Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 551 to 575 of 972 results

Mark 12:18-27

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... Roman Catholics call marriage a sacrament. It is the mixing of two streams of water into one river. That’s why divorce, even when it’s necessary, is so painful and costly. Those of you who have been there know it better than I. Marriage is by nature exclusive. It marks off a boundary of privacy and security from the rest of the world. Open Marriage is an oxymoron. Even those who promoted the idea back in the ’70’s have had second thoughts. Marriage is not for everyone and need not be. Paul was quite ...

552. The Door of Forgiveness

1 Timothy 2:1-15

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... sports heroes often consider themselves exceptions to community standards. Why abide by the rules when you have the money to do as you please? Meanwhile, children suffer. Teens are confused. Women are raped. Lives are destroyed all in the name of innocent fun. Some say sin is exclusive. Where I came from the lines were drawn between the good and the bad; the right and the wrong; the moral and the immoral. We used to sing it in a little jingle: “One door and only one, and yet its sides are two. Inside or ...

553. Work

1 Corinthians 3:9-15

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... the billows roll. That anchor is Jesus. We need a foundation that will not shake in shaky times. We need a cornerstone from which all construction flows. Christ is that sure foundation. Christ is the head and cornerstone. To some of you that sounds rigid and exclusive, but what if it happens to be right? What if the life of Jesus is the blueprint for life? What if the death of Jesus proved the redemptive possibilities of death? What if the resurrection of Jesus is the assurance that life wins? What if the ...

554. Join

Acts 11:19-26

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... every major religion of the world. Christians were flexible about customs, they were clear about Christ. “Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Savior of the World, and Lord of all." Let us never waver from that message. Isn't that divisive, exclusive, narrow minded in a global community? Remember what He said: Love one another. Love your enemies. Bless those who persecute you. Pray for those who despitefully use you. It's not Christ, but the causes for which Christians invoke Christ's name, that arouse ...

555. Hot Air or the Holy Spirit?

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... faith. One of my deepest regrets is that clergy are so competitive and lay people are so comparative about churches. On the other hand, churches are not country clubs; they are not designed to protect the interests and convenience of present members to the exclusion of outsiders. Even if it means sitting a little closer, parking a little farther, waiting a little longer, we must never lose our passion for seeking and saving the lost. Or, to put it in the words of Thomas Jefferson, “A candle loses nothing ...

556. Jesus Took the Man by the Hand

Luke 10:25-37

Illustration

Barbara Johnson

... said, "I feel for you down there." An objective person came along and said, "It's logical that someone would fall down there." A Pharisee said, "Only bad people fall into a pit." A mathematician calculated how he fell into the pit. A news reporter wanted an exclusive story on his pit. A fundamentalist said, "You deserve your pit." An IRS man asked if he was paying taxes on the pit. A self-pitying person said, "You haven't seen anything until you've seen my pit." A charismatic said, "Just confess that you're ...

557. Holy Waste

Mark 14:1-11

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... ring, and showed it to his friend. His friend asked, “Is it a real diamond?’ He said, “If it isn’t, I’m out five bucks.” Then there was the fellow who wanted to buy his sweetheart some perfume. He went to the counter of an exclusive store, and the saleswoman recommended a perfume called “Perhaps” that sold for $100 an ounce. $100!” cried the young fellow. “For $100, I don’t want “Perhaps”, I want “For Sure!” Behind the hint of humor is the suggestion that if you’re in love ...

558. Becoming Good Trees

Matthew 5:17-30

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

... , you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:20). "But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment" (Matthew 5:22). Throughout this chapter we encounter the language of judgment and exclusion. Jesus even holds out the threat of our whole body being thrown into hell (Matthew 5:30). We must handle these words about judgment carefully. Because Matthew has given us these words, they are for our edification. Yet, they can be dangerous. When we read ...

