Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 4651 to 4675 of 4999 results

Luke 7:36-50

Sermon

King Duncan

... wiped his feet with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them from a jar she had brought with her. When Simon the Pharisee saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is that she is a sinner.” Jesus knew what Simon was thinking. “Simon, I have something to tell you.” “Tell me, teacher,” Simon said. “Two men owed money to a certain moneylender,” Jesus said. “One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other ...

4652. Shaping People’s Lives through Forgiveness - Sermon Starter

Luke 7:36-50

Illustration

Brett Blair

... us would have to agree that on at least a few crucial issues Reagan got it right. He looked into the future and steered us correctly. What is it that gives some people the ability to look at a situation and rightly sized it up? It seems to be a kind of gift doesn't it? This is one of the qualities that separate the great men from the ordinary. In our story this morning (in Luke 7) certain insights are being expressed. A gathering of men at a dinner party has just witnessed a woman, who they all know to ...

4653. Design for Discipleship

Acts 2:14-41

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... being the body of Christ. As we begin our Fall together here at Christ Church, I want to lift a passage from the book of Acts as a kind of manifesto for us. In particular, I see this as a special call to this congregation at this juncture in our life together. So, I want to present ... another on fire? I do not believe there is anything more essential for growing as a disciple than this kind of experience. The most significant spiritual growth experiences in my own life have come through small groups. I could ...

4654. John the Baptist: Parable and Prophet

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... he advises you about what clothes to wear. He recommends using your glasses for rhetorical flourish. If you don’t wear glasses, buy some clear lens ones, he counsels, in order that you can use them. Pay attention to telephones - that’s important too; the right kind, the right color, but the most important part of the telephone is the “hold” button. The more people you can keep on hold, the more successful you will appear. He even has a diagram in one of his books on where to sit at an office staff ...

4655. The World's Best-Known Widow

Mark 12:41-44

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... in the land is their fault. The King and Queen had established Baal worship in the land, which was an abomination in the eyes of God. Elijah tells them it was wrong, and, therefore, the famine in the land is the judgment of God. Well, kings don’t take very kindly to subjects telling them how to do their business. So, Elijah had to flee, went off to the desert, east of the Jordan, where there was even less food and no water. He was fed by ravens, until God sent him to a widow in a little dessert village ...

4656. My Name Is Legion

Mark 5:1-20

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... Jones tells of a physician who found a stray dog with a broken leg. He took that dog to his home, put the leg in splints, and soon he was able to walk again. Then one day the seemingly ungrateful animal disappeared. The doctor was surprised that after so much kindness the dog should leave him. But he was away for just one night. The next morning there was a scratching at the door. When the doctor opened the door, there was the dog whose leg he had healed. But he was not alone. With him was another dog; lame ...

4657. Lord, Is It I?

Mark 14:12-26

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... distrust and self-examination at which we want to look today as we begin this Lenten season, and as we come to the Lord’s table for Holy Communion. The setting for our scripture is the Last Supper of Jesus with his disciples. They had planned a kind of secret rendezvous. The disciples had gone into the town, and they found a little upper room, and they have prepared it for this gathering. Mark is very brief in telling the story. He doesn’t talk about the audacious hypocrisy of Judas. He doesn’t record ...

4658. The World Is Our Parish

John 3:16-21

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... come away pondering that statement out of Mitchner's play, “If he had a different God he would be a different man." The God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, the God revealed in Jesus Christ, not even the God of Islam or Buddhists or Hindus can support this kind of cruelty. Christians particularly need to be careful not to turn the tragedy of September 11 into an “act of God" designed to shock America back to faith. To do so is to make Mr. bin Laden a participant in God's plan. I abhor even the thought of ...

4659. When It's Time To Unite

I Corinthians 1:10-17

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... . For a moment that September day last fall it seemed as if our differences did not matter so much. We could join hand with strangers. We could pray together with people regardless of their history. The urgency and emergency of the moment brought us into that kind of communion one with another. Then, we sort of got back to normal. The Baptists decided they really could not be in the same room with the Buddhists. Empowered by the media, Reverend Davis in our city began to articulate the evils of Islam. A ...

