Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 26 to 50 of 1409 results

26. Stick to One Model

Illustration

Staff

More and more people seem to forget Henry Ford's sage advice when asked on his 50th wedding anniversary for his rule for marital bliss and longevity. He replied, "Just the same as in the automobile business, stick to one model."

27. Stamp Stopped Sticking

Humor

Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz said, I've been on the top and I've been on the bottom. At Arkansas my first year, we won the Orange Bowl. Then everybody loved me. They put me into the Arkansas Hall of Fame and issued a commemorative stamp in my honor. The next year we lost to Texas, and they they took away the stamp. The stamp stopped working. It wouldn't stick any longer to the envelops. The post office investigated the situation and found the problem. People kept spitting on the wrong side.

28. Stick to One Model

Humor

A reporter asked Henry Ford when he celebrated his golden wedding anniversary: "To what do you attribute your fifty years of successful married life?" Ford replied, "The formula is the same I've used in the making of cars...stick to one model!"

29. Gentle Touch

Isaiah 42:1-9

Children's Sermon

Tim Carpenter

Exegetical Aim: God's gentle with our lives and shortcomings. Props: Sticks that are partially cracked and almost broken or weak, and one that is strong and difficult to break. Lesson: How many of you like to play with sticks? (response) When I was young, I loved to play with sticks. Hold up the whole stick, and mimic the following. Sometimes I would pretend that I was Robin Hood and the stick was a bow. Sometimes I was a knight and the stick was a sword. Sometimes I was a baseball player and the stick was ...

30. Strength In Meekness

Matthew 5:5

Children's Sermon

B. Kathleen Fannin

Object: A very large blade of grass (about an inch wide and fifteen inches long) and a branch or stick. Lesson: Flexibility; strength; healing; mending. "We have been talking about the Beatitudes the last few weeks. This morning, I'd like to discuss another one with you. Jesus said, 'Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.' Does anybody know what 'meek' means?" The children look thoughtful, but none offers an answer. "Is it a word you have heard?" I ask, hoping they are at least familiar ...

31. Oracles of Restoration

Ezekiel 34:1-31, Ezekiel 35:1-15, Ezekiel 36:1-38, Ezekiel 37:1-14, Ezekiel 37:15-28

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

Ezekiel’s Message of Hope and Restoration: Ezekiel 34–48, the second major part of this book, is concerned with a message of hope for the exiles and with the promise of Israel’s future restoration. That message has broken through in a muted sense in chapters 1–33 (11:14–21; 16:53–63; 20:33–44; 28:25–26), but it now becomes the central theme. These fifteen chapters fall into three sections. The first, chapters 34–37, is a series of seven oracles dealing with the restoration of Israel. The second section ...

32. Do We Know What We've Got?

Matthew 18:15-20

Sermon

King Duncan

Our lesson from Matthew’s Gospel for today reminds me of a story of a pastor in a drought-stricken part of Alabama last summer who implored his people to pray for rain. In fact, he asked each member of the church to join in a prayer vigil that would continue day and night until God granted their request. Never had there been a greater sense of urgency in that church than was revealed over the next few days. At any hour, one might pass that small rural church and find the lights on and someone at the altar ...

33. Dogsleds And Dogged Determination

Luke 9:51-62

Children's Sermon

King Duncan

Object: a few pieces of charcoal, and a few sticks Good morning, boys and girls. Have you ever tried to start a fire? I hope you don't ever start a fire unless your mommy or daddy is helping you. In Jesus' day, people didn't have many things they could use to start a fire. They didn't have matches or heaters, or any of the other neat things we have. People in Jesus' day could make a fire by lighting a few sticks and letting them burn, or by lighting a few pieces of coal and letting it burn. But coal was ...

34. Fair Weather Friends

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

I'm not a music buff -- in fact, I take too little time to listen to music. But I like the Blues and I am fascinated with country music. One of my favorites in Blues is Mose Allison. He's a Mississippian who went to Ole Miss and is now singing all over the nation -- and I understand is becoming very popular abroad. In one of his songs he says, "I fooled around and got to feeling good, messed around and got humanized. You may think I'm ill advised, but I've gotten humanized." In another he says, "Well, I'm ...

