Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 4626 to 4650 of 4999 results

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... built the fires? Why had not even one been lit? The mystery cleared up when the explorers saw dozens of chimpanzees watching from the trees. The chimps had watched campers and copied the art of fire building. But they had no fire. (5) Many people say the same kind of thing is true of the church today. We have been trained in fire building but we have no fire. There is a growing recognition that faith must involve the head and the heart if we are going to reach people today with the Christian message. The ...

4627. To Live in Joy

Revelation 1:1-3

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... his disease is eradicated by the healing grace of Christ’s presence. It comes as comfort and hope for two women who are weeping beside their dead brother’s tomb. It looks like hungry men sharing some loaves and fishes on a hillside, like human needs of all kinds being met, the blind receiving sight the deaf hearing the lame leaping for joy captives being preached to, and released. knew as I walked along the beach that day that this Is the heart and soul of the Gospel and this is the big story that too ...

4628. A Priesthood of Believers

Galatians 6:1-10

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... you are not alone, I hear you. And when we start off a relationship in that fashion it is as though we are tenderly moving our spiritual fingers about the life of another person, feeling the pain and listening to the tones of that person until there is that kind of opening that enables us to share who we are and where we’ve been, and what we know, and what we have experienced that will minister precisely to the needs of that person. The problem is that most of us want to give answers to questions that ...

4629. Take Off Your Shoes...You Are Standing on Holy Ground

Acts 7:1-53

Sermon

James W. Moore

... what he taught me about life.” This tough football player had to blink back his tears and regain his voice and then he said: “Coach Vermeil is like a father to me. He taught me a lot about football, but he also taught me how to treat the custodian with kindness and how to speak to the young man who picks up the dirty towels.” When I heard that, I wanted to take off my shoes because I knew that I was standing on Holy Ground… the holy ground of love and respect for others. Have you heard about the man ...

4630. Dealing with Stress Creatively

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

James W. Moore

... ’t understand. She has to have them. She is so weak and fragile. I must protect her. She just can’t handle any kind of stress without these miracle pills. They are just wonderful!” By the time the pageant was over, that teen-age girl was walking and moving and talking ... like a zombie. And at the end, her mother felt she had to give her some other kinds of pills to “cheer her up” because she didn’t win. Isn’t that tragic? Isn’t that sad? I felt so sorry for ...

4631. Is It Okay To Laugh In Church?

Philippians 4:2-9

Sermon

James W. Moore

... what a “spoonerism” is? A spoonerism is an accidental transposition of sounds, usually the initial sounds of two or more words. For example, if you mean to say a “well-oiled bicycle” and it comes out a “well-boiled icicle” that is a “spoonerism... This kind of verbal blooper is named for Rev. William A. Spooner who was a professor at New College, Oxford some years ago… and who was famous for such mistakes. One of the most noted of all the verbal mistakes attributed to Rev. Spooner was this ...

4632. Bearing the Marks of Christ

Galatians 6:11-18

Sermon

James W. Moore

... servants of our Master. Every decision, every move, every action is measured by the Masters will. It’s just at this point that we often miss the substance of Jesus’ character. We are touched by His compassion and by His courage. We are inspired by His kindness and by His commitment. But, we must not overlook the strong spirit of obedience to the Father’s will that was so tenacious in his personality and in His morality. Listen to Him speak: * “Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” * “I ...

4633. On the Road with the Little Children

Luke 18:15-17

Sermon

James W. Moore

... can sing. ‘What can you sing?’ ‘We’ll sing anything.’ ‘What if you don’t know the words?’ ‘No matter. We’ll make up the words.’ ‘How many of you can dance?’ All the hands go up. ‘What kind of music do you like to dance to?’ ‘It doesn’t matter, any kind. Let’s dance.’ Right here? (Right now?) ‘Sure why not?’ Their answer to anything you ask them to do is ‘Yes.’ Children are confident in spirit, eager to learn and they believe that everything is still possible for ...

