Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 4751 to 4775 of 5000 results

4751. Reacting to Critics

Matthew 11:2-12; 15:1-2

Illustration

Bill Bouknight

The pastor John Maxwell tells a story about a salesman who went to his barber for a haircut. He told the barber about his upcoming trip to Rome. The barber was a rather acidic fellow. He had only negative comments to make about the airline the salesman had chosen, the hotel where he was going to stay, about Rome in general, and even about his hope of having an audience with the Pope. A month later the salesman returned to his barber, who asked him about the trip. "It was wonderful," he said. "The flight ...

4752. Pay Better Attention

Matthew 11:2-12

Illustration

Annie Dillard tells of the pastor whose pulpit prayer included some wonderful petitions for the betterment of life in this world. Then, before signing off, he included these words: "But thou knowest, O God, that we ask for these same things Sunday after Sunday. So we confess to you our discouragement that so little progress is made." Said Annie: "His prayer was so painfully honest that I knew I had finally found a preacher who knows God." Frankly, I do not know why....if God is truly in charge....that ...

4753. Walking on the Moon Doesn't Compare

Isaiah 35:1-10

Illustration

King Duncan

For Christians, Zion is that city of God which is heaven. And again, when we enter that place of eternal promise, there will be singing. For those of us who know Christ's love in our hearts, there is a need to say thank you to God for what God has done for us. Charles Duke, a former astronaut, came to Christ some years after walking on the moon. After his time with NASA he had lacked purpose and meaning in his life. His wife, Dottie, was also troubled. In fact, she contemplated suicide. But then she began ...

4754. The Christmas Promise: God with Us - Sermon Starter

Matthew 1:18-25

Illustration

James W. Moore

G. K. Chesterton, the noted British poet and theologian, was a brilliant man who could think deep thoughts and express them well. However, he was also extremely absent-minded and over the years he became rather notorious for getting lost. He would just absolutely forget where he was supposed to be and what he was supposed to be doing. On one such occasion, he sent a telegram to his wife which carried these words: "Honey, seems I'm lost again. Presently, I am at Market Harborough. Where ought I to be?" As ...

4755. God Does Not Desert Us

Matthew 28:20; Deuteronomy 31:8

Illustration

I find it strange that God has never deserted me. I don't understand that kind of grace frankly. I do not deserve his eternal presence, nor do you. Yet, God has forever identified with the human dilemma. There may not be a soul in the world who truly understands your feelings. God understands. All in your life may fall away. God will never fall away. In Tom Brokaw's book The Greatest Generation, a story is told of Mary Wilson, presently of Dallas, Texas. You would never know by looking at this modest woman ...

4756. A Tough Question

Matthew 1:18-25

Illustration

Bill Bouknight

When I meet with a couple in preparation for their baby's baptism, I always ask this question: Have you prepared a will and have you specified in it who would rear your child if you were removed from the picture? Young parents don't like to even think about such a possibility, but life's uncertainties make it necessary. It's a tough question. Whom do you trust enough to rear your precious child? God had to answer that question when he decided to send his son Jesus to planet earth. God had to select a ...

4757. It Is Easy for You

Matthew 1:23

Illustration

Bill Bouknight

The great writer Max Lucado tells about his neighbor who was trying to teach his six-year-old son how to shoot a basketball. They were out in the backyard. The father shot a couple of times, saying, "Do it just like that, son; it's real easy." The little boy tried very hard but he couldn't get the ball ten feet into the air. The little fellow got more and more frustrated. Finally, after hearing his father talk about how easy it was for the tenth time, the boy said, "It's easy for you up there. You don't ...

4758. Bad or Good

Matthew 1:18-25

Illustration

Leonard Sweet

In a syndicated newspaper cartoon, Santa Claus is pictured at his work bench putting a new toy together. From his nearby TV set, he hears a reporter saying, "We continue our look at the real meaning of Christmas – sales indicators. Consumers have dramatically cut back their borrowing which could slow the economy, but which might be a healthy development after their earlier borrowing which boosted the economy but added to concerns of low savings and over stimulation, but could result in sluggish sales ...

4759. Impossible Is Nothing

Matthew 1:18-25

Illustration

Leonard Sweet

One of the most popular college religion texts, Phil Zuckermann's Invitation to the Sociology of Religion (2003) says that the truth claims of religion are "mind-boggling, implausible,"fantastical," "manifestly unbelievable." I say: Now you're talking, Dr. Zuckermann. For the very category of "impossible" is God's category. The impossible is the very definition of God. So if you tell me, the truth claims of Jesus are "impossible," I say...Hallelujah! It's only when you cross the border from the possible to ...

4760. What Is the Answer?

Matthew 1:18-25

Illustration

James W. Moore

Perhaps you have heard the one about the attractive young woman who boarded a plane in Los Angeles heading toward New York. The young woman was tired. She knew it would be a long flight, so immediately she asked the flight attendant for a pillow and a blanket. She hoped to be able to sleep most of the way to New York. Her head had just nestled into the pillow when an obnoxious man with a loud, booming voice boarded the plane... and sat down beside her. He tapped her on the shoulder and said, "Hi there. It' ...

