Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 551 to 575 of 5000 results

551. Being and Doing as the People of God

1 Peter 1:13-2:3

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... now you have received mercy. Two words are important: being and doing. Our identity as the people of God involves both. To seek to separate the two is like severing a plant from its root. Various interpretations of the Sermon on the Mount illustrate this. In the early church, the requirements of the Sermon on the Mount came to be viewed as a ‘council of perfection. It soon followed that these requirements were reserved for Monastic Orders – those who had made a deliberate decision to completely separate ...

552. There Is a Price for Everything

Matthew 13:44-46

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... to the Kingdom is too great. Put another way, the price of entering the Kingdom, whatever the price is, is not too great. The bottom line is simply this: The Kingdom demands our all. A friend of mine told me a story recently which is a marvelous illustration of commitment. A Methodist preacher in Kentucky had a son who was an outstanding track star. Last year he made it to a District Meeting, and it was one of the high points of his life. Naturally, his father was proud, and having been involved with his ...

553. In the Lions' Den (Dealing with Stress)

Psalm 16:1-11

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... to perform in the way that is expected of us, or according to the expectations we place on ourselves. We can nip stress in the bud if we will assess our own situation and admit limitation in the very beginning. We are not super men and women. One illustration will make the point. Early last Spring, I was up to my neck. I was about to go under. Stress was mounting. As I looked ahead on my calendar, what faced me was overwhelming. At least a year earlier, I had accepted some invitations that were challenging ...

554. When a Person Is Called

Galatians 1:1-10

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... Underscore that in your mind. Our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins, to deliver us from the present evil age. Paul knew it. He was claimed; he belonged to Jesus Christ. And so do we if we are Christian. One of Rembrandt’s paintings illustrates this in a gripping and unforgettable way. It is his painting, “The Storm on the Sea of Galilee” which hangs in the Gardiner Museum in Boston. It’s a depiction of Jesus with the disciples on the Sea of Galilee. Matthew gives two accounts of what ...

555. Turning Evil Into Good

Genesis 45:1-8a, 50:19-20

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... in my heart today, A song of joy, Hallelujah. Joseph discovered that no child of God should ever stay in a pit. The story of Joseph illustrates a person is forever finding the grace of God to get out of the pit, to redeem the moment, and to claim the time. God himself ... something there to be redeemed, is at the center of the Christian faith. Nowhere is this principle of redemptive suffering illustrated more effectively than in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. On that day when the Son of God ...

556. The Sheer Volume of Prayer

Luke 11:1-13

Illustration

Scott Hoezee

... or that. Finally, after this goes on for an hour or two, you look up to discover that there is now a line of people running the length of the mall, all waiting to ask you for something. Recently I heard about a videotape that someone made to illustrate what it might be like to be God. The tape runs for just over an hour and it features nothing but one person after the next making a request, asking for advice, seeking direction, requesting money, and so on. Face after face after face appears on the screen ...

557. Choosing a Master

Matthew 6:16-24

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

... is which master we will serve. The option we would most likely choose is the one Jesus is careful to eliminate. We cannot choose to have both God and money as our masters. We cannot truly serve God if we allow money to rule over us. Jesus illustrates his point by talking not about money itself, but about two things money helps us attain: food and clothes. Both of these commodities are good in themselves. We need both of them, but our sinfulness, our pride, and our lack of self-control have corrupted our use ...

558. Dare to Be Different

Romans 13:11-14

Sermon

John N. Brittain

... . She said she would have apologized to the two young men, but she could not find them. The one thing that makes that story tell-able is the fortunate circumstance that no one got blown away; what a tragedy it could have been! And what a powerful illustration of how we all go into situations armed with presuppositions and stereotypes that may blind us to things that should be obvious. It was obvious to that ninety-year-old that two young men must be up to no good, but that assumption turned out to be wrong ...

559. By Whose Standards?

1 Corinthians 4:1-5

Sermon

John N. Brittain

... a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you" (Acts 26:16). And now, in today's reading: "Think of us in this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of God's mysteries." A common illustration of Paul's intent is to use an image from modern rowing: Jesus is the coxswain directing and urging on the crew of which Paul and Apollos are members. Well, that's okay as far as it goes but it misses the fact that we are talking about under-rowers ...

560. With Our Own Eyes

2 Peter 1:16-21

Sermon

John N. Brittain

... either respond with a conversation stopper — "Well, that's not an issue in my church" — or by muddying things up with some confessional jargon — salvation, sanctification, or ossification — that closes rather than opens dialogue. I assume that in Dr. Weatherhead's illustration, the old guy continued with helpful information about what cured him that might very well have a life-changing effect on his companions. In our lesson, a kind of valedictory address from (or in the name of) Peter, the word of ...

561. Looking for Me!

Luke 15:1-32

Illustration

Billy D. Strayhorn

... of them?" "No, they're busy, too." Caller: "Good heavens, your whole family is busy, the police and fire departments are there and they're busy! What's everybody doing?" The little boy giggled and whispered: "They're looking for me." Luke 15 is about searching and finding. The stories illustrate the frantic nature of people who have lost something and are in search of it.

562. Finder's Keepers

Luke 15:1-10

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... the childhood little "Finder's Keepers, Loser's Weepers." We all used to use it when our brother or sister dropped a nickel or a dime and we found it. It was our way of laying claim to that which had been lost. Today in our Scripture, Jesus not only illustrates the frantic nature of those doing the searching; He also shows how much rejoicing there is for the one who is found. Let's look at Luke 15:1-10 (NRSV) : [1] Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. [2] And the ...

