Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 501 to 525 of 3160 results

2 Timothy 1:1-14

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... like one of the illusions where everything seems to be moving, it's all a trick of the eyes. They are what John Eldredge in his book "Wild At Heart," calls "posers." In the sixties we called them "plastic." My son just calls them phonies. They are sort of like hollow chocolate Easter bunnies. A lot of promise but not much substance. In our passage for the message this morning, Paul gives thanks to God for Timothy and his sincere faith. Obviously Timothy is the real deal. Listen to what Paul writes: 2 Tim. 1 ...

502. A Priesthood of Believers

Galatians 6:1-10

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... one of our ushers, Bill Martin, who suggested that I preach a sermon on this theme. Well, Bill, this is it. That phrase gathers up the meaning of the concept of the Priesthood of All Believers and some may like that phrasing better. The word “priest” has a sort of strangeness about it to us Protestants and some of us feel a bit uncomfortable in using it. There has been a mystery surrounding the word that almost scares us. What I want to make as clear as possible, and nail down firmly with in our minds ...

503. Let Everything That Breathes Praise the Lord

Psalm 150:1-6

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... strengthen, to direct, to encourage, to give life and hope. That’s something to celebrate - and that’s the way God is to be praised - joyous celebration. I’m happy that ours is the kind of church that offers all sorts of opportunities for worship and for praise. And I’m happy that all sorts of music and drama and forms of dance are being brought into worship. In a couple of weeks we’ll have an orchestra here, accompanying the choir as they sing Christmas music. I look forward to that. I believe we ...

504. The Burning Bush

Exodus 3:1-22

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... It is then, when God has gotten Moses’ attention that God presents himself to Moses. We must read verse four again: “When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, ‘Moses!’ and he said, ‘Here am I’.” Now there are all sorts of ways that God gets our attention and we don’t have time to talk about all of those ways. And you may think it strange that I present the way that I’m about to present – the way of God getting our attention. I want to focus on the ...

505. Being the Lord's Instrument

Exodus 17:1-7

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... role the played in his leadership of the people. How many sermons have you heard on the question, “What is that in thine hand?” That’s the question God had asked Moses back in Chapter 4 when Moses was trying to resist God’s call, making all sorts of excuses, finally concluding “They will not believe me nor hearken to my voice: for they will say, ‘The Lord hath not appeared unto thee.” It was in response to that that the Lord had asked the question: “What is that in thine hand?” And God ...

506. Lean Thine Arm on the Windowsill of Heaven (Growing Old Gracefully)

Psalm 90:1-17

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... exciting, almost unlimited potential of this church. There is so many persons here who no longer have to work to earn a living, persons in good physical health whose minds are agile and creative, persons who have shaped industry and business, persons who are skilled in all sorts of areas, persons who can use their hands as well as getting their hands in getting things done. And note I’m talking about women and men. It’s for your benefit as well as for the kingdom’s sake that you need to hear God’s ...

507. Three Wise Women

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... four were suspected of adultery. Now just think about that. When it comes to preparing our family trees, we don’t know what sort of apples we’re going to find there, do we? But it would have been easy not to include these names in that genealogy ... us? “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” Can we, in our dark, make that sort of trustful commitment? Here is a radical story. On a May day in 1555, Bishop Hugh Latimer, soon to burn at the stake for his Christian ...

508. When a Person Is Called

Galatians 1:1-10

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... your imagination. So I ate one cookie, gave another away, therefore eleven is the correct answer.” Now, obviously Rembrandt used his imagination, because in his painting, rather than 13 persons being on the boat there are 14. What’s going on here? You wonder what sort of mistake has the artist made? You look closely and rather quickly locate Jesus. Then you try to pick out the disciples. There’s Peter, yes that’s Peter. And that one looks like John, yes. And there’s one who has quizzical look on ...

