Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 551 to 575 of 1249 results

551. Angels

Psalm 91:1-16

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... indicate that angels are organized in a rigidly fixed rank system. In the early Middle Ages, a writer who claimed to be Dionysius the Areopagite (Acts 17:34), took that idea and produced a ranking of angels. His schema was later adopted by Thomas Aquinas and was not seriously challenged until the Protestant Reformation. According to Dionysius, the angels are arranged in three ranks, each rank having three groups or "choirs." The highest rank (seraphim, cherubim, and "thrones") is closest to God. The second ...

552. What Is Truly Important

Matthew 6:25-34, Matthew 6:19-24

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... me several years ago to hang on the wall in my office. At the end of the War between the States, during the cleanup of a battle field, it was found in the Bible of a freed slave who had died in the battle. It was a prayer that Slick adopted as his own: "Lord, I ain't what I oughta be, And I ain't what I wanna be, And I ain't what I gonna be. But Lord, I thank ya, I ain't what I was." This question of what is truly important is not new to you ...

553. The Forgiveness Factor

Mark 2:1-12

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... cast out. Jesus' celebrity was increasing. It became bad enough that, as Mark has it, "Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere."(4) Wow! Finally, he is back in Capernaum, his adopted home town. The word is out. People come. They jam the house (which, by the way, is one of those code words in Mark's gospel for church - the church is where Jesus is to be found). The place is packed... every preacher's fondest dream. And ...

554. What's in a Name?

Luke 3:21-38, Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... seen the story out of Saudi Arabia of the man seeking to get his son's name changed from Saddam Hussein.(2) It seems the man named his boy 14 years ago back in the days when the Iraqi leader was a hero in the Arab world for adopting policies against the United States and Israel. But now the man says the name "symbolizes pessimism, evil, mockery and disappointment all at once." And you thought Johnny Cash's "A Boy Named Sue" had it bad! Ha! Names are chosen to reflect something...they are chosen to reflect ...

555. Mary's Song

Micah 5:1-4

Sermon

King Duncan

... at the Hotel. The media went crazy! The next day, the newspapers were telling the story . . . The Hotel guests, the employees and the locals brought gifts, clothing and money for the Holiday Inn hotel's youngest unregistered guest newly named Holly Lynn. Adoptive parents brought Holly Lynn home from the hospital, just in time for Christmas and all involved rejoiced that this special little girl had found a loving home. To this day, the parents bring Holly Lynn and her charming brothers to visit the Holiday ...

556. My Younger Brother Gets Away With Everything

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

King Duncan

... -rearing the most complex of all human tasks. Doc Blakely once said that no man knows his true character until he has run out of gas, declared bankruptcy, and raised a teenager. Loving parents know that each child is different. One size doesn't fit all. Wise parents adopt a different strategy for each child. One man tells about his paper carrier. Each morning when the man went out to get his paper, he never knew where to look. Sometimes it was in the bushes, or on the porch, or on the lawn. He learned that ...

557. Three Foolish Things You Can Do With Your Money

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... used for money. He accumulated more of this kind of wealth than anyone in that land. Everyone admired his financial acumen. When he came home to England, though, he discovered that he was a beggar, even though he had a shipload of what had been wealth in his adopted land. The shells and beads were of no use to him back in a world that honored a different currency. So, says Spurgeon, will it be for those who have laid up for themselves the currency of this world but are not rich toward God. (7) Three foolish ...

558. Come To The Feast

Luke 14:1-14

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... they feel that Babette will now leave them. However, Babette goes about throwing her feast ” the likes of which they have never seen before. But the sisters and their little community of faith have a dilemma. Such a feast is sinful according to the joyless faith they have adopted. Their~s is a faith of fasting not of feasting. They decide they will go to the feast but they will have no fun. They will be first-class "party-poopers." What they do not know is that Babette was a renown chef in a fine French ...