4660. Praying Our Way Forward

Matthew 7:7-12

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... you get into water way too deep in which to swim that you begin to exercise your faith and reach out. Today, my friends, the kinds of things we are talking about doing in this church is absolutely miracle stuff. There are no projections that say we can do it. I ... powers moving in our midst to perform miracles among us. I happen to be one who believes in miracles. Do you? Furthermore, the kind of God you are making this request to, according to Jesus, is like a good parent. Let me tell you about good parents. ...

4661. Fulfilling the Vision

Acts 2:14-21

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... had carried their share of burdens. Something happened that day, that transformed the world. A crowd of complex, diverse, highly opinionated people united because the Holy Spirit descended upon them and so filled them that the world was revolutionized. I pray for that kind of spirit to descend upon us today. Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire. That is my prayer. The spirit unites us. The spirit inspires, excites, and thrills us. On Easter Sunday we had visitors from China in one of our services. They were ...

4662. Knowing When To Run

Genesis 39:1-2, 6b-16

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... second simple point I want to make today. II. INTEGRITY IS POSSIBLE. The reason this Old Testament story shines out of history and we tell it to our children and affirm it in church is that integrity is possible. Lewis Smedes says, “Integrity is about being a certain kind of person. It is about staying true to what we are even when it would cost us what we should not have to pay." Integrity is not an accessory we wear when convenient, but an essential we embrace at the very core of our being. Integrity is ...

4663. Hearing the Questions of Children

Genesis 22:1-14

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... to excommunicate Isaac’s half-brother, Ishmael, into the wilderness so that there would be no sibling rivalry. Isaac had it all. When his daddy drags him out of bed before daylight to make this mysterious, frightful trip into the unknown, I can only imagine the kinds of questions that had to be on the young adolescent’s mind. The first question I would have asked is, “Where are we going? It is summer time. Years ago, about this time of the year, I remember loading our two boys into a borrowed station ...

4664. Finding Answers to Family Feuds

Genesis 25: 21-34

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... do things in this culture. But God, being God, says, I can do whatever I want and I have decided to do this one a different way. Sometimes I wonder if our cultural customs encourage conflicts in our relational lives? What happens when we teach competition at all cost? What kind of world have we created by a scarcity mentality? If I don’t grab it there won’t be enough for me, so I had better take all I can, as opposed to the notion there is probably enough for all of us, if we could only learn to share ...

4665. Is There More Than One Way to Heaven?

John 4:19-26

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... . It is still valid, important, and practiced in our life. However, it also creates an interesting question. Does it institute a new kind of phariseeism that Jesus deeply opposed? Are we somehow trying to make it creedally right? Does it “strain out a gnat but ... have not specifically refused his invitation. There is a wideness in God's mercy, like the wideness of the sea. There is a kindness in his justice, that is more than liberty. This is the Word of the Lord as this one messenger understands it. May God ...

4666. Why Do People Suffer?

John 9:1-7

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... blowing. Is God expressing his displeasure and anger at such times? I think not. After all, God repented of that kind of behavior following the flood. Sometimes the system just fails. In Louisville every year, there is a gigantic fireworks ... human being with a soul that lives forever. I will put that soul into a body and you will have wonderful relationships with people in all kinds of ways, but I need to tell you I have not perfected this body thing yet. It has the potential to bring you great pleasure and ...

4667. Will I Really Live Forever?

John 11:18-27, 39-45

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... every member must be viewed in the light of eternity. It transforms the way I see the world. Immortality keeps hope alive. David Clayton Thomas, with Blood, Sweat and Tears, sang years ago, “I know there ain’t no heaven but I pray there ain’t no hell.” In that kind of world of unbelief, you and I are called to keep hope alive. When the doctor looks into the eyes of a caring family and says, “I’ve done all I can do,” it is up to the community of faith to keep hope alive. When life seems like a ...