4634. Being and Doing as the People of God

1 Peter 1:13-2:3

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... in verses 2 and 3: “Like newborn babes, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up to salvation; for you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.” II A WAY TO BE AND DO Now a second truth. As certain as there is a claim : to be and do, there is ... shields of faith were well polished and obviously displayed. The discussion went on for about two hours, but it was a phony kind of mental sparring. Each had his own axe to grind, his pet prejudice or theory to elucidate. Each had his defenses and ...

4635. He Pitched His Tent Among Us

John 1:1-18

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... . The roof was cracked and I saw the flames leaping up, and my eyes caught the inscription on the ceiling, a quotation from the poet Schiller: ‘Beyond the stars there must live a gracious Father. ‘And I shook my fist at the sky saying “I don’t want that kind of God, who hovers above the clouds and does not care. I want a God who is with us when the bombs fall, where the Iron Curtains are, where all courage and confidence and strength are gone, I want God there and no where else.” And he is! Rischl ...

4636. The Church: The Dwelling Place of Wonder

Ephesians 1:15-23

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... . Tallulah, so the story goes, reached over and touched the old gentleman. Getting his attention, she said in her gravelly voice, “Darlin’, your gown is divine, but your purse is on fire.” Now that’s not the kind of fire we need in the church. We need the fire of “koinonia” — the kind of koinionia that John Wesley talked about when he talked about one loving heart setting another heart on fire. And that’s a powerful image. The setting for setting each other on fire in the early Methodist ...

4637. Samaria and Our Spiritual Journey

John 4:1-26

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... in all of our lives. Two, there is a ministry in Samaria. And three, Samaria is to pass through, not to stay in. Now that kind of “lateral thinking” about the text was profitable to me, let’s see whether it will be so for you. I First, there is a Samaria ... 3. “When did you first experience the love of God?” I’m telling this to my brother. Mother was sitting quietly, kind of old and small looking. Suddenly she jumped into the conversation: “I first experienced the love of God,” she said, “in ...

4638. A Gallery of Mirrors

John 12:1-11

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... while spending money in a lot of ways we spend it, makes us feel so bad. We were made to give. Love, genuine love, the kind of love we should have for Jesus as Christians, is extravagant. But, it is also unself-conscious and humble Focus on the picture of ... “Not really,” the fellow replied. “I was thinking of something that would weaken my conscience.” Most of us don’t need that kind of help. We use our gift for our glory, for our own selfish ends, rather than in the service of Christ. Our gift ...

4639. Barriers to Grace

Exodus 6:28--7:7

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... it at all. Now that doesn’t mean that the call isn’t there it means that you have resisted so long that your heart is hardened, and you no longer hear it. Don’t let that happen. When the writer to the Hebrews was making this call — the same kind of call I’m making today - he went back and called upon that 95th Psalm which I quoted earlier. Listen to that writer in Hebrews 3:7-10: “Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, ‘Today, when you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion ...

4640. The Trinity

John 16:5-16

Sermon

... at these this morning: I First, we affirm God the Father. The issue is not whether or not there is a God. Ninety-six percent of all Americans, Mr. Gallop tells us, believe in the existence of a God in some form or another. The real question is what kind of a God? According to Thomas Jefferson, for example, God was like a big cosmic watchmaker. He created the universe and wound it up and let it go. The world is now in the process of simply letting itself run down. God has completely detached himself from his ...

4641. Exodus and Easter

Exodus 13:17--14:31

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... they crucified Jesus, there was a garden. In that garden there was a tomb. Now, I know the word is there to introduce us to that beautiful act of that gracious man Joseph of Arimathea. Joseph was the owner of that garden. He was a kind of “closet Christian.” Scripture says he was a disciple “though secretly.” He and Nicodemus you remember Nicodemus? He was a high-ranking member of the Sanhedrin who came to Jesus by night. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus were people who stayed in the shadow until ...

