Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 4626 to 4650 of 4972 results

4626. The Message That WILL Save Your Life

1 Corinthians 15:1-4

Sermon

James Merritt

... not be friendly. In fact, the Bible may or may not be preached, but the question I ask myself is this, "If I walked in here as a lost person, not on my way to heaven, after the service was over and I left here, would I know how to stop being a lost person and get on the way to heaven?" In other words, I ask the question, "Did I hear the Gospel and did I have a chance to respond to the Gospel?" A week or so ago, I was playing golf at a course not far from here ...

4627. Did You Know...That You Can Be Perfect?

1 John 3:1-3

Sermon

James Merritt

... wedding. Their life together was absolutely perfect. One snowy, stormy Christmas Eve this perfect couple was driving their perfect car along a winding road when they noticed someone at the side of the road in distress. Being the perfect couple, they stopped to help. There stood Santa Claus with a huge bundle of toys. Not wanting to disappoint any children on Christmas Eve, the perfect couple loaded Santa and his toys into their car. Soon they were driving along delivering the toys. Unfortunately, the ...

4628. Great Expectations

1 Peter 1:3-5

Sermon

James Merritt

... change you eternally. He can change your habits. He can heal your hurts. He can help you overcome your hang-ups. He can give you the power to let go of guilt, to let go of grief, to let go of grudges. Only He can give you the power to stop doing what you shouldn't do, and start doing what you should do. You want to hear something even more incredible? The power that God used to raise Jesus from the dead is available to those who have a personal relationship with Him. Eph. 1:19-20 says, "I pray ...

4629. Backsliding - Sermon Starter

John 6:56-69

Illustration

Brett Blair

... anything into that) we read that many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. Notice what is said, they turned back! They quit following. They became Temporary. I don't think a single reason can be identified as to why so many stopped following, a combination of issues probably, as we have already noted: His teaching confused some. His images offended others. But primarily, I think it was his claim to be the new source of life, his claim to be greater than Moses, a new Manna. Either way ...

4630. I Put My Money on Jesus

John 6:56-69

Illustration

John Ortberg

... ever been tried. Following Jesus may not always be easy or pleasant, or even totally comprehensible, but when it comes to the eternal-life business, to tell the truth there's not much out there in the way of alternatives. As ethicist Lewis Smedes said, "This is where the trolley stops. . . Without Jesus we are stuck with two options: utopian illusion or deadly despair. I scorn illusion. I dread despair. So I put all my money on Jesus."

4631. The Paralysis of Analysis – The Fear of Failure

2 Corinthians 4:8-9

Sermon

James Merritt

... fears that literally grip us and rip us. They are called phobias. These fears literally paralyze us. About a year or so ago, I was in the airport in Atlanta about to fly out. As I was walking to the gate, a young lady grabbed me my the arm and stopped me and said, "You're James Merritt." I said, "I am." She started weeping. She said, "You have no idea what you've meant to my life." I said, "Really?" She then told me a fascinating story. This lady is a powerful executive in a huge company. Her job requires ...

4632. What Does God Really Want?

2 Corinthians 8:1-5

Sermon

James Merritt

... , "I don't want to improve on it, I want to get in on it." Well these Macedonians wanted to get in on the offering. They were not begging to get out of the offering; they were begging to get in. You know when it comes to giving most Christians stop at nothing, but not these Christians. May I just say a word to some of you out here this morning who may be struggling about which campus you are going to attend, and what you are going to give to this campaign? Quite frankly, you are going through the same ...

4633. What If It Happens To Me? The Fear of Suffering

2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Sermon

James Merritt

... fourteen years. Nobody else had ever known about this problem until just now. This was a pain that had not left him for fourteen years. It wasn't a pain that he had known every now and then or a day here or a week there. For fourteen years non-stop, he had known this terrible, horrible suffering. We don't know what it was, but we do know that Paul hurt and he hurt badly. It was through his pain, his hurt and his suffering that God taught him some of the greatest lessons of his ministry and of his ...