509. The Geography of the Christian Experience

Galatians 1:11-24

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... is best. Paul talked a great deal about that. How we have distorted his message and missed his primary point. A dramatic case in point is his word to women about being submissive to their husbands. We either react violently to that, seeing Paul as a sort of reactionary ogre, who wanted to keep women in an inferior position; or, on the other extreme, we use Paul to support prejudice against women. Both those positions miss the point. Paul called women to be submissive to their husbands as an act of love, out ...

510. The Shared Life of the People of God

Galatians 6:1-10

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... a music store in San Clemente, California. Scores of young people were in and out of his store every day. I saw Leo as a sort of priest to these young people. He wouldn’t have seen himself in that fashion. I’m sure the young people didn’t think of ... surprised when he told me about it. I was especially surprised at the person with whom he had decided to share—a sort of “macho” man, a stereotype of masculinity, the last person I would have thought would understand Tom’s struggle. But he did ...

511. The World's Best-Known Widow

Mark 12:41-44

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... David insisted on paying. His words commend themselves to our consciences even to this day: I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God which cost me nothing.” In that light, we need to ask ourselves are we really giving to the church. Is our pledge any sort of sign of our faith? If you only give what you won’t miss, you’re not showing much faith. Think about it. Do you have a strain to pay your pledge? Does it really out you anything? If you have to strain, why? Is it because you have lived ...

512. The Unforgivable Sin

Mark 3:20-30

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... his or her Christian discipleship more seriously. Maybe she began to talk more - to witness. You’ve not heard this sort of language before, not from a person like her, President of the Junior League or the Garden Club. She talks ... And the priest said, “Now I was a sophisticated New Yorker who had an Ivy League education, and I believed witches were for Halloween and sort of ridiculous…I thought it was a joke, but for 19 years, ensuing from that relationship, a pattern of bondage developed in my life. I ...

513. When It's Time To Unite

I Corinthians 1:10-17

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... extremely well; success was going to my head; I was on a roll. Then, I had a really difficult Board meeting one night and furthermore, the denomination decided it was going to slam some doors that I thought to be opened. On Monday morning, I was out of sorts. The money was counted by a layperson of the church. He came in and I wailed and bemoaned the restrictive nature of the church. I said in that conversation, “ I think I'll just go out and start my own church." Russell listened patiently for over half ...

514. The Miracle of Peace

Psalm 85:1-13

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... the way home. If all that juggling is making you tired, I have good news for you. Christ the Savior is born. If we confess our sins, God who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (I John 1:9). As I sorted through some of my father's belongings this week in moving him to a nursing home, I thought about a story Bishop Arthur Moore used to tell about his own father and in so doing learned the pardoning love of God. Bishop Moore said, “When I was a boy, I ...

515. The Forgiving Christ

Mark 2:1-12

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... the mark of God's calling upon our lives and sin is serious business. So Jesus says to a paralyzed man in a sudden interrupted sort of way, five words, “Son, your sins are forgiven." In the long run I don't need justice, I need mercy! Our deepest need is ... with day after day and at the heart of it all, they are homesick for God. When you are homesick you are just out of sorts, not yourself, don't feel good. Nothing will remedy your ailment but a homecoming. Isn't it about time you headed home? Home to a ...

516. The Joyful Provider

John 2:1-11

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... this story. You learned it in Sunday School, in Disciple Bible Study. John is the only one who bothers to tell it. It's a strange sort of miracle of Jesus; it's not a tragedy that he is taking care of. It's just an embarrassment that He's trying to ... people were coming. Don't be too hard on Jesus who appears less than anxious to get involved. He's rather flippant with his mother here, sort of brushes her off in this story. “Dear woman, why do you involve me?" says Jesus to Mary. Jesus is a guest. It's not ...

517. Making the Most of Small Beginnings

Matthew 13:31-35

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... of the Marine Corp: “We could use a few good men." I never knew we were called to be selective about members. I thought whosoever will may come. Let the wheat and the weeds grow together, and the dragnet bring in whatever it may, there is plenty of time for sorting at the close of the day. Let those who have ears to hear, hear! It is the Kingdom, said Jesus; it is all about the Kingdom. It is small like a mustard seed, silent like leaven, a surprise like a treasure found in a field, and as priceless as a ...

