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Showing 451 to 475 of 609 results

451. More Than We Are - Graduation

Philippians 4:2-9

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Do any of you remember the name Cabeza DeVaca? He was a sixteenth century Spanish Explorer. He and one other person were the only survivors of a shipwreck in the Gulf of Mexico. They were washed up on the Florida Coast. In his account of his exploration of Florida and his Westford journey between the years of 1528— 1536. DeVaca tells how the Indians came to him and his companion asking them to cure the sick. The two white men were themselves half starved, lost and filled with blank despair, but the Indians ...

452. Living While You Wait

Philippians 4:2-9

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

There were two fellows who lived and breathed baseball. They were professional players with the Atlanta Braves and you would think that playing for a living would be enough. But not so – these guys breathed, ate, and slept baseball. More than teammates, they were very close friends. So, they talked with each other about that mattered most in their lives. One of their big concerns was whether there would be baseball in heaven. They loved baseball so much that they were not sure at all they wanted to spend ...

453. Where Do We Grow from Here?

Ephesians 4:1-16

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

There are some writers and some speakers who pack every sentence to the brim. If you miss a sentence you miss something significant. Others of us would like to think that true, but it really isn’t. You can miss a sentence here and there, unfortunately, maybe a number of sentences - and still not be poor for what you didn’t get. Samuel Miller is one of those people who packs every sentence to the brim, and you need to get every word. Listen to him. “A man’s birth is not ended with the first gasp of his ...

454. A Guide for Growth

Philippians 1:1-11

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

My friend, Don Shelby, minister of First United Methodist Church in Santa Monica, California, has told a moving story which introduces the sermon today. It happened when Don was a pastor in San Diego. One weekday morning, on arrival at the church, he was called to the sanctuary. The custodian wanted him to see a strange offering which had been placed at the very center of the altar. Upon examination they discovered it to be a pair of brown corduroy trousers, a belt, a white T-shirt, a pair of tan suede ...

455. The Unsuspected Trojan Horse

Psalm 139:1-24

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Most of you remember the story of the Trojan horse. The Greeks, under Odysseus, sailed over to Troy and made a huge wooden horse. They then climbed into the horse and were hidden away there. Cassandra warned the Trojans not to take the horse into the city. However, a Greek prisoner, Simon, persuaded them that the horse was sacred and would bring the protection of the gods so the pulled the horse into the city walls of Troy. That night as they slept, Odysseus and his companions crept out of the horse and ...

456. The World Is Our Parish

John 3:16-21

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

It has been said that life is a little bit like buttoning up a coat. It is hard to come out right if you start wrong. The buttonhole principle can be applied to our religion too. The first basic buttonhole principle of Christian faith is this: God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but should have everlasting life. Martin Luther said John 3:16 is the gospel in miniature. Evangelical fans at professional football games put it on banners for all the ...

457. Convening A Construction Crew: Nobody Builds Alone

Acts 2:42-47

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

A cartoon in a Saturday Evening Review features a young boy sitting under a tree taking inventory of his relationships. So far, I have fourteen people who love me, twenty-two people who like me, six people who tolerate me, and I have only three enemies. When it comes to relationships, how are you doing? John Donne said over 400 years ago, “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. Any man’s death diminishes me...therefore, never ask for whom the bell ...

458. My Country, Is It of Thee?

Psalm 9:9-20

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

We called her Miss Anna. She was my first grade teacher in a tiny, four-room Kentucky school. Miss Anna taught us to stand at attention, to speak with reverence, and placing our hands over our hearts to pledge our allegiance to “one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." Life seemed much simpler back then. I guess it was. I didn't know anybody who didn't believe in God. Unlike Michael Newdow out in California who last year tried to get the “God-word" out of the pledge, parents ...

