Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 501 to 525 of 4946 results

501. Knitted Together from the Womb

Exodus 2:1-10

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“Il a l’air si paisible, endormi dans son couffin.” (He looks so peaceful sleeping in his bassinet.) We all start life grieving death. Or better put…We all go through life grieving the inevitability of death. And fearing when it will arrive. Maybe this is what leaves us so averse to risk. And yet, the people who are most risk-averse are what we might call the emotionally and spiritually “walking dead.” For risk is the fodder of relationships, of beginnings, of growth, and of life. Think about it. We take ...

502. How to Deal with Friends, Foes, and Fools

Proverbs 27:6

Sermon

James Merritt

"I will pay more for the ability to deal with people than any other ability under the sun." John D. Rockefeller1 Relationships: we all have them. John Donne was right: "No man is an island..."2 I have learned early on that one of the most important lessons a father can teach his children is how to establish and maintain proper relationships with the right people. According to a report by the American Management Association, an overwhelming majority of the two hundred managers who participated in a survey, ...

503. The Heart of an Intimate Matter

Matthew 5:27-30

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

Convictions and opinions are not the same, are they? Someone has said, “Opinions are many, convictions are few; opinions change often, convictions rarely do.” Opinions live on the surface; convictions go deep. Opinions thrive around the gossipy edges; convictions live near the center of life. One way to tell the difference is to ask, What would you make a sacrifice for- of real money, of significant time, of patient suffering, even of life if necessary? The more you would pay, the closer you move to the ...

504. Don't Forget to Remember

Jude 1:5-7

Sermon

James Merritt

There was a young preacher who was going to preach his very first sermon, and he wanted to have a smashing introduction. So he went to an older pastor he knew, and said, "Do you know of any surefire introduction that is guaranteed to get everybody's attention?" The old preacher said, "As a matter of fact I have an illustration that works every single time." He said, "When you walk to the pulpit, make this statement: ‘Some of the greatest days of my life I spent in the arms of another man's wife.'" He said ...

505. Ordinary or Extraordinary?

1 Chronicles 4:9-10

Sermon

James Merritt

I want to get your juices flowing this morning by asking you two questions. If you had a choice would you want to live an ordinary life or an extraordinary life? Which do you think God wants for you? I can tell you what Jesus said. He said in John 10:10, "My purpose is to give life in all its fullness." (John 10:10, NLT) God wants to make a difference in your life, so that you can make a difference in the lives of others. God wants to work in you, with you, through you and for you to manifest His glory in ...

506. Will I Really Live Forever?

John 11:18-27, 39-45

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

Would anybody here like to live forever? At the crossroads of faith we come today to discuss the question of immortality. Yes, Virginia, there is a heaven. Yes, Jim, you can live forever. I believe that with all of my heart. Yet to explain the unexplainable and to describe the indescribable and to peek through the shadows of earth and catch a glimpse of eternity is often more than our grieving minds can grasp and our questioning intellects can assimilate. We, like Mary and Martha, may be more inclined to ...

507. God’s Doing

Philippians 1:21-30

Sermon

Larry Lange

Don had not worked like a dog for nothing. He had struggled up the corporate ladder to one rung below the vice-presidents —who were all brothers. So Don knew he wasn't going any higher on the ladder. That was okay with him. They had treated him like family. He had earned a six-figure salary and eight weeks of vacation and had 10,000 frequent flyer miles to play with. Then leukemia drove his wife, Donna, into the hospital where they shoved needles into her and pumped her full of chemicals and new bone ...

508. No Reason to Worry

Matthew 6:25-33

Sermon

April Yamasaki

One year, a friend decided to give up worry for Lent. Other years she had tried giving up chocolate or coffee, but instead of focusing on a physical habit, she decided to tackle her habit of being anxious. Instead of worrying about her family, she would pray. Instead of taking her work problems home with her, she would shut them up in her office and refuse to worry about them. Instead of being anxious about her own life, she would try putting everything into perspective by focusing on the life and ...

509. Let's Get Ready to Rumble

Ephesians 6:10-20

Sermon

James Merritt

During one of the darkest periods of World War II, after the collapse of France and before America got involved, Winston Churchill wrote that the question in the minds of both friends and foes was this: "Will Britain surrender too?" At the time he made a speech that contained this sentence: "What General Weygand called the Battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization." If you are a Christian you, too, are in ...

510. We Are At War

Ephesians 6:10-20

Sermon

James Merritt

511. A Winning Life

Hebrews 13:1-25

Sermon

King Duncan

If you could win an Olympic medal, which would you prefer the silver or the bronze? The answer appears obvious, doesn’t it? The silver is for second place; the bronze is for third. Or is it as simple as it sounds? Kent Crockett, in his book I Once Was Blind but Now I Squint tells about a surprising study of Olympic medal winners. You would assume that the silver medal winners would be happier than the bronze medalists since they received a higher honor, but that isn’t always the case. The bronze medalists ...

512. Saving Private Ryan

Acts 1:8

Sermon

James Merritt

Steven Spielberg recently directed a powerful movie entitled, "Saving Private Ryan," which was a box office hit. Though I have not seen the movie, and do not recommend that you see it, because of the foul language, the plot of the story is extremely powerful. A group of soldiers is given the responsibility and assignment of saving one single soldier, by the name of Private Ryan, after his three brothers were killed in the war. Their job was to rescue this one soldier and get him back home to his family. ...

