Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 4826 to 4850 of 4940 results

4826. Salvation in Jesus’ Name

Acts 4:5-12

Sermon

Ron Lavin

It is always important to consider the context of a Bible story to understand it correctly. That is certainly true of Acts 4:5-12, the story of Peter's bold speech before the Jewish religious leaders. By the power of Jesus Christ, Peter and John had healed a crippled man in the temple area in Jerusalem. This healing took place a few weeks after Jesus' death and resurrection. That's part of the front-side context of our story. The front-side context also tells us that the Jewish leaders were deeply ...

4827. No Excuses

Luke 9:51-62

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Christianity is not an exercise of, nor does it produce experts in, excuse-making, blame-placing behavior. The life of discipleship thrusts one into the midst of all life's turmoils and triumphs, without excuses. During the 1984 presidential primaries the discrepancy between the career hopes and personal life of one candidate collided all over the network news. Gary Hart, young, bright, promising, was forced to withdraw from the campaign and end his political career because he was caught in suggestive, ...

4828. Jesus' Good News of a New World · Part 2

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

Mike Ripski

A pop-quiz from last Sunday: What is the mission of the United Methodist Church? To make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. And so the church, Belle Meade United Methodist Church, exists for you and me to be made into disciples of Jesus. A disciple is a learner, a follower, of a teacher. We are students. Better, we are apprentices. We learn by doing what the Master Teacher does. So as I asked you last Sunday and will continue to ask you during this fall series on Jesus’ Sermon ...

4829. Is God Pleased With Me?

Hebrews 11:1-6

Sermon

James Merritt

One of the most exciting events in track and field is the relay races. It takes a combination of speed, timing, precision, and teamwork in order for a relay team to be victorious. Now the suspense is much greater than an individual race because in an individual race the fastest person always wins. In a relay race the fastest team can lose if one thing happens - they fail to pass the baton. Any track coach will tell you that relay races are won or lost not in the sheer speed of the team, but in the transfer ...

4830. What’s So Amazing about Grace?

2 Samuel 7:1-14a

Sermon

Stan Purdum

In our reading for today, we find King David, after having consolidated his kingdom and moved into a palace for himself, deciding that he'd like to built an impressive house for God as well. Now David wasn't so theologically naive as to think that God needed a physical dwelling as though he were merely a super human, but he did know that the Ark of the Covenant, that special box containing the tablets on which God had inscribed the Ten Commandments, was a unique symbol of the presence of God among the ...

4831. Repentance Is Relationship!

Luke 13:1-9

Sermon

Gary L. Carver

Repentance is relationship. Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote a short story titled, The Birthmark. It is a story about a man who married a very beautiful woman who had a birthmark on her left cheek. She had always thought of it as a beauty spot, but her husband saw the birthmark to be a sign of imperfection, a flaw. It began wearing on him so much that all he could see was that birthmark. He could not see her beauty, her graciousness, or her great personality. He could only focus on what he perceived to be a flaw ...

4832. Recognizing His Disciples

John 13:31-35

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

Recognition of people, places, and things is a fundamental prerequisite of successful living. We count on signs to guide us. Most of us take it for granted. We move through life in various speeds and count on our powers to recognize who and what is about us. It is so simple and pervasive that we hardly notice. The obvious is with us and yet is it so obvious? Our talents of interpretation and, yes, our prejudices are sometimes awkwardly there for all to see. We can never be quite sure how others will ...

4833. The Extravagance of Love

Luke 7:36-8:3

Sermon

David R. Cartwright

If there was anything Jesus despised, it was stinginess, especially the holding back of oneself. If there was anything he admired, it was extravagance, especially the extravagance of love. There are really only two ways to live. You can live as if this is the last drop, and there won't be anymore; or you can live as if there is more where this came from. We can live out of scarcity, or we can live out of abundance. In the story from Luke's Gospel, we see these two approaches in conflict. My Bible has this ...