4761. Don’t Forget Joseph

Matthew 1:18-25

Illustration

Johnny Dean

As you arrange the Nativity scene on your coffee table or on your fireplace mantle or underneath your Christmas tree – wherever you place it – put the Wise Men and the shepherds around the Christ child, for there is the center of sanity in a large, crazy world. But don't forget Joseph. Put him even nearer to the Christ child. He's earned his place there. Because Joseph – the forgotten one, who just sort of hangs around the stable like a doorman or something and doesn't have any lines in the Christmas ...

4762. A Sense of Wonder

Matthew 2:13-23

Illustration

Eric Ritz

Jacob Needleman was an observer at the launch of Apollo 17 in 1975, and he describes what every NASA launch experience has been like in the observation area across the water from the launch pad. This one was a night launch, and there were hundreds of cynical reporters all over the lawn, drinking beer, wisecracking, and waiting for this 35-story-high rocket. The countdown came, and then the launch. The first thing you see, according to Needleman, is this extraordinary orange light, which is just at the ...

4763. He Moved Into the Ward With Us

Matthew 2:13-23

Illustration

Mark Berg

Dr. John Rosen, a psychiatrist in New York City, is well known for his work with catatonic schizophrenics. Normally doctors remain separate and aloof from their patients. Dr. Rosen moves into the ward with them. He places his bed among their beds. He lives the life they must live. Day-to-day, he shares it. He loves them. If they don't talk, he doesn't talk either. It is as if he understands what is happening. His being there, being with them, communicates something that they haven't experienced in years — ...

4764. The Work of Christmas Begins

Matthew 2:13-18

Illustration

Howard Thurman

When the song of the angels is stilled, When the star in the sky is gone, When the kings and princes are home, When the shepherds are back with their flock, The work of Christmas begins: To find the lost, To heal the broken, To feed the hungry, To release the prisoner, To rebuild the nations, To bring peace among brothers, To make music in the heart.

4765. The Hope of the World

Matthew 2:13-18

Illustration

King Duncan

All of us have seen those signs, "Keep Christ in Christmas." I hope you did that this year. There are many people who celebrate Christmas who have no idea at all that Christ is the hope of the world. It's like one family I read about. They were gathered to celebrate the holiday without much thought to its significance. Little Charlotte, gulping her milk, heaved a white mustached sigh. Then she pointed her fork toward her grandfather like a microphone and asked, "Grandpa, why is today called Christmas?" The ...

4766. How Could God Let This Happen?

Matthew 2:13-18

Illustration

King Duncan

Life magazine set out to record what various kids thought about God. They handed out cameras to 56 kids between the ages of 8 and 13, and they asked each kid to go out and take pictures that reflect who God is. Anything that made them think of God was fair game for a photo. One nine-year-old took a picture of his social worker's office. She was nice to him, and that made him think of God. Other children took pictures of people they love, or things that make them happy. But some of the children's pictures ...

4767. Last Christmas Letter

Matt. 2:13-23; Luke 2:1-20

Illustration

Martin Luther King

A great way to end your sermon might be to read Dr. King's Last Christmas Letter. I have seldom seen it referenced, since King is most often cited for his "I Have a Dream" speech. But this Christmas Letter is also a dream speech. So here it is in its entirety. Greetings of the Season: When the horizons of man’s destiny loom ashen and somber; when the deafening report of weaponry stuns yearnings for peace; when people are alienated from the outside society, spiritually isolated, and weary of heart; when a ...

4768. Jesus' Flight to Egypt

Matthew 2:13-23

Illustration

It was Christmas and the Pastor had planned a visit to a Pre-School Sunday School class. The teacher, wanting to impress the pastor had the each child draw a picture of some part of the Christmas story. The teacher put the art work on the wall; the preacher came and he was impressed as he identified each drawing's meaning. There was one with a barn and a man and a woman. It was obvious that this was Joseph, Mary, and Jesus at the manger. Another had sheep, men, and angels in the sky. The Shepherd scene he ...

4769. Post-Christmas Letdown

Matthew 2:13-18

Illustration

King Duncan

After Christmas, Lucy mutters, "Rats! Phooey! Everything is hopeless! Who cares?" Charlie Brown asks, "Lucy, what in the world is the matter with you?" Again she shouts, "Rats! Phooey!" The last cartoon shows her walking away only to turn and drop a casual comment to the puzzled Charlie Brown. "Of course you realize," she says, "that I'm just experiencing my regular, post-Christmas letdown."

4770. A Reminder Where Our Hearts Belong

John 1:1-18

Illustration

Wm. McCord

Since Thanksgiving, the shopping malls have been telling us that "It's the most wonderful time of the year." And it is - for them. For many others, however, it is a mixed bag. Christmas isn't what it was when I was a child and never will be again. I'm an adult; it's different; it just is. In this economically difficult time, many have lost jobs or seen their investments and securities dwindle unsure of what the future holds. Perhaps we have not been able to do what we might have liked to have done for ...

