Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 4676 to 4700 of 4972 results

4676. Finish the Drill

Nehemiah 4:1-23

Sermon

James Merritt

... time in the rebuilding of this wall, because the most discouraging part of a job is when it is half done. That is when the scourge of discouragement can set in. It is just at this point that you find out what you are made of, because criticism can never stop you from doing what you are doing, unless you let it. That is why my favorite verse in this chapter is verse 15. "When our enemies heard that we knew of their plans and that God had frustrated them, we all returned to our work on the wall." (Nehemiah 4 ...

4677. The Dark Side Revealed

Numbers 32:23

Sermon

James Merritt

... your sin will find you out." You need to understand why this statement was made to begin with. Israel was at the threshold of entering into the Promised Land and there were twelve tribes that made up the nation of Israel, but two of the tribes wanted to stop short of crossing over. They liked the land east of the Jordan River and they wanted to stay right there. The problem was that God had told the entire nation that they must as one enter the Promised Land, fight whatever battles had to be fought and take ...

4678. With The End In Mind

Philippians 3:7-11

Sermon

James Merritt

... driver picked up a passenger and was driving down the road with him when without warning the passenger tapped him on the shoulder and said, "Hey, Buddy." The taxi driver screamed and lost control of the cab, nearly hitting a bus, jumped the curb and stopped just inches from going through a huge plate glass window. For a few moments everything was silent, then the driver said, "Man, you scared the daylights out of me!" The passenger said, "I'm sorry. I didn't realize just tapping you on the shoulder would ...

4679. I’m Movin’ On

Philippians 3:12-14

Sermon

James Merritt

... finished with you until you draw your last breath. Therefore don't you ever finish for God until you draw your last breath. I heard about an old lady who was very nervous driving in traffic. She was waiting for a traffic jam to clear and she came to a stop on an expressway ramp. The traffic thinned out, but the lady was still too afraid to move. Finally, the man behind her yelled, "Lady, the sign says, "Yield, not give up." What I have been trying to tell you today is this: Because of the grace of God and ...

4680. You Can Know What to Do With Your Life

Proverbs 3:5-6

Sermon

James Merritt

... there was no God. One day he had an experience that radically changed his life. Here is what he said, "In my twenty-seventh year, while riding the Metro and Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) I was overcome with a despair so great that life seemed to stop at once, preempting the future entirely, let alone any meaning. Suddenly, all by itself a phrase appeared, "Without God life makes no sense." Repeating it in astonishment, I rode the phrase up like a moving staircase, got out of the Metro and walked into God's ...

4681. The Power of Purpose

Proverbs 16:4

Sermon

James Merritt

... a follower of Jesus Christ, you ought to be different from a non-follower of Christ in your priorities, in your purposes and in your passions. God not only wants us to be different, He wants us to make a difference in the lives of other people. Let me stop right here and get you to ask yourself two questions about your life right now. If you would really like to know whether or not your life is hitting on all eight cylinders and you are truly living a purpose driven life. If you would like to know whether ...

4682. Good for the Soul

Proverbs 28:13

Sermon

James Merritt

... The Consequences Young people it might mean you lose your car for a month. Adults it may mean you need to resign from your job, but you do whatever is right regardless of the consequences. f. Alter Your Behavior You must forsake the sin. You must stop doing whatever is was that caused you to fall out of fellowship with God and sin against God and other people to begin with. g. Ask For Forgiveness Specifically ask the person or persons that you offended to forgive you specifically for whatever it was that ...

4683. When Nothing Is Sacred

Isaiah 6:1-8

Sermon

Stan Purdum

... sacred, life itself is cheapened. For yet one more thing, when nothing is sacred, we have a hard time making room for God in our lives. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve had a good life as the result of following God's instructions, but when they stopped holding God's words as sacred, when they started believing that doing what they wanted was more important than listening to God, they lost their beautiful home and their good life. And so it is with us. When there is nothing we prize or hold in awe beyond ...

