Sermon and Worship Resources

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Psalm 45:1-17, Romans 7:7-25, Matthew 11:25-30, Matthew 11:1-19, Genesis 24:1-67

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

... ) IV. The Marriage (vv. 62-67) A. The time and location: evening in the Negeb (vv. 62-63) B. Rebekah's perception of Isaac (vv. 64-65) C. The servant's recounting of the story (v. 66) D. Isaac marries Rebekah (v. 67) Significance. The outline illustrates the central problem that must be addressed in interpreting this story—namely, determining who is the central character. Who is the hero of the story? Is it Abraham because he initiates the story with an act of faith? Is it the servant who provides most of ...

477. Proper 12

Genesis 29:15-30, Matthew 13:31-35, Matthew 13:44-46, Matthew 13:47-52, Romans 8:28-39, Psalm 105:1-45

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

... one wants. Even though she embodies divine blessing (symbolized through her frequent births) and indeed sees the reality of God in her ability to give birth (symbolized through the naming of her children), her life situation is certainly not one to be envied. Leah illustrates how fashioning a life-style out of fear of God also redefines what are our notions of reward in this life. NEW TESTAMENT TEXTS These verses from Romans are magnificent and they bring this portion of Paul's letter to a conclusion with a ...

478. Proper 15

Genesis 45:1-28, Matthew 15:21-28, Romans 11:1-10, Romans 11:25-32, Psalm 133:1-3

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

... up the problem Paul debates throughout Romans 9-11 (vv. 1-2a), and, then, states Paul's position or conclusion in relation to the matter (vv. 29-32). In the initial verses, one encounters this sequence: (1) rhetorical question, (2) rhetorical answer with illustration, and (3) declaration of truth. In the final verses, we see (1) another declaration of truth, (2) a word of explanation focusing on the human situation, and (3) a word of explanation focusing on God's activity. Significance. What is one to make ...

479. Proper 29

Psalm 100:1-5, Ezekiel 34:1-31, Ephesians 1:15-23, Matthew 25:31-46

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

... gift from God, and it activates a new way of living. Verse 19 makes this clear by speaking of "the immeasurable greatness of his power for us" and of "the working of his great power." With this mention of God's magnificent power, the thanksgiving takes a christological turn to illustrate the clearest testimony to God's power—namely, the Resurrection of Christ. As is normal in New Testament thought, Ephesians refers to the Resurrection as something that God did. Though Christology articulates and ...

480. Do You Have It?

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... , Illuminations, Ruminations, Applications Although Nassau Presbyterian Church pastor David A. Davis (Princeton, NJ) didn't have "It" in mind when he wrote this (in A Kingdom We Can Taste: Sermons for the Church Year [Eerdmans, 2007], 18), you can you adapt and adopt this to illustrate the "It" factor: "I see it in the faces of the men and women standing in the cold at 7:00 am, waiting for the church to open to go to an AA meeting, deciding daily to live another day of hopeful sobriety. I see it ...

481. Roll out the Green Carpet

Matthew 21:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... entering Jerusalem “humbly and riding on a donkey.” The point Jesus makes is that, yes he is king, yes he is messiah. But he is a different kind of king and messiah than you have been expecting. Riding on this simple and dumb beast of burden illustrates Jesus’ own humility, his meekness. He is a triumphant king, but not a conquering warrior. Jesus is not drawing a sword to vanquish the Romans. Instead, he will submit to God’s will and so conquer death itself, and hell. The story of Lent and Easter ...

482. Christ Is Risen

John 20:1-18

Illustration

Brett Blair

... calls for a loved one and we are left behind. When loneliness threatens to take over every waking moment of our lives the cross emerges from the crowd. And as it does the figure of Jesus Christ obscures all that hate, death, and loneliness can muster. Phillips Brooks' short poem illustrates this: Tomb, thou shalt not hold Him longer; Death is strong, but Life is stronger; Stronger than the dark, the light; Stronger than the wrong, the right; Faith and Hope triumphant say, Christ will rise on Easter Day.

