Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 526 to 550 of 1182 results

Luke 1:46-56, Luke 1:39-45

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

... woman, and she wonders why such favors should come to her. Perhaps the best evidence of the quality of Elizabeth's testimony is to be found in Mary's reply. Mary's response is the glorious Magnificat. If one cannot write a great poem or compose some classical music, surely the next best thing is to inspire such creation from another. I wonder how many artists could credit a spouse or friend for the work of genius which came from their brush or pen? I've noticed that often a minister will note, in a ...

527. Christmas and the New Family

John 1:1-18

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

... . But we human beings rebelled against God, and chose to listen to the voice of the intruder -- sin. As a result, we became a wayward race. By creation we were the children of God, but by our own choice we became the children of this earth; in the classic language of the scriptures, we became the children of the devil. The Bible doesn't really give us any middle ground. If we do not choose to follow God, we have only one alternative. We may call that alternative by a number of less offensive names; but in ...

528. On Defeating the Devil

Luke 4:1-13

Sermon

Frank G. Honeycutt

... provide for their instruction in the Christian faith." The stories of the Bible give us the gumption to resist a devil who usually dresses in drag. It will be difficult for us to resist such temptations on our own. Martin Luther, in his classic hymn, "A Mighty Fortress," makes the same fantastic claim that this temptation story makes today: "One little word subdues him." Jesus would be lost without this Word, without these scriptures. Will Willimon, chaplain at Duke University, was reflecting on a "Men's ...

529. Headlines and Holiness

Luke 13:1-9

Sermon

Frank G. Honeycutt

... tell you what he's doing. He is slyly shifting the conversation away from God's responsibility and toward us. We love the God question. Where was God when this happened? It may be our all-time favorite philosophical question. One of the real classics. Not only that, it is also quite easy to watch the evening news and point out examples of really evil people and really evil events. The nation breathed easier, for example, when Timothy McVeigh was finally executed. One less atrocious human being in the world ...

530. Return and Be Forgiven

Isaiah 55:1-13

Sermon

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... . Vow to become a new person in Jesus Christ." No person can truthfully accept the forgiveness of Almighty God, unless that acceptance is accompanied by a sincere desire to walk in newness of life, according to God's Word of commandment. Do you remember the classic introduction that used to be given to the Lord's Supper? Ye who do truly repent and earnestly repent of your sins ... and intend to lead a new life, following the commandments of God, and walking from henceforth in his holy ways: Draw near with ...

531. Escape from the Island of Spiritual Sloth

Matthew 6:16-18

Sermon

Frank G. Honeycutt

... your hair." Death will come to us all. In fifty years or so, less for some and more for others, it will seem like we've been vacuumed from the premises without a trace. How shall we face this reality? How shall we prepare? In one of his classic tales of Narnia titled The Silver Chair, C. S. Lewis describes a young girl named Jill Pole who is about to undertake an arduous journey fraught with many perils. Aslan the lion, who serves as the Christ figure in these tales, appears to Jill before she departs. He ...

532. A Church Shaped By The Great Commission

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... I mean that the church came to birth through the Holy Spirit, thus the church lives and functions by the Holy Spirit. Now theoretically, no one would disagree with that. But functionally, we do disagree. Where is the mainline denomination or the classic evangelical denomination that incorporates this conviction as a core principle by which the congregation orders her life? The charismatic nature of the Church underscores not only a dependence on the power of the Holy Spirit for life and sustenance, but an ...

533. Imitators of God

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... awareness now and then. John was a Scot Presbyterian preacher. During a part of my tenure as the World Editor of The Upper Room, he was the editor of the British edition of The Upper Room. He was a marvelous preacher in the classic style of the Scot Divines. I remember long walks in the evenings through the streets of Edinburgh – and Glasgow – and Aberdeen. I remember extended hours across the table in a café over coffee – talking and talking and listening and listening. We were never together ...

534. If I Have Not Love

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... of grace than your relationship in marriage. It has certainly been so with Jerry and me in our marriage. So for your sakes – Win and Stephanie particularly – and for all our sakes – for God’s sake in our lives, I invite us to look at this classic hymn of love. We could spend our lifetime reflecting on this magnificent text – and I hope we will, but our focus here is very narrow. Concentrate on that one phrase, “But have not love.” It occurs three times in the first three verses. “If I speak ...

535. God Outwits Us

Psalm 31:1-24

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... that from afar they point to what these six words say. And when my books are long since outdated and forgotten, and every book in the world with them, these words will still shine with everlasting fullness: “My grace is sufficient for you.” (in Classics Devotional Bible, 1367) Let me tell you about a person who has dramatically proven this is so. In September of 1998, as we began our school year, one of our students, Tanya Woodham, and her fiancé, Daryl, were in an accident. Daryl was killed; Tanya ...

536. On the Road Again

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... here for a little while. Good theology and good practical philosophy. But this sermon is not about country music. It’s about what good country music is about: life – life in the raw. Life as we experience it, and a good image for that is Willie Nelson’s classic “On the Road Again.” Do you remember it? “On the road again just can’t wait to get on the road again Goin’ places where I’ve never been… I can’t wait to get on the road again. Willie romanticizes being on the road again. But for ...