4684. Things Change

1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20)

Sermon

Stan Purdum

... , his two sons, who were also priests, had abused their positions, taking sexual liberties with women serving in the tabernacle and demanding from those who came to offer sacrifices forbidden portions of the sacrificial animals for their own dining pleasure. Eli had not stopped them, and now, as Samuel learned from God, God was rejecting Eli and his sons, and they would be punished for their sins. All of that came true, and as Samuel grew, God continued to speak to and through him. Eventually, Samuel became ...

4685. Being What We Are

1 Samuel 8:4-20

Sermon

Stan Purdum

... of churches — each having distinctions in worship style, preaching, fellowship, youth activities, and so forth — from which to choose. And there are folks who do change churches. Something happens they don't care for in one congregation and so they stop attending there and start attending elsewhere. Church-shopping also occurs when people relocate. They may sample several of the congregations in their new area before settling on one. We can understand that, and some of us here have ourselves done ...

4686. A Sense of Place

2 Samuel 5:1-5, 6-10

Sermon

Stan Purdum

... . Sometimes, when the decision is made to abandon building A and move its congregation A into building B along with congregation B, some members of congregation A say, "No way," and use that uniting as an excuse to either find a new church or stop attending worship anywhere. Some of the more successful church unions have happened where both A and B leave their buildings and together build a new church building C. What we are really interested in today from this story of the capture of Jerusalem, however ...

4687. The View from Michal’s Window

2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19

Sermon

Stan Purdum

... expect to see things as God does, for his window is bigger than any we will ever have, but we can do better than to just measure everybody else by our tastes and expectations. What we need to do is to pray for bigger windows. 1. Although the lectionary reading stops at verse 19 and does include the reference to Michal's window, I suggest you also include verses 20-23 in the reading. 2. Frederick S. Perls, Gestalt Therapy Verbatim, (Moab, Utah: Real People Press, 1969), p. 65.

4688. What’s So Amazing about Grace?

2 Samuel 7:1-14a

Sermon

Stan Purdum

... "Amazing Grace" were written by John Newton, who was born in England in 1725. He was the only child of a sea captain. His mother was a devout woman who tried to instill some religious training in him, but she died when John was seven, and his training stopped. He went to sea at age eleven, where he was caught up in a life of indulgence and immorality. In time, however, he experienced a religious conversion while on a ship. Two years later, he married and became the captain of a slave ship, one that hauled ...

4689. Nice Guys Finish First

Proverbs 1:20-33

Sermon

Stan Purdum

... (which I expect she knew anyway) would not have achieved any healing of the relationship. Instead, I started from their interest in saving the marriage. I pointed out that the first "prudent" thing to do if she truly wanted to give the marriage a chance was to stop seeing the other man. She reluctantly agreed and we set up another appointment to work on the other problems in the marriage. Now if they had been a church couple, or people who at least permitted religion to have a role in their lives, I might ...

4690. The Underlying Mercy

Job 1:1, 2:1-10

Sermon

Stan Purdum

... loves us and is all-powerful to prevent bad things from happening, then what seems evil to us must not really be evil, but that surely can't be right. If evil is real, and God is all-powerful, then he must not really be loving, or else he would stop the evil. And, if evil is real and God is truly loving, then he must not be all-powerful, and thus cannot prevent these bad things from happening. A few years ago, there was a book that got a lot of attention, called When Bad Things Happen to Good People ...

4691. Putting God to Work in Your Life through Peas, Squash, Lettuce, Thyme

Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... it?” I call the disciples the “duh-ciples” because the simply don’t get it. Yet Jesus kept them with him. He kept AT them. He gave them his time. It has been said that love is spelled “T-I-M-E.” And Jesus always had time. He stopped at watering holes to talk with a woman whose reputation was scandalous. He debated at length with the Pharisees and he reached out at length to lepers. He visited the homes of Roman centurions and short tax collectors. He hung out with Martha and Mary and Lazarus. He ...

4692. The Hill of Crosses

Mark 8:27-38

Illustration

Billy D. Strayhorn

... as early as the mid-19th century. The Soviet government couldn't tolerate that kind of spiritual expression, so they totally destroyed the hill in 1961, then again in 1973 and 1975. But people kept erecting more crosses, until in 1980 their destruction stopped. Today the crosses number in the many thousands. They are different sizes and shapes, some simple, some ornate, but they immortalize Lithuania's troubles, misfortunes, joys, hope and faith. For them, the cross is more than a symbol in the church. It ...