35. The Power of Partnership

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Sermon

James Merritt

In 1948 two brothers, by the names of Richard and Maurice McDonald, converted their barbeque drive-in with carhops, into the world's first McDonald's limited-menu self-service drive-in in San Bernardino, California. One restaurant serving one community. In 1954 a man by the name of Ray Kroc mortgaged his home and invested his entire life's savings to become the exclusive distributor of a five-spindled milkshake maker called the Multimixer. He heard about this McDonald's hamburger stand in California that ...

36. Friends

Proverbs 27:6, 9, 17

Sermon

James Merritt

I saw a cartoon in a newspaper once, and the first frame showed a thief that was wearing a mask, and his gun was pointed toward a frightened victim. The next scene the robber is holding out a sack and saying, "Give me all of your valuables!" In the next scene the victim begins stuffing into the sack all of his friends. I don't believe there is hardly anything in life, outside of salvation, that is more valuable than a true friend. With few exceptions, people every-where hunger to have friends; I mean real ...

37. Chocolate Cake, Flooded Waters, and Baptism

Genesis 9:8-17

Sermon

Ron Lavin

There was a man, let's call him Rod, who was a fine woodworker. He made cabinets, tables, and mantels for family, friends, and fellow church members. One day his pastor asked him to come to his house and reconstruct a cabinet over his new refrigerator. The new refrigerator was taller than the old one. Rod agreed. When he came to do the work his pastor and his pastor's wife were not at home. They had given him a key to get in. Why not? Rod was the former president of the congregation, a man to be trusted, a ...

38. A Man Under Authority / A Centurion's Faith, An Elder's Love

Matthew 8:5-13, Luke 7:1-10

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“Let it be done for you according to your faith.” Props: Centurion helmet or any military helmet and stick Hope pulls you forward. Faith pushes you forward. Love keeps you moving forward. A story recently made the news whereby a visitor from Israel to the US had a serious heart condition, and needed a heart transplant immediately or he would die. He was older than the recommended age for surgery, and had multiple other medical conditions that made any surgery problematic. Only two specialists in the world ...

39. Lent 2

Philippians 3:12-4:1, Jeremiah 26:1-24, Genesis 15:1-18, Luke 13:31-35, Psalm 27:1-14, Psalm 42:1-11

Sermon Aid

George Bass

THEOLOGICAL CLUE The Second Sunday in Lent reminds the people of God, who gather for worship this day, that they are following Jesus to Jerusalem, according to the Roman Catholic ORDO, or, in the other lectionaries, are given a preview of what is going to happen in the Holy City. Almost any Gospel for the Day that is selected from St. Luke, which would fit into the liturgical/theological scheme of Lent, will have some sort of orientation to Jerusalem; Luke's whole gospel makes it absolutely clear that ...

40. Six Feet Tall

Romans 3:23

Children's Sermon

Object: A six-foot ruler and a stick of gum for each child. Good morning, boys and girls. How tall are you? (Let them answer.) When you grow up, how big do you want to be? (Let them answer.) Most boys want to be tall but most girls would rather be a little smaller than the boys. I brought along a measuring stick because I will be glad to give a stick of gum to any child who is six feet tall today. You must be at least six feet tall to receive a piece of gum. I want all of you to stand up and walk by my ...

41. I Am a "Jesus People"

John 15:27

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

Object: A large number of twigs or small sticks of wood and cord to tie the sticks, making a cross of wood. It should be rough and not very pretty or neat This morning, boys and girls, I'm going to let some sticks tell you a story. They're not even very pretty sticks. They're not painted or cut evenly. Most of them don't even have the bark removed. In a way, they're kind of ugly. A long time ago, men cut down some trees that looked like these sticks and put them together with nails and rope and made a ____ ...

42. Rock Solid Living

Matthew 7:24-29

Sermon

King Duncan

An elderly Scottish woman was making her way through the countryside. Each time she came to a crossroads she would toss a stick into the air. Whichever way the stick came down was the direction she went. At one intersection, however, an old man saw her toss her stick into the air not once, not twice, but three times before resuming her journey. The old man was curious. “Why are you throwing your stick like that?” he asked. She squinted and replied, “I’m letting God direct my journey by using this stick.” “ ...