4668. Soaring with Christ

Matthew 28:1-8

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... could do anything. There was a time, when you knew God could take care of the monsters under the bed. There was a time when your God was big enough to supply all your needs. On this Easter Sunday, I wonder if you can get back in touch with that kind of God? Is it any wonder that Jesus said, “Unless you become as little children, you cannot get into the kingdom of God." The nature of faith is to re-appropriate the child that is within us and to come again to life. Because we do forget, because life gets ...

4669. Getting in S.H.A.P.E. for Ministry

Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-16

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... usually those who have some mud slung in their faces. They have some bumps, grinds, and hits on the backstretch, but somehow manage to hang in there so that when the finish line comes into focus they can charge to the front and win. Paul says that’s the kind of person we are looking for to be a minister in the church. Be patient and loving. Be unified and peaceful. Once upon a time a group of birds got together and thought they would build a church. The starlings insisted on a lot of educational space for ...

4670. The Fellowship of Kindred Minds

Philippians 1:1-11

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... problems. Love is not superficial sweetness. When somebody loves everybody and has an answer to everything, duck. They are so self-deceived they are dangerous. Love is not manipulation. Love does not exploit, control, nor have to know. Love is content to sow the seeds of kindness. Love is not grandiosity. You are not Jesus; you are just one of the boys trying to get in a good word, whenever a good word is appropriate. You don’t have to take the world’s problems on your shoulders, just share the load ...

4671. The Power to Resist Temptation

I Corinthians 10:13-17

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... of rescue that we need. Karl Barth said, “To be saved does not just mean to be a little encouraged or a little comforted or a little relieved. It means to be pulled out like a log from the burning fire." In loving kindness Jesus came, my soul in mercy to reclaim And from the depths of sins and shame, thro' grace he lifted me From sinking sand, He lifted me, With tender hand, He lifted me From shades of night to plains of light Oh, praise His name, He lifted me. God makes ...

4672. Foundations are Critical

Matthew 7:24-27

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... all, it is to hear and fail to do, to know and fail to implement. Some of the dumbest things we do are not out of ignorance, but out of our insensitivity to the importance of the task at hand. Jesus said, when it comes to life there are two kinds of builders, wise and foolish. Which are you? II. THE STORMS COME TO ALL. Verses 25 and 27 are exactly the same. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against the house. God never said you’d only have sunshine. He never said there ...

4673. What Would Jesus Say About Modern Churches?

Mark 1:4-11

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... which St. Peter replied, “Up here we go strictly by results. When you preached, people slept. When he drove, people prayed!" A kind of pragmatic secularism has crept into the Church. While people continue to profess a belief in a supernatural God, they proceed to ... my farmer father said to me, “I always thought those little initials after peoples' names were sort of like a tail on a pig: kind of cute to look at but they don't really make any more hog." And Jesus said of hypocrisy, “You are like white ...

4674. What Would Jesus Say About the Marginalized?

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... true that Jesus reveals himself in the eyes of the least and lost, is it any wonder we feel far away from him? When was the last time you had a beggar home for dinner? Doing it for Jesus eliminates paternalism and makes the simplest deed of kindness an act of worship. Our Christology determines our sociology. No one in our time has lived this principle better than Mother Theresa, the tiny Albanian Nun who in 1952 picked up a dying destitute woman off the streets in Calcutta and just kept doing it until she ...

4675. Let the Living Begin

John 10:1-10

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... of sheep pens in Jesus’ day. There was the communal sheepfold in villages manned by a doorkeeper. Shepherds left their sheep in pens like these when home to rest. But, there was another kind of sheepfold. It was a sheepfold built in the wilderness. There the shepherd, himself, became the door as he laid himself across the entry way to protect the sheep. So there arose a saying, “The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep.” Jesus offers Himself as God’s ...

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