559. A Firm Grip On Your Balloon

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... . His descent into anger, confusion, and loneliness left him open to the influence of local racist groups. Recruiters look for just such a kid, someone who needs to belong, and needs to channel his anger. Soon, Thomas had dropped out of school and adopted the local skinhead fashions. He and his friends would gather to drink and swap racist talk and ideas. Fighting and beating up on minorities became a regular pastime. His parents were sickened by Thomas' new beliefs and activities, but they couldn't talk ...

560. A Distant Light

Isaiah 2:1-5

Sermon

King Duncan

... the day. But we hold back. It is not that we prefer the darkness, as John suggests. It is that we have deluded ourselves into thinking that we can walk in the shadows “ neither in the dark or in the light. We are neither hot or cold. We adopt halfhearted faith that neither challenges nor fulfills us. As someone has put it, many of us have just enough religion to make us miserable. We don't experience the joy of our salvation because we have never given ourselves completely to Christ. Deep in our hearts we ...

561. The Greatest Good News Of All

Luke 2:8-20, Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

King Duncan

... is his growing pile of gold. One day the gold is stolen. Marner longs to identify the thief and recover his gold. Instead, a young golden-haired child finds her way into Silas’ cottage, and he grows to love her and eventually to adopt her. Suddenly, Marner discovers through this child something much more valuable than gold. Later a friend of Marner’s is commenting on the injustices that Marner has experienced and comments that the reasons such things occur are “dark” to such as them. Marner ...

562. The Other Side Of Christmas

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

King Duncan

... crying. Following the sound, she went under the bridge where she found a tiny baby boy ”very hungry, but very much alive. Next to the infant lay his frozen mother. The missionary picked up the baby and took him to her home. In time, she was permitted to adopt the boy. As the years passed she told him how his biological mother had given her life that he might live. Her son never tired of hearing the story, and he asked her to repeat it again and again. On his twelfth birthday he asked the missionary to ...

563. Walk In Love

Ephesians 4:1-16

Sermon

King Duncan

... who scored in the bottom fifth. Dr. John C. Barefoot, who headed one study, told a meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society that it's not known why this happens or if people can change their behavior, but "It's not going to hurt people to adopt a more positive view of others." (3) That is certainly the understatement of the year. NEGATIVE EMOTIONS ARE NOT ONLY DESTRUCTIVE BUT THEY ARE DEGRADING TO THE HUMAN SPIRIT. You may have read about a reply that came to the credit department of a jewelry store ...

564. Fans or Followers

Matthew 4:18-22

Sermon

King Duncan

... there really are that many Christians, then why will some 35 million people in America go to bed hungry tonight, including 13 million children? If 75 percent of Americans are Christians . . . then why are there more than 120,000 children waiting to be adopted? . . . The numbers don’t add up. Jesus said the evidence that someone is one of his followers is love. So 233 million?” says Idleman, “the evidence just isn’t there. “What’s the explanation for such a discrepancy?” he asks. He tells about ...

565. Coming Alive To Christ

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

King Duncan

... the Scriptures come under fire from scholars. Vance Havner tells about a businessman who was called upon suddenly to officiate at a church affair. He was used to the normal procedures of a business gathering when the minutes were read and he would move their adoption or approval. Things went fine in his conduct of the church meeting until somebody read the Scriptures, and this man absentmindedly got up and said, "If there are no corrections, the Scriptures will stand as read." It is a shame that many of us ...

566. Belonging To The Right Family

1 Peter 2:4-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... because they felt a real connection with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. That gave them their identity. It still does today wherever the children of Abraham may roam. We claim that same heritage. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is our Godnot by birth, but by adoption. That's who we are. We are God's people. His family. His children. On this Mother's Day 1990, it would be good for us to refresh our understanding of what it means to be a familya human family and also God's family. FIRST OF ALL, WE ...

567. Are We Offering the Right Cup?

Matthew 9:35-10:8

Sermon

King Duncan

... There is a beautiful scene in the movie Dr. Zhivago. The Comrade General is talking with Tanya, who, unbeknownst to her, is Zhivago’s daughter. He is asking her about one of the traumatic experiences in her childhood, a time when she became separated from her adoptive father, a lawyer named Komarov. He asks her, “How did you come to be lost?” She replies, “Well, I was just lost.” He asks again, “No, how did you come to be lost?” Tanya doesn’t want to say. She says simply, “I was just lost ...