4634. I’m At the End of My Rope

2 Kings 4:1-7

Sermon

James Merritt

... couldn't believe his eyes. There in the middle of the desert was an isolated restaurant. At first he thought he was hallucinating, but as he got closer he saw it was real. He was ecstatic. With renewed energy he picked himself up and ran for the door. He was stopped at the entrance by a security guard who denied him entry. He looked at the guard and said, "Look, all I want to do is go in there and get a glass of water." The guard said, "Well, sir, I'm sorry but you have to have a necktie to ...

4635. I’ve Lost the Cutting Edge

2 Kings 6:1-7

Sermon

James Merritt

... lost the cutting edge: An Illinois man, pretending to have a gun, kidnapped a motorist and forced him to drive to two different automated teller machines, where the kidnapper proceeded to withdraw money from his own bank accounts. A man walked into a Topeka, Kansas Qwik Stop and asked for all the money in the cash drawer. Well, apparently the take was too small, so he tied up the store clerk and worked the counter himself for three hours until police showed up and grabbed him. Police in Los Angeles had good ...

4636. The Man in the Mirror

2 Samuel 12:1-31

Sermon

James Merritt

... , and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. "However, because by this deed you have given occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born to you shall surely die." (II Samuel 12: 10,11,14, NASB) If only David had stopped to check the price tag before he bought. Think about it—a discovered affair, one drunk night behind the wheel of a car, a broken marriage, a ruined reputation—how many times have we seen that sin costs us far more than we think we have to pay. Here ...

4637. Until He Comes

2 Timothy 4:7-8

Sermon

James Merritt

... . Southern Baptists, until He comes be faithful to the faith. III. Until He Comes, Be Faithful To The Finish Paul concludes by saying, "I have finished the race." (v.7b) This word race refers not to a sprint; it refers to a marathon. Paul was not concerned about the stop watch; all he cared about was the finish line. I want to say a word to my fellow pastors, and all who might hear this by tape. There is a trend among today's pastors that break my heart. Each month 1,500 pastors leave the ministry due to ...

4638. All By Myself: The Fear of Loneliness

2 Timothy 4:9-21

Sermon

James Merritt

... still could be used to touch other's lives and that there were other lives that needed to be touched. I want to say it again. The loneliest person in the world is the person who is wrapped up in himself. The key to overcoming loneliness is to stop building walls and start building bridges. Proverbs 18:24 says, "A man who has friends must himself be friendly." (Proverbs 18:24, NKJV) May I tell you something? No matter how much you are hurting there is somebody out there hurting worse than you. No matter how ...

4639. What Is 40 Days Of Purpose?

2 Timothy 4:9-18

Sermon

James Merritt

... and fulfill these five purposes. These will be if you will not miss one of them and take advantage of all of them the most important forty days of your entire life, because one day history is going to come to a close. One day your heart is going to stop beating and all that will matter then is if you can say, "I fulfilled God's purpose for my life."

4640. Me - A - Missionary?

Acts 1:8

Sermon

James Merritt

... need to begin to be a missionary is right where you live, right in your own neighborhood and right in your own community. That will always be the primary responsibility of this church and the primary responsibility of your life and my life. Now, that is not where we stop. That is where we start. The point is this - you don't have to go overseas to be a missionary. You don't have to leave this community to be involved in God's mission work. Next week, we are going to be sharing with you some exciting plans ...

4641. Explore the Evidence

Acts 1:1-3

Sermon

James Merritt

... the scriptures together, we are told that Jesus appeared on 10 different occasions over a period of 6 weeks to at least 516 witnesses. He appeared in the morning, in the afternoon, and in the evening. He appeared indoors. He appeared outdoors. Now when you stop to think that if each of these witnesses was brought into a courtroom and assumed the witness stand and testified for only 30 minutes each about what they had seen and heard and experienced, you would have over 250 hours of testimony. Can you imagine ...