483. What in the World Are We Doing?

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

James W. Moore

... it. The idea here is that the world is evil with all its temptations and enticements and pressures… and the body is weak, so according to this view the only hope is to flee, to forsake the world, to reject it. There are many dramatic illustrations of this in history. (1) For example, remember the Monastic Movement. As early as the Fourth Century, monks (by the thousands) began running away from the world. They went - to caves in the hills, - to old tombs in deserted graveyards, - and to the waste places ...

484. Don't Look Back, Remember Lot's Wife

Genesis 19:24-26

Sermon

James W. Moore

... what lies behind, straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Paul loved athletics and he often used sports illustrations (especially from track and boxing) in his writings. Here in Philippians 3, he is using this powerful track illustration to make his point. “You can’t rest on your laurels. You can’t dwell on your past successes or your past failures. You can’t run well if you are always looking back. Just focus ...

485. The Bloodline of Christ

John 20:19-23

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... why Orthodox Christians exchange red eggs at Easter. The other being an even earlier legend in which Mary Magdalene managed to procure an appointment with Caesar after Jesus’ resurrection. When she picked up a hen’s egg from the dinner table to illustrate her point about resurrection, Caesar was cynical, and said that there was as much chance of a Jesus returning to life as there was for that egg to turn red. Immediately the egg turned red. Leonard Sweet O. Wesley Allen, Jr., Preaching Resurrection ...

486. Parenting

2 Timothy 1:5

Illustration

Brett Blair

... their way into his thinking process, leading him to conclude that he is ugly or incredibly stupid or that he has already proved himself to be a hopeless failure in life." The famous Psychiatrist Dr. Alfred Adler had an experience when a young boy which illustrates just how powerful such a belief can be upon behavior and ability. He got off to a bad start in arithmetic and his teacher became convinced that he was "dumb in mathematics." The teacher then advised the parents of this "fact" and told them not ...

487. What's Holding You Together?

Matthew 7:21-23

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... you and be “known” by you. Which will it be? You can do some things, like get up from your pew and walk to you car, because God has given you laminin. But you can do all things through Christ who gives you strength. (Phil. 4:13). Animations, Illustrations, Illuminations, Ruminations, Applications “We humans cannot live by the bread of our own efforts. The forces of Love and Life within us are swamped by the powers of Hatred and Destruction. If Life and Love are to win in any of us, it will only be by ...

488. Building According to Code - Sermon Starter

Matthew 7:21-29

Illustration

Brett Blair

... would be the fall. That's the image drawn here in Matthew 7. It comes from the life of these people gathered around Jesus on that day he delivered this sermon. Jesus was not simply telling here what I call a preacher story. A preacher story is an illustration that may very well fit the point that is being made, but one that doesn't sound very believable. On the contrary, Jesus was talking about a situation that was very real in the life of the people. What are some points that we may conclude from this ...

489. Best Advice

Matthew 7:24-29

Illustration

Brett Blair

... accomplished people what was the best advice they ever got. Here are some of them: (Don't try to preach all 17 excerpts below. We suggest using 3 to 4 examples that mean the most to your community. Then skip down and use the conclusion to this illustration.) Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of New York, got his from his days at Salomon Brothers: "Always ask for the order, and second, when the customer says yes, stop talking." Mark Hurd, the CEO of Hewlett-Packard, got his years ago from his days under NCR CEO ...

490. What Do You Want to Know?

Matthew 9:9-13

Illustration

Brett Blair

People have been choosing up sides since the Garden of Eden. The movie, "October Sky," illustrates this. Homer Hickam, a West Virginia high school student was faced with an important decision. Homer was part of a small group of friends. They weren't jocks or rich kids, but they knew what it meant when you associated with the wrong kid, especially John, that red-haired pimply- ...

491. The Thrill of Victory

2 Corinthians 2:14-15

Sermon

James Merritt

... , but we wouldn't have had any fuel to go home."[1] I don't believe that was coincidence, I believe that was providence. It was the grace of God that gave the ultimate victory. I believe that story is a perfect illustration of the thrill of victory. It is an illustration of the type of victory that we are to experience continuously, consciously, and constantly In the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to this verse: "Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance ...

492. With Jesus No Mission Is Impossible

John 6:1-14

Sermon

James Merritt

... ; they had seen Jesus heal a paralytic man, and yet they still needed the faith of a mountain to move a mustard seed. They still didn't get it. It is so frustrating to perfectly illustrate a point time after time after time, and yet people be so slow to understand. I heard about a Sunday School teacher who was trying to illustrate to her boys and girls the dangers of drinking alcohol. So she filled two glasses up—one with water and one with alcohol. Then she pulled out some earthworms she had dug up and ...