459. The Forgiveness Which Oils the Human Machine

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

A Gallop poll asked Americans what they try to do when wronged. Forty-eight percent said they try to forgive. Eight percent said they try to get even. In our minds, at least, forgiveness wins over revenge six to one. Forgiveness, what a great idea. Forgiveness is the oil that lubricates the human machine. Without it, all of life becomes hot and screaky. Lewis Smedes says, “God invented forgiveness as a remedy to the past that even He could not change.” Jesus said when you pray learn to say, “Forgive us our ...

460. The New Road

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

Robert Frost is one of my favorite poets. Among his finest words are these: “I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged into a wood, and I I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference." Here we are at the threshold of a brand new year. It's not hard to find a seat on the Sunday after Christmas. The crowds have gone home, but like wise men from the East we have come to worship Christ the new-born King. For us, Christmas did not come to pass ...

461. From Lust to Love

1 Corinthians 13: 1

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

How can a person express their love of basketball, chocolate, their children, God, and their spouse with a single four-letter word - love? That's what I would like us to consider today. In the early part of the 20th century a Jewish philosopher by the name of Martin Buber tried to distinguish between human connections that are mainly "I-It" relationships and those interactions which are primarily "I-Thou" relationships. In "I-It" relationships we seek to acquire and possess. In "I-Thou" relationships we ...

462. Embracing Christ—The Light of the World

John 8:12-20

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

Do you remember the old story about an atheist walking through the woods admiring all the accidents of nature? As he absorbed the majestic trees, the powerful rivers, the beautiful animals, he suddenly heard a rustling in the bushes behind him. Turning to see what was the matter, the atheist found himself face-to-face with a seven-foot grizzly bear. The atheist did what any of us would do. He ran for dear life, but the bear was too fast and the atheist soon fell to the ground in exhaustion. Now eye-to-eye ...

463. Light and Hope for the New Year

John 1:10-18

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

Early January always feels like a fresh start. The Christmas whirlwind has settled down. We still have a fighting chance to keep our resolutions for the new year. Cartoons always depict the New Year as a baby, full of possibilities and innocence. We hope that with a new year we can leave the baggage behind us, stretching toward a brighter future. The gospel of John begins when everything was new, before the creation itself had any baggage. John begins when the only thing that existed was the Word. We ...

464. Becoming Good Trees

Matthew 5:17-30

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

Most pastors have seen the damage caused when a purple-faced preacher has sought to scare a person into faith. Pastors counsel with people even into their eighties and nineties who still have trouble feeling love from God because when they were children, someone had frightened them with images of an angry God, ready to smack them down if they didn't behave and believe. Parents will tell us of children coming home in tears from other churches. An adult had gotten in the face of a child demanding an answer ...

465. Choosing a Master

Matthew 6:16-24

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

It was supposed to have been fun. No one was supposed to have gotten hurt. Little children haven't become greedy yet have they? A minor league baseball team in Michigan held a promotion after a game, dropping $1,000 in cash from a helicopter over the outfield. Then they let the children run after it. The air should have been filled with giggles as the children plucked dollar bills from the air and scooped them off the ground. No one expected cries of pain. No one expected the older, bigger children to ...

466. Life’s Purpose Is Often Hidden!

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

Life is a messy affair. Our purpose is often hidden. We have a parable today that originally may have tried to explore these mysteries — the parable of the weeds in the field. But once again the explanation that Mathew provided of this parable is probably not original, not something Jesus himself taught. No, it is more likely, New Testament scholars increasingly agree, that Jesus' original point in the parable was to affirm the messiness, hiddenness, of life in a context where sectarian sentiments were ...

467. God’s Providence: The Long and Short of It

Genesis 45:1-15

Sermon

David J. Kalas

We human beings are naturally fond of happy endings. We have an innate sense of the way things ought to be, and that part of us is profoundly satisfied when things turn out that way. The episode that we read today from the story of Joseph is a classic happy ending. It's a beautiful scene. The nearly blameless hero of the story, Joseph, has been finally rewarded for his wisdom and faithfulness, exalted to a high position of authority and prestige. After years of unjust suffering, he is comfortably situated ...