4642. Mission Possible

Acts 1:8

Sermon

James Merritt

... the group known as U2. Here is what she saw first hand. "If you have never been to a U2 show, let me tell you it was everything you ever expected it to be, but it was also much, much more. About five songs into their set, Bono stopped the show and strapped on a headband with writing on it. I stared up at the Jumbotron to see that the hand-written lettering said, "Coexist." Coexisting sounds like a great idea. I fully support the peaceful philanthropy that Bono has encouraged and this seemed like another way ...

4643. Any Given Sunday

Acts 2:41-47

Sermon

James Merritt

A little boy was standing on the side of the road when a man drove by who was lost. He stopped and rolled down his window and said, "Son, how do you get to town?" The little boy said, "I don't know." He said, "Where is Route 20?" The little boy said, "I don't know." He said, "Where does this road go?" The little boy said, "I don't ...

4644. The King and His Throne

Acts 1:1-8

Sermon

James Merritt

4645. Fish Bites

Acts 17:32-34

Sermon

James Merritt

... to discussion. They are right in the middle when it comes to the Gospel. They are not resistant to the Gospel, but they are really not interested in the Gospel. I am reminded of a man that was taking a survey on a street corner in New York City. He stopped a man and said, "Sir, do you know what the two biggest problems in America are?" The man said, "I don't know and I don't care." The man said, "You got both of them - ignorance and apathy." This group is not interested in the Gospel, but it is ...

4646. Begin With the Blueprints

Deuteronomy 6:1-9

Sermon

James Merritt

... is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might." (Deuteronomy 6:4-5, NASB) In those two verses, we are told the two basic things parents are to teach their kids about God. Unfortunately, most parents stop at the first one and don't really go on to the second. The first one is the reality of God. Obviously, I would hope all of you parents would have a conviction that you should teach your children that there is a God and this God is real. It ...

4647. It’s Time to Grow Up

Ephesians 4:14-15

Sermon

James Merritt

... my kids to grow up and God wants His kids to grow up too! Over and over we are told that God wants us to grow up. "We are to grow up in every way unto Him who is the head, into Christ. (Ephesians 4:15, ESV) "So let us stop going over the basics of Christianity again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature." (Hebrews 6:1, NLT) "Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, [of the Word of God] that by it you may grow up to salvation." (I Peter 2:2, ESV) Now ...

4648. We Are At War

Ephesians 6:10-20

Sermon

James Merritt

... for the war. In fact, I believe there are a lot of Christians who do not even realize there's a war going on. I read about a fellow who had had too much to drink, and he was driving the wrong way on a one-way street. A policeman stopped him and said, "Hey buddy! Didn't you see the arrows?" He said, "Arrows? Man, I didn't even see the Indians!" I'm afraid there are a lot of Christians who don't realize who their enemy is; they don't realize there is a war going on; they ...

4649. Who's Number One?

Exodus 20:1-3

Sermon

James Merritt

... is everywhere that means you cannot worship any other god, but this God anytime, anyplace for any reason. This is what was so unique about both this commandment and this God. Basically what God was saying was, "With Me it is all or nothing. I want to be your one stop shop. I don't want you to ever go to any other god for any other reason." You may remember the slogan of The Three Musketeers, "All for one and one for all." That is exactly what God is saying, "There is one God and one God only for all ...

4650. To Catch a Thief

Exodus 20:15

Sermon

James Merritt

... God always watches. You can't steal anything that God doesn't take note of. There are other types of stealing. There is the crime of shoplifting or what some people call a "five-finger discount." Stores are doing everything they can to stop this problem. They use sophisticated alarm systems, one-way mirrors, locking devices, moving cameras, electronic tape signals, but the problem just keeps growing. Every day there is between 1 to 1.2 million shoplifting incidences in America causing a loss rate of between ...

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