537. A Prophet Among Them

Ezekiel 2:1-3:15

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

538. A Church for the 21st Century: Holy, Charismatic, Apostolic - An Enclave of Resistance

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... charismatic I mean that the Church came to birth through the Spirit, thus the Church lives and functions by the Spirit. Now theoretically no one would disagree with that. But functionally we do disagree. Where is the mainline denomination or the classic evangelical denomination that incorporates this conviction as a core principle by which the congregation orders her life? The charismatic nature of the Church underscores not only a dependence on the power of the Holy Spirit for life and sustenance, but an ...

539. God's Say-So

Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

I don’t know how many times I have used Oswald Chambers’ devotional classic, My Utmost for His Highest. At least every three or four years I go back to it for resourcing my daily spiritual reading and always -- without fail -- I am ministered to, receiving challenge and insight not received before. I remember the experience I had the last time I used it. ...

540. Let Not Thy Will Roar, When Thy Power Can But Whisper

2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... and pray – I had to practice solitude without privacy. I had not even a smithereen of control and it was ironic. I thought my renewal plans were all shot. There was no way to concentrate on my reading, which by the way, was a collection of “spiritual devotional classics” and two biographies. There was no way for my will to roar. My powers couldn’t even whisper. Thus came the lesson. We do not seize the Kingdom of God by our effort. The Kingdom of God is bestowed. It is not ours to take, but God’s ...

541. The Proof Is In the Pudding

Luke 7:18-35

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... understanding of what Wesley said. I do believe we have a problem at that point. In too many cases we substitute ideology for theology. I value pluralism and diversity, but when we make theological pluralism and ideology an ultimate value over orthodox classic Christian doctrine, we undermine the gospel of the church. And when we think diversity is redemptive within itself we are missing the point. Pay attention to what Wesley said. “As to those things that do not strike at the root of Christianity ...

542. The Gospel

Colossians 1:3-6

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... has now reconciled in His fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before Him. What a possibility – holy and blameless and irreproachable. Have you ever noticed the vast difference that exists between chapters 7 and 8 of the book of Romans – Paul’s classic apologetic for the Christian faith?

543. The Church: An Enclave of Resistance v2

Romans 12:1-8

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

544. The Authority of Scripture: God's Breathed Word

2 Timothy 3:10--4:8

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... immediate awareness now and then. John was a Scot Presbyterian preacher. During a part of my tenure as the World Editor of The Upper Room, he was the Editor of the British edition of The Upper Room. He was a marvelous preacher in the classic style of the Scot Divines. I remember long walks in the evenings through streets of Edinburgh and Glasgow and Aberdeen. I remember extended hours across the table in cafés over coffee – talking and talking, listening and listening. We were never together without my ...

545. The Church: An Enclave of Resistance v1

Romans 12:1-8, Romans 12:9-21

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... between the Law and the Gospel. Christ calls, the disciple follows; that is grace and commandment in one . Christianity without the living Christ is inevitably Christianity without discipleship, and Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ. (quoted in the Classics Devotional Bible, p. 1122) That puts it clearly, doesn’t it? And that’s the reason that we must bind up the broken and identify with the oppressed in order to be a sign of the Kingdom -- to make discipleship ...

546. The Vocation of Leadership: A Prophet Among Them

Ephesians 4:1-16

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

547. Going Hard against the Grain

Matthew 5:33-37

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

... speaking about in verses 33 through 37. What Jesus spoke to was the issue of how to guarantee truth in human relations. In a world where lying is an art form and deceit is a refined skill, how do I know I can count on what you are saying? One classic way is to invoke a higher power, to appeal to God as the guarantor of what I promise, the idea being that God will punish those who invoke his name and do not follow through. With our hand on the Bible we swear to tell the truth, the whole truth ...

548. Playing to the Right Audience

Matthew 6:16-18, Matthew 6:1-4

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

... was now an act of repentance. I warn you: If you pray, God will speak; if you fast you will develop new hungers, and if you seek the virtue of generosity, God will completely expose the cheapskate hidden in your little soul! Whatever the external effects of the classic spiritual disciplines, the primary effect is the formative influence they have on us. They take us from shallow to deep. They empty us out for new capacities. And when we take them up in response to the call of God, they in a sense take us up ...

549. Getting Your Politics Right

Matthew 6:5-15

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

... , April 2002, 26-30. 3. Two books that have pushed me over the edge on this issue are Gregory Boyd, The Myth of a Christian Nation (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2005) and George Hunter III, Christian, Evangelical & Democrat (Nashville, TN: Abington, 2006). 4. The four classic marks of the church from the Nicene Creed. 5. Matthew 6:1-4. 6. Matthew 6:16-18. 7. For a development of this idea, see Stephen Seamands, Ministry In The Image Of God: The Trinitarian Shape Of Christian Service (Downer’s Grove, ILL ...

550. Comfortable Christianity Is a Big, Fat Lie

Matthew 7:15-23

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

... importance of Jesus Christ for salvation. Beware of anyone who claims to be a prophet; the real ones don’t need to announce it: when they speak, your heart trembles. Beware of anyone who claims new revelation not in accord with Scripture and the classic faith of the church. Beware of anyone who fudges and crosses their fingers on any line of the Creeds. Being sincere is not enough. Too many Christians are sincerely ignorant and easily lead astray by false prophets who at first glance seem innocent; only ...

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