43. Serpents and Other Signs

Numbers 21:4-9

Sermon

Mark Trotter

The Old Testament lesson this morning is about a serpent on a stick, whatever that is. In fact, it is called a "fiery serpent." This strange passage from the Book of Numbers records an incident in the Exodus, that trek of the Hebrews across the Sinai Desert, out of slavery in Egypt to freedom and a new life in the Promised Land. This passage is known as a "murmuring" passage. There are several of them in the books that describe the Exodus. Murmuring, as in grumbling and complaining, which was constant on ...

44. Seeing God In The Ordinary: Friends

John 11:1-45

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

A Shoebox Greetings card had this message about friends: "You're the kind of friend who wouldn't laugh if we were in a fancy restaurant and I came out of the bathroom with a streamer of toilet paper on my heel." (inside the card) "O.K., you'd laugh, but you wouldn't start singing, "I know something yoooooou don't know" and make me guess till I figured it out." (1) One of the greatest human longings and desires is to be close to someone through the bond of friendship. Friends offer us companionship. Friends ...

45. The Christmas Candy Cane

Illustration

Staff

Tradition holds that a candy maker wanted to make a candy that would be a witness, so he made the Christmas Candy Cane. He incorporated several symbols for the birth, ministry, and death of Jesus Christ. He began with a stick of pure white hard candy: white to symbolize the Virgin Birth and the sinless nature of Jesus, and hard to symbolize the solid rock, the Foundation of the Church and firmness of the promises of God. The candy maker made the candy in the form of a "J" to represent the name of Jesus, ...

46. Scandal

Matthew 16:21-28, Matthew 17:14-23, Matthew 20:17-19, Matthew 26:1-5

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Prop (Animation): large mouse trap with “prop” piece; stone or rock; basket of river rocks People I know are hooked to two tv shows right now. One they admit right away: “Empire.” The other is more a “guilty pleasure” they admit to only when pressed: “Scandal.” Back for its fifth season, “Scandal” is the story of a president’s mistress. A married US President, Fitzgerald Grant, has fallen in love and is having an affair with crisis management professional, Olivia Pope. While her job is usually to “handle” ...

47. Measured Salvation

Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon

Lori Wagner

All of us have jobs or have had jobs sometime in our lifetime. I want you to imagine now that you have been working hard for Company G for about 20 or 30 years. You started with a reasonable pay, but now as you’ve done well, you have gained a great salary. You are proud of your accomplishment. With your salary, you’ve been able to buy a nice home, raise a stable family, and accrue funds for your retirement. This is the “way it’s done,” and you mastered it. One day, the company decides, it needs to hire a ...

48. Finding Your Place

Romans 12:1-12

Sermon

Will Willimon

“Some days the world is a tuxedo and you are a pair of brown shoes.” Do you know the feeling? You are the extra wide tie when everyone else has gone narrow, the three piece suit when everyone else heard that it was to be casual, the only one who didn't weep during E.T. Is it too much to simply find a place, to be like others, to, chameleon-like, blend with the landscape? So Ernest Becker sees humanity caught between the tension to, on the one hand, make something out of ourselves, to “stick out,” be ...

49. The Shortest Distance

Proverbs 4:26-27

Children's Sermon

Kenneth Mortonson

Purpose: To encourage children to stick with a task until it is finished. Materials: Two pencils or sticks and a piece of string; the ends of which are tied to the two sticks. Lesson: With the help of these two pencils (or sticks) and this piece of string tied between them, we can see proof of the fact that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. The length of the cord is fixed and as we hold the two points as far apart as possible, we see that a straight line is formed. If I move the ...

50. TV Temptation

Mark 1:9-13

Children's Sermon

Object: cardboard box, two brook sticks, large roll of newsprint, crayons/markers Teachers: You will need to make the following preparations before class: first, find a large cardboard box (a moving box or packing carton will do nicely). In the front of the box, cut a hole that is roughly the size and shape of a television screen. Next, cut two holes, one at the top and one at the bottom, on each side of the box, The back should be cut out completely for easy access. Now take the box, two broom sticks, a ...

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