Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 476 to 500 of 1185 results

476. Kingdoms in Conflict

John 18:28-40

Sermon

Brett Blair

... on Roman law. He cannot. The Jews have found fault with Jesus on religious grounds. What’s Pilate to do? All the might and power of Rome at his fingertips but he has become a timid man. Why? Because he must satisfy his constituents. He is not pursuing Truth he is reaching for compromise. Where’s the middle ground between Roman law, the Jewish high council, his own position as procurator, and Jesus’ innocence or guilt? I’m not sure any of us would fare better. This is politics at its core. It is the ...

477. The World Is Crowded With Gethsemanes

Luke 22:39-46

Sermon

Brett Blair

... his disciples to pray so “you will not fall into temptation.” Now that’s odd. You would expect Jesus to say, pray that you are able to endure the hardship to come. But hardship brings temptation: Temptation to compromise our principles, temptation to pursue pleasure over adversity, temptation to renounce our faith in God. Peter, James and John quickly learned this lesson as they denied that they knew Jesus. They left the scene of his betrayal afraid for their own lives. They did not pray so they did ...

478. The Ten Commandments #4: The Sabbath

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... it clear whether these creatures had been excommunicated from the larger worship community or were simply unbelievers. The one thing that was clear was that their faces and gestures showed none of the joyful religious frenzy with which the sun worshipers pursued their devotions. The only conclusion which the Martian felt could be legitimately drawn was that this poor group was obviously not happy. And so ended one extra-terrestrial student's adventure. One is forced to wonder: was the Martian wildly wrong ...

479. The Ten Commandments #10: No Covetousness

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... commentator calls the commandments "policy statements." They are not in themselves guidelines for specific action, but provide the ground and framework from which specifics may be drawn.(1) The first two commandments - it is unjust to delude people into pursuing false gods, whether ancient pagan deities or their modern equivalents (money, power, pleasure, etc.) that ultimately demean and destroy; the third commandment - it is unjust to treat people dishonestly by not being as good as your word; the fourth ...

480. Super Sunday

Deuteronomy 5:1-33

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... it clear whether these creatures had been excommunicated from the larger worship community or were simply unbelievers. The one thing that was clear was that their faces and gestures showed none of the joyful religious frenzy with which the sun worshipers pursued their devotions. The only conclusion which the Martian felt could be legitimately drawn was that this poor group was NOT happy. And so ended one extra-terrestrial student's adventure. One is forced to wonder: was the Martian wildly wrong or wildly ...

481. Remember!

Deuteronomy 31:30--32:47

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... the right direction. The area of our biggest failure is in the spiritual realm. Our heritage has provided us with a wealth of material upon which to build, but, unfortunately, the challenges with which we have been presented have been largely ignored as we pursued other interests. The result has been a breakdown of morals and ethical values that has proven disastrous. We need to recall our Christian heritage. Do you remember when you first came to know Jesus Christ as your Savior...the first time you really ...

482. God Bless America

Psalm 33:1-22

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... had asked me what I was planning to preach on the Sunday just before the holiday, and I told him that it would be something appropos to the celebration. He responded by saying that he had never thought of the Fourth in terms of much to celebrate. I did not pursue the matter because I knew what he was saying. You see, he is black...and this nation has never done for him what it has done for me. He does not have nearly the reason to celebrate. No, this nation is not perfect. The list of our national woes ...

483. Real Religion

Micah 6:1-8

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... powerless who are exploited by others.(4) "DO Justice." Nothing startling here. The nation had known God's standard of justice since Moses came down from Sinai with the Ten Commandments. The first two - it is unjust to delude people into pursuing false gods, whether ancient pagan deities or their modern equivalents (money, power, pleasure, etc.) that ultimately demean and destroy; the third commandment - it is unjust to treat people dishonestly by not being as good as your word; the fourth commandment - it ...

484. Fish Bait

Luke 5:1-11

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... church last Sunday, looked in the window, and noticed you had not caught too many..." Too true. Too true. Of course, our lesson is the source of that "fisher of men" designation. It too is a "fish story" of sorts. It starts out with Jesus being pursued by the curious crowd, folks who have heard about this amazing young man - his healing miracles, casting out demons. What does he have to say? So they press close, as the text says, "listening to the word of God." Too close, actually. Closer and closer to the ...