4693. The Measure of Greatness - Sermon Starter

Mark 9:33-37

Illustration

Brett Blair

... have asked questions. They could have seen the significance. But the best they could muster up was a blank stare and silence. They could not understand it because it did not meet the measure of greatness. How do we grow to the point that we stop measuring people by their successes and start regarding people for their service, for their sacrifices? What is greatness in the kingdom of God? 1. Greatness Is Hardly Ever Recognized. 2. Greatness Is Never About Promotion. 3. Greatness Is Found In Service To All.

4694. Learn How to Die and You Learn How to Live

Mark 9:14-32

Illustration

Mitch Albom

... , you experience them fully and completely. You know what pain is. You know what love is. You know what grief is. And only then can you say, 'All right. I have experienced that emotion. I recognize that emotion. Now I need to detach from that emotion for a moment.'" Morrie stopped and looked me over, perhaps to make sure I was getting this right. "I know you think this is just about dying," he said, "but it's like I keep telling you. When you learn how to die, you learn how to live"

4695. Mark 9:38-50

Mark 9:38-41

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... only time John is the initiator of a conversation. John’s report to Jesus is flavored with the same self-importance that had spiced the disciples’ earlier comparisons of each other’s “greatness.” John tells Jesus that the disciples as a group stopped an unknown exorcist from casting out demons in Jesus’ name. But the disciples did not shut down this activity because it was harmful or unproductive. The reason John cites for their opposition is that the exorcist “was not following us” (v.38 ...

4696. Be at Peace with One Another - Sermon Starter

Mark 9:49-50

Illustration

Brett Blair

... , for enjoyment?" He ran to the coliseum and heard the gladiators saying, "Hail to Caesar, we die for Caesar" and he thought, "this isn't right." He jumped over the railing and went out into the middle of the field, got between two gladiators, and tried to stop them. The crowd became enraged and stoned the peacemaker to death. When the Emperor of Rome, Honorius, heard about the monk he declared him a Christian martyr and put an end to the games. Legend has it that the very last Gladiatorial game was the one ...

4697. Tolerance on the Bridge

Mark 9:38-41

Illustration

A man walking across a bridge came upon another man standing on the edge, about to plunge to his death. The first man shouted "Stop! Are you a Christian?" "Yes, as a matter of fact I am." "Well so am I. Are you Catholic or Protestant?" "I'm Protestant," "Well so am I. Are you Episcopal or Baptist?" "I'm Baptist." "Wow... I am too. Are you Southern Baptist or American Baptist?" I'm Southern ...

4698. First Things First

Luke 21:25-36

Sermon

Gary L. Carver

... is made of? What sort of birds, do you suppose, the feathers come from? I wonder what type of man shot this arrow — tall or short, dark or light." His comrades, who saw his plight, could bear it no longer, but cried out in frustration: "For God's sake, man! Stop speculating and pull out the arrow!" Need I say more?

4699. What Shall We Become?

Luke 3:7-18

Sermon

Gary L. Carver

... shall we do?" The answers John gave to those seekers address the inequities and injustices of that society: food and clothing are to be shared with those who have none; taxes are not to be based on the insatiable greed of the powerful; and the military must stop victimizing the public by threat, intimidation, and blackmail. It is clear from listening to John that the one for which he was preparing the way was Jesus. The advent of God is the kind of image that's only fulfillment lies down the road of giving ...

4700. Mary’s Magnificat

Luke 1:46-56

Sermon

Gary L. Carver

... nation. It is obvious from Mary's song that we can participate in the miracle of his kingdom coming and his will being done on earth as it is in heaven. Here is why Mary's Magnificat is relevant to the growing edge of our spiritual lives. Saint Francis never stopped asking, "Who art thou, O Lord, and who am I?" As he came to know the song by the young Jewish woman engaged to Joseph, his words came clearly, "He is the one who made all things and who loves everything he has made. It is not the will of ...

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