Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 4901 to 4925 of 4943 results

4901. The Un-Parade

Matthew 16:21-28, Luke 19:28-44

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... city "who kept coming to him." Her wish was this: "Vindicate me against my adversary." He kept putting her off, but she kept insisting, and in the end persistence won out. Said this insensitive jurist, "... I will vindicate her, or she will wear me out by her continual coming." (Luke 18:1-5) Then finally, our parades end; this "un-parade" has not ended yet. It is still going on, and it is peopled by you and me who tread still in the footsteps of Jesus. There are still Jerusalems before us, and while today ...

4902. What Is Your Holy Week Address?

Matthew 27:45-56

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... cleaning. I’ve spoken with people from time to time who find their homes to be so crowded with the accumulations of the years that they scarcely know where to begin in tending to the mess, so they choose not to tend to it. The dust continues to gather, the piles get taller and they simply choose to watch it happen. People do that to themselves spiritually and begin to wonder whether there is any other option. Unable to respectfully bow before nature’s invitation to mature and ripen as a growing child ...

4903. Are You Still Frightened of the Dark?

Genesis 1:1-5 · John 1:4-5 · Psalm 139:11-12

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... Psalmist is answering there the question, "Whither shall I go from thy Spirit?" and the answer comes that even the darkness will not hide us from God. Indeed, let it be said that God sent his Son into the darkness of our world to redeem it and that God continues to come into our darkness and give us the light of his presence. God comes into the darkness of our sin and shows us the light of grace. God comes into the darkness of our confusion and says through his Son, "follow me." God comes into the darkness ...

4904. Leah

Genesis 49:29--50:14

Sermon

Warren Thomas Smith

... Rachel. Legends provide the intriguing story that years earlier, while Leah and Rachel, Esau and Jacob were infants, Laban and Rebecca agreed their children should marry. Leah was to become the bride of Esau, but when she learned about his character she wept so continuously that her eyelashes fell out. Conversely, Rachel grew more beautiful at the thought of marriage to Jacob. Leah’s name betokens her plight, for it means to tire or to be disgusted, to grieve, to loathe or make weary. She was the older ...

4905. Issachar

Genesis 49:1-28

Sermon

Warren Thomas Smith

... famous." "Madam," growled Lord Northcliffe, "on the morning that Thackeray woke up and found himself famous, he had been writing eight hours a day for fifteen years. The man who wakes up and finds himself famous, my dear lady, hasn’t been asleep." Garrison continues, reminding us of Michelangelo who frequently "slept in his clothes in order to get back to his work without loss of time - Audubon painted for as many as sixteen hours a day. Thomas Edison lived for weeks in his workshop, taking short naps ...

4906. Bezaleel

Exodus 35:30--36:7

Sermon

Warren Thomas Smith

... It is an unwritten poem, a neglected music, an unpainted watercolor, an undanced dance. It is a declaration ... that a clear spring of joy has not been tapped, and ... it must break through, muddily, on its own."2 Life can go only so far without beauty. Existence continues, but humankind - not made for existence only - was created for life. Obviously, a pig or an ox does not care about the color scheme of pen or barn. But why are so many barns painted bright red? I have never been told by a sociologist or ...

4907. Habakkuk

Habakkuk 3:1-19

Sermon

Warren Thomas Smith

... rain finally offered respite. A ship also arrived with some supplies. It was then the first real Thanksgiving was observed, by order of Governor William Bradford, July 30, 1623. Thanksgiving, not in time of abundance, but of want. The saga of Thanksgiving continues, for the national recognition came two hundred and forty years later. Through the untiring effort of Mrs. Sarah J. Hale, editor of Godey’s Lady’s Book, who used Nehemiah 8:10 as basis for an editorial, a thirty years’ effort was culminated ...

4908. Onesimus

Isaiah 43:1-13

Sermon

Warren Thomas Smith

... skin, being wronged or outraged by a white man, can have no redress; it being a law in all our Colonies that the oath of a black against a white goes for nothing. What villany is this! That He who has guided you from youth up may continue to strengthen you in this and all things is the prayer of, dear sir, Your affectionate servant, John Wesley4 MODERN SLAVERY Our modern world situation is sharply in focus. We must learn to live as brothers, or we will all die in a holocaust. Human dignity, basic justice ...