485. Good News For Parents And For Kids, Too!

Luke 2:41-52

Sermon

King Duncan

... the other diet plans have their biggest months in January. Did you hear about the notice that appeared in a church bulletin: "Weight Watchers will meet this Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. Please use the large double door at the side entrance." Some of us have resolved to pursue an exercise program. One fellow says that he doesn't believe in exercise. He says if God meant for us to touch our toes, God would have put them farther up our body. One man said his doctor suggested he try running in place. The man asked, "In ...

486. Been There, Done That, No Thanks!

Philippians 3:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... to change. By then men begin to have some idea whether they are going to keep growing in their work or whether they have gone as far as they will go. If they conclude they have reached their limit, that there is no dream out there for them to pursue, they shift their dreams toward retirement. In fact, some of them retire then and there in their minds. That is why some men in the middle years of life, when they ought to be in their prime, become somewhat listless and begin feeling tired all the time. The ...

487. How Can You Tell A Christian?

John 13:31-38

Sermon

King Duncan

... woman had come to him to demand the death of a man who had killed her husband. This man had been picking dates from a palm tree when he accidentally fell, hitting the woman's husband and fatally injuring him. Although the king tried to persuade the woman not to pursue her rights, she insisted. Finally, the king said, "It is your right to ask for this man's life, but it is my right to decree how he shall die. You shall take this man with you immediately, and he shall be tied to the foot of a palm tree ...

488. Let's Play, Stump The Theologian!

John 16:5-16

Sermon

King Duncan

... God into your small mind." (2) And it's true. The Trinity is one of those many things about life and faith that you and I will never understand. In that sense we are like Lewis Carroll's Alice in her first adventure in Wonderland. Remember how Alice pursued the White Rabbit down the rabbit hole and suddenly found herself standing in a long low hall? There were doors all around the hall, but they were all locked; and when Alice had been all the way down one side and up the other, trying every door, she ...

489. Did You Ask How Much It Was Going To Cost?

Luke 14:25-35

Sermon

King Duncan

... not even begin to pretend I know what he meant by this little story ” but it could be a parable of the Kingdom of God. You and I have a decision to make. Christ has set before us an open door. Christ has given us the opportunity to pursue the kingdom life or to spend our lives as spiritual couch potatoes. Only we can make that choice. Lucy O'Brien ” one of the pioneer newspaperwomen in Florida, now an entrepreneur ” put it this way: "The most important question a person ever asks is, "If I die today ...

490. Hope For Those Whom Life Has Cheated

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

... and one-time world-class sprinter, was not allowed to run on the American 400-meter relay team in 1936, primarily because of Hitler's hatred of Jews. But now Hitler is dead ” the victim of his own hand and of the evil, insane policies that he pursued. Now Hitler's former viewing stand was Marty Glickman's viewing stand. "It was weird sitting there," Glickman said. "It made me remember marching in the stadium and looking up to the box and seeing him." (7) Hitler has gone the way that all tyrants will ...

491. Jesus Won! We Won!

John 20:10-18

Sermon

King Duncan

... that John knew. In a fallen world, the dead do not live again. It is a sad note on our popular culture that the only time people encounter resurrection is in horror films. Just when the victims are feeling secure because the evil stalkers are dead, they rise to pursue them again. We can be like Mary and fail to read the signs. Even if we have personal experiences of the Lord and see faith shine in each other's eyes, we can feel at times like death wins and we lose. We sit in sanctuaries with lovely crosses ...

492. Some Things To Get Choked Up About

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

King Duncan

... along great. Linda Ellerbee asked what the other young woman did for a living. The landlady replied, "Right now, I understand she is cutting hair." Linda Ellerbee thought somewhat condescendingly, "What would I have in common with a hair dresser?" And she never pursued the relationship. Somewhat later in her career she was in a theater seeing the motion picture version of the hit Broadway musical, HAIR. At the end of the motion picture the credits rolled by and where the movie says, "Edited by . . ." was ...

493. The Lure Of The Easy Way

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

... hear. It is a call, as M. Scott Peck would phrase it to "a road less travelled." In Zig Ziglar's analogy it is the lonely stairs as opposed to the crowded elevator. Or as Jesus himself once said, it is the narrow way that only a committed few will pursue. How about you? The road to personal success is the road of self denial. Any worthwhile self-help book will tell you that. Self-denial, however, is also essential to the salvation of the world. The story is told of a worker in an inner-city mission who had ...