559. Why We Need the Pledge of Allegiance

Matthew 13:31-35, Matthew 13:44-46, Matthew 13:47-52

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... just adding another spiritual talisman to the mix of superstitious hex warders; it was a fundamental commitment of identity that could not be shared. No dual passports in this kingdom! The truly great treasure demands that one sell everything else. It is exclusive. And when it is purchased, it actually purchases you. Living On A Battlefield A second implication of Jesus' parables in this chapter is that we are under orders. Not every citizen in most realms is thereby automatically also a soldier preparing ...

560. Do You See What I See?

Exodus 14:19-31

Sermon

David J. Kalas

... relative thing. What looked like no escape to the pharaoh — and to the panicking Hebrews, for that matter — was no problem for God. For the Lord did not intend for his people to retreat, but to move forward. That massive pillar, which had been exclusively in front of the Israelites up until that moment, moved around behind them, protecting their flank. It separated the Hebrews from their pursuers all night long. Meanwhile, back at the beach, the Lord sent a strong east wind to blow across the waters of ...

561. Dare to Be Different

Romans 13:11-14

Sermon

John N. Brittain

... some found such practices useful, while for others they were a stumbling block. But the important note is: "Let all be fully convinced in their own minds." Matters of personal preference should not become cudgels with which to beat others over the heads or standards of exclusion. There are more important things at stake and, as Ann Landers used to exhort her readers, we must wake up and smell the coffee! It is here that Paul emphasized his whole point: The real issue was not what foods were to be eaten or ...

562. The Vastness of Relationships

Ephesians 1:3-14

Sermon

John N. Brittain

... cottage industries existed, and the general well-being of the house or town by assigning servants and employees to their various duties. He was in charge of the economia, the economy of things. Because we tend to use the word "economy" almost exclusively with regard to money, we have to remind ourselves at stewardship campaign time that we are called to be stewards of everything we control, our time, our talent, all our resources and relationships including, of course, our money. It is this word, oikonomia ...

563. Showing Up

Ephesians 3:1-12

Sermon

John N. Brittain

... in the NRSV, or his "administration" of God's grace in the NIV. The term Paul uses is oikonomia, economy, that we encountered last week when it was applied to God. We recalled then that because we tend to use the word "economy" almost exclusively with regard to money, we have to remind ourselves that it refers to everything we control, our time, our talent, and all our resources and relationships including, of course, our money. An oikonomos was the person given supervision of an oikonomia, often a high ...

564. Small-Minded Christians in a Big World

1 Corinthians 1:10-17

Sermon

John N. Brittain

... ours" (1 Corinthians 1:3). If you feel too alone, he reminds us, it may be that you are not counting correctly. There are, of course, those who fall into the equal but opposite error, individuals who are more than glad to be part of a small, exclusive group of "true believers" and who look down their noses at those outside their clique. This was clearly a problem at Corinth and what Paul was referring to when he said that it was not his task to preach with "eloquent wisdom." He was contrasting himself with ...

565. Character Approved: Stand Up or Stand Out?

Luke 14:1-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... not so easy to figure out what dog will be the “Best in Show.” Unfortunately most of our culture is based on the horse race model of “best” and not the “best of show” model of “best.” The “best” has become the richest, the most exclusive, the biggest, the fastest, the most famous (for whatever reason). The “success” of bad-behaving reality-stars proves one thing: In a celebrity culture, it doesn’t matter what you stand for as long as you stand out. Being “the best” in the first ...

566. Help Me, I'm Lost

Luke 15:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... a relationship with Christ, we have a new relationship with every other person on earth. Jesus was telling these parables to a crowd that included scribes and Pharisees, as well as sinners and tax-collectors. Jesus wanted them to see that none of them had an exclusive claim on the kingdom of God. We are all sinners saved by grace. Consequently, we dare not look down on anyone else. Each of us is precious to God and so is everyone else on earth. That makes us brothers and sisters, whoever we may be, whatever ...