4771. Walking in Our Shoes

John 1:1-18

Illustration

John Claypool

When I was a very young minister and had not yet myself been initiated into the fraternity of grief, I remember being called once to minister to an old farm widow. Her husband had just died, and I went with all my earnest intent to be as much comfort as I could to her, but I had never lost a significant person in my life. Most of my knowledge of grief was abstract and academic, and so I went and said the best words I knew to say. I tried to convey my care, but while I was doing that, there came into the ...

4772. The Puzzle Began to Fit

Matthew 3:13-17

Illustration

Johnny Dean

About 2000 years ago (give or take a few) a small group of Jewish people, living under the tyranny of Roman rule, began to listen to the words of an itinerant preacher. They saw him reach out in love to the hurting people, the broken people, to comfort them and heal them. They heard him give radically new interpretations of the ancient Scripture. Then they watched in horror as he was arrested, tried on trumped-up charges, beaten, mocked, spat upon, and finally nailed to a cross to die between two thieves. ...

4773. BAPTIZED IN SOLIDARITY WITH US

Matthew 3:13-17

Illustration

Johnny Dean

By the grace of God, during my sojourn at seminary, I was assigned by one of my professors (although I didn't consider it a blessing at the time) to read and report on a little book by a German theologian named Oscar Cullmann. The book was entitled Baptism in the New Testament. Now, the writings of German theologians quite often are difficult for me to understand, sometimes because of linguistic problems in the translation, and sometimes just because their logic escapes me. Not so in this circumstance. ...

4774. A Higher Value than Freedom

Matthew 3:13-17

Illustration

Johnny Dean

If there's one thing we Americans value above everything else, it is freedom. We cherish, guard and exercise our freedom, and woe be unto those who threaten it in any way. We're even willing to go to war to defend freedom, whether it's ours or someone else's. We are the world's self-appointed watchdogs of freedom. But Jesus says there's a higher value than freedom. The first words the writer of the Gospel of Matthew has Jesus speak are not about freedom, but about obedience to the will of God. That's what ...

4775. Lost Hope

Matthew 3:13-17

Illustration

King Duncan

Do you know how the great composer Tchaikovsky died? There is more than one version of the story but according to one reliable source the end of Tchaikovsky's life is said to have occurred four days after one of his symphonies received an unfavorable reception in St. Petersburg. The great composer, despondent some said, already feeling ill according to others, deliberately drank a glass of unboiled water in the middle of a cholera epidemic. His friends who witnessed this were appalled. Tchaikovsky told ...

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Antonyms: deficient, imperfect

Showing 4751 to 4775 of 5000 results

4751. Reacting to Critics

Matthew 11:2-12; 15:1-2

Illustration

Bill Bouknight

4752. Pay Better Attention

Matthew 11:2-12

Illustration

4753. Walking on the Moon Doesn't Compare

Isaiah 35:1-10

Illustration

King Duncan

4754. The Christmas Promise: God with Us - Sermon Starter

Matthew 1:18-25

Illustration

James W. Moore

4755. God Does Not Desert Us

Matthew 28:20; Deuteronomy 31:8

Illustration

4756. A Tough Question

Matthew 1:18-25

Illustration

Bill Bouknight

4757. It Is Easy for You

Matthew 1:23

Illustration

Bill Bouknight

4758. Bad or Good

Matthew 1:18-25

Illustration

Leonard Sweet

4759. Impossible Is Nothing

Matthew 1:18-25

Illustration

Leonard Sweet

4760. What Is the Answer?

Matthew 1:18-25

Illustration

James W. Moore

4761. Don’t Forget Joseph

Matthew 1:18-25

Illustration

Johnny Dean

4762. A Sense of Wonder

Matthew 2:13-23

Illustration

Eric Ritz

4763. He Moved Into the Ward With Us

Matthew 2:13-23

Illustration

Mark Berg

4764. The Work of Christmas Begins

Matthew 2:13-18

Illustration

Howard Thurman

4765. The Hope of the World

Matthew 2:13-18

Illustration

King Duncan

4766. How Could God Let This Happen?

Matthew 2:13-18

Illustration

King Duncan

4767. Last Christmas Letter

Matt. 2:13-23; Luke 2:1-20

Illustration

Martin Luther King

4768. Jesus' Flight to Egypt

Matthew 2:13-23

Illustration

4769. Post-Christmas Letdown

Matthew 2:13-18

Illustration

King Duncan

4770. A Reminder Where Our Hearts Belong

John 1:1-18

Illustration

Wm. McCord

4771. Walking in Our Shoes

John 1:1-18

Illustration

John Claypool

4772. The Puzzle Began to Fit

Matthew 3:13-17

Illustration

Johnny Dean

4773. BAPTIZED IN SOLIDARITY WITH US

Matthew 3:13-17

Illustration

Johnny Dean

4774. A Higher Value than Freedom

Matthew 3:13-17

Illustration

Johnny Dean

4775. Lost Hope

Matthew 3:13-17

Illustration

King Duncan

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