4642. Lessons from the Ordinances

Exodus 21:2-11

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... here in this primitive civilization of ancient Israel in the midst of what to us is an unenlightened callousness, there is a concern for the poor and the oppressed. Even though there were slaves, they were to be treated fairly - as fairly as one could be treated under that kind of oppression. Let’s read verses 26 and 27 of chapter 21. “When a man strikes the eye of his slave, male or female, and destroys it, he shall let the slave go free for the eye’s sake. If he knocks out the tooth of his slave ...

4643. The Ark of the Covenant

Exodus 25:10-22

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... the fourth wheel on, and that will get you on to where you can get some more nuts.” The fellow looked at him with great amazement, and the inmate, knowing what he must be thinking, said to him, “I may be crazy, but I’m not dumb.” That’s the kind of word Moses might have spoken to his neighbors. When they said he was crazy, he responded to them, “Yea, but I’m not dumb. The Lord has commanded me to do this, and I’m doing it.” And you know what happened. Finally the floods came and the water ...

4644. A Glimpse of God

Exodus 33:19-23

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... Moses’ life has just occurred. Moses reveals his own true character - and this is one of the brightest pages in the history of human kind. Moses lays his life on the line for the people whom God has called him to serve. He knows that the people have sinned ... him on the head. A friend saw what had ha and rushed up to ask what he could do to help. The senator had a kind of cynical sense of humor. “Go into the senate chamber,” he said, “and have the law repealed.” The senator’s point is well taken. ...

4645. Clear to the Better End - Parent Burnout

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... straight he began, “I’ve had the worst day of my life; it’s been bad news, bad news, bad news. I don’t know what kind of day you’ve had, but if at all possible, can you share some good news with me?” The wife, a thoughtful and loving person, considered ... it within ten minutes of birth? - on what side of the crib should I put the mobile?- do we have the right kind of car seat? Then there’s fear of crib-death. Some parents exhaust themselves checking on their infants every 5 minutes! (“Parent ...

4646. In the Lions' Den (Dealing with Stress)

Psalm 16:1-11

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... hours or conditions – changes in residence or changes in schools. All of these things play a significant role in bringing about the kind of stress upon us that weakens our resistance and sets the stage for us to become a victim of some major ... or ego battles, nor am I talking to the neurotic need of too many of us to have our own way. I’m talking about the kind of stance which equates self-will with God’s will, that arrogant positions which takes the line from the umpire, its-not-a-strike-or-a-ball ...

4647. Who Are We Waiting For?

Isaiah 40:1-31

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... increased to walk on, to walk on even in the evening years of his life. A young man has violated the personhood of a young woman, used her for his own selfish satisfaction. He can’t stand the guilt any longer. He pours out his confession in a penitential kind of way, hears the word of forgiveness, accepts it, and goes his way to live responsibly. Who are we waiting for? The meaning of Advent is that we’re waiting for the God who comes to us at the point of our deepest need. At that point, He intersects ...

4648. Not a Servant, but a Son

Galatians 4:6-7

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... what Jesus said is true. “Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For the measure you give will be the measure you get back” (Luke 6:38 RSV). Three, cheerful givers, the kind Paul said God loves, are the ones give not out of ponderous duty, but our of praising delight. They know that who they are and what they have is all grace – God’s grace – they don’t horde their possessions, they share them; they don’t worship ...

4649. He Presented Himself Alive

Matthew 28:1-10

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... describes the angel as removing the stone and sitting on it. I’d never noticed that in the Scripture before this week, and I think it expresses loads of meaning. In fact it gathers up the Easter story. I can just see the angel sitting there – a sly kind of grin on his face. Saying with that grin and sitting with that confident sitting – legs crossed on that huge stone. Where is ultimate power? What are you going to do now Pilate? What will be your response now? Have you ever thought of it that way ...

4650. When God Seems Far Off

Psalm 10:1-18

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... so. In great detail he gives evidence of their crimes and pleads for justice: In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor; let them be caught in the schemes which they have devised” ( v. 2). “The core of the psalmist’s complaint was that around him were committing all kinds of mayhem and they were getting away with it. God not only seemed far off to the man of faith but also to the cynics and skeptics of the community. In fact, they went so far as to pay no attention to God. No morning found them in ...

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