518. Work, For the Night Is Coming

John 9:1-5

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... clothing and put them on a truck bound for the South. This creates what is known in the relief business as the disaster that follows the disaster because it is extremely difficult to sort out a small quantity of things and get them to the right place. Send the money and let them buy the goods in quantities that does not demand sorting by volunteers. Relief is not about making us feel good. Relief is about getting the needed resources to the right places, in the right way, for the right reason, at the right ...

519. Mulliganeers, All

Luke 13:10-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... , know that we must pass the “mulligan” along. We must offer the compassion of a “second chance” to everyone we meet. Just as Jesus did with the woman in this morning’s text. A lot of composers have written “God of Second Chances” songs. There are all sorts of lyrics for the theme of Life’s “Second Chances.” But my very favorite “Second Chances” song is from Veggie Tales. That’s right. It’s a Veggie Tale song. I’m not embarrassed to admit it. It’s a great song. It needs to be ...

520. With a Firm Foundation, Application Is Second Nature

Matthew 7:15-23, Matthew 7:24-29

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... the windows, walls, not even the columns and beams get the credit. No matter how strong these parts of a building are, they are not sufficient without the firm foundation. That is why these parts of the building are not what keeps things intact. That is sort of the status that your and my activities and practices have with regard to maintaining ourselves in life. No matter how many grand things you do, no matter how well you apply the teachings of Jesus, no matter how firm your faith and sense of purpose ...

521. If Your Sense of Purpose Ever Becomes a Burden, Remember Your Value

Matthew 10:40-42

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... earth.8 Let's get real. Much of what we do in life seems mundane, routine, not really important in the big picture, in the grand scheme of history. It is common these days to hear the media talk about the "legacy" of the deceased. That sort of rhetoric is to be heard in ordinary conversation these days, at funerals or in family conversations about the recently deceased. But the truth is probably none of us will be remembered in 200 years. The book of Ecclesiastes told the truth centuries ago: "A generation ...

522. All Who Share This Hope

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

Chris Ewing

... greetings were addressed to the entire congregation — in other words, to any and all Christians.2 The word "saint," in fact, simply means "holy": one like, or one set apart for, God. Says Frederick Buechner, "A saint is a life-giver ... A saint is a human being with the same sorts of hang-ups and abysses as the rest of us, but if a saint touches your life, you become alive in a new way."3 This is kind of like the definition you may have heard, given by a child who had been told that the figures in stained ...

523. Being a Witness

Acts 2:14, 22-32

Sermon

Schuyler Rhodes

... scripture in preparation for today's sermon. My word was important, but not because I was a pastor. They didn't even know my profession. My point of view wasn't sought after because I was eloquent. They sure didn't want my two cents' worth because I was some sort of collision expert. No, they wanted me to share with them because I was there. I was, in the words of the police officer, a "witness." Isn't it funny? We tend to trust the word of those who were present on the scene. Whether it's an accident, an ...

524. Headed in the Right Direction

Romans 15:4-13

Sermon

John N. Brittain

... are inherently inferior, indeed childlike or even imbecilic, compared to that of the present. Under the rule of chronological snobbery, the West has convinced itself that "intellectually, humanity languished for countless generations in the most childish errors on all sorts of crucial subjects, until it was redeemed by some simple scientific dictum of the last century."1 Chronological snobbery is the presumption, fueled by the modern conception of progress, that all thinking, all art, and all science of an ...

525. Righteous!

Romans 1:16-17; 3:22b-31

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

... the list goes on and on. They are all part of what makes God so "righteous!" We human beings long to have the same sort of righteousness. Ever since that tragic fall into sin in the Garden of Eden, we spend our lives continually in search of righteousness. We ... is also guilty under the very law of God. Therefore, he must die as a sinner, cursed, a criminal, on a cross reserved for the worst sort of law breakers. This is all part of God's marvelous plan to keep his promise. This is all part of God's plan to ...

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