Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 551 to 575 of 832 results

551. If Everybody’s Okay, What’s the Problem? (Series: Real Faith for Real People)

1 John 1:5--2:14

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... sinned and done what is evil in Your sight.” B. Decide to turn around. That’s what we mean by repentance. For three decades Anne Rice wrote dark novels abut vampires, witches, and sexual perversions. Her novels sold over a hundred million copies and inspired movies, TV series’ and theatrical productions. Then in November of 2005 Anne Rice shocked her publisher and the public with a new book entitled Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt. Anne explained her spiritual turnaround this way: “For all those years ...

552. Radical Love is Risky (Series: Radical Love in a Risky World)

Luke 6:27-36

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... with my hates, and I find the path by the grace of God all the way to healing. Jesus tells us how to get started. “But I say to you that listen, love your enemies” and here is how: F. Do Good to Those Who Hate You I have a copy of John Wesley’s rule hanging in my home office. It goes like this: Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, In all the ways you can, in all the places you can, At all the times you can, to all the people you can ...

553. Will 2012 Be the End of the World?

Revelation 7:9-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... (when believers will be taken up to heaven by Jesus) is near at hand. Before LaHaye, of course,there was the book, The Late, Great Planet Earth by Hal Lindsey. This book, which was the best‑selling book of the 1970s with more than 28 million copies sold, told how the birth of modern Israel signaled that we were in the “end times.” Lindsey also predicted that Christians would soon be raptured. It’s been almost 40 years now and nothing predicted in Lindsey’s work has happened. My favorite of these ...

554. Future Perfect

John 20:1-18

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... followed, Ashley began talking with her captor. She told him her husband had died four years earlier and that if anything happened to her, her five-year-old daughter wouldn't have a daddy OR a mommy. Nichols untied her. She proceeded to pull out her Bible and a copy of The Purpose Driven Life. Nichols agreed to her request to read to him. She opened the book to where she'd left off, then began to read the first paragraph from Day 33 of the 40 Days of Purpose. The passage deals with the gifts and talents God ...

555. Thanks, But No Thanks

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... was really "NO Thanks" at all. And as a consequence, God said, "Thanks, But NO Thanks." Be like the Tax Collector. 1. The Pastor's Story File (Saratoga Press, P.O. Box 8, Platteville, CO, 80651; 970-785-2990), FEB, 1993 2. Gleaned from online research but I forgot to copy or bookmark the links down. My apologies. 3. The Pastor's Story File (Saratoga Press, P.O. Box 8, Platteville, CO, 80651; 970-785-2990), SEP 2000 4. "The Up Side," Guideposts, May 2003, p. 19.

556. Pursue the Life That Really Is Life

1 Corinthians 13:4-8, 1 Timothy 6:6-19

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... the year of his rejection demonstrating the potential success of the game by selling numerous editions of the board game himself. Parker Brothers helped make the unemployed heating engineer from Germantown, Pennsylvania a multimillionaire. Since that time, over 100 million copies of the game MONOPOLY have been sold in 31 countries. Each year Parker Brothers prints more than $40 billion worth of MONOPOLY money - more than twice the amount printed annually by the U. S. Mint. MONOPOLY'S success has produced ...

557. Let's Make A Deal

Luke 16:1-13

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

OK, this morning we're going to play our own version of Let's Make a Deal. I'll give a dollar to whoever has a golf ball in their pocket. And I'll give a dollar to anyone who can show me a set of reindeer antlers. I've got another dollar for the person who brought a Gorilla with them today. Would you like to trade that dollar for a chance to win what's in this box? Now, if you can recite the books of the Bible backwards in 60 seconds or less, you could win what's in this box. Just kidding. If you can tell ...

558. Power for Today

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... small, dry twigs, and finally larger pieces of wood arranged in good Boy Scout fashion. Who built the fires? Why had not even one been lit? The mystery cleared up when the explorers saw dozens of chimpanzees watching from the trees. The chimps had watched campers and copied the art of fire building. But they had no fire. (5) Many people say the same kind of thing is true of the church today. We have been trained in fire building but we have no fire. There is a growing recognition that faith must involve the ...