4909. MIRIAM’S BABY BROTHER

Drama

Marcia Miller

... swing it a little, as though it is empty. Be careful not to drop it. MIRIAM: Like this? MOTHER: That’s good. I know it is difficult to do, but pretend you are going to the market. MIRIAM: Which means I haven’t anything in the basket. [She continues practicing how to hold the basket.] MOTHER: Right. MIRIAM: Where am I really taking the basket? MOTHER: You are to go to the marketplace. Then turn toward the river. When you get there, find the place where the reeds grow high in the water. MIRIAM: Close to ...

4910. Nicodemus

John 3:1-21

Sermon

... . He is incredulous and sends her away. On the following night they sent her again, and now he no longer yells how dare you. On another night, as he reads his Bible he hears the cries of the suffering on deck so he closes his door so he can continue reading his Bible. It is possible to be a religious person and be an unfulfilled person. A person without a cause. A person without a heart. "Master, I have kept all of the rules and forms and rituals of our faith, but something is missing. Tell me what else ...

4911. Living Water for a Thirsty Soul

John 4:1-26

Sermon

Brett Blair

... about to bid you into the fellowship of educated men and women and,” - and here he paused and spoke each word slowly for emphasis - “you know just - how - dumb - you - really - are.” The senior class cheered in agreement. “And worse than that,” Doctor Gomes continued, “the world - and your parents in particular - are going to expect that you will be among the brightest and best. But you know that you can no longer fool all the people even some of the time. By noontime today, you will be out of ...

4912. Living Water for a Thirst Soul - Sermon Starter

John 4:1-42

Illustration

Brett Blair

... president is about to bid you into the fellowship of educated men and women and, (and here he paused and spoke each word slowly for emphasis) you know just - how - dumb - you - really - are." The senior class cheered in agreement. "And worse than that," Doctor Gomes continued, "the world - and your parents in particular - are going to expect that you will be among the brightest and best. But you know that you can no longer fool all the people even some of the time. By noontime today, you will be out of here ...

4913. An Unidentified King

Matthew 21:1-11

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... of it...no pagan, secular script writer could produce a manuscript without including the name of Jesus. People either worship him or curse him, but it seems that no one can ignore him. Is it any wonder that Jesus intrigued the people of his day and continues to haunt humanity. Here was a man who had such charisma that people would sit three days straight, without food, just to hear his riveting words. Today no one will wait that long, except maybe for tickets to the Super Bowl or some rock concert. Jesus ...

4914. It Is Finished

John 19:28-37

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... meanings depending on the context and the tone. A few years ago a professional boxer named Roberto Duran was locked in an epic championship bout with sugar Ray Leonard. Both fighters struggled heroically with almost superhuman endurance. But finally Duran was too exhausted to continue. He cried out in Spanish, "no mas," meaning "no more." It's over. I quit. When Jesus cried out "It is finished," he was not quitting. Had he been announcing defeat, he would have spoken with a whimper. But that's not how Jesus ...

4915. Can We Really Get Along?

John 4:1-26

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... day in race relations. FIRST. JESUS WAS WILLING TO GO TO SAMARITAN TURF AND FIND COMMON GROUND. He ventured into foreign territory and met someone different around a common need--water, both the liquid and the living kinds. The main reason that Easter at the pyramid continues to have such a huge impact on Memphis is because it focuses on something that both races share--faith in our risen Lord Jesus! And we meet in that ultimate symbol of common ground in Memphis, the pyramid. As long as we are content to ...

4916. Don't Be Afraid of the Future

Matthew 28:1-10

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... , especially the Resurrection, as “mythical metaphors developed by the Early Church.” Some revisionist scholars have concluded that Jesus arose only in the sense that his spirit goes marching on, sort of like the way the spirit of Abraham Lincoln continues to influence America. But William Lane Craig, perhaps the world’s foremost authority on Resurrection, dismisses such a theory. Dr. Craig is an English scholar with two earned doctoral degrees. Currently, he teaches at the University of Louvain near ...