563. Mystery of the Unlikely

Luke 1:39-55

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... have to do is reach out and accept the gift which God has for you? Don't leave it under the tree. It's right under your nose, so don’t miss it like the editor of that paper did when the Wright brothers made their first flight. 1. Auto Illustrator 2. Auto Illustrator 3. SFDEC91 4. Christopher M. Belitto in "U.S. Catholic" (Dec. 1994) Christianity Today-Vol. 39, #14.

564. Blast From The Past

John 17:1-19

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... more and something better. If you live just for stuff and prestige, then you're going to find that is hollow, empty and meaningless. B. But God created us for something higher. AND JESUS PRAYED THAT WE BE GUIDED TO A HIGHER PURPOSE. Sports Illustrated columnist Rick Reilly called it the "Play of the Year." A local newspaper called it "the touchdown heard around the world." Sports shows everywhere told the story. Jake Porter, 17, a member of the Northwest High football team in McDermott, Ohio, was born with ...

565. People of the Book

2 Timothy 3:10--4:8

Sermon

King Duncan

... the Holy Spirit at work within us. We empty ourselves before God’s word and let it fill us with its truth not as dead history, but as eternal truth. Former presidential speechwriter Peggy Noonan tells about a friend of hers who came upon a lovely, illustrated Bible in a small Bible shop. Her friend expected to pay a large price for such a rare and beautiful book. He was surprised when the bookshop owner quoted a much lower price. When he expressed his surprise, the bookseller remarked simply, “I don’t ...

566. Heaven's Chocolate Cake

Lk 20:27-38

Illustration

Michael P. Green

There are a lot question the Bible doesn't answer about the Hereafter. But I think one reason is illustrated by the story of a boy sitting down to a bowl of spinach when there's a chocolate cake at the end of the table. He's going to have a rough time eating that spinach when his eyes are on that cake. And if the lord had explained everything to us about what's ours to come, I think we'd have a rough time with our spinach down here.

567. Redeemed, Redeemed, Redeemed!

Matthew 24:36-51

Illustration

Brett Blair

... , happy with his shiny coins. Gordon walked around to the back of the church property, opened the door of the small wire coop, and let the struggling creatures soar into the blue. The next Sunday he took the empty cage into the pulpit and used it to illustrate his sermon about Christ's coming to seek and to save the lost paying for them with His own precious blood. "That boy told me the birds were not songsters," said Gordon, "but when I released them and they winged their way heavenward, it seemed to me ...

568. In the Headlines

Matthew 24:36-51

Illustration

James Merritt

... study of obesity looks for larger test group Typhoon rips through cemetery: hundreds of bodies found Well, I really wish that every newspaper in America, in fact every newspaper around the world, would run this headline at least once a week: "Jesus Is Coming Again." Note: We include this dated illustration as a primer. Adapt it to current headlines.

569. Breaking Through in Little Ways

Matthew 11:2-12

Illustration

... scales and scabs, that's big time stuff. But can you build a kingdom on it? Apparently, Jesus thinks you can. He doesn't care whether it's "big time stuff" or not. As concerns the kingdom, it breaks through in little ways. But it breaks through. As if to illustrate his point, he talks about a seed that nobody can see growing. But it's in there. I mean, it's already in there. You aren't going to see it come to maturity all at once. Like the hymn says, "First the blade, then the ear, then the full ...

570. The Case of the Dancing Men

Psalm 51:1-19

Sermon

King Duncan

... as a mark of humility and thanksgiving for what God has done for us. Thanks be to God for His unconditional acceptance of sinners like you and me.] 1. http://www.fccleb.org/sermons/Slater.4.20.03.html. 2. I’m sorry. I have misplaced the source of this illustration. 3. Jerry B. Jenkins, “Treasure By Mistake,” Moody Magazine, September 1991, 6. Cited in Robert J. Morgan, Preacher’s Sourcebook Creative Sermon ...

571. Rock Solid

Matthew 7:24-29

Sermon

King Duncan

... God’s Word, then put that Word into action. 1. (Nashville: Dimensions for Living, 1993). 2. Norman Vincent Peale, The Amazing Results of Positive Thinking (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc. 1959), p. 10. Cited in J. B. Fowler, Jr., Illustrating Great Words Of The New Testament (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1991). 3. Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, Chicken Soup for The Christian Soul 101 Stories to Open the Heart and Rekindle the Spirit (Deerfield Beach, FL: Health Communications, Inc ...

572. Keeping Perspective

Illustration

Staff

The following illustration, which appears to have it's origins in the mid 90's, is an urban legend and though this purports to be an "actual" event, it is not. In fact the legend is so ubiquitous that even Wikipedia covered it's veracity. No version of this story has ever been ...

573. The Hired Man

John 10:1-10

Illustration

Clive Harffy

... berating two hired hands. Their crime? The night before there had been a fiesta in the village. Not wishing to miss the fun, they had abandoned the sheep and gone to the fiesta. The sheep had been found wandering the streets, no doubt looking for the shepherds. A true story illustrating the truth that the hired man does not care about the sheep.

574. The Peacemakers

John 14:27; Matt. 5:9

Illustration

Billy D. Strayhorn

... moment's silence and then Garret, age 6, piped up, "I'll be the piece maker, Mom!" Then to his brother and sisters he said: "Here's a piece for you and you, and a piece for you and one piece for me." Needless to say, Dawne had her opening illustration on unity and peace for that evening's Bible study!

575. An Invitation to Tired Souls

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

King Duncan

... Park System.” 3. Mort Crim, Second Thoughts One Hundred Upbeat Messages (Deerfield Beach, FL: Health Communication, 1997). 4. Rebuilding Your Broken World (Nashville: Oliver-Nelson Books, 1988). 5. Ruth La Ferla, “Sleep, the Final Luxury,” New York Times, December 11, 2000. 6. Robert J. Morgan, Preacher’s Sourcebook Creative Sermon Illustrations (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2007), p. 807. 7. Biblical ...

Showing results