559. To Live Is to Choose

Matthew 7:13-14

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... when they are in the car it always seems we are listening to their station. We were listening to Kevin’s station when one of the Beatle’s songs from the 60’s came on and caught my attention. In fact it was so appropriate that I asked Kevin to copy the words down because I couldn’t understand them all. Listen to this commentary on the lifelessness of indecision. He’s a real no-where man, Sitting in a no-where land, Making all his nowhere plans For nobody Does not have a point of view Knows not what ...

560. Holiness of Heart and Life

Romans 2:21-23

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... brothers?” But more than that, do we live our whole lives loving one another? That is the key to personal holiness. Chuck Colson has written an illuminating and challenging book entitled Loving God. The members of our Work Area on Mission have been given copies of it I highly recommend it. It’s primarily a book on personal and social holiness. In one chapter entitled “The Every Day Business of Holiness,” Colson makes the case that holiness is loving and obeying God. In that chapter he gives a series ...

561. The Essence of the Gospel

2 Corinthians 4:1-18

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... of Jesus Christ shining in our hearts — it doesn’t matter how you talk about it - you have something to show for it. Let me tell you two stories. Before I left The Upper Room, one day the Customer Service Department sent to my office a copy of a paid invoice they had received from a customer. They were confused because on the invoice the customer had written, “Say hello to Maxie Dunnam. Last year, John Barleycorn, this year Billy Graham.” What was he talking about? I knew and my heart stirred within ...

562. Being the Lord's Instrument

Exodus 17:1-7

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... of clubs wins a trick now and then.” How different was Moses and Aaron. They became the Lord’s instrument in their uniqueness. Central in my theology is the conviction that each one of us is a unique, unrepeatable miracle of God. There are no carbon copies in God’s family. Some of you have heard me mention a Black writer, Maya Angelou. She’s a poet, a playwright and a singer. She’s been a writer-producer for Twentieth Century Fox and now teaches at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem. Her book ...

563. Living on Full Alert

Matthew 24: 36-44

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... lady, sitting in first class, cries as she holds her husband's sweater and pants. She has been left behind. So begins the immensely popular fiction series, Left Behind, by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins. Seven volumes are now on the market with seventeen million copies sold, along with a movie, web site, 2002 calendar, and survivor kits for children and youth. It is not my place to fault Tyndale publishers for tripling their company's profits in the last two years, but I am here to tell you Left Behind ...

564. By Enduring

1 Peter 2:19-25

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... ON KEEPING ON. When I was hospitalized for a stem cell transplant a little over a year ago, a friend sent me a quote from Winston Churchill that I have held close ever since. The simple statement is this: “If you are going through hell, keep going." Nurses copied it and shared it with other patients. I have given it to countless other fellow suffers, and it still hangs on our refrigerator at home. The message is clear. Hell is no place to get off the bus and give up! Perseverance is the wisdom to know ...

565. We Need God

Lk 12:22-34, 49-53

Illustration

King Duncan

... wise and loving advice to him before Jimmy went off to fight in World War II. In a letter, Alex Stewart wrote, "My dear Jim boy, Soon after you read this letter, you will be on your way to the worst sort of danger . . . I am banking on the enclosed copy of the 91st Psalm. The thing that takes the place of fear and worry is the promise of these words . . . I can say no more . . . I love you more than I can tell you. Dad." Part of the 91st Psalm reads, "For he shall give his angels charge over thee ...

566. A Kingdom that Cannot Be Shaken

Hebrews 1:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

Most of us probably think of the state of Tennessee as part of the “Bible Belt” an area of the southern United States known for its religious fervor. But it has not always been so. According to author and historian Jack Neely, at the turn of the 19th century, Tennesseans were a largely heathen people. Traveling evangelists and missionaries made little impression on either the cotton growers on the west end of the state or the hillbillies on the eastern end. Then, on December 16th, 1811, a massive ...