513. A Man on the Run

Jonah 1:1-4

Sermon

James Merritt

One of the all-time classic novels and movies, as you well know, is Gone with the Wind. You may not know, however, that the original story had more than just a kernel of truth in it. There was a Rhett Butler, but his real name was Rhett Turnipseed. Scarlet O'Hara was Emelyn Louise Hannon. In fact, Rhett did walk out on her and joined the Confederate Army. When the war was over, Rhett Turnipseed became a drifter and gambler. He ended up in Nashville, where his life was turned around on Easter morning in ...

514. For the Hearing Impaired

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

James Merritt

Of all the topics that a pastor talks about, by common consensus everybody would agree, the most sensitive topic that a pastor talks about is - money. However, the most difficult topic that a pastor deals with is the one we have been talking about for the last couple of weeks in the series we’ve entitled, “Missing Person.” We have said that a missing person is any person who is far from God - any person who does not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The very first command that Jesus ever gave ...

515. Seismic Shift

2 Corinthians 7:2-16

Sermon

James Merritt

Not too long ago there was a young lady who visited our church from another church in our area. After the service, she was walking through the lobby and one of our ladies noticed her and not recognizing her walked over to ask if she was a guest. She replied that she was. She said, “Did you enjoy the service?” The lady said, “Yes, but I won’t be back.” She said, “Were we not friendly to you?” She said, “Oh no. Your people were very friendly.” She said, “Did you not enjoy the worship?” She said, “Oh no. The ...

516. Like A Thief

Matthew 24:36-51

Drama

Robert F. Crowley

Theme: We can be so heavenly minded that we are no earthly good. Summary: Minny, a Christian woman, is preparing for bed as a thief enters. She mistakes the thief for Jesus coming back to take her to heaven. Dan, the thief, takes the opportunity to rob her of everything of value in the house. Playing Time: 4-5 minutes Setting: A neutral playing area that represents Minny's home, with a screen for the thief to hide behind Props: A black garbage bag Costumes: Minny -- Pajamas, bathrobe, hair curlers Dan -- ...

517. With Jesus In The Wilderness

Luke 4:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

This is not exactly camping season. Nevertheless, over the six weeks of Lent we are going into the wilderness as we prepare for Easter Sunday. And while we make our journey through the wilderness, we’re going to tell stories, wilderness stories, from the Bible. To get you in the mood, I found a list of camping tips by a man named Bruce Cochran which was printed in the Sept. ‘96 issue of Backpacker magazine. The list is too long to read in its entirety, so I’m only going to mention a few: When using a ...

518. 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 ...

519. LOST? Finding Forgiveness

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

Some of you have met my good friend John Heinz and most of you have heard me talk about his love for God and his love for inviting people to church. The other day John and I were talking and John talked about keeping his grandson for the weekend and how much fun that is, normally. I don't know what the boy did but what ever it was, since it was close to bed time, Grandma sent him to bed as his punishment. Off he went, crying like all get out. John went in to make sure he was in bed. When he walked in to ...

520. The Sound of Joy

Genesis 17:1-27, Genesis 18:1-15, Genesis 18:16-33, Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“Rejoice in the Lord always….again I say rejoice!” (Phil 4:4) “I grieve if my brother dies because I no longer have personal communion with him. But I can have a deep, abiding joy, for I know that death does not have the final word. It has been conquered in Christ’s death and resurrection.” (2 Tim. 1:10) We are a people born of laughter! Literally, we are all as Christians part of God’s holy people, in a covenant begun with Abraham and Sarah many years ago, when this elderly couple was granted an ...

521. SALLY JANE

Drama

Jerome W. Nilssen

Dusk; JAREL is sitting on the front steps of an old farmhouse, a building once almost elegant, now genteelly collapsing, its midwestern rococo gingerbread hanging in many places by a single, disinterested, rusty nail. The porch behind JAREL is small; its only piece of furniture is an ancient, unravelling wicker table, also seedy, with several wine bottles on it. JAREL is wearing funeral black - but she has not at all muted her makeup, and she wears plenteous beads and bracelets. JAREL (Calling into the ...

522. The Day Is Not For Sleeping

1 Thessalonians 4:13--5:11

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

There is nothing wrong with growing old and dying. The problem is too many people die and then grow old. When the death of Calvin Coolidge was made public, someone quipped, "But how can they tell?" George Bernard Shaw once said that the epitaph for many people should read, "Died at 30; buried at 60." Steve Franscioli sent me the following poem sometime ago, and I've been dying to use it in a sermon. Now is my chance. It's titled "A Little Mixed Up". It goes like this. Just a line to say I'm living That I'm ...

523. Spiritual Marines

Luke 9:18-27

Sermon

James Merritt

A few years ago there was an eye-catching commercial on television sponsored by the United States Marine Corps. They had one that shows a young man fighting, and then slaying a fire-breathing dragon with an Excalibur-like sword. At the end of that commercial, with that sword gleaming in the light, decked out in that resplendent dress blue uniform, the commercial ends with these words: “The Few-the Proud-the Marines.” Do you know what the Mission Statement of the Marine Corps is? On their Website that I ...

524. Walking in the Light

1 John 1:5--2:14, 1 John 2:15-17

Understanding Series

Thomas F. Johnson

Walking in the Light and the Problem of Sin The next two sections of 1 John are on the theme of walking in the light. The first section, 1 John 1:5–2:2, addresses the theme in relation to the issue of sin, while the second section, 1 John 2:3–11, focuses on walking in the light in relation to obedience, especially to the love command. The terms walk, light, and darkness occur throughout the section (1:5–7; 2:6, 8–11) and unify it. The Elder’s opponents are always present in the background. They have made ...

525. Walking in the Light and the Problem of Sin

1 John 2:15-17, 1 John 1:5--2:14

Understanding Series

Thomas F. Johnson

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