4834. Superman: More Than A Super Hero

John 1:1-5, 9-14; John 13:31-32; John 20:30-31

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

One of the greatest icons of the 20th and 21st Centuries is Superman. As a boy many of us daydreamed about having Super Powers like Superman. But if you've followed any of the movies, cartoons, comics or TV shows, you know that even with all his super powers, Superman and very other Super Hero has personal problems. But that doesn't negate the fact that we can learn some things from Super Heroes or the portrayal of Super Heroes such as Superman. Introduction In 1978, we were living in Midway, Missouri, ...

4835. Superman: More Than A Super Hero

John 1:1-5, 9-14; John 13:31-32; John 20:30-31

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

John 1:1-5 (NRSV) [1] In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [2] He was in the beginning with God. [3] All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being [4] in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. [5] The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. John 1:9-14 (NRSV) [9] The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. [10] He was in the ...

4836. Cross Eyed: Rebuke

Mark 8:31-38

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

Have you ever said something really dumb? Or said something that came out all wrong? I know I've said a lot of dumb things or just plain wrong things like the time I was preaching about the sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham. I clearly had Isaac written in my notes but I called him Isaiah throughout the entire sermon. But there was one Sunday morning when the opening words to my prayer made everybody laugh. As we got ready for the morning pray, what I meant to say was, "Let us bow our heads in and pray silently ...

4837. The Promise of Hope

Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

A little boy and his Dad were in church, and the boy asked, "Dad, what does it mean when the people pass those plates?" Dad said, "It means the people are giving gifts to God." Then the boy asked, "What does it mean when they have those trays stacked up there and bread and wine and people go up and kneel?" Dad answered, "It means they are guests at the Lord's table and they're taking communion." And then the boy asked, "What does it mean when the preacher lays his watch on the pulpit?" Since the preacher ...

4838. Three Great Resolutions for the New Year

Psalm 118:1-29

Sermon

James W. Moore

When our children and grandchildren were here for Christmas, it gave me the perfect opportunity to do something I have wanted to do for some time… make a picture of all four grandchildren together. Sarah (age 12), Paul (age 9) and Dawson (age 6) all were cooperating beautifully, and then there was Daniel!... who was not interested in my picture-taking project at all. There are two reasons for that… - 1st Daniel is 4 years old; - And, 2nd, Daniel is very independent and his philosophy of life is: “I’m doing ...

4839. On the Road with Zacchaeus

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

James W. Moore

When our granddaughter Sarah was 12 years old, she tried out for cheerleader at her Middle School. After her try-out we asked her how she did. She said – “in a word ‘flawless’ and she said ‘the judges really liked me.’” Evidently she was right because she did make the cheerleader squad. Well, Zacchaeus was not flawless… and he was not liked by anybody until Jesus came into Jericho that day. When Jesus came over to him and reached out to him with love and acceptance, Zacchaeus was bowled over… and he came ...

4840. Joy Comes in the Morning

Psalm 30:1-12

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

It would take very little personal conversation among us this morning to discover the healing, encouraging, strengthening, supporting, comforting power the Psalms have been in our individual lives. A variety and a large number of Psalms would be pointed to as the ones that have ministered to you in a particular time of need. At our Administrative Board meeting two weeks ago, Karla Grant shared her Christian pilgrimage verses from the Psalms. This is her story. Six weeks after she and Don welcomed their ...

4841. The Miracle of Peace

Psalm 85:1-13

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

A popular prayer on the e-mail circuit goes something like this: So far today God, I've done alright. I haven't gossiped, haven't lost my temper, haven't been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish, overindulgent, or told anyone to mind their own business and to stay out of mine. I'm really glad about that. But in a few minutes God, I'm going to get out of bed, and from then on, I'm going to need a whole lot of help. In Jesus Name, Amen. Here we are just 17 days away from Christmas 2002. If you find yourself ...

4842. What Would Jesus Say About the Marginalized?

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

When the immensely popular author Stephen Covey wowed the world with his Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, he encouraged every person to sit down and write a personal mission statement. “Once you have that sense of mission," said Cover, “you have the essence of your own proactivity. You have the vision and values which will direct your life." Jesus of Nazareth never read Covey's books. But fresh from the wilderness of temptation, Jesus enters the Nazareth Synagogue to announce his reason for being. ...