568. It Makes No Difference Where You Belong

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

... got together and chose a captain. He put the clothes on and walked arm in arm with his "mother," saying, as he went past the guards, "Come, we've got some plowing to do." That is a very imperfect analogy to what God has done in our behalf. He has adopted us as His own children and walked us to freedom. We did not deserve it. We cannot even live up to it though we try all our lives long. In the vernacular of the business world, it is a done deal. All we can do is acknowledge it and build ...

569. Time For Action

Matthew 21:28-32

Sermon

King Duncan

... to keep busy just for the sake of keeping busy. I have seen churches like that. They have a terrific calendar of activities, but very few of those activities are meaningful in bringing persons closer to the Kingdom of God. Jesus did not mean for us to adopt a motto of the French Foreign Legion, "When in doubt, gallop!" He did mean for us to give witness to our inner experience through outward service. The Good Samaritan was not "good" because he studied his Sunday School lesson, as important as that is, but ...

570. In Praise Of Doers

Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

King Duncan

... , even what he has will be taken away." We have here a very practical teaching from our Lord and one from which all of us can profit. THE FIRST THING WE NEED TO NOTE IS THAT LIFE IS A GIFT. It is so sad to see healthy, intelligent talented people adopt a gloom and doom attitude towards life. "Oh, I just have one talent," we whine. "Poor, poor me. What can I do?" The Reverend Don Emmitte tells about a Baptist pastor friend who had a man walk into his church one Sunday morning and sit on the front pew. During ...

571. The Ultimate Success Formula

Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

King Duncan

... organization later became the United Nations Children's Fund [UNICEF]." Today Hepburn is repaying a debt. (4) Dr. Arthur Tuuri retired a few years back in Flint, Mich. He once helped a mother who, having given birth, died. He cared for the baby until it was adopted. From that he started The Flint Area Health Foundation, a help for needy children. For years he was head of the Mott Children's Health Center, which helps with medical and dental care. Dr. Tuuri said, "Many people asked me why I devote my life to ...

572. Set Free

Ephesians 1:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... when we realize that we have been chosen! Paul writes to the Ephesians, reminding them God has blessed them "with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world." God "destined us for adoption," Paul writes, "as his children through Jesus Christ." The words "in Christ" appear ten times in the book of Ephesians. "In Christ" we become children of God. In God’s great realm there are no grandchildren, there are no stepchildren, there are no ...

573. Sons And Daughters Of Thunder

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

King Duncan

... . Other white men had exploited the villagers, burned their homes, and robbed their lands. But after the missionaries learned the language and began to help people with medicine and in other ways, they began to call Doug, "the good white man." And when the Melands began adopting the customs of the people, the Fulnio spoke of Doug as the "white Indian." Then one day, as Doug was washing the dirty, blood-caked foot of an injured boy, he heard a bystander say, "Who ever heard of a white man washing an Indian's ...

574. Jeremy And Jesus

Luke 1:39-45

Sermon

King Duncan

... this choice. But there are some couples who want desperately to have children. Often these are some of the best people in the world. They are able both financially and emotionally to be the very best of parents, but nature does not cooperate. Some will choose adoption. Others will choose to focus on each other and accept their childless state. Elizabeth and Zechariah fit in this latter category. They were a devoted couple ” devoted to God and to one another. They had given up long ago on having a son or a ...

575. A Great And Wonderful New Year

Ephesians 1:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... Everyone in this world has a need to feel like he or she counts. Thus it is with great joy that we hear the words from the Scripture, "we are chosen!" FINALLY, ST. PAUL SAYS WE ARE PREDESTINED. "...He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will." We could trip all over that word "predestined." One pastor described the difference between Methodists and Presbyterians like this: "The Presbyterian church is Calvinistic. It believes in predestination, i ...

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