567. Swept Clean

Luke 10:38-42

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... wanted was her company. Maybe the best way to explain this is through the movie Daddy Day Care. Eddie Murphy plays an ad executive, Charlie, who, along with his partner, loses his job. As a result, their wives go back to work but they can't afford the exclusive Day Care their children have been in and they decide to save money by opening their own Day Care called, Daddy Day Care. Of course the movie is about all the trials and tribulations of the Dads doing Day Care. At one point, after facing battle after ...

568. Luke 16:19-31

Luke 16:19-31

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... (9:22:18:33; 24:9). It is not some automatic “reversal” that doomed the rich man and will bring his brothers to the same fate. It is the willful rejection of God’s words, of God’s prophets, and finally even of God’s own Son, that will bring exclusion from God’s presence. Those who fail to see and obey God’s words and witness will neither be swayed by a re-animated Lazarus, nor moved to faith by a risen Christ. It is that final rejection that will seal their fate.

569. When the Church Becomes a Culture of Complainers and Crusaders, What To Do?

2 Thessalonians 2:1-12

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... . School districts have been increasingly vigilant in condemning and expelling any bullying in gyms, buses, playgrounds, etc. Let’s hope things are getting a bit safer for kids in school systems, at least from physical bullying. But no one lives exclusively in the physical world anymore. Especially our youngest generations. Online relationships are just as “real” and equally relevant to our tweens, teens, and twenty-somethings as are their face-to-face contacts. That’s why cyber-bullying is just as ...

570. End Time Fixations

Matthew 24:36-51

Illustration

Leonard Sweet

End-time fixations were not exclusive manifestations of ancient communities. On October 23, 1844 thousands of Christians sold their earthly possessions, dressed in white robes, climbed to the tops of the highest mountains they could find, climbed to the tippy-tops of trees to get even higher, and waited for Jesus to return. They had been ...

571. Romans 4:1-5, 13-17

Romans 4:1-25

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... rejects this interpretation completely by reminding his readers that when Abraham received the promise of the land it was only because of the “righteousness” that his faith had gifted from God. In fact, as Paul continues he finds that “faith” and “law” are mutually exclusive. If you have one, you do not have the other. Paul insists that if it is only by adherence to and practice of the law that one becomes an “heir” to the blessings of God’s promise, then faith itself is “emptied out ...

572. Those Kissing Christians

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... relationship but by a kinship of faith. Whereas “kissing” was customarily used to delineate an “in” and an “out” group, a group of “others” you did not kiss, Christians were indiscriminate kissers who used kissing as a symbol of inclusion, not exclusion: kissing between unmarried men and women, kissing of slave and free, rich and poor, clean and unclean. From Hippolytus we learn that at the beginning of the third century, a newly consecrated bishop received the kiss from all members of his ...

573. The Titanium Rule

John 13:34-35

Illustration

Leonard Sweet

A few years ago American Express quietly introduced its most exclusive new card. The Centurion Card is absolutely black, and is actually made out of titanium — the hardest known naturally occurring metal. In fact, when one of these titanium Centurion Card expires, the member has to send it back to American Express for recycling. The titanium can't be cut up ...

574. The Mouse Christmas

Drama

Frank Ramirez

... . Mouse Pig I am the pig. No offense here is taken. But I am left out. I’m not here, ham or bacon, When you put a manger set here on your shelf, That’s a menagerie, but not myself! That’s why I’m here. It’s sort of exclusive. Jesus saves all, he is very inclusive. Mouse Angel Once a cold evening love journeyed on wings. Two thousand years and this angel still sings. I’ll share peace on earth and God’s grace to all people That seek for God’s will. Let it ring from the steeple ...

575. If I But Touch…

Mark 5:21-43

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... everybody that she had just made this rabbi as unclean as she was by her audacious and selfish touch? And what was the penalty for deliberately making someone else unclean? Did someone say death? Aw, so what! Why not just admit it? This life of isolation and exclusion, no family, no friends, no love, no care is not much better than living death anyway. It only took a moment for her to make up her mind. "Who touched my clothes?" With fear and trembling she came forward, the veil slowly falling from her face ...

Showing results