494. Ultimate Thanksgiving

Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

King Duncan

... help repay them for seeing that he was raised and schooled. Did you read about Bob Castleberry of Denton, Texas? Castleberry was fortunate enough to win the $10 Million Publisher's clearing House Sweepstakes. No longer needing the income from his job, he decided to pursue a longing he had had to become active in local government. He ran for mayor and won. Now, Castleberry feels that his financial independence will give him a chance to spend his time giving something back to his community. We all need a way ...

495. Noblesse Oblige

Revelation 1:4-8

Sermon

King Duncan

... our selfesteem. The tragedy of our lives is not that we think too much of ourselves, but that we think too little. If we knew who we really are, we wouldn't make some of the tragic mistakes that we make. We wouldn't fritter away our lives pursuing concerns of little consequence. We wouldn't degrade ourselves with ambitions unworthy of us. Who are we? We are those for whom Christ gave his life. The celebration of Christ the King tells us about Jesus, but it also tells us about us. FINALLY, IT SAYS SOMETHING ...

496. The Awesome Power Of Believing

John 1:1-18

Sermon

King Duncan

... to the tree, she exclaimed, "Cut me down. Take my large trunk and make yourself a boat. Then you can sail away." And that's what he did. The tree was happy. Many more years passed and an old man returns--too old, too tired to swing from branches, to pursue great riches, to build houses or boats. Says the tree to the old man, "I have a pretty good stump left, my friend. Why don't you just sit down here and rest?" He did and the tree was happy. That little children's story speaks to me about the ...

497. Help For Troubled Hearts

John 14:15-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... were, "The Land of Look-Behind." Intrigued, he asked the owner of the hotel what those words meant. The hotel owner said that in the days of slavery, runaways from the sugar plantations sometimes escaped into that lonely and barren territory. They were often pursued by slave owners or the authorities with guns and dogs. The fugitives were always on the run, always looking over their shoulders. So that was where the term came from: The Land of Look-Behind. (2) What a terrible place to livein a land where ...

498. You Are Not Yourself!

Colossians 3:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... his lottery ticket for $24. When the clerk checked it, the discovery was made that the man’s ticket was worth 1.6 million dollars. When the clerk tried to explain that to the Hispanic man, the man got very upset and stalked angrily out of the store. Some people pursued him and finally communicated to him what had happened. He was one of three persons who would split 4.8 million. The man had a ticket worth $79,000 each year for the next 20 years, but he almost did not understand. (4) Many of us are in the ...

499. Lost In America

Luke 15:8-10, Luke 15:1-7

Sermon

King Duncan

... the man Willie could have been. For example, he was a bitter failure as a salesman, and yet Willie was not completely without merit. He loved to work with his hands. His one masterpiece was the house steps that he had built himself. What if Willie had pursued a vocation in which he could have used the gifts he did have? He had a family who loved and supported him. He had a reasonable amount of intelligence. His was hardly a hopeless life and yet Willy finally kills himself, hoping by this last desperate act ...

500. Victory on a Broken Knee

2 Timothy 4:6-8

Sermon

King Duncan

... that you “hang in there” and “see it through” when a person of lesser determination, lesser courage, lesser character would “cut his or her losses” and seek to escape. That is true in a good marriage; it is true in raising children; it is true in pursuing your dreams in your vocation; it is true in battling disease and old age, and it is true in a host of other areas of life, including your faithfulness to Christ. In the words of the champion heavyweight boxer, Jim Corbett, the secret of success ...

Showing results

Showing 476 to 500 of 1185 results

476. Kingdoms in Conflict

John 18:28-40

Sermon

Brett Blair

477. The World Is Crowded With Gethsemanes

Luke 22:39-46

Sermon

Brett Blair

478. The Ten Commandments #4: The Sabbath

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

David E. Leininger

479. The Ten Commandments #10: No Covetousness

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

David E. Leininger

480. Super Sunday

Deuteronomy 5:1-33

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... it clear whether these creatures had been excommunicated from the larger worship community or were simply unbelievers. The one thing that was clear was that their faces and gestures showed none of the joyful religious frenzy with which the sun worshipers pursued their devotions. The only conclusion which the Martian felt could be legitimately drawn was that this poor group was NOT happy. And so ended one extra-terrestrial student's adventure. One is forced to wonder: was the Martian wildly wrong or wildly ...

481. Remember!

Deuteronomy 31:30--32:47

Sermon

David E. Leininger

482. God Bless America

Psalm 33:1-22

Sermon

David E. Leininger

483. Real Religion

Micah 6:1-8

Sermon

David E. Leininger