4917. Lazarus Rising

John 11:17-37, John 11:38-44

Sermon

... scene back to Bethany. Lazarus is dead. And John says that many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them. So many things on this earth have changed——the clothes that we wear, the food we eat, even the language we speak——but I still continue to believe that the core of human nature has been unrelentingly the same. When a heart is broken friends still come to sympathize. That hasn’t changed in 2,000 years. And what a blessing they can be. Someone to shore us up with their own strength ...

4918. A Matter of Life and Breath

John 20:19-23

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... win, to overcome. No Salvation Outside The Church? You and your church can come alive on this Pentecost Sunday if you allow the Spirit to use you to forgive. After saying "Receive the Holy Spirit," Jesus gave them an authority usually reserved for God himself. Jesus continued, "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." Here is a difficult thing for many of us to understand. How can we human beings have the authority and power to forgive and retrain ...

4919. Converting the Converted

Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... you were mature enough to declare your own faith in Christ. Your faith was publicly confirmed. Here was a milestone in your life. But, you are still on the way to oneness in Christ. The end of your journey is not Confirmation. The process of conversion must continue. Each time you come to church for worship, you will be going a notch higher toward Christ. In worship you are confronted with the Word as it is read and preached. You hear of God’s love and you are moved to respond to his love. The service ...

4920. What Do You Think You’re Worth?

Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... Edith, I want to be on the team so bad I can taste it. And another thing. You should see the bowling shirts them Cannonballers got. All yellow silk, with bright red piping on the collar and sleeves." Edith replied, "And you look so good in yellow." Archie continues, "Yeah, I look good in yellow. And on the back there’s a picture of a cannon firing a bowling ball at a set of pins. Beautiful. When you got something like that on your back, Edith, you know you’re somebody." The 1970s have been described as ...

4921. Jesus Makes House Calls

Matthew 14:22-36

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... when we are in trouble or need. But, it is important to note that Jesus does not help the disciples until he is asked to help. He came walking on the water to be near them in case they would call upon him. While he was near them, the storm continued to rage. We can be thankful for this, because it means that God never imposes himself upon us. We are not cogs or slaves. He recognizes our freedom and sees us as persons. He never says, "I’ve come to help you. Move over and I’ll take charge." This ...

4922. Nag, Nag, Nag!

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... never give up asking for divine assistance. The one who gives up is the loser. A father was trying to encourage his son by saying, "Don’t give up, don’t ever give up!" The boy replied, "But, I can’t solve my problem." His Dad continued, "Remember, son, the people who are remembered are those who didn’t give up - Robert Fulton didn’t give up, Thomas Edison never gave up, Eli Whitney never gave up, and look at Isadore McPringle." "Who is Isadore McPringle?" asked the boy. "See," said the father ...

4923. Jesus ... Who?

Matthew 16:13-20

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... States of America. Do we know Jesus any better than Carter? Should our slogan be "Jesus - WHO?" That sounds like a foolish question, for you may be asking, "Who doesn’t know Jesus?" Do we really know who Jesus is? "Who is Jesus?" was the question continually asked throughout his ministry. After his first sermon at Nazareth, the people were impressed and asked, "Who is he anyway? Is he not Joseph’s son?" At Caesarea Philippi Jesus asked, "Who do men say that I am?" When Jesus came into Jerusalem on Palm ...

4924. Little Things Affect Little Minds

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... words to that church: "When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways." (1 Corinthians 13:11) Paul knew that any group of people must continually expand its tolerance in order to be stable and ripe for embracing the truly significant matters of life. We should take comfort in the fact that the Bible deals in a theological context with anxiety over insignificant matters. The biblical writers treat anxiety as a denial ...

4925. The Good Samaritan Didn’t Leave His Name

Sermon

Harold Warlick

When Jesus of Nazareth walked this earth, he continually met people trying to justify themselves. These people tried to show themselves to be righteous and acceptable for God. One particular lawyer, evidently a man who had done much good, put Jesus to a test saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus answered him with the ...

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