468. Boast in Our Suffering

Romans 5:1-8

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

The phone rings in the middle of the night. There is only one reason why someone would call you at this time of the night, and it can't be good. The deadpan voice of the police officer tells you the horrible news rather matter-of-factly. Your imagination runs wild. You were not there, but you can hear the tires screeching, the metal smashing, the glass breaking, and the sirens whining. It was not supposed to end this way. She had so much of life yet to live. Your boss calls you into his office. Other ...

469. Luke 16:19-31

Luke 16:19-31

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

The new movie “Money Never Sleeps” is the sequel to “Wall Street.” Some things never change: the unrepentant Gordon Gecko sticks proudly by his famous dictum “Greed is good.” The rich must, and should, get richer. If the poor get poorer as a result, well, so be it. Social distinctions and animosities between rich and poor are nothing new. A large portion of Torah law addresses the existence of the poor and spells out the moral imperative incumbent on the faithful to provide care and sustenance for those ...

470. WWE Raw, Jesus Style

Luke 6:17-26, Luke 6:27-36

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

When pop culture transforms a “holy day” into a “holiday,” it almost always manages to focus on the wrong side of the equation. For example: *The number of shopping days left til Christmas is NOT as important as the 12 day period between the Christmas day miracle and the season of Epiphany. *A huge party, Mardi Gras, on “Fat Tuesday” is NOT as important as the forty days of Lent that follow. *Eating all your chocolate bunnies before breakfast on Easter morning is NOT as important as rejoicing over living a ...

471. Whose Wife Will She Be?

Luke 20:27-40

Sermon

King Duncan

A little girl walked into a pet shop. She went up to the shopkeeper and asked in a sweet little lisp, “Excuthe me, mithter, do you have any wittle wabbits?” The shopkeeper bent way down and put his hands on his knees so he would be on her level, and asked, “Do you want a wittle white wabbit or a wittle bwack wabbit? Or maybe that cute wittle bwown wabbit over there?” The little girl thought for a moment, put her hands on her knees, leaned forward and said in a quiet little voice, “Mr., I don’t fink my ...

472. Love Lifted Me

Psalm 40:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

In the television drama, “The Sopranos” there is a scene that takes place at a funeral. The guests receive prayer cards with a picture of Jesus on them along with a prayer. One of the guests at the funeral remarks that as a kid he always wondered about the value of these cards. He collected baseball cards, he said, and they increased in value. Why not the prayer cards? “I don’t get it,” says the guest. “Ten thousand dollars for Mickey Mantle and zip for Jesus . . .” (1) I suspect that says something about ...

473. A Community of Practice, Not a Community of Perfection

Romans 7:7-25

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

When your child is playing a musical instrument that is “rented” from the school, instead “owned” by you, there is a big decision to make at the end of the school year. Do you pay rental fees for the summer break? Or do you turn the instrument in? Paying rental fees for the summer means that the instrument will be practiced on hot summer days and during beautiful sunsets. Turning the instrument in means that summer is for swimming, sleep-away camps, family vacations, flexible schedules and peace and quiet ...

474. Faith vs. Good Works

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Sermon

Scott Suskovic

In 1 Corinthians 6, Paul touches on a topic that has captivated Christians and fragmented churches for centuries. What is the relationship between our faith and good works? If I am saved by faith alone, then what are my limits? Paul puts it this way [note the quotes]: "Everything is permissible for me"--but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"--but I will not be mastered by anything." And then he injects an extreme example: "Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ ...

475. The Struggle for Freedom

1 Corinthians 8:1-13

Sermon

Scott Suskovic

There is a scene in Tom Hanks' movie, Forrest Gump, that came to mind when I read this text in 1 Corinthians. As a young boy, Forrest has to wear these clumsy, heavy leg braces. For the most part, he doesn't care. In fact, the braces become so much a part of his life that he doesn't even realize much how they have trapped and confined him. And then one day, some bullies chase Forrest and he has to run away but the braces slow him down. As the bullies get closer and closer and Forrest struggles to run ...

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