let’s face it. Some people really enjoy being tempted. Several years ago there was a popular country song by singer Lari White, the chorus of which went like this: “Lead ...

4618. The Devastating Influence of Faultfinding, Nay-Saying, and Nitpicking

John 12:1-8

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

... people. Your off-hand, unthinking remarks can be devastating to others. All of us are capable of saying things to people who love and respect us that hurt and demoralize them. We can justify it by claiming we were acting in that person’s best interest. However, we need to keep in mind this unwelcome principle of our humanness. A negative comment delivered by someone loved and respected carries ten times the power of a positive comment. That means that in our relationships with those closest to us, just to ...

4619. The Ascension Day Experience

Luke 24:50-53

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

... them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven” (v. 51). For a moment, consider the impact Jesus’ ascension had on his followers. In the blink of an eye, Jesus was gone and they were left with only a warm breeze blowing across the hilltop. Keep in mind these followers already knew what it was like to lose Jesus. They had been there on the day of his crucifixion. They had felt their self-confidence drain from their lives and leach into the soil around them. They knew what it was like to ...

4620. Thinking Big

Illustration

Charles E. "Tremendous" Jones

... ll sell him." That noon the salesman came by and there was the boy with a puppy that was groomed, perfumed, and all dolled up. Alongside a big sign: TREEMENNDOUS Puppy For Sale—$5,000. The salesman gulped and realized he had forgotten to tell the boy about Keeping It Simple. That evening he stopped by to tell the boy the other half of the formula, only to discover that the boy was gone, the puppy was gone and the sign lay there with "SOLD" written across it in big letters. The salesman couldn't believe it ...

4621. Ounce of Prevention

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

... home warmed by love and bright with God's grace, a home where little girls, once destined for brothels and disease, could be brought up in happiness to lead full and useful Christian lives. And so, for many years Sensei turned to the work of endeavoring to keep young girls from falling over this particular precipice. Which is most important? Picking up the pieces in people's lives after calamity has struck (running an ambulance service), or catching a few, as it were, midair in a net, or building fences to ...

4622. Carried to His Room

Illustration

Peter Marshall

... she fled to the kitchen, supposedly to tend to something on the stove. She knew it was a question with deep significance. She knew it must be answered satisfactorily. So, she leaned for an instant against the smooth surface and breathed a hurried prayer that the Lord would keep her from breaking down before the boy and that she would be able to tell him the answer; the Lord did tell her. Immediately she knew how to explain it to him. "Kenneth," she said to her son, "do you remember when you were a tiny boy ...

Ah, the beauty of being at peace with another, neither having to weigh thoughts or measure words, but spilling them out just as they are, chaff and grain together, certain that a faithful hand will keep what is worth keeping, and with a breath of kindness blow the rest away.

Arab proverb

4624. The Surrounding Master

Illustration

Darrell Anderson

... notice the boy up on the bench, innocently picking out, "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." His mother gasped, but before she could retrieve her son, the master appeared on the stage and quickly moved to the keyboard. He whispered to the boy, "Don't quit--keep playing." Leaning over, Paderewski reached down with his left hand and began filling in a bass part. Soon his right arm reached around the other side, encircling the child, to add a running obbligato. Together, the old master and the young novice held ...

4625. Forgiven and Pardoned

Matthew 5:1-12

Illustration

Don Mallough

... world had collapsed. Upon his arrival in the office of the senior executive the young man was questioned about the whole affair. He was asked if the allegations were true and he answered in the affirmative. Then the executive surprisingly asked this question: "If I keep you in your present capacity, can I trust you in the future?" The young worker brightened up and said, "Yes, sir, you surely can. I've learned my lesson." The executive responded, 'Tm not going to press charges, and you can continue in your ...

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