4843. The Family As Church

2 Timothy 1:3-8

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

In the big game of life, what really matters? I find myself asking that question more and more these days. The blessing and curse of surviving a life-threatening disease is that it causes you to lift up the floorboards of your soul and examine the priorities of your life. What really matters in the light of eternity? Lost golf balls don’t matter to me any more — Lost people do. Church conferences don’t matter much to me anymore. Local churches where God and people make a connection do matter. Family status ...

4844. Positive Living

Galatians 5:1-15

Sermon

King Duncan

Motivational speaker Zig Ziglar calls it “stinkin’ thinkin.’” He’s talking about people who approach life with a negative attitude. Do you know anyone like that? Whether or not it’s justified, New York cabdrivers are notorious for having a bad attitude. A man approached one such driver in New York. “Take me to London,” the potential fare said. The cab driver told him that was not possible. He couldn’t drive across the Atlantic. The customer insisted it was possible. “You’ll drive me down to the pier; we’ll ...

4845. Family Matters

Romans 8:12-17

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

As the lights in the movie theater dimmed, a young man loaded down with popcorn, cokes and candy paced up and down the aisle, scanning the darkened rows. It was obvious he was looking for the person or persons with whom he had come. After three or four unsuccessful trips he finally stopped and asked loudly, "Does anybody here recognize me?" (1) It's horrible not to be recognized isn't it? It's horrible to feel alone and cut off. Being recognized means you're connected, part of the family and that someone ...

4846. When Did This Start? — Part 2

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Sermon

Robert J. Elder

This is the second of a little two-part series on the beginnings of the gospel about Jesus from perspectives of the not-so-usual Christmas gospels of Mark and John. The idea of using such passages, apart from the fact that they appear in the suggested lectionary passages to be read on these Sundays, is to jar us a little bit out of our comfortable, acculturated vision of the season leading up to Christmas as a season entirely of warm cozy fireplaces, Christmas trees, and jingle bells, and to remind us that ...

4847. The Missing Piece

Titus 2:11-14

Sermon

Scott Suskovic

During this Christmas season, we usually get together with some other families and spend a couple of days together. Someone always brings out a jigsaw puzzle. We set up the card table and scatter the pieces. It's not like we spend all day huddled around the puzzle. We walk by, we eat, we grab a piece, connect it, eat, and finally, after much fanfare, celebration, and food, the puzzle is completed when that last piece is slipped into place. Then we eat. What a life! Except those times when you come down to ...

4848. Sleeping in on Sunday

Ephesians 6:10

Sermon

Thomas Lentz

Physical feats of strength impress us. We admire those who can bench press over 300 pounds or run a marathon in less than three hours. Mental prowess is also impressive. We respect the intellectual giants who discover new formulas. And, yes, we also venerate spiritual leaders like Mother Teresa, the Dalai Lama, and Mahatma Gandhi. Hopefully, this respect and veneration will lead us to take the next step, to be inspired to imitate them, following their example. We can begin our own training program to ...

4849. A Christmas Program

Luke 2:21-40

Drama

Arley K. Fadness

Narration: We begin our Christmas worship and pageant tonight with the wondrous images of Luke, chapter 2, dancing in our eyes and warming our hearts. We gather to worship. We gather to honor. We gather to celebrate the birthday of Jesus at Bethlehem, the Messiah, our Christ. Christmas Puppet Play (skit provided below) Narration: Jesus Christ is the gift of gifts. How amazing when the prophets Isaiah, Micah, and others foretold of the coming of the one who would bring deliverance to the people of Israel. ...

4850. When Others Serve Your Head on a Platter

Mark 6:14-29

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

This summer saw the “resurrection” of an old tale of family rivalry and betrayal. The show that started an industry of prime time “soap operas” is back on the air. Do you know show I’m talking about? . . . . Dallas. The ever-evil “J.R.” Ewing and all his battling, back-biting, embittered family have returned, with new generations, all of whom are admirably carrying on the family tradition of unabated greed and hatred. Added to yet another season of “Kardashians” and the History channel’s presentation of “ ...

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