567. A Crippling Spirit - Sermon Starter

Luke 13:10-17

Illustration

Brett Blair

I want to encourage you to do something. If you have never read Victor Hugo's memorable novel, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, pick up a copy and read it. Hugo uses an interesting literary technique in the story. The reader is allowed to see the basic decency and humanity of Quasimodo, the hunchback, while the crowd sees him only as a monstrous freak. The story, in its essence, is part tragedy, and part hope. Our text ...

568. Nations on Trial

Matthew 25:31-46

Drama

Chris Ewing

A Readers' Theater for Five Voices A few suggestions for staging this.... It probably makes sense for the minister to be Voice 1, and an "ordinary layperson" to be Voice 2. Voice 3 (Christ) is probably best read by a respected adult male, in order to avoid confusion or dissonance. When Voices 4 and 5 bring in quotes from news stories, other parts of scripture, and prominent contemporary thinkers, it may be helpful (or then again merely distracting!) to have these sources identified, either on cards that ...

569. Reversal and Victory

Judges 4:1-7

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

... them with His Word," she said, then "they will make decisions." She founded a retreat center where people could go to speak with God. Frustrated at not having a good, single volume introduction to the Bible, Henrietta wrote one that sold hundreds of thousands of copies and continues to sell today decades after her death. Her words are still timely today, "God doesn't call us to sit on the sidelines and watch. He calls us to be on the field, playing the games." This remarkable, God-filled woman accomplished ...

570. Freedom and Slavery

Romans 6:15-23

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

... we "want to." Several years ago, I had a friend come over to my house to upgrade my computer. He said he would just bring over the software I wanted and download it. I asked him how much that would cost me. He hesitated and then said that he could copy it and get it for me for nothing. It wasn't exactly legal, but everyone does it. Then he hesitated again and said, "But I supposed that since you are a pastor, you're not supposed to do things that way. You can't do that, can you?" Before he ...

571. What We Do, We Do to Others, Too

Matthew 18:1-9

Children's Sermon

Marti Kramer Suddarth

Object: Paper fan; Card stock printed with scripture reference and verse; Decorative paper, one sheet per child; Printed directions for making a paper fan, one per child, copied from this chapter (Sit down next to one of the children and fan yourself with the paper fan. Hold the fan so that it also blows air on the child sitting next to you.) This breeze feels good. I made this fan myself by folding a piece of paper backward ...

572. Silly Putty, Play-Doh and Potter's Clay

Jeremiah 18:1-11

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... good thing. And it is, sort of. You see, Silly Putty is pliable, exactly what God wants with our lives. It can be shaped into ball so when troubles come we can bounce back. And when applied to the written word or the comics it will make an exact copy of what's there. And that would be a good thing, especially for Bible Study. Unfortunately, Silly Putty is too pliable. And it's too stretchable. Once you've picked up the picture or the words, they almost stretch out of shape before you've gotten them off the ...

573. Sitting at the Big People Table

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, 1 Timothy 2:1-7

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

Psalms 100 [1] Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth. [2] Worship the LORD with gladness; come into his presence with singing. [3] Know that the LORD is God. It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. [4] Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name. [5] For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations. 1 Tim. 2:1-7 [1] First of all, then, I urge that ...

574. Remember: No Deposit, No Return

Ephesians 4:25-5:2

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... . The recording ended up in an archive file. Forty years later, the producers of the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou came across the recording and used "Po' Lazarus" as the opening song on their soundtrack. The soundtrack was a surprise hit, selling millions of copies. Imagine James Carter's surprise when, 41 years after his stint in prison, two men from a record company showed up at his door with a $20,000 royalty check for a song he didn't even remember. Since then, this obscure song from the prison ...

575. The Political Controversies of Jesus - Sermon Starter

Luke 20:27-47

Illustration

Brett Blair

Someone has figured that if we put all of the materials in the Gospels that tell us about the life of Jesus together that it would equal about 80 pages. Yet, most of that would represent duplication, for we know that some of the Gospel writers copied from others. If, therefore you eliminate the duplication, you would have only 20 pages that tell us about Jesus life and teachings. Of those 20 pages, 13 of them deal specifically with the last week of his life. And if you separate it still further, you will ...

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