493. Going the Second Mile

Matthew 5:38-42

Sermon

James Merritt

... once said this about the Bible: "I have no problem with those parts of the Bible I don't understand. It's those parts of the Bible I do understand that gives me fits." The passage that we are going to study certainly fits into that category. This passage illustrates something I bet most of you have never thought about before. One of the easiest things in the world to do is to become a Christian. It is ridiculously easy. All you have to do is confess you are a sinner, repent of your sin, believe that Jesus ...

494. Confronting a Christless Culture

2 Timothy 3:1-17

Sermon

James Merritt

... Christ will ultimately wind up in both chaos and crisis. The nasty 90s are now reaping the bitter fruit of the seeds that were sown in the sinful 60s of spiritual liberalism, secular humanism, and social relativism. John Underwood, former Senior Editor for Sports Illustrated, and a feature writer for the Miami Herald, wrote, "Civilizations do not give out, they give in. They come apart not in a flash, but by the inch. In a society where anything goes, everything eventually will."2 Well, our society is not ...

495. Body Building at Its Best

1 Corinthians 12:13-27, Ephesians 4:1-6

Sermon

James Merritt

... . We have different gifts, different interests, different personalities, different ideas, so that we all might fit together in the body of Christ. That is why Paul uses the very analogy of a body, beginning in v.12, to illustrate that we are to be joined and work together just like the different parts of a body. This illustrates several truths about the body and the many members in that body. a. We Are To Be Different From One Another "For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that ...

496. The Surety of Security

Jude 1:1-2

Sermon

James Merritt

... shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." That is certainly true, but before you will call on the name of the Lord, you must first be called by the Lord of that name. God calls you before you first call Him. Let me give you this illustration: If mankind had a phone on earth, and God had a phone in heaven, and either one could call the other, neither phone would ring if God did not pick up the phone and dial first. Salvation begins not with man calling on God, but with God calling on man ...

497. Have You Seen the Light?

John 9:1-41

Sermon

James Merritt

... met the S-O-N he saw the S-U-N. When he met the Lord he saw the light. In fact, this miracle is really a physical illustration of a spiritual truth Jesus uttered in v.5 when he said, "I am the light of the world." Now this man was born blind, but we learn ... person who was healed. But of all these groups, only one person was saved, and that was the man born blind. Jesus uses that to illustrate a truth in v.39, "And Jesus said, ‘For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and ...

498. The Way Over Is Under

Luke 7:1-10

Sermon

James Merritt

... makes a fascinating statement. He says, "You don't need to bother making the trip, you have the authority to do what needs to be done—just say the word and my servant will be healed." Then to prove to the Lord Jesus that he understood authority, he gives this illustration: "For I also am a man placed under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, 'Go!' and he goes, and to another, 'Come!' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this!' and he does it." (Luke 7:8, NASB) I am reminded of a ...

499. Nothing Great Happens Without It

Luke 14: 25-35

Sermon

James Merritt

... cost. You take a $100,000 Mercedes. Now though the price is the same for everybody the cost would be far less to Donald Trump than it would be to Donald Chump. Likewise, there is a cost to be counted if you are going to follow the Lord Jesus. Jesus illustrates that consideration in two parables. "For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it." (V. 28) The Christian life is like a strong tower. It is to be a tower of work a tower ...

500. Mom: The Heart of a Godly Family

Proverbs 31:10-31

Sermon

James Merritt

... Your Nose and Other Astonishing Facts About Humans, (Los Angeles: Jeremy P. Tarcher, Inc., 1989), p. 35. 3 David Jeremiah, Exposing the Myth of Parenthood, (Dallas, Word Publishing, 1988), p. 64. 3 Rusty Wright, Secrets of Successful Humor, (San Bernardino: Here's Life, ), p. 50. 4 James S. Hewatt, ed., Illustrations Unlimited, (Wheaton, IL.: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1988), p. 376. 5 Paul Lee Tan, Encyclopedia of Seven Thousand Seven Hundred ...

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